Well, Theodore didn't quite discover the source of the affected soldiers turning against their brothers-in-arms, but at least, the pocket watch served him well, none of the affected soldiers caught-on that he was in their midst, and it allowed him to see them closely, amid the red-lit halls.
Their faces pale, their eyes lifeless, looked like shambling zombies than human, Theodore doubted there's any brain activity left, due to the severity of their exposures, and on that, he hadn't found the culprit responsible for their affliction.
Lila and Al helped him figure out who sent them on their ill-fated exercise, a sergeant, but he wasn't the culprit, didn't have any motive or power to hide the fact a meteorite landed in their midst, so he's out.
Looked towards the scientists, figuring that this was their speciality, maybe they're moving up to experimenting with meteorites, but no one stuck out.
It's baffling to him that no one of the base had any motive or capabilities, that he almost gave up hope, had he caught sight of someone moving among the shambling zombies.
Couldn't see them clearly because of the emergency lights turning everything into the surface of Mars, but that couldn't be helped, and Theodore tracked the unknown figure, hoping that they're the one responsible for this insanity, that he'll have an easy adventure with Lila.
Ah, who's Theodore kidding?
He doubted this person's responsible, a red herring, possibly, why, he's come to expect the red herrings, and they arrive in timely matters on his and Lila's adventures.
The pocket watch aiding him, Theodore avoided the zombie UNIT soldiers, hard to describe them anything else except that, they looked dead in their lifeless eyes, seemingly following fading memories, and despite this, they have excellent shots with their firearms, that Theodore's thankful they can't see him, else he'd turn Swiss!
"I grabbed a sample of the meteorite, it wasn't easy because of the radiation, but I got a chunk of it quarantined," Al informed Theodore while he's avoiding the zombie UNIT soldiers, wielding their issued firearms, silently shambling as they patrolled for the unaffected soldiers.
Remembering what he said, Theodore called out, "But you said it was gone!"
Imagining him shirking in his spot, Al says that he knows what he said, but he managed to find a sample stowed away in the science branch.
"Did the science branch take it, after all?" Theodore asks him, but Al says he couldn't be sure, he didn't know where it went until it blipped on his scanners.
It was almost too easy, he managed to get the sample and get out without anyone knowing he was there, didn't make a whole lot of sense to him, either.
"What about the meteorite, did they have it?" Theodore asks him as he avoided the soldiers.
Al responded that he didn't find the meteorite, only the sample.
He's firm that the science branch didn't take it.
"Then who did?" Theodore wondered.
Al couldn't answer him; however, he can answer what they're dealing with.
Theodore asked him what and Al proposed they're not looking for a corrupt turncoat, but something more conventional.
In a sense.
He knows what he said earlier, but Al asserts it's not the conventional alien they're familiar with, but an organism that never encountered humans before, until, now.
A tale old as time, introduce a foreign organism in an ecosystem that isn't equipped to handle it, chaos ensures, but with humans.
Trapped inside the meteorite, protected from the high heat when it descended, exposed the soldiers when they investigated it, as they inevitably would, and that's all he wrote.
Going by his calculations, Al says the strong sulfuric smell coming from the meteorite's enough to take down the soldiers, worse than accidentally whiffing chlorine tablets during the summer, cracking opening due to the temperature changing, the meteorite exposed the soldiers to the organism.
"What is it?" Theodore wanted to know and Al mumbled for a moment, before telling him that they're dealing with a parasite that only affects spatium gastropod mollusks.
Space snails, essentially.
Very dangerous to humans because of their diet consisting of consuming copious amounts of asteroids and debris latent with radioactivity and their penchant for not leaving trails wherever they go, making detection difficult.
They may not look much, but Al warns, they have sharp beaks for cracking into the rocky terrain on asteroids with ease, though they're docile since their diet can't run from them or fight back, doesn't mean they won't accidentally take a bite out of a person who accidentally gets in their path of sight.
Not bright, these space snails.
Still, not wise getting bit, their salvia's where the trouble starts.
Anyway, another story for another time, the point he's making, these snails, like their early counterparts, have been known to become infected by parasites.
The same parasites they're dealing with, now.
Spatium toxoplasma gondii parasite.
