In the far corner of the lab there was a simple though important experiment underway. There were two rabbits. The gray one had a live “dose” of the Yin-Yang Twins. The other, a cute brown one, was uninfected. They had been carefully segregated in separate cages that received no oxygen from the outside lab. The rabbit’s source of oxygen was a shared oxygen bottle received through a clear, plastic tubing that connected the two enclosed cages.
Preliminary observation of the rabbits revealed that they were two cute, fuzzy, healthy and normal little fur balls. Nothing had changed in their blood or with their vital signs. This was great news.
The scientific and medical community back at the Ark felt that they had these Yin-Yang Twins under control. Whether that assessment was prudently accurate or foolishly ignorant remained to be seen.
COMMUNICATION ENTRY:
FROM: [email protected]
TO: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
As most of you have probably heard or read by now Odyssey has discovered a multi-celled organisms living on one of the bones found on the GidX7 surface. They are made mostly of salt and ammonia and acid. We are not sure of every chemical yet. They do not have a recognizable sequence of DNA, at least not in a form we have been able to read or understand yet.
The most interesting new fact about them: they’re growing. How much and into what remains to be seen. At this point, we conclude it is a multi-cellular based life. There is no cause for alarm. Our brave new world just got a lot more interesting.
Every six hours these things have doubled in size and then split in half during a binary fissure process. We have named them the Yin-Yang Twins.
Since the dawn of the space age the search for the existence of extra-terrestrial life has been, arguably, the most important goal sought by space exploration. Too often, before the Copernicus telescope, we became blinded by our familiarity and predisposition to find a place with carbon and Earth like conditions. But what if life on other planets doesn’t require carbon or even oxygen?
As part of this search, finding a habitable planet has always been about a few important details: size of the planet, its distance from its star and the presence of vital gaseous elements like oxygen, hydrogen and carbon. Even with the high probability of life on a planet like red Mars, life of any kind has been silently absent up here in the stars. Now that we’ve made the discovery on GidX7, we have achieved what others have only dreamed about. Since the first rocket explorations in the mid-twentieth century, the human race has been looking for any sign of life somewhere other than Earth. Life has often been seen as some cosmic irony, just a fluke of randomness that defies understanding. But to the optimists and those familiar with Drake’s Equation, others have fervently believed that there was no statistical way that we are alone in the universe. For several modern centuries popular mythology has ingrained in the public’s collective fears and desires that alien life would come in the form of little green men of superior intellect and technological innovations. While microscopic cellular parasitic life doesn’t really have the sizzle or the razzle-dazzle of bug-eyed hominids that look vaguely like us, finding an alien microbe is still the discovery of a lifetime.
Let us not forget that we have also discovered a very intriguing skeletal remains of an unidentified alien origin. This discovery leads us to ask some very interesting questions. What else is down there? Is it friend or foe? Is it like us or not? Is it even still breathing? Still moving around? Still alive? Was it ever alive? Does it breathe the way we do? Does it even need to breathe? All are worthy questions that we hope to answer in the coming days and weeks and even years.
For three centuries, we have labored in the stars, around them, near them, hoping to prove that the human race is not alone. We have much work and experimentation ahead of us but I know we are ready for any challenge that presents itself. We would not be here now without the fortitude and vision of heroic explorers and scientists who came before us. Truly, this is the work of a lifetime where we are standing on the shoulders of giants. Let us continue to build upon their insights and explorations, their fears, their passions and their unanswered questions.
Or, perhaps, there is more to their tiny survival? More study will be needed. In an innocent way, we believe, Sam’s sweat falling on the bone was Genesis writ small, microscopic small. For in the beginning the Earth and all of life was without form and the spirit of creation, what believers called God, moved upon the face of the waters and there was lightness and darkness, day and night and there was life, abundant life that was both big and microscopic. Brief, though conclusive experiments have proven that our sweat and saliva contribute to the growth of the Yin-Yang Twins. In water alone, there is no growth. In salt alone, also no growth. Even in a salt-water mixture there’s no growth.
Given the conditions of our most recent rabbit experiment we are now confident that the Yin-Yang Twins do not transmit via the air. Rather, transmission occurs through touch or sweat or saliva. In a sense this is very good news, though it is tempered by other more alarming news.
We have determined that the blood tests of each rabbit confirm that the little Yin-Yang Twins in the rabbits aren’t dying. In fact, the little Yin-Yang Twins are speeding up and multiplying in both rabbits. Thus, we would classify this as a potentially malignant organism, an infection that will grow and spread in the rabbits. Into what magnitude of virulence remains to be seen.
Given the unknown nature of this organism, this is troubling news. Both rabbits are now overheating with infection and are in a feverish and delirious state. This is very troubling for an animal that cannot produce sweat nor regulate body temperature above eighty degrees. For a lack of a better definition, we have to call these Yin-Yang Twins parasitic infections without a known eradicating agent. We have given the rabbits a strong dose of antibiotics, though the Yin-Yang Twins are still growing more unexpected, unusual and wild with every passing hour. We still don’t know the severity of what we’re dealing with here. Until further results, we should remain cautious, vigilant, though hopeful that this is all just harmless dust blowing in the GidX7 wind.
