Chapter Seven

Dr. Scott shook his head as he met West and Sammers in the hall.

"Man's clearly in shock," said Scott as he noted something on his holopad. He handed West Paxton's bloodied uniform in a sealed package for the crime lab to analyze. "We cleaned him up, sedated him and have him resting," said Dr. Scott as he read over the report.

"Did he say what happened?" West asked.

"No. He was barely able to even form a coherent sentence. I doubt that poor man could recite the alphabet." Sammers frowned deeply at this.

"Did he say anything that could help us?" Sammers asked. Dr. Scott sighed and scrolled through his notes.

"The only thing any semblance of coherent we got out of him was 'the grin'," said Dr. Scott, making both West and Sammers raise an eyebrow.

"Grin? What grin?" Sammers asked. Dr. Scott shook his head.

"No idea. But suffice it to say, he's in no condition for questions. I will let you both know if he improves or says anything," said the Psychologist, to which they nodded.

"Thank you," said Sammers. Dr. Scott nodded as he turned and headed back into his lab.

"Fuck," said West as he looked at Paxton's bloody clothes through the plastic. Sammers frowned, arms crossed.

"How the hell could something less than a meter long kill two grown, armed P-Sec officers?" Sammers mused. West huffed.

"Let's ask Amelia. See if she found anything out," said West, heading for her lab, Sammers following.

Sure enough, the two found Amelia in Medlab. Still as hard at work as always. What temper West had faded when he saw how obviously tired she was.

"Amelia, we've had a new development," Sammers began. She sighed and nodded, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm all ears," she said as she stood up from where she had been looking at a microscope slide. West crossed his arms.

"About twenty minutes ago, Officer Paxton came back from a patrol down on Sublevel Three with two other officers. He was covered in blood and babbling," said West. She listened closely. "The other officers' bodies have not been found, but we don't think Paxton killed them." She looked at her instruments.

"Amelia, how could this happen? That thing was less than a meter long when we saw it a few hours ago. How the hell could it kill two grown, armed men?" Sammers asked. She touched her chin as she thought.

"I'm not sure. If they had hurt or killed it, and its blood got on them, there would have been no blood from the men, and the survivor would have had obvious acid burns," she stated.

"Which he didn't have," West confirmed. Sammers thought, and them looked at her.

"Let's have a look at the ones that didn't get out. See if that can give us any clues," Sammers suggested. Amelia thought, and nodded.

"All right. I need to check, anyway," she said, leading them over the the ICU ward. Amelia entered her passcode and the doors swished open.

Both Sammers and West paused when they saw the blood-splattered ICU pods. Sammers had seen the RIG video Amelia sent him, but not seen it in person. He was glad he had only drank, and had nothing in his stomach. He tried to not look at the tortured, final expression of Clyde Ellison's body, which lay across the bed of the pod. West fared a little better, being a bit more used to such things, but was still disturbed. They approached the other pods. Amelia suddenly stopped when she noticed something. There was no movement. Nor was there any noise. She moved closer, and realized with horror she could not see any of the creatures. She dashed forward and stopped at the pod. "No," she breathed as she stooped and looked under the bed and all around. Sammers and West ran up and saw what she did.

"Fuck!" West swore.

"How the hell could they get out?!" Sammers yelled. Amelia looked up at the top of the pod, and pointed at the answer. They looked. The vent cover to the emergency venting had been torn open. Not just on that pod, but all of them. "Why didn't the automated alert tell us there was a breach?!" Sammers asked. Amelia looked at the pods, noting their lights were out.

"I don't know," said Amelia as she looked around at the other pods. "But they shouldn't have been able to. The Emergency venting is a closed system, and isn't connected to the rest of the colony air ducts," she stated. Sammers frantically contacted the engineers.

"I'm not taking any chances," he said as he ordered a team of engineers and P-Sec officers to Medlab on the double.

The teams arrived in short order, and Sammers had the engineers go in and inspect the vents with the P-Sec officers for protection. Sammers, Amelia and West stayed in Medlab while they worked.

"Billings, here. I think we found your problem," said the engineer over the radio, and sent them a video. He showed them the inside of the emergency vent, where the wiring for the systems was totally gone. Not damaged, torn out and gone. He then turned the camera up and showed them where a hole had been torn in the side of the emergency duct. Another engineer showed video from among the ceiling tiles, and where the hole was. Worse, she found another skin from the things. Amelia, Sammers and West were floored.

