“I want to know what is going on? Is it the nanites?” Sam asked. “Admiral can you check?” he demanded as a nurse came in pushing a gurney.
“I can get up,” Robby said, struggling weakly. Sam pushed her down and looked up imploringly to the admiral.
Irons knelt and put a hand on her shoulder. He felt Proteus launch nanites into her body, but the nanites within the doctor's body immediately put up a fight. Before the AI withdrew he discovered the woman had been infected.
“She's infected,” Proteus reported. “And the nanites are killing anything that enters her body, including the infection.”
“That's good right?” Sam demanded.
“I don't know.”
Irons scanned her body and then frowned. “Doctor, did you stop to think of what this is doing to your fetus?” he asked.
Robby looked up, pale. “I'm... I'm pregnant?” her face crumpled into tears and sobs as her husband wrapped his arm around her. She shook, crying. “I'm sorry,” she sobbed, over and over.
The admiral sighed, stepping aside to let the nurses in.
...*...*...*...*...
Several hours later the team watched helplessly. The virus had infected the embryo and destroyed it, and the two partners were stricken with grief. Doctor La Plaz returned to work, he came back with an updated version of the nanites. He had used her readings and the data on the new virus to update the nanites. These unlike the E-1101 batch had a connection method as well, a method to remote watch and control the nanites. E-1101's version didn't have that, they had overlooked that necessity in their haste.
Robby was resting comfortably in a hospital bed, out of her suit. The doctor gave her boosters of the nanites, and they seemed to help, her pain immediately eased. The spread of the virus was halted, and her immune system actually begins to adapt to develop antibodies and fight it off.
Robby cried, clutching at her now barren abdomen. Sam never left her side, holding her hand.
A portable scanner was brought in, they did a quick scan of her and then withdrew. The medical nanites performed as expected, but they had a consequence they hadn't planned on. They were at war, with the doctor's body as a battlefield and both sides took no prisoners. The nanites waged a scorched earth attack on the virus, taking them apart at the molecular level, as well as any cell infected. Unfortunately for her this meant her entire reproductive system and the three week fetus inside. She was thrown into early menopause.
Her husband berated her as he tenderly held her hand. “You little idiot!” he said over and over.
She shushed him, fighting back her own tears. At least now she was stable, though she was still running a light fever. They had her resting comfortably in the hospital. “I couldn't stand it anymore, the little faces... the suffering. Someone had to do something.”
“And you thought that someone had to be you.”
“Well, I didn't know I'd get infected.”
“Your suit is self-sealing doctor, but the pathogens were in the air and on the surface of the syringe. You unfortunately didn't sterilize it before you injected yourself,” Sprite said. “That is the leading theory anyway.”
“Oh.”
“Were you trying to be the hero?” Helen demanded over the radio link. The woman closed her eyes, putting her hands over her now empty belly.
“Helen... enough. She's been through enough, paid a heavy enough price,” her husband said. She squeezed his hand in thanks and comfort.
“Besides, I'm going to put her over my knee and wail the shit out of her ass the first chance I get,” he growled. That got a gurgled laugh from her as she hugged him.
“I deserve it,” she cried and then broke down into sobs.
“Yeah, I know you do,” he murmured, rubbing her back. “Scared the shit out of me...” Helen left them alone, closing the connection.
...*...*...*...*...
Phoenix, Sprite, and the admiral were trying to keep an eye on the big picture, but it was hard. They had yet to find out how effective the EMP weapon was, and predicting the spread of the current crop of pathogens was problematic.
Unfortunately summer weather was clouding over the area. Radar from Phoenix wasn't much of a help, the AI couldn't reconfigure the radar array to get a good enough resolution. The array was designed to pick up objects at range in space, not to see through clouds and pick out details on the surface and be able to differentiate between terrain and other objects... and certainly not see nanites on the surface of a planet.
A follow up drone was planned. Jerry and Hank stated they would get on it... just as soon as they had six solid hours outside their suits. Irons couldn't blame them so got started on the project on his own.
...*...*...*...*...
Two days after Robby injected herself it seemed she'd survive. Helen arrived later that morning in a one way flight with a team at her back.
Helen and her staff moved to Hazard in a series of flights, each one way. Apparently she'd commandeered quite a few aircraft to get the team moved.
One of the first things Helen did was march over to the hospital. She nodded to the weary staff on duty, but passed them in favor of finding the Daniels.
She balled out Robby for self-testing, something the admiral heard even outside the building. He winced, he hadn't heard how loud Helen Richards could be.. and didn't ever want to hear it again. He noted her team and raised an eyebrow.
It was a mark on how far they had come that they didn't need Hazmat suits, every one of the team was inoculated against all the latest viruses. They also brought vaccines for the population, and distribution was immediately set up right there on the tarmac. By the time Helen was finished with the Daniels, Ted Zane had the impromptu clinic up and running and the first groups vaccinated.
...*...*...*...*...
Kong caught Neo otter pick pockets. Some were working the refugee camps, one had a mask on and had been going through the purses and wallets of people too sick to fight back. Another was going through the pockets of the dead. He warned them to knock that crap off as he picked up the leader by the scruff of his neck. “We don't need that shit. You want people to remember Neo's for taking advantage of them when they are sick? Well do ya chump?” he demanded, shaking the otter.
