The Zeta Grey War: New Recruits

by D F Capps

  “Where’s Charlie?”

  She smiled at the mention of Charlie’s name.

  “He’s in the lab, running the DNA sequence on the Zeta Grey.”

  She likes him, Theo thought as he walked to the design department. Charlie’s a friendly enough guy, especially if you don’t know he’s reading your thoughts all the time. He just comes across as caring, empathetic, and intuitive.

  He looked around as he stepped into the design and development room. Forty-two engineers worked at computer-assisted design stations. Sketches and math formulas lined the white boards on the walls.

  “The new version of the telepathic blocking helmet ready yet?”

  Dr. Kerstov handed him the prototype. “We better get this right soon; we’re running out of ideas.”

  Theo nodded, took the helmet, and headed to the lab to meet Charlie.

  Charlie looked at the helmet. He sighed as his shoulders slumped. “You’ve got to get this right. Your people are dead meat if they go up against the Zetas without effectively blocking the telepathic manipulation.”

  Theo put the helmet on.

  “Okay,” Charlie said. “Think of a color.”

  The two of them used a two-step process: first a color, then a number between zero and ninety-nine. Charlie would use his telepathic ability to plant the color and number in Theo’s mind. Charlie scribbled green on a piece of paper and folded it in half.

  “I’m having trouble deciding,” Theo said. “Either turquoise or green.”

  “Just pick whatever you think you’d like best,” Charlie said.

  Theo nodded. “Turquoise.”

  Charlie handed the folded sheet to Theo.

  “Green,” Theo said. “First time for a miss, but it was close.”

  He handed the sheet back to Charlie, who scribbled a number on it.

  “Pick a number.”

  Theo’s mind swirled. In previous trials the colors and numbers came quickly and clearly. This time there was some fuzziness involved. They were getting close.

  “Thirty-seven,” Theo said.

  Charlie handed the note back.

  “Forty-seven. Impressive.”

  Theo took off the helmet.

  “Another layer of interactive wave cancellation just might do it,” Charlie said.

  Theo shook his head. “The helmet is cumbersome now. Another layer and it’s going to be like walking around with a large bowling ball wrapped around your head.”

  Charlie shrugged. “It still beats being dead.”

  The DNA sequencer beeped and the printer began spitting sheets into the tray.

  “So what have you found?” Theo asked.

  Charlie pulled the DNA analysis sheet from the printer.

  “As I expected, the Zeta Grey DNA is a little different from what it was when we fought them in the Tau Ceti star system. Definite Earth human sequences are present, meaning they have been harvesting human stem cells to overcome the cloning problem for a long time.”

  Theo nodded. “Not surprised. I’ve got two dead ones headed into autopsy. Care to join me and Doc? We could use your insight.”

  Charlie shrugged. “Sure. I don’t have to be in Washington until tomorrow morning.”

  Chapter 9

  They put on their bio suits to protect them from unknown alien bacteria and viruses, and followed Dr. Fortner into the autopsy isolation lab.

  Each dead Zeta Grey was on its own stainless steel table. The three of them stood around the first table, Doc on one side, Theo and Charlie on the other. Doc turned on the video recorder and the high intensity lights above the table.

  “The skin is medium gray in color, slightly rough to the touch, and without hair in any location. Body shape is humanoid in general with a large head, thin neck, moderate trunk, thin arms and legs. No genitalia are present, male or female. The head is very large in comparison to the rest of the body structure. Eyes are also large, almond-shaped, and generally black in color with narrow vertical slits for the pupils. No external ears are observed, just small holes in the skin. A hint of a nose appears above the small and horizontal mouth.

  “I’m opening the chest cavity now. Hold on a minute. This skin is really tough. Even with a new scalpel, I almost have to saw through it. The skin seems to have fibers running through it. This can’t be natural.” Doc took a sample over to the slicing machine, prepared a section, and placed the slide under the microscope. “The fibers in the skin appear to be an artificial web, but there’s biological material embedded in the matrix. The cell structure is reminiscent of the lining of the human intestinal tract. This is both artificial and natural skin. Charlie, what do you know about this?”

