Running Out of Time

"Mr. MacRury you can stop for now" SALI's soothing voice called from one of her wall panels bringing Iain to a grinding halt. The advice was given not a moment too soon for as soon as Iain finally stopped moving, his hand immediately raced to the center of his chest. Clutching at his chest Iain heaved heavily as he tried to catch his breath, his lungs felt like they were on fire!

The winded pilot quickly pressed himself against the wall opposite of the glowing blue panel that displayed SALI for support. Iain could feel his body shaking uncontrollably as he tried to settle his heartrate back to more manageable level, to no avail. Sweat was pouring from his brow in rivers, he was feeling lightheaded and the urge to collapse from shear exhaustion was quickly becoming harder to resist.

"What… the… hell…is wrong with… me…?" Iain gasped feeling another surge of pain in his chest. While no one, himself included, would have considered him a star athlete in the past surely he could handle a ten minute sprint when his life was literally on the line.

"It could have something to do with why you were administered to the medical facility, however most of my data on you is either classified or corrupted" SALI stated regarding the panting pilot who was slowly sliding down against the wall he had propped himself against. A cursory glance told the AI all she needed to know, his heart rate was clearly through the roof, he was in immense pain and discomfort judging from his dilated pupils and his body was shaking violently from the strain it was being subjected to.

"Great, even you don't know… what's wrong with me" Iain gasped taking a second to cough which only served to send a fresh wave of pain through the center of his chest. Angrily pulling his collar out Iain stared down at his chest to where the scar still ran from his collarbone to bellybutton. "Holy crap" Iain muttered uncertainly, he remembered that the flesh around the scar had been rather pink when he first saw it back in his hospital room but now it had darkened into an angry crimson.

Letting his shirt fall back harmlessly against his clearly irritated skin, Iain rested his head against the hardened metallic wall raking his memory for anything that could prove helpful. Try as he might he couldn't remember anything before awakening in the medical facility. Deciding to shove the matter of his arrival aside for later Iain looked up to the blue screen across from him and couldn't help but feel comforted by the calming blue presence. As it stood SALI was the sole person aboard Hyperion who had yet to threaten him in some way, he could only hope that trend would continue.

"Hey SALI, how much further do I have to go before I get to the hangar?" Iain asked from his spot, gently resting his tired arms against his sore chest.

"Four hundred and thirty-eight meters, however…" SALI trailed off, for the first time sounding uncertain.

Sensing the AI's apprehension Iain decided to broach whatever it was that left the AI sounding so hesitant. "What's up? Is there something wrong?" Iain inquired as he got back to his feet. He could feel his legs still throbbing from his previous exertion so he placed a steadying hand against the wall just in case, the last thing he needed was to face plant into the metal floor.

"Well Mr. MacRury it appears as if the direct route to Hangar Four has now lost all power, I have no access to two hundred and three meters of the path" SALI responded calmly.

"Ok, so what's the worst I can expect in there?" Iain asked uncertainly eyeing the path forward. He might have wanted off this station more than anything right now but he was also one hundred percent done with Hyperion's surprises.

"My terminals are no longer active in that sector, I have no way of knowing what the situation could be" SALI's response was quick but none to reassuring to the still winded pilot. "If you enter that area you would be without my assistance" SALI continued making Iain grimace at the prospect. Being alone aboard this nightmare had been bad enough when he didn't know what was stalking the halls, now that he had a firsthand sighting of the creature the idea of being isolated only felt worse.

"Would it even be safe to go down that path if the power's completely out?" Iain pressed hoping for some kind of solution to this fresh dilemma.

"Life support and artificial gravity should still be functioning in those areas, if not blast doors would have locked down to preserve station wide security" SALI's explanation did raise Iain's confidence, if only marginally.

"Alright… ok… any chance there's a different path?" Iain asked hopefully.

"Negative, the only other path has been sealed off due to depressurisation, it would be best to stay away from that area entirely" SALI stated dashing Iain's hopeful inquiry.

"Damn, well how about a different hangar?" Iain questioned further he still wasn't much of a fan of creeping through the darkened halls if he could help it.

