Solbidyum Wars Saga 7: Hunt for the Reduviids (22 page)

As soon as the service was over, Leader Tonclin approached me, “Admiral, are you feeling well?  You seemed to not quite be yourself during the ceremony.”

“I guess I am a bit overwhelmed by grief,” I answered.

“Ah, yes.  You were very close to Admiral Stonbersa; I can understand that.”

Regeny walked up, “Brilliant man, absolutely brilliant, the way you paused there at the end.  Made everyone think.  I’ll bet we see lots of volunteers to join the military after this airs.”

“I hope so,” I said while faking a smile.  Inside I was hoping I didn’t have another mental lapse before the day was over.  I needed to get to A’Lappe and start treatments before I lost it all together.

Once the drummers and all the other participants in the ceremony had been dismissed, Marranalis approached me.

“Admiral, are you all right?  I hope I did the right thing by starting the drummers.  I didn’t know what to do when you gave a different speech from the one you planned and when you went silent so long… well I assumed that was my cue that you wanted the drummers to begin.”

“Ah… yeah… You did the right thing.  Listen, Marranalis, we need to talk.  Come with me to my office," I said when I noticed my security guard standing by.  Once we were in my office and my security guard was outside, I said, “Have a seat, Marranalis, you’re going to need it when I tell you this."

“I’m going to need your help and your word to keep this secret.  What I’m about to tell you only one other person knows and for now it’s important we keep it that way.  My body is reacting to the sympathetic nerves and producing chemicals to attack them, only instead of affecting the synthetic nerves, they are impacting my brain in negative ways.  A’Lappe has run the tests and he’s the only other one to know about this.  He believes he can stop, or at least slow down, the process, but he can’t fix it and I am going to need to take weekly treatments.  It won’t impact my movements, but it does cause me to suffer minor memory blackouts like the one that hit me during the ceremony.  Hopefully once I start treatments I won’t have any more, but if I do, I need you to step in and assist me.  You may have to say things to jog my memory and get me going, or you may have to make something up to get me away from the scene of what’s going on for a few moments.  Most importantly you must not let Kala find out about this.  I don’t want her knowing.  Is that understood?”

Marranalis sat there with a shocked look on his face as he slowly responded, “Tibby, I don’t know what to say.  I mean, yes, of course I will help you in any way I can.  How long have you known about this?”

“I've realized for some time now that I was having momentary memory problems and that there seemed to be a lot of simple things I was forgetting, but I assumed it was due to all the stress I’ve been under.  However, when it started getting worse, I realized I needed to have things checked out.  It's only been a day that I have known the cause of it.”

“I don’t understand.  I've never heard of anyone with synthetic nerves having this problem,” Marranalis exclaimed.

“A’Lappe says that no one has ever come close to having as much synthetic nerve replacement as I have and that the quantity may be a factor.  He also said it might in part be due to my Earth DNA.  At the moment, we don’t know for sure, all we know is that my body it trying to attack the synthetic nerves and in doing so it’s impacting my brain.”

“So how long before A’Lappe can fix this problem?”

“He says he can’t.  He thinks he can halt the progress, or at least slow it down, but he can’t fix it.”

“What happens if he doesn’t treat it?”

“Then I slowly lose my memory and my brain becomes as useless as a bowl of pudding,” I said.

“How long would that take?

“A’Lappe is not sure, months, possibly years.  It's uncharted territory.”

“Is there any chance, he could be wrong?”  Marranalis asked.

“No, I don’t think so.  My own experiences tell me otherwise,” I said.

“Well, I’ll help you any way I can, you know that.”

“Yes, I’m going to meet with A’Lappe now for a treatment, which should help me for a week.  However, that’s not for sure.  I’m going to need you to watch me and let me know if you detect I am showing signs of having problems.”

“Tibby, I am so sorry to hear about this.  I mean, I have noticed of late you’re forgetting minor details, but by the stars, I don’t see how you manage all the things you do without forgetting a lot more.  Does Admiral Regeny know about this?”

“No and I don’t want him, or Wabussie, finding out either.  For right now it’s only you, me and A’Lappe.  No one else is to know of this.”

“Understood, but how are you going to go for treatments with your security escorting you everywhere without them getting suspicious?”

“Damn, you’re right,” I said, “See?  Its details like that which I miss of late.  A’Lappe is planning to use the auxiliary med unit to treat me in the rear of the
NEW ORELANS,”
I said.  “So I’m going to need an excuse to go there once a week that won’t appear suspicious.”

“No way that won’t be suspicious,” Marranalis said, “but you could hold private meetings with me once a week in your study and that wouldn’t arouse suspicion.”

“And then what?  I cloak, slip out the door past the guard and move to the aft end of the ship without detection?”  I said.

“No Tibby, you have those secret maintenance tunnels to your study A’Lappe uses all the time.  Use one of those to go to the aft of the ship for your treatment.  Your guard will think we are still inside having a meeting.”

