The small, black rover pulled up in front of the gate of the large, walled-in community.
"Worzac town, state your name or show proof of residency" said the voice of what sounded like a young man.
"Chris and Melinda Cabral" Milo said. "We are here to see Mr. Broyles."
"Are you expected?" the voice answered back.
"No" Milo said with a sinking feeling in his heart. For about 10 seconds he did not hear a sound. Milo thought for a moment, wondering about what they could do if they were not allowed in. He did not want the entire trip to prove to be a waste because he could not get inside the gate. Milo was just about to speak back into the microphone when suddenly, the gate opened for them to enter.
The town looked quite strange, even to one accustomed to a variety of architecture on different worlds. The houses were dome-shaped and dark-brown and they all seemed very smooth and clean. A voice came over the radio of the rover.
"Welome to Worzac. If you are interested in becoming a part of our community, please visit one of our leasing agents in the main office" said a cool, computerized-sounding female voice on the radio of the rover.
"The homes of our community are all made from the xylem of the Worzac. A group of buttons came up on the rover's screen with the words "History", "Architecture", "Xanadu", and "Lease and Buying Info". Milo touched the "Architecture" button on the screen with his finger.
"Most of the homes in our community are made from the worzac. The worzac is one of the largest and tallest photosynthetic organisms in the known galaxy. They grow in most of the temperate regions of Xanadu and are a central part of the ecosystem. A typical worzac can grow to be up to 450 feet tall, and weigh 8 million pounds. When treated, the wood from the worzac is very strong and dirt-resistant and is ideal for the construction of smaller structures. They also take a relatively short amount of time to reach maturity for a plant of their size. The worzac's planted around the perimeter of the community were seedlings only 15 Earth years ago."
"Maybe he's not home" Kayla said as they reached the house number where Broyles lives. There didn't seem to be any lights on. "I've got a strong feeling this is a waste of time either way" she continued. Milo said nothing put parked the rover up next to the home. The lawn was packed with small bushes that bore reddish-purple, teardrop-shaped berries that he recognized from the fruit basket of the hotel room. Milo knocked at the door to the house. There was no answer or any noise from inside. Milo knocked again a little louder. The door opened very abruptly to reveal a short, stocky man with long, white hair and a beard.
"Chris and Melinda, I presume?" the man said.
Milo and Kayla looked at each other.
"Well come in " the man said with an air of excitement.
"I suppose you are Bart Broyles" Milo said still seeming kind of surprised.
"That's me!" the man said. "Come on in, I know you would probably rather not been seen here, so let's go inside! I've been very eager to speak with the two of you". Milo could see that Kayla had the "be very careful" look in her eye. He led Milo and Kayla into a large and interesting-looking living room. The room was filled with globes displayed on spherical screens and animated wall maps. Milo did not recognize most of them other than Eizen. He also noticed that both the globes and maps many locations were marked and notes were drawn on them.
"Sit down" Bart said. Milo and Kayla took a seat aside each other on the loveseat as Bart sat on a recliner across from them.
"How do you know who we are, Mr. Broyles?"
"Please" the man interjected forcefully with his naturally loud voice "call me Bart. The two of you are all the buzz around the Network. You have the ability to communicate in a direct and lucid fashion to Nadarska. Completely unheard of."
"I'm not quite sure yet that that is such a good thing" Milo said who didn't wholeheartedly believe it but all the same did not want to think Kayla to think he was very curious and interested about it.
"Oh, but it's a very good thing" Bart said. "A very, very good thing. It could be a complete turning point in the fight against Gaia." Milo could see Kayla taking a deep breath, trying to hold her tongue and suppress her thoughts to say something facetious.
"And who are the forces of this 'Gaia'?" Kayla said. Bart looked into Kayla's eyes for a brief moment.
"A long-exiled clan of the reptilian empire has returned to this side of the galaxy. We have just confirmed it. They're very dangerous."
"Well you will have to pardon my hesitancy to believe" Kayla said. "and personally, I think enemies that aren't real can be more dangerous than ones that are." Bart looked at Kayla for a moment and then nodded his head.
"That is true" he said. "You are a skeptic-minded. It's a good quality to have, but you must also know when to temper that and question a lot of your fundamental assumptions about the universe and the nature of reality." Bart stood up and began to sort of pace around the room. "I too once thought of entities like Nadarska and the goddess as super-organisms or perhaps some elaborate mode of control by either the grays or the elves. "
"Well, what changed your mind?" Kayla said.
"Various things" Bart answered. "The Network has limited means of communicating with Nadarska, but we have been able to attain knowledge that we couldn't have possibly obtained through any other fashion. I don't know of any other possible rational explanation. As well as the fact that the ghost of Aura Madeen, who supposedly can communicate with Nadarska, made some predictions that came true."
