Heiser-The-Facade - Sparkling Eyes

various smaller lacerations on the corpse. The face was contorted in an expression ofacute pain. It was evident that it had suffered greatly in the moments before it succumbedto its injuries. The autopsy had not been as careful, and the specimen had been left invarying stages of dissection."Height and weight ranges from three and one-half to four and one-half feet and65 to 90 pounds," Dr. Marcus began his introduction. "The black `eyes' are actually noteyes at all; they're protective coverings. Here," he said, retrieving what resembled adental pick from a nearby drawer, "let me show you." Dr. Marcus carefully inserted theend of the instrument under the edge of the left eye of the more recent corpse. The blackcasing gave way with little effort, revealing a pale, pupil-less, milky ball. "We're not surehow their eyes work, to be honest.""You mean without the covering," remarked Melissa."Right.""There are lenses within, but without a pupil it would seem that light can beabsorbed through the entire ball. If that's the case, they'd need the protective black layerto prevent overexposure to light rays. ""Why the stitching around the eye?" she asked."An entryway into the sinus cavity. The nasal openings and mouth are extremelyundersized, so that's the best way to avoid disfigurement or splitting the head open.""Oh.""You'll also notice," Dr. Marcus continued, peeling back a loosened flap of skinon the creature's throat, as though conducting a hands-on forensics lecture, "that theydon't have vocal cords.""And no discernible outer ear," added Mark, intrigued, as Dr. Marcus gentlyturned the creature's head, "only those tiny apertures,""The Colonel said that they're alleged to—I mean, known to communicatetelepathically," Deidre reminded him, peering skittishly over his shoulder. The Coloneland Dr. Bandstra, who glanced at each other, did not miss her rewording. She'd beenconvinced."Do you know how they do that?" Malcolm asked, gaining Dr. Marcus' attention."I'll show you what we think they use to do it," Dr. Marcus offered. Mark steppedaway from the slab and Dr. Marcus opened the drawer adjacent to the one on which thebody lay."These are the internal organs," he noted, pulling the slab a few feet into theroom. "Of particular interest is the brain. What do you notice immediately?" he asked,holding a fluid-filled glass canister aloft, its spongy contents visible to the group."Wow," Mark whispered in amazement, "it's got a third lobe.""Precisely," Dr. Marcus replied, pointing to the globular mass situated betweenwhat otherwise looked like the two halves of a human brain. "We know from the ongoingwork on ESP at Duke's Rhine Center and the PEAR project at Princeton that the humanbrain is capable of projecting and receiving thought from an external source. We figurethat's the use of the extra lobe, since the rest of the brain is remarkably similar to ourown.""Have you considered the possibility that these beings aren't trueextraterrestrials?" Melissa inquired."What do you mean? What else could they be but extraterrestrials? The evidence159