We are waiting and looking for the rabbit’s defenses to kick in, for their bodies to produce a natural antibody to the corrosive effect of the Yin-Yang Twins. As of now, this natural defense has not activated. This is of some concern. It is quite possible the rabbits have no natural defense to something so alien, yet so vaguely familiar. The rabbits and Yin-Yang Twins are in a stage of adaptation, a battle of existence between antagonism or cooperation. Time and more blood work will confirm the outcome.
God speed to us all.
Dr. Leo Starling
Chief Science Officer
The Furman Corporation
ENTRY COMPLETE.
CHAPTER 7
SILENCE
Finishing the latest message from Doctor Starling, Theo realized his father was the biggest geek in the universe.
Theo also realized that his discovery of the bones from GidX7 had already faded from the limelight. Everyone’s focus had gone microscopic.
A brief local message from Ellie Lloyd popped up.
Ruawake?
She was only three doors down but Theo and the rest of the crew were still under precautionary quarantine.
On his Communication device, Theo typed: Yes.
Go v-t-v?
Sure, Theo typed as he hit the voice-to-voice icon on his keypad.
“You there?”
“Hey,” Ellie said.
“What’s up?”
“They say even local transmissions are going down indefinitely,” Ellie said.
“Seriously?”
“Yes,” Ellie answered. “The computer’s maxing out with data and images and synchronization with the Ark’s mainframe.”
“This is all cause of the skeleton,” Theo said.
“Yeah, that’s what I hear.”
“Finding the bones was just an accident. Kind of dumb luck,” Theo admitted.
<
br /> “Don’t say that. You’ve probably made like the most major scientific discovery since gravity or relativity,” Ellie said.
“You think?”
“It’s probably an exaggeration, so don’t go thinking you’re as smart as Newton or Einstein and don’t get me started with how smart Madame Curie was.”
“But I guess guys make all the great discoveries,” Theo said.
“Don’t get me started Theo Starling. Not in a time like now,” Ellie said, “just don’t get me started.”
“I’ll let you discover the next big thing,” Theo said.
“You’ll let me?”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t have to let me. I am perfectly capable of finding the next big thing without you letting me,” Ellie said. She was fired up, speaking quickly. “You think you have to let me find the next big thing.”
“No. I was joking,” Theo said. “You remember what they are? Jokes?”
“Ha-ha. You’re not funny,” Ellie said.
“It’s going to be okay. Let’s not stress out about this just yet.”
“But everyone is really concerned and confused and cautious. Like Red Alert cautious. What are those things growing on the bones?” Ellie asked.
“Not sure. Microbes or something like that,” Theo said. “Don’t worry so much.”
“How can I not worry?” Ellie asked.
Before Theo could answer Ellie, a frustrating message quickly popped up on his Communication device.
It read: COMMUNICATION DELAY = SIX HOURS. GOOD DAY.
All Theo heard was silence.
CHAPTER 8
THE AWAKENING
Back at the Ark, on the eleventh floor, Doctor Starling was sitting with his eyes on the medical screen and the rabbit’s.
Doctor Starling was playing his trumpet and Miles Davis was playing along with him, at least a recording and a virt-hologram version of the master of masters. The song Sketches of Spain was blaring and Doctor Starling was right in tune. While he appreciated other musical genres, jazz was the one he found most informative to the human condition, mostly because it required nimble improvisation.
In fact, jazz was best heard live. Doctor Starling marveled at the dexterity of the masters – Miles, Mingus, Coltrane, even the ancient swing of Benny Goodman. As a father, he felt it was his duty to educate his sons about the great works of art, even if they were truly disinterested in the melodic and sometimes discordant beeps and bops from another time.
Doctor Starling stopped playing his trumpet when an instant update flashed on his medical screen.
SUZUKI, SAM:
ABNORMAL TEMPERATURE RISE
A full thirty-six hours after the bone landed on Odyssey, the medical program noted a significant change in Sam’s vital signs and alerted Captain Barton, the medical committee back at the Ark and Doctor Starling of the change.
Sam had a basal resting temperature of 98.8 degrees. He ran hot. When there was a rise to 99.8 degrees, the program checked all vital signs and also noted that Sam’s blood pressure was yo-yoing in an unusual pattern. Vital signs were monitored automatically via a telemetry strip implanted under the skin of all residents of Odyssey.
Telemetry strips under the skin were like a Doctor’s nurses. They did it all – blood pressure, temperature, pulse, oxygen in the blood – and did it all automatically. While the strips didn’t replace a medical doctor, they were a very able nanobot assistant. The spread of the simple cold was a major concern in a confined space like Odyssey.
In his quarters, the medical program had already instructed Sam to provide a blood sample as well as a throat culture. Both procedures were routine and carried out painlessly with instructions by the medical program.