"Tea?" Bart asked as the bell sounded on his heating plate and he took a kettle off of it and poured himself a mug full. "You haven't had tea until you've tasted it growing in the temperate soils of Xanadu." Kayla declined and Milo took a mug. He wasn't sure what kind of tea it was, but it really tasted pretty good.
"What kind of predictions were those?" Milo asked.
"The first one,which I already mentioned" Bart said taking a sip from his mug "was the return from the far side of the galaxy of the lost Nal'Larak clan. It has always been believed that the Fire Flower clan either perished in the war or was killed by the very difficult trek on SPG to the other side of the galaxy. Yet we have reliable intelligence from multiple sources that has confirmed that the Fire Flower Clan has in fact returned, and we are pretty sure the elves now know about it as well. The other one is probably even more remarkable and difficult to believe, and its fulfillment has apparently just been realized. She prophesized the birth of a human that could communicate easily with Nadarska." Bert turned his head to look at Milo.
"You're talking about me?" Milo asked feeling very surprised.
"Apparently I am" Bart said. "I just don't know how all of this can be reconciled with any traditional rationalist view of the universe" he remarked. "What kind of machine can make such predictions? I'm fairly certain that is well beyond the capabilities of even the grays."
"Wait a minute here" Kayla interrupted. "You're telling me this 'ghost' foretold Milo's birth? Are you completely sure about that?"
"I can personally attest that I have known about it for a number of years – not as long as Chris has been alive – but I don't really have any reason to doubt it's been around longer. But it goes back farther than my knowing about it and I have no reason to doubt that. Dover, the leader of the Network, is the one who told me about it and he is quite trustworthy." Kayla sat with an expressionless face, not sure of what to believe.
"Do you trust Nadarska?" Milo asked.
"I haven't always, but I'm a little more comfortable now" Bart replied. "We may not actually have much of a choice. We are apparently dealing with non-physical beings whose abilities are beyond our comprehension."
"Now then" Bart said picking up his kettle and pouring more tea. "Sorry if that was really more than you bargained for. I assumed that you came here to ask me about Snedecor."
"Yes" Milo said. "Tell us whatever you know. You were a member of the Morian Mining Guild, right?" Broyles nodded his head. "Do you know anything about Snedecor?" Milo asked feeling hopeful.
"Yes, I helped the guild with financials and with some smuggling. I probably don't know enough about Snedecor to be helpful. He was in the mining guild though he doesn't know much about the Network. He really seemed to be a nice young man, but he seemed fearful and unsure of himself. I don't think he's probably of any danger no matter what the elf marshals say. As far as his whereabouts, I really do not know."
"Your leader that you referred to, earlier… Dover" Milo said. "Do you think he would know anything?"
"I doubt it. We are trying to find out as much about Snedecor as you two are are. Sorry, but it really seems like you are at a dead end, here."
"So this so-called Nadarska can predict Chris' birth and talk to him in his dreams, but can't find him?" Kayla asked in a very incredulous tone.
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"Apparently so" Broyles said sipping on his tea.
"By the way, Chris" Bart said, "if you don't mind my asking, what did Nadarska tell you in your dream?"
"He just me he just wanted to gain my trust and demonstrate his abilities." Bart nodded his head.
"Well, do you trust him?" Bart inquired.
"I'm not sure yet" Milo answered. "I am not sure I know of what to think of it. It's all a lot to take in at once."
"That is understandable" Bart said.
"We need to get going" Kayla said who had clearly had her fill of this conversation. "We don't miss the ferry back to the resort" even though there was plenty of time.
"Yes, yes, I understand" Bart interjected. "I don't want to keep you here too long. It was very nice to meet the two of you. Please know that you have an ally in me and I will assist you in any way I can, regardless of what organization you may belong to." Kayla and Milo shook hands with him and went back out of Bart's front door.
"I hope you aren't getting too sucked up into this kind of stuff" Kayla said as they were driving back towards the entrance to the town. "All of this seems awfully silly and suspicious to me. These religious groups have some pretty shrewd ways of getting you sucked up into their ideology."
"Bart seems reasonably skeptical and not like a know-nothing to me" Milo replied. "Not like anyone who would accept something uncritically and without any thought."
"Come on!" Kayla said. "Prophesies about your birth? That's really hokey even for today's religious groups. Do you really want for your differentness to have meaning so much you're willing to give any credence to this?" Milo was kind of annoyed at Kayla's bluntness in that comment.
"It seems impossible and implausible" Milo said. "But the idea of someone communicating with you in your sleep without any kind of brain implant seemed ridiculous, too."
