Insidious Silent Infiltrator Page 2
“…Or are bald glowing mutants about to terrorize Neptune,” he said to lighten up the tone.
After 3 days, Devin came into the laboratory to see Trembold watching the timer on his radiation cage.
“And you told me to be patient. You have about two more hours to wait, Trem. You can’t temporally ‘scare’ your cage with your menacing stare into cycle completion.”
“I’m just checking the atmospheric pressure, Devin, stop being sarcastic. That look kills your lipstick sheen,” he said as he tapped a few buttons to adjust the pressure gauge.
“Do you think you have it this time? Should I prepare my Bonobos?”
“You’ll know in two hours. You know speculation isn’t in the scientific method. Go mass produce your antibody supply. If this works. I’ll need some models to put my dresses on.”
“Is this how you try to humanize tediously boring medical work? Personifying your creations?” she asked him.
“Which would you remember more? Encasing your Rejoarin antibody in a saline dimensional containment field or putting Rej in a skin-tight dress to kill in the night club? You’re an incredible doctor, Devin, but you’re painfully boring.”
“I’m not boring, Trem!” She protested.
“Okay, what did you do last night?”
“I updated my digi-log on any carbon-based xenomorphic virus’s caustic probabilities on a hominid’s organic structured foundational basis.”
“What, no watching season two of I'm Not Him? See, you’re the boring poster child of Neptune. Gather your antibodies; two hours should be lightspeed for you, Misses Paint Drying Dull.”
Devin ignored Trembold. Breylin Cheddix was her girl, but this was her experiment; her galactic tide changer. This battle wasn’t going as well as the consortium reported. They were losing many crews on the other side of the universe. Many of Ron’s students were getting condolence transmissions from their parent’s prior fighting regiment sectors. Their troops were getting obliterated with alien firepower they had no defense for, even their intergalactic weapons. The only true defense they had was the wormhole technology which rejected anything xenomorphic trying to infiltrate the system. It was a form of a celestial immunity apparatus. If the wormhole detected a xenomorph-like anomaly, that anomaly would be destroyed. Their sector of the universe was safe. Due to a universal trade treaty to protect their allied species, our defense force was in deadly peril.
As she was putting her antibodies in the formula spinner, she finally heard a ding from Trembold’s radiation cage.
“The soufflé is ready, let’s hope it didn’t fall,” Trembold said as he flushed the radiation waves, activated the safety barrier encasement, put on his gloves, stuck his hands through the barrier holes, and opened the door.
The mice came out alive, hungry, and feisty! He grabbed the three and placed them in the biometric transparency scan to check for any mutations.
“Bring Rej. Devin. The mice are clear of any disruptions in their physiology. I think we can call it Saline Rejoarin now.” He put his mice in the food cage.
“Are you sure the antibody is going to be effective on a xenomorphic virus? We have no alien disease samples.”
“They were just in a seventeen thousand K-rad ionization cascade bath for seventy-two hours and they’re still squirming and hungry without any degradation to their immune defenses. They should be radioactive waste puddles now. The xenomorphic virus is carbon-based, so if it doesn’t melt you on contact, I think we beat them. There’s a method to my madness.” He looked over to his saline compilation container. “Let me fit these dresses and stop being so nervous. I’m working on this too and I will not be embarrassed.”
Devin had to calm down. This was the antibody vaccine they needed to keep their allies and troops. Just being her project held enormous gravitas to her confidence. In her mind, that heaviness was getting unbearable to lift.
She went to get her samples so Trembold could microscopically fuse them with a saline cover. He put the vial in the mix spinner and waited for completion.
“Is this going to work?” she asked apprehensively.
After the vial stopped its rotation spin in the mixer, Trembold took it out and put it in the shaft to wave over his 3 mice.
“We’ll know in thirty minutes after an intense ultraviolet radiation quick sauna. After we get something to eat we’ll know. Stop the first prom date jitters. We did everything correctly. Stop having hysterical conniptions for no reason. Save your alarm for when you explode your first Bonobo.”
“My vaccine won’t blow-up an ape, stop being silly,” she said.
“Kind of like you’re being right now?” Trembold did a touché to her comment. “Let’s eat. I heard the shrimp is good today.”
As they returned from their lunch, Trembold went to open the cage. The mice came scurrying out once more and he put them in the scanner again.
“Are they fine, no problems?”
“Just one, Devin,” Trembold said, “They’re still mice on Neptune. Everything is within range. Rej is working fine. Time to get your Bonobos and get some peer testing completed.”
Devin relaxed her tension and turned to walk out of the laboratory.
“We’re about to change this war, Trem.”
“You’re about to change it,” he said. “The consortium interviewed me yesterday. I know I said I’d tell you immediately, but you were on the cusp of completing your Saline Rejoarin, you needed to focus. If you weren’t focused, me telling you of your official interview with them and Admiral Velario the end of next week would never happen. The Lightning Strike is ready.”
She walked up and punched him in the shoulder.
“Hey!”
“That was for being dad, Trem! I’ve been waiting for this for years and you didn’t tell me anything!”
