The Prometheus Project: Stranded Part 20

The Return

Unconscious, Ryan was unable to draw even a shallow breath for his already oxygen depleted body. Starved for air, his body and brain began shutting down.

Suddenly, gravity returned to normal.

Although still unconscious, Ryan's breathing resumed. His heart-no longer struggling under a crushing weight-sped to pump oxygen to the trillions of cells in his body.

Two minutes later, Ryan returned to consciousness and forced his eyes open. An image slowly came into focus. Mich.e.l.le Cooper. Kneeling over him and wrapping his thigh with bandages and gauze.

"Ryan," she said in surprise and profound relief. "You're awake."

Ryan nodded weakly.

"I'm so sorry for what I did to you," she said, looking a little dazed.

Ryan smiled thinly. "You used the Med-Pen on yourself after all," he rasped, barely above a whisper. Given that he no longer felt any pain, he knew she had used it on him as well.

"Yes," she replied. For some reason she was having trouble remembering further back than ten or fifteen minutes earlier. She wasn't even sure how she had gotten here. Or why she had been so intent on hurting Ryan Resnick.

"But you were sure I was bluffing," said Ryan.

She thought about this. "I don't know," she said with a shrug. "I remember you telling me we would both die from a deadly virus. And thinking you were bluffing. But I also remember thinking that since I had a Med-Pen, I might as well use it-just in case you weren't. That it would only take a second."

Mich.e.l.le Cooper shook her head in confusion. "But what's going on, Ryan? I hated you. I wanted to kill you so badly I could taste it. Then all of a sudden I would have given anything for you to be okay."

"It's a long story," rasped Ryan weakly. "The short version is that you were infected on Isis. Your first trip there made you temporarily insane."

Mich.e.l.le's eyes narrowed. Could this be true? She thought back to her first visit to Isis, and as she did so a dam burst open, freeing all of her memories of the past three months. They all came rushing back to her, crashing into her like a tidal wave. Ryan was right! She had behaved horribly. She had done vile, despicable things. She gasped, feeling sick to the very core of her soul.

"I feel like I just woke from some terrible nightmare," she said in horror.

"You did," whispered Ryan. "You weren't yourself. The Med-Pen cured you."

Mich.e.l.le Cooper knew in her heart that this is exactly what had happened. The alien device had restored her mind to its normal state.

As she thought about the past fifteen minutes, her eyes widened. "So that's what your bluff was all about," she said in wonder. "You needed to trick me into curing myself." She stared at him in admiration. "Incredible." There was a pause. "I'll never be able to thank you enough."

Ryan had never come so close to giving up. It had been hopeless. The pain made it almost impossible for him to think clearly. But the pain had been the key to finding an answer because he had realized that the only way it would go away is if he had a Med-Pen. And then he remembered that Mich.e.l.le had stolen one. That she had one with her. In a flash he realized what he had to do. If he could trick her into using it on herself, it might cure her. Ryan hadn't been sure it would still work since her mind had been in an altered state for such a long time, but he knew this was his only chance. And it had worked perfectly.

Maybe he was the luckiest person who ever lived.

Carl managed a grunt from his position on the floor. Mich.e.l.le jumped up as if she had been electrocuted. "Sorry, Carl," she said as she trained the Enigma Cube on him. "Didn't mean to forget about you."

Carl's gravity returned to normal and he rose slowly from the floor. He knelt beside Mich.e.l.le and inspected Ryan carefully. "Are you okay?" he said protectively, although he was far from fully recovered himself.

"Yeah," whispered Ryan. He managed a faint smile. "Although I've probably been better."

Mich.e.l.le laughed, and instead of the chilling quality her laugh had had before there was now a cheerful, contagious quality to it.

Carl remembered this laugh and realized how much he had missed it. He caught Mich.e.l.le's eye and nodded. "Welcome back, Mich.e.l.le," he said warmly.

She returned the nod. Tears slowly formed in the corners of her eyes as she once again thought about the waking nightmare that had been the last three months of her life. About the unspeakable things she had said and done.

