Chapter Eleven

Sammers was reading over various files as he also looked at the map of the colony, trying to figure out just where any of the things could be hiding. Not an easy task. The Aerodyne colony was nearly five miles and had many more miles of ducts and tunnels. The things could be anywhere. However, their recent triumph in killing one had encouraged him. He brought up his video screen and sent a message.

"Mills, any word on those Stasis modules?" Sammers asked. An older man with a shaved head answered.

"Yeah, we got out as many as we could find, but we only have six, including the one Tom has," replied the engineer. Sammers sighed and rubbed his face. He wished they had double that number.

"Okay, get them all together and handed out to P-Sec. West can choose who gets them. What about other measures and maybe weapons?" Sammers asked as he noted things down on a holopad.

"Well, I have an arc welder that might work as a shocker, but no idea if it will even affect these things." Sammers nodded his agreement.

"Keep it ready, just in case," Sammers replied and cut the link. He then messaged West. "West, Mills got as many Stasis modules together as he could. We only got six total, but should help."

"Thanks, but we're dealing with a new problem right now," replied West and Sammers blinked.

"Great. What happened now?"

"A Detective I had following that preacher disappeared," West replied, and Sammers stopped.

"What?" Where were they?" Sammers asked.

"Near Residential, last I checked," West replied. Sammers felt his blood run cold.

"Let me know as soon as you know anything. I mean that." Sammers then hung up and dropped into a chair. Oh, he hoped it was Abaddon and the Unitologists behind it. Another attack so near where people lived was not a good sign in any way. He quickly messaged Amelia. "Amelia, got anything new?" he asked. Her face appeared.

"Actually, yes. Not much, but it might help West and his teams fight the creatures," she replied, her team waving in the background. Sammers gave a small sigh of some relief.

"Good. Send him and me any data you can ASAP." He closed the message. He hoped it would help. Hoped he was wrong, and, most importantly, that they weren't too late.

XXX

West and his men were in P-Sec HQ, looking over the Stasis modules Mills had sent over, one officer putting on the device to his left hand.

"Sir, we think we found something," said an officer as a RIGLINK video window popped up. It showed a P-Sec pistol, laying on the floor. But there was no blood, no overt signs of a struggle. West's eyes narrowed.

"Where?" he asked.

"Sector 2 Storage. We checked, and found a broken vent," said the officer as they showed West the broken vent inside, hidden away. West's eyes became slits.

"Keep a lid on it for now. Come back, and stay in a group." He then looked at his officers, now armed with the Stasis modules.

"Okay. Now, we know these things can be killed. They're tough, but not invincible. If seen, use Stasis first, then shoot the shit out of them. Keep your distance, and report any and all sightings or signs immediately," West instructed.

"Yes, sir!" they chorused. He then brought up a hologram of the colony, and filled them in on the latest plan.

"Okay. So, since we killed one of the bastards, and know what to do, we're sending two teams into the vents to try to see if they can find where these things are hiding, or find and kill them. Each team will be assigned a Stasis module. Try not to choke up in there, give enough space for all to fire, but let the Stasis user do their job first," he said as he indicated the vents. "Team Twenty will enter here, and Team Eighteen will enter here. Sweep the vents through, kill or flush the things out. Like the rest, report any and all signs of the things, no matter how small." With this, the officers saluted and left to do their duty, while West and his own team armed up and went to patrol.

West knew it was risky to send officers into the vents, but he had little choice. If the creatures were hiding in there, they needed to do something to either kill them or flush them out. Now that they had found a way to fight back, and actually killed one, they had a renewed sense of hope. As he and his team left, he gave one last glance at the map, and hoped he wasn't fooling himself.

XXX

"I can't believe Ethan would do something like that," said Jessica as Judy and Russel filled her in on what had happened while she was gone. The three sat on stools by desks in the lab as they took a short break.

"I can," Judy replied, almost spitting. Russel huffed lightly.

"Yeah, some people are like that. Not to sound rude, but lots of Unis are that way. Amelia's husband notwithstanding," said the Nurse. Judy nodded.

"Well, I hope CEC fires the little shit for it. He could have caused a lot more damage," said Judy. Russel chuckled.

"Not likely. You know a lot of the shareholders and CEOs are Unis, too," said Russel with a mirthless smile. Judy shook her head.

"Maybe I just might quit and work for Weyland-Yutani after this," Judy mused.

