PROTOTYPE 03 By Heck Comments to heck@petermeyer.go-plus.net CHAPTER THREE "Wha' d'ye mean, enhanced?" As I said, my accent becomes thicker under stress. I was in full Sauchiehall mode, now. "Just what I say". Mike DeLuca was as excited as me, and it showed in his face. It was lit by a huge grin. "She looks entirely normal, but her skin is toughened, her healing is rapid, and her bone and muscle are more dense. Somehow, she's been altered. Improved, even. "Some colleagues of mine did some experiments on computer models a few years ago, and it showed it was feasible to recombine DNA in a living organism. The experiments indicated that the results would be an enhanced being. They wanted to take it to the next logical step and try it on actual living animals, but the government refused a licence and seized all their data. "She". He nodded toward the quiet figure on the gurney. "She has been changed somehow. Somebody has adjusted her physiology, and she's different. Better, you might say. Enhanced". "See you!" I exclaimed. "You might o' hit the nail righ' on the heid, there! P'raps yon FBI wumman kens mair than she's lettin' on! Mebbe the government experimented on her! Mebbe she's some kind o' secret weapon! They dae thae kind o' things, 's tha' no righ'?" Mike took a deep breath and paused in the act of collecting up his samples, regarding me with long- suffering patience. "OK. Two things", he mumbled. "One, take a deep breath. Calm down. 'Cos I can't understand one word in three when you talk like that, know'm'sayin'? "Two, if it was the government, how come she was in space? Where has she been for the last six decades? I'm betting we haven't got the technology to keep her alive and in pristine condition that long. Why hasn't she aged? There's a lot of questions still to be answered". I did take a deep breath. In fact, I took several, being a tad embarrassed at my unprofessional outburst. Making a conscious effort to keep Glasgow out of my voice, I replied. "So if not the government, who? And why is she in a coma? And if she's been enhanced, why? And by how much?" "These are just a few of those unanswered questions I was talking about, know'm'sayin'? And I'm beginning to think our young friend might be right in his abduction theory". Outside the dome, Rob held up two thumbs, nodding and grinning inanely. "Way cool, man. Told you it was, like, you know, obvious. Duh". "Don't get cocky", I cautioned him. "We still don't know why, if it was aliens, they trashed the Europa just to abduct Lucy". Mark wasn't fazed. "Workin' on it, Dude". I helped Mike gather the last of his samples, and together we made our way to the airlock. "So what's next?" I enquired, as we shucked off our suits. "I need to run tests on these", he told me. "I also want to get some biopsies of muscle, bone, and some major organs. The we'll be in a position to speculate". * Humans are strange animals. Science fiction and science fact have postulated countless fantastic concepts that have later proven possible and have given us many practical tools that have aided our exploration of our own planet and others. We can spend years, decades, even, theorising and deducing, setting up experiments and watching for signs. We develop technologies, and ideologies about weird and wonderful things, but never trust our instincts. We never expect, never really expect, that we just might be right. So when something like that jumps up and bites us on the arse, we react with surprise. Strange. It crossed my mind, as I sat in the common room halfway through my third coffee, that I was exactly like that. For years I had sat in claustrophobic rooms surrounded by the most sophisticated ears science could devise, watching and waiting for ET to come and say hi. Now, if you believed Rob, he had come, at least twice in sixty-four years, and I was not only surprised, I was shocked. How dumb is that? My thoughts were still rambling on in this vein, when Rob burst in and threw himself on the couch opposite, looking more animated than I remembered seeing him. "Rescue!" was all he said. "Beg pardon?" "Rescue, man. That's what happened. Alien dudes turn up just as the shuttle goes 'blammo!', see Lucy drifting, and save her ass". "What?" I sat up straight, seeing merit in his argument straight off, but not ready to commit to it just yet. "Why did they? Why should they?" "Because they're honour bound to help. Like Captain Kirk, man". Yes, they're still rerunning Star Trek, more than a century later. "They're explorers, right, but they have this code that says they have to preserve life, or not interfere with lower lifeforms or something, man. It so fits". "Or", I put in, getting caught up in his idea. "They were responsible for destroying the Europa! Probably by accident. They saw Lucy floating and were full of remorse, so they saved her". "That's totally it, man. She's all busted up after the explosion, so they take her in and fix her right up". You could almost hear his brain sizzling like a pan of bacon. "But". There's always a but, and I saw a hole in his theory. "Why did they keep her for sixty-four years? Why not send her straight home? Why bother to enhance her?" "Thought of that". Even Rob was sitting up straight as we tossed the idea back and forth. "They don't have the technology to heal her on the starship, so they have to take her home, or to a mother ship or something, right, to fix her up. That's why the sixty-four years, 'cos it takes that long to get there and back. And they have to make changes to her because their gravity is heavier than ours. They have to beef her up so's she can stand it". "Aye". I put down my coffee cup and stroked my chin in thought. "That all fits. But so does this. They want to take all of the crew as specimens, but something goes wrong and the shuttle blows up. Only Lucy's left alive, so they have to make do with her. They took her back to their planet, and have been experimenting on her for the past half century and a bit". "No way!" said Rob, coming down firmly on the side of benevolent aliens. "She was so rescued, man! Else, why bother bringing her back?" "OK. Let's concede that. So, why hasn't she aged? In all that time, she hasn't aged a day. Why not? Answer me that? And don't give me any time warp nonsense". Rob looked dumfounded. Gotcha, I thought, but no. In a few seconds he had formulated a theory. "Relativity!" I immediately knew what he was getting at. Einstein showed us that, the nearer the speed