Chapter Six
Amelia sat in Sammers' office with West as they went over plans. They had locked the whole colony down and grounded all shuttles and issued a no-fly order. Right now, they were going over plans to try to find the escaped creature.
"Okay, so, most likely this thing came out in Subevel 2, though it could have reached Level 3 through the hole. Nobody spotted it, so we can't be sure. Since Level 2 is near to Residential, I'll send most of my men there to patrol," said West, Sammers listening and nodding as they looked at a holographic map of the colony.
"Yeah. I'd prefer this thing to be somewhere we can confront it and not cause a panic in the process," said Sammers. He looked at West. "Speaking of, what do your men plan to do when they find it?" Sammers asked. West stood with his arms crossed and hummed softly.
"We were hoping Dr. Kyne would be able to help there," he said and glanced at her. Amelia rubbed her face from where she sat.
"We don't know that much about its biology and physiology. At least with this form. But, I think it's safe to say it likely has the same kind of acidic blood as the earlier type," she replied, and West sighed and shook his head.
"Well, that rules out capping the little beast," he muttered.
"Depends on where it is, " Sammers stated. They looked at him.
"The safety of the colony is my primary concern. If you have to put an acid hole in a machine or something, I don't care. CEC can take it out of my paycheck. And at least we're not pressurized. If we need to weld some holes closed in unimportant areas, fine. I'd prefer if we can do something without popping it like an acid-filled zit," he said. West looked thoughtful at this, scratching his dyed green hair.
"Mills might be able to help. I'll ask him if maybe he can rig up an arc welder to act like a shocker of some kind. Zap the little bastard like a bug," he mused. Amelia frowned.
"That might work. We do know they respond to electricity, but how well, I can't say," she stated. West looked at Sammers who nodded.
"Worth a try. Better than nothing. Keep me posted on any progress of any kind, no matter how small. I want to know if you find so much as a turd from this thing," Sammers stated with authority. West nodded, saluted, and left the office. Sammers then looked at Amelia, and sagged like she did. He walked over and flopped into his chair. "Anything new?" he asked. She shook her head.
"Not much. I locked ICU ward down and brought the specimens with me, so nobody has to go in that awful mess. I'm running what tests I can on the spider-hands and the pods, see if I can find any clues on what we're dealing with." Sammers nodded as he peeled the top off a container and dumped the cube into a glass and set it under a laser which reconstituted the whiskey into a liquid state. He took a sip, then offered it to Amelia. She politely waved her hand. "Very tempting, but I need all my wits," she said softly. "And so do you," she added. Sammers sighed and covered his eyes with his hand.
"Five people. Five people dead. All because of those things. Because of me," he said in a low voice.
"No, Michael. You did the best you could," she refuted.
"Did I? I could have locked down the whole colony when they found the first one, had P-Sec sweep every room and corridor. And I didn't," he said, sounding forlorn. Amelia tried to smile.
"Then it would have been the men and women of P-Sec who were the victims. Remember, we're dealing with an unknown organism, and have no idea what it's capable of. For all we know they can turn invisible," she stated. He sighed and took another slug of whiskey. He knew she was right, but that didn't make the deaths any easier to take. "Any success contacting the Castle?" she asked. He downed the rest of the glass before replying.
"No, and that worries me. There's thirty-five-hundred people on board. Somebody should have picked up," he said, his voice tired. Amelia felt the same. She had that same awful feeling in her gut again. "How's your team holding up?" Sammers asked. Amelia ran her hand through her hair.
"Poor Jessica's a wreck. I prescribed her some tranquilizers and referred her to Dr. Scott for counseling. Poor girl's going to have a twitch for life after that. Judy is holding up better, and Russel is like he always is. Heck, he wanted to join West and his men to find the thing," she said, trying as much as she could to relax in the chair, and failing. Sammers gave a sad smile.
"Well, at least we have the rest of them locked up. Speaking of that, any word there?" he asked.
"Not really. It's obvious they're looking for a way out. But, unless they can bite through five inches of deck alloy, or figure to bite themselves to bleed, we should be able to keep them safely locked up." Sammers winced and shook his head.
"Let's hope they're not that smart. What about the . . . bodies?" he asked reluctantly. Amelia rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"Still where they died," she replied. Sammers looked almost ill as he thought about refilling his glass, instead put it aside.
"I hate just leaving them in there for those little beasts to eat," he said.
"Actually, they haven't shown any signs of that," she said, making him look at her.
"Huh, with those teeth, I didn't have them figured as vegetarians," he quipped. Amelia wanted to smile, but couldn't manage it. "Well, that may be something else that helps us. At least they don't seem to want to eat us. Yet." They were quiet for a moment.
"Any luck contacting Earth?" she asked. He frowned deeply and shook his head.
