Chapter Two: Intensive Care
Isaac hoped beyond hope that Hammond and Kendra were okay as he made his way down and through another maintenance hall. He took a lift down, into another room. It was a mess there, and he saw another body, this one between two large, metal crates where it had been rammed between them, the lower body hopelessly crushed. In his hand, though, was something Isaac recognized. He gingerly took the Kinesis module and attached it to his left gauntlet. He gave it a test on one of the crates, easily moving the heavy metal box out of his way. Isaac moved more out of the way, careful not to make too much noise. He made his way up a ramp, and heard a voice. He heard someone speaking. Isaac blinked and carefully opened the door. He was on another tram platform.
"G-gotta . . . hold the line . . ." a woman's voice whispered. He looked around, and saw a form by the damaged seating people waiting for the tram on. As Isaac came forward, he saw the state the woman was in. Her legs had both been burned off, clearly by the blood of these beasts. She had several empty med-packs and tubes of Somatic Gel by her, but it was clear she was fighting a losing battle. A severe wound in her right shoulder bled profusely. By her left, she held a Pulse Rifle. Isaac hurried over.
"Hey! Hey, can you hear me?" he asked as he knelt. The woman groaned.
"M-monsters . . . gotta . . . hold the line," she said weakly. Isaac glanced up, and saw the medical symbol on the deck.
"Hang on! I'll get you to a doctor!" She coughed up a glob of clotted blood, and forced her rifle into his hands.
"Endanger their species!" she hissed, shuddering as her body slumped. Before Isaac could say a work, her RIG sounded a flatline. He glanced down at the rifle he now held.
The tri-barreled SWS Pulse Rifle had seen its share of action, had dried blood, some pits from acid, but still looked strong. The holographic round counter was two red zeroes. He glanced around, saw the bodies of other P-Sec officers, some badly damaged. He slung the Pulse Rifle around his back, and moved over to activate the tram at the location, unlocking it from local lockdown. He then turned back to the Medical deck.
"Nicole . . ." he breathed, hoping she was okay. He steeled his nerves, and opened the door to Medical.
The hallway was blocked with all sorts of things, large crates, containers, stretchers, panels, wheelchairs, anything they could pile up. Even from where he was, he could see that the makeshift barricade didn't hold. Isaac had to use his Kinesis module to move some of the debris out of the way. There was blood on the floor, and some holes from acid. A few were large enough he had to carefully navigate around. He made it to the door and entered the security station. Well, if he had thought the last hallway was a mess, it was nothing compared to the disaster he was now faced with.
Wires sparked and pipes dripped water from where in the ceiling it looked like a hole had been smashed through the ceiling. There were more bloodstains than he could count, so many that it looked like almost the whole floor, and most of the walls had been painted red and brown. One of the stains looked like someone had been dragged up a wall and into a vent, many bloody handprints indicated the victim had fought hard. Isaac also could see gouges in the walls, not made by bullets or human hands.
His RIG suddenly hissed and a holographic video screen popped up, Hammond's face greeting him.
"Isaac! Have you heard from Daniels? We were attacked. We went different ways to confuse it." Isaac shook his head.
"No. Medical's a slaughterhouse. Looks like they barricaded access to the morgue," said the engineer. Hammond looked perplexed.
"Any idea why?" he asked. Isaac looked around.
"Well, something tells me those things had something to do with it." Isaac glanced at the barricade. "It's rushed work, but tough. I'll need to find a way to break through." Hammond touched his chin and thought.
"Well, if they used something to make it, do you think they maybe left any tools behind to undo it?" Hammond asked. Isaac looked at the barricade of metal, panels and beams.
"Ah, maybe. Looks like an ion torch. I'll have a look around, see what I can find." Hammond nodded at this.
"Good idea, but it worries me. If they barricaded the morgue, was it to keep something in?" The thought made Isaac shiver.
"Don't know, but right now we don't have a lot of options." Hammond curtly nodded as he checked his rifle.
"Okay, but be careful, Isaac. Those things are no joke. Stay frosty." With this, Hammond cut the link. Isaac looked around the security station, not failing to notice a hastily-scrawled sign that read Evacuate this area immediately! If Isaac had to judge by the blood and mess, they were attacked suddenly.
As Isaac was about to leave, he saw a notice on one of the screens, as well as a printed flyer. What caught his attention was it was a picture of a dog, a Rottweiler.
Missing: Spike. Pet Rottweiler. If found, contact D. White immediately! Reward!
Isaac was surprised. He thought that most ships had a no pets rule. Then again, he had heard plenty of stories of high-ranking staff able to bend rules. Isaac turned to the two other doors, and headed for the imaging diagnostics lab. Wasn't a bad place to start. As he opened the door and warily peeked into the dim hallway, his mind again drifted to Nicole. He hoped she was okay. He knew she was smart. The lights flickered as he walked, but he tried not to let it get him jumpy. If he was going to find Nicole, he had to keep his cool and his wits about him. He entered the imaging lab, and it was as bad a mess as the rest. Papers and items were scattered everywhere, screens broken, some windows shattered. There were plenty more bloodstains, and gouges in the metal, no doubt from the claws of the creatures. Isaac moved an imaging bed out of the way, and saw the console behind was absolutely wrecked, large metal bars bent, bloodstains everywhere. Isaac looked around, but didn't find anything useful. At the back, Isaac found someone had removed the power cell, likely to try to stop the creatures.
Isaac used Kinesis to reinstall the power cell, restoring power to the elevator. He rode the lift up, and found the room was damaged enough he had to actually move the scanning bed and move across the top of the module. All the while he moved carefully, trying not to make any more noise than necessary.
