V

JT tried to clamber to his feet and extricate himself from the humanoid figure that seemed intent on battering him with its fists; weak, feeble blows that didn't seem to have any force behind them. The protesting blows seemed to soften and slow down, and the inhuman scream that had first accompanied the barrage of blows seemed to stop, turning into muffled sobs as the person buried their face into his chest. The tense muscles of the body seemed to relax, and JT found himself melting into an embrace of the young woman that hat emerged from the cupboard. For a moment he held her, comforting and reassuring her while being surrounded by the death, destruction and chaos that had consumed the medical bay. The sobbing slowly ebbed away, and JT found himself soothing the young doctor with gentle shushing and whispers, stroking the back of her head and neck.

"It's okay," he promised, holding her close and savouring the scent of her sweat: even in the midst of the apparent violence, he could barely contain his feelings towards her. "It's okay, Evie, it's all right. Can you tell me what happened?"

Evelyn nodded, tried to speak, but nothing but incoherent rambling and mutterings seemed to spill out of her mouth, warnings of a mutant snake that had tried to attack her. He shook his head and slowly guided her to one of the upright gurneys, making her take a seat on it but making sure her back was turned to the eviscerated body. He looked over the pale features of the young woman, at the vermilion splash that had splashed across her face and started to dry on her features. Though she was now twenty-four, she still reminded him of that eighteen year old that had been on the field with him and Pete the day before he shipped out. Soft and delicate features, ice blue eyes hidden behind a spread of thick lashes, and small, almost elf-like ears. He thin lips seemed to continue to move as if speaking, though nothing seemed to be coming out of her mouth.

"Was there anyone else here?" JT asked, taking one of Evelyn's hands in one of his own, then fumbling for his communications headset with the other. "Other doctors, orderlies, guards for the… anyone else?"

"Mu… Marines," she finally murmured, wiping at her eyes with the back of her sleeve and slowly nodding. "Tu… Two marines."

"Where did they go?" JT asked, trying to take things slowly and ask one question at a time, despite the wealth of questions that seemed to be bubbling over in the back of his mind. "Did they go for help?"

"Dead," Evelyn muttered. "Dead."

Dead, JT though to himself, trying without success to link his headset into the ship's communication network. Where're the bodies?

He knew he hadn't verbalised his thought, but Evelyn offered the answer anyway, her eyes seeming to stare through him as she spoke.

"They took the bodies. In there," she said, lifting a pale and shaking hand to point at one of the opened air vent in the ceiling. JT hadn't noticed it until it had been pointed out.

"Who are they? Who did this?"

"Serpents," she hissed as she jerked forwards and wrapped both her hands around JT's wrists. Her fingernails bit into his skin, drawing fresh blood as she held tightly to him, as if he were trying to escape her grip. "Demons, monsters, dragons…"

"I can't get through," JT sighed, slipping the comset back into his pocket and looking back over his shoulder, "Hopefully Naki did the right thing and reported this in." He eyed his weapon lying dormant on the ground and moved to get it, but Evelyn attacked his arm with renewed vigour, drawing him closer than before.

"Don't go," she pleaded. "Please."

He motioned to the weapon slowly, indicating he was only moving a couple of feet to retrieve it, and she reluctantly let go, nodding for him to collect but not taking her eyes off him. Coiling his fingers around the butt of the weapon, JT grabbed the discarded pistol and warily eyed the open ventilation duct, expecting one of the creatures Evelyn had half-heartedly described to him to emerge. He fumbled with the heavy pistol, adjusting his grip on the weapon and squeezing the trigger, not enough to fire off a round but just enough to bring the blue laser target back into existence. The dim glow of the target didn't reveal a great deal in the blackness of the shaft, and he slowly stepped closer to the opening, trying to get a closer look.

A pair of cold hands wrapped around his neck and pulled him backwards, crashing into an upturned gurney and tumbling back to the floor. He craned his head around, glaring at the figure that clung to his back, and scowled.

