by Chris Hechtl
“Okay, I'll need cultures from Jethro to create Royal Jelly for the others. A method to decode them so we'll know what is right and what's not. I'll look into how to trigger self-replication when we get to that point.”
“But you don't need the samples for Letanga to start off with, Doctor. And you have to remember, any samples you take can cause problems. In fact, I think the only way you can safely take them is with help,” the admiral said thoughtfully, looking up as he drummed his fingers on the desktop. “Yeah, I think the nanites will destroy them if they leave the host body.”
“Wonderful,” Nara sighed in exasperation. “Another thing to have to figure out. Joy.”
“But as I said, the initial group you can work on without playing with the jelly,” the admiral reminded her.
“I know. But I'm thinking long term. I'd like to get them all done in one go if possible,” she stated.
“I honestly don't know if that is possible, Doctor. The process is highly invasive for those who are not of the blood,” the admiral warned. “Start with those who have the Royal Jelly,” he ordered.
Nara nodded, eyes vacant, as she turned the problem over in her mind. “Oh, I'll need samples from all of them for comparison of course. I was going to use Jethro's as a baseline. I don't know how his varies with the others, for instance, his cousin. Are they the same or different?” Her eyes cleared to look into the admiral's.
The admiral grimaced but then nodded. So much for moving swiftly he thought. “Okay, slow and steady wins the race in the end. You need to do research. To rewrite the book on how to do the procedures.”
“Yes. On top of everything else I'm saddled with doing,” Nara said, running a hand through her hair and brushing it out of her eyes. “Like the resurrection project,” she reminded him.
Admiral Irons winced slightly. “Well, you've made some progress here. Enough to delegate some of the duties, right?”
“Yes. And Doctor Kraft has stepped up to handle the Federation medical, so that's one less thing off my to-do list.”
“No thanks to the idiots who drove you away from the job in the first place,” the admiral reminded her.
“Yeah, thanks for reminding me of that,” she drawled. He eyed her. “Remind me to send them a thank you card. If Pavel knew half the shit he was getting into …,” she shook her head.
“I imagine he has an inkling by now. Doctor Kraft is up for the challenge. Change of subject,” the admiral said cocking his head at her “You have some facilities; we're ramping up security around them. You need access to Jethro and each of the candidates. Can you get samples during the preliminary exams? They can be done at the RECON base, correct?”
She nodded. “We've scanned them a zillion times, so I know that won't trigger any internal security protocols. I know Jethro's latest medical scans are clouded or altered though. I may need help getting them sorted out.”
“Ask Bast,” the admiral stated, uploading a file and key authorization to her implants. She accepted it and then opened the file.
“What is this? And who is Bast?”
“She's in there. She is Jethro's A.I.” The doctor blinked. “That is under Deep Purple classification, Doctor,” the admiral said sternly. She nodded mutely in acknowledgment, but was clearly puzzled by the project. “You'll be installing A.I. in each of them.” Nara's eyes went wide. She turned to stare directly at the admiral. He nodded slowly. “That's right. Cadre have their own internal A.I. Many of these folks have the A.I. already; we just need to get them linked to a suit and introduce nanites along with a wake-up call to get them online and initialized. They'll need time to integrate with their hosts and the suit, and time to grow, stabilize, and so on and so forth.”
“Right. And you were the one chomping at the bit to get this going,” Nara reminded him.
“I know. I know how long it is going to take, so, I want to get the ball rolling now. I have a sneaking suspicion we're going to need them when we go after Horath,” he said.
Nara's eyes narrowed then she nodded. “Okay.”
“Go find some time to read and get caught up on what you need to do. Send me a list and any questions you've got. I know you will have them. Hell, they have them too. I just spent part of yesterday with them going over what questions they had. You're going to have fun fielding the medical questions they come up with.”
“Joy. Lucky me I suppose,” Nara said. She inhaled and then exhaled heavily. “Okay, I'll get it done, Admiral,” she said with a nod.
