AVA AND CAMERON Part 41 Of GODZILLA AND QUEST Christ Hospital Cincinnati, Ohio 20 April, 1998 There was no change in Jessie. Still she lay as dead, though she was obviously alive. It was, Estella noted for what she thought must be the thousandth time, WORSE than she had ever feared for her daughter, which was saying a whole lot indeed. Even having been told a week after the fact of her daughter's brush with death in the desert of Northern Iraq these two years past had not caused Estella quite so much trepidation. Amazing, though, that the fear didn't openly show. Estella could be almost as hard as Race when it was called for. At least Jessie was never alone. The basic routine was under way. Dani and Trace stayed with Jessie during the day, and the night belonged to Estella and Amy. The Bayles were operating similarly with Cameron (Days) and Cheryl (Nights) holding vigil over Michael. Catherine and Cindy soaked up the slack, and everyone was based in a nearby hotel, with the law enforcement cooperative holding close vigil over all in both locations. Since no one was to sleep longer than eight hours, there was a certain overlap where everyone appeared in the same place at the same time. This happened for breakfast, and again for dinner in the evening. That was when Catherine stayed with Jessie and Cindy stayed with her father. Everyone else met in the hospital cafeteria. There they ate, then quickly returned to their loved ones' rooms high above. When Estella arrived back with Jessie so that she could kiss her before she left for the day, a rather tall and distinguished looking woman of about forty was there. Dr. Ava L. Goyle, PhD., was a psychologist specializing in mental disorders and crisis in children up to Jessie's age, and she had come after obtaining a preliminary briefing from Jessie's doctor. She thus knew the basic problem with the stricken young girl, but she needed a detailed rundown and a first look at her new patient. She was also singing very softly as she examined Jessie. A warm and soothing therapy, for a fact. "Professor Valasquez, I presume." "Yes?" "I am Professor Ava Goyle from Children's Hospital." "Yes, Professor. Dr. Alomar said that he would send for you. Shall we speak in private?" "Actually, no. I understand that you've been up all night, and so I'm sure that you're tired. I only needed to see Jessie and receive the preliminary report from Dr. Kyle. I understand, however, that you have prepared your daughter's background for me?" "As detailed as I can write it. I have it here in my portfolio..." Estella then produced a neatly written little dossier of not less than thirty pages. "So much information for such a young girl?" Ava asked while taking the document. "For this girl, yes. She has grown up in very unusual atmospheres." Dr. Goyle breezed over the cover letter... "Home educated, and quite brilliant. Can converse fluently in four languages, and has a working knowledge of three more. Master diver and student pilot flying aircraft up to multi' engine and instrument ratings?" "Yes." "...Musically inclined, and athletic in water sports, judo and riding." Ava read on and on, repeating each word out loud. "Your daughter is a super achiever, Professor." "Yes." "Prideful, but modest?" "Yes." "I see," Ava replied while writing on a note pad. She then tore the leaf loose, and gave it and her card to Estella. "I believe this will make a very effective start for us, Professor. I will go over all of this and speak with you again in the morning. For now, I will say that I have seen many cases such as Jessie's, and in even the very worst one the patient emerged from the trauma within a month. The degree of full recovery is what is variable, and it will help that she originally had such an amazing drive to live. Most, if not all of that drive will return to her if she is properly cared for. Let her hear of positive things, and feel gentle touches, and when you can get some flowers in here so that she can smell beauty." The Doctor then left after nodding with a smile to Catherine and Dani. "She brings hope as if it were a medicine," Dani smiled. "She is very good," Estella replied. "What did she write to you?" "It's a confirmation of Dr. Kyle's analysis." Actually it was more. It said: PRIDE CAN BE AN IMPEDIMENT TO RECOVERY IN THESE CASES. IT DOES NOT ALWAYS HAPPEN SO, BUT I HAVE FOUND THAT THE MORE SELF PRIDE THAT A CHILD FEELS, THE LONGER IT CAN TAKE THEM TO SHOW AN INITIAL RESPONSE TO EXTERNAL STIMULUS. BUT SHE WILL BE WELL AGAIN LATER IF NOT SOONER, I ASSURE YOU. HAVE HOPE, AND LET IT SHOW! "Good," Estella smiled as she looked up at the girls. "I had better go and see FTD, and call Race, then get some sleep. I will see you both this evening." She then left after spending a few more minutes with Jessie. Catherine then left to see her father, but it wasn't long before her brother showed up. "Hi," Cameron greeted Dani. "Hello," Dani replied. "Hello, Cousin," Cam warmly said to Jessie as he sat down beside her. Dani smiled. Cameron had obviously been told to stay in a positive frame of mind. "Your name is Danielle?" he finally looked up and asked. "Or Dani to my friends." "Dani?" "Yes, please." "Fine. I'm Cam. ...Thanks, Dani, for being even more than a friend. You saved our lives." "How so?" "By bringing Jonny that knife that he