"And now we have a much bigger problem," said West as he looked at Sammers, who almost looked ready to keel over from the strain. "Sir, I'd like permission to use Pulse Rifles," said West. Sammers sighed, and after a few moments, nodded.

"If you can corner them away from people, do it. Don't fire them off in populated areas unless you have no choice," said Sammers as he collapsed into a chair. West nodded and left to take care of things and regroup. One of the engineers brought Amelia the shed skin of the creature she had found, sealed in a bag. Amelia thanked her, bade her to be careful as they left. "God, Amelia. How long have the others been loose?" he asked. Amelia looked at the skin for a moment.

"I honestly don't know. Earth creatures like spiders or snakes that shed their skins and exoskeletons take considerable time to do so, and are severely weak afterwards. These things, though, do not seem to, from what I can see." Sammers groaned, sounding pained.

"Amelia . . . is it possible they grew enough to harm grown people?" he asked. Amelia sighed gently, trying to think.

"Currently, I'd say anything is possible. We're talking about a parasitic alien life form that bleeds the most powerful acid humans have ever seen. Right now, we're in totally unknown territory," she admitted. Sammers sat silently for a few moments. He looked up at the various tubes, beakers and devices in the Medlab.

"Amelia, do you think we can do it?" he asked, not looking at her. She was silent for a few moments.

"I think so," she replied. Sammers nodded and stood up. He headed for his office, leaving Amelia alone in Medlab. She contacted Briggs to tell him they could pick up the bodies out of the ICU now. She then plopped down into a chair, and looked at the shed skin from one of the creatures. Maybe she could find some new clues about them. She only had samples from the pods and "hand" form, not this one. Maybe she could find something to help them find or fight them. She put on gloves and got to work.

XXX

West looked at his officers as they gathered in P-Sec headquarters. Instead of their pistols, they were now arming with SWS Motorized Pulse Rifles. Fully automatic, and more than a match for these things. A few scattered officers also had shotguns, a classic police weapon. He brought up a holographic map of the whole colony, swiped until he displayed the sector and area Paxton and his team had been patrolling.

"This is where Paxton, Ward and Hill were sweeping. We don't know exactly where the incident happened. That's part of why you're going in. Find out what happened, where, and recover any bodies. If you see this fucking thing, shoot it. No more pussyfooting around. Unless it's unsafe to do so, shoot to kill if sighted," he said sternly.

"What about Stohls and Tornic? We still haven't found them," said someone from the back. West sighed, two of their officers still unaccounted for.

"I'm still hoping we might find them. But, again, if you see one of those pods or those "hands", same drill. Shoot it," he instructed. This was met with approving mutters from the P-Sec officers. He watched them and allowed a small smile. "And make sure nobody goes anywhere alone. Stay in teams of three. Keep your RIGs synced, watch each other's backs and get these things." With this, they headed out to patrol their assigned areas and try to find the creatures.

XXX

Amelia pressed the button for the doorbell of Apartment 14. She waited for a few moments, then pressed it again. She had been about to try a third time, when the door slid open.

"Jessica, are you okay? I tried to call you several times, and I was worried," said Amelia.

"S-s-sorry," Jessica stuttered, opening the door and motioning for Amelia to come inside. Amelia's look of concern deepened as she saw the state of Jessica's apartment. She knew Jessica was not exactly a neat-freak, nor was she a pack-rat. But when Amelia saw the haphazard mess of food containers and empty alcohol bottles, her unease rose up again.

Poor Jessica had been the worst affected of them all. After witnessing the parasite coming out of Ellison, the poor girl had been curled up in a corner, rocking and whispering "There's nothing inside me" over and over. Thankfully, Amelia was in such a position she was able to send the poor girl home and to Dr. Scott. She knew he had diagnosed her with PTSD, and given her sedatives and a few other drugs to help her.

"I-I'm sorry, Amelia. I'll t-try to p-p-pull it together," she stuttered. Amelia smiled as best she could and patted her shoulder.

