Way of No Return (Champions of the Crystal Book 8)

Chapter 13: The Battle Begins

The next three days and nights passed in a blur for Ford as he buried himself in his work. The lab building was full of experiments aimed at throwing off their invaders, from Reya's analysis of the disturbing new parasite form she had found in Abons to his own work on the Kyan communications system. A group of xenobiology students was the first to score a triumph: they found how the Kyan were killing cats.

"So they obviously have a whole arsenal of these parasites," Ford said, looking around the conference table at representatives of the various groups, all gathered to share information. "The one they used to phase shift my sisters and Sabrina, the ones they've used to control people, the new eavesdropping model, and now one that kills cats. How did they manage to get so specific?"

"They must have had subjects to experiment on," Reya said. "My examination of the parasite shows it is tailored to the cats' unique biology, which explains why these do not kill other life forms. Though I would be curious as to its effects on other life forms from Earth."

Ford suppressed a shudder. "Let's hope they don't decide to invade there. How can we kill them?"

Professor Tassan Sharish, recently returned from hiding to supervise his xenobiology department's efforts, said, "They are exceedingly difficult to detect. Were it not for Doctor Areyashanarll's equipment, we would never have found them. In addition to the usual parasite camouflage, these are tiny. They ingest certain substances found in the feline brain and excrete a neurotoxin, which in very small amounts becomes fatal. I do not know if the extraction methods used on other species of parasite will be effective."

Reya said, "We will need live infected subjects in order to determine that. But the toxin appears to work swiftly, and the remaining cats are too valuable to use in experiments with a high likelihood of being fatal, as they are currently our only hope of detecting the espionage-oriented species."

I should have grabbed some while I was on Earth, Ford thought. "Excellent work by the xenobiology team, Professor. Please convey my personal gratitude. What are your next steps?"

"We have input all our data and hope to use modeling to narrow down possibilities for extracting or eliminating the parasite without killing the host," Sharish said. "We will begin with the extraction methods used successfully on other types of parasite, though the neurotoxin production capability complicates this case considerably."

"Yes," Reya said. "The espionage type appears to extract in the same way the control type does. Stopping all electrical activity in the brain for a brief period kills the parasite due to lack of nourishment. The host may then be resuscitated safely. Citizen Abons shows no ill effects, though we are monitoring him to be sure no seed of the parasite remained to regenerate itself. Apparently this type absorbs less of the brain's energy, resulting in less damage to the tissue, then either of the previously known types."

Ford recalled that Ricar, a victim of the control parasite, had suffered damage to the parts of his brain dealing with motor control, resulting in his medical discharge. He had recovered to a great extent after years of physical therapy as his brain rebuilt connections with undamaged tissue. Marie, whose parasite had stolen nearly all the electrical energy in her brain to effect the phase shift, had been left with mostly dead brain cells. Though her medical team had managed to stimulate regrowth, the new cells did not seem to form connections as easily as normal cells, resulting in her mental disability. "Good. I'll make sure the word gets out that we can cure infected people and that they should be sent here. Hopefully they'll further our research while being cured. Good work, Doctor Areyashanarll. Now, my own line of inquiry—"

Ford broke off at a knock on the door, looking over his shoulder. Stecklan answered it, then stood back to let the new arrival enter. "Ah, Lyrabeth," Ford greeted her. "You have news?"