by Bryan Dunn
Nick hit the wipers and rubbed his neck. For what seemed like the millionth time, he thought about the pod and the creature they had found inside.
It was unbelievable. Remarkable. Impossible. Slade was right: it was the find of the century. It was destined to change the world. And it would once and for all answer the age-old question of whether or not life existed outside of Earth.
It was going to stand the scientific community on its ear. It was going to change his life. It was going to change the lives of everyone connected with the discovery. It was going to rock the world.
Slade’s wildest dreams were about to come true. He was about to be the center of the world’s attention. Every camera and every spotlight clamoring for his attention as billions of people looked on.
It was going to be hard to take.
Nick reached down to the console, grabbed a cup of coffee, and took a sip. One thing was for sure: between Slade and old Walt’s moon rock, he hadn’t been getting much sleep, and it didn’t look like that was going to change anytime soon.
Up ahead, a turnoff loomed. As he approached it, Nick slowed the Land Cruiser and turned into a long driveway that ran to a NASA guard kiosk at the entrance to the geology lab.
He turned off the wipers. The rain had stopped as suddenly as it had started, the clouds already being swept from the sky as blustery winds sent the squall scudding farther down the coast. The rain had lasted only a couple of minutes, but it had managed to drench the ground, leaving shimmering puddles of water scattered across the plain like lily pads.
Nick pulled up alongside the kiosk and braked, waiting for Hodges to lean out and confirm that it was him so he could open the gate and wave him through.
He tapped the wheel, waiting. After a moment, he stared at the kiosk’s smoked glass window and said, “Come on, Hodges. Get off Facebook and open the gate.” He waited another couple of seconds, then honked the horn. But there was no response; still no sign of life in the booth.
Nick leaned out and yelled, “Hey, Hodges!” Still no response. What was going on?
He opened his door, climbed out, and just as he was about to knock on the kiosk’s door, Ray’s Hyundai pulled up behind the Land Cruiser.
“What’s going on?” Ray called out to Nick.
“I’m not sure. I can’t find Hodges.” Nick paused, raised a hand, and said, “Hang on.” As he went to knock on the booth’s door, a man’s voice called out, “Dr. Walker!”
Nick spun towards the voice and saw Billy Hodges struggling across the parking lot with Max, the guard dog, cradled in his arms.
What the hell?
“Hodges,” Nick shouted as he ran to meet him. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure,” Hodges said, shuffling up to Nick. “I think Max found a rattlesnake.”
“A rattlesnake?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what it was. He’s all shaky and can’t seem to stand up.”
“Jesus.” Nick stared at the shepherd’s quivering flesh. Its body was completely slack and its tongue hung out of its mouth at a freakish ninety degree angle.
“I’ve got to get him to the vet. I put a call in to Webber. He’ll be here any minute to take over. Think you can cover for me until he comes?”
“Yeah, sure. Of course. Go,” Nick said. Then he added, “Do you need any help?”
“No, sir,” Hodges said, already moving to his patrol car. “I got this.”
Chapter 15
Ten minutes later, Nick and Ray were walking down a sterile corridor, both of them nervous, excited, and a little frayed from lack of sleep.
Today was going to be one for the books, Nick thought as they made their way along the gray vinyl flooring. Last night before they left the lab, Slade had told them that he’d be in around nine thirty and to make themselves available for a ten o’clock video conference with Houston, at which time he would announce their remarkable find. Nick had suggested that they pack up the creature, drive to Houston, and make the announcement in person. But Slade had immediately nixed that idea, saying that they needed to control this thing. They needed to make sure the credit went to them and not just NASA.
“I didn’t sleep for shit last night,” Ray said with a yawn.
“Tell me about it. Alien creatures trapped in moon rocks—I still can’t believe it.”
“Yeah,” Ray said, nodding in agreement. After a few more steps, he added, “We’re going to be freaking famous.”