"That would be ill advised, Hangar Three is the closest one however it is over twice as far away, there also appears to have also been extensive fire damage to several corridors and it would force you to backtrack through the communications center" the AI stated with a distinct lack of enthusiasm in her synthesized voice.

"Ok fuck that, forward it is" Iain replied hastily stretching his arms to prepare for the next leg of the trip through Hyperion. "Alright let's get going I feel good as new" Iain's blatant lie wasn't fooling the perceptive AI but the pilot could only hope his cheerful disposition would convince her he was fine. The truth was he felt worse than before, all this movement was taking a heavy toll on whatever surgery the medical staff performed on him.

"Very well Mr. MacRury let's continue then" the AI replied as Iain continued down the corridor at a steady jog. Studying his movements it was clear that he was in pain but time was of the essence, she needed to get the pilot off the station as quickly as she could.

As the pilot made his way through deserted corridor after deserted corridor he was straining his ears for any telltale signs of danger. Unfortunately the almost hollow nature of wide open corridors mixed with their metallic surface made his own footsteps echo noisily off the walls, obscuring any sounds his own ears might have picked up. He could have altered his movement to lessen the noise of his steps but that would involve slowing down and that was not a prospect the pilot was going to even remotely consider for the time being.

Luckily for the worn down pilot SALI was keeping an electronic eye on their surroundings and would be able to give Iain plenty of warning in advance if there was a threat closing in on them. Though the more Iain thought about it the less he thought it would matter. After seeing what that creature did to an entire team of armed guards he was pretty sure how a direct confrontation with the beast would go for him.

"Take a left here Mr. MacRury" SALI stated breaking Iain from his contemplative thoughts.

"Thanks… SALI" Iain gasped while passing yet another calming blue screen. Taking the next left turn available Iain ducked under a door that seemed to have run out of power mid closure. Straightening back up Iain found himself in yet another seemingly identical corridor. Looking ahead, however, made Iain's blood run cold.

"Hey SALI?" Iain called out nervously.

"Yes Mr. MacRury?" SALI replied from the freight pilot's left as her screen illuminated the murky corridor casting Iain in pale blue light.

"That's the powered down section I take it?" Iain asked while he pointed down to the end of the corridor.

"That's correct, it stretches on for another two hundred and three meters…" SALI began before Iain cut her off with a frantic wave of his hand.

"Yeah but you didn't tell me it'd be dark as fucking dicks down there!" Iain exclaimed, his voice echoing through the labyrinthine corridors.

"… I don't understand you've made it this far just fine" SALI replied ignoring the distraught pilot's agitated state but double checking the surrounding corridors for movement.

"Well yeah but that was different!" Iain exclaimed throwing his hands into the air. "Those other places weren't that dark, there were those stupid emergency lights, some of the halls still had their running lights on and… and well there was you, you brighten the hell out of this place" the agitated pilot continued. "That down there is pitch fucking black I won't be able to see five feet in front of me…" Iain grumbled before trailing off into an uneasy silence while SALI processed what he had just divulged.

Humans truly were fascinating creatures, even in life or death scenarios such as this their eccentricities still managed to find a way to the surface. "Mr. MacRury?" SALI asked which only garnered a grunt from the grumbling pilot. Once more ignoring her human companion's attitude SALI pressed on with her inquiry. "Iain… are you afraid of the dark?" SALI's database of human phobias was actually quite extensive, it had to be when dealing with hundreds of humans crammed together on a space station for years at a time. Because of this she knew that fear of the dark, or nyctophobia, was actually a misnomer, it wasn't the dark most humans were afraid of but the unknown quantities that may or may not be lurking within.

"Afraid of the dark? Ha that's funny, would be kinda stupid for a freight pilot to be afraid of the dark, I mean I'm in space for months on end" Iain laughed away the inquiry with a wave of his hand while turning away from the blue screen to his left only to be faced with yet another blue screen to his right.

"Iain, there's nothing to be ashamed of, nyctophobia is a very common phobia displayed in humans, in fact fifteen percent of humans have showed signs of it in some shape or form" SALI stated hoping analytics would help ease the pilot's nerves… they did not.

"Look I'm fine ok forget it… is there really no other way to the hangar?" Iain asked taking a deep breath already knowing the answer.

