Dissection
gloved fists around the reins to bring some feeling back. Every muscle ached as he swayed in the saddle, fighting to keep his eyes open. The cold had settled so deep in his bones, he barely had the strength to turn and check on the stallion trailing behind, the render corpse still draped over its back. When he faced forward again, his eyes focused on a distant row of familiar lights. A deep sigh left his lungs. Finally, after around thirteen hours of travel, he arrived at the walls of Omaha, well after sunset.
The guards at the west gate recognized him and let him in, but only after questioning him thoroughly about the render he had in tow. They were leery of allowing the creature, dead or not, into their borders. Isaac couldn’t blame them for their skepticism. He had heard that, as a safety measure, the security force routinely burned the bodies of renders upon discovery. At least, when possible. The practice had been in place for years, stretching back to just after the invasion first started. Isaac’s specimen likely would have been confiscated and burned, too, but Christopher had promised to speak to the gatekeepers about their purpose for the render so he could bring it inside fully intact.
Once he got the all-clear to enter the city, he rode straight to the clinic. His plan was to drop off the hunter’s corpse before setting off to tell Christopher and Beth that he’d brought in their specimen. To his surprise, and also relief, the Atwaters were already at the clinic. The moment Isaac walked through the door, they all stopped mid-conversation and turned to look at him.
“Isaac!” Beth said with a grin after her initial amazement faded. “You made it!”
“A bit earlier than expected, too,” Christopher added, “but you won’t hear me complain.”
Isaac nodded slowly, the fatigue in his body making it difficult to move. “I’m glad to be back ’cause I’m feeling dead on my feet right about now.”
“I can imagine,” Beth said with a sympathetic twinkle in her eyes, walking to where he stood. As she did, her eyes glanced toward the windows and her face suddenly lit up. “Oh, my goodness!” she squealed, turning to look at her father. “Dad, he did it! He really did it!”
Christopher and Thaddeus joined her at the window and their eyes widened with astonishment at the horses outside, and sprawled over the back of one was the body of the render.
“Well done, Isaac!” Thaddeus congratulated him with a pat on the back. “I’m impressed!”
“This means so much to us,” Christopher said. “Now we have a chance to study the hunter breed up close without any threat to our lives. Here’s hoping we can learn something substantial about them now.”
Isaac was about to respond, but he froze when he caught sight of his aunt standing in the exam hall doorway with arms crossed. The room fell silent for a few awkward moments before Jacklynn finally drew in a breath to speak.
“No threat to your lives, only to his,” she uttered with venom in her words, nodding toward Isaac.
“But he wanted to do this,” Beth began her defense, only to shut her mouth when Jacklynn glowered at her.
“Does it look like I care?” Jacklynn’s icy glare swept across the faces in the room before she shook her head. “Unbelievable,” she scoffed, then turned toward the hall and slammed the door behind her.
“Don’t worry about her,” Isaac said, masking his disappointment behind a scowl. “It’s not up to her to judge me or you for doing what we think is right.”
“We don’t want to cause problems between you and your aunt, though,” Beth said contritely, but Isaac shook his head at her.
“She’s the only one causing problems around here.”
Thaddeus cleared his throat. “Well,” he began, “how about we bring that hunter inside so we can take a closer look?”
No one in the room disagreed, so Thaddeus and Isaac started toward the door. They went out, hauled the body off the horse, and carried it into the clinic. As they laid the render out on the nearest gurney, Beth pointed outside.
“Where’d you get the other horse, Isaac?” she asked as she studied the smoky black stallion through the window.
Isaac followed her line of sight. “It was weird,” he began, still helping Thaddeus adjust the alien corpse on the gurney. “I was just outside of Greenwood when I heard that horse come up behind me. The man riding it was in bad shape. He said he was a messenger from Seward and that he was trying to reach us here in Omaha.”
“Why?” Christopher asked, his interest piqued.
Isaac shook his head. “It didn’t make much sense to me. I’m pretty sure the man was confused. He’d lost a lot of blood by the time he reached me. He said renders attacked him.”
“What was his message?” the older man pressed.
“Well, it kind of sounded like a warning,” Isaac explained, recalling the messenger’s words. “He told me, ‘Malcolm is gone.’ I have no idea what he meant, though. What’s so special about this Malcolm person that the messenger would risk his life trying to get to us?”
“I don’t think he was talking about a person,” Christopher said. “He could have been talking about the render outpost in Malcolm, Nebraska, west of Lincoln City.”
“What did he mean by it being gone, though?” Beth asked. “Like, it was abandoned?”