"Not a bit. I don't know if it's the asteroids from the planet crack, a satellite or something else, but I had less luck than contacting the Castle." He looked Amelia squarely in the eyes. "We're on our own . . ."
XXX
Paxton, Ward and Hill cautiously walked down the corridor, Divet pistols drawn. The three P-Sec officers were patrolling Sublevel 3, the Maintenance area. They were not happy about it.
"God, why couldn't they put more light down here?" Paxton groused. He was a tall, but thin man with short brown hair.
"Cause it's Maintenance, genius," Ward shot back. He was a slightly older man with black hair and a square jaw. Hill glanced around as his aimed his pistol and light. He was a fairly normal-looking man with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Yeah, I wish we had more light, too. That thing could be anywhere," Hill said in a low voice. The three officers tried not to show how scared they were. After all, this wasn't some petty criminal, or someone who flipped out. This was a genuine alien, something none of them ever thought they would hear about, let alone see. That was to say nothing of them having the far from enviable task to capture or kill the thing.
Ward carried a net made from Titanium-alloy wire, normally used in mining for holding back rocks in dangerous areas of mines. It was far from an ideal solution, but the best they had on such short notice. Paxton idly wondered if this was how people in the past felt when having to deal with dangerous animals. They came to one of the Maintenance bays and cautiously opened the door. They peeked inside around the jam of the door. They were relieved when nothing moved or leaped out at them. Ward nodded his head for them to head in. They kept their weapons up, the integrated lights and aiming lasers casting around. They ran over crates, machines, tools, but nothing moved. A vehicle sat up on the lift, raised up enough for it to be worked on. Light glinted off the polished central piston.
"All right. Remember, this thing's small, about the size of a snake," said Ward.
"Uh . . . how big is a snake?" Paxton asked. In all fairness, most of them had only seen such animals in videos or at zoos, if at all.
"About a meter long," said Hill. Paxton nodded. That made him feel somewhat better. They searched the area, opening lockers carefully and looking anywhere something so small might have been able to get to. Hill and Ward worked together and carried the next, just in case. Paxton stayed back and let them search the dark corners. He stuck to the lit areas. He shined his light under the hoisted vehicle. He stooped down and looked around. It all looked fine. He moved back, and his shoulder brushed something. Suddenly, whatever it was fell on him. Something soft and floppy. Paxton screamed as he stumbled back, his pistol going off and the shot punching a hole in a wall. He flailed and threw the thing off and crawled back.
"What the fuck?!" Ward shouted as he and Hill came running. Paxton shook as he shined his light on the pale thing that had ambushed him. They also shined their lights, kept careful aim as they cautiously came closer. Ward sighed as he realized it wasn't the creature. At least, not fully. "Well, it's not really what we're looking for," he said as he touched it with his boot.
It was thin, pale and transparent, almost like paper, or foil. It was too curved to be mechanical, clearly organic. The other two came forward and looked at the find.
"Is that . . . skin?" Paxton asked. Ward messaged West and showed him a picture of it. Soon, Amelia's voice came through their radios.
"It looks like it shed its skin. That would mean it's growing," she stated. Hill groaned.
"Great. Let's hope we can find this little bastard before it gets too much bigger," said Hill.
"If it is as recent as it looks, it likely will be soft and vulnerable, maybe even immobile," said Amelia, and the P-Sec officers murmured approvingly.
"So, this thing might be nearby and easy to catch?" Ward asked.
"Possibly. But still be careful. I only have Earth life to use as an analog," she replied. Ward looked at the others and nodded.
"All right, you heard the lady. Let's find this soft little bastard," said Ward as they headed out of the bay to continue their search. Their RIGs beeped as an audio message came.
"Martin, here. Sublevel Two, Sector Nine. I think I found how the little creep evaded detection," he said as a photo appeared of a vent cover torn apart.
"Same here, and looks like it also got into some of the foodstuffs," said another officer, who sent a photo of food containers ripped open, the torn vent also clearly visible. "Looks like the thing is using the air vents to move around. I'm on the other end of the same level. Explains why we never saw it." They watched and looked at the vents. They didn't see anything nearby out of the ordinary, but there were many places they could not get to that such a small thing could. But at least they had some clues and something to look for. At least that was better than looking around blindly.
"Good. Then we have a pattern. That gives us a framework to use. Any available units back up Team Eight on Sublevel Three. The skin is the best lead we have so far," said West. This brought a few relieved mutters from Paxton and the others.
"Team Four en route. We'll sweep the other end, in case it doubled back," said another officer.
With this good news, they headed further in, checking the bays as they went. They didn't find any more signs of the creature, though. They had just passed a bulkhead door, when the lights flickered.
"Huh?" Paxton muttered as the line of lights down the corridor dimmed and flickered.