"None that you would fine satisfactory, this is the best possible way to get you off the station, however I do regret that I won't be able to personally guide you through the area" SALI stated apologetically.

"Yeah I guess I would feel safer knowing you were watching my back" Iain grumbled eyeing up the darkness at the end of the corridor apprehensively. It was like a wall of shadow that abruptly consumed everything down that path. Iain was fairly certain that no one, nyctophobia or not, would want to actually step foot into that darkness.

"To be fair Iain, without a physical body I would be less than useless if you were to encounter the creature" SALI's response earned a small smirk from the restless pilot. Deciding a little more dark humour might alleviate his nerves SALI decided to press on with the joke. "In fact with the way I light up I might as well be signalling the dinner rush" SALI's attempt at humour got a hearty chuckle out of the otherwise worn down pilot. Humour had always been a difficult aspect of her programming to get a hold of, a human's sense of humour was as diverse as the person themselves. What was funny for some was not for others. Luckily Iain's brash and somewhat morbid sense of humour made the current situation somewhat easier to manage.

As Iain's laughter finally subsided he eyed up the darkness ahead apprehensively, he loathed admitting it but SALI was right. It was that way or nothing, if he wanted off this floating nightmare he needed to confront his stupid childhood fear, either that or wind up monster food. The choice was clear, though he didn't enjoy it one bit.

"Guess you're right SALI" Iain sighed dejectedly as fished into his pockets retrieving the flashlights he had grabbed from the custodial closet. "Why did I bother taking two?" Iain questioned as he looked from one device to the other. Resting both flashlights in his left hand Iain reached back into his pocket with his right to grab the spare batteries he had procured. The awkward movement was enough to jostle one of the flashlights out of his grasp where it fell to the ground with an obnoxiously loud crash.

Reaching down Iain inspected the fallen device and found the bulb inside the flashlight completely shattered. "Is that why you grabbed two?" SALI asked from beside Iain with a hint of amusement in her synthesized voice.

"Come on SALI do you really need to sass me right now?" Iain groaned as he dropped the now useless device back the ground with another loud clatter.

"Just trying to lighten the…" SALI trailed off as her short range scanners picked up on movement.

"SALI?" Iain asked uncertainly at the AI's sudden silence.

SALI was forced to ignore Iain for the moment as she jumped from panel to panel trying to locate the source of the movement. Her long range scanners may have been toast but she could still pick up movement within a relatively close proximity to her monitors. After a few tense seconds she found what had tripped her sensors, if she had been human her heart would have quite literally jumped into her throat at the sight of the xenomorph dropping down from an open air vent barely two corridors away.

This was terrible, the creature was far too close far too soon, the AI realised the clanging of the flashlight must have alerted it to Iain's presence and so SALI knew she needed to act fast, lest it be too late. Snapping back to the confused pilot, who was still waiting for SALI's response the AI quickly brought Iain up to speed. "Iain the creature is closing in you need to move now!" SALI barked, the urgency in her voice surprising even herself.

"…In the dark?" Iain asked miserably.

"In the dark" was the quick confirmation from the AI.

"Alright but how will I know which way to go?" Iain asked just realising without a guide he had no way of knowing which route to take.

"There are several station wide maps set up that don't run on electricity, they will show you the way, now get going I will try to lead the creature away" SALI stated as Iain tested the still intact flashlight.

"How're you gonna pull that off?" Iain questioned not seeing how the AI could possibly entice the creature.

"Oh I have my ways" Iain was startled to hear his own voice coming from the AI's station, SALI sure was full of surprises. "Now get going it's closing in" SALI commanded her voice sounding far more authoritative in Iain's deeper register. After a quick nod Iain darted forward running into the swirling darkness of the powered down section, his flashlight barely penetrating the suffocating blackness.

Just before reaching the wall of shadow, Iain spared one last glance backwards to where the AI was still watching him from. "See you soon" Iain grunted before turning his back on the somewhat brighter corridor before being swallowed by the darkness.

"Good luck… Iain" SALI's voice temporarily reverted back to her usual cool feminine vocal patterns before turning her attention back to the approaching threat. "Alright let's see how much time we can kill" SALI's voice had once more reverted to the shockingly close facsimile of Iain's as she switched to another panel in a separate corridor this one far closer to the creature.

