With Benham in the lead, the four companions approached the Rost Research Center. They had parked their ships on the far side of the campus and walked in, passing older buildings of stone and newer ones of shining steel. From every direction, unorthodox architecture assailed them, with its exaggerated curves and complex angles. The Rost Research Center was one of those strange buildings. It belonged to a university, which Benham explained was a big school for many disciplines.

“Is there an anthropology school?” Camellia asked, searching the foreign geometry.

“Yeah.” Benham stopped and looked around. “That should be in one of the science buildings.” Benham spun in a circle. “My best guess..probably that one.” He pointed at a large black building, made of shiny tiles.

Camellia gazed. She watched students of several species, most of them humanoid, walk to and from the multi-faceted building. She wondered if any of those students shared her choice of career. Her companions waited and entertained her wonder.

“Maybe, you can visit them later.” Meladee put her arm around Camellia’s shoulders and guided her forward.

From a looping tower, a large bell sounded, and more students trickled from the buildings.

“Come on, let’s try to avoid this crowd while we’ve got that thing.” Benham nodded at the box that Eva carried. He quickened his pace.

Camellia, Meladee, and Eva trotted to his side.

They walked quickly and passed the xenobiology and botany class building. Ahead, they found the Rost Research Center, a majestic marbled building, with twirling columns to mark the entrance.

“We’ll need to buzz in.” Benham climbed the steps and rang a bell.

“Yes?” a voice called from a speaker.

“Good afternoon. My name is Benham Martin. I have an appointment with Dr. Sigmure.” Benham seemed uncomfortable as he said the formal words.

“Yes, I see it. Come in.” The door buzzed.

Benham pulled it open before the sound stopped. He held the door for the three women. They entered, pausing in the atrium.

“Welcome,” greeted a woman in a green top and pants. “If you would close the door, and please follow me.”

Benham closed the door, and the four companions followed their greeter. She led them through a twisting maze.

Camellia peered in bright laboratories, inside which she saw men and women working at neat black-topped tables.

“What organization are the four of you with?”

Benham answered, “We’re not really affiliated with an organization. I guided Dr. Sigmure on a research trip, and they’ve found something I believe would interest him. We’re hoping he can help.”

“I see. He’s one of the most accomplished xenobiologists in this area of the galaxy. I’m sure he can help.” The woman smiled and opened a door to a softly lit hall.

Alien script named each office for its owner, but Camellia couldn’t understand the names.

“Does Dr. Sigmure speak Ganden?” Camellia asked. “Or, will you have to translate?”

Benham answered quickly, “He speaks Ganden. That’s a requirement if you’re a member of the Finial.” As he spoke, he kept his eyes on the greeter. Benham was wary of her reaction.

Camellia turned away from Benham and also studied the woman. The greeter seemed unfazed, not concerned at the implication that Camellia and her friends came from outside the Finial. Still, Camellia longed to take a look into the greeter’s mind. She fought the urge.

The Finial got worse the more they learned, and Camellia wondered if their presence as outsiders would be a problem. Benham seemed to think so. If so, she had to know.

Though Camellia felt wrong about her next actions, she probed gently into the woman’s mind. A whispered thought of dinner plans traveled back, and the woman rubbed her head. Camellia withdrew.

No more, or I’ll turn into my father. She’s just a citizen of a government – not a spy. Don’t be paranoid about the Finial. Camellia rode a wave of guilt and hoped it would subside.

The woman stopped at a quiet office. “Here we are.” She knocked.

A masculine voice with a mature timbre answered. Camellia did not recognize the language.

The woman opened the door, and said, “Benham Martin and three others are here for their appointment.”

Dr. Sigmure must have noticed the greeter’s switch to Ganden and spoke next in that language. “Let them in. I’m ready for them.”

Benham led, and they filed in behind him.

The office, off-white in color, possessed two sets of built-in shelves. The desk rose out of the floor, made of the same white material. The setup suggested that no one could dare rearrange this office. It came as it was.

The spartan design contrasted with the items on the shelves. Biological models and bright colored specimens preserved as knick knacks littered one wall. On the other wall, pictures of the scientist's family changed inside their frames, displaying in sequence, not twenty memories but two hundred.

