Chapter Eight

Amelia was busy in the Science Lab, trying to find out what she could. She was looking at cell samples from other the creatures, and the pods, as well as blood samples from the patients prior to their deaths. She had already found quite a few peculiarities.

The cells of the creature seemed to be metal-bonded, which was quite astounding. As well, when she looked at the cells closer under greater magnification, they displayed a structure she had never seen before. In fact, they didn't even look like cells. At least, not cells she was at all familiar with. For centuries, there had been much debate about what form alien life would take, what it would be like and how it would behave. Yet, pretty much all of them had assumed they would adhere to conventional biology as found on Earth, which was assumed to be a Universal constant like the Laws of Physics. What she was looking at, though, seemed to openly defy it.

The cells did have membranes around them, but the center of them was not round, or oval, and was far from smooth. They had a peculiar look to them that almost reminded Amelia of . . . bones, and spinal columns and other organic-looking things from a much larger level. Some, though, almost reminded her of mechanical parts, liked ribbed tubing, pipes and other such things. More than once, she had to take a second look to be sure she wasn't seeing things. When she looked at the human cells, things got even more strange.

Amelia wondered why the immune systems of the victims had not seemed to react in the slightest to their foreign invader, let alone what it implanted into them. How could something such as this grow like that without at least giving them a fever? The answer seemed more complex than she could have imagined. From what she was seeing, the cells seemed to somehow be either tricking the immune cells, or rendered them unable to act. Exactly how, she had no idea. She would need to run further analysis on them. They didn't, however, seem to be harming the human cells or attacking them in any way she could see. She actually scratched her head. This was beyond odd.

She did have a few answers through Briggs' autopsy results.

He had found what was left of apparently what functioned like some kind of placenta. It seemed it had been implanted between the heart and right lung, and this seemed to be where the creature had grown. Amelia's mind drifted back to the first scan of the "facehugger" form, and how the tube was down the trachea and ended at the bronchial bifurcation. The perfect area to insert such a thing into the thoracic cavity. If that was the case, though, why didn't the scans and X-rays show anything? While the creatures were attached, and after, they showed nothing abnormal. Something just didn't add up.

"Wow, that's amazing," said Ethan, startling her.

"Ethan, please don't sneak up on me," she mildly chided. He smiled seepishly.

"Sorry. That is amazing," he said as he looked at the screen of the microscope, displaying the alien cells. Amelia nodded and typed on her datapad.

"Yes. Like nothing I've ever seen. Didn't think half of what I'm seeing was even possible," she mused as she checked some results and noted them. She then looked up at him. "Could you get me some petri dishes?" she asked. He shook his head, as if he had been in deep thought.

"Yes, sure!" He scampered off and returned shortly.

"Thank you," said Amelia as she took the dish and performed a small experiment with a cell culture. In particular, the strange fluid Detective Xao had recovered. She was curious to see what it did and how it acted under a microscope. She tested the sample against a few different things. The results were surprising to say the least. She checked her watch, checked the results, then recorded them on her datapad and computer. She checked one last time, then called Sammers. Quick enough, his face appeared in a video window.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Sammers, I made a couple discoveries. Not big ones, but they may help us a little bit," said Amelia. He looked relieved, if only a little.

"Good. Let's hear it," he said. She sent him the data and images.

"I've determined not only does it not carry any harmful bacteria or viruses, the mucous that seems to cover their bodies is the most powerful antimicrobial agent I have yet seen. I tested it against Staphylococcus, Influenza and even anthrax. It killed all of them instantly." Sammers blinked and his eyebrows shot up.

"Wow," he replied. She nodded.

"I determined that there is higher amounts of copper present in the samples from the recent form, which may explain part of that. So, at the very least, we don't need to worry about catching any diseases from them." Sammers nodded, looking at least a little relieved.

"Well, at least we have a little good news," he replied. She smiled apologetically.

"Sorry I don't have anything more." He shook his head.

"No, you're doing your best, and this does certainly help. West and his men will be happy to know they won't need to worry about infection, at least." Amelia smiled.

"Every bit we know will help us." With this, Amelia closed the video and went back to her research, hoping she could find something out something more useful.

XXX

The officers of P-Sec patrolled the halls of the colony, Pulse Rifles ready, and always in teams of at least three, and some as many as eight. They were doing their best to not repeat the same mistakes. So, nobody ever went anywhere alone, and someone always covered the rear. West had the few Infrared and night vision visors they had brought out and used. Sure, they weren't sure they would even detect these things, but even a shred of hope was better than none.

