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They were first discovered on Altair 7. An interesting and relatively harmless part of a balanced ecology. Samples were taken, and since they were always studied either by themselves, or in contact with other parts of their ecosystem, their unusual qualities went unnoticed.

Oddly, their unusual qualities were not first discovered by the white jacketed men of science who studied them carefully, under strict controls. No, their unique and history making qualities were first discovered by a not very colorful young man named Amadeus Mozart Jones. Jones had spent much of his life avoiding his first two names. He had tried different nicknames, Ama was too soft, Deus, too godly, Mozt unfortunately, rhymed with toast. Eventually, he had managed to get himself generally referred to as Jones or occassionally and despite his resistance Jonesie.

Now Jones or Jonesie was working part time at the laboratory when a sample of the alien mosquitoes was unfrozen for one more in a long series of controlled scientific experiments. The mosquitoes were placed in a containment vessel to complete their recovery before transferring them into the more rigorous test environment prepared for them.

"Jones", Doctor Wilson called, "Jones, I have to leave early today. Transfer these specimens to Area 3C at or close to 1630 hours. After that, you may close the laboratory for the day."

"Yes Doctor," Jones replied. No need to say more. The doctor would leave, and Jones would have a more relaxed afternoon than he had anticipated. Both profited by this casual informality, and neither wanted to do anything to spoil it for either of them.

Jones was conscientious, he knew that failing to do his tasks properly would force the Doctor to keep stricter control of his actions and this would force them both to work harder, and make both their lives more stressful. If carried to extremes, Jones knew, it could even result in his being fired. He carefully checked the containment vessel, and the input lock to Area 3C, satisfied himself that the task was sufficiently routine that it could have almost been considered insultingly easy. He then proceeded to spiffy up the lab making sure that it would produce a clean and neat appearance when entered in the morning, thus guaranteeing a minimum of hassles between him and his employer. This done, he had a couple of hours to spend reading, daydreaming, or using the laboratories virtual reality equipment and compnet interfaces for his own entertainment.

At 1631 hours, Jones stopped his personal time, and fetched the containment vessel. It was an older model, and instead of having an automated lid which opened after being locked into place at the input lock of an experimental area, it required manual opening of the lid, which left a thin membrane in place which would be punctured by a manually operated lever after locking it in place at the input lock. The experiment area and the containment vessel, and indeed Jones all met the standard safety requirements for handling Class A12 (relatively harmless) alien life forms. The fact that these mosquitoes should have been classed as Z~ lifeforms was not known at the time.

Jones removed the lid, leaving the membrane in place and prepared to lock the vessel into the containment lock. The automop momentarily malfunctioned, and ran into Jones's ankle. Understandably, he jumped, his other foot skidded on a wet spot left by the mop, and he fell. During the fall two things happened. First, two fingers of his left hand punctured the membrane sealing the containment vessel, and second, he struck his head on the side of the workbench where Area 3C was located.

Jones recovered consciousness at 1703 hours. He attributed the time lapse and his loss of consciousness to striking his head. Though it did not hurt, and over all, he felt remarkably well. The specimens in the container were unhurt, and a count showed them all present. He completed his task, transferring the specimens to Area 3C. Closed the lab and went home.

Later that evening, he noticed that two fingers of his left hand itched as though some insect had bitten them.

The next day, Jones returned to the lab. He found that he was unusually fascinated with the experiment being done on the mosquitoes from Altair 7. Which was odd, because these were routine experiments, and the mosquitoes were well, rather boring in their native environment which had been replicated in Area 3C. As Jones observed, the mosquitoes were eaten by their native predators, primarily a dragonfly like insectile form, and a small toadlike creature. The mosquitos in turn sought the blood of their native hosts who swatted and brushed them away whenever possible.

Jones, who knew himself fairly well, was puzzled at why he found these experiments interesting. On thinking about it, he remembered the accident, his feeling remarkably well after the accident, and the fact that his two fingers had apparently been bitten. So, being curious, and not having suffered any ill effects, Jones decided to do a little experiment of his own.

The next time Dr. Wilson left him alone in the lab, he exposed part of his hand to the mosquitos. As each insect landed and began to feed, he found himself first feeling good, then euphoric. The more mosquitos that fed on his hand, the greater the feeling of euphoria. Before losing consciousness, he brushed the mosquitoes off, and recorded his experiments.

The next day, with some trepidation, he told Dr. Wilson.

To be continued when I get around to it.
 

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