The Approach
Today I heard something that I hope I'll never hear again: the loud snap/shut of an emergency bulkhead door slamming into place somewhere in the dark, effectively sealing off an entire wing of the colony. We crowded around the door, various light sources in hand, confused and angry. None of the guards had dared show themselves, but we did eventually get corralled by an entire P-Sec unit, guns loaded with live ammo aimed directly at the crowd.
The commander of the unit—whoever he was; I'd never seen him before—stood in the gap between the crowd and his almost-soldiers and shouted above the chaos until everyone listened. "Section F-14 has been sealed off until further notice. This is not a matter that can be contested or repealed, so don't bother filing a complaint. If you have friends or family in the affected area, we ask you to remain calm and know what we're working to set up a line of communication to personnel on the other side.
"But this door will not be opened until we've determined the nature of the contaminant on the other end. It could be a false alarm, but I don't want to get any hopes up. You'll be helping your friends, family and coworkers by remaining calm and allowing colonial staff to go about their duties without conflict."
He motioned everyone away, but in that entire speech, he hadn't given one answer, and everyone knew it.
"Why was the bulkhead closed off!" someone yelled, which kicked off a series of similar questions from the crowd all at once.
The commander seemed to get a little impatient, as if he thought his speech should've been enough. "We believe that a biological contaminant was released as a result of the planet crack earlier today. Everyone who went through the old safety debriefing knows what this could mean, and that it could be something as small as a busted air filter. Until the investigation has progressed, we won't know much more than that."
There was more shouting, most of it hysterical, and then one man's voice drowned out the rest: "We should have never let them take the Marker! We are being punished for letting the infidels remove it from this world!" The mob roared in response. "We will all pay for this!"
I could see where this was going, so I backed away.
"Stand down!" the commander shouted. "Stand down right now and return to your rooms!"
And that's exactly what I did. It was out of our hands, so I decided to check myself out of that particular conflict; and conflict there was. I just can't believe that now, of all times, things are starting to fall apart. We are so close to getting off this rock.
—
I just found out that Estrella was among the people sealed off in Section F-14. I've already applied to have comm time when the lines are opened, but I'm sure family will have priority, and who knows how far down the list I am. I've sent a message to her private terminal. Hoping she might have a way to access it in quarantine.
She doesn't even live in that part of the colony. I can't believe she ended up there.
—
The screaming I heard after the planet crack hasn't gone away, but I just don't know where the hell it's coming from. I've checked the halls, talked to all my neighbors, and even popped outside. Nothing.
Whispers, too. Like someone's talking to me from just around the corner, but it never gets louder when I follow it. Stupid me, I nearly followed it all the way to the mess hall. The other workers would think I've gone insane if they knew why I've been wandering the wing today.
—
The voices and the screams get a touch louder when I put my ear flat against the air vent. I'm always on the verge of hearing what's in the whispers, but they never make sense. They just keep going and they won't fucking stop.
—
Finally decided to check myself in to the infirmary, just to see if they could give me something to knock myself out, but the door was sealed shut. It wasn't locked, because the padlock was green, but it wouldn't budge. I knocked and kicked at it to see if I could get a response from the other side. All I heard was... I don't know, it kinda sounded like laughing. I waited around to see if a guard would pass by, but no one did.
In fact, I don't remember seeing anyone on the way there or back. And I think the darkness and the dim emergency lights are starting to play tricks on me, because I kept seeing things pacing around out there in the halls, always just out of reach.
I called out to them, but all they did was smile and take a slow step back into the darkness.
It didn't bother me so much when it happened, but thinking back on it, I'm fucking scared out of my mind. I want to go check in with my neighbors, but I'm hearing gunshots every now and then, and those things in the shadows have me shaking so badly I can hardly type.
—
They followed me into my room. And they won't stop smiling.