Dead Space
Chapter One: Grave Beginnings
Isaac Clarke, Engineering and Ship systems specialist; regardless of his own thoughts he was a well respected and strong asset to the large scale business mogul CEC.
Admittedly the dark haired man felt somewhat out of place aboard the interstellar vessel. Amidst this current crew of five he was the eldest. Considering his age though, it was amazing how regular stasis procedures kept him looking as youthful as he did. Isaac's round yet strongly structured face surveyed the innards of the USG Kellion. It was standard fare, no visible luxuries; just the bare necessities needed of a repair voyage.
Isaac, much like his own reflective thoughts, was a man of standard build. Just shy of six feet he was plagued with a past of slouching, hiding his true height. His black hair was kept in a constant state close to the scalp in a buzzed fashion and as a man of little offered words his brow was usually locked in an endless furrow of determination.
Now, well into man's 26th century this peculiar amalgamation of a crew made their way through Shockpoint to their destination: the ever proud USG Ishimura. With the natural resources of Earth all but depleted humanity sought the stars for refuge. With the leaps in technology achieved throughout the passing centuries people moved beyond the atmosphere literally taking the stars as their own.
Planetcracking was the term given to the procedure of removing and reducing massive tectonics from their home world for a fresh brew of resources. It came to be known as 'Popping the Cork' throughout the Concordance Extraction Corporation (CEC). The Ishimura was this company's pride and joy and now it was on its final Planetcrack in the furthest star system today's technology could accomplish on Aegis in the Cygnus galaxy.
Isaac Clarke sat like an obedient soldier, a solid statue in his rigidly cushioned passenger seat. His eyes flowed over his fellow crewmates. At the bow of the interior manning the helm was the co-pilots consisting of the two men Johnston and Chen, neither of whom Isaac knew much of. Over their shoulders, supported by well toned arms was Zarchary Hammond, the Chief Security Officer along to 'keep the peace' so to speak. He was a no nonsense man of African descent who usually took offense to the most innocent of jests. Clarke had heard the stories of how he'd climbed the ranks within the CEC. He wasn't a backstabber by any means, he simply believed in the 'old school' way of doing things. Then there was Kendra Daniels who sat to his right no more than an arm's length away. Judging from his quick glance she showed only a hint of unsettlement. Her fingers picked at the bottom of her white top. Her character was apparent: small woman with a hefty attitude easily displaced when out of her comfort zone like she was here. Prior to boarding Isaac had learned this was only her third trek off the massive colony of Mars. She was the Computer Specialist of the group, but to Isaac she was his job's lifeblood. She'd be filling him in on the 'where's' and 'when's' of this repair mission.
That was right; they were out, soaring through thousands upon thousands of light years of empty space, to reach the distressed Ishimura. At least that was everyone's thoughts but Isaac's. He was making this trip out to be an opportunity to see Nicole. Only he was deathly afraid for her since receiving her last sent message. In the video log it was obvious she was at wit's end. He could hear it in her breaking voice and see it in her oddly forlorn eyes. Desperation had saturated her message.
What made matters worse for the engineer was where their relationship stood when she last left his side. They had hit a rather significant rut, fighting over something so petty. He could have knocked himself a good one when reminiscing about it. There seemed only one resolve left to him, and he'd brought it along with him. A plan he'd constructed and anticipated to carry out upon Nicole's return, Isaac Clarke stared longingly down at his open right hand. An engagement ring, pleasing to the eye, sat nestled in the dark of his palm. After all, a man gaining on his mid-forties had nothing else other than his job. And to Isaac the well paying job was something he could adapt to without, Nicole, however, was not.
He was entranced, somehow, on that little shred of jewelry until a familiar face reeled him back to reality with its sturdy tone.
"Isaac," said Security Officer Hammond. He was glancing subtly over his left shoulder at him never removing himself from behind the pilots. "Our ETA is less than fifteen minutes, you might want to think of suiting up ahead of time. I'm aware of how an engineer's RIG can take quite some time to put on by oneself."
