E:A Vol 3 Ch 13—December 2, 2119

After a week on Earth, digging out the last of the tunnel, the group returned to Terra 2. The soil samples and charred bits of pipe that David recovered from the explosion on the mainland showed that Rayth weapons were not used. David had kept the four reports a secret until he had all of them in hand. Steve Kessler, working on behalf of General Cavanaugh, had seen one report from the chemists on Terra 2, but none of the others. Likewise, the report from Earth had been seen by the general, but was kept in the dark about the other three.

Though David could not prove, one way or another, that Zy’nayth and Ja’val’s report had not been constructed in collaboration with the science staff on board the Second Ship in orbit around Terra 2, he at least had the proof from the two different human teams that the residue showed no traces of any known Rayth weapon. Of course, as he explained to Vince, that stills leaves the door open for unknown Rayth weapons. But Vince was satisfied that if it was of Rayth origin, it wasn’t from the order of the High Chancellor.

The downside to the reports, however, was that it did mean that there was either a traitor in the Expedition team or someone had somehow been able to get planet-side without the Expedition knowing about it.

“We will keep the next few trips to Earth limited to two or three days,” Zy’nayth said as he talked with Vince, “and John and I will work out a rotation so that I am not stealing your entire Alpha Team all at once, in case they are needed here.”

“Technically, we were missing Becket,” John smiled, “and Simon, so the entire team wasn’t missing.”

“They’re not part of your permanent team,” Vince said then turned back to Zy’nayth. “Will you and Victoria be staying on Terra 2 a while?”

“Unfortunately not. We will be heading to my homeworld in the morning. Kol’non, however will be staying.”

“Your flagship?”

“Back to the homeworld as well,” he replied. “I have much to tend to. Ja’val will be staying here on Terra 2, of course, but will bridge over to the homeworld each day to work. I am leaving the Second Ship in orbit to continue scans, but they have covered the entire planet and have not picked up anyone who is not on your staff nor who should not be here. Meaning, of course, that the Rayth they identified are those who are helping with various projects and have been cleared by both of ourselves to be here.”

“So David told me,” Vince sighed. “All right. We’ll work the problem from the inside. Go ahead and take the Second Ship, unless you know of another way they can help.”

Zy’nayth let a sly grin pass his lips. “I could send down my warriors and have them interrogate the staff.”

John burst out laughing. “I think the staff would confess to anything if those guys showed up. Nah, I think we’ll work on things ourselves, but we might call you in for help.”

“Feel free to do so. I am going to relax now, if you will excuse me. It has been a long week.”

***

Zy’nayth had just sat down as the door chimed. He sighed. “Come,” he said as he stood back up.

The door opened and Becket walked in.

“Uncle Becket!” Mik’kenna exclaimed and ran up to him, arms outstretched. “Kiss, pweez! Lub ooh!” Ky’nayth followed her, with two puppies on his heels.

Becket scooped each of the twins up and giving them hugs and kisses, then each of the dog got scratches behind their ears before he shook Zy’nayth’s hand. “How was your trip?” Becket asked.

“We got corpse for puppies,” Mik’kenna answered in place of her father, still excited over the news.

“Corpse?”

“Course,” Zy’nayth corrected, holding back his laugh, “an agility course.”

“I bet they liked that.”

“We teaching dem,” Ky’nayth said. “They go through tunnel. Want see?”

“Becket, good to see you,” Victoria said, walking into the room and giving him a hug and kiss on his cheek. “How are you doing?”

“Good, and I don’t mean to be rude but I need to talk to your husband privately. Kids, I’m sorry, but I’ll have to see the pups’ tricks later. This is sort of important. Zy, would you come to my office?” Becket asked.

“I come too!” Mik’kenna said. “I ‘splain trick as go.”

“Sorry, love, this needs to be a private conversation with your father. I promise that I will see the puppies and their tricks later.”

Mik’kenna frowned but then smiled. “Kay. You always keep pommises.”

