Authors Notes: This book does have some rather mature aspects to life and relationships. Also expect death scenes not for the faint of heart. This story is meant for older teenagers and adults. This is your only warning. Oh shit, did that pipe just move?!
Aliens
Falling Inside the Black
By
Nightingale's Reaper
Prologue
Cerberus Station
Quietus star system, located in the Black Widow Nebula
"Ah fuck me!" Chief engineer Salem cursed as he held his bleeding thumb.
Salem couldn't believe he fucking cut himself on the goddamn mother board to the forward FTL comm array. He swore again more profoundly in his New Orleans accent. He stuck his brown bleeding thumb in his mouth and sucked. He spat at the coppery tang of his blood. Why did he fucking do that? He shook his head. Right now he just felt like pulling the damn motherboard out and slamming it on the ground. "Fuck, now I'm going to have to file a goddamn incident and injury report." He growled.
Salem looked at the open server. He could see his blood on the sharp corner of the motherboard. He didn't understand why it was so god damn sharp. The board had to be some cheaply made piece of We-yu shit. He groaned. He needed to get the FTL comm array back online.
Salem walked back up to the server and started cleaning off the motherboard. He couldn't wait to get it done. He had to rebuild the whole server from scratch and spare parts because of some freak accident. A couple of days ago the server suffered a short that literally had all of its components blown clear out of its casing. Salem remembered it looked like a guy took a damn chainsaw to the thing. He spent the last forty-eight hours rebuilding the whole damn thing.
Salem swore again as he connected the last circuit to the power supply. If the comm array breaking wasn't enough, the station has been having personal mysteriously disappear the last couple of days. That made the station commander crawl up Salem's ass demanding that he'd fix the array as fast possible. Salem laughed, like he didn't already know that. No one respects him for the work he does on this backwater station. Every time when something breaks down they all turn to him and demand that he'd fix it. Hell even the maintenance crews under his command begs him to fix it for them.
Salem's stomach growled. He was starving and his lunch was late. One of his workers was supposed to bring a meal from the mess up to him as he finished working on the array. The bastard was late. Salem sighed, lazy good for nothings. He moved away from the server. He might as well go and grab his own food. Salem moved toward the hatch when he realized something. Salem checked his watch and he hasn't had anyone report in to him in over fourteen hours. "The hell is going on?" He whispered.
Salem pulled a radio from his coveralls. He saw that the radio was still charged and that it was on. Why didn't anyone contact him? He scowled at the volume dial. It was turned all the way to zero. He shook his head and turned the volume up to seven. "This is Salem, report in." He spoke into the radio.
All that greeted him was white noise. That was weird. He switched the radio to broadcast on all channels. "This is Salem, anybody alive out there?"
More white nose. He didn't like this. He decided to try one last time. He pressed down on the transmit button. He froze. He felt something slide past his leg. He looked down and couldn't believe what he was seeing. He saw a long black segmented tail wrap between his legs. His hands shook violently, making the radio rattle. What the hell was he looking at? He felt like screaming but his voice was stuck in his throat. He heard a hiss. Salem closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He was seeing things. He had to be seeing things. He was going to turn around and open his eyes, nothing will be there.
Salem turned around, slowly. He felt his legs press against the segmented tail. The tail coiled up his calf. He told himself he was imagining the sensation. He turned completely around and opened his eyes. Oh god…
Salem stared in horror as he gazed at a creature that seemed to come from his very nightmares. Its elongated head rose up and greeted him with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Salem was frozen stiff as he watched the nightmare spread its arms for him. The creature looked to be more mechanical than organic. The slow and graceful motions it made around him seemed hypnotic. The creature held its arms out waiting for an embrace, it seemed forever patient. Salem didn't make a sound, he just stared as the creature's segmented tail crawled up his back and pushed him toward its grasp.
Salem screamed as the creature grabbed his head violently. He tried to struggle. His body finally snapping out of the hypnotic trance he was in. Salem wrenched at the nightmare's arms but it wouldn't budge. He couldn't believe the strength it had. Salem cried as he watched the monster open its mouth of silver fangs. He saw a second mouth filled with even more fangs and that too as well opened. Salem screamed out for help as loud as he could. Someone help him please. He cried and sobbed but no one would come, he was alone in death's embrace. He screamed one last time and then he screamed no more…