Test of Magnitude (The Torian Reclamation) (41 page)

“Wait,” Mip7 said. “Same problem as before?”

“Much worse, I’m afraid. They have developed serious conditions from an impure chemical mix. We don’t know what caused it, or how it was not detected until they were removed from the network. Those were all removed by Markin1 and his team. None of the subjects removed by my team have had any issues, nor can we detect the issue within the network. It’s very strange. It is my fervent wish that I had full control of the project now, so that my team would be the only ones authorized to perform the removals—but of course, I do not have that authority.” He looked at Olut6 as he finished speaking.

Olut6 heard everything and turned to Markin1’s three assistants, who were all suddenly looking jittery. Olut6 stepped over to them.

“I’ve got news for you boys. You’ve just been transferred to another research lab.”

All three of them cocked their heads.

“As of right now. Gather your personal items. My officer here will escort you out of this building and reprogram your implants. Do not report back to RL-71. You no longer have clearance. We will issue you instructions on your new assignments within a few days.” Olut6 motioned to one of his crew who then rather forcefully led Markin1’s assistants out into the corridor and down the hall. That was the last they would see of them.

“Good,” Yob3 said. “Thank you.”

“Professor,” Mip7 said, “last time this happened, you were able to fix the unstable chambers by adjusting the chemical mix. Why can’t you do that now?”

“These breaches are much more serious. We don’t have any real clues as to the cause yet. It’s as though a contaminating agent has been introduced in the environments, one which we have not been able to identify. My assistants and I feel resuscitation is too risky for them now. There would likely be deaths, and the ones that survive would probably incur serious disease. If we keep them in cryonic preserve, we may be able to eventually discover the source of the contamination and cure it, stabilizing the subjects before revival. So, we have put them in their own separate network for now.”

“All except one,” Brandon said.

Yob3 cocked his head.

 “When we passed that room just now,” Brandon explained, “I noticed all the tanks were hooked together except for one that was by itself.”

Yob3 looked alarmed and began walking fast. Brandon, Mip7, and Olut6 followed him to the room next door. There was indeed one tank not connected to the rest.

“This one is new,” Yob3 said. “Help me move it to the diagnostics computer.”

Mip7 grabbed one end of the tank and Yob3 the other. They wheeled it next to a large machine against the wall. Yob3 hooked up several tubes and wires to ports on the side and started the machine. Graphs and charts began flashing on several of the screens.

Brandon noticed the subject in the lone tank was a young female. She looked to be around thirty years of age and seemed to like the color red. Her underwear was red, she had medium-length red hair, and there was a tattoo of a red heart on her chest.

“Go get my assistants, please,” Yob3 said.

Mip7 went and fetched them.

A short while later, an additional portable machine was attached to the girl’s tank and Yob’3s assistants began nodding and smiling as they watched the diagnostic readouts.

“This is very fortunate,” Yob3 said to Brandon and Mip7. “We seem to have identified the contaminating agent as it was still in early germination stage. We were able to isolate it, culture up an antidote, and counteract it. This one will now be fine. We can take the subject out of the chamber and proceed with transmitter implants. We’ll go ahead and place her in the white room with the other six you saw.”

Two of Mip7’s assistants came and began working on the girl. They detached her from all external hookups, opened the tank, lifted her on top a table, and wheeled her out of the room.

Yob3 addressed Olut6. “Your assistants should join them and begin learning the procedure.” Olut6 nodded and left the room.

Yob3 then began answering Mip7’s questions about the diagnostics computer. Brandon stared at the mini-network of contaminated chambers.

“What about the rest here?” Brandon asked.

“With luck,” Yob3 said, “we will be able to develop a strong enough antibody to cure them, now that we have identified the contaminant and have a working culture. It will still take some time, however. It’s a good thing you brought that new one to my attention. The contaminant germinates fast. A little while longer and it would have been too late, and there would have been nothing to do but add her to this network and hope for a break in our future research. Could have taken many years to resolve through trial and error.”

At that moment, Director Markin1 entered the room wheeling in another cryonic tank.

“Here’s another bad one,” he announced.

Brandon, Yob3, and Mip7 responded only with hard stares.