"I'm fucking lost again!" SALI shouted into the corridor trying her best to keep the synthetic quality out of her voice and hoping the xenomorph would take the bait. Watching from another of her panels she kept an electronic eye on the towering organism. If it wasn't for her mission she might have taken the time to study and admire the creature, it truly was a miracle of nature. Stunningly beautiful in both its design and ferocity, truly an alpha predator like no other.

The monstrous creature was standing resolute in the corridor. To its left was the partially closed doorway that Iain had squeezed through to enter the darkened corridor and directly ahead was the expanse of metallic walls where SALI's impersonation of Iain called out to the creature, attempting to lure it away from the real thing.

The creature stood there for several moments it could hear the sounds of the human's voice ringing through the halls ahead of it. The soft hiss coming from its vicious maw grew louder as it tasted the air, something wasn't right. Looking to the left it pressed its considerable mass through the partially opened doorway and crept down the other corridor away from the distressed voice. Halfway down the hall it came to an abrupt halt before crouching down to inspect something on the ground.

SALI could only watch in apprehension as the xenomorph lifted the shattered remains of Iain's secondary flashlight. The soft hissing transitioned into a snuffling sound before its lips peeled back in a snarl. The xenomorph lifted its head and stared dead ahead towards the all-encompassing darkness of the corridor ahead.

"Hey over here!" SALI called out from beside the xenomorph hoping to stall it if only for a few seconds. Without even sparing the AI so much as a glance the hissing creature lashed out with its razor sharp tail smashing SALI's screen effortlessly in a small explosion of sparks. Tossing the broken flashlight to the side the creature crept forward melding into the darkness as SALI watched on helplessly from the other panel. The creature had Iain's scent and the pilot was now on his own.


"Fucking Christ this sucks" Iain hissed angrily as he made his way through the blackness of the powered down area. True to SALI's words life support and artificial gravity were still functioning just fine but what the AI had failed to mention was that climate control was, for lack of a better word, fucked six ways from Sunday. Iain's breath came out as a white wisp in front of him obscuring much the five feet of light his flashlight provided him.

"Dark as dicks, cold as dicks and I'm pissed as dicks" Iain's angered hiss came out between his chattering teeth it had to be ten degrees below freezing at this point and he could swear it was only getting worse by the minute.

Coming up to a juncture Iain brought his flashlight up to look around it didn't take long for the shaking light to fall on what he was searching for. Just as SALI had said there were several maps located at just about every intersection. Placing the flashlight into his mouth so he could rub his hands together Iain traced his way to his position on the map before looking ahead to the fastest path to Hangar Four. He found a small amount of satisfaction in knowing he had made it almost halfway with no mishaps, he had even managed to keep a lid on the bubbling cauldron of fear that was eating away at his nerves.

Throughout his trek through the deserted corridors Iain had made a point of moving steadily while keeping his ears peeled. SALI had said the creature was right on their tail but so far there hadn't been a single sign of the monster, in fact apart from the steady clang of his shoes impacting against the hard metal floor their wasn't a single sound whatsoever.

Deciding left would be the fastest path Iain spun on his heel and quickly made his way down the near pitch black corridors. Looking from left to right Iain could see several doors sealed shut, no doubt living quarters, that without power would probably never open again. He could only hope no one got themselves trapped in there. Waiting to see if you would starve or freeze to death first was not a prospect he found to enticing.

*Clink*

Iain came to an immediate halt spinning around and shinning his paltry light into the shrouding darkness. The sound was barely noticeable but the on edge pilot was absolutely sure that it had come from behind him. After several tense moments of complete silence Iain let out a slow exhale of white breath.

"Probably just the metal in this place cooling" Iain muttered to himself before turning back down the path he was taking, this time at a slightly faster pace. Part of him wanted to dismiss the sound as nothing more than the natural sounds of a space station. Unfortunately his imagination had gone into overdrive imaging all sorts of horrors lurking just out of reach of his flashlight's berth. However even his most vivid imaginary concoction failed to measure to the very real, very terrifying creature trapped aboard the station with him. Whatever that creature was Iain could only hope he could get off Hyperion without seeing it ever again.