Camellia looked at the images with a wistful smile. She checked on her friends and saw Meladee scowl at the scientific models. Eva focused only on her box. Benham stepped forward to shake Dr. Sigmure’s hand.

“Hello, Benham. How have you been?” Dr. Sigmure was humanoid and peach in hue. He possessed twitching antenna.

“Good. I have some friends I’d like you to meet.” Benham stepped aside and gestured to Eva first. “This is Evangeline Dyelan. She’s an engineer. And, this woman is Meladee Arai, a pilot.” Benham guided Meladee forward. Finally, he gestured to Camellia. “Camellia Zaris. She’s an anthropologist.”

Dr. Sigmure shook hands with each woman, and Camellia noticed his antenna were not the only alien part of him. His hands were soft and a bit sticky, with wide fingers.

Dr. Sigmure smiled at them. “Quite the group. And, what do you have for me?”

Eva thrust the box forward. “A sample of an insatiable and ever-expanding monster.”

Dr. Sigmure stared.

“You’ll want some place secure to study it,” Eva cautioned.

Benham nodded, with wide serious eyes.

“Alright. Let’s go to my lab. Alim is working today, and he should have just dismissed the students.” Dr. Sigmure opened his door and held it.

Everyone filed back out. So much for making themselves comfortable. They followed Dr. Sigmure to his lab – a secure room, with one thin window.

Camellia entered the room last. She saw a metal table bolted to the floor and equipment lining the walls.

Dr. Sigmure beckoned them further. “Come back here. We’ll put it in our observation chamber.” As he led them deeper into his research complex, he stopped at a junction. “Alim. I didn’t see you there. I thought you’d take a break.”

“I had to clean up. We had an accident today,” the man answered.

Camellia rounded the corner last. She searched the area for Alim and saw a dark-haired man. Alim, also humanoid, was tall, with black hair and a subtly lavender complexion. Camellia searched his person for alien features and found none. He wore large, dark glasses, but other than that, he looked like an Iruedian man.

“Hi.” Benham nodded towards Alim.

“Oh, hey, you were our guide…” Alim said, as he recognized Benham.

Dr. Sigmure nodded. “Alim, why don’t you join us. It sounds like we have a bit of a handful in that box.” Dr. Sigmure pointed at the box and waved Alim ahead of him. “Help me prepare the observation chamber.”

The group crossed the threshold of a windowless room. Lights popped on. Alim and Dr. Sigmure hurried to a room within the room.

As the xenobiologists readied the chamber, Camellia studied it. The chamber was small. It had a viewing window, controls, and an entry hall sandwiched by two thick doors. Another smaller door allowed scientists to send food or objects to their specimens.

“Nothing can get in or out of this box?” Eva asked. She swept a thorough gaze from the top of the chamber to the bottom.

“The doors are secured by controls, and in case of power loss, they remain in the locked position.” Alim hit a control.

A light came on inside the chamber. The walls were white, smooth, and without seams. Alim tried to take the box from Eva.

Eva held tight. “I’ll put it inside. Just tell me what to do.”

“Come over here my dear.” Dr. Sigmure waved her to the door. “When Alim opens the door, step inside. You will have to wait in the tunnel, until he opens the second door. Then, put the box inside the observation room. Can you open it remotely?”

“No, but I can leave before anything exits. This monster flesh does not move.”

“Alright. Take care, dear.”

The first door opened, and Eva stepped inside. She waited in the tunnel, trapped between the closed doors.

Camellia watched and felt Meladee brush her shoulder. She looked to her side and found Meladee’s rapt attention directed at Eva. Nearby, Benham spoke quietly with Dr. Sigmure, but Camellia let their words slip away. She knew it all anyway.

The second door opened, and Eva stepped through. Camellia noticed that Alim left the second door ajar. A quick exit, perhaps?

Eva placed the box on the ground and hit two camouflaged buttons on the upper edges. Then, Eva backed out of the room and reentered the tunnel. Alim shut the second door promptly. Once again, Eva waited until Alim opened the first door. When Eva exited, Camellia breathed a sigh of relief.

Dr. Sigmure took Eva’s arm and guided her to the controls. “Good job. Now, we’ll have to see if your monster comes out. If not, we have cameras to view it inside the box. We can also adjust the chamber’s environment, pressure, gravity, temperature…”

“That’s useful. It doesn’t like cold temperatures. Warm will help it grow and make it active,” Eva said. “Don’t warm it too much. The larger version of this creature sits just outside the polar regions of our planet, and it’s still out of control.”

