Page 5 of The Alien’s Mate

Friends came and went, and she could talk to her family on the phone, but she would only get one chance in her life to do something like this. She was going to research an actual alien. One that could self-heal, no less.

Melinda Bryce, the leader of the project, explained it all to Lila while on the plane. They had researched the alien’s DNA for five years, trying to figure out what made it able to self-heal, and if they could use it and turn it into medication for humans. So far, their efforts had been fruitless, as if they were missing some piece of the puzzle.

“I just think we need some new blood,” laughed Melinda and elbowed Lila. “A fresh set of eyes.”

Lila smiled faintly. This was well above her skill level; there was no way she could extract something like that—but she figured she would have to do all the boring and mundane work to give the real scientists more time to do the actually important things.

They arrived at the research facility late at night, deep into the Canadian wilderness. The facilities were just like a glass cube in the mountains that contained a front desk and some padded benches in a lobby but extended downwards in elaborate tunnels and rooms inside the mountains.

They were installed in their rooms—looking like hotel rooms, but without windows, because it was deep underground—and they had a late-night dinner before they all went to bed. In the morning, their work would begin for real.

Lila could hardly sleep that night. Her belly was fluttering violently, and she shivered in fear and delight when thinking that come morning, she would meet an actual extraterrestrial being. It was something she’d only dreamed of, something that only happened in movies or novels—now, she was actually seeing the alien in real life.

When her alarm went off, she almost sprung out of bed and into the shower. She hadn’t slept all night, but she had never felt so awake before. She felt the same energy from the others as she entered the breakfast canteen.

Dr. Bryce and a few others were the only ones who had seen the alien up close, but there were about fifty new recruits, all working with different things. There were cooks, security, cleaners, engineers, biologists, physicists—everything. The facility was self-sufficient, and everyone in there seemed to do their bit. Lila had never felt more like an imposter, but the excitement of seeing the outer space creature triumphed over any negative emotion.

She sat down next to Melinda and smiled. “I can’t believe this is happening. I couldn’t sleep! I don’t know whether to be excited or frightened!”

Melinda took a sip of her coffee and smiled. “Don’t worry. He looks intimidating, for sure, and make no mistake—if he gets his paws on you, he could snap your neck in an instant. But he’s inside a highly secured enclosure. We don’t go in unless he’s heavily sedated.”

Lila stared at her. “It sounds so grim… like a caged animal.”

Melinda frowned. “Well, he sort of is. He’s highly aggressive and extremely dangerous.”

“But, I thought the alien was intelligent—didn’t you say you found advanced technology at the crash site?”

“Who says he developed it?” Melinda took another sip of coffee.

“But haven’t you tried to talk to it?”

Melinda chuckled. “We’ve got some of the best linguists in the world working on a way to interpret him, but he seems kind of reluctant.” She sighed. “We’ve tried to communicate with him, trust me, but we haven’t been very successful. Some rudimentary sign language and stuff, but he’s not very communicative. He mostly grunts and growls.”

Lila bit her lip. “How do you know it’s a male?”

“Well,” she chuckled, “unless females of his kind are packing big, he’s definitely male. We call him Atlas.”

A man listening in leaned closer, a wide grin on his face. “Are you telling me the alien’s got a dick?”

Snickers traveled around the table, but Melinda seemed unfazed by it. “Yes, Sanders. The alien has a penis, used for reproductive purposes—we assume.”

“So,” another guy mused and put his hand under his chin, “you’ve been here since the beginning, right? Must get lonely on those cold winter nights, eh?”

The others started laughing, but Melinda Bryce was unbothered by their juvenile humor. “Would you copulate with a pet, Flannagan?”

The laughter died down some, but Lila just found it all very uncomfortable. Dr. Bryce spoke about the alien as an animal, likened it to a pet, but if it was a thinking, sentient, and intelligent being, then five years inside a secured enclosure on an alien planet would be torture. She shuddered at the thought.

After breakfast, she followed the research team down several flights. Lila didn’t even want to think about how far below the surface she was, or how far away from civilization she was; if that creature was as dangerous as Melinda said it was, Lila didn’t want to be anywhere near it if it ever got out of the cage.

They stepped through several disinfection and cleaning stations before they were allowed inside the immense hall where the alien’s enclosure was. Lila’s heart thudded loudly in her chest, and her knees felt like jelly as they walked across the large, open space. Large, intricate control boards ran along one of the sides, with computer monitors mounted on the walls above them.

Dr. Bryce gestured at the sides. Two sets of rows of small, cannon-like objects ran vertically from floor to ceiling. “Those are laser cutters that will activate in case Atlas escapes. The doors we just walked through will automatically lock in case of a breach.”

“But,” Lila breathed, “what if there are people in here when that happens?”

“If you’re fast enough, you could run,” said Melinda, “but if you’re in here when Atlas escapes, chances are you’re already dead. If the lasers don’t get you, he will.”

Lila swallowed hard.