As the officers patrolled, the colonists and miners became increasingly worried and agitated.

"I still can't believe it," said Wilkins, one of the miners, a tall, thin man with thin brown hair.

"What? That we're stuck here with no comms? Or the rest of this bullshit?" Melanie sniped from where she sat leaning against the back of a chair in one of the recreation halls.

"I mean the aliens. Actual fucking aliens," Wilkins retorted, shaking his head.

"Well, space is so big, we knew somebody had to be home, somewhere," said Warton from where he was sipping a beer. More than a few people murmured or nodded.

"Yeah, no way all that space can be empty, right?" said a prospector. Others agreed.

"Be even nicer if the things didn't want to kill us," muttered a miner who was playing skee-ball.

"Yeah, did you guys see that hole?!" said a geologist.

"Yeah. Fuckin' crazy, man," said a woman. This led to more murmurs among the gathered people. Many of the whispers were about the aliens, rumors and musings more than facts.

"I'm not scared!" said a man who pounded his fist on the table he was sitting at. They all looked up from where a slightly dirty, burly man sat in a Level Two Miner's RIG, his helmet removed. "You all are acting like a bunch of pussies! One of those things come near me, I'll kill the fucker with a five-pound pickax!" he crowed. A few other miners murmured their agreement, but more scoffed at him. A woman turned in her seat and looked at him.

"Oh yeah, Valdis? You think West and his men are pushovers? They had fucking Pulse Rifles, and you think you'd do better?" she challenged. She wore a similar RIG to him, covered in orange and copper-colored plating. Valdis scowled at her.

"They couldn't catch a cold," Valdis replied, his pale blue eyes locked with her green.

"Knock it off, you two!" said Tom as he moved in between the two. The older man looked at the gathered people and tried to head off any more aggression. "Whatever these things are, they're no joke, and that comes from experience." Valdis sneered at this.

"Didn't know you had experience handling aliens," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"No, but I was a soldier, once. I know better than to be stupid with something you don't know anything about." Tom then looked up at the others. "Best thing is we keep calm, keep our eyes out, help West and his boys and girls, and just try to keep our heads." Tom was the kind of man who had enough age, wisdom and experience that enough people listened. Tom sat next to Warton, who grinned and nodded.

"So, ya got an bright ideas?" Warton asked. Tom nodded, brought up a small hologram with his RIG.

"West said the things were seen down in the lower levels, where it's dark. Doc Kyne said she thinks they like the dark, too. If that's true, we should be okay up here, as long as we don't do anything stupid," said Tom, eyeing Valdis over his shoulder. Warton nodded.

"Young folks, these days," Warton mused, sipping his beer.

"Amen, brother," agreed Tom. Other miners approached and talked with the two older men. Valdis just sat and stewed in his anger, his broad, square features creasing into a scowl.

XXX

Matthew Valdis growled to himself as he headed back to his apartment, his steps a little unsteady with a buzz from beer, but he stayed on course and upright without a struggle. He was also pissed. Those bunch of pricks. He was right. These things were just some new bugs, and he could step on some bugs, easy. Just give him one good shot at them, and done. All the idiots were running around in a panic and that fat idiot, Sammers, had locked down the tunnels. Meant he wasn't getting paid! All because of some stupid hysteria. Was because of stupid, white-collar lemmings like them, honest, hardworking guys like him couldn't make a living. He growled and hit his fist against a wall as he walked.

The colony was dimmer with evening, and also since he was on a level below ground. He stopped and looked down a junction to his right. He could see the yellow hologram around where that hole had been eaten in the ceiling and floor. Biggest bunch of bullshit he'd ever heard. Nothing had acid for blood. Was probably one of the stupid eggheads spilled something, and was trying to cover their ass. He snarled and turned and kept walking.

As he walked down the corridors, he noticed he was alone. Everyone else had either gone back to work, or headed home. For some reason, that made his stomach feel cold. The only sound was the soft clunk of his boots on the grating as he walked. He stopped, turned and looked behind him. There was nothing there. He turned back, but still glanced to his side, then back again. He began walking again. He again glanced back, and still there was nothing. Even though he was buzzed, he had enough cognizance to know something was off. He quickened his pace. He passed by a junction. As he did so, he thought he saw something move, if only by a tiny amount. He stopped and looked, but saw nothing. He stayed still for a long moment, before he moved again, this time quicker. Not running, though. Why run when you're not scared? He wasn't. It was all Bullshit, all of it. He thought he felt the air around him move, and he whirled. Again, there was nothing. Some vents hissed softly, a little steam, but nothing out of the ordinary. "You fucks don't scare me!" he shouted, the sound echoing in the halls.