"Now, now. I didn't raise quitters," Amelia quipped as she walked up, making a few of them laugh.

"So, mom, anything new?" Russel joked, and this got an honest laugh from Amelia.

"Some interesting discoveries, from the samples," she said as she showed them her holopad. They looked, and were surprised.

"The exoskeleton cells are metal-bonded?" Jessica asked. Amelia nodded.

"As if they weren't tough enough, with the fibers acting like a natural Kevlar armor. This makes them even more tough," Amelia replied. Russel whistled.

"Damn, those things are badass. Like they're wearing Soldier RIGs in their own skin," Russel mused. Amela nodded.

"Sammers and West requested the data as soon as possible," she said as she sent the file and report to Sammers and West's RIGs. Sammer's face appeared in a window soon after.

"Thank you, Amelia. This helps a lot. The more we know about what we're dealing with, the better," said Sammers.

"Yes. I'm sorry I couldn't be more thorough, but I had limited time, and I'm neither qualified, nor trained to perform an autopsy on an alien," she said with some humor. Sammers gave a soft chuckle, despite himself.

"Amelia, you've done far more than I could ever ask for. This already is very helpful. But, something still troubles me. These things are easily the toughest, meanest form of life we've ever seen. And I may not be a biologist, but things don't evolve to be like that for no reason," said Sammers. At that, Russel scratched his head from where he sat.

"Yeah, I was thinking on that, too. Why would they be like that if Aerodyne is a rock?" Russel asked. Judy touched her chin in thought.

"Yeah, and I'd think we'd have found fossils or something with initial prospecting and analysis, let alone setting up the colony," said Judy. Amelia thought for a moment about this.

"The only thing I can think of, is they didn't originally come from here," said Amelia. Sammers was silent at this, also pondering. He looked at her.

"Amelia, I also have been thinking on their life cycle. They start as those pods, then the spider-hand things, then they lay an embryo in a host, and they become these monsters. But, where do the pods come from?" Sammers asked. Amelia thought and looked at the information.

"Well, I have begun to think the pods have more in common with eggs," said Amelia, and everyone was silent at the implication.

"Whoa," said Russel. Judy shivered and Jessia tried not to look as unnerved as she was.

"If that's the case . . . then what's laying these eggs?" Sammers asked, a hint of fear in his voice. Amelia shook her head.

"No idea, but given their size, if said creature was sized accordingly, there is no way we'd have missed it," she replied confidently. Sammers was silent for a few moments, then nodded.

"Let's just hope we don't have to find out. I'll keep tabs on things from here and let you know if we need anything else. You all stay safe there," said Sammers before hanging up.

XXX

The P-Sec officers warily looked at the vent opening. To say they were not happy about being tapped to go in there was a massive understatement.

"Why the fuck did I get the short end of the stick?" Oram asked aloud, running a gloved hand over his short blonde hair.

"Hey, at least you got the Stasis unit," said Bernstein, an older officer with brown hair who was going bald. Bernstein held a pump-action shotgun, Oram had a Pulse Rifle, as did the other two officers. Oram huffed softly, hesitated, and then stooped to enter the vent.

"This is Team Twenty. Now entering the vents," he said as he lead the way, his Pulse Rifle aimed and the weapon lights on full blast. The others followed in after him, staying close. Woldman and Turner brought up the rear, and were keeping an eye out to make sure they didn't get ambushed from the rear.

The vent was cramped, to say the least. Oram had no idea how these things, big as they supposedly were, could fit inside and seemingly move with freedom.

"Heads up, guys. I got an updated report from Dr. Kyne. She says these things' muscles are stretched at the arms and feet. That means they can leap really quick and far. And their arms are like springs, so they can swipe fast, too. Whatever you do, keep 'em at a distance," said West through the radio. Oram sighed as they all walked in a crouch and came to the first junction. He checked the map in his RIG, and they headed right. Oram kept his left hand free, in order to use the Stasis unit at a moments' notice. He kept his Pulse Rifle aimed, but the sling over his shoulder, allowing him to use it one-handed.

"This way, and keep an eye on those other ways," he gently called back, trying to keep his voice soft as possible. He hoped more than anything they would come up empty. They went further and further into the vents, past cables and conduits. They came up to a larger section, one of the pressure relief areas. Here, the vent opened up to be large enough to partially stand. A large fan spun overhead to circulate the air. Oram shined his light around, and it fell on something pale and clearly not metal. Warily, he moved closer, and saw what it was. He radioed in. "Team Twenty, here. We found a sign from them. Another shed skin," he said as he sent a picture to West. There was a soft groan from the other side.