“I’ll try not to keep him too long,” Becket said, as they left the chambers. “Sorry, I should have just contacted you with the comlink but I wanted to at least see the kids for a minute.”

“Quite all right,” Zy’nayth replied.

“Ja’val’s meeting with us too.”

“The serum?” Zy’nayth guessed.

“Yes. Found something.”

They walked through the infirmary to Becket’s office. Ja’val was already there.

“Thanks for coming,” Becket said and pointed to a chair for Zy’nayth. Becket sat at his desk and ran his fingers through his hair before beginning. “Okay, I found this going through the journal and database translations you gave me.” He logged into his computer and called up the file. “If I understand this correctly, you were part of an experiment.”

“Obviously, since I’m a fullblood. All fullbloods were originally part of the…”

“No, I don’t mean the merging of Rayk and human DNA,” Becket said then pointed to his screen. “Look at this. The Mythicans tried a number of genetic experiments on humans to create a sort of super-human to fight the Rayk.”

“Yes. That was one of their attempts long before the idea of crossing Rayk and human DNA,” Zy’nayth said. “We have ascertained that much already.”

“Not this experiment. At least I don’t recall it from the stuff Ja’val and I went through early on. This wasn’t genetic modification like the blending of Rayk and human DNA, it was more of an enhancement of already existing attributes. There are a couple of things I find interesting besides the timeline.

“First, according to this, there was no way to check if the genetic enhancement worked other than by testing the abilities of the test subject which seems like standard protocol, right? Except it wasn’t. See,” Becket stopped and drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He wasn’t sure how Zy’nayth would handle the information. “That’s where the second interesting item comes in to play.” He paused and sighed again, “The enhancements couldn’t be done on an adult. It had to be performed in utero. I haven’t found out why it couldn’t or wouldn’t work on an adult, but this clearly states that it had to be done during the development of the baby within in the womb. Therefore, the scientists couldn’t test strength, speed, stamina, et cetera until the child was a few years old to see if the experiment worked. If the kid was above average on the tests, then it worked. It took years before they could test and verify whether or not their test subject had enhanced strength, eye sight, speed, whatever.”

“You think Zy’nayth may have been one of these children?” Ja’val asked.

“Yes,” Becket said, looking at Zy’nayth who motioned for him to continue. “When I went back through your personal journals and compared the timelines of those journals from your parents and what I found in this medical file, though there was nothing or no one specifically mentioned, if you look at these pages from this journal of your mother’s, I think you were one of the test subjects. I did go back to see if perhaps your brother was as well, but I don’t think he was.”

Zy’nayth leaned forward and noted the date then called the pages up on his own tablet to check the original text to make sure there were no issues with the translation to English. He let out a growling groan after reading the pages in the context of Becket’s theory. “Why would anyone do this to a child? An unborn child!”

“They were trying to find a way to survive against the Rayk threat,” Becket said, hoping to stop the rising anger and even sorrow that he saw in Zy’nayth’s eyes. “The war was still going on, and still quite intense when your brother was born. The scientists were desperate. There were only a handful of Rayth warriors at that point. Untested Rayth warriors. They didn’t know if the splicing worked, how they’d handle Rayk, their capabilities, nothing. Until those first Rayth proved effective on the battlefield, the Mythicans and first generation Rayth continued to work on other solutions. The Rayk were winning the war, the Mythicans couldn’t put all their eggs into one basket.”

“I do not care. It is not right.”

“I agree, but your parents were trying to save their loved ones, their friends, and humanity,” Becket said. “If the splicing didn’t work, the Rayk would win the war unless something else was developed.”

Zy’nayth shook his head. “I do not wish to distract us. Continue. How does this help with the serum?”

“Well, there were hundreds of failed experiments on human babies. And if it helps, there were no side effects on the children. The children were born and lived normal lives, at least up to the point the last of the tests were taken. The kids were normal human kids with no enhanced abilities, but no damage from the experience. However, I did a database search for this Mythican word they used for the experiment,” he said and floundered at the pronunciation. “I found only one entry of a successful result, and it wasn’t on a human child, it was on a fullblood whose parents were first-generation Rayth. I cross-referenced it with your parents’ journals…Zy, I’m sure it’s you. Check the last couple of pages in the document I just sent you.”