He turned and stormed towards the apartments, but he felt that odd feeling again. His breathing quickened and he felt sweat on his brow. He thought he heard a sound like a breath behind him, looked over his shoulder. Still nothing. He didn't run, but he walked a little faster. Someone was messing with him. Someone was trying to piss him off. Was likely that bitch from the bar. He snarled as he turned a corner, but that cold feeling in his gut didn't leave. He kept going, but this time, when he did glance back, he thought he saw a shadow just barely as it retreated back around the corner he had just come from. He exhaled and turned back, trying not to look like he was ready to bolt. He heard another sound, a hiss from a vent, and he moved to the side, he didn't jump. Of course he didn't. He wasn't scared. He was pissed. He stalked down the halls, he was not far off from the apartments. He rounded another corner, mouth set into a scowl as he almost stomped his feet with every step. A door opened and he collided with something. "Gah!" Valdis almost screamed, punching the form and shoving it away.

"Ow! Hey, what the fuck, man?" said a voice. Valdis now saw it was one of the engineers, the man rubbing his chest where Valdis had punched him. The man stood in the doorway he had exited, rubbing his chest and glared at Valdis. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked. Valdis' face reddened with anger.

"Hey, it ain't my fault! It's people like you!" The other man raised an eyebrow as he stood back up.

"What the hell are you talking about?" the man asked, puzzled.

"You and your creepy buddies been stalking me!" Valdis accused, getting almost in the man's face. The man shook his head.

"You're drunk, go sleep it off," the man said, smelling his breath. Valdis snarled at him, trying to tower over him.

"I'm not scared of you or your tricks! You're all trying to scare me! Ooh, the big, bad bug-things are out to get us!" Valdis said with sarcasm. The engineer groaned and rubbed his face.

"Look, man, I just finished my day, and just wanna go home, all right?" Valdis growled at this as he backed up a little.

"I know you all are the ones trying to spook me! You're all in it with that egghead bitch and all the rest!" he declared.

The engineer was about to speak, when he stopped. There was a soft sound, like a wet thunk. The man froze. Valdis raised an eyebrow. A trickle of blood began to run from the engineer's nose and mouth. Then, something pierced through the man's shirt. It was like a long, curved, black dagger. The color drained from Valdis' face as something melted from the dark room behind the man. Two huge, black hands, with fingers almost as long as his forearm, slowly melted out of the dark to seemingly embrace the paralyzed man. Above him, a head slowly emerged, as if born from the dark itself. It was not a human face. Valdis felt his bladder empty as he stared into the eyeless face as the lips peeled back to grin at him. The teeth looked like they were made of polished steel, his face perfectly reflected in each of them, like a terrified crowd. Matthew Valdis was not a small man, almost six feet five inches, but this thing was so huge, it filled the entire door, towering over even him. He turned and fled.

Valdis ran, fast as his legs could carry him, not looking back. All thoughts of fighting or bravado had been washed out of his mind by sheer terror. He was now stone-cold sober as he ran through the halls, faster than he had ever thought possible. They were real! They really were! He had to get away, get to his apartment, or somewhere to hide. Part of his mind, distantly, thought he should call for help, but it took a backseat to pure survival. He was no longer a man, but a terrified animal running from a predator. He darted down corridors and hallways, never looking back. He almost skidded around a corner, and saw the sign for the apartments. He panted as he ran as fast as he could. He was almost there. Suddenly, a large, black hand shot down from the open vent above him and wrapped around his face so tightly there was no way he could scream. He was suddenly yanked up into the vent without so much as a thud. The halls were utterly silent afterwards.

XXX

Amelia sighed as she woke up, stretched, and showered before having some quick breakfast. She would have liked to exercise before going to work, but fate had other ideas. A RIGLINK vid-window popped up, Sammers' exhausted face greeting her.

"Amelia, we've had a new problem," he said grimly. She put down her coffee.

"What happened now?" she asked. Sammers groaned.

"Two more people went missing. Civilians, this time." This made her sit up.

"Where? When?"

