<p>Brothers Of The Blood - Mark Of Cain</p><p>Chapter 16</p><p>[prevous chapters <a href="http://www.squidge.org/peja/cgi-bin/viewstory.php?sid=37198">http://www.squidge.org/peja/cgi-bin/viewstory.php?sid=37198</a> ]</p><p>
<br><br>"Commander." Domani shouldered his hard muscled body between Dalton and Adric, making himself a flesh and blood shield. "This man's readings are not completely human."<br><br>"Not human?"<br>
<br>"That is correct. At least, not by our standards."<br><br>Dalton stepped impatiently around Domani and locked his chilled gaze on Adric. "What do you mean not human, Domani?"<br><br>"It is hard to explain. I sense a basic humanity," Domani said slowly. "But there is something alien merged into his genetic coding." He tilted his head, frowning. "I am... uncertain, but I believe I am sensing a...a neutralizing effect."<br>
<br>"Ian, can you confirm?"<br><br>Ian frowned, staring hard into Adric's grim face. "I be na' getting any unusual read off him. But he's wearing one of those bloody vests, so...." Ian crooked his brow, his hand resting on his empty holster. "'Tis a neutralizing field, you say, Domani? A personal shield, mayhap?"<br>
<br>Domani shook his head. "Negative. It is like nothing I have encountered before."<br><br>Adric held up his hand, halting their speculations. "Don't let's get excited. I thought Nicki would have told you about the neutrite," he said, turning to the woman. "Guess you haven't, have you?"<br>
<br>She ducked her head, picking at her nails. "It never came up."<br><br>"Well, it's come up, now," Dalton tilted his chin up, staring down his finely chiseled, aristocratic nose from heavy-lidded eyes. "Mysteries make me nervous, Adric. Why don't you enlighten me about this field of yours?"<br>
<br>Adric grimaced, rubbing his limp arm. "Nothing for you to worry about, actually. It's simply the result of some trouble I had during the evac that last day over Veegus."<br><br>"What kind of trouble?"<br>
<br>Adric's amber gaze shifted away. "If you'll remember, the computer was threatening an imminent shut down in life support. We were forced to abandon the ship while the autos implemented repairs to the damaged areas."<br>
<br>"I remember," Paris said. "It was...quite hair raising." <br><br>Adric nodded, smiling sadly. "Yeah, you thought so, but from my angle it looked like the evacuation was going off like a page out of the textbook. Everything was happening as it should have.<br>
<br>"Even so, I didn't want to leave anything to chance. I personally wanted to make sure everyone got off safely. For that reason, I was the last one to leave."<br><br>He tipped his chin down onto his chest. "I supervised the launchings. Each and every one went off without any trouble. At least, nothing showed up in the preliminaries. Anyway, once everyone was off-loaded, I ejected feeling pretty damn confident."<br>
<br>"And something went off on your shuttle?" Paris asked.<br><br>"No. At least, not at first. The launch went smoothly enough. I had no problem. Once my shuttle cleared the Venture, it locked onto a suitable planet away from the Veegus home world, which according to the scanners was going up like a massive ball of fire, and I settled down to wait out the trip." He shuddered caught up in his memories. "The trouble started right after I entered my touchdown planet's stratosphere. There must have been something undetectable in the atmosphere. I don't know. The shuttle controls froze up. Wouldn't respond to command." Adric's face went deathly pale and he swallowed convulsively. "I crashed on that damn planet."<br>
<br>"Evac shuttles are designed to withstand an upper atmosphere crash," Paris said.<br><br>"Yeah," Adric's voice dripped with sarcasm. "But unfortunately the crash system failed, too. The shields didn't activate." He shuddered, swallowing with difficulty. "The ship smashed up a bit. I, on the other hand, smashed up quite a lot."<br>
<br>"Yet you survived?" Dalton lifted a dubious brow. "Seems unlikely without the buffer to cushion the impact."<br><br>"It was touch and go," Adric said. "The impact was impressive."<br>
<br>Nykita dropped her hand onto Adric's shoulder. "When Adric was found, I understand his body was mangled pretty badly. At first glance, the rescue team thought he was dead. But once they pulled him from the wreckage, the doctors managed to find a spark of life remaining." <br>
<br>"This is getting a little hard to buy," Paris said nervously.<br><br>Nykita sneered, her eyes glittering with temper. "Believe what you want. I really couldn't care less. What matters is Adric is here. Proof positive he indeed survived."<br>
<br>"Is that what matters?" Dalton asked. "I have to wonder how all this ties into the neutralizing field."<br><br>Nykita glared at him. "The inhabitants of the planet were advanced. Far advanced compared to our standards. And they had an amazing respect for life. They absolutely refused to relinquish Adric to the comfort of death. They labored over his broken body for months. Forced him to cling to his life when his body would have succumbed. They even went so far as to put him in stasis when things looked past redemption."<br>