Both Zy’nayth and Ja’val went through the files. “Sir, I think he’s right,” Ja’val said. “But why stop? They figured out a way to create this super being, a sure way to defeat the Rayk, but they stopped creating more of them. They needed warriors against the Rayk, as you just said, they were desperate, yet they stopped after finding their answer.”

“They didn’t. There are notes of other experiments following the one on Zy’nayth; none of them were successful and none were done on Rayth. Here’s what I think happened. By the time Zy’nayth entered his teens, his strength, skills, vision, everything were off the charts—far beyond anything they anticipated. Also, by that time, the spliced Rayth, the adult humans who had Rayk DNA spliced into their own, turned out to be formidable warriors against the Rayk and had turned the tide of the war.

“So you’ve got your first-gen Rayth successfully achieving what they were created to do. Plus the tests on humans all failed. On top of that, when I went through your parents’ journal, they were fearful that a race of super Rayth would be just as dangerous as the Rayk they were trying to stop. It was just after that entry that there are no more entries in the medical database about these experiments.”

“Question,” Ja’val said, “Zy’nayth, do you remember these tests that were done in your teens?”

“I remember many of them, but given that I was training to be a warrior, it was not uncommon for the recruits to go through numerous tests for endurance and such. I was always told that I simply passed the tests.” Zy’nayth looked back at Becket, “I still do not understand how this helps in finding a serum for me.”

“B with me a few more minutes; I know this is difficult for you to hear, and I apologize for that,” Becket said. “Even though you’re not a scientist, per se, like Ja’val, you have very good instincts when it comes to…well…almost everything. I wanted you to have all of the info I have. I may be making a wild leap, but if you two have the same information, one of you may see a flaw in my logic, plus you may have recollections that aren’t recorded in these files that may change my conclusions.”

Zy’nayth nodded and Becket continued. “I’ve done a lot of data searching and as far as I can tell, none of the other children who had this experiment performed on them are still alive, which is not surprising, since, as I said, it doesn’t appear that it was done on any other Rayth child. The rest were all human. All of them seemed to live normal lives but, get this, none of them had offspring. Keep in mind, I said earlier that once the test results came back negative regarding the enhancement, there was no further mention of the children. Let me amend that. There was no further mention until I came across a snippet in a different file, one of the sub-files in the main folder I sent you. No other info other than the name of each child and that they were all somehow unable to have children. I’m not sure if that’s due to the experiment or due to the war. I haven’t had time to check death records, but I’ll get around to it. So those test subjects…”

“Children,” Zy’nayth growled.

“Yes, those children grew up and for one reason or another didn’t have offspring. Could be they were killed in the war before they ever got around to having kids, could be they didn’t want to have kids during a war, or it could have been due to the experiment. I don’t know. Of course, why would the scientists create this sub-file noting that?”

“Maybe they wanted to keep track of any offspring,” Ja’val said. “Maybe the enhancement didn’t work on the first-generation, but their offspring…could have been passed on to them. So they kept an eye on who the tests were run on until the day the day they died.”

“Possible,” Becket said, paused and took a sip of his tea before he continued. “In any case, it comes down to this. The experiment worked at least once. It worked on the child of a first-generation Rayth couple. Zy’nayth, that means your strength and abilities, and even the Rayk abilities you inherited from your parents, have all been enhanced, not modified, just enhanced to a degree unseen in any of these medical records. It also means that the serum will work on all other Rayth because none of them have this ability enhancement, because nothing was passed on since, if the records are accurate, no human had children, meaning human test subjects didn’t have offspring either with other humans or Rayth, and, again, if these records are accurate, no other Rayth were experimented upon.”

“That’s good news,” Ja’val said. “Well, for the other Rayth. We know the serum will work even on fullbloods.”