“That would be my guess,” Christopher replied, his brows knitting together. “That’s concerning. I’ve never heard of renders abandoning their outposts.” He paused, glancing over at the corpse on the gurney, then he sighed. “As much as I’d like to start working on our specimen here, I should probably discuss this development with the chief as soon as possible. I’m sure he’ll want to get in touch with the people in Seward to clarify what the messenger meant.”
Thaddeus nodded in agreement. “It’s probably for the best, anyway. I’m willing to bet Isaac is exhausted and could use a rest.”
Isaac couldn’t deny the doctor was right. He’d spent the whole of the last two days traveling alone in the cold Nebraska landscape, where he watched a man die, and had to drag a heavy render cadaver back with him on top of it. Exhausted felt like an understatement. “That’s actually a really good idea,” he responded softly, trying to suppress a yawn with little success.
“Go ahead, then,” Thaddeus encouraged him. “We can start the autopsy later, so no one misses it. I have some things to take care of, anyway.”
Christopher put his good hand around his daughter’s shoulder as they turned to the door. “We’ll stop by again tomorrow, and then we can make history together.”
Thaddeus smirked at that statement, watched them leave, and then turned to Isaac. “You’ve earned a rest. I’m sure what you did was no easy feat.”
“It definitely wasn’t,” Isaac said as he rubbed the back of his neck to ease the soreness he felt there. “Guess I’ll go crash, then.” He started for the door to the examination hall, but stopped when he heard the doctor say one more thing.
“You did a very brave thing going out there, Isaac,” he began. “I’m proud of you.”
Isaac lowered his head, attempting to hide the despondency creeping over his face. “It’s nice that someone is, at least.”
Thaddeus didn’t say anything for a moment, his expression thoughtful, before releasing a sigh. “Just give her time. She’ll come around.”
“I don’t even care,” Isaac grumbled. “It doesn’t matter.”
The doctor gave him a knowing smirk. “You shouldn’t lie, kid. You’re no good at it. Now, go get some sleep.”
Isaac nodded through a small grin, then opened the door and left the room.
Thaddeus entered the clinic, stomping his boots on the small rug to shake off the snow that had accumulated during his house calls. He shed his winter layers and hung them in their usual spot, then turned to head for his office, only to pause when he saw the render corpse sprawled on the gurney in the corner where he left it the previous night. He was still getting used to it being there. Just the sight of it made his skin crawl, but another part of him buzzed with the anticipation of getting to examine the creature later.
Making his way across the lobby, he entered the small hallway to the right and walked to the door at the end. As he pushed through, he was surprised to find his assistant, Jaime, already inside the office, shuffling around with a box in his hands.
“You’re back earlier than I expected,” Thaddeus said, and the younger man turned to face him.
“They had the delivery ready to go once I got to the lab,” Jaime explained, placing a vial of liquid codeine in a cabinet. “That’s the last one.”
“Good work,” Thaddeus said, then pointed to the corner by the door. “Just set the box there and we’ll use it again later.”
Jaime did as instructed, brushed off his hands, then turned a leery gaze back on Thaddeus. “So,” he began hesitantly, “how long until it’s gone?”
Thaddeus glanced at him. “Pardon?”
“That monstrosity in the lobby,” Jaime said, jerking a thumb at the door behind him. “It gives me the creeps. Every time I’ve gone in there, I’ve about had a heart attack because I keep forgetting it’s there.”
Thaddeus smirked as he sat at his desk, pushing some papers aside. “We’re going to examine it tonight, and then it’ll be out of your hair. I promise.”
“We?”
Thaddeus looked up at his assistant. “Yes. I’ll need some help with the autopsy.”
Jaime’s eyes darted away as he rubbed the back of his neck. “All due respect, doctor, but …” He trailed off, not seeming to have the courage to finish his thought.
Thaddeus intertwined his fingers on the desk, giving the younger man a knowing look, then let out a sigh. “I won’t force you to do the autopsy, Jamie. I suppose I can try to recruit Isaac for help. He has more experience around the subject.”
Jaime lowered his head. “I’m sorry, sir. I just—“
“Say no more,” Thaddeus interrupted, lifting his hand. “Dealing with renders—living or dead—isn’t easy in the slightest. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
Jaime nodded, still looking a bit dejected, before he glanced to his left at a tall locked case nestled against the wall. “You know,” he began in a joking tone, “if you have anything in your off-limits box over there, I really hope it’s a gun. I’d feel a lot safer.”
Thaddeus’s eyes shifted to the object of conversation, a knot forming in his chest, but he only smiled at his assistant’s remark. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
Jaime nodded and then left the office. As soon as the door clicked behind him, Thaddeus’s smile melted away. He looked back at the locked case, furrowing his brows at it. Though his assistant didn’t know it, he did keep a shotgun and a few boxes of shells in there for emergencies … among other things.
