Legends of Amacia Return of the Beowulf

Jessica’s Illness

Jessica looked at Hannibal with great love and respect as she, Emma, and Hannibal watched Crystal and Rachel interacting. She reached out and touched him on the hand, getting his attention. He looked at her with a smile, asking, “What is it, Jessica?” He immediately noticed she was trembling. He took her by the hands and looked her in the eyes, seeing that her eyes didn’t look right. They had far away in the look in them. Her hands were clammy and trembled uncontrollably. She also looked very weary and drained. Emma noticed the strange behavior that Jessica was beginning to exhibit and stepped behind her as she began to sway. However, before Emma could get behind her, Jessica’s eyes rolled back in her head and collapsed into Hannibal’s arms. He caught her and scooped her up, taking her to the bed just beyond Jacob.

“Arabella; we’ve got a problem here!” Hannibal called out urgently as he laid Jessica on the bed. Arabella and Lola came running as Emma helped Hannibal lay her out. Rachel and Crystal were watching fearfully, holding hands as Hannibal laid his hand on Jessica’s forehead. It was burning up.

“What happened?” Arabella asked as she ran up.

“Jessica collapsed in my arms a minute ago,” Hannibal reported. “It seems that she is running a high fever.”

Arabella immediately went to work. She first checked the pulse: it was high and beating like a jackhammer. The eyes were next: the pupils were severely dilated. Sweat glistened on her brow and face. “My god; you’re right. She’s burning up. Emma, we have to cool her off now,” Arabella ordered. “Where is the nearest tub?”

Emma looked at Hannibal, saying, “Hannibal’s quarters.”

Hannibal didn’t hesitate as he said, “Do it.” He quickly turned back to Rachel, saying, “I’ve got to help Jessica for a minute, Rachel. Could you stay here with Crystal and Lola?” Rachel nodded, and Hannibal looked at Lola, saying, “Watch over them. Lola. We’ll be back in a little bit.” Lola nodded, but the concern for Jessica was on her face. Hannibal turned back to Jessica as Emma picked her up. “Come on, ladies. This way,” he ordered, running ahead.

Minutes later, they stood in Hannibal’s bathroom. Hannibal had drawn some cold water when they came in and he said, “Put her in as she is. I’m going to find Nemesis or Magnus. They may be able to identify what ailing Jessica.” He darted out of the bathroom as Emma lowered Jessica into the cold water of the tub. Jessica immediately began to tremble violently as she hit the water. Arabella took a washcloth and wet it, sponging her forehead.

Five minutes later, Hannibal returned with Nemesis. He had explained what had occurred as they came into the bathroom. “Any ideas on what’s wrong?” Nemesis asked.

“A fever has her,” Emma stated as Nemesis looked at her with his cybernetic eye, checking in one wavelength after another.

“Well?” Hannibal asked anxiously.

“Don’t worry,” Nemesis stated. “I see nothing that indicates a shebat, but I do see that she has an infection in her sinus cavity. It is serious and on the verge of spreading too. I suggest that you take her to the Healer right now. The infection is about to go into her brain tissue.” Nemesis reached out with his cybernetic arm, touching her on the neck with the cyborg hand, administering painkillers and antivirals through his machine fingers. She twitched as the drugs entered her body.

“What did you do?” Arabella asked as Nemesis backed off.

“I gave her some pain killers and an antiviral to stabilize her,” Nemesis stated, “I’ve seen this kind of viral infection before. It’s one of the Cadre’s old weapons. It hasn’t been seen in over two hundred cycles. That was the last time it was seen in the general population.”

“How virulent is it, and what is its lethality?” Hannibal asked pointedly, remembering his unexpected bout with Kaitian pneumonia.

“It is not airborne, if that is what you’re asking,” Nemesis replied. “It is spread by direct contact and in that manner, it is very virulent. Anyone who has touched her should receive the antiviral agent to counteract it. As for its lethality, it is eighty percent lethal.” Nemesis walked up to Hannibal, saying, “You have been exposed because you handled her. Give me your arm.” Nemesis didn’t wait for Hannibal to present his arm. He grabbed on to his arm with his organic hand and administered the vaccine with his cybernetic fingers on the upper portion of Hannibal’s arm. He flinched as the cyborg fingers pricked him with needles.

“How is it that you have the vaccine for this agent?” Hannibal asked as he rubbed his arm.

Nemesis went to Emma and did the same thing, saying as Emma held out her arm, “As I’ve said many times, I was engineered with the ability to create many biological weapons and their antidotes. It had to do with the way I was designed as the ultimate weapon of war.” He administered the antidote to Emma and went to Arabella, who had already pulled up her sleeve and was waiting for the shot.

