I am pleased to see this story actually receied favorable reviews. It is my intention to continue posting it weekly, and I hope that it will perform to your standards, both as entertainment and as a literary work.
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Chapter 2: Rigor Mortis
"...and this is what we call the Darklight Scope." The scientist held up a fine computer chip before his thick glasses. "It will operate with your own sensors, and take the data readings there. This model was designed to work with your suit design, and you should receive accurate readings if you switch to Darklight mode."
"That's fine. But what does it do?" Samus took the chip carefully, then began inserting it into the main core of her suit's interface. She was standing next to the stubby scientist, both of them before the bio suit, which lay on a clean white table.
This guy was annoying her. He managed to say a lot of words, all of which had meaning, yet never answer the question he had been asked. Perhaps she was just paranoid (though you had to be, in this business), but she had carefully checked everything he had given her. So far it had been nothing but a few software upgrades for her suit they had decided she needed. For the first time, however, he had given her something truly new.
"One of the many experiments being done aboard this station was done with a very hazardous experimental chemical. While we believe your bio suit will prevent damage to you, it still poses a major threat. However, this chemical also generates a high degree of nega-photons, which can be sensed by the Darklight Scope. But I suppose you don't understand a term like that. A nega-photon is like radiation."
Brushing blond hair away from her face, Samus glanced up at the scientist icily. "A nega-photon is an anti-matter particle that was considered theoretical until only a few years ago when its existence was proven in the Jarvy-Miller experiment. It exhibits properties both of normal photons and of molecules, creating a supportive effect in low quantities and devastating damage at intensities greater than 53.7 lumens. Evidence of such a particle was discovered in several alien life forms, all of which were biologically capable of controlling said particles."
"Err... umm... that's right."
Satisfied with the blank expression on his face, Samus returned to her work. The chip he had given her wasn't infected with any sort of virus, and it apparently did what he had claimed. It might be useful, for this situation.
"All hands on deck," a voice broke over the intercom. "Approaching the station in T minus thirty seconds."
Then it was time to go. Samus fully opened the bio suit, then laid down carefully inside it and activated it with a simple command. Instantly the metal of the suit clamped together over her, sealing itself and form a protective shell around her body. For a few moments the suit hummed as it again became connected to her system, then it came online.
Getting up from the table, Samus checked her gun just in case. Just being back inside the suit made her feel so much better; outside of it she felt too weak and vulnerable. The suit added a few inches to her height, Samus found herself looking even further down at the scientist. Without a word she strode from the room.
The bridge was only a short distance away; Samus entered it without asking. Everyone was solely concerned with a safe approach to the station, and as she entered soundlessly they didn't notice. For some time Samus merely watched the station approach on the large viewing screen. It was odd; the station was a model she was familiar with, yet it was painted a dark color, to match the starscape behind it. For that matter, it was orbiting an uninhabited planet in the middle of an asteroid field, hardly a safe place for a station of this size. Almost as if they didn't want anyone knowing about the station's existence.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" one of the pilots finally glanced behind him carefully enough to see Samus. She didn't answer, ignoring him completely. "You can't come in here."
"Calm down," the commander said slowly. "It's alright. Forgive the ensign's zealous behavior, this station is quite classified."
"Forgiven," Samus responded tersely. The ship drew closer to the station, and Samus merely continued to watch. Access codes from the ship were sent out, and the station responded, opening the main airlock for the ship to connect.
"Excuse me," an aide said timidly, tapping Samus on one armored shoulder. "They need you down by the loading bay."
"Of course." Following the aide, Samus quickly found herself within a long elevator. Folding her arms, she began to think. It wasn't her place to question her employers, but she was beginning to wonder about this entire business. They were being too secretive, giving her too few details. Only in retrospect did Samus realize that while the scientist had been exacting in every aspect, he had only given her vague information about the chemical they had been experimenting with. What could it be that was that serious?
The doors of the elevator opened, and Samus pushed such thoughts from her mind. Striding from the doors, Samus quickly took in the situation. A group was standing by the loading doors, waiting for them to lock onto the station. All of the group appeared to be scientists, apparently there to assess the damage. That seemed legitimate enough. None of the scientists spoke to her, though a few glanced in her direction. It would be best if it stayed that way.
Bringing her guns online, Samus patiently waited for the doors to open.
.
More disturbing than anything else, there was nothing. Samus had been in many dangerous places in her lifetime, many far more dangerous than here. But if she had learned nothing else, she had learned what silence meant: either everything was fine, or something was very wrong. Going through a station that should have contained hundreds of scientists and finding absolutely nothing was disturbing. Almost, Samus wished that they would run into a space pirate, just so she could shoot something.
"Yeaugh!" Hearing the cry, Samus whirled instantly, gun ready. One of the scientists was shivering, standing unmoving looking at something. Before Samus could see what it was, it leapt forward, toward the scientist. With expert aim Samus fired through the group, missing all the scientists and striking the creature directly. It slammed back into the wall, then fell to the ground.
