Chumba hadn't been shot but he'd heard the discharge of the weapon in the kitchen from where he and Anya had met in the hall. While he was escaping injury, he had pinned Arahanya under him to protect her. She struggled to be let up so Chumba rolled to one side and lay on his back on the floor. Terra was worried for Chumba, having exited the elevator just after the weapon fired, and finding him on the floor examined him. His leg was twisted, the artificial limb giving under duress. Terra and Anya both inquired about the use of his leg. In the twisting, it had ended up useless to him. Terra complained that he should have seen the techs about fixing it, or providing him with a new one. Chumba told her he had and that there was nothing they could do to repair the old one and he'd had to make due. As it was now, they would need to work him up an entirely new limb. This would take time and Chumba had work to do around the hospital. Terra said she'd find him some crutches; but that she needed to check in with the ER to see if anyone *had* been hurt in the trouble.
Garth Lowinn, Freemen Commander, having decided to supply Zac, the one-eyed mercenary, had an additional proposition for him. Since he wasn't getting the Violator for his men, he promised to get Zac the tank tread-blowers he wanted so that Zac could enact his own form of revenge for one small favor. Garth, low-voiced, explained that he wanted three things. An engagement band and two wedding rings. Kait eating and sitting with them while they talked, was privy to the conversation. Zac agreed. It was enough. Then, it became clear that the Freemen Commander himself had come to the hospital. Zac didn't want to encounter Ricohh Mikkaill Gideonn anymore than he had a desire to encounter Sidd Neverr. He had his own reasons for it and didn't explain them to Kait when he told her to get out fast. He confirmed his deal with Garth and then slipped out of the cafeteria.
Eclectically uniformed shadows preceded him across the scarred streets and drifted in his shadow. They wore grim faces and carried makeshift armaments to the hospital walls. They settled in nooks and crevices, waiting as the doors hissed open. Behind him, around him, the Freemen broke off into various positions about the lobby. He speaks quiet words to the one at his right. They are dressed alike in urban concealment. Gideonn then looked for a member of the Union. An absent hand rested on the firearm at his side and found that to the admissions desk it seemed he had to go to learn what he came to learn. In soft-spoken conference with the clerk there, he stood. At the wave of his hand a package was deposited at the desk. He turned quickly and moved confidently, toward the cafeteria where he's told the Commander was probably eating; the commander in a wheel chair.
Zac, in his attempt to sneak out, huffed and spun on his heel as he left the cafeteria too late. He drew his 9 mm just in case. And, in an effort not to let Ricohh see him, he shouldered his way out the bay doors.
Gideonn’s step faltered, a moment's pause only. The men about him twitched, nervous, nervous they were. He barely spared a glance to the back of the retreating one-eyed man. His steely eyes turned again to his goal, the cafeteria and Commander Lowinn.
Garth drank down the rest of the water once Zac had left him and began to turn the chair away from the table. The wheels creaked as it turned and he cursed softly. "Damn thing ... Now it needs oil."
A barely perceptible straightening of Gideonn’s back to the men who had accompanied him showed them his respect for the man he had come to see. His hands were now clasped at the small of his back as he stood, waiting to be recognized.
The chair turned completely and Garth looked up to see Gideonn. He jumped involuntarily in his seat, his body trying to stand -- trained to do so and salute his leader. His legs useless, his arms only serving to get him lifted and askew, then dropped again, he faltered, slumping back into the chair.
"At ease, soldier," Gideonn said, his voice, a fair, sweet tenor.
"Can't get any more at ease ..." Garth said, chuckling at his own embarrassment. "I'm stuck in a chair." He sighed and finished quietly, "Probably for good."
Gideonn’s stance was at ease, but nothing else. It echoed in the guards that stood with him. "That I will not hear. What is the prognosis, Commander?"
"Sorry sir. One can get a bit gloomy here. Prognosis is, my body is slowly attacking itself, and tearing itself apart. Doctor Skye has managed to slow the process, but its not looking real good. We found this tattoo, behind my ear...a sort of barcode. When we scanned it, it read out, CotNM SS 3459." He met Gideonn’s eye. "Any idea as to what that means?"