The first room he came to was the observation room for Zero-G therapy. Warily, Isaac entered the lab, glad to find it relatively intact. While a mess, he didn't see any bloodstains there, or even any signs the creatures had been in there. He did, though, find a text log, sitting on a desk. He picked it up and read it.
We have the affected patients quarantined in isolation pods, pending further action. The parasites have not moved, or made any aggressive actions thus far. We are deferring to Dr. Brennan and Dr. Kyne for guidance.
Isaac stared at the holopad for a long moment.
"Parasites?" Isaac questioned. He perked up at the mention of Nicole. He felt his hope renewed, if only a tiny bit. He downloaded the log, should he need, and turned to look out the observation window into the Zero-G therapy area. It was dark, but he dared not turn on any lights. He swallowed the lump in his throat, went back and down the hall. He entered a small junction area, and noticed the sign above the door was flashing a warning:
Decompressed area beyond this point. EVA suit required.
Isaac checked his RIG over, just in case. He then opened the door. Air hissed and wailed past him as he entered the vacuum of space. Isaac was able to see why: Acid holes. Not just in the floor, but the ceiling as well. They were big enough a person could climb through the larger ones. It confirmed one of his worries upon seeing the blood of the creatures in action. An acid that powerful would have no issue eating right out through the hull. His hunch was proven right. Isaac paused and messaged Hammond. "Hammond, do you read?" he waited for a few seconds before Hammond's face appeared in a RIGLINK video screen.
"Yeah. What's up?"
"I found a decompressed area. Looks like someone blasted one of the things, and its blood ate right out through the hull," said Isaac, showing Hammond the hole, which went right out through the bottom of the ship.
"Holy shit," breathed the security officer.
"I was worried about that. And that's saying nothing of the circuits and pipes that run through the ship. No wonder half the Ishimura's in the red." Hammond nodded.
"Yeah. Saw some holes like that up here on the Bridge, though not quite that bad," Hammond replied.
"If you can find a spare EVA suit, take it. Just in case," Isaac cautioned. Hammond nodded.
"I'll look around. Find anything to get through that barricade yet?"
"Not yet. I'll get back to you. And if you find Kendra, let her know, too."
"Will do," said Hammond and Isaac cut off the link. Isaac made his way down the decompressed hallway, and into another room. This one, though, was in far worse shape.
It looked to Isaac as if an explosive had gone off. That, or they had been hit from the outside by an asteroid. He wasn't sure which was more likely. He wound his way through broken furniture and equipment that floated in zero gravity, his magnetic boots holding him to the floor. He did notice some acid burns on the floor, but he doubted it was these things that did it. He made it to the door without incident. He entered the door, and his RIG announced he exited vacuum, much to his relief. He glanced down the ramp that led down to Zero-G therapy. There was no blood or acid holes. He could only hope. He made his way down and opened the door.
Zero-G therapy was a roughly cylindrical room, with two opposite platforms, and observation windows and rooms up and to the sides. It was reserved for treatment of severe burns or bone breaks. Various objects floated in the zero gravity as the lights kicked on. Isaac checked his RIG, and activated his thrusters.
"All right. Cleared for takeoff," he muttered as he deactivated his magnetic boots and engaged his jets. The engineer floated up and out into the large chamber. Isaac checked around briefly, but found only debris or papers, and none of them important. The bed patients normally rested in was up near the top of the chamber. Isaac drifted down and across to the door to the Zero-G Maintenance room. Inside, Isaac found some spare suits and gear, tools and parts for repairs. "Now, let's see," he mumbled as he dug around. Some chips, circuit boards, spare wires and cables, clamps, rivets, pliers. Nothing he could use. He checked the lockers, found some more plasma cartridges, pocketed them. Nothing else of note. He then moved over to a workbench, and noticed a small cannister, violet in color. Isaac picked it up, and smiled. His RIG hissed with static.
"Isaac, still holding up here. What's happening over there? Did you find Nicole?" Hammond asked.
"No, but I found a cartridge for an ion torch. If I can find the torch that goes with it, I should be able to cut through that barricade," Isaac replied.
"Okay. Work fast, Isaac," said Hammond and the audio link went quiet. Isaac pocketed the cartridge and headed back out the door.
It always seemed it was when people forget about their troubles they seem to come back with a vengeance. As Isaac stepped out into Zero-G therapy, he heard something. He looked up in time to see a grate be thrown across the room as one of the creatures entered.
"Oh, fuck!" Isaac swore as the creature's head swung down and seemed to glare at him, even if it didn't have eyes. Isaac jumped and engaged his jets, the black creature leaping and tearing into the metal flooring he had been standing on not even half a second earlier. The claws easily tore into the steel flooring like tin foil. It turned its head and hissed at him as he shot across the room. He glanced back, and felt his heartrate jump as it leaped up onto the wall and crawled after him far faster than he would have liked. He turned and hit his jets as hard as he could, hoping he could make it to the door before it did. He landed and dashed as fast as his magnetic boots would allow. "Come on, come on!" he growled as the door cycled. He glanced up as the thing got closer, turned, and he knew it was about to leap. He managed to get through and close the door just as the creature landed and screeched. Isaac threw himself back against the far wall. "Jesus!" he yelled as the door closed and the creature banged on it. Isaac took a few moments to steady his breathing, then ran up the ramp, knowing that thing was going to be back in the vents and looking for him. Best to put as much distance between him and it as he could as fast as possible.
Just as he got to the door, the whole ship shook, so hard it almost made him stumble. "What the-?" Isaac wondered aloud. His RIG beeped.
"What the hell was that? Shook the whole ship!" said Hammond, clearly unnerved by his tone.
"Don't know," Isaac replied.
