Chapter Fifteen

Amelia and Judy sagged a bit as they walked with Russel and the rest into P-Sec HQ. The adrenaline was wearing off, and the two were feeling it. Amelia was better able to fight it off as they rode the elevator up. At least that was still working. Upon reaching the second floor, they were greeted by a crowd of dirty, scared people. Amelia could see people with bandages on their faces, some stained with blood. Most of them were armed with one weapon or another. There were far more people in there than she had seen in Engineering. They turned to their immediate left, and entered the main P-Sec room. West looked up from where he was at a table with several officers.

"Holy hell, I thought you were dead, Doc!" he said as Amelia, Judy and Russel entered the room.

"I've been getting that a lot, lately," she quipped. West chuckled, in spite of the situation.

"Just glad you're okay," West replied. Amelia strode up to the table and looked at the map of the colony.

"I've been to both Hydroponics and Engineering. Sammers is alive and has people safe in Engineering, and they have room enough at Hydroponics," she said as she checked her bag of medical supplies. "I'm also here to help treat wounded." West gave a relieved sigh.

"Glad to hear it. Your boy Russel here held things together, but we're starting to stretch thin," West said, voice sounding tired. Amelia nodded.

"So, bring me up to speed," she asked, and he huffed softly.

"The things hit us and did it hard. They attacked Union Square all at once, and you saw the result. People were running any way they could. People stampeded in here as fast as they could, lost a few from being crushed," West recounted. "And of course those things went for us, next. Lost twenty officers in a few minutes." Amelia frowned as she looked at the map and thought.

"I talked with Sammers, and after everything I've seen, I'm convinced this wasn't a coincidence." She looked at West straight in the eyes. "This was deliberate and planned." His pupils shrank and she saw some of his color drain. "Think about it. Their previous attack was on the other side of the colony. They let one of them be seen so we sent people to a location. In order to divert attention from where the actual attack was to take place." West looked like he lost a few more years.

"Holy shit," he breathed.

"They've been planning this the whole time," Amelia said. The P-Sec officers were stunned silent.

"We've known these things were damn smart," said Russel.

"So, what do we do know?" Judy asked. Amelia looked at West.

"Well, we need to try to get everyone back in communication, first, I think," said Amelia and West grunted.

"Been trying, but local comms have been a real crapshoot. I got part of yours, but it was garbled and I could hardly get shit back," he said and she nodded.

"Same with Hydroponics and Engineering. I had a hard time getting in touch with Sammers even from Medlab," said Amelia.

"Might be something in Communications was damaged, somewhere," one of the P-Sec officers ventured.

"Great. Something else we gotta fix," said Judy, and Amelia shook her head.

"We'll tackle that when we need to. First thing, is to see to any wounded here. We'll go from there," said Amelia and West nodded.

"Right. Follow Russel. He set things up on that front." West looked at Russel, who nodded and slung the shotgun he was carrying.

"Right. This way." He then looked at two of the officers. "Porter, Lay, come on!" he said as a shorter man with blonde hair and a taller one who was bald joined them. With that, Amelia, Judy, Russel and the two officers left the main office. Judy looked at Russel.

"Glad you're alive, Russ, but what the hell? You just up and run off to play soldier?" Judy asked, and Russel glanced at her sideways.

"It's not like that. I knew people would be hurt, and West and his boys needed all the help they could get," Russel defended. Amelia gave a soft sigh.

"Stay focused, you two. We can chew each other out later on. Right now, we have work to do. Russel, how bad are things?' she asked as they rounded a corner, Russel and the officers leading them into the Detention areas.

"Bad. I used up most of what we had in the first hour or so. Saw some really nasty shit, too," he said as he led them into an area they had set up as a small field hospital. People lay on stretchers or on the floor. Some moaned in pain, and Amelia was immediately reminded of a war zone. She saw a few people who were missing limbs. Judy stopped in shock. Amelia frowned gently, grasped the bag and looked at her.

"All right. Scrub up and let's get to work," she said as they did their duty.

It was a good solid three hours of grueling work, and by the end, they all were dirty, bloody and tired. The injuries Amelia saw were nothing short of horrific. If she thought what she had seen thus far had been bad, this was orders of magnitude worse. She was amazed Russel had done such a job with as little as he had. One poor man had been doused with acidic blood, but, much to Amelia's shock, was still alive, despite the fact literally half his face was gone, along with part of his skull. Sadly, the only thing she could do there was give the man a dose of Morphine and ease his suffering, knowing he would share the fate of Dr. Camp, soon enough. They had plenty of bodies, too. Enough to fill an entire room, even with them stacked like ancient firewood.