"Sometime last night. Worse, is both were pretty close to Residential." That got Amelia's attention. "West wants your help, thinks you might be able to see something he and his team can't." Amelia thought for a moment.

"I'm not sure how much help I'd be, but I'll try," she replied. Sammers nodded.

"I'll have West and his team come by and escort you. And I'll let your team know," he said before shutting off the link. She rubbed her face and stood. She had barely finished dressing before West rang her doorbell. She answered the door, and Sean West was there with no less twelve P-Sec officers, all fully armed. At any other time, she might have felt intimidated, but she knew it was for their safety.

"Sorry to drag you out of your lab like this, Dr. Kyne," said West politely, a tiny hint of his Irish accent presenting. Amelia tried to smile and shook her head.

"It's my job to help as much as yours. Lead the way." This brought a few smiles from the other officers as they formed a circle around Amelia and West and led the way.

XXX

A short time later, Amelia was with West and his team in one of the tool rooms where engineers stored spare parts and basic tools around the colony. It wasn't a very large room, almost a closet, really. Racks of chips, motherboards and parts stood.

"Hiram Fuge, engineer, age thirty-three. His girlfriend said he never came home last night. He was reported here last," said West as he read the file. Amelia looked at the few drops of blood on the floor near the door. There were also some inside, but very little. However, it was where the drops led that worried them. They lead to a broken vent. Amelia looked at the floor and the vent, a crime scene investigator there with her.

"So, what do you think?" the CSI asked her. She glanced at him, then the vent. She touched a gloved hand to the edges. She could see small gouges in the metal. Not huge ones, but even she could see the force applied there.

"I think this was both the entry, and exit point, offhand." She noted a tiny bit of that same clear, viscous slime. Just enough for them to bag and her to have a look at. The CSI put the sample in a bag, labeled it and handed it to her.

"Amelia, how the hell did those things get all the way from Maintenance up here? And with nobody noticing?" West asked, trying to keep his voice down. She shook her head.

"I'm not sure. But, we also need to remember there was more than one of them, so maybe they are territorial, and this is a different one from the one your men encountered in the lower levels. If that's the case, they might have scattered to the various edges of the colony," she said as she looked at the room. West groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Great," he mused.

"Who else went missing?" Amelia asked. West blew a breath, hands on his hips before replying.

"Matthew Valdis, miner. He never checked in with his boss, and his associates haven't seen him since last night," replied West. Amelia stood and thought for a moment. West approached her. "Look, Amelia, I know you're no Xenobiologist or anything, but you're the best hope we've got. Any help you can give, even theories, might just help us." He was almost pleading in his tone. Amelia closed her eyes and thought.

"Well, with what little I know, these seem to most likely be predators, even if they have parasitic origins. Using Earth life as a model is difficult, but if that holds, and we compare them to, lions, for example, they likely won't stray too far from their . . . food source." This made a few of the P-Sec officers pale. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but the data I have is limited," she said, and West shook his head.

"No, that's a big help already. At least it gives us something to work with," said West, giving a weak smile. He then looked at the officers. "All right, let's spread out and look for any signs of these things. Again, teams of at least four, and nobody goes anywhere alone. Use your heads!" He then turned to Amelia. "We'll escort you to your lab. Just to be safe," said West, and Amelia nodded. She hated to admit it, but the fact the creatures had been as close as they were unnerved even Amelia.

XXX

Sammers was in Operations, going over maps and schematics, looking for anything that might help, and anywhere the creatures might be hiding. West had relayed Amelia's suggestions, and he was currently looking for any place something bigger than a man could crawl into and hide. There were some pressure relief bubbles in the vent system here and there, some accessways and other rooms here and there. Some were quite hard to get to, and he wasn't sure sending men into such cramped spaces where something that bled acid could be hiding was a good idea. In fact, he was sure it wasn't. He chugged an energy drink and tapped a spot on the holographic map to note it for later, then moved on.

"Sammers, West here. We think we may have found another sign of the things," said West as his face appeared in a video window.

"Where?" Sammers asked.

"Western part of Sector Twelve," West replied. Sammers gave a soft sigh. That was further away from Residential, but still closer than he would like. West showed him video of a P-Sec officer gathering more of that slime, and also a vent cover that had been forced open. Sammers noted the location on the map.

"Well, that at least confirms they're using the vents to move around," said Sammers as he tried to keep up his energy.

"Yeah, but if that's the case, the slimy bastards pretty much have the run of the whole colony," West groused. Sammers agreed.