Everyone peered through the window.

Alim adjusted the temperature. “A nice summer day on Eridanus.”

Nothing happened.

Dr. Sigmure activated a camera and the monstrous flesh appeared on the viewscreen, bubbling in response to the heat. “The specimen is responding to the temperature shift, but it might be a while.”

Camellia searched the chamber, craning her neck to see the ceiling and corners. Everything looked white and featureless.

“Where is the camera?” Camellia asked. “I don’t see anything.”

“There are several cameras under the walls. The first layer is not entirely opaque.” Alim glanced at Camellia and double took. He smiled.

She noticed and hoped his opinion of her wasn’t as appreciative as it seemed.

Meladee sighed. “This is going to take a while. Like watching paint dry, and it’s disgusting.”

“What happened to the shell?” Benham narrowed his eyes and leaned close to the screen.

“It doesn’t need it anymore,” Eva said. “The shell protects it from conditions in space.”

“This creature is capable of living in a vacuum?” Dr. Sigmure asked.

Eva nodded.

“While we wait, what can you tell me about it?” Dr. Sigmure pointed to the box through the little window.

Eva answered, “We have two on our planet. There’s a young one, large enough to fill a dwelling. We also have an older one, and it has spread itself across a continent. They communicate telepathically and exert control over the inhabitants of our planet. The monsters become sleepy and inactive in cold temperatures, and they grow quickly in the heat. This particular specimen is separated from the whole. It’s not sentient, but the flesh, once cut, continues to grow. It will either become necrotic, or in some cases, separated flesh infects a host and creates an…” Eva paused.

Camellia knew Eva struggled to translate the word ‘automaton.’ The Lurrien term had a distinctly synthetic feel, and she could not recall if they knew the equivalent word in Ganden. However, Camellia remembered an excerpt from the textbook. A particular, much-loathed ruler called his subjects thralls, people without free will. The Ganden term matched one in Groazan, used to describe a vampire’s living victims.

“Thrall,” Camellia supplied.

Eva nodded her thanks and continued, “Infected people become thralls for the creature. We’ve seen these thralls perform hygienic duties, such as keeping the creature moist. Some of them have barbs for infecting others. Those hosts also have tentacles, somewhere between the morphology of a snake, an octopus, and a tree. Of course, the creatures have tentacles. The young one’s tentacles are quite apparent as are its eyes, which are red in hue with cross shaped pupils. The old one also has tentacles, but we’ve only recently sighted those.”

“That’s...disturbing but interesting.” Alim glanced at Dr. Sigmure.

Camellia stepped forward. “There’s something different between the parent and the child creature.”

She thought of the tentacles. Ah’nee’thit’s limbs were octopus-like, and Cahir’s gifted tentacles felt squishy. Ul’thetos and its converter had branching tentacles, more tree-like. Fortunately, Camellia had never touched that set. Even more obvious, the flesh of the two creatures was different in hue. While Ah’nee’thit was blue green, the parent was red.

Camellia struggled to explain her observations succinctly. “The parent is like a tree, albeit a horizontal one. It’s red in color and very veiny. The child is more like a sea creature. It has long, singular limbs, and the limbs are relaxed instead of stiff. The child is also blue or green, depending on the light. Both creatures created thralls, and the thralls share characteristics with their creature. I wonder if the difference is due to age, or sex, or maybe... Is it possible that there was a second parent? And, the child is more like the one we haven’t seen?”

Alim stroked his chin and considered Camellia.

Dr. Sigmure said, “You believe that the creatures are genetically related?”

Camellia nodded. “I believe one is the mother and one is the child.”

“This sample is from the parent?”

Again, Camellia nodded.

“Do you have a sample from the child? If so, we could compare their genetics and find a conclusive answer. If not, we will look at this one and try to determine how it reproduces.” Dr. Sigmure steepled his hands.

The gesture reminded Camellia of some older anthropologists, those who parked their lives, with museums at their centers.

Alim broke in, “How are you so sure that the creatures are mother and child?”

“I...spoke to them, and they both showed me the same nest, just from different perspectives.” Camellia looked at the floor and remembered the theft of Ul’thetos’ children.

