Chapter 3

Consciousness returned slowly and at first the young Xeno couldn't sense that something was very different with it's surroundings. Then it hit it like a sledge hammer across the multiple senses. The chamber it was in looked nothing like the hive, the walls unnaturally smooth and shiny. The floors was covered with loose material similar to the stuff that grew outside the hive, but not attached to ground and after doing some brief digging, found the floor to be really made of the same material as the walls. Nothing smelled familiar to it, no hint of it's kin anywhere in this small space. Perhaps most frightening was that it could no longer hear it's Queen.

A feeling it had never felt before overwhelmed it: panic. They lived for and served their Queen and without her they were next to nothing. The young Xeno hissed and wailed, trying feebly to contact it's kin, it's Queen. But by now it was either too far away from her or, worse still, She could be dead, slain by the humans that had captured it.

Why? Why take it away from their Queen? Why not just destroy it like they had no doubt done to it's kin rather then subject it to an existence of solitude without purpose or direction? What did they intend to do to it?

The sensations were brief and desperateness soon replaced despair. It scanned the chamber again more closely, looking for anything that may give it a means of escape and enable it to return to it's Queen.

Up there. An opening covered with thin bars. After gathering it's limbs, the xeno leapt up, grasping the bars with both hands. The walls afforded little purchase, it's hind feet slipping despite the sharpness of it's claws. But it's front limbs were strong and it could hang on to those bars almost indefinitely if it wanted to, however the opening was little more then a vent allowing fresh air to enter, too small for it to squeeze through. With a disappointed growl it dropped back to the floor and started looking for another means of escape.

There, a square outline on one of the walls it's sonar detected. A door? Had to be, how else could they have put it in here? It tried to grip the edges of this door, but the seams were so thin it could not get a good hold on it. Then it attacked the door, throwing it's full weight against it in hopes of knocking it down. It didn't even so much as buckle. After a couple more attempts at knocking it down, it retreated to the center of the room and sat down much like a feline would, panting., realizing it was pointless to continue wasting it's energy this way.

Something had to happen here soon or later. Something that may give it an opportunity to escape. It will wait...for however long it took.

The differences between the two Aliens was already becoming apparent to Arthur as he watched them on the monitor. While both showed signs of distress at being separated from their hive and searched for means of escape, only the older one was still scratching at the door. The younger, tongue-less one had already figured out brute force wasn't going to get it out of confinement and was now sitting patiently in the center of it's pen. It knew something would happen eventually.

Arthur jotted down a few notes about their individual behavior before picking up the field report the soldiers gave him before they departed for planetside again. The report stated that besides the Aliens, there they saw little other signs of fauna besides birds, small mammals, and a few reptilians and even those were scarce. The hive was apparently in a location that couldn't replace it's animal life quickly enough to sustain the hive for much longer. That meant the hive was no doubt in a state of distress and weaker then other hives they have encountered. This was confirmed by the size measurements of the two Aliens in the pens: both had less weight then what could be considered the 'norm' for their species.

"You two must be hungry." Arthur thought outloud. Fortunately for them since he had planned on keeping an Alien or two alive for an extended period of time he was prepared. Looking down at the control board, he flipped a couple of switches. He wasn't exactly eager to see what happened next, but he reminded himself that not all aspects of research were pleasant...

There was a sudden sound. It came from behind the door. The Xeno rose to it's feet, it's limbs tensing and ready for action. The door slid up suddenly and something appeared in it. It didn't even reached it's shoulder in height, was furry and making a frightened bleating sound as it was pushed into the chamber with the Xeno by grate. The grate started to retreat and the Xeno thought about making a dash for it, but the door slammed down before it could take a single step. Escape denied, the Xeno turned it's attention to the animal, which tried to run away from it when it approached it. It cried out in panic and struggled when the Xeno grabbed it by the leg and lifted it off the ground. Sitting back, the Xeno carefully inspected the creature. It had seen small furry animals in the forest before, but not like this one, so it sniffed, poked and played it, until hunger finally won out over it's curiosity. It killed the animal with a simple bite to the neck and hungrily feed off it's tender flesh.

Now this was interesting. Instead of killing the lamb outright like the older Alien had done, this Alien took the time to look it over. For what purpose Arthur could not know. Was it a picky eater and wanted to be sure it was clean? Or was it simply just curious about a creature it's likely never seen before? It would be a good sign if it proved to be the latter, as curiosity was a trait of more intelligent beings.

Arthur quickly included these findings with the rest of his notes: despite the delay, this project was having a very promising start...