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"No,
Killbane." The teacher rejected the answer with an impatient
movement of his hand. "You haven't understood the principle
of encapsulation at all. – Anyone else?" He looked
around. "Yes, Gooseman."
"If
the foreign body can't be pushed out it has to be separated from
the rest of the tissue by a thin layer of inactive
cells."
"What's this
inactive cell layer?"
"The
capsule."
"What is it
for?"
"To keep control
over the foreign body. Ah... to prevent it from migrating in the
tissue."
"That could
also be done by hardened living cells which afterwards could be
reintegrated into the system instead of causing a permanent loss
of tissue. Why do they have to be inactive?" The silence in
the room was broken by hissed comments: Grind, Commander's
pet, Shut up!... "It's still your turn, Gooseman."
... To get shredded.
"Living
cells have metabolism, inactive ones don't transport substances.
Therefore... the capsule has to be inactive to prevent the
potential spread of poison through the body."
"Correct.
Except it's tissue transitive. – Good, Gooseman. –
Tissue transitive toxins don't need metabolism to spread in the
body. They spread through the cells on the molecular level. You
all were immunized against most of them during your DNA-adaption.
The list of the other tissue transitive toxins is on display in
the common room. I'll test you on it next class session."
"I
can't get used to the armed men next to my desk."
"They
are there for your protection, Dr. Meadows."
"Do
you really think they're necessary, Walsh?"
"You're
teaching the most talented group." Joseph Walsh looked
earnestly at him. "Every one of your pupils is more
dangerous than a whole company of space marines."
"But
they're teenagers."
"They
are weapons."
"Hey,
grind!"
"Piss off,
Ryker. I've got work to do!" A growl crept into Goose's
voice as he answered the older ST and tried to keep concentrating
on the toxin list at the same time.
"Trying
to outdo us again? I thought I told you what would happen if you
did that again – commander's pet." Some of the others
sat spread out across the room, sneering and watching the fight
in the offing. "Or maybe I should say commander's
girlfriend?"
Killbane's
fist crashed against the table's edge, barely missing Gooseman,
who threw himself to the side. Goose's body scraped against the
table, skin tearing. He rolled under the desk and onto his feet,
slid back on one flank from the other side over the tabletop, and
slammed his feet into Killbane's stomach. His enemy stumbled two
steps back and roared: "You'll pay for
this!!!"
Gooseman balanced
on the balls of his feet, tried to keep distance between himself
and the others. Jackhammer and Gravestone blocked the way through
the main door. Stingray stood in front of the sleeping quarters,
playing with one of his knives.
Shane
looked around. Damn! No chance in here! My abilities aren't
strong enough to break through the bulletproof glass. But his
are!
Goose fell back towards
the wall with the windows, provoking his enemy. Killbane
furiously jumped at Goose, shifted into his spiked form, crashed
against the younger ST. Goose leaped to the side. Two of the
spikes caught him, ripped open his side – but Killbane
slammed against the windows, shattering them. Goose was pulled
out through the splintered clear steel plate. Shards tore like
scrapnel into his arms, Killbane was cut, too. Goose tumbled
over, jumped to his feet and tried to run, but a paw like a vice
held his foot. He fell down, was buried under a heavy weight.
"Now you're in for it!"
The voice behind his head was enraged. "Hey, pack! I'll let
him have it!"
"It's no
use smacking little girls, Ryker." Stingray's ironic comment
made the others laugh. "Commander's pet isn't worth the
effort."
"Ha! I'm
going to take the commander's girlfriend!"
Fangs
sank into Goose's neck, scraped over the vertebrae, shook him
like a piece of prey. Clawed hands tore open his clothes, ripping
into the flesh of his back... He writhed, twisted – and
noticed the sand in front of him.
"Keep
still! Or I'll finish you off right now!"
A
blow hit his back. Goose tried to jump away but was slammed to
the ground, half turning as he fell. His outstretched right hand
dug into the sand. He twisted around and tore his neck free,
leaving a piece of his flesh in the transformed fangs of his
enemy. His left hand, driven by rage and pain, slashed across the
ugly face above him...
