“The counteragent for Deplitoxide is an explosive chemical?” Adam asked, arching his eyebrow inquisitively.
“Well, not exactly,” Tora said embarrassed, reasserting herself in the conversation. “The Terran data was woefully incomplete. If we had followed their guidelines exactly, we wouldn’t have managed a real solution to the problem. So, we made a few modifications to their formula, adding some elements that we thought might make it more effective.”
Keryn stared into the scorched room as a plan began to formulate in her mind. “Can you do it again?” she asked.
“Do what again?” Wyck asked.
“Can you make it explode again?” she clarified.
The two smiled. “Exploding isn’t a problem. We were worried you wanted us to find a way to make it not explode!”
“No, I like it just the way it is,” Keryn said. She turned toward the beaming pair. “What do you need from us?”
Wyck looked around at the gathered workers. “Well, we have enough of a labor pool to get the necessary equipment up here, so that’s not really a necessity.”
“Um…” Tora added. “Would it be possible to turn of the fire alarm?”
Keryn smiled. “We’ll get right on that. You two, get back to work and call me as soon as you have it ready to be presented to me, Adam, and Alcent.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Wyck replied. He turned away and started barking orders to the workers.
“What are you thinking?” Adam asked as they made their way back to the lift.
“I’ll explain as we walk,” she replied as they climbed into the elevator.
As the lift descended through the ship, Keryn explained in brief detail the extent of her plan. Adam laughed at her as she used her hands to demonstrate aerial maneuvers and the necessary strategies for the bulky Alliance Cruisers. By the time the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Keryn had finished describing her plan.
“And you thought of all of that after listening to Wyck and Tora?” he asked.
“More or less,” she said distractedly as she continued refining her plan in her head.
“That’s why I love you,” Adam said, kissing her on her forehead.
Though she tried to focus on their new plan, her thoughts kept drifting to High Council’s message. She wasn’t supposed to tell anyone of their mission, but she wasn’t sure if she was strong enough to do it alone. Keryn stopped. Adam made it a few more steps before he realized she was no longer following.
“Keryn?” he said.
“Adam,” she said, trying to read his body language as she continued. “Please hear me out before you say anything.” More than ever, Keryn worried that Adam and Yen’s friendship would get in the way of her mission.
“You’ve known me for a while now,” she began. “We’ve become so close, even though you’ve seen me do some horrible things that would scare away most men. But every time I’ve ever done something bad — like killing a man or torture — I’ve always felt it was justified. Most of all, I knew that you thought it was justified. I never worried about you leaving me. What if we ran into a situation where you didn’t think killing someone was justified? Even if it was necessary, could you support me if I suddenly decided to kill someone like Alcent or Wyck or Tora?” Keryn lowered her voice until her tone became almost sheepish. “Would you stay with me, even if you didn’t support me?”
“Keryn,” Adam said, his brow furrowed in confusion. “I know you well enough to know that you would never harm one of your friends. On Othus, you did everything you could to save Penchant, even being willing to risk your own life to save his. I can’t imagine a situation where I wouldn’t support you. Hell, I don’t know where this is coming from, but I will always support you. I don’t know why you would even think I might leave.”
Keryn nodded as they began walking toward the bridge again. She stole glances in his direction, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he wouldn’t have been so quick to agree if he knew the truth.
It took over a day before Wyck notified everyone that they were now ready for a more effective display of their new counteragent. Alcent joined Keryn and Adam as they entered the newly redesigned laboratory. The scorched interior had been removed and replaced by clear blast shields surrounding a collection of mechanical contraptions. The mechanical arms extended over a table placed in the center of the room, on top of which rested two Petri dishes full of a black substance.
Wyck and Tora hurried over to their side as they entered. “I really think we have something great here,” Wyck began, skipping the mundane formalities.
Tora placed a patient hand over his. “First of all, welcome. Secondly, before we begin the demonstration, you really need a little background information.” Tora led them toward the blast shields, through which she pointed toward the two dishes. “We’ve isolated two samples of Deplitoxide in the dishes on the table. As you know, the big D is an organic compound created from plants on Beracus. On a cellular level, the compound absorbs direct and ambient heat from its surroundings, emitting a dark tar.”
“Basic Deplitoxide 101,” Wyck interjected, smiling at his own humor.
“What you may not know,” Tora said before Wyck could continue, “is what the Deplitoxide does with all that heat. If I can draw your attention to the screen, I can explain a little clearer.” A monitor to their right flickered to life, showing a microscopic view of a collection of cells. Within each of the cells, a reddish mass swirled just beneath their surfaces. “When the big D absorbs the heat, it converts it to a nucleic mass, trapped within a thick outer membrane. The superheated mass jumpstarts a process within the cell that results in cellular fission. The two new cells, having shared the superheated mass as well, have now cooled and are now capable of absorbing even more increasing amounts of surrounding heat. Using this process, the Deplitoxide is able to organically spread and, as we’ve seen, cover an entire sun.”
“Fascinating,” Alcent said, “but I’m not quite sure where you’re heading with all this.”
“That was just the background information,” Wyck retorted. “The real fun begins when we introduce our special sauce. I’ve named our chemical Torazine.”
Tora blushed as Wyck told everyone the name. Quickly, she tried to change the subject. “If you look back at our setup,” Tora explained, “you’ll see that we have two mechanical arms perched above each of the dishes. At the tips of the arms, small droppers filled our… of Torazine are ready to inject the chemical into the Deplitoxide. I think you’ll be impressed with the results.”
“If it’s anything like what happened earlier, we may want to back up,” Keryn said as she backed from the blast screen. The others quickly followed suit.
Wyck retrieved a wireless console from behind him and began pushing a series of buttons. In response, the first arm lowered toward the Petri dish until it hovered a foot above the table.
“Everyone ready?” he asked. Without waiting, he pushed the release button. The arm depressed the plunger on the back of the dropper, shooting a small amount of an orange fluid into the dish below. The observers all flinched involuntarily as the Torazine struck, expecting an explosion. When nothing happened, they slowly lowered their arms and turned toward the two scientists.
“Somehow, I was expecting a little more of a world shattering kaboom,” Adam admitted.
Tora and Wyck exchanged knowing smiles. “We didn’t,” Wyck stated. “The fact is, the first experiment wasn’t meant to explode.”
“The first dish was full of an inert collection of the Deplitoxide cells,” stated Tora. “Taken straight from one of the rockets, the cells had never been introduced to a heat source. The Deplitoxide, therefore, didn’t react to the Torazine.”
“Then what, exactly, does your chemical do?” Alcent asked impatiently.