The Chronicles of Ki
Book 1: In The Beginning
© Copyright 2024 Frank Walters Clark ~ All Rights Reserved
Senior Genetophysicist Rnik sits in the vestibule, waiting for the royal guard to summon him into the king’s presence. The citation ordering his appearance stated that his genetics research had caught the attention of the royal family and theCouncil of Twelve, and they wished further enlightenment on the subject of gene enhancement.
Being a longevity-minded bunch of fools, he recalls.
Earlier that morning Rnik’s guard-dog, Boxo, bit him on the calf again, leaving an arc of blood. In his rush, theuntreated wound has managed to ooze through the medband and seep into his pant leg.
He crosses his ankles, hoping to discretely hide the offending mess, only to look down and realize he has now stained both pant legs.
Disgusted, he plants both feet on the floor and sits up straight. Maybe his royalness will not notice.
“Attend to the king!”
Without warning, a royal guard has opened the king’s chamber doors and squirted like a watermelon seed out into the vestibule.
Immediately behind him, King Dal sweeps out drunkenly and holds out his royal hand for a tribute.
“Ah, Rnik. I have waited far too long to hear your soft-spoken words.”
Oh, man, he thinks. This dog is badly in need of dirigible duty.
Rnik bows and air-kisses his king’s hand.
Smacking his lips loudly, as if feasting on roast pigot.
Is that ode du pee-pee fingers I detect?
“I am honored, my king.”
Rnik becomes edgy when King Dal takes him by the hand and leads him like a little child, swayingly down the corridor.
“Our queen awaits us, Rnik. We will take tea in her chambers, and perform all the niceties required of us, then we will speak of matters concerning your research. Is that suitable with you?”
Fine dirigible material, definitely, he thinks.
Seated at a work floatable to one side of her chambers, Queen Dal rises when they enter.
Bowing slightly to the king, she raises a questioning eyebrow toward Rnik, standing behind his master.
Dressed in a white silk gown and red slippers, her hair tied up with a rainbow of ribbons, the queen floats a hand intheir general direction. Expecting a tribute and receiving none, she sits down on the settee, pouting.
“Can I expect no graceful gestures from either of you commoners?”
The king is in no mood for her overworked fopperies. There are larger concerns on his mind, addled though it is with drink.
“Shut up, woman! I am here to discuss our bloodline, not your royally perceived offenses.”
Pursing her lips, Queen Dal sits back, curbed for the moment, disquieted once again by her king’s wine-soaked rejoinder.
I am definitely not blue mist dueling with either of these two, Rnik thinks.
“If I may, your majesties?”
Leaning precariously to one side, King Dal glances over and then nods. Stepping over footstools to the settee, he flops down on the opposite end from the queen and kicks off his boots. Then, swinging his legs up, he puts his feet in herlap and scrunches his fingers in and out at her, mimicking a massage.
“Proceed, Senior Genetophysicist Rnik.
And speak in a non-technical language we can understand.”
“Cutting to the chase, my king,” Rnik says. “My team has uncovered a new factor in our genetic research, one that could have wide- spread and beneficial effects on our society— around the globe, for that matter.”
Taking his compad out of his shoulder brief Rnik hands it to the king, pointing at the display he has called up. KingDal moves a large pillow under his head then studies the image.
“The spherical looking object in the upper right corner, my lord, is a genetic codeblock no one has ever discovered before now.”
“And what does that mean to us?”
“It means, my king, memory loss will soon become a thing of the past. Nibiruan intellectual capacities can become almost limitless. Splicing this codeblock into anyone’s genetic codes, they can become geniuses.”
Sitting up, King Dal clutches the compad and tugs at his beard, gazing at the matrix of electron coding and he becomes enthralled with the possibilities.
“How hard would it be to accomplish what you suggest, Rnik? Do you speak of something which could take place soon? Or… is this a future event?”
“Now, my king. Today. My specialists have already compiled the e-splice samples and the sequencing program needed to make it happen… Tomorrow, if you so desire.”
“How long before the effects become apparent?”
“Starting out, it is a gradual process, my king. But if you recall your exponentials even slightly from your Sect of Shem studies, the increase in your intelligence quotient will happen—not linearly, but exponentially.”
“Fast, in other words.”
“Correct, my king. We have yet to calculate the upper limits to a growth in intellectual capacity such as this, since there is no precedent.”
Queen Dal edges forward on the settee, studying Rnik, like a hawk studies its prey. She plays her fingers at the corners of her eyes, pinching and pulling, rubbing.
“One question, Rnik.” “Yes, my queen?”
She points index fingers at the wrinkles in the corners of her eyes.
“Can you, by some chance, get rid of these?”
Fat chance, Rnik thinks. Another dirigible…
“We are diligently working on it, my queen!”