Acheron Chapter 7 – Happy Birthday
A/N- A side effect of the toxin the face hugger uses is acute memory lose, generally most people don't even realize that anything has happened to them. Purebreds take longer to gestate then hybrids, purebreds are the Queen and the praetorian. And yes I am using all sources cannon and not so cannon.
With the parasite off of Mr. Jorden's face and the room pronounced clear, Nazz and Edd quickly move to do a scan to see what could have caused the creature to dislodge itself so suddenly, while Kevin and the Major joined the search effort for it. Could it be due to something in our physiology that didn't go over well with it? Or did it get what it wanted and now had no use for the man? There had to be a reason and the two of them were determined to find out what it was. The machine only took a few seconds to go through its cycle and then brought up the 3D model of the man's inner workings floating above where he lay on the table. Rotating slowly only one thing was earmarked in a red flashing box that had a line drawn to its location, leaning his hands upon the table Edd read the flashing box. Tumor located in the chest cavity between the heart, lungs and spin at a growth rate of 100k cells per second with an exponential growth rate as more cells are created, metastasis has already begun.
"That's weird, this wasn't there the first time we scanned him," Edd pointed to the growth in the man's chest.
"It might have occurred due to the immune suppressants the creature was pumping into him," Nazz was looking closely at the image, "Cells go cancerous all the time, most of the time the immune system takes care of them, its only when cells reproduce at an alarming rate and overrun the immune system do you have a problem." She sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose, this man's luck has not been the greatest, and she didn't look forward to telling his wife that he needed cancer treatment. Luckily that treatment only required a regiment of shots, but they would have to be ordered and shipped here. But with the growth rate of the tumor they would probably have to perform surgery to hopefully keep the man alive long enough for them to arrive.
Edd studied the image closely but other than the tumor nothing seemed to be wrong with the man, the creature seemed to have no motive what so ever and to Edd that didn't make much sense, there is always a reason. Groaning in frustration he pushes away from the examination table and starts toward the door, "I have to step away from this for a second and think it over, call me if anything changes."
"Will do," Nazz called after him and as the door closed and Edd headed toward his quarters she turned off the 3D image and walks over to her computer terminal and logged in to send a message. The door to his quarters opens and Kipper greets him at the door, picking up the leash he attaches it to the dogs collar and heads toward the nearest airlock hatch. Walking a few paces away to be polite so Kipper didn't do his business in front of the door, he pulls out a pack of cigarettes and lights one, taking a draw he inhales the smoke and exhales slowly enjoying the calming effect. He didn't smoke very often just mainly when he was faced with a problem he needed to think about, and used the drug to calm himself so he could think clearer.
Going over the facts calmly he tries to reason it out, the creature attaches itself to the persons face putting them in a coma to debilitate them. Then inserts two tubules down their throat, it doesn't feed off the person as far as they could tell, and if it did it was not in a conventional sense. Getting what it wants apparently it has detached itself and has gone to god only knows where to do god only knows what. Then there is the growth that has suddenly appeared in the man's chest, the computer has analyzed it and says its cancer, a very aggressive strain at that, but how could it be related to the creature. On the one hand it was to coincidental for Edd's liking, but he could not for the life of him link them together, for cancer is formed from your cells. If it was an egg laid in him, like some Parasitoid Apocrita do on earth, then the computer would have marked it as foreign tissue. Nothing was making much sense about this and the more he thought about it the more he was meeting a dead end. Flicking the cigarette away and seeing that Kipper was done and he praises the dog, "That's a good boy, introduce that bio-matter to the environment."
Taking his attention away from Kipper he visually scanned the alien terrain with its rocky outcrops and a splendid view of Calpamos and its other moon on the horizon. Edd wondered where the creature was currently, if it was scurrying along the rocky surface back to its home, or if it was still currently within the facility looking for its next victim. Calling to Kipper to follow him with a few clicks of his tongue they head back to the facility to help in the search effort, Nazz would inform him if she needed his assistance. All that was left to do was wait for the man to wake up and hopefully find the creature before someone else fell victim to it.
