******
News flash: Headlines - On the shores
of Lake Winnow on Mars Planetary Station
By Cheryl Heminimor
A girl, that was
proclaimed dead over 10 years ago, was found alive and well on the west
side shore of Lake Winnow. Her parents were killed in the destruction of
the late spaceship Helios, and she was believed to have died as well. The
grandparents of this little miracle were ecstatic, but refused to comment
upon this strange twist of fate. The authorities were very much surprised
when the grandparents actually came to claim her.
" She disappeared
over 10 years ago, being only a babe at the time," Comments Officer Brigley
Moore," And it seemed hopeless that anyone would realize who she was. It
is a bit suspicious, and we will be doing a background check on her guardians,
but for now, it seems as though she's just a kid with a lucky streak."
A lucky streak
it may be. After today, the girl, calling herself Sayakuri, will be transferred
into the guardian's care once the doctors have proclaimed her healthy.
She'll be appearing on several shows, including Saturday Night Live, to
recount her extraordinary ten years of survival in this Alien plagued part
of space. So, tune in, and listen, you may gain some tips on how to rough
it in the Mars Planetary Outback.
******
Jarell Martins
sneered at the news article. Leave it to the press to exaggerate every
thing. There actually hadn't been as much checking as the authorities claimed.
They only did a little scan of the reports, checking for criminal records,
not even bothering checking psychological histories. He'd been one of the
people to look a little more carefully, and what he saw bothered him. Those,
so-called grandparents had a history of mental illnesses dating back quite
a while. One thing was for sure, if the kid stayed with them she'd probably
come out nuttier then a fruitcake. But, he shrugged, it wasn't his business.
" Not my say.
I tried." Jarell confided to his cat," But, they'll learn. Most likely,
that kid's name'll pop back up again, and we can all be sure where that'll
be."
Jarell gave the
Obituaries column a hard stab, before dropping the cat lightly on the floor.
He continued around the Recliner, towards the refrigerator, opening it
with a small click. Inside, he pulled out all the essentials for a huge
sandwich, along with a can of beer.
" I tried," He
mumbled angrily," No one's going to press the blame on me..."
******
" Captain, the
signal is gone."
" WHAT?!!!" Captain
Tom Eddes walked quickly to the lieutenant's monitor.
" I don't know
what happened. It was on RADAR and everything, then it just vanished."
" What in blue
blazes is going on?!"
" I don't know,
sir. All I know is," She turned around," Whatever it was, it was here,
and now its gone."
Capt. Eddes swore
beneath his breath. It been sitting on the screen for nearly an hour. Just...sitting
there! At first they'd suspected it been a slow drifting asteroid. But,
after this little vanishing act, they'd have to clear up their files. Something
big was going on. Something that was going to change everything.
******
" Huh? What?"
I woke from my
deep sleep, aware of a painful pounding in my head. Everything was swirling
around me in a mass of color. As I settled myself, trying not to throw
up from the spinning, I was aware of strangers. They were cloaked all in
light blue, and as I watched their figures became more and more sharp.
They were short! Well, taller then me, but short! Aviws probably could
have taken them out with no problem! This was T-453?
" She's waking
up, the anaesthesia is wearing off."
I struggled to
sit up, weakness wasn't a good thing to be flashing when you're in enemy
domain.
" Shh..." I recoiled
as one of them tried to touch me.
" Leave her be,
Sarie. She's not used to humans. Probably raised by a mothering Fetdor."
" That doesn't
explain how she knows how to speak like us.."
" A smart Fetdor?"
" Paul..."
" I'm sorry!"
" It's amazing,
her entire system was changed...her internal structure is different from
ours."
" Does that mean
she's not human?"
" Oh, she's human.
Just not human in the same sense..."
I felt myself
blacking out again, but struggled to stay awake.
******
" Paul," Sarie
turned to Paul with an x-ray," Her internal physiology has been completely
reconstructed, to suit a different environment all together. Look at this.
Some of the major organs that we require to function have been modified:
Her heart has six chambers! Her lungs are about five percent larger then
the normal human lung! That means her endurance level is much higher then
that of ours."
" So, she's a
regular superhuman."
" Paul, be serious.
Whoever has been caring for this child, obviously knows a great deal about
bio-engineering...if we could just..."
" Sarie, don't
even go there."
" Paul, if we
could find the person who did this..."
" We'd be in
bigger trouble. Bio-engineering is illegal. Experimentation on humans.
It's disgusting!"
" What about
all those experiments on animals? Huh?"
" What about
them?"
" Paul, don't
you see? How is human experimentation any more inhumane, then animal experimentation?"
" Sarie, I'm
not going to get into an argument with you about moral affairs."
Sarie started
to protest.
" You were giving
me a report on her internal anatomy." Paul said.
" Her stomach
has been altered entirely to process a certain type of chemical."
" So?"
" The problem
is, that when I ran an analysis, it turns out that chemical is Neonicanide."
" An acid. I'm
sure she can handle it."
" Not swallowing
it she can't. Her tissues are still human, and that acid is strong enough
to dissolve her flesh in seconds. No, she takes it in another way..."
" And I suppose
you have a theory..."
" Yes I do. And
we're going to test it."
******
That's all for
now. Keep on the look out for the next chapter of Aliens: Beware The Swarm!
