Zion's Children - pt. 25

Byrin could not rest...every time he tried to lay down to sleep, anxiety drove him to his feet again. So far, the initial sampling of ConFleet personnel's blood had been the same across the board. Only half had been gathered, but he had no doubt that the remaining samples would test positive for inactive virus DNA.

Almost like antibodies.

The thought circled in Byrin's head.

Truth be known, no one was resting well after this discovery. So far, one had requested transfer out.

Yet.

"I don't understand it Miri," Byrin said to her the next afternoon after she had brought him a tray of supper. It looked like pieces of chicken, or what passed for chicken in this world. The potatoes were recognizable enough, even mashed. He poked at it as he spoke. "We've been working on the assumption that this was a new disease. Something unique to this world. Yet my blood...shows evidence that it's not."

"It's not possible that you've all been exposed since coming here?" Miri sat in the chair next to him. Her other duties had been finished for the night. All she had left was making sure that Byrin had something to eat and left the building at a decent hour.

"No...I...no, it's not." Byrin glanced around the lab cautiously, even though he knew they were alone. "I called a friend in Command, and he sent me some old test results. For myself and a few others. I couldn't ask for all of us."

"Obviously," Miri said quietly.

"The DNA was there before. In every instance." He took a bite of the meat without thinking. Whatever kind of fowl it was, it was very tasty. He took another bite. "It's almost like we've already had the sickness and have antibodies."

"You have antibodies?" Miri's face brightened with hope.

"Almost." Byrin sighed. And that quickly, he'd lost interest in his meal. "The DNA strands don't look like antibodies...not really. It's almost like they're dormant cells."

"Again you say, 'almost'."

"Yes. It's what I don't understand. I feel like I have a ticking time bomb in my veins...but...Miri, one of the tests I did last night was to expose my blood to infected blood. The DNA strands didn't act like antibodies...the virus cells just became inactive."

Miri scowled, for more reasons than just one. She had seen him leave last night, so he must have returned after that. And what he was suggesting wasn't good. "Just like that?"

"Just like that. There was no interaction between the two sets of cells that I could see."

"How many times did you try it?"

"I tried it three seperate times," he admitted. He set his plate of food to the side and rubbed his face tiredly.

"You need sleep," Miri suggested gently.

"I know, I know...but I can't."

He was despairing, Miri realized. Sinking into a deep dark pit where he could see no way out. "I didn't bring you anything to drink," she said suddenly. "Wait here."

"You don't need to..."

But she was gone. Byrin sighed and returned to his computers. For an insane moment, he considered praying. Miri told him from time to time that she was praying for him, that he'd find the answers to save her people. She seems so sure, so confident in the god of her faith. But he...

Something hard and cold pressed to the side of his arm. He turned, startled. Miri stood there, and empty hypo in her hand.

"Forgive me, Byrin," she said, her face white.

Already he felt drowsy. "I'm going to..."

She caught him in her arms as best as she could before he fell to the floor.