“That's the spirit,” the admiral replied with a dismissive nod.
<)>^<)>/
The preliminary medical exams were started by Doctor Thornby a day after she arrived at the RECON base and settled herself and her equipment into the small hospital complex. Jethro's workup was the easiest. It allowed her to get a baseline. She kept everything relatively noninvasive for the moment.
“I'm going to need proper scans and samples of your Royal Jelly from each of you. I don't suppose you can get Bast to bud off copies for me? This is a command on high. I've got the clearances,” she said.
Jethro looked at Bast on his HUD. She seemed upset with her ears flat out. “She's not happy about it. Perhaps with the clearances? And someone overseeing the security of the samples, ma'am? We need to make certain they are never compromised,” he stressed.
“I know. It's something we're definitely keeping an eye on,” she said as Letanga arrived in the room. She looked him over and then turned to Jethro. “We can get back to that later though.” She smiled as she made an entry on her tablet then turned to the new Neocat. “Okay, I can see a slight family resemblance,” she teased.
“Cousins, ma'am,” Jethro replied with an ear flick. She glanced at the leopard who nodded confirmation.
“Okay,” she said as she went over to a nearby bed and patted it. “Up here, big boy,” she said coyly. Letanga hesitated, then padded over to the bed.
He was clearly nervous, Jethro surmised. “Just go with the flow and do as you are told cousin and you'll do fine,” Jethro said with a nod.
“This stuff is about the level we medics have to go through to get our military medical implants and credentials,” Nara said soothingly.
“It is, ma'am?” Letanga asked as he settled himself.
“Well, most of it. Integrity, honesty, ethics—you've got a few parts I don't have, but we're in different fields after all. But it levels out … mostly.”
“Thanks. I think,” Letanga said, wrinkling his nose.
Nara chuckled and squeezed his arm in sympathy.
Once she had them both, Nara uploaded her ID, keys, and authorization to Jethro before she started to run a series of in-depth comparison scans of both of them. Each pass went deeper and was of a higher resolution so it took longer. She allowed them a break after the first hour to stretch and get a bathroom break in before they continued.
“This would have probably been easier when you were asleep, but you'd be restless and stuff,” Nara said as she attached a line to jack into their implants. “So, we do it the long tedious way,” she said.
“Always looking for an excuse to knock out your patients so you don't have to chat with them,” Jethro teased.
“Always,” the doctor said absently. Jethro looked over to Letanga, flicked his ears, and then went back to staring at the bulkhead. He wanted to do paperwork while he waited, but she wouldn't let him use his implants or move. Nor could he watch TV, so after a while he dozed.
<)>^<)>/
“Are you ready for the next step, Bast?” the doctor asked as she jacked in. She uploaded the proper files allowing her access. “Here is what you need.”
“Jethro has passed the psychological tests,” Bast stated through the gestalt. The doctor stiffened. “I will begin the budding process. It will take some time. Have a collection vessel ready.”
“Will do,” the doctor replied.
Bast took the opportunity to copy Jethro's Royal Jelly packets while he was sleeping once the do
ctor uploaded her authorizations to her through the jack port. While Jethro dozed, she drew from his limited fat reserve as well as the contents of his stomach to make the replicated components. She then had their nanites move them through his body to his skin. She then moved them out of his body and into a collection jar the doctor had available.
She was still uncomfortable about the process but understood the necessity if they were going to move forward successfully.
<)>^<)>/
Near evening a frazzled and tired Doctor Thornby poked the duo awake. They sat up. “I have to admit, with you sleeping it was a little easier. I guess I should have induced sleep a little earlier,” she said.
“You did that, ma'am?” Letanga accused.
“No, boredom did,” Jethro said, rolling his shoulders. “So, what is the next step, ma'am?” he asked.
“Well, I've got what raw data I can. I've run the preliminary comparison. I've got a database running the in-depth comparison now. I need to bring at least a small team in on this. I want to be able to hand off this part while I focus on the next step,” she said.