"Well, at least we know they've been there. Look at the walls. What sector?" West asked. Oram glanced around.

"Uh, looks like Sector Four, East," he replied.

"All right. Continue your sweep. Make notes of anything you find from these things," said West. Woldman warily glanced back and around while Oram adjusted his Pulse Rifle and headed out the other vent, Bernstein close behind. The four officers stayed close together, moving slowly and warily.

"How long do you think that skin's been there?" Woldman asked.

"Don't know, but let's just hope it's former owner is far away," Turner replied faintly. He spared a glance back, almost expecting one of those things to be there, grinning at him. Thankfully, there was nothing. He swept his weapon lasers and light just to be sure. Nothing but the cold steel of the vents. Even so, the shadows didn't make him feel any better. Turner warily followed the rest out of the pressure relief bubble and into the rest of the vents.

XXX

Warryl, Kelly and Kate worked quick and efficiently as they worked to weld shut one of those first holes from the acid from those things. They also had to replace some wiring, but thankfully, didn't need to shut off the power in the area. Tanya wasn't sure her heart could take the strain of that. Being in the dark, with those creatures running around? She shook her head at the thought. The three engineers did their work as fast as they could, not wanting to be out any longer than necessary. They stole glances around every so often, and tried to make sure their backs didn't face any dark corners.

"Right. That seals up the primary hole. Just gotta reattach these wires and we're good," said Warryl. Kate nodded and huffed.

"About damn time. I really don't want to be out around here," Kate growled. Warryl chuckled.

"What? You afraid they won't like your pretty face?" he teased, and she almost snarled as she turned to him, arms crossed.

"Yeah, so not funny. With those things running around, I don't want to take any-" she began, and trailed off as she turned. What she saw froze her blood like ice.

There, standing near the corner of the junction, was a tall, black form. It was so tall, it needed to stoop. A long, black, shiny head stared at her with an eyeless, but terrifying gaze. The black body glittered in the dim light, shiny, as if polished, or wet. Kate's throat at first seemed paralyzed, then burst in an earsplitting scream. Warryl jumped and stumbled, Kate whirled, and gasped as she saw the black tail receding as it vanished around the corner, the long, sharp blade as big as a butcher's knife.

"Oh my god! Holy fuck!" Kelly screamed as she grabbed Warryl's arm and yanked him to his feet. "Come on! We gotta get outta here!" she yelled, grabbing a shaking Kate as they ran. The three ran and hit a nearby alarm, red lights coming on and alarm klaxons wailing. She brought up a RIGLINK video window and Sammers' face appeared. "This is Engineering Shift Two! We saw it! We fucking saw it! Hall 7, Sector One, Sublevel Two! Oh my god!" Kelly screamed and ranted as they ran in terror.

XXX

Sammers had been coordinating the search of the vents when all of a sudden alarms began to blare. He hardly had time to ask what was happening before a frantic engineer and her team contacted him and said they had seen in in Sector Four, Sublevel Two. He hurried and sent the message to West as fast as his fingers could allow, sweat running down his face.

"We're on the way," West replied as he and a team headed there. Sammers marked the location, and noticed that it was on the other side of the whole complex from where they were searching. Another RIGLINK video window appeared, this time with Amelia's face.

"Sammers, what's going on?" she asked.

"Somebody saw one of them, Sector Four, " he replied. Amelia blinked.

"Saw? Were they attacked?" she asked. Sammers shook his head.

"Thankfully no. I have West heading there now," he replied. Amelia frowned softly at this. Before Sammers or Amelia could, speak, the RIG radio hissed to life.

"Contact! We got contact!" yelled a P-Sec officer, making them jump in shock.

"Where?!" Sammers yelled as he focused on the new channel.

"Sector Four, vents!" replied the officer. Sammers felt his blood run cold as the vent teams finally reported a sighting.

XXX

Oram shined his weapon light and Stasis module where he had seen the thing disappear around the corner. He had only caught a fleeting glimpse of that huge, shiny head and grinning metallic smile, but it was enough. It had been faster than him, and retreated. Woldman, Bernstein and Turner had hardly seen it, let alone been in such a position to shoot at it. Oram kept his left hand raised and the Stasis module ready. He warily came up to the turn, readied, and swung around. Nothing. He looked back and motioned for the others to follow, but kept his weapon and Stasis ready.

