Phelan's Grunts

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I do not own the Marvel Universe or any characters that originated there, I just own the Grunts

Notes: Same as in chapter 1

Beginnings - chapter-2

June 1997

Doctor Allan Sheppard walks quickly toward the huge test building sitting behind the main building of Interlard Biotech Laboratories, Inc.

Interlard Biotech is a research complex sitting on government land in the woods of northern Virginia. Interlard Biotech was started back in the 1960's, a joint operation between the newly changed National Security Agency (NSA) and the Foreign Technology Division (FTD) of the military. The FTD was formed in 1945 to study recovered technology from the Germans and Japanese. Its scope changed in 1947 when an alien spacecraft crashes in Roswell, New Mexico. In that same year Congress passes the National Securities Act, officially making the National Security Council (NSC) a part of the President's cabinet. The FTD was located in warehouses and hangers at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. In 1953 a second crash of an alien spacecraft near Kingman Arizona causes the NSC to change the scope and operation of the NSA from simply overseeing the security of military communications to overseeing every aspect of national security. All alien bodies and craft parts are taken to the FTD, as the craft parts are studied advances are made to U.S. Military aircraft. It is decided that the study of the bodies and craft parts should be separated. The craft parts are taken to a secret air base located in Nevada near Groom Lake about 90 miles north of Las Vegas, this base will later become known to the public as Area 51. The study of the alien bodies will be carried out in a new research lab complex located on government land in Virginia. The NSA is in charge of security at both the air base and the lab complex. Unlike the air base it is decided that the best way to achieve security at the lab is to tell the world about it. It is called Interlard Biotech Laboratories, Inc. It is presented to the world as a privately own lab doing research in animal and human reproduction by artificial means. Over the years many scientists have worked at the complex contributing to the research of the alien bodies without ever being aware of it or that they were working at a government lab.

The test building is a huge two story perfectly square building divided into four large equal rooms. The April weather is still cold so Allan pulls his lab coat tight against himself. He could have taken one of the underground tunnels, but since he spends so much time in his lab Allan takes every chance he can get to go outside, even in cold weather. He hurries past the two guards standing outside the front doors. The two sets of doors, one in the front and one in the rear are always guarded. Even the underground entrance is guarded.

Inside the building is a hallway that runs around the entire building, separating the rooms from the outer walls and inside hallways separate the inside walls of each room. He takes the hallway to a set of stairs that lead up to a walkway that runs along the top of the inside hallways between the test rooms. These walkways allow a person to look down into any of the four test rooms. The walkways are protected with foot thick unbreakable glass. Allan often wonders if the glass walls are really unbreakable.

He stops half way down the walkway and looks down into the only room being used today. A boy of fifteen stands in the center of the room, wearing only a pair of dark blue shorts. There are test electrodes attached all over his body that monitor every biological function of his body during the test. He is standing still, curling a barbell. With only the strength of his arms he slowly and under complete control raises and lowers the bar. Bringing it up from his thighs to his chin and back down again, over and over. Allan looks at his watch it is just past 10:00 am. The test was to have started at 7:00 am. Which means that if the test started on time the boy has been lifting the bar for over three hours. He had missed the beginning of the test but the bar is suppose to have 400 pounds in weight and the bar itself weights 100 pounds, making the told 500 pounds. A 500-pound bar bell and this kid has been lifting it for over three hours, amazing.

Allan assumed the strength and his other abilities must come from his father. The boy is a hybrid, a cross between an extraterrestrial alien male and a human female. A voice interrupts him as he is writing. "Hello, Allan. How are you this morning?" He looks up to see Interlard's chief research scientist Bran Toryn walk onto the walkway.

"I'm fine Dr. Toryn, and you?"

"I'm good Allan and I've told you time and again to call me Bran."

Allan would swear that Bran Toryn was the nicest person he had ever met. He didn't just deal out platitudes he really meant what he said.

Bran looks down into the test room at the boy, "He is quite magnificent isn't he?"

"I suppose. I still can't believe a fifteen year old is curling 500 pounds, Hell I don't even know any grown men who can dead lift that much weight much less curl it.

"Oh, that is nothing. I believe his limit is around 1000 pounds in the curl. Adam is a very unique person, unless his muscles are put under strain they don't seem to tire. We'll be stopping soon, I believe Mr. Ryszard wants to run another one of his simulations."