*Skreeetch!*

Iain tensed up, that was not the sound of shifting metal, more like a knife running against a metal surface. Once again the sound came from behind him and once more his weak light source did little more than reveal his own position to anyone, or anything, lurking in the shadows. Turning away Iain picked up the pace once more this time breaking into a jog, he had memorized the next few turns ahead of time just in case and so using his light to mark the way he quickly made his way through the pitch black corridors.

"Left… Right… Straight… Straight… Right again…" Iain gasped to himself as he made his way through the corridors, the scar on his chest once more throbbing painfully. Whatever invasive surgery they performed on him it really did a number on his body.

Despite the noise he was making with his frantic pace Iain could swear he could hear the sounds of clinking and scratching just behind him as well as a low menacing hiss. Whether it was reality or his own imagination Iain pressed forward just the same until he came to a three way intersection. Looking from left to right frantically Iain looked for a map and was disheartened to see that there was none. The only thing clearly visible in the darkness was one of SALI's display panels, now powered down with a thin layer of frost spreading across its surface reminding Iain of the steadily dropping temperatures.

"Which way which way?" Iain hissed racking his brain for the next step he would need to take. He couldn't remember! Of all the times to blank on directions why did it have to be now? Iain stood there in the deserted corridor for what felt like an eternity, looking from left to right hopelessly. One path would lead him on the way to the hangar and salvation but the other would lead him deeper into this hellhole they called a station.

"Fuck it, I'll go right and backtrack if I have to…" Iain's voice hitched in his throat upon taking his first step down the path to his right. There, barely a few meters away, was a lengthy segmented tail as black as midnight extending from an open doorway. Iain's light glinted off of the blade like tip of the deadly appendage just as it slowly slinked further into the room disappearing from sight, the sound of a soft growl echoing from the room.

Did it not notice me? Was it ignoring me? Why am I not dead yet? These questions raced through the terror stricken pilot's mind but rather than answer them Iain turned on his heel and quickly made his way down the path to his left, whether it was correct or not was hardly relevant at this point.

Trying to run quietly turned out to be incredibly difficult for the worn out pilot. In truth Iain didn't believe it was possible to do so but it was either that or drum up a cacophony of noise in a mad dash. At least this way there was the chance he might be able to sneak away from the monster, after all he had already seen what happened to those who tried to run from it.

After two agonizingly long minutes Iain came to another branching path eerily similar to the one he just came from. Unlike the previous location, this one came with yet another map of the station though he had to first wipe away the layer of frost covering it with his sleeve. Shining his light against the map Iain's heart soared in relief, he had managed to luck out and go the right way, he was so close to the hangar now he could practically taste it.

As Iain's spirits were lifted by the accomplishment they were quickly replaced with uncertainty as the entire station around him shook violently, almost tossing him to the floor. "Oh now what!?" Iain shouted before quickly slamming his hand back over his mouth, shaking or not there was still a deadly alien prowling around. Tremors like that aboard a space station, or any vessel for that matter was never a good sign. Explosions, depressurisations, hull breaches, collisions, the number of possible horrible scenarios that it could be were seemingly endless and never amounted to anything short of terrible. He had heard the stories of even tiny explosions compromising entire star cruisers.

"SALI will probably know" Iain muttered before moving once more ignoring the pain in his chest. He hadn't realised how much he actually missed having the AI around. Her presence seemed to be so reassuring and alleviated a lot of the stress the pilot had been experiencing, granted that was her function aboard the station.

"You'll see her soon man, just keep moving" Iain muttered to himself as he made another left turn. The shaking had now simmered down to a low rumbling that seemed to pass through the entire station. On the bright side Iain could no longer hear the clicking or scratching noises from before, whether it was because the creature had lost track of him or because its noise was being drowned out by the station wide rumbling was yet to be determined.

Taking another right turn he could feel the temperature around him start to pick up, slowly at first but it quickly became apparent that heat was flowing from the direction he was heading. Flexing his numb fingers Iain pushed on, if there was heat then there was power and if there was power there was…

"Light!" Iain exclaimed joyfully putting on another burst of speed. It wasn't just any light at the end of that tunnel either it was a calming blue that he was, at this point, more than familiar with. Rushing through the darkness at top speed Iain was caught off guard when he ran headfirst into SALI's blue panel with a resounding crash.

