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Chapter 40 - Protocol

Samuel and the Doctor popped onto a green, grassy island in the middle of the sea. It was a beautiful day there and the sun shone brightly.

The Doctor nodded, "Odd sort of day for here."

Samuel walked with his Dad to the small cottage. After he knocked on the door, he put his hands in his pockets and looked back at his son. "Do you know who's here?"

"No." Samuel told him and looked around. "Where are we?"

"Taste the air, son. Feel the spin. Where do you think?"

"This feels like….Scotland?"

The Doctor grinned. "Close. Good job."

The door opened and Doctor Banner appeared in the doorway. "Oh, John! Please come in."

The Doctor and Samuel joined Doctor Banner in the small home. As they walked into the home, they smelled a fresh pot of coffee. Samuel looked around and saw a laboratory had been set up inside of the home. A blanket on the sofa showed that Doctor Banner had apparently only stopped working to eat, or sleep on the sofa.

The Doctor noticed it, too. "Sleeping on the sofa?"

"Yeah." Doctor Banner nodded. "Natasha slept in the bed last night. There was a storm, and I was worried if she popped away…"

The Doctor put his hands in his pockets. "Yeah. Good idea. I'm sorry I haven't been by lately-"

"Nah, it's alright. Exton said you had some…family emergency. Is everyone alright?"

The Doctor smiled. "Yes. Thank you. Umm. This is Doctor Samuel Bennett."

Doctor Banner turned and shook Samuel's hand. "Ah! Samuel. Like John's son."

Samuel grinned. "A very common name."

The Doctor pointed at him, "This is Doctor Bruce Banner, Samuel. He has, a unique problem."

Doctor Banner looked suspiciously at Samuel. "Another Doctor, huh? What's that about?"

"There's nothing to it." The Doctor assured him. "Samuel is a gifted scientist. He might be able to help."

"What are you like, fourteen?"

Samuel ran his hand through his hair. "Eighteen, actually."

Doctor Banner nodded, unconvinced. "Right."

Samuel rose his eyebrows and looked at his Dad.

The Doctor pat Bruce Banner on the shoulder. "If you don't want him to look over what you have, I'll understand. It's quite alright."

Doctor Banner crossed his arms and continued to size up Samuel. After a few seconds, he pointed towards the computer. "Go ahead. I've not made much progress at all."

Samuel nodded and went to sit down at the computer.

The Doctor rubbed his back of his own neck.

"Get a trim?" Doctor Banner asked.

"Yeah. Me and Samuel both. We had to stop over in Washington to see some people before we popped by. Natasha good company? I felt like you needed someone, besides Exton, to talk to."

Doctor Banner smiled. "Yeah. She's…..well. Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"A woman? I mean, an agent…yeah. But-"

The Doctor smiled, "Oh, I assure you. If the other guy shows up, she'll be alright. I wouldn't have reactivated her for this otherwise."

Doctor Banner nodded his head. "She mentioned you were asking about….DNA experiments?"

"Yes. I remember someone working on something like that. Do you know anything about that?"

"Well, there was this woman who was certain about some….super solider project that they used during the war. She found some paperwork about it, but it wasn't complete."

"Really?"

"We all thought it was crap, but she met up with another scientist. I can't remember her name. A neurologist. Anyway, she said that the human brain is wired to learn planetary physics during infancy. She believed that defined humans as ummm…."

"Aliens."

Doctor Banner grinned. "Yeah. Sounded like she needed a neurologist. They tried to rope me into this research. I have the files. They were on that thumb drive you brought to me. Let me get them for you."

He walked away and sat at another computer. Within a few minutes, he had copied something onto a thumb drive and brought it back over to the Doctor. "There. That's everything I have about that. Super Soldiers. I know they did try to make them-"

"Oh, imagine if they did."

"Classified past Hell's doors." Doctor Banner agreed.

"If you remember anything else about this, ring me. It's important."

"Sure." He agreed.

Samuel stood up and pointed back at the computer. "I think you're right. It's possibility an isolated incidence. I'd have to take a closer look at the numbers, but just a preliminary estimation tells me it would be….nearly impossible to recreate."

"To reverse?" The Doctor asked.

Samuel thought and nodded his head. "That would be much harder. Interesting problem. Who did this happen to? Did he live?"

Doctor Banner held his hands out. "And he stands here with you."

Samuel pointed at Doctor Banner. "Oh! This all makes sense then. Interesting."

"Doctor Bennett is the science teacher at Tony's new school." The Doctor explained.

"Yeah. He's looked over this, too. Well, of course you know this, Doc."

"Yeah. He's been…rather distracted. Helping me with my….family emergency."

Doctor Banner smiled. "It's alright. I'll figure it out. I've actually started working on something else, too."

"That's a good idea. Sometimes the solution to one problem, is found with another one. What is it?" The Doctor asked.

