“I’ll look her up,” said Valerie. She turned the main computer on then the genetic signature locator app and both units came to life. Valerie commanded, “Computer, locate the genetic signature of the Terrae Virentian being we named Valerie.”
“Localizing that genetic sequence.” The computer voice was familiar, causing the four friends to look at one another and give a wan smile. “The Terrae Virentian named Valerie is located five hundred and thirty-two Earth miles due east. Just like the other named beings on the planet, she is in a deep coma.”
“She was taken away from the others, but why?” asked William.
“Computer, scan their phone and computer systems, anything used for communication for news on why she was taken away. Review newspaper headlines, journal articles, medical broadcasts, and so on.”
“Scanning.”
The four sat down, one by one, their gazes on the computer screen showing the three genetic marker dots of Terrae Virentians Brent, William, and Ellie in the middle of the continent, with the dot representing Valerie located on the East Coast of the continent, hundreds of miles away.
“The anticipation is killing me,” said Valerie.
“We’ll soon find out what happened to her,” said Ellie, touching her arm. She nodded back.
“Terrae Virentian referred to as Valerie was taken to a medical institution where their physicians are about to operate on her brain to remove a tumor of unknown origin or substance,” said the computer’s female voice, each word enunciated unemotionally. “Surgery is scheduled in seventeen Earth hours.”
Valerie interrupted the brief moment of silence. “Ellie and William, you told us earlier that if they operated to remove our neural protein molecule…” Her words dissipated into a hard swallow.
“Given their present neurosurgical abilities,” said William, “she will be left with severe permanent disabilities if she survives the operation at all.”
“We need to let the doctors know the whole protein will be gone in a few of their months,” said Ellie. “Operating is a huge mistake.”
“Can we turn our spaceship back to Terrae Virentia?” asked Valerie.
“We can’t,” said Brent. “Once engaged, the navigational computer can’t be reprogrammed.”
William looked at his virtual computer displayed on his left hand. “Even if we could reprogram it, we wouldn’t get there in time. It’d take us over three weeks at full speed to get back to Terrae Virentia.”
“Can we have Terrae Virentians Brent, Ellie, and William wake up and persuade the medical community to not operate on Valerie?” asked Ellie.
“They’re in a deep coma now,” said William, “induced by medications. They can’t move or communicate.”
“It’ll take weeks for them to wake up sufficiently to do so,” said Valerie.
Brent paced around a bit. “We determined before Terrae Virentians only use about ten percent of their brains, right?”
“Twelve point seven percent,” said Valerie. “Why?”
Brent continued with a growing invigorated tone in his voice. “The coma-inducing medications are likely to affect only the used and understood twelve percent.”
“Yeah, it’s unlikely they’ve learned how to affect portions of their brains that are unused and unknown to them,” agreed Ellie.
“So, if we could activate more of their brain matter, that may be enough for the kids to affect the outcome and—”
“We have to be careful,” said Valerie, interrupting Brent. “That would constitute progressing their state of evolution before they are ready to do so.”
“I’ll start to work on that angle,” said Ellie. “If we activate as little extra brain mass as needed and only the three individuals, maybe evolution will not be changed so drastically as to—”
“Why not activate more brain matter for Valerie as well?” asked William. “If she shows neurologic change, that may stop the neurosurgeons from wanting to operate on her brain.”
“Agree,” said Ellie. “These four kids were already in the highest intellect percentile of the whole planet. If I can accomplish this, they will be pretty darned smart.”
“I’m worried this method will not work in sufficient time though,” said Brent. “You’ll need time to research how to do it, implement the changes, and then hope the modifications will wake the kids up enough so they can cause enough of a change so that Valerie will not be subjected to neurosurgery. I’m skeptical that—”
“What about Alexandra?” interrupted Valerie. “The avatar is still deep in the cave’s wall on the planet. It’ll take another six months for it to completely solidify into rock. I can—”
“No one has ever exchanged with an avatar this far away, Valerie,” interrupted William.
“It would be dangerous to do so,” said Brent. “There would be the risk of nonmaterialization and losing—”
“I have to take the risk,” said Valerie. “We created this horrible situation for Valerie, and I won’t be able to live with myself if we don’t try…”
Her words trailed off into silence.
William pressed some numbers on his virtual handheld screen and spoke again. “My calculations show that your exchange attempt with the avatar now carries a twenty-three percent risk of nonmaterialization to you in the next fifteen minutes. If you don’t materialize, Valerie, you will die.”
“That means I have a seventy-seven percent chance of making it there all right and—”
“And,” interrupted William, “my calculations also show you will have a zero percent chance of returning back to this ship, even if your mission could be accomplished in one Earth day. We will be too far to allow any transfer from avatar to your body here.”
“So, if you transfer to Alexandra now to try to save Valerie, you may die, but for sure you will be left on Terrae Virentia,” said Brent.
Three pairs of deeply concerned eyes on her, Valerie sat down on the chair behind her heavily. She let out a deep breath as tears began to cascade down her cheeks. “I have to do this.”