"Ugh, where the fuck did that thing go?" Woldman asked no one in particular.

"Turner, check behind us," ordered Bernstein. Turner made sure he was looking behind, but nothing was there.

"Clear behind," Turner reported. Cautiously, they continued on.

"This is Team Eighteen. We have a sighting, Sector Five, Level One," reported the other team over the radio. The four P-Sec officers exchanged glances.

"Confirm and engage if you can. Try to flush it out. Anyone in Sector Five, get over there ASAP," ordered West. They tried to stay calm as they moved on. They tensed as they came to a four-way junction.

"Great. Which way?" Bernstein asked. Oram brought up his holographic map, mentally trying to recall where they were.

"Left would take us back, so either right or straight," Ellis mused. They looked around. Ellis had been about to head to the right, when he thought he saw a flash of movement straight ahead. He couldn't be sure, but he kept his weapon aimed. "Straight," he said after a long moment. The others followed behind him. Oram made a conscious attempt to stay to the left side of the vent, so Bernstein could use his shotgun and maybe get some buckshot in on the thing. In such cramped quarters, it would have plenty of effect. Oram kept his left arm raised, palm open, ready to use Stasis.

Up ahead, a vent cover was visible, but intact. Oram's gaze, though, was straight forward, watching that corner for an ambush. Suddenly, the vent cover burst inwards with a metallic screech. A large, black hand grabbed Oram's left arm and pulled. Ellis screamed as the loud snap of his elbow was heard. The others frantically yelled as they charged forward and grabbed hold of their comrade who was being pulled through the torn vent. Bernstein grabbed Ellis around the waist, Woldman grabbed his shoulders, and Turner tried to get as close as he could and shoot at the thing. Oram screamed as more bones could be heard breaking, but they had his body inside of the vent. Suddenly, there was a wet crunch, and they all fell backwards. Oram screamed louder, and when Turner shined his weapon light, he saw the man's left arm had been torn off at the elbow, tendons, veins and spurting arteries exposed.

"Holy shit!" Turner screamed as Bernstein frantically fumbled for his Medkit, Ellis screaming and groaning.

"This is Team Twenty. We have a man down! The damn thing took Oram's arm! We need a Med team ASAP!" Bernstein frantically radioed as he applied the green gel and a tourniquet. The gel sealed the wound while the self-constricting tourniquet stopped the bleeding. Oram groaned through gritted teeth. Woldman kept his gun aimed in case the creature tried to come in after them. Turner was shaking, but keeping it together.

"Where are you?!" West radioed. Bernstein glanced around, looking for any numbers.

"Um, I think, Sector Four. Not sure where. Heading for the nearest vent," said Bernstein as Woldman and Turner helped move Oram, who was going into shock.

XXX

Team Eighteen had heard Bernstein's frantic radio call. They warily looked at each other.

"Fuck me," Hartford swore, an average man with brown hair.

"No shit," agreed Russo, a man with tan skin and short brown hair.

"C'mon. Let's finish the sweep and get out of here quick," said Philips, a woman with short reddish-brown hair tied in a ponytail, who wore the team's Stasis module.

"Don't gotta tell me twice," said Hank, who brought up the rear. Philips nodded and they headed for the nearest open vent. Philips kept her head on a swivel, looking back and forth, watching any corners. As they passed under a vent that went upwards, Philips felt the air move. She almost threw herself back into the others. Metal groaned as a long tail, black as midnight plunged down where she had just been and tore into the metal of the vent like it was tin foil.

"Fuck!" she swore as she raised her left hand. The tail lashed out at her, and she ducked, feeling the sharp blade miss her face by inches. She looked up as the eyeless face appeared, the creature actually upside down as it actually clung onto the metal of the vent, the shiny, metallic teeth bared in a grin. She raised her left arm, but was shocked when the Stasis module whined. She looked, and, to her horror, the back of the module had been cut into by that sharp tail, wires sparking and frayed. Her eyes went huge as she looked up, and realization dawned on her. "They know! It's after the Stasis module!" she yelled.

"Behind us!" yelled Hank. She glanced back, and saw one crawling towards them, faster than any human could manage. Further up, behind the first one, another was coming on all fours as the first one crawled on the ceiling of the vent towards them.

