“Scorvo! Here! I think he’s here!”

Lex waves Scorvo over. Standing on tiptoe, she is barely able to see through the small window at the top of a thick metal door.

“I can see what looks like space-age suspension capsules in there. Like the ones we saw in movies as a kid. Some of the specimens look pretty large. Maybe human. Maybe not.”

Lex drops down onto her heels and allows Scorvo to squeeze in beside her. His disembodied voice floats to her ears in a deep whisper.

“He is here. I can feel it. My cha’l brother is here.”

“Okay. So how do we get him out? If Solora isn’t cleared to be down here…It may set off an alarm.”

“That is a risk we must take. It is the only option we have which may allow us to slip away undetected. Use the ooman female’s code.”

Lex flexes her fingers and then moves toward the keypad beside the door. Scorvo’s hand on her left shoulder helps to restore her confidence.

“Do not be afraid. I have given you my word. No matter what happens.”

Lex enters Solora’s code into the keypad and whispers a silent prayer. Funny. She hasn’t prayed in many years. A green light appears and the door slowly opens.

“I cannot believe that worked,” Lex exclaims.

Scorvo grips Lex's right elbow and ushers her into the enormous room which houses the suspended specimens.

“We must hurry. We have already been down here too long.”

Once Scorvo and Lex have cleared the sensors, the door begins to close. Lex steps cautiously toward the first suspension capsule, observing the specimen inside. It is a woman, her face strangely familiar.

“Oh my god!” Lex gasps. “They’re cloning people as well. That’s Marilyn Monroe.”

“I don’t know the name,” Scorvo says, bewildered.

“She was a very popular actress a long time ago. She died really young. These bastards. They freaking cloned her!”

Lex moves on to the next capsule, reading the nameplate.

“Nikolai Tesla? What were these people on about?”

Lex makes her way down the long rows of suspension capsules, stopping to read several nameplates.

“This is really sick. I’m surprised they didn’t clone Elvis. My god!”

Towards the end of the third row, the specimens start to appear less and less human. One specimen resembles a pale version of the creatures she and the expedition team fought under the pyramid in Antarctica—its secondary mouth open as if ready to take a bite of anything nearby.

“If this thing is here—”

Lex moves hurriedly along the line of suspension capsules. Finally, her eyes settle on what they have come so many miles to find. Scar.

“He’s here!” Lex gasps.

Dropping his cloak, Scorvo stands beside Lex. Scar floats almost weightlessly in a nutrient bath, an oxygen mask covering the lower half of his face. Even so, there is no denying it is him. Scorvo inhales sharply and then releases the air in his lungs.

“Brother.”

Lex studies every inch of Scar’s body—disbelief hammering in her heart. A phantom memory replaces the image of Scar. Sebastian, suspended in the strange alien secretions—a creature burrowing out of his chest. A single bullet—blowing out the back of the poor archeologist's skull.

Lex hovers her hand over the keypad connected to Scar’s capsule. Indecision takes hold and she is unable to bring herself to type in the stolen code.

“I…I can’t. What if taking him out of there…Kills him?”

“That is a chance we will have to take. We cannot leave him here.”

“That’s a chance you can take! I’m won’t kill him. Not again.”

“What are you talking about?” Scorvo says, his eyes narrowing.

“Scar isn’t dead because he protected me! He’s dead because I distracted him. That’s how the queen was able to kill him. He wouldn’t be dead if I hadn’t distracted him. I thought we had her. I forgot about that damn tail. She seemed so out of it. So…I didn’t know. I can’t do it.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

For a brief instant, Scorvo studies Lex’s distraught countenance. He considers reminding her about the serpent queen which had been growing in his cha’l brother’s chest. He considers telling her that Scar would not have survived the expulsion of the worm. That his death had been inevitable. Yet, he decides against it. She might begin to doubt everything—including his motivations for the journey.

Scorvo gently moves Lex aside and inputs Solora’s code into the keypad. A brief alarm sounds and Lex’s eyes grow wide.

“Oh no. She doesn’t have clearance. We have to hurry. We have to get him out.”

Scorvo nods with a sarcastic grimace. He ejects his wrist blade and stabs the keypad with excessive force. Sparks fly in every direction as the keypad shorts out. The nutrient bath surrounding Scar begins to drain out, the warrior’s hair moving as if in a light breeze. Once the fluid has drained, the door slides open. Scar’s body slumps against the clear hoses running under his armpits and across his back. Lex moves forward as if to catch him, her arms encircling his waist.

“Scar? Scar, you have to wake up. Get up. We have to get you out of here.”

A twitch. The yautja warrior’s brow creases and his round eyes move behind his mottled eyelids.

“He’s waking up,” Lex gasps. “Oh god! He’s really alive.”

Scorvo steps forward and cuts away the tubes connecting Scar to the suspension capsule. Together, he and Lex lower Scar to the floor. Lex caresses the left side of Scar’s face before moving a thick dreadlock from his forehead. Her heart drops as she observes the absence of an acid burn. This is not the Scar she once knew. Will he even remember her?

First, one amber eye opens, and then the other. Scar looks up at the ooman female caressing his face and blinks.