“Uh...No, no, no sir, no nnooo,” the otter chattered.
“Then give it back,” Kong demanded, setting him down hard.
The otter squeaked indignantly and then sighed and tossed the watch to the angry woman. He turned and flicked his whiskers. “I suppose you want your stuff back too?” he asked ingeniously, taking out a wallet and watch.
“Why you little...” Kong snarled. The otter laughed and tossed the items up into the air and then took off, scampering under a nearby carriage. Kong grabbed at the wallet and glittering watch and pocketed them. He turned but the other otters were gone. “Damn little shits!”
“Better to be a small pile of crap than a big one!” an otter called from a rooftop and then was gone. Kong looked up, snorted, and then chuffed at himself and the others looking around.
“What are you people looking at? Move along,” he growled, knuckle walking back to his bar.
Chapter 22
Doctor Daniels spent several days recovering from the virus, and the team used her readings to refine the nanites. After three days of successful tests on animals they began inoculating the staff, then the police and uninfected city folk. There was a tiny sample of uninfected city folk by that time.
The admiral reluctantly aided in the effort. He created the medical replicators. Once Helen was briefed and on-board with the project and they had positive results from the control group they went into full production.
Each of the phases of testing went well, including updating the nanites and even using a remote kill switch. Deliberate exposure of pathogens was attempted, they were immediately killed by the nanites. Doctor Salt suggested lining the patient's esophagus, mouth, and nose with the nanites, they could screen for airborne pathogens there, th
us saving damage to the rest of the body. The updated version proved very effective and minimally damaging to the patient.
When they had production going smoothly and no signs of problems from those who had the nanites, Helen transmitted the data using a public encryption key Sprite set up. Soon Landing, Gotham, and Metropolis each had medical Nano factories up and running. Her staging augmented individuals in each of those cities was finally coming into fruition.
They sent out regular updates with the encryption, and after a day the major cities reported the first nanites were being injected into the population.
The team also started work on an airborne nanite designed to protect the animals on the planet. It was slow going however, there were too many animals to try to protect, and each nanite pack would have to be designed to work with each species. Doctor La Plaz called it an impossible task, and focused on the killer nanites instead. Eventually the other doctors agreed and gave up the project. They would just have to accept some losses in the animal kingdom, there was no way to protect them.
...*...*...*...*...
Sprite caught the telltale implant signature of a familiar Veraxin just as Defender noted it. “Great, what does he want. Like we need the complication right now,” Sprite muttered to the other AI.
Defensive systems coming online,” Defender reported.
“Why?” Irons asked turning as a karat was placed on his HUD. He slowed his turn, immediately noting the tag assassin and red threat assessment. Not good, he thought, looking around the room. There were dozens of people with him, all working on various projects.
“I thought I'd just stop by to look you up Irons,” Ole Blue said. Irons turned fully, raising an eyebrow. “What, can't a pair of old timers talk?” the Veraxin chittered.
Irons snorted. “Something tells me you aren't here to talk old times,” Irons replied warily. He looked around with his implants, noting the people were now looking up, stopping what they were doing to poke others or to look for possible cover. Not that they'd find any with nanites involved. There were too many people here to shield.
The Veraxin cackled. “I just thought I'd pass on the message. It seems you're going to be meeting your maker soon,” the Veraxin said, lashing his body with active scans. He went over to Kong's bar and picked up a bottle and poured himself a stiff shot.
Defender put up a false front, absorbing the scan and sending back a false return. From the outside the Veraxin would only see a basic military implant. The Veraxin looked at him, somehow amused by what he had seen. He downed the shot and then poured himself another.
“Now?” Irons asked casually, watching Defender spin up his shields to full and ready his systems. He was at half power, he regretted that, but there wasn't anything he could do about it now.
“Oh no, I figure you can be a hero. Get your glory. Then when they're done throwing flowers at your feet and forget about you, we'll have that date.”
“Really?” Irons asked casually. “Why not now?”
“In due time admiral. In due time,” the alien cackled. He downed his drink slammed it down onto the bar and then walked off into the night. Irons watched him go.
...*...*...*...*...
Solaximara: survived the plague and came out on top. He was secretly smug over the entire ordeal, he'd taken credit for a lot of the work Hank and Nohar had put in.. Some of his followers had died, the otter twins in town, Maggie the bar maid, but others who had normally looked at him with contempt now tolerated him. Kong was one such being, he could be useful later.
It was a pity his barmaid had died however, he could have used her right now, she had been about to go into heat. Besides, she would have helped keep Kong on his side. He sighed.
Backing the admiral seemed the right way to go, Governor Oman's star was clearly on the decent and fading fast. His abandoning the population to save his own hide had backfired. Even though his puppet master Osiris was trying to spin it as a means to keep command and control, it wasn't washing with many.
What really amused him was the media. Jerry Richards and a handful of reporters had shown up in Hazard now that the major crisis had passed. They had done interviews with the survivors, many pointed out the sacrifice of Rajar and other Neo's.