Amelia, Judy and Russel at last took a break in the P-Sec main office with West, Russel only happily downing a beer he was offered. Amelia just leaned back against a locker and felt her body sag.

"Say, Amelia?" Russel asked. She turned her head to look at him. "What happened? We all tried to reach you, but couldn't find you. I went by the lab when everything went to hell, and you were nowhere." Amelia sighed, her throat dry and tight, her chest tight and raspy as well.

"I went to get some cells for the tissue laser when I heard what was happening. Then I saw one of the pods in the lab, an open one," she said, and Judy looked at her in horror. "I backed into a closet, tried to get some cells, and I don't remember what happened. The box somehow fell on me. When I came to, everything was quiet."

"Am, are you-?" Judy asked, fear creeping into her voice, and Amelia shook her head.

"I did a scan, nothing found," Amelia replied. Judy seemed to wilt with relief, and Russel looked not as tense.

"You found one of those pods in your lab?" West asked as he came over. She nodded as she glanced up at him.

"Still no idea how it got there or when, but with what I've seen of these creatures and how quietly they move, I can't rule out them somehow putting it there," she replied. He groaned softly and scratched his hair.

"And we still don't even know where those damn pods come from, either. Seems like every time we answer one question, three more pop up," West mused.

"Amen, amigo," said Judy from where she sat. They were silent for a few moments. Russel sighed and lowered his head. He banged his fist against a grate.

"I feel so helpless. Like I should have done more. If only the secondary Med unit had been fully stocked," he lamented. Amelia looked at him.

"We had just got the supplies and were doing that when the outbreak started. Don't blame yourself, Russel" she comforted. At this, West nodded.

"She's right. We can't blame ourselves for everything that didn't go right. Take it from me, you start down that road, it'll eat you up," said West softly, making them all look at him. They all knew West had served in the Resource Wars as an Earthgov soldier, but that was as much as anyone knew for sure. West looked at Amelia and gave a soft smile. "Get some sleep, Doc. We still need you. If anything, we need you even more." At this Porter and Lay brought them some blankets. Judy and Russel got as comfortable as they could, while Amelia settled down in her E-T RIG. As she did, she tapped her RIG, and a holographic picture of Terrance appeared, smiling in his usual, shy way.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," she whispered as she drifted off to sleep.

It seemed like no time at all had passed before Amelia was shaken awake, ripped from an oddly pleasant dream.

"Amelia, get up!" West urged as he shook her. She snapped to wakefulness as she heard people clamoring.

"What's going on?" she asked as she got to her feet.

"The things are outside. We can hear them," West panted urgently. Amelia was on her feet in a heartbeat, flamethrower ready. Everyone in the main P-Sec office was tense, grasping weapons in white knuckled hands as they looked around and listened. Amelia thought she could just hear a faint scratching, like something sharp being dragged across metal plating.

"West, how many times have they attacked?" she asked. West didn't look at her as he held his Pulse Rifle.

"Three before you showed up," he replied, glancing around and listening.

The windows of the main P-Sec office had been covered with various metal plates that had been riveted and welded into place over the broken shutters. A few gaps here and there let in tiny bits of light and views of outside. Amelia though she saw movement through one, but it could also have been from her turning her head.

"They're testing the perimeter, trying to find ways to get in," she mused.

"They can try. We battened this place down tighter than a drum," West hissed. Amelia's eyes flicked around. It was quiet. Too quiet. She didn't like it, not one bit. She had a horrible feeling in her gut. "Where's Weller or McNeill when you need 'em?" West mused as they strained to listen. Everything had fallen eerily silent. That was when Amelia thought she heard a sound. Like metal screeching, but heavily muffled. She wasn't the only one who heard it, West snapping to attention. "Fuck," West swore. She looked at West.

"Are you sure you secured everywhere?" she asked. He nodded.

"Everywhere we could get to," he replied. They stopped when they heard a thump, one that sounded too close for comfort. It almost sounded like it came from . . .

"Fuck! The elevator shaft!" Russel yelled. West paled as everyone scrambled for the door.

"Outta the fuckin' way!" Russel shouted as he vaulted over people and consoles. He was quickly followed up Lay and Porter.

They opened the door, and sure enough, the sounds of metal being torn came from inside the elevator.

"Oh, shit!" Porter swore.

"Get those rivet guns and torches over here now!" West screamed as they scrambled, knowing they had scant seconds. A couple people ran up with loose panels and rivet guns. They had just put two rivets in when the doors began to open.

