Creation began on 02-17-20
Creation ended on 02-18-20
Species II
Defect
A/N: What if humans were more flawed than the alien species anticipated? Inspired by the work of Lord Jack Kaiser.
Snap! The lid of the soil container popped open upon thawing out on the Excursion.
Because they were too far away from where container was, Patrick Ross, Dennis Gamble and Anne Sampas didn't hear it. Not that they could due to flipping switches and pushing buttons and listening to Mission Control. And because they were so focused on what was in front of them, none of them considered the possibility that a threat was behind them.
As it thawed out enough, the soil sample flowed out of the container and onto the floor, beginning a one-way journey to the three humans awaiting the completion of the countdown to return to Earth.
"Ten…nine…eight…seven…six," Mission Control continued as the alien DNA continued to trek towards the three. "Five…four…three…two…one."
Suddenly, there was nothing but darkness for a while.
"Mission Control to Excursion, come in, do you copy?" The voice of the man in charge of communication back on Earth uttered, and the Excursion crew came to after what felt like a minor blackout.
"This is Excursion," Patrick responded. "We just had a slight transmission error, but we're okay. We'll be looking forward to returning home now."
-x-
Flawed. All three were flawed. Somehow, as it degenerated within the bodies of these humans, the alien DNA left on Mars was unable to assimilate them due to these…defects these three carried within their cells. Just as the aliens could combine their genetics with other organisms, these humans possessed defects that they could pass onto their children through their genes that had mutated over time.
Even if it had managed to survive in a dormant state, the alien DNA wouldn't have survived for long within these degenerated, lesser lifeforms, eventually burning out in a war of attrition due to being in a disease-ridden environment where it couldn't germinate. And even if these organisms weren't affected by the diseases that dwelled within their cells, they still carried the defective genes that allowed for them to be passed on. A cancerous species from beyond the stars…defeated by an equally-cancerous species so primitive that they couldn't go past this wretched solar system.
-x-
Even though he had tried to warn government not to go to Mars, an act that resulted in him getting institutionalized, Herman Cromwell wasn't as upset about it as he should've been. It was mostly because he'd been visited by a man he had never met before, and he told Cromwell that they wouldn't be able to bring back any aliens from the red planet.
"It was discovered that humans have a weak immune system when it comes to contracting and passing on diseases," the man explained, sounding more knowledgeable than he appeared. "If an extraterrestrial contagion were like a disease that requires a healthy host, there's not that many people left on Earth that are disease-free. Even if there were a few that don't have an active or positive strain of some defect, like some cancer or an STD, even a mild case of diabetes, they'd still carry the defect in their DNA…and they will pass it onto the next generation. The astronauts they sent are all carriers of hereditary diseases, like sickle cell anemia, diabetes and lung cancer, which would prevent biological contamination by a foreign strain of DNA. I know this to be true because I made it so."
Before Cromwell could say anything to this mysterious man, the stranger got up from where the patients were allowed visitors.
"Have patience and show restraint," he told him. "In two years, maybe less, the medical personnel here will see no reason to continue your admittance here and you'll be a free man, back to doing what you love, regardless of what the government or military think, say or do."
What? Cromwell thought, confused by what this man informed him. But…I was fired from Stanford and locked away in here from breaking a general's jaw.
-x-
"…We just can't see how we can allow for this man to be released from our custody after he was deemed a threat to himself and others," said the overseer of the institution to the dark man. "Herman Cromwell is unstable to be released in less than two years."
"I'll be the judge of that, sir," he responded. "We lock away people of rationale numerous times for even the most illogical of reasons, whether they're because of a faulty prediction or for staking out an abortion clinic. What was he incarcerated for? Because he broke a man's jaw? Some people would feel honored for dishonoring a military official in plain view of the public, like it's a rite of passage to show that the government doesn't have control over your free will. You want people who are a danger to themselves and others? Go after the men and women behind the government that know things that the rest of the world doesn't know about, like how they found cures to certain diseases years ago or how many births and deaths were faked over the decades since the Second World War."
-x-
"Despite the extensive time spend in space, you three are in remarkable health," Dr. Orinsky informed the three astronauts sometime after they had returned their twelve-month period in space between Earth and Mars. "I'll still have to perform more extensive blood testing. There are, however, a few professionals who would like a further examination."
Then he pulled open a curtain in the examination room and revealed a crowd of crazy women that were just dying to gaze…and then had to disappoint the three with a quarantine set upon them because they had been on an interplanetary mission.
"Oh, God, you gotta be kidding!" Anne Sampas declared, upset about being under quarantine; she had been away from her husband for twelve months and she missed being held by him.
"No, I'm not kidding," he told them, and all three were disappointed.
Fin…or is it?
A/N: I'll leave it open in case I decide to add more.