“We read the reports, but did we really have to watch the whole video?” Orryn asked with distaste. “I could’ve done without bearing witness to the definition of what it means to be gutted.” Irric and Ava had compiled a report summarizing what they’d found. Even in condensed form, it was long. Including their thoughts and opinions on the research matter had sparked an intense debate about the nature of Adrian’s experiments.

  “Yes,” Darros said grimly. “This is what they’ve been aiming for. Learning the reasons they hideously deformed our people during experiments we didn’t even know existed until not that long ago is something we owe to those we have failed.”

  “Our researchers believe the gru’ul were aiming for a perfect symbiosis with whatever nanomachines they created,” Maraz said, reading off the report. “Even if that were true, it doesn’t explain the nature of the mutations we saw on those people.”

  “It’s certainly a step in the right direction,” Darros said. “At long last, we have tangible evidence of what they might have been trying to accomplish. What these organs can do is beyond incredible. Loathe as I am to admit it, the gru’ul certainly made an improvement to Adrian’s biology when compared to the a’vaare.”

  “I’d love to have a team dissect the organs and learn more about them, but I find myself in agreement with Ava on the matter,” Maraz added. “We don’t know how to preserve them after we take them out and it’s not like we can’t just put them back into stasis. We don’t understand how the technology works yet even if we can operate the terminals that control the pods. We risk ruining them. Right now I’d rather study them in theory before tampering with them for real.”

  “Do we have a team of researchers we can trust with this information?” Cirrus asked. “None of us are experts in this field of study and we shouldn’t pretend we are. Our researchers on-site might have theories, but it would be best to have them validated by people who actually know what they’re doing.”

  “Ava has extensive knowledge of anatomy and biology,” Orryn pointed out. Along with the raw research logs were Ava’s personal notes on what they’d discovered. It had been those that had helped the Tribunal grasp just what it is they were looking at.

  “You trust that?” Cirrus scoffed. “We need independent validations that aren’t biased or from something of gru’ul creation. Who knows what lies it’s feeding us through those notes.” It would be a long time before she would extend any amount of trust to the thing their enemies created. The notes and observations might well be a ploy by the machine. With none of them having extensive knowledge on the subject matter, they had no way of separating truth from lie.

  Orryn sighed deeply. “If that’s what it takes, we’ll assemble a team. Maraz,” she said, turning to face the other Elder, “research is your purview. Do we have the resources to be able to dedicate time for this?” With the war looming, they were stretched thin. Preparations had begun and coordinating everything so subtly was putting significant strain on what they could do without being discovered.

  Maraz drummed his fingers on the desk. “The researchers that grew us a green plant have the clearance and expertise for it. If we present them this information, I fear that they’re going to presume we’ve discovered a new lifeform and that first contact protocols would need to be enacted.”

  “They wouldn’t be wrong,” Orryn said, frowning. “Humans are technically a new lifeform, even though we haven’t made contact with their civilization yet. And then there’s the matter of whatever Adrian has become, since he’s no longer human.”

  “He’s a walking biohazard, that’s what he is,” Cirrus grumbled. “We might be getting a clearer picture of what was done to him, but we still don’t know if it can spread or harm others.” She picked up her data slate and began reading another report. It was the one Kell had sent them about Reya’s physical. “There’s clearly something wrong here if even Miss Ayala is undergoing some kind of change. Whatever’s happening to her seems to be far more advanced than Stanley’s problems. How do we know it won’t adversely affect her as well?”

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  “We need more information on the changes happening to her,” Maraz said. “The doctor needs to take more in-depth readings. Whatever he finds needs to be shared with our researchers in charge of uncovering the facility’s secrets. Perhaps they’ll be able to learn more.”

  “He’s not going to like that,” Orryn pointed out. “One of those researchers is his team member and Miss Ayala’s close friend. He won’t divulge personal medical information to her.”

