Junkyard Pirate by Jamie McFarlane

Author:Jamie McFarlane [McFarlane, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Fickle Dragon Publishing LLC
Published: 2019-10-30T05:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

Alice was an Amateur

"Fascinating." Jayne stared at the trapped alien attempting to escape over the side of the cookware. “How is it possible such a helpless form could evolve with such intelligence? They have virtually no capacity to manipulate their environment.”

“Not so, good doctor,” Jack said, pulling at the lapels of his suit jacket, straightening it. “The Korgul have limited physical needs. It is believed their evolutionary path, as you call it, branched, not in developing their own mode of locomotion, but rather co-opting the planet’s other, already-mobile sentients. In fact, the Korgul utilize the brainstem of their hosts just as they utilize the limbs and circulatory system. Unlike most sentient species, the Korgul are relatively simple beings.”

AJ gave the pan a gentle tug away from Jayne’s hands. “Sorry doc, science class is over.”

“What will you do?” Jayne asked. “You can’t kill it. We need to treat them as prisoners of war.”

“Sure, Doc,” He walked over to the stove and placed the pan on a burner.

“AJ, no!” she cried.

He raised an eyebrow as he opened the cabinet under the sink and withdrew a coffee thermos. “Take it easy.” He uncapped the thermos, stopping halfway into unscrewing the stopper to swish the Korgul around in the pan and knock it off the side. “I’m starting my own Hanoi Hilton here.”

“Can they live in a sealed space?” Jayne asked.

“Without stimulation, Korgul will ultimately pass into an unconscious state,” Jack said.

“Does it hurt them?”

“It is not believed so,” Jack answered.

“How could you not know?” Jayne asked. “Surely, this isn’t your first interaction with the Korgul as a species? You were, after all, sent to Earth to survey the extent of their invasion. Are you telling me the Galactic Empire didn’t completely brief you about the Korgul? I find that hard to believe.”

AJ tipped the pan and attempted to slide the Korgul into the thermos. Not as passive as he expected, the Korgul managed to shift to the side and escape to the counter. AJ reached out to scoop the Korgul back into the pan when a long, razor-sharp spike grew from the mass.

“Well, that’s new,” he said, jerking his hand back.

“I’m sorry for the illusion,” Beverly said as the spike disappeared. “The Korgul have the capacity to release a powerful paralytic through skin contact. You should not touch them directly.”

AJ flipped the pan over and used the edge of it to scoot the Korgul back to the middle of the counter. “I think the cleaning crew left rubber gloves, I’ll use them,” AJ said. "You told me that. I should have remembered. Thanks."

“Thin-walled gloves are also not a good idea,” Beverly said.

“Let me guess, they have little spikes?” AJ asked.

“That’s right,” Beverly said, beaming proudly. “How did you know?”

“Seems the best way to get poison into a bloodstream,” AJ said.

“AJ, I think you’re missing the bigger conversation,” Jayne said.

“Oh?” He opened a drawer, looking for a set of tongs, only to notice that Beverly was outlining the next drawer down. Rolling his eyes, he switched drawers and extracted the tongs.

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