Frowning, Thaddeus forced the thought away along with his eyes, picking up a pencil to take down some notes.
When evening fell, Thaddeus welcomed Christopher and Beth back to the clinic, the two of them seeming eager to watch him work on the render specimen. Beth suggested they put two gurneys together so they could handle the creature better, allowing Thaddeus a bit more stability and room to work. Just as he finished implementing her recommendation, the exam hall door opened and Isaac entered the room, walking over to join them.
“Welcome back,” Thaddeus said with a smile. “Did you get some sleep?”
Isaac nodded. “I’m thawed out, rested, and ready to take a look inside this alien.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Christopher said, giving Isaac’s shoulder a few pats. “We’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this for ages, and thanks to you, we finally get to learn something new about our elusive invaders.
“Before we get started,” Thaddeus began, “there’s something I’d like to do first.”
The others nodded as he left the room and headed back toward the examination hall. He moved over to the door on the right and, after a moment’s hesitation, rapped his knuckles lightly against the surface. A couple of seconds later, the door opened.
“What do you need, Thaddeus?” Jacklynn muttered.
“I know you aren’t on the best terms with Isaac or the Atwaters right now,” he began quietly, “but I thought you still might like to join us for this. We’re about to start dissecting the hunter.”
“I’m not interested.”
Thaddeus snorted at her, and she gave him an angry look that demanded he explain himself. “No offense, but that’s a straight-up lie. It’s not every day you get to see an autopsy performed on a render.” He paused and gave her a knowing look. “You’re going to want to see this.”
Jacklynn shook her head, but begrudgingly accepted the invitation. Shutting the door behind her, she followed Thaddeus out to the lobby where the others waited, circling around the render corpse with curious eyes.
“Okay, let’s get started, shall we?” Thaddeus said as he walked over to the occupied gurneys and rolled his tool tray closer. He pulled on a pair of black, elbow-length rubber gloves and handed another pair to Isaac. “Would you mind helping me out, son?”
The younger man made no move to object and, in fact, seemed eager to help. He put on the gloves and then stepped around to the other side of the body. “So,” Isaac began as he eyed the corpse, “I’m assuming we have to pry open this exoskeleton first?”
“Correct,” Thaddeus said. “That’s why I went out and bartered earlier this afternoon for one of these.” He reached into a nearby bag and brought out a pair of heavy-duty tree shears for them to view. “My basic bone-cutting forceps probably won’t be of much use against this thick exoskeleton.” He paused and pulled two surgical masks from a drawer, putting one on his face and giving the other one to Isaac. Then he grabbed a clipboard and a pencil off the counter and handed them to Beth. “You may want to take notes.”
Returning to the dead hunter’s side, Thaddeus observed Jacklynn standing back by the wall with her arms crossed. She was obviously still upset, but couldn’t keep her lips from twitching in amusement while her keen brown eyes followed him around the room.
“You’re enjoying this, Doran,” she said.
Thaddeus beamed at her despite his mouth being hidden behind the mask, the skin around his eyes wrinkling with the expression. “You bet I am. The last time I did something like this I was in med school, and that was on a human cadaver. This is on another level.“ He stopped briefly to inhale his determination, then said, “I’ll begin with an external examination.”
He paused, and the only sound in the room was his footsteps as he paced around the gurneys, scrutinizing the body before continuing. “Render species, breed hunter. Assumed male, but has no distinguishable genitalia. There’s still much we don’t know about the render mating process.”
“Aside from females laying eggs in clutches of around two-hundred or more,” Christopher added, “which most certainly has contributed to their numbers over the years.”
Thaddeus nodded before turning his attention back to the task at hand. “We’ll move past that for now. The hunter’s estimated weight is about three hundred pounds; approximate height is nine feet. The body is covered in a thick, chitinous exoskeletal structure that’s often a light to deep brown or dark gray. This one has a darker brown shade to its armor. We already know that it has very few weak points, but we’ve determined some of its vulnerable body parts prior to this examination. These include any of their four eyes, the joints, and the base of the spine. They have four upper limbs and two lower; bipedal creatures, similar to humans, unlike their breeder counterparts. One set of the arms appears to be slightly smaller than the other, perhaps to offer a greater range of motion to the more dominant pair of extremities. The torso is large, covered in multiple layers of natural armor.” He paused and looked up, scanning the anticipation on the faces in the room as it added to his own. “Let’s try to cut him open.”
