CHAPTER 5
June 22th, 2179. Hadley's Hope terraforming colony's Med-Lab, before dawn.
-"How's Russ, Dr. Kent?" A worried Anne asked the chief medical practitioner.
-"It's alive" he responded after checking life-signs "As what is that thing doing it to him, we're gonna find about soon"
As soon as they arrived at the colony, they brought Russ Jorden right to medical, there, Dr. Kent was waiting on the south lock. Anne had asked one of the colonists to take Newt and Timmy back to their apartment, because they passed the night inside the cramped tractor and hadn't slept enough. The kids protested but Anne had assured them she will be with them as soon as Russ was OK.
The Medical wing of Hadley's Hope was small, located in the same block and floor as Operations; it consisted of a small analysis laboratory and an observation area with some stretchers. Observation area acted as a quarantine zone in the rare case of a contagious pathogen, it can be sealed and its double duroplastic windows were soundproof. Russ was laying on the analysis lab, on the retractable berth of the auto-doc, a MRI-like diagnostic machine for X-ray, magnetic resonance and ultrasound imaging.
The plank retracted inside the machine and its plastic lid closed, the computer emitted a series of beeps as a scanner ran through Russ' body and the parasite attached to him.
-"Well, life signs normal: EGK, temperature, respiration… Except for being unconscious, he's perfectly fine." Dr. Kent checked the black screen. "Let's run a battery set on the parasite, starting with a complete Magnetic resonance."
-"How's possible he's breathing with that thing over his face?" Al Simpson asked who was on Operations and at that moment showed up, with the intention of keeping up with the events. Lidecker was behind him.
Dr. Kent manipulated the keyboard until a three-dimensional image of the body and the creature appeared on the screen; He noticed that although the creature had the appearance of a hand with long fingers, it did not possessed internal bone structure but rather was like a chitinous exoskeleton, the internal distribution of organs was extremely strange, and he made them known.
-"First to all, the creature had a long proboscis, you can see it here" he said, pointing at the image of a long, fleshy tube "It introduced it through the patient's mouth, down the esophagus into the stomach cavity."
Kent zoomed into another part of the creature's anatomy: "Second, these 'sacs' have a spongy tissue and an internal structure similar to the bronchial tubes in a lung, that indicates that the alien is not some kind of an arthropod since they do not have lungs. Odd thing is, they're connected with those conduits at the base of the flaps"
-"What's your impression, Doc?" Lidecker asked.
-"I'm not a xenobiologist, but I guess these animal –or whatever it is –use these pores to extract oxygen from the atmosphere and introduce it to the victim's nose, keeping them alive."
-"And that tube?" Anne intervened. "Is it feeding?"
-"Possibly, Parasites use toxins in order to appease their hosts; it is possible that the organism did not expect Russ to fall unconscious since the human being is not his usual guest. I wonder what kind of organism is the prey of this creature?" he said, and then told the nurse "I need blood tests from Jorden and the creature. Just be careful, it tries to strangle him every time it feels threatened."
-"Yes, Dr. Kent" the nurse agreed.
-"Don't worry, Anne. Go home with your kids, I'll call you if something happened" the Doctor said to Anne, but the woman wouldn't leave her husband until everything was fine, or at least until she knew what was his status.
The middle-aged Nurse took two syringes from a stainless steel tray and prepared to follow the doctor's order. She punctured Russ' right arm and extracted a blood sample, she put it on a stainless steel tray and proceed to take one from the creature.
-"I'm gonna put some anesthetic on it" The alien reacted when the nurse touched and rubbed it with a mild anesthetic liquid in order to place the needle between two of the fingers. "There it is, now, just a little –"
When the nurse punctured the creature's exoskeleton, a strong jet of a green-yellowish liquid spurred from it, splashing all over the syringe and the woman's hand.
-"Aaaaahggggghhhhh –" The woman screamed as a hiss and a cloud of whitish steam came out of the splash.