To someone unfamiliar to the man's demeanor it may have sounded like a poise of caring. In fact, it was a declaration of him wanting to get the assigned task done and over with as soon as possible. Clarke didn't even muster a word, simply nodding to the firm figure and went off to a panel that opened at the back of the vessel. There, hanging like tools in a shed were the many components of his RIG, a necessary piece of equipment in any outer space adventure.
Before he even touched the suit he took special precaution to put the ring in a breast pocket of his tight fitting shirt.
First Isaac donned the micro hydraulic lined Kevlar body suit slipping the whole garment over his other clothes. It was more than a snug fit, conforming to the engineer's every muscle and curve. It began just above his jaw line and ended just above his ankles where uncomfortable straps looped under the heels of his feet. Next he followed this with ribs of titanium armor, locking into place, which protected the wearer from things like spewing debris while still allowing the maneuverability necessary in tight spots. When Clarke fitted the metal gloves and boots he was nearly ready. Lastly, there was the iconic engineer helmet with its lit visor for extra sight capabilities. He removed it from its place on the wall but refused to strap it on till they landed, it was a good thing to wear, but its stuffiness was unrivaled.
Nearly ten minutes after Hammond's instruction Isaac Clarke was ready for work. He shut the paneling and lumbered back to his seat, every step thudding like a dropped bag of sand. He sighed under his breath. These suits were so stifling and cumbersome literally taking minutes to get reacquainted with the restricted movements. Back at CEC headquarters they were about to unveil the next line of RIGs. He couldn't wait to try one of those ones on, what with their 'flip helmet' features. Until then he carried the helmet underarm back to his seat where he slumped into it allowing the extra seventy-plus pounds the suit added to impact the seat making Kendra give him a raised brow.
"Comfortable, Isaac?" Hammond asked with a smirk contorting his lips.
The engineer shrugged, the miniature hydraulics hardly inaudible. "As comfortable as I'll get, I think."
Zach returned his gaze back to the bow's bulbous window. "Get ready, everyone, Contact Point in three minutes."
Isaac ignored the officer placing the heavy helmet in his lap and he depressed a button on the underside of his right glove. A holographic image flickered to life hovering a good foot from his face. Meanwhile, Kendra Daniels stood from her seat and closed in on Hammond in anticipation of catching a bird's eye view of the legendary vessel. Back before the engineer a fuzzy display began with a woman's soft face; light colored hair styled to follow her scalp to impeccable detail. Sound poured in after a moment's delay.
"Isaac, it's me. I wish I could talk to you," said the video log. Nicole's last sent video log. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry about everything. I wish I could just talk to someone. It's all falling apart here I can't believe what's happening."
Isaac scanned the video with great detail as he did the last dozen times he'd played the message. Disregarding the possible annoyance of his crewmates, he'd played it just to hear Nicole's voice and see her face, even if the image was distorted here and there. He wanted to reach out and touch her. Knowing he couldn't was just another pain in his heart. The video continued its replay.
"It's strange… it's the little things—" Before Nicole could get another word off the static overpowered her voice as he reluctantly ended the log. Enveloping Isaac's sight now was Kendra peering over him like a guardian almost. He'd think her attractive if she didn't wear such a smug aura about her.
"How many times have you watched that thing?" the techie asked him. "Guess you really miss her… don't worry, we're almost there. You'll be able to look her up once we're onboard. Sounds like you two have a lot of catching up to do."
He shook his head slowly, almost in a humiliated fashion. Behind both her and Zach flashed the brilliance that was Shockpoint; reality's equivalent to films' hyperspace. The spectacle lit up the inside of the Kellion like a maniacal Christmas decoration. Zach was now looking over his own holographic display, rather than the pilots' shoulders, that turned his features a smudged orange. Suddenly the display disintegrated into thin air as he shut it off and he strode back to his rightful place at the barred window. Moments later the vessel gave a great jostle and they exited their Shockpoint letting radiant light from a far off sun splash over them all. It made Isaac squint.
