The birth of Axial, was something of an anti-climax for Laina. A beautiful boy with his father's dark eyes, and the fresh new light in her recently miserable life. She'd hoped his arrival would bring Quinton back to reality, but somehow it had made him even more determined to work. He spent more time than ever at his office with his head in a book, researching, testing, perfecting, than he ever did with his family at home. She began to worry that her marriage was finally coming to an end, and now there was a child involved.
The test subjects had been coming and going from Crow's office all week. She hadn't known why, until the day he came to her with a spring in his step. "My darling, I've done it!" he said, a huge smile plastered over his face.
"Done what?" she asked, attempting to fit a new nappy on a wriggly baby. She noticed how old Crow looked, his eyes tired and distant, and his frame was thinner.
"The final elixir," he answered. "I think I've finally perfected the Nidrahni cure for use on Eridanians."
She looked over at him through tired eyes, and wondered if he was still human enough to shed a tear.
"I've completely healed a dozen volunteers that were subject to a small dose of Nidrahni, and I've immunised a dozen more citizens of the village. None of them have suffered any of the previous side effects." He bobbed around like an excited kid.
She could see how proud he was of his latest achievement. Laina wrapped baby Axial in a woollen blanket and placed him in his crib, turning back to face her husband. "Congratulations, Quinton. Has there been any side effects at all?"
His mouth curled. "None, my love. It seems to be more efficient on the young, so I would like to continue the immunisation programme and protect our family, for when we return to Barlow."
His words drained the life from her body - she knew that he meant Axial, and she also knew that she had no way of changing his determined mind. She replied with the only threat she could, hoping that it would make him think twice.
"If you inject AnoniemX cells into our son, Quinton, then I want you to inject me as well." she stared into Quinton's unfaltering eyes, waiting to see if her pathetic threat would uncover any self-doubt he had with his elixir.
His reply was a big smile. "So be it, darling." He turned and left the room to prepare a second dose.
Laina felt numb, she was entirely trapped in the frozen village, and the only escape route was a fifteen minute buggy ride to Uscarix along the east coast. The port harboured only a few small fishing vessels, but most were full of cracks and holes - certainly nothing sea-worthy. She had no way out and had begun to fear not only for her own life, but for that of her son. She'd been stupid believing he might reconsider if she demanded the injection as well, calling Quinton's bluff had never worked, his ego had the power to make anything possible.
Crow returned with two long syringes, both filled with a green-blue liquid, he caught Laina's eye. "I'll immunise you first."
Tears began to fall from pleading eyes. "Quinton, what if it's not safe?"
He looked at her, slowly shaking his head and smiling. "Laina, my darling," There was absolutely no doubt in his mind to the quality of the cocktail he'd created. "The only possible outcome here, is that you and Axial will both be protected against a deadly disease."
"And what about those monsters in the area?" Laina questioned. She'd always wondered if they'd been a bi-product from early results of Crow's special elixir.
"There are no monsters," he replied. "And besides, this is a completely different combination from any experiment we've done in the past. It only really works to its maximum potential when given to the recipient at a young age."
Laina stood and faced her husband, her face a picture of horror. "Then why did you so readily agree to inject me?"
"Because my dear, it's completely safe." he spoke with the utmost confidence. "It will still offer your body the best protection, even though it'll be slightly less effective than if you were a child."
Crow had been made aware by one of his students at the clinic of the monster outbreak, and deep down he knew the mutations were due to his last experimentation, but ego and pride would never allow him to accept responsibility. Not for a moment did the great Professor Crow believe he was capable of making mistakes. He looked at her watery eyes, and sighed, realising he'd have to release some arrogance to win her over. "I promise after we're protected I'll cut down the hours at work, and spend much more time with you and Axial." He spoke softly, ending with a warm smile on his face as he looked to the bundle of joy snoozing in his warm basket.
Laina searched his eyes for the truth, struggling to see through his hidden arrogance. The small token of hope on offer was all she could wish for - and so, with reluctance held out an arm, rolling up a sleeve to expose the skin. She turned her head so she wouldn't have to watch.
Crow gently wiped her arm with a sterile pad, then fully inserted the sharp needle. Laina winced, scrunching her eyes tight. "All done." he announced, holding a lump of cotton wool against her arm where the needle had emerged from, soaking up a dribble of fresh blood. He went to the table, and picked up a second syringe.
"Quinton, please be careful with him." she peered into the crib, heart melting as she watched her sleeping beauty.
"I promise I'll be gentle." Crow leaned over the wooden barrier of the crib, and pulled back the blankets covering Axial. He exposed the skin at the top of his little thigh, and squeezed the contents of the syringe into the infant's body. Axial let out a whimper, but was soon wrapped up and shushed him back to sleep. Crow turned to face his wife. "Easy as that." he smiled, then returned the equipment to his study. Laina squeezed her arm when he left, pressing with fingers and thumb to test for soreness around the needled area. She lifted the injected arm above her head, searching for any aches or pains with the aid of extra gravity from being higher, but felt nothing. It was as if it had never happened. Maybe Quinton was right after all, and there really was nothing to worry about.
Over the following months he stuck to his promise, and the Crows spent some valuable time together as a family. Quinton and Laina remembered some of their passion, and began to grow close again. Axial continued to develop into a happy little boy, being a keen snowman maker and ice-slider. Before the year was out, his mother explained that he was going to be a big brother as once again, she was pregnant. For the next nine months, Crow made every effort to make Laina comfortable and happy. It appeared that the wonderful man she'd married, had grudgingly returned.
