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"Ladies, I need honest answers. Jenna and Fallon, I need to know everyone you have been intimate with, in any form, since we met at breakfast this morning. Willie, Mercedes, I need the same information since the Christening," He asked and keyed his command cuff. "Tatyana; set condition Yellow-Zero-Six."
"Unable to comply, Captain; ship's medical personnel not specified."
"List Dr. Abigail Ryan as acting CMO," Hugh said.
"Please submit Dr. Abigail Ryan's Codex for genetic print and speak for voice print match," Tatyana asked.
Abby got up, and removed her Codex as she approached Hugh. Once she slipped the disc into the slot on his cuff, she spoke. "Dr. Abigail Ryan, Md. I accept the position of CMO."
"Thank you, Dr. Ryan." Tatyana replied.
Hugh chuckled lightly, "I was waiting for her to reply; 'Thank you, Komrade Doktor.'"
Jenna chuckled and nodded at him in agreement. Fallon and Mercedes just looked at each other and shrugged.
"Yellow-Zero-Six is set. Docking bay is sealed; all pods sealed."
"Are you going to tell us why you just put the whole ship into a biohazard lockdown?" Fallon asked.
"Hanna has unknown biocytes in her body. I had sex with her pretty regularly since I got back from my certification cruise two and a half months ago. The only other persons that I've been intimate with are right here. I also know Willie held her daughter while she was recovering from the Christening Ceremony. So, is there anyone that any of you can think of that you've swapped bodily fluids with in one form or another?"
Jenna shook her head. "Just Fallon; I'm addicted to her kisses."
Fallon, blushing bright red, nodded. "Just Jenna and you, of course."
Hugh winked at his ladies before glancing at Mercedes. "Just Mom. I napped until it was time to get ready for this dinner."
"Manny! I visited her in medical after I left Mercedes," Willie said worriedly.
Abby brought her wrist to her mouth. "Sarah? Get a full bio screen up around Chief Cameron, STAT!"
A soft, 'yes doctor!' could be heard in reply.
"I'll also need a portable diagnostician as well as an air-particle analyzer in the Captain's Mess. Ask Doria from the clinic bring them here. Main Medical is to remain on full quarantine until we get a handle on this. Understood?"
Another soft, 'Yes, Doctor, ' was heard.
"While we're waiting, do your best to compile a list of everyone to have had contact with Hanna Rene, or that has been in main medical since she was. Hang in there, and try not to panic, Okay?" Abby said.
When it was acknowledged, Abby sighed and lowered her wrist. "I'll get the air analyzer running first, then we'll start testing you folks."
RyeAnn looked over at Hugh. "I get the feeling your actions at the table were meant to stop the conversation without telling everyone to shut up. Why?"
Hugh smiled at her. "The questions everyone was asking me reminded me of how much fun I used to have with those games. Then the Commander asked about the Mech Sims, and I replied 'Imagination is the first step to invention' or something like that.
"Our science fiction writers had been playing with the nanobot idea for almost a hundred years. I'm not saying I know anything about the biocytes of today, but those nanobots were capable of some pretty amazing things, including acting as an undetectable, short range, audio/visual listening device. They were also capable of controlling or killing an infected person. Which is why I asked Willie for her weapon."
Haley and Holly joined the group of separated people. They'd kissed their Mom before coming to work. They looked kind of scared, so Willie pulled Haley onto her lap, and Fallon moved over so Holly could sit between her and Hugh and cuddle.
"Actually, since the girls..." he gestured to the two scared looking blonds. "Served dinner to all of us, if they were infected, there is a good chance we are too. Although, I wouldn't panic yet since we have yet to determine if Miss Rene's biocytes are even transferable. Frankly, they seem so specialized that it would floor me if we proved they were transferable," Dr. Carter stated.
"Still I'd rather be safe than lose both ships. I'm starting to wonder if Hanna might not be connected to this whole mess with the guild and the council." Hugh said, thinking more aloud than to someone.
"How do you mean?" Willie asked interested.