"Yes, so we're going to have to come up with some strategy. I'm noting down where we know they have been, and we'll see if we can find some kind of pattern or something," said Sammers before taking a healthy swig of energy drink. He badly wanted to have some whiskey, but he knew he needed his full mental capabilities and faculties. Sammers felt like the whole situation was bearing down on him, but he pushed it aside. West returned shortly to Operations with his team. Sammers greeted them from where he sat by a holographic map of the colony, various spots marked yellow, orange or red.

"No more signs of them, but that doesn't mean anything. For all we know, they're casing the place," said West. Sammers rubbed his head and sighed.

"What am I going to do? If word of an attack so close to Residential gets out, it'll start a full-on panic," said Sammers. West thought for a second, was about to speak, when his RIG beeped.

"Sir, we got a disturbance, Union Square. It's that Marker-head again," said the female dispatcher with obvious distaste in her tone. At this, West smiled thinly.

"You just leave it to me." He turned to his team and headed out. "I've got another bug to stomp," said West as the door closed behind him.

XXX

"Brothers and sisters, truly are we blessed this day! We have a true miracle!" shouted Nathaniel Abaddon from his makeshift pulpit. "Now, we truly have irrefutable proof of the existence of alien life! No longer with the tyrants of Earthgov be able to conceal the truth! For, this day, truth shines!" He looked at Ethan, who came forward and tapped his RIG. They all were shocked and murmured when pictures of the strange, leathery pods appeared in the air, along with the pictures of the creatures that had come from within. The reactions varied among the crowd. Some were enraptured, some surprised, a few disgusted. Abaddon smiled. "You see?! Proof! Proof of life beyond our own world! Proof of the Marker's promise!" he cheered.

"What do creepy alien crabs have to do with the Marker?" a woman from among the crowd jeered. Abaddon looked a little flummoxed for a moment, but he hid it well.

"It is proof, my dear non-believer, that there is alien life in our universe! Do you not see how historic this is?" he replied.

"So, you're saying these weird crabby things made the Marker?" a miner laughed. Some of the Unitologists growled at this.

"He's not saying that! All he's saying, is it proves there really is alien life! So it also proves whatever made the Marker is real, too!" shot back a man among the Unitologists.

"Go take your meds!" someone shot back.

Before things could get more heated, West and his team showed up, and this time they were fully armed. At this, everyone quieted down. The sight of fourteen P-Sec officers armed with fully automatic weapons made everyone quiet and cautious. West looked at the holographic images and his eyes narrowed.

"So, I come to check on a disturbance, and I find you freely distributing classified information to cause panic. Oh, this is too rich," said West, and some people began to back away from Abaddon. At this, more of the miners and other colonists also added to it.

"Yeah, it was that little twerp he got the pics from!" said a female miner, pointing at Ethan, who paled. West glared at him.

"Boy, Amelia won't like hearing that," he said as he slung his Pulse Rifle and nodded to his officers. They kept their Pulse Rifles ready, but didn't aim them just yet. "All right, you two, I'm placing you both under arrest for disturbing the peace, illegal possession and exhibition of sensitive information and trying to incite a riot," said West. The Unitologists began yelling, but one of the officers raised his Pulse Rifle, and they went silent.

"Wanna see if your god's real? Just try it, rock-heads," hissed the officer.

"You cannot hide the truth!" Abaddon yelled as they placed him in handcuffs, along with Ethan.

"We're not trying to, but you putting this out when everyone is scared shitless is nothing short of inciting a riot, and I got plenty of law on my side for that one. Beyond that, putting out sensitive information about an ongoing criminal investigation is a crime, dunce," said West as he came up to stand next to Abaddon. "Speaking of that, we had two people go missing last night, and it was so close, there's no way it could have been the creatures. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" West asked, and Abaddon's eyes widened. West looked at Ethan with a smile that was anything but friendly. "What about you, son? Anything you wanna get off your chest before I find out the hard way?" he asked menacingly. Ethan whimpered like a cornered dog. West looked at the officers and motioned to take them away.

"You can't do that to them!"

"Earthgov lackeys!"

"Heretics!" shouted the Unitologists. The P-Sec officers were not at all scared, keeping their weapons up, but now activated their aiming lasers and pointed them at more than a few heads. This shut down any further abuse. West looked at the crowd.

"Show's over. Go back to your homes, pray to your rocks, read your books, and stay out of trouble," he said flatly and turned and left.