Chapter 1
Welcome to the Jungle
The small, gray, manmade spacecraft currently orbited around a luscious green planet, which had yet to receive a name because of its small size. It was simply cataloged as ADF-6782-U89O by space travelers. The ship currently in its orbit I was clearly a low budget supply ship, one that you'd think would belong in the scrap heap, but was still used today, typically used by either mercenaries or hands for hire. People who frequented the bars of the out rim planets for the most part.
The process of landing on remote planets was typically a difficult task, especially for older models such as this one. They needed computers plenty to lock onto the coordinates, and estimate the effects the weather and other natural forces that they'd encounter once breaking through the atmosphere, but human beings still were the ones sitting at the controls and would be the ones finishing the job. After orbiting for a total of five hours it finally began entering the atmosphere with a sudden thrust of speed, the hull being covered in a ball of fire as it approached the surface of the planet. When it finally broke through metal flaps shot forth from its wings and hull, a design meant to slow its decent. This device seemed to work fairly well because soon the craft was gliding across the sky, over the endless acres of trees. With a great roar of the engine it began speeding over the planet's surface as great speeds, its intended path clearly chosen.
Onboard a young man trembled nervously, his legs shaking beneath him from the sudden drop through the small planet's atmosphere. He'd travelled to several various planets in his day, but never had the descent been quite as violent as this one. But then again all the other ones were on government approved transports and not an antique supply runner class, like the one he currently had the misfortune of travelling in.
The harness that kept him from becoming a smear on the ship's unsterile, crusty, white walls seemed vastly overused, for he had the thought of them snapping the entire plummet. It took everything he had to not to lose his lunch across the transport's floors.
Meanwhile in the cockpit he could hear the two pilots hollering in excitement, varying from "Yee-Haw" to "Watch me fly", all while the crew men threw in comments of their own, consisting mostly of hollers and grunts, rather than actual words. It was a small, rural crew consisting of a cook/mechanic, two grunts, a captain and two pilots, all of whom had no sense in manners or pride in appearance. They were simply there to get the job done, and it would be a fine day when synthetics and computers put an end to their usefulness to society.
The voices and sounds originating from the men seemed to stop as soon as they passed through atmosphere, the ship now seemingly sailing across the sky in a smooth fashion, assuring him that it was over and that he could now take off the harness. Snapping the steel buckles he preceded towards the
circular viewing window (which remained shut, with a plate of steel over it while in space and the drop) to view the forests of the outskirt world they now sailed over, trying his best to ignore the large crack in the window's surface.
The trees were high, much like pine trees of Earth, centuries ago before factories and industry had destroyed the environment, only these must have been three times as tall as any of old Earth's trees. Space had offered a wide array of possibilities, forests could be seen in mass now and garbage and factories could be put on rural planets that no one cared for making a nicer community.
"Welcome to the most desolate location in the sector, doc." The cigar munching mechanic said in his gruff voice to the young man. "Better be careful now, or you might mess up that nice little outfit of yours."
"Actually, I find it quite beautiful." The man said with a sneer towards the unkept, hairy armed ship hand. "The planet, I mean. It truly is a virgin planet, not destroyed by the giant foot print of human society. It's a significant specimen that certainly must be admired from these heights. Allows me to see what Earth should've looked like."
"I don't know what this talk of virgins is, but you'll never get one talking like that, I know that much." He replied with a deep throated laugh, cigar hanging from the side of his dirty mouth.
Sighing and shaking his head in dismay he returned his gaze to the observation window. Filthy Pig, one of the reasons we all deserve to die he thought quietly to himself.
It wasn't long before the ship began to hover over a small collection of buildings. Small, sleek metal shacks, obviously set down by a large craft sometime ago by the cheap look of things, their walls were coated in rust, and the forest was on the edge of it proximity, obviously waiting for its chance to reclaim the property which the humans had taken from it. The typical set-up for a company science expedition: not only was it cheap but it was easy to set-up.
Locking onto the docking platform located in the center of this slapped together village style establishment the cargo ship began to descend, the roar of the engines growing softer and softer, until finally with a dull thud it touched down on the ground of planet ADF-6782-U89O.
