| |
|
Part 26e: Helix Prime
===========================================================
Part 26e - Helix Prime by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
A billion stars blaze in a band across the sky of Helix Prime, lighting
up the night almost as brightly as the day. The world is cold,
and at night a man can freeze to death within minutes. Of course,
nobody goes out on the surface, even in the day time, since the thin
atmosphere consists mainly of exotic gases that find it hard to exist
at higher temperatures.
Those gases are why The Dome is here.
The Dome is what the research people stationed there call it.
Officially it's Helix Prime Base One. The numeric designator is a
little redundant, since it's the only facility on Helix Prime, a
research outpost of the Terragenix Dominion.
Within the dome, and extending out for some distance beneath the
planetary surface, is a large city, whose main purpose is medical and
genetic research. Research which makes use of raw materials mined
from the planet and its atmosphere.
It is to Helix Prime, to Cyto-Regen Facility 3-Alpha, that Leonardo brings his friend, Simon.
===========================================================
Re: Part 26e - Helix Prime by Leonardo
-----------------------------------------------------------
... and just as suddenly the planet of Helix Prime now had 2 more
Humans and 1 more wolf on its surface... or rather beneath The Dome of
HPB-1. The native members and citizens of the Terragenix Dominion
were Humanoid in shape but differed from standard Earth Humans (and
Escherians) in that they tended to have thinner bodies on average, ears
that swept up into points and their skin tones were various shades of
blue, purple and violet.
{NOTE: Look at the temporary new portrait for Leonardo for this post,
that is what Dr. Collins Crick looks like in his research staff
uniform.}
However despite their appearance, they were actually quite warm and
friendly to outsiders... especially here since they did not get many
visitors. Also any "alien" who visited provided a chance to study
new and foreign customs, cultures and potential biology. Leonardo
had been here many time before and had befriended the Research Director
for the Cyto-Regen Facility 3-Alpha. It was the premier
Bio-Medical Research Unit in this particular solar system and there
were only 3 others which rivaled it within the Terragenix Dominion (1
on the Terragenix homeworld of Terragen Prime, 1 was a huge space
station orbiting the homeworld and a 3rd was rumored to be located at a
Top Secret military installation whose location was not
disclosed). It was the "Alpha" designation which labeled this
facility as being one of the best and it was the 3rd one to be built
after the first two were constructed at Terragen Prime.
Dr. Collins Crick had worked his way up from Junior Researcher to
Director with surprisingly little "politics"... he was just very good
and very bright when it came to Bio-Molecule design and
application. Bio-Molecules were the general term used for the
building blocks of Terragenix Society. They were used to creat
the organic-technology and bio-starships of the Dominion as well as
providing the basics of food, shelter and clothing. Of course it
was in the realm of bio-medical research with genetic recombination and
cellular regeneration that Bio-Molecules really shined.
And of course it was the utilization of Bio-Molecules in medical
treatment that had led Leonardo to choose Helix Prime as the best site
for his friend Simon to recover. With Piece still holding the grub in a small containment field while the other end
was wrapped around Simon's wrist and providing healing for the many
injuries he had, Leonardo gently guided his friend Simon towards the
main entrance of CRF-3A where his friend Dr. Crick was already waiting
with a fast response medicial emergency truama team. As Simon was
placed in a bio-statis pod hovering above the ground using limited
anti-grav and the grub was deposited into a laboratory specimin
container, Leonardo allowed himself a small sigh of relief.
Well we made it, Simon will be well taken care of here. I
suppose for the time being we are "safe"... although it will be
difficult to accept the peaceful surroundings knowing that Escher is in
peril. I wonder what the others are doing... have they met with
more success.. or have they gone the way of David Ares? If I can
not make contact with them... then who shall I contact for aid in
freeing Escher of its plight... free it of Tarquin's influence!?
I wonder if now is the time to plead my case before Samuel... I know he
has resources at his disposal of which I can only guess. He has
always been there when I needed him... perhaps he could aid me when
noone else is able... or willing?
===========================================================
Re: Part 26e - Helix Prime by Leonardo
-----------------------------------------------------------
As Simon was being transfered to a truama/observation room for testing
and examination, Leonardo turned towards his old friend Dr. Crick and
smiled warmly as he said in a calm, relaxed tone, "I
am very grateful for your prompt response Collins, I have to admit that
I was pretty worried about Simon's condition for a few moments after
recovering him. Make sure to inform your people not to attempt to
remove the metalic band around Simon's right wrist... they won't be
able to cut it and even if they did, it would only end up regenerating
any damage caused. Don't worry though, it won't do Simon any harm.
