The room was just slightly enlighted when three guys in white suits entered it. One of those men was Bennet Marco, and he was not here to have his break. Set into a wall, there was a cryo cube, and in it there was a man. He was not fully "dead" like usual for the kind of cryo cubes used on the sleeper ships, he was just cooled down, like some fish in a refrigerator. It was clear that the man couldn't stay in this less effective cube very long, but it is necessary to have at least some activity of Drum's body, otherwise any test would be senseless. With empty looking eyes he stares at the door on the other side of the room. But not consciously. Just because the cube was placed like this. He himself, Henrik Drum, was sleeping, for a quite long time now. Bennet walked close to the cube, looking at the frozen Henrik in it. Several tmes he played with the thought to unfreeze Drum, but not yet. And that decision was quite reasonable, because this man has no normal disease. Marco didnt even know if it was reasonable to call him still 'human'. There was something. The enemy was within this body and took control over the hull. That is, what Bennet and his two assisants knew. And now they were here two find out more. As much as possible without waking drum up out of it's deep sleep.
"Doctor Parker, could you check his cardiological values, please?" Marco said and looked at one of the two younger persons. The 'Parker' titled man just nodded and activated a little console right beneath the cryo cube. Meanwhile Bennet looked into Henrik's eyes. "Hmm, his eyes are looking a bit strange...And the pupils are quite big...even for a frozen human...Parker, what about the value?" Parker looked up from the console. "Well, his heart works pretty fast for a guy cooled down to temperatures like that, almost on the level of a normal person". Bennet took a little PDA out of his suit and made some notes. "That's an interesting fact. It seems like the parasite increases the heartbeat. Maybe the incubus itself doesn't even sleep." The other assistant, a woman with short brown hair spoke up. "Thats completely logical. I mean, the host's heart must keep the parasite and itself alive now..." Marco nodded at her "Completely correct Miss Bannon. I didn't have the chance to dissect one of them, but those beings are made for living in a host. They -or at least their larvae- are not able to live without a host very long. Hmm...Miss Bannon, could you initiate a scan please?" The female scientist looked at the cry cube, than at Bennet. "I could, but the cube's scanner is not the best". "I think it will be enough for now But it will take some time...Mister Parker, Miss Bannon, I think Doctor Reviera needs some help with his project, and you are not needed here, at the moment. So just assist him please". The two scientists left the room and Bennet stared at the window of the cryo cube, looking into Henrik's eyes, still empty like open space.
Squished bigly ~Champ- Thanks, you're a champ. "What's the word for when it feels inside your heart that everything in the world is all right?"
It took some time until the console showed with a 'beep, that the scan was finished. Finall, after about half an hour of reading through other projects documents Bennet stood up and looked at the console's screen. It took again some time to get an overview about the data collected by the scanner, but what Marco saw did not really surprise him. The nomad parasite was easily to recognize within the body of Henrik Drum. But the nomad seemed to be everywhere. "Hmm, looks like Smith spun fine strings to every important part of the body...the spine, the brain...but he sits definetely here, in the middle of th spine, behind heart and lungs". Smith, that is how Bennet called the nomad, make make it less dangerous. Even if it looked like Marco talked to himself, there was a sence behind it. Everything what was happening in the lab was recorded. "What if we try to extract that thing..?" Bennet asked and started a simulation on a screen.
It showed that the host would die shortly after extraction. "Hmm, it seems there is a bloody neurotoxin within Smith's tentacles, and when we cut him out, they bring it into the boody. But it's almost impossible to bring the whole thing out.." While Marco was brainstorming with himself there was a new 'beep'. Not from the console but from Marco's PDA. He received a message, additionally a well encrypted. Again it was no surprise who contacted the scientist. Felicia Drum herself. He sighed. Of course she wants to know how it is going on. It will be the best to send the video log to her. At least she tried to find a way to cure him. Bennet opened the file she sent. There was nothing new at all...but..."It's no neurotoxin! It's a bloody overdose of cardamine...why di I oversee this?...Smith is full of cardamine...either Drum was addicted before he came and just stored the cardamine within his boody or he needs it to live, so he just became addicted..and when we fully unfreeze him he will not survive, because withdrawal symptoms additional to the problem with his organs...that will kill him..." Marco walked up and down the room, thinking about what to do...finally he came to the conclusion that he cant solve the problem alone...
Squished bigly ~Champ- Thanks, you're a champ. "What's the word for when it feels inside your heart that everything in the world is all right?"
There is a knock on the Lab door, after a momentary pause the door is pushed open and Jack Denton walks into the room. Apon seeing Commander Marco he grins and walks over to him, 'Commander! It's good to meet you in person after all this time. Sorry I took so long in getting here my appointment with Ms Stewart took longer than I had expected.' Jack reaches Marco and sticks his hand out for a hand shake, still grinning.
Hearing someone knocking at the door, Marco looks up from the screen of the console and turns his head around to face the door. Right when he wanted to lift from his chair, someone enters the Lab. On his serious looking face a little smile shows up. Firmly Bennet takes Denton's hand, shaking it. "Good to meet you, Mr. Denton....and you don't need to call me Commander...I prefer Doctor" he winks. "Oh, Miss Stewart. She's kinda unusal, but he does a good job, like anyone here. But, how about your eyes? Anything Miss Stewart could reach yet?"
Squished bigly ~Champ- Thanks, you're a champ. "What's the word for when it feels inside your heart that everything in the world is all right?"
Jack chuckles, "unusual describes her in a nut-shell". He reaches into his pocket and takes out a small data-pad, "as for my eyes, I was hoping you could help me with that". Jack hands the data-pad to Marco, "that's the data that Ms Stewart collected on my eyes. Ms Stewart and I agreed that the best option is artificial eyes but she didn't have the equipment to make them herself, I was hoping you could spare some people to make them while we take a look at..." Jack gestures at the man inside the cube, "well...I assume this is what you wanted to talk about".
*a man suddenly enters the room. He is fit but sweating after running everywhere over the ship*
Ah! Mr. Denton! May I ask you come with me? We have scheduled you. Meeting with Dr. Paul Jefferson. He's going to be the one giving you your new eyes. The Independence is at freeport 11 right now so the sooner we leave the better, we have a vessel ready for you.
"Oh... okay then", Jack turns to walk out the door with the man. "Do you mind if we swing by the Graf Zeppelin so i can tell my crew where I'm going?", he asks as they walk out of the room.
It does not take long for the pair to reach the Graf Zeppelin's airlock, Jack turns to the man "this wont take long". Jack turns and walks through the airlock.
Four minutes later he emerges again, "All done, Joel is going to fly the ship to Freeport 11 when they finish the last of the subsystem installations." Jack gestures for the man to take the lead, "lead the way".
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