Ul’thetos had been angry to see the anthropologist dwell on that thought. Camellia suspected Ul’thetos found it too sad.

“What do these creatures talk about?” Benham asked, staring at the camera and the bubbling, growing flesh.

“A lot of things. Usually many thoughts at once. They’re very intelligent. Unfortunately, they don’t think much of us.” Camellia thought back to her conversations with Ah’nee’thit and Ul’thetos. Both conveyed a flavor of disdain and superiority. And, why shouldn’t they? Camellia didn’t possess their thinking power.

“Camellia is our creature whisperer. Be careful what you say about the little one. She thinks it’s cute,” Meladee warned.

Camellia didn’t deny it, and Alim gave her a small smile.

“You want us to try to understand them?” Dr. Sigmure asked.

“No, we want you to figure out how to kill them.” All eyes turned to Eva. “There is no negotiating with these things. They’re intelligent, yes. But, we cannot coexist. It’s our survival or theirs, and they don’t even belong on our planet.”

Camellia frowned, but she had to agree. “We need to know how to kill them.”

“Alright. We can determine how to kill it. You’re certain this sample is not sentient?” Dr. Sigmure asked.

“Yes.” Eva met his eyes.

Camellia remained quiet. She stared at the camera and the flesh inside the box. In her peripheral vision, Camellia saw Dr. Sigmure look her way.

“You’ve communicated with the creatures before. Have you communicated with this sample?”

With narrowed eyes, Camellia considered his question. “No. I haven’t really tried to communicate with it. It hibernated before.” Camellia looked back at the camera view and wondered if the bubbling flesh could think. If it could, wouldn’t it accost them?

“So, it’s my understanding that you are telepathic and can initiate contact.” Dr. Sigmure focused on Camellia.

She wilted a little under his gaze but answered promptly, “Yes, I’m telepathic.”

Alim leaned forward, and though his glasses masked his eyes, Camellia felt his gaze.

“Try to contact it now, please.” Dr. Sigmure gestured to the glass.

Camellia nodded. She reached for the creature and heard nothing. She reached further and caught snippets from the other minds around her. Eva’s mind hummed, strange and silent, as usual. Meladee and Benham’s minds were awash with anxiety. Dr. Sigmure and Alim presented the opposing emotion of anticipation. Alim’s mind possessed additional curiosity about herself. She looked a little deeper and saw him without his glasses. His eyes were black and wide. His people were nocturnal, and he recognized in Camellia some of the same signs.

Camellia’s mind retreated. She took a step back. Uh oh. Not another one.

“What did it say?” Meladee asked.

“Oh, nothing.” Camellia put a hand to her head. “It doesn’t think.”

Dr. Sigmure clapped his hands together. “Let’s get to work.”

Within the chamber, the creature grew slowly. Dr. Sigmure and Alim observed it. First, they left it alone in the warm environment. Once the flesh spilled out of the box, they sampled from it and analyzed its genetics. The creature had a staggering number of chromosomes – a new concept for Camellia. She wasn’t sure she understood. What she know was that Alim and Dr. Sigmure had to shelve most of that project for a later date.

They ran the creature through some tests. They noted the sluggish and halted growth of the flesh at lower temperatures and tested the creature in varying pressures and gravities. They even forced the creature to grow a new black shell, by simulating space conditions as closely as possible.

Camellia and the others waited upstairs in a lounge. They slept through the night. Benham took a chair, leaving Camellia and Meladee a couch each. Eva found a quiet corner and tinkered with some of Halfmoon’s troublesome components. She watched over their sleep, and Camellia dreamed.

She walked through a dim building: a combination of the Rost Research Center, AAH, and some long-forgotten museum. Camellia accepted the strange architecture and walked beside Adalhard. He led her along the corridors, passing a lounge full of sick individuals, waiting to be seen.

“Do you think they can help me?”

“Just give it a chance.”

In an office doorway, Adalhard stopped. Beyond the door, sat a man with Cahir’s face and her vampire therapist’s attitude.

“Come in,” the man said.

Camellia shook her head.

Adalhard reached for her arm, and she pulled away. Camellia fled down the hall, passing through alternating shadow and light. She found an open lab and closed herself inside. The heavy metal door banged shut, and Camellia faced the room.