"It's a goddamned ambush!" Philips yelled as they opened fire. Their screams and gunfire echoed in the halls, then fell silent.

XXX

Amelia sighed as she flopped down in a chair. Sammers had messaged her urgently, and they had brought in a wounded P-Sec officer, part of the teams they had entering the vents to try to catch or flush out the Aliens. The poor man's lower left arm had been totally torn off. They managed to stabilize him, but without the arm, and without access to the Biological Prosthetics of the Castle, there was little she could do save for stabilize him. Something about this attack, though, struck Amelia as odd. She couldn't quite pin down what, but something was not right. She groaned, rubbed her face, and sipped some energy drink. She wasn't too surprised when Sammers messaged her via RIGLINK video.

"Amelia, how're you holding up?" he asked. She smiled weakly.

"I'm upright and ambulatory. That's a victory," she replied dryly, and Sammers gave a weak chuckle.

"Thanks for the help on so short notice," he said before taking a drink of whiskey.

"I take it this wasn't a wellness call," she ventured, and he sadly nodded.

"West lost contact with the other team in the vents." Amelia closed her eyes and sighed. She had a bad feeling about that, but also knew something had to be done. Sammers rubbed his face. "What has me concerned, though, is why weren't they able to use their Stasis modules?" That made Amelia frown in thought. Something nibbled at her mind at this. She looked at Sammers.

"What did the survivors from the vents say? What, exactly happened?" Sammers tapped and brought up a window to the side and read.

"They said that Officer Oram was passing by a closed side vent when it tore through and grabbed his left arm and tried to pull him through. They pulled him back and it tore off his arm in the struggle." Amelia frowned. She touched her chin, then fixed Sammers with a firm gaze.

"Sammers, which arm was he wearing the Stasis module on?" she asked. Sammers was silent, his eyes widening and pupils shrinking as realization dawned on him.

"Amela, you don't think-?" She frowned as she nodded.

"And what about the other team? Did they find their bodies? Or the module?" Sammers began to panic as he tapped windows and typed.

"Sorry, Amelia. I'll have to call you back!" he said as he frantically closed the window to call West. Amelia began to have a terrible feeling in her gut. Thus far, they had been operating under the assumption that the Aliens were merely animals. However, if they were indeed targeting people with Stasis modules as a greater threat, it showed clear deductive reasoning, and thus intelligence. Oh, she hoped she was wrong, but her gut said otherwise.

XXX

West and his team searched Sector Five, and didn't have too much trouble finding where Team Eighteen had their last stand, given the bullet holes and smell of blood. Inside was enough to make the unfortunate officers turn back and retch. Unlike the last time, there was blood and a few body parts. However, there was no sign of the team's Stasis module. West huffed and messaged Sammers as soon as they confirmed.

"Sammers, it's gone," he said quickly. He swore Sammers looked like he was about to have a stroke. He quickly messaged Amelia, whose face appeared.

"Amelia, the other module is gone," said Sammers, and she narrowed her eyes.

"West, whoever else has a Stasis module, have them hide it, put it away, anything. The creatures are after the modules," she said, and West couldn't help the shocked look on his face.

"Are you shitting me?" he asked. She shook her head.

"I didn't want to think about it, but this seems to be the result of intelligent action, not instinct. Everyone who has a Stasis module, get them down here to Medlab ASAP," said Amelia. West looked around at his officers and nodded.

"What do we do if these things really are intelligent?" West asked as he and his officers headed to off to do as asked.

"Just pray we're smarter than they are," said Amelia as she cut off the video.

XXX

Rogers, Salon and Diel were worried as they went to storage. West had requested all the Stasis modules brought to Medlab and the teams with them. Johns had put his in storage when his shift ended, so they were tasked to get it and bring it.

"Man, did you hear? About Oram?" asked Salon as they walked.

"Yeah, things tore his fuckin' arm off," said Diel with awe and some fear to his voice.

"Hey, focus, guys. Let's get the thing and get to West," said Rogers as he stopped and entered the code into the pad next to the door.

"I heard someone said the things did it deliberately. Took his arm off to take the Stasis module," said Salon.

"That's a bunch of bullshit. Those things ain't that smart," replied Diel. The door swished open, and Rogers took one step and stopped.

"Wanna bet?" Rogers asked as they looked, and saw the state of the room.