The program was just a voice from a video screen to most patients, “Place arm in this position. This will prick just a little. Comforting, though robotic words. Don’t cry, Sam. Please don’t cry. I am meant to be a painless medical program. Don’t cry. Please.”
With Sam’s samples running through the medical program diagnostic phase, Doctor Starling received the results on his computer screen back at the Ark.
At a basic level, a rise in temperature was not a major concern for Doctor Starling. Given the presence of unknown life aboard the shuttle, he received the information with a heightened level of concern. He was hoping for a simple answer to a simple question: why does Sam have a rise in temperature? The answer he was hoping would be just as simple. Perhaps something that was easy to treat, something Odyssey already had the meds for, perhaps it was just a common and treatable virus or the common cold that had no connection to the Yin-Yang Twins. Perhaps.
The unfortunate result of nanobot telemetry was that all senior crew aboard Odyssey and the medical committee back at the Ark learned about the medical situation simultaneously. There was no time for spin control.
While the medical committee knew that Sam’s throat culture was normal, they also knew they had other troubles. There was no presence of a virus or bacteria found. Good news, Doctor Starling thought. The blood, however, showed the true extent of the infectious problem.
As he read the further results, Doctor Starling realized there was a new illness brewing on Odyssey. It was an infection that he had subconsciously feared and blocked from his thought. Until now.
Sam’s electrolytes had gone crazy and there was a visitor swimming through Sam’s blood. It didn’t take long for the medical program to confirm that they were an exact match with the newest microbiotic entry in the medical database: the little Yin-Yang Twins.
By the time Doctor Starling got another three alerts from the medical program, he realized Odyssey and specifically his family was under attack. The Yin-Yang Twins had invaded both his son’s bloodstream. Even Harry Wolf was infected. Last on the infected list was classmate Ellie Lloyd. They were the only other Positives.
At a microscopic level, the alien invader existed in their sweat and in their blood. It had multiplied since exposure – growing, changing, nourishing, eating away at whatever it could lay its claws into. The organism made its quick journey through blood and guts and it would lodge near their vital organs just lying in wait for growth and adaptation and feeding time. While the Yin-Yang Twins did not like the unexposed, open air of the shuttle, they were very comfortable – almost too comfortable – inside the human and animal bodies of Theo, Ravi, Sam, Harry Wolf and the rabbits.
Doctor Starling sent an urgent text message to Theo and soon they spoke voice to voice. “You, Ravi, your friends Sam and Ellie and even Harry Wolf are infected with the Yin-Yang Twins.”
Theo’s face tightened as he heard his father’s words.
“How?”
“Sweat or saliva, it appears. A common exposure, I would guess. Now, please go to the Escape Pod,” Doctor Starling requested.
“Why?”
“Please go.”
“Tell me why?”
“Just go now,” Doctor Starling said more urgently.
“No way.”
“We need you to go. Now”
“I’m not going anywhere, except back to the Ark,” Theo protested.
“You can’t go back there right now. Okay?”
“No, that’s where I belong.”
“You’re infected.”
“I’m not sick. I feel great.”
“Don’t be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid. I just want to go home.”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“You have to be quarantined. Go in a hazmat suit. Please.”
“I don’t understand,” Theo said.
“You and the Twins are in an adaptation phase that could go smoothly or not.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your body has not yet produced an antibody. That means your body just isn’t fighting to destroy these Yin-Yang Twins. It’s the same case for the rabbits.”
“We’re not rabbits,” Theo said.
“The most successful parasi
tes are the one’s that learn to live off the host without killing the host. From the inside, they can destroy your organs.”
“How quickly?”
“We just don’t know. Not exactly.”
“Can’t you, at least, predict? Don’t you have a mathematical forecast model for everything? The model can predict everything, right? Tell me the prediction.”
“Theo, please, the future cannot be predicted accurately. I know many of my colleagues place their faith in what can mathematically be predicted. But this situation is different,” Doctor Starling said.
“Give me an idea,” Theo said.
“It depends on the actual growth rate. Our body wants them out. They want food. It’s a constant battle. You will get sick. It won’t be pretty. It won’t be easy. It might be deadly. God forbid it might be very deadly. I hope and pray that we’re wrong about this. The Yin-Yang Twins are in your body and in the rabbits and it looks like they don’t know when enough is enough.”
“What do you mean? You’re talking like they can think.”
“No. No. Absolutely not. They behave. They act.”
“How?”
“They will most probably behave like a terrible infection in your blood. I just don’t know how bad it will get.
Our bodies probably don’t have any immunity to them. It’s like an alien cancer. Do you understand?”
“But I don’t feel sick.”
“We’re at war with an alien microscopic organism. From what we’ve learned from the rabbits, infection will spread quickly. It’s just a theory – though a well established one on Earth – we can cure most parasites when we find the original host. Co-dependency might take dozens of generations. We don’t have the luxury of time.”
“Why not?”
“They live in us. They feed off of us. Compete for our food. At the worst – after generations – we may learn to live together. But for now, the nasty little buggers pose an unknown medical and bodily risk.”
“Is it really this bad?”
Odyssey Rising Page 5