The Freemen Leader's face was an expressionless mask of dusky tones. With a mere turn of his head he spoke soft words to the man at his right. That man, a colonel with a hook nose and beady eyes, nodded and pressed his hand to his ear. The colonel turned away, ducked his head and spoke to the air.
Terra had been accosted by the fellow named Trizaeya when he'd escaped his self-imposed cabinet prison after the incident with Ash and the gun. She'd taken him to an exam room, drew blood and left him with a nurse who would otherwise clean him up and take his information. She was quickly making her way to send the sample up to the lab when she stopped by the cafeteria. When she saw Garth, she poked her head in and was surprised to see him conversing with an unexpected visitor. She moved in and over to them both without hesitation. Her smile to Garth brightened. "Good evening Commander." Gideonn, in turn, looked to the woman speaking to Garth as she continued, "How is my favorite patient?"
"Stable..."
"Yes, I would hope so." She looked at him expectantly.
He gave her a nervous twitch of his lips as he looked back to Gideonn. "Terra... Umm. this is my doctor, Sir. Terra Skye."
"Researcher for the Union, yes." The men about the Freemen Leader snapped to attention in respect.
"Terra, this is ... um…" The funny thing about it was that Garth wasn't sure how introduce HIS commander. Ricohh Mikkaill Gideonn was the Leader but they didn't call him anything other than Sir, or Commander. His rank was clearly higher than Commander, for he commanded Colonels and Grunts, Generals and Captains alike. Commander was more a manner of address. Terra gave Gideonn a smile and Garth shifted slightly in his seat.
"Ricohh Gideonn," the all too young looking man said to Terra by way of introduction and incidentally bailing Garth out. It told nothing of who he was, uniform though he wore and manner in which he presented himself notwithstanding. "A pleasure."
She smiled and extended her hand. "Terra Skye, Sir. A pleasure indeed."
He placed his hand in hers. His was dry and cool. He looked from Terra to Garth and noted something – as in the very air around them – that bespoke more than a doctor patient relationship. So he said, "So, you are his doctor." Overstating the obvious, aren't we? He heard in his head. Hush, he said to the voice. To the woman before him he had continued on without an evident pause. "Have you diagnosed his ailment?"
"Well, I believe I have. Yes." Garth let out an almost prayerful sigh as she said it. "But it is a bit complicated." Ricohh gave her an expectant look. "Well … where to begin." She looked to Garth for reassurance. "Shall I?"
"Go ahead," Garth encouraged. "He has every right to know..."
"OK.. upon initial examination I believed Garth. Um Commander Lowinn was suffering from a stress related disorder. I treated him accordingly and he seemed to improve, then he had these spells. Very bad ones. Upon examination it was determined his body was attacking itself and cell deterioration was occurring."
Ric’s eyes half closed, though he was intent upon listening. The two Freemen with him shifted to their ease. Garth was enjoying both the rambling way she told the tale and her discomfiture at whether or not to refer to him so intimately in Gideonn’s presence. He knew the "cat" was already out of the bag. He'd seen it flicker in Ricohh's expression before his Leader's eyes had closed.
"Now. There are several reasons this can occur, one is say am organ transplant. and so I treated him with various anti rejection drugs. Anyway," she bit her lip trying to think of how best to say everything. "I have determined that Gar ... Commander Lowinn’s DNA structure has been altered and for some reason, is now rejecting this enhancement, of you will."
"There is no way to reverse the process?" Ricohh said this in a vague monotone as if he were reading the words rather than thinking them himself.
"Yes, I believe there is ... I am busily working on reversing the damage done, and hopefully. Very shortly will have the cure."
"What prevents you from finding the cure?" Again, that same strange tone issued from Ricohh's lips.
Garth ran a momentarily trembling hand through his hair. Yet another clump came out with his hand, and he mumbled, "Damn it all."
