The door slid open in front of Reaper. He entered into the pitch-black lab first. Sam entered a few seconds later, followed by Mira covering their rear. Their gun lights did little to the massive amount of darkness around them. They scanned over desks and consoles, left half finished by the quarantine.
"Lock it." Reaper ordered.
Mira locked the door, cutting off the last bit of light. Sam activated the lights, fully illuminating the lab. Mira turned from the door and quickly scanned around the lab.
"Clear." She said.
"Clear." Reaper agreed. They lowered their weapons, easing slightly.
The lab was filled with artifacts most likely dug up from the planet. Several artifacts remained on the desks across the room. Three computer consoles were distributed throughout the lab. Monitors hung from the wall mounts over multiple desks along the walls of the lab. The desks were equipped with magnifying arms and numerous excavating tools.
Sam walked from the door toward the closest console.
"How much time are you going to need?" Reaper asked.
"Thirty minutes, tops." Sam answered. She sat down at the console and began her work.
Mira stepped from the door, walking further into the lab. To her left was a circular display portion of the lab. Most of the excavated items were on display along the circular walls. However there was a glass box in the center of was section. Mira walked behind Reaper toward the center display. Drawn to it. Within the glass walls were skeletal remains.
"So 'Reaper'?" Sam asked. "As in Grimm?"
"They're marines, Sam. Not poets." Reaper replied.
Mira smirked. That was the furthest thing from the truth. "Don't worry, killing people isn't all your brother does."
"What about Mira?" Sam asked.
Mira glanced over her shoulder, daring the conversation to continue. "It's Russian for peace."
Sam nodded slowly. Whether she had taken the bait or was smart enough to hold the argument until later, it didn't matter. Sam turned back to the console to finish her continue with her work. Reaper turned to his right, expecting to find Mira. He found nothing but the equipment and turned to his left, finding Mira crouching in front of the displayed skeleton. "Holy shit."
Sam turned again. "Oh yeah meet Lucy. Lucy this is my brother John. Another creature from the long lost past."
Mira smirked. She was liking Samantha Grimm more and more.
"You found human remains." Reaper stated, completely ignoring Sam's comment.
"Humanoid. Lucy and her child were our first major find." Sam explained. "We're bringing out more every day."
Reaper turned slowly. "You reopened the dig." His voice was sharp and tense.
Mira turned from the remains, hearing Reaper's fury behind his words. he stood straight, looking right at his sister. Enter the conflict. Not even an hour into the mission and it started. That had to be a record for them.
Sam turned from her computer. "I know I should've told you. But I didn't figure it was something I could jot down on a yearly birthday card."
Reaper turned from his sister.
"It's been stabilized-"
"Bullshit!" Reaper snapped.
Or not.
"You want to talk about safe. Like you took a desk job!" Sam shot back. "I'm a forensic archeologist, john. I'll go where the work is."
"Is that the only reason why you're up here?"
Mira rose from her stance. "Look, I hate to interrupt this much needed family therapy session, but we all have a job to do. So let's keep focused on the task at hand. You can deal with your problems later."
Reaper turned to Mira, still glaring viciously. Mira could see he was trying very hard not to break ranks with her. Professionally it would not look good to break out into a screaming match with your partner in front of your sister. But then, Sam wasn't Mira's sister and frankly, she didn't give a damn what Reaper thought at the moment. She did, however, care about how the corps was represented, so she simply returned with a steel glare of her own. Sam didn't seem to notice, or didn't mention it, and turn back to the console.
"You want to know why I'm up here. Come here, I'll show you." Sam said. She pulled a unit from her computer and placed it into the reader.
Reaper looked to Sam and then back at Mira before walking to his sister's side. He looked over her shoulder at the computer screen as the data came up.
"This is Lucy's chromosome profile. Notice anything?" Sam asked.
Reaper gave his sister an irritated look. "My molecular genetics is a little rusty."
"We both know you smoked me in biology." Sam replied. "What's the first thing dad taught us, John?"
Peaked by her statement, Reaper looked back at the screen. His eyes scanned over the map of the chromosomes. At first, everything looked normal, until he spotted it. "She's got twenty-four pairs of chromosomes."
At Reaper's statement, Mira looked over at the Grimm's. "How's that even possible? Human's only have twenty-three." She walked across to room and joined them at the console.
Both Sam and Reaper turned toward Mira. Sam's face was neither astounded nor insulted. She gave Mira a small smile. Her expression seemed...pleased that Mira was on the same level as they were. Reaper's reaction, was one that Mira had expected, but was not welcoming nonetheless. Mira ignored his look and watched the screen. "How'd it get there?"
"That's what we came to find out." Sam explained.
"So what does the extra pair do?" Reaper asked, turning to Sam.
"Makes her superhuman." Sam answered, rising from her seat. "Makes her super fit, super strong, super intelligent. Her cell's divide fifty times faster, which means she heals almost instantly."
"Damn. That'd be nice to have." Mira muttered, though not so quietly.
Reaper glanced at Mira.
"The fossil records indicate they'd conquered disease, we found no genetic disorders, no viruses, no cancers." Sam finished.
Reaper shrugged. "So, what? They were just naturally superior?"
The console beeped, drawing Sam's attention. "No, not natural. You see the earliest remains we found had only twenty-three.
"So where did it come from?" Mira asked.
"We suspect this chromosome may be synthetic." Sam answered.
"Bioengineered?" Reaper asked.
Sam smirked. "That's along word for a Marine."