A field of rubble awaited them. The pieces ranged from pebble size to that of three or four city blocks. (And that was just one side of such a chunk.) Each one piece was jagged. Somewhere beyond that drifting mess was the Planetcracker Ishimura, their long awaited destination. When the monstrous icon unleashed itself from behind the garbled mess of rock it was a sight to behold. Five hundred years before then not a single person in their right mind would have thought such a feat possible. Yet here it was, a ship several football fields long gently hovering within the orbit of Aegis VII hauling a titanic hunk of rock beneath it the size of a modern day town and then some. Hammond, as expected, was the first to say a word.
"All right, everyone, we're here—syncing our orbit now."
Kendra waltzed up to the officer's side, her 'high and mighty' attitude making a triumphant debut. "All this trouble over that chunk of rock," she exhaled every syllable a tangible sigh.
"Deep space mining is a lucrative business Ms. Daniels." Just like Zach to fill in the ignorant. "Aegis VII is a goldmine according to prospectors' reports: cobalt, silicon, osmium… now, where is she?"
Isaac rolled his eyes, slackening his head. The mission hadn't even technically begun and these two forces were already butting heads. It was going to be a 'swell' job for the engineer. At least I have Nicole, he thought. Abruptly, Hammond's determined tone came back into the mix.
"There she is we have visual contact."
The engineer rose in his seat despite the weight of the suit trying to suck him back in. Somewhere aboard that construction of steel was his other half. Once more his thoughts were disrupted by the squabbling figureheads.
"So that's the Ishimura… impressive," Daniels chided to herself aloud.
Zach made sure to correct her improper addressing of the vessel. "The USG Ishimura, biggest Planetcracker in her class and it looks like they've already popped the cork."
Simultaneously Clarke and Kendra tilted their heads. To people of their training qualifications something was off about the ship. Kendra declared it before he could.
"Why's it all dark? I don't see any running lights."
On such a fine piece of machinery a total power outage was out of the question. "—the hell?" Isaac muttered. "What do you think; a power grid failure?"
Daniels shrugged. "With all the technicians onboard that should be an impossibility. But I guess we'll soon enough find out."
Hammond instructed Chen to hail the ship and keep distinct distance from the scattered debris.
"USG Ishimura, this is the emergency maintenance team of the USG Kellion responding to your distress call. Come in Ishimura."
A transmission flared over the frontend speakers. It held no real form as its static infested spatter of sounds echoed throughout the hull. Kendra reminded the three men to boost the signal given its low output. Hammond tried to show his own brainpower by complying in his own right. "Boost the signal," he said. The jumble of noise excelled but it was still indiscernible. "More," he added.
Now Clarke was concerned. Aboard any ship, especially Planetcrackers, a communications blackout was unheard of and the never ending Daniels voiced his reflective thoughts. "You'd think with a thousand people onboard someone would pick up the phone."
As soon as the sentence left her pallet another orange display reeled up, this time before the co-pilots on the consol between them. A visual representation showed the ups and downs of the sounds' pitch. The disturbing voice sounded nearly inhuman to Isaac, but he kept his mouth shut. He was a person that was better seen than heard; at least, that's what he thought.
"It's a busted array like we thought," she said, relieving Johnston's bewildered demeanor. "Sounds like they're having problems with their encoder, you get us down there Isaac and I can fix it… forty-eight hours, max."
Obviously pleased to hear the diagnosis, Hammond gave Kendra a nod, the first agreement they'd had all trip. It would probably be their last as well. With a growing grin painted on his face, the officer ordered the pilots to initiate the docking procedures.
The blue and purplish hues radiated by the Kellion's gravity tethers that helped lock them in toward the incoming Ishimura cascaded on either side of the large display window. Then something happened, something unexpected. Scraps of metal flew past outside as something on the Kellion's hull gave way under great strains of pressure. Every last one of them felt it in their being as they swayed in place.
"Sir, we're off track, we're gonna hit the hull!" Johnston shouted.
Hammond's superior tactical thinking immediately showed itself. "Hit the blast shields! Their guidance tether's damaged, switch to manual now!"
