About 15 minutes passed as they stood around and stared at each other, finally Yadvega stepped off the elevator and immediately declared, “Tecalnains, where did they come from?” Hunter told her briefly about the landing craft. She continued, “When Mahala is right, he is right. No one expected them to be advanced enough for space travel for another 1000 years. Now here they are 3 light years from home.” Paul looked at her and asked, “They live that close and no one told me about it?” Zimuel jumped into the conversation, “There are several worlds that are in this galaxy, but most are not advanced enough to be a threat or allies, and besides, I had no idea this culture existed.” Yadvega immediately approached the flight crew from Tecalna and began to speak to them in their own language. Their eyes lit up as they recognized their language being spoken by one of these strange looking creatures. Immediately the Tecalna began recounting what had happened and how one of their crew had been killed and their ship blown up, leaving them stranded and unable to get back to their rendezvous ship orbiting the planet. They told how their scientists had been observing the planet for over 100 years and had determined it was inhabitable but had no one living on it. They had been traveling for almost 10 years to get here from Tecalna, and now had no way to get home.
Yadvega introduced King Verron and the others and assured the stranded crew that they would be taken safely home. She then offered medical attention to the injured crew-member and food and shelter to the rest. They were escorted to the Mansion, taken care of and fed. No one quite knew how to treat the injured Tecalna, but after the experience with 99 in the enhancement tank, they soon were able to get information on how to treat an alien species in the regeneration/rejuvenation tanks from Xhondar I.
Paul wanted to make certain he had both sides of the story, since the Tecalna were claiming that the Dragon Guard had attacked them for no reason and killed the commander of their mission. He first sat down with Chase, Daniel and a tearful Tala. Chase couldn’t stop thanking Paul for insisting they always wear their forcefields. He knew that he’d be dead right now if he hadn’t had the device own. Tala had a hard time talking through her sobs and blowing her nose. She had already thrown-up twice and was having a difficult time breathing. He gave her all the time she needed to get her story out. The Guards stories were consistent. The Tecalna commander had fired on them first and actually hit Chase. Little Tala was just defending her family. She felt sick about killing someone, but she told Paul, “He tried to kill us. You said it was alright to use The Power to protect yourself and others. That’s what I did. Am I in trouble? Am I going to jail?” Tala’s parents were sitting behind her and were pleased that Paul had assured her she did everything exactly like he or Tala’s Dad would have done in the same situation. Marcus added, “Except I would have probably thrown fireballs at all of them if I had been there and seen Chase hit by a blaster. You did good little one.” Chase gave his little sister a big brother hug and thanked her for defending him. Paul had the rest of the Dragon Guard brought in to get the details on the rest of the story and was impressed by the fact they had risked their own lives to save the trapped crew members and had protected the very people who had shot at them when the ship exploded. He made a point of complimenting Hunter in his quick thinking that definitely saved a lot of people’s lives. Then he looked at Hunter and Amber and simply said, “A gateway huh? Good job!”
After the Tecalna realized that King Paul knew the true details about the entire incident, they began to change their story a little, and actually decided to tell the truth and explain how the commander had a hot head and should have never fired in the first place and that it was all his fault that the whole incident had happened. The second in command of the ground crew was concerned that his friends orbiting the planet, he now knew as Verron, would think them all dead and depart for Tecalna without them. Paul had already retrieved the body of their dead mission commander and had Yadvega explain that he would be willing to take them home, including their orbiting vessel. The next morning the remaining crew from Tecalna ate a hardy human breakfast. Paul couldn’t help but remember how his cat “Tubby” enjoyed bacon and eggs; evidently these cat-people did also. Paul planned to take one of the smaller recovery vehicles, collect the orbiter and take these poor creatures home. He thought at first about taking an R4, but it was much more than he needed from the description he had been given by the four ground explorers. He recruited Yadvega, Zimuel, Colonel Hall, just in case there was any trouble, along with General Zarman. Over breakfast he asked the visitors, “Other than to explore another planet, is there a reason you came to Verron?” Yadvega had to translate, and looked disturbed as she repeated the Tecalna’s response. “He claims people are dying on his planet and they can’t understand why. He said, also that their food supply is getting dangerously low and citizens are beginning to starve. They were hoping to find a place to resettle where there would be plenty of food and a healthier environment. He claims it has gotten so bad that two of the crew died on the way to Verron. And Ix, pointing to the alien beside her, has been showing signs of having the same thing that killed the others on the ship and that is killing hundreds of thousands back on Tecalna.” Paul immediately thought of the virus that destroyed the colony on Verron and summoned Tlase.
After a brief conversation with Yadvega as the interpreter, Tlase convinced the alien crew to allow her to draw blood. She informed them that it would be late afternoon before their friend who was injured when the ship tipped over would be out of the tank and she would like to run some tests in the meanwhile. Tlase called Dr. Desiree Verron and asked her to come over to Mountain City to give her a hand running some blood tests. When she showed up a short while later, the look on her face was one of complete puzzlement and awe. She was about to run blood work on alien cats. She looked at her father and asked, “Dad what kind of a place are you running here?” Paul smiled and told her, “I believe you were promised that you would never be board; so quit you’re complaining.” Like a typical daughter with a PhD, she responded with sticking out her tongue and rolling her eyes. Paul thought, “Some things never change.” Desiree was about to get another surprise. Tlase took the blood samples she had taken and escorted Desiree to the security elevator doors that access the lower levels of Mountain City. She gave Tlase a questioning look and asked, “Shouldn’t we be going to the research lab?” Tlase smiled a smirk just like King Verron’s snide grin and simply said, “We are.”