“You’re right.  That’s perfect, there are no cameras in the maintenance tunnels and I can travel the entire way to the aux. med unit without being observed.  I just hope these treatments work.  Otherwise, in a few months, you’ll be talking to a bowl of mush instead of me.”

I contacted A’Lappe and told him to meet me in the auxiliary med unit in 20 minutes and, with Marranalis and my guard went to my study on the
NEW ORLEANS
.  Once he was on station outside my door, I opened the secret panel to the maintenance tunnels and I slipped inside.  Marranalis stayed behind in case anyone tried to contact me in the study; he would be able to make up some excuse for me.  Once inside the tunnel, I rapidly made my way to the auxiliary med unit where A’Lappe was ready to give my first treatment.  About half way to the med unit the horrid though struck me, what if I were to have a memory loss attack while I was on my way to get treatment and I got lost in the tunnels?  I shuddered at the thought and decided I would need to focus and concentrate extra hard when I went this route for treatments in the future.

“I wasn’t expecting to start treatments this soon,” A’Lappe said when I arrived in the aux. med unit.

“Thing have happened that make it necessary to begin immediately,” I responded and I related what happened during the memorial service.

“Hmm, I see,” A’Lappe said.  “I’m not sure how you’re going to react to this treatment and I have no idea what side effects it may have.  This might make you feel ill.  I have no idea.  “I’m not even sure how much of these drugs it will take to halt the rejection your body is undergoing.  We’re going to start out with what I think it will take and hope that’s enough, later we can adjust the amount up or down accordingly to test results.  We’re going to start first by filtering your blood, so if you lie down on this table, we’ll begin.  This won’t take but eight minutes, after that I will give you an injection that should inhibit your body from producing more rejection elements in your blood.  That’s the part that may make you ill.”

“Let’s get on with it," I said.

A’Lappe was right.  The blood filtering process went by quickly and other than for a needle prick, I felt nothing.  However, moments later when he hooked me up to an IV and started the inhibiting fluid into my veins, I felt like my body was pumping molten metal through my veins and any minute I would burst into flames.  On top of that all sorts of images flashed through my mind as fluorescent colors flashed in my vision.  My mouth tasted like I was drinking the most salty-sour brine in the world and my body trembled uncontrollably.  Finally, after about 15 minutes, it was all over and slowly I began to settle back to more normal feelings.  My circulatory system still felt like it was on fire, but the heat was much lower and bearable.  My mouth tasted like I was sucking on the sourest lemon imaginable and no amount of water or liquid could wash out the taste.  My vision seemed much too bright and the light hurt my eyes.

“How do you feel, Tibby?”  A’Lappe asked.  “Do you remember how I felt after you put me back together after my crash at Goo’Waddle?”  I asked as A’Lappe helped me off the table.  “Well, right now, I wish I felt that good.”

“Perhaps I need to reduce the level of the chemical treatment,” A’Lappe said.  “I’ll see what I can do.  I’ll need to check your blood in two days to see how well this treatment worked.”

Finding my way back to my study through the maintenance tunnels was difficult.  I felt ill and wanted to throw up several times, but I didn’t.  I felt very tired and wanted to lie down and take a nap, but I managed to make it to my study without needing to call Marranalis to come and help me.  When I finally entered my study, Marranalis looked at me and said, “By the stars, Tibby, you look horrible.  Didn’t the treatment work?”

“We don’t know yet,” I responded.  “A’Lappe wants to do a blood test in two days to measure the results.”

“Tibby, you can’t leave this study looking like you do now.  If you do your bodyguard will take you straight to the main med unit and Doctor Danjuma.”

“What do you suggest?” I said as I slumped down in one of the large easy chairs in my study.

“I suggest we order some food and you stay in here until you look better,” Marranalis said.

“Food!  Are you kidding?  If I tried to eat anything right now I would throw up,” I muttered.

“You don’t need to eat it, just order it so things will look normal, otherwise they will wonder why you didn’t leave here to go eat.”

“Yes, you’re right.  Order something.  Right now, I simply want to die; barring that, a nice nap might help.”

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I remember was opening my eyes and seeing Marranalis seated in the chair behind my desk. He had the chair turned so he was facing the aquarium wall as he watched the fish swim about.

“How long have I been asleep?”  I asked.

“A little over two hours,” he answered, “how are you feeling?”

“Better, much better actually.  I don’t feel like I’m about to explode from internal heat anymore.  My mouth still tastes horrible, though,” I said as I got out of my chair and headed for the foccee dispenser in the wall.  “Did anything happen while I was asleep that I should know about?”

“Kalana tried to contact you.  You were so out of it that you never responded to your wrist com beeping or vibrating.  I called her back and said you were in a conference and didn’t want to be disturbed and that you wouldn’t be home for dinner.  A’Lappe popped in here to see how you were doing and left without saying anything.  That pretty much covers it.”

“Thanks, Marranalis, I don’t know how I would handle this situation without you.”

