Chapter twenty-three:
Jared entered the sickbay. “Ah doctor, there you are. How are your patients doing?” He asked.
Crystal turned to face Jared and motioned him over to the observation window. “See for yourself,” she said. “I’ve repaired the hairline fracture in Celestia’s skull and the fractures in Jason’s ribs.” Crystal sighed. “For future reference Jared, you might want to use a little less force the next time you need to restrain them.” Crystal finished, a touch of exasperation entering her voice.
Jared answered, “Understood doctor, I’ll remember that. Is Daniel ready for questioning yet?”
Crystal turned to Jared ignoring his question for a moment while she scanned the left side of his head. Jared waited patiently for her answer. The doctor finished and put the scanner away.
“Looks like you have healed up nicely as well,” she paused and then continued. “It’s only been five days since he was initially injured. At this rate he will be completely healed in another two to four days. I realize that it’s already been two days since the incident but the newly grown rib needs a little more time to set permanently. And since he is only under suspicion, I cannot clear him for immediate questioning just yet.”
Crystal walked over and into her office. Jared followed her. Crystal continued once the door had shut. “Sub-Commander, you know I would not deliberately delay your investigation. I know that his mother is being questioned as well. Since the initial questions and drug induced investigation takes around six days, if he is still not ready when they are finished with her I will personally oversee the use of the serum. I will have to adjust the dose to match his current rate of recovery. Is that acceptable?” She finished.
Jared replied, “Perfectly doctor. I have one other question for you though. Why are you keeping the three of them in the same room?”
The doctor replied, “It seems that Daniel is the type to over exert himself when he needs to be recovering. I’ve taken the liberty of keeping him sedated to allow his body to recover more quickly. Besides I didn’t want to tie up three rooms just to keep them locked in.”
Crystal tapped her chin with her forefinger deep in thought for a moment. She looked up and said, “One more thing Sub-Commander. I’ve finished the research regarding Celestia and Jason’s genetic structure. I can perform the genetic enhancements as soon as they finish recovering. It would improve their health and increase their lifespan. I thought I would start with Jason and once he started responding then I would do the same for Celestia. The only drawback is that I would need to keep them here in sickbay for two to four weeks to monitor and fine-tune the process. I’ve informed the Commander but she has left the final decision up to you.”
Jared thought about it for a minute before answering the doctor. He didn’t like the idea of waiting so long to finish what he had started with Jason, yet if he were realistic the investigation of Daniel’s crew, his family and even his interrogation would easily take several weeks if not months. Jared smiled. It would be hard to wait but if he underwent the modifications then Jason would be able to endure much more than he had originally planned. He had deliberately held back but just the idea that he wouldn’t have to be so reserved thrilled him.
Jared made up his mind, “Go ahead with the modifications, and be sure to inform me the minute Daniel is ready as well as when Jason is.”
Crystal bowed her head and said, “Of course Sub-Commander.” Jared turned and left sickbay.
When Celestia had first woken up and found herself in sickbay she found that her head hurt so bad she couldn’t move. Other than to see that Jason was in a bed next to hers she couldn’t see very much. It looked like there was someone else in the bed next to Jason, but she couldn’t sit up to see. At first Celestia had been confused as she drifted in and out of sleep for what seemed like an eternity. When she finally started feeling more awake she realized that the confusion was from only hearing part of several conversations from some of the medical personal. It didn't take long for the pieces to be put together though as the medical staff was buzzing with the gossip of the most recent events surrounding her and Jason.
They probably didn't realize it, but shortly after her and Jason had been brought on board they had been put through a speed learning language program to teach them the Versilan’s language. So they probably didn't realize that she could understand them. She may have understood them but she still relied on the translator that was fastened to her clothing as she worried about missing out on key information since she was new to the language. In fact she still had worked a lot in English but she knew enough to understand what they were saying. Nathan was dead. He apparently had been trying to escape with her and Jason. If she understood the medical personal correctly, Jared had found out and that was why he shot Nathan.
But it wasn’t the shot that killed him. Nathan had somehow poisoned himself when he realized that Jared had found out. It seemed that just like her dreams of the Versilan’s being real, so were the ones about there being a resistance group. Celestia drifted back to sleep.
Jason used the controls on the bed to change it so he was in a sitting position. It had been two days since he woke up in sickbay. The doctor had treated him for some broken ribs he had gotten when he attacked Jared. He hadn’t meant to attack him, but when he had seen Celestia slam into the wall after being hit by Jared something inside him had snapped. He had grabbed the laser gun from Nathan and shot him. And even after Jared shot his arm causing him to drop the weapon he had attacked him directly. He had felt such rage and anger when Jared had hurt Celestia that it had surprised him.
Jason sighed. Too bad he had failed to actually kill him. He didn’t even know how to properly use the laser gun so he had been unable to make sure it was on a setting that would have killed Jared. The first chance he got he had asked the doctor about Celestia. Fortunately she was going to be just fine. What worried him now was what Jared would do to them once they recovered. Jason shuddered. Somehow Jared didn’t strike him as the forgiving type. The door to the room opened and Jason looked up to see the doctor entering the room.
“How are you feeling Jason?” She asked with a smile.
“Okay I guess,” Jason replied. The doctor came over and ran a scanner over Jason. She finished and put it away.
“I want you to come with me,” She paused at the panicked look on Jason’s face. “Relax, I intend to enhance your genetic structure to more closely match ours. It will make you stronger, healthier and more importantly increase your lifespan so you’ll live longer like we do. I’ll be doing the same to Celestia once she recovers a bit more. I’ll be keeping you both here in sickbay for the next month until the process is complete. If you like I’ll let you both continue to stay in the same room, okay?”
Jason hesitated and asked, “What about this guy?” Indicating the Versilan in the bed next to his.
Crystal replied, “Don’t worry about him. He’s only in here for a few more days and then I’ll be moving him to another room.” She smiled. “I only locked him in here as he tends to ignore orders to recover and doesn’t rest like he should.” She turned to leave and Jason got up and followed her.
Celestia overheard the doctor speaking to Jason as she woke up. By the time she woke up enough to open her eyes they had already left. Her head finally seemed to feel better so she used the bed controls to put herself in a more upright position, though not completely up. Now she would finally be able to see who was in the other bed! Who ever it was they were asleep. A blanket covered him but his face was turned towards her.
Celestia was surprised! He looked just like a younger version of Nathan! Admittedly Nathan’s hair had been completely silver gray, but the round shaped face, small nose and full lips were almost identical. Celestia wondered if Nathan’s hair had once been reddish brown like his. Maybe they were father and son? It would certainly explain why they looked so similar.
Celestia looked away for a moment and then turned back. He certainly looked exactly like the one in her dreams named Daniel. Was he the same one? If they had been on Earth was it possible she had met him as a child and simply didn’t remember?
