Zero Time

by M. P. Swinnerton

  After Zon reminded them about a similar case quite some time ago, research into the subject matter was carried out by the neurological staff and it was discovered that a similar case had happened once before when a certain alien race had tried to attack Planet Zero by releasing chemical and biological germs and gases into the air. This had caused quite a disruption to the GM population when they found they could not remember what they were supposed to be doing for a few hours, until the Zelites, who were not affected by this attack, had managed to diagnose and give antidotes to the GMs before any major harm could come to them. This case had almost been forgotten, but fortunately a record had been kept in the archive computer's memory bank, and the specialists were able to confirm Zerek's diagnosis. Zerek unfortunately, when researching by himself for a diagnosis of his problem, had forgotten which programs he had actually previously checked and so missed out on finding this information himself. He had jumped a couple of relevant programs and, of course, one of them just happened to be the one that contained the description of the illness.

  Zon visited Zerek regularly and explained to his brother that the findings had proved Zerek's self-diagnosis to be correct and now the only thing to do was to wait for the specialists to come up with the correct treatment. The only thing that really perturbed Zon and the specialists was why this had happened to Zerek. What had been the cause of the malfunctioning of his brain? So, okay, they would no doubt find a cure, but what had initiated the problem? Nobody else seemed to be developing any of the same symptoms that Zerek demonstrated yet. Yet?

  But this could still mean that possibly in the future others could be affected. Had there been another invasion from an unknown source?

  Zon was extremely perturbed by this incident and a niggling fear was working its way into his thoughts. He was becoming more and more convinced that someone, or something that had been trying to undermine the ruling enclave to gain controlling power, had in fact insidiously attacked Zerek.

  The best thing to do, he decided, was to call on his friend. Zenith, whom he knew would probably be able to suggest some way of finding out what had happened. So off he went back to his office in Washington, summoning Zenith to meet him there.

  When the situation had been explained in detail to the GM man, he hesitated for some considerable time before suggesting to Zon that, due to the circumstances of Zerek's illness, it would be wise to inoculate all the Zenith population with the antidote, when discovered, as Zenith was pretty well convinced that some attack had been made on Zerek, and no doubt other Zelites could also become affected soon, even though they had not yet demonstrated the symptoms clearly. The GM man insisted that Zon himself should be the first one to have such a protective measure.

  The Zelite Leader confirmed that he agreed and immediately got on the link to the neurological unit to see if any progress had yet been made in this respect. The Chief Neurologist assured Zon that everything was being done to help Zerek and great steps forward had already been made in isolating an antidote to enable them to cure him. Zon was getting frustrated at the sluggishness of the research and ordered them to put more men on the case.

  “We must get his sorted out straight away,” he told them, “we have no time left to spare, as other people may develop the same symptoms soon and we must get on top of this problem before a major crisis happens.”

  Meanwhile, Zenith was getting together a crack group of biological warfare men to sweep the areas in the vicinity of Zerek's apartment and to work outwards until they found the source of this calamity.

  On going through the files, a remedial cure was swiftly discovered for this affliction. It appeared that an attack on the patient's neurological system had deprived him of the essential magnesium that kept the brain function operating correctly, causing the loss of memory. A massive dose of magnesium was injected into Zerek's brain and, though he felt quite ill for a few days, he slowly recovered and fully regained his correct brain functions, much to his relief. During this panic period, Zon had insisted that his siblings were checked regularly for Alzheimer's disease and they all, including Zon himself, received a preventative inoculation to prevent the spread of this disease.

  While Zenith was researching the massive amount of documentation on this subject, Zon took a different approach and started thinking in a completely different direction. He had many sleepless nights thinking about this problem and began to wonder if perhaps it was just a malfunctioning of their genes.

  He thought to himself, “Maybe it is just old age, we are after all still only human beings and things can wear out even with the best of care and intentions. Could it possibly be that we have missed out a factor when embarking on the road to longevity? Even the best of our renewal and reviving tablets, which we take regularly, could cause us to develop an abnormality after such a long period. A lack of magnesium, or whatever it is that is causing this disease, could have occurred gradually over a long period of time.”

  When Zon finally made up his mind to call Zenith to inform the GM man what he believed to be the cause, Zenith surprised him by interrupting the Leader, even before Zon had time to express his opinion, and excitedly told Zon that the source of the problem had been found. During the biological sweep search on Zerek's apartment, a strange factor had been analyzed. Tiny microscopic insects had invaded Zerek's sleeping facilities. Blood-sucking microbes infested his air cushion pillows, and although invisible to the naked eye, they were very visible to the scanner utilized to search for any explanatory reasons for Zerek's disease. The microbes were inspected under powerful microscopes and after intense investigation the cause of the disease had been found. These blood-sucking micro-organisms were living on the proceeds of the blood element necessary for maintaining a healthy memory.

  Zon breathed a sigh of relief to hear that at least now they knew what was the cause of Zerek's illness, but, and he knew that this was a big but, they would still have to find out where they were coming from and how they got there in Zerek's bed. Immediate orders were given for Zerek's apartment and the surrounding areas to be sealed off.

