was like an avalanche and a person died in terrible agony.
Doctors tried to stop this disease, and drug treatments and radiation therapy slowed and even partially reversed the spread of the affected cells. But this treatment greatly damaged the body because the medicine was highly toxic, as was the radiation. The modified cells died, but healthy cells also were killed. As a result, in just a few months death occurred no matter what.
In my world they found a treatment for this disease 150 years ago, and it came unexpectedly at the intersection of two very different sciences: biochemistry and nuclear physics. Now my task was to convey the essence of the idea to people capable of making the necessary equipment.
All right, let’s try to analyze our assets and liabilities – me and my new body. I, Igor Yakovlevich Lavroff, just 15 years of age, five feet eleven inches tall, am thin and now look like a skeleton. I’m neither handsome, nor ugly. I’m Russian, a citizen of the Earth Federation. I am a resident of Saturn’s moon, Titan, in the Solar system terraformed by Russians long before all the states on Earth merged to form a single political entity. I am on Titan at the moment. I study, or rather, studied at high school, specializing in xenology. Hence, I study mankind’s malicious enemies.
My father perished five years ago in the asteroid belt near the Van Maanen star system. Why the quargs were so interested in this dim white dwarf in the Pisces constellation remains unknown. However, we fought desperately for it. The fight ended in a draw, but my father never returned home. No details were given about his fate. We were just told that the merchant ship where he was head doctor had been hit by a powerful torpedo from a quarg destroyer. No one survived.
My mother taught at a local elementary school. We lived off her salary, which was decent, as well as the state compensation for my father’s death. But after I fell ill our savings soon ran out. Insurance wouldn't cover all the medical bills.
Now, I have two weeks left, probably three, although I shouldn’t rely on this.
Actually, that’s all that was significant. I didn’t really know much. I’m physically underdeveloped, not to mention this damned disease… On the other hand, all this refers to Igor Lavroff, and there is another me, Brigadier General Dean of whom nobody here knows anything. And Brigadier General Dean has an incomparable trump card in his pocket: the knowledge put in his brain. That was the card that could be and should be put on the table right now.
I sipped some hot and tasty vegetable broth from my mug, thinking about how to start. I could ask for the doctor and explain the treatment for asteroid fever, but he’ll probably think I was panicking due to my fear of an imminent death. As a mere teenager, and certainly not a genius, there was no logical way I could know such things, especially since Ilya Sergeyevich knew my father. They weren’t friends, but were on good terms. The doctor knew enough about me and wouldn’t believe in my sudden enlightenment without solid proof.
So, I shouldn’t start with him, but with independent people who are competent in the areas important for me. I need to attract their attention, must be interesting to them, and must convince them to listen carefully to me. And where should we look for them, Mr. 15-year-old Brigadier General? Well, what do we lack to be taken seriously? Education – an official confirmation of my qualifications. Hence, it was clear that I should look for such people in institutions of higher learning.
I began to surf the web. What am I interested in? Medicine in general, and biochemistry in particular. On the other hand, I need physics; can’t get by without it. What do we have here on Titan? Ok, The Colonial Technological Institute. That’s what I need. Well, that’s for physics and probably for biochemistry. What about medicine? Oh! A branch of the Military Medical Academy. That will do! Where do we start? Physics is closest to me since my days as a general.
I found the distance learning section on the Colonial Technological Institute’s website. Distance learning is encouraged and supported by the Earth Federation. It’s free of charge and to start I only have to pass the admission exam. Then, at the end of each stage is another test. Well, how interesting this is: I’ll be able to do all the training without meeting professors, even online. If something isn’t clear, I’ll be able to consult a professor online, but it’s not obligatory. Besides, there are no limits regarding the time frame for completion of the curriculum. I can take exams even 10 times a day. Great! As for the mandatory course exam, it includes the grading of tests by a professor in person or a commission. In case they have questions, I must answer in person. Well, I’ll make sure they have questions. Personal contact – that’s what I really need.
I enrolled in the distance learning section by placing my finger on a sensor, and signed the contract using a personal digital signature. As expected, I had no problems with the admission test and I became a student.
There were concerns that the knowledge placed in my brain would in practice appear to be something like an encyclopedia, that is to say a repertoire of knowledge, no more than that. From the experience of my former life I remembered that theoretical knowledge wouldn’t necessarily provide a student with the skills to solve problems or to perform practical study. To do that one needs special training and additional skills.
In case my concerns should materialize then I’d most likely face some difficulties when taking further exams that included both theoretical issues and problems to solve, as well as lab experiment imitations. But my worries proved to be in vain. All the knowledge successfully settled in my brain. I don’t know if this was Dr. Silk’s accomplishment or the stimulation of my new brain by the transfer of senses properly arranged as it should be. Anyway, I understood almost immediately what had to be done while taking the exams.
The exams seemed endless: I spent about four hours continuously tapping on the tablet’s virtual keyboard and answering questions aloud. Nurse Olga twice entered my room and asked if it was time to rest. I answered that I felt better, and claimed that such activity was evidently doing me good. She shook her head unbelievingly, but apparently the monitor’s readings and the way I looked confirmed my words, hence she didn’t object.
The final test took me two hours and it was very interesting. I enjoyed it so much that I didn’t noticed a small thumbnail image that appeared in the corner of my display. That was Professor Stein who had connected with my tablet. He waited in silence until the test was over. I leaned back on my pillow satisfied, and he said:
“Good afternoon.”
Quite surprised, I twitched slightly. I brought the tablet closer to my face in order to reduce the webcam’s field of view and turned on a video link. The professor appeared to be in his fifties, although I could be wrong since I didn’t really know what the local doctors were capable of.
„Good afternoon, professor. I’m really glad you dropped in.”
Stein raised his eyebrow, clearly amazed.
“To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“You’ve made it possible for me to get in touch with a competent authority and to express some ideas.”
“Really? But I’m here not for this. At least, for the moment. Igor Yakovlevich.”
“Just call me Igor. Sorry for interrupting you, professor.”
“Hmmm, well, Igor, then call me Ivan Gerkhardovich. So, Igor, you’ve surprised everybody here and, to be perfectly frank, instigated a number of queries and questions. I’ll specify them one by one. First, you passed the admission exam with the highest mark, being just 15 years old. Well, that's not unheard of. It happens. Second, you already passed all the midterm and final exams, with the highest scores. Now, that doesn’t happen. Third, you never before demonstrated such knowledge. All children prodigies participate first in children’s contests, then in school