“Where are my assistants?” Markin1 asked. He then noticed the open tank. “Where is the subject that was in that chamber? It was contaminated! That subject cannot be resuscitated!”

Markin1 pushed the tank with the new Earthling up next to the network, and then shoved Yob3 aside as he made his way to a rack in the back of the room. He took several tubes and connectors from it and turned to come back.

“This one needs to connect in as well,” he said.

But Mip7 and Yob3 stood in his way and blocked him.

“Step aside, Professor,” Markin1 said in a low, angry voice.

Nobody moved. Brandon kept looking back and forth to the doorway, wondering if he should run and get help from Olut6.

“I said step aside, Professor!” Markin1 repeated. “And don’t bother coming to work tomorrow. I’m having you reassigned.” He turned sideways and forced his way between Yob3 and Mip7 with his shoulder.

Mip7 grabbed him from behind, however. Yob3 ran back to a workstation at the wall and took something out of a cabinet. Markin1 dropped the tubes he was holding and began struggling with Mip7. Brandon came over and tried to help hold Markin1 in place, but it was like trying to restrain two wresting rhinoceroses.

Thankfully, Yob3 quickly returned. As he did, he placed a hand over one of Markin1’s ears. Brandon saw one of Yob3’s fingers enter his ear canal. Markin1’s struggles became instantly weaker.

Brandon turned back to the door and saw that Olut6 was standing just inside the doorway watching them. Brandon wondered how he would respond to the sudden precarious situation.

Olut6 turned around and shut the door to the room. He then reached over to the windowsill and touched a button. The glass wall darkened. No one could see in or out now.

Mip7 and Yob3 then lifted Markin1’s nearly-limp body and set it in the still-open cryonic chamber the redheaded girl had been in. Yob3 closed the lid and sealed it. He picked up the connector tubes Markin1 had dropped on the floor, wheeled the chamber behind to the rear of all the others, and proceeded to hook Markin1 into the network.

“Will he be all right in there?” Brandon asked.

Yob3 cocked his head at Brandon. “You understand he was sabotaging the chambers? The contaminant is no doubt his own concoction.”

“I understand that,” Brandon said. “Will he be all right in there?”

“You are magnanimous beyond all reason,” Yob3 said.

“To repay evil with evil only doubles the amount of evil,” Brandon replied.

“He’ll be all right,” Yob3 said. “The contaminant in this network should only have a mild effect on Torians. He is probably already immune anyway from prior exposure. I will adjust his chamber with a mixture more appropriate for our race.”

Brandon walked over and peered down into Markin1’s tank. He was not yet fully unconscious, and lay there staring back up at Brandon with pure hatred in his eyes. He managed to lift one arm and weakly push against the inside of the chamber. The arm then slowly fell back to his side. His eyes began blinking, and finally closed. Brandon thought back to the day when the last thing he saw was his cigar embers dancing on the ground as he passed out.

* * *

“Something told me I would find you here,” a familiar voice said.

Brandon turned around. It was Arkan9, alone. How he managed to arrive without Brandon noticing, Brandon didn’t know—but Sheen were good at things like that.

“Yeah, I like it up here,” Brandon said. “I find this place to be  …balancing.”

Arkan9 smiled. “I see something else which will bring you balance. A new friend?”

Brandon followed Arkan9’s gaze to the path along the hillside. That’s where Rachel had wandered to. She was picking flowers and taking in the view of the Earth colony.

 “Yes,” Brandon said. “And she is wonderfully balancing.”

“I am happy for you,” Arkan9 said. “She has an attractive way about her. I like her red hair. Shall we sit?”

They both sat down on the grass.

“Thank you,” Brandon said. “What brings you here today? Where are your Chenel friends?”

“They are at Cardinal-4. I came to say goodbye.”

Brandon raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to object, but then thought better of it and just nodded instead. No point in putting on an act, no matter how much Brandon hated the idea of Arkan9 going away again. For some reason, Arkan9’s announcement was not surprising—and Brandon knew where he was going. There could only be one place.

“Will you return?”

Arkan9 looked up at the sky for a long moment. “I would like to say yes, but that would be less than honest. I cannot see the answer clearly. So much of the future is cloudy now. Based on the way I feel at the moment, my guess is no, probably not—although it grieves me to think I may never see you again, along with so many other good friends.”

