Chapter 12
"Knowledge is essential to conquest;
only according to our ignorance are we helpless."
-Anne Besant
Doctor Giva Keenan had been enjoying a late lunch of kaya greens and fruit in the hospital's main commissary when he accidentally overheard two of his colleagues discussing the Andromeda Ascendant. Keenan did not recognize one of the doctors, but the other was the hospital's Chief of Surgery, a Perseid whom he had previously met only a handful of times since his initial appointment as Chief.
"Pardon me," Keenan interrupted the pair behind him, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible, "but did you just mention the Andromeda Ascendant?"
All nourishment, no matter how good, found itself quickly forgotten as he learned from the conversation that the High Guard warship had returned to Sinti seeking medical assistance of some kind.
Guilt pervaded Keenan's senses. It had to be the human, Seamus Harper.
The physician's mind had told him to the earthling was too ill to be released, but Mr. Harper's friend's words had been pleading, begging him to consider the possibility that the changes in the engineer were permanent. Obviously Keenan's leap of faith in the situation had been futile.
Quickly disposing of his leftover meal, Keenan headed to the nearest information console. According to the records he pulled up, the Andromeda had docked at Sinti twenty minutes ago. The station provided him with no more details save for the name of a doctor the ship had made an appointment with: Cai Re'Ville, Head of Sinti's Genetic Engineering Program.
Unsure of why the ship had contacted Doctor Re'Ville, but curious nonetheless, Keenan proceeded across the facility to the GE labs. Showing his credentials to access the area, Keenan asked the nearest desk attendant if he knew were the ship's crew were located. The attendant pointed him to an empty conference room down the hall. Giving his thanks, Keenan walked towards the room.
Stopping before the glass door, he peered in, taking note of the recognizable faces. Captain Hunt and the golden alien, Trance Gemini, were the only two he remembered. The boy was nowhere in sight, confirming his suspicions. Perhaps he had been brought back to Psychiatric Care or was still on the Andromeda awaiting help.
It was a shame really. Keenan had truly hoped the young human would overcome his illness.
"Dr. Keenan?"
The oddly familiar voice came from behind him and Keenan turned quickly, his lab coat tangling around his legs as he moved. His eyes settled on the speaker and his mouth parted in surprise.
"Mr. Harper?"
"Hey, Doc," the earthling smiled. "Bet you didn't expect to see me back here."
The doctor studied the face before him. Mr. Harper appeared lucid enough. And Keenan was sure the Andromeda's crew wouldn't let the boy roam if he was still ailing. "You are right, Mr. Harper, I did not expect to see you again. You are still well I hope?"
"Healthy as a horse," Harper replied. He shrugged and added, "My nana used to say it. Still don't get it, but what can I say? She was a little eccentric."
Deciding not to bother asking the boy what a horse was, Keenan instead inquired as to why he was back on Sinti. As the Perseid spoke he could see pain fill Harper's eyes.
"Our friends are sick, Doc. Beka, who you've meet, and our weapons officer, Tyr, are both suffering from the same thing I had."
Keenan's pale eyebrows raised. "Mr. Harper, schizophrenia is not a disease that can be caught. It is as inherited disorder."
"Well, not this schizophrenia," the boy tried to explain. "It's not really schizophrenia either, just similar symptoms."
"I'm afraid I don't understand."
Harper signed, not in anger, but what looked like utter exhaustion. "Come on, why don't you come into the conference room with us. I'll explain everything there."
Genetic engineering had never been one of Seamus Harper's (fortes) fortés (but I'm not sure how will cope with the é so either is fine). He had read some stuff on it, knew enough about nanobots and how they were built to work on some in his own time. They took painstakingly long to create, but most were self replicating, so no more by-hand assembly required once the first batch were set loose. However, when it came down to blood and DNA and organs, he was at a loss. That was the side of genetics he left to the experts.
There were some things even self-proclaimed geniuses left alone.