The ceiling vent had been opened, the vent cover entirely missing. The locker where the Stasis module had been stored had been torn open in the most literal sense. Huge gouges could be seen in the reinforced metal. The Stasis module was gone. Diel's jaw dropped as Rogers radioed West. "Sir, we have a situation . . ."

XXX

West was waiting in Medlab with Sammers and Amelia, tense as an ancient bowstring. He had just received a message from Rogers and his team, and that they creatures had somehow gotten into the storage room in P-Sec headquarters and taken another of the Stasis modules. West paced back and forth, hands on his hips.

"How the fucking hell did they get in?! And how the hell did they know where it was?!" he fumed. Amelia sat in her chair and looked at the green-haired man.

"From what I heard, through the vents. As for how they knew, they likely were watching," she replied as calmly as she could. West glanced at her, then back to the floor.

"How the fuck could they be that smart?" he asked, some of his anger abating. Amelia knew he wasn't mad at her, but the situation.

"We don't know much about them, so how can we say for certain how smart they are?" she replied as she studied the pictures of the dead one. "The cranium is about four times the size of a human one. Even if not all of it is brain, it still likely has a very large one," she mused as she studied it. Sammers wiped his sweat. They all looked up when the doors of Medlab swished open and the last two teams came in, Stasis modules safely in cases. West sighed as Russel closed and locked the doors.

"Well, at least we still have these," said Sammers as they laid the other Stasis modules out. West came up, looked and sighed.

"Those might be our lifeline," said West. He looked at Sammers. "So, question now is: What the hell do we do?" Sammers sat and tried to think. West looked at the Stasis modules on the table and shook his head. "Something else I don't get. How the hell did those things even know what the Stasis modules do? We only saw one of those things when we used it," said West.

"That you saw," said Judy, and they all looked at her. "From what everyone says, these things are damn good at hiding. Maybe another one was watching, and you never saw it," said Judy, and everyone else was quiet. Amelia nodded.

"That may well be the case. And if so, also indicates not only intelligence, but complex communication on their part. The ability to communicate such an idea to the others, and tell them the Stasis modules are a threat, what they look like. It would be amazing, if it weren't so frightening," said Amelia as she looked at the data.

"Amen to that," said Russel. Jessica looked thoughtful.

"What if . . . what if we made decoys?" Jessica asked, and the room went silent. West stared at her for several long moments before he grinned.

"Excellent idea!" he cheered. He looked at Sammers, who looked more hopeful.

"That might work. Have Mills weld up a few fake Stasis modules, set them out and lure the things out," he mused. Amelia touched her chin and smiled.

"Yes, that might work, if we do it carefully. Excellent thinking, Jessica," said Amelia, and Jessica rubbed her arm and looked embarrassed. Judy patted her friend on the shoulder and grinned.

"Great idea, hon!" With that, they began to talk about their new plan of action.

XXX

In Union Square, people were going about their last business for the evening before heading home. People were sitting at benches, some eating or drinking, many talking. However the air was far from jovial. The sun, such as it was, had set, and what light filtered in through the skylight had dimmed, the stars now visible. A very few P-Sec officers were around, mostly by the doors to P-Sec headquarters.

"This is some bullshit," said a man as he sat and drank a beer with a group of people sitting in the same booth with him.

"Tell me about it," said another man, who wore an engineering RIG.

"Yeah. Soon as I can, I'm transferring," said a woman as she motioned with her hand that held an open beer. The first man nodded and scoffed.

"They can't even keep the lights up in this damn place," he mused as they noted how dim the lights were. He glanced up at the skylight. As he looked at one of the huge beams above their heads, he thought he saw something move. He stopped, stared, but when he saw nothing, he went back to his beer. The whole square echoed with peoples' words, many talking about the recent events.

"If West and his idiots can't get these things under control, we ought to just evacuate and get everyone up to the Castle where it's safe!" said one miner.

"They can't, you moron. They haven't been able to raise the ship since this whole shitshow started. Don't you ever pay attention?" a woman replied.

"Besides, without the ADS cannons of the Castle to clear asteroids from the planetcrack, it's pretty much suicide," said another man.

"Hey, why are we freaking out? They already killed one, so we know we can kill them with what we have," said a miner as he hefted up a Plasma Cutter.