"I'll check it out. Keep me informed if you find anything." With that, Hammond cut the radio.
Isaac opened the door and went out into the vacuum, only to find parts of it had collapsed.
"What the hell?" he wondered as he walked out. Maybe an asteroid had hit them? It was possible. But, shouldn't the Asteroid Defense System have shot it before it could? Something about that made Isaac's mind uneasy. He looked around, and engaged his jets, drifting up and over some of the debris, landing gently on a floor above. Isaac grunted and walked forward. Just then, he caught a hint of movement. He thought it was a piece of debris, but couldn't be sure. He hurried on, through a door and found a broken elevator shaft. Isaac engaged his jets and carefully navigated down to the door and opened it into another maintenance room. Isaac warily scanned the room, though saw nothing that indicated a threat. Still, he carefully navigated the room, ducking a bit as he walked under a massive tube with the warning label "Liquid hydrogen" on the side. As he did, the pipes suddenly vented steam with a loud noise, making Isaac jump and nearly slam his helmeted head into the pipes. Isaac hurried under the pipes and up to a locked door. He broke the fuse next to it and the door cycled open into the same hallway that had led him from the security station to the imaging lab. Isaac breathed a soft sigh of relief, rounded the corner, and jerked to a stop and scrambled back behind the corner.
One of the creatures was down the hall and looking around by the door to the security station. Right in his way. His mind raced as he tried to think what to do. There was no ammo for the Pulse Rifle he carried, and even if he had it, he had seen they didn't do much against these creatures, save for make them angry and bleed. He could try the plasma cutter, but doubted it would do any better against something that big and tough. Isaac swallowed hard and looked. The light was dim, but he got a better look at the thing, now. Its back was turned to him, and he could see four strange tubes that jutted up from the back. They had a distinctive curve to them, and the ends flared out in a way that kind of reminded him of mechanical pipes. The long, curved head turned slowly as it seemed to look around. That long tail swayed behind it, the end a long, sharp blade that glinted in the dim light. The rest almost blended in with the shadows, but he could see it was very tall. If he tried to take that thing on, it would tear him to shreds in a heartbeat, of that he had no doubt. However, he need to go through that door. He glanced down at his left hand, eyes settling on the Kinesis module, and an idea came to him. He carefully went back to the door into the machine room, lifted up a toolbox with the Kinesis module, leaned out around the corner of the open door, then shot the heavy metal toolbox down the hall, before ducking back in and shutting the door.
He hear the box bang and clatter, followed by a hiss. Isaac waited a few moments, carefully opened the door and peeked down the hall. The creature was there, looking at the tools. Isaac carefully slunk around the corner and down to the door, hurrying through and back into the security station. Isaac never thought he would be so happy to be back in that bloody mess. With a heavy sigh, he leaned against a wall and caught his breath. After a few moments of respite, he stood back up and headed through the door to the Research Wing.
Once more, Isaac encountered a malfunctioning door, the door slamming back and forth erratically. Isaac could see more bloodstains around it, but this time, no bodies or parts. Isaac used Stasis on the door and scampered through, then down the ramp that led to the Main Lab. Isaac stopped and looked at the sign above the door. "Nicole . . ." he whispered. He knew she likely worked in this area, and hoped he could find her. He opened the door and stepped inside.
The room was circled by a catwalk, various machines and lab equipment scattered around at tables and benches. Now, Isaac saw signs of fighting. He could see some blood splatters on the walls, and a few holes from acid. Most of these were on the lower level, but it did make that pit in his stomach grow. Isaac glanced around, saw some broken vents, but was thankful that there was much better lighting there. Then again, could that be a bad thing? Would they see him easier? How did they even do so without eyes? Nicole would likely have theories. His mind turned back to her, and he steeled his nerves. Isaac glanced around, saw a locked door on the second level, but some down on the first level looked open. He carefully made his way over, around and to the lift and took it down. Sure enough, there was more evidence of fighting on the lower level. There was a particularly gruesome blood splatter that looked like someone had been dragged quite literally kicking and screaming into a vent. Papers and pads were scattered around like confetti, along with instruments of all kinds. Isaac noticed an office across from where he was standing. That of a "Dr. Terrance Kyne, Chief Science Officer." Isaac glanced around, and went in.
The office was largely undisturbed, and looked like the office of any doctor. There was a model of the human body sitting on a desk, other paraphernalia of science and medicine. Isaac noticed a screen glowing at the desk. There was a recording. He pressed it, and the room dimmed as the hologram came to life. A slightly older man with brown hair and blue eyes sat at the desk. He looked up as a man with short, pale blonde hair and beard and blue eyes in an Officer's uniform entered. The man with brown hair looked up as he stood up.
"Ben, what the hell is happening down there?" the man with brown hair asked.
"I was hoping you could tell me," said the blonde man.
"I . . . really don't know. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. It clearly isn't human," said the man with brown hair.
"Obviously," replied the blonde man as he walked over and looked at a holopad.
"I've been in contact with Dr. Smith in the colony. They have the affected colonist in quarantine, pending a full scan and examination," the brown-haired man replied, clearly Dr. Kyne. Ben looked at Dr. Kyne, then back to the pad.
"I'm sending Weller, Baines and Hutchins down to the colony for extra support. I want you, Chief Vincent and everyone else involved to keep me up to date as soon as anything changes. Is that understood?" said Ben with authority. Dr. Kyne nodded. With that, the man Isaac now knew as Captain Benjamin Matthias left the room. Dr. Kyne looked at the holopad one last time, then turned off the recording. The room brightened back up. Isaac noticed the holopad was still there. Curious, he picked it up, tapped it and read the entry.
