Dying Dreams
Cronos
Join Date: 2002-10-18 Member: 1542Members
Join Date: 2002-10-18 Member: 1542Members
“Doctor Clawson? Doctor Clawson!” Yelled Dr. Jones
“Yeah what?!” yelled Dr. Clawson in disdain
“I think we’ve found it!” Yelled Dr. Jones in clear excitement
Dr. Clawson loped in the low gravity environment to the lab tech. Both were clad in Class four bio-containment suits to protect them against the freezing cold of the comet, some 84 billion clicks from it’s primary.
“Jones, You might be right” exclaimed Dr. Clawson as he held the precious rock in his gloved hand.
“Anorthic rock, this could only have come from a planet!” Yelled Jones excitedly
“Yes, that would seem to support the planet busting theory nicely. Heck, it would explain all the asteroids in the inner system that all contain similar chemical composition! Jones, I think we hit it big!”
“Do you think we should inform the others? I mean, it was what the whole expedition was for”
“Of course, but not right now. At dinner tonight in the mess hall, this deserves a celebration! Double rations for everyone tonight, but in the meantime, pack it up like any other rock and keep digging for others. I’m going to check on the others and see how they’re going”
Dr. Clawson, lead of the geological survey of the Kappa-Echo system, made his way through the myriad natural and man-made tunnels of comet 54526-Delta, an unremarkable Class 4 Comet on the fringes of the binary star system that was Kappa-Echo. This was by no means the main operation, though it was the most far-flung, other operations were in progress on the major planets of Kappa-Echo.
Dr. Clawson found himself in Beta Sector, an area of the comet that was still undergoing major excavation and had most of the team members involved in digging, processing and such. Dr. Riley happened to notice Dr. Clawson loping towards him in the low gravity and stuck his pick in the ice.
“Well well well, if it isn’t Dr. Clawson come down from his icy tunnel in Delta sector, we plebeians are at your service” said Dr. Riley in a cunningly joking manner, that, if anyone else had heard him, would have sounded insulting, but was really an attempt at humour.
“Can it Riley, you know full well I can demote you to head of this expedition”
“Well, I wouldn’t want that. Anyway, what brings you to Beta Sector? Don’t you have your hands full with Delta sector?”
“Normally I would, but any project head has his hands intimately in all his trusted projects, this is no different. How are things in Beta?”
“Same old same old. We’re still digging up Basaltic rock in most sectors. Occasionally we’ve found samples of Ice with slightly differing isotopic ratios but other then that, nothing to say that this comet out of all the others in this systems Oort cloud is any different then say, Sol’s or Alpha Centauri’s is”
“Ah well, keep the work coming, in another week we can get off this ice ball and back Prima command”
“Heh, yeah, I’m sick as hell of these bio-contam suits. I swear there must be a layer of mold on my feet three inches thick I haven’t touched them so long”
<i> “Clawson!” </i> Blared Clawson’s radio set
“What do you want Jones? I’m busy here”
<i> “You have GOT to come see this! Bring someone else, this completely overshadows the Anorthic Rock we found!” </i>
“I’m on my way. Riley, follow me to Delta sector, apparently Jones has found something big”
Riley and Clawson did variations of dragging, loping, and the occasional leaping through the mind swarm of tunnels to Delta sector. Both breathing hard after their physical exertion, they looked at Jones, and what he had found.
“Can you see it?” Said Jones, holding his shovel loosely
“Where, what is it you’ve found?” Asked Clawson curiously
“There, you see it? Some kind of… Shape of some sort”
Buried in the ice, some four inches down was a dark shape, the size of a small child.
“Give me a hand, lets dig it out” said Jones.
Riley watched as Clawson and Jones worked hard at chiseling the thing out of its icy prison. Finally, after some time, the thing fell in an icy lump.
Riley bent down to take a good look at the thing, whatever it was.
