iv. An Unexpected Message

The shock of the shuttle's loss reverberated through the space colony. The colony was still small enough that most people knew each other, so this was a sudden loss of friends and colleagues, not vague strangers. For Gerald and Maria it was worse, as it was for all the actual relatives of the victims. It was both a comfort and an irritant to encounter people trying to be sympathetic, so many of the families immured themselves in their quarters for a few days until the first blaze of pain had dulled. Cards and small gifts piled up outside each door in silent sympathy.

The abruptness of the event had reminded Gerald all too sharply of Mary's death; new grief revived old and renewed the specter of fear that he'd lose his granddaughter as well. As for Maria, she may have lived apart from her parents for more than half her brief life, but she loved them no less for that and the loss of both together was a stunning blow. In her distress, she grew careless for the first time and neglected her treatment; the cessation of Heal Unit therapy combined with the severe distress of her loss sent her immune system function plummeting. Unfortunately the most recent arrivals had brought up a flu virus that had not yet been contained or eliminated by the infirmary Heal Unit server, and Maria had been exposed.

Gerald had sent her back to school a week after the accident, realizing that they were merely feeding each other's grief and knowing that she needed the contact with other people. He also wanted the privacy to follow up on a strong feeling that the "accident" was not so accidental, without distressing her further. She'd barely been back a week when he had to rush to the classrooms because the child had collapsed in class. He had been preoccupied enough with his own grief and suspicions that he hadn't noticed she'd lapsed in her therapy and the two weeks' neglect had permitted the NIDS toxins to demolish her immune system again. Maria had not only the influenza virus but two secondary infections as well, all of which had run rampant in a body with nearly no defenses. The speed of onset was appalling, and while a Heal Unit could bolster an immune system to destroy viruses and bacteria with amazing speed, it could not provide an immune system where there was none. Until the NIDS toxins were reduced and the inactivated white cells replaced, there was nothing to stop the infections. The doctors in the sickbay started IV antibiotics and fluids and hoped they could control the infections long enough for the Heal Units to clear the toxins. They sent out a plea for plasma donors and nearly the entire lot of researchers turned up to volunteer. Infusions of antibody-rich plasma curbed the infections enough to allow her crippled immune system time to regenerate. Slowly Maria recovered, awaking to find Gerald camping on a cot in her room and her uncle and new aunt also back on the ARK. She told Ivan solemnly, if a bit faintly, that it was very good that they had come, because she wasn't sure what Grandfather would do without someone to take care of him, and she didn't think she could right now.

Gerald, meanwhile, was blaming himself for her collapse, feeling it was due not only to his own inattention - not noticing the sever wasn't being used - but because he had stalled out in his research on Project: Shadow. The Biolizard was using the power of the Chaos drives to sustain herself, and she had also regenerated a lost leg. (That one had been an accident; before moving her to her new quarters, she had actually broken out of her tank, gashing her leg so badly that they had removed it surgically. She had regrown it almost before the sutures were due for removal.) She also could heal lesser wounds and the NIDS toxin had no effect on her. However she still had fits of aggression for no apparent reason. Additionally, she was still growing - the beast was almost fifteen feet long now - and was starting to have problems absorbing enough energy from the chaos lamps. The research on the other lizards and the rats just seemed to be achieving nothing. He needed a new Shadow, a new line of research. Gerald, still shocked by the sudden loss of his elder son and daughter-in-law, was now further jarred by the near-loss of Maria. It didn't help that he couldn't shake the feeling that the explosion of the shuttle was no accident. Ivan had banished him from the sickbay temporarily, sending him - ordering his own father! - to his room to rest. Gerald paced through the halls instead, with the Gizoid clumping along behind him. He couldn't rest, not while Maria was still so ill...he paused, recognizing the room he was in. It was the observation room near the entrance to their wing, one of her favorites, with the blue and white sphere of the Earth glowing brightly through the window, lighting the entire room with its reflected sunlight. The Gizoid at his shoulder, he stared out blankly at the gibbous Earth as he ran the incident through his brain again.

"I'm no mechanic, Gizoid - robotics, yes, shuttle rockets, no. But I know the mechanics here and in the crew, and they were good. The remaining techs insist that there was no reason for the shuttle to have blown up. There wasn't a hint of trouble on the flight out, and once they'd shut the drives down and were just using the maneuvering jets around the comet...it makes no sense!" Realizing he was yelling at the silent robot, he moderated his tone. "Right when things should have been at their most stable it just...blew up. I can't shake the feeling that the comet is linked to it in some way...but the comet itself is unchanged. It wasn't affected by the explosion, it fired no missiles that anyone could detect..." he shook his head sharply, looking back at out the window as he remembered Maria's theory about the comet being full of purple, brain-eating aliens. "Right," he snorted, "the shuttle was blown up because the purple aliens wanted to keep the fact that the comet was their ship a secret."