The young man covered his eyes as the sun began to push through the opening cargo bay doors, a brown leather pack slung over his shoulder he waited for his eyes to adjust to the new source of light. The two grunts began wheeling out the boxes of food, fuel and other supplies that the company supplied the establishment. He simply walked down the ramp and towards a man standing over a desk, a wide-brimmed hat atop his head, and an unshaven face giving him a gruff look, especially when compared to his younger features. Welcome to the jungle was the only thing that crossed his mind.
"So, you're that bit of fresh blood the company's been promising us for some time." The man said in an unsatisfied voice that he could not tell whether or not he was mocking his appearance or not. "And what's your name, Boy Scout?"
"Doctor Justin Starling." He stated in a clear voice handing over an envelope which the man promptly opened and began scanning the various documents inside.
"Doctor, shit you look like you still belong in a schoolhouse somewhere." He said raising his hand over Starling's head in a playful fashion to state how small he was in comparison.
"I was the top in my class," Starling murmured, not much liking how the grunt was making fun of him. Especially considering he was sex feet tall, this man just happened to be one of the few who just happened to be…taller.
"Alright Starling," the man chuckled with a goofy smile, "You check out. Welcome to the Village. Name's Jim, but call me 'Hyde'."
The man named 'Hyde' waved to the two grunts unloading the sip. "Just put it all in the warehouse, than you can get your pirate asses off our little world of wonder."
He grabbed Starling's shoulder and began leading him down a small gravel pathway in the direction of one of the larger buildings, causing the young doctor to feel like a child being dragged by his mother at the supermarket.
"Let's get to business first, this job isn't too hard if you make sure to pull your weight, and use that intelligent brain of yours. We study local animals, and study certain things about them. It's all very technical stuff that I wouldn't get, but that's why you, mister top of his class doctor, are here to help us along." They reached the wall of the building that had been coated in small jungle plants, giving the entire place an all natural look, aside from the rust. "And we are proudly sponsored by the company," he slashed his hand across the plants, tearing a huge section from it so one could see the huge yellow letters 'W-Y', "Weyland-Yutani! They fund this place; give us the food, the equipment and our paychecks. Aren't they just the company that cares most about its employees? More on your employers later, if you care to listen."
The young doctor didn't know if he was supposed to reply to the energetic welcome-man, or just let him carry on until judgment day. He chose the latter, not really think he should throw in any in-put at the moment, not knowing if the man was serious or not. No need to start this off on the wrong foot, especially considering it was his first job.
Hyde threw open the doors of the building and spread his arms id a displaying fashion. "And this is the dining hall. Very nice if you want synthetic foods, and are our main social gathering point." He leaned over and whispered in a sarcastic tone, "Because it's got the best A/C out of the entire lot of above ground structures."
Hyde pulled him over to a black woman who currently sat sharpening a machete, her eyes staring on the blade with great intensity. She was fit having a strong athlete's build, wearing tight dark green clothes, with a large brown leather belt loosely wrapped around her waist, obviously there for show as opposed to practical purposes, a pistol hanging loosely from it by a leather holster.
"This is Jessie, she's our local Amazonian. She'll be the one protecting your sorry ass when you're out there in the middle of the jungle, or even here at home sweet home. Here she is the queen, the goddess and just about any other term you can think up that means 'can kick your ass'."
She smirked in reply to Hyde's comment, looking up from the blade to meet Starling's gaze. "You must be the new guy; the doctor. Let me straighten some things out for you real quick. There's one rule, and one rule only, out there and that's that the jungle can kill you in a thousand ways, so make sure you don't make me one of them."
"I'll make sure of it," Starling replied, giving a nervous chuckle, not knowing whether or not the woman was serious or not. He never was good at reading human body language and these people…they just weren't the crowd he was used to dealing with.
"Alright, kid. You'll do alright." She put the large blade in a sheath located on her thigh and walked towards the two of them. "Hyde, I need the security wires in wall sector B checked before the team gets back from today's exploration."
He slapped his thighs in response. "D'aw, come on Jess, I wanted to finish the tour for the new doc. This is my favorite part about getting 'fishes'."
"I'll finish the damn tour for you," she growled in response, shoving a computerized device into his hands. "Now you go and fix those wires."
