The military hadn't caught all of them. In the parking lot of Wal-Mart was at least one who'd gotten away, which meant there could very well be more. Feeling somehow vindicated, she started her car and headed home.
Chapter Six
Diurnal cycles on Earth were much longer than Tsij was accustomed to. When the first light of dawn trickled through the ventilation duct in the attic, he was wide awake and waiting for it. Flipping on the communicator, he pressed it into his ear, selecting the option for his research partner.
"Tsij!" Ixala's voice greeted him in their native language. "Are you safe?"
"Safe enough," he assured her. "I found a housing complex and carved out a place in what they call an attic. I managed to get twelve samples already, and have seen minimal signs of infection in the local population."
"Good, but I wouldn't expect that to last." She paused for a moment. "There are twenty-four of us here, including you. They got the rest."
He grumbled a string of vulgarity. "How many dead?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "Almost everyone on the forward deck. We're pretty sure the cargo bay was crushed. Until we know how many of us they're holding, we won't have any idea."
"Ok. There's nothing we can do about that now." He pulled his knees against his chest. People had died. He'd known that, but hearing it confirmed only made it more real.
"Tsij, there's thirteen of us that can blink. They've been taking turns inspecting humans, hoping to identify their basic movements."
"What if you're spotted?" he asked. "Ix, you know as well as I do that it's not perfect invisibility, and human eyes can detect the distortion."
"Ghosts. Yeah, I know. I also think we have a place to stay." Pride dripped from her voice. "A warm place to stay. It's an abandoned mine. It was said to have been partly renovated for historical reasons by a private owner, but according to what Seshin could hear, no one has been out this way in years. The military doesn't know about it, and there are at least three ways out."
"And food? Do you have enough to hold out for a while?"
She chuckled. "Yes. Much of the sea life is edible and has a high enough saline content to fulfill our needs. We're good for at least eight days. And we're warm enough."
Tsij groaned playfully. "Please don't remind me. It wouldn't be so bad if it was summer, but the vegetation is already changing colors. At least I know I'm in the northern hemisphere. You'd be shocked at how little people mention where they are on the planet. I know the town is called Haven, but that's about it."
"United States," she told him. "North Carolina, which is midway down the eastern coast. Temperate climate for this planet, so winter shouldn't be as harsh."
"As harsh," he grumbled. "So, only about polar temperatures, right? I'd trade my stripes for winter gear right now."
"And you'd stick out among the natives," she reminded him. "How do the samples look, Tsij? Any chance you can grab a specimen and get back here?"
He glanced over at the equipment, reading the preliminary results. "I have four possibilities, but that's only for the simplest strains. I also had to sedate a native. Thankfully, he'll assume it was breeding aggression, as he'd just tried to assault a female."
"Tsij?" Ixala asked, concerned.
"Needed some local currency," he assured her, "and a sample, but he's already been ruled out. You really think our people bred with humans, Ix?"
"Don't you? They look enough like us. Considering the fetish images shared at home, I'm pretty sure it's happened. Doesn't make it any less disgusting or reprehensible, but right now, I really hope it's happened or it's going to be a lot harder to make a cure without killing off most of them."
"Yeah." He glanced at the light. "Unfortunately, that's all I've got to tell you. I'll contact you again tomorrow, hopefully with good news."
"Ok. And if you need it before then, the mine is at grid 17, 24, 95, 19, 2." She paused for a moment. "Be safe, Tsij. We're all counting on you."
He wrote down the coordinates before he could forget them. Using the sun, he should be able to pinpoint the area in general, and their pigments would lead him the rest of the way. It was fitting that they'd found an old mine. It would make them feel more secure, being similar to how they lived at home. Ixala had probably thought of that when she'd chosen the place. The ability to heat it had simply been a bonus.
Now, he just needed to start the next test, gather another group of samples, then check the locals. He had no idea how far the money in his pocket would get him, but hopefully, it would be enough to find some food. He couldn't go without eating, not if he wanted to keep up his body temperature. The worst part was that humans found the weather comfortable at this time of year, and wearing too much clothing would mark him as an outsider. With so much security, both military and civil, he didn't exactly want to bring any attention to himself.
Thankfully, by the time he finished adjusting his equipment, it had warmed up a bit outside. He changed into a new costume, wondering how he'd manage to clean the others, then headed out. It wasn't hard to get samples, not during the day. Bump against a person, release just one drop of toxin from the hollow barb located in his wrists, then retract it fast enough to pull a core of tissue with it. It didn't take much for a test. The hardest part was identifying the human well enough to find them again.
Except Hailey. Spiraling out from his base of operations, he was spotted by her twice. The first time was buying a meal at a local deli. He had no idea what most of the options meant so ordered the same thing as the person before him, knowing he would be forced to pick it apart later. Walking out with a bag of warm food, she suddenly pulled the door from his hands. He smiled at her politely but refused to meet her eyes, aware that humans thought of the gesture as recognition. He didn't want to become involved with the natives. He simply needed to find one that suited his needs. She looked perfectly healthy, though.
A few hours later, when he was returning to the attic space to check his tests, he saw her again. He quickly changed his path, heading toward a building called a hotel. It was where humans could rent sleeping areas by the day and a logical place for him to be going. She called out once but didn't know what to call him, so he ignored it, pretending not to hear. Unfortunately, it also meant he had to circle around the block.
With his stomach finally filled, even if the local cuisine wasn't particularly tasty, he dozed off. When he opened his eyes again, it was dark. A soft light glowed on his biological equipment. The second set of samples was replicated and ready. He set those up for the initial test, then checked the first batch. Only two had shown any resistance. Carefully pulling out the tubes, he read the labels. Elderly man, taken from Pink Flamingo, followed to Stay Inn on 4th Street, third floor. The second one made him smile. The tube had only one word: Hailey.
So, she could form resistance to prokaryotic and eukaryotic Gahnek bacteria. If her immune system could handle the more complex genome of yeasts, he'd be ahead of schedule, but he didn't want to get his hopes up. He didn't dare pick a favorite test subject. Even if the charmingly sweet little female was a match, there was no guarantee that producing the treatment serum wouldn't kill her. He'd have to expose her to countless alien pathogens, just enough for her body to build an initial immune response, then harvest samples of her blood. While the testing could give him an idea of the subject's survival, it was far from perfect. She was an alien creature, after all.