Jack was watching over Katreya. Periodically, he had scanned her and wiped a cool cloth over her forehead. Over the last few days she'd developed a mild fever. It had been building the moment he'd caught her in his arms when the beams in the ancient structure had finally let her go . . . All he could remember at the moment was it being called The Hall of Knowledge and the fact that the strange holographic man had said she was the beginning of a new bloodline . . .
Charger was cuddled next to Treya on the bed; hadn't really moved from her side in the whole 70 hours she'd been unconscious. Almost three days and she hadn't even stirred.
He thought back to carrying her body out of the temple. She had been right about the doors opening on their way out. But he had never expected to be carrying her. Once outside, he'd wasted no time. He'd used the emergency site to site he had rigged up to his ship and beamed them and Charger back to the Roanoke. From there, he'd seen to it that a doctor looked at her, but all they could say was that she appeared to be deeply asleep - almost in a comatose state, except that her brain was highly active.
Not happy with that assessment and wanting her to see another doctor, he'd taken her from Vedara. They were on their way back to Serenity. He knew many of the doctors at Paladin and trusted their opinions. Over the last few days, he had walked his ship until he was sure he would wear the deck thin. He'd sat by her side. He'd eaten here and there, knowing he needed to keep his strength up, but he couldn't eat much, and he slept in the room with her; so had Charger, though neither of them had slept much. And the last he knew, comatose people weren't suppose to have fevers unless there was an infection . . . Of course, he had no way of knowing what the beams had exactly done to her. So many questions and no answers. He hoped to whatever spirit was watching over them that she wasn't permanently damaged.
Katreya was standing in a temple, dressed in white robes. On her head was a simple band of gold. Her hair was done up and around her neck was a chain that held the medallion she'd used to get into the Hall of Knowledge.
"You are the new bloodline of the Arterians," a loud, booming voice said. "You have the knowledge of our people and the gifts to use it. Use them well . . Let us always be remembered..."
Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light that encompassed her.
Jack took her hand as he heard her moan. Charger immediately began licking her face. Treya's eyes opened, but even the minimal light in the room seems bright. With pain, she shut them again . . . The ache in her head felt as if someone were hitting her with a sledge hammer
"Oh god, make it stop . . ." she said softly
"What?" he asked with relief and concern all at once, hearing her voice
"My head . . . Hurts . . ." she said softly
"We can try a pain killer," he replied. "I have a few on hand. Nothing too strong though. We're also on our way back to Serenity . . . I'm going to take you up to Paladin.
"What happened?" she asked. "I remember being in the Hall of Knowledge . . and then there was light and . . . a dull ache . . . then nothing . . . except a dream I just had . . . " She tried to sit up, but couldn't. Her head began to swim and a wave of nausea came over her
"Lay back," he said softly, making sure she was settled against the pillow once more. "You're not going to get up in your present condition . . . and you know, I don't know what happened. All I can tell you was that I saw you get zapped by several beams of light and by the time they were done with you, you were unconscious . . . That was almost three days ago. It's been almost 72 hours.
"What . . . ?" she said completely floored, the news making her head ache worse
"Yeah, I transported us to the ship. I even had a doctor look at you back on Vedara, but they couldn't tell me what was wrong . . . I'm sure the doctors at Paladin will be able to tell us something," Jack said. Tenderly he caressed her face. "You had me worried . . .
"I can't believe it's been almost three days . . ." she said. "And this headache . . ." She moaned
"Well, we're about 5 hours out from Serenity . . . I'll have you to the hospital soon," he said. "But until then, you need to rest . . . Charger will stay with you; right, boy?
Charger turned and licked her face more. Treya smiled as her fingers went through his fur petting him
"I'm going to go check on the ship. Be back in a few," he said and walked off. Once outside the door, he took a deep steadying breath. He had been worried. More worried than he'd ever want to admit. He'd never known anyone like Dr. Katreya Junipher in his life and in the short time he'd known her, he couldn't imagine his life without her in it . .
They arrived in Serenity's orbit almost 5 hours later on the dot. Jack got the clearances he needed and set his ship down at the space port. It wasn't long before he had arranged for a site to site transport to Paladin for a medical emergency. Treya still was unable to sit up and her head was still throbbing
As they materialized in Paladin, Treya in his arms, there were medics to meet them rolling a gurney. In moments, they had her on the gurney and were wheeling her away, Jack on their heels
Once she was settled into an exam room, they waited, with the lights turned low to help ease the headache
"I don't remember the last time I was in a hospital," she said softly
"Well, at least they have a good chance of finding out what happened to you," he said
"Yeah," she replied
Not more than a minute later, a doctor entered the room. He had brown hair and brown eyes.
"Good day," he said looking at the two. His English accent was apparent. "I'm Dr. William Hancock. Oh, hello, Jack. They didn't tell me it was you.
"Well, it's not really me, it's my friend here. Her name is Katreya Junipher," he replied
"So you're the renowned archaeologist," he replied and nodded. "And what exactly has happened to bring you both here?
Jack and Treya went into the story of the hike and the Hall of Knowledge without going into the details of why they had been there to begin with. As they told him about the beams of light that had hit her, he grabbed his medical scanner and began his examination, paying particular attention to her head. Finally at the end of it all, he seemed to be puzzled
"You are human and Tanzaran, correct?" he said as he pulled up her med file and reviewed it
"Yes," she replied curiously. "Why?
"Because it seems that not all of your genes are showing me that . . There seems to be an unknown factor present . . ." This didn't sit well with William Hancock at all
"Like maybe another DNA sequence is taking over?" she asked
"Like the Arterians?" added Jack, who thought about what the message had said and had seen the violet beams hit her body forcefully, practically covering her body with their light
"It could be, but it doesn't seem to be taking out any important DNA sequences and rewriting them. These changes seem to be very specific . . Some are in the blood, others - most, in fact, are changing the structure of the brain . . . In fact, some regions that are normally not stimulated in humans and Tanzarans are being increased dramatically, and even some that are stimulated are being enhanced.
"So what does that mean exactly?" Jack asked. The concern in his eyes increased
Will shrugged. "I would expect an increase in her normal capabilities . . . Your empathic and telepathic centers are showing more signs of activity than normal. I would also think that your thinking might be thrown off a bit as you adapt-
"But should this be allowed to keep going?" Jack said
"Well, the problem is, there isn't much I can do to stop it at this time. But the good news is that it doesn't seem to be trying to take over her DNA sequence. It just seems to be adding to her and making specific changes .
"And what if they don't happen to be good changes?" Jack asked with an edge in his voice
"They don't want to kill me . . ." she said softly with certainty
Both William and Jack looked at her
"And you know this how??" Jack asked, with not just concern, but annoyance
She paused for a moment. "They want someone to remember them . . ." she said softly. "To remember their history and what kind of people they were . . . They want us to . . . to not just remember, but . . . to learn from them .
"I don't understand," William said looking at her. "Then what is your purpose in that?
"I'm the conduit . . . I . . . I have the memories of the Arterian people . ." she said. "I have their knowledge . . .
"And they're trying to take away who you are!" Jack said with more force than he'd meant
"No . . ." she replied, but she was getting weak. "I'm tired . . . They want me to . . . to keep us from . . . repeating their mistakes . .
She reached for the blanket at the foot of the bed, but didn't reach it. But both men watched in shocked fascination at the blanket as it rose to meet her hand. Pulling it over and around herself, she drifted to sleep, unaware of what had happened
"My god . . ." Will replied, scanning her once again
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