Free Inseminoid by Larry Miller Page A

million questions that need answers. Then, at least we could all relax a bit. I’ve been handing out sleeping pills and tranquilizers like they were going outa style.”
    “Ever been on a mission like this before, Doc?” Gary probed. “I mean, where people have gone crazy like Ricky did.”
    Karl ran his fingers through his thin receding hair. “Yeah, but then it was just stress-induced.”
    “And you mean that with Ricky it wasn’t?” Gary was becoming very interested.
    Karl figured it was time to be open and frank. “That’s exactly what I mean. Something happened to his chemical make-up. There’s something very strange going on up here, almost evil. No,” he corrected himself. “Definitely evil!”
    Gary shot him a worried look.
    “I just don’t know what it is. Maybe we’ll get the answers from Mitch.”
    Gary turned to leave, more nervous than when he entered. “Going to be up all night?”
    Karl nodded. “Looks that way.”
    The door to the lab slid open and Sandy entered through the portal. She was refreshed after a good night’s sleep and eager to continue with the rest of the tests on the creature. Sandy had Karl figured out. For instance, she played a hunch he was still in the lab, and she was right on the mark. He had spent the night going through his battery of tests. Checking and rechecking the results, then feeding the data into the computer for an analysis. She wasn’t surprised when she found him slumped over his notes fast asleep.
    “Doctor, I’ve brought you some breakfast. You want to wake up or should I bring you a blanket and a pillow?”
    Karl slowly and with great effort opened his heavy eyelids. “Is it morning already? What time is it?”
    “About eight-thirty. How late were you at it?”
    He yawned. “Don’t know. I think I fell off at about five. Maybe a little later.”
    “You know we’re going to be here for at least another couple of months. If you push yourself like this you won’t make it.” She tried her best to sound convincing when she scolded him, but somehow she just couldn’t pull it off.
    He looked up and immediately focused on the tray she was holding. “What’ve you got there?”
    Sandy set the tray before him on the desk. “I figured you might still be here and if you were you’d probably like some breakfast. Eggs, sausage and a very strong cup of coffee. How’s that sound?”
    “If they still used money like in the old days, I’d say it sounded like a million dollars. Let me at that coffee.”
    “Careful—it’s hot.”
    Karl took a sip. “But it’s good and right now I sure can use it.” Glancing at the slab in the corner of the room he added, “I wonder how long it’s been since he had breakfast. A thousand years, maybe?”
    “Any chance that Mitch will be able to figure that out from the writing on the tablets he found yesterday?”
    Karl shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t know. As far as I can tell he hasn’t even broken the code. So many variables. No way to know how their dating system corresponds to ours unless some sort of astronomical occurrence has been chronicled. If it has then maybe we can tie it to something we know about and date it that way.” He swung his chair slowly around and looked across the lab at the creature. It lay deathly still. “Who knows, maybe when it wakes up—if it ever does—it’ll be able to communicate the secrets of its past.”
    “You mean talk?” Sandy’s eyes opened wide.
    “Possibly, although there are other ways of communication. We do know it had a developed intellect . . .” Karl cut himself off in mid-sentence.
    “What is it?”
    “I thought I saw our friend move.”
    Sandy stepped closer to Karl. “I didn’t see anything.”
    But the doctor had. He walked slowly over to where the Being lay. Bright green lidless and pupil-less eyes glowed from beneath the scaley folds of its face. A face reddish-brown in color.
    Sandy followed him at a safe distance.
    “Karl, I saw its claw