Inseminoid (13 page)

“Maybe,” Holly was guessing, “it’s a hermaphrodite. Maybe it laid eggs. There are a number of possibilities. Perhaps you could find out from the remains of the creature.”

“I’ll give it a try,” Karl promised.

Holly took a deep breath and asked the key question. “Do we stay or do we go?”

One by one the crew members cast their vote. When it appeared unanimous that the expedition would continue, Mark agreed to stick by the decision.

“Good,” Holly said. “Now let’s get back to work. Gary, there are still quite a few of the slabs still in the cave, aren’t there?”

“At least a couple of hundred. But I could use some help loading them on to the forklift.”

Holly looked over at Mark, “How about giving him a hand.” Mark said he would.

“Okay then. If there’s nothing else, let’s get to it.”

Karl waited until the crew had dispersed. Then he said to Holly, “I need to talk to you. It’s about Sandy.”

Holly nodded. “Is that where you got those scratches?”

“Yes. She’s becoming uncontrollable. I’m going to keep her heavily sedated until tomorrow. Then I want to put her through some more tests. Is it okay with you if she’s kept out of action for a few more days?”

“Take as long as you want. We want her back in good shape. Any idea what’s wrong?”

But Karl just didn’t know.

CHAPTER
SIX

G
ary’s suit was grimy. He’d been working hard to transport the final group of tablets from the tomb and get out of there. It made him nervous working alone in the tomb. Who knew what evil forces still lingered there? The way events had developed the only thing known for certain was that nothing was certain. He’d kept looking over his shoulder, even expecting a creature to jump out and ravage him. Though there was hardly disappointment when it didn’t happen that way.

Gary stuck his head inside Mitch’s study. The professor was engrossed in his research. “Got a shitload of those slabs for you. Where do you want them?”

Mitch was deep in thought and couldn’t be bothered with what he considered unimportant conversation. But Barbra was there, organising his notes; she took the responsibility for keeping Mitch clear of such mundane matters. Barbra understood Mitch. She felt honoured to be able to keep the little things in Mitch’s life under control so he could devote his valuable time to search for life’s answers.

“You do want the slabs, don’t you?” Gary asked.

Barbra stood up from her desk and looked around the room. It was already filled to the brim with tablets. “There’s a bit of space along the wall. Will that be enough?”

Gary shook his head. “I’ve got enough on the wagon to fill another room.”

“Oh,” Barbra said. “Well, leave as many as you can here and put the remainder in our cabin.”

“Your cabin?” Gary wasn’t certain he’d heard correctly. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. That’ll be fine.”

Just then, Mitch pounded his fist against the top of his desk. “Please!
Please!
I must have complete silence for my work. It’s not easy to concentrate when there’s such drivel about. If you have to discuss this bullshit then please go out into the corridor to do it.” He flicked his wrist into the air as one might shoo away a pestering insect.

“Hey . . .” Gary began.

But Barbra cut him off. “Quiet! He must have quiet.”

“Everybody’s a star,” Gary grumbled. Then he unloaded the tablets into the professor’s study, depositing as many as he could before moving the wagon on to Mitch and Barbra’s sleeping quarters.

“Taking your work to bed with you is one thing, but this is ridiculous,” Gary was still grumbling.

But Barbra didn’t mind overcrowding their cabin this way. She was certain that Mitch would be grateful to be only an arm’s length away from a new discovery. Having the tablets so close might even provide him with fresh inspiration. Barbra settled back behind her desk and watched him work.

Mitch had finished studying one tablet and reached for another. He copied each character into a notebook and next to it translated its meaning. He felt so close to learning yet another secret of this secret civilisation.

“What do we have here?”

Barbra could see he was on to something big, but she learned long ago not to say a thing that might interrupt his train of thought.

Mitch’s eyes darted from the notepage to the tablet and back again. He scribbled words and symbols on to the paper, considered them for a long moment and scribbled some more. Then he put his pencil down on the desk, leaned back in his chair and read through the notes.

“Hmm. Very interesting. Very interesting indeed!”