Amidst the sudden chaos Kendra stepped into the officer's face. "Inside the magnetic field, are you insane? Abort!"
"No," Hammond argued, agitated by the fighting in a situation it didn't call for. "We can make it inside. Corporal, I gave you an order!"
Chen brought a gloved hand to an overhead lever and gave it a firm thrust. Instantaneously heavy bulkheads encased the window with a driving slam causing a holographic display of the ship's flight path to come on.
"The field's too strong!" It was the last thing anyone said before all sound heightened to a rumble of discord.
The impact made everything shudder, Isaac nearly falling from his seat. Light overcame every inch of the ships inside and the grinding noise of metal to metal and utter destruction scurried about till their ears were bound to split. Then everything went calm, and dark—sheer dark.
Coughs were the first sign of life. Some grunts followed suit and a distorted light came from the holographic flight display that still shone with a newfound ferocity. As Isaac brought his gaze up to shoulder level he found everyone in their respective places. The co-pilots Chen and Johnston still in their seats, Kendra and Hammond behind them, just now coming to their feet were all in perfectly fine condition, so it appeared to him.
"Is everyone okay?" Zach asked, a whimper bubbling between his words. Before anyone could confirm Daniels jumped headfirst down his throat.
"What—what the hell were you thinking? Were you trying to get us killed?"
Zach stood his ground giving her a piece of his mind and know-how. "I just saved our asses, Ms. Daniels. If we'd aborted at that speed and distance we'd've smashed right into the side of the Ishimura."
Kendra shook her head, a hand applied to the bangs of her hair. Hammond now tried to revolve the tensions in the air to those of necessary tasks to get their minds off the impending end they'd just narrowly avoided.
"Now settle down. Let's get to work." He adjusted his sights over to Chen. "Corporal, report."
The pilot responded right away. "I'm not getting any readings for the port booster, and we've lost comms and auto-pilot. It'll take some time to fix."
"Alright, let's get some extra hands from flight deck to help out," Zach said, as reassuringly as he could.
The officer heaved a sigh sliding a flat hand over his bare scalp. It was either something he did when under stress or he was merely removing the sweat. In the meantime, Isaac rose from where he'd been sitting all the while and pulled up the helmet from its place it had found on the perforated metal floor. Knowing what needed to be done he let the heavy helmet fall over him. When it refused to go down any further he pushed the lock feature on the back of it causing a mechanism to lock into the back of the Kevlar suit just under the nape of his neck. He hit another button under his right glove and everything in his immediate sight ignited from his fluorescent-like blue visor. Now Kendra stood inches from the engineer.
The techie laid a hand over the suit's operating device that jutted from the chest of it like a block of finely whittled wood. "Hold still, Isaac, I'm syncing up everyone's RIG with the ship."
Running along every crewmate's spine was a machine that showcased that individual's personal health. It was a jump in technological advancement that almost rivaled the Planetcracker itself.
"Okay, we're done," Daniels continued. She looked over Clarke's shoulder then back over her own to get a look at the other three's RIGs. Upon doing that she fell back to the flats of her feet. Every RIG's spinal display climbed from bottom to top glowing a shade of blue. "Clean bill of health for everyone."
The engineer took the given moment of down time to take a stab at comfort. He twisted at the waist then attempted a couple stretches at the shoulders and neck. The other four made their way past him, Johnston giving Isaac an unsure pass of the eye which he ignored. Zach said something that Isaac didn't pay that much mind to either. Outside the window, the bulkheads having been released, everything had an eerie calm about it. He wondered where Nicole was. Taking a small med pack with him just in case, the man followed his crewmates off the vessel immediately met by licking flames from a sheered mass of the Kellion's outside hull making any further voyage in that direction on the walkway an impossible task.
When he took a right the three men were up ahead fronting the pack. Kendra was a good twenty paces behind them giving what was left of the ship an infuriating look over. "You didn't lose power to the port booster, you lost the port booster."
The five of them inched down the seemingly endless walkway. Even from where their ship sat burning to the one and only available door was easily a couple hundred feet. The slightest sound in such a vast and cavernous place as the hangar was amplified ten, twenty fold. Isaac's metal, stomp-like footfalls were a prime example of this effect.