They exited the elevator into the corridor with security doors into the vault, whitematter reactors, Lucy’s control center and the secure research lab. Desiree looked around her and asked, “What all is down here that requires so much security?” Tlase looked very serious when she replied, “King Verron said if I knew he’d have to kill me. Only he has access to all the vaults. I have access to that one,” pointing to the end of the hall. As she did a retinal scan, palm print, voice recognition and DNA analysis, she told Desiree, “Your security clearance just went up. No one is to know about this place or what’s in it. I’ll have Paul approve you for access. When I leave Verron this will be your responsibility.” They walked through the door and the bright lights came on automatically, revealing the most indescribably high technology laboratory Desiree had ever laid eyes on, and she had been in many state-of-art high tech research labs on Earth. As Tlase escorted her to the particular analysis equipment she desired to use, Desiree looked on in awe at things she couldn’t even begin to comprehend and others that she recognized but were in a whole different league than what she had used at the CDC. Tlase took the blood samples and fed them carefully, one at a time, into a blood analyzer. She told Desiree that if the scientists on Tecalna, who are advanced enough to put a ship on a planet 3 light years away, can’t determine the cause of this illness, then there is no point in us wasting time with even very advanced conventional lab equipment like we have at the research lab. This machine will literally look at every atom in the blood sample and analyze it. It is what we used to help develop the nan
otechnology in many of our serums. Most of what has been developed is smaller than an atom, and as far as I know, this is the only machine like this. It is far more powerful than even an atomic-resolution holography electron microscope with its resolution of 43 picometers by at least 10 times, maybe even 20 times. It will soon show me every detail of the blood samples and I’ll know what’s in it and what’s not and what should be and what shouldn’t. What the CDC would require 20 people and days of work to determine, this will have done in less than an hour.
As they waited for the test results, Tlase explained the process and the formulation used to create the bomb that killed the “Demented Vine” and that had just been used to liberate Klelta. They spent some time discussing the medical implications of what could be done by something that could target specific DNA. After talking a few more minutes about the potential of the formula, Tlase told Desiree, “I hope you understand just how important it is to keep what’s in here a secret. Think about what could happen if it fell into the wrong hands. Imagine if someone like Hitler had this, there would not be a single Jew left on Earth. There are enough specific molecules in the DNA that makes up the different races that genocide could wipe out an undesirable race in days. With all the racism on Earth and the rest of the Universe, it can never fall into their hands. And right now would not be a good time for it to end up with the Klelta. I’m sure some of them would love to see the annihilation of humans after what they’ve been through.
They went back to the blood analyzer and began to compare blood samples of the one sick Tecalna and the, hopefully, healthy ones. It didn’t take long to see, they had a blood composition very much like a human, although a very rare blood type. They first looked at the red and white blood cells in what they hoped was an uninfected sample, then compared it to the sample of the man who had been sick. The most obvious difference was the white blood cells being much lower in the sick man. Then Desiree saw it. Under the most powerful microscope she had ever used at the CDC, it would never have been seen, but on the computer enhanced screen it looked like a centipede with attitude; a parasite. Desiree had seen parasites before and they are difficult to find, but she had never seen one like this. It fed off white blood cells and instead of growing in size, it multiplied in number as it consumed the cells. Eventually devouring every white cell in a body and breaking down any immunity a body may have left. It also attacked the bone marrow that produced the white blood cells; no doubt it would kill quicker than any cancer once it became active. After closer scrutiny of the alleged healthy Tecalna they discovered millions of dormant parasites that had not yet begun feeding.
The two of them spent the next several hours testing various combinations of antiviral, antibacterial and antimicrobials, then Desiree looked at Tlase and asked, “What about the “Demented Vine” DNA specific formula? What if we made it so it would specifically destroy that parasite and nothing else?” The two of them solicited Lucy for help. Desiree had never interacted with an A.I. before and took a while to realize she wasn’t just a big computer. Lucy took control of the blood analyzer and began to determine the exact DNA combination of the atom sized parasite. After no more than 30 minutes she produced a formula that should do the job. Tlase quickly modified the existing Rapture Round formula inside an isolation chamber to the specification determined by Lucy. She then transferred a drop no larger than a pinhead and dropped it into a sample of contaminated blood. The two doctors watched in delight as parasite after parasite literally disappeared in a tiny flash of light until there was not a single parasite left. They looked at each other and Desiree was the first to speak, asking, “How long would it take for this to clean-up an entire planet. We don’t even know where it comes from.” Tlase thought a moment and finally said, “Dr. Verron, we don’t have to have enough to inoculate an entire population, but we do need to make enough to bomb an entire planet.” Desiree looked at her as if she had lost her mind. Tlase continued with her thought process, speaking it as it came to her mind, “I know on Earth you test things on lab rats for years and then work your way up to actual human trials. But by the time we do that, every inhabitant of Tecalna could be dead. There’s no telling how many have died since that flight crew left ten years ago. So we’re going to bomb a couple of our guests. I’ll have to get Yadvega to explain what we’re doing and why.”
