Long hallways made of stone stretched out before Lucy as she leisurely strolled around the alien base. D'Artagnan, Anti, and Lucy had landed her after being chased into the portal. The last world hadn't been too friendly to them, Lucy noted and brushed her gloved hand through her hair.

One of the jerks had used some kind of laser sword to cut some of her hair off. Not that he'd been aiming for her hair. Luckily Anti had been able to direct her to the nearest portal before she'd lost something that couldn't grow back. It wasn't too noticeable, and she was more worried about her watch. It had gotten slammed against some rocks. She'd been able to repair most of the damage, but unfortunately it needed to recharge, which could take some time.

She'd already used some of that time to explore the new world that she'd landed in. This planet seemed to be desolate. The only creatures that she had seen here were either dead or in some kind of stasis. Lucy was careful not to disturb too much. Exploring the ship had been easy with Anti controlling the base's equipment, but she'd been careful not to open doors too much or keep them open for too long. Something had clearly attacked these aliens, and Lucy wasn't too keen on finding out what had.

A shiver went up Lucy's spine, and she crossed her arms. It was cold inside this place. Lucy had found a heated panic room of some kind in the outer section of the base, but it still wasn't entirely warm. After two days of freezing cold, Lucy hoped that the watch would be ready by tomorrow. A noise made Lucy jolt from her thoughts and turn around quickly. A shadow turned into a squirrel and climbed up Lucy before settling on her shoulder.

"Hello, D'Artagnan, did you have fun exploring?" Lucy asked, petting his head. A shiver went through D'Artagnan, but Lucy couldn't tell if it was from the cold, excitement, or fear.

"Um, Lucy! We've got a problem!" Anti shouted from the watch.

"What now? Did you wake up the big guy?!" Lucy asked and tried to keep calm. One of the aliens in the ship below the base was in stasis, and Anti had been playing around with the computer systems.

"Noooo," Anti answered with annoyance. "I'm not stupid. There's a ship approaching. It looks more like a human ship, but it's too far away for me to get into its systems."

"Damn!"

Lucy looked at her watch. She could probably use it now, but it'd be risky. It had taken a hit, and she didn't want it to short out. She looked toward the exit of the base. Outside the ship, the air was pretty toxic, but she did make a respirator that would work. However, the next base was quite a walk.

"Maybe they're friendly," Lucy whispered hopefully but retreated further into the base. "Maybe they're colonists… or researchers."

"Oh, sure… I guess you wouldn't mind another trim."

"Very funny," Lucy replied irritably but ran a hand through her hair. "But it'd be wise to be careful."

Anti cackled as Lucy navigated her way through the halls before finding the panic room. The door blended into the walls around it as it was made from the same stone. Only by finding and pressing a small groove in the rock could someone get inside. She smiled in relief as the door opened. Quickly stepping inside, she found her laptop as the door closed behind her.

Rigging up cameras around the base and ship had been time-consuming, but it had been worth the effort. Lucy clicked through the feeds to check the cameras. It wasn't long before the visitors appeared in one of the camera's views. One of the men pulled out two metal orbs and released them into the air.

"What's he doing?" Lucy whispered to Anti.

"He said something about 'pups,' Anti replied with amusement and confusion.

The "pups" flew through the air and seemed to be scanning the hallways for something. Lucy followed the one coming her way and sighed with relief when it continued down the hallway. Checking the camera further down the hall from where she'd last seen them, she noticed that someone set off one of the alien's recordings as the green specters ran down the hallway with the people running behind.

"They've found our buddy. The one that lost his head under pressure," Anti commented gleefully.

Lucy rolled her eyes and pulled up the camera feed. The dead guy had tripped, and the door had closed on his neck, decapitating him. Lucy had been in the room, but Anti had been careful to only open the door enough for Lucy to slide underneath.

"Oh, looks like the blonde is going for it," Anti said with a cackle as the blonde one looked at the door switch.

The visitors appeared to be human, and they had decided to take their helmets off, which irritated Lucy. No doubt that they weren't going to be nearly as careful as Lucy had been. Lucy quickly packed up most of her things. She needed to be ready to go if these fools somehow managed to release something.

"Two of them left the group by the way," Anti informed her as she packed. "They got freaked out over one dead body. I hope they find the pile!"

"Hopefully they won't," Lucy replied and looked up to see the blonde messing with the switch. "Is it just me or does he look like he knows what he's doing?"

"Maybe he's the translator."

"Maybe," Lucy muttered as the door opened and Anti laughed.

"I like that guy. David. He's funny."

"Was he not supposed to open the door?"

"Nope!"

"Sounds reckless… like someone else I know," Lucy responded as she zipped up her bag and checked the cameras. "Where are those other guys? They should be getting close to the entrance by now."

They had gone the wrong way in their panic. Lucy finally found them on one of the cameras as an alarm on her watch went off. D'Artagnan seemed to sense her unease and turned into a mouse and crawled inside her sweatshirt pocket.

"Apparently a storm is coming," Anti explained. "Looks like those two will be joining you for a sleepover."

"No, they won't," Lucy said and put the laptop in her backpack. "They don't seem to have weapons."

"They don't, but why are you taking the backpack?"

"That creepy room. I have no idea how much damage they're doing to it or what'll happen when they touch things."

"Dammit, David," Anti said jokingly. "That guy. Always touching things."

Lucy left the safety of her room and jogged around the corridors. Finally finding them, she waved at them, but they didn't notice her approach over their own panicked voices.

"Hey, dipsticks! Wrong way!" Lucy called out, causing them both to flinch. She started running and could hear them trying to keep up as she led them through the corridors. As she rounded a corner, she nearly crashed into the blonde one. David looked at her with a mixture of confusion and… something Lucy couldn't figure out.

"Hey," Lucy said awkwardly as the other two caught up to the group.

"Hello," David replied with his head tilted slightly to the side.

"David, hurry! The storm is coming!" one of the women called out before giving Lucy a confused look.

Lucy quickly put on her helmet with a built-in respirator before following them out to get a look at the storm. The wind gave her pause, and she realized that it was too close for her to make it to one of the other bases before the storm hit. She turned to go back inside when a hand grabbed her arm.

"It's dangerous. Please come with us to the ship," David said imploringly.

Lucy shrugged and followed. Without a doubt, they'd pelt her with questions when they got onto the ship, but at least she'd be in a place with heating. Following David to one of the transports, Lucy noticed the two lost guys sitting inside.

"Thank you," one of them said upon seeing her.

"Who are you? What are you doing here? Are you crazy like those doctors?!" the other asked accusingly. "Trying to meet your maker?"

"No, and I was inside the base first. Who the hell are you?" Lucy snapped back.

The friendlier one spoke up quickly, "Oh, we're researchers. I'm Millburn, and he's Fifield. I'm a biologist. And you are?"

"Lucy," she answered and watched Fifield cross his arms and look away.

"Hello, Lucy," David spoke up and gave Lucy a smile. "I'm David."

"Nice to meet you," Lucy replied as a gust of wind shook the vehicle.

"Yeah, so… are you a researcher?"

"No, college dropout," Lucy responded evenly.

Millburn and David looked confused, but Fifield just let out a bark of laughter before a stronger gust hit the vehicle. They made it into the ship's loading bay, but Lucy saw the alien's head fall out of the other vehicle. The woman dove after it, and Lucy ran to the door to go after her. A hand gently held her back.

"Don't worry, Lucy. I'll assist Dr. Shaw… and Dr. Holloway," David said with a hint of irritation as Dr. Holloway drove out in one of the vehicles. David gave Lucy one last smile before he jumped out of the vehicle.