Altered Plans

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Yet, Rachael, now deep in the enthralling wonder and quietude of the cosmos, gazing out at it all from the large window of the ship’s helm, could still hear Curtis’s voice ringing in her ears, crying out at the top of his lungs as he raced toward her, “NO! NO! NO! Rachael, don’t go! Rachael, please NOOOO!”

There had been so much anguish in Curtis’ voice, it had almost made her change her mind. And although it had been hard to understand him above the whirring of the diamond ship’s swirling panels, as the door was closing behind her, she was certain she had heard him scream “I love you, Rachael! I love you, baby! I LOVE...!”

Still not sure how to feel about his words, she turned and looked around the massive, gleaming ship at her many beautiful, sleeping companions, all seated in plush, reclining seats, oblivious of their journey. She wrapped her arms around her abdomen and leaned forward, feeling nauseous and in shock as the enormity of the decision she had made began to hit her. Then, it suddenly occurred to Rachael that she should not be awake. Doctor Klydarious had said that all the passengers would remain in a state of hibernation for the entire trip, including her, and clearly, they had not landed on Zanumar yet.

Feeling a little panicked she looked over at the Zanumarian scientist who was at the back of the spacecraft, opening a small, red case and verifying its contents. Her fate was now in his hands, as was the fate of the 1,000 young professional people he had kidnapped from earth. She only hoped she could trust him -- or had she been experiencing a moment of insanity when she had offered to go with him to Zanumar to help save his dying, underwater civilization?

On seeing that she was awake, Doctor Klydarious came hurriedly toward Rachael. Although the first time she’d met him at the space research hospital, she had found his appearance startling, she couldn’t help but notice now, that except for the yellow eyes and the small gills beneath his jawline, his face looked very human and even pleasant. As well, the smooth tan and silver scales that composed his skin were quite beautiful, as was his dapper outfit made of shiny, royale-blue fabric.

He smiled as he handed her a small, coral cup containing a shimmering blue liquid. “Drink this, it will give you energy.”

Rachael stared at the substance, afraid to imbibe something so foreign to her.

“Go ahead, Rachael. It won’t harm you. This is our Zanumarian power drink. It is packed full of every essential nutrient known to us for promoting health and life.”

Rachael tossed her long locks of thick, aubern hair over her shoulders, carefully raised the drink to her thirsty lips, and took a tiny sip. It was delicious, although not like anything she had ever tasted on Earth. It was slightly sweet, yet delectably cool and refreshing, and her mouth and throat tingled as she took another sip, then another, and soon felt well again. In fact, she felt even better than well, as a warm, fuzzy feeling of comfort and peace filtered from her head down to her fingertips and toes. Yet she did not feel drugged -- her thinking was crystal clear.

“Wow! I feel incredible,” Rachael said as she got up from her seat. “Is this an elixir from the gods, or what?”

“Hardly from the gods,” admitted Doctor Klydarious. “It was invented by me and a fellow scientist, with the hope that it would help our pregnant women conceive healthy babies. But it didn’t make much difference. The mothers themselves were strong and healthy but the babies still sickly and deformed.” Doctor Klydarious hung his head down and stared at the sparkling, turquoise floor of the ship as he spoke.

Rachael was startled. Deformed? He had told her that the Zanumarian’s were losing their ability to reproduce but he hadn’t mentioned that their children were deformed. She felt profound sadness mingled with dread as she wondered what heartrending sights awaited her on Klydarious’ planet. She sincerely wanted to help the women of Zanumar conceive, and thus save their race. However, now she would also feel the crushing weight of responsibility on her shoulders to save not just the women but the children of Zanumar. Having lost both her parents during a war and spending her first few years of life in an orphanage, she had deep, heartfelt interest in the welfare of children. Only, she hoped she hadn’t taken on a task too daunting - especially being fresh out of medical school.

“Doctor Klydarious, why am I awake?” Rachael asked. “I thought I was supposed to be sleeping for the entire trip.”

“Doctor Rachael, although it is costly to keep you awake, I decided your immediate help was necessary.”

“Why?” Rachael asked as she again wondered if trusting him had been a mistake.

Klydarious swept his hand out toward the many sleeping passengers. “Your people are not handling the hibernation formula well. They have fallen into a much deeper sleep than anticipated. A few of them are even experiencing coma and near death.”

Rachael’s distrust turned quickly to alarm. “What?? You promised me that transporting them would be safe!”

“Doctor Rachael, it should have been safe. Someone must have tampered with the hibernation serum. I prepared the serum with the utmost of care, yet your people are reacting as though the dosage was too high.”

