Epilogue
Future Plans
14th of Fourthmoon, Saintclair 12
Rodrigo Basin, Neveland
Most of the biomed team was busily milling about in the med bay of the Waldsängerfink-308. Dr. Haider stood there looking appreciatively at the two samples in the isolation tanks. They were only supposed to take observations from orbit this expedition, but when he made the decision to send people outside the ship, there was no reason not to make the most of it.
Dr. Watterman, the head of the biomed team, very nearly bumped into Dr. Haider as he was passing by. He was too fixated on whatever was on his tablet to notice much of anything around him.
"Oh, Dr. Haider," he said, "I didn't see you there."
"That wrapped up in our work, are we?" Dr. Haider asked.
As a nominally military man, he could remember the career soldier cadre from the officer training course ranting about situational awareness and such. It had been over 25 years and he could still hear those shrieking voices. He toyed with dredging up the same old trauma in Dr. Watterman, but thought better of it. There was more important business to attend to.
"Are we making any progress?" he asked.
"Oh, yes, sir," Dr. Watterman replied eagerly. "These specimens are truly remarkable."
"How is the reconstruction going?"
"Smoothly, sir. Thanks to the cold, the specimens suffered minimal deterioration before we could get them into the tanks. Alpha has suffered significantly greater damage, so even with complete reconstruction, the current estimates for reactivation are around 63%. Beta, on the other hand, has an 87% chance of being restored to full functionality."
Those were promising numbers, especially for samples that were not primed for reconstruction. Planetologists like Dr Haider were more generalists, expected to have a broad base of knowledge in every scientific field relevant to the planetary surveys, but unless they made a particular field or two a pet project, they were reliant on the specialists for deeper understanding. To the scorn of some of his colleagues, Dr. Haider had more interest in the social sciences like anthropology, but he had enough medical and biological knowledge to follow Dr. Watterman's explanation.
"What have you learned about their metamorphic properties?" he asked.
Dr. Watterman called for the team's geneticist.
"Dr. Ho."
Dr. Ho popped up from his console like a gopher from its hole.
"Yes, sir?"
"Tell Dr. Haider the results of the genomic analysis," Dr. Watterman said.
"Yes, sir," Dr. Ho replied, adjusting his glasses. "Both specimens demonstrate a higher than normal receptivity to TM gamma waves. Normally this would trigger an altform transformation, but in this case, it is restricted to a specific metamorphic reflex."
"They're receiving the gamma waves from the Core Unit?" Dr. Haider asked.
"Yes, sir. As you know, sir, even dormant Core Units continue to emit alpha, beta and gamma waves, even if it is at a much lower output than when they are fully active."
Normally, a geneticist would not be expected to have much understanding of the operation of Core Units, but the genoactive effects of TM gamma waves made it something of a necessity, especially on Lost Worlds like this one with dormant Core Units that shut down after Reunion brought the Empire to its knees half a millennium ago.
Between the Empire's numerous experiments to augment and alter humanity and the unprecedented effects of the Core Units, these past five hundred years had caused the human diaspora to branch out wildly. Discovering these new branches was a large part of the joy of participating in the planetary surveys. Dr. Haider wondered if the particular branch represented by these two samples was unique.
"Have we seen this genetic signature before?" he asked.
"Nothing quite like this, sir," Dr. Ho replied. "It appears to be a unique mutation to this planet."
That was promising. Now there was a question of the range of distribution. Was this a common factor for humans on this planet or were the two samples outliers? They were sorely lacking in the data they needed, but there was a third sample to consider.
"Did Gamma exhibit a similar pattern?" Dr. Haider asked.
"No, sir," Dr. Ho replied. "However, we have insufficient data to determine whether or not Gamma represents more of a baseline specimen."
Dr. Haider shook his head. They needed more data. They were on the verge of a major discovery. They could not possibly leave things where they stood. That got Dr. Haider's mind working. They had been monitoring radio communications and running scans of the area. They could make use of that.
"From what I understand, there are other samples in the vicinity we can collect," he noted.
"Is it wise to send anyone else off the ship, sir?" Dr. Watterman asked.
It was risky enough the first time he authorized it, but Dr. Haider thought the risk was well worth it.
"The indigs have withdrawn," he said, "so except for the weather, it should be safe enough. You want more samples, don't you?"
"This is your expedition, sir," Dr. Watterman replied. "I would not wish to make any suggestions that would jeopardize our operation."
Dr. Haider laughed.
"You aren't very honest with yourself, are you? You want more data, you need more data, and you'll get it. I'll take responsibility."
"Yes, sir."
Dr. Watterman was the risk-avoidant type, but he was not without a measure of greed. With the prize dangled in front of him and all the risk being borne by Dr. Haider, any reservations quickly melted away.
"Are you thinking what I am thinking, sir?" he asked, his lips curling into a boyish grin.
"Absolutely," Dr. Haider replied, returning his colleague's grin. "If this pans out, there may be a Prince Alexis Prize in our future."
It would have been easy to ride high on the prospect of being immortalized as legends of the scientific community, but Dr. Watterman was not the sort to give himself to reveling in the moment. His grin faded as he seemed compelled to go and spoil things with an unpleasant serving of reality.
"Does this mean Admiral Globus will be moving in on the area soon?" he asked.
Of the fifty-six fleet commanders assigned to the Reclamation project, Admiral Globus had the most notorious reputation. No other admiral had burned so many worlds. The warning Dr. Haider gave to the indig they tended to was no exaggeration. The Admiral was a man of little tolerance and arguments on behalf of the unique developments on a particular Lost World did little to sway him.
They were not without some hope, though.
"He has four or five other planets in the queue first," Dr. Haider said, reassuring himself as much as Dr. Watterman. "That should give us a few years to continue our research. When we submit our initial findings, I'm sure the Academy will provide the funding."
"Does this mean you will be staying in one place for a while?" Dr. Watterman asked.
Dr. Haider shrugged.
"I go where they send me, but I wouldn't mind overseeing a long-term survey. You can't really get a good grasp of a planet's intricacies after just a month or two."
"Do you think they are pushing Reclamation forward too quickly?"
Half-jokingly, Dr. Haider replied, "I would never dream of second-guessing the wise decisions of His Majesty's government."
Dr. Watterman gave a nervous chuckle and said, "You are lucky the political officer is too squeamish to be here, sir."
Dr. Haider brushed aside Dr. Watterman's fears.
"I have patronage enough to shield me from some overeager Poloff. Besides, harboring some mild reservations about methods is a different breed of animal from actual dissent."
Someone as nervous as Watterman might be inclined to disagree, but before they could get into a debate over it, a technician exclaimed, "Dr. Watterman! We're picking up brain activity on Beta!"
Dr. Watterman hurried over to the technician's console, asking him, "She's reactivated already?"
"It seems so, sir," the technician replied. "I'll run a diagnostic on the telemetry to make sure we aren't getting any false positives."
"No need," Dr. Haider replied.
The two looked up to see what Dr. Haider saw. It was certainly no false positive, nor was it some fluke firing of the synapses. Specimen Beta had her eyes open, curious golden eyes that may have been part of her particular mutation.
Dr. Haider took a step forward toward Beta's isolation tank. Her eyes followed him. She had some measure of awareness, but it would take further testing to see if she had suffered any damage to her cognitive functions.
"Well, hello there," he said. "We have a lot to talk about, you and I."