The Isis infection had somehow altered her brain chemistry in despicable ways, but even so, how could she ever forgive herself for not fighting harder to retain her sanity? For not fighting harder to stop the madness from consuming her? How could she ever forgive herself for the way she had treated those closest to her? She was ashamed and horrified and disgusted at herself for allowing the infection to so easily turn her into a psychopath.

At the same time she was overjoyed that she was now herself again and would be able to make amends. A kaleidoscope of emotions spun inside her. Extreme joy and extreme sorrow. Profound regret and profound hope for the future.

"I'll help you round up the mercs who were working with me and rescue poor Nathaniel," she said finally. "But can it wait fifteen minutes or so?"

Carl nodded.

Mich.e.l.le Cooper smiled through tear filled eyes. "Thanks," she said, walking to the door.

Just before she left the room she turned back to face Ryan and Carl. "My daughters are in the next room," she explained. "Girls that I love more than anything in the world."

Tears now left her eyes and began streaming down her face. "It's time they got their mother back."

CHAPTER 33.

Friends

It was Monday night and the four members of the Resnick family were seated at their dinner table in front of a large window. The window provided an excellent view of the thick woods just beyond their backyard, but this was the last thing any of them wanted to see just then. Everyone had had more than their fill of woods-both earthly and alien-during the weekend that had just pa.s.sed.

Three of the four family members had spent the entire weekend off-planet. Once the portable generator died, the Isis team had set up the self-inflatable dwellings they had brought and enlarged their camp. They made sure to stay very calm and positive and they had no further encounters with any of the wildlife.

Most of the group had been certain they would be stranded on Isis for the rest of their lives. They believed they should begin exploring immediately in an effort to find an area for a permanent settlement. Regan was able to convince the group to wait at least two or three days before doing this. To give Miguel and Cam more time to recover from their injuries and to give Prometheus security a few days to take back the city and mount a rescue party. She argued well and her absolute conviction that this would happen was quite persuasive. Naturally, she didn't tell anyone that she knew the city was already back in the hands of Carl and that a rescue plan had already been devised.

Knowing they would be rescued, Regan was determined to keep her and Ryan's telepathy secret. Even so, she wasn't about to let her parents continue believing their son was almost certainly dead.

So she lied to them.

She told them Ryan had been feeling some pain so she had treated him with a Med-Pen ten minutes before he was separated from the group. That they had discussed the Isis wildlife and she was sure he was about to come to the same conclusions that she had. That he had told her after the Med-Pen had returned him to normal he was tired of being angry, and determined to be upbeat no matter what happened. She told them she and Ryan had developed a sixth sense of their own when it came to one another, and she was more certain he was alive than she had ever been of anything in her life.

She knew her parents couldn't share her absolute optimism, but she didn't stop trying to convince them until she had seen a reasonable measure of hope return to their eyes.

To stay emotionally positive, everyone decided to act as if Regan was right and they were very near rescue. The biologists stayed upbeat by studying the wildlife, designing experiments to test this new sense Regan had discovered, and discussing the probable evolution of the Isis biosphere.

Surprisingly, Ben Resnick and Donna Morgan were able to salvage their X-ray experiment. Although some of the structural parts of their X-ray detector equipment had been spattered with lava, making things more difficult, they still managed to set it up in time to get the readings they needed.

On Sat.u.r.day night the dazzling stars came out again. In uncountable numbers. But now the group took the time to truly appreciate their magnificence.

In the wee hours of Sunday night, Pennsylvania time, a tiny, two person helicopter landed at their camp. They had been rescued! The joy and relief they all felt was beyond description. If the animals of Isis could have sensed positive emotions they might have felt these on the other side of the planet. But this was still nothing compared to the tidal wave of positive emotions that burst from Ben and Amanda Resnick when the pilot informed them that their son was still alive and well.

One by one the party was airlifted to the Isis shield. When Regan crossed it she experienced the same sensations and the same ability to see through solid objects as she had before. Unfortunately, she didn't have the chance to find out if she could now get through Qwervy shields without a red crystal like her brother. She vowed to make the attempt the very next time she visited the alien city.