Mitch stood up and pushed the chair out of the way. He was suddenly in a hurry. He held the notebook tightly in his hand and raced through the corridors to the lab.

Barbra watched him disappear around a corner and all she could do was marvel at the man she loved.

The creature, or what remained of it, was laid out in sections on the examining table. Karl was about to start on the autopsy. His laser scalpel was held firmly in his hand and he was about to open the creature’s chest cavity when Mitch rushed in. Karl stopped what he was doing and looked up. Mitch’s eyes glowed.

“The crystal,” the professor shouted to him, gasping for breath. “It’s the life-force!”

Karl switched off the laser and put it on the table next to the creature. “What do you mean, life-force?”

“Come here. Look at my notes.” Mitch opened his notebook and pointed to the entry he’d just made.

Karl was still confused. “I don’t understand.”

Mitch tried not to lose patience. He kept forgetting that people were rarely on his wavelength. “Okay, I’ll try to explain it as basically as I can. The specimen, the creature—it would have stayed without life for all eternity if it hadn’t been for those crystals we found in the tomb.”

Karl scratched his balding scalp and Mitch could tell he wasn’t getting through to the doctor. He tried again.

“The crystals brought the creature out of a deep sleep.”

“You mean to say, the crystals were like smelling salts?”

“Yes,” Mitch replied excitedly. “I mean
no.
It’s nothing like that at all.”

“Will you relax, you’re making me nervous.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t relax. Now listen. The crystals were the current that drove the creature. Think of a solar battery and a toy spacecraft. The craft is an empty shell until the battery gives it the power to take off and fly. Only the crystals gave the creature more than energy. They reactivated its thought process.”

“But the creature never came in contact with the crystals,” Karl reminded him.

“Ah, but he did. When the creature and the crystals were sealed in air-tight cases, neither had any power or abilities. But when the glass was broken, the crystals reacted with the atmosphere and melted into a liquid.”

“I remember, we almost died from the gas.”

“Precisely, the gas! The crystals evaporated and the resultant gaseous matter, which humans find poisonous, wafted over to the creature and caused its life juices to flow. It gave the Being power and strength. Without the contact with the crystals, this thing on your table would always have been a seed from a mighty oak without sun, soil and water. A shell and nothing more.”

Karl finally understood and that made him tremendously angry with himself. “So if I had listened to you in the first place and waited for you to break the code,” he paused, trying to grasp the situation, “and for you to translate the writing slabs before going ahead and breaking into the cases, it would not have come alive.”

“That’s correct.”

Strong emotion welled up within Karl. “And Kate would still be alive.”

Holly had been standing in the doorway listening to their every word. She too had thought about Kate dying needlessly because of the expedition’s scientific eagerness for all the answers.

Holly remembered the night she and Kate had spent together wrapped in each other’s arms. She’d never felt so close to another human being before and she wondered if she might ever again. Thinking of Kate at that moment Holly bit her lip and forced back the tears. The tears she had warned Kate about.

The secret of their one-night affair would always be kept. It was too pure to allow anyone the opportunity to misinterpret it or call it dirty. Holly breathed deeply and bit her lip again, so hard she tasted blood. Silently, she stepped back into the corridor. At that moment, she didn’t want to face Karl and Mitch. And the truth—that Kate might still be alive if they’d heeded Mitch’s warning.

By the time she’d reached the infirmary, the commander had regained her composure. Holly decided to look in on Sandy. She rapped lightly on the door, waited an instant and entered.

Sandy was sitting up in bed reading an out-of-date magazine. “Hi, Holly,” She was glad for the company.

But Holly was still a bit apprehensive after Sandy’s bizarre behavior the day before. She watched her words, not wanting to set her off again. “How are you feeling today?”

Sandy smiled. She looked quite refreshed. “Oh, much better, thanks. I don’t know what got into me before. That’s not like me at all.”

“There’s been a lot of excitement. Too much excitement.”

Sandy thought it over. “Yeah, excitement. That must’ve been it. And all those drugs Karl’s been popping into me. I’m sure they couldn’t have done much to help my frame of mind.”

“I suppose you’re right about that.”