"Everything seems ridiculous until science removes the shroud from it. Some terrestrial age people thought volcanoes were an expression of an angry god. "
"Oh no!" Kayla said. "Look over there!" Above and to the left of their car was a small aircraft.
"That's an Elven-class aircraft" Milo said. "Not good." The aircraft landed on the side of the road right next to them.
"Just stay calm and be mindful of your cover" Kayla said bringing the car to a stop. "We haven't done anything that has compromised our cover." The ramp of the carrier lowered and two elves wearing dark blue jumpsuits exited. They were elf marshals. Milo felt a knot tying up in his stomach.
"Please get out of the vehicle" one of the elves said 10 feet from their vehicle. The elves voice was magnified by some kind of device he had on his hand. Milo and Kayla opened the doors to the rover and got out.
"Identification, please" the elven officer said. Milo and Kayla handed over their ID cards. Milo felt a sinking feeling in his stomach that the fake IDs they have may be noticed. The elven officer scanned the IDs with a scanner on the tip of his left index finger. The elf looked at the readout from the scan on his tablet. Milo almost felt as if he was going to throw up.
"Mr and Mrs Cabral" the officer said much to Milo's relief. "Come over here for a moment." He led Milo and Kayla over to the carrier that they were riding in. The elf opened a small compartment on the side of the carrier. "Put your finger in here" the officer said pointing to a little hole in the panel. "I need to conduct a blood test." Milo did as he was told. He felt a small prick and a small suction force on his finger. Kayla did the very same thing. Milo watched as Kayla winced a little bit at the prick. That's when he noticed it. When Kayla took her finger from the hole she had her index finger and pinky finger extended with her two middle fingers and thumb on her palm. It was their secret signal he and Kayla agreed upon to tell the other person to create a diversion. Milo thought for a moment about what the best thing to do, but nothing really good came to mind. He didn't know what Kayla really had in mind, but he decided he had to go with a risky move.
"Oh no!" Milo said doing his best to sound like he was in a panic. "I can't go to jail I just can't!" he said and he began running. Milo had only run about fifteen feet before he could feel himself being grabbed. Even though he was only about five feet an ten inches, he had a size advantage and might could've broken free, but he did not want to be tranquilized.
"I can't go to jail I just can't! Please be merciful to me!" Milo said.
"Calm down!" the officer said. "You are not in any real trouble." The other officer that was not doing the talking put hand cuffs on him. As Milo was being cuffed he noticed that Kayla came out of the ramp of the marshal's aircraft. Whatever she needed him to buy her time to do, she was apparently able to accomplish. The officers walked over to the carrier to where Kayla was standing.
"Mr. Cabral" the officer said. "Don't make this more difficult than it needed to be" the officer said. "Chris Cabral, you are being taken into medical custody. You are not in any kind of serious criminal trouble. We just need to give you treatment for neurophysiological issue. You will be given a thorough checkup and will be provided with any other medical care you may need. You will receive monetary compensation for your lost time. You will be taken for observation and for a series of tests for two days and two nights. As a married couple you will have a required conjugal visit on your second night. If you feel that you are in any way abused or mistreated you will have the right to appeal to an independent medical review board of human physicians. Do you understand your rights?" Milo looked at Kayla, who had an anxious look on her face but was no longer giving the diversion sign.
"Yes" Milo said trying to make sure to sound as if he was calmed down.
"Ma'am" the officer said turning to speak to Kalya as the other officer took Milo into the carrier, "you will receive a call from us when we are ready to come and pick you up from the resort. You are required to make the visit." Kayla nodded her head. She watched helplessly as the aircraft lifted off to take him who knows where.
She immediately got into the rover and turned it back on. The rover was restored to full functionality. Kayla drove as quickly as she could to the dock and got there about a half hour before it arrived. She got on board the ferry and quickly found a seat near the back where no one would be sitting. She took the portable data cartridge from her pocket and inserted it into her tablet. Thankfully the data she downloaded from the elf carrier wasn't encrypted. She typed "Cabral" in a query and immediately found something of interest.
EDICT FOR HUMAN MEDICAL DETAINMENT:
NAME: Chris Cabral
SYSTEM: Xanadu
DATE: 0014-0210-5196
Local Time: 73:45:26
INDIVIDUAL HAS TESTED POSITIVE NEUROGENOTYPE CARVER A.
**IMMEDIATE 48 HOUR MEDICAL DETAINMENT HIGHLY RECOMMENDED**
TREATMENT REGIMEN: NEURAL DRAGONASE SUBSTRATE COMPLEX (NDSC), SINGLE COURSE
CONSIDER TARGET DANGEROUS? NO
Kayla looked through all of the other files that she had downloaded. There was a large amount of information she took and it did not seem to be relevant. There didn't seem to be enough information on the disk to be helpful. She had no idea of how to get in touch with Bohr or Roman to ask them what to do.