"Jessica, don't. Don't worry. That was very horrible, I know. Ethan is covering for you, and so are Alex, Josh and Nate. Don't worry. Your spot will be open when you get back," Amelia comforted. Jessica nodded, and staggered over to flop in a chair.

"Th-thank you," she replied. Amelia hugged her.

"It'll be okay," Amelia whispered. She hoped so, she really did.

XXX

Teams of P-Sec officers patrolled the halls of the colony, sweeping every nook and cranny they could. As per West's orders, they kept their Pulse Rifles slung when in inhabited areas, but when in any other place, be it Maintenance, shuttle bays, storerooms or other areas, they had them up. If it was free of people, they had their rifles up and ready.

Team Nine, made up of Detective Frederick Xao, and Officers Charles Rogan and Kevin Henson, were given the area of Sector Three, Sublevel Three, where shuttles were worked on. Since it was so similar to where Paxton and his team had encountered the thing, they all were on edge.

"How the fuck do you think this thing managed to take down Ward and Hill? They were big guys, and no pushovers," mused Rogan, a more slight man with black hair and gray eyes. Henson shook his head.

"They said they found shed skin or something," Henson replied. "Maybe it got bigger."

"Bullshit. How the hell could something get big enough to kill two men in that time?" Rogan retorted. Henson shrugged.

"Hell if I know, man. But, what I do know, is as soon as we see it-" he patted his Pulse Rifle. "It's gonna wish it was never born," he hissed.

"Can it, you two. Eyes forward," said Xao, the two keeping their guns aimed to the front, blue aiming lasers shining in the dim light. They swept the halls with their guns as they came into one of the vehicle bays. Right now, this one was empty, which was good, as it gave them plenty of room and also meant few places for a little monster to hide. The team kept close together, not about to separate and give it a single target. They looked around, working together to look in lockers, inside crates, anywhere it could hide.

"What the-?" Henson said as he saw something. He took out a pen from a pocket and dipped it into a puddle of something clear. He pulled the pen up, and long, thin strings trailed. The substance was the consistency of snot. The other two men muttered.

"Looks like someone spilled some kind of lubricant," Rogan mused. That was a possibility, as there were all manner of lubricants needed and used for all kind of things. Henson flicked his pen and stood up. Finding nothing else, they turned to head out, but they were still tense. Despite of all humanity's technology and learning, millions of years of instinct could not be erased. The kind of instinct that tells prey when it's being watched by a predator. Rogan swung his rifle to the rear to give a quick glance, saw nothing, and turned back. The group headed out. Everything was silent. The silence was broken by the sound of a RIG flatline tone. Xao and Henson whirled. Rogan was gone. The continuing sound of the flatline tone drew their aim upwards to the ceiling of the bay, and what they saw chilled even their seasoned blood.

Something dark held Rogan's body, long, dark fingers nearly curled around his whole torso. A long head was perched almost elegantly atop a form black as midnight. The head had no visible eyes, only a shiny, long dome to the top, glistening in the low light. It was perched on one of the large ceiling cranes used to move and hang shuttles for maintenance. A full fifty feet off the ground. They aimed their Pulse Rifles, targeting lasers glinting off the creature. Rogan's body twitched in death throes, his head twisted around a full 180 degrees, his dead eyes staring back at them. They opened fire. The first few rounds hit Rogan's corpse, but some hit the creature, which shrieked in a surprisingly high-pitched sound, the creature recoiling and leaping away, Rogan's body toppling to the floor. Sure enough, the hissing sound of acid from the ceiling and body showed them they had hit it.

"Fuck!" Henson swore as he tried to see where the jet-black thing had gone. Xao quickly radioed in.

"This is Team Nine. We have contact! Sublevel Three, Sector Three, Maintenance Bay Two! Officer down! Request backup!"

"Team Twelve en route!" replied another team through the radio. Xao and Henson quickly swept the ceiling with their rifles, the mounted weapon lights and lasers casting everywhere.

"Did you see that fucking thing?! It was huge!" Henson gasped as he tried to find where it had leaped to. The P-Sec officer couldn't help his aim trembling, not just from fear, but adrenaline. He saw movement, whirled and fired. The thing jumped back and hissed as it disappeared into the dark. Xao just barely caught a glimpse of it running across his aim, but had no time to aim or even pull the trigger.

