Chapter Three

Cerberus Station

Quietus star system

The station was dark. All that seemed to greet Colt was an unfathomable blackness. His helmet light did little to penetrate the darkness. He could hear the little popping sounds of the motion tracker. His team was alone, in the cold dead shadows of the station. He looked at the bulkheads and saw that they were covered in frozen vapor. The station wasn't just dark, it was cold. "Sara how far do you think we are from main engineering?" Colt asked, deadpan.

"There should be a ladder up ahead that leads to the lower levels." She spoke softly.

Colt could tell that Sara seemed nervous, he didn't blame her. The place was spooky. Colt always found it strange how a place long abandoned out in space could cause such anxiety. He inhaled through his nose. This place was just another tomb, nothing in these dead corridors. Relax, marine.

Colt saw the ladder to his right. He held up his hand, signaling the others to stop. Colt walked to the ladder and aimed down. He couldn't see anything. "Sara, get a read on what's below us."

Sara walked up next to him and aimed the motion tracker down. Pop…pop…pop…ping ping ping. "Contact twenty meters..." Sara said. "Wait, it stopped."

Colt bit his lip. He didn't like it. "What level is at twenty meters?"

Sara turned and looked at him. Colt can see her blue eyes filled with irrational fear. She was nervous, he didn't like it. Colt put his hand on her shoulder. "Sara, we've done this multiple times, it's just a different place." Colt assured her.

Sara's eyes softened. "Yeah," She took a breath. "Engineering is around there."

Colt nodded, and smiled. It was most likely a false positive. The motion tracker rang out again over his head set. He snapped his rifle back to his shoulder and sighted down the shaft. "What's the read?"

Sara's voice was frantic. "Eighteen meters, and climbing. Fourteen meters, its fast."

Colt swore. He couldn't see shit in this darkness. He had no target. The motion tracker stopped sounding. "Where did it stop at?" Colt asked.

"Ten meters." Sara replied.

Colt figured that was about two decks down. "Ok I'll go down first. Don't follow me down until I give the word." Colt slung his rifle and gripped the ladder.

"Are you crazy Colt?" Eric spoke up. "Who knows what the fuck is down there?"

Colt turned his head and smiled. "Eric, you're right. I don't know but it's most likely just a false positive." He chuckled. "You know some long moving part to the reactor or something."

Colt started climbing down before anyone else would try to talk him out of it. He didn't blame them, he didn't like the sound of a moving object either and the deadness of the station wasn't helping. He climbed down the ladder slowly, rung by rung. He kept his eyes focused on his surroundings. He made it to the next level and got off. He looked right and left. He saw nothing but cold dark corridors. He looked up at Sara and waved, trying to make everyone feel better. "Ok, guys I got one more level to go." He said. "So far, so good."

Colt looked down through the hole that leads to the next level. He reached into one of his suit pockets and pulled out a flare. He snapped the top of the silver wand and it flared to life with bright blue light. He dropped the flare down, hoping it would land on the next level. It landed right at the lip of the deck floor by the ladder. Colt smiled. It looked clear, yeah looked.

Colt gripped the ladder. He was going to make this fast, if there was something down there he wanted to get the drop on it. He gripped the sides of the ladder with his hands and then his feet. He slid down. When he reached the next level he pushed off and unslung his rifle. He cleared right and then left. All that was in the corridor with him was darkness. He took a breath and chuckled. Fucking ghosts.

Colt stood up at ease and spoke into his headset. "Anything on the tracker?"

Sara replied eagerly like she missed his voice. "It's all clear."

"Start heading down then." He replied.

Colt switched channels on his radio. "Captain, this is Sam. We're almost to engineering, had some ghost on the tracker a moment ago."

Sandra's voice spoke back to him calmly. "Must be part of the equipment or interference, this place is dead."

"Yeah, that's what I figured." He said with a smile. "Still gave us a bit of a scare."

Sandra chuckled. "I bet it did, this place sure doesn't lack in the spooky department."

Colt laughed. "Yeah." Colt saw something reflective on the deck a few feet from him. "Just thought I should give you an update."

Colt had a feeling that Sandra was smiling, she always liked being updated. "Sounds good, continue with mission, over."

Colt smirked and switched his channels back. He looked back and saw the others looking at him. He gave a thumbs up to them. Colt looked back at the reflective material on the deck ahead of him. He walked to it and kneeled by it. Whatever it was, it was transparent, maybe some kind of oil. He looked up at the pipes above him. He didn't see any leakage. He looked back at the puddle. He reached out with his gloved hand and touched it. He pulled his hand back and saw that it was sticky like some sort of slime or drool. The hell was this stuff? "Hey Sara, any idea what this crud is?"