Grumbling the Hyde agreed to her orders and left the building. Now she turned her attention to Jason, who stood there not know how to react, while he also couldn't help his eyes from rolling up and down her athletic build, which she stared at him then back to her machete.
Hyde grumbled adjusting his hat as he exited the building, snatching a shotgun that had been propped against the mess hall's outer wall. He then rested it on his shoulder and began walking down towards sector B, the device Jessie had given him bleeping frantically about the hole that had been formed in the wall.
"Fucking Jessie," he muttered to himself. "Oh sure, make me look like some Neanderthal who takes orders like an obedient servant." He spit on the ground. "Would just ruin that tight ass reputation of yours if they knew how you and I went at it when no one was around. Oh, let's see your reputation once they know how well I make you squeal and beg for more. Would just destroy you wouldn't it?"
The thunderous roar of the transport taking off interrupted his self monologue, shaking the very earth as it launched into the sky and quickly flew off into the distance, causing Hyde's hat to fly from the top of his greasy brown hair.
"Motherfucking, space dwelling cocksuckers!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, kicking dirt in the direction the craft had flown off before picking his hat from the ground and placing it atop his head once again and began walking again.
As he continued to bitch he noticed a large lizard, about half the length of his arm sitting idly on a rock, soaking in the sunlight and warming its cold blood. Hyde grunted in distaste, and focusing his anger he shoulder his shotgun and drew his pistol. Licking his lips he chambered the first round.
"Oh, you're mine, mother fucker."
He took a shot at the reptile that missed and soon it was sprinting away on all four limbs, desperate to escape the intruder. Hyde fired a second, a third and a fourth shot before one tore through its spine, right above the tail leaving a gaping hole through its body and thus rendering its lower body paralyzed.
Snickering in amusement Hyde deposited his pistol in its holster trotting over to the creature, humming the tune to a song about death that had been played on the radio recently. Seeing the creature continue to move its front limbs in a desperate attempt at escape he brought the butt of his shotgun down, flattening its skull and bringing an end to its life. Alright dinner! That was the only thought that ran through his mind as he threw the corpse into a sack and continued his way to the damaged portion of the wall, his anger now taken care of.
Starling was examining Jessie's attractive, muscular form when he heard several gunshots originating from outside the mess hall doors, which caused him to jump from his seat, nervously looking out the barred windows.
"Is he alright? Was that supposed to happen?" He nervously stuttered.
She looked up at him with a blank expression. "Oh, He's just fine, just playing around, probably pissed that he had to fix the fence this time around."
She sheathed the machete once again and began walking towards him, as he still sat worried; probably do to never hearing an actual gun discharge before.
"Alright, grub, come with me and I'll show you the rest of this shithole." She announced in a way that said she'd rather be doing something else.
Following obediently he kept pace close behind her as she walked down the path. The school boy in him caused his eyes to take quick glimpses of the way her hips swished, and her hindquarters when she walked. No one could ever hold back the pervert even if they tried.
"We have a strict rule here, and require you to be in the bunker by 10 PM standard time. The creatures of the night here aren't too friendly and you don't want to be found on the menu."
She looked back to hear a response, which in return he nodded his head, which had minutes ago been paying attention to something other than her rules. Satisfied with the answer she continued her introductory monologue.
"There are three men not including you and three women, including myself. Me and Hyde are the only ones currently not exploring the jungle. There is one more female member of the rangers and two more men, and one woman in the research team."
They reached a large door which she swiped a key over which responded with two-beeps before silently sliding open. This then lead to a long stair case, and while walking down the steps they didn't sharing a single word until they reached the bottom of the hard metal stairs, which made enough noise to wake the dead each step they took. It smelt of mildew and fungus, obviously caused by the dripping pipes, but the walls were obviously built to last, unlike the ones back at the mess hall and all the surrounding buildings.