He swerved past Kendra keeping his pace a steady, brisk walk. In no time he was backing up the other three leaving her trailing.
The group was first welcomed by an automated advertisement video that helped disclose the Ishimura's past with its six decades of service and its Planetcracks ranging well into the thirties. In other words, it was the giant vessel's bragging rights all in caricatured form, and the only one amongst the crew who slowed enough to even give it a glimpse was Isaac.
A few steps further and they'd officially entered the flight foyer. Luggage had been amassed here and strewn almost like rubbish. There was no soul in sight, not a single employee to be seen. That eeriness the engineer had first sensed onboard the Kellion was now mounting ever so higher by the second. No one said a word about it, but the feeling and realization of the situation was there. Taking the lead of the expedition, Zach made the first pass at speech.
"Guess the power's down everywhere. Isaac," he called, motioning with a jerk of his head, "get over here and hack this door pad."
A first since they'd embarked, Isaac chuckled aloud as he approached the thick double doors. "I forgot the age of this place. They still use these old model door pads." He started the procedure following all the basic steps using the door's holographic pad like a keyboard. Though he joked, these doors were still relevant sixty years later, these doors being the original and most primitive. Being the first of their kind opening them took some time. They came to be known as 'Finger Lock' doors.
Upon getting the process finished the door slid open, each half of the double doors slinking back into the walls on either side. Hammond and Clarke were the first two into the next room. First a pitch black abyss, sensors tripped by their movement brought the overhead lights to a brilliant glare lighting every single inch of the room. Once again there had been more luggage tossed about. It was starting to feel like an omen to Isaac. A clearing of his throat made the thought pass and subside.
"Seems like everyone was trying to pack in a hurry." It was Kendra this time to say something. Isaac's stare made a pass at Johnston on the far right who was looking jitterier now. Some people can't take near death experiences very well, he thought. It would've been more humorous if it were so fear inducing.
Zach mentioned security detail making Daniels jump at him again. Either the tension was already beginning to nip at everyone's heels or Isaac just had an unsettling knot in his stomach. Her statement caused a time of thought for Hammond who applied a curled pointer finger over his mouth. When his eyes lifted in thought something caught his attention on the other side of the window panels behind the far wall.
"That security console is still live," he said, pointing to it. "Isaac, log in, see what you can find. Kendra, get that elevator back online."
In retort the dark haired woman threw tense hands on her hips. "Power's dead. I can't!"
The officer met her shout with an equally brooding snap. "Then reroute the damn power!"
For once Kendra showed a sign of submission and turned to face the downed elevator's door popping up a familiar orange holo-display. Right away Hammond felt guilt ridden over his hot temper.
"Look," he started, "if we all cooperate we can figure this out a lot sooner. Just get that computer display up, Isaac."
Saving his ears from another unnecessary bout of attitudes the engineer did as he was told obediently, silently. He trudged to the unlocked door, raising a gloved hand, and sent it sliding open with its motors. He stepped into the arched hall and immediately fell witness to a literal bloodbath.
The crimson fluid was everywhere; the floors, walls, even ceiling. No surface was safe here. Clarke took a step into the mess. It was starting to stick, but it was still semi fresh. The rank odor of death had utterly overrun the small hallway. Isaac flicked a third button on the underside of his right glove opening up his communications radio. It was linked up with all his fellow crew members. "Things just went from bad to worse here, Hammond."
Right away their faces turned to meet his lit visor. Without saying another word he pointed casually to a smeared stain on a pane of glass. Johnston was closest and narrowed his eyes in examination. He nodded to Chen who respectively nodded to Zach.
"Its blood," Johnston said, "and lots of it. Whomever's it is is either bed ridden or… you know."
Hammond gave a subtle nod. The men stood rigid while Kendra, her back now against the same door she'd been trying in vain to unlock.
"Be on guard everyone. I'm switching my rifle's safety off. Anything happens, you two do the same." It was Hammond.
