Drago and Marlise both put a hand on the circle. A few minutes later, part of it glowed exactly as before.
‘This is getting annoying,’ said Drago. ‘If we can’t shut down the planetary defence system …’
He didn’t finish the sentence. Everyone listening knew that we needed to shut down the defence system to be able to explore the alien planet. Everyone listening knew that we could gain incredible amounts of knowledge from the ruins of an alien civilization. Only seven people knew that we desperately needed some very specific knowledge about the ships the aliens had sent out.
‘Is the pedestal broken?’ asked Stone.
‘It’s at least partially functional, sir,’ said Leveque. ‘Part of the circle is glowing and …’ He paused for a moment. ‘Commander Tell Dramis, exactly what is your genetic relationship to Commander Tell Morrath?’
I felt a stab of blind panic at the mention of my name, even before my conscious mind worked out what Leveque was thinking.
‘We have two great-grandparents in common,’ said Drago.
‘Which explains why you were able to light part of the circle,’ said Leveque. ‘The reason there are no doors or tests to prevent anyone reaching that pedestal, is because it performs some sort of genetic scan and will only respond to selected people.’
I daren’t look at Fian or Raven. My mind was facing total disaster.
‘I don’t see how the pedestal in Zeta sector could know who activated the artefact on Earth,’ said Colonel Stone. ‘The aliens don’t appear to have had portal technology, so how could a message have reached it this fast?’
‘It knows because we told it.’ Leveque’s voice was unusually grim. ‘Our probe played the light sculpture of the test sequences, and the beacon responded to attract our attention. Unfortunately, the light sculpture of the test sequences includes a very complex end section. We didn’t understand what that section was about. Now we do. The end section is the genetic information of the people who triggered the artefact on Earth.’
‘But why?’ asked Stone. ‘If they don’t have portal technology, how could they expect us to travel here fast enough for the same people to activate this pedestal?’
‘It’s possible the aliens expected us to take the time to fully translate their message and follow some special instructions that would have avoided this problem,’ said Leveque, ‘but I suspect the answer is much simpler. The aliens reproduced asexually, and they assumed other intelligent species would too.’
‘What?’ asked Stone.
‘Only one parent was involved in reproduction, so their offspring were exact genetic copies of them. Asexual reproduction is most common in plants but in rare cases it happens in animals too.’
‘So they didn’t expect the same person to activate this pedestal, they expected one of their descendants to do it.’ Stone paused for a moment. ‘Major Weldon, please touch the circle again. By yourself this time.’
I stared down at my trembling hands. The pedestal in Zeta sector needed both me and Fian to activate it, but I was Handicapped and couldn’t leave Earth. Even worse, this situation was entirely my own fault. I’d dared to help send that signal to the alien probe instead of letting a normal born human do it alone. I’d stood there afterwards, celebrating doing something good, but I’d actually done something terrible.
The sheer magnitude of the disaster slowly sank in. People saw me as representing the Handicapped. When this news went public …
I pictured what would happen then, and shuddered. People would blame me for blocking humanity from reaching Fortuna, and there’d be a huge backlash against me and everyone I represented. When they found out about the chimera as well, learned I’d stopped us finding out where the other alien ships had gone …
I felt Fian’s hand take mine, but I didn’t trust myself to look at him. I just kept numbly watching the wall vid. The circle didn’t respond to Marlise at all. Of course it wouldn’t. She wasn’t related to either me or Fian. When she stepped away from the pedestal, Colonel Stone asked the key question.
‘What are the chances of the pedestal accepting Major Eklund without Commander Tell Morrath?’
‘50 per cent,’ said Leveque.
The Military lookup on Fian’s forearm chimed a moment later. I knew what the message would say. He’d just been ordered to go to Fortuna’s moon.
Fian let go of my hand and stood up. ‘Everything will be all right, Jarra. The pedestal will work for me.’
I watched him change into his impact suit and go off, escorted by the usual four Military Security officers since Raven was staying with me. Fian had to try of course, but I already knew the pedestal wouldn’t respond to him alone. When I was born, the odds were a thousand to one against me being Handicapped, but I’d still lost. I was going to lose this gamble too.
There was only one thing I could possibly do. I tapped my lookup and Rayne Tar Cameron answered me. It was obviously no surprise to her that I wanted to speak to Colonel Stone. Judging from the compassionate look on her face, she knew exactly what I was going to say as well.
It was only a moment before Colonel Stone’s face appeared on my lookup. I took a deep breath. ‘Sir, I volunteer to portal to Fortuna’s moon.’
I knew it would be twelve seconds before she could reply. I was mentally counting those seconds, when I heard Raven’s lookup chime and turned to see him pointing his gun at me.
‘I’m really sorry about this, Jarra, but you’re under arrest.’
32
My Military lookup had been remotely disabled, so I wasn’t sure of the exact time, but I must have been locked in my cell for nearly four days when Colonel Leveque finally appeared at the other side of the metal bars. I’d burned through my initial blind anger by then, and was feeling a weird, icily calm despair.