Thaddeus reached over and grabbed the shears. He positioned them over the protrusion in the chest area, clamped the clippers around it, and started to cut. It required enormous effort, but eventually he cut through the material with a few sickening cracks before reaching a more fleshy inner layer. He continued to work down the length of the torso, wiping sweat from his forehead as he went. Once he had cleaved through what remained of the rib-like structure, he asked Isaac to help him pull it apart so they could peer inside.
A foul, overwhelming odor wafted through the room as they opened the chest and abdomen. Pooled inside the body was a grayish liquid sludge that had a similar consistency to egg whites. The scent and sight utterly disgusted everyone else, but Thaddeus remained unfazed.
“Interesting,” he murmured as he scanned the inner parts of the hunter’s body.
“Where are its organs?” Beth asked, barely suppressing a gag.
“I think it does have organs,“ Thaddeus began, “but we can’t see them under this layer of silt. If I were to guess, I’d say this stuff is the render equivalent of blood.” As he finished, he reached his gloved hand down into the slimy cavity and felt around.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Beth whispered.
Thaddeus gave her a sympathetic look. “Step out if you need to, Beth. Just be sure to hand off your notes to your dad.”
The younger girl swallowed and shook her head. “I’ll tough it out,” she promised, even as her face paled slightly.
Thaddeus looked back down to resume his work. “I think it has an open circulatory system, almost like that of insects.”
“What does that even mean?” Isaac asked.
“It means the blood doesn’t flow through vessels and arteries like it does in mammals, but it pools around the tissues of the body. Let me see if I can find its heart…” He trailed off as he groped around inside the body. Just as his fingers grasped something large and soft, a blinding blue light burst from inside the dead creature.
Letting out startled cries, everyone clambered away from the corpse and kept their distance. The intense glow filled the room for a couple of seconds and then vanished as quickly as it appeared.
“What … was that?” Isaac asked, eyes wide with shock.
Thaddeus blinked and shook his head. “I have no idea.”
For the first time that night, Jacklynn walked over to the body to peek inside. “I’ve seen something like this before,” she began quietly, “with a live hunter.”
“When?” Isaac asked.
“You should know,” she said. “You were there. It was the night Stephen and Casey died.” Isaac’s eyes lowered briefly at the mention of it, then looked up as his aunt continued. “Right before the hunter attacked Casey, it released this flash of light that we could see through the crevices of its armor, just like what we saw now.”
“A defense mechanism, maybe?” Christopher offered in a thoughtful tone. “Or a way to disorient or distract prey?”
“Whatever it’s used for, it’s definitely effective in scaring the crap out of us,” Isaac added with a nervous laugh.
“Well, let’s keep looking,” Thaddeus continued as he approached the hunter again, but before he started digging around inside, he glanced at Jacklynn. “Back in the utility closet, there are some buckets. Would you mind grabbing a couple for me?” Jacklynn went off to do as she was asked, and Thaddeus turned his gaze back down to the specimen. “We need to remove all this stagnant blood from the body,” he continued. “That way, I can see what I’m doing. Hopefully, we won’t get any more surprises.”
When Jacklynn returned with the buckets, Thaddeus and Isaac proceeded to scoop out as much of the murky, gray blood as they could until they had a clearer view of the organs inside. Thaddeus pointed out what appeared to be a heart and digestive system and four smaller organs that Christopher theorized could operate like kidneys. There were no lungs, but around the edges of the abdominal cavities, there was a type of organic webbing. Upon closer inspection, Christopher mentioned they looked similar to the spiracles found in insects, only on a larger scale. These small openings, placed throughout the torso area, corresponded to some crevices in the layers of the exoskeleton. As Thaddeus worked his way down into the lower cavity, he found another organ that appeared to be nothing more than a bundle of nerves.
“At the base of the spine,” he murmured, lifting the fleshy piece up to get a closer look. As he did, he noticed the nerves wrapped thickly around a cartilage-like material that ran the inner length of the hunter’s back. “Odd …”
“What is it?” Beth asked.
Thaddeus glanced up at her, then peered down at the organ with curious hazel eyes. “I think this is the brain.”
“That would explain the bottom of the spine being a weak point,” Christopher stated.
“But if the brain’s all the way down there, what do they have inside their heads?” Isaac asked.
Thaddeus reached for the shears again. “I guess we can find out.” He began cracking open the hard, skull-like structure and draining any blood inside. “More webbing,” he observed, peeling back another layer to peer inside. “It looks like there’s a similar cluster of nerves like the ones in the lower back, only smaller and surrounded by a layer of transparent cartilage.”
“Wait—what are you saying?” Jacklynn began as she stepped closer. “This thing has two brains?”
Thaddeus stood up straight and nodded, despite the expression of disbelief he shared with her. “It looks like it.”
