0
So, enjoy, and go ahead and give your opinion of this minor manuscript.
Pride. There was simply no other word available to discribe how Dr. Saulevon felt at the moment. He had within his grasp a wondrous discovery, and he was not about to let anyone, not even Dave Carpenter or Carl Cheltzen. The laboratory had never been fully intended to handle biological specimens, however it was handling the care and examination of the five egg cases along with the remains of the wicked looking creature just fine. Dr. Saulevon, attended by a pair of junior grade scientists as well as an intern were fascinated by the new discovery. While Dave Carpenter had ordered the creatures remains to be destroyed, Dr. Saulevon had no intention of doing so. No. That creature was his ticket off this forsaken rock. For now, as far as the administration was concerned, the creature had been taken care of. This was after all a scientific discovery, one that only a few could appreciate. Already they had concluded that the creature found besides the body had not killed the unfortunate woman, judging by the minute teeth marks and scratches found upon the remains of the rib cage, nor were their any active contagious viruses or bacterium which could spread some unknown contagion or plague. As far as they were concerned, while at first glance the spidery crab-legged creature possessed a relatively evil appearance, it was quite harmless. It had no teeth or to bite, only a rudimentary brain incapable of logic or higher reasoning, and was for all practical purposes, short lived.
And considering the fact that it was dead, in fact very dead, as it rested half dissected upon a table, it certainly was not a threat to anyone. The creature lacked any kind of eyes, even rudimentary eye stalks, nor did it have any kind of method by which to hear as far as the scientists could tell. Except for the presence of a potential trace of acid, the thing was incredibly vulnerable. Dr. Saulevon concluded that the presence of the acid might be enough to deter a predator, but not much more.
Finally, at age sixty two, after years of hard work and dedication, something good had happened. Dr. Saulevon would be a famous name, with his image spanning countless holodisks, magazines, and other editorials. He had his prize, and that was all that mattered.
Even the egg cases were of tremendous value. It was unfortunate that inorder to learn more, one of these valued specimens had to be sacrificed for the good of science. His team came to realize this as well, and preparations were well under way. While the lab may not have ever been intended for it's current endeavors, a curious spectator would have been hard pressed not to said otherwise. From the pristine white walls to the examination table, complete with a microscope, the lab was hard at work. The egg cases had been lined up along one wall pending further examination, while the remains of the strange creature were laid out upon a table with careful and meticulous recording of every detail and image possible. They were going by the book, step by step, and were ready to take the big plunge.
Off to one side hung a metallic set of polished interconnected jointed arms, forming a three segmented apparatus. From the ceiling's dome socket hung a short positioning arm, to which was attached the middle or long arm with a telescopic extention. Upon this was the wrist or hand of the contraption which comprised a central piece, and a trio of gripping appendages set apart as if they were the prongs of a jointed gapple hook. When all three of the gripping “fingers” were opened wide, a lens placed within the center of the polished “hand” was clearly visible. This was the labs laser, powerful enough to cut metal, or slice through hard rock.
It only took a moment to double check his facts. Samples taken from the dead creature as well as one of the eggs matched, yet the creature was fairly short lived. Yet the girth of the eggs indicated that a much larger creature was needed to lay them. Clearly he was missing something. “We're ready Doctor.”, the intern had positioned the egg underneath the labs laser equipped robotic handler quickly enough breaking his train of thought.
“Very well. Check the door.”, he said as he watched the armature begin to move, twisting back and forth over the alien egg. A junior scentist opened the door only a few inches, enough for the sounds of a floor polishing machine to fill the room. The impromptu janitor was unware that he was being watched from a nearby room, and was instead concerned with his job as a pair of station personnel. The door closed and with but a single nod from his fellow scientist giving the “all clear”, Dr. Saulevon activated the laser.
The grippers opened wide clearing themselves of the beam as the laser fired. A bright blue beam lanced down, slicing into the casing below. Moving over the hollow egg the robotic assembly easily cleaved the specimen into two distinct halves, cut nearly down the center line as if the bulb like egg casing was nothing more than a piece of fruit, bisected from stem to stern. An instant later the laser snapped off.
Dr. Saulevon walked over to one of his juniors and put his arm around him in a congratulatory guester. “See Jeff, all that worrying for nothing. Nothing bad happened.”. He started to smile as the power went out, plunging the room into impenetrable darkness. Dr. Saulevon regained his smile as the lights fought their way back on, glowing just as brightly as before. “Nothing to worry about at all.”.