Personal log,
Dr. T. Kyne, Chief Science Officer, USG Ishimura.
Subject: Observations of Derelict.
The vidlogs from the colony are poor quality, but I've seen enough to confirm it: We have discovered evidence of alien life. A derelict spacecraft of non-human manufacture. It is a large, asymmetrical, wishbone-shaped craft, with a thickened central section between two prong-like structures. The starboard prong is longer, estimated to be around fifteen-hundred feet or so, with the port prong slightly shorter and more severely curved inwards. The prongs appear to bend upwards slightly, though whether this is from damage, or the angle of the craft remains to be seen. At approximately ground level are three large openings. Exterior of the craft is shiny, vitreous, yet does not seem to be of any alloy know to humans. The craft gives the impression of being grown, rather than built, with a distinctly biological aspect to it. Preliminary investigation of the area seems to indicate the craft crash-landed in the surrounding mountains, some time in the distant past due to the broken rocks and formations. Until a more thorough analysis of the area can be conducted, any suggestion of timeline would be purely conjectural.
Isaac was stunned as he read, seeing a single, grainy picture of a silhouetted shape against the red-brown sky. A distinctly horseshoe-shaped thing, flowing in graceful, but disturbing lines.
"A-aliens?" Isaac croaked.
Humans had explored many worlds beyond Earth, cracked open many more, yet never had encountered any forms of alien life whatsoever. Not even bacteria. It had always puzzled the great minds of mankind, how so much space could be so empty. It seemed they just hadn't been looking in the right places. Aegis VII was quite far from Earth, out at the very edges of human-explored space. Isaac re-read the report, looked again at the image. Part of his mind registered just how significant this was. Even he knew that, as it fundamentally changed how humans looked at the cosmos, knowing they were not alone. He downloaded the log to his RIG. He glanced around, but saw nothing else of use. He left the office of Dr. Kyne, and had a look around the area. Isaac carefully walked down a hall to some bathrooms.
He was surprised when he bumped into someone.
A man yelped as Isaac jumped back in shock. "W-what the?!" Isaac gasped as he stared at a man who was holding a metal bar defensively, only to lower it when he saw it was another human. "Oh, thank god, somebody alive," said Isaac. The man was dressed in a Medical Rig, and seemed to droop somewhat.
"Barely," the man replied hoarsely. He had short red-brown hair and green eyes. He looked rather young, maybe in his early twenties.
"Hey, I'm looking for Dr. Nicole Brennan. Have you seen her?" Isaac asked. The man looked at him.
"Man, I haven't seen anyone else in hours. Last time I saw Dr. Brennan was in the Emergency Wing," said the man with a sigh. Isaac gave a soft sigh of relief. At least he had a lead.
"My name's Isaac," he said and offered his hand. The man looked at him before shaking his hand.
"Todd. Haven't seen you before, but it's a big ship," said Todd.
"I'm part of a crew they sent out to see why you went dark," Isaac replied, and Todd's eyes bulged.
"What?! Rescue?!" he said as loud as he dared. Isaac sighed softly.
"Don't get worked up. The things blew up our ship." At this, Todd seemed read to melt into the floor.
"Terrific," he said hoarsely.
"Look, we're trying to help. I need the Captain's RIG codes so we can open the ship systems. I need to get through the barricade and to the morgue," said Isaac. Todd looked at him.
"That place is a fucking nightmare. I don't think you wanna go in there," Todd said in a tired tone.
"Don't have much choice. Look, help me, and I'll help you. I'll help you get out of here alive," said Isaac. Todd looked at him, looked about to speak, when they heard something. The sound of a broken vent clattering. Todd's eyes widened.
"Hide!" Todd hissed and motioned for Isaac to follow. They ran down a hall as loudly as they dared, peeked around a corner as they came back to the main area, then dashed for a door which opened and closed automatically. They were in a small lab, with a large table in the middle, and several all around the walls. Todd scampered under one of the desks against the wall, while Isaac stuffed himself beneath the central table. Todd was across from him, and frantically motioned to his chest and Isaac's face. Isaac realized his RIG was glowing. He hurried to dim it, just as the automatic door hissed open. Todd held his finger to his lips, trembling as he looked Isaac in the eyes.
Isaac's whole body froze when a long, thin leg black as night stepped into view. It was not even two feet away from him. The foot almost looked like a distorted mimic of a human foot, with a heel, arch, etc, but longer, with strange details, like patches of what looked like ribbed tubing. The nails on the tips of the toes were silvery claws. Isaac noticed it seemed to stand on its toes. It moved with unearthly grace, the toes curling as it lifted its foot, moving slow. Isaac saw a brief flash of the long tail, which seemed to extend out behind it, held off the floor. Isaac was trembling as he realized it was totally silent. He thought he heard a very soft hiss, but couldn't be sure. The alien walked past, slowly, clearly hunting. Isaac felt his spine tingle as he heard a definite hiss. He thought he heard something clatter. He didn't dare look. Todd gently shook his head as much as he dared, the other man likely even more scared, as he had clearly seen what these things could do. Todd kept his finger to his lips. Isaac's heart was hammering in his chest. Isaac saw some containers and beakers clatter to the floor as the creature knocked them over. Isaac saw the feet of the creature once more as it stalked back to the entrance of the room, the door hissing open. They heard the door close, and Isaac felt like he was going to faint from relief. Todd looked no better.
Isaac rubbed the faceplate of his helmet as Todd warily crawled out to peek out. Isaac had just looked up, when he saw something. A small drop, that landed just next to Todd. It was so small, he hardly noticed it, and Todd didn't. It was followed by another, larger drop. Isaac's heart leaped right up into his throat.
