The tubes glowed red and then turned black. "You're safe," Kate told them.
"Of course," the Prince said. "Now, I want you to take the test."
Lex watched as Kate and the Prince had a standoff. Kate didn't like being told what to do in her own lab, and the Prince didn't trust anyone. "Very well," Kate said.
She took a sample of her blood and then proceeded to take a sample from Lex. She placed the tubes in the machine and waited for the blood to turn black.
"I am satisfied," the Prince said arrogantly.
Kate activated the video screen that connected to every room. "We are on lock down. Submit test results now," Kate ordered.
Kate watched as each of the Yautja subordinates underneath her placed a sample of their blood in the machine. Each room had video cameras, locked doors, and blood sample machines. Kate then waited for the results to come in. Within a few moments, all her subordinates submitted a negative test result. Still, the lock down would continue until Kate gave the order.
The lights then went off, and the air started to get thinner. The four of them placed on their masks providing them air and infrared vision. "The backup generators should take over soon," Kate said. After a few moments, it became apparent that they were non-functional. Kate tested the doors and realized that they were no longer electronically locked. The doors could be manually locked but with less strength.
"It appears that the base has lost power," the Nobleman observed.
"No...sss," Kate snapped at him before stopping herself.
"What do we do?" Lex asked.
"We remain here. The Thing requires protein to survive. If it cannot find prey it will go into hibernation," Kate said.
"How long will that take?" Lex continued.
"Three days to a week," Kate answered.
"Our masks do not have enough air for that long," the Prince pointed out.
"We will need to go into a hibernation ourselves so that our heart beat is very low. We will be barely breathing and will be able to stretch the available time," Kate explained.
"What if the Thing attacks while we are hibernating?" Lex asked.
"These doors are very secure. We can have one of us stand watch if need be," Kate said.
The Prince activated his wrist band to communicate to his ship. A hologram appeared off his wrist band and immediately all four of them changed their vision scanners so they could see it. "There has been a containment failure at the research base. Do not land until I give the order," the Prince said.
"We are aware of the containment breach. As ordered, I will be launching a strike on the base. May you have good hunts in the next life my Prince," the Captain replied.
The transmission ended before the Prince replied. "We do not have much time," the Prince said to them all.
"They're going to level the whole base?" Lex questioned.
"It appears my rivals at Court have something to do with this," the Prince mused. "We must leave immediately."
The Nobleman opened some compartments revealing black armor and then placed them on the table. "What of my men?" Kate asked the Prince.
"Each survivor is a potential risk. Let us hope they follow your orders," the Prince said coldly.
Lex wasn't sure what to think. If they left the room the quarantine was broken and potentially they could get infected. The ship above would soon destroy them all from orbit which meant the Prince would be killed. On the other hand, she was carrying an unborn child. She glanced at Kate who gave her a reluctant nod. The four of them put on the armor that covered every square inch of their skin preventing any possible infection. The Nobleman then opened the door and led the group down the hallway.
"Our destination is the basement tunnel system," Kate said.
The four walked down the hallway like a SWAT team with Nobleman in front watching ahead of him, Kate looking up for anything hanging on the ceiling, Lex looking side to side, and the Prince scanning their rear. With the elevators no longer working, the four took the stairs down into the tunnel systems.
The Yautja ship fired on the facility slicing through it and then 100 meters into the ground. The patient Yautja scientists were immediately incinerated by the blast. Explosions roared through the facility as the ship continued its bombardment. The four were able to retreat from the blasts but could sense violent vibrations from above. Once the Yautja ship was satisfied, it discontinued the bombardment.
Once they were inside the basement area, Kate directed the group towards a power station. Using her card, she activated emergency power controls. The lights then went back on and the atmosphere returned to normal. A sudden white blur struck Nobleman from the front. It resembled a dog, but its mouth was a large jaw with tentacles. Nobleman slammed the mutated dog against the wall and then sliced it in half with his blades. He then charged up his plasma cannon and fired on the remains boiling the flesh and blood away.
Other types of creatures then rushed the hallway with some on the floor and others on the ceiling. They resembled cats, mice, crabs, and insects. The four fired their plasma cannons turning the creatures into red goo.
"What is down here?" Lex asked.
"The Thing must have made its way down here. There are different biological species down here," Kate said.
As they continued their walk away from the base, Lex saw humanoid looking entities in the later stages of infection. She changed her visual scanners and saw that they were in fact humans. Many of them were mutating from being infected by the Thing. Some were flopping around while others remained still. The three fired on them burning the humanoids alive. They struggled until they were completely charred. Lex then turned to Kate.