"Are you ok Iain?" SALI asked hurriedly as Iain lay sprawled out at her base. The pilot seemed no worse for ware, a little sweaty and his extremities seemed to be showing the early stages of mild frost bite but other than that he seemed unharmed.

"Better now" Iain chuckled getting to his feet before staggering as yet another loud rumble shook the station around him. "SALI what the hell's going on?" Iain asked placing a bracing hand against the wall as the station around him shuddered violently once more, the vibrations were getting worse and worse.

"Do you recall that one path I mentioned earlier, the one I said had been depressurised?" SALI asked not sure if the pilot had in fact been paying attention at the time.

"Vaguely" Iain grunted while he ejected the spent batteries from his flashlight just to replace them with fresh ones.

"Well it appears to be spreading quickly, I fear we don't have much time left" SALI explained tersely. According to what few readings she could obtain almost fifteen percent of the station at that point had succumbed to depressurisation. The automatic emergency procedures were locking down deck after deck but it was apparent that Hyperion's days were numbered.

"How long do we have?" Iain asked tensely depressurisation was just about one of the worst things to deal with on a station. There were few deaths that could be considered worse and it was a very real threat that most freight jockeys like him worried about every time they made a run.

"Let me worry about that for now" SALI responded coolly, Iain's stress levels were already far too high, the last thing he needed was to have his nerves frayed further than they already were. "Now I have far more control over this side of the station" SALI said and as she did so a long line of lights lit up along the floor stretching out from Iain's feet and heading down the corridor before making a sharp right turn a few meters ahead. "Follow these running lights, they will take you directly to the hangar, I need to inspect the damage but I will return as quickly as I can" without waiting for a response SALI's panel winked out leaving a slightly dumbstruck Iain behind.

His state of shock didn't last long though as the station violently rocked once more throwing Iain off balance. Righting himself his eyes locked with the soft glow of the running lights at his feet "better do as the lady says" Iain muttered with a small smirk.

Apart from the steady shaking of the station around him, which was becoming progressively worse, Iain's run to Hangar Four was largely uneventful, which only seemed to put the pilot on edge worse than before… it was never this easy. Coming to stop in front of a pair of double blast doors Iain looked at it in confusion. He had seen similar fixtures in the past, they were made from a durium alloy and were nearly a foot thick. The plating was strong enough to resist even the worst cannon fire but here they were completely in ruins.

"What the fuck?" Iain looked at the damaged doors in front of him. They had been completely sealed shut as the top and bottoms were locked together firmly but it was the center of the door that drew the shocked pilot's attention. It looked like the middle of the doors, where they locked together had been melted clean through! Iain had seen some industrial lasers in his time, usually used for boarding stations and ships under lockdown, but none of those were strong enough to get through these types of doors.

Testing out the edges of the hole, Iain was relieved to find that they were cool to the touch and so he gingerly squeezed himself through the man sized hole until he came out into Hangar Four, or what was left of it. The place was a mess, shipping crates lay scattered around the hangar bay like trash, panelling was torn from the floors and the walls and strewn about haphazardly and then there was the bodies… Clearly the people living on Hyperion had made an attempt to get a ship in the air, the creature must have had other plans.

Pushing the sight of mangled corpses from his mind Iain focused on the task at hand. A quick scan of the hangar told him he had three ships to choose from. "Gotta love the paintjob on that one… too bad it's on fire. Oh sweet that's a Weyland-Yutani Trailblazer MK five, that thing's fast as hell… oh and look the cockpit's optional fantastic!" Iain groaned as he raced towards the only viable ship. It was a sleek spearheaded craft which immediate got the pilot's attention, there weren't too many of those types of ships, certainly none that were mass produced meaning this one was probably a custom design. In truth it looked very much like a luxury cruiser with a sleek design.

"All the better I get to leave this dump in style" Iain grinned as he made his way up the boarding ramp and towards the sealed door of the ship. Quickly hammering in a command to open the door Iain was greeted with a quick flash of red light and an obnoxious bleep. "Oh no, you better damn well open right the fuck now" Iain growled through clenched teeth. Hammering in another command to force the door open he was once again given the same response from the keypad. Looking down Iain's eyes widened in a mixture of annoyance and disgust.