  Intense, concentrated search beams were installed in the apartment to pick up the route by which the microbes had entered. It took the search rays only a few minutes to pick up the culprit.

  During one of Zerek's trips to Outland visiting Stef, accompanied by Zon, Zerek had seen a tiny puppy dog lying on one of Stef's couches. He had gone over to stroke it and played with it for a little while. Zerek and his family had never been allowed to have any animals as they were considered to be unhygienic by the Zelites, but this little bundle struck a chord with his softer side, causing him to drop his normal stiff guard for a while. The animal was really gorgeous and even Zon was enraptured by its cuddly charm. It was a fascinating creature and as it romped and played with Zerek, who willingly teased it good-naturedly with dog toys and balls, Zon smiled to himself and thought that he had never seen his brother act so soppy.

  Stef had also noticed the young man's attraction to the puppy and, picking the animal up in her arms, she placed it on Zerek's lap, telling him that he could have the dog and it was a present to him from her. Zerek hesitated, as he was fully aware that Zon frowned on the Zelites, particularly the crème de la crème of the Zelites, accepting gifts from other sects. Zon saw his brother's dilemma and hastily told Zerek that he should accept Stef's gift and there would be no harm in him taking the sweet little puppy back to his own quarters.

  Nobody had previously linked the animal with Zerek's illness, but now it was blatantly clear that the microbes were living on the little animal and had spread themselves onto Zerek's bed and thus infested him when he slept.

  During the period that the Outlanders had been surviving in the Alpine Region of Italy, they and their animals had been exposed to infested grass, etc. It was fairly obvious now that the dogs had become infected by these blood-sucking parasites during this time in the Alps. The Zelites were aware that such microbes and parasites did exist in the ground and outside g
rassy areas, but their own cities and living quarters were kept strictly under the protective sterile coverings so that, as far as they were concerned, these microbes, etc. carried no threat to the Zelites. The unfortunate Outlanders had not realized that some of their pets had been infested with these microbes, as they tried to keep themselves and their animals as scrupulously clean as possible.

  Zon ordered that the animal be destroyed immediately. He knew that his brother would be extremely upset by this, but he also knew that this was the best and most direct solution to cleaning up Zerek's apartment. Zon also ordered a cleaning squad to be sent to Stef's apartment, demanding at the same time that any dogs living in her domain should be destroyed straight away.

  Zenith knew that Zon's orders were not to be disobeyed, but he also knew that they would cause a massive amount of disgruntlement and unhappiness amongst the Outlanders. He made up his mind not exactly to allow the GM Zelites to disobey Zon's orders, but to discreetly close their eyes to them. He felt there must be some other way to sort out this problem without acting as drastically as Zon had demanded. Instead he dispatched a squadron of cleaning robots, under the leadership of some GM Veterinary Supervisors, to disinfect and thoroughly clean all the dogs in Outland. He explained his plan to Stef's father and this man readily agreed, knowing that Stef would be furious at Zon's harsh attempt to solve the problem by ridding Outland of all their dogs.

  After a considerable amount of time spent under treatment, Zerek slowly regained his full brain faculties and his memory gradually became as sharp as it ever was before the infestation.

  When he finally returned to his apartment, Zon explained to him that he had had to destroy his pet, as it had been so badly bug-ridden there had been no alternative but to put the animal down. Zerek was distraught for a while, but eventually accepted his brother's ruling that this had been the only solution to the quandary.

  Nothing escaped Zon's attention for long and, on a regular visit to Stef, who had returned to her own clan while Zon had been busy with the Ottos, he happened to notice that she still had a couple of young dogs playing out in one of the yards attached to her Manor. He was rather annoyed at this sight and asked Stef why the animals were still living there. She assured him that pets were no longed allowed inside living quarters and described the radical disinfection and cleaning system that had been installed to eradicate any trace of the parasites and associated microbes.

  “Listen, honey, you know that none of us would ever dream of going against your wishes and if you still insist that our pets be destroyed we will do so immediately, but bear in mind that you will no longer be welcome in our town and you will most definitely not be welcome in my home, you may be absolutely sure of that. You may be the Planet Leader, Zon, but you must give and take a bit also, such as in this case. There are often other solutions to problems without having to do what you immediately think is the only option.”

  The man glanced out at the dogs and, much to Stef's pleasant surprise, started to guffaw loudly. Then as he managed to curtail his laughter, he said to Stef, “My goodness, woman, you certainly do take liberties, don't you?”

  “Sweet, darling man, does that mean that we can keep our pets?”

  He nodded, but, walking over to the woman and staring piercingly into her eyes, he told her that a careful check had to be kept on all the animals and if there was any slight suspicion that any infestation was taking place again, there would be absolutely no hesitation in carrying out his orders to destroy them all once and for all. Stef was quick to show her gratitude for Zon's leniency and the two quickly became absorbed in much more pleasant things than thinking about pets.

  CHAPTER 36

  Zon knew for certain that there was going to be some difficulty in the situation, but he had decided to hand his sisters, Zargaret and Zeileen, the thorny task of explaining the existence of Uvella to Stef. After many tantrums, Stef finally reluctantly accepted that there was not much she could do but recognize the situation for what it was.