Chapter Forty
Dr. Moffett entered the conference room. Madeleine Rovine stood alone, looking out the window that faced the main parking lot. Rain flogged the windowpanes as the wind lashed in between thunder and lightning strikes. Dr. Tom Rovine sat on the sofa, his head down, a cup of unsipped coffee in his hand.
“We’re making all preparations for the surgery,” said Moffett. “It’s a go for tomorrow morning. Start time is seven.”
“Dr. Moffett, are you sure you’re doing the right thing?” Tom’s voice was timorous and drained.
“Tom, our daughter has a goddamned thing in her brain,” shouted Madeleine. “I want that thing out of there.”
“It’s just that we know nothing about the mass in her brain and—”
Dr. Moffett walked a few feet toward the couple, his air confident. “Once the tumor is removed, we can study it and learn all about it. This operation will not only save Valerie, but it will also save the other three kids in Indiana.” He gave a halfhearted smile. “I know this is a lot for you to think about. But I do this all the time, Tom. It’s all routine surgery for me and my team.”
“Dr. Moffett, you get a good night’s sleep,” said Madeleine. “Tom and I will be just fine. You come back in the morning refreshed and ready to take this thing out of our Valerie’s head. Soon, our lives will be back to normal.”
Moffett nodded. “I’ll have one of the nurses come get you and let you see your daughter for a few minutes before you leave tonight.” He turned and left the conference room.
Valerie’s body was covered with a white sheet as she lay on her ICU bed. A tube exited her neck and connected her lungs to a respirator that pumped fresh oxygen into her body. Though she was still unable to move any of her muscles due to the medications that paralyzed her and induced her deep coma, she was beginning to be aware of her surroundings with sensations she never knew before. She appreciated her own elevated pulse. One hundred and seve
n beats per minute. She counted with little effort. She realized the pressure of her blood flow against her blood vessels was lower than usual. Interesting sensation! she mused as her appreciation of her own internal environment became heightened like never before. Why is this happening to me? She felt the air movement change over her exposed skin as people approached her bed. The frequency of these ripples of air passed over her body changed periodically. It’s as if people are talking. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I perceive the frequency changes of their intonations. I must learn to decipher what they’re saying. Maybe I can begin some form of communication with them. Valerie experienced her newly acquired abilities to characterize, identify, and understand her surroundings with great astonishment. It’s as if my usual brain is still in a coma, but other parts of my brain are being activated. But why is this happening? Valerie appreciated the undulations of speech frequency from one source near her. Assured. Powerful. Confident. It has to be Mom. A different dialog archetype Valerie knew had to be Dad’s. Concerned. Caring. Selfless. Sorrowful.
Valerie took it all in, striving to decipher meanings. What are you all saying? There’s sadness on Dad’s part. Poise in Mom’s. There was a third party. A woman. A woman younger than Mom; a nurse, perhaps? A resident? She’s reassuring but uncertain herself.
Valerie attempted to communicate with those at her bedside but soon realized the conventional ways would not work. Her vocal cords were paralyzed; the brain centers of speech, dormant; and typical thought processes, inactive. What can I influence in my surroundings that would alert them that I’m in here and that I need answers to what’s going on?
Madeleine and Tom noticed the changes in Valerie’s vital signs.
“Ruthie,” yelled Tom. “Her pulse suddenly dropped to sixty.”
The nurse who had been examining the urine flow into the bedside container stopped and looked up at the monitor. She too saw the heartbeat suddenly drop from 105 to 61 beats per minute and then 52.
“Dr. and Mrs. Rovine,” she said. “You have to step outside now. Cindy!” she yelled out to the nurses’ desk. “Call Dr. Moffett. Valerie needs to have her brain surgery stat. She can’t wait until tomorrow morning. Her heart rate is dropping fast. The pressure in her brain is probably increasing rapidly. Get the OR ready stat!”
Chapter Forty-One
The evening was still cloudy and windy, but the rain had finally subsided. The tree limbs flailed to and fro, at times vigorously, slaves to the whims of the passing waves of wind. The moon was embedded beyond a thick layer of overcast sky and provided little illumination. In the distance, the creatures of the night proclaimed their presence with their nocturnal melodies.
Just inside the cave, a large rock formation began to show signs of transformation as the avatar began the measured process of melting away from it. At its center appeared an outline of the little girl, morphed from hard rock into a gelatinous material that began to shape little by little into Alexandra’s form. When the rocky material of the large stone smelted completely into the composition and shape of Alexandra, the young albino child stepped away from the rock. The girl took a few steps away from her hideout and looked back at it. The rock now had an irregular hole in its center, which began to fill in with a molasses-type amorphous material. Within seconds, the boulder looked as natural as any other rock formation in the cave. It would not raise any suspicions by any human visitors.
For the first time, Commander Valerie Rovine’s essence felt what it was like to be Alexandra. She stretched her little body and took in a deep breath. She looked at her hands and moved her little fingers in all directions. She smiled, making the happiest face imaginable, though no feeling permeated from it. Then she scowled, her forehead wrinkling in deep furrows. Alexandra’s face slowly normalized as she stood there for a long moment. She activated her computer with a thought command and then actuated the comm app.