“It’s good that you know what we are dealing with,” Arabella told Nemesis as he gave her the shot. “For who knows how long it would have taken me to find out what was causing this.”

Nemesis nodded knowingly, saying, “Hannibal was right to come get me. The last time this agent showed itself, it killed five thousand people in Amacia. We were forbidden to give the antidote too. That was over two hundred cycles ago.”

“That sounds so familiar,” Hannibal growled as he reached in the tub and picked Jessica up. “The bastards that run the world on the surface do the same thing. Emma, get a blanket. Arabella, get a towel.” Hannibal sat Jessica in the chair near the sink. Arabella rushed and got a towel as Hannibal held Jessica in the chair. She was in and out of consciousness. Arabella immediately began to dry her, soaking up the excess water on her. Jessica was shaking as Arabella dried her legs. Hannibal shook his head, saying, “This isn’t going to do. Arabella, hold on to her while I find some clothes.” Arabella held on to Jessica as he dashed into the bedroom. Emma was pulling a blanket out of the closet as Hannibal went to the dresser that had Selina’s clothes in it, grabbing one of her nightgowns. He darted back into the bath and handed the nightgown to Emma, saying, “Get her out of those wet clothes and put this on her.”

Emma nodded, throwing the blanket aside as she took the nightgown. “Come on, Nemesis; let’s give them some privacy,” Hannibal ordered, heading back into the bedroom with Nemesis, closing the door behind them. He looked over at Selina. She remained sound asleep. The ruckus hadn’t even stirred her. “Nemesis, am I contagious because I touched Jessica?” Hannibal asked bluntly.

Nemesis shook his head, saying, “No. but once you are done, you should decontaminate with a bath and a change of clothes. Dispose of the contaminated clothes in the incinerator, just to be safe. Even though the agent is very virulent, it doesn’t last long outside the host. After four hours, the virus dies and is no longer dangerous.”

Hannibal sighed with relief. “That’s good. So it wouldn’t be a good idea to carry Rachel around before I’ve taken a bath and changed my clothes.”

Nemesis nodded, saying, “Yes.”

As he spoke, the bathroom door opened and Arabella came out followed by Emma carrying Jessica, who was wearing one of Selina’s nightgowns. “Take them back to the Healer, Nemesis, and tell them what you told me,” Hannibal ordered. “I’m going to decontaminate before I come.”

Nemesis nodded and opened the door to the corridor for them, stepping out, ordering, “Come on, ladies.” They followed him away as Hannibal went into the bathroom to decontaminate himself. He took special care to keep the clothes that he had on while in contact with Jessica separate from the rest of the clothes.

After the decontamination bath, Hannibal put on a short-sleeve shirt, trousers, and sandals before disposing of his contaminated clothes in the incinerator. He then went to the Healing chamber to check on Jessica. Only Nemesis was present, who was watching Jessica carefully as the machine worked on her. The light beam from the crystal pulsed and resonated with the strange music that was playing. “How is she?” Hannibal asked as he walked up.

Nemesis turned to him, saying, “The danger is passed. The combination of the vaccine and the Healer has arrested the infection. She will be fine in a few hours. Did you dispose of your contaminated clothes like I told you?”

Hannibal was relieved as he looked at her. “Yes, I did just before coming here,” he replied. “Do you think the Cadre had anything to do with this?”

Nemesis shook his head, saying, “Not really. There was a one in ten million chance of her coming down with this particular virus. If the Cadre were involved with this, there would have been many more infections. This is not their style. Like I said, they made a trial run roughly two hundred cycles ago and five thousand fell to it. That is why they abandoned it. It didn’t kill enough people fast enough. What I didn’t tell you is that everyone associated with those five thousand were exterminated by the Emperor’s troops in order to eradicate it. They killed almost fifteen thousand people in that incident, most of who were in the city of Amacia. So the agent hasn’t been seen since then. What I see here is a freak infection caused by this particular agent. As you well know, once a particular biological agent is released, it’s virtually impossible to completely eradicate it. Traces of it always linger in the environment.”

“I’m well aware of that. Do you think that this agent could be a problem if it escaped the caverns?” Hannibal asked as he folded his arms across his chest.

“No. For one thing, it doesn’t spread fast enough and two...you and your people have been here long enough that if were going to be a problem, it would have already hit you. So I’m thinking that this agent will not be a problem to the peoples of the surface if it were ever to get out,” Nemesis reported.