"Yeah, but it's the small words you need to watch out for, Doc." Mira stated. She turned toward Sam. "Why would they need to create the chromosome in the first place? More importantly, how? I don't recall ever creating a chromosome in school. And with all new medication introduce, it wouldn't have gone without side effects, right?"
Reaper gave Mira an incredulous glare. "Do you even know what the hell you're talking about?"
"Yes, I do, asshole." Mira replied, flipping him off. She turned back to the screen to review the data.
"Does it ever bother you, you could've spent your life in through a microscope-instead of a microscope?" Sam asked.
Mira jumped on interference again, still reviewing the data. "You don't always get the job you want, Doc."
"If they're so smart, how come they're so dead?" Reaper asked, diverting the conversation again.
Sam looked back to Reaper. "We don't know. Maybe they just went with time?"
Reaper looked back at the remains. "You don't shield a baby from time."
"Now that's a good question." Mira made her way from the console to Reaper's side. "What does a superhuman shield her baby from?"
Reaper turned toward Mira. She had asked what he was thinking. If Lucy had indeed been superhuman, then what had terrified her much? What had happened thousands of years ago on Mars that had ended the civilizations existence? The atmosphere? The indigenous life forms? Or was it the chromosome itself?
Voices crackled over their comms. "We got movement ahead." Portman managed.
Reaper and Mira moved into action. Mira pivoted on her heels and rushed toward the door. Even injured she was still the faster of the two. She drew up her weapon and leaved against the door beside the controls. One hand hovered over the door controls as she waited for Reaper.
Reaper turned to his sister. "Stay here. Alright? Lock the door." He moved toward the door and drew his weapon. He nodded to Mira, signaling her to move.
Mira nodded and entered the code. The door hissed open into the dark corridors. Reaper exited first, taking surveillance over the north corridor. Mira followed after him checking the south. The door closed behind them, locking Sam inside. They stood in silence for a moment, listening for their comms.
"Since when do you know about genetics?" he whispered.
"I'm a walking genetic mutation, why wouldn't I know?" Mira shot back. "And I have a PHD in Genetics, thank you very much."
Reaper glanced at Mira. "Since when?"
"Since my divorce." she replied. "You know, I'm not a fan of doctors, But I might make an exception with your sister.
Reaper pivoted on his heels and slowly came up alongside Mira. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me, Mira." He started down the hall. "Let's move."
Reaper led the way through the dark corridors. Mira stayed close, glancing over her shoulder every few steps. They took several turns, following the layout of the lab complex Pinky had provided them, heading toward Carmack's office.
"Fucking doors been ripped open." Portman stated.
"There's something in Carmack's office." Goat said.
Reaper and Mira dropped down a small staircase and kept moving through the corridors. Suddenly gunfight broke through the comm silence, kicking their reactions into high gear.
"Contact! Moving east through Carmack's office fast!" Goat called.
Reaper took the left corner, heading into position to cut off whatever they were chasing. Mira kept a few paces behind him. Suddenly gunfire erupted in the hall ahead of them. Reaper and Mira reflexively hung near the wall where the shots came from. Reaper moved up near the hall intersection.
"Hold your fire!" Reaper called.
The shots ceased and Reaper peaked around the corner. Mira moved after him, joining Kid and Destroyer on the hunt. They moved through the corridors single file. With Reaper in the lead, he led them down the dark hall toward a dead end. His gun light illuminated a pale figure, clinging tightly onto something.
"If you have a weapon, drop it!" Reaper ordered.
Mira came around the corner seconds after Reaper, gun aimed at the target. Together their lights descended on a crouching old man, shivering in the corner. His skin was deathly pale and covered in sweat and blood. His breathing was shallow and erratic. His lab coat was covered in blood. A large neck wound stood out against his pale skin. blood rolled down his neck, staining his lab coat. In his grip, pressed against his chest, was a severed arm of a woman.
Mira lifted her head from her scope. "It's Doctor Carmack."
"Don't move." Reaper warned.
The others arrived behind them. Carmack's eyes searched around them all, looking much like a terrified lost little child. He shrunk back closer to the wall, clutching the arm in his hands. Sarge came around near the end and turning on the corridor light, finally illuminating the dead end of the corridor.
Suddenly Samantha Grimm came around the corner, pushing past Duke.
"Sam I told you to stay-"
"He knows me John." Sam said. She pushed past Reaper and moved cautiously toward the crouching Doctor. "Doctor Carmack it's me, Samantha."
Carmack made no notion of recognizing Sam.
"Where are the others?" Sam asked. "Steve? Hilary?"
Sam moved closer to the doctor, keeping her hands in his line of sight. Reaper kept his gun aimed on the doctor in case he made any threatening moves toward Sam.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Sam explained. She moved closer, almost three feet from the doctor. "I'm not going to hurt you."
The doctor grunted and retreated from Sam. His right hand reached across his face to the left side of his body. His hand trembled by the left side of his head. Suddenly his hand lurched away from his face, ripping off his left ear. He hurled it in Sam's direction, like it would distract her.
Sam staggered backwards. "Oh Jesus Christ!"
"Shit." Mira whispered. She reached into her vest for a med kit.
"Damn." Duke muttered.
Portman was chuckling darkly in the back.
"Get a medkit!" Sam urged.
Mira nudged Reapers arm, holding out her retrieved medkit. Reaper passed the kit to Sam. Sam ripped open the contents and pulled out quick clot. She ripped open the small pouch and pour its contents over Carmacks wound.
"Duke, get him to the infirmary with Doctor Grimm. Portman, Kid, go to the airlock and dig in. Anything trying to get away from us will get driven to you." Sarge ordered. "Now let's see if we can find a body that goes with that arm.
yay chapter 5!