Troy was worried.
"So you haven't seen him come out of the ship yet", he asked Alex, the man in charge of personnel.
"I haven't seen him yet, he may still be in the ship.", Alex replied, "I'm sure he's fine". "No, that doesn't sound like him, if there's one thing I know about Nathan, it's that he's punctual", Troy said, "I think there's something wrong". With that, Troy walked towards the ship. As he walked, he activated his communicator and called the pilot. "Taylor, have you seen Nathan anywhere?", he asked. After a moment, a female voice, with an accent he couldn't place, resonated through the communicator, "I haven't seen or heard from him since he went to investigate the disappearance of a colonist."
Troy pondered this for a moment, "Where was he investigating when you last heard from him?"
"Engine number 3 on B Deck", Taylor replied.
"Ok, I'll go find out what happened to him", Troy said, "I think we may have a stowaway on board. Taylor, I want you to oversee the colonists while I'm gone"
"I hear ya", Taylor replied. With that Troy turned off the communicator and started towards B Deck. He paused outside the ship's armory and, after a moment, stepped inside.
"First things first, lets get some real ammo", he said as he did just that, "These stun rounds might not do". Troy knew well that not all stowaways were human in this day and age. It could be a nest of the spider-like Niccupa, they run on six legs and are no bigger than a soccer ball. They come in packs of thirty to forty. Luckily the red breeds were the only ones poisonous, and those only caused slight paralysis unless you're allergic. The name "Xenomorph" crossed his mind. "No!", he assured himself, "The closest Xenomorph sightings are galaxys away. It's either people or Niccupa."
With the possibility of Niccupa onboard, he grabbed a stun grenade and some medical supplies. "Just in case", he said to himself. After checking over his gear, Troy left the armory and entered the elevator.
-Time passes-
The elevator opened and flooded the engine room with light. Troy stepped out as the elevator closed, plunging the large room into near-complete darkness. He took out his flashlight and looked for an access panel, with that he can do two things, activate the lights and check the security cameras to find out what happened to Nathan. He approached the panel in question and quickly flipped on the lights. This reviled nothing out of the ordinary.
"That makes sense, Niccupa would live in the vents", Troy whispered to himself, "and any people would have heard me coming and hid."
He returned his attention to the panel and noticed a serious problem, everything that concerned the cameras was destroyed. A quick look around made Troy's heart sink. Every last one of the cameras had been ripped apart with chilling precision, one of them even seemed to be melted. Fear began to blossom in Troy's heart. This is too well thought out to be Niccupa, they are little more than animals, he thought, and the panel and cameras were destroyed by something much stronger than a human. In his mind Troy knew what this meant, he knew the only thing in the galaxy that was smart enough to cover its tracks and strong enough to destroy all the equipment. He just didn't want to believe it...
Unfortunately for him, fate wasn't going to leave any doubt in the matter. Troy heard a creak, then a crash. He whirled around and went to draw his pistol, but a black hand shot out and stopped him. Another clamped onto his neck and lifted him up. One look at his attackers face washed away ant doubt in his mind. He was staring into the face of the most dangerous predator in the known universe. The eyeless killer, the Black Death, the shadow of apacolypse, known by all as...
The Xenomorph.
The creature glanced at him for a moment and without warning flung Troy across the room. He slammed against the unforgiving metal wall and gasped as the air was forced out of his lungs. Troy landed on his feet but dident stay there long before he began to fall. The last thing he saw before unconsciousness claimed him was the Xeno slowly stalking forward. So...this is how I die...Pity, I thought it would be from some wierd alien virus, although this is not too different, Troy thought knowing too well the aliens method of breeding.
Authors note:
Sorry I took so long getting this chapter out, school has been crazy and I also had a wee bit of writers block. Anyway I plan on getting another chapter by the end of next weekend. Oh, and I also need to credit my friend Nathan for his continued support and help with gramerical and spelling errors. Couldn't do it without you buddy! I also can't do it without you readers out there, please review and follow!