"Key card required? What kind of video game bullshit is this!?" Iain howled slamming his fist against door with a resounding crash. Whirling around Iain's eyes began scanning the ruined room until he found what he was looking for. On the far side of the damaged hangar was a small kiosk situated in the wall that was used for registration. No ship could come in or out of the station without first having to check in and if he could find out who the son of a bitch was that owned the spearheaded craft then he could track him down get the key card and then get off the station. Freedom was so close he could almost wrap his fingers around it.

Hopping over what was left of a middle aged ship technician Iain slammed into the door to the check in center and almost screamed when he realised the door was totally powered down. "Not gonna let a stupid door stop me" Iain huffed marching over to the opening to the check in center. Hiking up one leg over and on to the counter Iain rolled over the edge landing hard on the floor with a dull smack that sent a jolt of pain through the pilot's chest.

"When this is all over with… I'm gonna have to… get this checked out" Iain wheezed at the searing pain in his chest. Pushing through the pain Iain got back to his feet and staggered over to one of the computers. To the pilot's immense surprise not only was it still functioning it was actually opened to the ship registry. Staggering forward Iain shoved the body of a man in the rolling chair in front of the computer to the side. "Sorry pal… but I need your seat" Iain gasped planting himself in the chair and in front of the computer. Quickly punching in the commands to bring up the spearhead Iain looked over the information intently.

"Ok so you're called Boundless Opportunity, dumb name but whatever" Iain grunted as he sorted through the information. Most of it was useless to the pilot who just wanted to know who owned the damn thing. "Cargo… redacted, of course it is, probably illegal" Iain continued sorting through the information as fast as he could all the while the steady rumbling of the station grew ever louder, it was getting to the point where Iain could actually feel the floor underneath him begin to shake.

"Come on come on where are… Aha! There you are!" Iain grinned as he opened the menu displaying the certificate of ownership. "Alright Boundless Opportunity your owner is… you got to be fucking with me…" Iain groaned staring at the screen in despair.

"Iain why are you still here?" SALI's voice cut through Iain's angered thoughts causing him to jump out of his chair. Looking to his right Iain watched as the panel against the wall lit up with a familiar pale blue light bathing the room in the AI's soothing presence.

"Because your boss owns the only working ship in this trash heap!" Iain exclaimed tilting the monitor to face the pale blue panel along the wall to his right. Iain slumped back in his chair According to both SALI and Russel no one had seen neither hide nor hair of the elusive station director since this whole mess began. He disappeared along with Iain's only hope of getting off the station from hell.

Breathing a heavy sigh Iain glanced over to the silent AI who had not responded to the pilot's outburst, no doubt trying to find the most tactful way of proceeding. "SALI, is there any chance you might have spotted your boss, or know where he might be?" Iain asked dejectedly spinning his chair around while staring up at the ceiling, he was so god damn close just to have escape snatched from him at the last second.

"I might" SALI muttered softly forcing Iain to a sudden halt.

"Where?! At this point I don't care I'll go get his ass!" Iain pressed running up to SALI's display.

"It's possible he's located in his personal quarters or at the very least the key card is" SALI stated uncertainly. Iain brushed aside the AI's trepidation she was probably just dealing with possibly going against her own programming.

"Can you lead me there?" Iain asked excitedly.

"No…" the AI's response was quick and brutal dashing the pilot's hopes in an instant. "…My programming is preventing that particular action, however…." Iain's ears immediately perked up at the AI's uncertain voice. "…I can lead you to an elevator that just so happens to lead to the executive quarters."

"How many people live up there" Iain asked a small grin spreading across his face at the AI's tendency to bend the rules.

"Just one" SALI responded, if she had a mouth Iain would have sworn she was smirking.

"Lead the way then" Iain chuckled as another rumble shook the station around him, this one feeling more like a shockwave than anything. Hurrying over to the counter Iain hopped through the opening landing on the other side about as gracefully as he did before. After picking himself up Iain saw yet another set of running lights leading to the opposite end of the hangar bay.