"Fuck!" Lay yelled as a long, black arm lashed out. The man didn't have time to dodge, the slash opening his belly, his intestines spilling out. The tall, bald man groaned and grabbed a rivet gun and began to rivet like a madman as people yelled and the Aliens screeched. Though grievously wounded, he gritted his teeth and continued to snap rivets into the panels to keep the creatures from pulling the doors open enough to get through.

"Amelia! Get over here now!" Russel yelled as everyone piled in to keep the doors from fully opening. Lay groaned as he snapped another rivet in. Suddenly, six long, black fingers, tipped with metallic claws burst through his torso out the back, closed and pulled. The wet crack of the man's spine was deafening, even through the cacophony. People leaped back as Lay doubled over backwards, blood trickling from his lips, eyes glassy as his broken halves were pulled through the opening into the elevator. People screamed as West and some officers managed to rivet another panel over where lay had been pulled through. Judy retched and Amelia was horrified.

"That won't hold them for long," said West as he looked at the quick work. Amelia looked at him.

"West, is there another way out of here?" Amelia asked. He didn't look at her as he nodded.

"We sealed up the back way, but looks like we'll have to break it open. Porter, go with them. Full evacuation. Get as many people out as you can, quick." West then tossed something to Russel. It was the last Stasis module. "Get going, Doc. That's an order." Amelia looked at him, but West was looking at the elevator, several other officers with him. Amelia frowned, then slapped Judy and Russel on the shoulders.

"Come on. Let's go!" she urged. Judy hesitated and nodded. Russel, though, looked like he wanted to argue and stay, but frowned and turned to go with Amelia and the others. The group ran as fast as they could, down the halls to where they had sealed up another way in. Porter and a few others brought out small cutting torches and began to cut through.

"Here they come!" came a yell from down the hall, and she could hear Pulse Rifles and shotguns firing. They frantically cut panels and used rivet guns to blow off the old rivets. Russel kept his shotgun aimed down the hall, Judy next to Amelia with her force gun. She checked the charge.

"Four shots" she mused. Russel growled.

"Three's all I got" he shot back.

"Through!" Porter announced as they opened the door. That was when a metallic screech was heard, and people began screaming from down the hall, along with inhuman screeches echoing.

"Fuck, we're out of time," said Russel. Amelia looked at him, then back down the hall where people lay wounded in rooms. Those who could stand and move were fleeing around them through the opened doors.

Amelia wrestled with what to do. They had precious little time as it was, nowhere near enough to evacuate over forty people on stretchers or who couldn't move. Amelia's gut twisted as she had to make the most difficult decision of her whole life.

"Move!" she yelled as she grabbed Judy and Russel, who looked as torn as she was. She shoved them to start moving. They began to run, and Amelia looked back as she saw West, bloody and dirty, back around the corner, firing his Pulse Rifle. A shiny blur shot past, and West's head fell back, hanging by a single strand, looking at her as his body continued to fire the rifle before falling down, a tall, dark figure towering over his body before the door slammed shut. The door locked, but Amelia knew that they were on borrowed time. She ran with the others. People screamed as an Alien tried to tear a welded panel off a vent. Russel ran up and fired the last of his shotgun shells, the creature hissing as it retreated long enough for people to get past. People screamed as a man was dragged through a broken vent, his line gun falling as he kicked and screamed before vanishing into the dark beyond. Russel scooped up the heavy mining weapon and the plasma emitters deployed, unfolding and targeting lasers coming to life, the charge counter reading three. They ran past wrecked rooms and furniture, smashed doors and vents. They ended up at an elevator, and people were beyond panicked as they tried desperately to get it to go faster. People crowded inside and the elevator whined as the doors closed, but people screamed and pounded on the doors as they tried to escape the hissing horrors hot on their heels. Russel, Judy and Amelia came running up, seeing the bottleneck. Russel was panting, sweat soaking his scrubs. He looked around, perked up.

"There! Emergency stairs" he said as they ran up. Amelia pulled the emergency release lever, and alarms began to sound as she threw the door open.

"Down the stairs! Everyone!" she yelled and people flooded the stairwell. They looked back as they saw shadows down the hall, moving. Judy swallowed and Amelia gave a quick check on her flamethrower. Half full. Amelia remembered how well armored these creatures were, and quick. Her heart was hammering as her helmet assembled and locked.

"Russel, plasma turns their blood into an acid aerosol. Don't shoot them closer than thirty feet," Amelia warned. He nodded, Stasis module ready.

