Chapter 12

The Hero scientists were frantically going through every scrap of data found on the computers at the Pure Water facility. They couldn't find a cure. If you were human, you would die when exposed to this virus. The only creature immune seemed to be the green guys. They took DNA and tissue samples from the captured large green guys and tried to determine what was different between them and humans. Of course, there was a lot different; they expected that. They didn't expect to find how many similar gene sequences there were between the humans and the green guys. These sequences didn't make sense. These green guy gene sequences would mean there was a mixing or addition to the human DNA of green guy genes at some point in the past. If this were true, that would mean that the green guys had been coming to Earth for a long time and genetically altering ancient humans. The Hero scientists were utterly baffled.

Ralph was getting worse, and there was nothing the doctors could do. He was going to die. The First kept getting weaker and weaker. Ralph knew he was dying.

The doctors could hear Ralph hallucinating and talking to Bill Maxwell. To Ralph, Bill Maxwell yelled, "Snap out of it, kid. You aren't a quitter. Keep fighting."

Knowing what Ralph had experienced before he left to save Marie, the doctors hooked him back up to the brainwave monitoring system when he started talking to his dead partner. They placed the special button cap on his head and began recording and monitoring the wave patterns.

Ralph pleaded in gasps, "I can't do it, Bill, the pain is too much. I want it to stop. Please make it stop."

Bill shouted, "I don't want to hear that coming out of you, soldier! You had better keep fighting for that new kiddo of yours."

Ralph said, "Yes, my son." And he kept fighting to stay alive. Every time Ralph faltered and begged to make it stop, Bill would yell and shout at him to keep going and not quit.

Ralph's temperature dropped half a degree, and the pain decreased slightly.

As the hours went by, his temperature continued to decline. The doctors were hopeful. But why was Ralph getting better? Ralph continued to talk to Bill, telling him, "Shut up, Bill. Stop yelling. I can't sleep with you yelling," and shooing him away with his arms.

They took tissue and DNA samples from Ralph and compared those to the green guy samples and the standard human samples they had. That is when they found it; the gene sequences enhanced for all the Heroes were identical to a few of the green guy's sequences. The little green guys had given them more green guy genes. Because of this, Ralph's body was able to resist the virus.

It took two more days before Ralph could communicate coherently with the doctors. They let Pam come into the isolation chamber in a hazmat suit. Ralph could see her through the plastic face shield. She was crying, so happy that Ralph was improving every day.

Ralph slowly said, "Hey, baby, I'm so happy to see you. I didn't think I would make it for a while, but Bill kept yelling at me, and I had to keep fighting to make him shut up."

Pam asked, "Bill Maxwell was yelling at you?"

Ralph said, "Oh yeah, he was incessant. The minute I wanted to give up, he yelled in my ear."

Pam asked, "Is he here now?"

"No, he stopped when things started getting better, and I wasn't in as much pain," Ralph explained.

The next day Pam came back to visit Ralph in the hazmat suit. Ralph opened his eyes and smiled at her. He told her, "Bill's back, and he wants to talk to you. He won't shut up and let me sleep until he talks to you."

Pam's eyes were wide open in surprise, and she said, "Oh, okay, I'll talk to Bill."

Ralph began shaking, and his eyes rolled back into his head. He appeared to be having a seizure. Pam grabbed his hand with her gloved hand, a concerned look on her face. Ralph stopped shaking and blinked his eyes several times, then looked straight ahead, got a big smile, and said, in a lower tone, "Wow, that was a hippy trip." He looked at Pam, smiled, and said, "Counselor, it is great to see you again. You're looking as good as you did 30 years ago."

Pam stared at Ralph and asked, "Bill, is that you?" recognizing Bill Maxwell's voice.

Ralph/Bill said, "Sure is honey, back in the flesh or at least in Ralph's flesh," looking down at Ralph's body.

Pam asked, "You aren't going to stay there, are you?"

Ralph/Bill answered, "Oh, no, no. If I wanted to, I couldn't stay long this time because Ralph is still too weak. But I wanted to let you know. Don't worry; I will be around to help the kid, you, and the new kiddo when possible. There is a lot of crazy weird stuff you guys don't know yet, and I can find it for you because I'm kind of like Casper, but not a ghost. It is hard to explain." He stared briefly and said, "I got to go; I left Ralph somewhere he shouldn't be. Don't worry; everything will be okay."

Ralph began to shake again and had the seizure. After about 15 seconds, he calmed, stopped shaking, and blinked his eyes several times. He looked at Pam and exclaimed, "Man, that was weird." Closing his eyes. He continued, "I was in a weird place with gray nothingness all around me." God, I'm tired; that channeling sucks the energy right out of you." His eyes were closing as he was saying the last words.

Pam shook him, wanting more information, but he wouldn't wake up. One of the doctors came in and said, "We have been monitoring this whole channeling situation. He won't wake for quite a while; he is in a theta wave cycle and deep in sleep. Ralph was right, though; that was very weird. We must study this event more detail to understand what is happening."

Ralph slept for a few hours and woke up feeling refreshed. He asked to talk to Pam, and one of the nurses called her. She returned to the room, and they spoke briefly about what had happened and what it possibly meant.