Page 32 of The Alien's Private Redemption

"What was that?" Zoric asked. Angela had gone still in his arms and he could feel her trying to be as small and quiet as possible.

"She was infected," Ae-cha said. "With the same snaky thoughts that were reported on the other base."

"Shit," Zoric said. "How bad were they?"

"Little ones, and they hadn't been there long," Ae-cha said. "But I'm starting to see a pattern in how they're made. And who's getting hit with them."

"How long is not long?" Zoric asked.

"Can you track them?" Dr. Torres interrupted. "Will they show up on any kind of imaging?"

He'd been so quiet, Zoric had nearly forgotten the man was in the room. His scent was so faint, it barely registered on his chemoreceptors, either.

From the startled look on Ae-cha's face, she'd forgotten the other doctor was there, as well. She shook her head at his question.

"They were so new, I almost didn't see them," she said. "They wouldn't have done enough damage to show up as anything but a little bit of static. Even the ones that have been there for years don't usually show up as anything more than the results of long-term depression, if you know how to look for it."

"I don't know that that's true," Dr. Torres said. "It's certainly not the case with some of the MRI's I've seen. And the one they took of Private McBride the other day doesn't look like any human brain I've seen."

Ae-cha paused. A few days ago, her first reaction would have been to scoff at Dr. Torres' assertion but now she looked willing to listen.

He's crazy, Angela sent.

There's certainly something odd about him, Zoric returned. He didn't agree, exactly, but the lack of scent or movement was hitting the alarm bells in Zoric's senses.

"I saw the images from Private McBride's MRI. Nothing looked out of the ordinary," Ae-cha said.

"You saw the finished images from Private McBride's MRI. The real ones are fascinating."

"What do you mean 'the real ones'?" Angela asked. "I've had MRI's before and they always end up looking normal. No damage, no issues, nothing to suggest I'm anything other than a human."

"They end up that way," Dr. Torres said with a nod. "But they don't start that way. And nobody notices. Or they put it up to an anomaly in the imaging software."

"How would they not notice?" Zoric asked. "Isn't there someone watching them being taken the entire time?"

Dr. Torres nodded. "At least one imaging tech, if not a couple of nurses, as well. There were four people watching your MRI at the last base and we all saw the 'glitch' that cleared up just before the imaging was finished. None of them had seen it happen before but, since the final images looked fine, they ignored it."

"But you didn't," Angela said softly. "That's why you wanted any previous MRI's I'd had or to watch me be triggered while being more heavily monitored."

"Exactly right," the doctor said with a smile.

I guess I'm an experiment,Angela sent, her tone rueful.

Zoric remembered previous experiments and had to repress a shudder. Nothing this doctor could do would even come close to what he'd seen in the past. Not only did he not have the equipment, Zoric would eviscerate him to save Angela the pain he'd seen Dorcas go through.

Not if I can help it,he sent back.

"Do you have my previous MRI's?" Angela asked him.

The doctor's eyes shifted. "No," he lied. "I would need your permission to request them. There's paperwork involved."

"I guess that's why you wanted to check your email? To get the forms for me to sign?" she asked.

"Of course," Dr. Torres said.

Zoric couldn't say how he knew the doctor was still lying. There was no shift in his smell, no tells in his eyes or voice, but something told Zoric that Dr. Torres wasn't being honest and he'd learned to listen to that instinct.

"Well, I think that can wait for now," Zoric said.

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