Abrams stepped in closer. Immediately Harry’s mouth opened and what looked like a length of dark, wet rope flew out to strike the window in front of the major’s face. It stuck, the suckers working – puckering and unpuckering.

Abrams jerked back. “Jesus Christ.”

Ford nodded. “Gotta watch that. It can’t break through, but it certainly knows we’re here.”

As Abrams watched in horrified fascination, he saw that the suckers continued working on the glass, tiny tongues in the center of each that licked at the smooth surface. Surrounding the tiny orifices were hooks that closed like teeth, also scraping at the glass. Abrams grimaced as he imagined what it would be like if one of those things got hold of his skin.

“Eric, give me something I can work with. If we can’t even put a dent in one of them, what can we do against thousands?”

Ford exhaled, compressing his lips. “Bullets just go right through.” He paced away from the glass. “It shies away from flame, but doesn’t really seem to burn, probably because it’s coated in some sort of slime – ancient, primordial, and more like something you see coming out of a garden slug.”

“Yeah, well, if it was a freaking garden slug, I’d put my size twelve boot on it…or cover it in salt.” Abrams ran a hand up through his sweat soaked hair. “And why is it so goddamned hot in here?”

“It’s hot everywhere now.” Ford stopped pacing. “Hey…” his head tilted “…what you said.”

“What, the heat?” Abrams half turned.

“No, no.” Ford spun back. “You know, most gastropod bodies are made up mostly of water – just like this thing. And slugs produce two types of mucus: one is thin and watery, and the other thick and sticky. The thin kind is what it expels for sliding on, but the thick mucus coats the whole body of the slug – again, just like this thing.” He began to pace in front of the glass. Harry’s eyes followed him – all of them.

Ford stopped, and looked back at the Shoggoth. “The other thing we’ve found is that this creature has a weird mineral balance, with the concentration of salts inside its skin almost non-existent. Once again, similar to a garden slug. The body of a slug has cell membranes designed to keep the nutrients and minerals inside but which allow water through.” He turned to Abrams, his face splitting in a grin. “You know why slugs go crazy when you salt them? Because the imbalance forces the water inside the gastropod out to try and dilute the salt concentration on its outside – the rapid movement of fluid rapidly dehydrates the slug to a point where it simply turns to mush.”

“Salt?” Abrams stared in at Harry. “Well, we’ve tried everything else.”

“Indeed we have,” said Ford. “How about a little Trojan Horse test first?” He turned to one of the scientists furiously taking notes on a tablet. “Neil, prepare a rabbit carcass; introduce a hundred grams of sodium chloride solution under its skin.”