“Traveler Research Space Center, I was successful in merging with the avatar,” she said in her broadcasting brain center.
“Great news,” said William.
“By the way,” said Brent with his words breaking up at times, “I’ve been wor…on Alexan…ability to vocalize words th…Terrae Viren…can hear to facilitate communication.”
“You’re breaking up, Brent,” said Alexandra. “I think you said the avatar can speak to all the Terrae Virentians even when they’re awake now, right?”
“Yes, that’s corre…I found a…to…vocalize…the…frequency to….”
“Good news!” said Valerie.
“We’ll come…as…as we can,” said William into her ear. The garbled signal was distorted and just about impossible to understand now.
“Good lu…, Va…,” said Brent.
“No…com…possible,” said William. “But…something app…prep…her…surgery.”
“William,” yelled Alexandra. “I’m not getting your signal now. Ellie!” She looked heavenward. “Guys…”
And just like that, all communications were completely lost.
“I’m on my own now,” said Alexandra, her young voice echoing through the cave. “Computer, locate the Terrae Virentian we named Valerie. What is her present status?”
“Locating and scanning.”
Alexandra looked around. The nightfall was eerie. The wind howls were unnerving.
The computer’s voice in her ear interrupted her surveillance. “Valerie is located five hundred and thirty-two Earth miles due east and is being prepped for urgent brain surgery.”
Alexandra began running eastwardly through the woods, her eyes emanating a flash of light that illuminated her way.
“Computer, advise on the quickest and best option to delay this surgery with the least impact to the rest of the people on the planet.”
“I can disconnect the electrical power to the unit at the facility and disable the emergency power generator. This will prevent implementation of the surgery and will impact only the performance of three other ongoing surgeries with an average risk of death of eighty-four percent to those patients. Do you wish me to execute, Commander?”
“No, Computer, do not execute. Computer, I need a solution to stop the surgery that will not cause injury to anyone else.”
“Computing.”
Alexandra’s five-mile-per-hour sprint placed her now at the end of the forest. She stopped and slowly and carefully ambled into a parking lot, looking in all directions and trying to ascertain if she’d be spotted. The darkness of nightfall was coming in handy.
“Computer, I need access into one of these vehicles and instructions to its operation. I also need directions to the nearest airport.”
“I will find an electronic vehicle and discover the operating frequencies to its maneuverings. Standby a moment, Commander.”
A red Tesla Model S flashed its blinkers and beeped twice. Alexandra entered and sat in the vehicle. She tapped her right temple as information was merged into her cerebral cortex with instructions. Sitting behind the wheel, her feet dangled many inches short of the pedals, and her eyes could only see the bottom of the dashboard. She opened up the trunk and smiled. There were piles of newspapers and magazines. She carried two of these stacks and placed them on the driver’s seat. She sat on the heaps of newsprint and smirked, as her gaze now could visualize the road in front of the car. She touched the ignition hole, and the Tesla came alive. She pointed at the brake pedal and the accelerator, and in seconds the car was on its way, speeding toward the Indianapolis Executive Airport.
“There is no way to delay Valerie’s brain surgery without affecting at least three other individuals,” verbalized the computer.
“Computer, if Commander Ellie Januardy was able to modify the teenagers’ brains to recruit more usable brain tissue, we may be able to communicate with them. Will you try?”
“I will send out signals in all frequencies known to be receivable by Terrae Virentian brains and I will advise you of any progress.”
In ten minutes’ time,
Alexandra reached the airport. She entered a large hangar with a jet plane. “Gulfstream G-six-five-zero,” she read the wording on the plane’s body aloud. She activated her computer and a screen displayed in front of her small head. “Top speed, six hundred and ten miles per hour; range, eight thousand and fifty miles; ceiling fifty-one thousand feet. This will do. Computer, I need instructions in how to maneuver this unit and I need you to figure out how to make it go much faster than its designated top speed.” She entered the cockpit and placed the stack of newspapers on the captain’s chair. She sat down. “Oh, and Computer, I need this air vehicle to avoid being detected by their surveillance equipment.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Even though protocol prohibited communications with travelers on Terrae Virentia due to the small possibility the signal could be picked up by the inhabitants, these were unforeseen circumstances with potentially dire consequences. So, the scientists had made exceptions.
However, Brent and William had now given up further real-time communication with Valerie, who had apparently successfully transported and materialized in the avatar, Alexandra. No sooner did they get confirmation that she was well on Terrae Virentia, the Traveler Research Space Center was too far away for any verbal communication. Any messages to Valerie from now on would have to be done via interstellar frequencies, and from their present location and velocity, it would be over twenty-four hours until it would get to her.
“Over twenty-four hours?” asked Brent. “The patient Valerie will be dead and buried by then.”
“Alexandra will find a way to get the job done,” said William. “I just know she will. She’s very resourceful and—”
“I think it worked,” said Ellie, rushing into the room. “Before I lost all communication, I believe I might have been able to recruit about eighteen, maybe nineteen, percent more brain usage for the teenagers.”
The Traveler's Return (Traveler Series 3) Page 12