“You don’t have kids, I do!” he said. “That was ‘tough love’. If I told you, your future endeavors wouldn't have occurred. They still need to access your prototype vaccine schematic before they even inform you. You’re my superior, Devin. My job is to make you look good. That gets a little difficult if you don’t complete this from future expectations clouding your mind. You didn’t know and now you’re getting your Bonobos.” He rubbed his shoulder. “If this doesn’t work I can recommend you for the Brash Baller tournaments. You hit like a dreadnaught starship rammer.”
Devin understood why he didn’t tell her. If he did, that distracting information would frazzle her thinking more.
“Okay, Trem, I forgive you,” she said as she walked out to get her apes. “Blame my brother for that punch. He’s a cobalt sledger back on Earth and punching him was like punching solid steel.”
She went to the animal testing area to commission ten Bonobos. Her vaccine was on the next step to being labeled with scientific theoretical proof.
She alerted her colleagues to inform them it was time to try to tear apart her vaccine and walked back to the laboratory.
“They’ll be here in twenty minutes. Are you ready?”
“Let them come, apes and colleagues both. They’re just jealous I work with you, so they’ll do their best to embarrass us. I just want to see the look on their faces when they can’t.”
“Confident I see.”
“Aren’t you?” he asked her. “You’ve been working like a starship docking arm in this constant war, have been antisocial to Ron until I made you relax, and have documented everything, screw-ups and all. Your antivirus shield isn’t questionable, it’s ceramic extrusion solid.”
“I don’t know, Trem. Overconfidence creates arrogance.”
“You deserve arrogance. Just don’t show them.”
As they all showed up, apes and colleagues alike. Devin began to infuse the Bonobos after her colleagues examined the molecular structure of the Saline Rejoarin and also confirmed the stability. Then the apes were ready to test.
The rigorous testing took until the day before her in
terview they informed her of the evening they finished. She needed to produce a solid enough vaccine blocker before they would even administer the interview. She had already sent the schematics of her vaccine to them in her digi-log at the beginning of peer testing and they approved the blueprint schematics. The next morning she reported to the Celestial Consortium complex to have her interview.
She reported, sat, and waited. It didn’t take too long before she heard her name.
“Doctor Deveraux, Agent Weggin will see you now.”
This was it. She hoped there were no discrepancies in her invention. She walked into the room to see a female agent and a male admiral sitting behind a table laden with computer tech. She sat in the only chair on the opposite side of them.
“Good day, Doctor Devereaux. I am Agent Weggin and this gentleman is Admiral Velario. We have designed a new battlecruiser called the Fulgur Percutiens. This is an experimental cruiser designed to assist and protect the earthen troops and native ally xenomorphs fighting in the Zanar galaxy. The crew needs a competent medical officer.
This assignment was tailored for a doctor with your expertise. You are a medical quantum physicist who created a xenomorphic virus blocker antidote with shielding. Your accomplishment is amazing, but since this is the Celestial Consortium, you need a top-secret clearance to operate as the ship’s doctor. You would be exposed to technological secrets. This interview has been engineered to see if you can follow orders.”
Agent Weggin explained she was already cleared, but she had to agree to listen to the admiral.
“I understand, Agent Weggin. This is a crucial battle to aid our allies in their own system and I cannot conflict with my superior; hello, Admiral Velario.”
“I’m not your superior. You haven’t enlisted. What’s a medical quantum physicist anyway?”
The admiral seemed as if he was irritated and direct.
“My title states I am a biological medical doctor who evaluates the nature and behavior of all forms of matter organic or no along with force-vibrations on the atomic and subatomic levels dimensionally.”
“Pretty title, but can you patch my crew when they get blasted?”
Devin was surprised at his question. She thought they recruited her for a reason.
“I beg your pardon, Admiral, but a field medic can repair your crew. What am I here for exactly?”
Agent Wegign interrupted.
“We sought you out for your xenomorphic antiviral expertise from your digi-log, Doctor. Admiral Velario just wants to know you haven’t forgotten your basics over your creation.”
“With all due respect, Admiral, I do know how to rub my stomach and pat my head at the same time.”
“Cute, Doctor,” the admiral said. “But I need a crack field medical doctor affluent in field wound repair. This whole antivirus project is the consortium’s idea I had to negotiate to command a new cruiser. We are running our first space test in two weeks with a vital crew complement, so are you up to snuff?”
“A two-week window will be short, but if I get hired, I can do it,” she said. “And trust me, I haven’t lost any medical repair knowledge or skills.”
Agent Weggin looked at her monitor to see if her superiors saw the exchange and approved the doctor. As the admiral and doctor stared at each other in a silent stalemate for control, she got her answer.
“According to my superiors, Doctor Deveraux, you have officially been hired,” Weggin told her, “Pending your creation will be partly owned by the Celestial Consortium and we fund the rest of the development of said creation. We also need the official name of your invention.”
Devin was excited, but Trembold taught her well.
“Before I reveal the patented name of my antivirus, the consortium is allowed to co-own, participate, and use my invention, but it is one hindered percent my invention, I acquired the patent weeks ago. If the consortium agrees to this addendum, I accept your offer.” Devin said.
Weggin conveyed Devin’s terms to the consortium. After a slight wait, they agreed to her terms.
