CHAPTER 16 #2
Using tongs, she transferred the last, and the most protected, globe to a glass slide.
A peek through her microscope didn’t show much.
The outer skin of the egg proved to be dense and offered no clues.
What was inside? Just in case she released something toxic—or savage—she put the globe in a glove box, a dumb name that accurately described the sealed glass unit with two holes for her to stick her hands in.
The thick rubber gloves proved unwieldy, but with determination, she managed to grasp the scalpel she’d placed in the box.
It took a bit of pressure to penetrate the tough outer layer of the egg, but once she pierced it, the globe collapsed into a small puddle of goo. No baby alien, kind of disappointing.
She slid some of the gunk onto a slide and took a peek through her microscope.
Despite the decomposition, she identified the sample as having the same cellular lattice as the aliens she’d been studying.
The inert cells showed the bonds between them breaking down.
Killed by the lake water? Possible, given the hairline cracks in the meteor that would have allowed the eggs to be soaked in the toxic fluid.
However, their death did surprise. The aliens obviously survived a journey through the universe, subjected to extreme temperatures and force.
Likely the asteroid provided some protection from that, but still, how could a poisonous lake truly be that catastrophic?
Then again, didn’t every living being have some version of kryptonite?
Had the toxic water penetrated the shell of the egg, or had she inadvertently poisoned the innards when she sliced it open?
Removing her hands from the glove box, she snared one of the intact globes and sprayed it with distilled water and even scrubbed to remove any residue left behind from its dunk in Lake Natron.
A slice of its outer skin resulted in it collapsing, the gooey innards decaying and dead.
Dripping blood on it didn’t seem to revive it in any way.
Just in case she’d not given it long enough reanimate, she transferred it to the glass case holding the first sample and tossed in some meat protein as bait. She then tackled the rest of the globes, running them through an X-ray and then an ultrasound to see if they contained a discernible shape.
Not one of them showed anything. Like an unfertilized chicken egg, there was nothing to see.
Assuming the journey and impact with Earth hadn’t killed the alien pods, she could only assume its dunk in Lake Natron did.
Those tiny cracks allowed the toxic water to seep within, saturating all the globules and killing the alien biological matter before it could hatch.
As to the purpose of those etched lines, most likely they were meant to ease the alien’s escape.
Look how easily the protective shell came apart when tapped, but that led to a more perplexing question.
If the aliens arrived as eggs encased in stone, how did they grow enough to break free?
She thought of a movie she’d seen, where blood used in a sacrifice ran through rivulets in a temple to revive some ancient evil.
Could it be that the alien asteroid worked in a similar fashion?
Introduce blood into one access point, AKA a crack, and it would spread to the waiting pods, feeding and growing them until they had the strength to emerge.
An interesting theory, but for one thing.
She doubted an animal would wander by and be like, Hey, I’m gonna bleed all over this rock.
A food-bearing Grayson arrived as she pondered the mystery and struggled to formulate a theory.
“Hey,” he said, walking in with a pizza box of all things. “Look what the kitchen prepared for us.”
“Mmm. And just in time, I’m starving.” Engrossed in her work, she’d lost track of time.
Asterion had left a little while ago to get his own meal and promised to return after he’d gotten a bit of sleep.
Before he left, he reported Blue had been sharing its portion of meat equally with the little blob but had ignored the crafting items Asterion gave it.
“I am beyond hungry. That workout took everything I had.”
“Hard one?”
“The strenuous exercise part I can handle. Getting my ass handed to me, though…” His lips twisted. “Not used to that.”
“I’m sure you’ll soon be the one schooling them. Give yourself time. You’ve been a warrior less than a week.”
“Guess the star gods don’t care that patience isn’t one of my virtues,” his chuckled reply.
“I’m thinking they were more interested in your other qualities.”
His brow arched. “Such as?”
“Arrogance. I hear that’s a must-have warrior trait.”
Their shared laughter felt so comfortable she moved toward him to give him a hug as soon as he set the box down.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
“Happy to see you, I guess, but don’t let it go to your head. It might also be because you brought food. Speaking of which, what kind of pizza did we get?”
“Fully loaded.”
As they each grabbed a slice of cheese, pepperoni, mushroom, onion, and bacon goodness, Grayson glanced at the rock broken up into pieces in the glove box.
“So, what’s the verdict on the meteor? Did we get the right one?”
“Yes, and in good news, the alien seeds within were all dead.”
“So the lake water can kill them?”
“Maybe. I can’t be sure that’s what caused them to fail to hatch, but it did immediately kill one of my live samples.
A single drop and it immediately went inert.
No idea if it’s permanent, though I’ve got it secured with some meat protein to see.
I’ve also yet to test if the toxic water will work on a fully formed alien with skin. ”
“Even if it only kills the pieces, or requires a flesh wound to penetrate, seems like good news,” he stated before taking a bite of his slice.
“Agreed.”
“Then why do you seem perturbed?”
“Because I don’t understand how the alien eggs hatched in the first place.
Look.” She pointed to the remains of the meteor.