"Well, I'd rather not say. I'm still looking at the research and don't know if it's even possible. It's close to my research so, maybe it can help me figure it out. I'm hitting a dead end with this, and maybe something else at the moment will….I don't know. Help me figure this original problem out. Aim for the stars, huh?"

The Doctor grinned. "Good luck. Ring, if you need me. Or anything."

They shook hands.

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A blond young woman, with bits of blue in her hair, walked down the snowy street at the University campus. As she approached a long, black limo, a man opened the door for her. She sat down inside of the car.

"So." A woman's voice spoke. "Where is he?"

Tiffany shook her head. "He disappeared. He…blinked all over the room, and then just disappeared."

Emily sat next to the woman who was speaking. Her face was covered in the darkness of the car. She turned to Emily. "You said this is the brother of your roommate?"

"Old roommate. She has moved out on her own. She's dating his brother." Emily told the woman.

"I see. Well, she's probably one of them as well. What is her name?"

Tiffany glanced at Emily, unsure if she would tell her or not.

Emily took a deep breath. "Bennett. Karen Bennett."

"Find out where she is. You find her, and you'll find both of them. And when you do, bring them to me." The woman told them.

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Lewis and Poltious sat next to one another on Poltious' ship.

"We'll be there in about an hour." Poltious told him.

Lewis sat back and crossed his arms. "Ah. Good. My Arles is playing softball. What is that?"

Poltious grinned. "Legate says it's some sort of sport. These children of ours are rather sporty, aren't they?"

Lewis rubbed his face. "It would seem so."

Poltious leaned back and clicked a few buttons. "Summus says they are well underway."

"I hate that entire idea." Lewis groaned. "Why did he send Summus?"

"The entire idea of being overwhelmed from the beginning, has its benefits." Poltious told him.

"Yeah, I suppose. Summus is not the one I would want to answer to anything about. Even if I had an army of Vesuos."

Poltious chuckled. "That's very true."

Lewis became quiet.

"Where is Arles? Lance?"

"Yeah. Jane and Lance have been caring for him for me."

Poltious nodded. "How are you?"

"Fine?" Lewis told him.

"You know what I mean. And you can lie to everyone about this, but-"

"I really don't want to talk about that-"

"And that tells me what I need to know." Poltious nodded.

Lewis looked back at him and then returned to looking out of the window at the stars.

Poltious spoke. "It does get easier."

"When?" Lewis didn't look back at him.

"Well, over time. It's, like a huge rock that has been dropped in a stream. At first, it's overwhelming and you don't see yourself ever being able to move it. But, over time. The water will smooth out the edges. Make it less. And even though it's still there, it's more manageable."

Lewis laughed under his breath. "That makes no sense at all."

"I've never been good at that, have I?" Poltious chuckled.

"Never." Lewis laughed.

A beep sounded in the small control room. Lewis twisted his chair around and pressed a button. "Primus Lewis here. Go ahead."

A familiar voice was heard. "Oh, good! Primus Lewis. This is Gobbo, sir. Reporting from the space station where we are studying that virus."

Lewis smiled. "It's nice to hear from you. Why aren't you using the Quauhtin connection?"

"Well, sir. It's not working. I'm contacting you to tell you that I'm sick." He coughed.

Poltious and Lewis looked back at one another.

"Oh, shit." Poltious groaned under his breath.

"Sick? Do you suspect it is the same virus that calmed King Clagl of the Andromedaens?"

"Yes. We've lost three of our scientists here, and fear the virus has spread outside of our barrier."

Poltious clicked a few buttons. "We're rerouting our ship now-"

"Don't! Don't do that." Gobbo insisted. "Don't even send John. Protocol was set up in an event such as this."

"And that is the reason you are contacting me." Lewis sighed.

"You are the Primus."

"So is John." Lewis told him.

"John is a great guy. But, if I have to receive an order to do this, I'd like it to be from someone I have known a long time. Someone that I trust. A friend."

Lewis closed his eyes tightly. "Are you certain it is the virus?"

"Yes, Primus."

Lewis glanced back at Poltious and took a deep breath. "Gobbo. You are hereby ordered to enact the protocol that has been put in place. Self destruct on all ships and direct it towards the meteoroid. I've made Lartius aware of the situation and he will be in touch with you shortly."

The voice on the speaker seemed relieved. "Thank you, Lewis. All of my best to you and your Arles."

Lewis ended the transmission and groaned. "Damn it."

"That area was already quarantined, right?" Poltious asked as he pressed a few buttons in the control room.

"Yeah, the area will be extended." Lewis sighed and rubbed his face. "Damn."

Poltious didn't say anything and looked back at the blackness of space.

After a bit, Lewis spoke again. "Poltious. This entire thing about the Trials."

"Yeah?"

"Don't become a Primus. It's really not at all what one would think."

Poltious looked back at the blackness of space and nodded. "Understood."

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