“I think I can make it out. Looks like it has four legs, each ending with a spike, its body is hairless…”
“Some kind of dog-like creature?” Mused Jones
“Maybe,” replied Riley, “Maybe something more. Looks like it has some nasty teeth, eyes front, looks like this thing was definitely a carnivore of some sort”
“Whoa, hold everything” Said Clawson “You mean to tell me that this thing is buried in ice, 24 light years from the nearest life bearing planet? This thing couldn’t have gotten here”
“Maybe it came from the planet that broke up when the system was forming? We know that the planet that created the asteroid belt in the inner system was within the goldilocks zone” Replied Jones
“That planet broke apart thirty thousand years ago due to a large planet smashing it apart, this thing could NOT have gotten here by any means” Said Clawson
“Guys” said Riley
“Then how did it get here?” Retorted Jones
“I don’t know. Maybe genetic analysis will prove something, but it definitely didn’t come from this system” Replied Clawson
“Guys” Said Riley in an ever more impatient tone
“WHAT!?” Yelled Clawson and Jones in unison.
“It’s moving”
All three men looked down at the not so icy lump. The creature was thawing…
“Yeah what?!” yelled Dr. Clawson in disdain
“I think we’ve found it!” Yelled Dr. Jones in clear excitement
Dr. Clawson loped in the low gravity environment to the lab tech. Both were clad in Class four bio-containment suits to protect them against the freezing cold of the comet, some 84 billion clicks from it’s primary.
“Jones, You might be right” exclaimed Dr. Clawson as he held the precious rock in his gloved hand.
“Anorthic rock, this could only have come from a planet!” Yelled Jones excitedly
“Yes, that would seem to support the planet busting theory nicely. Heck, it would explain all the asteroids in the inner system that all contain similar chemical composition! Jones, I think we hit it big!”
“Do you think we should inform the others? I mean, it was what the whole expedition was for”
“Of course, but not right now. At dinner tonight in the mess hall, this deserves a celebration! Double rations for everyone tonight, but in the meantime, pack it up like any other rock and keep digging for others. I’m going to check on the others and see how they’re going”
Dr. Clawson, lead of the geological survey of the Kappa-Echo system, made his way through the myriad natural and man-made tunnels of comet 54526-Delta, an unremarkable Class 4 Comet on the fringes of the binary star system that was Kappa-Echo. This was by no means the main operation, though it was the most far-flung, other operations were in progress on the major planets of Kappa-Echo.
Dr. Clawson found himself in Beta Sector, an area of the comet that was still undergoing major excavation and had most of the team members involved in digging, processing and such. Dr. Riley happened to notice Dr. Clawson loping towards him in the low gravity and stuck his pick in the ice.
“Well well well, if it isn’t Dr. Clawson come down from his icy tunnel in Delta sector, we plebeians are at your service” said Dr. Riley in a cunningly joking manner, that, if anyone else had heard him, would have sounded insulting, but was really an attempt at humour.
“Can it Riley, you know full well I can demote you to head of this expedition”
“Well, I wouldn’t want that. Anyway, what brings you to Beta Sector? Don’t you have your hands full with Delta sector?”
“Normally I would, but any project head has his hands intimately in all his trusted projects, this is no different. How are things in Beta?”
“Same old same old. We’re still digging up Basaltic rock in most sectors. Occasionally we’ve found samples of Ice with slightly differing isotopic ratios but other then that, nothing to say that this comet out of all the others in this systems Oort cloud is any different then say, Sol’s or Alpha Centauri’s is”
“Ah well, keep the work coming, in another week we can get off this ice ball and back Prima command”
“Heh, yeah, I’m sick as hell of these bio-contam suits. I swear there must be a layer of mold on my feet three inches thick I haven’t touched them so long”
<i> “Clawson!” </i> Blared Clawson’s radio set
“What do you want Jones? I’m busy here”
<i> “You have GOT to come see this! Bring someone else, this completely overshadows the Anorthic Rock we found!” </i>
“I’m on my way. Riley, follow me to Delta sector, apparently Jones has found something big”
Riley and Clawson did variations of dragging, loping, and the occasional leaping through the mind swarm of tunnels to Delta sector. Both breathing hard after their physical exertion, they looked at Jones, and what he had found.
“Can you see it?” Said Jones, holding his shovel loosely
“Where, what is it you’ve found?” Asked Clawson curiously
“There, you see it? Some kind of… Shape of some sort”
Buried in the ice, some four inches down was a dark shape, the size of a small child.
