Copper Visions by Elizabeth Bruner

Lisa and she worked with me at the mine. We lived together with all the girls in our section and she was next to me when the ceiling collapsed. They told me I was the only one who survived and only because the doctors saved me."
    "Well, they certainly brought others back from the mine and attempted to use my blood to make them do something. I wonder if they weren't too far gone to be saved."
    "I suspect they were close enough to life to try," David said. "The introduction of the alien blood to human tissue without the use of some kind of vessel to contain it creates a volatile reaction that can occasionally mimic the muscle movement of a healthy limb."
    "Yes, your father noted that in his experiments in his lab. There was some question as to whether, with a limb that was sufficiently damaged but still capable of recovery, if the introduction of my blood could speed that recovery."
    "He never published that," David said. "He never published anything that indicated he had found you or your people in the jungle."
    "So how would Doctor Blue know to try?" Sophie asked. "If he tried to save my friends just by putting the stuff in them, why would he have thought that would work?"
    David and Brian looked at each other and Brian cleared his throat.
    "He had to have read Professor Alexander's private research journals," he said. "The ones that were in the lab after it exploded."
    "I thought I had all of those," David said. "I was sent his personal effects by the people who cleaned up after the accident. His servants intimated that there was little left in his lab worth saving."
    "Well, they would, wouldn't they?" Brian said. “His servants were all locals. They may have worshiped your father like a demi-god but they never agreed with his bringing their gods from the jungle so they could see they were flesh and blood. The flesh was a bit different and the blood was green but they discovered we weren't much better than they were and it broke something in them.”
    “You act as though he killed their gods by introducing them,” David said.
    “Well, he did, if that's what he did,” Sophie said.
    They turned to look at her and she felt suddenly embarrassed.
    “What do you mean?” Brian asked.
    “People like their gods to be better than them. When you make them human, they become less better than them. It's,” Sophie shook her head in frustration. “I don't know how to say it but I can understand them being mad at the person who brought their gods out of the deep jungle and into their parlor for tea.”
    “We weren't that kind of god,” Brian said. “There was no moral guidance from their belief about us, we were merely the keepers of their dead and the punishers of the wicked and unwary.”
    “And they needed to know that their loved ones were taken care of, that the wicked would be punished.”
    David nodded. “Yes, I can see how that could have been a problem. Were there problems with the local populace, Brian? I understood from Professor Alexander that they were peaceful and inclined to help him in his work.”
    “They were afraid of him, and me, that much was clear. I was sent to replace some of the other assistants because they terrified the servants.”
    “Was that his decision or yours?” Sophie asked? “Because it doesn't sound like the kind of decision Professor Alexander would be likely to make if he didn't notice the problems with the locals.”
    “Professor Alexander didn't notice a lot of things until they interfered with his work. I wasn't even certain he noticed when Adam and Julian left.”
    “He noticed more than he let on, I think,” Brian said. “But it was my superiors decision to send me after some of the local villagers attacked my predecessor to see if he was mortal. He didn't die but the fire was devastating.”
    “Why didn't they just stop helping him?” Sophie asked.
    “His research was fascinating,” Brian said. “We made some real breakthroughs that are likely to help both my people and