“Amazing,” Christopher chimed in. “I wonder if each of the brains serves a different function.”
“I’ll take samples from the different tissues in the body and put them under my microscope,” Thaddeus said as he peeked into the hole a little more. “Maybe I can work out the compositions of some of the organs and the blood.”
“Be sure to write down your findings, Doctor,” Christopher said.
“You got it.”
“As thrilling and … enlightening as this has been,” Christopher continued, “I think Beth and I should call it a night. We have plenty of new information to sleep on.”
“And I’m going to go take a shower,” Isaac added, “because, after that, I feel gross.”
“I don’t blame you,” Beth said, giggling as she and her father turned for the door. “Thank you for doing this, Dr. Doran,” she finished.
“It was my pleasure,” Thaddeus replied with a nod. “You two have a good night.”
With that, Christopher and Beth exited the building and Isaac went to take a shower. Once the others had left, Jacklynn moved to Thaddeus’s side, and the two of them examined the render’s corpse in a strange, placid hush.
“So,” Jacklynn began slowly as she turned her brown eyes up to the redhead. “You just dissected an alien.”
Thaddeus let out a hearty chuckle, disbelief written on his face. “Yeah, I guess I did.” He glanced at her. “What do I even say to that?”
Jacklynn shrugged, and they were quiet for a moment more before she continued. “I’ve always known the renders were real, but watching you cut into one gives them a new level of …”
“Tangibility?” he finished for her.
She nodded. “They’re stronger than us in every way. How do we fight something like that?”
“We keep learning about them,” Thaddeus replied softly. “That’s why I support the Atwaters.”
Jacklynn crossed her arms and shook her head. “I can see why researching the renders is important, but Isaac’s safety comes first. I don’t like that they’re putting his life in danger all so they can come up with some inconclusive theories about these things.” She gestured stiffly at the hunter’s body before sighing.
“Isaac made that choice on his own,” Thaddeus said. “And I told him I’m proud of him for doing what he did to get this specimen back to us. You know what he said to me?” Jacklynn stared at him, waiting for him to continue. “He said it was nice that at least someone was proud of him.”
Jacklynn’s gaze lowered, her expression wilting. “But I am proud of him. I always have been.”
“He doesn’t seem to think so.”
The woman brought a hand up to rub her eyes. “I don’t know what to do, Thaddeus.”
“Just talk to the kid,” he suggested with a smirk. “He still looks up to you. He’ll listen to what you have to say, but you need to try to give him the same courtesy.”
“I was terrified he wouldn’t come back,” Jacklynn whispered, running her fingers through her hair and staring off into space. “When he was younger, I drilled the rules of survival into his head so he’d always be prepared. I know he’s capable of handling himself, but … he’s my responsibility.”
Thaddeus turned to face her. “It sounds to me like he doesn’t want you to treat him like a responsibility. He wants you to treat him with love and respect.”
“He’s the only family I have left,” Jacklynn growled. “So excuse me if I’m trading all that lovey-dovey crap for being a little overprotective. Love won’t keep him alive.”
Thaddeus chuckled at her despite her shooting a glare in his direction. “Maybe not,” he began when he stopped laughing, “but it will give him a reason to live. He can’t be a machine like you.”
“I’m not a machine.”
“I know, but I’m pretty sure that’s the way he sees you.”
Jacklynn’s features calmed at his words. Thaddeus guessed she had been so focused on survival—on keeping her nephew alive all these years—that she’d forgotten that Isaac needed more from her than just a chance to live. He needed love, and at that moment, she seemed to realize that she had greatly neglected that aspect of her and her nephew’s relationship.
“Now you’re getting it,” Thaddeus said as he nudged her with his elbow. “I can see that brain of yours hard at work.”
“Shut up, Doran,” she grumbled as she turned away and walked over to the windows.
Thaddeus followed her, placing a warm hand on her shoulder. “I’ve known you for a long time, Jacklynn,” he began. “You’ve always been so strong in the face of grief and danger. But you think the only way to maintain that strength is to shut everyone out. Don’t shut Isaac out anymore. He misses you.” He paused and raised a hand to her face, his fingers brushing against her cheek. “I miss you.”
Jacklynn closed her eyes and allowed it for a couple of seconds before reaching up to gently push his hand away. Facing him, she said, “Thanks for listening, Thaddeus. I’m going to try and get some sleep.”
Thaddeus couldn’t keep the disappointment from his eyes even as he attempted to mask it behind a smile. “That’s what I’m here for,” he replied as he watched her go. The door to the examination hall closed behind her and he was left alone. “I’m always here for you,” he whispered.