Before he could even move, the alien dropped from where it had been hiding, clinging to the ceiling. Todd screamed as it grabbed him, the man scrambling to try to get away as it pulled him back. Todd screamed as it turned him over, trying to strike it with the metal rod. He may as well have tossed paper at it. It grabbed his arm and forced it down to the floor with ease. Isaac could do nothing as the alien's face drew near, lips curling back over silvery teeth as Todd screamed as loud as humanly possible. The jaws opened, and Isaac saw the smaller set of teeth. They launched out, attached to a long, white tubular tongue. The man's head crunched like an egg, blood spraying and brain matter splattering over everything, including Isaac. Todd gurgled, legs kicking as the alien slowly retracted its tongue. Isaac shook uncontrollably as the long fingers, almost as long as his torso, curled around the dead man's neck and pulled the body with it along the floor and out of the room. Isaac stayed there for uncounted minutes, terrified.
After a horrible eternity, Isaac dared to move. He moved to the other side of the table and warily peeked out. The room was empty. He made sure to check the ceiling and walls. Nothing.
"It . . . laid a trap," he said in a shaky voice as loud as he dared. Isaac was shaken to his core. It was smart enough to fake leaving the room, then hide on the ceiling to lure them out. Isaac suppressed a shudder again. He had been about to leave, when he saw another holopad. He looked around, grabbed it, and hid back under the table. He was surprised when an audio log began to play, and Isaac hurried to lower the volume.
"Personal log: Dr. Challus Mercer. Copy to secure terminal. I convinced Jurgens to show me the video feed from the colony, and, well . . . I have to say, I am astonished. I have never seen anything like it! Remarkable! Never have I seen such biological perfection! Not on all of Earth! Kyne is erring on the side of caution, but I must know more! I must study one of these 'Xenomorphs' as Kyne so clinically calls them. Perhaps ones of the patients of Dr. Brennan . . ." said a male voice, sounding husky and older.
Isaac was still after that.
"Xenomorph . . ." Isaac breathed. He finally had a name to put to his foes. Warily, Isaac got to his feet and carefully made his way back out into the research lab. He could see the trail of blood where the creature had dragged the body of Todd to the nearest vent and through. Isaac suppressed a shiver, but barely. He looked to his right, and went through another door. He glanced around carefully before entering. He found himself in the changing room for the main lab, where coats and clothes were stored. Isaac searched the lockers. Isaac found a few more plasma cartridges, and, much to his surprise, a magazine of ammo for the Pulse Rifle. Isaac brought up the weapon, ejected the empty magazine, and slapped the new one in. He then returned it to where it had hung on its sling behind his back. Isaac then went through the door that led into the Biological Prosthetics center.
Isaac turned left and went down the hall. Everything looked normal, and, of all things, it was relatively clean. No blood, no broken grates or vents. Isaac was still cautious, though, walking carefully. It turned out to be a very good move. As Isaac got closer to the large glass windows at the end of the hall, he saw movement. He ducked down and walked in a low crouch. He dared a glance through the window into the Biological Prosthetics room.
Three large tubes filled with green liquid stood in the middle of the room. At least, one did. A couple were smashed open. The same with several of the smaller, square tanks that lined the walls. Isaac could see some blood on the floor. He carefully stayed low and out of sight. He moved a little to the left to see around the tanks, and felt his stomach flip.
One of the Xenomorphs was crouched on the floor, holding what remained of one of the smaller cloned bodies from the small tanks that lined the walls.
The USG Ishimura grew clones of the crew in tanks to harvest organs and limbs from, should they be injured. The clones had no higher brain functions, only enough of a brain to regulate the core biological body functions of the body. Even so, the image of that black creature quite literally eating a small human body was unnerving to say the least. Isaac suppressed the urge to vomit as he saw the tongue shoot out, bite into the soft, pale flesh, then retract and tear out a chunk of bloody meat. Even worse, it was sitting right between him and where he had to go. Isaac thought for a few moments, glanced around the room through the window, and saw some of the various lab instruments and other fallen objects. Isaac recalled his earlier ruse in a similar situation, and flexed his left hand. It had worked once.
Carefully, Isaac opened the door, used his Kinesis module to pull a large microscope over to him, then tossed it to the far side of the lab. The Xenomorph hissed as it stopped and looked up. It stood up to its very impressive height, and walked over to investigate. Isaac felt his heart patter as he carefully snuck over to where the tubes were, picked up a metal wastebin, and tossed it further. The Xenomorph hissed louder, and ran over to where the noise was. It scared him, how it moved. It almost seemed to flow, like blank ink in water. He swallowed as he carefully went over and took the lift up to the second floor, hoping beyond hope it wouldn't see him or hear the lift. He checked his Stasis module, just to be sure. He had full charge again. He hit the button and hunkered down as low as he could. Much to Isaac's horror, the creature noticed. He flattened himself against the floor of the lift, and as soon as it was up, he scrambled over to hide in another room off to the side. This one had no door, but he could hide behind the corner.
He saw the black creature climb up the wall like a gecko from Earth. He stayed out of sight, past several broken, empty tubes. Isaac saw a fallen piece of metal support, used his Kinesis and shot it to the other side of the room and down to the other floor. The alien snarled and leaped back down to find the source of the noise. Isaac wasted no time in hurrying through the door and into sanitary showers where staff would decontaminate before procedures. Isaac gave a soft sigh of relief as the door closed behind him. He went through the next door, and found himself looking through a window out into the main lab, the very same locked room he had seen earlier.