Isaac cautiously inched over to the display showcasing a holo-image of a downscaled Ishimura, his thick boots suctioning from the floor all the way. Just what did I get myself into? he thought. What in the world happened? When he activated the display reading 'Damage Report' another thought came rippling into his conscience. Does this have something to do with the luggage out there?
With the display starting its diagnostic nearly every section of the scaled ship went from a calm blue to a fiery red, small text boxes disclosing the received blows. Johnston still at the window, watched from the other side as the blue hologram shifted to red reflecting the surrounding, crimson blood, making him voice his opinion.
"That doesn't look good. She's taken a lot of damage."
Twenty feet behind the pilot Zach started up another exclamation of bad news. "The Tram system's offline, getting around's going to be difficult…" Jumping to life was the ventilation system streaming in fresh air from Hydroponics. Hammond peered to the ceiling vents watching as the once distilled dust fluttered in the artificial breeze. "The air seems to be flowing again, that's a start."
Isaac stood rubbing his suit where his heart beat, or rather, where the ring was nested. Sooner rather than later he'd like the opportunity to meet up with Nicole. But then, without prior warning, that too became a hardship.
First signaled by the ear piercing alarms and circulating lights that turned everything in and out of the lobby a bloody red, a quarantine protocol had been tripped. Right after every nearby window was closed off with a shutter-like shield.
The Chief Security Officer attempted to displace everyone's growing fears by saying it was a simple activation due to the filtration system's reboot. It seemed the group had calmed somewhat until a sudden barrage of ambient sounds rifled throughout the room. It was as if they ruptured from everywhere all at once. Creaks and groans unfamiliar to any vessel reverberated back and forth in the people's ears.
Something snapped over the others inside the Flight Lounge. "What was that? Did you hear that?" Daniels asked, her character altering from tough-as-nails to jumpy in an instant.
A smashing of metal was heard. Because of the sight affecting sirens no visible cause could be seen—not at first. Once again Kendra was the first to realize. Maybe it was her heightened senses. "Something's in the room with us!"
Isaac saw the thing first, then Johnston. Only for Johnston it was too little too late, it was already on top of him.
The engineer threw himself into the glass. "Johnston—behind you!"
Whatever it was sank a long protrusion into the off-guard pilot. He gurgled out nonsensical sounds from to the sheer pain. This impalement was followed by another and another still. He never had the opportunity to undo the safety on his gun. The engineer almost thought the thing was trying to skewer the poor man apart, devour him.
At last the others spotted it but not until Johnston's blood smattered over the glass pane Clarke stood behind. "Open fire, open fire!" cried Hammond. Pulse blasts from both his and Chen's rifles tore the air in half sending out elongated shadows and blinding surges of white light. The enigmatic enemy became a nightmarish silhouette. Only Hammond's shots connected making further blood coat the row of windows. Chen's shots missed entirely splintering several windows with wasted gunfire.
Still the anomaly functioned. Now done with Johnston it made its way toward its next nearest prey… Chen. Panic set in at full swing. The two men kept their rifles up, unloading blast after blast. Both Isaac and Kendra stood by, helpless to make a single action.
"Kendra—power!" Zach reminded the Computer Specialist.
Knowing right away what must be done the hurried, panicked woman fumbled with the elevator's door pad. From such a distance Isaac couldn't justly see the worry consuming her.
Chen was taken out in a flash. The creature's sights now set on the last remaining two. Hammond threw in a new magazine of fresh ammunition, his eyes quickly darting to Daniels' back. "Kendra!" he screamed again, desperation taking him over.
Kendra's mouth fed a line of rushed fear. "Come on, come on!" She looked over her shoulder, behind her more shots rang free. The thing was no more than six feet away now. Then—
"Got it!" she shouted. The door pad's red lock emblem switched to blue and the couple ran in leaving whatever was after them, and bewildered Isaac, behind.
The engineer had found his way to the door, his back against it now. He watched as the creature in the lounge literally leaped in one swift motion up a ventilation shaft. Then metal erupted beside him and he found himself face to face with another one of the adversaries.