Racing across the body littered room as fast as his worn out legs would let him Iain dashed through another pair of blast doors, these ones undamaged, before turning into a straight corridor. Like the others it was incredibly dark with the only illuminating coming from SALI's running lights and the spinning orange emergency lights. Following SALI's guiding lights closely Iain soon lost track of the number of turns he had taken, that hardly mattered though as long as SALI's running lights were still active he could just retrace his steps back to Hangar Four.

Making his way down the corridor Iain could see the elevator at the end waiting for him but he could also feel the shaking of the station. "Hey SALI, how much longer does the station have?" Iain asked as another tremor nearly tripped the exhausted pilot.

"I'm unsure… I'll check and be right back… stay safe" the panel SALI had been speaking from suddenly blinked out as she went to inspect the growing damage across the station leaving Iain once again on his own. Luckily he had now made it to the elevator and promptly slammed his fist down on the recall button. Much to Iain's relief he could hear the lift heading downwards, it actually worked! All that was left now was to head up there and, with a bit of luck, get the key card, head back to the ship and get off this nightmare.

*Hisss!*

The menacing sound coming from behind Iain made the freighter pilot's blood run cold. So fucking close! Slowly turning around Iain's eyes widened in terror at what was standing before him. It was the creature from the comm center, the one that had massacred almost every living thing on this station with ease. Slowly shifting his way backwards Iain felt his back press up against the cold metal of the elevator doors, he could still hear the lift heading down.

The monstrous creature was just as he remembered from the comm center, massive in size with a biomechanical look that, in any other situation, would have been absolutely remarkable to look at. As Iain pressed the recall button again hoping in vain to speed up the process the horrific creature began to walk steadily towards the trapped pilot. The low hiss coming from the creature's drooling mouth had the hairs on Iain's neck standing on end. The creature closed the distance between itself and the terrified pilot in a few quick strides, towering over the trapped human it slowly lowered its head until the pair were face to face.

Iain's heartrate, which was already through the roof, felt like it doubled as the creature's black lips pealed back to reveal a row of silvery teeth that seemed to gleam even in the low light of the darkening corridor. The creature's hissing only grew louder as its teeth parted revealing its second, smaller mouth nestled within its dripping maw. Slamming his eyes shut Iain waited for the final, deadly blow to be delivered, this was the end.

"There it is!" a shouted a voice from the far end of the corridor. With an angered snarl the creature whipped its head around towards the source of the commotion. Standing at the end of the darkened hall, barely illuminated by the emergency lights, were over half a dozen armed security guards. Hardly believing his luck Iain heard the resounding ding of the elevator doors as the elevator reached their level just as the group of guards began to advance.

"Lights up, take it down!" The group's leader barked as the doors to the elevator slid open. Intense light suddenly flooded the entire darkened corridor and Iain could hear the sharp metallic pings as the guard's weaponry impacted around him and the creature.

Spinning fully around to face the oncoming threat the creature's tail lashed out with surprising force knocking Iain backwards into the open elevator where he slammed against the opposite wall, his head taking the brunt of the impact. The wounded pilot's vision blurred and he could taste the coppery flavour of his own blood as it began to pool in his mouth. The last thing he saw before the elevator doors shut in front of him was the monstrous creature charging the advancing guards on all fours, shrieking at the top of its lungs.

Iain's head slumped forward, his vision darkened and he finally passed out.


Author's Notes: Hey there everyone just wanted to apologize for the long wait for this chapter, it's been hard finding time to write recently but I managed to get a day off and decided to buckle down and get this out for you.

So this is the penultimate chapter for the story, chapter five will be the finale and I'm quite excited for it as I know exactly how I'm going to proceed with it. Last chapter was primarily focused on action and showing how others who were aboard Hyperion have dealt with the xeno. This one I wanted to bring things back to our protagonist and focus on him while at the same time trying to focus more on the horror aspect while still setting up for the end. It just wouldn't be an Alien story without the threat of whatever ship/station they're on exploding.

Fun fact Iain is actually scared of the dark (and bees) so writing that part into the story was all too easy and (I hope) helped flesh him out more as a character.

Anyways stay tuned for the finale and I must thank all of you for your patience.

Until next time everyone!