The Rain: The End, Marietta Standlee [year 7 reading list TXT] 📗

stretcher, exposing the naked body of an alien underneath. In death, the alien's skin, or whatever it is, turned even darker and resembles dried clay.

Sven comes pushing a smaller cart. This one, too, is covered by a sheet, and when lifted, exposes gleaming instruments. I shudder again. This could be me lying there; surrounded by aliens, dissecting me. I came very close to being where this poor creature is now.

A wave of dizziness overcomes me, and Colin takes my arm, looking at me worriedly. I nod reassuringly at him. At least the alien is dead.

However, curiosity gets the better of me, and I catch myself as I lean in closer.

"As you can see, our generous donor is of the male species." Professor Dunn announces.

I can't stop myself from glimpsing at the normal looking sex organ. It doesn't appear any different from that of a human. Interesting.

"I hope nobody will miss this dead alien," Colin states seriously.

"He has been on ice for a while. General Pheng had men recover some after you guys battled it out in Portland." The Professor assures us.

"You had him for that long and never even attempted to dissect him?" Colin arches an eyebrow.

"Of course, I have." Professor Dunn chides him, looking somewhat hurt and insulted. "Don't be naïve. This guy here was not the only one." He wiggles his eyebrows, and I roll my eyes.

Colin sighs loudly and waves his hand for Dunn to continue. "Alright, as I was saying, this particular donor is a male and not much different from us."

"Please, I don't care about the small stuff. How do we kill them efficiently?" I demand.

This time it's the Professor who sighs loudly. "Of course, Vivian. Right to the point, as usual. Fair enough, Sven, scalpel."

With bated breath, we watch Dunn take the scalpel and start to make the famous Y incision on the alien's chest. The men and women in the auditorium lean forward to get a better view. Astrid fiddles with a laptop, and suddenly, the alien's half-open chest is projected against the wall behind me. As if on cue, people lean back into their chairs, adjusting their eyes.

Dunn pries the skin open, accompanied by a sickening, sucking sound as he folds the fleshy part back. I'm glad no blood gushes out, besides some remaining green, dried slush.

"As you can see, the muscles on the Gorongiaths are extremely well developed; extremely thick. The skin, on the other hand, is paper-thin but tough as old leather. Not many nerves are present in the muscle tissue, leading me to believe they probably possess a high pain tolerance."

He pauses and wipes some sweat off his forehead; the overhead lights with the attached camera produce a good amount of heat.

"Just like humans, a rib cage protects the aliens' body. The difference is, in how their ribs expand throughout the entirety of their torso." He cuts deeper, almost to the crotch of the poor guy.

I blink my eyes to force them to stay on target. I'm more used to dissecting animals. I've never been present at a human autopsy, and this alien's bodies look all too human for peace of mind, especially opened up and exposed like this.

"See, the ribs are all the same size, just before they reach the hips, where they actually do get shorter. For the most part, though, they are like a barrel protecting the entire body. Saw." He holds out his palm, waiting for Sven to hand him a small, mechanic saw.

A shudder goes through me, the second he starts up the saw. He presses and decompresses the button a few times to get a better feel for it. The resulting, whining sound is grating on my nerves, reminding me of the dentist's office, which doesn't help my mood.

I sneak a peek at Colin, who actually looks a little pale around the gills. At least I had some medical training, even if it was on animals, and have seen insides before. None of this ever bothered me until I almost became a test specimen.

The whining gets louder, gains intensity, and mixes with another sound as the Professor starts to saw through fused bones. Studying the audience, I notice the saw's sound, the smells of burning bone, and the sight of sawing through bone bother several of our Captains, but not all of them. I catalog the names of the Captains who appear more interested than repulsed. I smile; Kat Smart, Briggs, and Alex are some who seem more eager to learn than disturbed.

Finally, it stops, and the Professor looks up. "These ribs are a lot thicker than ours. Almost double in circumference. They would be hard to break during regular hand to hand combat. Your best bet is the lower ribs here." He points at the smaller ones by the hips. "But even those are strong."

He bends over the cadaver, puts both hands on both sides of the ribs, and pulls them apart. With a crack, he creates a large opening. Astrid zooms in with her camera, and we get an unobstructed view of the alien's insides.

"These are the lungs." Dunn points out. "They actually have four, which makes sense since their air has a higher oxygen level, not deadly for us, just a higher percentage."

"And here." He pulls the top two lungs to the side, making them appear like wings at the sides of the dead alien. "This, ladies and gentlemen, is the heart." He points toward a tennis ball-sized round object nestled between the two front and two back lungs.

"As you can see, it is a lot smaller than ours, much harder to get to, protected by strong ribs and lungs. I can't say this for a fact, but if this race has four lungs, I'm almost certain they can hold out for some time with just three of them, possibly even two."

"Would that apply here on Earth too, where they have trouble with our air?" I inquire.

He looks at me and smiles. "Ah, you just reminded me of your mother.