Inside, he found another human body. Again, they were dressed in a Medical uniform, the white and gray uniform smeared with blood. In the hands of the body, he found a small item. It had a bronze-colored nozzle and a small, folding screen to protect the eyes of the user. It was an ion torch. Isaac gave a soft smile as he stooped down and picked it up. Sure enough, it had run out of gas, so he popped out the cylinder and replaced it. He looked at the torch, then clipped it to his belt. He touched the button for his radio and messaged Hammond. "Hammond? You there?" Isaac asked.
"Yeah. What you got, Isaac?" Hammond asked.
"I found a torch to cut through that barricade. Might also come in handy elsewhere," said Isaac as he looked around for anything else useful.
"Great! Get over to the morgue and get the Captain's RIG ASAP! I'm still trying to reach Daniels, but she's not answering her RIGLINK. God, I hope . . .," Hammond trailed off.
"Hammond, there's something else," said Isaac.
"What?" Hammond asked. Isaac paused as he pocketed a few more cells for the plasma cutter.
"I found some reports about these things."
"And? Don't keep me in the dark, Isaac." The engineer sighed softly.
"Apparently, they found some kind of alien ship on the planet." It was silent for a few moments. "Hammond?"
"Yeah, still here. That's just . . ."
"I know. I also found out what they called these things. They called them 'Xenomorphs'."
"Good to know. Thanks, Isaac. Anything else we can find out about these things will help. Likely the Captain had all the files on them in the computer. Get his RIG and we should be able to find out more. And any trace of Nicole yet?"
"Not yet. Had a few small leads, but nothing solid yet. I'm heading to the morgue. Let you know when I get there," said Isaac and closed the link. Isaac then turned to the door, and suddenly things made a lot more sense.
The door had been welded shut. Isaac brought up the ion torch, looked it over, then the door. Whoever this was had welded it shut along all for sides. There was nothing for it but to cut the whole door out. That, or head back the way he came, and Isaac liked that idea about as much as that of a spacewalk in Bermuda shorts. There was more than enough fuel in the canister for both. Isaac cracked his neck, flipped up the shield screen, and got to work, just hoping the sound wouldn't draw any aliens.
Isaac winced as the torch hissed and cut, knowing it would make noise, but left with little choice. Thankfully, the torch cut through quickly. However, before he could do anything, the cut door fell to the floor with a loud clang. Isaac felt his heart leap into his throat. He put the torch on his belt and scrambled for the door as fast as he could. Her heard vents breaking open behind him. He was thankful the doors there opened so fast. He dashed through the door, up the ramp, saw the malfunctioning door ahead, shot Stasis at it and made for it. He was almost there when he tripped. He looked back and saw one of the aliens had him by the ankle. He screamed and kicked at the thing, pulling as hard as he could as it hissed. He looked up, saw the door beginning to move again, and hoped the spray would miss him. The door slammed closed on the creatures arm. It screeched loud and shrill like nothing Isaac had ever heard. The door severed the alien limb, which sprayed yellowish-green blood, which immediately started to eat into the door, deck, walls and anything else it touched. Isaac wrestled it from his boot, got up and ran for it as fast as he was able. He didn't care if it ate through the deck, he just had to get away! He made it through the door back into the security station. He was tempted to weld the door shut, but instead went over to the barricade and began cutting. It took Isaac only a few seconds to get through, the metal bars and plates falling in as they were cut through. He then clipped the torch back onto his belt and headed in. The sign above the door said:
Ishimura Clinic.
We are unable to accept new patients.
Isaac looked up, and hoped he would find new leads on Nicole. Warily, he opened the door.
He was greeted by more bloodstains, and more evidence someone had been dragged while holding on for dear life. Isaac suppressed a shiver and tapped his radio.
"Hammond? I'm through the barricade. You read me?" There was a pause.
"Yeah. Yeah, I read you. Good job. Get those RIG codes, and I should have full access to everything. Heck, I should also be able to give us full Security Clearance!" Isaac nodded.
"Right. I'll keep you posted." Isaac turned off the radio, then turned to the door to the Emergency Room, where Nicole worked. He just hoped he wasn't greeted by her mangled corpse. He opened the door.
It was worse than he expected. There was blood everywhere. Huge puddles of it, dried and clotted. Some was high-velocity spatter on the walls and equipment. The one saving grace was it was well-lit, but part of him wondered if that wasn't worse. As he warily came in, Isaac noticed a holopad on an empty bed. He picked it up and read.
Medical Log: Dr. Nicole Brennan, Senior Medical Officer, USG Ishimura.
Subject: Parasite.
Patient was brought in with an unknown organism attached to his face. The patient is thus far unconscious. Scans indicate the parasite has some kind of tube down the patient's trachea, terminating at the bronchial bifurcation. The parasite also has fingers or legs wrapped around the patient's skull, and a long tail around the neck. Despite this, the patient seems to be breathing normally. Observed expansion and contraction of lobes near tail section of parasite in time with breath of the patient. Theorized parasite is somehow supplying oxygen to patient through tube. We have isolated an as-yet unknown toxin in the patient's blood samples. We believe this to be the cause of their unconsciousness and paralysis. I am working with Dr. Kyne on examination of the parasite. Patient and parasite are in Quarantine Pod 1 until further notice.
Isaac stared in shock, not just as Nicole's log, but the picture of a man with a strange creature on his face. It was almost the same color as human flesh, with long, skeletal fingers wrapped around the man's head, a long tail coiled around his neck. Below that was a scan of his body, with the tube visible down the throat. "The hell?" Isaac murmured. He downloaded the log to his RIG, shocked. Had they found another kind of alien creature? He suppressed a shiver as he put the holopad down. Just what had they gotten into? He then noticed a glowing display. He walked over to it. There was a holographic message waiting to be played. He pressed it, and was surprised when a familiar woman faded into view. "Nicole?" he asked as the hologram stood next to a man on a covered stretcher, with that same spider-like creature on his face. Standing next to her was Dr. Kyne.