Ryan was praised profusely for stopping Mich.e.l.le Cooper while Regan was seen as the hero who had saved the Isis expedition. The ironic part was that Ryan would have never made it back to Earth to be a hero without Regan. He would have been killed by the gray pack animals when his fire went out. And she could have never saved the expedition if he hadn't solved the mystery of the unusual sixth sense possessed by Isis's wildlife. None of it really mattered. They didn't care if anyone ever knew the true story of what had happened that weekend. The fact that everything had turned out okay was the important thing.

Carl had seen to it that Ryan was taken to a hospital directly from Mich.e.l.le Cooper's cabin. The gash in his leg had required eighteen st.i.tches and three of his ribs were fractured. He had learned that the treatment for broken ribs was simply to manage the pain and let them heal. Other than these two injuries he had come through his ordeal remarkably well. Because he had been treated with the Med-Pen in the cabin, he would be as good as new in a week or so. He had also seen to it that Alyssa and Kelsey were treated with a Med-Pen. It was the least he could do for Kelsey's shoulder and to make sure they didn't get what he considered the ultimate curse: poison ivy.

After a long and tearful reunion with the loving mother who had been absent from their lives for the past three months, the girls pleaded with Carl to let them join the Prometheus Project. Carl denied them repeatedly just to see how much they really wanted it. It soon became clear they were just as pa.s.sionate about pursuing this opportunity as Ryan and Regan had been years earlier, and their behavior during the crisis and their contribution to the team had been impressive. They had proved their mettle under fire, and Ryan and Regan had paved the way by demonstrating that bright, resourceful kids could become valuable additions to the team.

Ryan argued for them as well. He told Carl about Alyssa's success in the Science Fair the previous year, and about her and her sister's creative scientific minds. He made sure that Carl fully appreciated the contribution the two sisters had made by saving him in the woods, and how impressed President Quinn had been with them and their swarm of trained bees. Ryan didn't know how they would do in the Science Fair, but it was hard to say a project wasn't successful when it was praised by a president and used to escape from an armed mercenary. If not for Alyssa and Kelsey, Ryan would have almost certainly been killed. If that had happened Mich.e.l.le Cooper's plan would have worked. And who knows how much death and destruction she would have rained on the world with the Enigma Cube.

After consulting briefly with the recovering Harry Harris, Carl had let the Resnicks know only three hours earlier they had decided to allow the Cooper sisters to join the Prometheus team.

With that settled, and all of the unbelievable events of the weekend now behind them, the Resnick family was relieved that things were returning to normal. And nothing was more normal for them than having a family dinner in the peace and comfort of their home.

Regan's spirits were high as she attacked the plate of spaghetti and meatb.a.l.l.s in front of her. "Boy, I can't believe we missed another day of school," she said between bites. "Princ.i.p.al Lyons probably has steam coming out of her ears. Like in those cartoons."

After finally getting back to Earth, Regan and her father had visited the doctor early that morning, and both had received a number of st.i.tches. Their parents agreed that both kids could use a day off.

"It's not just missing another day," noted Mrs. Resnick. "It's that we're sending you both back to school all banged up. Your princ.i.p.al must think we're the worst parents who ever lived."

"Yeah," said Mr. Resnick. "Who could blame her?"

"Well, if she asks what happened to us," said Regan with a grin, "I'm thinking of saying we were in a skydiving accident. Hey, if your chute doesn't open, walking away with a few broken ribs and some cuts and stab wounds isn't bad."

Everyone laughed. Everyone, that is, except Ryan. His head was tilted down and he was picking at his spaghetti gloomily.

"What's wrong, Ry?" said Regan. "You don't like the skydiving idea? How about I'll use that, and you say you lost a wrestling match with a Python."

Ryan just grunted.

"What's the matter, Ryan?" said his sister. "You should be the happiest person in the world."