***
Early the following year, she gave birth to a son - Hektor. He had a powerful set of lungs and the brightest pair of pale, blue eyes they had ever seen. There was concern during birth, as Hektor's heart rate was slower than normal, but thankfully it didn't cause any real issues. Axial took to the role of big brother with great pride, guarding the end of his freshly decorated cot with a long, wooden stick. Most nights, Laina would creep up to the doorway and take a sneaky peek, struggling to contain her joyful tears at the most beautiful display of protection she'd seen.
Later that same year, Laina began feeling poorly, and strange red marks appeared over her body. The constant migraine almost drove her mad, and it took a while for Crow to admit to himself that the cause of her lesions was probably due to the immunisation that he had administered almost two years previous. How could he tell her though? He knew she'd leave him, especially since he'd injected the solution into Axial. At least Hektor was safe, unless he'd contracted whatever it was from inside his mother's womb. Laina took antibiotics that helped with the terrible infection, but the migraines still remained. A few months later, Professor Crow had run out of excuses. He made a last ditch effort to produce a cure using a gentler blend of AnoniemX cells, and it appeared to work, and within a short period of time Laina was as good as new. Crow had temporarily removed the daily argument in their lives of whether Axial would get sick. But for the time being, he was safe. Crow had bought himself some time.
The brothers grew into little trouble makers, smashing village windows with snow balls, and stealing fresh meat from the hunter's cabin. They loved to be outside, and even an attack from a young Snowolf couldn't deter them from their frosty, outdoor seduction. The boys drove the beast off with their sticks, but when their mother found out, she forbade them from leaving the house alone again - it was much too dangerous, and her decision was reinforced when a village monster tried to break into the house for food. Crow destroyed the ravaged beast with a shotgun.
Because of the incident, Crow requested a short period of leave from the Science Department, deciding that a family vacation was long overdue. He also asked that an armed force be mobilised from Barlow to eradicate further monsters that wandered the village.
The Crow's soon departed the frozen shores of Uscarix on a Malikan transport ship, sent all the way from the port at Crux. The trip to Star Island was paid for with his handsome Malikan wage, and the small, tropical island was the only one occupied amongst a beautiful group known as the Moirai Cluster. With golden sands and warm waters, it was a paradise. A small mountain range on the west coast offered shelter from the winds, and a row of huge palm trees lined the tarmac road up to the wooden accommodation. The cabins surrounded a large communal swimming pool in a circular arrangement. The island was small, and took less than forty-five minutes to walk around its circumference. Holiday makers bathed on the sparkling sands of East Beach, happily bronzing their bodies and forgetting all about their daily stresses. Because the price of a ticket was extortionate, and the cost of food on the island could bankrupt a small country, this haven was only really open to the rich and famous. Luckily for Crow, he was a respected fellow within the Malikai, they needed him to stay loyal and would accommodate his every request.
On their last day, Laina decided it was the perfect time to announce her news to Quinton and the boys. The digital kit indicated that she was between three and four weeks pregnant, and it was the perfect end to a wonderful holiday. She couldn't have been happier, her boys were healthy - the family doctor had even commented that they were extremely advanced for their ages, both mentally and physically. But the icing on the cake for Laina was that her husband loved her again - like he did in the early days.
On the surface, life was great for the family. But during the following year, Crow informed President Malik of his need to secure Uscarix. He desperately required a transport link with Barlow, and the port was just big enough to accommodate a Malikan ship. The link would be used to bring new equipment and materials, as he needed to up his level of commitment to work. Soon after the order was made, Malikan troops had wiped out the entire town, leaving no survivors. Crow had acquired his port.
***
Axial was eight years old when the lesions began, and his parents knew exactly what it was. Crow confessed about his blundered experiments in an attempt to salvage his marriage. A tiny molecular anomaly was the reason for the mutations, and although the sickness and lesions from the treatment suggested it was somehow incorrect, he demonstrated that it was in fact a perfect cure. It was impossible for him to know that it would have such a short lifespan before breaking down, with an inevitable ending of certain death for the host.
Even now, ignorance blinded him to the simple fact that he'd just lost the best thing in his life. One day, before she took the kids and disappeared, Laina waited for her husband to go out for the day and trashed his vacant office. All of his major research and documentation was in there. Her destructive effort was an attempt to thwart Crow's progress with AnoniemX, and hopefully change his mind about continuing down such a dark path. Amongst the chaos of torn paperwork, she found a leather bound diary, fairly battered and recently used. Its contents made her sick to the core. There was written and pictorial explanation on how to infuse an unborn foetus with AnoniemX cells. She froze to the spot, holding the small book of horror in her shaking hands, her lips quivering with fear as realisation dawned. It detailed how to numb the skin around the stomach with an anaesthetic spray, and using a portable X-ray, demonstrated where to insert the needle. She quickly lifted her shirt, and frantically searched for any unusual markings on her exposed body. Memories probed her fuzzy brain for recollections of waking with a sore belly.
"Mummy?"
Laina jumped with fright, and spun around to see Samiel standing at the doorway watching her with big gooey eyes, he was only three years old. The thought that Quinton could have done this without her knowledge was utterly unbearable, and unforgivable.
"Go and get your brothers darling," she ordered, with reinforced determination. "We'll be going on our trip soon." She tried to compose herself, but the tears on her face revealed her true emotions.
On-route to the port, Laina made a quick visit to Anoniem's secure laboratory. With the stolen primary key-card, she changed the codes to the entry door leading into the chamber. Unless he blew it open with explosives, there wasn't a chance in hell that he'd be seeing Anoniem in her state of suspended animation anytime soon.
Within Laina's luggage was a metal case, containing the last remnants of the Advanced Gene Therapy Immunisation programme. Three pre-prepped syringes, with their innocuous looking green-blue fluid gave Laina only a small hope for their future. Thanks to the amazing Professor Quinton Crow, their time on this world was rapidly running thin.