used in Zin's caves. I also heard that Dr. Quest found all of us because of you." "By a device of his own, actually. I simply used in in the way that I was told to." "Well, whatever you did, thanks. It matters most for Jessie, but we all owe you a big pizza party, or something." Dani had to try hard not to laugh out loud. A pizza party would be fun. "I would like that." "Good. We'll have one when Jessie's well." "Yes." "Will you go with me?" "You are fast!" "Yep." "I think you had better tell me about yourself," Dani smiled. "Well, I'm eighteen, and I'm from Seattle. I graduated from high school last fall, and I'm waiting to hear from my choices for college." "And where have you applied?" "Miami and the University of Washington." "Miami and Washington? You would want to be based near family, then. What will be your major?" "Marine engineering." This time Dani did laugh... a sparkling display of total merriment that caused Cameron every confusion. "You be honest!" she finally settled down and demanded. "I don't understand." "Permit me to try this: WHY do you wish to become a marine engineer?" "My parents are both engineers, but they're inlanders... aerospace engineers. They're a great influence, but I grew up by the sea." "Yes?" Dani prompted. She had also been brought up by the sea, and she knew its power. Cam looked embarrassed. "Shall I answer for you?" "No. It speaks to me, is all." "That is all? Do you realize to whom you have fallen into company with, Cameron, future marine engineer?" "No. Are you special, or something?" Dani laughed again. "Me? No. ...Why don't you wait here with Jessie for a moment, while I step outside." "All right." Dani returned a few moments later with Gallagher in tow. "Trace, this is Cameron. ...Cameron, this is Trace." Cam was on his feet in a second. "Sir... GEEZ!" he exclaimed, feeling the big guy's powerful grip. "Cam," Trace grinned. "All right, Dani," Cam said, shaking his hand. "What's up?" Dani grinned hugely and spoke to Trace, gesturing to Cameron with her hand. "He has applied to Miami and the University of Washington, to become a marine engineer." "Miami? Is that so?" Trace asked Cameron. "Yes, sir. I don't understand why that interests both of you, though." Trace lit up in a huge opened mouth grin, then asked Dani: "My Lady. What is your command in this matter?" Dani laughed again in complete glee. "MOTIVATE him!" "Come with me, Cam! Let's see if we can't bring you up to date on the state of the art!" "I still don't get it, but it sounds pretty interesting. ...Dani?" "Yes?" "Will you go with me to the pizza party?" "I believe that I might. You go with Trace, now." "See you later." And Cam started to leave with Gallagher. "Oh... Trace?" Dani asked, not failing remember Jessie. "Yes, ma'am?" "We absolutely MUST keep fresh flowers in this room. Can my brother order them from where he is?" "I already ordered some, and he called this morning and said that he ordered his from the ship. He'll have to be told that he needs to keep 'em coming, though. I'll tend to it." "Thank you, Trace. Try not to keep Cameron too long. I'm certain that your description of the lab can be made in the greatest detail." "Trust me." And he smiled and winked at her. Dani would love to have gone with them, to witness Cameron's face when Trace described Rendova to him. She couldn't believe that he hadn't already heard of it, though, and so she sat beside Jessie and let a tear or two loose over her smile. "A marine engineer," she said as she softly stroked her silent friend's hair. "You WOULDN'T have told him that much about me, would you, you mistress of the art of the surprise. And OF COURSE you neglected to tell me about HIM." Or perhaps not even Jessie had known it all. Perhaps it was Dr. Quest who was being the sly one. "Oh, Jessie! Please, PLEASE come back soon! Life is becoming something to share again, and you MUST be a part of it." Wildey Ranch San Luis Valley, New Mexico 20 April, 1998 1000 Local Time This meeting once again took place in Doug's den, and it was conve= ned in order that the incursuion into Questworld and Zin's mind might be coordinated. First on the agenda was a report from Dr. Thorburg on Zin's = condition. "He is fit for our purpose, Dr. Quest. He is hale and sleeping wel= l beneath REM at this time. I can bring him up into REM within ten minutes.= " "Hadji," Dr. Quest prompted. "I have the script which you gave me committed to memory. I will b= e very deeply entranced as I attempt to guide Zin's dreams, but not so deep= ly that I will not hear Malia remind me should I begin to forget a step in t= he program. Questworld itself has tested perfectly in simulation." "Malia," Benton continued. "I have reviewed the sim' results, and I concur with Hadji that th= e system is fully prepared. I am also up to speed on Questworld's enhanceme= nts, and I understand Watts' hardware perfectly." "Robbie," Benton demanded. "Watts is drawing both full power and conditioned air from the han= ger. The GPU is paralleled with its backup, and either generator is alone capa= ble of holding the full electrical load. The air conditioner is singled up, b= ut we have a high volume air source standing by so that if we have to, we can s= tart up the cabin pack. A pack will create somewhat more noise than the stand = alone hanger