“The consortium agrees to your terms, Doctor, welcome aboard,” Weggin said.
“They couldn’t break the encryption code to get the name from the patent office,” Devin assumed. “I understand the consortium’s protocol. Your reputation precedes you. The name of my invention is Saline Rejoarin. It still hasn’t been tested on human subjects though.”
The admiral interjected. “This entire test run is made to smooth out the kinks, Doctor. The crew has to gel and you get to test on humans. Don’t worry, they’re life-sentenced prisoners. At least they’ll contribute to this conflict in some way.”
He answered her dilemma on her testing morality conundrum. If the test subjects were prisoners serving life sentences, her tests wouldn’t matter.
She was meant to do this. All her hard work lead her to this position. She had a large smile behind her eyes. She knew she deserved this, but as Trembold told her, be arrogant, just don’t show them.
“Your medical staff will be completed by tomorrow. Celebrate for these two weeks, but be ready afterward. You are the official lead medical officer of the Fulgur Percutiens. If there is nothing else, you are dismissed, Doctor Deveraux.”
Devin stood to shake their hands and left to inform Trembold of her positive interview.
Devin entered the laboratory and saw Trembold inventorying the volatile elements and securing the containers.
“How’d it go, Devin? You didn’t choke on-stage, did you?”
“You’re talking to the Lightning Strike’s lead medical officer, Trem!” She hugged him. “I think your saline dress tripped the trigger, thanks.”
Trembold smiled.
“I told you I’d make Rej look fierce on the runway. When you present, make your product look appealing.” He kissed her cheek. “So, when do I lose you?”
“The first test run will happen in two weeks. Once it clears, I’ll be on active duty. My first official assignment!”
“I can do a party in under two weeks,” he said. “Bring Ron, I’ll bring Gary. We’ll have a good time at the Decahedron Ten Shades Resort this weekend.”
Chapter Two: Inaccurate Coordinates
After their weekend at the Decahedron Ten Shades Resort, Devin got back to work with Trembold to produce many vials of their Saline Rejoarin vaccine. They even sent a Bonobo through a 72-hour UV radiation ionizing cascade. It came out with no problems.
“I told you, Devin, Rej is solid,” Trembold said.
“I know it looks solid, but it hasn’t been field-tested on a human yet.”
“Genoimically, Bonobo apes are ninety-seven percent similar to a human. That’s why we use them for our tests. Now if we did all of this from beginning to end with lab mice, I’d be in question. If anything goes wrong, with your intelligence, you’ll fix it on the fly,” he said. “They recruited you for two reasons. Your amazing medical invention and your ability to tweak your invention under pressure. They built a battlecruiser for you. I’ll be happy if you bring me back a Lightning Strike t-shirt. You’re a special doctor, Devin.”
“I see why I pay you so well, Mister Microbiologist Ego Stroker,” she joked with him.”
“You hired me because I’m fabulous and I show you reality either way. Stop being so apprehensive, you got this, Girl.”
Devin felt better about her assignment. She knew why they recruited her. She just wanted to know how serious they were about her support. She went to the computer and logged in to investigate the only other she knew on the crew.
As she brought up Admiral Valerio’s military record, Trembold looked over her shoulder.
“Admiral Rafael Velatio of the CAF. He got the Celestial Armed Forces medal for stopping the Sekellog uprising during the annual Mars migration twelve years ago. He was decommissioned so he could rehabilitate from his Illex-dor addiction after his mission. He was finally re-commissioned to helm the Fulgur Percutiens for an experimental mission to the
Zanar galaxy.”
“I don’t know, Trem, he was an Illex-dor junkie twelve years ago. That stuff symbiotically grafts to your DNA. You can’t cure what makes you. Illex-dor never goes away,” she said.
“If he’s grumpy, he’s taking the mist. Was he grumpy?”
“I’d refine it to uninterestingly callous.”
“He’s taking the mist, Lexeme Linguist. Stop making everything look pretty, he’s grumpy.”
If they re-commissioned him to lead the Lightning Strike, how important of a mission could this be?” She was still apprehensive.
“Every admiral and captain is already fighting in the Zanar galaxy. He defeated the Sekellogs twelve years ago. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t be on Neptune right now,” Trembold said. “You might have a gift horse, not a candidate for dog food. You’re being negative again. He’s a decorated war hero and he’s still taking the mist. Do you think the consortium would give him an experimental battlecruiser because this was a throw-away mission? The consortium is enormous but incredibly cheap. They would never scuttle a battlecruiser just to allow him to save face. Stop creating asinine conspiracy problems to fall back on if Rej doesn’t work. You’ve busted your ass to create this. With your anal meticulousness, Rej will work.”
“How do you know how nervous I am about this test?”
“I told you before, Devin. I’m fabulous and I’ll show you reality either way.” Trembold really knew her.
Devin centered herself and realized she was punching ghosts. This was just farther than she had ever gotten and self-sabotage was natural in this situation. She had to stop her natural doubt and forge on with this war-changing shiny diamond.
It took the rest of the week to get Trembold up to speed to take over medical while she was away. They worked until he knew enough to be dangerous.