"Amazing. Why do you call him Adam?"

"Because that is his name."

"I thought it was Hybrid Two Eight Six."

"Honestly Allan. The boy's name is Adam. Because like in the bible he is the first of his kind, please call him that. Once I'm gone I expect you to be his friend. With people like Ryszard wanting only to exploit the child he needs all the friends he can get.

"Gone, you mean you didn't the extension?"

"No, I didn't."

"I can't believe they are going to let you go."

"I am over sixty-five, mandatory retirement you know."

"What has that got to do with anything, you're as brilliant and anyone here, more than most of the other scientists here."

Thank you Allan. Your support is greatly appreciated. Please give our children that support as well."

"Maybe this one, but the others are an abomination, especially the female."

"Abominations? Allan they are wonderful children."

"They. At least this one looks human not like the others, especially the female."

"Allan, her name is Eve. Like Adam she is the first of her kind, the first female ever created. Have you really ever really looked at her? She is beautiful."

"Beautiful? She has no hair on her entire body. Her head is thirty percent larger than normal and her eyes. Those damn big black eyes. It's as if she can look into your soul and I don't like the fact she can pop around the way she does."

"Allan, Allan. Eve is like Adam, a unique person in her own right. But, they both need love and attention like any child and I don't mean the attention of a scientist studying them, I mean the attention of a friend. I hope you will become that friend. You're a good person inside Allan, not like Ryszard. And Eve told me that she likes you and I know Adam likes you.

"I don't know Dr. Toryn, I'll try. But, that girl still spooks me."

"In time she will learn to control her abilities just like Adam is."

There is a door in the center of each wall leading to a hallway that runs around each room. Suddenly one of them explodes open and in walks a tall man with a patch over his left eye. "Enough of this foolishness!" He points at tech, "Get that crap off of him and get him dressed. I got a simulation to run."

The tech rushes over and begins to remove the electrodes. Adam had already placed the barbell on the floor.

The man walks up to Adam and looks down at him, "Today is my day, freak. My team is going to kick your ass."

Adam looks Stuart Ryszard directly in the eye, for he knew it bothered the man to no end. He sensed Ryszard's hands clenching into fists and prepared himself if he takes a swing at him.

The tech brakes up the exchange, "Mr. Ryszard, sir, you'll have to stand back if you want Adam to get dressed."

Ryszard sneers, "Adam? His name isn't Adam. It's Hybrid Two Eight Six or just Hybrid. But you'll answer to just about anything. Won't you freak?"

Adam did not answer, he just continues to stare at Ryszard. Normally he would speak to anyone who spoke to him, but he knew how much it bothers Ryszard for him to ignore him. After a minute Ryszard backs away giving Adam and the tech the room they needed.

"Adam" The tech whispered.

"Yes, John."

"Watch out today. I over heard that they plan to really try and hurt you today."

"Thank you, John."

Soon Adam is dressed in standard black military fatigues and black military style boots. His pants legs are tucked into the tops of the boots.

Ryszard stands near the door he came in, "Get ready freak. You know the drill."

Yes, he knew the drill. He would be rushed by several soldiers trying to shoot him with paint guns he was to subdue the soldiers without getting hit by a paintball.

As Ryszard leaves the room John, the tech, reaches Sheppard and Toryn on the walkway. He hands each of them night vision goggles. "You'll need these."

Bran and Allan take the goggles and begin to put them on.

"Why?" Bran asks.

"Ryszard is going to cut the power in the room. Even the emergency power so it will be completely black in the room. Then his men with their night vision gear will have the advantage."

Bran looks at Allan with a smile on his face "Think we should tell Ryszard that Adam can see the inferred spectrum."

Allan and the tech are now both smiling. They both know the night vision gear works with inferred light. Adam will be able to see as well as the solders can.

* * * * * *

Adam looks at himself in his bathroom mirror. The swelling of his left eye was much less than it had been a half hour ago when he had returned to his room from the test building. John had been right Ryszard's men had tried to hurt him and while they hadn't hit him with any paintballs, one had managed to hit him in the eye with the butt of his gun.

He walks over to his bed and sits down on the floor. His room is small, just the with of his bed and about three times longer. The only other room is the small bathroom. He then crosses his legs and begins to relax using the meditation techniques taught to him by Sensei Lee. Sensei Lee had been brought in to teach him the art of ninjutsu fighting. Sensei Lee told him "training the body without training the mind only solves half the problem."

