Free The Incredible Melting Man by Phil Smith

radiation’s going to damage living tissue,” argued the doctor. “A radioactive cell nucleus is an impossibility.”
    “I’d have thought so until I saw this,” agreed Loring. “But this is a very special case. Look at the massive chromosome content. Imagine the extent of the genetic information contained there. There’s enough for a whole species, not just an individual.”
    As they tried to absorb the implications of their discovery neither of them spoke. Only the remorseless ticking of the clock broke the silence of the lab.
    “Another thing that’s been worrying me,” went on Loring eventually. “I must have examined hundreds of them and not one has started to divide. It’s as though they weren’t ready, either weren’t big enough, or the conditions in which they find themselves aren’t right for development.”
    “Which is maybe why the hand was shed,” interrupted Nelson.
    “Precisely,” agreed Loring. “That’s why I think we ought to help them.”
    The assistant ignored the look of consternation that spread across the doctor’s tired face.
    “It’s our only way of finding out what we’re dealing with,” Loring insisted. “I suggest we prepare a variety of media to try and cultivate what remain of the cells from the hand. If we use different human tissue we can have a control experiment which will tell us here in the lab what’s happening to Steve. Put bluntly, we’ll know what he’s turning into without ending up like Perry.”
    The doctor grimaced. He’d had to deal with the appalling mess outside his front door. He hadn’t liked the bastard but he wouldn’t have wished such an end on his worst enemy. He’d done a spell as a young intern in an accident unit and he’d never seen anything like that—not in a year of Saturday nights. The body had been pulped like a ripe tomato and the insides sucked out. It had been encased in slime like a glistening placenta. Death had failed to smooth the furrows of terror on the untouched face.
    Getting Judy past it all had been the worst. He’d had to cover her face, but the smell had betrayed him. She was safe now in one of the wards. He wished he could have said the same for their child. He wondered if there would ever be another time.
    Loring interrupted his thoughts. “There’s something else I’d like to attempt, with your sanction. If this thing came from out there, in space, I think we should try to put it back. In other words, put some of the cultures in the simulation chambers. We could see what happens to the cells in the Martian atmosphere, and also in a deep space situation. OK?”
    It was a good idea and Nelson said so. Dick Loring was a boon. He was proving indefatigable, much more use than himself. He’d taken more than enough and simply had to have an hour’s sleep. After the death of the General he’d had to take over co-ordinating the search until the OIC from Hale arrived. He blamed himself for losing Steve. He’d panicked when he’d heard Judy on the phone and dashed over to the house without alerting anyone else. They’d lost valuable minutes in rounding up the search party and again their quarry had disappeared into the night. Any more killings would be his responsibility alone.
    He left Loring to prepare the culture dishes and put his head into the room where Judy was sleeping. She looked peaceful enough and the nurse at her bedside gave an encouraging nod. She still didn’t know about her mother.
    He turned and left. He was halfway down the corridor to his office when the thought struck him with a shudder. Why wasn’t she protected? His blood ran cold at the thought of the stupid oversight. It was criminally neglectful after what had happened. He hadn’t thought to spare a single soldier or policeman to guard the centre and Steve was probably somewhere in the complex. People must be protected. None of them was safe, himself included.
    He was in touch with the OIC immediately. The man was cast in the same