"You experimented on humans?" she accused.
"Of course," she said like it was nothing.
"How many?" Lex demanded.
"Every cycle I receive a hundred human subjects and an additional hundred Earth based life forms. Most of them are domesticated animals," she said.
Lex slammed Kate up against the metallic wall. "How could you do this? They're human beings," she said.
Kate chuckled at that. "They were old, mentally insane, criminals," she said.
"You never asked them about Earth. For twenty five years you never bothered to ask your subjects what was happening until I arrived," Lex realized.
"You were more articulate than the usual human I receive," Kate said.
"You've become like them. You've lost all humanity," Lex said shocked.
"As you will," Kate said coldly. She then easily broke Lex's grip. "If not for your pregnancy you would be on the ground," Kate said annoyed.
The Prince and Nobleman watched the scene with amusement. "We can debate the merits of these experiments after we have a ship off this planet," the Prince said although he had no intention.
Lex backed off Kate and then realized something important that was said. "You can't harm me because of the pregnancy," she repeated.
"Unlike humans it is our way," Kate said dismissively.
Lex turned her plasma cannons on the Prince and Nobleman firing a blue blast of energy. It immediately stunned them electrifying their armor briefly. She then fired on Kate disabling her right arm. Lex advanced on Kate with punches that sliced through her armor like tin foil. Kate refrained from using her plasma cannon even as Lex continued to fire on her. With her right arm and left leg disabled by stun blasts, Kate struggled against Lex.
"You will kill us all," Kate spat at her.
"Maybe that is the plan," Lex said.
"You use our own honor against us," Kate accused
Lex picked up Kate and rammed her against the walls and the equipment. Unable to stand, Kate resorted to crawling away. Lex hit with her a stun blast and then considered the human prisoners. Turning around she saw a woman looking at them both curiously. She was in casual human clothes despite the cold, her complexion was pale, and her hair was black. She appeared in her late twenties with a slender build.
"I'm here to help you," Lex said to her in English.
"Help me to the surface," the woman said.
"You'll freeze. We have to get to communications," Lex told her.
"We should release the other prisoners," the woman said.
Lex took the card from Kate and walked with the woman down the halls towards the command center. Placing the card into the system, Lex followed the Yautja commands on the screen deactivating the locks on cells. She then sent a transmission in the name of the Prince to send a ship to assist them.
"I'll get you home," Lex promised.
"Earth?"
"Yes."
The woman then slammed her fist into the computer screen breaking it. Her right fist was a bloody mess, but it quickly regenerated. Lex stared at the woman in shock. She placed red triangles on her, but the woman was quicker. Her right hand turned into a tentacle whip that sliced her plasma cannon off her shoulder. The tentacle then reformed back into a normal hand.
"You're one of those Things?" Lex said.
"You never saw my human form. My name is Kate," the Thing said.
"How?" Lex asked.
"The original Kate felt nostalgia for her human self, so she took the DNA on file of her human self and implanted it into one of us. This is how she appeared before she changed into one of you," the Thing said.
"What do you want?" Lex asked her.
"We were engineered as a weapon by another race a long time ago. We consumed everything on our planet killing every living thing and then we were used to kill all life on other planets. We were designed to impersonate our prey," she said."
"You have a choice. You don't have to do this," Lex told her.
"We were designed with a high metabolism. If we do not eat we will start to eat our own flesh. We must feed or hibernate. The need to feed is so strong, it is like breathing for you. The hunger consumes everything we do. We even eat our own," she said.
"Who did this to you? Who were your designers?" Lex asked.
"They have no species designation. They look very similar to this body, but they're taller, heavier, and stronger. They are called the Engineers."
Meanwhile, the Nobleman picked Kate off the floor with the Prince standing by. "Are you injured?" the Nobleman asked.
"Lex struck me. I have partial use of my right arm and left leg," Kate said.
"How do we know she is not infected?" the Prince asked upon seeing her bloody wounds.
"One of those things could have infected you while you were stunned," Kate pointed out.
"So, it would seem we can't trust any of us," the Prince said. "Where is Lex?"
"She went down that corridor with one of the Things," Kate said, as the Nobleman brought her to her feet.
The Prince paused as he heard that. He looked at the other two, and then down the corridor. "Before we do anything, we must test our blood," he ordered.