"Actually," said a deep voice behind him, "the black aliens mistook your vessel for an attacker. The weapons are automatic and we did not realize until too late that the ship was unarmed."

Gerald froze, his eyes locked on the blue shape of the Earth floating in space beyond the window. He refocused his gaze to look at a starfish-shaped reflection in the "glass". Then slowly he turned around to see something that did, indeed, look like a giant starfish hanging in the air behind him. A red eye glowed at him from the center of the "body". Distantly he noted that the edges were a bit fuzzy and transparent.

"Who are you?" he asked, with a remarkably steady voice. "You aren't actually here are you." The second remark was more statement than question, but the - creature - answered it first.

"I am a projection of a...you would call me an envoy, I think. I come to apologize for the death of your people and offer reparation if possible. The Black Comet has been our home for many generations while we have watched your civilizations grow and destroy each other. We feared that the humans on the vessel would attack us similarly." The creature spoke with an odd accent at first and hesitantly, as if unfamiliar with the language. The Gizoid stood silently in the corner of the room, unnoticed.

"So you just blew it up with no warning?" Gerald was suddenly furious, his moustache bristling like a cat's tail. This thing was directly responsible for Gerald and Angela's deaths and therefore indirectly responsible for Maria's current condition. He unconsciously took a step forward, raising his hands as if to strike or grab the illusory creature. "You murdered those people-"

"The ship came into range of our automatic defenses. You are a scientist; you know of the asteroids and smaller bodies that fly through space. Our "Black Comet" as you call it, must have the ability to protect itself or we could all die if we collided with such an object. The defenses fired before we were able to shut them down.

"I was sent to you because you are a scientist and have knowledge we wish to trade for, and a problem that we can help you to solve. We will aid you to your solution to make amends for our error."

"What problem would that be? And how can solving a problem make amends for killing eight people?"

"You seek a way to heal and extend life. We, the Black Arms, have the knowledge you seek. Would not the ability to save many lives compensate for a few?

"We will contact you again when we are able, we are still far distant and your planet is moving between us. We do not wish our presence known; do not mention this to anyone else." With that as its parting address, the image of the multi-armed being splintered and vanished.

Gerald blinked at the now-vacant area where it had been. Frowning, he headed towards his lab. Whatever the thing was it knew entirely too much about what was going on in the ARK: how could aliens know about Project: Shadow? He wondered if the alien truly thought its offer would replace the eight lives left. But aliens were, well, alien. Perhaps in their perspective all lives were equal and interchangeable. It occurred to him that the creature's accent had nearly vanished by the end of that little discussion, as had the hesitation. Could it have been learning the language even as they spoke? More importantly, was the accident truly an accident?

Gerald groaned softly as he rubbed his forehead. He needed to think clearly, but he was too tired to organize his thoughts. But it said heal and extend life. If it can help me heal Maria... The Biolizard is not the answer. A new base creature is needed, a new Project: Shadow. A new Shadow indeed, borne of human and black alien - what did it call them? - human and Black Arms technology combined. If they actually can do what they claim. If they actually will do what they claim. If I can trust them. Maria... His mind pushed up the images of her coughing in the sickbay, tossing restlessly with fever, simply lying still and pale as the sheets she was lying on, even her blue eyes seeming faded so that the darker rings around the irises stood out in shocking contrast. Gerald looked down at his hands. He moved out of the observation room, motioning to the Gizoid to follow. A check at the nearest computer station showed that however the projection had come on board it had done so without being detected by the security sensors. The security cameras showed him talking to someone, but the creature was (intentionally?) out of their line of sight. He appeared to be talking to the Gizoid. That's all right then, nothing odd there. But did it know where the cameras could see? He would keep the secret, at least until he had what he needed. But he would watch the aliens very carefully.

Returning to his wing, he hit the release on his private laboratory door. He glanced automatically at the computer screen as he entered, intending only to make some notes in his private diary. The glaring red blinker at the top of the screen informed him that he had a "critical" official message. He sighed and altered his path to check the message. He had to read it twice before the message actually sunk into his brain. Headquarters - either GUN HQ or higher up in the executive branch - they were going to close down the space colony! The shuttle explosion...possible sabotage...rumors of monsters on board...it seemed that a handful of unrelated rumors and facts had been melded into something else. No! They can't shut it down now! -the Biolizard, the new Shadow - these could be the solutions. These aliens might be able to help me finish the project! I can't stop, I must save Maria. But what he could do, he wasn't sure. What he did do was unlock an in-built cabinet hidden behind the couch and pull out his secret diary, an actual, leather-bound book. The episode in the observation room must be recorded, but not in anything that might ever come officially to light. Tomorrow he would see what he could learn about the higher-ups plans and if he could do anything about them. Tomorrow also he must start laying the plans for a new Shadow, one that might make the answer. If they were threatening to terminate the experiments he must accomplish what he could at once.