Alex tried to remain still in his office but he was filled with a lot of nervous energy that made him pace around the desk, waiting; the very notion of waiting was beginning to drive him insane.
Why did that damned Drake have to be so cryptic? He thought to himself when he recalled what Liyurch said to him on the comm’s. “It’s a tie between his leukocytes and the Lykanthropic cells.''
During the time he was left waiting, the young captain had already filled out the paperwork for Lykanthropy in anticipation, all that was missing now was the confirmation that Ensign Timpson was infected. It was a tough decision and even if Alex got the confirmation, the mere act of pressing ‘send’ would feel as though the dry weight of the Phoenix was bearing down on his shoulders. It was no wonder he was anxious. Perhaps it wasn’t the waiting that had his thoughts racing. Alex wondered if perhaps he was worried about the possibility that the test would return as positive. It would force Alex to send a report that would set in motion a series of procedures and assessments that would very well be just as harmful to Timpson as the lykanthropy itself; The Alliance Medical Academy would have to demand that the Phoenix return to port to get him off the ship or worse have him confined to quarters and placed under strict medical observation for however long it takes until the Phoenix returns to Terra. From there, STARCOM would suspend him temporarily from active duty until they could get a second opinion and then place him under observation. That last part always troubled Alex; he couldn’t imagine himself being trapped in a room under constant surveillance with no stimuli whatsoever to pass the time until the changes held him in its firm grasp while it moulds him to its pervasive image. Seizing his muscles, locking him firmly in place while it rewrites his DNA.
The Lykan’s; a sub-species of Terrans known predominantly for their broad stature and canine-like features with the ability to turn humans into one of them with a single bite from their rows of needle-like teeth. Never once did the Lykan Republics delude themselves into thinking that it was a natural occurrence that could be used without consequence like breathing. They knew it for what it truly was and were taught to know the full extent of what would happen if they bite a human. Alex was most befuddled by how they chose to uphold this cultural responsibility and duty that they have taken upon themselves was how they chose to pay their respects to a human who had been infected with such a terrible curse by planning a ceremony in their honour. Truly it was the most perplexing cultural contradiction he knew of out of the entire Alliance. For many, the family and close friends of the accused who bit the human often get in touch with the victim and organise for them to travel to their home whether it be on Terra or the Lykan controlled systems in the Carina Nebula to perform a gothic looking ritual involving loose robes and candles.
Ascension Ritual is what it's called, isn’t it? Alex thought to himself. Feeling his thoughts gravitate towards the subject.
All of a sudden, the process of the ritual dominated his mental landscape, how it went down and what was involved took his mind off the wait, providing Alex with the perfect distraction. He chose to sit down at his desk and tapped away at his smooth surface keyboard to access the ship's onboard mainframe; He chuckled to himself when he saw he was correct that its name was called an Ascension Ritual. Alex placed his hand over his mouth as his eyes darted from one side of the screen to the other, studying the contents of the file with fascination. A victim of Lykanthropy was brought to the family home of the Lykan who bit the human victim, all family members involved wore nothing but a gold-laced robe, while the victim stood still in a circle as the family sang hymns and recited chants when the victim begins to change in front of the family. Many humans who underwent such a ritual often experienced shame and discomfort from the public form of nudity. The Lykan family would often light incense moments before the victim changes to ease their discomfort along with using a gentle percussion instrument that resembled the triangle. Only when the victim has fully changed does the ritual be deemed complete, leaving the now changed victim to be in the care and custody of the family to educate and guide them, providing a loving home.
Some victims however were not as lucky as the family may not or would not have contacted the victim in time and the Lycanthropy changed them much faster. Would Copalo’s family compensate Timpson if he suffers from it? Would he be looked after or would Timpson fall to the mercy of the criminally underpaid nurses of a Transmutation clinic?
The anxiety inducing thoughts returned, coming back full circle to ruin any peace Alex had attained from his distraction. He hated doing this, signing the paperwork that could potentially ruin a man’s life. Suddenly he heard a series of knocks coming from the door. “Come in!” he shouted.
“Permission to enter, captain?” a squeaky voice chirped from behind the metal door.