“Smart. Typical officer thing to do,” Jethro said with a nod.
“Thanks,” she said dryly as she sat on a stool. Jethro noted she was a bit shaky. He had a bit of concern for her. “Ma'am, if we could take you out to a late lunch?” his stomach growled on cue.
“Thanks, but I've got low blood sugar. Eating with two predators isn't my cup of tea anyway,” the doctor said with a wave of her hand. “My implants are handling the headache and blood sugar now. So, let's talk about the plan,” she said, looking at the duo blearily. “First, you've got to go through the psych exam. The rest of it,” she said, nodding to Letanga. “I understand you did already,” she said, looking at Jethro.
“I did, ma'am?”
“Bast informed me so, so I'm taking her word for it. It'll be a day or so for me to wade through the data. I have the gestalt, and Bast was kind enough to replicate your Royal Jelly without much fuss. I can see how it differs from your cousin's,” the doctor said, indicating a container.
“Keep it safe, Doctor. I removed my nanites from it before giving it to you so there are no self-destruct protocols,” Bast said, using Jethro's voice.
Nara blinked and then cleared her throat as Letanga stared at him. Jethro flicked his tail. “Ahem, okay, thank you for that. I will indeed be careful with it. We have a secure facility with guards available to keep an eye on security. We have a bioreactor ready to keep it viable while I dissect and examine it.” She grimaced. “I admit, I tinkered with Royal Jelly a few times years ago, but nothing as complex as this,” she said, indicating the vessel.
“Okay, so, we will go through the candidate's one or hopefully two at a time once I get someone trained to do the scanning process. Techs can do it without me. There is no need to tell them why, so secrecy should be maintained,” Nara said in a stern voice as she looked up to the heavens. “I am going to do it that way, and I am going to let you know beforehand.”
Letanga looked warily at Jethro. Jethro flipped his feet off the bed and sat there. He shrugged slightly and flicked his ears. Letanga copied him after a moment.
“Okay, once we get everyone scanned and processed, we'll work on the next step. That is,” she paused to look at them, “after you pass the psych exam and other tests I understand are lined up for you. And you've got a training syllabus to work on?” she asked, looking at Jethro. He nodded.
“Okay then, scat cats, I'm going to find me a bonbon and then something more substantial to eat. You go do the same elsewhere,” she said as the duo hopped off the beds.
Bast flicked her ears in humor like the two organic cats. Silently they padded out of the medical complex.
<)>^<)>/
Since Jethro and Letanga were a part of the senior leadership and Jethro already had his implants and A.I, they were called in to a meeting with Captain Lyon. They met the captain in his office in RECON and SPECOPS administration while the rest of the Cadre candidates were wrung through the medical wringer.
“I'm still getting settled in,” the captain said indicating the mess in the office. “And figuring out my personnel issues,” he said as the two cats reported to him. He waved a hand. “For the time being, let's hold off on the protocol, shall we? You two and Gunny Z'v'll are my senior leadership. That says a lot since there aren't any other officers in the Cadre at the moment,” he said with a shake of his head.
“That's … unsettling,” Letanga said slowly.
“Believe me, I know. It means I have to watch you while also handling everything else on my plate. Fortunately, there are junior officers in the SPECOPS community here. A few have been running things. They've had some issues since someone would come in and be senior and bollix everything up that the previous person had set up and had running. That's another thing I'm still working my way through,” the captain said as he indicated they should take a seat around the desk.
“Bast,” he said, looking directly at Jethro. “I don't have a proper holotable hooked up yet. But feel free to pop in here,” he said, indicating the map he'd been looking at. “When you need to contribute.”
Bast nodded on Jethro's HUD. Jethro felt his head nod under her control.
“That's it?” the captain asked, still eying the cat. After a moment, he shrugged as Letanga turned to him. “Okay.”
“What'd I see?” Letanga asked, clearly curious.