Becket nodded in agreement. “Now to what I think may be our breakthrough,” he said, “I found the research. I found the genetic code they used.”

“If I follow your line of thinking,” Zy’nayth said, “with this code, you believe it may be possible to turn me back to normal strength, thus allowing the serum to work without having the Rayk abilities stop it.”

“No.” Becket smiled. “This code is for the strength and ability enhancement, not the splicing code they used to blend Rayk and human DNA. What I’ve discovered is that the ability enhancement was designed to increase abilities by a factor of five. That’s our baseline. That’s where we start. My plan is, with Ja’val’s help, to determine how much a Rayth’s abilities, on average, are above those of a human. Is it this factor of five? If it turns out that it is, then all we need to do is determine by what factor your abilities are above the norm. I think it’s more than a factor of five, and I think that’s why they never did any more experiments…you were far stronger than anything they anticipated.”

“I’ve run simulations on increased dosages,” Ja’val said, “didn’t work.”

“You only increased it up to ten times the normal dosage,” Becket said, “I think we stopped too soon. We know his Rayk DNA, the ability to self-heal whether a cut or a disease, is stopping the serum from working. His Rayk self-healing ability sees the serum as a disease that it needs to eradicate. We’ve proven that even before we began working on Zy’nayth’s case in particular. That’s why we have to adjust dosages for each Rayth.

“But, think about this new information. Not only were Zy’nayth’s human abilities enhanced, but his Rayk abilities were as well. His ability to self-heal, the amount of energy he can extract and absorb, not to mention how fast, how he doesn’t need to rest as often as other Rayth, and so on. Everything was heightened in him. I think everything works not just at a heightened level, but more efficiently. We’re fighting against an enhancement not just of human abilities but Rayk abilities. I believe, and I mean no offense, that you and your men have thought in terms of ‘Rayth’ abilities, not that you are part human and part Rayk. We need to deal with the Rayk half of Zy’nayth. I don’t think the serum needs altered to work on him, I think all we need to do is just boost the dosage…big time. But I don’t have the tech to run that kind of simulation, and I don’t have those last couple data points to figure out by what factor.”

“Do you think this is possible?” Zy’nayth asked Ja’val. “Could he be correct? If you figure out by what factor I am stronger than a typical Rayth, then you just boost the dosage?”

“I think it’s a stretch,” Ja’val said, “however, in our simulations, the serum does initially take hold, albeit for only a moment or two.” He stood and paced, as he normally did when working out a problem. “We knew that the healing ability of all Rayth fought against the serum. It shouldn’t make a difference if we thought of it as Rayth versus Rayk. But…in his case…he is a fullblood, he was enhanced…we just kept looking for something else that caused his abilities to be stronger…” he stopped and looked at Zy’nayth, “I’ll need to run some tests on you. I need you rested, fully rested. We can run the tests when we get back to the mainland. I don’t wish to give you false hope, but there is a little sliver. Keep in mind, though, that we’ve seen those slivers of hope before and they didn’t pan out. That being said, I think this course is worth pursuing.”

“There is nothing to lose,” Zy’nayth sighed.

“And all to gain,” Becket said. “Zy, I really think this is the answer. There is no difference between you and other Rayth other than your heightened abilities. We haven’t been able to find one thing different on a genetic level. You’ve got the same makeup as other Rayth. You’re just enhanced. There’s no secret hidden code in your system that we can’t find or have overlooked. We just have to overcome your super-immune system.” He stopped and sighed, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be trying to get your hopes up, but I really feel this is the answer,” he chuckled. “It clicked and I’m overly excited about the news. It’s very promising, but Ja’val’s right. We’ve seen ideas we thought were promising snuffed out with one simulation.”

“If you are correct and the dosage boost works, what does this mean for my children?” Zy’nayth asked.

“Let’s just tackle this problem first,” Becket said. “They inherited your enhancements, but they’re diluted because of Victoria’s DNA. They’re still going to be far above average, but if this works for you, I have no doubt it will work for them.”