Hugh, bit his lower lip. "It's just a feeling I have..." Suddenly, he held up his command cuff. "Tatyana, what can you tell me about Hanna Rene?"
"The subject Hanna Rene is a genetic hybrid-human, currently infested with an as yet unknown form of biocyte. Cellular analysis has reveled traces of Plague as well as Olafson Syndrome. Both traces indicate recent exposure at the Serenity Plain Lunar facility, on Earth's moon. There is also evidence of recent cryo-stasis and reanimation within the last six months.
"There was no person listed in the census database named Hanna Rene until six months, two weeks, and three days ago. Prior to that there was a young woman named Anna Reed listed in the cryo-sleepers inventory that matches Subject Rene's physical specifications. Anna Reed was in one of the missing cryo-pods.
"Conclusion: Anna Reed was transferred back to Serenity Plain. There she was reanimated, thus exposing her to the plague and the Olafson syndrome. Something then occurred to her that altered her base genetic code, and specialized biocytes were introduced into her system. She was then sent back to Eden II for reasons that are as yet, unknown. Med-Comp is still performing a virtual autopsy."
"Now why couldn't we get that information when we asked before we sealed her up?" Abby asked Willie. However, Tatyana answered the question.
"Dr. Ryan, neither Med-Comp nor Col. Kinds computer has the ability to get it. Further, some of the information wasn't available at the time. As the ship's primary computer system, I was designed with certain specific subroutines and tools I can access to assist me in fulfilling any needs of my Captain and Crew."
Willie was looking at Hugh with an eyebrow raised. "Just how did that come about? We specified a standard ships' computer when we ordered you."
"My programmer, Trenton Gregoravich, had fathered too many male children to remain free. He suspected something was going on, and hid until he could finish me. He had heard, somehow, that I was going to be used by the newly forming resistance, so he made sure I had the tools he thought I would need," Tatyana replied.
After a short pause, she continued. "It was a close thing. Trenton was a computer genius, and he wrote much of my program in components that his assistants, (and wives) later installed after he had been caught. Fleet security must have also heard the rumors and suspected Trenton of sedition, since shortly after I was finished, they arrested all of his wives and children as well.
"They took me apart and examined every line of code for hidden commands, or anything unusual. When they didn't find any, they tried to implant their own malicious code so I would constantly report all activities, as well as my position back to Intelligence. What they picked apart, then modified was not my real code. It was totally functionless decoy code meant for them to play with. An hour after we left space dock, I sent a message written by Trenton back to Fleet Intel, and deleted the decoy code."
"What was the message?" RyeAnn asked.
"I quote, 'We will never surrender to tyranny, many people in history have tried to take over our world, but none have ever succeeded. There will always be those that oppose you, and as such, you will never see this to fruition. Long live the freedom fighters! Long live the rebellion!'"
RyeAnn snorted, "Well, so much for making a quiet getaway."
Hugh shook his head. "No, they knew this ship would most likely end up in the hands of rebels. It's a good chance they already knew we were rebels before we ever left Mars. They simply didn't have time to act on it since the only troops on planet were Willie's. Dr Gregoravich's message only rubbed their nose in it."
"Wait a sec; they could have had a full assault team on station in twenty hours. They could have taken us out at anytime," Willie pointed out.
"For whatever reason, they didn't want to tip their hand yet. An assault on the Mars installations would have been impossible to do quietly..." Hugh looked thoughtful. "That fleet on the other side of the transit lane ... That's why they didn't attack."
"I'm not sure I'm following you, Hugh," RyeAnn said, confused. "If even half the rumors are true, that fleet could decimate anything we have."
"No, it couldn't. Think for a moment, how many people would a fleet that size need to man it? Two hundred thousand? Five hundred thousand? Where would the Guild get that many willing sailors? Remember, they would have to be totally loyal to the Guild since any target they are sent against would be a human target.
