"You could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men; some were calling their parents, others their children or their wives, trying to recognize them by their voices. People bewailed their own fate or that of their relatives, and there were some who prayed for death in their terror of dying. Many besought the aid of the gods, but still more imagined there were no gods left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness for evermore"
- Pliny the Younger, Letters of the Younger Pliny.
December 12th, 2137. Earth Central Time. Solomons Galleria, Sevastopol station.
-"What the Hell was that?! Julia Jones screamed, as the mall shuddered from a strong shock followed by explosions.
As soon as they had boarded the elevator, Lindgard didn't lose time and explained them about the report, they can escape Sevastopol in one of the detachable labs, but they need to arrive at the Systech spire by a transit car. They weren't far from the transit station when the whole place shook.
-"Was that another of Waits' explosive traps?" Lindgard asked.
-"I don't think so, that was a bigger one. This station is falling apart due to a month of no maintenance" Cameron explained "No doubt gas pipes and electric conduits short-circuited and exploded"
-"Orbital stabilizers operating at 96% and falling" The automated computer voice announced "Emergency, please attend you assigned evacuation point and await instructions."
Alarms blared and a series of spinning amber lights illuminated the corridors, on the floor white led lights indicated the direction of evacuation routes. The five survivors stared each other and suddenly they understood time ran out, they had to escape as soon as possible or they will be dead.
-"The stabilizers are out, we're gonna fall into the gas giant!" He said "And it's gonna be fast!"
-"Wait, where the other survivors are? Waits' group, we have to warn them" Lindgard remembered, the Marshal Bureau wasn't far, and if there were other people still alive, they have to save them.
-"There's no time, Doctor" Eva exclaimed, trying to make herself heard over the noise.
-"Get to the transit station, I'll be with you in a minute" Lindgard responded.
Lindgard ran across the Galleria towards the Bureau's entrance, the large mural with all the missing people was destroyed and in some places, sprayed with blood. The work lights at the entrance were lying on the floor.
-"Oh no, not here" Lindgard said, and stepped inside the Marshal Bureau.
The first thing she saw was a body lying against the wall beside a video terminal; blood stain dyed the wall red and dripped to the floor. The body was a man in his late forties and wears a dark blue cap with the words Marshal on it. William Waits.
More bodies were scattered around, fellow survivors, Karen quickly checked the office, apparently, some Working Joe's had stormed the camp and slaughtered the remaining officers. One of the Joe's was deactivated, with gunshots on its face. The cells were opened, the place was empty.
-"The broadcast from Verlaine just updated" A voice crackled on radio, Lindgard turned around and located the source, Waits' headset radio, she picked it up "Hello Sevastopol, can you respond? We just saw a ship blow on your starboard side –took an entire orbital stabilizer array. We have no place to dock. Please –tell us what's going on there. We can take survivors. I'll leave this channel open. Torrens out"
-"A ship?!" she thought "There's a ship outside and it's trying to help" She also had recognized the voice from the radio, Ricardo. So the young officer had managed to get comms online again with someone's help.
-"Orbital stabilizers operating at 80% and falling" computer warned.
Karen called on the radio, in attempt to speaking with the Torrens, but she couldn't, whenever Ricardo or the other survivor he was speaking had make contact it was with his own radio and she only could hear. She hurried herself back to the station taking the headset with her, maybe she can only hear but they would be aware of what was happening.
-"Orbital stabilizer failure. Abandon station. Abandon station." Another shudder and the automatic alert system did not wait. "After evacuation do NOT re-enter the station until advised to do so by the Orbital Emergency Convenor."
-"Everyone is dead!" Lindgard said, as soon as she saw the other survivors waiting for her on the station. "But, there's a ship outside! They can't dock but it's trying to help!"
-"We called a car, Doctor, if we make it to the lab they could pick us" Cameron said.
-"Good, Ricardo is also alive. I think he's at comms, we can pick him up too" Lindgard continued. They were headed to the Systech spire, they can join the officer and the Torrens could pick them without the need to dock.
