Acheron Chapter 11 – Creatures Crawl in Search of Blood
A/N- As stated before the creature's gestation period within their host is determined by the hosts metabolism, so two people infected at the same time might give birth at totally different times. Also it should be noted that once the creature has been interbreed with a species the resulting face huggers that are produced afterward will speed up this process. Because the embryo has become more adept at using your bio matter and more in sync with your physiology, so shorter implantation time and shorter gestation time.
While Edd and Nazz were desperately trying to remove the parasites from those five individuals in the med lab, Sgt. Kanker was in the midst of being interrogated by the Major for her inability to keep her men safe. The heavy set man paced back and forth in front of his desk wiping the sweat from his brow, the colonist were going to have his head for this. "What the fuck happened out there Marie?"
"We were met with heavier than expected resistance sir," she stood stiffly at attention, her grief over failing to protect her men evident upon her face.
"Stronger than expected resistance," the man scoffed.
"There was a second unknown lifeform there, sir."
"That little worm," he leaned against his desk and ran his hand down his face, "You got to be fucking joking." He had ascertained that Jim had been infected and gave birth to one of the creatures, due to seeing the corps.
She cocked a brow at him in confusion, "This thing was not little sir and it sure in the hell wasn't no worm." She let out a shaky breath as she recalled that adrenaline filled moment when the creature was staring her down ready to pounce, "This thing had to be eight, eight and a half feet tall and very aggressive."
His look was one of disbelief, "The Jorden's didn't mention any hostile creature from when they were there." He let a soft groan of frustration out, two people have already died, now possible five more were going to suffer the same fate, "Let's just hope they can get them off."
A knock upon the glass of his office door drew both of their attentions to the entrance were Kevin stood visibly shaken, the Major motions for him to enter. As he entered the Major instantly went into questioning him, "What the hell happened at the APP that an alarm was tripped."
He takes a seat in one of the not so comfortable office chairs in front of the desk, his hands were visibly shaking as they went to grasp the armrest, "I had to get everyone out of there, and it was the fastest way I could think to do it."
"Explain," could this day get any worse?
His shaking hand runs down his face then massaged his jaw line as he coughed, "Well you know that little problem of ours, it aint so little no more." Bridget's death was replaying itself in Kevin's mind once again as Bethany's chest explodes, letting that thing slither out of it.
Marie's story was starting to make a little more sense to him, with Jim giving birth to one of those things at the crash site, and if what Kevin had just said was true, it would explain the other hostile life form there. He wasn't the smartest person in the universe but he could put two and two together and make bloody four, "How big was it?"
"I don't know, I didn't stand around measuring the damn thing," Kevin barked.
"Take a guess them."
"Eight feet tall I would say," the Major visibly deflates in his chair at this news, "And another one of those things came out of Bethany," another blow to the Major's hopes of getting this thing under control quickly.
No knock at the door this time, just the sound of them sliding open brought everyone attention to the entry way, Edd was slumped at the shoulders as he entered the office. The Major perked up a little upon seeing him, "Doctor, hopefully you have some good news for me," but his hopes were quickly destroyed when he got a good look at his face.
Falling into the chair next to Kevin, he massages his temple as he explained, "Unfortunately I do not, the two patients we attempted to remove the parasites from simultaneously, both died." Everyone in attendance was noticeably shaken, no one more so then Marie whose guilt was now like a knife being driven in to her chest. "I cannot be one hundred percent sure until the results from the blood work comes back, but if I had to guess I would say that it overdosed them on its toxin."
"Jesus Christ," the Major breathed out then collected himself, "So do we have any other suggestions on how to deal with this before any more lives are lost?"
"Yes, the good Doctor and I have considered a few options," he straightened himself up in the chair and cleared his throat. "We are going to try and remove the embryo before it grows to large."
"So surgery," the Major asks and Edd answers his question with a nod, "That sounds like a solid plan, how soon can you begin?"
"The equipment is currently monitoring the patients for any signs of growth in the chest cavity, and we will begin immediately once it is detected." Edd knew, that currently, this was their only option available, but also recalled what the Doctor had told him earlier, "There is one set back however."
The Major didn't like the sound of this, "Explain."
"A surgery like this could take time, because of the position the embryo takes within the host. The other patients might run out of time and become inoperable before we can complete the first operation." He could see that the Major wasn't catching on to what he was trying to say, "The creature employees a series of growths that gather nutrients for the embryo, and if they get into the host major organs they will most certainly die from them."