Everyone looked surprised at the woman who was holding her hand, the syringe fell to the floor where the liquid melted the metal and fell to the lower level. Marshal Wilson fell backwards on the floor from the chair where he had been sitting all this time in silence. On the ground he exclaimed:
- "What the hell was that?!"
Dr. Kent ran to the nearest washing station and emptied a container of water on the nurse's hand who kept screaming; the water diluted the liquid but did not diminish its potency. The woman fainted from the pain and the screams ceased, but not the horror reactions of Dr. Kent, Anne, Simpson, Lidecker and Marshal Wilson.
-"She passed out" the doctor said, after checking vitals and then he examined the wound, the flesh had been chemically burnt, carbonized almost to the bone, he applied painkillers and covered it with a bandage "It was some kind of acid"
-"It cut through the floor to the basement" Wilson said, peering through the hole, he saw an irregular hole on the corridor's base below. A surprised colonist standing there, as the acid almost hit him. He looked up.
-"I'm Ok, I'm Ok" he said, and then he added "luckily, it didn't hit the tank or we'd be wasted, man" he pointed at the autogenous oxygen welding tank I was using to repair the corridor.
-"Al, I need you lock down medical until we know how to deal with this. Authorized personnel only" Wilson talked to the administrator. "Doctor, we need to know what that creature is and how to take it off Russ, without killing us in the process"
-"That is going to be difficult as the bloody bastard has acid for blood" Simpson said.
-"Maybe is not its blood" Doctor Kent ventured "It's probable that the creature is feeding on the stomach acid and metabolizing it in something else, more powerful as defense. Dart frogs metabolize formic acid from the ants they consume and produce deadly venom from their skin. But this creature's defense is far more dangerous; it melted the steel floor and killed one person in contact. Only fluorosulfuric and carborane acids are that strong."
-"Doctor, move Russ to the observation room while we find a way to neutralize that acid, and keep an eye on him twenty four" Simpson ordered. "Anne, go watch your children, I'll call you when ready."
-"Fine" Anne finally agreed. The medical staff would monitor her husband both directly or through the room's CCTV cameras.
-"Marshal, go to the terraforming bay and talk to Derrick, see if they know a way to neutralize the acid safely" Simpson added.
-"Sure" the Marshal headed towards the exit and took the corridor to the Warehouses, on the east side of the complex.
- o –
Two hours later, Dr. Kent was typing on the terminal, finishing a report on the medical condition of patient Russ Jorden. While he wrote, he occasionally watched the CCTV screen on the patient and his fellow wounded nurse, still unconscious in a bunk.
Medical Chart
Examiner: Kent, Robert Date: June 22nd, 2179 Medical file# 000532-HH2-2179
Name: Jorden, Russ
D/O/B: 04/11/2144 Age: 35 Sex: Male.
Vitals: NIPB: 108/68 HR: 89 bpm SPO2: 98% RR: 16 rpm Temp: 36.3 °C
History of Present Illness:
The patient, a man in his thirties admitted unconscious with a suspected parasitic life form (classification pending) attached to his face by leaping and wrapping its legs around the head and a long segmented tail around the neck.
Physical Examination:
Initial assessment of the patient shows no changes in vitals, just a drop in the blood pressure, heart rate and respiration, consistent with an unconscious person. Temperature is normal, not symptoms of hypothermia or fever. The organism is firmly attached and any attempt to remove it reacts by tightening the embrace.
Procedures:
Examination by magnetic resonance and X-rays
Blood sample from the victim for analysis.
Blood sample from the parasite.
XRF analysis of parasite exoskeleton
Results:
MRI and X-Ray scan shows the parasite introduced a long proboscis through the patient's esophagus down to the gastric cavity, presumably to feed on gastric fluids.
