Revelations

CHAPTER SEVEN

New Romanovka, Archangelsk Oblast, Russia

Boris was annoyed. When it came to decisions that didn’t affect him or the people he’d sworn to protect personally, he found he was not so adept.

Especially when it came down to judging the sanity of the creature, well a human, stuck in a creature’s form, and their probable levels of sanity. After all, sanity was really all subjective wasn’t it? And a person’s point of view was entirely different when they were a Were or a vampire with a practically guaranteed long life. The long game was that much more plausible to play when you had centuries to live.

But Bethany Anne had made the Beast his responsibility and utterly refused to even advise him on what to do now that TOM and ADAM had come up with a cure. With Shen’s help, ADAM had made some preliminary conclusions about the AI. It was not entirely sane, nor was it dangerously insane.

Most of their supposition was that its sanity was being compromised by extreme boredom. Still, it wasn’t going to be let out of the Faraday cage, and Bethany Anne had been fairer to him, in his opinion, on that issue. She had agreed that the final decision, when it came to an AI, had to be between her, TOM and ADAM, as the three beings on the planet with the most knowledge about them.

In fact, TOM would be the most knowledgeable on the planet about this particular one, period. After all, it was programmed with Kurtherian code, and inside what seemed to be a two thousand or more-year-old Kurtherian organic computer. Despite the fact that the ship had only been on the planet for eight hundred years. From all the tests that Alexa had run for TOM and ADAM, it was evidently far older than that.

Finally, he talked it over with Janna one afternoon. “I have no idea on how to judge that creature’s sanity. It is calm and quiet now, although it did test the cage we built to contain it for several days. It even seems happy to see us when we bring food. But do we have a right to change what was done to it? What if there was good reason that it was put in that form?”

Janna looked at Boris directly in the eyes “Boris, sometimes you overcomplicate things. Yes, it was probably trapped in that form for a reason. But would it be a reason we’d agree with? By all accounts, we’ve discovered the Kurtherian that landed here wasn’t standard issue, shall we say. And I’ve spent a bit of time talking to TOM. From what he tells me the Seven wouldn’t trap someone in a form that was not native to them, they would simply have killed them. And the five would have been even less likely to trap them in such form, being more likely to find some way to restrain them or put them in stasis. So, as far as I see it, there are three major points for releasing the beast’s form.”

She flicked out a finger, “Firstly we probably wouldn’t agree with the reason it was trapped in that form, to begin with.” She opened a second finger, “Secondly, it’s the only way we are really going be able to get any answers.” The put up a third finger, “Thirdly, you need those answers before you make a decision on the creature’s fate.”

She looked up at the man she had come to love, “Finally, the only reason you haven’t already made a decision is that you are delaying the inevitable. You really need to make a decision before tomorrow night Boris. Bethany Anne wants a report on your plan at the very least within 48-hours. I’ve seen enough from her to know that she won’t be upset if you’ve taken the initiative. What other decision is there to be made, really?”

Boris glared at her, the glare men use when a woman takes apart their anxieties and their dithering’s with surgical precision. She returned the glare with the look of serenity, knowing that any other expression she could give would only aggravate him.

She did love him, she reminded herself, despite the fact that he could be an ass sometimes.

Finally, grudgingly, he nodded at her with a sigh. “You’re right. Dammit, I just don’t like the entire issue. We have all these groups of human nations wanting to meddle around with alien technology, but we’re stuck here if something goes wrong. If the Beast turns out to be some sort of psycho or lunatic, we are the ones who will face it.” He looked around, not looking at what he was seeing, but the past. “But you’re right, and the risks seem small and embarrassing compared to many of the risks we’ve taken recently.”

Janna chuckled lightly. Boris had taken on a third generation vampire by himself and defeated it. From the descriptions of how fast he had moved, and what Gabrielle had known about Konrad, he had been a pretty powerful third generation vampire.

Talking about her abilities of the past, the time Before Bethany Anne, Gabrielle had been confident that if she had been in training for combat, she would have been able to take him down in a face-to-face encounter. She had also admitted that with how lax she had gotten in her training before her father had recruited her to aid Bethany Anne. She was not quite so certain she could have dealt with Boris, it was more likely without the training it would have been a draw. She had been somewhat slack in her training for a couple of centuries. Beyond that, the modifications that Bethany Anne had made to her nanites had pushed her abilities far beyond what they had been before Bethany Anne.

A slow grin started spreading across Boris’ face, and he shook his head ruefully. “What did I ever do without you, Janna? “He asked

A wicked smirk spread across her face “You made a mess of things and got yourself into a great deal of trouble from what you and Paul have told me. Although, in nowhere near as much trouble as Paul managed to get himself into from the stories I’ve heard.”

Boris grinned at that. If there was ever someone who was better at getting himself in and out of trouble than Paul, he had yet to meet them. It was probably the fact that he was such a capable survivor that allowed Boris to put up with all his quirks.

In his long life, Boris had learned to never bet against a survivor. A slow inner belief was planted as he thought that. After all, what else had Michael been, if not the consummate survivor? A small seed, that thought was, then he pushed it aside.

He had more pressing matters and concerns to deal with.

“So, when do you think we should do this? “He pointedly asked Janna. “After all, you’re the one with all the reasons as to why it should be done.”

“Well, “she said with a mischievous smile, “you know the saying, there is no time like the present, “Boris grunted stood up and grabbed the device that TOM and ADAM had sent down with the radio signal to reprogram the beast’s unique nanites.

Boris and Janna stood outside the cage in which they had placed the Beast. Boris glanced at Janna as if to say ‘are you sure this is a good idea still?’ She simply tapped a foot impatiently, shrugging slightly, he pressed the button. At first, nothing seemed to happen, then the beast lay down on the ground and started shaking its head as if in confusion. Finally, it let out a low rumbling roar of distress and fell unconscious.