"Damn it, Evie, quit fuckin' around."

She didn't say anything, simply shook her head and motioned towards the shaft, her eyes wide in terror, transfixed on the opening. JT was about to carry on with the scolding when the sound of dripping liquid caught his attention. He pulled himself back to his feet and looked at the floor beneath the opening in the ceiling, at the pile of thick, gelatinous liquid that was quickly pooling there.

"What the hell is that?" he murmured, shuffling towards the pool, but stopping short of the puddle when the sound of dripping liquid was twinned by gentle, hissing sound from above.

"Serpent," Evelyn muttered, stepping back towards the open door and retreating back to the main corridor and pleading: "C'mon, out here… Johnny, now."

Curiosity got the better of JT as he refused to move, watching in awe as the snake living in the duct slowly lowered itself into view, tail first. Uncoiling itself, the muscular length of the creature was covered in black bony ridges, its hide glistening wetly in the wildly flickering light as it dropped slowly to the ground. The razor sharp tip of the tail clattered to the ground, and the rest of the creature dropped down to the deck plate, landing in the thick puddle.

Evelyn's description of the creature as a serpent was off the mark: her use of the words 'monster' and 'demon' seemed much closer to the truth.

Resembling a humanoid insect-like creature, the creature crouched on the ground and continued to his, the dark talons on each foot clicking on the deck plates as it flexed its stubby toes. It tensed its body as it assessed the surroundings, its lithe figure rippling with power as it noticed JT and poised itself, ready to make its move. Each of its hands had six fingers; talons tipped with black claws that looked as though they could tear through the very metal they rested upon. Four tubes extended from the back of the creature, distended features that only added to the inhuman appearance of the creature, but no more than its head: elongated and cylindrical, the front of the creature's skull was covered and protected by a thick opaque membrane, while the sides of it were ridged. Small spines ran along the centre of the stretched cranium, though there were no visible signs of any sensory organs: the head lacked ears, eyes and nostrils, though the size of its mouth suggested that it certainly still had the benefit of the sense of taste. A maw filled with an impossible number of over-sized, needle-sharp teeth eased open and unleashed another load of the same gelatinous liquid onto the floor, an almost inaudible hiss, followed by the slow extension of the creatures tongue: square in shape, and tipped with a second set of teeth.

It tensed itself, and JT quickly brought his weapon up to bear on it, shaking off the trance the graceful movements of the alien creature had snapping off a single shot. The powerful round slapped into the front of the skull, denting the membrane and snapping its head to one side, but not causing any major damage to it. It lunged forwards just as JT unleashed a second shot, this time finding his mark on the outreaching hand of the advancing terror. The round struck its palm, decimated the flesh of the appendage and tore through the other side, the exiting projectile trailing with it a spray of glistening pale yellow liquid. The blood splashed on the decking, bubbling and releasing a choking grey smoke as the acidic liquid corroded through the metal it came into contact with.

The animal screamed, an inhuman noise that startled JT, stumbling backwards and spraying the caustic juices of its wound before lunging into another attack. JT shifted his aim, repositioned the blue laser dot on the membrane covering the front of its tubular, and squeezed off a pair of bullets; the first round smashed into the front of the head and made it turn to one side, just as the bullet had before, but this time the following projectile slammed into the exposed ridges on the side of its head, tearing through the monster's hide and splattering what organs resided in the elongated cranium across the wall behind it. Its screams turned into keening, high-pitched wails and it thrashed violently around and reached up, trying to haul itself back up into the air vents and escape from the confrontation. JT unleashed a salvo of gunshots, most of the rounds missing but a couple finding their mark on the limbs and ribbed torso of the creature. With a deafening howl it finally managed to retreat back into the darkness of the vent, its snake-like tail wavering from side to side before slipping back into the recess.

