CHAPTER 10

HUNTER LOG 3861

This is almost too much. I do have mixed emotions about the cube, however. There was a lot of stuff "Adam" said that I'm not sure the real Adam would have said. Then again, Lita seems to be more than meets the eye as well. Could it be possible that both the computer and Lita know what the future holds? Surely not. That computer runs off of the protocols Matthew put into it. Something just doesn't seem right.

Samus out…

"Wow, is this it?" Lita asked.

"What do you mean?" Matthew responded.

"I figured with such a large facility, you'd have more in storage as far as supplies," Lita said.

"You don't understand the purpose of the facility, it is a Biological…" Matthew started.

"Research Laboratory, whose primary function is to provide and maintain an environment for struggling species of both plant and animal," Lita interrupted and finished.

Matthew simply glared, then walked past Lita.

"Over here we have the oxygen tanks, and over here…" Matthew displayed.

"Hold on a sec, doc. What I'm looking for is liquid nitrogen and irrigation tools," Lita explained.

"Eh? That's a weird combination," Matthew remarked.

"Look, you know enough about the metroids. Isn't it true that the only real way to contain them is to use intense cold?" Lita asked.

"Well, yeah, but you aren't planning on fighting any, are you? Haven't they all been eliminated?" Matthew returned.

"You ought to know better than that," Lita said sternly, staring into Matthew's pupils.

"Uuuuuh….ummm….I have no idea what you're talking about," Matthew stammered.

"Sure you do, but I won't linger on it. It's something that has to take place. Look, I need to rig some guns with a way of firing blasts of liquid nitrogen. The best vessels for carrying and expelling liquid are those used in irrigation. We have to take those things and make them into a weapon that would work against metroids," Lita stated as she pointed at piping leaning against the wall.

"Well then, I guess we have some work to do," Matthew said, reaching for a large canister of liquid nitrogen.

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The master control room seemed alive with lit consoles and blinking lights accented by small blips and bleeps. Men and women dressed in flawless white coats roamed the vast room, tinkering with instrumentation as they went about their business.

Samus walked to a man sitting behind a large console with a massive screen.

"So, what's going on outside?" Samus asked.

"Well, it's rather quiet except for an anomaly I detected about an hour ago," the man responded.

"What kind of anomaly?"

"I'm not totally sure, but according to the shift, it's been getting closer quite quickly. By its approximate speed, it couldn't be a natural phenomenon. It is either a stray weapon or a ship," the man deduced.

"A ship…" Samus sighed.

"Oh, not to worry, ma'am. Its trajectory isn't meant for us. The best I can wager is that it's headed planetside," the man said.

"Planning to land on SR-388…what do you have waiting there, Marcusson…" Samus thought.

Someone suddenly screamed from across the control room.

"Massive energy signature detected! Brace for impact!"

All at once, the entire station shook and loose items fell onto the floor.

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Lita looked up from the floor, the massive tank of liquid nitrogen cradled in her delicate yet powerful hands.

"What the hell was that?" she asked.

"I'm not really sure," Matthew answered, "but I sure am glad you caught that before it hit. Both of us would have been goners."

"Well, luckily, all we have to do is find a way to get a reasonable amount of liquid nitrogen into a reasonably sized container that would be able to be attached to our new 'squirt guns'," Lita said as she stood the tank back in its place.

"I do have some small containers we use for our injection guns. We could refit those for the liquid nitrogen and also use some of the injection guns for your 'close range alternative'. How's that?" Matthew asked with a hint of pride.

"That'll work for me, but don't get too full of yourself. I'm still not attracted to you," Lita shot back.

"But I…you…how…geez," Matthew stuttered.

"Hmm…I also need one of these," Lita frowned.

"But that's a flux capacitor. It's a piece of junk. Some wacko tried to use it for time travel, but it fried his brain…or what little bit he had of it to begin with," Matthew said, "I figured it would be useful for spare parts eventually."

"Spare parts…yeah, I'll be needing this," Lita said as she the

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"Is everyone okay?" someone asked.

Everyone seemed to be uninjured, and the equipment undamaged.

"What the heck was that?" asked Samus.

"It was a shockwave from a ship entering and exiting hyperspace. It wouldn't have been so bad, but the ship made a relatively small jump," the man said.

"Where is it?" Samus peered at the screen.

"Here, let me switch views," the main replied.

After a few clicks, the screen acknowledged his command and pulled up a massive view of SR-388.

"He's here…" Samus said.

The massive ship had ended its hyperspace jump just inside of the planet's atmosphere. The shockwaves from the jump had cleared an entire hemisphere of clouds, providing for easy passage to the planet surface. The ship had seemingly stalled in the upper atmosphere.

Samus then saw something she had never witnessed.

The three MAC guns at the back of the ship split and maneuvered themselves onto different sections of the spine of the ship. The bridge of the ship then detached and journeyed toward the surface of SR-388.

"What manner of ship is that?" the man asked Samus.

"One far beyond the technology that exists here," came a voice from behind the two.

Samus turned to behold Lita. She was covered in straps containing multiple small containers of liquid nitrogen. On her belt were two holsters, each bearing a nitrogen pistol. Peeking over a shoulder was an automatic rifle fitted with a larger yet slim tank of liquid nitrogen.

"Going somewhere?" Samus asked.

"Absolutely. That maniac is planning an event that will rock the entire Federation, and his center of operations is on that planet," Lita explained.

"I guess we have no choice, then," Samus said with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Somehow, between the viewing of the cube and the tension of conflict, Samus' ardor and alacrity from her earlier days returned. Her love for her duty and responsibility now annulled her feelings of penitence for her past deeds. Her errors had to be overlooked as she labored for the greater good of the Federation.

Matthew and others helped Samus and Lita load the ship with the new equipment. Lita hefted a pack onto her shoulder with a strap and grabbed a loose trigger with her free hand.

"What is that?" Samus asked.

"It's something for the end," Lita said, avoiding eye contact.

"The end of what?" Samus tried to catch Lita's eyes.

"The end of the mission," Lita continued on, unloading the pack into the ship.

After all had been prepared, the group met for their parting.

Lita remained fairly quiet.

"Thank you, Matthew. We appreciate all of the help you've given us. We will return after we finish down there. I'll want to thank you again after we have a successful mission," Samus said, shaking his hand.

"You don't really have to thank me. Lita did most of the work. It was all of her ideas that allowed me to do the work," Matthew admitted.

Both turned to Lita, who had just pulled her hand down from her face.

"Matthew…it's important that you see the work you've done today as penance. Remember that. You did something that mattered. You accomplished something. No matter what kind of guilt you may experience, and no matter what your mind tricks you into pondering…you helped. Remember that until the day you die," Lita said, nearly devoid of emotion.

Samus and Matthew stood astounded. Both had been shocked by not only the words that had come from Lita, but the cold manner in which they were displayed.

"Lita…what's wrong with you? That's no way to say thank you," Samus said.

"You'll know the case soon enough. We really need to get going, Samus," Lita said as she turned and entered the ship.

Samus glanced back at Matthew as he nodded. Then she entered the ship and took off toward the planet.

The die had been cast.