The Thirteenth (Part One)

- This is the thirteenth.

- Thirteenth? I did not think there were so many...

- See this spectacular specimen! It is stronger than the others.

- Should we work better on it? Their useful life is not very long, as far as we know.

- Yes, it's true. But this one seems to have more than the others do. Let's look at it more carefully. It is our responsibility to select only the best of the best and this one seems to be one of them. It will need more careful attention.

- The Supreme must know. Are we calling him or reporting directly?

- Neither. We're not going to do anything yet. We have to be absolutely sure before anything else. If we make a mistake now, the Supreme annihilates us and you know what happens next.

- I know and I do not like the thought of it. But we have to keep this secret just between us. We must separate it from the others or it will be discovered, before we can be sure of anything. It calls too much attention. If someone sees it…

- I have an idea. Let's take him to the Stellar Station. There it will be well analyzed and we will be able to check better all the details before it is ready. I know very well who will take great pleasure in helping us evaluate, investigate some details and even take care of him…err…it, in the meantime.

He looked seriously at the other man, who soon realized who he was speaking of.

- And what do we do with the others?

- The same as always. Soon they will be prepared, but they will have the same use of so many others, that were produced before them.

- We'd better hurry then, before somebody comes in here.

Better wait till everyone leaves. Meanwhile, we segregate these others and send them forward. We cannot arise any suspicions. If we take too long to dispatch them, the others will think there is something wrong happening in here. We must also complete the reports and confirm the count.

- I'll do that, so we can handle the rest of the things later.

- OK. I'm going to close the lab to make sure we have no inconvenient surprises. We'll be back later.

***

The day had begun normally, like every other, in a routine without surprises. The Stellar Station was virtually deactivated, with just a few features still working and had not been visited by many people so often, so it was easy for the two scientists to go unsuspected.

The Thirteenth was safe. They did not know for how long, however. They had to be steadfast before presenting it to the Supreme, or they knew they could be sent to one of the least significant lines. 

They had reached their positions within the structure because they were wise. They also knew that others before them, who had gone wrong in the selection, had been forgotten in the Glacial Station, on the other side of the planet, where the anomalies were studied and the vaccines for the next generations developed. Although it was an important job in the application, the conditions were restricted and uncomfortable. It was a rather cruel fate with a very short prospect for the future. It was the reward for the errors. A second error would be punished more severely.

The Supreme was rigid and devoid of feelings. Things had to work perfectly. As in a vintage wine, the selection was very judicious. Only the best could be sent to him, who would then approve, classify and define their destinies.

The two of them came together and went straight to the depressurizing room. After changing their uniforms for sterilized clothing, they went to the Council room where their hostess was awaiting. She received them with evident satisfaction.

- Well? What do you say about it?

- He's practically perfect. I've never seen one so well done and vigorous.

- Then we got it right. We can take him to the Supreme.

- You were right, yes. But there is a small, but workable, problem.

- Small…?

- Problem…?

They both looked at the woman, who smiled at them and as she got up, she asked them to accompany her.

***

- Workable? How can this be a workable problem? We will be damned...

- Calm down. I said it was workable, did not say he was presentable to the Supreme.

- And now? What will we do? If we are discovered, we will be in a dreadful trouble!

- Dreadful? Is that word still used?

The man laughed. The other looked confused. He had no idea where the colleague had taken that term from and was not going to ask. He was more concerned with how to solve their little “workable” problem.

The woman, with deep green eyes, spoke before being asked.

- We must get him out of this station, before anyone finds out we have him here. It will not be easy to hide him for long.

- And where can we take it to? We do not have many alternatives.

- Him… He’s not a thing… We have but a few alternatives. One is the Glacial Station. Someone who is there owes me a big favor.

- Oh. No. We cannot accept it.

- And what are you going to do? Take him to the Supreme? Leave him here?

- It's a very high risk. And we will not have guarantees that we will be successful.

- Let me handle this. He can never be brought back here, anyway, unless we find a way to sort this out. I’ll speak to the Supreme.

The two men did not know what to say. The woman had put them in check and they had no better alternatives.

***

- I cannot accept that, Leona. You know he's unpredictable and no less dangerous.

- He's my brother. I spared his life in the face of a crime punishable by death… or, at least, a life sentence. He will not hurt me. I need to talk to him.