JT remained frozen in his firing stance; feet shoulder width apart and the smoking muzzle of his weapon pointing menacingly at the opening, anticipating the re-emergence of the shaft. Two minutes passed, and all that could be heard was the fizzing of the corrosive juices slowly eating through the bulkheads, the gentle sobs of Evelyn and his own ragged breathing. He slowly stepped away from the opening, navigating the fallen gurneys, and reached out, blindly taking Evelyn's hand in his own.

"C'mon, Evie, we're getting out of here."

0

JT and Evelyn stumbled into the main bridge, their journey conducted in silence and unmolested by neither man nor beast; it was still relatively early according to ship standard time, and shifts weren't due to change for another. Even if then had been spotted by any of the civilians aboard the ship during a shift swap, no one would have approached a doctor covered in blood and a second-class pilot lugging an oversized handgun around with him. There was such a thing as protocol, and trying to deal with things like this was best left for the marines aboard the colony settler.

Gasping for breath and feverishly hammering codes into the door control behind him, the door to the bridge cycled shut and locked behind JT, who slumped against the wall and slowly dropped down to the floor, bracing his legs against the opposite wall, while Evelyn watched him silently. Finally catching his breath, JT shouted out to his friend on watch.

"Naki… Jesus, Naki, get in touch with security, call out the marines, this is fucked up…"

"We're aware of how fucked up it is," answered an unfamiliar voice, cold and emotionless. JT had never spoken directly to Captain Marx, the main man in charge of the deep space colony settler, but he'd seen pictures of him all over the ship, in news bulletins and information updates. Blonde hair cropped close his scalp, small dark eyes set beneath a thick eyebrow that joined in the middle above his beak-like nose, and a mouth filled with yellowing teeth. He wasn't a particularly handsome captain, but he was efficient: this was translated by most of the crew as meaning he was a hard ass.

"Marx?" JT stammered, hauling himself to his feet and holstering his weapon.

"Captain Marx," he agreed. "Captain. Don't forget it."

"Where's Naki?"

"Don't worry about your redskin friend," Marx sat in the captains chair, the same chair JT had occupied more than an hour ago. He tapped at one of the keypads set into the armrest of the chair with an index finger, blindly tapping in the sequence of keys to activate one of the monitors on the control panels beside him. It blinked to life, displaying Naki, lying on a steel bench, stripped down to his undershirt and shorts, his hands chained together with a set of metal cuffs. Although he seemed to be breathing, he wasn't very responsive to his surroundings. "Redhorn's spending some time in the brig."

"What?" JT stepped forwards, confused at the turn of events. As he took a step towards the captain, he heard the ratcheting sound of two weapons being primed and brought about to bear on him: a pair of marines stood on either side of the recess leading to the entry point, each armed with a pulse rifle. JT immediately stopped his forward motion, raising his hands in a submissive gesture. One of the marines leaned forwards; his eyes trained on JT, he plucked the sidearm out his holster and slipped it into his own. "What's happened?"

"We've got details of the door activity on this bridge, you left here first, then your friend followed after about fifteen minutes after making a prank call to security about a snake missing. Next thing we know, one of the female crew members stumbles across your friend lying comatose on the floor of a locker room, surrounded by blood: no body. We've not been able to get anything out of him since finding him, he's completely unresponsive: but he's alive.

"Now, the blood was something of a mystery…" Marx stood up and glared at JT, then the cowering figure of Evelyn behind him. "It seems some of the pieces of the puzzle are coming together. A doctor covered in blood… a pilot with an unlicensed firearm… his friend, unconscious… I don't know what the fuck is happening here, Tomly, but this will not just disappear. Marine, get these two people in restraints and put them in the brig, I want an examination room prepared for interviews: take her coat, compare it to the blood found in the locker room, I want to see a match."

"Marx… Captain, you need to listen to us. There's something loose in the ship, a creature…"

"We're aware there are a number of primates loose on the ship," Marx continued, "I'm assured that these creatures…"

"It's not a fucking chimp," screamed JT. "I've seen it, it was in the medical room with Evie… Doctor Monroe, I mean, she seen it, too."