The sound of a metallic crunch made them quiet; the sound increased its intensity and seemed to come from the pressurized tube of the transit system. Then, a sudden explosion shook the place and a current of air flowed to the tube where they were waiting the transit car.
-"Watch out!" Cameron screamed as they were dragged by the current. Julia and Lindgard crashed on the door's grill. He grabbed his sister on time, which was holding the little child. Before they could be dragged too, a set of pressure hatches closed, sealing the place.
-"What the Hell was that?" Julia said, grabbing her hurt arm, her nose was bleeding, as Lindgard's
-"The transit tube broke and caused a decompression, lucky we weren't on the car." He said, getting up. His arms ached to bear the combined weight of his sister and the child.
-"But… coff coff… Now our… coff… Way is blocked." Lindgard coughed, besides she had a cut on her temple, made by a box which almost hit her on front.
-"What are we gonna do?" Eva asked, then turned to calm the child who was starting to cry "Everything's gonna be ok, right? We'll get out of here, there's a ship" but she didn't believe her own words.
-"We have to make it to the labs, but we have to take a detour" Lindgard said.
-"It will take us hours, and not to tell you about the creatures." The Engineer said to the doctor, he was running out of ideas, that crazy plan even sounded impossible to him because he had seen one of the laboratories expelled from the station hours before.
-"There's just one option left." Lindgard told them "Going back to San Cristobal and take one of the ambulance shuttles, and fly it to the lab's outer hatch"
The transit station was a wreck, flames erupted from two of the transit tubes, boxes were turned and air hissed from pipes. But just two tubes seemed intact after the decompression, one leading back to medical and into engineering. Before they could deliberate, shrieks were heard somewhere near.
-"We have to move, now!" Lindgard exclaimed.
-"I'll help you" said Cameron, helping Julia on her feet, she was badly hurt but fortunately she still can walk. His sister and the kid were ok. He pressed the call button for the transit car and they heard how slow it was coming, flames erupted inside the tube.
Pounding sounds resonated above, one –or more –of the creatures crawled on the vent above. They hid stuck to the wall, trying to camouflage themselves in the shadows. Dust fell from the vent grates and a moment later, one of the creatures descended, growling.
"Shit" Julia thought, they were in the open and there was no site for them to hide. She started to tremble; although they already had an encounter with the creature before, when they tested the "noisemaker" she hadn't seen the creature at its whole. It was large, not completely black but with dark green and grey tones, also the dome of its head was slightly translucent. It walked over its fingers, like a dog; "digitigrade" she remembered the word. The others were paralyzed, the creature hadn't seen them yet but it was matter of a few more seconds. Julia saw Cameron pull out his last device out of the duffel bag.
The man slowly, prepared to launch it towards the far end of the station. He signaled the women what he pretended so they will prepare for run into the transit car. When they nodded, he threw the device which immediately started to make a buzzing sound. The creature turned to the source and walked towards it, ignoring the people on the darkened walls.
The others walked quietly and the transit tube finally opened, they entered and then, the automated voice of APOLLO announced "Transit car to SciMed tower arrived, passengers to San Cristobal Medical Facility and Seegson Synthetics, please aboard."
The creature turned again at the new sound source, it screeched because it detected the last of the survivors boarding the car, and chased it, but the doors closed in time and the car departed.
-"Geez, that was close!" Eva exclaimed. Then the car shook, they assumed there were more explosions and the station would fall soon.
-"Let's get to the next car." Cameron said. The transit consisted on two cars with doors at each end, because the cars didn't turned, they only moved forwards and backwards. The walked into the next car, but now noises came from above, like scratches.
-"My God, the creature is over the car!" Julia exclaimed. "It's gonna catch us."
-"Orbital stabilizer failure. Abandon station, abandon station." The computer voice announced as another tremor shuddered the car, the force of the impact thrown Eva and the kid into the other car, Cameron rushed trying to reach her sister but the doors between cars closed, letting them trapped.
-"Cameron, help us!" Eva cried from behind the doors.