I also appreciate you're efforts in analyzing that grub. I
understand that the grub is capable of burrowing under the skin and
breeding to the point of completely overcoming and overtaking a being's
physical body. A very nasty creature but one I might have to face
in the near future. Besides... if I know Venter and Agre, they'll
be acting like wide eyed kids with a new toy to play with when they get
their hands on the grub... they just love new species to study.
So Collins, how are things going here on Helix Prime? Are the
Bio-Molecules still flowing as strongly as ever? Have you met any
new alien races recently? The last time I was here you were
arranging a treaty of some sort with a new alien race who had evolved
from insects... looked something like oversized ants. How did the
talks go?
Oh before I forget, this here is Hunter... the umm... "pet" I'm looking
after for awhile. He's friendly enough once you get to know him
but he takes a bit of getting used to. He's real sharp, much more
so than you might think at first glance. He should be reliable
without any need for restraint... you could say he's "house trained"...
but I wouldn't do it too loudly around him."
Leonardo chuckles as he looked from Hunter back to Collins with a small knowing wink.
===========================================================
Re: Part 26e - Helix Prime by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Crick fills Leonardo in on the latest news and gossip, while both Simon and the grub are taken away for examination.
Time passes in that slow and excruciating manner that it only seems to adopt in hospital waiting rooms.
Finally another doctor enters the room and hands Crick a datapad. He glances at it, the smiles at Leonardo, "We
can treat your friend's condition, and we have started to do so
already. He is responding well to the therapies we are
using. A number of interesting and, dare I say, unique entities were found to be infesting his body, though none resembled the
grub that you brought in with you. We are using noninvasive
methods to remove those"
"As I said, Simon is responding well, but he will need to be kept here under observation for some time, I'm afraid."
"As for the grub itself, well it occupies the same ecological niche as
many similar creatures on various worlds, but on a genetic level it is
related to no known species. It is also tolerant of extremely
varied conditions."
"Where did you find it? Where is this world that Simon spent seven months on?"
"Conditions there must be very hostile indeed, to produce such a wide range of adaptations in the life forms that live there."
===========================================================
Re: Part 26e - Helix Prime by Leonardo
-----------------------------------------------------------
Leonardo looked relieved to hear that his friend Simon would
recover. He looked a bit surprised to hear about the extent of
the infestations and responded in a cautious tone, "Well
first off I knew you wouldn't let me down Collins and I want you to
know that I really appreciate your aid in this matter. I am very
glad to hear that he can be purged of these parasites and healed
fully... though mentally and spiritually it may take longer for him to
fully recover.
As for these creatures... well I have never personally visited the
world where these creatures are native but I did manage to... "talk" or
communicate with one of the humanoid natives. He was roughly like
you or I only MUCH more primative. He was quite a formidable
hunter, tracker and combatant... clearly someone raised in a lethal
environment with harsh survival conditions.
In fact based on the crude modifications made to his body... certainly
nothing to compare with your people's skill and technology... it was
quite clear that this "man's" tribal culture and customs were oriented
towards adaptation vs. the harsh living conditions and lethal predators.
Though I have not been there before... I feel there may come a time in
the near future when I will need to travel there. Do you think
your people will be able to devise and construct any kind of repellant
or immunological booster which could prevent infections and
infestation? Something that could repel or better yet eliminate
these various parasitic creatures?
On a somewhat different topic, I know the policy of the Terragenix
Dominion is to place Science as the closest thing to a Dominion-wide
"religion" or "faith" if you will... but have you ever heard of
something called the "Church of One"? Maybe from some of the
foreign aliens who come to visit or be treated from time to time?"
===========================================================
Re: Part 26e - Helix Prime by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
"From our questioning of Simon, it appears there are
several species of insect native to this place which will lay their
eggs in open wounds, scratches, or cuts. Those eggs then hatch
into the various parasites and other organisms which were infesting his
body."
Crick looks concerned at Leonardo's mention of plans to go into the jungle. "I
could not, in all honesty, recommend that course of action. Quite
apart from the insect life, your friend has some rather nasty viral
agents in his blood stream, and most of his left foot was covered with
a fine growth of mold, some tendrils of which had bored into the bone."
"The slightest graze could prove potentially fatal there. If you simply must go, I would recommend one of our bioseal suits, and a team of SRSOps trained in that sort of environment."
To Leonardo's question concerning the One, he replies, in a rather superior manner, "It
is possible that one of the patients or visitors may have mentioned
this cult. We have little interest in the superstitions of
others."