Earth had never really thrived in the genetic engineering department, even in its heyday, but Harper knew older civilizations, especially those in the Commonwealth, had achieved some level of success with it. Hospitals could grow replacement organs in a matter of days, repair genetic malfunctions before birth, and even make clones of themselves. Seamus wasn't really sure he liked the idea of having a bunch of mini-Harper's running around causing universal havoc. He'd keep his DNA to himself, thank you very much.
So listening to Trance, Doctor Re'Ville and three of his toadies discuss the designs of a white blood cell composed of nanobots was about as exciting a three hour lecture on the migration of gerbils.
While the five of them prattled on about cells laced with Lynx DNA, Harper could only pace.
"We'll have to worry about blood flow," Trance said to Re'Ville, catching Harper's attention. "If we place this pseudo-cell in one of the superficial veins in her arm, it will want to move along with the rest of the cells and plasma."
"Could we put a nanobot inside the cell?" Seamus piped in. "Maybe one could be rigged to keep it stationary in the blood flow?"
Trance seemed to contemplate this. "Possibly, but you may have given me a better idea, Harper. We need to program the nanobot to attach itself to some of the epithelial cells the vein is made up of. That way is stays in place as the bloodstream is moving and also leaves it near our incision on Beka'a arm."
Dylan, who'd been calmly standing back as Trance and the doctors had discussed options, finally approached. "I have a question," he asked, slightly raising a hand to get their attention. "The creatures don't travel by veins. They're too big, correct?"
"Yes," Trance confirmed. "How they move through the body we'll never be sure, but with its size it doesn't appear to have access to the smaller veins."
"So how will it be captured if you're placing the cell in something it can't get into?"
"It can't travel in the vein, but that doesn't mean it can't get to the cell," Trance explained. "When we carefully cut down to the chosen vein in Beka's arm and inject the cell into it, our hope is that the creature will approach it when it senses the DNA. But, because it can't travel along inside the vein itself, it will need to come to the outer layer above the pseudo-cell looking for a way into the center. Before it has a chance to get past the first layer, however, we'll capture it."
Dylan crossed his arms, nodding. "That sounds… complicated."
Trance smiled slightly. "Not really, the only thing we need to make sure of it not to cause any permanent damage to Beka's arm. We'll have to cut in deeply, but I'm positive we can avoid anything that will leave irreversible harm."
Harper grimaced at the mental image of what this would actually look like when it happened.
"We'll have to be careful of the nerves," Trance continued, "but once we get Machello's devices out we can inject her arm with med nanobot which should be able to repair most of the damage we will inevitably cause. Besides, I think the Beka Valentine we all know would rather have a little nerve damage than spend the rest of her days an insane asylum."
"Amen to that," Seamus murmured quietly to himself. Trance went back into deep conversation with the doctor and Harper renewed his pacing. He hated feeling useless.
There had been so many people he'd been unable to help on Earth because there had been absolutely nothing he could do about it. His parents had been murdered and he'd been too young to do anything. His cousins had been infected with Magog and he could only stand there as they screamed in agony. Here was a situation akin to that and he was once again left to pacing around and waiting. Being useless was like--
"Harper," Trance called, "I need your help."
"Yessss!" Harper shouted, but when he realized everyone was staring at him, nervously coughed. "Um, I mean, what can I do for you Trance?"
Harper swore he could see a tiny smile curve the corner of her lips, but it was gone within seconds. Back to business as usual for Trance Gemini.
"We can't exactly use an icepick to get the creatures out of Beka," Trace explained, "but I was thinking about procuring a suction tube. They're primarily used in surgery to absorb excess blood, but I think they could also help us scoop up our little blue friends. However, once they're drawn into a receptacle attached to the tube, there's no telling if they can escape. Could you rig up some kind of force field within the container to keep them inside? The one surrounding the containment chamber aboard Andromeda seems to be holding the others."
"Piece of cake," Harper said. "Where can I get one of these sucker thingies to take it back to the ship?"
