Stars Series

Chapter 4

4

Charlotte paced in front of the large screen. Each time she reached the wall of windows, not paying attention to the beautiful gardens on the other side, she’d turn to pace towards the solid wall, her eyes on the series of time and date displays. Please, Sid, you promised, she said to herself. Another turn from the wall to the windows and halfway across the floor, she halted as the screen brightened to show the face of the man who made it his duty to protect her daughter. The gray hair aged him, but the kindness and concern in his eyes eased some of her own tension.

“Empress. Reporting as scheduled,” Sid said and bowed his head slightly, though he didn’t drop his eyes.

“Cease the formality, Sid. Is Kiersten alright?”

“Of course.”

“She needs to return to Suma. The wedding is three and a half weeks away.”

“I don’t think she wants to come back. At least for a while.”

“You force her to return!” Charlotte raised her voice, feeling the pressures of deadlines looming.

Sid raised his brows. “You know Kiersten as well as I. She’ll do as she pleases. If you don’t prefer it that way, you have no one to blame but yourself. You did raise her to use her intelligence and common sense for a reason. You made sure she was educated and well trained to prepare her for her life. And now you grow angry and impatient because she applies her lessons better than you had hoped?”

“What I should have done was taught her to be obedient. Sid, this wedding is important.”

“She understands that.”

“Then she should know she needs to be here. By the Source, Sid, she hasn’t even met her husband-to-be.” There was exasperation in Charlotte’s voice, and a deepening of the furrows between her brows.

Sid shook his head. “She has it in her mind to release Derek.”

“I have an advocate working on those charges. The most recent report stated the drink server, the only one willing to identify the actual perpetrator, cannot be located.”

“Typical. The Tamplians can’t be trusted. They want to punish someone for the death of one of their own, so they eliminate witnesses when the actual criminal is already off-planet.”

“I can’t have both of my children missing. Bring Kiersten home,” Charlotte pleaded.

Sid clamped his mouth shut. It wasn’t worth it to correct her. He gave up that privilege when he walked away all those years ago.

Kiersten was stubborn. Once she got an idea in her head, she could rarely be talked out of it. He was careful about manipulating her. She was perceptive, and he believed that once her trust was lost, she would be reluctant to offer it again. Sid rubbed his brow, attempting to devise a plan.

Noticing the scar on the back of his hand caused Charlotte to soften her scowl. Her relationship with Sid changed forever on that day. There were more times than she could remember when she questioned her judgment, her choice. Sighing, she relaxed her shoulders. If anyone could encourage Kiersten to return home, it was Sid.

He dropped his hand and looked at the face that haunted his dreams. “If enough of the vaccine spoils, we’ll have to replenish the supply.”

Charlotte’s lips wore a ghost of a smile. “Perhaps the lab has a surplus.”

Sid gave a sharp nod.

“Thank you,” she said just before the connection closed.

Sid had agreed to bring Kiersten home, but it was up to Charlotte to encourage her to remain.

Dr. Ulcyn placed his left hand on the sensor and keyed in the code with the fingers on his right. The door to the lab slid open silently. He stepped through, pulled a sterile coat from the shelf and moved to his monitor as he pushed his arms through the sleeves and sealed the front of the coat. Using voice commands to interface with his computer, he stepped under a modified showerhead inside a glass tube, and closed his eyes and held his breath for the three seconds it took for the sealant to be sprayed and dried.

Moving to a door behind the table where the computer monitor sat, he keyed in another code and stepped into a storage room. Unlike the other storage areas, this one was special. It housed the vaccine for Clenstamia. Dr. Ulcyn made his way from shelf to shelf, checking the viability of the vaccine by the cloudiness of the liquid. He shook his head when he found an entire rack, enough to protect one thousand colonists, had expired.

It had taken a team of scientists four months to isolate the individual components of the virus, which could only be accomplished once someone was infected, and post-mortem. Some of the elements that composed the virus were new to the team. The research continued until a formula was developed that counteracted all the individual compounds of the virus. Since most colonists were human, the vaccine was perfected using a human body system. Research continued to adjust the vaccine for other races, but the results had yet to be a hundred percent accurate.

They knew the virus was spread by air and by contact. It appeared to affect planets that were more isolated, and colonies that were settled within the last hundred years. It was difficult, and dangerous, to deliver the vaccine to those who needed it, as the Tamplians often patrolled the space of the colonies, demanding outrageous fees for passage to the surface, and on occasion they would board the vessel, e*****e the ship’s crew, and then take whatever cargo was in the storage units. Both the Tamplians and Vancurelians had a strong presence in the colonies, and so far, only the Vancurelians showed immunity to Clenstamia. However, once the vaccine was made available to the colonists, a vial was placed into a dermagun, which was placed anywhere on the person’s body, and then the trigger was pressed. Each glass bottle held enough vaccine for one hundred colonists. The disadvantage was that because of the components of the vaccine, it was very unstable. A temperature fluctuation of four degrees in either direction and the vaccine became cloudy and unusable. Because of the delicate balance of the ingredients, they broke down if stored for too long, which kept the vaccine from being produced in large quantities.

The remaining supply appeared to be usable, so Dr. Ulcyn took the rack of spoiled vaccine with him as he left the storage room. He sighed as he set the vials inside the incinerator. All remnants of the vaccine would be destroyed. The glass would melt and be recycled, and any residual components would be added to a solution that would render them harmless. Just as Dr. Ulcyn closed the chute door and activated the incinerator, his monitor signaled an incoming communication.

Turning towards the monitor, he answered, “Yes?”

Empress Charlotte appeared on the screen. “Dr. Ulcyn, what is the status of the supply of vaccine?”

He bowed to the screen before answering. “There is a large enough supply, though I just had to destroy some because it spoiled.”

“Will there be enough to justify a journey to another colony?”

“Yes, Empress.”

Charlotte scowled. “With the grace of Source, Kiersten is on her way home. If she approaches to you wanting a fresh supply, deny that there is enough.”

“But, Empress, I thought you wanted the colonists to have access to the vaccine—” he began his questioning before Charlotte interrupted him.

“Of course, but I require the presence of my daughter here, not traipsing through space. This ceremony is of great importance.”

“I understand, Empress,” he lied. He didn’t know the full ramifications of the wedding, and he certainly didn’t agree that delaying the delivery of the vaccine was the correct choice.

“So, if Kiersten contacts you,” she said, leaving the statement unfinished.

Dr. Ulcyn cleared his throat. “There is not a large enough supply for a trek to the next colony.”

“And it will be weeks before more is available,” Charlotte continued.

“Yes, Empress.”

“Thank you, Dr. Ulcyn,” Charlotte sighed and ended the communication.

Dr. Ulcyn’s graying brows drew together. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stood solidly on both feet. A human male in his late sixties, yet still in possession of a fairly athletic form, with long limbs and flat belly despite his hours in the lab or sitting in front of a screen, his brilliant mind considered the Empress’s request. He liked the Princess. She was smart and brave and selfless. He decided that informing Kiersten there was a lack of vaccine and allowing thousands of colonists to perish, didn’t share the logic of assisting Kiersten, and suffering the wrath of the Empress, by saving lives and ensuring his name was recorded in the history records as the lead scientist on the vaccine team.