Chapter 18
––––––––
"These creatures are fascinating," Shivia said, "The tissue they are composed of is like nothing ever seen before."
"I can't see the value in them," Meekor, a senior lab assistant, said, "How can they possibly be controlled."
"They can't," she said, "but perhaps an admixture of this tissue and our soldiers."
"More testing on live subjects?"
"It's a time of war, Meekor," Shivia turned to look at him.
Meekor hung his head in an unmistakable gesture of subservience. Shivia nodded, satisfied.
"Now," she said, "If we have finished debating the medical ethics of winning the war against the Buzzers, why don't you toddle off and select some volunteers for our experiments."
"How many will you need?"
"Ten," Shivia said, "Ten should do. For a start."
Meekor left the room to go and do Shivia's bidding. She was left alone in the lab with her prizes.
"Reason," she said.
Reason was the name of the full artificial intelligence at the heart of the research station, the most advanced artificial intelligence ever created by the Tarazet Science Ministry.
"Yes," the computer answered.
"I'd like to watch these subjects in action again."
"We now have considerable footage of the Z-forms, Shivia," the computer said, its voice was a purr, "Is there anything in particular that you would like to see?"
"No," Shivia said, "Just project the images over here where I can see them and choose some highlights."
The computer didn't answer and instead a hologram of a screen appeared near Shivia, showing images of the Z-forms attacking the exposed mountain top, and the daring escape of Keen and Punter.
Shivia reached for a rack of scientific instruments that was floating nearby on a gravitic motor and took out a laser scalpel. She used it to cut a section from her nearest specimen, a long, perfectly rectangular strip. She put on lab gloves, programed the settings at the wrist seal for maximum impermeability and took the strip of flesh between finger and thumb. She removed it from the creature and placed it under a sensor. It was fascinating to study the cells. She wasn't even sure they were cells in the conventional sense. They were more like identical versatile units of biology, organizing themselves to produce the creature.
After hours studying the cells, she went back to her specimens, the screen was still playing footage of the creatures in action. They organized themselves to produce a ramp, in order to launch one of their number at the dropship in the same way the cells organized themselves to produce the creature.
Shivia decided to take a sample from the mouth area, where the obviously non-organic weapon was integrated with the organic part of the creature. It was then that she noticed it. The scalpel wound she had made earlier was gone. It was completely healed.
"Spontaneous healing?" she said to herself, then, "Reason."
"Yes Shivia."
"Show me an image of the subject, Z-Form Three, from when it was first captured."
The video on the hologram screen was replaced by a single static image, showing the Z-form. It was covered in scar tissue and had a deep wound in its thigh. She looked at the specimen in front of her, and there was no sign of any of this damage.
"They exhibit spontaneous healing," Shivia said.
"Interesting," Reason said, "and there is something else."
"Yes?" Shivia said, intrigued.
"They have gained slightly in mass."
"Gained?"
"Yes," Reason confirmed.
***
Meekor was alone in the lab, calibrating instruments and doing research on the best way to remove tissue samples when it happened. The strap holding the right arm of subject Z-Form Two broke, and the creature's arm was suddenly free.
Meekor stared in horror and screamed. He wasn't screaming anything coherent, just animal sounds of fear. He staggered back a few paces as the creature reached for the mask over its face, the one keeping its jaws tightly clamped shut, the one preventing the creature from using its disruptor gun.
Meekor was walking backwards, watching fascinated as the creature gouged livid scratches in the mask. But the mask held, right up until the moment Meekor reached the door to the lab. He opened it as the creature exposed its fearsome jaws and opened its mouth to reveal the maw of the disruptor within.
Meekor stumbled shaking out of the lab, yelling at Reason to close the door, which Reason did as soon as he had cleared the door frame. Unfortunately that was too late. Meekor had already been blasted by the creature and turned into something twisted and unrecognizable. The creature howled in triumph and turned its attention to freeing itself from the remaining shackles that were holding it in place.
***
Shivia was in her study, reading about hybridizing humans and aliens. It was an interest of hers, especially as there had been so little success in the field. It was a backwater of science, frowned upon by the shortsighted fools of the non-military establishment, but there were some visionaries doing good work.
"Shivia," the voice of Reason interrupted her.
"Yes?"
"We have a situation in the lab where the Z-forms are being contained. There has been a fatality."
"A fatality?"
"Meekor."
"That's a shame," Shivia said, "he was competent and obedient. Show me the situation."
There was a physical screen mounted on Shivia's desk and it sprang into life. A scene of chaos could be seen in the lab. The Z-form was now free and was slashing at the lab door, it would periodically stop slashing to fire shots from the weapon in its face, shucking off centimeters of armor in twisted ribbons. The other Z-forms were agitated in their bindings, twisting this way and that in an effort to free themselves.
"How thick is that door?"
"It will contain the creature for approximately five more minutes."
"Put the Z-form down."
"It has proved impervious to the gas normally used in the lab for such purposes."