“The dosage was too high?” Rachael felt a fresh wave of fear flooding her body. “Can anything be done about this? Is there an antidote?”

“Yes, I do have an antidote. It was how I managed to wake you.” Klydarious wiped his brow as though to wipe away perspiration, although he did not sweat. “Otherwise, I might have lost you.”

Despite feeling shaken by this unexpected debacle, Rachael knew that Klydarious would not have deliberately done anything to jeopardize her life or well-being. She was far too valuable to him. And after the immense effort he had gone through to acquire the others, he most certainly would not want to harm them either. But was this doctor perhaps incompetent and not really the genius he had appeared to be?

“Rachael, I need your assistance to administer this antidote as speedily as possible.” He handed her a red case of tiny glass vials, with a needle carefully placed beside each vial.

“Okay, okay, thank god you were so well prepared for this,” Rachael said as she drew in a deep breath and approached the nearest passenger.

“Yes, I always try to stay one step ahead of them.”

“What do you mean? Ahead of whom?”

Klydarious looked reluctant to divulge more details.

“Doctor Klydarious, are you’re telling me that when I arrive on Zanumar I will be confronted with a dying race of fish hybrids, deformed children, and Zanumarian enemies too?”

“I’m sorry if this disappoints you but were the situation not desperate, I would not have had to travel to your planet. You are our last hope. Now hurry, please, if you don’t want your people to die. The injection merely needs to be intramuscular.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Rachael said, as she turned to her urgent task, and tried to focus on the moment.

Klydarious grabbed another case of the antidote and rushed to the opposite side of the ship, calling out as he went, “I’ll work towards you!”

Quickly and stealthily, Rachael began to administer the serum to the unconscious passengers. As she sank the needle into the cool flesh of their arms, she wondered how they would feel when they awakened on Zanumar. They had been ripped away from everything they knew and held dear. Even upon learning of the reason for this horrific abduction, would they have any empathy for the fish people to whom they would now be little more than reproductive slaves? Would they want to help, or would they be overcome with anguish and resentment—perhaps even disgust and hate? And had Doctor Klydarious seriously considered the emotional impact his plans would have on these people? How could he realistically expect their cooperation and how would he handle it if they didn’t comply?

Rachael paused to gaze upon a particularly attractive blonde man. Most of the captives were in their early to mid-twenties, but he did not look more than eighteen. How his mother would miss him! And did he have a girlfriend? What about brothers and sisters, and close friends? She wondered what his name was. His soft, delicate features graced with high cheekbones, and framed by wispy waves of sandy, blonde hair, made his appearance gentle and angelic. His name must be Sean or Kevin or Jonathan, she thought. Then suddenly, like a whisper, the name “Emmanuel” came into her mind.

“Doctor Rachael!” Klydarious warned her sternly, “You must step up your pace! We have already lost three of your people and we will soon lose more if we don’t hurry!”

“Oh my God, no!” she exclaimed, feeling excruciating guilt for allowing herself to daydream at such a critical time.

Then as she touched the young, blonde man’s arm to insert the needle, she realized he was even colder than the others. She examined him more closely: He was no longer breathing. She checked his mouth and throat for any obstructions. She then pinched his nostrils and breathed a puff of air into his mouth, while at the same time placing her hand on his chest to feel it rise. She breathed into his mouth again. He still did not breathe on his own. Then she began pumping his chest with the base of her hands, firmly, fervently, again and again...counting thirty times, but there was still no response.

She peered over at Klydarious who was now standing just several feet away and looking stone serious. “Rachael, I’m sorry, but please just let him go. It’s too late. We must do our best to save the rest. You’re wasting time!”

Tears began to tumble down Rachael’s face as she ignored Doctor Klydarious and frantically tried again to revive the lifeless, young gentleman. “Emmanuel,” she whispered hoarsely, as she pumped his chest, “Please don’t die, Emmanuel!”

Klydarious looked startled and asked, “How did you know his name?” Then he quickly strode over to Rachael’s side to comfort her.

“I didn’t,” Rachael sobbed. “Somehow it just came to me.” She finally stopped the resuscitation procedure and placed her hands over her face in despair.

Rachael felt Doctor Klydarious’ arm around her shoulder. “It’s okay…none of this is your fault…” Then he suddenly shouted, “Rachael! Emmanuel is breathing!”

Rachael jolted with surprise. She threw her arms around Emmanuel. “Thank God, you’re alive, Emmanuel! Thank God you’re alive!”