Physical examination of the unknown parasite determined it has exoskeleton structure similar to those of insects, the body is composed of a main cephalothorax segment with no visible head, eyes or mouthpieces, eight long, segmented legs extend from the thorax four each side. On the lower thorax, two flat pulsating sacs extend sideways. These sacs had an internal soft structure similar to bronchial sacs which is assumed are pumping oxygen into the host's body, keeping him alive.
Blood samples analyses had no traces of fungi, bacterial, viral or prion infection; but instead reveal a powerful neurotoxin based in a cyanose compound and traces of di-methyl sulfoxide.
X-Ray fluorescence analysis of the creature's exoskeleton determines its main component is a protein polysaccharides covered skin cells similar to the chitin of insects, albeit different. Traces of Silicon and Polytetrafluoroethylene detected.
Blood sample from the parasite would prove to be impossible, internal fluids of the creature are extremely acidic, probably based on fluorosulfuric or carborate acids, as they melted stainless steel, plastic and caused severe burns in human skin (Attached Medical file# 000533-HH2-2179).
Opinion:
The parasitic creature attach to a host and proceed to feed in the hydrochloric acid from the victim's stomach, metabolizing it into a more powerful acid stored between skin layers as defense; much like the dart frogs use ant's formic acid to create their neurotoxins. Traces of tetrafluoroethylene traces indicate they have natural, organic Teflon as protection against its own corrosive fluids.
We don't have enough data for a successful treatment or means of detach the parasite, but if the creature indeed is feeding on the stomach fluids, they will detach by its own once it's satisfied. This would take days or even weeks but as the creature is an alien life form and humans are not their intended prey, feeding time is unknown.
Although the parasite creature it's not a carrier of fungi, bacterial, viral or prion infection, it must be considered dangerous.
END OF THE REPORT _
He re-read the file and checked if he hadn't omitted anything. He was disappointed that the colony did not have access to the Peter Weyland Memorial Library; there he would check if there was any record of a creature like that before. But the library was so extensive that its installation on the servers of a small terraforming settlement was prohibitively expensive, only the most developed colonies and corporate trading posts in space stations such as Gateway could access that information. Satisfied, he pressed ENTER and the report was uploaded in the colony's log.
Dr. Kent turned off the computer and headed for the observation room, it was early morning of June 22nd, almost 24 hours since the parasite had attacked Russ Jorden. He took his coffee mug and filled it on the medical lab's coffee pot. The rest of the night shift was preparing for going home and the day shift hasn't arrived yet. He checked on the burnt nurse, her vitals were stable and soon she will be out of danger, but her hand was badly damaged and Kent suspected she would certainly lose it due to necrosis.
He took a last look at Russ in the observation room before he went to rest, and what he saw made him almost throw his coffee cup, the parasite was gone.
- o –
A/N: Hello readers, thanks again for following this story. Well, if you had read my other story Alien Isolation: Monster Maze you'll notice is similar to the chapter in which Dr. Lindgard check Catherine Foster and the medical chart follows almost the same structure as the Autopsy report from that story, trying to match the alien's physiology with real facts. I'm not a medic so if there's a mistake please take it as a creative license. I assume Dr. Kent would compare the facehugger with a tick, or any other parasite and the defense mechanism with those of Earth animals as the Amazon dart frog.
I don't wanted a repetition of the med bay scene in Alien, in which Dallas or Ash won't get hurt by the acidic blood and as in Alien Isolation: Monster Maze they didn't have the facehugger but instead just Marlow's description and Foster scans shown the chestburster inside. Here, they hadn't seen the chestburster yet as the implantation wasn't completed at the moment of the scan. They think the facehugger is a parasite, not a delivery system or larval stage, they'll discover that in the worst way later.
Also, you may had noticed the little easter egg as Derrick Russell was mentioned, I did liked Fire and Stone but this was just a little homage not part of the continuity, I'll follow the film's canon so neither Fire and Stone or River of Pain happened. Additional thanks to Nathan for his suggestions, Hope you all had enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to comment.