She slid some of the gunk onto a slide and took a peek through her microscope. Despite the decomposition, she identified the sample as having the same cellular lattice as the aliens she’d been studying. The inert cells showed the bonds between them breaking down. Killed by the lake water? Possible, given the hairline cracks in the meteor that would have allowed the eggs to be soaked in the toxic fluid. However, their death did surprise. The aliens obviously survived a journey through the universe, subjected to extreme temperatures and force. Likely the asteroid provided some protection from that, but still, how could a poisonous lake truly be that catastrophic? Then again, didn’t every living being have some version of kryptonite?
Had the toxic water penetrated the shell of the egg, or had she inadvertently poisoned the innards when she sliced it open? Removing her hands from the glove box, she snared one of the intact globes and sprayed it with distilled water and even scrubbed to remove any residue left behind from its dunk in Lake Natron. A slice of its outer skin resulted in it collapsing, thegooey innards decaying and dead. Dripping blood on it didn’t seem to revive it in any way.
Just in case she’d not given it long enough reanimate, she transferred it to the glass case holding the first sample and tossed in some meat protein as bait. She then tackled the rest of the globes, running them through an X-ray and then an ultrasound to see if they contained a discernible shape.
Not one of them showed anything. Like an unfertilized chicken egg, there was nothing to see.
Assuming the journey and impact with Earth hadn’t killed the alien pods, she could only assume its dunk in Lake Natron did. Those tiny cracks allowed the toxic water to seep within, saturating all the globules and killing the alien biological matter before it could hatch. As to the purpose of those etched lines, most likely they were meant to ease the alien’s escape. Look how easily the protective shell came apart when tapped, but that led to a more perplexing question. If the aliens arrived as eggs encased in stone, how did they grow enough to break free?
She thought of a movie she’d seen, where blood used in a sacrifice ran through rivulets in a temple to revive some ancient evil. Could it be that the alien asteroid worked in a similar fashion? Introduce blood into one access point, AKA a crack, and it would spread to the waiting pods, feeding and growing them until they had the strength to emerge. An interesting theory, but for one thing. She doubted an animal would wander by and be like,Hey, I’m gonna bleed all over this rock.
A food-bearing Grayson arrived as she pondered the mystery and struggled to formulate a theory.
“Hey,” he said, walking in with a pizza box of all things. “Look what the kitchen prepared for us.”
“Mmm. And just in time, I’m starving.” Engrossed in her work, she’d lost track of time. Asterion had left a little while ago to get his own meal and promised to return after he’d gotten abit of sleep. Before he left, he reported Blue had been sharing its portion of meat equally with the little blob but had ignored the crafting items Asterion gave it.
“I am beyond hungry. That workout took everything I had.”
“Hard one?”
“The strenuous exercise part I can handle. Getting my ass handed to me, though…” His lips twisted. “Not used to that.”
“I’m sure you’ll soon be the one schooling them. Give yourself time. You’ve been a warrior less than a week.”
“Guess the star gods don’t care that patience isn’t one of my virtues,” his chuckled reply.
“I’m thinking they were more interested in your other qualities.”
His brow arched. “Such as?”
“Arrogance. I hear that’s a must-have warrior trait.”
Their shared laughter felt so comfortable she moved toward him to give him a hug as soon as he set the box down.
“What’s that for?” he asked.
“Happy to see you, I guess, but don’t let it go to your head. It might also be because you brought food. Speaking of which, what kind of pizza did we get?”
“Fully loaded.”
As they each grabbed a slice of cheese, pepperoni, mushroom, onion, and bacon goodness, Grayson glanced at the rock broken up into pieces in the glove box.
“So, what’s the verdict on the meteor? Did we get the right one?”
“Yes, and in good news, the alien seeds within were all dead.”
“So the lake water can kill them?”
“Maybe. I can’t be sure that’s what caused them to fail to hatch, but it did immediately kill one of my live samples. A single drop and it immediately went inert. No idea if it’s permanent, though I’ve got it secured with some meat protein to see. I’vealso yet to test if the toxic water will work on a fully formed alien with skin.”
“Even if it only kills the pieces, or requires a flesh wound to penetrate, seems like good news,” he stated before taking a bite of his slice.
“Agreed.”
“Then why do you seem perturbed?”
“Because I don’t understand how the alien eggs hatched in the first place. Look.” She pointed to the remains of the meteor. “The globules I found were encased in rock. No way for them to go off and hunt what they needed to grow. I did find hairline cracks running through the rock, which is how the lake water managed to penetrate, but given their need for meat protein or blood to grow, I’m struggling to see how any of them ever managed to feed enough to get the strength to break free.”