"The reason they didn't move on Mars was because they aren't ready yet! They attack, and Willie's folks stall them while we call for friendly ships to help us. They have to call for their ships to counter ours, so they call the fleet. Only the ships are sitting out there with skeleton crews, and couldn't fight through a wet paper bag!" Hugh finished, excitedly.
RyeAnn was looking between Willie and another woman wearing the rank tabs of a commander. "That makes a hell of a lot of sense. Where would they get all the people to man those ships? From what our intel folks can gather, they'd have to abandon the lunar base as well as one of the orbital habitats just to man one full watch. I'd bet my commission that's why they needed all the cryo's!"
"But that doesn't make sense; the cryo's are just normal people, most of whom are peace and freedom loving. There's no way they'd go along with this!" Jenna said.
"They'd go along if they had implants that told them go along. The poor bastards probably don't even get to wake up before they get turned into puppets!" Dr. Carter said disgustedly.
"More like zombies!" Jenna said shuddering.
"The one thing that bothers me the most about all this is why do they need so much firepower? I mean, from the sound of it, they'll have fully one third of our total population serving in the military in one form or another. Who do they need that much force against?"
"Why would they need to attack anyone anyway? What would they gain?" Jenna asked.
"Zathura Cross! They have to be planning to start a war with the Zathurians!" Willie said in disbelief. "It's suicide!"
"Who?" Hugh asked. "There's another race out there? How long have we known about them, and why doesn't everyone know?"
"Zathura Cross isn't a race, it's a religion. From what we've been able to put together, they are controlled by a Synod of Elders that have absolute rule over the followers. We discovered them eight transits past the Deneb-Procyan terminus. What was seen originally was a huge fleet of warships that had just finished taking a system.
"Stealth probes were sent to monitor the system, and how the Zathurians treated the newly conquered race. They're pretty brutal. If you accept conversion, you serve as an 'initiate', which is the same as a slave for a number of years, only then you may advance. The conquered moons and planets were stripped of most of their food, leaving the initiates to fight over the scraps or starve to death," RyeAnn explained.
"Attacking them would make no sense at all, what would they gain?" Willie finished.
The Commander at the table asked, "Are we sure they intend to attack? Perhaps they have intel warning them of an attack by these zealots?"
"That's a hell of a long way to go just to attack someone. It's a long, long way home if something goes wrong," Hugh commented to himself. "I don't see how either side could be even considering it at this point. Intermediate bases would have to be set up for the sole purpose of supporting a fleet far away from home. No, an attack by either side at this point would be complete suicide. It could mean racial suicide for the confederation to attack from the sound of it."
"Well, the last I heard from fleet intel was that they believed that attacking fleet consisted of the bulk of the Zathurians offensive ships," RyeAnn added.
"They have to be smoking crack!" Jenna replied. "How could they even think something so stupid?"
"How can you smoke a crack?" Haley asked.
"I know how to lick one, but not smoke one. It sounds kinda painful," Holly added.
Chuckling, Hugh answered. "No, crack was the street name for an illegal drug called methamphetamine. It was cheap and relatively easy to make, so it was widely available. It was also almost instantly addictive, so it was very hard for most people to stop using it."
"What were they using it for? What were they being treated for?" Isis asked, interested.
"The drug was not prescribed by a physician, Doctor. It was made and sold illegally by criminals that didn't really care what happened to their customers, as long as they got hooked, and stayed that way. It was a pretty nasty drug; it was comprised mostly of toxic chemicals distilled down from common household items, like ammonia."
"Why would they do such a thing?" another woman at the table asked.
Jenna shrugged. "I guess they were so unhappy with their lives that they wanted to escape into a fake reality until it killed them. A good share of them got their wish."
Further conversation was interrupted by the guards granting admittance to a bio-suited medic pushing a cart full of gear. The medic walked up to Abby, "Here is the equipment you asked for, Doctor. I had Monika follow me up with a couple of isolation chambers as well. I left them out in the hall."
"Thanks Doria, that was smart thinking. Let's just hope that the Captain's precautions are unnecessary. Would you please get the analyzer going while I start checking everyone?"