Elated by the young man’s recovery, Rachael now attacked the overwhelming task before her with renewed zeal. The girl in the next bed was a petite redhead. Rachael wasted no time wondering who the girl was or what type of family she came from. She must be cool and collected. Not one more life would be lost--she would make sure of it.

Rachael continued working feverishly--injecting one person after another with the antidote and to her immense relief, all the remaining passengers were saved.

By the time Rachael handed back the case of empty vials to Klydarious, she was feeling hard-hit with exhaustion. She sat back down at the helm of the ship and released a long sigh as she wondered if Doctor Klydarious might be willing to give her a little more of the blue potion.

The sigh caught the doctor’s attention and he looked at her questioningly.

Rachael seized the opportunity. “Doctor, do you think you could give me some more of that blue medicine you did earlier?”

“Doctor Rachael, it is very costly. We must use it sparingly.”

She stared up at him hoping he would notice the pleading in her eyes.

“Okay. You may have a few more sips. You look like you need it,” he conceded.

He took a small container from a cabinet near the helm and poured a little of the shimmering liquid into it, then handed it to Rachael with a frown. “You shouldn’t have tired so quickly after the previous dose.”

Rachael gulped down the potion. Immediately she could feel her vitality being renewed again. “This isn’t addictive, I hope,” she said to Klydarious jokingly.

“Physically, no,” he reassured her, “but psychologically, yes. There are people on my planet who would kill for it.”

Rachael found his response disconcerting – another frightening and unexpected curveball. “You’re scaring me again,” she told him.

Klydarious quickly reassured her, “Don’t worry. This was invented for those who really need it, and it’s unfortunate that some who don’t need it merely crave the incredible strength and energy it gives them. We call these people “Blue Addicts”. Some of them have become bullies and take advantage of those who are weaker.”

“But how do they get it?”

“Although requiring many hard-to-get ingredients, it is relatively simple to put the formula together and some have taken to illegally manufacturing it in their dwellings. In recent years, these addicts have formed a coalition of rebels who want to overturn our government. They are not only upset about not having easy access to “Liquid Blue” – they dislike other rules and values of the Establishment. They are also very much against our bringing humans to our planet. They fear that these new people will strengthen our ranks against them.

“Do you know who these addicts are, and can they be stopped?” Rachael noticed the pitch of her voice mounting.

“No, it cannot be detected in someone’s system any more than exactly what type of food they just ate. The only way we know is by their unusual strength and energy level. Blue Addicts tend to gain muscle mass very quickly, so this can sometimes be an indication.

“Oh boy…what have I gotten myself into?” Rachael asked herself out loud. “This all sounds so complicated.”

“Yes, it is,” agreed Doctor Klydarious. “It is…and what complicates things worse is that some blue addicts have stolen our water ships and live in these water ships many miles away from the complex but still within the depressurized zone. It is rumored that they have been travelling up to the surface in search of surface dwellers, hoping that such ones would join forces with them.”

“Do you think there could actually be any surface dwellers?”

“There have been unfounded reports,” the doctor answered, “but no solid evidence. It is highly unlikely that anyone survived for longer than a few years on the surface after the meteor strike.”

“I see,” Rachael said, as she tried to fathom the situation she would soon be facing.

Klydarious looked at Rachael with concern. “I’m sorry if you find this upsetting. I’m telling you all of this and have agreed to bring you to our planet in your human form because I sense you are truly special. In fact, I did my research beforehand about you as I did with the others, by tapping into earth’s computer systems. Even though you’re only 23 you graduated at the top of your class and are viewed as brilliant by all who know you. I trust in your ability to do great works as a geneticist and I believe you will accomplish much good, not only for our planet, but someday for your own.” There was a long pause… “The only reservation I have regarding your character is your erratic emotions. You need to learn better control of your feelings and to channel your energy more wisely.”

Although the doctor had cushioned the blow with compliments, the criticism he had just hit her with stung like a hard slap. She felt her face flush with humiliation and looked away. Yet, unfortunately, she could not deny the truth in his words. Yes, if only she could learn the secret to controlling her emotions, like Doctor Klydarious seemed to be able to do. However, despite the doctor’s talk about emotional control she suspected that the Zanumarian was already losing a bit of his own self-control and level-headedness, for he seemed to be developing a soft spot for her. Knowing how costly and potentially addictive Liquid Blue was, he should not have given her more.

Lost in thought, Rachael was only vaguely aware of Klydarious gazing upon her, but she suddenly sprung back to the moment as he placed a hand on her shoulder. Panic-stricken, she wondered if he might be about to kiss her.

She let out a little gasp. “No!”

