Panacea by Viola Grace Page A

I will say you are doing an excellent job. See you tomorrow.”
    She left him alone and headed for her quarters. If she was going into the tank the following day, she was going to have to prepare herself. Time for a big dinner. They could pump her stomach when she was dropped in place.
    A lady had to have her priorities after all.
     
    Her last monologue with her sister rang in her mind as the leads were initiated under her skin.
    Tyanni was better. That was all that mattered. She held onto the hands of the med techs as they lowered her into the tank and the body-temperature fluid closed around her.
    Breathing the liquid was the hardest thing she had ever done. She braced her hands on the tank, and the techs held her head under when she would have shot upward for air.
    The first breath caused panic, and she saw the monitors going wild. They continued to hold her under as she gasped again and again with heavy jerks of her jaw.
    The world looked strange through the thick plexi of the tank and the liquid. Everything was larger and warped.
    The doctor gave her a thumbs-up, and they started the therapy.
     
    Six hours later, a rhythmic thudding entered the base.
    They weren’t at Lunar Base itself, they were at a medical base that had been created for other species to foot the bill to alter agreeable humans for their own purposes.
    The Nikkelson sisters were just the tip of the iceberg. The alien races were beginning to notice the Terrans’ malleable DNA and wanted to incorporate a little fresh blood into ancient races.
    Of course, not all races were fans of the new species, so the Terrans were within their rights to request alterations for their own protection. Fangs were popular, as were metallic implants that overlaid the fingernails.
    Lynni had done her research while her sister had healed in the tank. She could only find out the most basic of information about the Lrrko. There weren’t even any images of them in the Alliance database.
    The thudding causing the liquid in her tank to tremble came closer. It seemed softer than it had when she first sensed it.
    The seven-foot robot in a form-fitting tunic and snug trousers walked into her medical bay, and it stood in front of her tank.
    Four cameras moved and took her in.
    The doctor in charge of her care gave him a briefing on her status.
    The bot nodded, and it stood in front of her, a few inches from the tank.
    It pressed a hand to the tank, and she heard a voice all around her. “My name is Leko. I am your Familiar, Lynni Nikkelson of Terra.”
    She pressed a hand to the interior of the tank. She nodded.
    He watched her silently, and she closed her eyes. The silent stare was a little much, even from lenses.
     
    * * * *
     
    Three hours after he arrived, Leko noted a fluctuation in Lynni’s bio signs. He sent an alert to her physician and kept his gaze on her as her heartbeat spiked and her temperature steadily climbed.
    The medical team swarmed over the tank and checked her supplements a moment before she started thrashing.
    “What is going on, Doctor?” He asked it, but the colour changes in her body were holding all of the physician’s attention.
    “I don’t know. I designed the treatment to match her genetic pattern. This shouldn’t be happening.”
    “What is your plan?”
    “I am running genetic breakdowns to determine what is going on in her body. Both the area affected and the other are going to be compared.”
    Leko felt a surge of helplessness as his charge continued her seizures and her fever climbed.
    One of the techs called the doctor over, and he looked at the results. “This is impossible.”
    Leko would have frowned if he had a mobile face. “What is it?”
    “Two separate genomes. She is carrying two completely separate genetic patterns. Her body is a mix of two different genomes that fused into one functioning form. I have heard of this but have never seen it before.”
    Leko nodded. “We call them splices. They cannot be detected in normal