  Charlie leaned over and peered into the chest of the Zeta Grey. “Keep in mind, I haven’t seen the insides of one of these either, so I’m going to let the explanation wait for a little while. I think the reason will become more apparent as we go along.”

  Doc looked annoyed. “Really?” he said. “You’re going to make me wait for an answer?”

  Charlie shrugged and smiled at him. “You’ll figure it out on your own, trust me. From what I’ve read, it’s worth the wait.”

  “I doubt that,” Doc replied, as he returned to the autopsy table.

  Theo smiled at the banter that went on between Doc and Charlie. Doc was the practical, materialist scientist, while Charlie was more the cosmic philosopher. They made an entertaining team.

  “Blood is dark green in color and thin. No coagulation is present. Ribs appear white and smooth. Taking a sample now . . .

  “Huh, that’s interesting: it’s not bone. Take a look at this. It looks like some kind of synthetic material. It’s not biological at all. Charlie, what do you make of this?”

  Charlie turned and smiled at Theo before answering, “The Zeta Grey skeletal structure is artificial. It’s constructed from a poly-ceramic and fiber material. They aren’t born. They don’t grow up. They’re cloned as full-sized bodies.”

  Doc looked stunned. He stood there, mouth open, scalpel in hand, staring back at Charlie.

  “Doc?” Theo said. “Can we continue?”

  “Sure. It never occurred to me that they weren’t born,” Doc said. “Plus, I’ve never seen the insides of one of them before, either. This is so strange, you know?”

  Charlie just stood there, a self-satisfied smile on his face.

  “I know,” Theo said. “I’ve read reports on them, too, but this is my first time actually seeing it for myself. It leaves me with a whole different view of both them and us. You’re right, though. It’s strange.”

  Doc continued: “Abdominal organs are similar to human in placement, but different in appearance. Esophagus, stomach, and intestines are all thin, lumpy strings. This is an alien life form. Why would it have organs similar to a human, some of which appear non-functional? It doesn’t make any sense.”

  Theo waited for a moment, but Charlie didn’t respond. “Charlie?” Theo asked.

  Charlie looked up from the alien body. “Let me start with a hypothetical question.”

  He just can’t help himself, Theo thought. He’s got to antagonize Doc.

  Charlie looked at him and smiled.

  “If you had extensive knowledge of genetics and DNA manipulation, and you needed to create a creature to work in dangerous conditions, where would you start? Would you pick something totally different and unproven, or would you begin where you were most familiar?”

  Doc waved his scalpel as he thought. “I’d go with what I knew,” he said. “I’d start with my own DNA and make modifications as needed.”

  “Exactly,” Charlie replied. “And you’d end up with a creature that had the same basic physical structure you have.”

  Doc looked down at the open alien abdomen in front of him.

  “But that would mean humans created the Greys.”

  That was an angle Theo hadn’t considered before. What else was going to come out in the autopsy?

  “In this case, yes, the Zeta Grey
s were created by humans,” Charlie replied, grinning at Doc.

  “Were all Greys made by humans?” Doc asked.

  Charlie shook his head. “No. There are many different types of Greys. Some are born and grow up, some are pure clones, and others are a combination of both. Some are benevolent and caring; some aren’t.”

  “But why this?” Doc asked, holding his arms out over the small body on the table. “Why are there Greys?”

  “That will become more apparent as we continue,” Charlie said. “Shall we?”

  Doc obviously didn’t like being put off. He scowled at Charlie, shook off the rebuff, and continued.

  “The liver is green in color and larger proportionally than a normal human liver would be. Texture is stiffer than a human liver, but still flexible. A spleen is present. It is gray in color, soft and spongy. Pancreas is thin and stringy, similar to the rest of the non-functional digestive system. Cutting through the ribs now.”

  Doc used an electric saw and then spreaders to open the chest cavity.

  “What in the world? I’m cutting the throat open. This can’t be.”