Terra whispered gently, intimately, "Its, OK. It will grow back"
"It better. I'm falling apart, Terra...haven't you noticed?"
With some greater emotion, this time clearly all Ricohh's own, he repeated his question. "Ma'am, what prevents you from finding a cure?"
"Prevents?" She said, somewhat numbly and wondered if she'd grown a third eye the way Gideonn regarded her at that point.
"You have no cure, correct?" His voice was infinitely patient, if his tone was not.
"True," she nodded. "In point of fact, however, I have made some progress. Part of the problem is that this condition is something we haven't encountered before. Or at least I haven't and ... the cure still eludes me. There are a few things that can be done but. I need to make sure the path taken is the right one." As she looked again to the man she had come to love, he deliberately reached up and took her hand, squeezed it gently, tried to find strength from her mere presence. She looked at him tenderly and returned the squeeze.
"In fact, I have some news for Comdr. Garth that I wished to discuss this evening with him. I feel I am very close to solving this dilemma."
"Really?" Garth was surprised and impressed as he studied her face.
She couldn't help the smile on her face. "You will be fine Commander. I'm sure of it." She looked back to Gideonn. "I have seen his blood work stabilize and the test show that it is beginning some regeneration. This is a good sign. He has been concerned with some of the side effects which I want to assure him will pass..."
Garth gave a relieved sigh and told her, "It had better ... I have a future now. A brighter one anyway."
A page for Terra came over the speaker. She sighed and turned to them both. "If you will excuse me, Sir?"
Gideonn nodded, a brow lifted. "Of Course."
With a whisper she said to Garth. "Be back soon love."
Though his eyes never left Gideonn, he nodded to Terra. "Of course, dear." Terra went off to deal with the patient who had been found wandering the lobby after he'd come out of hiding after he'd discharged the weapon he'd shown to Ash. He'd escaped from an Orderly and needed to be taken to a room to be tended and rested.
While she was gone, Ricohh snapped his fingers. The man on his left produced a disc casing from the satchel he carried. The man took the case and turned it in his hands until the Leader demanded it. Garth eyed the disc with raised brows.
"Sir, is there something you're not saying?"
Ricohh's focus moved back to Garth. "Perhaps this will help." A muscle in his jaw ticked as he took the disc from his man and offered it to Garth. The Commander took it, nodded and looked it over. As he flipped it, the label came into view. It's only designation was: ‘CotNM 3459.’
Garth's eyes widened when he reads the title. "What … what is this?"
"Get better, soldier." The Freemen Commander spun on his heel, parting his two guards. A brisk stride took him from the hospital and into the night.
Garth watched his commander leave. His mouth hung agape, and his eyes were wide as he stared at the disc in his hand.
"What is it?"
"Terra..." his voice was low as she approached him again after tending to her patient. "I don't know..." He handed her the disk. " … What it is."
She read the title. Her brow lifted curiously. "Where did you get this, Garth?"
He looked at her. "From ... Gideonn ... We, we ... I want to ... look at it. NOW." His eyes pleaded with her.
"OK … Hon … we can are you sure? I mean, maybe … "
He frowned at her, on the verge of getting upset. "I want to read it, Terra...please..."
"OK. We can. You can handle it besides. Its not like you are facing this alone. Lets go input this in Elliott."
He managed a smile and squeezed the hand he was still holding. "Thank you, love...thank you so much."
"OK. Lets do this." She pushed him down the hall as quickly as she dared to one of the locked offices. Garth was holding the disc, anxiously twirling it in his fingers. When they reached the office, and she'd wheeled him inside, she took the disc from him. She slid it into place in Elliott's drive. "Elliot … this is Terra Skye access ID 234456."
The Monitor on Elliott 7 lit slowly. "Welcome Terra. Do you have something you need researched?"
"Yes. Elliott, I would like this read and information transcribed into a hard copy. Scan the disc, read the data and regard this as usual: for my eyes only -- not to be filed."