Doctor Klydarious smiled the widest smile she’d yet seen on him. “What do you mean ‘No’? I was just going to ask you to sit back in your seat so that I could perform a small test on you. I am confused as to why that first dose of Liquid Blue I gave you didn’t have a longer lasting effect, so I thought I better make sure you have no hidden health issues. I apologize for not performing a thorough health-check on you before agreeing to bring you on this journey with me but due to the high-pressure situation that we were facing I didn’t think to.”

Rachael blushed. “Oh,” she said, “don’t worry, Doctor. Being chained to a lab-room hospital bed and fearing you would be subjected to God knows what kinds of invasive tests and experiments, how could you be thinking about anything other than escaping? And anyway -- I had regular medical check-ups back home and I’m in excellent health.”

Seemingly not paying much attention to her response, Doctor Klydarious smiled again and commented, “You thought I was going to kiss you, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” she admitted, grinning sheepishly. Now they both laughed.

Rachael tried to relax and leaned back into her seat as Klydarius had instructed.

“Don’t worry, Rachael, I am more professional than that,” he said, still smiling amusedly. He took a small, triangular device from the pocket of his outfit: the same device she had seen him check her fiancé, Trevor, with back on earth. Beginning at the top of her head, he carefully passed it from side to side across her body, but without touching her. He stopped just above her lower abdomen. There was a beeping noise and a flashing purple light.

“The news is not bad after all,” he said. “In fact, it is rather exciting.”

“What news?” Rachael asked, having no clue what he could be referring to.

“It is the start of a new life. You’re pregnant.”

“Pregnant? How could that be?” Rachael was in total shock. It had been more than three months since she’d made love to Trevor due to his most recent space mission and his subsequent confinement at the space center’s research hospital. How could she have been pregnant for so long and not have noticed. “Are you sure?” Rachael asked.

“Positive,” said Doctor Klydarious. “This will complicate our plans a little but don’t worry. Your baby will be fine. I will see to it that both you and your son are well looked after.”

“My son?”

“Yes, the child is male, and just five weeks old.”

“Just five weeks? Oh, my God! I’m pregnant with Curtis’ baby!”

“Curtis? That’s the big fellow who had me captured?”

“Yes,” answered Rachael.

“Good,” said Klydarious. “Your son will be tall and strong.”

“How do you know it’s a boy this soon?”

“The device I use can detect energy fields -- there is a slight difference in the wave patterns depending on whether someone is male or female. In fact, this is how I knew you were pregnant – with this device I can detect a second energy field within you, and by the size and shape of that secondary energy field the device calculates the baby’s approximate age.”

Racheal was fascinated by the alien technology and hoped she could bring much of the knowledge she would acquire on Zanumar back to earth upon her return in five years. Such a device might also safely and easily detect genetic and other abnormalities before a child is born to help the parents and doctors prepare to help the baby, and it was much easier to administer than an ultrasound or amniocentesis.

However, Rachael’s mind soon turned toward the mistake she had made with Curtis, as it dawned on her that it would now be impossible to conceal her secret from Trevor or from her family. When she came back to Earth with her son, the child would not be Trevor’s, but Curtis’. She could imagine the devastation on Trevor’s face and the disappointment in the eyes of her adoptive parents. Trevor’s sweet and charming disposition, combined with the fact he had lost his mother when he was only five, tugged mightily on her parents very nurturing heartstrings. Whereas Curtis’s macho personality that was even larger than his 6 foot 3-inch broad-shouldered frame, did not endear him to them as much.

Racheal now remembered to her dismay that what had happened between her and Curtis that day down by the river, had been so impulsive she had not taken any precautions. Another sad testimony to the truth of Klydarious’ judgment regarding her difficulty in handling her emotions.

Doctor Klydarious interrupted Rachael’s thoughts. “I would have expected you to be happy. A child of one’s own is a great treasure that not all people get to experience.”

“How could I be happy? How could I be?” Rachael started to sob. “I don’t know if I can help you… I’m, I’m terrified of raising my child alone on a foreign planet. Is, is, is, there any way I can return to Earth…like, right away?”

“I’m sorry, but that isn’t possible. We must get to Zanumar quickly. The genetic alterations that have begun on these people tend to speed up as the process continues. In just a few more weeks they will need to spend a lot of time in water and be trained how to use their new bodies. And it is dangerous to reverse the process at this point. To do so could potentially harm or even kill them.”

Rachael wept even more profusely now. She felt totally trapped.

Klydarious’ face was drawn with worry. Tenderly wiping the tears from her cheeks with his smooth fingertips, he quietly reassured her, “Rachael, you will be okay…”