Chapter Six

Cerberus Station

Quietus Star System

Chris Baker groaned. The cooling towers were a goddamn hot house. Apparently running at a temperature of forty degrees Celsius is normal operating temperature. Chris tried fanning himself down with his hand. God he could really go for a beer right now. Hell Chris could use this area as a damn spa to sweat off his beer belly. He looked down at his bulging gut. Yeah he's talking to that mound of gross overweight laziness. He smiled, no wonder he could only date white trash. He looked up and stared at Shanti's ass. Still he wouldn't mind having a little ghetto booty now and again. He groaned. Shanti and he were talking until Sara cried over the comm about how Eric went missing. Damn red haired leprechaun, just had to ruin his game. Now Shanti is all but as silent as a grave over worry. Chris swore this is just one of Eric's pranks to stop him from getting Chris' rocks off with Shanti.

Chris looked up at the grated deck above him. The cooling towers had grated decking from the level above Engineering all the up to the top of the station. Chris smiled as he imagined some company worker in a skirt standing above him. Yeah perfect place for up-skirts alright. Chris froze. Is there something above him? Something landed on his face. He reached up and rubbed at his cheek. Oh gross. Chris cursed. "Oh fucking gross. Yuck." Chris stomped his boots on the deck and threw the sticky gunk on the ground.

Shanti looked back at him. She started to giggle. Chris just stared. Oh now she decides to laugh after thirty minutes of silence. Chris gave her the bird. "Oh you only wish." Shanti chuckled. "Need a towel?"

Chris groaned. He would love to make it so she needed a towel. "Yes you have one?"

"No." She giggled and leaned up against a ladder.

Chris looked at the brown eyed woman. His mind was filled with lewd and angered thoughts. He opened his mouth to make a sexist remark when something moved past his leg. "Shit what the flying fuck was that?!" Chris jumped back and looked about the fucking deck.

"Chris, this is Colt, report." Chris froze as he heard Colt's voice, that guy really scared the piss out of him. "We're at the primary cooling towers and something just brushed past my fucking leg!" Chris barked back into the comm.

Chris saw Shanti cover her microphone with his hand. "Chris look down ahead of you, it's just a bot."

Chris looked down and saw a small glowing sphere on wheels. It had two thin little arms, one arm had a cutting torch and the other had a multi jointed hand covered in a variety of tools. The drone spun in a circle on its wheels like some overpriced RC car. Chris groaned and kicked it down the corridor. Chris looked up and saw Shanti shake her head at him.

"Stand by Chris, I'm heading down there with Jesus and Cole." Chris heard Colt over the comm and didn't like the sound of that one bit.

"What why?" Chris really didn't want Colt breathing down his back.

"We're searching the whole damn level, you know Eric went missing." Colt replied and he sounded agitated.

"Right Colt, we'll hold position." Chris saw something black looming above Shanti on the level above them. "Oh shit Shanti what the fuck is that thing?!" Chris shouted.

Chris watched in horror as Shanti looked up and screamed. Her scream was ear splitting. Chris' lungs burned. He forced himself to breath. He saw the black monster reach down and grab Shanti's chest. Chris didn't think, he just ran toward her. The creature started to pull Shanti up to the next level as she continued to scream at the very top of her lungs. Chris grabbed onto Shanti's legs and pulled. "Chris get it off me! Get this fucking thing off of me!" Shanti cried.

Chris pulled as hard as he could but she wouldn't budge. He looked up through to the next level and saw the creature's elongated head. What the fuck is that thing? He reached up and pulled at the monster's arm. It felt cold and slimy but it wouldn't budge. The monster's arm was like a steel vice, it just wouldn't move. Chris cursed as the creature pulled Shanti up along with him. He brought his legs to the threshold of the deck. He was now upside down pushing with his legs and pulling with his arms as he held on to Shanti's legs. "Let her go you ugly fuck!" Chris cursed.

Shanti continued to scream and Chris' eyes grew wide as he saw the monster's claws dig into Shanti's torso. Chris saw Shanti's suit begin to darken and she began to convulse. He heard Shanti cough and groan in pain. "Oh god, help me Chris! Help meeeeee!" Shanti cried.