  He sliced into the thin neck, then pulled the skin and muscles back.

  “The airway’s just another string. The lungs are full sized, but there’s no airway, no bronchial tubes. How can they breathe?”

  That was a shocking revelation, Theo thought. “Charlie?” Theo asked.

  “I’ll give you something to think about for a moment,” Charlie said. “What happens when a deep sea diver decompresses too fast?”

  Doc frowned, stared at Charlie, and paused. Charlie wasn’t giving in, so he answered, “They get the bends—nitrogen and other blood gasses come out of solution causing cellular damage, pain, and death.”

  Charlie nodded. “What happens when people are exposed to the vacuum of outer space?”

  Theo could see the frustration building in Doc’s expression.

  “Essentially the same thing—blood gasses boil out of solution—the body kind of explodes because of it.” Doc put his fists on his hips and frowned. “Why?”

  “What would happen if there were no dissolved gasses in the blood—if we didn’t have lungs—if we didn’t need to breathe?”

  Doc looked blankly back at Charlie for a moment, studied the chest of the alien and looked back at Charlie. “No,” he said, a tone of disbelief in his voice.

  “What are you thinking?” Theo asked. It was another cat and mouse series of questions between the two of them, with Charlie as the cat.

  “No. You’re not suggesting . . . ?” Doc said.

  “Theo, what do the Zeta Greys do?” Charlie asked.

  “Primarily? They mine natural resources, mostly minerals and metals, and turn them into advanced technology. They trade that technology for things they want in the interstellar community.”

  Now he’s dragging me into his game with Doc, Theo thought. He knows how I feel about it. Why does he keep doing it?

  Charlie smiled and winked at Theo. “Where do they mine?”

  Theo sighed. There wasn’t any point to resisting. “Well—anywhere—planets, moons, asteroids, comets.”

  “No,” Doc said again, his tone of incredulity getting stronger. He grabbed the Zeta Grey’s skin, pulling on it, trying to stretch it. “You can’t be serious.”

  Theo hadn’t seen Doc this excited in months. “Doc, what are you thinking?” he asked.

  “Take a look at the heart,” Charlie suggested.

  Doc cut the left lung away.

  “It’s not a heart. At least not as we understand a heart to be. It has a layer of muscle around it, similar to what the esophagus or bowel would have. It connects to the top of the lung, extends down to the liver, with a branch off to the spleen. If the lungs can’t breathe . . .”

  Charlie stood there, grinning. “You understand now?”

  Doc pointed his face to the ceiling and closed his eyes.

  “Oh, my God, they don’t need a space suit.” He turned to face Charlie. “Their circulation system operates by peristalsis, slow and steady. No beating heart. The tough skin prevents decompression from damaging them. Their body is designed to live and work in outer space. They’re not limited to a planet with an atmosphere.”

  “That’s correct,” Charlie said, obviously proud of himself. “That’s why there are Greys. Their bodies allow them to live and work in space with minimal restriction.”

  Doc shook his head. “But if they don’t breathe, how do they function? How do they stay alive?”

  Charlie nodded. “I understand your confusion. Their green blood is magnesium-based, with bismuth and lithium as electrical carriers. For two hours a day, they sit in an electromagnetic field that recharges their bioenergy system. Our bodies work on oxidation—we literally burn food to get energy. Their bioenergy system is electrical-based, while ours is fire-based.”

  “Huh,” Doc said. He shrugged. “Kind of like the difference between a battery and a gasoline engine?”

  “Precisely. Only on a biological level,” Charlie replied.

  Doc frowned. He stared down into the open chest cavity of the cadaver.

  Wow, Theo thought. That’s efficient. With their advanced technology they can create almost unlimited amounts of electricity. That gives them a tremendous biological advantage over us.

  “So the artificial skin must also be an insulator,” Doc said.

  Charlie nodded. “It prevents heat loss. It also reduces their infrared signature to near zero.”