"Your girlfriend seems strangely quiet, Tomly, she's not backing you up at all!"

"She's not saying anything," JT snapped, "She's fucking petrified! Look at her!"

"Doctor Monroe is not the only doctor aboard the ship. I'll have another doctor stop by and assess her, after your friend's condition has been checked. Something's going on, Tomly, and by Christ, I won't stop until I get to the bottom of this. Take them away."

The pair of marines nodded and spun on their heels, one prodding JT in the stomach with the barrel of his weapon and the other motioning towards the door.

"You're making a big fucking mistake, Marx," JT called as the door cycled shut behind him. "A big fucking mistake!"

Marx sat in his chair in silence, shaking his head and sighing. It wasn't the first time he'd seen a crewmember loose it, but they normally just lost went mad: they didn't turn homicidal, and the fact the pilot had a firearm was very worrying. Security was certainly not as tight as it should be, and that was something he'd address in the next staff meeting with the senior officers. He stifled a yawn with the back of his hand, looking at the chronometer mounted on his wrist. Was he destined to spend the next couple of hours on duty until the rota swapped, or would he be able to get away with summoning a couple of replacements?

Of course he could he was the captain: he could do pretty much what he wanted.

Reaching forwards, he thumbed a button to bring up a rota of replacement staff, then keyed in an ident number and activated the communications link: or at least tried to. When he hit the activation key, the speaker and microphone didn't respond. He tapped in the same code again and tried to establish a link once more, only to find the same thing happen again. Scowling, the tried the next person on the list, but got the same response yet again. Resigned to the fact that there was clearly a fault on his end, he hauled himself off the seat and dropped to his knees, pulling up one of the panels on the floor with a fluid movement and looking at the mass of wiring. Normally he would have called one of the technicians to come and fix the problem, but seeing as he couldn't contact anyone, he knew he'd have to deal with the problem himself. However, he knew the bridge like the back of his hand, and could fix most, if not all of the problems there, himself. He traced a thick bundle of wires through a junction box, then out the other side, where they ended in a charred lump of metal, where all the wires had fused together.

"Power surge," he muttered to himself, pulling a small knife out his pocket and starting to separate the wires as best he could. He knew he could fix it himself, it just meant he wasn't going to get cover for his unexpected duty.

"When I find out what happened, I'm going to nail all their asses to the wall," he grumbled, cutting the fused wires and stripping back the plastic coating. "Damn bastards. Fuck it!"

He flung his knife down to the floor, let go of the wires, and stood up, stretching his back out. Why was everything going to shit in his ship? The other colony settler ships were running find, not even one hiccup. Why was The Eden having such a spate of bad luck? Personnel going missing for days on end, technical glitches and faults all over, animals escaping the habitation domes, and now personnel flipping out? He sighed, opened his shirt pocket and slipped out a short cigar, lighting it up and taking a pull on it. Smoking was strictly prohibited, but he made the rules on the ship. If someone wanted to complain, who were they going to complain to? Out here in the depths of space, he was the law.

He sat back down in the chair, closed his eyes and savoured the cigar as he relaxed. It wasn't as good as the hand-rolled cigars he kept on his ranch on Earth, it was a vat-grown, processed piece of crap with all the bad stuff sucked out of it; but what was the point in that?

Lost in his thoughts and dead to the world, he didn't hear the covering to the air shaft behind one of the control panels slip to one side, didn't see the stealthy dark creature slink around outskirts of the room and poise itself behind the oblivious captain, nor did he scream when the tip of the creature's tail cracked through the air, ripped the skin of his chest like a knife blade, and flooded his system with a paralytic nerve agent.

He was unconscious when he was forced into the airshaft.

He didn't see the darkness engulf him.

Didn't hear his bones crack and snap as he was forced into the confined space.

Didn't feel his flesh split as his fractured bones ripped through his flesh...