Alex cast his gaze to the door frame to see Liyurch’s head peeking out through the gap between the hatch and the frame. His bright eyes always seemed so optimistic. Alex gave the dragon permission and the young dragon slithered its lithe form through the hatchway, folding his wings close to his body before stretching them out briefly after being compressed to fit through the gap. Liyurch wore his hemp satchel which draped loosely from his sides and reached over to the left pocket, pulled on the tab to open it before reaching in and pulling out his medical tablet. The tablet's display lit up as Liyurch handed it to Alex. He looked at the contents on the screen displaying information that was either incomprehensible or irrelevant to the captain’s inquiry like red blood cell count, sodium and glucose levels. But the most important thing that drew his attention was the microscopic image of the crewmans blood sample. Alex recognised the blood cells up close but were it not for the labels attached to the leukocytes and lymphocyte cells he would not have known what it was he was seeing. Underneath the image it showed in bright red lettering: No Lykancyte cells detected.
“I am proud to say Ensign Nicholas Timpson is clean, sir. He will remain human.” Liyurch beamed proudly. Alex let out a sigh of relief then handed the tablet back to the clawed hands of the dragon.
“Thank god for that. I did not want to deal with the paperwork involved.” A moment of brief silence swiftly followed suit when Alex sat down at his desk..
Liyurch’s smile slowly faded from his snout. “Is there anything else sir?”
“No, doctor. You are excused.”
Liyurch was three steps away from the hatch when Alex called out to him. “Wait! Doc, come back, lemme ask you a question.” Liyurch circled back. His elongated body reminded Alex of a monitor lizard he used to care for as a kid. Liyurch then sat down on his haunches curling his tail to his front paws.
“Grayich,” Alex continued. “You’re smart and more in touch with things so let me ask you: What happens to a human who transmutates into a Draconic? Apart from the therapy stuff.”
“Well,” He sighed. The look on his face told Alex the brief version of what he wanted to know “ Normally the newly formed dragon or ‘Zhol’yat’ as they are called in Draconic is usually given a choice between which of our worlds they are to be relocated to. Draco II is a very popular choice. The massive cities sometimes put them at ease but Shenzhou is a better choice with its massive green mountain range doing wonders for easing the minds of Zhol’yat.”
“Zhol’yat,” Alex said to himself. “You have a word for transformed humans?”
Liyurch shuffled in his spot looking uncomfortable to Alex as he nodded. “Well, the thing is… the word closely translates to ‘impostor’ or ‘false dragon’ and it’s more of an insult. It’s the same word used for all humans that have been transmutated but it is mostly used to refer to a human turned dragon.” Liyurch explained.
“How are these Zhol’yat treated in your society?” Alex asked hoping his line of questioning wouldn’t be too obvious.
“Decent, I suppose. Some families will foster the Zhol’yat and make them part of their family. However, our nature isn’t entirely nurturing so they don’t get to sit around and mope for months on end. After a short adjustment period they are given a state mandated timetable provided to them and the family must ensure they follow it.”
“What does this ‘timetable’ include?”
“I haven’t seen one myself but from what I know of, it involves classes they have to take to speak and read Draconic, some meditation classes followed by a list of pre-arranged social activities. It’s a…uhm… it’s a very rigorous process.” Liyurch smacked his lips.
“If that is all, Captain Rowan, I would like to return to the infirmary.” He added.
Alex dismissed him then watched as the dragon doctor slithered his way toward the hatch, then he stopped short of climbing over the knee knocker and looked back at Alex. “I know why you asked me about the Zhol’yat” He said solemnly. “I don’t think many humans actively think about this sort of thing. But I understand why you are.”
Liyurch then hopped out through the hatch frame. After looking back at his monitor, Alex pulled up the prepared files and documents for transmutation on his computer before proceeding to delete them. A massive weight lifted off his shoulder seeing the files pop out of existence on the monitor as though filing them would have been worse for everyone involved. Instead, he searched the ship's computer and opened up an incident form he had filled in earlier and adjusted some of the details and attached a copy of Liyurch’s medical report along with it. The ship shuddered from its Jump which made Alex miss hitting the key to submit and officiate his report. He groaned in annoyance before pressing down on the key and his report was now ready for filing when they entered Real-Space.