"This is the bunker, and it is the only place I would actually call safe in this entire facility come nightfall, and even then I have my doubts at times." She slid open a metal curtain, exhibiting several shelves full of weapons, primarily firearms, but there were some brawl weapons such as knives, machetes, axes and iron clubs. "Expedition tranquilizer and air rifles are over in the research building, but here's where you'll find some actual protection." She pointed to a keypad on the metal railing that still locked the weapons in place. "We use a four-digit code: 7834; remember it. That will get you into things like pistols, or even the twelve-gauges." She pointed to a small box with a lock on it. "Ammo is kept in here, and only certain personnel have the key." She pulled a chain necklace from out of her collar, showing a small gold key at the end. "Me, Hyde and Doctor Sillias, Weyland-Yutani regulations say that only authorized members of the team can have access to the ammo. So you can arm yourself, but you can't do much without me or one of those two."
"Doctor Sillias, he's the senior researcher here, am I correct?" Starling asked, eyes scanning over some of the larger weapons that weren't going to be at his disposal. They ranged from military issue submachine guns and pulse rifles all the way up to rocket launchers, and some things he'd never even seen before and couldn't begin to judge.
"That is correct; the Doctor's been with this group for fifteen years, age fifty-five. We think he plans to retire come two years and the end of this study. You've shown up just in time to finish the last length of the journey."
She typed in a code and withdrew a semi-automatic pistol. "Hold this," she murmured withdrawing the gold key again to unlock one of the boxes, soon pulling out a clip and slamming it into the pistol for him as he simply looked down at the weapon. "One 9mm semi-automatic is to be carried at all times for safety reasons, you are only given one clip so if you do go nuts and kill everyone you
won't have a chance of surviving the night. Bunker security doors only close with the thumbprints of two members, whose names you won't be told."
He didn't really like the lack of trust he'd been receiving from this ranger, but he could understand her caution, so he decided to get smart with her. "If I was nuts and did that, what's to keep me from simply taking your key and using it to get additional supplies and ammunition?" He asked, examining his weapon carefully.
"That's another fact about our security I'm not allowed to disclose to you. You're a doctor, and if you're a really smart killer you'd work it in so you could get around that last security precaution, so I simply won't tell you to save us a lot of trouble."
"Understandable," he murmured nodding his head tilting his head to look at her again.
She locked the cabinet and began walking down the hall again, not even having to tell him to follow. As they walked she pointed to various doors that were kept wide open in the hall. She knew how to lead someone, the way she simply exerted power simply by applying her presence.
"These are the four security doors, each one closes in case of emergency to keep anything from reaching our rooms. We close them at 10:00 each night, so make sure you're past them by then. Your room will be number ten, and it is the first one you see to your left once you pass the last security door. Sorry if it's not up to your standards, but its last inhabitant…left us some time ago and we felt no need to keep the room in top condition."
They reached the room with the ten painted on, and she swiped a card through the door before handing it to him just as the door swung open. Someone had sloppily written #10 on the keycard in permanent marker.
"This'll be your one and only room key, so don't lose it no matter what, or you will sleep in the hall. The expedition team gets back in two hours so you may want the time to straighten the place up before official introductions are made. We'll meet at the mess hall, and introduce you to everyone and then will eat. Tomorrow your work will begin with the Doc', and you will be given a schedule by him in the morning." She gave him a dead serious look at that point in time. "No matter what type of worker you are you do not go to the surface early in the morning, or stay there later than are rules state. The buildings up there were all cheap, and all of them merely provide air condition and shelter from rain, that is it. Otherwise they are worthless, and the predators of the night do get in here whether you think you're safe or not." She waved her hand across the hall and pointed at him. "Hell, I'll tell you not to feel safe even in this military grade bunker, so always treat this place with extreme caution. There are things out there that we cannot explain, nor do we intend to find out, because these things are best left alone."
She calmed herself quickly, brushing her long black hair from her forehead with a sigh. Starling noted her burst of anger, knowing that bringing up bad events of the past involving this subject would
not be in his best interest if he wanted to be on her good side. But do I want to be on her good side? He thought to himself.
"Sorry if I've scared you at all, but since I replace the first ranger her I've seen five crew deaths, which I know isn't as bad as what it was when this program first began, but still. You don't want to be out when it's dark, 'kay? That's just the fundamental rule of surviving here."
"I get it," He grumbled in response, "I won't be outside when it's dark, you have my word."