Three quarters of the way down the hall, they stopped in front of a heavy steel door with a small reinforced window. Nick swiped his ID card. A moment later, there was a soft click, and they entered the main geology lab.
Ray flicked on a bank of lights and followed Nick through another door that led to the sample and storage room. Halfway across the room, both of them froze when they saw the shattered container and partially melted pod that lay at its base.
Holy shit! Nick thought to himself.
They continued forward, moving toward the workbench, their shoes making a crunching sound as they walked across the shards of glass that littered the lab floor.
“Jesus Christ,” Nick said, as he stared down at the breached pod. “It—”
“—Hatched,” Ray said, finishing Nick’s thought.
And just as the word “hatched” had rolled off of Ray’s tongue, both of them spun around and frantically began scanning the room, hoping for some sign of the escaped creature.
Nick stepped around the workbench, eyes glued to the floor, and in an even-toned voice, said, “Ray, lock the sample room door. We can’t let this thing get out of the lab.”
Ray shot over to the door, pulled it shut, but just as he was about to lock it, he hesitated, turned to Nick, and said, “Are you sure about locking it? I mean, do we really want to be stuck in here with that thing?”
“Ray! Just do it.”
“Yeah, yeah. Okay.” Ray punched a button, locking the door. “Done.”
“You take that side, I’ll start over here. Open every cabinet, check every drawer, sweep every shelf. It’s got to be in here.”
Nick dropped down and began searching the floor beneath a workstation.
Ray moved to a row of overhead cabinets. The top hadn’t been finished and was left open, but the front was faced with doors. He reached up and gripped a handle, then stopped and quickly scanned the floor around his feet. All clear. He took a deep breath, opened the cabinet door, and looked inside. After a brief scan, he quickly shut it and blew out a nervous stream of air, relieved that it was empty. He took another breath and moved to the next door. He yanked it open, saw that it was clear, and pushed it shut with a bang.
Nick lifted a half-full trashcan, turned it upside down, and gave it a shake. Crumpled balls of paper, computer printouts, paper cups, and candy bar wrappers spilled across the floor. Just to be sure, he gave it another shake, then plunked the can down.
Crawling on his hands and knees, he moved forward and reached his hand behind a desk, sliding his arm into the gap between the back of the desk and the wall. All the while, a little voice in his head was saying, This is a bad idea.
He began to paw the floor, sliding his arm farther and farther behind the desk. When he reached his shoulder and could go no farther, his hand fell on an object. He closed his fingers, and felt something bite into his flesh.
Shit!
He yanked his arm back, looked at his hand, and saw two beads of blood on his index finger, about an inch apart. Fangs. It looked like a snake bite.
Nick dropped to the floor, trying to look behind the desk. He cautiously strained forward and saw what had bitten him. Caught between the wall and the desk were a pair of plastic safety glasses. One of the lenses was broken, leaving two sharp points of plastic poking upwards.
Jesus.
Nick let out his breath, wiped away the blood on his finger, and continued searching the room.
Ray moved to the last cabinet door. His heart clearly wasn’t in his work, but he had resig
ned himself to the necessity of it. He reached up, grabbed the handle, and pulled, and as the door swung open, something inside moved.
Ray jumped, but instead of shutting the door, his fingers caught on the handle and the door swung wide as he lurched back. A bundle of latex gloves tumbled out and spilled across his face, their creepy rubber fingers groping his flesh as the gloves dropped to the floor.
“Fuck me!” Ray yelled, frantically clawing at his face to get the thing off. Jesus Christ.
Nick sprang up, bumping his head on a workbench, and bolted across the room to Ray, thinking he’d found the creature.
“What?” Nick yelled, skidding up to Ray. “Did you find it?”
Ray was beyond responding. He was too busy writhing and stomping, trying to kill the latex gloves with his shoe, still convinced they were the alien creature.
“Ray!” Nick yelled. He grabbed him by the arm, trying to calm him down. “Ray, it’s okay. They’re just gloves. Take it easy.”