  One condition she did specify was that Zargaret and Zeileen must persuade Zon not to take Uvella as his officially recognized wife, like herself, promising that if Zon never brought the other woman to his living quarters in Santa Barbara then she herself, would agree to accept Uvella becoming Zon's mistress and she would not cause any trouble for them.

  Of course, Stef was deeply hurt in knowing that Zon had agreed to fulfill such an obligation towards Uvella, but she gallantly made her mind up to ignore the implications. Zon did manage to put off his official Unification with Uvella, but agreed to allow her to be his mistress and he afforded her every right to the children whilst they lived in his quarters in Paris. The pair had a happy relationship and Zon treated Uvella with tremendous respect and tenderness whenever they came together. He never made great demands on her and managed to keep his wife and mistress both content.

  Stef was absolutely delighted when she became pregnant. She had these strange cravings for odd combinations of food, and Zon tried to insist that she took special supplements of vitamins instead of eating these peculiar mixtures that made him feel nauseous when he watched her. Stef was reluctant to change her old habits, however, and explained to Zon that she would become much more content and happy by eating rhubarb and custard than taking scores of vitamin pills. Zon did make her promise to be examined by the Zelite doctors every month until she gave birth, and was checked for any malfunctioning of the fetus, to which she reluctantly agreed.

  It was strange for Zon to see his lady becoming larger and larger, and he was sometimes morbidly fascinated to watch her abdomen move when their baby kicked in Stef's womb. It had been such a rare occurrence for females to give birth on Planet Zero that Zon wanted to witness every slight change in Stef. Her body was like a temple to him and he became totally obsessed with checking out her new bodily measurements. Every week he would take out a notebook and write down the new readings. He noted down how large her abdomen was; how large her breasts had become and even, to her utter amazement, how big her bum had become. Stef was rather embarrassed by Zon's inquisitiveness in her pregnancy and would often push him away from her when he insisted on placing his hands on her stomach to feel the baby move.

  “Honey, please don't fuss over me so much, you are making me feel claustrophobic. It is only a natural thing that is happening to my body and you will be able to see enough of the baby once it is born,” she would keep saying to him.

  Zon had not been present when his other children from Uvarna were born and had not spent any time with Uvarna during her pregnancies but this time he insisted that he wanted to witness the whole process of the growth of his offspring from conception to birth. Every day he ordered a specialist to examine Stef and listen to the baby's heartbeat to ensure that no problems were encountered.

  He also insisted that his buddy, Zenith, should be there at the birth. He wanted Zenith to feel the same joy that he would feel when his baby was born and he ordered that Zenith be present with him when the little one came into this life. The more Stef protested about this intrusion into her private stuff, the more Zon insisted that he must have the GM man present to witness the birth.

  Of course, Stef was not aware that the reason why Zon felt so strongly about this was because he knew this was to be one of the closest moments that the two men could share and he wanted this occasion to be remembered and celebrated together in the future. He secretly wished it could have been Zenith that was having his child and not Stef; he loved the man so much. Stef had been confident that Zon would not insist on Zenith's presence right throughout the whole act of birth delivery. She had presumed that Zon intended Zenith to be present, but only in an outer room, and not for him to be physically there at the actual parturition, but when the time eventually came for her to give birth, she felt totally horrified and humiliated to see the GM man witnessing all her writhing and screaming. As there was nothing she could do at this stage, she concentrated on trying to control the pain and managed to ignore the adde
d discomfiture she had to endure due to his presence.

  The whole scene also fascinated the GM man and, as he had never witnessed the birth of a child before, he was spellbound by the entire delivery procedure. He felt really close to Zon during the entire birth and squeezed his hand tightly when baby Ston arrived yelling his little heart out with a wonderful pair of strong, healthy lungs. Zon was so excited at that precise moment that he grabbed his friend closely and kissed him rapturously on the mouth in full view of all the medical staff.

  Zenith was aware that all eyes were on them in astonishment and he quickly pushed Zon towards Stef, whispering to him to go and kiss Stef and, out loud, he laughingly defused the situation by saying that the excitement had got the better of Zon and he had just had to celebrate in whatever manner was available.

  During the first few months after the birth of his son, Zon agreed to allow Stef to go and stay with their baby at her parents until Ston was old enough to be weaned. Stef had been badly affected by the presence of Zenith at her very delicate time of giving birth, and had been reluctant to have any close encounters with Zon for the time being. She was still shocked at the thought of seeing her husband kiss another man on the mouth, but could get no satisfaction from Zon when she asked him to explain why he had done this.

  Stef spoke to her parents about this incident and they both assured her that it was all probably just due to the excitement that Zon was feeling over becoming a father to their child; although behind closed doors, out of Stef's earshot, they too expressed their concern to one another.

  However, the incident was soon forgotten and Stef was so happy with her little child that she did not give any more thought to what had happened. Stef and her son soon returned to live happily once more with Zon, and nothing more was said about it.