"Send marines with mass drivers."
"Dispatching a containment team now."
Shivia watched on cameras located in the lab and on cameras located in the corridor as the creature gradually dug through the armored door of the lab. It emerged into the corridor, stepping with its clawed feet into the remains of Meekor, just as the containment team arrived on the scene. They started firing immediately. Shivia winced as she watched them blowing holes in one of her specimens, but said nothing. The creature was soon sent twitching and lifeless to the floor of the corridor, its tattered remains mingling with those of the unfortunate lab technician.
"What a waste," Shivia said, "We'll need to find out why the creature's shackles failed, and increase the strength of the confinements on the other specimens."
"I'll start an investigation," Reason said.
***
Before the end of the day, Shivia was examining the body of her former lab assistant. Shivia wanted to look at a fresh victim of the Z-forms' face weapon, but what she found was far more interesting. Every sample she chose from her dead assistant had evidence of the Z-form that had killed Meekor, its DNA, mingling with that of the unlucky lab worker.
"Your death wasn't in vain, Meekor," she told him, "If you hadn't mingled your remains with those of the Z-form that killed you, I would never have seen this effect."
There was no answer from Meekor's lifeless corpse, but the results on her readouts spoke volumes. The alien cells were interacting with Meekor's cells, unraveling the DNA within and picking and choosing among what was found there, like a virus in some respects, and the alien cell was taking on some of the characteristics it found there. She had found fusions that resembled human brain cells and fusions that resembled human muscle, and many others.
"Fascinating," she mumbled to herself as she manipulated the samples in her scanner.
If there was any alien life form that could be induced to hybridize with human
tissue it was this one.
“Reason,” she said, “I need some human subjects. Some live human subjects. Wheel the first one on in here as soon as you have them sedated.”
Just seven hours later she was finishing the procedure. Her first Z-form graft to a human host. It was going exceptionally well. She looked down on her work with pride. She had removed a huge portion of alien skin and transplanted it to the human on the operating table. The strange new process was taking place where the alien cells assimilated some of the functionality of the human cells, but on a larger scale and much more quickly than had been the case with Meekor's corpse.
It was hugely encouraging, but then the human host's vital signs all crashed.
Heart rate and brain activity both fell away and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Within minutes her first human test subject was dead. She consoled herself with the thought that it would be a long road to perfect such a complex and ambitious procedure, but deep inside she was disappointed. She had been hoping that the strange alien cells would work some magic, that they would bring success where it hadn’t been encountered before. She looked at the still warm corpse, a healthy young male with Hispanic features, marred only by some extensive acne scarring. She briefly wondered what backwoods planet he must have come from that he hadn't been able to have it corrected. That was always the way with these things though, it was the poor and disadvantaged that ended up being experimented on. She looked up his name in her records, Kanta. She updated his status to deceased and claimed his remains for the Science Ministry.
"Fellu," she shouted, calling for Meekor's replacement.
"I'm here," the young woman said.
She was above average height with epicanthic folds and long straight black hair. She was quite independent minded, which could turn out to be a blessing or a curse, but she had proved competent so far.
"Put this unfortunate soul on ice will you," Shivia asked, "I'm a little shaken up at losing him. I'll take a look at him later and see if I can work out what went wrong."
"Certainly," Fellu said.
She unlatched the gurney from the operating array, allowing it to float free on its grav motor, then pushed it gently and silently from the room.
***
Kanta woke up one hour later. He had no idea how long he'd been out. He hadn't really been told what to expect, hadn't been told to expect much of anything except they were putting some experimental new covering on his back, for a temporary period, but he had been expecting to at least wake up in a bed. Instead, he was in some kind of pod, or canister, and it was cold. He banged his head on the roof of it when he tried to get up on his elbows. The pod was very narrow and uncomfortable, even for the mean-spirited Tarazet navy.
"Hey," he yelled, "What's going on?"
His back felt extremely odd, like there were worms under his skin. He wondered if something had gone wrong, or if that was how it was supposed to feel.
"Hey," he yelled again, "Let me out."
Outside the deceased specimen containment unit, where Kanta now found himself, was a larger lab. The lab was empty apart from a robot that was not equipped with AI, just a very smart computer. The robot contacted Fellu.
"Yes," Fellu said, "What is it?"
"A disturbance," the robot said, "An unusual one."
It started sending an audio feed of the noise coming from the containment pods.
"Hey," came a gruff, masculine voice, "You could at least tell me why you've got me locked up in here. When do I get out?"
"Can you localize that?" Fellu asked.
"It's coming from containment pod CgY 78411, the one that is housing the most recent specimen you dropped off."
"What?" Fellu was confused, "You mean Kanta. He's still alive?"
"No," the robot said bluntly, "He is most definitely dead. The readings all confirm that there is no brain, heart or lung activity."
"Who is that out there?" came Kanta's voice, "I can hear you talking? Are you planning on letting me out anytime soon?"
"I'm on my way," Fellu said.
