Challenge 24 Response (original) (raw)

Title: W to V in a Xenobiology lab
Author: smeddley
Challenge #: Challenge 24
Rating: PG – one mild swear word

“What the hell?” she asked.

“Xenobiology troubles again,” he said grimly.

“You don’t think I have anything to do with it, do you?”

“Zebras, m’dear!”

“Are you insane?” she asked. “Because you’re staring to sound like a raving idiot.”

“Carol, I’m talking about the old saying. Don’t think zebras, think horses. Except, in this case, I think it was zebras. Forget about what seems impossible, m’dear!” he said excitedly.

“Granted, I think we’ve been through every seemingly possible explanation. Hoof beats heralding zebras… It could be the answer,” she mused.

“Just think outside of the box. Keep in mind that the proteins don’t react in any way we’ve seen before, so it’s not reasonable to think that the old rules apply. Let’s start from the beginning, work our way through the evidence again.”

“My research doesn’t amount to anything. Nothing we did got a reaction from the sample. Our cultures didn’t grow, but they didn’t die, either.”

“Perhaps we are testing the wrong substance?” he asked.

“Quit second-guessing yourself. Remember, the test subjects showed a reaction when we exposed them to it,” she chided gently.

“So why, outside of a living, breathing human, does this stuff show no reaction? There’s something that we are missing.”

“Unless you have any other ideas…” she trailed off.

“Very well,” he sighed, and they went back to work.