"Ah, probably need to call the engineers in to check the wiring. Move on," said Hill, seemingly unconcerned. Paxton glanced up at the lights, then followed his teammates. He was wary, but Hill was right. Nobody really cared if the lights were dim or flickered down in Maintenance. It was normal. He was jumpy for no reason. No reason his ass. He was down there helping hunt a fucking alien, he reminded himself. He shook his head and tried not to think about it.
XXX
Sammers sat in his office and looked at the various videos and pictures P-Sec had sent him. He flipped through holographic screens and windows, scanned pictures and data quickly. He was very troubled by the finding of it having torn into the vents, as well as getting into the foodstuffs. He had the affected food removed and quarantined to be safe. Last thing he needed was for this thing to contaminate their food supply. More concerning, was the revelation of its shed skin. Though, Amelia's words did hearten him, and if it really was soft and vulnerable in such a state, they might have a chance to capture or kill it. He truly hoped so. He rubbed his forehead and glanced at the photos of the people who had died, feeling as if their faces and eyes followed him, accusing and haunting. He blew out a breath, glanced at the whiskey glass, and shoved the idea of drinking aside for now. He went back to looking over the data and trying to keep everything straight. He also got a notice from Engineering about lights flickering. He groaned. As if he didn't have enough problems as it was. He idly authorized them to check lights and wires before going back to his work. He just hoped P-Sec could find it.
XXX
Paxton warily shined his weapon light down the hallways again as his team stepped out from another empty bay. They had covered pretty much all of the Maintenance bay area, and most of the Sector. They only had a relatively small area to look in last. A storage area off of Maintenance where spare parts and other miscellaneous things were stored. It was also one of the older parts of the colony, as evidenced by the dust that coated the floor and walls. As they passed the bulkhead doors which lay open, their guard began to lower. Thus far, they had found no evidence of the creature, and if it had entered the area, it would have left some tracks of some kind in the dust. This put them more at ease, even though it was even more dim there. In fact, it bordered on dark. The lights barely glowed a dull orange that was hardly brighter than candles. The way the narrow line of lights flickered reminded Paxton of candles flickering in wind. Given how old the area was, and how disused, it didn't surprise them.
"C'mon, lets check the last of this so we can get back," said Hill. They nodded and walked down the hallways. It was silent, not even machine sounds broke the stillness. Only their boots on the floor and their breath disturbed the silence.
"So, what do we do if we actually find it?" Paxton asked.
"Try to catch the little SOB," said Ward as he hefted the net.
"And kill it if safe to do so," said Hill. Paxton nodded as they walked and investigated another bay. Again, there was nothing. The further they went, and still finding nothing, they relaxed more and more. Finally, they reached the last corner of the area. Ward glanced down where the hallway bifurcated, and back at Hall and Paxton.
"All right, we only have this little bit left, and we're sure there's nothing down here. You and Paxton take that one, I'll check out this way, and we'll meet back here and head back. We'll be done sooner that way," said Ward.
"But what if we find it?" Paxton asked. Ward smiled thinly.
"If you two find it, shoot it. If I do, I got this," he said as he hefted the net. "Then I can step on the little bugger," he said with a grin. They nodded and turned to head down the hall while Ward went the other way.
The hallway was still and dark. Even darker than the rest of the area. Ward wasn't concerned, shining his weapon light. He checked a few empty bays. He had been about to head back when he heard something. He stopped and tilted his head. It sounded like dripping. He followed the sound. Probably a pipe leaking somewhere. May as well make a note of it and let them know, and then they would be done. He turned around a corner and followed the sound. The steady drip grew louder. He turned towards the sound, and could see a glistening puddle, just barely glinting off his light. He narrowed his eyes and came closer, shining his light. He was shocked when something moved. Something quick, something shiny. Something big. It moved so fast, it knocked the gun out of his hand as it screeched, the weapon firing a single shot into the wall.
Hill and Paxton came running at the sound of the shot, but as they ran, another sound shocked them. The sounds of screams. They rounded the corner, and their lights glinted off something huge and shiny that crouched over Ward, who screamed as it was tearing him apart.
"Go!" Hill yelled as he and Paxton turned and ran. Ward's screams echoed in the halls behind them, but worse, his voice came through their RIGs.
"Please, god! Help me! Help me!" he whimpered like a child, the wet sounds of flesh being torn and bones being broken heard over the radio as the two men frantically ran, ducking down one corridor, then another, running blindly in terror. What they had seen was far larger than a meter.
"What the fuck was that?! What the-" Paxton screamed, Hill covered his mouth and shoved him against a wall as they stopped and panted, trying to find the way back.
"This way!" Hill breathed. They ran again, more like terrified animals than men as they dashed.
"This is Team Four, what the hell is going on down there?!" another officer radioed. They didn't answer, for fear of the sound alerting the thing. They stopped and panted, finding themselves in front of the bulkhead door. Hill shined his light around, and saw something. He shook, as did Paxton as they aimed their weapons and warily approached. They were shocked. It was a body.
