Chapter 3
While the doctors where running tests on the dead parasite the man whom it had infected now lay on a hospital cot. All the tests they had run had come up negative to any ill affects of having the creature on his face so they thought best as to monitor the situation and give basic medical support.
For now he was still in a sort of coma, the chemicals the parasite had pumped into him had still to leave his system. While waiting for him to wake up the doctors thought it necessary to gather as much information on this new species as possible and quizzed the man's wife. She had not left his side, sitting on a stool beside his bed she held his hand gently while the normal bickering children were sound asleep on the couch to the side of the room.
"Mrs Jorden, I would like to talk to you about what happened while you were out there. The company feels it's in the best interest of the colony to investigate this ship further." the doctor spoke gently, the woman was still getting over the shock of what had happened.
"I'm not going back out there..." She rose her head from her husbands hand, her eyes black and puffy from lack of sleep. "There's thousands of those things in there..." she struggled to keep her voice hushed. Her eyes would glance over to her children who were sleeping soundly.
"We understand Ms Jorden and were not asking you to go back out there. You must understand WE must go back out there, any threat to the colony must be investigated. And anyway.." The doctor gave a soft smile. "Your husband is fine, he should wake up in a couple of hours. The creature has left him un- harmed."
It was hard for the woman to understand why a creature would attach itself to a person and then drop off and die without any problems. "Doctor...Why would a creature do this?"
The Doctor stood for a moment contemplating before shaking his head and smiling. "We theorize it's much like a leech, it attaches to a host, uses what it needs and then drops off. The fact it died is not surprising. If what you said about its environment is true, it probably couldn't survive long in this atmosphere. Which is why we have to go back out there, being a new species it could be the last of its kind. Please Ms Jorden, any help would be appreciated."
With this in mind the woman looked back over her husband and children. Her thoughts went back to the salvage value of the ship and this new creature within it. By law it was her and her husbands discovery, if she left it out there, someone else may claim it. It had to be worth millions, money which could set her family up for life. Being a teraformer wasn't the greatest job and it certainly wasn't a environment for children.
"Alright, I'll tell you everything you need to know." She gave a gentle smile towards the Doctor, who smiled back. The smile made the woman nervous though, it seemed to her there was more the Doctor should be telling her.