Alien Taste by Wen Spencer Read Free Book Online Page B

Oregon, and the agency’s lawyer know how to access the original.” Which meant it was in the floor safe at the office. “Now, can you let Mr. Oregon in so I can take him home?”
    She stepped back, turning to let Ukiah into the Hummer. She gazed up at him, and he thought he saw a sudden wistfulness in her gray eyes. She held out her hand. “Mr. Oregon.”
    He took her hand and they shook firmly. “Agent Zheng.”
    He got in and shut the door, fastening his seat belt out of habit. Max started up the Hummer and they pulled out of the parking lot, leaving Agent Zheng standing alone.
    Â 
    It was a long drive from the morgue back to Ukiah’s moms’ place. Usually Ukiah liked the trip; it let him unclutter his mind of useless junk before rejoining his family. The day before, however, still contained choppy flashes of memory. He could tease nothing new from the time after he woke wounded in the park. There remained only the morgue with its grisly puzzle, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to think about it.
    Max stayed quiet until they hit I-279 north, running up out of the city. Then he glanced over at Ukiah. “You okay?”
    â€œThat was really, really scary, Max.”
    â€œWhat, special Agent Zheng?” Max snorted. “Don’t let her get to you.”
    Ukiah shook his head, running his hand repeatedly down the back of his neck in an effort to get the hairto lie down again. “The stuff in the morgue. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
    â€œIt looked pretty gory. So what did you find?”
    Ukiah shrugged, having no idea where to start. “Janet Haze was really sick when she died. All her organs had extensive damage to them due to viral infection. Or at least that’s what the coroner noted on the organ bags.”
    â€œOh Jesus, I wonder if she was working on a germ-warfare project. Maybe we should get you checked out. If she was exposed to something nasty, you could have been too.”
    Ukiah pondered his own body. “I don’t feel sick. Hungry again. And I could use a nap, but I’m not sick.” A memory came to the surface—her room filled with K’NEX toys and books on robots. “Anyhow, she worked in robotics, not biology.”
    â€œWhat else?”
    He sat for a long time considering what to tell Max.
    Max shot him a puzzled look after the first minute or two of silence. “That weird?”
    â€œFar as I can tell, Max, all her internal organs”—he shrugged with helplessness—“changed. They became weasels or mink or something. They attacked the coroner and killed him.”
    â€œYeah, that’s weird.” Max nodded, then screwed up his face trying not to scowl or laugh. Ukiah wasn’t sure which. “Changed into weasels? Are you sure? Even if they did, how could those little animals kill a man?”
    â€œScout’s honor.” Ukiah retold how the residue blood and organ cells were missing and that all the bags contained was animal fur. “And the coroner had a heart condition. I figure it probably would be scary enough to kill someone.”
    They fell silent for a few moments. They hit where I-279 merged with I-79 and worked their way into the traffic.
    â€œWhat really freaks me out is the fur,” Ukiah finally admitted. “But I think it’s the real proof of the organ changing somehow. There were two sets of DNA active in it. One set was the weasels’ DNA. The other set was Dr. Janet Haze’s.”
    Max shot him a look that he had given Ukiah often over the years. Ukiah wasn’t sure what emotions hid behind the look. Max had used it only once on someone else, a con artist that could steal your wristwatch while you were checking the time.
    â€œSo,” Max muttered after a while. “They cut out Doctor Haze’s organs and set them aside. Poof, they turn into a pack of rabid weasels and attack the coroner. Like any sane human being,