After a few more stomps, Ray slowly calmed himself and looked at Nick.
Nick released his arm and said, “What is it? Did you see something?”
“I’m not sure.” He pointed to the open cabinet. “Something moved in there.”
Nick went to the cabinet, gripped the door, and leaned forward, not knowing what to expect. He reached a hand inside and shifted a box of dust masks so he could see all the way to the back.
Another bundle of gloves rolled forward, tumbled out, and bounced off his chest.
Nick jumped back and yelled, “Shit!” He looked down at the pile of gloves at his feet. After his heart started beating normally again, he moved back to the cabinet, gave it another inspection, and turned back to Ray, who had retreated halfway across the room. “All clear,” he said.
Ray stared back, white as a sheet. “You sure?”
“Yeah. Just an overstocked supply cabinet. Now come on, we’ve got to find this thing.”
“Right,” Ray said with a total lack of conviction. “I’m on it.”
Nick resumed searching where Ray had left off, combing the floor and scanning the deep shadows behind some diagnostic equipment.
Ray moved to the other side of the room, away from the alien rubber gloves, and inched along the wall, taking his time, watching his every step. Every so often he’d stop and glance over at Nick, just to make sure he was still there and hadn’t been eaten by some alien bug.
Nick backed out from beneath a workstation, and just as he was about to double check a shelf containing various chemical solutions, his cell phone rang, the ring tone muffled from inside his pocket.
Nick straightened, fished his phone out of his pants, put it to his ear, and said, “This is Nick.”
“Hi, it’s me,” the voice on the other end said. “Kylie.”
“Kylie?” Nick repeated, sounding flustered and caught off guard by her unexpected call.
After an uncomfortable moment, Kylie said, “Remember me? Science teacher. Salt Springs High School.”
“Yes. Yes, of course I do.”
“Am I calling at a bad time?”
“Yeah, no—um, no, not at all. This is a great time,” Nick said, trying to sound relaxed. “Actually, I’m here with Ray. And he—ah—Ray lost his glasses. And now we’re trying to find them. His glasses.”
“Oh,” Kylie said. In an attempt to smooth things over, she added, “I hate when that happens.”
“You wear glasses?” Nick asked, suddenly sounding very interested in the subject.
“Well, no…not glasses glasses. Sunglasses.”
“Right. The reason I asked is that I didn’t remember you wearing any…glasses glasses, I mean.”
“Okay… Um, right. No glasses glasses, just sunglasses.” After an awkward pause, she said, “Anyway, I’m calling about the tour—”
“The tour,” Nick said, cutting her off. “Right, the tour. Perfect. Um, listen, Kylie, let me call you back. I’ve got to help Ray. He’s useless without his glasses. Blind as a bat.”
“Sure…” Kylie said after a long pause, her voice sounding distant and filled with regret, like she was sorry that she’d called in the first place. “Sure, call me back.”
“Great, thanks. Thanks for understanding. I’ll get back to you. Promise.” Nick ended the call and jammed the phone in his pocket, anxious to get back to the business at hand.
Ray, who had heard the whole thing, removed his glasses, held them out to Nick, shook his head and said, “Glasses?”
Nick gave him a look and shrugged. “What was I going to say? ‘Hang on, Kylie, I can’t talk right now. Ray and I are looking for an escaped alien creature.’”
“Right,” Ray said, conceding the point with a nod. “Anyway, nice job, dude. Kylie Sinclair is a total catch.”
Nick didn’t respond. He was already back on the floor, searching for the lost creature.
Ray continued along the opposite wall, stopping when he came to a handcart stacked with boxes that had been left next to a steel utility door. Standing at arm’s length, he began shifting boxes left and right, making sure the creature wasn’t hiding there.
After he rummaged through all the boxes, he took a breath, placed his hands on the cart’s handle, and gingerly eased it back from the wall, all the while expecting the creature to shoot out across the floor. After a long moment, he stepped out, his hands still clamped on the cart, and leaned forward to look behind it.