As he relaxes he can feel himself rise up out of his body. He looks down at himself for a moment. Sensei Lee had called this astral projection and the time outside his body was limited. He moves quickly through the different levels of the lab building. His first stop is to look in on Eve. He moves into her room, she is sitting on her bed in the same crossed legged position his body was in. Eve thought she was ugly but she was beautiful to Adam. Three years younger and the only female among the hybrids living here, she is special to him.

"Eve." He whispers into her mind.

"Adam!" She looks up and stares straight at his astral body.

"Quiet. Eve, we can't let them know I can zip around like this."

"Sorry." She gave the security camera in her room a quick glance.

"Relax, Honey. You're the only one who can see me."

They talked for a few minutes and once he was sure she was all right he moves out of the room and heads to the main computer center of the complex. There are several lower levels below the Interlard Biotech main building, how many he wasn't sure. But, the computer center was on the third level. He enters the room carefully for in this room as in several others there are psionic guards. They are there to detect if anyone is using psionic powers to spy on the lab. He moves over to one of the tech with a red security badge, red is the highest security clearance possible. He watches for several minutes looking for the tech security codes. So, intent on the tech he hadn't noticed that the psionic guard had gotten up and is walking around the room.

He suddenly walks through Adam, "Guards! There's a telepath in here I can feel him. Shut down all systems."

Adam drops down through the floor and heads back to his body. He arrives at his room and is about to enter his body when a voice stops him. "Hello, young Adam."

He spins around to see the astral form of a man floating there. He is dressed in blue, with a red cape with yellow trim it is held together at his neck by a golden orb.

"Who are you?"

"I am called Stephen Strange. I was once a medical doctor, now I am a master of the mystic arts."

"Why are you here?"

"Long ago another master of the mystic arts came to me and trained me in the use of the arts. Now, I complete the circle by coming here to train you."

"Ryszard send you?"

"I know no Ryszard. When you began to use your abilities I felt your presence. I am here to train you in the arts and prepare you to meet your destiny. Do you wish my help?"

"Yes!"

* * * * * *

Bran Toryn enters a storage room in the lowest level below Interlard Biotech. There were 12 levels below Interlard Biotech. In the storage room were seven freezer units. In each unit was a body of an alien. Four were from the crash site near Roswell, and the other three were from the crash site near Kingman.

There are two types of aliens. The ones from Roswell are small, about 3 to 4 feet tall, they have gray colored skin, their arms and legs are thin, there are only three fingers and a thumb per hand, their heads are large, with very small noses, mouths and ears. Their eyes however are very large and black. These aliens have become known, to the public, as Greys. The others are almost completely human like, except that they are completely hairless and their head were only slightly larger that humans.

They are all male. Their semen had been collected and when human artificial reproduction became possible, they began trying to create the hybrid human- aliens. They had been hoping to learn about the alien part of the hybrid, to better understand them. Then in case of invasion they would be better prepared to fight them. Of the two groups, the greys were easily reproduced. However, most of the children died because their head would be normal size and their brains would be trying to grow to the large alien size. It wasn't until they became able to manipulate the gene structure that they were able to create viable children. all had been males until Eve and only Eve had shown any extra kind of ability; such as her ability to teleport. The second group of aliens had produced no viable offspring until Adam. Currently at the lab there are six children, Adam the oldest at 15, Eve at 11, and the other four are just babies all less than two years old. They all looked basically like Eve; with an enlarged head and large black eyes and completely hairless however the males' bodies are different from Eve's. Where she looks like a normal human the three males look very much like their fathers. Adam looks normal; except that for the hair on his head he is completely hairless.

Bran looks down at the bodies through glass in each freezer unit's door. They look more like they were sleeping than dead. He has often come in here to stare at them and wonder about them. What kind of lives they had led, if they had families that worried about them, and if they were coming back. He knew that there had been aliens alive at both crash sites, they had not survived the NSA interrogations.

He would miss these times spent in here with the aliens, he would miss a great deal about this place for these were exciting times. Interlard Biotech was about to start trying to clone the aliens, then they would be able to produce almost pure aliens. He just hoped to God that they were better treated than some the hybrids in the past.