“Ooman?” Scar manages to say.

Lex sighs and turns to Scorvo, a defeated expression on her face.

“Ooman…From the chuf’trhat? Lex?”

Lex’s eyes fill with tears as the weight of Scar’s words hits her like a ton of bricks.

“You do remember?”

Scar’s eyes search Lex’s face with intense emotion.

“I remember. I am glad you escaped the serpent mother. I was not sure you had.”

Lex grips Scar's much larger right hand and squeezes. The groggy yautja warrior weakly tries to reciprocate, a faint smile on his face.

“I am so sorry” Lex said. “I should not have distracted you. If I hadn’t…None of this would have been necessary.”

Scorvo grows impatient and opens his wrist device. He inputs a sequence and shakes his head from side to side. With a loud grunt, Scorvo tosses the now activated device into the far corner.

“There is precious little time. We have to go. Before the oomans discover us in this room.”

“He’s right,” Lex says. “Scar, can you walk?”

“The last time I checked,” Scar says with a smirk.

“You know what I mean. You’ve been in suspended animation for who knows how long. Your legs may not be able to support your weight. Scorvo, help me get him up.”

As soon as Scar is on his feet, Lex realizes there is another problem.

“Uh...Clothes? Unless the plan is to scare everyone into submission with your…Uh…Anatomy?”

Scorvo prepares to remove his own armor.

“He will have to wear my armor.”

“Then, what are you going to wear?”

“Nothing. I will be cloaked.”

“Oh boy!” Lex says. “I can barely handle one naked yautja warrior. But two? Nuh-uh. There’s got to be something in here. A gown or a—”

“Lex, there is no time. Scorvo’s plan makes the most sense.”

“Okay, fine. Just hurry it up. Please.”

Scorvo slips out of his armor and Scar slips into it. Scorvo activates his cloak.

“Are you happy now?” Scorvo quips.

“Quite. Now, let’s go.”

Lex crouches to grab the commandeered weapon from beside the suspension capsule housing Nikolai Tesla’s seemingly lifeless clone. She hands the weapon to Scar.

“I figure you’ve earned this. I would have brought your new combistick, but there is nowhere I could have hidden it…Where it wouldn’t have been discovered by security. It’s the same principle as the weapon I used in the chuf’…The frozen pyramid. You just point and squeeze the trigger. That thing right there. The other button you pull down and release—the red one. Don’t touch that unless we have no other choice.”

Scar offers Lex a wide smile. Another time, another place, another weapon. Albeit, an ooman weapon this time.

“It is good to see you again, Lex.”

Lex averts her eyes and moves past Scar, weaving expertly between the suspension capsules. Scar follows her at a slower pace, his legs not quite as steady as he would like—but growing stronger with every step.

Surprisingly enough, there is no one in the hall when the trio reach the door. No marines, no guards, no one. All is silent. Lex glances back toward the suspension capsules.

“You did hear an alarm? Right, Scorvo? Tell me, I’m not going crazy?”

“There was certainly a noise when I entered the code. And a flashing red light. Red lights are usually not a good sign,” Scorvo replies.

“Solora?” a familiar voice calls.

Lex’s stomach nearly flips out her breakfast from two mornings before. Dr. Anthony. Scar, who is uncloaked retreats back into the capsule room. Lex casually reaches back and flips off the lights.

“William.”

“Solora? What are you doing down here? Didn’t you hear the fire alarm? Everyone’s evacuating the building.”

“I guess…I should be asking you the same question, Will.”

“I was already on this floor when the alarm went off. Kyle needed some cores brought down. Solora…Are you okay? You look weird. Still feeling sick?”

“Actually…I have a confession to make, Will. I accidentally set off the fire alarm. I recently took up smoking and uh…I was looking for a quiet place to catch a few drags. I’ll probably lose my job over this. But I don’t care.”

Lex sidles up to Dr. Anthony and tugs at his tie. Her voice becomes soft and sultry. Dr. Anthony swallows hard, struggling against the sensation below his belt.

“Since there’s no fire…I figure we could make some use of this time.”

“Hmmm. So...What did you have in mind?” Dr. Anthony says, eyes narrowing.

“Do I really have to tell you?” Lex whispers.

“You’re so bad!” William says, following Lex as she backs toward the capsule room.

Once inside, Lex hurriedly flips on the lights. The sudden brightness temporarily blinds Dr. Anthony and he squints to see. His vision clears just as Scar’s balled up fist lands in the center of his face. The large man raises a hand to his nose and stumbles backward. Scar reaches forward and grabs the big man’s tie. Pulling Dr. Anthony close, Scar grips the front of the stunned doctor’s shirt and places a hand under his groin. With incredible strength, Scar hurls the man across the room. William slams into the capsule containing the cloned Marilyn Monroe.

The capsule seems to explode, spilling its contents everywhere. Lex watches as what remains of the capsule crumbles. Maybe now, the poor starlet will be allowed some measure of peace.

Dr. Anthony lies unmoving on the floor. Either dead or unconscious. Lex has no time to consider which it is. She follows Scar out of the capsule room.