I rolled off the bed and went to stand facing him. ‘The pedestal obviously didn’t work for Fian or you’d have let me out ages ago.’
Colonel Leveque shook his head. ‘Regrettably, Major Eklund only succeeded in lighting precisely half the circle.’
‘But why keep me in a prison cell? You don’t have to force me to portal to Fortuna’s moon. I’ve already volunteered!’
‘That’s precisely why I’ve been keeping you in a prison cell, Commander,’ said Leveque. ‘Some worlds are compatible with the Handicapped immune system, but unfortunately Fortuna is not one of them. When I realized the problem with the pedestal, I estimated a 97 per cent probability you would volunteer to commit suicide. Since ordering you not to do it might result in you making creative plans to make the attempt without permission, I preferred to keep you safely behind bars while we investigated all possible options for dealing with this situation.’
‘There is only one option. You set up a portal right next to that pedestal. You have Fian waiting there with his hand on it. I go through the portal and put my hand on it too.’
‘The attempt would certainly fail. We’ve been using Commander Tell Dramis, Major Eklund, your brother, and your sister, to make a series of tests.’
‘You’ve dragged Jaxon and Gemelle into this?’
‘Since they’re both Military officers, it was the logical next step. Although no combination of your relatives could actually activate the pedestal, they helped gather considerable information about it. That information included the fact you’d need to keep your hand on the pedestal for three minutes six seconds while it performs a scan.’
I sat back down on the bed and tugged at my hair with both hands. ‘It might still work even if I … die in the middle.’
Leveque shook his head. ‘Major Eklund was unable to affect the pedestal at all while unconscious.’
Unconscious? They must have drugged Fian and … I dismissed that thought. ‘Even if it can’t work, I still need to try. You won’t be able to hide this situation for long, and when people find out … The Planet First vote will fail. Alpha sector will change its mind about having Earth as a member. Prejudice against the Handicapped will be worse
than ever before, and it’s all my fault!’
‘You are possibly taking an overly negative view of the situation, Commander,’ said Leveque.
‘No, I’m not. The Military were using me as a symbol of the Handicapped, using me to change things, but when people know how badly I messed things up by sending that signal to the alien probe … If they know I tried to fix it, then it might limit the damage.’
‘I’m sure that Lucius Augustus Gordianus could make some very stirring speeches about you martyring yourself in a hopeless attempt to activate the pedestal on Fortuna’s moon,’ said Leveque. ‘That might help the Handicapped situation, however my overriding priority is the safety of all humanity. We don’t need heroic self sacrifice here, we need access to Fortuna and the information we may find there about the chimera’s whereabouts.’
He’d been standing on the other side of the bars, but now he tugged across a chair and sat down facing me. ‘We can bypass the Fortuna outer defence shield by drop portalling low into the atmosphere, but the surface defences are incredibly efficient. After two hundred and seven attempts, we still haven’t managed to land a probe on the planet surface. We must shut down those defences.’
I didn’t bother saying anything. Shutting down the defences meant me putting my hand on that pedestal. I’d volunteered to do that. Leveque was refusing to let me. There weren’t any other options.
‘We’ve considered cloning you,’ said Leveque.
I stared at him. ‘Cloning human beings is against the protection of humanity laws!’
Leveque shrugged. ‘The Alien Contact programme can override those laws. However, records of previous experiments indicate your genetically identical clone would also be Handicapped.’
‘What? Someone tried cloning the Handicapped? I’ve never heard about that. When did it happen? Why?’
‘That information is classified.’ He paused for a moment. ‘Our only remaining course of action is to attempt to use an individually tailored web to artificially control your immune system. Although highly dangerous, this does have a significant chance of success.’
‘This is the same cure you told me about before? I thought you said the risk was suicidal.’
‘General Torrek was concerned you might wish to try the cure,’ said Leveque, ‘so he ordered me to exaggerate the dangers. For the average person, the chance of success is 51 per cent. In your case, it rises to 68 per cent.’
‘Why do I get a better chance? I’m not complaining, but …’
‘At age 14, you had the right to make one attempt to portal off world. You had the excellent forethought to take up that option. Very few of the Handicapped do this, so Hospital Earth researchers are always present to study the event.’
I remembered the number of medical staff who’d been present that day. ‘They were studying me? I thought they were doctors!’
‘They were,’ said Leveque. ‘They were giving you every possible care, while also performing extensive scans of your immune system before, during, and after the attempt. Hospital Earth has also taken every opportunity to perform follow up scans during your routine medical checks and emergency medical treatment for dig site accidents. This means they have extremely detailed data on the operation of your immune system over the last four years.’
I’d always felt that doctors were obsessive about scanning me. My friends had just laughed and said I was imagining things, but apparently I hadn’t been. ‘What does this cure involve?’
‘The first stage is a modified channelrhodopsin therapy which …’
I lifted a hand to stop him. ‘If I’m going to understand this, you’ll need to explain it simply.’
Leveque started his explanation again. ‘The first stage is an injection of special cells that can be switched on or off using pulses of light. These will seek out and attach themselves to all areas of your immune system. A variation of this technique was once widely used in medical treatments before being replaced by regrowth techniques.’