"Come on, motherfuckers," he growled. Amelia glanced back, about half of the people had gotten down the stairs. She glanced back, and the first one came around the corner.

They were graceful and elegant, in a dark way. They moved with a grace and deliberate sureness to their movements she had only ever seen in cats before. Russel growled and aimed and fired a mine from the line gun. To their shock, the three Aliens scattered, leaping onto walls and the ceiling and scurrying towards them as the mine exploded behind them. Fuck!" Russel swore as he aimed his left hand. What happened next shocked Amelia to her core.

As one, they dropped and slammed a metal table on its side as Russel fired the Stasis module, the shot hitting the table, enveloping it in a blue aura of slowed time. Judy and Amelia backed up as the Aliens shot out of cover like three black bullets. Russel fired the line gun, but the slow-moving plasma they leaped over like a deadly jump rope. Amelia fired the flamethrower, and Judy fired her force gun, knocking one back, and the other hissed and retreated from the fire. The other, though, bounced off the far wall like a nightmare pinball. Russel moved and fired. The blast from the line gun severed the Alien's left arm, which sprayed blood in a broad arc. The creature screeched as it recoiled, stumbling back as Russel screamed as he was doused in the blood.

"No! Russ!" Judy yelled. Amelia held her back. Russel's screams were brief as his RIG sounded a flatline tone.

"Dr. Kyne! Come on!" yelled Porter, who had survived by whatever miracle. She looked, and the way was clear. She fired her flamethrower at the Aliens, laying down a wall of flaming fuel as she and Judy stumbled for the door. They slammed it closed and Amelia used her flamethrower like a large welding torch to seal the door. She, Judy and Porter hurried down the stairs, hearing the Aliens already banging on it. They made it to the bottom of the stairwell, slammed the door, and Amelia melted the door and frame together. Judy didn't try to hide the tears streaming down her face.

"Goddamn it, Russ. Why'd you have to be a tough guy?" she wept. Amelia gave a shuddering breath as she hugged her.

"Sorry to butt in, but those things will be after us soon," said Porter in an apologetic tone. Amelia nodded to him.

"All right, everyone. Listen to me. I want you all to head to Engineering. Sammers has a camp set up there and is well-secured and armored. You'll all be safe there. Just go slow, make as little noise as possible, and you should get there," said Amelia. One of the remaining P-Sec officers nodded and motioned for people to follow him. Porter stayed with Judy and Amelia.

"I'll stay with you guys," he said as he checked his pistol. Amelia nodded.

"All right. Let's look around for any supplies we can get our hands on. I used up most of the medical supplies I brought. Any Medkits, any food, and any ammo you can find." Porter nodded. Amelia gently patted Judy and had her walk close to her.

"Fuck . . ." Judy swore, eyes red and puffy, wiping her face.

"I know," said Amelia.

Both she and Judy jumped when a RIGLINK video screen appeared.

"Amelia!" Sammers gasped.

"Sammers, what's going on?" said Amelia. He looked both angry, and frantic.

"Those idiots went to the shuttle bay to try to head up to the Castle. They just wouldn't listen! They even threatened to shoot us if we stopped them!" Amelia groaned. This was just what they didn't need right now.

"Great. And heads up, we're sending the people from P-Sec over to you," she said, and he was silent.

"What happened? Where's West?" She sighed gently.

"He's gone." Sammers closed his eyes and frowned.

"I'll let Tom and the others know to expect them. What about you?"

"I found Judy," Amelia replied, not having the heart to tell him about Russel just yet. "But I did get in contact with Hydroponics. People seem okay there, and they have room and supplies. Once we get people stabilized back at Engineering and geared up, we'll move everyone over there." Sammers nodded.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Just glad I could get a hold of you. Been hard to get hold of anyone." Amelia nodded.

"They said that at Hydroponics, too. Not sure what's doing it, but we'll check later." Sammers nodded.

"Right. See you soon," he said and closed the window. Judy wiped her face as Amelia checked her gear.

"All right, let's get what we can and-" Amelia stopped as there was a deep rumble, followed by a loud boom. Suddenly, air rushed and alarms blared wildly, emergency lights spinning red and flashing as a chilling warning echoed.

"Warning! Hull breach detected! Catastrophic decompression!" the automated voice announced as Amelia and Judy felt like they were in a hurricane as air rushed past them.

Author's note: I now have some artwork to go with this, which can be found on my DeviantArt account. I will update it with more as I am able.