British Columbia.
The scans were intriguing to say the least. They each had done a scan on each other. The findings were quite impressive to say the least.
"So it looks like my arm can be released." Mother said.
"Yes it seems intact; all you need is a surgeon." Mother/Swallow replied.
"Great, I think my book has a few of those listed. I can even do this legit."
"I also see your offspring is quite healthy."
"I was about to ask, do you know what it is?"
"A female, you're quite far along, I'd say another month and you'll pop."
"Oh how lovely just what I wanted to know."
"What do you think about my scan?" Mother/Swallow said unemotionally.
Mother took a deep breath, "Your scan is very interesting. It seems Swallows body has grown over a foot since I last took the scan, from my point of view that's a lot. The other thing is interesting, your implants seem to be originating in the right part of the brain; then travel down your arm and down your spine, ending at its base. Least you don't have tentacles coming out your ass."
"Very funny creature." She bared her teeth and snarled.
"Ok…simmer… just a joke, lighten up will you." She had made a joke, interesting; this was definitely part of Alison's reforms. She was sure of it but it felt right, this was something she didn't understand completely. Although she was sure that the Swallow creature possessed none of what she had. It was still missing the finer things that she was now experiencing.
"I am not partial to humor." Swallow said not impressed.
"I noticed. Any way the scanner says it's metallic, what it does I have no idea but you don't seem any worse for wear. Any episodes??"
"You mean tremors?"
"Yeah any irregular activity."
"Some, remember this isn't my body, its Swallow's. I'm renting at the moment. You can't see anything in the scans that indicate I can be separated?"
"Not right now, nothing abnormal in the brain except for that metallic object. If your consciousness resides in it then yes I could see removing it. It would kill Swallow though, if I'm wrong you'd die too."
"We will do more scans later. For now I think its time to get your arm fixed, you'll be more useful that way."
"I agree."
Royal Home of The Emperor.
Afain sat nervously; she had the information that Shearah had given her and the other finer points about the ship. She just wasn't sure how the Emperor was going to take this, to her it was a fantastic discovery but it also had severe ramifications if handled improperly.
The Emperor sat down as Afain stood; she waited for her to signal her to sit once again. A moment later she sat again and took a deep breath.
"So Afain it seems you have some news for me, it must be very important. Garan explained to you that I would meet you as soon as I finished my affairs."
Afain gulped, "It is, it requires a decision that only you can make."
"Oh." The Emperor leaned back in her chair, "Speak, I am listening."
Afain cleared her throat, "The ship has been opened and the archives are being downloaded into Alex's data base. It will take awhile to decipher its contents."
The Emperor nodded, "That is good news indeed; I figured it would take awhile to retrieve all the data. Are most intact?"
"Yes surprisingly, but that is not all." She paused, "Two Zargozians have been found in pods in the ship; awaiting revival."
The Emperor sat up quickly, "Ancient Zargozians alive?"
"Yes your majesty, from what Tolare and Shearah have told me; that is our dilemma."
"Are there complications in doing so?"
"Your Majesty, bringing these two back would be like putting them on another planet. They don't even speak our language! Their world is gone, swept away by wars not long after they took off. If we don't take precautions then we could cause irreparable harm to them."
The Emperor was silent for a bit, "Do you propose that we not revive them?"
"No, but it must be done under controlled conditions somewhere it is not so populated."
"That seems fair, I agree to that but I suspect there is something else you want to tell me."
"Yes, the two Zargozians differ from us, in a big way." Afain stopped.
"Go on."
"They are two different sexes." The Emperor looked puzzled, "I mean each only has one set of sexual organs."
"Some sort of mutations? Shearah, Tolare do they know?"
"Oh yes your majesty, it seems that 'we' are the mutations not them." Afain just sat quietly for the Emperor said nothing, she just sat there quietly.
"Are they sure?" she paused, "of course they're sure or you wouldn't be here. This makes things different."
"Yes…it seems that in our history we have evolved or mutated into a new species of Zargozian. Since so much of our history has been lost to us it could have happened anytime."
"Yes you are right, now as to the consequences, it is not like us to bury our history but for the moment I think you will agree that we should be careful with this enlightening information."
"Yes Your Majesty, under the circumstances you are right."