Chris pulled with all his might. He saw the claw dig deeper. God that was a lot of blood, his thoughts rang in his head. Shanti's blood fell over Chris' thighs, chest and his face. He spat out the coppery blood. He blinked the blood out of his eyes and saw the monster's claw move fast across Shanti's torso. Chris heard a gut wrenching rip. The next thing he knew was that he was falling.

Chris collided with the cold hard deck with a loud thud. He groaned and he groaned again as something landed on his balls. He looked up in horror. He saw Shanti floating above him, half of her. Chris was frozen to the bone in dread as he looked up at Shanti. He could see her spine and her intestines dangling freely in the air. He looked at her face, it was damp from sweat and she stared back at him in horror. Her eyes grew distant and glassed over. The pain was so much that she couldn't even scream from the shock. She grew ridged. Her head leaned down unmoving. A long cord of intestines fell from her torn wound

The cord smacked Chris in the face snapping him out of his trance. He screamed and looked down. He saw her lower half lying in his lap. He leaned over and threw up. He heaved until he emptied his entire stomach. He heard a hiss and looked up. He saw Shanti was gone and that the elongated monster was staring at him. He couldn't see any eyes, but he knew the beast could see him. Chris turned over and got his feet under him and he ran. He ran as fast as he could.

Tears stung his eyes and he could still taste Shanti's blood in his mouth. My god, what the fucking hell was that thing? He never saw something so fucking horrifying in his life. It looked like it belonged to part of the station's piping system. His mind raced, it was like the station came to life and decided to tear Shanti apart. Chris cried. What the hell could do that to a person? Chris tripped over his feet and slammed his face against the deck.

Chris heard his nose crack. He groaned. He was sure his nose is now gushing blood. He got back up on his feet and heard more hissing behind him. He couldn't stop now. He had to get to Colt. Colt had guns. Chris forced his legs to move and he continued to run. He saw something out of the side of his eye and he turned to look. He saw a long serrated segmented tail fly directly at him. The tail hit him with so much force that it lifted him off his feet and slammed him against the bulkhead. Chris coughed as his ribs cracked from the impact.

Chris sat with his back against the wall. He was vaguely aware of a trench below him to his right. It was a maintenance tunnel that led under the deck. He looked up and saw the monster of blackness stand in front of him. It sure was tall, easily over seven feet he figured. He groaned and leaned to the right. Too much adrenaline was running in his system, he didn't feel much pain, just pressure along his chest. He dove into the trench before the monster could grab him. He groaned and squeezed himself through the shaft, amazed that he fit. He started to crawl under the deck.

Chris wasn't going to let that Alien get him, no way. He vaguely realized that's what that monster was, an alien, only possible explanation. Chris cursed and pushed himself to crawl in the tight cramp tunnel. God if he lives through this he was so hitting the damn gym. He froze and heard thumping above him. Fuck, that thing sounds pissed. The sound just made Chris want to move faster. He was happy that the engineering level deck had steel plating and not grating, otherwise he was sure that fucking thing could just ripped up the damn deck to get him.

Chris saw an intersection up head of him. He noticed it was quiet. God he didn't like that, not one bit. He crawled to the intersection and saw to his left that the shaft led toward another shaft in the wall. He smiled, he had a feeling that shaft would led up. If he could get to the command center he'd be safe. He frowned. He noticed a visible gab between the deck and the wall. It was an access trench.

Chris knew he'd have to risk it. Eventually that alien would get him if he stayed here. He had the vague feeling that it was still around, just waiting. He crawled toward the entrance as fast as he could. He didn't wait to cross the trench but he did it anyways. He got his head and shoulders into the other shaft and pulled himself as fast as he could. His body responded with lightning born reflexes birthed by fear. He got his body through and pulled up his legs. He screamed as black clawed hands appeared right were his foot was in the trench. Christ if he was half a second slower he would have been grabbed and fucked right there.