Boris slid a sidelong glance at Janna and said, “Is that how TOM said it was supposed to work?”

She shrugged and said “TOM wasn’t exactly sure how it was gonna work. But it is one of the plausible scenarios. Think about it, he has to input energy into anyone who goes through the changes in the pod. Here, the nanites are probably drawing on energy directly from the Etheric through their host. The redirection of that energy can cause loss of consciousness to any creature not used to it. But the changes are minuscule compared to changing someone for the first time, with no risk of the sort of damage that was done to me. We’ll come back in a couple hours and see if it is up and about. If anything happens in the meantime, there are cameras on the Beast, the guards will call us.”

As they headed back to the cave which had become their quarters inside the system, Janna could feel the worry and guilt flowing off Boris. Once they reached their room, Janna sat Boris down on the bed and hugged him. She whispered reassurances that in none of TOM nor ADAM’s projected outcomes that what had nearly killed her would happen to the beast.

“It’s nowhere near the same process, Boris.” She was surprised by his reaction. He hugged her tightly to his chest, like a shipwreck survivor to a piece of flotsam in the sea, and she felt the warm wetness of his tears dampening her hair.

He said “I remember how terrified I was of losing you. I’d finally found my mate and almost lost you. It’s not just that. I make decisions for the town, and its people, yes, but I know many of them, and they accept my role. What I just did was make a decision for a person that I simply don’t know the same way. Is hard, making such decisions outside of battle. In battle, it is you against them. Often, to live, you must decide to kill them. This is no fight. This is someone I hope can help us. I do not want to hurt the Beast in any way.”

Gyada saw the two beings that had been responsible for caging her walk up with what looked like a black square cut rock with a glowing gem on the top. They talked to each other in the language which she was slowly learning, but she couldn’t comprehend exactly what they were saying. She was shocked when she saw the man push the gem into the black box. She had a sudden burst of buzzing in her head, and slowly, exhaustion crept into her bones. Her last thought before unconsciousness took her, was that these beings weren’t human. They had mastered the technology of the being that had changed her and had found a way to kill her without violence.

It had been just over two hours when the intercom that had been set up throughout the cave system called them back to the cage. Apparently, not only had the beast woken up but to everyone’s surprise except Janna’s it had managed to change into its human form… that of a woman. TOM and ADAM must have failed to tell Boris that the beast was female. At least based on his reaction to the announcement of her form. Boris released Janna and rushed down to the creature’s cage. Janna followed as closely as she could behind him.

Maybe now they would get the answers they wanted.

Gyada was surprised to wake up again. She had felt oblivion take her, and had been sure that finally she would be allowed to die. Clearly, it had not been time for the Valkyrie to take her, nor had her captors been trying to kill her.

She kept still with her eyes closed as she tried to think through what had happened. What had they been trying to do? She spent a while thinking on what they might have wanted. Her body didn’t feel different, but something about herself did. She spent more time trying to puzzle out what it could be. Eventually, out of other ideas, she decided to attempt to take her human form as she did from time to time.

Suddenly, she could feel her bare skin against the rough, rock floor of the cave. It had worked! For the first time in what it seemed like an eternity, she had skin, fingers, feet, no fur and no claws. She breathed in a shuddering breath of relief, overcome with a sense of wonder, joy, and solace, she started sobbing uncontrollably.

It was then that Janna hurried into the room. Gyada shuffled back from the tall, imposing woman. It wasn’t that she was ashamed of her nudity, but rather a spike of fear. This young woman had assisted in taking her down in her more fearsome form. She had no doubt in this weaker form she was similarly outmatched. Janna put a bundle down in front of her cage. She said, “I thought you might like these, come now put them on,” in a calm, soothing voice. Gyada simply backed away a little further and shook her head, having no idea what Janna had said. Janna sighed, picked up the top, shook it out and pointed one finger at the top then at Gyada. Slowly the wild woman moved forward, approaching the fabric as if it was magic. Tentatively she touched it, then ran her hand down the fabric that was far softer than any she had touched before. This was fabric that might even be finer than any she had seen a noble wear.

She lightly gripped it, and Janna let it drop. Boris had wanted to come in with Janna, but Janna had refused. Quite wisely it seemed, now given how skittish this person was in her human form. Two people in the room with her may have overwhelmed her and made communication even harder. Especially since they apparently shared no common tongue as Janna had run through greetings in every language she knew.

What they had here was a person unsettled by their surroundings, scared by the unfamiliarity of everything around her. Eventually, Janna got Gyada into her clothes, although she had refused the underwear. The buttons had also been a problem, as for whatever reason, her fingers were clumsy despite being only slightly bulkier than the average woman’s. Once she had Gyada calm again after getting her dressed, Janna led her out of the cage and over to a small table. The table had a tray with a large bowl of food, water cup, and a loaf of bread.

Boris had quietly slipped in and sat down next to Janna, putting his arm around her and just looked at Gyada. Fortunately, the smells of the food had Gyada completely distracted and unconcerned when he did so.

Janna pointed out how to use a cutlery to Gyada, but Boris lightly touched a hand and shook his head. It was entirely likely, given that she was multiple centuries old, that she had never eaten with cutlery before. She ate somewhat clumsily and with haste, leaving quite a mess by the end of the meal. Her face went bright red when she saw how much food had fallen off her plate, but both Janna and Boris just smiled and shook their heads at her. After the meal had been finished, Janna led Gyada to a room that Boris had told a sergeant to relinquish.

When the sergeant had found out why, there had been no complaints.