After a rather lengthy explanation to Paul and Yadvega, they decided it would be best if they held off taking the Tecalna home for at least another day or two; hopefully to develop a cure for the parasite. The remaining crew was gathered together, and using Yadvega as an interpreter, Tlase and Desiree explained what they had discovered and what they planned to do to eradicate the problem. Fortunately for them, one of the crew was the medical officer and had been studying the problem both before and during their mission. He was amazed that they had found something that scientists on Tecalna had been looking for over 20 years. The remaining crew agreed to the test Tlase had planned. She and Desiree made a small sample of the Parasite Bomb, as they had decided to call it, and enclosed the four remaining crew inside an isolation chamber. They used the High Security lab below Mountain City with Paul’s permission and close observation. Desiree laughed as she carried the small marble sized canister and carefully prepared to drop it into the chamber with the men. She smiled as she approached and joked, “No one at the CDC can ever know that I bombed a patient while locked in an isolation chamber. The FDA would have a coronary.” Paul asked, “Exactly how is this supposed to work?” Desiree answered, “What’s the matter Dad, don’t you trust us?” Then continued, “We don’t have time or enough formula to inject every man, woman and child on a planet, that we are now informed, has 3 billion residents. So we are testing to see if the formula we have developed will work trans-dermally. If it does what we hope it will, then we can eradicate the parasite in the citizens and kill it anywhere it exists by dropping a few bombs on Tecalna. Paul laughed, “Oh, well, that should make us real popular. I’m trying to make friends not make them hate me.”
Desiree dropped the ball. There was a sudden flash of light and the startled Tecalna were rubbing their eyes that were watering from the glare, but otherwise were unharmed. They released them from the chamber and decided to wait for one hour before drawing another blood sample. The poor guys had just been stuck before they went in and now soon to be stuck again after they came out; it was the only way to determine the effectiveness of the formula. Paul and Yadvega explained the need for more blood after the four men had a chance to eat a bite and rest a while. The analysis didn’t take long and proved positive that the bomb worked. All four men had reduced their parasite levels to zero.
Paul and Hunter, along with Yadvega, took the four men to the Spaceship Yard and loaded everyone into the recovery vehicle. Although it was smaller than an R4, it was still over 2000 feet long and 500 feet wide. They decided to recover the rest of the awaiting crew and bring them down to be tested as Tlase and Desiree prepared another ball of formula for them. The Tecalna were speechless at first, then had a million questions about every detail of the recovery vessel. It didn’t take long to locate the little ship with a gigantic microscopically thin solar sail attached. It took a little maneuvering to avoid the sail. They were able to identify the communications frequency and the medical officer, who was now in command of the ground expedition, explained to the remaining crew what was going on, before they actually had a visual on the giant ship that was about to use a tractor-beam to haul them into their strange vessel. The Tecalna onboard were jabbering a mile a minute as they watched their ship being drawn into the recovery bay. Hunter was a nervous wreck when Paul asked him to put on the EV suite and secure the ship while weightless and tethered in the bay. After the doors closed and it was pressurized, Hunter escorted the Tecalna to their friends. Their first look at a human was a 6 foot tall, blond-haired man, with a pony tail. The conversation was non-stop and at times heated as the four who had been on Verron explained the situation to those who were about
to leave them behind for dead. They had seen the explosion and decided that it had killed everyone.
The remaining men and their ship were secured on board and Paul headed back for Verron. He asked Lucy if the recovery ship would fit inside the hanger at Mountain City. She put a diagram on the communication screen showing a 5 foot clearance on either side of the ship and hanger door, and just enough space to put it on the floor and not crush the rest of what was in there. Paul looked at Hunter and they decided to go for it. He put it on the floor just inches from the worried Dragon Guard, as they hoped he wouldn’t crush their Speeders. The Tecalna spent the entire flight checking out the huge ship and wondering how it managed to fly. As soon as they exited into the hanger, Tlase and Desiree escorted the landing crew members to the Lab, a quick sample of blood showed no trace of the parasite and the white cell count slowly regenerating. That would take some time depending how far the patient was degenerated, but at least it would regenerate. Tlase and Desiree prepped the rest of the crew and repeated the bombing, with the same favorable results. As they left to prepare for a flight back to their home planet, Tlase and Desiree, with the help of Lucy and her droid shop, began the steps needed to bomb 3 billion people. Lucy ran scenarios based on the planets size, which was about the size of Mars, rotation speed and prevailing winds. It was decided that exploding an extremely heavy load of the formula at a 50,000 foot altitude would drastically increase the coverage rates and assure exposure to plants, animals and even water sources that may contain the parasite. Desiree had never built a bomb before and Tlase had only made the two.
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