Commonly found among contaminated parts of asteroids, luring unsuspecting sea snails by consuming rocks and debris, excreting radioactive
Unlike their early counterpart, these parasites only affected space snails, the controlled space snails hoist themselves onto debris, carried out into yonder when an asteroids collides with another, beginning the cycle, again.
How they ended up in humans, despite what Al said, well, Al never said they're intelligent parasites.
Couldn't tell a snail and a human apart, once the meteorite cracked open from the temperature change, boom, the parasites infected the soldiers.
Thankfully, high heat kills them, leading Al telling Theodore that the rest of the meteors burnt up in the atmosphere, only one meteorite survived.
How, one asks, didn't UNIT catch on that they're dealing with a parasite from space?
Despite its otherworldly origins, it's still a parasite at its core, and UNIT wouldn't known to look for a parasite in their initial diagnosis.
The symptoms matching the symptoms of exposure to methane gas, didn't help, either.
Oh, before he forgets, Al took care of the doctors and nurses, they're safe and sound, figured he get them out of the way for the time being, and they were very helpful with his search for answers.
None of them affected by the radiation, thankfully, Al gave them a clean bill of health, and if he had them on hand, he'd give them lollipops.
Already made their retrieval known, so Theodore has that going for him, when he inevitably faces the brigadiers.
"Is there anything we can do for them?" Theodore asks if there's a chance for them saving the soldiers and Al responds it's a complicated issue.
In short, high heat kills the parasite and prevents stragglers from exiting through the unconventional methods, which isn't something that can be done with the soldiers, unless UNIT likes them charbroiled to a crisp and out of a Stephen King novel.
Theodore coaxed him into finding an alternative and Al scoured the memory banks for anything, before coming across an article about using cockroaches as bait, luring the matured parasites out of their hosts, immediately the idea's axed by Theodore.
Sighing, Al continued looking for solutions before coming across an idea that sounded farfetched, dangerous to people's sinuses if it's done incorrectly, but it's something worth trying, at least.
"What idea's that?" Theodore asked him.
He heard from Al, "Your favorite condiment on a pastrami sandwich."
Mustard.
"M-mustard?" Theodore balked at the idea, but Al pointed out, high heat's out, cockroaches were out, only other solution other than dropping them into the sun's mustard.
Confused, Theodore asks, "How is that going to help us?"
He heard back, "Well, I can't exactly use mustard gas, on account we're looking at charges that'll send us to the clink for a lifetime and an even worse standing with UNIT. However, mustard, the condiment, a little pizzaz, those suckers won't know what hit them."
It's not exactly something that Theodore expected, neither did Al, but since they can't use conventional means of getting rid of the parasites, using mustard's their only shot.
The idea's that the mustard acts like the real mustard gas, the sulfuric smell's enough to entice the adult parasites to leave their hosts.
Not exactly Einstein, they won't realize that there's no chunk of rock for them to burrow in and propagate until the next cycle, but it's something.
Once they've expelled from their hosts, it's as easy as turning up the heat on them, which comes the next issue.
Can't exactly contain an area within the building to do that.
"The only area that'll generate enough heat to kill them's the satellite," Al tells him, "it won't be pretty, but don't worry. I think they were planning on retiring it, anyway."
It's not a conventional plan, but it's a plan, and Al says that it's the only way for them to destroy the parasites before they get comfortable with Earth.
Whether the soldiers survive, too soon to say, but Al warns Theodore to temper his expectations.
Well-aware, Theodore thanked him for the legwork and Al waved it off, saying it's his job, before telling Theodore to watch himself out there.
Noted, Theodore moved on from his spot, now with their plan, reaching out to Lila as he informed her what they're dealing with and the solution, causing her to exclaim, "For the love of god, don't tell Stephen King!"
With the information, Theodore braced himself, as he needed to inform the discovery to the brigadiers.
Didn't take long, the pocket watch lost its final charge the moment Theodore snuck through the checkpoint, right in the middle of the converted cafeteria, with several soldiers surrounding him, their weapons uncomfortably close to him, as he held his hands up, his icy blue eyes widen.
"You better have an explanation for this, Doctor," he heard Brigadier Ramsay call out to him as he walked by the soldiers, coming close to him, ire in his hazel eyes.
His hands held up, Theodore responds with a dry, "I can assure you; I can muster one."