There was nothing—just polished tile flooring and empty wall space. Relieved, he let out a breath. He went to push the cart back against the wall, but something caught his eye.
On the far side of the utility door, just above the floor, was a small conical pile of granulated cement that looked like a miniature version of the mounds of salt scattered around the Clayton Mine. Directly above the mound, a perfectly round hole about the size of a golf ball had been bored through the wall.
Holy shit, Ray thought as he looked at the hole, that thing went through 18 inches of reinforced concrete like it was nothing.
He moved up to the hole and crouched down for a better look. A halo of precise cuts ringed the opening.
Claw marks.
But not like those that a dog or other wild animal would make. These were freakishly uniform and symmetrical—like a machine had made them. Ray dropped to his knees and looked through the hole. All he saw was Texas sunshine.
“Over here,” Ray said, climbing to his feet. “I know where it went.”
Chapter 16
Standing next to the open utility door, Nick and Ray studied a line of little footprints that ran from the lab and onto the salt and then abruptly disappeared where squall whipped rains had washed them away.
Nick shaded his eyes and stared out over the dry lake, thinking, Jesus, how are we going to find this thing?
“What’s going on, Walker?”
Nick and Ray turned and saw Slade, his hands on his hips, glaring at them from just inside the lab door. Freshly shaved and with his hair coiffed to perfection, Slade was dressed in a navy pinstripe suit, a crisp white shirt, and a red power tie, all set for the big announcement.
Nick glanced from Ray to Slade and said, “There’s been a change of plans.”
* * * *
Back in Slade’s office, Nick watched as Slade paced anxiously in front of a window, every so often bumping into a model of the space shuttle Enterprise that dangled from the ceiling.
Slade blew out a frustrated breath and straightened the sleeve of his coat, then turned to Nick and said, “Tell me again, Walker. Tell me exactly what happened.”
“There’s nothing more to tell. Ray and I entered the lab early this morning about seven o’clock, saw the shattered container, and discovered that the creature had escaped through a hole that it made in the sample storage room wall.”
“But how? It was trapped in that casing—or pod or whatever it was.”
“Like I already said, it wasn’t trapped. It hatched. The outer shell was some kind of cocoon.”<
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The office fell into uncomfortable silence. Slade moved to the window, stared out, and after a long pause said, “It couldn’t have gone far. The thing is tiny. What could it do?”
“That’s the sixty-four thousand dollar question, isn’t it,” Nick said, staring at the back of Slade’s head. “But we do know this: it just went through a foot and half of poured concrete like it wasn’t there.”
Slade glanced from the window back to Nick. “Jesus, Walker, we’ve got to find it.”
“You get on the phone to Houston and Washington—tell them what happened, tell them what we know. Tell them everything.” Nick pushed up from the arms of his chair and stood. “Ray and I will start combing the grounds around the lab.”
“Good,” Slade said, firming up his voice, trying to sound in control. He turned from the window and gave Nick a direct look. “But before we involve NASA or Washington, let’s make sure of the situation. Let’s make sure of what we’ve got, what we’re dealing with. Why not see if we can catch it, then—”
“Then what? Are you crazy? It’s over. We’re past keeping a lid on this thing. The White House needs to know.”
A brick red flush swept across Slade’s face. He began to speak, but stopped, his thought disappearing in a bitter swallow. After a long moment, he nodded at Nick and said, “Okay.”
Chapter 17
A translucent line of dust rose from behind Nick’s Land Cruiser as it rumbled across the salt flat that surrounded the field lab.
Ray rode shotgun next to Nick, and Willie Clayton hung on in the backseat. Willie had stopped by the lab earlier to get another look at the fossil he’d found yesterday. He had been devastated when he’d learned that Nick had given it away.
After calming him down and assuring him the fossil had gone to a worthy home, Nick decided to invite Willie to join the search party, thinking a little local knowledge might come in handy and might give them just the edge they needed to find this thing.