"It's not your word I want; it's not having to clean up this mess in the morning if you don't follow the rule. Too many nice young faces come here and get cocky, deciding to break the rules and act like their hot shit, but let me tell you this. Not a single person has been out past eleven o'clock PM. Even then, worse things have happened, the incident five years back with Ranger Peterson's death…now that's a creepy story that deserves a moment of anyone's time."
"I'll make sure to ask you about it," Starling replied with a slight tinge of sarcasm, another part nervous to hear more of her stories.
"If you want me to tell it you just have to ask. Now I'm going back to the mess hall, you hurry on back there once you've finished sorting things out."
With that she simply turned around and watched her leave, his eyes watching until she could no longer be seen. The place wasn't as he expected, but he wanted something new, something dangerous and deep down he was excited to begin his first real research assignment. If only there were more women like that he thoughtas she disappeared.
Walking up the stairs Jessie let out a sigh of relief. Another head to keep track of? Maybe this one wouldn't end up on the menu, but it was still another person she'd have to socialize with. Hopefully her stories had frightened him to the point of staying the fuck away from her and her business.
Entering the mess hall she found Hyde skin four large lizard-like creatures and throwing cut chunks of meat onto a pan in the middle of the table. She wrinkled her nose at the act.
"We got a new shipment of food and you still want to serve that for dinner?" Typically their meat shipment was very low, and making stew out of the rodent sized reptiles had been a popular treat. But nothing compared to good 'ol homegrown beef.
"I'm not serving it, bitch!" He shouted angrily, obviously still displeased about the fact that he'd had to repair the wall. "I'm saving up for when provisions are down."
She smiled and sat across from him with a toothy grin that she rarely exhibited. "Sure you just didn't want to let your energy out on them because you couldn't let it out on me in the nice reception room?" Giggling she licked her lips mockingly.
"Oh hush up you! When that boy gonna get here anyway?"
"Probably thirty minutes." She shrugged.
"He threw the knife against the table. "Well how about we-"
"The answer is 'no', Hyde."
Looking into the room Jason instantly decided that "neglected" wasn't as bad as she'd made it out to be. Thick layers of dust had coated the furniture, and dirt was clinging to the bed in various places, but nothing that couldn't be swept and scraped away with a bit of effort. Once he started to work he began to think of being home with his parents again, only this time he was cleaning his room just because he could and actually wanted his room to meet some mental standards.
After about half an hour the place looked noticeably better, which was good enough for him so he moved on to setting up some of his things. Clothes into the drawers, family photos on the small desk located in the corner, and several books which he stacked to the right of his small bed, and with a sigh of satisfaction he had finished his work, and all in the time of thirty minutes. He rubbed a painting of a stream he'd hung over his bed with relief that everything was in one piece.
Finally making his way to the surface, Starling decided he may as well move over to the mess hall and acquaint himself with the female ranger and get a better understanding of the planet's wildlife. Making his way down the path he couldn't help but wonder why he'd chosen this job out of all the other possible Weyland-Yutani sites. Maybe it was just the rural location and the disconnection from the real world. With all the nonsense happening on the primary planets creatures in the night was probably a nice retreat.
Opening the doors to the hall he soon spotted her on a table to the far right, alongside the other guard, Hyde. Quickly moving to join them he pulled up a chair to make his presence known.
"So, what is it with this place, and what's with all the stories?"
"You really want to know?" She said solemnly, obviously bored with her petty job and his presence, her hair covering most of her face in her slumped posture. Hyde of course was displaying the same dumb grinned he'd exhibited earlier.
"Of course, I want the introductory course of this sanctuary. Who better to tell me than the one who insures my safety, as well as all the other occupants of the site?"
"What, she not make that tour interesting enough for an outstanding gentleman of science such as you?" Hyde smiled with a laugh.
Hyde was soon met with a jab from Jessie's elbow. "Well," she said with a shrug, "may as well tell you, because the more you know, the less likely you are to be the next dead guy who finds up missing."
"Yeah that's never fun explaining to the executives." Hyde leaned over to whisper to Jason. "It's just way too much paper work to simply declare someone dead, if you know what I mean." He soon pulled back to his own chair.