The creature waited inside, plastered to the far wall, like a stringy stain. This creature was not Ah’nee’thit or Ul’thetos but some other version of the monster.

Camellia pressed herself to the door and slid to the floor.

Her therapist pounded on the window, and Adalhard peered through. The two men called for reinforcements. Camellia expected men in messy, white clothes. Instead, Finial representatives, in their blue-black uniforms, ran by the window. They headed for the door.

Thoughts bubbled from the creature – a jumbled mess of communication. Camellia caught images of Sigmure’s observation chamber – from the inside – as well as the cruise ship docking bay. Stars streamed by, and the thing screamed, bubbling into a gray mass in the corner.

Camellia woke. Her heart pounded, but she didn’t sit up. She glanced around the room. Meladee and Benham slept on. Camellia lay still and heard Eva tinker. Eva sat on the far wall, unable to see Camellia. Voices approached from the hall, and Camellia shut her eyes.

“The sample has become necrotic,” Dr. Sigmure announced to Eva. “Would you like to see the remains?”

“Yes, I just need to wake them.” Eva’s chair made a noise. Eva’s footsteps followed. She crossed the room and stopped by Meladee’s couch.

“Let me help.” Alim’s footsteps approached Camellia. He stopped and gently shook her. “Camellia?”

She opened her eyes, and Alim smiled down at her.

“We have some results for you. Come on,” he said.

Camellia rose from the couch and saw a groggy Meladee and Benham, roused by Eva and Dr. Sigmure respectively.

They walked to the lab.

On the way, Dr. Sigmure explained their findings, “The sample died on its own before we could determine a good way to kill it. As you already know, heat stimulates it, and cold sends it into a dormant state. Pressure and gravity seem to have little effect, and as the thing has demonstrated, it can survive in a vacuum. The thing does have organs. My impression is that it possesses duplicates and grows new ones each time a small piece gets separated. Though, we saw no evidence of a brain.” Sigmure tapped his head. “Camellia, to answer your question about the reproduction, it would seem the creature does a little of both. It can reproduce asexually by what appears to be budding, but the child creature likely did have a second parent.”

Camellia recalled her dream. So, that was a copy of Ul’thetos. It did have a brain...or was growing one. It was sentient. Camellia resolved to keep that knowledge to herself.

Dr. Sigmure continued, “If you ask me, the best way to kill this thing may be to hack it to pieces and force the pieces to exist in a hostile environment. In this creature’s case, a hostile environment is cold or the vacuum of space. Another thing you might try is to send it through the cycles of hibernation and growth quickly. Whenever we changed the environment, we observed genetic degradation.” Dr. Sigmure opened the door of his lab and set a brisk pace to the observation chamber.

Everyone stopped. Inside the chamber, spilling from its box, necrotic flesh spread over the white surfaces.

Camellia’s eyes widened. As she recognized the sight from her dream, she put a hand to her heart.

“Can you help us?” Eva asked.

Alim answered, “Not directly, but we contacted an aid group that might be willing to take on your case. We sent them our findings, and they want to meet with you.” Alim addressed most of his words to Camellia. “Dr. Sigmure will stay here and continue the research. I’ll accompany you to the meeting and help explain the situation. They might think of a way to help.”

Camellia nodded.

Eva stared at the necrotic flesh.

Meladee asked, “Are you coming?” She looked at Benham.

“If you don’t mind. I’ve got to see how this turns out.”

“Same,” she answered.

As the group exited the lab, Camellia fell into step beside Meladee. Camellia watched the others. Alim stole glances at her. She walked a little slower and sidled close to Meladee, trying to hide.

“I’m glad this group isn’t part of the Finial,” Camellia said in Tagtrumian. “Something seems not right about the government.”

Meladee nodded. “Yeah, Benham hates them. Though, if you ask me. Something seems not quite right about these Rost Research people.”

Camellia shot Meladee a perplexed look. “They’re going to help us.”

“I know. I know.” Meladee avoided Camellia’s gaze. “They just remind of the Agaric Healers.”

“Oh, is that all?” Camellia asked, with a touch of sarcasm. She smiled a little. “I wish you’d said something sooner.”

“I just figured we’d have to make some unpleasant deals.”

Camellia nodded. Everything about this situation felt unpleasant.