I held up my hand again. ‘I think I understand so far, but you’re still being very technical.’
‘The second stage is whole body surgery to implant a web under your skin,’ continued Leveque. ‘This web will send the light signals round your body to control your immune system. Again, an implanted web that will regenerate in the event of injury was an established method of medical treatment centuries ago, although it was used for a very different purpose.’
I wrinkled my nose. ‘Whole body surgery must mean tank time.’
‘Correct,’ said Leveque. ‘Surgery would be followed by two days in a regrowth tank to heal your body. After that, comes stage three, which is the critical point when the natural controls of your immune system are shut down and the artificial controls of the web take over. Unfortunately, shutting down your natural immune system is irreversible.’
‘So if the web doesn’t work, I’ll die?’
Leveque nodded. ‘There is a 32 per cent chance that stage three will cause you to suffer total immune system failure and a rapid death. However, if the transition to the artificial controls is successful, the web will control your immune system perfectly whether you’re on Earth or any other planet.’
There was a one in three chance I’d die, but that was much better than the certain death I’d been expecting. ‘I obviously have to do this, I’ve no choice, but I’ve a few more questions. Will this involve overriding the protection of humanity laws?’
‘I assure you, Commander, medical treatment to give you a normally functioning immune system is perfectly legal under the protection of humanity laws.’
It would be legal, but … ‘If this doesn’t kill me, what will I look like afterwards? Will this web show?’
‘Hospital Earth’s doctors will do their best not to adversely affect your appearance, but functionality must override aesthetics.’
I was tempted to copy Colonel Stone, look up at the ceiling, and ask why Leveque couldn’t just talk ordinary Language instead of including lots of fancy words. ‘You’re saying I’ll look different. How different?’
‘The effect should be small.’
The question I was really trying to ask was if I’d still be human, but I couldn’t make myself say those words. I tried to forget that issue. ‘What will you do if I die? Clone me?’
‘If you suffer brain death before we stabilize your immune system, and your existing body is viable afterwards, then we would regrow your brain tissue. If your existing body was not viable, we would clone you, but in that case the clone would need to undergo the web implantation process.’
‘A clone would have a one in three chance of dying too,’ I said.
‘Our chance of the web implantation being successful would be improved due to the knowledge gained during the first attempt,’ said Leveque. ‘Unfortunately, there is a significant probability that either your own body with a regrown brain, or a clone, would be unable to activate the pedestal. Our tests lead us to believe it requires not only identical genes but similar brain patterns.’
‘What? Why?’
‘It seemed strange that an intelligent alien race would have reproduced asexually because it has evolutionary disadvantages. Those disadvantages may have been outweighed by some form of genetic memory.’
I looked at him blankly.
‘The alien offspring weren’t just identical genetic copies of their parent, they also inherited some memories and brain patterns.’ Leveque paused to check I understood that before continuing. ‘Either your clone, or your own body with a regrown brain, would be missing your current memories and personality. This would cause significant changes to brain activity.’
That meant it wouldn’t be me any longer. Everything that made me a person would be gone. Despite that, I couldn’t help thinking … ‘If you do have to use cloning and put them through this as well, can you do that before you … first wake them up?’
‘Of course, Commander. As a Threat specialist, I’m trained to supply information dispassionately, t
o avoid my personal emotions influencing my commanding officer’s decisions. That can mean I appear cold and indifferent in public, but I assure you that I have perfectly normal human feelings and compassion. I find the current situation extremely distressing.’
He let the carefully controlled mask of his face slip for a second, showing an expression of pure pain. I’d never really understood the reasons for the traditional emotionless act of Threat specialists. Now I did. The knowledge that this situation was hurting Leveque only made things worse.
‘How soon will I have the operation, sir?’ I asked.
Leveque went across to a panel at the side of the room, and did something that made a section of bars slide aside. ‘The doctors are ready to proceed with the stage 1 injection immediately. It will take effect within forty-eight hours, by which time they should have finished creating the web to match your individual requirements.’
I walked out of my prison cell. ‘I’d like to visit Lecturer Playdon before the operation and warn him what’s happening. His wife was killed four years ago, so he’s got the personal experience to help Fian if this goes badly.’
‘Lecturer Playdon has taken the Security Oath,’ said Leveque, ‘so there’s no problem with that so long as you don’t mention the chimera.’
‘I’d like to visit Candace too, but I’d better not. She knows me far too well. She could tell if I lied, and if I told her even part of the truth …’
I pictured how Candace would react to the news I’d volunteered for something that had a one in three chance of killing me, and winced. It wasn’t even as simple as that. Chaos, I could have coped with a one in three chance of dying, but the idea of some replacement me wearing my face, taking over my life, was …
‘While there is no medical urgency,’ said Leveque, ‘it would be beneficial if the web is implanted within the next ninety-one hours.’
‘Why? What happens in ninety-one hours time?’
‘General Torrek will be decanted from his rejuvenation tank,’ said Colonel Leveque. ‘He will be extremely unhappy with recent developments.’