Xeno by D. F. Jones

Author:D. F. Jones [Jones, D. F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, General, Action & Adventure, Cyberpunk
Publisher: Orion
Published: 2019-03-19T07:00:00+00:00

XXI.

Freedman could not be certain of the exact moment of rupture. Perhaps his gaze lingered a fraction too long on the EKG scan, but when he looked again the cyst had changed.

The stretched skin still gleamed in the cold light. But in the very center of the swelling, a brighter reflection, a pinhead of fluid, lay on the skin — and as he watched, it grew.

Instantly he pressed the camera switch, filling the room for a microsecond with blinding electronic light, the silence broken only by the click and whirr of shutter and film-shift. He switched on the microphone, spoke softly, and left the recorder running: from here on he would need a free hand.

The pool of fluid increased in size, losing its sharp convexity. Now the size of a match head, a trace of blood discolored its edge. Freedman took another shot, tightening his eyes against the flash. The fluid had now formed an irregular patch as big as a bean. Light danced on its trembling surface. He guessed the surface tension would soon fail — or was the movement due to something else?

The process speeded up. For some reason, the patch broke. A thin trickle of blood-streaked fluid coursed slowly down the girl’s arm, revealing a cavity.

Unconsciously, Freedman held his breath. Serous fluid welled out of the cavity in small, irregular pulses. Breathlessly he described the change, his mouth dry with excitement and barely contained fear.

The domed top of the cyst lost shape: faint wrinkles appeared in the satiny skin, its color changing from putrescent yellow to dirty, lifeless white.

And through the yellow fluid, hesitantly, a head — triangular, alien …

Again the lightning flash. The head pulled back momentarily, then reappeared.

No bigger than an ear of corn, with two small black eyes, set well apart, it stared with frightening sentience at a strange world. Once more the camera flash, but this time the head did not recoil.

Freedman reached for a pair of forceps. With his attention focused on the alien, his hand fumbled. The forceps slipped, clattering on the table-top.

The head tilted sharply, aware of the noise.

Great God! The thing could hear.

He had the forceps now, and their cold, familiar shape gave comfort. Not yet; wait …

The head moved forward in a smooth, serpentine action. Behind the head, a short neck of equal width, and behind that the first suggestion of a wider, thicker body, straining to free itself from the surrounding flesh.

Taking another shot, Freedman felt a new rush of fear. The alien not only saw and heard, it had the ability to learn, to understand that the bright blink of light posed no threat, for its struggle to emerge did not stop.

Two clawlike black pincers appeared, grasping the edge of the cavity to gain purchase. The head bent downwards and the back was suddenly visible, arched. With one swift, flipping action the rest of the body and tail emerged, whipping upwards, falling with a faint, nauseating splat on the girl’s arm.

It took all of Freedman’s self-control to press the shutter release.

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