Sara walked over. "I do have one question. Why the fuck are you touching it? It could be some sort of corrosive liquid. This is close to engineering after all."

Colt smiled. "Is that your professional answer for: I have no fucking idea?" He chuckled.

Sara smiled. "Maybe, that goo could be anything."

Shanti giggled. "Looks like our exo found some jello to play with."

Colt looked back at the others as they chuckled. He smiled and walked back to them. He reached out and rubbed the slime off his glove the front of Shanti's suit. "Hey, gross, what the hell man?" Shanti complained.

Colt chuckled. "Creative disciplinary action." His comment was joined by chuckles at Shanti's expense.

Colt smiled and slung his rifle. "Let's continue down shall we?" He said as he gripped the ladder once more and began his decent.

Colt and his team climbed down another level and got off. "I thought there was life support in and around engineering?" Chris spoke over the comm.

Sara shrugged. "I believe it was minimal support. That means no lights."

Colt looked at the walls and noticed no frozen vapor. At least it wasn't freezing. "Well there's heat alright."

"Can we take our helmets off yet? I feel like a sardine in this thing." Eric complained.

"No, we keep our helmets on until we restore life support." Colt stated. "We got plenty of oxy in our tanks anyways." He smiled. "So Sara where to?"

Sara shrugged. "Well," She seemed to ponder. "Yeah, it should be this way." Sara pointed to the left.

Colt chuckled, Sara didn't sound too sure of herself. He shrugged and took the lead. He unslung his rifle and started walking left. Colt noticed this level had a lot more piping then solid bulkheads. They had to be in the very bowls of the station. He walked past a set of smooth glossy looking piping. He froze, did one move? He turned his attention at the piping. The pipe was glossy and remarkably smooth. Colt's light reflected off of its surface. He reached out with his hand and tapped it. It sounded solid but not like steel more like bone. He pulled his hand back, unsure of the pipe. "That's one weird pipe ain't it?" He motioned to the others.

The others laughed at him. "It's just a pipe Colt, not some space alien that'll tear your face off." Shanti said with a laugh.

Colt smiled but he could swear one end of the pipe was leaking some sort of fluid. Yeah they had to be right. It was just a leaky pipe. He turned back and continued onward to engineering. Colt heard a clatter and he turned back as did everyone else. Nothing was there in the darkness. "Damn I hate it when machinery makes sounds like that." Sara said.

Colt agreed and turned back around. They continued onward through the dark haunting bowls of the station. Colt smiled, he needed to relax. He was overacting, yeah a pipe made of bone. Real good logical thinking, genius. Colt insulted himself mentally. "I still can't believe Colt got interested by a pipe." Eric chuckled.

Colt shook his head. "Laugh it up, super nova."

Colt came to an intersection. He looked at the bulkhead in front of him. There was a black sign with bright yellow lettering. The sign read that the main reactor was to the left and primary cooling tower was to the right. He led his group left. They walked for about another twenty meters before they walked into a huge chamber. Inside was a huge cylindrical metal object that stood several stories tall. The object was covered with piping and power cables. Colt whistled. It looked like a giant metal pile of spaghetti to him or that could just be his stomach talking. "Is this massive pile of tubes what we are looking for?"

Sara laughed. "Please, the reactor its self is in the room to the left. This is just the primary transformer." She pointed to a room behind a sealed hatch.

Colt looked at Sara as if she was crazy. He didn't understand a word she just said. "Ok, whatever, I don't speak tech geek. " Colt smiled. "Just tell me, is this where we can get some fresh air?"

Sara smiled and nodded. That's all he needed to know. "Alright then, let's get to it." Sara walked to a computer console by the primary transformer.

Colt continued to look at the pile of spaghetti. He shook his head. Didn't look like any sort of transformer to him. Then again what the fuck did he know about thermal nuclear energy? Relax Colt, you're just a grunt, you weren't born with a brain nor are you paid to have one. His conscious, dressed like a marine drill instructor with a broad-brimmed hat scolded him.

Colt looked back at the corridor that they came from. He couldn't shake the feeling they were being watched. He looked at the other three that weren't doing anything. "Well aren't you three goof balls going to help her?"

Eric chuckled and spoke up. "We just fix stuff boss, we don't know advance computer techno speak." He motioned to Sara.

Colt stared at them. What the hell were those three good for? They could at least bang on some pipes and look like they're working. Colt opened his mouth to give an order when the lights came on, the entire room lit up with bright florescent light. Colt looked down and noticed that the deck was not black but a dull gray. He looked back at Sara and smiled. Finally the darkness has been overtaken by the light.