Jessie cleared her throat before continuing. "This research facility started as a small operation some fifteen years ago, lead by Doctor Sillias and his urge to study native fauna. Mainly we deal with plants and small animals, but the dangerous things are these reptilian pack hunters that stalk during sunset. They actually aren't so bad, you'll probably be on an expedition dealing with them at some point, and under Doc's guidance I doubt you'll make a total screw-up, 'cause you look like a smart guy."
"Just don't baby talk them much." Hyde waved his hands in a warning sort of way. "They DON'T like the sentimental crap at all…unlike Jess here..."
"Shut the fuck up with the commentary, Hyde!" She snapped before turning her attention back to Jason. "So they started their expeditions, and things simply didn't work out. Those lizards got lots of them the first time out, and others simply vanished, that being why this place became so unimportant to Weyland-Yutani executives, so we got decreased to teams of around ten at a time, Sillias being the only one to stay here from start to finish."
She patted the table calmly, staring at him blankly, giving him chills due to the sheer lack of emotion. And the fact that Hyde's comments no longer were breaking the mood.
"Well," He said, trying to ignore the glare he was currently receiving from the female ranger, "Doctor Sillias sounds like a very commendable man, who I look forward to working with in the near future. His record is the reason I chose this place for my first job for Weyland-Yutani."
She waved the index finger of her right hand in front of her face, a joyless grin emerging on her face, as if he was a child and she was a parent who loved displaying her superior knowledge on the subject at hand.
"I haven't told you the story for what happened last time five years ago when I was appointed here. So sit tight and listen, boy. This one you may actually find interesting from your smart, doctor-boy point of view, so sit tight."
He nodded his head in response, not really wanting to protest to her story telling, considering he'd confronted her for information and that she'd be one of the things that kept people alive out here. It was not his right to deny her the right to tell this story so he wouldn't refuse it.
"Whew-wee, boy," Hyde said with a chuckle shaking his head. "You brought down the hammer. This one's fucking great."
Surprisingly Jessie didn't snap at Hyde for this comment. Instead she stayed focused, looking Jason in the eyes, taking a breath before beginning her story.
"So five years ago they start thinking security is at an all time high, that this place is a perfect refuge for men of science and nature, our teams now having the safety of the bunker to go to if trouble ever emerged. As you could probably tell, the bunker is the most efficient and state of the art structure on this hunk, and that's because Weyland-Yutani decided we were worth enough to provide safety to the employees. But, shortly after this disappearances start occurring again, this time with no explanation. Night and day, they'd just vanish whether they were inside the base or outside. Teams were sent to find out what had happened, only to come back with nothing. No matter what they did night by night, day by day more disappeared, until finally we had a single witness during a single rainy day. Our former engineer, Paul, was out for a walk in the rain, going to repair one of the research vehicles when he saw something. This thing he described to us walked upright, its face was that of a blank metal mask, adorned with various bones and other pieces of what he could only be described, as some sort of alien witch doctor." She pointed her index and middle and index fingers towards her eyes then towards Jason's. "Paul looked at it, and it looked back at him. Where a human's eyes would've been there was a sudden flash of yellow! The thing then continued to look over him; Paul in turn looked over it seeing a human body clenched by the neck, blood running from its lips, mixing with the water. It was former Ranger team leader Peterson. Then in an instant the thing had gone, running away and bounding over the wall, Peterson's corpse still held tight in his hand without paying Paul any more attention. Paul had been unarmed and totally pathetic, but it just turned its head and ran."
"So there's intelligent life on this planet?" Starling inquires his interest perking as he leaned towards her, placing his elbows on the table.
She shrugged in response. "We're not really sure, but when we found several Rangers strung up and skinned, we decided that only an intelligent species could have been behind it, so we've focused the blame on this creature. Peterson and several other lead Rangers weren't skinned, but simply had their skulls and spines removed."
"Wasn't no clean cut and yank job either." Hyde added in. "Shit, it looked like someone took their hand and rammed it into them like a ranger puppet and simply yanked it out from base to skull in one clean peace…clean if you exclude the body fluids that undoubtedly flew." Hyde pretended to slam his hand into something and made wet splattering and cracking noises with his mouth, obviously trying to act out what he'd just described."
