Aceso
Alwen’s private conversation with the Captain hadn’t gone well. In fact, judging by the fact that Alwen later found her jogging hard on a treadmill in the new gym, the Captain might have gotten the wrong idea entirely. She felt indignant at how blatantly Astarte was ignoring Alwen’s advice, but she did her best not to let it show. She knew as a medical professional that patients wouldn’t always listen to sensible advice, she had learned that after a year of trying to get some of the crewmen to give up their excessive drinking habits. She didn’t even follow that advice, and still drunk herself under the table every chance she got despite knowing all the damage that alcohol was doing.
Still, it irked her to see Aster come to her as a friend for help, then ignore everything Alwen had said and do the exact opposite. But their friendship aside Astarte was her Captain, and there were boundaries Alwen couldn’t push because of that. This was one of those boundaries.
Instead of dwelling on what the Captain was doing Alwen decided to throw herself into her work. There was a lot of set up required to get the med-bay ready for when they shipped out of Pandemonium. And before they left Alwen had some final matters to settle. One of which was getting their apartment taken care of for their long trip. She cleared out the perishables, turned off their water, heat, and electricity, and made one final check to make sure everything was in order. The other was a trip to the newly established Caduceus pharmaceuticals and Meditech research. The company her mentor Bachir had been establishing after he retired from the Hellworlder fleet.
During her stay on Pandemonium Alwen had split her time between Caduceus and her new medical division. She didn’t have the time or focus to really contribute to the company’s growing endeavors, but was able to finalize her Torweni alcoholic blindness preventive and set it up for mass production. It was a pill that used the advanced medical knowledge available to the Terrans to treat a common ailment of the Torweni, the tendency to go temporarily blind from alcohol. The Temple of Ashendra had been very pleased with the first shipment and had given it their seal of approval, the only issue in the way of mass distribution was the Union trade embargo to Torwen. But the benefit of working with space pirates is that they weren’t too particular about obeying Union trade laws. The profits off the one product alone promised to have Alwen set for life, or at least it would if she hadn’t been channeling all her profits back into the growth of Caduceus.
There was one other research project she and Bachir had been working on, this one was a secret from everyone, including Astarte. And it was the reason she was visiting Caduceus in person today after the Astaroth had come back to port.
Caduceus was set up in one of the designated industrial temples on the outskirts of Temple city. The Temple of Asclepius, named for a Terran god of doctors. Bachir had purchased a large amount of the Temple’s internal space, though only some of it was in use currently. Armed security guards checked Alwen as she walked up, but the check was mostly perfunctory since she was Bachir’s partner and held a significant share of the company. They didn’t even have her remove her swords or pistol before entering.
Alwen stepped through the thick steel doors and entered into the pearly white halls of Caduceus. Everything was kept purposely bland and shiny to better protect against espionage and give the impression of a cutting-edge facility. This was just the front hall, she knew that the side halls and personal labs that were commonly used were much more functional and easier on the eyes. However for this meeting Bachir had set up within one of the show labs.
Alwen walked to the end of the hall, her footsteps echoing across the ceramic walls. At the end of the hall was a single white door that required her unique seven-digit passcode, thumb print, and retinal scan. Only after all three did the door slide open to reveal a small steel antechamber. She stepped in, and the first door closed just as the second door opened and let her into Bachir’s private secure lab.
The hunched, brown furred figure of Bachir straightened and turned her way. He was wearing a plain white lab coat with slacks that he favored, and he had a small pair of spectacles for his aging eyes. Some of his fur was greying, but Alwen looked past that and smiled at mentor. “Doctor Bachir, I hope you’re doing well.”
He made a rumbling sound in the back of his throat, “Well enough, hibernation season is coming and I might take a leave of absence to rest. Might help.”
Alwen nodded. Bachir was an Uplifted Mammaloid, of the Eurasian Brown Bear species. Not to be mistaken for the larger, more fearsome North American Brown Bears like grizzlies or Kodiaks. His ancestors had been a zoo attraction in Cairo before they had gained sentience, and had adopted the local culture as their own. While the Uplifting process had removed the biological necessity for yearly hibernations, it hadn’t removed the lingering urge. And at Bachir’s age a vacation during the hibernation season might give him a boost throughout the year. “Is it here?” Alwen asked getting down to business.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Bachir nodded “Yes.” He said as Alwen walked over to join him. There were two glass jars on the counter, one was a spinal cord section from an Aunviry corpse they had acquired during the battle for the confederacy. The other was from a creature Alwen thanked all the Gods she never had to see in person. It was the fin section of a creature dubbed ‘space sharks’ by the crew who had discovered them.
After the Battle for the Confederacy Astarte had pressured her and Bachir to look into the biology of the Aunviry, a species of gigantic warriors whose skin could handle direct plasma fire and anti-tank rounds, and could heal right before your eyes. One such Aunviry named Kazlum had been capable of matching Astarte’s speed and agility, and was able to bash her against a wall and break most of her reinforced bones. In there initial research Alwen and Bachir learned that the Aunviry were not a natural species, but rather the subject of highly advanced bio-engineering. Upon learning the dangerous secrets hidden within their flesh Alwen and Bachir had entered a pact to keep anyone else from learning, including Captain Astarte.