The Emperor rose, "Tell Shearah and Tolare to set up a controlled setting for our honored guests so they can awaken once more on their home world. Tell the physicians that you are in charge of this awakening and that I must be present when it is to occur."
"Yes Your Majesty."
"You will also tell Alex it is to send a copy of the complete archive to me when it is translated. It can get a location from Minister Garan for the exchange."
"Yes Your Majesty."
"That will be all Afain, you have done well and I will see that you and your family are well rewarded."
"Thank you Your Majesty."
"Now go and prepare our guests."
She stood and bowed as the Emperor left, it seems they still had a lot to do.
Ottawa Canada: Heather's Computer Emporium.
Sabrina popped her head in the troubleshooting room for about the 18th time this morning. "Hi Heather."
"Sabrina…I'm not going to fall over, OK?"
Sabrina just shuffled her feet, "I'm just worried about you, this being your first day back and all."
"I know, I had this happen with Hector, he was so concerned that I'd fall that he almost walked for me with all his help. I know you are just looking out for me and I appreciate it but I'm fine."
"Ok." Sabrina sighed, "How's that comp coming?"
"Ok, I've backed up his files and now I'm about to reinstall the operating system. That should fix the problems."
"That's good. OK I'll leave you be, sorry."
"Hey don't be sorry, I'm glad you're worried for me. In that hospital on the first few days I didn't think I'd ever walk again. I don't know when I cried so much."
"Well, I'm proud of you Heather; you're a fighter and I'm so glad you're better."
"Thanks I am too; I've got to be ready for my wedding."
Sabrina smiled, "Hector's a great fur, I'm happy for you."
"Oh and me for you. You and Max are meant for each other."
Sabrina smiled, "Yeah I think so, he's been so happy ever since we officially said the word."
"He's not the only one, I remember you showing that lovely piece of jewelry off."
Sabrina's fur ruffled, "Yeah you're right, Mom and finally -after a bit of phone tag- Dad got to know. He is happy for me."
"That's good, is he coming to the wedding?"
"He's not sure if he can get the time off but he said he would try. Mom and Kathren are definitely coming."
"That's good, Hector's sister isn't coming; she's going to hang around here to keep an eye on their father. He isn't well enough to travel that far."
"Yeah, how is he doing?"
"Resting, the hospital got him in touch with some people that can get him some financial assistance. Now he can at least afford to live where he had been living."
"That's good; I hate to see him thrown out into the street."
"Hector wouldn't have let that happen, he was prepared to move his dad into his small apartment. And small is the word, I really don't know how Hector moves about in that place."
"That's great, although I don't think Hector could care for his dad under those conditions."
"We talked about that, he argued he could. You are right though, he couldn't stand it long. He would see that soon after his dad had moved in. I didn't push it too far; I was going to let him find out himself then help out."
Sabrina sat quietly, "Sometimes you just have to let people find out for themselves."
"Yeah; oh what's going on with Sabrina? I haven't heard from her in a bit."
SJ sat down, "Well, I had a call from her last night. It seems that Endora had an incident and had to go to the hospital."
Heather looked shocked, "Sabrina, why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"Well, you have enough on your plate without worrying about Endora too."
"Ok." She didn't like Sabrina keeping big news like this to herself but she let it slide, "Go on."
"Well it seems Endora is pregnant."
"WOAH!!! Really!??!!" Heather's eyes sprung open.
"Yeah, it's really early though, not too far into it."
"That's wonderful."
"They're taking it easy; it's a crucial time for her."
"Yeah I can say, she isn't as young as she used to be."
"Sabrina says her doctor says not too old to try."
"That's great; I'll give her a call tonight and congratulate her."
"She also told me about Cheetaur."
"Oh the big Cheetah taur that both of you befriended, how is she?"
"Not too good she's in the hospital in Massachusetts."
"Oh what happened?"
Sabrina explained and when she was finished she sighed, "She protected those kids."
"Very heroic to put your own life at risk, I hope she gets better."
"I do too, that's the second time she's done that. I can't but feel sorry, she's had a hard life and now this."
"Sabrina, she'll be OK; don't worry so. You can keep in contact with Sabrina; ask her the hospital's number, that way you can do your part."