"Where did they find him?" she asked.
"Mining Deck," Dr. Kyne replied. She glanced sideways at him, then at the man on the stretcher.
"I'm not a xenologist. This is beyond my field," she stated.
"I know. That's why I'm here," said Dr. Kyne. She gave a soft sigh.
"All right, I'll do what I can. I want a full body scan! Full bloodwork, too! Test for anything and everything! Full quarantine procedures!" she said as she moved to set something up and the hologram ended. Isaac was surprised. While it gave him hope, the fact Nicole was so close to these things scared him. Isaac looked around, and found the door to the next hallways was locked and without power. Someone had done all they could to put at many barriers between the rest of Medical and the morgue. Isaac searched around, and found some more ammo for the Pulse Rifle in some lockers, and another power cell by a breaker box. Isaac was reluctant to turn the power off and the lights, but if he was to get through, he needed to. He switched off the power, removed the cell, and put it in to power up the other door. As he went through, he couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard something. He quickly closed the door and ducked down, just in case. When nothing presented itself, he stood up, and carefully made his way down the dark hallway.
More medical beds lined the walls, some covered in blood, one had deep gouges from the claws of the Xenomorphs. More bloodstains on the floors, and more holes from acid, though these didn't look as big. He rounded a corner carefully, and noticed wiring dangling from where it had been pulled out. The whole panel had been ripped out and was sparking. Isaac blinked as he carefully looked, and the gouges in the wall and metal certainly had not been done by any tool he knew. He looked around, and saw other damage, and the lights looked to be smashed. Likely damaged in whatever fighting happened.
He noticed a glowing panel, another security request. He tapped it.
"Hello? Is anything there? I woke up here and I was alone. M-my name's Eileen Fisk. I-I don't know what happened, and-what's that? Hello?" Isaac could hear something. He heard a soft hiss from the recording. "Oh my god . . . Somebody help me! Please! Plea-" there was an inhuman screech, and the recording ended. Isaac couldn't suppress the shiver this time. He turned to his right and carefully went down the hallway, seeing more scenes of carnage. He saw a bed that had been overturned and looked like it had been used by someone, likely P-SEC for cover. Judging by the bloodstains and holes, it did them little good. The hallway ended in a locked door, but Isaac did find an audio log, and played it.
"Mercer, it's Kyne. I know you were in surgery, so I left this with Warwick. I know he'll be discreet. I just got the latest report from Aegis VII, and it's even worse than the Captain will admit. These creatures are attacking, killing people. If even half the numbers are correct, we've already lost half the colony. And he's doubled down on the no-fly order. He even shot down a shuttle that was coming from the planet. It's out of control. I'm at a loss. We need answers, and we need them quickly. Meet me as soon as you can."
Isaac listened, and could hear the exhaustion in Kyne's voice. He backtracked, and entered the Intensive Care Unit. Even with what he had seen so far, Isaac was still surprised at what greeted him.
Circular glass pods with hospital beds inside stood, where surgeries were performed. Several were specially designed for quarantine. The insides of them were bloodbaths. Two still had human bodies laying on the bed. The wounds on these were particularly gruesome in that their chests had been ripped open. One of the pods looked like it had been smashed open from the inside. As Isaac warily wound his way through, he saw the far one had no blood, but did have a sizable acid hole in the floor of it, and through down into the next level. Likely the one below that, too.
"What the hell happened here?" he asked himself quietly. He shook it off and headed for the next door. Isaac came out into a long hallways with windows to the left side. Wheelchairs sat unused, benches empty. For a change, the area looked completely normal.. Isaac glanced around as he entered and the door closed behind him. That was when something violently came smashing into the hall in a hail of fire, sparks and twisted metal. Isaac recoiled as his RIG alerted him he had entered a vacuum.
"Warning! Hull breach detected!" the Ishimura computer announced. Isaac grunted as he fought against the suction until the shutters slammed down over the damaged hull. "Hull breach rectified," the computer declared. Isaac groaned as he glanced around, and headed forward. He peeked around the corner first, and it was clear. He got into the elevator and took it down without incident. When the doors opened, he was right at the morgue. Isaac took a deep breath, steeled his nerves and checked his gear one last time. He then opened the door and headed inside.
Isaac couldn't say he was shocked, or surprised at the bodies and bodybags, or the number of them. Indeed, they were piled up in some places, and the drawers looked like they were full to capacity. Nor was it the blood or mess of gore that surprised him. It was the large, black body, laying on a stretcher in the autopsy room. Isaac froze and didn't dare to move. The room was brightly lit, clean and looked in good order. On another stretcher, next to it, was the body of Captain Matthias. Isaac looked through the glass for a long moment. He steeled himself, brought up the plasma cutter, and opened the door. Isaac got yet another surprise when he saw something in a glass tube on a desk. But it was what was inside the tube that shocked him. It was the same spider-like creature he had seen in the pictures and hologram. Another alien creature. As he moved by, the creature inside moved, lunging at the glass. "Fuck!" Isaac swore as he leaped back. The creature had its legs spread out and was stroking the inside of the cylinder with a fleshy tube. Isaac cringed and recoiled more. The tube was filled with a liquid, but that didn't seem to drown or hinder it. Isaac saw a glowing holopad next to it. It took all his willpower to lung, grab the pad and pull back. He read the log.
Medical Log: Dr. G Domuss, Medical Examainer, USG Ishimura.
Report of shipboard death.
Subject, Captain B. Matthias
It is my unfortunate duty to report Captain Benjamin Matthias dead.