"It's circling!" Xao said as he whirled and checked to make sure they weren't being ambushed from the back. His instincts were right on the money. The thing was charging. He barely managed to squeeze off a burst, hitting it in the chest. It screeched loudly, so loud he wanted to cover his ears. It fell back as its blood sprayed, burning holes in the floor. It was not a lethal wound, though, and, to Xao's shock, it almost vanished with how fast it leaped straight up. He jerked his rifle up and just barely caught a glimpse of it skittering along the ceiling like a spider.

"Fucker!" Henson yelled as he fired a burst, trying to track the thing and only managing to put a line of holes into the ceiling. The flashes from the weapon briefly lit up the dark area. Now and then, Xao thought he saw the thing, but couldn't be sure.

"Henson! Hold your fire, goddamn it!" Xao ordered. Henson reluctantly stopped. Xao glanced around. Henson reloaded his rifle.

Faster than the eye could blink, the creature leaped from where it had been hiding behind some crates. Henson never finished his reload, as the creature almost sailed through the air, a long tail lashing out. Xao threw himself back, but Henson wasn't so lucky. The sharp blade at the end of the tail cleaved the poor man in two at the waist. Xao raised his Pulse Rifle towards the ceiling and engaged the alt-fire. The three barrels swiveled outwards and spun, the weapon covering a full 360 degree circle. A few rounds hit the creature, which hissed and, apparently having had enough, leaped up to the ceiling, over to the wall, and disappeared into a broken vent cover. A few seconds later, Team Twelve arrived. Xao panted from where he was on the ground. He looked at the holographic round counter of his rifle. It was red and displayed "00". He glanced up at the vent, then back down to what remained of Henson and Rogan.

"What the hell happened?!" one of the responding officers asked. Xao stayed where he lay.

"We're in trouble," he said ominously as they helped him up.

XXX

Amelia was just on her way back when Sammers called her.

"Amelia, I need you in Operations," said Sammers. She sighed softly.

"On my way," she replied as she changed destinations. She arrived shortly, and found a team of P-Sec officers gathered with Sammers and West. They looked up as she entered. Sammers looked at a Detective who was sitting.

"What happened?" she asked.

"We know how it was able to get the better of Ward and Hill," said West as the Detective took a sip of some black coffee and cleared his throat.

"We encountered it, down in Sublevel Three of Sector Three. Never seen anything like it," he said, staying where he was. He recounted what had happened and what he had seen. Amelia was surprised, especially at his reported size of it.

"You're sure?" she asked. Detective Xao nodded.

"The only clear glimpse I got was when it had Rogan's body, but it was clearly bigger than him. Two meters or so." Amelia blinked. Sammers looked beyond unnerved at this.

"How could it grow so big so quick?" Sammers asked.

"And how could it take a damn barrage from a Pulse Rifle?" West added. Amelia shook her head.

"I have no idea. We're dealing with an alien species, the first humans have ever encountered. I honestly don't have any answers. Some of what you told me, science as we know it, says is impossible," she said. She then shook her head and looked at the holographic map of the colony. "But, they thought that about faster-than light-travel, once." She looked at them. "I'll do what I can, but with what I have and the tools, I'm limited." West's eyebrows perked up and he raised a finger.

"Actually, we have one new thing," he said as he produced a pen in a sealed plastic bag. He gave her another with some kind of clear fluid in it. "We found this in the maintenance bay, and after that, we don't think it's something somebody spilled." She looked at him, then the sample.

"You think this came from the creature?" she asked, and he nodded. Amelia stared at it, and gave a soft sigh. "It's a start. I'll run an analysis as soon as I can, see what I can figure out. As for fighting it, I can't help much there. I'm not a soldier. But, given what I heard, they seem to like the dark, and given you said it had no visible eyes, it's entirely possible they are subterranean, especially with how and where we found them. So, dark places on lower levels seem to be where they go." This drew more than a few pleased murmurs. Sammers smiled weakly.

"Thank you, Amelia. That helps a lot more than you know." West smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

"Any advice is better than none. All right, you heard her! Start marking down the lower levels, check camera feeds, mark any room with low lights or dark. Let's find this fucker and blast it to pieces," West barked. Sammers went to the Operations controls while Amelia headed for her lab with her new samples.