- We have not heard of him in years... Why the urgency now?

- It's a personal reason.

- However personal it may be, he must not be brought back here.

- I will not bring him back here.

The Supreme did not like the idea, but he had a lot of respect and affection for the woman. He knew she was coherent and very responsible. He had endured her decisions and spared the life of her brother, who had murdered her lover, in front of her. He was sent to the Glacial Station, along with the scientists, who developed the vaccines created from the development of a prototype studied by their father.

- You know I do not like this idea at all. If anything happens to you, I'll be responsible.

- No. I'll be the only one to blame. I'm going to prepare for the transport.

Leona took the experiment with her and went where she was meant to solve the small problem, which was caused by another small problem. At the Glacial Station's transportation terminal, the alarm went off, announcing the arrival of visitors. A man with very deep blue eyes approached the room and waited a couple of seconds to see the woman he knew well materialize. Only she was not alone.

- Leona! What a great surprise! What good winds bring you here?

The chief scientist was still the same as he had been when he was in the main building. It had been his choice to move to the Glacial Station, so he would have time, distance from problems and inadequate questions, as well as space for his research, development and production of the vaccines.

Besides the young scientists who came with him, he had, under his wing, some workers brought from the cloning center and, to his agony, the only outcast he knew in that world. 

The man at the Station, by exile, was very different from the other individuals of that base and time. He seemed completely out of context and functions. But at least he was alive. The chief scientist kept him under constant surveillance, but the initial rebellion behavior had diminished over time. The man seemed much calmer than when he had been sent to the base and had adapted to the duties assigned to him. As time went on, he achieved the level of trust and confidence necessary to work in the logistics of shipping and storing the vaccines for the inhabited stations.

The chief scientist turned off the power field at the transport terminal and stepped forward.

- I see you brought someone over.

Leona smiled and greeted him, but there seemed to have a cloud upon her head and face.

- Look at this specimen. We first thought he was the most perfect sampling to be proud of, but look at this.

- Ah! I see.

- We could not take him to the Supreme, until we were absolute sure he was presentable and now we can no longer do it for this obvious reason. And leaving him there would be the same as admitting we had made a big mistake.

- And what can we do?

- I hoped you could help me decide. I have an idea and I need your help to put it into practice.

***

- I cannot accept it, Leona. It's very dangerous.

- But it's our only option… besides...

-The chief scientist's eyes widened. He could not admit the other alternative. He was trapped. Either he accepted one thing or another. In any case he was in check.

- I cannot take care of him. I have too much work to do. I'll have to find a way...

- I think that might be easy to deal with. The logistics manager owes me a favor.

- Oh. No. No. No.

The little man was afraid of the consequences. He could not accept such a responsibility.

- Let me handle this.

- Leona, that's very risky. If anything happens, we'll be both responsible.

- I know. But what can happen? We are dealing with something that does not exist, after all...

The man looked at the visitor with a little concern. She seemed too cold in the face of that problem. That was not the Leona he knew.

For some reason it seemed to him that there was something behind that mystery. He just hoped it was not a problem for him and his future at the Station. He considered his work and his position with great appreciation. He was not at the Glacial Station because he was banned or because of demerit, but by choice. The legacy of Leona's father, which had been improved throughout the ages, was his greatest pride. He was living proof that the vaccine was effective. 

And so was she.

The scientist, Leona and her brother, before all the others, have been the ones to test new versions of the vaccines voluntarily...

Now there was a mutation... a problem to be studied; a riddle he still did not know how to solve.

The old scientist looked at the clone and set it on the laboratory table. He unwrapped it completely from the sheet that housed it and said.

- Let us then try to unravel this mystery.

Leona smiled and said she was going to see her brother. She had things to deal with. She knew there was another alternative, but it was not time to mention it.

The old scientist came and went back to the object of his attention. He was no longer interested in the conversation Leona was going to have with her brother.

- So, my boy, how did this happen to you? Was it a side effect of the medications in your body?

The pale creature looked at the little man with quiet eyes and almost no expression shown on his face. The man began to examine the experiment and decided to take blood samples to analyze the mutations in his DNA. Before making any decision, he had to know what he was dealing with.

On the other side of the building, at the end of a long corridor, Leona had a very firm idea in mind, hoping it would work properly...