By this point the scientists figured out that something had happened, and were turning to look. Pushing through them, Samus knelt down beside the thing, examining it closer. An alien life form, obviously, and a relatively hostile one. Realizing she had seen it before, Samus slowly recognized one of the monsters she had fought in her original Metroid mission.
A faint scratching sound vibrated in the corridor's floor. Instantly Samus glanced up, face unworried but tense. She knew what was coming next, knew all too well. Well, she had asked for something to shoot... i be careful what you wish for. /i
"Get back!" she yelled to the scientists, shoving the nearest toward another room. Stumbling over themselves, the rest followed, evacuating the corridor. Fortunately, they made it inside before anything happened.
Straightening, Samus turned in the corridor and waited, staring into the darkness. Slowly she raised her gun, generating a powerful shot. With a slight tap of a finger, she switched her visor to infrared mode and continued waiting.
The instant a faintly glowing green spot appeared in the corridor, Samus fired, her shot sending the spot of heat flying. Already more were advancing; Samus turned off her infrared vision and prepared to fight.
Scampering or crawling, the alien monsters rushed forward, mandibles snapping. The sight of so many would have quailed almost anyone. Samus was not almost anyone. Firing rapidly, she picked off as many of the group as possible before they converged on her. Jumping over the swipe of a large claw, Samus blasted her attacker into oblivion, then leapt back.
Just as she touched the wall, Samus activated her magnetic boots, remaining parallel to the ground. Even as she did so, the bounty hunter also fired a rocket toward the pack of monsters, sending most of them in several directions. Running as quickly as possible in magnetic boots, each step an incredible force of will, Samus made it to the opposite side of the mob of monsters, then returned to the ground.
As they turned to attack her again, Samus continued to pick them off. Ordinarily she would have used more potent explosives, but in a research station such as this the damage would probably be irreparable. If it didn't flat-out blow a hole in the side of the station. While a vacuum couldn't hurt her within the bio suit, everyone else would undoubtedly die.
Finally picking off the last of the monsters, Samus abruptly dove for the floor, curling into a ball as she did so. Acting only on instinct she rolled forward, uncurling on the opposite side of the corridor.
Standing where she had been moments ago was a larger monster, built powerfully and somewhat armored. Its spiked fist was buried in the floor where she had been seconds earlier. As it pulled its fist from the ground and turned toward her, Samus fired a shot. Unfortunately, this alien's exoskeleton seemed far tougher than the others.
Only minorly pushed back by the shot, the alien rushed forward toward her. Samus narrowed her eyes and held her ground; she had dealt with tough shelled aliens before. Switching her hand cannon to a Gatling-style gun, Samus blasted the monster with a constant stream of hot blue energy fire.
For a few moments the creature was pushed back. Each shot did little damage to its tough armor, but the force of the combined attacks drove it to the wall. Abruptly the attacks stopped, but only because Samus was leaping toward the creature. In midair Samus leveled her left arm, which had been charging the entire time, at the beast's chest.
Plasmic energy ripped through the monster, tearing a hole in the floor as well. The alien life form dropped to the ground instantly, all life energy already gone from it. First scanning the area nearby for any other hostile beings, Samus then carefully stepped over the creature's body and to the room with the scientists. They glanced up at her in fear, then all sighed in relief.
"Come on," Samus beckoned impatiently. "This is a dangerous place. We have to get out of here quickly."
"The main lab is a short distance from here," one of the scientists commented, looking at a map he had brought up on a computer screen. Quickly finding the route to it, Samus turned on a heel and left the room. All the scientists scrambled after her, now somewhat frightened. It was fortunate they hadn't seen the monsters attack, Samus reflected, or some of them might not be able to go on at all.
They found the lab relatively quickly. One of the scientists rushed forward, inputting a code in the lock at the door. Several feet thick of heavy metal slid away, revealing another corridor. Samus was about to take a step forward when one of the scientists got in her way, effectively stopping her.
"You don't need to come in here."
"Why not?" Samus asked, eyes narrowing.
"This area has already been scanned and declared safe. We'll just clean up everything and then be gone."
"If you could scan this far into the station, why couldn't you sense the alien life forms we met just a few minutes ago?"
"Look, I don't understand all this, I just know what I've been told. We'll close the blast doors, and we'll be safe. You have another job to do."
"Since when?" Samus demanded. This situation was getting stranger and stranger by the minute. "There were no other mission objectives."
"Objectives change when situations change. Now that we know there are hostile life forms here, we cannot allow the station to survive. As soon as we get all the information from here, we need to leave as quickly as possible. What you have to do is get to the station's Power Core and set an explosion to wipe out the station."
"That's possible. I want double payment."
" i Double? /i "
"That or the job's off. If you want to get back by yourself be my guest."
"Fine, fine. Whatever you want. Just get the station destroyed and get us out of here."