-"Hang on! C'mon please, please!" He cried, looking for his ion torch, the bag fell from his hands. Finally he reached the torch and started to cut the door. Behind the door, pounding sound was heard and then the blood chilling screech filled the cars.
-"Noooooo" Cameron exclaimed. Lindgard and Jones remained silent, they knew what happened even before Cameron finished cutting the door and they could see inside the next car.
There was a jagged edged opening on the roof and blood splashes on the walls over the posters and screen. Eva was lying on one of the car's couches, with a piercing wound on her abdomen and blood pouring from her mouth. There was no sign of the kid.
-"Eva, sister! Please, resist." Cameron said to her, Julia had never before seen the old man cry. As a former soldier, he was tough, but he wasn't ready for this, nobody really was.
-"It… it took him… I- tri- tried to." She said, but the blood caused her to pause.
-"Don't talk" Lindgard said to her, pressing the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. She checked the wound, the creature's tail had pierced part of the liver, and there was nothing she could do. "Rest"
She died; Lindgard closed her eyes, a moment later the transit car stopped. The front doors opened and the two women came out, Cameron was still besides his sister's body.
-"Cameron, come. There's nothing you can do" Julia prompted him. "We have to go now"
The computer gave another warning, for a moment they had forgotten the station was in the verge of total destruction, now they have to hurry. The three last survivors ran through the empty hallways of the hospital, now in flames.
Lindgard recognized the reception area, Debris from the explosion was scattered around the place, the fire had almost been extinguished but new flares were emerging from pipes. Ahead was the ambulance bay.
-"Hurry, this way. I only hope there was a shuttle ready." Lindgard said.
Usually, at the hospital were two of the short range shuttles at al times, and another two at the private wards in the Systech Spire. When they arrived, Julia was glad there was one left, judging by the opened hatch, the other hatch was closed.
They entered the ship, and Lindgard sat on the pilot seat, she was the only capable of maneuvering these little crafts. Theoretically everyone could, but Cameron had never been on the need, and Julia wasn't staff, she was a visitor.
-"System Error" the screen on the console reads, there was an error in the shuttle. It was locked and couldn't take off.
-"What?!" Julia exclaimed. After coming this far, now they were trapped? "There has to be a way"
-"The hatch is busted, something about the ambulance incoming to fast and crushing the docking system." Lindgard informed, as she ran a diagnosis. "It won't launch after we seal the hatch."
-"There's just one way this work." Cameron said and left the shuttle, he pressed a button and the hatch sealed. Julia peered through the tiny window at the engineer.
-"What are you doing?"
-"Saving your ass, Julia." He pulled something from the duffel bag and showed her, a crude crafted pipe bomb. "Hang on tight" he said and set it.
The explosive detonated and destroyed the docking hatch, the ambulance bay decompressed, launching forward the shuttle. Lindgard fired the craft's thrusters. Julia was crying behind her.
-"We're gonna make it, Julia." She said.
Through the front window, Julia saw Sevastopol's exterior, now the entire station was emitting flames from various ruptures in the outer hull. One of the transit tubes broke and Julia could see how the small cars were expelled and disintegrated. Lindgard avoided being hit by some debris and pulled the steering stick of the ship, pushing it up and hoping KG-348 gravity didn't pulled them with the station.
Suddenly, the thrusters went off as the fuel on the ship was depleted, but they were safe, floating lifeless in orbit. They peered outside and saw the last seconds of Sevastopol.
Friction between the station and the upper atmosphere of the gas giant heated the lower hull of the former. Torsion made its toll and the engineering platform broke into two pieces, separating the Solomons habitation tower from the rest of Sevastopol, falling on its side and being consumed by the fire, seconds later the other two fell into the clouds and burned alike. The women sobbed thinking and remembering all their friends suddenly vanished from existence. Act followed, a bright light surged from the clouds as Sevastopol's reactor finally detonated in a nuclear fireball, the shockwave caused the upper atmosphere of KG-348 to ripple.
- o –