The Eleusian Effect
Chapter 19 Omnisphere

September 23, 2169 0912 Hours

Wilson, Tanner and myself (plus a normal away team) shuttled down to the planet to meet Marteen. We landed and brought supplies to Marteen’s hut. I had a spare pad to give to Baskin to assist the Community. We met in common area to report the result of the test.

“Good Morning.” Marteen and Baskin were finishing breakfast.

“Good Morning Doctor.”

“Captain Marteen, you remember Captain Tanner.”

“Yes we didn’t get much chance to talk last time. Welcome.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

“David, please.”

“Sure. I’ll get right to the point. There is an unknown element here, we’re calling it Element X, and we think it is responsible for your survival.”

“Really? Is it a type of radiation?”

I was surprised. “How did you know?”

“As you remember, we made some discoveries but as I said we didn’t have the equipment to learn much more.”

I was impressed they had learned as much as that. I continued. “The radiation is caused by something on this planet. Each of you have trace amounts in your blood. It acts like a steroid but at the cellular level. It may also have slowed your aging, as well.” Marteen was thoughtful. “Is it a permanent condition? I mean if we leave here will it stop?”

“I am fairly confident that you are cured. The blood samples did not lose any radiation when we tested them. We’ll monitor them for a few more days but the prognosis is promising.” Tanner spoke up. “Tell me David, have you guys been doing any kind of mining? I thought it an odd question but for some reason it made sense.

“Mining? No, but…” Marteen paused and a sad expression came over his face. I felt his sadness in that moment. “What is it?”

“There are caverns, a series of caves and valleys on the other side of the river, about 2 miles. We discovered them about eight years ago. We had considered making it another compound, but there was an accident.” “What happened?” Tanner asked with an equal amount of sadness.

“There was a particular area with extremely deep pits. They were pretty much bottomless-we couldn’t see deep enough into them to know how far down they went. Our communications officer, Marcus Lockwood, was an amateur spelunker. He was from Colorado and often ventured into the Rockies to explore. He was terminal with colon cancer which is why he was on the Tempest. He was exploring near the pits and the ledge gave way. I told him he was too close and to back away but he ignored me. He seemed transfixed on the largest chasm. It was before we realized that we were cured. I guess he felt he had nothing to lose.” I remembered the story John Huang told about the children mentioning the name Marcus. “I’m sorry. That is tragic.”

“We had a service for him but we never found his body.”

Tanner spoke up. “I will have a shuttle fly over the chasm and scan it. Maybe we can replace his body and give him a proper burial.”

“Thank you, the community would like that.” Tanner excused herself and made the call. I turned to Marteen, “To return to the original topic, we can start scanning for this unknown element as soon as the shuttle comes. We can do it while looking for Marcus.” “Sure, I’d like to be on that mission. I know the terrain and it will save some time.”

I got the feeling that replaceing Marcus would give Marteen some closure. Tanner contacted the rest of the shuttle crew and coordinated with the ship’s engineers to make sure we had the right equipment. We set launch time for two hours from now. We readied the shuttle with jet packs, winches and other recovery tools. Marteen opted for a jet pack and the engineers gave him a quick class on its operation. We launched the shuttle and Baskin guided us over to the caverns. Marteen, Baskin and three of our crew, Security Officer Jessica Barden (originally Bruce) and two engineers who were originally on the Venus Mission and changed by the virus, descended into the gaping, dark valley. Tanner and I were prepared to go down but Barden wanted to make sure the area was safe first. After an hour, Barden contacted us on the shuttle and gave the all clear. Tanner and I donned our jet packs and descended into the cavern. The shuttle landed in a nearby clearing. As I descended, I began to hear a low hum. “Captain, do you hear that?” “Yes, I do. Fascinating.”

We grew accustomed to it as we landed near the others. Luminescent plants gave the area a low light level. I decided to take advantage of it. “Lower your light and change them to red. It will be easier to use our natural night vision,” I said to the others. The cavern floor was covered by a moss and it smelled like the moors. It was an earthy, smell like shallow swamps. We looked up and saw the sky through the narrow shaft we came down through. We began to explore. Tanner was on her guard. “Okay, everyone be extremely careful. We don’t know what’s down here. Captain Marteen, can you tell us anything about this cavern?” “Not really. We’ve never been down here this far and after losing Marcus, the Elders deemed the caverns off limits.”

“What about that noise?”

Marteen spun around. “What noise?”

“That low hum. Can’t you hear it?”

“No, I don’t hear anything.”

“Saunders, Caspian, do you hear it?” They both confirmed it. Barden said she heard it too.

“How odd.” Baskin said. “I don’t hear anything either. Maybe it’s because we’ve been here longer?”

