Phantoms

Blink.

I WANT YOU TO KNOW THE WONDERS OF ME.

“It isn't only self-aware; it appears to possess a well-developed ego, too,” Flyte said.

Finally, hesitantly, Sara Yamaguchi reached out, put the tip of one finger against the small glob of protoplasm.

“It's not warm like our flesh. Cool. Cool and a little… greasy.”

The small piece of the shape-changer quivered agitatedly.

Sara quickly pulled her hand away. “I'll need to section it.”

“Yeah,” Jenny said, “We'll need one or two thin cross-sections for light microscopy.”

“And another one for the electron microscope,” Sara said. “And a larger piece for analysis of the chemical and mineral composition.”

Through the computer, the ancient enemy encouraged them.

PROCEED, PROCEED, PROCEED, PROCEED PROCEED PROCEED PROCEED

Chapter 38 A Fighting Chance

Tendrils of fog slipped through the open door, into the lab.

Sara was seated at a work counter, hunched over a microscope, “Incredible,” she said softly.

Jenny was seated at another microscope, beside Sara, examining another slide of the shape-changer's tissue. “I've never seen cellular structure like this.”

“It's impossible… yet here it is,” Sara said.

Bryce, stood behind Jenny. He was eager for her to let him have a look at the slide. It wouldn't mean much to him, of course. He wouldn't know the difference between normal and abnormal cellular structure.

Nevertheless, he had to have a look at it.

Although Dr. Flyte was a scientist, he wasn't a biologist; cell structure would mean little more to him than it would to Bryce. Yet he, too, was eager to take a peek. He hung over Sara's shoulder, waiting. Tal and Lisa remained nearby, equally anxious to get a look at the Devil on a glass slide.

Still peering intently into the microscope, Sara said, “Most of the tissue is without cell structure.”

“The same with this sample,” Jenny said.

“But all organic matter must have cell structure,” Sara said. “Cell structure is virtually a definition of organic matter, a requisite of all living tissue, plant or animal.”

“Most of this stuff looks inorganic to me,” Jenny said, “but of course it can't be.”

Bryce said, “Yeah. We know all too well how alive it is.”

“I do see cells here and there,” Jenny said, “Not many; a few.”

“A few in this sample, too,” Sara said, “But each cell appears to exist independently of the others.”

“They're widely separated, all right,” Jenny said, “They're just sort of swimming in a sea of undifferentiated matter.”

“Very flexible cell walls,” Sara said, “A trifurcated nucleus. That's odd. And it occupies about half the interior cell space.”

“What's that mean?” Bryce asked, “Is it important?”

“I don't know if it's important or not,” Sara said, leaning away from the microscope and scowling. “I just don't know what to make of it.”

On all three computer screens, a question flashed up: DID YOU NOT EXPECT THE FLESH OF SATAN TO BE MYSTERIOUS?

The shape-changer had sent them a mouse-size sample of its flesh, but thus far not all of it had been needed for the various tests. Half remained in a petri dish on the counter.

It quivered gelatinously. It became a spider again and circled the dish restlessly.

It became a cockroach and darted back and forth for a while.

It became a slug.

A cricket.

A green beetle with a lacy red pattern on its shell.

Bryce and Dr. Flyte were seated in front of the microscopes now, while Lisa and Tal waited their turn.

Jenny and Sara stood in front of a VDT, where a computer-enhanced representation of an electron microscope autoscan was underway. Sara had directed the system to zero in and fix upon the nucleus in one of the shape-changer's widely scattered cells.

“Any ideas?” Jenny asked.

Sara nodded but didn't look away from the screen. “At this point, I can only make an educated guess. But I'd say the undifferentiated matter, which is clearly the bulk of the creature, is the stuff that can imprint any cell structure it wants; it's the tissue that mimics. It can form itself into dog cells, rabbit cells, human cells… But when the creature is at rest, that tissue has no cellular structure of its own. As for the few scattered cells we see… well, they must somehow control the amorphous tissue. The cells give the orders; they produce enzymes or chemical signals which tell the unstructured tissue what it should become.”

“So those scattered cells would remain unchanged at all times, regardless of what form the creature took.”

“Yes. So it would seem. If the shape-changer became a dog, for instance, and if we took a sample of the dog's tissue, we'd see dog cells. But here and there, spread throughout the sample, we'd come across these flexible cells with their trifurcated nuclei, and we'd have proof that it wasn't really a dog at all.”

“So does this tell us anything that'll help us save ourselves?” Jenny asked.

“Not that I can see.”

In the petri dish, the scrap of amorphous flesh had assumed the identity of a spider once again. Then the spider dissolved, and there were dozens of tiny ants, swarming across the floor of the dish and across one another. The ants rejoined to form a single creature — a worm. The worm wriggled for a moment and became a very large sow bug. The sow bug became a beetle. The pace of the changes seemed to be speeding up.

“What about a brain?” Jenny wondered aloud.

Sara said, “What do you mean?”

“The thing must have a center of intellect. Surely, its memory, knowledge, duplicating abilities aren't stored in those same altered cells.”

“You're probably right,” Sara said, “Somewhere in the creature, there's most likely an organ that's analogous to the human brain. Not the same as our brain, of course. Very, very different. But with similar functions. It probably controls the cells we've seen, and they in turn control the formless protoplasm.”

With growing excitement, Jenny said, “The brain cells would have at least one important thing in common with the scattered cells in the amorphous tissue: They would never change form themselves.”

“That's most likely true. It's hard to imagine how memory, logical function, and intelligence could be stored in any tissue that didn't have a relatively rigid, permanent cell structure.”

“So the brain would be vulnerable,” Jenny said.

Hope crept into Sara's eyes.

Jenny said, “If the brain's not amorphous tissue, then it can't repair itself when it's damaged. Punch a hole in it, and the hole will stay there. The brain will be permanently damaged. If it's damaged extensively enough, it won't be able to control the amorphous tissue that forms its body, and the body will die, too.”

Sara stared at her. “Jenny, I think maybe you've got something.”

Bryce said, “If we could locate the brain and fire a few shots into it, we'd stop the thing. But how do we locate it? Something tells me the shape-changer keeps its brain well protected, hidden far away from us, underground.” Jenny's excitement faded. Bryce was right. The brain might be its weak spot, but they'd have no