“The globules I found were encased in rock. No way for them to go off and hunt what they needed to grow. I did find hairline cracks running through the rock, which is how the lake water managed to penetrate, but given their need for meat protein or blood to grow, I’m struggling to see how any of them ever managed to feed enough to get the strength to break free. ”
“Funny you should mention that, because, apparently, Pisces, while hunting down stray aliens, found one of the asteroids and took pictures. I think you’ll be interested in what he observed. Hold one while I buzz Aquarius.”
“I thought Pisces found it.”
“Yeah, but he handed everything over to Aquarius.” Grayson typed on his phone, and a few minutes later, as Leila chewed on her pizza, her computer dinged.
Leila scooted her chair over. Her screen displayed a pop-up message from Aquarius.
Here’s the images Pisces got of a meteor in the wilds of Australia. Checking to see if any of the other impact zones had videos or pictures taken.
Attached, several images.
Grayson strolled over and leaned against her desk, eating his fourth slice.
“Have you seen these yet?” Leila asked as she loaded the files.
“Nope, but Pisces described what he saw, and I do believe it will answer your question of how does an alien grow.”
A clear impact crater appeared in the first image, the ground around it scorched, and in the center, pieces of rock, the petal shapes quite clear, as well as other debris.
“Looks like it broke up on impact.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Check the next pic.”
She clicked, and a new image loaded, a zoomed-in view that focused on the broken-apart meteor cluttered with.
.. skeletons? Judging by their size and shape, she’d wager mice, although she did see a larger ribcage mixed in.
“Seems like some curious critters came too close and the alien seeds managed to feed.”
“Why would they approach, though? Scorched earth and rock don’t usually draw vermin. Notice how the skulls are smashed.”
At his remark, she frowned and looked more closely. Indeed, the craniums all appeared cracked, teeth too.
Grayson murmured, “Aquarius said it reminded him of a monster he fought a while back that oozed some kind of pheromone that made its victims go mad. They would bash themselves in the face until they literally died.”
“You think the aliens somehow managed to call to the local wildlife and convince them to suicide themselves in order to feed?” She couldn’t help but sound skeptical as she chewed her lower lip.
“The pictures seem to indicate it.”
“A great theory except for the fact the samples I had in the lab never caused my mice to go wild with a need to reach the alien, nor did I, for that matter.”
“Those were cast-off chunks. You called the ones in the meteor seeds.”
“Because the flesh was encased in a membrane.”
“And what if that membrane oozed some kind of pheromone? I mean, these aliens obviously had a plan. Why else send an asteroid full of them here? Seems to me like a no-brainer they’d have a way to attract what they needed to ensure they could hatch and start terrorizing.”
Given the evidence, it made sense. “How did I not think of that?”
“Most likely because you’re exhausted. I think it’s time for you to go to bed.”
“But—”
He drew her upright so she faced him. “No buts. You’ve done enough for today.”
“I still have to—”
“You can tackle the rest tomorrow. Get some sleep. Refresh that brilliant brain of yours. While you rest, I’m going to feed that little bugger in the other room so it and its clone can grow big enough to test.”
Last time she peeked, Blue was the size of a small dog, and still just as mean. As for the lump, it had grown a pair of arms and could propel itself.
“You need sleep too,” her last argument.
“Bah, I can nap in between feeding the monsters. Let’s go. I’ll tuck you in.”
Grayson meant that literally. He held her hand as he led her across the hall to her apartment. Shooed her into the bathroom so she could refresh herself. She emerged in less-than-sexy cotton pajamas to see he waited by the bed, sheets turned down, ready for her to crawl in.
He patted the mattress. “In you go.”
“You’re being awfully bossy,” she grumbled.
“Think of it as being caring. You need to be at your best because tired people make mistakes.”
She countered with, “Speed is of the essence.”
“Unless you’re planning to head to Toronto to test the water on a rampaging full-sized alien, you’re going to need to wait until Blue gets a little bit bigger.”
“I hate it that you’re right,” she grumbled, crawling into her bed.
“Ah, the words I rarely hear,” he teased, pulling up the blankets to her chin. “Nighty night. Hopefully, by morning, I’ll have a proper-sized alien for you to test the water on.”
“That would be helpful,” she stated with a yawn. “I still don’t like the fact you’re giving up your sleep to help me, though. Maybe we should both rest, maybe catch that sunrise we spoke of.”
“While I would love nothing more than to spend the night with you, we both know there wouldn’t be much sleeping.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“You can barely keep your eyes open,” he chided, a valid point since her lids sat at half-mast. “I’d like you to be awake when we make love.”
“You sound awfully certain that’s going to happen.”
“Are you, the scientist, denying what is bound to happen?”
Her lips curved. “All evidence points to it being a foregone conclusion.”
“And I’d like for that first time to be memorable and not have me doubting my prowess if you suddenly fall asleep during a crucial moment.”
A soft giggle escaped her. “Very well. No sunrise this time.”
He leaned down to place a soft kiss on her temple with a murmured, “Soon, though, because a man only has so much willpower.”
And with that promise, she fell asleep.