Zy’nayth shook his head, “No. This does not make sense. Why would Ky’nayth and Mik’kenna inherit these heightened abilities and not my first son, Gal’nayth?”

“That’s something I can’t answer,” Becket said. “Perhaps it has something to do with your first wife being Rayth. Perhaps he did inherit your heightened your abilities but to a much lesser degree. Or maybe…maybe it was because when you had your son, your heightened abilities hadn’t fully developed. That could be another factor. If you were tested multiple times, as you seem to recollect that you were, it could mean that they saw significant increases each time and that also led to their putting the brakes on this experiment.”

Ja’val’s blue eyes widened. “Do you have the actual medical/science formula for whatever it was they did to him?”

Becket nodded and sent him the file. “Sorry, meant to do that with the first file I sent. What are you thinking?”

“That last thing you mentioned,” Ja’val said as he stood and paced, “that his abilities hadn’t been fully developed when Gal’nayth was born…what if this enhancement is progressive? There are times I swear he’s stronger and faster now than when I first began working for him 5,000 years ago.”

Ja’val shook his head and held up his hand as Zy’nayth began to question him about the serum. “It shouldn’t make a difference in getting the serum to work with a boosted dosage, at least not for you,” Ja’val said, “but it might have repercussions on the kids. If they’re showing enhanced abilities now and they’re only two, plus have more human DNA in them than Gal’nayth did…we have to keep on top of this. I don’t want to be in this same position when it comes time for them to take the serum. Zy’nayth, I will need to start testing the kids as well. Blood samples, too, I’m sorry to say. I know they don’t like those. But if we see an increase in their abilities that isn’t in alignment with them just being growing kids…we have to keep up.”

“It took over 10,000 years to find a serum,” Zy’nayth said with a sigh. “I hope it does not take that long again to find something that works for my children. How often do you wish to run tests on them? And…how will you be able to determine if their strength is increasing do to this progressive enhancement rather than they’re just growing up?”

“First of all, we don’t know if this is progressive,” Becket said, trying to calm the two Rayth down. “Secondly, if it is, we will know shortly and if our boosted dosage works on Zy’nayth, it will work on them. So let’s not panic about the serum and the twins yet. You said that we can’t give them the serum until they’ve developed their energy extraction abilities which won’t be until around puberty, with is just a dozen years away. If this is progressive, it’s only a dozen years, not ten thousand like we’re dealing with now. Yes, we should test them, and keep them monitored and stay on top of things. I’m in agreement, we don’t want to mess this up for the little ones, but we also don’t need to be in a panic about it.” His smile lit up his face, “Besides, they’ll probably get a kick out of all of the tests, except when we have to bring in the needles.

“Now,” Becket continued, “given that they are only two and are growing, I need developmental charts for Rayth children. I know human development, but I need something to refer to when it comes to Rayth development. That will help us determine if the changes we see are simply them getting older or if the enhancement is pushing things further. I’m assuming, of course, that you want my eyes on this as well as Jav’al’s.”

“Of course I do,” Zy’nayth said.

“I’ll get you those files now,” Ja’val said, setting his tablet on the desk so that he could use the virtual keyboard to more easily find the and send Becket the appropriate files. “We’ll be ready for the kids.”

“If all I do the rest of my life is make sure we have something in place for them when the time comes, I’ll quit this job and focus on that,” Becket said.

“And I am very thankful for all you have done Doctor, and I know things will be ready on time. Thank you,” Zy’nayth said. “Ja’val, how long will simulations take?”

“I’m not going to rush things,” he replied. “I want to look over this data, do my own digging to confirm Becket’s theory, and run some very thorough tests on you, perhaps multiple times. I don’t want to overdose you with a serum meant to help you. And I need to make sure that a mega-dose won’t have any ill effects down the road.”

“Rough estimate?”

“A couple of weeks at the earliest and that would be pushing things too fast for my liking. This is one thing I don’t want to mess up. I also have to consider the few other things on my plate.”