air, but you'll know that it's coming on line in plenty of time to adjust Zin's sleep state. Lastly, the EFIS fans will be running so that I= can monitor the electrical buses. They're fairly far forward, and they're now= here near as loud as the ACMs, but they will be audible in the cabin." "Can't be helped," Benton agreed. "All right. We are each aware of= the dangers of Questworld. We will not physically be there, though our mental commitment must be total. The system works on a basis of nerve induction, which can be controlled by anyone who is present in the VR world. This me= ans that even though Zin is dreaming, he can still act to do harm. Your best weapon against that harm will be to keep in mind that whatever happens to= you is not real, no matter how severely that you feel it. It does not matter = if you fall through a floor and land in a flaming pit full of hot tar and na= ils, it is not real. You can actually shrug the pain off, but you must not all= ow it to overwhelm you. In that case, you will die. Your brain will register th= e shock of your circumstances as if it were real, and in turn it will cause= your body to adjust up to and including cardiovascular and respiratory shutdow= n. There is one other way to combat an attack. That is, you counter attack. = We are all quite strong of will, and we'll be fully concious. Zin, however, = will be merely dreaming, and thus his reactions will be slow. "One last thing: I have set this trip up in Watts for a very good reason in that we need its computer power to drive the clearest presentat= ion of the VR graphics. Here's why: I and Jonny alone are the only ones who h= ave ever been in the VR world with a sleeping person. Such a world vacillates radically between the hard and clear, and the surreal. The worst bizarre hippie from the Sixties couldn't be more psychodelic with his bedroom in = five years than a dreaming person can achieve in an instant in the VR world. Y= ou are likely to see all manner of oddities this afternoon from water that i= s as hard as rock, to clouds that can actually reach out and grab you, pick yo= u up thousands of feet into the air and drop you over that rock hard water. Yo= u'll think you'll go splash, when in all actuality your brain will register a splat. If you see such a cloud, you can think that your breath is like a = huge fan, blow, and the cloud will actually move away from you... unless it tu= rns to granite in itself and falls on you. ANYTHING that can be thought of go= es in the VR world, and therefore any countermeasures will work. But you must t= hink more quickly than Zin is thinking, and you must stay alert and ahead of h= im in thought at all times. "Questions?" There were almost none. One, however, spoke out loud and clear: "I= want to go on the trip." All eyes turned to Rachel. "I have said that we can not be sure th= at you are safe for it." "I was fairly well examined in Cincinnati. There is nothing wrong = with me." "I said no." "You need to see the truth of what he has done. What makes you thi= nk that I have less need than you do?" "You may go at a later time." "And it will not be as believable for me after you have gone and l= eft me outside, where I can't see anything that you might have done on THIS t= rip." Benton fixed her with his eyes, and he held her. She did not waver= , though the look that she returned was soft... it was honest and sincere. = "I could not bear to lose you again, if indeed you are my wife." "And I could not bear to lose you again, if indeed you are my husb= and." "That's enough." It was Doug, and he was taking the lead. "Will Questworld accept one more person, Benton?" "It will." "Then she goes." "Explain." "Do I remember my daughter better than you remember your wife? She would need to go on this trip, or she will not be able to believe what sh= e sees when she IS allowed to see inside Zin's mind. You'd want to go if th= e roles were reversed, wouldn't you." It was not exactly a question. "Yes, I would." "Well?" Doug demanded. "It's against my better judgement, but very well. She may go if yo= u will protect her." "And me!" Jonny agreed. "You watch out for yourself, youngster." "But Grampa=97" "No buts. I can look out for both of us." "Yes, Grampa." "All right, everyone. Are there any other questions?" Benton asked. There were none. Malia, I want you, Hadji and Robbie step for the airplane and set = up. Doug, Dr. Thorburg, Race and I will bring Dr. Zin. Jonny will lead Rachel= ." "Dr. Quest?" Hadji asked. "Yes, Hadji." "Should none of you return, how will I treat Jackie?" "I=97" Benton was brought up short. He was right! It was possible = that she would become the last living member of the Quest family. "Hadji, you = will then become my sole survivor, and the heir to my full estate. You will understand how to care for her." "Yes, Dr. Quest." "All of you, move. Let's get it done." And it would all soon begin. End Part 41 Jagle ******************************************************************** * The Jonny Quest mailinglist jq@edc.ml.org * ******************************************************************** * To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to: majordomo@edc.ml.org * * with the message: unsubscribe jq subject is ignored * ********************************************************************