"We don't know why the thing vanished after that, maybe it didn't want to hunt during the rainy season, but for the last few years we haven't had one death that could be linked to this creature. We've also never figured out why it didn't simply kill everyone in the base if it was able to dispatch trained rangers with ease; Peterson had been the reception room, always carrying a multitude of weapons with him. As for our boy, Paul, he left two years ago, not wanting to put up with this anymore. Who can blame him? This is fun and all, but when my required term is done I', out of here and I suggest you do the same boy."
"I'll take it under advisement." Starling nodded, already fascinated by this find, not believing that they hadn't pursued the answers. "What happened to this creature, this alien warrior? What became of it?"
"Hell if I know, we simply stopped working at nights, that being the time it, or they, struck most frequently and we didn't want to risk anymore lives just for the sake of studying nocturnal species."
"Yeah…" Hyde said with a shrug. "We don't want to be looking for trouble considering after that our employee count was lowered by the company and we seriously don't want to poke this thing in the ass if we don't have to. I thought you scientists were all for leaving nature alone."
"Interesting," He muttered nodding his head. "I'll have to do some research on that, I may find something. This species could be quite the specimen, if captured alive, or even dead, its brain would be worth studying to see how it differs from our own."
"Dude!" Hyde exclaimed waving his arms. "Fucking doctor's man! What is up with your lot and poking animals in the ass? If that thing shows up we're moving the food to the bunkers and sitting things the fuck out until the rain comes. End of story, the end."
Jessie nodded in agreement, obviously calmer then Hyde was. "I'll I know is kill first, ask questions later as far as this thing's concerned." She snorted, no cleaning her pistol with a white cloth, seeming to ignore Starling once again. The gun was now the only thing in the room on her mind.
Hyde wagged a finger in Starling's direction. "You listen here boy; you won't get a single ranger in this base that'll willingly go out to find that thing. All we want is to live through our terms here, get paid, go home and live out the rest of our pathetic lives in happiness."
"I understand that." He replied, knowing he'd agitated the man. "Sorry, I only meant that it would be worth studying, I didn't mean that we'd be the ones to do it. I'm all for running with our tails between our legs if this thing shows up again." He laughed. "Trust me; I won't go after this thing because of simply being afraid of it coming after me."
Hyde laughed and patted Jason's back. "Now that's more like it! I knew I'd like you Jason, moment you got off that piece of shit transport. You just have a nice aura circling around you."
"Ummmm, thank you?" Jason stuttered, not knowing if Hyde was serious or simply messing with him.
Suddenly Jessie looked up from the gun and towards a monitor that hung from the wall, which caused her lips to form a smile. Her lips were very thin, not very noticeable, probably why when she smiled and you spotted the motion it felt like you were witnessing a rare occurrence worth documenting.
"Alright, boy, you're gonna get to see some real people in just a second. Team's gotten back a tad bit early so straighten yourself up and try to not look like you're a total new guy at this job. State your name and why your hear, and hope it satisfies Sillias or you'll be spending your days with me and
Hyde on base watch, and trust me that makes for an uneventful day for an aspiring man of science such as yourself."
"Yeah, pick a fight with one of the other guys and kick his ass." Hyde said with a laugh. "That way no one will want to fuck with you.
Once again he had trouble telling whether or not the man's comments were jokes or not.
"I'm ready for this; I've been ready for this." Starling muttered, cracking his neck and brushing back his light blonde hair. "I'm here to work, and I will work, regardless of what Sillias says."
Jess smiled is an amused fashion as if he'd just made a clever remark, to which he returned a low-scale scowl, not really wanting to have a conflict with her, considering her power and wanting to start things off on the right foot.
"Hope you'd actually be ballsy enough to say that to his face, because if so you just might make it here…alright, here they come, better start praying boy; rub your grades for luck."
Not caring about the Ranger's sarcastic remarks Jason Starling sat still in his chair facing the mess hall's entrance, just waiting for those doors to open, his heart beating at a faster rate, which he did not take note of because he was about to live his dream as a xenologist and perhaps even prove the existence of a intelligence. That was an opportunity that would make any one in his line of work giddy with joy.
He had been ready for this since he walked away from the university…
He was ready for this.