Excerpt: First Contact 3: Epigenesis

Since catching them that day in the tree, Elisha’s demeanor towards Tommy had been one of contempt. He’d work with him, but not say a single word to him outside the context of that work. And he made it clear he’d rather work alone, anyway.
So when Hazel sent them into the muck to collect samples on the first day at the field station, they didn’t stay together quite the way they were supposed to. They were out of sight of each other, working on independent lines to take samples, when Tommy heard Elisha cry out. He quickly broke off and followed the sound, but at first didn’t find a thing. He checked coordinates, to make sure he was on Elisha’s line, then spotted his collection bag next to an arbor-form. He heard another cry, this one more a scream, and of pain, from inside the tree. He pulled his hatchet, and hacked into the trunk, the only part of the tree big enough to be holding Elisha in any way. When that had no effect, he called his mother on the radio, and tried harder.
The hatchet didn’t seem to work on the tree—its wood was harder than the hatchet could cut. But it opened suddenly, and something thrust Elisha back out just as Hazel and Ivkiho arrived in the skimmer.
He was naked, and covered in a clear, slimy fluid. Hazel calmly ordered Tommy to take samples of the fluid even as she checked Elisha’s breathing. He was unconscious, and curled himself into a tight ball when he hit the ground. Tommy obeyed, then helped the other two maneuver the big man into the back of the skimmer.
He came to hours later, in the tent. Tommy was outside, but heard his mother talking to him. “What happened, Elisha? Do you remember?”
“This tentacle came out of the tree and grabbed me. I remember shouting, and pulling against it, but it was stronger than I was and pulled me off my feet and into the tree. I felt something sting me in the leg, and then…the strangest sensation. Like my whole body was flooded with pleasure, so much it hurt, if that makes any sense. It was…stimulating. I think I reacted, physically. I mean, geez, this is worse than talking to my mom about this stuff.”
“You mean sexually?” Hazel asked.
“Yeah.” Elisha’s mumble was barely audible.
“Have you seen the samples we took of the native microbe invasion of the back field last month?” She asked him then. At first it struck Tommy as an odd change of subject, maybe to get Elisha’s mind off what had happened now that he’d described it.
“No. Birho was assigned to analyze it, wasn’t he?”
“Yes. This fluid looks a lot like the slime we found in that field. It was only on the plants in flower.”
“What does that mean?” Elisha asked. “What have I got to do with a flowering plant?”
“I don’t know. Hopefully, we can find out. I’m aborting the rest of this trip. In the morning, we’ll head home. If we can determine the reason it grabbed you, and not Tommy or me, I’ll bring back a safer team.”
“I don’t want to stay here even that long.” Elisha said. “Please, Dr. Andrews, can’t we go home before it gets dark?”
“We need to get things packed up, and finish processing the samples. You can sleep in the skimmer, okay?” She was using her mom-voice now, not in professor mode. Elisha was definitely shaken up by what had happened.
Tommy was sitting by the campfire when he came out, checking to make all the samples were properly labeled. “What are you staring at?” Elisha demanded, even though Tommy hadn’t been looking at him. “You’re probably wishing it was you. A perv like you would probably enjoy getting off by a plant.”
“No, just your sister.” Tommy replied coolly. Elisha made a fist, and might have swung it if Hazel hadn’t walked out just then.
“I will remind you, Elisha, that I am married to Orvora. Please refrain from calling my son a perv because he has the good taste to like your sister.”
Elisha just stalked off to the skimmer. “And you,” Hazel turned to Tommy, “Need to be more careful. Elisha could break you in half if he took a mind to. Brothers can be insanely protective.”
She, of course, knew that better than most. Her own brother had been executed for his misguided attempts to “protect” her from Matt. And he was human. No one talked about it, but Tommy had already been five. He remembered.