"Sabrina sniffed, "You're right Heather I can do that." Sabrina stood up, "I think it's time I did a bit a work around here."
"Don't worry so much OK sis, things will be fine; you'll see."
"I got my fingers crossed."
Tarra: Afain's Home.
The ship was still quarantined to everyone except those working on it and no official public announcement of its discovery had been made yet. The Emperor wanted more time for study of it and its records that had now been completely down loaded. The old world ship's core AI had been transferred to a smaller ship now and was being incorporated into its new environment.
The two Zargozians were awakened on an Island away from civilization with only Tolare and Shearah to be with them when they were awakened. Alex prepared translations for them and presented a brief history of the new world of which they were now a part. Being both scientists, they took the transition extremely well. The language barrier was of slight concern for no one had heard the Ancient language actually spoken. Some words were distinguishable but most weren't so written conversation was mostly used instead. They had many questions about their health and what technology advances had been made. They were given small bits of information to absorb, too much was deemed unhealthy. They would remain there for awhile till Shearah and Tolare felt that they could be moved without too much harm coming to them mentally. They had to be given time to adjust.
As to the findings, the Emperor promised that the revelation would be revealed to the worlds of the Empire but no mention of the two survivors would ever be made public. The Empire would make sure that they lead a semi-normal life, allowing them to explore their new world.
Alex had begun the translation process with the last record made by the crew. There was a lot of data to go through and sort but Alex had found what Kira had requested.
After reviewing the log Kira had many questions for Alex, Lyja and for one of the scientist Zargozians that had just woken up. That conversation was kept simple as they were just adjusting to their new world. She sighed at the problem that now sat before her, although impossible as it might sound; it was still in the range of possibility. It was time to talk to Afain.
Afain awoke to the green furred face that she knew and loved. "Hello beautiful."
"Hi yourself, I hope you're up to hearing some news."
Afain sat up and realized it was time for nature to take its course. She was back in a moment, ready for Kira's news. "Let's go to the kitchen I want some breakfast, my stomach is crying out for food."
"Ok."
As they walked Afain poked at Kira for information, "So what has you all upset this morning."
"Alex has translated the last few logs of the ship's crew, something happened to them, something not very good."
"Oh no."
The kitchen was almost dungeon-like in its dullness, the rain outside was coming down in torrents today and the sky was a grey blanket that blocked almost all light from the twin suns. Afain switched on the light to make it more bearable. "Ok, so what happened?" She opened the fridge and began to fix a breakfast for them.
"It seems the ship settled down on a planet rich in flora, the team scanned for life forms and landed in a valley away from most prominent life forms."
"Sounds good."
"Yes all up to the point where a predator attacked them and killed all of them save the two we rescued."
"Oh Goddess, that's horrible."
"It doesn't get much better, one of the scientists managed to strike the creature down. Hoping only to scare it off so they could leave but they hurt the creature almost to the point of death."
"They can't do that, our code…"
"Yes, I'm getting to that. They stabilized the creature enough to come up with a fantastic plan." Kira paused and took a sip of her juice that Afain had placed before her. "Mmm that's good."
"Yeah it is. I'm learning to appreciate a whole different variety of things."
"Anyway, they tore out the pod we saw missing in the ship and put the creature in it. With some very creative programming they instructed it to heal the creature then release it. Then after it was long gone it was to self destruct leaving no trace of it."
"A great plan, they preserved the code."
"Yes, at a great cost, they removed all the bodies and took off leaving the pod and creature behind since they could not stay long enough to do it themselves; it was a big mistake."
"What? But you said…"
Kira put up her paw, "Let me finish, it is true that the idea was fantastic and would have worked if I had been there to program it, they however didn't know things that I know. The alterations they made to the pod created a flaw in its operating system."
"Oh no."
"Yes, the pod would heal the creature back to its normal state however it would never be able to release it. The commands to do that had been overridden by their work around code."
"Then that could mean."
"Yes that the creature could still be trapped within that pod to this day. It also means very advanced and dangerous technology could fall into the wrong hands if it were ever discovered."
"Kira we have to do something."
"Yes we are going to have to go to that planet!"
End of Chapter 16
"Warp speed Cleo, to infinity and beyond!"
"Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"