“Then why are you leaving? Is it the pain of watching your home worlds deteriorate, or perhaps the stress of being labeled a prophet?”

“Yes,” Arkan9 replied. “Both. Your insight grows ever stronger.”

Brandon looked over to the spot where Jack’s body had been burned and thought about the unplanned words he spoke during his eulogy.

“Why did you refer to me as a ‘new prophet?’” he asked.

“Did that upset you? I am sorry, then. I didn’t realize it would reach your ears when I said it. Please understand it occurred at a time when the captives were anxious to see the fulfillment of our hope, and what I said was meant to help keep their spirits up.”

“Am I a prophet?” Brandon asked.

“Am I?” Arkan9 said.

“Others say you are. And you have foretold many events accurately.”

“What you say is true. However, it is also true that many intelligent beings are capable of a much greater degree of insight than they would ever suspect. Most are unable—or unwilling—to access that portion of themselves without bringing a dilution of forced thought.”

Arkan9’s words were interesting, as usual. Forced thought? That’s why Brandon liked it up here on the hill. He could get away from all his forced thoughts. Brandon picked at the grass as he considered his new responsibilities among the Earthlings, and how they all seemed to look to him now as a source of counsel. He smeared some of the clover on his hand, and then sniffed at it. The grassy scent filled his nasal cavity until he sneezed.

“The snakebite incident did something to me,” Brandon confessed. “Ever since, I have been getting dizzy spells, during which I seem to lose control of my speech. It only happens occasionally. I feel I have never fully recovered, though, because of it.” He rolled up his pant leg and rubbed the scar from the bite. There was still a tiny bit of pain there.

“You remember what brought you through it?” Arkan9 asked.

“Yes—focusing on the big rock. The pillar of the law, as they call it.”

Arkan9 picked up a stone from the ground. “Do not fear the dizzy spells, or what seems a loss of speech control. Rather, embrace it. You have been given a gift, and an opportunity to release a part of yourself which may otherwise have remained imprisoned. With practice, you can learn to move in and out of this state of mind at will. Watch, now. Since it was the rock that freed you, focus on this stone.”

Arkan9 tossed the small rock in front of Brandon. His eyes naturally followed it as it bounced and found its own place to sit. Curiously enough, Brandon was already relaxed and needed no further prodding to continue looking at the stone as it lay there surrounded by all that rich green color. As he did, he began to experience tunnel vision. He beheld the rock in his focus, but everything around it became fuzzy. It all seemed natural. Brandon didn’t panic or try to shake himself out of it this time.

“The wise will feel drawn to Banor,” Brandon suddenly found himself saying. “Many without knowing why.”

“We will avoid the valley of bones for a generation,” Arkan9 responded as he too gazed upon the stone.

“Many will try to take a neutral position,” Brandon said, “lacking the understanding that there can be no neutral position. At the last, the neutral will be the largest fools of them all.”

“The stars will begin to fall, but we will find much wild honey,” Arkan9 said.

“Fury sleeps,” Brandon said. “It will awaken with a lust for vengeance.”

“The light of Erob will shine forth for all to see,” Arkan9 said.

“I have a fondness for games,” Brandon said. “It will prove to be my most difficult trial.”

Something moved in the fuzziness outside the stone. Brandon looked up. Rachel was now standing before them. Her white dress blowing gently in the breeze brought everything back into focus. Brandon and Arkan9 stood up.

“Arkan9, this is Rachel.”

“Tulros.” Arkan9 bowed.

“Tulros,” Rachel said, and returned the bow. Brandon knew he already loved her more than he ever thought it was possible to love someone. She hooked her arm inside Brandon’s and the three of them began walking down the hill together. Her soft hand gripped Brandon’s forearm as they strolled.

“I think we were having two different conversations back there,” Brandon said to Arkan9.

“Perhaps,” Arkan9 said. “Perhaps not. In any case, there will be a day when we see can plainly see how all things tie together.”

They came to the path on the hillside and looked down upon the Earth colony, which now had a population of over one hundred. The way Yob3 and Mip7 were cranking out the revivals, it wouldn’t be too much longer before it was finished and more than three times the current size.