"They'd have to expose themselves, then," he agrees. "The jig would be up, as it were."

He sighs and rubs at his beard. This was becoming more complicated by the minute. "How are we to obtain these samples? I doubt Palmer's crew would submit to such a test willingly." He pauses. "Well, some might, but with such a creature lurking about, there might already be a healthy dose of paranoia among them."

"We should put the dogs down without anyone's knowledge, then. We can't let any human copies of the Thing know that we're onto its tricks until we have it reasonably cornered."