“I suppose.” I really didn’t think that but I thought it best to move on and figure it out later. We trekked farther into the caves that were attached to the cavern. We left glowing markers to replace our way out later. I took plant and soil samples as we moved deeper into the caves. When we stopped for a break and I noticed the hum had gotten louder. Nothing registered on our pads as far as vibrations or an origin for the hum. We moved farther into the cavern and in the middle of the largest domed area we saw a large, dark blue globe. It was set on a large stand like a giant snow globe. As Tanner moved in for a closer look, the globe started to glow brighter. She backed away and it dimmed. I moved toward the globe and it started to brighten again. We all realized that it was some kind of test, so Marteen moved toward it and it did not brighten. The same happened with Baskin. Saunders and then Caspian approached the globe with the same glowing effect. I knew for sure in the pit of my stomach that the globe was related to the Eleusians. I approached the globe and touched it. A loud noise flared up and the globe began to turn from a dark blue to an aquamarine color and then a bright green. We backed away as the globe started to vibrate and the its surface texture changed. The top section of the globe stretched in an upward direction as if something was trying to get out. I raised my pad to take radiation readings and saw it was the same radiation as the blood samples from Marteen’s people, but much higher. The top of the globe began to change shape. It changed color and protruded upwards as if something was coming out. The protrusion was turning from a blue to a silver color. The object coming out of the top of the globe was forming into a head and shoulders, then the rest of the body rose up and came out like some kind of alien birth. The body floated above the globe and the gently came down onto the ground. The silvery coating the covered the body came off as it landed on the mossy cavern floor. We approached it carefully. I pulled out a portable medi-scanner and scanned the figure. It was alive but in a state of suspended animation. I suspected who this might be but I kept it to myself for the moment. The other came closer. Tanner spoke first. “Doctor, is he alive?” “Yes but he’s in some kind of hyper sleep, suspended animation.”

Marteen came up and confirmed my suspicion of the person’s identity. “It’s Marcus! How in the world could he have been here?”

“I don’t know but we need to get him back to the Kennedy.”

The security detail served as orderlies. Tanner signaled the shuttlecraft and they landed at the bottom of the initial entry shaft. The markers made the rescue operation much faster and about two hours later, Marcus was on the ship, in quarantine. Marteen, Baskin and three other of the elders came aboard as well.

September 23, 2169 1503 Hours

I ran a battalion of tests on Marcus and learned a great deal. First, he had not aged a day since he fell into the cavern. It had been eight years and he had no signs of normal organic decay or even a bowel movement. It was as if he stopped aging on the quantum level. Marteen said he was terminal with colon cancer but, like the rest of the Tempest crew I found no trace of cancer of any kind. It raised more questions but I had a feeling about where we might replace some answers. I was going to talk to Tanner but I decided to run a few more tests. Marcus was still in quarantine when he began to stir. I quickly put on a decon suit and went into the chamber. After tossing and turning for a minute, he finally open his eyes. I looked at him and he was scared. He spoke with labored effort and a hoarse voice. “Where am I?” “You are on the USS Kennedy. My name is Dr. Obama. Try to relax.”

“What happened to me?”

“I was hoping you could tell me.”

“Captain Marteen, where is Marteen?”

“I will call him. Just rest for a moment.” Marcus nodded and seemed to relax. I went to the comm and called Tanner. “Marcus is awake and he’s asking for Marteen.”

“Acknowledged. We’ll be right there.”

I looked over to Marcus and he heard. I stayed with him as I reviewed the test results. The most alarming data came from the tests. The benevolent Element X was not only prevalent in Marcus’s body, it was off the charts. The radiation levels in his body were almost that of a pure isotope of the element. I was still processing the replaceings when I noticed a glow from behind me. I spun around and Marcus was floating and glowing. It took me by surprise and I approached him carefully. He looked like he was in a trance and then closed his eyes. He came down slow back onto the bed. I immediately ran another scan and noticed that Element X radiation had gone down considerably. Marcus opened his eyes as Tanner, Marteen and Baskin came into sick bay. Marcus came out of his trance. “What happened?” “You were emitting some type of energy. You were floating above the bed and glowing.”

“Really?” He seemed relieved. Then he looked like he was feeling pain. “I feel strange. My chest hurts.”

Marteen, Baskin and Tanner were on the other side of glass. They watched as Marcus writhed in pain. The symptoms were familiar. I administered a pain reliever and Marcus relaxed. His body continued to change into a feminine form. His transformation was the fastest I had seen. For those of us who were victims of the Eleusian Effect, we knew what would come next but fortunately this time, we were prepared. I left Marcus and he was practically female by the time I got out of my protective suit. I spoke to Tanner. “I need to talk to you, quickly.” “Will you excuse us?” Tanner had her diplomatic voice on. “What’s happening?”

“Marcus is changing into a female, like us. But it’s happening fast.”

“What should we do?”

“We have the cure so we can turn him back into a male. So the situation is not as dire as when we were exposed.”

“But?” Tanner shifted her stance to her other hip.

“Marteen and Baskin have seen him. They are watching him change as we speak. The question begs, do we tell them the whole story. We need to know what that globe is and how it got here. Marcus was inside of that thing so he’s our best resource. It’s your call.” “They’ve spent a long time without a lot of answers. Make them understand how sensitive the information is, but tell them.”

I walked back to Marteen and Baskin. They were shaking their heads and trying to make sense of what was happening to Marcus. I approached them carefully. “You have questions. Ask.” “What is happening to him?” Baskin was confused and tearing up.

“We call it the Eleusian Effect. If you will come to my conference room, I will tell you the whole story.”