Captain Matthias was found unresponsive with an alien parasite attached to his face. Acting captain D. White ordered Dr. Nicole Brennan to attempt to remove parasite. Dr. Brennan attempted to remove parasite from Captain Matthias. Removal was successful, but Captain Matthias immediately went into cardiac and respiratory arrest. Several attempts were made to resuscitate the Captain, but medical staff were unable to revive him.
Preliminary examination suggests no physical trauma, apart from what was likely inflicted by being attacked by the parasite and removal of said parasite during procedure. Blood toxicology suggests parasite injected excessive amount of unknown paralyzing toxin into Captain's body at time of removal, possibly as defense mechanism or side effect of removal.
Some light damage detected to trachea, but this is insufficient to cause death.
I am officially ruling Captain Matthias' death 'Unnatural Death by Accident'.
Parasite has been removed and placed in quarantined sample vial in morgue for safety.
Isaac looked up at the parasite in revulsion and horror. It still stuck to the glass with those legs, the tips like claws. Isaac took another step back, then turned to the two bodies on the tables. While he knew he should get Matthias' RIG and get out of there, he stepped a bit closer and looked at the body of the Xenomorph. It was his first time really getting a good look at one.
It looked even more skeletal and thin, so close up. He could see the deep black color, with some very dark grays and blue highlights. Most notable in the "dome" that covered the top of the head. Even this close, he couldn't see anything that even remotely resembled eyes, or even ears. Part of the front of the head was blown off, likely from a Pulse Rifle round. It exposed a bit of the skull underneath, revealing even more strange shapes. Deep pits, ridges and other things. Even the skull looked black. He did, though, see some grayish-white inside of the chest where it had been blown open. He idly wondered how they had managed to get the body back without it melting a hole through the floor, or the people carrying it, for that matter.
Isaac was shocked when the ship rocked violently again, this time much more severely. So bad, in fact, he had to hold into one of the tables. He looked up, and felt his blood run cold as he saw the cylinder with the spider-creature inside begin to fall.
The sound of glass shattering was shrill in the closed room. "Oh, shit!" Isaac swore as the creature scrabbled free from the broken glass. Isaac brought up his plasma cutter as the creature suddenly made right for him. Isaac felt his skin crawl as those legs propelled it towards him with terrifying speed. Isaac fired, and to his shock and horror, it dodged it! "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuckity-fuck!" Isaac swore as he tried to blast the thing, which jumped out of the way and skittered underneath a table. Isaac almost glued himself to the glass on the far side of the autopsy room. He jumped when he heard something scrabble to his right. He whirled, aiming the plasma cutter. There was nothing. He heard something move over the other way. He whirled, and still nothing. His heart was now pounding harder than ever. Oh, why hadn't he just grabbed the RIG and left? Isaac carefully edged around the room, keeping his back to the window, trying to give himself as wide a field of view as possible. He thought he heard something, somewhere. Oh, this little brute was a clever one. Isaac saw it the same second it leaped.
The thing had been hiding just behind one of the desks with supplies, close to the wall. Isaac fired and dove out of the way at the same time. The blast hit it dead-center, cutting it in half, the two halves flopping around and legs curling and kicking. To his shock, the blood began to eat into the floor. It was like the Xenomorphs. "Jesus Christ," Isaac panted. He got up, turned Captain Matthias' body over, and removed his RIG from his back. He scanned it and contacted Hammond as he scampered out of the autopsy room.
"Isaac! What's your status?" Hammond asked.
"Fuck me! Ugh! Transmitting codes now!" Isaac almost screamed as he typed on his gauntlet. "Things went from bad, to worse, to are you fucking kidding me?!" Isaac almost ranted. "Acid-blooded alien monsters, mouth-rapey spider-hand things! I swear, I get though this, I'm retiring!" Isaac could almost hear Hammond blinking like an owl.
"God," Hammond breathed.
"Whatever happened here, it was a shitstorm with a capitol S. Whatever the hell they found, it spread in the colony, and somehow got up here," said Isaac as he tried to get his breath back.
"Right. Well, with the Captain's codes, we should be able to find if the Command Computer has anything that can help us. If there's any files on what happened here, they should be in there. Where's Daniels when you need her? Head back to the security checkpoint. Should be a little safer there. I should at least be able to up your Security Clearance." Isaac nodded.
"Okay. I'm heading back there now," said Isaac as he headed to the elevator and opened the doors. As he rode the elevator up, the whole ship rocked violently again, the elevator stalling briefly. "Oh, fuck! What now?!" Isaac groused. A RIGLINK video screen popped up with Hammond's face visible. "Hammond! What the hell was that?"
"The computer says the engines are offline. We're on a decaying orbit towards Aegis VII," Hammond answered.
"Oh, god. I've got to get to Engineering! The tectonic load is pulling us down! Three trillion tons of rock hanging off our ass in low orbit? If I don't get those engines going pronto, we won't need to worry about the aliens killing us!" Isaac said as he tapped the elevator button.
"No time, Isaac. That tram station is offline," Hammond replied.
"Fuck!" Isaac swore.
"Wait. Wait a minute . . ." said Hammond as he read the screen. "If this damage report is right, there's a shortcut you can use to get to Engineering. Head back to the Flight Deck, I'll guide you from there."
"On my way!" Isaac replied as the elevator started back up. Once at the top, Isaac unlocked the door and came back out into the ER. He hurried back across, making sure to keep an eye out for any of the Xenomorphs, in all their forms, now. Thankfully, he made it back to the tram without incident. He tapped the screen and chose the Flight Deck. The doors closed and the tram rumbled to life. Isaac watched out the window as Medical disappeared into the dark behind him. "Where are you, Nicole?"
