What are Leskas? - Sholan Alliance 2

Chapter 13 - Sing sings about the pirate ship

Later that morning Billy finally woke up and looked around the room and was startled to see that nobody was in the room. He had expected at least Z'Marl and his girls there. Since Satasha was still asleep he pressed the nurse call and waited. A few moments later a nurse came in, "Are my family being kept away from me?"

The nurse shook his head, "Not at all sir. All but Jenna and Sandi have come down with the Ni'uzu virus and are in isolation. We aren't sure why they came down with it since all of you were inoculated and we are researching it. Jenna and Sandi are in isolation as well as a precaution. I will let them know you were checking on them when they are awake."

Billy had to stare at the male for a moment in shock. It took a short time before he could figure out what to ask, "Are they doing okay and any idea how they might have gotten it?"

The nurse checked his tablet, "As of now all of them are asleep and responding to the medications. The only thing we can think of at the moment is all of you have been run down, not sleeping well, and very stressed. This can cause problems with your immune system and make the chance of getting something greater. As we come up with more information we will keep you updated."

The next dose of meds hit and before Billy could say anything else he was again asleep.

~~~

By the morning after Billy's and Satasha's next link day everyone sick with the Ni'uzu virus were feeling better. They were still in isolation and it looked like they would be for one more day. It was until the Sholan's were positive they were no longer infectious. When the doctor came in after their link day Billy was eating. He waved the fork at the male as he finished the bite, "Morning Doc so what kind of good news do you have for me this lovely morning?"

The physician smiled at him though the news he was going to give Billy was not going to please him, "Morning Commander and I have a fair amount of information for you. I will make it all available for you to review when you feel up to it. First your shoulder, it is healing well and taking the implant without any sign of rejection. Mind you we didn't expect any since it was grown from your own tissue but we have been keeping a closer than normal eye on it. You are far enough along with the healing that I am going to release you. I will see you in a few days and will send a reminder to your communicator."

He took a breath before continuing, "The next bit of information I can't really comment on or why it is happening at the moment." He met Billy's eyes, "For some reason a genetic shift has set in for both you and the Lt. Commander. Again, I am not sure why this is happening as of yet but we are leaning towards it having something to do with the Ni'uzu virus since we have found traces of it in your DNA. It appears that at some point it was engineered into a retrovirus that didn't kick in until you were exposed. Again, we don't have any idea how or why this happened."

Billy frowned since he really didn't like what the doctor was saying. He was happy being himself and anything that might impact on his brain was not a pleasing thought, "Is that why I have experienced changes in my sight, hearing, and smell? Have you any ideas where the genetic drift is aimed?"

Now the doctor frowned for a moment, "As far as the changes to your senses I am going to tentatively say no. The reason I say that is we are seeing hints of genetic drift in the others that were exposed to this version of the virus. They do not have the changes you asked me about before your link day." When Billy asked about where the drift was aimed he sighed, "For some reason it seems to be aimed at the reproductive system. There are changes in the gametes that will carry across to any child you may father. Beyond that we simply don't know. We are so early in the study of this we simply don't have an answer for you."