She was five minutes away from the lab and she kept the connection open so she could monitor events. She checked the robot's interpretation of the readings from the containment pod, and she had to agree, they all seemed to point to Kanta being most assuredly dead, but he didn't seem to have gotten the memo.
"Shall I allow the subject to exit the pod," the robot asked, clearly torn about what was best to do.
"Hold on a minute," Fellu said, "And I'll contact Shivia for instructions."
***
She arrived in the lab a few moments later, Shivia standing beside her and they were accompanied by a containment team. The robot was attending to something of questionable urgency on the other side of the lab. Fellu got the impression it just didn't want to be anywhere near her or Shivia. The four marines in power armor of the containment team inserted themselves between them and the containment pod, their blaster rifles raised.
"Okay Reason," Shivia said, "Pop the seal on that containment pod."
There was a quite literal popping noise and the tray holding the grav gurney slid out about a centimeter.
"About time," came the voice from within.
"Slide the pod out slowly," Shivia said.
The pod slid out, accompanied by wafts of frigid air. The man's flesh was gray and he was naked, only the mist in the air because of the cold of the pod was providing him with any dignity.
He pulled himself off the gurney and planted himself on his feet, but his knees wouldn’t hold him. He collapsed to the floor.
"Guess I'm feeling the effects a little bit," he mumbled.
"Fascinating," Shivia said, "Take him to a secure ward."
"Two of the containment team shouldered their rifles and helped Kanta up. They took him out of the lab, one on each side, supporting him under the arms.
Kanta was physically lifted off the floor by the large suits of armor and his eyeline was level with their helmet visors.
"Hey," he said, after a few seconds, "What gives?"
Keen was in the suit of armor on his right and Punter supported him on his left. It was Keen who answered him.
"Talk is that you had a near death experience on the operating table."
"That would explain how I feel," Kanta said.
"If it helps," Punter said, "You look like shit."
"That's just great," Kanta said, "Thank you for your encouraging words. I'm sure I'll be better in a jiffy now."
They reached the secure ward, which had a door thicker than the doors of many carrier bays Punter had seen. They put him unceremoniously on a bed and left. The huge door closed behind them.
***
Shivia and Fellu were still in the containment lab, still standing next to the pod that had held Kanta's lifeless body, which was still open.
"This is so exciting," Shivia said, "The hybrid creature is functional."
"I'm not sure you can call it a hybrid if the human part is dead," Fellu observed.
"Details," Shivia exclaimed, "Details. Ask the subject if he feels human. The entire human personality and knowledge set seems to have been transferred to our subject. We'll have to do more testing of course. Let's call him Z-human 1."
"But his name is Kanta."
"It doesn't do to refer to test subjects by pet names," Shivia said, "It gets in the way of objectivity."
"As you wish," Fellu said.
"Was the transplanted tissue the largest Z-form tissue sample we have?" Shivia asked.
"No," Fellu said, "The last time the Z-forms mounted an escape attempt, we recovered an entire arm, severed at the shoulder by a hit from a mass driver."
"Excellent," Shivia said, "Prepare the next test volunteer."
"As you wish, Shivia," Fellu said, "When will you need him."
"Another male?"
"Yes," Fellu said, "At the moment, only one other, a male, has cleared the prep phase. But there is a female who will be ready in a couple of days."
"I'll prep the next victim," Fellu said.
"I heard that," Shivia said, "Fellu. This is a military operation and I can not have you second-guessing every decision I make. You might not like what we are doing here - I admit that this methodology is far from ideal - but we can't refine it until we understand it, and you will follow my orders, to the letter. Understood?"
"Understood."
***
Kanta had been in the ward for what seemed like days, but might only have been hours. He had been fed, but he wasn't hungry.
"You must have me on some strong-ass drugs to take away my appetite," he mused, with a grim smile for the nearest of the camera units.
There were three of them, little cameras on tiny grav sleds, scooting about the room and documenting his every move. They even followed him to the bathroom.
There was just a single bed in the ward, and the only entertainment was provided by a few screens and a hologram projector. Kanta just watched sport and reclined on the bed, in theory an easy gig, but he didn't feel at all well, and worse, he was a man of action. He would prefer ground operations on some Buzzer infested rock to watching entertainment screens all day.
The worst of his physical symptoms was his back. He had also gone a strange color, a very unhealthy looking gray, but he tried not to think about that, at least that wasn't causing him any pain. It was his back that really hurt. The border where the graft interacted with his flesh was a livid river of fire. It went away to a dull throb most of the time, but when it flared up he would be rolling around and yelling.
He switched channels and found a game featuring a popular grav ball team, a team Kanta hated. There was a closeup of one of the players in his gaudy colored grav pack, thrown into high relief by the gray background of the inside of the spherical stadium. It was a player Kanta hated, and to Kanta's delight, the team he hated was losing. He smiled, relaxed back on his bed with his hands behind his head and started to enjoy the game. That's when he felt it.
Galaxy Dog Page 19