  Doc nodded. “That would explain the difficulty I had with the one that’s still alive. Our touch thermometers couldn’t get a reading on it. I had to insert a regular thermometer into it to get a temperature.”

  “And?” Charlie asked.

  Doc was examining the skin again. He answered without looking up. “High. A hundred and fifteen degrees Fahrenheit.”

  “Very different metabolism,” Charlie said. He looked at Theo.

  He’s probably tracking Doc’s thoughts as he was figuring out the alien skin, Theo realized.

  “But that means . . . wait a minute—wait a minute.”

  Doc cut a section at the corner of a large black eye.

  “There it is. The skin is essentially artificial, including the clear section over the eyes. That means the synthetic skeleton and the artificial skin are there first. The muscles, nerves, and circulation system are grown around the skeleton and inside the skin.”

  “Exactly,” Charlie said, a huge grin on his face. “The whole process takes about twelve weeks.”

  “But how do they eat?” Doc asked.

  “You noted the biological component in the skin was like intestinal wall cells. They absorb a nutritional liquid through the skin, once every six weeks.”

  Doc looked back down at the small body on the table. “And waste materials?”

  “Same thing, just the other way around,” Charlie said, “through the skin.”

  Doc nodded slowly. “That would explain the odor they have. What about the brain?”

  Even though he didn’t like being sucked into this ongoing game between Charlie and Doc, Theo found it at least educational, if not mildly entertaining. That was the primary reason he put up with it.

  “Take a look for yourself,” Charlie said.

  Doc cut the skin away and sawed the skull open in a circle all the way around. He pulled on the top of the skull, but it didn’t move. He looked at the cut and found a thin vertical section running from side-to-side inside the skull. He made a saw cut from one side to the other, over the top of the skull, and removed each section.

  “It has two brains—one in front, and one in back. They’re connected only at the bottom.” Doc examined the inside of the skull and the material of the brain. “Uh-huh. Just as I suspected. Cause of death is severe axonal traumatic brain injury. Even if they were wearing seatbelts, the force of the impact would have torn the brain apart. I’m surprised the third one is still alive.”

  “From the placement
of the bodies in the saucer,” Theo said, “the one that survived probably sat in the front chair—less distance to the wall—less impact.”

  Doc nodded. “Reasonable. I see no evidence to suggest otherwise.”

  Theo turned to Charlie.

  “One more nugget for you to find, Doc,” Charlie said.

  Doc started slicing away thin sections of the alien brain. “It’s all consistent material: no lobes, no folds. It looks like it’s all cerebellum cell structure.” He continued cutting away slices until he reached the bottom core. “And what do we have here?” He dug out a whitish hard piece a half inch wide, a quarter inch high, and thin. He held it up to the bright light above and examined it in detail. “It’s been a while since I took geology, but this looks like a slice of quartz crystal to me.”

  “It is,” Charlie said.

  Finally, we’re getting to the root of the Zeta Greys, Theo thought.

  “It’s an advanced electronic interface that connects every Zeta Grey to their massive computer system. It also converts their thought patterns into electronic signals that control the saucer. That’s why their craft doesn’t have a control console. They think, and it flies.”

  “So let me get this straight,” Theo said. “The Zeta Greys aren’t born, they don’t grow up, and they don’t go to school to learn. When their body is fully formed, they what—download everything they need to know from the computer system?”

  “Yes, they do,” Charlie said. “What you think of as a Zeta Grey brain is actually a neural network computer that runs an artificial intelligence program.”

  Theo had learned many things about the Zeta Greys from classified documents ranging from technology to speculation on what they were actually doing here on earth. The basic problem was they didn’t have all of the classified documents to work with. Those were very closely controlled, so some things they just had to discover for themselves. And this autopsy was connecting dots he hadn’t even known existed before.

  “So Zeta Greys can’t think on their own?” Doc asked.

  Charlie shook his head. “That depends strictly on the program downloaded into them. The workers don’t think, as we understand it, but the tall Greys do, and certain of those have analytical and thinking skills way beyond the brightest humans.”