Page 10 of In Darkness and Dank

“That fuckin’ monster was crazy, right?” Bissell smiled nervously. “I bet your people got all kinds of weird shit like that where you’re from, huh? Probably eat things like that for breakfast.”

Kittisak faked a smile and shrugged, pointing his index fingers out to indicate that he didn’t understand what Bissell was saying.

“Ah, well.” Bissell laughed. “Better work on that English there if you ever hope to be a citizen, buddy. Last thing we need is more folks back home that can’t speak the damn language, you know.”

Kittisak laughed along with him right up to the moment he turned his back as he headed to his tent, muttering under his breath, “Die in a fire, you fuckin’ prick.”

“What was that, eh?” Bissell called out.

Kittisak turned back just long enough to laugh and shrug again before trying to make a mad dash into his tent. He was longing for his cot.

“Kittisak!” Hutte called before Kittisak could get more than one foot inside his tent. “Come here for a moment.”

Damn.

Turning on his heel, Kittisak redirected himself toward Hutte and Browning’s tent. He made a better attempt at putting a smile on as he walked in. “Hey. I got our monster buddy all tucked back in.”

“Thank you, my boy.” Browning smiled from where he was stretched out on his cot. He appeared paler than usual and a bit sweaty, and his leg was propped up on some rolled up laundry. “I’m sure that poor soul appreciates it.”

“Yeah, well. It’s just the right thing to do.” Kittisak frowned. “Are you okay, Prof?”

“Oh, right as the rain.” Browning gestured to the small folding table Hutte was seated at with an array of test tubes and a microscope spread out across it. “Behold! Thanks to you, we have made a most astounding discovery.”

“What is it?”

“A new species of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans,” Hutte declared. “The acidophilic bacteria of our dreams, right here, metabolizing at least forty percent faster than the domestic variety.”

“Holy shit.” Kittisak clapped. “That’s it? Really? You got it?”

“We got it,” Browning corrected.

“Well, so, does this mean we can go home?” Kittisak tried not to sound too hopeful, but after having to perform an impromptu burial for a monster, he was pretty much done with the Amazon.

“Not quite.” Hutte’s brow wrinkled up. “We tried to isolate the bacteria in a special growth media made specifically for acidophiles, but the metabolism rate dropped.”

“Exponentially,” Browning added.

“And that means what?” Kittisak hated that this felt like a test.

“After analyzing samples from the mysterious creature’s body, we believe it is the unique chemistry of their decay that is providing the boost for the bacteria’s increased metabolism,” Browning explained. “The bacteria within the sample of rotten tissue has continued to grow at the increased rate. This is an issue because it will be difficult to replicate in a laboratory, not to mention the challenges of using it for the bioleaching process.”

“So, we found it, but you can’t take it out of here because it won’t work without the dead monster?” Kittisak pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Top of the class, my boy.”

“What do we do then?”

“I may be able to create a new growth medium using the rotten tissue as a base,” Hutte said. “It will take some time, but it’s certainly a possibility. We can continue to search for the lagoon, and well…” He grimaced. “Other burial sites.”

“Why?”

“To take more samples and confirm the hypothesis.”

“And make a really great impression on our monster friends,” Kittisak drawled. “Hey, don’t mind us. You’re a brand-new race of creatures that humans have never before encountered and we’re not here to harm you, but we are gonna be digging around your graves.”

“We are going to be as respectful as possible,” Hutte insisted, “but we must find out if it’s the chemistry of these creatures that’s fueling the metabolism or perhaps another variable we haven’t been able to identify.”

“Why don’t we just wait until we find the damn lagoon?” Kittisak pleaded. “You both said that the lagoon would be a perfect happy place for these bacteria, right?”

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