"What are you trying to say Edd," Kevin asked, a worried look in his eyes.
"That even if we remove the embryos from them, these growths continue to expand and will eventually kill them. We think that cancer treatment might reverse the effects, but I wouldn't hold out hope." Clearing his throat once again, a nervous look upon his face, "We might want to consider offering a humane death for these individuals, for the alternative is a long and painful demise."
"You mean kill them," Marie stated in shock, Edd halfheartedly nods in response.
"But you said that the cancer treatments might undo it," the Major motions with his hands imploringly, "So just give them the shot before you write them off."
"We currently do not have any of that medicine on hand, the Doctor has placed an order for it though, but we all know how long that will take to get here, and they might be long gone before it arrives." He wasn't trying to be cruel, just logical about it, he wanted to save these men just as much as anyone else, but nine months without any treatment could be impossible with such an aggressive strain as this.
"I could put in an emergency request with the company, and have them ship it via a military vessel, they could get it here in a quarter of the time of some commercial vessel," his expression was hopeful, he wanted to at least give the people something on a positive note to this situation.
"Would you do that, it would be a great help, we are also looking into an alternative means of procuring the medicine as well."
He knew that Edd meant he was going through Angela for the supplies and was now glad that he turned a blind eye to her black market dealings, "Good, sounds like you have thought this through, just keep the thoughts of euthanasia to yourself for the time being Doctor. Let's hold out hope that we can save these people for as long as we can, okay." Satisfied that there was still hope for the three remaining patients he turns his attention back to Kevin and Marie, "So do you two have any suggestion on how to deal with our not so little problem?"
Edd cocked a brow to Kevin requesting an explanation, "It's grown," he replied.
"Apparently," the Major interjects, "In the small amount of time since its birth it has grown to be eight feet tall."
"And its super aggressive," Marie adds, Edd took in this new information as he rubbed his chin thinking while the others talked.
"We could trap it in one of the containment unites that processes the planet's atmosphere, then turn it on," Kevin suggests.
Edd was not well versed in how the processing plant actually worked, "Won't the creatures acid damage that part?"
"Probably not, it essentially breaks down the atmosphere atom by atom then rearranges them into a more Earth like state. So anything in there would be shattered at the atomic level and broken down into usable parts or waste." Kevin looked kind of proud of himself for actually getting the chance to teach Edd something, "And even if, by some small chance, it does damage it, the plant can run perfectly fine with one unit down."
"Now to drive it," Marie pondered.
"Most animals are afraid of fire," Edd adds, "So do we have any flame throwers or the means of making some make shift ones?"
"I have a few in the weapons lockers," Marie motioned with her right hand as she spoke.
"And I can make a few more," Kevin added.
The Major nods in agreement to this plan but added, "We should organize in search teams of five to look for this thing in the plant."
"Assuming it's still there," Marie argued.
"It's a possibility that its territorial and would stick to an area unless it's gone out hunting," Edd's ecology knowledge coming in handy once again.
"Alright, so we are in agreement then, we search the plant and drive these things into the containment unit and fry their asses," The group all stated their agreement to the plan, "Get everything ready, then divide the colonist into teams, I leave everything in your capable hands Sargent."
She goes ridged and brings her hand up for a solute, "Sir."
The three of them begin to head out of his office, "Doctor," Edd turns around to look at the man, "Please keep me informed on the patient's condition and assess me on it before we make any rash decisions."
"Whether or not to end their own lives is their choice Major, not yours," his face grew stern at the idea of keeping someone in pain just for the sake of keeping them alive for one more second longer, "But I will keep you in the loop." He exits the office secretly wishing that the door was on a hinge instead of being an automatic sliding door.
Across the complex, within the pins the livestock was being held, a predator stocked its prey from the ceiling of the room. Dropping down it quickly subdued the beast and made off with it, like an ant able to carry many times its weight, the bovine was of little hindrance to it as it ran across the landscape back to its lair. The caretaker who entered the pins a moment later upon hearing the sounds of disturbed cattle noted that ten of the beasts were missing, and made a report to operations about his discovery. With things the way they are, it would take the higher ups sometime before they would hear this disturbing news, and for those with any intellect to catch wind and put the equation together.