“That’s good to hear,” Hannibal replied. “It didn’t occur to me until just now that if a biological agent that has been sealed in here for so many millennia were to ever get out, that it could be disastrous for the peoples of the surface.”

“You know, the reverse could be true as well,” Nemesis stated. “The plagues and diseases of the surface could be just as detrimental to the peoples of this land too.”

Hannibal sighed, saying, “I know. That thought had occurred to me as well. There are many diseases, both natural and manmade that plagues the peoples of the surface. But it seems to me that these people are strong and healthy and would be able to deal with such pestilence. As you said, by the very fact that my people have been in close contact with the indigenous peoples of this land for such a protracted period and no one has been stricken by any agent we may have inadvertently brought in tells me that it shouldn’t be a problem unless someone were to intentionally expose them to an agent. I hope and pray that the Almighty won’t let that happen. Besides, He says in His word that if we, as His children, do as He says, He will not allow those pestilences to come on them. I’m just going to have to believe God in this.”

“I hope you’re right,” Nemesis stated flatly. “Let’s just hope the Cadre doesn’t release one of their bio-weapons on us. That would be disastrous for all.”

Hannibal nodded grimly, saying, “That’s why we must go to Kartoom and destroy their facilities. I’ve been thinking about what Horace said about it. If we can penetrate their power plant and overload it, that place will vanish from the face of the Earth like Acheron did.”

Nemesis turned to him and looked him directly in the eye, saying, “Easier said than done. Very few people know the layout of Kartoom. Besides, that place crawls with the worst that the Emperor has to offer. We may lose many people in such a raid.”

Hannibal sighed, saying, “I know. But it is something that must be done. We are going to have to plan this carefully and just like our raid on the Black Fortress, we must act as a well-oiled machine. We must strike swiftly and brutally without warning. It has to be done. The flow of material to the Emperor must be eliminated. And with the potential problems of the Azhidakar, the Spiders, and the Cadre’s other biological weapons programs, we mustn’t fail in this. By the way, what did you do with the shebats that infested Selina and me? I forgot to ask about it after Josephine purged them from us.”

“We did as you suggested,” Nemesis stated. “Enoch opened the portal to Mt. Tartarus one thousand cubits over the caldera and I threw the magnetic bottle holding the shebats in myself. When the shebats exploded in the lava, it caused a category nine volcanic eruption that broke the east wall of the caldera. The flood of lava swept all the way to the Chasm of Kartoom. As for whether the Emperor tracked them, it’s impossible to tell.”

Hannibal nodded, saying “Good. Even if they were tracked, we have an advantage being in this place. It has a natural electromagnetic shield about it that I’ve yet to completely understand. Let’s hope that they were not tracking it when we found them.”

“Indeed,” Nemesis agreed.

“I’m going to check on Rachel now,” Hannibal stated. “But before I go, can you tell me whether the Healer has decontaminated Jessica?”

Nemesis used his cybernetic eye to check on whether she was contaminated. He then checked the control panel, and replied after a few moments, “No. There is no sign of any contamination on her clothes or anything else. The virus has been eliminated from her body and the Healer is repairing the damage it did to her.”

Hannibal touched him on the cybernetic arm saying, “Good. Good. That’s one less problem to deal with. I’m glad that machine can get rid of viral contamination like that. It has been very useful, even though it doesn’t seem to be running at its full potential. If you have other things to do, go ahead. I’m sure someone will check on her after a while. I plan on doing so myself.”

“That’s all right,” Nemesis replied. “I’ll hang around a little longer just be certain.”

Hannibal looked up into the great bear’s face, saying, “You’re a good man, Nemesis. I know that you don’t look anything like a man, but somewhere beneath your rough and formidable exterior is the heart, mind, and soul of a good man. Maybe someday soon we can find that man buried deep beneath the bear and machine that you are.”

“Are you sure that you will find the man in there?” Nemesis asked bluntly.

“Absolutely,” Hannibal replied, patting him on Nemesis’ cybernetic forearm. “I know you’re like Amelia was before the Almighty used us to unlock her memories. The Cadre started with a man in your construction. He is in there somewhere. We will find that man and let him out. You will know who you are and where you belong.”

“Well, the second part is easy to know,” Nemesis stated. “I’m right where I belong, at your command.”

“It’s good to know that you’re on our side,” Hannibal replied. “Trust me, before this is over, we will unlock your mind. Now I have to go. I’ll see you later.” Nemesis nodded as Hannibal walked away, heading back to the infirmary.