Chris crawled all the way to the back of the shaft. He found a tunnel where he could stand in. It had small rungs along the side for climbing. He looked up and smiled. The tunneled looked like it went straight to the top of the station. Chris crouched down and looked at the entrance of the shaft he came from. He saw the alien laying on its side looking at him. It stuck its arm through the tunnel and reach for him. It tried to shove its head into the entrance but it got stuck. Chris smiled. The Alien's head was too big for the tunnel. Chris gave the alien the bird. The alien replied by opening its jaw. Chris stared as he saw a miniature jaw shoot out of its mouth. A black liquid fired out of the smaller mouth. Chris barely had enough time to cock his head to the side. He felt the liquid fly past his head. Chris looked back at the wall behind him. He saw the wall start to melt away. The alien just spat him an acid filled lugie. Chris looked back at the entrance and saw the alien was gone. His jaw dropped when he saw the alien's tail snake into the tunnel. Chris cursed and jumped onto the rungs and started to climb.

Chris groaned in pain as his chest flared with pain. He bit his lip and forced himself to climb. He looked down and saw the tail curl around the empty air where he was just standing. How long is that fucking tail? He shook his head and got back to climbing. He was safe now. All that he had to do is climb up to B level. Chris cried and groaned as he took step after step. His chest felt like it was on fire, god who knew a set of fractured ribs could hurt so much. Chris started to pant. He had to keep climbing, if he fell now he'd die. He refused to die. He is not dying out here in some forgotten space station.

Chris looked up, he was thankful for the red maintenance lighting in the shaft though. At least he could see as he climbed. Yeah that's the spirit. Think about stuff like that. He groaned as he climbed higher. He was thankful for all of the good booze he drank in his life. The pussy he banged in high school. Yeah that's the spirit. Good memories are meant to help you through your worse moments. Chris smiled at the memory of him winning the state championship as the quarter back for his high school. Those were the days. He groaned at the thought of how he wasted his life. Now he was just a fat drunk with a set of broken ribs that had a space alien wanting to rip his face off. He shook his head. He committed himself to surviving this and when he does, he is going to turn his life around.

Chris stopped and looked to his left. He saw a set of sliding doors. He looked at the door frame and saw the black bold letterings that said: Level B. He smiled with relief and reached at the handle with his left hand. He pulled and pushed both doors open. The lights were on in the room ahead of him. It looked like he would be walking into some maintenance closet. He saw various dull gray cabinets and lockers on the wall.

Chris reached out with his leg and stepped into the room. He hunched over and sighed. He fucking made it. He saw the exit and smiled that the hatchway was already open. Now he just needed to report to Sandra what he saw. He sighed and walked toward the exit. "Fuck you space alien, I won this round." Chris froze when he heard a hiss sound out from behind him in vile reply.

Chris slowly turned around. He looked above the door frame from the maintenance shaft. He saw a series of pipes. One of them moved. The pipe rotated and looked at him. He saw silver teeth smile at him. Impossible. His thought echoed in his skull. He was staring at the face of death, he knew it now and he knew another fact. The only way that creature could be here is if there are two of them. Chris watched as the alien dropped down to the deck. The alien slowly stood its full height.

Chris cursed, he wasn't giving up yet. He turned and ran for the exit. His eyes widen as he saw Katarina appear out in front of the threshold. He saw her light blue eyes widen. Chris made it the threshold. He choked as he felt something erupt through his midsection. Chris saw his blood spray out across Katarina's body causing her to fly back onto her ass in shock. Chris gripped the edges of the hatch frame. He looked down at Katarina. He tasted blood in his mouth. He looked at Katarina in horror. "Help me." He coughed.

Chris looked down and saw the Alien's tail punch clean through his belly. He felt cold and weak. He looked back up to Katarina. He didn't feel any pain, he was in shock. He made it, he knew he made it. All that rang in his head was how unfair life really is. He was vaguely aware of the alien wrapping its arms around him from behind. "Katarina, help…" He whispered looking into Katarina's horror filled eyes.

The alien pulled him back from the hatch. He couldn't fight anymore, he didn't have the strength. He saw Katarina turn and run away from him. He wondered if his eyes looked the same way when he saw Shanti die. He closed his eyes, he lost after all. Life is so unfair…