“You’re looking better, Admiral, tired, but better.  I think if you were to leave now your guard would only assume that you’d had a long hard day and not be suspicious.”

“Good, I do feel much better,” I said as I took a sip of the foccee and swirled it about my mouth trying to rid myself of the taste that haunted it.  Instead, I found myself assaulted with even worse tastes and I ended up spitting the foccee back into the cup.  “By the stars,” I exclaimed.

“Is something wrong?” Marranalis asked.

“Apparently, my taste buds aren’t back to normal,” I replied, “this foccee tastes like Hobarious swamp water.  I hope this effect is temporary, otherwise I am going to lose a lot of weight very fast.”

“Try drinking plain water and lots of it.  That might flush the chemicals out of your body.”

“Hmm, good idea,” I said, as I punched the button for a container of water.  I took a sip and other than for the bitter taste already in my mouth, I didn’t notice anything new.  I drank the entire container and hoped that by morning, I would have my sense of taste back to normal.

After Marranalis was convinced that I was in good enough shape to make it back to my suite without arousing suspicion of my guard, we left my study.  Sometime during the time since we had entered the study, the guards had changed shifts and a different trooper awaited me on my exit.  He didn't seem to pay any attention to my condition, so I assume that I didn’t look too bad.  Marranalis headed back to his quarters on the
MAXETTE
after seeing me to my suite.

I was worried that Kala and the twins might notice something different in my appearance or behavior and I was trying to think up excuses to appease them.  However, when I entered everything was quiet and I noticed they all had gone to bed.  I undressed and was about to crawl into bed next to Kala when I noticed a strange chemical smell.  I sniffed about trying to find the source and realized the smell was coming from me.  My body must be leaching some of the chemicals through my skin that A’Lappe had used to treat me.  Even though I was tired and wanted to go back to sleep, I forced myself to the shower and went through two cycles; then I drank another container of water before crawling into bed next to Kalana.

My sleep that night was filled with huge battle scenes; ships were burning and exploding.  Planets were ablaze and mushroom clouds from bombs sprouted all over the planets’ surfaces.  Long lines of naked, collared and chained, men, women and children were herded like animals by armed and laughing Brotherhood troopers as I lay helpless on the ground trying to remember my name.  I felt my body shaking and woke up to find Kala shaking my shoulder.

“Tib, are you all right?  You were talking in your sleep and jerking about.”

“Yes, yes, I’m all right,” I said.  “It was a bad dream.”

“Ew, Tibby, you're soaking wet with sweat.  Go take a shower while I put dry fresh linens on the bed.”

“Sorry…” I mumbled as I got out of the bed.  Once inside the bath area, I took a quick sniff of myself and realized that I still was expelling some of the chemicals from the treatment and the smell remained on my skin.  I hoped Kala didn’t become too suspicious about it.  I showered two more times before returning to the bed; by then Kala was asleep again.

In the morning when I awoke, Kala was up and feeding the twins in the dining area.  I was feeling much better and the horrible taste that had been in my mouth was now simply a memory. I took a quick sniff of my armpit and it smelled normal to me; I breathed a sigh of relief.  I dressed in my uniform and headed to the dining area where Lunnie and Reide were in an argument about which of them was doing the best in their martial arts training from Jenira.

“Good morning, everyone,” I said as I walked over and kissed Kala on the cheek.

“Ewww,” Reide remarked, “kissing again.”

“Good morning yourself," Kala said.  “You seem to be in good spirits this morning.  I was worried after the way you tossed about in your sleep last night.”

“Just a bunch of bad dreams,” I said.  “After I showered and went back to bed, I slept very well.”

“What would you like to eat before you head off to play Admiral today?” she asked.

“Hmm, how about some Kogo eggs with Aha bread,” I said.

“Coming right up,” she replied, as she brought me a cup of foccee.

I scrutinized the cup a moment before carefully picking it up and taking a sip.  It tasted fine.  In fact, perhaps a little better than usual.  I breathed a sigh of relief; at least I wouldn’t be starving during my treatments with A’Lappe.

After eating, I headed to the
MAXETTE;
Marranalis was already at his station when I arrived,

“Good morning, Admiral, I trust you slept well,” he said?  I could see the look of concern on his face.

“Yes, Captain, very well, thank you and yourself?”

“About the same as always, Admiral.”

“Is there anything that happened during the night that I need to know about or be concerned with?”  I asked.

“No, sir, surprisingly all has been peaceful.”

“That certainly is good news.  Captain, I need you to get in contact with Captain Nybidong and ask him to meet with me this afternoon.  I also would like to meet with Dr. Hughes today sometime as well.”  I saw Marranalis raise an eyebrow at my request and he looked at me questioningly, so I expanded my request.  “I'd like to see if he can plant hypnotic suggestions into the minds of our agents going to Epsirt in the event they are questioned by the Brotherhood using truth bands; they will not display readings that will give away they are FSO agents.”