The
sirens howled as Ryker hunched over. Goose struggled to free
himself and retreated to the other side of the yard without
letting the others out of his sight, bloody hand stretched out
before him as a warning. Killbane's bio defenses glowed as they
activated. The cuts closed. The others shouted for him to give
the rest to the grind. But Killbane didn't get up. He screamed,
writhed in pain and hatred.
The
guards secured the yard within moments, laser rifles kept at the
ready. Gooseman let his hand drop and waited without moving.
Killbane, struggling in the guards' grip, stared hatefully at him
and spat a single word in his direction: "Runt!" The
commander's announcement drowned it out.
=Killbane
- to the medo station. Gooseman - in my office, immediately! The
rest of you to the sleeping quarters. Anyone found outside in
three minutes will be disciplined!=
"What
happened?" Walsh scrutinized the young ST in the overall,
tattered from the shoulders down to the legs. Deep cuts in
Goose's sides, gashes in his arms and legs and a bite on his neck
soaked the shredded cloth with blood.
"Ryker
tried to kill me." Goose pressed the cloth Walsh had given
him against the wound in his neck.
"You
have severly injured him."
"I
didn't want to die. If he'd left me alone I wouldn't have done
it."
Walsh accepted that
with a nod. "You're dismissed, Gooseman. Get your injuries
treated. And stay away from Killbane!"
"Yes,
Sir."
Professor Negata
entered the room after Gooseman had left. "Killbane has lost
his eye."
"How is that
possible? Gooseman isn't as far along as Killbane. It's
remarkable that he could even have escaped from him."
"Don't
be so sure about that, Joseph." Negata put a data screen
onto the desk and activated it with a key.
"What's
that?"
"The
surveillance files. – He told the truth, Killbane attacked
him, looks like a rape attempt to me. But there's something else
very interesting. Look here..." Negata pointed at a detail,
zoomed the image. "Watch Gooseman's right hand. Pay
attention to the fingers."
"They're
changing... He shouldn't be capable of such transformations for
at least six more months. How..?"
"Panic.
Fear. Strong emotions seem to generate the necessary energy for a
short time. It's also possible that he has developed faster than
we thought and is hiding it from
us."
"What...?"
"Claws,
of iridium steel according to the spectrographic analysis. He
shredded Killbane's eye down to the skull. The scan even shows
scratches in the bone."
"Killbane's
bio defenses are fully active. Why wasn't the eye
restored?"
"Just a
moment. Look again at Gooseman. At his right hand. Do you see the
sand?"
"Yes. Must have
drifted over from the training ground."
The
professor nodded. "He drove it into the shredded flesh. When
Killbane used his bio defenses every one of the grains was
capsuled. And now the capsules form–"
"–a
single inactive mass in his face." Walsh stared, shocked, at
the events in slow motion on the screen. "His body can't
regenerate, because capsules are treated as part of the
body."
"Correct. And
if we cut out the capsules the disfigurement stays because
capsule tissue isn't replacable."
"Gooseman
used Killbane's own abilities against him." Walsh hissed
through his teeth. "He always fights with his
head."
"Yes. He's a
much brighter head than Killbane. Sometimes I think he's brighter
than he should be with his genetic base. Maybe we should test his
IQ sometime." Negata shrugged. "At least he found a way
to wound a Bio Defense Carrier like himself
permanently."
"How
should we react to this?"
"He
was attacked and has defended himself successfully."
"To
punish him for success would send the wrong signal. We'll have to
let it go. But we must not forget the reason for the
attack."
"Is he aware
of what Killbane was trying to do?"
"No."
Walsh looked at the door through which Gooseman had left. "He
has no idea. He thought Killbane tried to kill him. I've ordered
him to stay away from Killbane."
"Let's
leave it at that. I'll raise the dose of the sexual
inhibitor."
"For all
of them?"
"Yes."
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