Rushing back hurriedly, as if not wanting to give her time to change her mind, the scientist retreated behind the blast doors. They slowly closed, and when the last echo faded the corridor was once again in silence. For a moment Samus puzzled over the entire situation, then decided it wasn't her problem and turned. Now to find the Power Core.
But where to start? In an entire space station, one could never go everywhere in a single day. Certainly, the Power Core would be located along the thin shaft that was in the very center of the station. However, getting to it was not a simple matter.
Just to experiment, Samus switched on her Darklight Scope. Instantly her field of vision shifted to a dark set of greys. Everything in the corridor was still visible, just mostly dark. Glancing back, Samus discovered several locations that glowed a soft green, like a low amount of heat in an infrared scope. Apparently this operated in a similar manner.
Turning back to look forward in the corridor, Samus was just about to switch off the Darklight scope when she noticed a soft glow. It was mostly masked by a wall, but she could still faintly see something. Whatever it was, it was probably giving off a lot of nega-photons to be visible from behind a solid object.
Quickly making her way in that direction, Samus left her visor in the same mode, tracking the faint light to its source. As she drew closer, Samus found that the light slowly intensified, shifting to brighter colors. By the time she moved through a set of blast doors and actually arrived in the area itself, everything around her glowed a dull shade of red. Now that her Darklight Scope was no longer useful, Samus turned it off and got a better look around her.
It was another laboratory, Samus instantly realized. This wasn't the main lab, as the scientists were all in that one, but apparently a fairly large auxiliary one. Everything here had high quantities of the radiation, causing the overall red glow. That alone was odd, and enough to merit further investigation.
Moving down the corridor cautiously, Samus glanced at all the doors, quickly reading the labels on each. Most of it was high level scientific jargon, but a few things caught Samus' eye. Some of the doors merely stated the name of a species of alien Samus was relatively familiar with. All of them were very dangerous. What sort of research station was this?
Abruptly Samus stopped, gazing at the door merely labeled "Metroid." So this was where that specimen had gone. Eyes narrowing further, Samus resisted the urge to enter and moved on. She had more important things to do.
Going back on that decision the next second, Samus flipped on her infrared vision and scanned the area around. There was absolutely nothing alive or even hot anywhere near; this section of the station was completely dead. Well, not quite... Samus saw a faint green spot at the end of the hall.
Returning to normal vision, Samus focused on the end of the hallway. One door stood there, exactly like all the others. None the less, Samus found herself somewhat hesitant as she drew closer to it. Nothing cataclysmic happened, and she was soon close enough to read the label on the door.
"Combinative Research," Samus read aloud. Her own voice broke the unnatural silence, startling her. Shrugging it off, Samus quickly opened the door, glancing within. Nothing immediately attacked; Samus checked on every level possible again just to make sure. That one point of heat was still within, and a bit more distinct now, but other than that there was nothing.
Slowly moving into the room, Samus noted that temperatures dropped significantly within this chamber. There were canisters of blue liquid on either side, and Samus could see little of the large room until she came past them.
Instantly all of Samus' muscles tensed, ready to move, to act instantly. Unconsciously her hand nearly fired. The sight before her was horrific, bodies strewn about the lab as if thrown in every direction. Most of them appeared to have been ripped apart, and Samus grimly acknowledged what had done the deed. By this point they were cold and stiff, so that meant the warm location might be someone alive. Either that, or the alien who had done all this.
Bringing her energy cannon to bear, Samus stepped around a tall filing cabinet, bringing herself into sight of the being. To her relief, it was not a dangerous monster. Instead, a man lay slumped against a wall, his breaths rasping slow and shallow. Hearing her, his eyes focused blearily, his bead barely moving to look at her.
"...who?" he managed to gasp, then fell into a coughing fit. Kneeling beside him, Samus looked him over. Something had pierced his stomach, and she recognized instantly that the wound was mortal. It was a miracle he had survived even this long. The coughing only served to irritate the wound more, and Samus grimly realized he had little time left.
"...the fools did it..." the man rasped, "...I told them this would happen..."
"Ssh, be still."
"...too late for me. I'll die... but I was right... they should never have done it."
"Done what?" Part of Samus felt guilty for getting information out a dying man, but he seemed willing to talk and she needed to know what he had to say. Not very guilty.
"Everything. It was a mistake. All of it... should have worked." For a few moments he continued to cough, and a bit of red fell to his shirt. "You'd think we'd get the point... stop messing around the building blocks of life... this is what we get. I hope the galaxy will survive..."
"Survive what?"
"Wouldn't," he gave a painful sounding hack, "wouldn't you like to know?"
Suddenly the doctor's head slumped, finally succumbing due to loss of blood. For a moment Samus remained there, not wanting to move. What had he meant? Obviously, there was something going on here she had no knowledge of, and it was annoying her. If only she had a bit more information, his cryptic comments might make sense.
Eventually common sense returned to her, and Samus got to her feet. Before leaving, she glanced at the name tag resting on the man's formerly white lab coat. She nodded solemnly to the body before leaving the room.
"Rest in peace, Dr. Walters."