  “We’re the War Tribunal,” Darros stated. “Our orders are absolute now, even if he believes himself protected from us by being a doctor. This time, he’ll have no choice but to obey.” That a mere doctor had the gall to defy the Tribunal’s orders and get away with it rankled him fiercely. He refused to let a repeat of that embarrassing event happen, lest it become a pattern. Their authority was not to be undermined, especially not when they were now at war.

  “Forcing him would require us to reveal our hand. We can’t let others know that we’re at war yet,” Orryn refuted. “We need to find another way to convince him.” While she was in agreement that Tassie, Irric and Ava would be better off learning what was happening to Reya, they couldn’t afford any leaks until they had had a more definitive action plan regarding the war. Granted, Tassie’s team was at the heart of the mystery, but the fewer that knew about their decision, the easier it would be to hide it from the gru’ul.

  “I’ll contact him directly,” Kaius said. “I also believe that should he find anything else that is worrisome with Miss Ayala’s results, she should be told so that she may cooperate in providing us more samples. She deserves to know the impact gru’ul experimentation is having on her. Additionally, Maraz’s research team should be given Ava’s notes so that we may have an unbiased study of our findings. We will deny first contact protocols should they make the connection until the time is right. All in agreement?”

  The motion passed four to two.

  With that decided, it was time again to focus on the war. The air in the room turned heavy as the Elders searched for a way not to be annihilated, each option weighed carefully. Several hours into the discussion, Maraz received a report from one of his research teams. He tuned out the conversation and read the memo, his eyes lighting up. “We’ve made progress,” he announced. Immediately, the room quieted, and everybody focused on him. “Our other research teams have successfully reverse engineered the gru’ul ship engines and have built a prototype they believe will allow us to travel faster than ever before.”

  “How fast are we talking?” Darros asked excitedly. After so many months with little to no progress in being able to adapt gru’ul technology with their own, he’d taken to passively learning about new discoveries made, well aware that the research involved was time-consuming. He knew that they’d uncovered new theories about space travel, but until they were made a reality, theories were useless to him.

  “If what I’m reading here is indeed correct, the new engines will shorten the trip to the facility from three weeks to two days.”

  For a moment, nobody spoke.

  “Those are the correct numbers?” Cirrus asked, wanting to be sure she’d heard correctly. If they were accurate, their entire fleet of ships would need to be retrofitted as soon as possible. She could hardly believe the advantage that would give them over the other factions. Internally, she celebrated their success and that they finally had something tangible to show for their efforts.

  “Yes,” Maraz confirmed. “And not just that, there’s even room for improvement. So far we have one prototype that is ready to be installed on a ship for testing. The new engines use an entirely different technology. If we can successfully implement this, it would revolutionize space travel! I’d say it’s a historic moment, even. Our society would take a massive step forward, technologically.”

  Excited murmurs swept through the room. “Do we have a ship we can retrofit with the engine?” Darros asked. “Do we even have a pilot that with enough skill and clearance to make the first test run?”

  “The only pilot I would trust with this would be Tassie,” Maraz said. “Which is a problem, as she’s one of our core researchers for the restricted section of the facility. Gods forbid, if anything goes wrong and she perishes during testing, we’d lose a valuable resource.”

  “I say we take that chance,” Cirrus said staunchly. “We can’t let this advantage slip away from us. It’s not like we’ve improved efficiency by a matter of minutes or hours. We’re talking about weeks shaved off of travel time! We need this now more than ever. This is our first big break with the gru’ul’s technology.” She looked towards Kaius. “I say we put it to a vote.”

  Kaius agreed and the motion passed.

  Tassie would officially be the first pilot to pioneer a revolutionary milestone for their society. They only needed to retrofit her ship without damaging anything, a monumental task that they were certain they could accomplish. With Maraz’s input, a team of their best engineers and mechanics was assembled to undertake the project. While her ship was out commission, Tassie would be given a spare so that the team could still make supply runs.

  All that was left now was to inform her of her new role.