Sandy rested the magazine in her lap. “You know, I really want to get back to work. Lying here all day is driving me crazy. I’m sure you can use all the able-bodied crew members you can get right now.”

Holly didn’t know how to answer that. “I suppose that’s up to Karl. But yes, I’d like to have you back as soon as you’re able.”

“Karl won’t even let me get out of bed,” Sandy complained.

Holly brought down her guard and relaxed a bit. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll have a little talk with Karl and see if you can be sprung for a couple of hours of light work. Okay?”

Sandy was pleased. “Oh, thanks, Holly. I really do appreciate that.”

Holly turned to leave. “I’ve got to get back to the control room now. I’ll drop by the lab on my way and have a word with Karl.” She was nearly out of the door when she stopped and said, “I’m happy you’re better. I really am. We’ve already lost too many good people.

Although Sandy was ready to get to work, other crew members weren’t as eager. Mark, for instance. He was depressed and demoralised. He felt betrayed by the vote against his demand that they return to Nova immediately. How many did they have to lose before they’d realise that he was the only one on the mission with enough foresight to get them off the planet alive? He asked himself this question constantly. He wasn’t asking them to mutiny, just to be realistic.

Aggression had built up in him. Instead of taking it out on those hapless souls around him, he decided to get to the gym and work it off. Even as he made his way there, he couldn’t keep his mind off the situation. He would have handled events so very differently from how Holly had. Fuck, what was the use! What was done was done. His primary concern at that point was for the future. He had a suspicion, he didn’t know why, that instead of getting better, the situation was going to crumble even more than it already had. There was something in the air he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Until he could, who’d listen to him anyway? They’d just dismiss it as just one more manifestation of his bitterness towards Holly.

Mark entered the gym and got right down to pressing the heaviest weights he could find. He worked hard at it and soon had spent much of his aggressive energy. But the bitterness remained. No amount of exercise would get rid of that.

Holly never got to the lab for her talk with Karl about Sandy. He was on his way back to the infirmary when she met him in the corridor. The doctor told her he didn’t want Sandy to work but he’d see what he could do.

When Karl came into the infirmary, Sandy was lying back on the bed, daydreaming.

“So you’re feeling better.” He smiled at her.

“You spoke to Holly?”

Karl moved closer to her, nodding his head as he went. “Tell you what. Just let me run a few more tests on you. I’d like to get you back on the scanner again. If nothing new shows up then you win. Back to work, but nothing strenuous for the time being. Is that fair?”

That made Sandy happy. “Fair enough. What about the abortion though?”

“There’s no hurry, but it would be best to do it soon and be through with it.”

Karl went to the sink and scrubbed his hands clean. He used a powerful disinfectant and he rubbed hard. Even though he’d worn disposable gloves to examine the creature, there was no sense in taking unnecessary chances of spreading alien bacteria. That’s all the mission needed—an alien virus.

While he washed, Sandy kept the conversation going. “You know, it’s true what they say.”

“What do they say?” Karl asked, half-aware.

“That when you’re pregnant you get horny.”

“Cut it out,” Karl told her, and reached for a towel to dry his hands.

“No, really. I’m not kidding. I’m talking to you as a patient to a doctor now, not as a lover. Sometimes the desire becomes so intense I think I’m going crazy. I haven’t played with myself since I was a kid but I’m telling you, I can’t hold out much longer.”

Karl smiled professionally. “It’s not unusual. Many women feel like that. If it gets too much for you I have a small device that might help you out.”

Sandy said she wasn’t interested. “It might make me go blind or something.”

Karl laughed and put the soiled towel in a bin that immediately sterilised it. He sat on the edge of Sandy’s bed. “Let’s begin the examination. Take off your shirt, please,” he said matter-of-factly.

Sandy smiled seductively. The desire was returning. “You take it off for me. It’s nicer that way.”

Karl shook his head in mock exasperation. “Sandy, what am I going to do with you?”

“Anything you’d like. Take me, I’m yours. Wreck thy will upon me.”

“I think the word you want is
wreak.
” Karl figured the best thing was just to ignore her games and get on with his work. He took her pulse and it seemed quite normal.