The Aunviry held the secrets to limitless wonders, most of them horrific. They wanted full control over what was eventually released to limit the damage of such discoveries. And upon acquiring the ‘space shark’ samples from a Doctor named Eliza Finch, Bachir and Alwen had noticed a few similarities.
“There’s no doubt about it.” Bachir began, “while the two share no commonalities in their warped DNA, they do share the same markers of artificial construction.”
Alwen peered at the fin “And the reports claimed these ‘space sharks’ were capable of surviving in space, even creating their own warp fields?”
“Yes, and they burned when cut just like Aunviry flesh.” Bachir rumbled.
Alwen’s brows furrowed “The ‘space sharks’ were discovered around a very large ancient Coreworlder relic, correct?”
“Yes, the locals said the-” Bachir winced in embarrassment “Space sharks were released from within the Planet-city.”
“Then this confirms it, the Aunviry and the Ancient Coreworlders are definitely connected. What do we know about them?”
“Just myths and legends. The only thing we have determined concretely is that they were all over the Milky way, that they built ring gates, and then they vanished.”
“That’s a lot of uncertainty.” Alwen stated.
“Yes, we don’t even know if the Space sharks were created by the ancient Coreworlders, or if they were there coincidently.”
“I doubt it was a coincident.”
“Same, but without proof any hypothesis we come up with is just as good as any crackpot theory.”
Alwen glanced to Bachir “Well we know they disappeared, and we know that so far within the Aunviry there are thirteen different bioweapons that could sterilize this whole planet. Those two facts could be related, making the Aunviry and their creators the enemy of the Ancient Coreworlders.”
“Or the Aunviry were made by the Ancient Coreworlders and something else entirely wiped them out. Our guesses at this point are worthless.”
Alwen nodded as her skin began to crawl “What about J-230?” she asked.
“All tests seem to indicate that its what allows the Aunviry’s rapid healing. And my tests with non Aunviry flesh prove that its compatible with our biology” he turned to a box and pulled out another sealed jar. Suspended within was an large brown furred paw, with 10cm claws, an exact copy of Bachir’s own paw. “This was the result of exposing it to some of my skin cells from my left paw. It’s a perfect match, including age. I didn’t give it any instructions or aid, it just took my skin cells and somehow replicated the whole limb. This is far beyond our cloning technology, cloning limbs and organs takes months of constant attention from trained experts. J-230 did this in a day with no input.”
“What do you think of my idea?” Alwen asked.
“Your plan to synthesize it into a combat medicine is admirable, but we’re far from being able to replicate it, let alone making this sort of thing standard issue. It’ll take time.” He said, the tone of his voice placating.
Have an injectable drug that could repair damage as well as the Aunviry could have saved Wraith’s life if they had it. And with the potential for war on the horizon Alwen wanted to make something that could protect her friends lives. Gato and Alice were front line fighters, often taking the most risk in missions. “I agree a direct replication is out of the question, but if we can better observe some of the processes at play then we could potentially create an emergency drug that helps stabilize life threatening wounds. Like the nano-polymers that stop internal bleeding for a time. Something to keep them alive long enough to treat them.”
Bachir frowned “its possible, but I don’t see that happening for some time. Whatever J-230 does its purely internal, it’ll be a long time before we can crack what’s going on. But I’ll focus on that since it’s the only non-apocalyptic substance we have identified so far.”
Alwen nodded “Alright, and I’ll continue from my end as well. But it case things go very wrong I want a single sample on hand. Something that could save a life if used in time.”
Bachir scowled “You want to bring a vial of J-230 out of this lab?” he asked his voice rising with each word.
“Just one sample” Alwen begged.
“Absolutely not! We made a pact not to be hasty or careless, and you want to keep some of this on the ship?”
“Not on the ship, with me.” Alwen said firmly before bringing up Makaze. She had trained with this weapon for a very long time, and had discovered a secret hidden in the handle. A single secret compartment. When Alwen had opened it she found a single note from its original owner, Wendy. Wendy had wanted Wraith to have Makaze if she died, and within she left a love note for her lover. Now Alwen wanted to use the compartment to store one single life saving dose of this miracle drug.
She showed Bachir the opening and gave him her best pleading look.
He stared at the hole and huffed “One, and it can only be used if there’s no other hope. Understand” he said with a growl.
Alwen nodded solemnly. She knew what it meant if this got into the wrong hands, but she also knew what it would mean to have this in a dire position.
Bachir opened a sealed titanium case and removed a single vial, he plucked it out delicately with two claws and set it in Alwen’s palm. It didn’t weigh much at all, but instantly a great weight fell onto Alwen’s conscience. The power to save one life or doom millions, all within her palm. She wrapped the vial in cloth and stored it within Makaze. She slid Makaze back into its sheath and looked to Bachir. “I’ve been thinking by the way, J-230 is kind of a mouthful. It needs a proper name.”
He grunted “Like what?”
“Aceso, one of Asclepiades, Greek Goddess of Curing, and sister to Panacea”
He snorted “Good as any other name.”