It was inconvenient to Alex and to the rest of the crew that their outdated communications network only worked in Real-Space. With only a basic Quantum Entanglement communication set up so only the captains office or the CIC could have access to it which also worked well in Jump-Space due to its ability of establishing an instantaneous communication channel anywhere in the known galaxy with no lag time or signal degradation making it an appealing method of communication for those who could afford it privately. The Phoenix, however, had an outdated and ageing electrical system that simply couldn’t handle the constant electrical load. Even the one the Phoenix does possess pushes the tolerance on its junctions. In his earlier days as Captain, Alex recalled how shortly after the system was installed after each use it would cause an electrical fire within one of the many electrical junctions causing a near ship wide blackout. STARCOM barely acknowledged his requests to adapt the Phoenix, instead he was commonly rebuffed with the tale of how overhauling the ship was estimated to be more costly than it was worth. Meanwhile, nearly eighty percent of the Alliance fleet got to enjoy serving aboard ships outfitted with the latest in QE communication technology, instantly establishing top quality video calls and instant delivery of letters and reports.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
After his shift ended, Alex took to the recreational facilities on board. Passing by crewmembers who had been relieved of duty and replaced by those whose duty was now starting. In the recreational lounge, Alex saw many off-duty crew had hooked themselves into the Neuro-synaptic simulator, thankfully for him there was one still left unused. He had himself hooked up and rested back into the chair as the machine beeped and flashed its little diodes as it warmed itself shortly after attaching the headband around his head. His hospitality attendant was a brown Naga with alluring golden eyes who looked at him as his vision started tunnelling before it was replaced by the familiar sandy beaches on Albali while its red dwarf sun settling on the bioluminescent horizon.
The sky was painted in its bright pinks and darkening purple shades with ribbons of aquamarine light dancing in the skies with the planet’s massive ice ring brightly displayed in the backdrop. Alex felt his senses return to him in the simulated dream as both his hands and feet felt the burning granular texture of the marble white sand beneath him. A gentle breeze came from the ocean bringing with it the salt rich scent of the ocean in front of him. The red dwarf finally disappeared from sight and its light continued to linger for what felt like an hour before its bright orange and pink colours soon shifted darker until all that was left was the dancing green ribbons and the pale blue light reflecting off the icy rings in the sky. Alex continued to stare at the coloured night sky and its mystifying colours. He saw a shooting star streak across the sky as he calmly laid on his back on the sand. After putting his hands behind his head, he experienced the gentle breeze brushing the salted air on his skin. He saw another shooting star streak across the sky like an orange laser beam being shot from an unseen ship. Another one came into view, much larger than its pinhead sized predecessors shortly after emerging from the black sky leaving behind its flaming tail before breaking up into two pieces which had abruptly ended its life.
Alex began feeling a sense of dread seeing the meteor shower for a reason he could not yet explain. Staring at the streaks zipping along the sky instilled in him an irrational fear. They are just harmless rocks burning up in the atmosphere. What are the chances they’ll even hit the ground? Not like any of them are large enough to do anything.
His train of thought was abruptly interrupted by the shrieking sounds of a meteorite falling fast, he looked up only to see it for a brief moment before it collided with the shallow beach nearby and it disappeared amidst a screen of steam and seawater. It impacted with such force that water was forced up twenty feet into the air and sent shockwaves powerful enough to make the entire sandy beach jump. Alex shot up on his own two feet to look at the steaming epicentre of the meteorite strike. Apart from steam and the water bubbling there was nothing to tell him any of the original rock was there. In the distance, not too far out into the ocean another two meteorites struck the ocean. Alex looked around himself on the lone shore befuddled as to who would program a relaxation therapy machine to simulate something so anxiety inducing and shocking. Unknowingly he had clutched his chest firmly, his heart raced in fear, he trembled again when another meteorite struck the shallow shoreline sending yet another thunderous shockwave through the air and through the ground. His legs trembled with each momentary shake of the earth. Alex looked up again as his brows clenched themselves in to see the once peaceful sky was dominated with slow moving meteorites that left long bright orange tails behind them. The sound of bubbling intensified, drawing Alex’s attention back to the still boiling impact site, a layer of steam blanketed the disturbed water surface area of otherwise motionless water before something slowly rose out of the bubbling water. It looked like a man was injured, there wasn’t anybody else there when it struck. So, who was this? Alex narrowed his eyes to make out the species in the dark, even with the bioluminescent water aided from the borealis and light reflecting off the ring it was still too dark to make out who was slowly emerging from the water. Slowly they crawled on all fours, hunched over as if they were on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. Soon another figure hunched over emerged from the impact sites of the other nearby meteorite strikes. Alex had taken only three steps before alarm bells rang in his head once more, telling him to run. He shook it off and proceeded to continue his slow walk over to the waterline to see who it was in the water. Ten feet away, the figure slowly rose up off the ankle high water and the insectoid raised its raptorial appendages before shooting a glance towards Alex. Both his eyes and mouth were left wide open in horror to which the insect responded by letting a shrill cry before pursuing him on land. Alex bolted away from the insect but the sand made it difficult for him to get far before his own muscles burned and ached. He looked over to the ocean to see more of the insect creature rising out of the impact craters as more insect filled meteorites crashed into the beach.