"I'll say," said their mother. "Let me see," she began, ticking points off her fingers one by one. "All of us are alive and well-which is a miracle. Dr. Harris is recovering nicely. Carl rounded up all the mercenaries. Nathaniel is back, good as new. Mich.e.l.le is cured and taking her daughters on a week-long vacation next week. And the Enigma Cube is back inside Prometheus and under guard." She tilted her head. "Am I missing anything?"

Regan grinned. "Yes. The most important thing when it comes to Ryan's happiness. Alyssa Cooper has been added to the team."

"Actually," said Mr. Resnick innocently, "both Cooper girls have been added."

"I know," said Regan, rolling her eyes, "and I'm sure Ryan is just fine with Kelsey joining us. But ask him how he feels about Alyssa."

"Oh, now I get it," said Mrs. Resnick. "You're saying Ryan thinks this girl is pretty special."

Regan laughed. "I'm not sure 'pretty special' would be the exact words he would use to describe her, but yeah, that's what I'm saying."

Mr. Resnick turned to his son with an intrigued expression. "Weren't you talking to her on the phone just before dinner?" he asked.

Ryan frowned and nodded slightly.

"Uh-oh," said Regan, picking up on his body language. "What happened Ryan? You saved Alyssa's mom, so now you're really on her good side. And because of you, Alyssa and her sister get to join the team. Get to be part of the coolest discovery ever. So how could she not like you?"

Ryan sighed. "She does," he said. "A lot. In fact, she liked me before any of this happened. I was just slow to figure that out. Now she likes me even more."

"So then what's the problem?" asked Mr. Resnick.

"She said she thought a lot about it, and has decided it's important that we just stay friends for now. Since there are only four kids on the team, we'll be seeing a lot of each other for a long time. She figures if something goes wrong between us, our relationship could be really, really awkward." He shook his head miserably. "She's not happy about it either, but she thinks it's best for us."

"Interesting," said his mother thoughtfully. "I agree with her. Sounds like a very sensible girl. I'm impressed with her already."

"Let me make sure I understand," said Regan. "So because you're the hero, because she likes you so much ... you don't get the girl."

Everyone around the table laughed except for Ryan.

"Come on, Ryan," said his sister cheerfully. "Look on the bright side. Mom is right. It's a miracle we're even alive. And it's going to be awesome having other kids on the team. You'll be closer to Alyssa than you ever could have been before." She shrugged. "Be good friends with her and then see what happens. You never know what the future will bring."

Ryan stared at his sister for a long while. Finally, he raised his eyebrows. "You know, Regan, when you're right you're right. I don't give up easily. Who knows what will happen."

"That's the spirit, Ryan," said his father with a twinkle in his eye. "Your mother and I started out as just friends. For years. And look at us. We got married."

"Married?" said Ryan, recoiling in shock. "Who said anything about that? Alyssa's great and all, but that's a million years away."

"You never know," said Ben Resnick. "Stranger things have happened."

"Yeah," said Regan, raising her eyebrows. "Especially to this family."

"I'm not sure marriage would be a good idea, Ben," teased Mrs. Resnick. "Isn't it supposed to be bad luck to marry a girl whose mother has already tried to kill you?"

"Oh yeah," said her husband, playing along. "I think I did hear that."

"On the other hand," said Mrs. Resnick. "Maybe it's a good thing. Maybe she's gotten it out of her system."

"Okay," said Ryan, shaking his head and then breaking out into a smile despite himself. "You win. You've cheered me up. We'll get to know each other as friends. See what happens. I'll just have to live with that." Ryan raised his eyebrows and added, "At least for now."

"Great," said Mr. Resnick. "Just make sure you don't let her distract you too much," he added light-heartedly. "Like your mother distracted me. After all, if disaster ever strikes again, we need you and Regan at your sharpest."

"Hey, I didn't let her distract me during this disaster," protested Ryan. A grin came over his face. "Okay, maybe just a little," he said, holding his thumb and index finger a centimeter apart. "But it doesn't matter. We've had more than our share of disasters. What are the odds we'll ever have another one?"