<br>Distrust dimmed Dalton's clear eyes. "That doesn't explain the curious readings."<br><br>"You want the gruesome details?" Nykita's fingers tightened on Adric's shoulder and she ground her teeth noisily. "Very well, then. The surgeons were working on a man who had been jelified. Every bone in his body was splintered. He was mangled beyond recognition." Her lids dropped over her eyes, shielding her thoughts from them. "Adric survived, but it was a miracle. Pure and simple. Nothing else explains it."<br>
<br>Adric shook his head, staring at his hands. "I rather thought it closer to the work of the devil."<br><br>"The readings."<br><br>"Dal, there's something you have to understand," Adric said softly.<br>
<br>"I'd say there's quite a lot I need to understand," Dalton challenged. "But say your piece. The rest will come."<br><br>"These people. They didn't mean any harm in what they did. I'm certain of it. Their only concern was to keep me alive." His eyes lifted, meeting Dalton's, then shifted away again. "Judes, they should have let me die."<br>
<br>A creeping horror took hold in the pit of Dalton's stomach. He moved swiftly to Adric's side, kneeling on one knee. "Just exactly what did they do to you?" he asked, staring deeply into the other man's glassy gaze.<br>
<br>Adric offered him a weak smile. "They were losing me, Dal. My body had exhausted itself in the healing process. I couldn't even maintain my own bodily functions."<br><br>"Sounds messy," Paris muttered.<br>
<br>Adric moaned deep in his throat, like a wounded animal. "It was the most dehumanizing thing I've ever experienced. If they'd been human, or even had human morals, they would have extinguished my life. It would have been the merciful thing."<br>
<br>"But they did not."<br><br>"No, Dal, they didn't. They followed their own culture. Did the only thing left them to do that would honor their beliefs."<br><br>"Which was?"<br><br>Adric shuddered, swallowing hard. "They grafted neutrite into my DNA."<br>
<br>"And?"<br><br>"And the neutrite changed my cell structure. Mutated me." <br><br>Dalton's jaw jerked spasmodically. "Mutated?"<br><br>"But it did work," Adric continued. "I got stronger every day. I survived. And I became something not myself. God in His mercy, I wish they'd let me go naturally."<br>
<br>Dalton jerked to his feet and backed away several paces, putting space between them. "Domani. What the devil is neutrite? What type of mutation are we dealing with here?"<br><br>"I have no information."<br>
<br>"Nothing?"<br><br>"I am sorry, Commander."<br><br>Dalton nodded. "If I'm understanding you right, Adric, you spent several months on a planet you have yet to name and were treated with an altering element of which we have no previous knowledge. That's what you're saying, yes?"<br>
<br>"Sounds a bit vague, doesn't it?" Adric admitted. "Hell, it's vague to me too, and I lived through it." He paused, staring at his hands. "I know how it must come across, Dal, but I am telling you the truth."<br>
<br>Dalton wanted to believe what Adric was saying. Wanted it so bad he could taste it on his tongue. Just as he wanted to take this man's word on faith, but his past would not allow it.<br><br>Groaning as if his doubts were tearing and ripping his very soul apart, Dalton strode back to Adric. "Make me believe, Adric. Explain it to me so I can believe."<br>
<br>"What more can I tell you?" Adric demanded desperately. "The only thing I know is the neutrite is a synthetic, living organism. It is almost metallic by nature. A living metal, if you like."<br><br>
"Not very well, actually."<br><br>"No more than I do." Adric sighed. "Understand, Dal. The neutrite has a unique ability to unite with organic tissue. In my case, it was seeded throughout my body. It bonded with my DNA and restructured my bone and musculature from the basic life unit up."<br>
<br>Dalton shook his head. "It all sounds a little too alien. A little too inhuman."<br><br>"He be a bloody gestalt," Ian said, backing away.<br><br>"Put away your superstition, Ian," Dalton snapped. "This is neither the time nor the place."<br>
<br>"But he's right, Dal. That's what it amounts to." Adric spoke softly, despondently. "I am human, but not human. Machine, but not machine.<br><br>"They made me into a hybrid, meshing me with metal and circuitry when all else failed, until I sometimes forget what it means to be truly human.<br>
<br>"I'm a freak of nature thanks to their meddling. But, I am still alive. I am still man enough to fight for the rights of mankind. I can still feel the need to free men, real men, from the grasp of the Coalition."<br>
<br><br><br>end part 16<br><br>come on guys, give me a comment? Just a word to let me know if this is making any sense<br clear="all"></p><br>-- <br>PEJA<br>The wwomb archive <a href="http://www.squidge.org/~peja/cgi-bin/index.php">http://www.squidge.org/~peja/cgi-bin/index.php</a> accepts all fandoms, all genres. Come create your personal page with us<br>
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