Solaximara had milked the story for all it was worth, holding a brief silent vigil for the young Neolion and for all of the others who gave their lives so that others would live. The young lion's was particularly touching, it showed he not only gave up his vaccine to save a young mother with cubs, but he had then been infected, and instead of seeking treatment he'd stayed at his post, contained in his hazmat suit until the virus had killed him.
The red Neolion didn't let his sacrifice be in vain, he planned on egging Hodges and others into making a memorial to the stubborn will to live, with the Neolion as the centerpiece. He already had a sculptor lined up.
Then there were Neo's like Nohar, Hank McCoy, and Jerry, all prime examples of hard working Neos. Yup, the tide of political change was changing, and he planned to ride the crest when it did.
...*...*...*...*...
Phoenix passed over the site of the ground zero infection. Sensors peered down through the atmosphere, probing with uncaring eyes. The AI however did care, and what he found disturbed him. He immediately put a call in to Sprite.
“Admiral!” Sprite said anxiously, making Irons pause.
“What now?” Irons asked, holding a hand up to indicate to the others in the room that he was talking with someone else. Nohar nodded. Helen rolled her eyes.
“We're in deep admiral. That damn thing, it's all been one distraction! The viruses... it's genius!” Sprite said.
“Slow down commander, start slower. Remember who you're talking to.”
“Right, sorry. We don't have a lot of time. The viruses and nanites are distractions for the real endgame.”
“Wait, what?” Irons asked, blinking. His right hand rose palm up. A holo appeared, projecting the image of the planet from space.
“I just got this from Phoenix,” Sprite said. A box karat appeared around something and then the image zoomed. As it did the image shifted so the ground was now palm down. “And again,” she said, zooming once more. An image formed, one of an alien artifact under the cover of a building.
“What the hell is it?” Nohar asked.
“You of all people in this room might of guessed. I thought the Xeno AI, there has to be one here, I thought it was making a bunch of nano factories. But it's not,” Sprite said, overlaying the image with a gravitational scan. The scan was all shades of colors, with white being the highest intensity. That white was in a recognizable pattern, at least to someone like Irons.
Irons instantly recognized the readings and swore softly. “It's a damn planet buster. How the hell did they program that thing...”
“Wheels within wheels admiral. The organic virus package was to throw us off the scent and make people scatter away from ground zero. The nanites were stage two, they kept making new viruses as well as themselves. Like you said, had we gone in with a nuke it would have kicked them into the atmosphere to seed the entire planet.”
Irons nodded, catching on. “And the... you said Xeno AI driving this thing used all that as a cover to build the bomb. Smart.”
“Very smart. Also very much almost done admiral. I can't be certain from these readings...”
“I can,” Proteus responded. “Admiral by my estimate the nanites are near completion. About twenty three standard hours away from deployment.”
“Shit,” Nohar breathed. “We went through all this for nothing?”
“No, we'll kill it.”
“It won't be easy admiral,” Sprite cautioned, highlighting structures around the perimeter of ground zero. “Gravity emissions here, most likely shield emitters.”
“Which explains why the EMP wasn't effective,” Irons replied.
“Exactly,” Sprite replied triumphantly. “Ideas?”
“Not a whole lot we can do. A bomb will be sh
rugged off.”
“Ion blast admiral?” Nohar asked.
“Nothing around to make the ion cannon with. I'd love it but no. Same for a gravity bomb. It would take the shield down but might set off the planet buster.”
“Ideas?”
“One very stupid and possibly suicidal one,” Irons replied grimly.
...*...*...*...*...
Nohar looked at the little red air car they'd appropriated for the task. Ironically it was the one the admiral had been using since he'd arrived. Someone had borrowed it with his permission, but now here it was. “You sure about this?” he asked, arms crossed as he turned to John.
Irons was busy wrapping coils of appropriated copper and superconductor wire around his waist and across his torso. Hopefully if his plan worked Proteus would be able to use it for feeder material for additional shielding since most likely his shields wouldn't have enough power.
“It's all we've got.”
“You mean you're all we've got sir,” Nohar said, golden eyes troubled. “I wish there was another way,” he said. He'd seen the images of the nanite fields. There was no way across that, no way and still be alive on the other end. Lava was less scary than that silver sand. He was fairly certain this was a one way trip.
“You and me both. But we can't. That thing is only vulnerable now because it's on the surface under that shield bubble. The nanites around it are defending it and daisy chaining material to it to build the damn thing. I'm betting once it's online the Xeno AI will have the nanites bore into the ground, passing the bomb down a tube to the core.”
“Shit,” Nohar muttered.
“We'll get it done.”
“Try to come back in one piece,” Nohar said, clasping arms with the admiral. Irons nodded. “And if at all possible, bring the car back? It's a rental,” he stage whispered.
Irons laughed as they broke the handshake. Nohar stepped back and came to attention and saluted. Irons straightened and returned the salute. “Good hunting sir,” Nohar said as Irons broke the salute.
“I'll be back,” Irons replied, climbing into the air car and starting her turbines.
Plague Planet (The Wandering Engineer) Page 53