“What else have I given you to work on?” Zy’nayth asked.

“Something about blowing up a Rayk planet. Or neutralizing its energy output. Other than that, just the serum trials and the few odd things that come up for the Earth bridge project. On top of the small projects that come along as well as normal duties as the First Science Commander.”

“Is the Second Science Commander working on the planet issue?”

“Yes, my entire staff.”

“Do you feel comfortable making him lead on that?”

“Yup.”

“I would want you to oversee everything, but if you would turn it over to him, I would appreciate it. And I will try to limit the other small projects. Please focus on this. I will also do what I can to limit what I need you to do on Earth.”

“Nah,” Ja’val said with a wave of his hand, “Keep those small projects coming. Gives me a chance to decompress after working on the big things.”

Zy’nayth smiled, “Very well. Becket, is there anything else?”

“Not really. And sorry this was a mixed bag of news. I remembered to check against your brother, but not your first son.”

“You cannot be expected to remember everything. But overall, the news is promising. Ja’val, I have meetings tomorrow and Tuesday. I will be ready for your tests on Wednesday. Should I bring the children?”

“Perfect. Yes. Might as well get their baselines done. Becket can you make it for the tests? I know the kids probably feel safer with Uncle Becket running tests than me.”

“They love both of you equally,” Zy’nayth frowned, “and trust both of you equally. Becket simply spoils them more.”

“Name the time, I’ll be there. I’ll bring Victoria and Lutia with me. We can make a big deal of it, make them feel special,” Becket said.

“As I was saying, he spoils them,” Zy’nayth smiled.

Ja’val chuckled, “I’ll need to learn this. Anyway, Wednesday will give me a couple of days to check on our serum trial patients and set up my tests for you. Becket, in order to check the factor of enhancement, I suggest running the same tests on some humans here. Let’s say maybe twenty. Get the Alpha Team, they’ll be your best. Kaven, of course. Be’atta. That way we have at least two Andromeda natives.”

“Kaven’s team is all Andromedan natives. I’ll see if the other three are willing to go through the tests,” Becket said. “Want me to stick with warrior-types or mix things up?”

“Mixture. But only those who are basically fit. The Mythicans would only be using fit humans for their experiments,” Ja’val said. “Make sure they’re rested, so I wouldn’t tap John or the others today or tomorrow. Make sure whoever you’re testing hasn’t just come off duty or something like that.”

“Okay,” Becket said putting a few last notes into his computer then turned to the two men. “I’ll get things set up and then start getting people lined up and tested. I’ll copy you both on everything. Any questions, Zy?”

“Just one. Would you and Amelia be able to join us for dinner tonight?” Zy’nayth asked. “Ja’val, you and Lutia would be welcome as well.”

“Lutia and I want a quiet evening alone, if you don’t mind,” Ja’val smiled. “A treat to ourselves.”

“Completely understandable.”

“I’ll check but I’m pretty sure we’ll be free. What time?” Becket asked.

“5:00.”

“Unless you hear from me, assume we’ll be there.”

“Come by early if you can. The children, as you noticed, are eager to show you the new tricks Baxter and Celeste can do. They are quite proud.”

***

“Anything good?” Victoria asked when her husband walked into their chambers.

“I am afraid I have invited Becket and Amelia to dinner tonight. I am sorry, I should have checked with you first. I know you are tired from cooking so much this past week.”

“No problem. I had a roast left from our trip and need to get it used up. It’s already in the oven. We’ll have plenty for everyone. So…anything good regarding the serum for you?”

Zy’nayth sighed. “It is possible that Becket may be on to something, but we have thought that before. I really just wish to take a nap. Pushing to get caught up on the construction project has worn me out. And Becket had some disturbing news. I need some rest.”

“Well, I was just about to send the kids to take a nap, do you want to talk?”

“Not yet. Perhaps after dinner. But the children should take a nap and I would appreciate it if you were to be by my side while I rest.”

“Done,” she smiled.