Finally he made it up the massive sand hill behind him, the sensation of beachgrass brushing against his legs soon caused it to irritate before Alex ducked behind a small sand dune to evade the insect.
Fuck, what kind of twisted machine is this!? This is far from relaxing, c’mon body… wake me up from this fucking nightmare!
However, Alex still found himself trapped. After clenching up his fist and slamming it into the sand spreading its grains everywhere and into his eyes Alex mumbled under his breath. He reluctantly raised himself from his prone position to peer over the dune, he was delighted he didn’t see the creature but he could still hear its excited chittering sounds. Tentatively, he crossed over into the next dune to look down the sand hill to see if the creatures were still around. To his relief he didn’t see them anymore. Not the boiling sites of water, not the insects scurrying around the waterfront. Even the millions of meteorites had stopped falling. Relieved and exhausted, he placed his hand on his beating heart and pressed himself against the sand dune, confused and horrified by the experience. He was just about to open his mouth to breathe when the creature suddenly appeared before him, letting out an ear-piercing shriek as it swung its scythe-like appendage at him.
Light flooded his vision and he panicked, his arms and legs couldn’t stop thrusting about involuntarily as he felt his limbs being restricted. Slowly his vision cleared and he was staring down the scaly snout of the female Naga that had tended to him earlier. Her bright brown eyes stared at him before he let out a sigh of relief.
After being let out of the machine, the Naga asked him what happened or if he recalled why he suddenly started lashing out, he recounted the events of his dream before noticing the small assembly of off-duty onlookers which he dismissed them with a short temper before wiping the sweat of his forehead. His chest stuck to the inner fabric layers of his suit from his sweat. The Naga mentioned she was going to call in doctor Grayich however Alex quickly stopped her before admitting he would go see him in person.
True to his word, albeit hesitantly, Alex slowly made his way to the infirmary, he contemplated not actually going to the doctor since all he had was a nightmare. Grayich was resting on his haunches as he performed surgery behind a glass shield separating the operating theatre from the rest of the infirmary. The dragon wore an apparatus that covered one eye with a green lens that Alex could see information blinking through. The dragon gingerly moved his head slowly and in doing so a faint beam of light was cutting through the flesh of the patient. Above the patient was the surgical laser beam emitter that looked like a giant gun hanging from the ceiling and pointed as if it were to kill the patient. The laser was almost invisible to the naked eye were it not for the bright glare from the laser’s focal emitter and occasionally being seen through the steam of its work. For twenty minutes, Alex watched the young dragon dig within the long-extended belly of a Naga crewmember and tinkered with the insides with what looked like tongs and hooks. Shortly after, the flesh was held back together as Grayich and a nurse sealed the wound shut with a golden syrup looking substance which was then struck with the precision guided laser. The dragon peeled off his transparent gloves and disposed of them into the cylindrical biological waste bin, then he pressed his clawed hand against the glass and it lit up in response to his touch. The glass wall removed itself, the stench of the burnt flesh and exposed insides hit Alex with a sickening rancid smell.
Liyurch smiled at him; strangely enough, Alex found it difficult to believe such an innocent and childlike smile could exist on a dragon like him. For a moment he could have simply been a naïve young hatchling with that innocent face. “Hello again, Captain, what can I do for you?” Liyruch said with a such a cheery tone.
His tone completely disregarded his recent activity as though he was digging for earthworms rather than digging around the inside of a twenty-five-foot humanoid serpent. Alex struggled to find the words as he watched Liyurch prance over to the sink to wash his forepaws before setting them back down on the cold metal deck, still dripping wet off his dry and coarse scales. The echo of the nightmare still resounded within him, not just the recollection of scenes playing out within his head, but the things he felt in it also echoed in his mind. The beachgrass brushing against his thighs when he ran through the field up that dune, the smell of the scented salty breeze, the coarse texture of sand giving way under his feet. Even to the extent that his ears rang from the impact of the alien carrying meteorites still lingered. Was this normal? He had no clue, sure, Alex had nightmares in the past that felt real and left an impression on him when he woke up but this was something else entirely… it was the sense of fear he felt seeing the creature look at him and he was unarmed and ill prepared that frightened him the most. The sensation of sand still lingered in his fingers, he resisted the urge to brush the sand off him before he realised there was none.
