Skip to main content

Dark Biology by Bonnie Doran




Blurb: Renowned vaccinologist "Hildi" Hildebrandt has set her sights on beating her brother to a Nobel Prize, and the opportunity to conduct experiments on the International Space Station might just provide the means to obtain that goal. Chet Hildebrandt should have had that opportunity. But now he'll teach a lesson to them all: his hot-shot astronaut sister, his philandering hypocritical father, and the CDC for not properly appreciating his work. One vial of a virus purloined from the CDC labs and released at his father's marriage seminar should do the trick, without hurting anybody. After all, it's only a mild influenza strain...Or is it?


Excerpt

Hildi’s nose itched.
She ignored it. While she waited for her lab partner to emerge from the airlock, she checked the seals of her blue biocontainment suit again. Good habits could save her life.
Hildi pulled a coiled yellow air hose suspended from the ceiling and plugged it into a socket near her waist. The deflated suit expanded as air roared past her face. The familiar ballooning sensation saddened her for a moment. She’d miss her work here.
Then she grinned. She’d be wearing a pressure suit in her new job and performing similar cutting-edge work in an even stranger environment.
Her practiced eyes appraised Biosafety Level 4, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s most dangerous lab. Everything “down and cold.” But an adjoining room held liquid-nitrogen freezers filled with hot agents, the deadliest diseases known to man. Francine stepped from the airlock. Hildi’s college friend had never worked in Level 4, but she moved with confidence. Hildi stared into Francine’s faceplate and noted her calm expression. She’d do fine.
Hildi maneuvered past the stainless-steel tables dominating the room. She pulled two-inch test tubes, a push-button micropipette, and other tools from drawers and placed them in the biosafety cabinet, a glorified box with a fume hood and clear front that rested on the work counter. She detached her hose, inhaling the reserved air in her suit.
Humming to herself, she walked into the adjoining room and attached her suit to another hose. Every time Hildi moved in the lab, she repeated the procedure, a necessary inconvenience if she wanted to continue breathing.
She punched a code into the lock of one of the stainless-steel freezers and extracted a vial of the latest X virus that may or may not have killed John Doe.
Returning to the biosafety hood, she slipped her yellow-gloved hands under the clear protective shield, a sneeze guard at a toxic salad bar. She withdrew a tiny sample of the unknown and released it into one of the tubes. After Hildi repeated the protocol many times, she keyed the information into the computer.
Hildi glanced at Francine just as she straightened from a hunched position over a microscope. Francine turned, her movements jerky like a marionette’s. Her suit’s chest zipper gaped, exposing her blue scrubs underneath. She seemed to shrink as her biosuit deflated.
Hildi froze.

“I’ve got a problem here!” Francine yelled, her voice quavering. The rush of air in their ears turned conversations in Level 4 into a shouting match. Francine fumbled for the zipper with trembling fingers.



Bonnie’s debut novel, Dark Biology, released September 2013 from Harbourlight, an imprint of Pelican Book Group.

She lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband of thirty years. They’re owned by two Siamese cats. John is an electrical engineer who works with lasers for a living. He’s also a Mad Scientist who owns 2,300-pound electromagnet.

Bonnie’s other interests besides writing include reading, cooking, solving Sudoku puzzles,  and volunteering at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. She attends a local science fiction convention as well as various writers conferences. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, its North Denver Chapter, and the Denver Area Science Fiction Association.   

Website: Where Faith and Science Fiction Collide: http://www.bonniedoranbooks.com/
Twitter: @bonniedoran
Twitter hashtag: #DarkBiology 

Comments

Bonnie Doran said…
Thanks for posting the info for Dark Biology on your blog. I'm happy I connected with a fellow Pelican Book Group author.

Popular posts from this blog

Falling Forever by Katherine Robles

  Blurb Hillary is stifled by an entry level IT job in the Virginia suburbs and longs to move to Washington D.C. where she can make a difference in the world. When Javier comes to her rescue in Great Falls National Park, Hillary likes everything about him except for the gorgeous fiance hanging on his arm. But things are not as they seem and he enlists her help to renovate a homeless shelter. Romance blossoms over paintbrushes and pipes until a career launching opportunity arises. Hillary can chase her dreams, but they might cost her Javier’s heart.       Excerpt Javier cast a shadow over her placemat as he delivered her glass of water. He rounded the table, apparently unaware that the whole family was watching him with interest. When he got to the other side of Mom, Hillary willed him to make eye contact and gave a little wave in greeting. “Hi,” she said. Javier retracted the hand that was lowering Coryn’s water. His lips parted like a curtain to reveal his pearly whites. “Well, if it

Wooing Gertrude by Jodie Wolfe

  Blurb   Enoch Valentine has given up finding peace for his past mistakes. He throws everything he has into being the new part-time deputy in Burrton Springs, Kansas while maintaining the foreman position at a local horse ranch. But when trouble stirs on the ranch, he questions whether he's the right man for either job. Peace has been elusive for most of Gertrude Miller's life, especially under the oppressiveness of an overbearing mother. She takes matters into her own hands and sends for a potential husband, while also opening her own dress shop. Gertrude hopes to build a future where she'll find peace and happiness. Will either of them ever be able to find peace?   First Page Peek   Burrton Springs, Kansas August 4, 1877   Gertrude Miller’s life couldn’t get any better. She grinned, patting her pocket. Her fingers traced the two skeleton keys. After months of planning and preparing she finally had moved into her own place a week ago, away from the overbearing reach of he

Heartbeat of Fear by Susan Lytekk (portal watchers book 2)

  Blurb : As Bern and his father harvest their crops, a portal appears. The creature chased into their world is taller than any building in the village. While the villagers are terrified, Bern realizes the creature is also scared. He names the beast Kattya after his dead mother and vows to protect it. Kattya is not safe after Subja learns of this new creature. Bern, Garth, and Ne-tel realize their mammoth charge must be protected. When Bern and Kattya are separated, the two find safety in the lost country of Telantia; but their reprieve from danger is short-lived when Bern learns Garth and Ne-tel have been captured by the Vil. Can Bern save his friends when his heart beats with fear?   Extract : Beauty—what the soul sees and the mind cannot fully comprehend.   Wisdom of the Kings, Book of the Fallen World, pg 29   Bern felt like running.   In fact, he turned and started to head for the village. “Aw-ug!” the dinosaur bellowed.   It sounded so forlorn that it stopped Bern in