Suddenly, something huge dropped down from up high, smashing the table. The women screamed and everyone jumped as the huge black thing swung its massive tail in a circle. The man with the Plasma Cutter was decapitated by the sharp blade, the man next to him was torn into like he was wet paper. The tail smashed into the other hapless humans as it knocked them down like bowling pins. Just as many died from the blunt impact alone. People screamed as more of the huge, black Aliens dropped from where they had been hiding. One slashed into a man with its claws before he could raise a weapon, tearing his whole ribcage open in one stroke.

"Holy shit!" a P-Sec officer yelled as he raised his Pulse Rifle, only to be pounced on by an Alien he hadn't seen in the shadows. He struggled, glanced up as, to his horror, the shiny, metallic teeth opened to reveal a second set of similar, sharp teeth behind those, which rocketed out and smashed open his skull like an egg. People screamed and ran in terror as the Aliens attacked. One miner grabbed up his Ripper, ran forward and shot out a blade. The spinning disc contacted the Alien, which screeched as the blade tore into its dark thorax. The spinning blade hissed as it spun off yellowish-green blood, which splattered everything within fifteen feet. The miner screamed, as did other unfortunate people who were caught by the blood. However, the creature was only wounded, leaping back and holding its wound. The humans, though, were not so fortunate, all dying within a few moments from the spray of powerful acid blood. All around, people screamed and ran for their lives, alarms beginning to blare, guns firing and Aliens screeching.

XXX

Amelia was in the lab, just finishing her last tasks for the night. Judy, Russel and Jessica had all gone home. Sammers and West were in Sammers' office discussing the plan to build fake Stasis modules as potential bait to lure the creatures out and trap or kill them. She was very proud of Jessica. It was a very clever idea. She just hoped it would work. Amelia was just saving her documents, when alarms went off. She looked around as red lights flashed and spun.

"Oh, no. Not again," she said as she glanced around. This time, though, she heard gunfire, not far from the lab. She shot up and ran to the Medlab door. It swished open as she stood in the door frame. She looked down the hall as she heard automatic gunfire from a Pulse Rifle. She could hear screams, as well as sounds she was not familiar with. High-pitched screeches that sent shivers up and down her spine. A RIGLINK video suddenly appeared.

"Amelia! The things are attacking! They're going after Union Square!" Sammers blurted out, his eyes huge and wild. She could hear West in the background barking orders and other people screaming and shouting. Amelia's eyes were huge. "Lock yourself in Medlab or find some place to hide," said Sammers. Amelia frowned.

"I'm not about to hide when people need help, Michael!" she shot back tersely.

"Doc, don't fuckin' argue with us!" West butted in. "You're our best shot to find a way to kill these things! You die, we really are fucked!" West replied and shut off the link before she could argue. Amelia ground her teeth. She heard screams echo in the halls. She turned back to the lab and strode inside. She headed over to a table and grabbed up a portable tissue cutter. It was no high-powered weapon, but it would do.

She had been about to head out, when she noticed something. She carefully leaned around the large table, past the beakers and flasks. Her gaze found the X-ray machine. However, it was not the machine that had her undivided attention.

It was the organic-looking pod laying on its side at the base of it.

The end was open, like all the rest. Unlike the others, though, this one was still dripping slime. Amelia knew for a fact all the other opened pods were stored in Stasis crates with the spider-hands along with the body of the adult. Her eyes grew wide, and darted around. Her throat tightened. She moved very slowly and carefully, not wanting to make any sound. She carefully raised the tissue cutter, thumbed on the targeting lasers. When three red lines instead of cerulean met her, she felt a surge of panic. The power cell was empty. She would have sworn, if she dared. Her eyes darted back over her shoulder, to a supply closet. She carefully edged backwards towards it. She tried to be as silent as she could, one hand on the tissue cutter, the other ready to use anything she could to defend herself. Her heart was pounding. Her back found the wall, but she didn't dare look away, in case one of those things should scurry out at her. She edged closer, and the door of the closet swished open. The sound almost made her jump. She was shaking as she edged backwards into the closet, glancing around with her eyes as far as she dared. She backed in, and reached up to the shelf where they kept spare energy cells. She felt around. She could feel a large box, up on the shelf. The door swished closed, and with some mild relief, she reached up awkwardly and tried to get the box down. She felt cloth touch her hand, and she yelped as she yanked her hand down, pulling the heavy box with it. She barely had time to look up before it hit her between the eyes and she blacked out.