Fragment

12:13 P.M.

The scientists watching the video feed from the safety to StatLab fell silent.

Nell’s awe overcame her fear as she contemplated the alien world unfolding on the high-def monitor. The rhythms of carnage and regeneration were so obscenely accelerated it was like watching a war inside a maternity room.

We don’t belong here, she thought. Nothing from our world belongs here.

Pound looked pale. “Just what are we looking at, gentlemen? Please cut the damn sound!”

“Sure thing,” the driver agreed.

The others stared with open mouths at the hurricane of death and birth swirling outside.

“Uh, yes, OK, this is completely alien animal life,” Quentin said. “I mean, it has DNA, RNA, basic cellular components, it uses ATP as an energy currency just like other organisms on the planet, all right? But these animals resemble nothing science has ever seen. Instead of a vertebrate design, we’re talking about a segmented endoskeleton that looks like a vestigial exoskeleton. The bugs here have exoskeletons like most of the insects on the planet, but their body plans have a radial symmetry that is totally alien. The plants are not only photosynthetic but heterotrophic-carnivorous, actually-and they all have copper-based blood.”

“They can’t be plants if they have blood, Quentin,” Andy protested. “Some of the larger forms appear to be photosynthetic organisms that are firmly rooted in the soil, but they’re not really plants.”

Quentin pointed. “Even these things that look like big palm trees, Mr. Pound, have copper-based blood. I don’t know how they pump it up so high, but I think they must have hearts-really big hearts. If so, then we’ll definitely know they’re not plants.”

“We think they might actually be related to the disk-ants and the other bugs,” Andy said.

“Did you say ‘alien’?” Pound’s head was swimming. “You mean this stuff came from another planet?”

“No, it’s alien but it came from this planet,” Andy said.

“How can that be?”

Quentin had a fixed grin on his face as he gazed up and down the corridor outside the window. “We think Henders Island is all that’s left of the supercontinent this stuff crawled out on more than half a billion years ago.” He shot a quick glance at Pound. “It’s been evolving separately ever since.”

“Holy shit, everything’s dropping eggs and babies,” the driver exclaimed. “Look at ’em crawling on the glass there!”

A disk-ant rolled across the curve of the window, dropping miniatures that rolled away from it to gorge on splattered blue blood.

“Every Henders organism we’ve studied can breed at birth,” Quentin said.

The driver nodded his head, impressed. “Born ready,” he said.

“Some are born pregnant,” Andy said. “They mate in the womb.”

“Now, that ain’t right.” The driver looked back at Andy angrily.

Jumping like supercharged frogs or grasshoppers, a wave of guinea pig-sized animals with coffee-brown pelts and leaf-green stripes on their haunches swept down the corridor.

“More Henders rats?” Pound asked as they flew past.

“I don’t think so. They’re something else. Here come some rats.”

“Those are rats?” Pound smirked. “They don’t look anything like rats!”

“They’re not rats. They’re not even vertebrates,” Andy told him. “They’re more like mongoose crossed with praying mantises. We just call them rats. They use those spike arms like kung fu masters and spear animals so fast you can’t even see it happen.”

“Look how they move, man!” Quentin said, breaking into a giggle. “When they jump they launch themselves through the air off their tails! Check it out! Nell, you were right!” he shouted at Zero’s camera.

“Yeah, baby!” Otto cheered, staring at the screen.

Briggs looked at the image, slack-jawed.

“Don’t stay too long, guys,” Nell whispered. “Can we get radio contact, Otto?”