of light an object travels, the slower the passage of time relative to that object. So, if a man travelled at light speed for a year, away from the Earth and back again, on his return he would have aged one year. The folks back home, however, would have been dead and gone long ago. But light speed, as we know, is impossible. Isn't it? "So you think these aliens travelled at the speed of light?" "Right on, they did. Or faster. Ever hear of hyperspace?" "I know the theory. Space can be distorted or bent, so that relative distances can be shortened, or even brought together to allow almost instant travel. The wormhole theory. But that's what it is. All theory". "Is it?" Rob was beginning to look smug, with good reason. Everything he said, no matter how outrageous, fitted the situation like a glove. But I was right, too. It was all theory; how could it be anything else? "How do we know the alien dudes haven't cracked it?" he went on. "If we assume they come from a close system, Sirius, say, they must have way superior technology. Trip like that might be just like a walk in the park, to them. Maybe, in their terms, they were only gone, like, you know, a week. That would be why she hasn't aged". He had it all worked out, and I was prepared to consider the possibility. I said so. "Whatever". His reply told me that he didn't really care what I thought. He had it worked out to his satisfaction, and was ready to put it aside and move on to the next problem. Amazing how much you can infer from one word. The phone rang. I picked up, and the fat features of Charles Bouvier appeared on the screen. "Charles", I greeted, with more affability than I felt. "Dr Cameron. Any news?" "We have one or two theories that might fit". "Splendid, splendid". He wasn't really interested, just being polite. "I have some news too. The tests on Miss Radovic's EV suit are complete. Very interesting". He paused, probably for effect. "Go on", I prompted. "It seems that the suit is perfect in every way. Rather like, heh heh, Miss Radovic herself. But it is not the suit with which she was issued. It is a replica". "How so?" "The science behind it is beyond my understanding". Somehow, I doubted that. "But the boffins tell me that the molecular structure, although imitating the original fabric exactly as far as the naked eye is concerned, is not the same. It is, in fact, on the atomic level, different". "How different?" "Let us just say that molecules of this type are, um, unknown. Not to be found on this Earth, in fact". I fell silent. Bouvier obviously expected a response. "Dr Cameron?" "Eh? Oh, sorry. Aye, that would fit in with our line of thinking. So you believe it to be of extraterrestrial origin?" "In a word, yes". "Thank you. Thank you, Charles. I'll let everyone know. Bye". I hung up before he could say more. Rob was beaming at me from the couch. "Yay, man! We was right! Alien dudes! And they totally rescued her ass!" "Seems so". "So, what next, man? What do we do now?" "Wait for Mike. He'll be along with his results shortly". * When he came, Mike was looking both happy and frustrated, a neat trick if you can do it. He served himself a Coke from the vending machine and dropped onto the couch, popping the ring-pull with a hiss. The sheaf of papers in his hand was tossed onto the coffee table, and he took a long pull from his soda. "So what's the news?" I wanted to get right down to it, but he just stared at the ceiling. "What did you find out?" "We were right", he said calmly. "She has been enhanced". Rob and I waited for him to continue, but he just smiled gently to himself. I thought he was just trying to dramatise the moment, and said so. "Come on, Mike! Don't build up your part, spill it! What did you find?" He sat up, then, completely energised with the glint of discovery in his eyes. "Everything! Everything about her has been enhanced! By about two hundred fifty per cent, I think. It's amazing, know'm'sayin'? Her heart and lungs are more efficient, her reflexes and neural pathways are faster, her bone and muscle are more dense, all by about two point five times. That's what makes her so much heavier. She's two and a half times the woman she was, know'm'sayin'?" "Aye, OK. We won't take that little adage on board", I smiled. "So what? She can see and hear better? Run faster? Things like that?" "Just like that". "So it means that she's, what? Two and a half times faster? Two and a half times more efficient? Two and a half times stronger?" Mike spread his hands, shaking his head in wonder while his grin got wider. "Yeah. I guess". "Wow. She's either going to love it or hate it, but either way her life is going to be interesting from here on in". I raised an eyebrow at him. "But why did you look puzzled? Frustrated, when you came in?" "Because I don't know how. Or why. Or who. Or any number of other things". "We might be able to help, there". I told him the ideas Rob and I had been kicking around, about the alien rescue and the possible reasons for her enhancement. "So that's probably why and who. How is another question". "A lot of work to do". Mike lobbed his empty Coke can at the wastebasket. It dropped neatly in. "Nothin' but net. Yeah, a lot of work. We have to find out what she can do, how she performs. I just hope that, when she wakes, she's in a cooperative frame of mind". That hadn't occurred to me. I whistled through my teeth. "Aye. An ordinary woman is hard enough to handle if she gets set against something. Just imagine a woman two and a half times stronger". "Nuh-uh". It was Rob's first contribution to the conversation since Mike's arrival, and we both looked at him quizzically. "What do you mean, nuh-uh? Don't you think she'll be that strong? Can't you imagine it?" Rob slouched down even further in his seat. "Oh, yeah, man. Totally. Strong chicks are cool. But she won't be two and a half times stronger". "No? Why not?" This from Mike, who frowned at Rob, thinking he would like to kick his arse for doubting his theory. "Think about it, Dude. You haven't factored in the exponential effect. Two and a half times faster, two and a half times more efficient, two and a half times stronger. Two point five by two point five by two point five, man". "You think she'll be more than two and a half times enhanced?" "Way more, man. Two point five by two point five by two point five". He giggled in delight. "Lucy's gonna be about fifteen times stronger than she was before. "And that's if you just stop there".