When Kayla finally got back to their resort room, she quickly went through Milo's bag to find his computer.
"Milo I really hope you've read about whatever the heck this is" she said out loud to herself as she typed on "Neural Dragonase Substrate Complex" into a search query on his machine. She found one file within a long manuscript.
Neural Dragonase Substrate Complex (NDSC)
Developed by the Elven Humanology Institute. Many details of this technology are classified. An enzyme substrate on silicon microplates that can penetrate the blood-brain barrier and induces a transient, prenatal-like state in certain neurons to fix certain neurotypes.
In a period of 24-36 hours, can re-wire certain neural pathways and decrease the extension of connections of others.
This treatment has been known to create psychosis in a small percentage of patients. Dragonase inhibitor can be applied within first 48 hours to neutralize effects of NDSC at the first signs of psychosis. No precision dosage is needed. The inhibitor is non-toxic and biologically inert in patients not undergoing NDSC treatment.
Kayla picked up her phone and selected a number. It rang two times before she heard someone picking up on the other end.
"Everett" the voice on the other end said.
"Brian" Kayla said. "It's Melinda Cabral. You remember, we met at the resort pavilion-"
"Yeah! How's it going with you guys?" Brian said perking up and seeming genuinely glad to hear from her.
"I've got something of a situation here, can you come and speak with me?"
"Sure. I can be over at your room right away. What's going on?"
"I'll explain when we meet. Please get over here as soon as you can."
"Okay, I'll be right over" Brian said with a genuine-sound air of seriousness in his voice.
Kayla starting reading through the rest of Milo's humanology files. They were very disorganized. It was about 20 minutes before Kayla heard a knock at the door. Kayla turned on the viewing screen for the outside of her door and saw the familiar-looking face of Brian Everett. She grabbed the door knob and opened the door.
"Come in" Kayla said not wasting an instant.
"Milo has been detained by the Marshals" Kayla said. "Apparently for so-called 'medical custody'". Bryan gave Kayla a surprised and grim look.
"I know what you might be thinking" Brian said, "but neither I nor anyone else in my organization had anything to do with this." Brian pleaded.
"I don't think you or your group had anything to do with this" Kayla said. "When we arrived here we had a blood sample taken. When I hacked into the resort's computer we found files of our genetic profile on them. Chris' report was flagged as being positive for a 'Carver neurotype A'. Do you know what that is?"
"No idea" Brian said, "but there's no telling what they're going to be doing to him. They are both afraid and fascinated by really exceptional people like Chris."
"They're giving him some treatment called the neural dragonase substrate complex. Apparently it can change a person's brain in a fundamental way."
"How do you know this?" Brian asked.
"I downloaded information from the computer of the carrier that Chris was detained in."
"You hacked into the resort computer and stole information from elven security forces? Just who are you guys with, anyways?"
"Just a little skill I've always had" Kayla said. "You told me your organization is really resourceful so let's put this to the test. There's an inhibitor for this NDSC. Do you have any means of getting your hands on it?"
"I don't, but I'm certain we have the files on it to synthesize it. The real problem is going to be getting it to him, though. Do you even know where he is, let alone how to get it to him?"
"They're requiring me to have a conjugal visit with him tomorrow night. I can take it with me when I go to see him."
"Pretty sure they're going to check you pretty thoroughly. They won't expect you to possibly have a dose of the antidote but they're going to make sure you don't smuggle anything into their secret humanology labs." Kayla stood there thinking for several seconds as neither she nor Brian spoke.
"Look, I'll have a talk with Dover and see if he's got any ideas-"
"No, there is one way I can administer the antidote to him" Kayla said. "But it's going to be really disgusting and unpleasant."
"If you have a way to do it you've got to do it" Brian said. "You probably do not have any idea just how important Chris is. He may be as important to our organization as he is to you. If he gets this treatment not only do we lose a valuable asset but you may essentially lose the man that you have just married."
"Well" Kayla said with a small sigh, "the antidote is inert to people who are not undergoing treatment with the NDSC."
"And?" Brian asked not being able to follow where Kayla was going.
"And it will get taken up by the kidneys and excreted intact I assume" Kayla said. Brian just stood there silent for a brief moment at first appearing confused and then after a moment his mouth opened a little bit, the idea finally striking him what she was referring to.
"I see" he said. "That's a very...interesting approach. That could work, though."
"Can you get a dose of the antidote ready for me in time or not?"
"I guarantee it" Brian said with a tone of supreme confidence. "We will get it for you. We will get it for you at any cost. Call me if you need me, I'm going to get the guys at our lab on this right away" Brian said getting his phone out of his pocket and pushing buttons frantically.