"Shit," he managed to grunt. A saving grace came over his radio in the form of Kendra's voice.
"Isaac, the door's open. Run!"
As soon as he heard this he turned around as quickly as his suit would allow making the door pad give way with a pass of his hand. He felt a limb come over his shoulder and he elbowed whatever the thing was making it stagger back giving him a golden opportunity to flee. Clarke's Fight-or-Flight response was in full bloom.
Even with the alarm sending out long, distorted buzzes his hefty boots still thudded over the metal floor of the Ishimura's halls. He made a quick right feeling the tension of godforsaken eyes on him the whole way. He made it to a second bend in the hall. The ceiling above him collapsed setting forth a second horror with it. The force knocked him off his sense of balance and he bounced off the wall, pushing off as he did so to regain his running momentum. Behind him still were sickening squeals. They were the calls of predators.
The next segment of hall was a downcast ramp. Isaac reached the bottom nearly stumbling over his own stupid feet. Again it happened—the ceiling failed. As if all odds were against him, a third monster came seeping out from whatever hell it was birthed in. The lone man pressed on more grateful than anything to see through odd, thick smog, the door pad of an elevator. He made a lunge for it, his hand connecting, the door taking a heart attack-igniting amount of time to open.
In that moment Isaac thought nothing of his beloved Nicole. It was strictly survival. Fear had ensnared him in a sick embrace. "Go!" he screamed in agitation at the shuddering doors. One of the things came up on him and slammed him against the doors that had just then begun opening.
A sizzle sounded near his ear, obviously something of electronic nature giving out. It was one of the many reasons he loathed the basic engineer RIG model. Before he could give it any further thought, though, the same creature that had pinned him to the door was now making quick work through the Kevlar to the meat in his neck. Clarke went into a frenzy of blows to try deterring his oppressor. Finally, with all other tactics failed, he gave a sharp backward thrust with his helmet staving the thing's efforts long enough to duck beyond the newly opened doors.
A second one of them tried piling into the machine with Isaac. He brought his right leg up as high as it could causing the micro hydraulics to work with such effort they whined in the process. He then jutted the heavily clad leg out like a piston where it met the monster's sternum with a fleshy pound shoving it back into the other two. The creatures collected in a pile giving him enough time to swipe his hand over the elevator's activation pad and its doors went shut much quicker than they'd opened—irony, how he hated it.
As if malfunctioning, the lift sat idle, the pad flashing red. Not now, he thought. Damn it all, not now.
Twin spears wrenched their way through the doors. The disturbing pursuer was in full view now. The rotting smell of death woofed into his face powerful enough that he could smell it through the helmet's visor plain as day. At last the engineer managed a detailed look at it.
Whatever it was, it had once been human. Tatters of blood encrusted clothes trailed from its lanky body like fingers of seaweed. From its back came its arms, long and intrusive with their bone-like spears that came from—dear God—the palms of their hands! Its skin, what was left, was literally decaying to the point of falling off in patches revealing disheveled tissue beneath. Its head slumped low, like a kangaroo slinking into its mother's pouch. The legs it had were strong, shaped like a bird's almost, with long talon-resembling claws and arms the length of a shinbone groping the empty air from its emaciated stomach. It's most prominent and frightful feature by far; however, were its eyes… they were lifeless and combed with the reaper's cajoling.
Isaac brought his arms up to shield himself as the doors to the lift snapped shut taking the creature out with ease. One of its spiked arms wound up in the elevator with him as it finally began its descent. The appendage writhed with whatever life it had left making the man bring up a boot and slam it down with a mighty stomp made easy, again, through the hydraulics.
Alone and afraid, the engineer Isaac Clarke slowly descended to some hell he knew nothing of yet. How many more waited for him? Where would he be when this ride came to an end? Just where in the hell was Nicole and how was she holding up? He had to tell himself to shut up as he slapped either side of the helmet with his open, gloved hands.
In the dark of the humming lift he could only make out two things. One was his labored, faltering breathing. The other was the one thing in him he wanted to keep going no matter what: his heartbeat.