“They are just asleep, right?” I asked Anu, anxious that something had gone wrong.
Yes. The injections will be painful. They need to stay sedated for several days. The vaccine will use samples from various DNA to match the balance needed to combat the virus. Using only your Rijitera DNA would kill any who are injected with it, so we must dilute the sample with others. I must warn you, the vaccine has a forty-seven percent fail rate.
Ohem’s Izi flared, strobing across his body, starting from his chest, and he stepped past me to stand close to the pods.
“Will this alter their DNA?” Ohem asked.
Yes. Their species is weaker than nearly all in the database. The virus is breaking down their cells at an accelerated rate.
I stared at my girls, and fear skittered through me. What if the vaccine didn’t work?
Rema’s jaw clenched and his wings tucked close into his side when I turned to look at him. He was staring at Patty with sad eyes. He looked up and caught me watching him. “Will there be side effects to this alteration?” His eyes flicked to the ceiling as he asked.
Yes. The effects will be unknown. I will monitor them for adverse reactions. I can adjust dosage as needed while they recover. It will be a continuous intravenous injection over the course of five days. They will need more for recovery.
I drew in a breath and let it out slowly. We needed the vaccine for the remaining crew, too. Ohem and the other males I cared so much about needed it as well.
“The vaccine for the rest of our people?” I asked.
As I said, the vaccine has a large failure rate. It will save some.
A small round table emerged from the floor next to me. On it was a box filled with thin cylindrical metal rods. I looked at Ohem and Rema in confusion. Ohem shook his head.
“I don’t know how these work,” Ohem said.
Hold to the skin for five seconds.
Ohem nodded and took the box from the table, turning to me. “I will take these to Aga. I will assist him for a while. Link me if you need me. I love you,” he said, the back of his fingers across my cheekbone. I leaned into his touch and grabbed his wrist to stop him.
“I love you, too, but hold on.” I reached into the box and took two tubes out. I pressed one to Ohem’s forearm and counted to five and did the same to Rema. “How will we know it’s working? How long does it take?”
It will depend on how far the virus has progressed. Those in this room are in the beginning stages. They are a hardier species. Most of your personnel you brought with you to the Mother are not up to the genetic task of combating the virus. I fear most won’t survive. If the vaccine takes, patients will feel an improvement in two hours. We will have to monitor for further signs of vaccine rejection.
“Be watchful. Bring the sick down here. We will open up the larger part of the Archive for recovery,” I said to Ohem.
Ohem dipped his head at me and took the box with the vaccines out the door. I watched him go, my fear swelling the farther he got away from me. Nothing I could do now, but wait.
Before I could even pace the room, Aga arrived with the first of the sick crew members slung over his shoulder.
He looked around the room and then at me. “Where do you want me to put them?”
I frowned, glancing out the windows at the area below us. “Anu, how do we get down to the level below us? I need a space for the sick to be treated.”
Stand by.
An echoing hum sounded from below. I approached the glass to look down. A round disk platform was rising from the ground towards us. The disk halted right at floor level and I jumped back when the window I’d been standing in front of suddenly wasn’t there.
“Jesus, Anu! Warn me next time!” I barked into the air. The disk was directly in front of me and I took a cautious step onto it. It was solid, not rocking or bobbing like I’d expected it to. I glanced over the edge, feeling my stomach drop at the height we were at. The disk didn’t have rails or anything.
“Anu, can you add some type of barrier to this? I don’t want anyone falling off and dying before we can treat them for the virus.” No sooner had the question left my mouth did a shimmer appear around the disk and solidified into more glass walls. I looked back to see if the wall leading into the room had come back, but it was still open. I touched the extra glass, a little weirded out by the tech.
The lift will take the sick to a designated area I have prepared.
“Right. Thank you, Anu,” I said.
I nodded at Aga, who crossed the room to the platform. Once he was in the middle, it started descending. I watched until they made it to the bottom. A door opened in a wall directly across from Aga, a lighted pathway came to life on the floor leading from the disk to the room like a neon walkway. Aga followed it, disappearing from my sight. I blew out a breath and turned to see Ohem with Rema, both carrying soldiers in their arms.
“There is a platform coming. Follow the lighted path and Anu said there are accommodations for them.”