Garth waited, occasionally running a hand through his hair. He took out more of the silvery stuff and sighed. Terra reminds him yet again lovingly that it will grow back. The CD slot whirred quietly as Elliott accessed the data. "This is a Video data disc. Shall I play?"
"Yes, please."
As they watched, a video, poorly shot some long time ago before being committed to disc by an unknown source, began. Terra took Garth's hand and squeezed. Was she reassuring him, or herself? Even she wondered. Garth's seemed to lose all interest in the world around him, avidly watching the screen. All his fears would be augmented or put to rest by this video, he was certain. Otherwise, why should Gideonn give it to him?
"This is Commander Robert Lowinn."
An involuntary whisper came from Garth as he saw the image, all too unfamiliar enough, but know … known to Garth as well as his own face. "Father …" His free hand, loosely resting by the arm of the wheelchair, gripped it tightly with the next words of the face on the screen.
"If this Disk is being watched, then know that this is a History of Church of the Nuclear Messiah Super Soldier Project out of Fortt Defiantt. The Church of the Nuclear Messiah had started Genetic testing early during the Great wars. We," undefined, "knew. Through our deep undercover moles, we had discovered that they had branched into Genetic Engineering. The project was Headed by Reverend Carll Huntt
Terra listened to the researcher in awe. Her own fear echoed the shaking she felt in the man next to her, despite the fact that he was doing his best to breathe evenly. She glanced to the side and saw the white-knuckle grip he held on the armrest of his chair.
The voice of Robert Lowinn continued, "Head researcher, Doctor Ivan Romann, myself and Colonel Jenkins infiltrated the Fortt."
Garth whispered, "Grandfather …" his eyes never leaving the screen.
"We had to sabotage what we could have the project. We infiltrated with the help of one Billie Ramonn," at this announcement from his Father's image, Garth smiled ever so slightly. "Mother?" he said as if guessing. Terra rested her hand on his shoulder and gave a slight squeeze. Garth returned the squeeze to the hand he was holding, harder than he intended.
"Hon, relax," she winced and the face onscreen looked to the side, then went on quickly.
"We destroyed the base but lost a number of soldiers in the process." The expression of distress on Robert Lowinn’s face at that statement mirrored a look Terra had seen many a time on Garth's own. "Captain Lowinn and Billie escaped along with Project Number 3459. Church of the Nuclear Messiah Super Soldier Specimen: Garth."
Garth's explosion of sound was sudden and deafening. "WHAT!"
Elliott's voice chimed in over the voice on the CD. "You are Church of the Nuclear Messiah Soldier Specimen #3459."
Commander Lowinn tried to leap from his chair intent on attacking the monitor. Terra inhaled sharply as the words settled in. "Garth … sit down," she ordered, accustomed to patients who were disorderly. "Take it easy," she continued. "We have to hear this." She said it just as the video frame edited out of the monitor screen. "What? That's it?"
"Why didn't you TELL me?" Garth screamed at the monitor.
"Tell you what Garth Lowinn?" Elliot chirruped.
He leaned as far as he could out of the chair. "Why did you hide it for twenty-eight years?"
"I have not hidden anything Garth Lowinn. What data are you looking for?"
"SHUT UP, Elliot!"
Terra watched him closely while trying to comfort with soft tones even though she herself was deeply disturbed to have her suspicions about genetic engineering confirmed so easily. "They wanted to protect you ..."
He was panting, his heart racing, his tear-filled eyes wild as he looked at her. "From what?"
"From them …" and perhaps she wasn't sure which "them" she herself meant. "C'mon, love, lets get you back to your room. Elliott," she said, her voice even more quiet than before. "The disc please." The disc began to whir and the file Elliott made from the verbal transcription of the video printed out for her as requested. By the time it was done, the disc had been formatted and the file Elliott created had been deleted.
His head dropped to his hands and Garth was sobbing quietly. He muttered, "Why?" over and over. "You could have told me," he said then, to the air.
"Format complete," Elliott said. The Drive door opened. Terra took the disc and compassionately wheeled Garth out to take him back to his room.
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