“Bast took control of my body,” Jethro explained. Letanga stared at him. “It's something you're going to have to get used to. Once your A.I. comes online, you're going to be one part of a team,” Jethro explained. “The soft gooey center of a hard wrapped candy I guess you could say.”
“Lovely,” Letanga said. He frowned, ears flat out, clearly wrestling with the concept and not liking what he saw.
“Yeah, jacking off in the rack just got a whole lot more interesting,” the captain quipped, making Jethro snort explosively, and Letanga crack a smile.
After a brief moment to let the levity pass, the captain's face schooled back into professional lines. “Gunny Z'v'll is borderline signing on with the Cadre. I understand he has some issues that need to be worked through,” the captain explained. “He's also handling a lot of the noncom load here, so he's off doing that instead of here in this briefing,” he explained.
Jethro nodded.
“As far as the other troops go, and well, yourself, how is everyone settling in?” the captain asked.
“So far so good, sir,” Jethro said, glancing at Letanga. Letanga flicked his ears in agreement. Jethro turned to look at the captain again. “No problems or complaints as far as I know, other than the usual grumbling about getting poked and prodded by the medics,” he said.
The captain smiled thinly, then shook his head. “So, situation normal,” he said. “They have only the faintest clue about how much poking and prodding we're about to endure,” he mused out loud. He shook himself after a moment.
“We were wondering why we're still in RECON housing, sir. Didn't the admiral say there is a base for us?” Letanga asked.
“It's not a status thing. We need to blend in for the moment,” the captain said. Jethro judged from the captain's tone that the captain had some misgivings about the Cadre Initiative or the timing. Or perhaps his own involvement? He wasn't certain.
“Okay, we're each in for a long recuperation period, and those of us who do not have the “blood” are in for even longer ones,” the captain said. “All but you I understand,” the captain observed dryly, nodding his head to Jethro. Jethro flicked his ears in amusement. “That is why, after considerable thought, I've decided I'm going last. It's not because I'm chicken; I'd much rather lead by example. But I can't lead if I'm flat on my back,” the captain said with a grimace. “I also just got here, so I'm still getting a handle on things and the people under me.”
Jethro nodded once. “Besides, as an officer I've been informed I'm not an operator like you two are. And this
project I have in mind is right up your alley,” the captain said.
“Sir?”
“I want you to survey sites for our new home, a proper base. For the moment, we've been assigned a small facility attached to the Marine RECON facility here on Antigua. I've seen it. It's just empty buildings.” He grimaced again. “I don't think it fits our needs. For one thing, there is no armory morgue, nor a workshop for the same. We're going to need them, plus places to train with the suits. We can't do that on the normal range without raising unwanted attention.”
“The good news is, we've got plenty of room to expand,” Letanga said. “I think the general idea is to let people come and go without anyone the wiser sir. It might serve for the first stage. Or as an entrance facility to a larger one?” He cocked his head.
“But the bad news is we're right here. We need to be out of sight,” Captain Lyon said, indicating the base. “And we need our own facilities. We don't want people looking over our shoulders. And we definitely do not want them to be able to do a flyover.”
“I'd say that means underground if possible, sir. Otherwise, we'd need to be on a dedicated platform in space or on a moon,” Letanga mused.
“Interesting idea. The military leased this entire area for a century or so. I think …,” the officer frowned. “Scout this area,” he said, pulling up a map and indicating a spot far from the main base.
Jethro and Letanga glanced at the map. The captain was indicating a mountain area. “Sir?”
“I think there is an old abandoned mine there. We might be able to expand it. Get some engineers, you know those Spacebees involved. Have them dig out a warren for us,” the captain mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. His fingers played with the zoom, zooming in as tight as the resolution would allow. “We're going to need better maps,” he muttered. “Topographical too,” he growled.
Jethro flicked his ears. He glanced at his cousin who shrugged and flicked his tail. “Yes, sir. Out of sight out of mind.”
“I hope you aren't claustrophobic,” the captain replied, looking up to eye the duo critically.