The enemy within

[Kiith]

The room was just slightly enlighted when three guys in white suits entered it. One of those men was Bennet Marco, and he was not here to have his break. Set into a wall, there was a cryo cube, and in it there was a man. He was not fully "dead" like usual for the kind of cryo cubes used on the sleeper ships, he was just cooled down, like some fish in a refrigerator. It was clear that the man couldn't stay in this less effective cube very long, but it is necessary to have at least some activity of Drum's body, otherwise any test would be senseless. With empty looking eyes he stares at the door on the other side of the room. But not consciously. Just because the cube was placed like this. He himself, Henrik Drum, was sleeping, for a quite long time now. Bennet walked close to the cube, looking at the frozen Henrik in it. Several tmes he played with the thought to unfreeze Drum, but not yet. And that decision was quite reasonable, because this man has no normal disease. Marco didnt even know if it was reasonable to call him still 'human'. There was something. The enemy was within this body and took control over the hull. That is, what Bennet and his two assisants knew. And now they were here two find out more. As much as possible without waking drum up out of it's deep sleep.

"Doctor Parker, could you check his cardiological values, please?" Marco said and looked at one of the two younger persons. The 'Parker' titled man just nodded and activated a little console right beneath the cryo cube. Meanwhile Bennet looked into Henrik's eyes. "Hmm, his eyes are looking a bit strange...And the pupils are quite big...even for a frozen human...Parker, what about the value?" Parker looked up from the console. "Well, his heart works pretty fast for a guy cooled down to temperatures like that, almost on the level of a normal person". Bennet took a little PDA out of his suit and made some notes. "That's an interesting fact. It seems like the parasite increases the heartbeat. Maybe the incubus itself doesn't even sleep." The other assistant, a woman with short brown hair spoke up. "Thats completely logical. I mean, the host's heart must keep the parasite and itself alive now..." Marco nodded at her "Completely correct Miss Bannon. I didn't have the chance to dissect one of them, but those beings are made for living in a host. They -or at least their larvae- are not able to live without a host very long. Hmm...Miss Bannon, could you initiate a scan please?" The female scientist looked at the cry cube, than at Bennet. "I could, but the cube's scanner is not the best". "I think it will be enough for now But it will take some time...Mister Parker, Miss Bannon, I think Doctor Reviera needs some help with his project, and you are not needed here, at the moment. So just assist him please". The two scientists left the room and Bennet stared at the window of the cryo cube, looking into Henrik's eyes, still empty like open space.

---

Squished bigly ~Champ - Thanks, you're a champ.
"What's the word for when it feels inside your heart that everything in the world is all right?"