Hearing Wilson call out, "Wait a minute," William stopped in his tracks, his mind racing. Could this kid have figured out the freezing method?
Mars' surface temperature, especially near the equator, could reach as high as 37°C during the day, but it plummeted to -60°C at night.
William had chosen to visit at noon specifically so that the alien's outer surface would begin to thaw, allowing Richard and the others to witness the full corrosive power of its blood.
Transporting the bodies back wasn't really an issue. The escape pods, modified from Predator drop pods, were equipped with heating, cooling, and temperature regulation systems.
All he needed to do was wait until midnight, when the temperature would be at its lowest, and the alien corpses would freeze as solid as rocks. He could then drag them into the pods and set the internal temperature to a stable -18°C for transport back to Earth.
While William mulled over these plans, Wilson spoke up.
"These creatures are immune to their own corrosive blood, right?
"That means their skeletons and bio-armor must be resistant to corrosion. There's DNA and blood within the bones, too. Maybe we could just bring back the skeletons instead."
"That's not a bad idea."
For someone like William, who only saw the alien corpses as tools to create a spectacle, Wilson's suggestion was practical.
Even though extracting DNA from bone marrow carried the risk of cloning the aliens, William was confident he could retain full control over the samples—or even "accidentally" destroy them at high temperatures if necessary.
After pretending to consider for a few seconds, William nodded. "Bringing back only intact skeletons would eliminate the risk of blood leaks."
With that, and to the visible dismay of Richard and the others, William raised his hand and used the laser on his suit to slice off one of the alien's legs.
As the laser cut into the corpse, the intense heat caused the alien's blood to spill out, hissing as it corroded the surrounding rock.
The spectators grimaced at the sight. The blood was highly corrosive, but as with all things, it had its limits. After creating a small pit in the ground, its corrosive power diminished significantly.
William picked up the discarded shovel handle from earlier and carefully prodded the pit once the hissing sound subsided. Confirming that the corrosive effect had weakened, he used the handle to lever the alien's leg out of the pit.
He then began meticulously cutting away the skin and muscles until he was left with a pristine, intact femur.
Sprinkling some of the red sand onto the bone, William observed no reaction. He repeated the test using metal and other easily corroded materials. Once he confirmed there was no remaining corrosive effect, he picked up the bone and turned to Richard and the others.
"This thing is dangerous, as you've all seen," he said gravely.
"If you want to study it, fine—but only under my supervision. I won't allow anyone to steal its cells and clone more aliens."
"That's a valid concern," Richard agreed, nodding. "If you can guarantee I'll have access to the research progress at all times, then assigning the task to you might not be a bad idea."
Assign it to me? William immediately understood what Richard was getting at.
First, Richard likely shared William's fear that alien cells could fall into the wrong hands. If the Americans got hold of them, their advanced scientific capabilities could lead to breakthroughs even faster than England's.
Second, Richard assumed William might secretly keep alien samples for personal research. In that case, it made more sense to collaborate with him and ensure the research was done safely—possibly even relocating the experiments to Mars or a large spaceship.
And who else but William had the resources, capabilities, and alignment with England to carry out such experiments?
"No problem," William replied nonchalantly.
Although cloning aliens was neither possible nor necessary, he was interested in cracking the secrets of their corrosive blood. This could be invaluable for developing countermeasures against mechanical enemies—or enhancing his own Mark armor.
With this in mind, William approached another intact alien corpse. To everyone's surprise, he mimicked the Predators by placing one foot on the corpse, grabbing the edge of its bio-armor, and effortlessly tearing off its entire carapace.
The sight left Richard even more convinced that William had prior experience with aliens. His thoughts shifted: England's scientists had to be involved in studying the aliens. Otherwise, they'd be completely in the dark while William pulled all the strings.
After a moment of contemplation, Richard said, "If we're going to study aliens, we'll need a suitable biological research project as a cover."
William smirked. He immediately understood Richard's intent: to add more "players" to the research to dilute his control. Still, having a legitimate cover project wasn't a bad idea.
"You have any suggestions?" William asked.
"I do, actually," Richard replied, organizing his thoughts. "Have you ever heard of this?
"About ten years ago, an American corporation experimented with cloning dinosaurs on an isolated island along a secret South American route.
"The project was a success. They even spent a fortune building a dinosaur theme park.
"But before it could open, an incident occurred.
"One night, cloned velociraptors escaped and killed over a dozen researchers and handlers."
Dinosaurs? A theme park? William racked his brain but couldn't recall anything about such an event.
Then again, ten years ago, he had been just a child. It wasn't surprising he hadn't heard about it.
Still, the mention of dinosaurs and a park made him suspicious. Was this a trap?
He asked cautiously, "Are you bringing this up because England has been researching something similar?"
"Of course," Richard nodded.
"When the velociraptor incident happened, it coincided with our naval operations in South America.
"We intercepted a distress signal from survivors on the island. A cruiser and over a hundred soldiers were sent to rescue them.
"In the process, we lost several soldiers, and fearing a potential dinosaur crisis, the fleet commander ordered all the killer dinosaurs on the island to be eliminated without consulting London."
"Heh."
Richard's story sounded noble, but it couldn't hide England's opportunistic tendencies.
William didn't need to ask to know what had really happened: the English forces likely discovered the research data and decided to keep it for themselves, wiping out all the dinosaurs to leave no traces for the Americans or the original corporation.
After a decade of failed research, they were now trying to dump the project on William under the guise of collaboration.
If they had made any progress, the world would surely have heard something by now.
If it succeeded, England would reap the rewards.
If it failed, it would drain William's funds and distract him with a harmless project.
Thinking of all the chaos depicted in Jurassic-themed movies—dinosaurs escaping, killing people, and causing endless lawsuits—William could already see how such a project might backfire.
But then an idea struck him: if the park's legal ownership wasn't tied to him but to a nation instead, he wouldn't mind building a dinosaur park just for fun.
(End of Chapter)
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