===========================================================
Re: Part 26e - Helix Prime by Leonardo
-----------------------------------------------------------
Leonardo smiled at his friend concern as much as he did for his
friend's well known dislike of anything that smacked of the
"supernatural". Leonardo knew that Collins's prejudice was well
founded, the Terragenix people had fought long and very bloody battles
during the Faith Wars several generations back. Eventually it was
the philosophical movement for embracing Science as the "ultimate
religion" that saved Dr. Crick's people from endless conflict... though
they would never admit that Science was a "religion".
Leonardo replied in a calm reassuring tone, "Well
not to worry Collins, I won't be going anywhere until Simon is ready to
be discharged so don't worry too much now. However... I will have
to go at some point. Any help you can give me, say in the form of
protections or immunity or vaccines, will be a tremendous help.
As for a SRSOps Team... they would be greatly appreciated but you have
to understand that the risk to the team members may exceed the alien
lifeforms you've seen so far. It is my belief that they might be
confronted with an actively hostile sentient force, and I'm not just
talking about the skilled wild hunter-trackers but rather some recent
alien invaders from my own world who are enslaving people and have
access to modern technology.
Still... we can talk more later, I have some work to catch up on and I
have been falling behind considerably in my sketching. I want to
thank you again for all your help in this matter, I know you are
enjoying the new challenges the study of these new creatures had
brought but do be careful with your testing... who knows what these
things might be able to do outside their natural environment."
Leonardo, in the company of Hunter, walked down the familiar halls to
the set of rooms which Collins always had set aside for visits by
Leonardo. Leonardo walked into the room and breathed a sigh of
relief. Everything was just as he had left it months
before. As Hunter went to jump up on the bed, Leonardo moved over
to the easel where his paints and pens were still layed out on the side
table. After checking his notebook and flipping through the
images of his digital camera, Leonardo sat down, got comfortable and
began to create new works of art from memory.
===========================================================
Re: Part 26e - Helix Prime by Dworkin (GM)
-----------------------------------------------------------
Time, as the Terragenix have discovered, is purely subjective.
Like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder. For some it really
does pass more slowly than for others.
Knowing that fact, and finding a way to actually use it, are two entirely different matters.
Simon recovers, slowly but surely regaining his strength and losing the
physical signs of his time in Tarquin's slave camp, though the mental
ones are not so quick to heal.
The yellow grub, it turns out, is extremely hardy. It seems to enjoy the taste of many of the pesticides that are tried on it. If you
cut it in half, you end up with two of the things, and even though not
sexually mature, it can reproduce, either by budding, or more
conventionally.
One was allowed to pupate, so that the adult form could be
studied. That mistake was not repeated. The resultant
insect was as large as a raven and required three large calibre weapon
hits to kill it after it escaped. Two technicians died from the
thing's bite, and the bodies were cremated just to be safe.
Leonardo spends his time working on his sketches and paintings, talking
to Simon, and studying the pamphlets he had picked up in the church.
These latter are almost worthless: religious nonsense of the worst
sort, mostly reiterating the "facts" which Tarquin had presented,
though in more flowery terms. One though, includes a list of five
important questions which are often asked by those who delve more
deeply into the faith. One of those questions is: How can The One be a being of pure heart, when His mother was a demon? The answer, all three pages of it, can be boiled down, in essence, to just three words, "Just believe it."
Finally, comes the day when the Terragenix pronounce Simon as fit as he will ever be...
===========================================================
Re: Part 26e - Helix Prime by Leonardo
-----------------------------------------------------------
As time passes and Leonardo realizes that his own time spent here on
Helix Prime will be coming to an end soon, he decides it is time to
"test" his newest artwork. However his first attempt is
frustratingly unsuccessful and it worries him. Leonardo turns
towards Hunter with a concerned expression on his face as he replies in
a wary tone, "I
do value your companionship Hunter... but are you certain as to the
safety of your mistress? I can establish no contact with the Lady
Kalika and I am certain that it is not my skill with the paintbrush
which is to blame. It is possible that she has altered greatly in
her appearance since I last saw her... but still, it worried me that
she does not respond. I do hope for both our sakes that nothing
has happened to her, it would no doubt disturb the mighty "Jack o'
Shadows"... and he is already FAR too disturbed for my liking as it is."
With a sad resigned sigh, Leonardo tried his next Trump card... the
image of a mechanical spider sprung to mind as Leonardo attempted to
contact a fellow fighter against The Enemy, ~~~
THX 1138, this is Leonardo... a former member of the group with which
you travel. Please respond THX 1138, I need to know how things
are fairing with you, your leader Prime and of course... with Lady Cyan
and Prince Jack. How goes the War against the Archons? ~~~
Leonardo waited patiently for a reply and hoped that this time there
was a response... after all how much could a mechanical spider change
in appearance?
===========================================================
|
|