A lump got stuck in his throat preventing him from speaking, so Alex tailed the young dragon as he walked back to his office and proceeded to start on filing. The entire time, Alex was trying to figure out how to ask the doctor without sacrificing his image, as though speaking of it would draw the attention of the crew and demand he step down in light of being unfit.
“Doctor, I understand you took Psychology, yes?” Alex asked, wearing a mask of confidence.
“Yeah” Liyurch scoffed. “But not by choice, it’s a requirement… that’s six years of my life I won’t be getting back. Do you need to talk about something?” He said with a note of observation.
The captain's face turned solemn as he recalled the nightmare, memories of the alien flashed to the forefront of his conscience, the shrill sounds followed by the swinging of its scythe’s to cleanly cut its prey in half, the feeling of its tough chitinous exoskeleton passing through. It made Alex unknowingly bring his hand to the base of neck and subtly rub it. Liyurch powered up his terminal and began pressing his digits against the smooth surface while typing, Alex leaned closer to see if somehow his claws were leaving scratches on the surface. Finally, Alex, mentally shook himself. ‘Enough stalling!’ he told himself. He took a tentative step forward to the dragon.
“Doc, can I trust you in the name of doctor/patient confidentiality?”
Liyurchs head turned on his extended neck to face Alex, a stern, serious expression took place on his snout before getting down on all fours to close the glass door and turn on the privacy mode in his office which turned all the glass walls suddenly into frosted glass, before sitting back at his desk and seemingly focusing the entirety of his attention on Alex.
“Go on,” he said.
“Doctor, I just had an episode less than an hour ago. Back in the neuro-synaptic simulator. I-it was anything but relaxing, I tell ya. First it started out normal, I was on a beach on Albali just as the sun set and then…”
After recounting his side of events, Liyurch stared at him, occasionally narrowing his eyes and shifting his posture throughout the recounting of the nightmare. Liyurch stopped him shortly after his first few sentences, finding them to be too short and undetailed and asked him to include every detail including the positive ones. Alex continued to recount with more detail from the feeling of sand still burning his hands to the dry itchy grass brushing against his skin.
Alex let a deep breath out when he finished. The tension in his shoulders was gone, leaving a knot in his shoulder blade. His stomach finally settled, getting it all out. Liyurch hadn’t moved in ten minutes but his face still said he was listening. His nostrils flared occasionally and finally he stretched out his wings before opening his mouth.
“Was this the only time you had this nightmare?”
Shaking his head and taking a deep breath Alex said. “No, this is the first time, but I haven’t been sleeping well since the incident. I still feel tired, I still feel my eyelids grow heavy but once I am in bed I am still active enough not to go to sleep. I sometimes stare at this one rivet in the ceiling panel above me. But that’s not related, I am more disturbed from the simulator.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” Grayich rebutted. “For you see, the Neuro-synaptic simulator is a toy for the mind. Tricking your neurons into thinking a certain scenario is playing out as lifelike as possible. Your mind and memories and fantasies can still be inserted into the simulation. Not many Terrans know this. Its possible that while you were relaxed your subconscious fears surfaced in the form of this meteor shower. You aren’t the first person to come to me with this issue.”
Alex’s head perked up, his face gone completely neutral.
“What do you mean?” Had others experienced similar nightmares in the machine?
“I mean, you are not the first person to come to me with a troubled mentality in regards to that thing. If I told you the things some of the crew have said after seeing that thing, you would be surprised.”
“I suppose the CIC staff and the marines must have it worse.”
“Without breaking my oath of confidentiality, I can tell you that it has affected everyone on this ship in one form or another. Several team leaders have come to me to inform me that some of their team members have suddenly become comatose. Not in the unconscious, vegetative state that the media likes to commonly depict,” Correcting himself with a dismissive wave. “But I mean some crew have stopped dead in their tracks for a moment with a blank look on their faces before suddenly returning to work.”
“Should I be concerned about that, doc?”
“What happened has affected us all and I would be more surprised if it didn’t.”