The thorough search of the facility for the parasite continued for several hours before it was finally found dead in a secluded corner of the complex. Edd was informed by Sgt. Kanker shortly after it was discovered, asking her to bring it up to the labs for further study, maybe he could discern its purpose upon closer examination. Laying it upon a tray he ran several tests upon it, discovering that the "blood" and neutralized upon its death, allowing him to dissect it and get a more hands on look at its inner workings. A nerve cluster ran along the spin which must be its brain, several organs within the body cavity, the likes of which he has never seen before, had him stumped on what their function could be.
He was interrupted by a call as he was typing up his report on what little he has discovered about the specimen. Pushing the accept button on his desks surface, Nazz's face appears in a rectangular box, "Yes doctor, how can I assist you?"
"Mr. Jorden has woken up, if you would like to come in and help with the examination."
"I'll be right there," ending the call he makes the short trip to the med lab and enters through the door to see the man sitting upon the table.
Nazz was currently checking the man's pupil response with a small pen light, "How are you feeling Mr. Jorden?"
"Please call me Russ," he coughs and swallows, "Got a sore throat, other than that can't complain."
Nazz puts the pen light away and starts to check the man's next for swelling by pressing her fingers against key spots, "That's to be expected."
"What the hell happened?"
Edd was a little confused, "You don't remember?" the man shakes his head, "What is the last thing you do remember then?"
"I was out doing a survey with my family, we had discovered a crash site along a ridge and me and Anne went in to go investigate it." He looked as though he was having a hard time recalling anything else past that point, "Then some terrible dreams."
The door opens behind Edd, looking over his shoulder he sees Mrs. Jorden walking through the entrance at a fast pace toward her husband, "Russ, are you alright," turning to Nazz, "He's alright isn't he?"
Edd gently guides her away from the examination table stopping a few feet from it, "The doctor is still trying to determine that, maybe you can help me."
"Sure, I'll be glad to do whatever I can to help."
"Why don't you tell me what happened in that ship."
"Well it's just like I told the Major, I wasn't with him when it happened," She looks over at her husband who was still being examined by Nazz. "I stayed at the top of the shaft to operate the winch," she turns back to Edd, "The funny thing is that it was already there and set up, like it was waiting for us."
"The winch?" She nods in response, so someone else has already been there, how curious, "Did he happen to describe anything he saw?"
"Just that there were a lot of oval like objects down there," eggs Edd thought to himself, "The last thing he said was that he was going to take a closer look at one of them." She looks back to her husband then down to the floor, "That's all I have really, sorry if it's not much."
"That's fine, it was a big help," so it came from an egg he pondered.
Mr. Jorden flinches from pain and grabs his chest, and Nazz asks, "Are you alright?"
"Just my chest hurts," he replies and Nazz puts her stethoscope up to his chest to check his heart beat while checking his pulse with her fingers, she hears something weird.
More pain and this time it was noticeable as he screams out, Edd rushes over and helps Nazz put the man on the table again as Mrs. Jorden cups her hands to her mouth, the scan quickly ends and comes up. Embedded in the man's chest was a serpentine like creature that was moving rather roughly toward the front of his chest, "What the fuck is that?" Nazz asks as they saw it spit something at his sternum, the man was now convulsing in pain as the image shows the creature coiling its lower body.
"We have to get that out of him," Edd calls out and Nazz nods, the creature springs forward and slams its head against the bone, the impact was visible on the rib cage as blood spurted out, Mrs. Jorden screams out.
Nazz rushed to retrieve the scalpel, the creature coils again, picking up the tool she comes back quickly to the table and the creature slams the bone again breaking it and puncturing through the skin. Mr. Jorden was dead, the creature surveyed its surroundings while still nesting within the dead man's body, Mrs. Jorden is hysterically screaming, Edd is in disbelief and Nazz has dropped the scalpel. It hisses at the both of them and quickly rushes off and into the air vents.
A/N- Now let the fun begin as all that was once safe and sound is now open to doubt, the home and hearth are now terror and dark, the bump in the night shall bring forth such fright, the shadow in the corner can hold such horror.