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Brooks kept silent as he and Verena returned to her office.
He no longer felt dizzy; instead, he felt furious.
Holding his tongue until they were in private, he rounded on the doctor once the door closed.
“What the hell was that? You didn’t warn us that it would be dangerous,” he snapped.
Verena did not look at him, but there was no sense of shame on her as she walked to her desk. Calmly, she sat down and folded her hands.
“That was unexpected,” she said. “I had no way to know that Denso would react as he did, Captain. And I remind you that I am a superior officer and you will respect that.”
Brooks fought down his anger.
“Tell me everything about this case,” he said.
She merely watched him.
“A member of my crew has been injured – an ambassador. He is under my care, and as such I am entitled to understand just what danger he has been subjected to,” Brooks said.
“You feel you are arguing from a position of strength, Captain, but you are not. I have full discretion in the matter of who knows what,” Verena replied. “However, I do still wish your counsel if you can calm yourself. This matter is beyond individual lives.”
“Just how severe is this issue? I’ve never seen anything like it in someone altered. Not even at Terris.”
“I shall wait to continue on this topic, Captain. I have summoned from your ship Dr. Y – I would like his opinion as well as your own.”
It was a reasonable step, and Brooks nodded. Y had been a long-time researcher in this field, even worked personally with altered patients when he had been posted to The Chain.
Brooks took several deep breaths before coming towards her desk. Pulling out the chair, he sat down.
The door to the office opened and Dr. Y entered.
“Dr. Urle, Captain,” he said by way of greeting and stood near the desk.
“I have shared with Dr. Y the video of what occurred in the isolation bay,” Verena told Brooks. “We may now continue on this topic. You asked how severe the issue is – potentially quite severe. But I do not know just how much yet. As you have witnessed, there are things occurring that we cannot account for.”
“Such as how a man could crack that glass,” Brooks commented.
“Well, yes,” Y said. “I cannot possibly explain it. I am reminded of an ancient human phrase; spooky action at a distance. But I do not believe that this is a classical quantum effect.”
Brooks stared at Verena. “When did Denso develop these eyes?” he asked.
“The first of the nascent eyes appeared six months ago,” Verena replied. “At that time, they seemed to be a common form of tumor on altered patients; a sort of representation of normal human anatomy, but entirely non-functional. Within two months we had eight eyes growing, and more fully formed with neural connections. By month four, they were following moving objects, and tests suggested they were sending actual information to his brain.
“Around that same time, his body began to split open into the form you see today. The skin on ninety percent of his body has been reabsorbed, and most of his organs then began to fail.”
She tapped her pad, and a thin screen arose from her desk. “And on that topic, it is not simply the eyes or other growths that have been unusual. Here is a scan of Denso’s brain from when he was first admitted to MS-29.”
A three-dimensional scan appeared, slowly rotating to show all sides. Brooks was no expert on the human brain, but it looked very normal to him. He looked to Dr. Y, who was intently studying it.
“I recall these images. His mind at the time showed minor structural changes,” the AI commented. “And certainly signs of the trauma to which Denso had been exposed. But that is not unexpected after what occurred – it is a human brain under extreme duress.”
Verena nodded and changed the image. “This is his brain from seven months ago.”
“Alterations have accelerated, but are still minor,” Y noted.
“And what do the scans show now?” Brooks asked.
Verena changed the view again.
And even Brooks could tell that something was wrong.
The image was still rotating, but it was not moving in a way that made sense. As it rotated, the brain – almost unrecognizable as such – changed shapes in impossible ways. It was not a simple three-dimensional object any longer, he realized. This was simply a crude attempt at displaying-
“A higher-dimensional structure,” Y said. His voice was very soft. “Michal Denso only . . . appears to be like us.”
“It is as good a description as any,” Verena replied. “And I would like to know what he is. It is why I wished for your Cerebral Reader to join us. After her incident, I hoped perhaps Ambassador Kell could tell us more. But it seems that it is unwilling to tell us.”
“I’ll try to speak to Kell again,” Brooks said. “But anything we can learn about Denso might be useful – I heard him ask to go home when he got upset – has he said anything else? Anything that might be useful?”
“Very little,” Verena replied. “But the speech about home is the most common. It is not unusual for those who are in severe distress to wish for such a thing.”
“Do we know what he means precisely?” Dr. Y asked. “Home, yes – but what does he consider home? Clearly not this station, so does he mean his birth place in the Neo Solaria system? Or perhaps the ship he served upon the longest, the Sunspot?”
Brooks found that the doctor’s question tickled something in his mind. “That’s a good question.”
“Taking Michal Denso anywhere is not on the table,” Verena interjected. “He is not fit to be moved.”
“Which raises another question,” Dr. Y said. “Beyond the obvious changes, what is his physical condition? From the various equipment you have informed me of, it seems that very little of Michal Denso’s body is functioning.”
“He is entirely dependent upon the equipment,” Verena said. “Most of his organs are non-functional. His heart continues to pump, though his blood has become thicker – and from our filters we can tell that he has more of it than a man his size should.”
“I imagine that’s because of his brain extending into . . . some sort of higher space?” Brooks asked.
“Yes,” Verena said, still looking at Dr. Y.
“These are dramatic changes. Has his mass increased?” Y asked.
Verena nodded. “Substantially. In a standard gravity, he now weighs nearly a metric ton.”
“Wait – what?” Brooks asked, leaning forward. “His mass has increased?”
“In the last six days – yes. And the rate has increased since his incident with the Ambassador. We do not know where this mass is coming from.”
The three fell silent.
“Dr. Urle,” Y finally ventured. “Have you considered – ending life support? In a situation this severe, I cannot see a hopeful outcome for the patient. We choose life whenever we can, but in this case I simply have nothing of value to suggest. But I wonder if Michal Denso would even thank us for prolonging his current state.”
Verena said nothing for a moment, and Brooks watched her carefully. In the years he’d known her, when he was Executive Commander of the Kilimanjaro and she was Chief Medical Officer, she’d often laughed – she had been a person who he usually expected to have a smile. Even in the face of medical tragedies, she had kept her positive outlook on life.
But her face was only impassive now. It was like part of her was gone.
“We are under orders to keep Michal Denso alive,” she said. “Ending his life is not an option.”
“Who has given these orders?” Dr. Y asked. “I have never heard such orders from the medical bureau. In a case such as this, keeping him alive is tantamount to torture.”
“I cannot say more on this matter,” Verena said steepling her fingers. “I am seeking other solutions here.”
“I am afraid I have none currently,” Dr. Y replied.
“Nor do I,” Brooks said. “We need to know more. Verena, will you send me the files you have on this case?”
She considered his request. “I will send you some more information,” she said cryptically. “Now, both of you – dismissed.”
Other Terrestrial 