Re'Ville glanced up from the notes he'd been making and stroked his protruding chin. "I believe Doctor Keenan would help you, Mr. Harper. He seemed most eager to participate in any way he could. I can have him paged if you wish."
"Nah," the engineer answered with a shake of his head. "I'll just go up to his office. I can find it." He turned to Dylan. "Boss, I'm gonna get the suckie thing from the Doc and go back to Andromeda. You know where to find me if you need me."
Hunt nodded. "I'll right, Mr. Harper. I'll stay in touch."
Hands still firmly planted in his pockets, Harper strode from the conference room in search of Doctor Keenan's office. Right now he only knew he was in the Genetics Wing and that Keenan's office would be in the Psychiatric Wing.
He had gotten the gist of the hospital when he'd been leaving with Beka, and from what he could remember, the building was kinda shaped like a giant wheel spoke. At least seven different wings branched off from the center, and each of the wings, as well the hub in the middle, were five stories high.
When he exited the GE lab, Harper found the nearest information console and pulled up a full map of the hospital. His eyes scanned the different wings, widening as he read. He had thought each of the building branches were just separate wings, but apparently some of them had several departments in one branch.
Harper read them through them, not realizing he was muttering to himself. "Genetics Wing, Research and Development Wing, Surgery Wing, Obstetrics Wing, Trauma Wing, Chicken Wing… ah hah! Psychiatric Wing."
Once he knew the general direction of where he was going, Harper did a second search for Doctor Keenan's office number. After a few moments of typing he paused, mentally jotting down the information that appeared on screen. Psychiatric Wing west, third floor, room 330A.
Harper stepped away from the console, the directions firmly planted in his head. He caught the nearest transport lift and squeezed in with five other Perseid of various sizes. He smiled cheekily at one of the doctors who glanced down at him with a quizzical look on his gray face. The ride was thankfully short, and when the lift stopped on the third floor, Harper made his exodus from the mass of beings.
The nearest door was 301B and they seemed to rise as he turned to his right, so right it was. He strolled the plain halls toward Keenan's office, glancing occasionally in any open doors. Like the halls, the Perseid offices were bare and boring. Three chairs, a desk, and the occasional plaque on the wall. All of which were a remarkable shade of white.
A Perseid nurse exited one of the doors ahead of Harper, his hands carefully guiding a patient out into the hall. The patient was a Chichin who came up to Harper's neck in height and whose body was wrapped tightly in a white suit that restricted arm movement. The nurse prodded the babbling Chichin forward and led it gently down the hall towards Harper.
Seamus stopped as the pair moved past him, his eyes locked on the creature as it continued to jabber on about something he couldn't understand. Had that been him a few days ago? Had others seen him and shook their heads in pity at the poor, prattling human? He didn't remember anything outside of his padded room during his infection, but there was no telling how many others had witnessed his madness. His friends had seen him like that, babbling and incoherent, sobbing until his chest hurt. Everything had felt so real. The Nietzscheans had been coming for him and every fiber of his body was terrified. One tiny mechanical creature had reduced him to a bawling idiot.
His mind pictured Beka, worse than she was now, trapped in that restricted jacket and being lead around like a dog on a leash. The appalling image was enough to snap his thoughts into order and force his legs to work again, pulling him closer and closer to Keenan's office. As soon as he talked to the Doc and got out of here the better.
The room numbers began to increase and he quickened his pace. 311B. 315A. 319A. 325B. 228B. Keenan's office had to be around the next corner. Thank the Devine.
Moment's later, just as Harper's eyes caught site of room 330A maybe ten or eleven ten feet from his current position, everything stopped. His forward motion was completely halted as a rough hand grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him backwards.
All the hairs on his neck rose in trepidation and his breath stalled. In the next second he found himself being physically tossed into a open doorway and he hit the ground with enough force to jar all the bones in his arm as he tried to catch himself. His left wrist throbbed anew.
Harper rolled onto his side, trying to suck air into his stunned lungs and figure out what the hell was going on.
"Hello there, little human."
The engineer's eyes closed in repulsion. Oh God…