“Give me a hand, lets dig it out” said Jones.
Riley watched as Clawson and Jones worked hard at chiseling the thing out of its icy prison. Finally, after some time, the thing fell in an icy lump.
Riley bent down to take a good look at the thing, whatever it was.
“I think I can make it out. Looks like it has four legs, each ending with a spike, its body is hairless…”
“Some kind of dog-like creature?” Mused Jones
“Maybe,” replied Riley, “Maybe something more. Looks like it has some nasty teeth, eyes front, looks like this thing was definitely a carnivore of some sort”
“Whoa, hold everything” Said Clawson “You mean to tell me that this thing is buried in ice, 24 light years from the nearest life bearing planet? This thing couldn’t have gotten here”
“Maybe it came from the planet that broke up when the system was forming? We know that the planet that created the asteroid belt in the inner system was within the goldilocks zone” Replied Jones
“That planet broke apart thirty thousand years ago due to a large planet smashing it apart, this thing could NOT have gotten here by any means” Said Clawson
“Guys” said Riley
“Then how did it get here?” Retorted Jones
“I don’t know. Maybe genetic analysis will prove something, but it definitely didn’t come from this system” Replied Clawson
“Guys” Said Riley in an ever more impatient tone
“WHAT!?” Yelled Clawson and Jones in unison.
“It’s moving”
All three men looked down at the not so icy lump. The creature was thawing…
Comments
Very good, I like it
"How the hell can something like that manage to survive in a block of ice!" yelled Jones, his tone matching Clawsons face.
"How the hell should I know!" Yelled Riley, "Fact of the matter is, it's done it whatever it is"
An interesting thought struck clawson.
"Have you guys thought about the implications this will have?"
"What implications?" Said Riley and Jones in unision
"Think about it," said Clawson, "Cryogenic storage, the science that has eluded us for generations! We cant get the success of cyrogenics up high enough to make it mainstream. It's too risky, and often ends up in death..." Clawson was cut off by a chuckling sound emanating from the creature.
"Go To Hell!" Yelled Riley as he brought the pick down into the creatures head
"freaking hell!" Yelled Clawson "Are you insane!"
"That thing had some hell of a set of teeth, just look at them! I dont think it'd be wise to let that thing thaw out alive now dont you?"
"You have a point. Look, lets freeze it up and stow it in cargo compartment 5. Keep this hush hush, I dont want anyone else to know about this"
Another chuckling sound interrupted the scientists conversation.
The mangled head of the creature was slowly but surely healing before their very eyes. The would was already clotting up and the creatures head moved experimentally, lithely, cunningly.
Riley brought the pick upon the creatures head several times in a row, with a final ice crushing blow to make sure it was dead.
"Did... did... Did you see that?" Gasped Jones "Riley put that pick clean through it's head the first time round, and it just healed itself as if it were only a flesh wound"
"A flesh wound?" retorted Clawson "Hell, it looked as if that damn wound was just a scratch, something to be shrugged off. Hell, this creature could revolutionise medical science!"
"Better bag it and freeze it then" Responded Riley, opening a large sample bag, "but we take it back on one condition"
"Whats that?" said Clawson, rather miffed.
"Simple" Said Riley, a shrewd smile crossing his face, "A cut of any profits from any patents you might make from this Dr. Clawson. We are co-discoverers are we not? We deserve our fair share"
"Prepostrous!" Yelled Clawson "The discoveries that could arise from this creature are invaluable!"
Riley, quicker then one could give their senses credit for, pulled out a long, black, shiny, and very deadly looking pistol.
"Mr. Clawson, if you dont agree, I'm afraid the results could be quite tragic"
"Jones, are you in on this too?"
"Dr. Clawson, we all knew we'd find something valuable on this expedition, and I'll be damned if I dont get my just share of the spoils"
Utter defeat crossed the Dr. Clawsons features. With what little dignity he had left, he capitulated to Jones and Riley.
Lugging the frozen carcass of the creature through the tunnel network towards the ship, under the careful supervision of Jones and Riley, Dr. Clawson couldnt help but whisper to himself in an act of defiance: "This Creature will be the death of me..."
Part 3 Coming Soon...
oops.
cool story up the datey.