The mess that had once been a man was eviscerated, the arms and legs torn off, the torso ripped open and empty to the spine, the skull cracked open and empty. A P-Sec badge was visible on part of the uniform, and a name below it. It was Ward. Paxton stared in total shock, Hill backing away, his eyes darting everywhere.
"Oh my god . . ." Paxton breathed, hardly a whisper. Hill's back hit a wall and he looked everywhere. Then, he felt the air around him move. He glanced up as something shiny and black reached down from where it crouched on the wall, long, clawed fingers digging into his shoulders as it hauled him up. Hill screamed.
"Aaaah! Get off me! Get off me! Aaaah!" His screams were cut off as Paxton screamed on the ground, Hill's head almost torn off and hanging backwards by a single tendon as the creatures claws tore into him, Hill's RIG sounding a flatline. Paxton was showered in Hill's blood, his face coated. He winced, opened his eyes and stared in horror and awe at the form of the thing.
It slowly raised its head to look at him. A long, eyeless head, blacker than the space between stars. Its lips peeled back to reveal bloody teeth that shined like polished steel, the whole face covered in Hill's blood. Paxton whimpered as he stumbled through the door, gibbering in pure terror.
XXX
People chatted and muttered as they gathered in Union Square. They were visibly uneasy. Rumors were flying like bullets in a warzone. In the middle of all this, a man stood on a makeshift platform of crates. He was middle-aged, with a high Widow's Peak and thin mustache.
"Brothers and sisters, this is a momentous day!" he declared. People watched and listened. Some were gathered tightly and close, while other stood back and watched and listened with varying degrees of interest, and sometimes, distaste. "We finally have validation for what we have know all along! We have finally discovered alien life!" he announced. This brought shocked murmurs from some, scoffs from others. "Yes, we have always known, and now we have the proof! The Marker has promised us, and now that promise is coming to fruition! And even better, one of our own believers was witness to it!" he said as he motioned for someone to come and speak. Ethan shyly approached.
"Y-yes. It's true. I saw it, and it is alive, and not like anything from Earth," he said, and the preacher smiled wider.
"You see?! It is a glorious day! We are on the first step to the Universal Awakening!" he declared, and the tightly-gathered crowd nearest cheered.
"You're all nuts!" yelled a miner from outside the group. The preacher looked up and smiled at the man, but it was not a friendly or happy one.
"I see we have a skeptic," said the preacher. The miner huffed, armed crossed.
"Yeah. From what I heard, it already killed several people," the miner said. The preacher didn't seem perturbed in the slightest.
"Death is not the end, my doubting friend. And do you not see the significance of this? That we finally have answered one of the greatest questions of mankind?" Some people murmured at this.
"Yeah, and maybe it would have been better unanswered if this is what's out there," argued the miner.
"You dare mock our faith?!" someone in the crowd snarled. The miner, clearly bigger than most of them, didn't look intimidated.
"When you bunch of rock-heads act like ninnies? Yeah," replied the miner. One of the crowd began to move towards him, when a man in P-Sec uniform stopped him.
"Hold it right there," West warned. The man glared at him.
"Son of a bitch mocked my faith!" West didn't look impressed.
"Free Speech. Don't like it? Go jump out an airlock." West then looked at the preacher.
"And you. Name?" West said, clearly not a request.
"Abaddon. Nathaniel Abaddon," he stated proudly. West didn't show emotion as he replied.
"Look, Abaddon. The whole place is tense, people are scared, and the last thing we need is someone stirring things up. We've already got the whole colony under quarantine and have plenty of other problems, and the last thing I need is fights and arguments. Don't make things worse, you hear me?" Abaddon was silent. "I said, you hear me?" West said in a louder voice, and anyone who knew him knew him raising his voice was not a good sign for whoever he was talking to.
"Yes, sir. I hear you," Abaddon replied. West nodded, hand just resting on his holstered pistol at his side.
"Good. Now, take your little 'flock', go pray someplace quiet, and don't rile things up." He then looked at the man who he had stopped. "That goes double for you." He then looked at the crowd. "And I catch any of you stirring shit up, I'll take away your little pebbles and lock you in Solitary until the colony closes. Understood?" They bristled at this.
"You can't deny us our faith!" a woman spat. West looked at her.
"Then don't make me. Nobody's saying you can't pray, just do it so you don't start a fucking panic," he shot back. The others people watched the Unitologists and muttered their agreement with West. Suddenly, West's RIG beeped an alert.
"West, we got a situation!" said one of his officers. West frowned as he turned to head off.
"What happened now?" he asked as he strode away from Union Square.
"Don't know yet, but I think we got an officer down." His blood chilled as he picked up his pace.
"Fuck me."
