"My story...is quickly told," Quentin began, breathing heavily. "We… We were supposed to deliver supplies and other things to this research station. Our ship's reactor malfunctioned just before we were about to land, but that had been only a matter of time. The ship was ancient and had been giving us problems for months.
Anyway, most of us made it to the escape pod. When we landed, we made ourselves comfortable and wanted to wait to be picked up, but suddenly something banged against our hull like crazy. Tyler went out to check and came back screaming and badly wounded. The thing jumped into the pod with us, but we avoided it and ran to the colony as fast as we could. Apparently this creature found the screaming Tyler more interesting and left us alone. When we got here, there were a few of them in the yard and took three of us apart, but I managed to get into this building and holed up here." He coughed again.
"Are you alright?" Lieutenant Washington asked concerned.
"Must have gotten a little hypothermia outside," Quentin replied with a grim smile.
Lieutenant Washington activated her omni-tool and punched in a few commands, but nothing happened.
"Still no signal to Rome." She got up and paced restlessly. "Our ammo won't last forever. We need to be evacuated and will probably need all the marines available to do so. I'll go to the comm station and try to send another distress signal."
"I'm sure this should help you with that," Quentin said with a cough, standing up and opening a map on the large wall screen next to the desk. "I discovered it while looking around in here."
Washington stood in front of the screen and studied the map. "The communications system is in the next building...hmm...okay," she said thoughtfully. After that, she just seemed to pretend to study the plan, as she opened up a direct line of communication to Ellen and John, whispering as she spoke to them.
"I don't trust Quentin, he's way too quiet. I'll try to get a signal to the Rome somehow. Without help it will definitely be very difficult. The two of you keep an eye on the doctor during this time. And watch out for the door, it might not last forever if those things attack again and in larger numbers. When I get back we'll hole up here or try to get out." She closed the channel and reloaded her guns.
"You can't go alone, it's suicide!" John growled. "These things will tear you apart before you even reach the exit!"
"Private O'Malley!" she replied sharply, turning to face them. "Are you doubting my abilities?"
John shook his head slowly and grimly.
"I appreciate your concern, but of any Marine on the Rome, I have the most direct combat experience. And I've got an ace up my sleeve." Washington's left hand suddenly lit up, emitting blue energy.
"Biotics?" Ellen asked, puzzled. She had heard of this unique ability, but had never seen anyone use it herself. It was widespread among some of the extraterrestrial races, but biotics were rare among humans. Those who possessed the gift could throw objects through the air with ease, span a distance of over twenty meters in a splitsecond, create barriers and many other incredible things. At that moment, Ellen realized that some of the mutants in this station also had biotic abilities, because she herself had been thrown against a wall with it.
"Yes. I wish I could have used them to prevent you from getting hurt, Webber, but I would have been late anyway and have to use my powers sparingly," the lieutenant said apologetically. "O'Malley, I'm more inconspicuous on my own and it's important that you stay here. If Webber gets worse, she'll need you. In her current condition she can only fight to a limited extent and would be easy prey. Can I rely on you?"
John just nodded in response.
"Good. Please never again question the authority of your superiors, marine."
"Oh dear, that fellow seems like a real greenhorn," chuckled Doctor Quentin.
Lieutenant Washington grabbed the pistol from her hip and handed it to Ellen.
"Private, I hope you don't drop this one too."
Ellen replied, "Of course not, ma'am." In exchange, she gave Washington one of her two thermal magazines. "You're going to need this more than I do."
The lieutenant gratefully grabbed it and pulled her shotgun back out of its holder.
"O'Mally, Quentin, would you please be so good as to move the cabinet aside."
The two men did as they were told, and Washington, gun drawn, hurried out of the room. Directly behind her, the door was locked again and the cabinet slid back into place.
"And what do we do now?", John asked and leaned against a wall. In response, Ellen just shrugged. She was a little dizzy, so she walked around the desk and sat down in the chair that came with it. Nobody said anything for a long time.
Ellen looked around curiously. There wasn't much on the table except a work terminal, a datapad, and a framed photograph of a pretty woman in her thirties.
"How's your leg, Doc?" John asked Quentin.
"It'll be fine, boy. But may I ask what your real name is?"
"I'm John O'Malley and my mate over there is Ellen Webber."
"Well, John and Ellen, why don't you guys take off your helmets? There really is no danger here and I find it so terribly impersonal. I don't feel comfortable if I can't see other people's faces properly."
O'Malley looked over at Ellen, who shook her head almost imperceptibly. They had their orders, and since there was a good chance the pathogen was airborne, without their oxygen-filtered helmets they would be in grave danger.
"Can't do it, regulations," John said to the doctor.
"I understand. Well then, John, tell us a few stories from your missions. We probably still have a little time to kill and a seasoned marine like you must have seen quite a bit."
O'Malley began to talk about the mission on Tiptree, but Ellen barely listened because something else had caught her attention. A red light had flashed briefly at the edge of the work terminal's screen, indicating it was still on. She typed randomly on the keyboard and the screen lit up. A video recording folder was open, displaying a series of recordings. Some of the files were months old, but Ellen was only interested in the latest entries. She hoped to find clues as to what had happened here. Excitedly, she opened the third to last video, which was a week old. A man in his thirties with blond hair and a three-day beard was seen.
"Doctor Edwyn here, from the Alliance Research Colony on Antibaar. It's currently -47°C outside and clear skies for the first time in weeks. We haven't made any notable progress in the past few days, but I believe that Ming is about to make a breakthrough in the gas that suppresses biotic forces." He looked around cautiously for a moment, then leaned closer to the camera and spoke quieter. "There have been some unusual occurrences lately and some samples of the experiments have disappeared. I have a suspicion who it might have been, but I can't prove it. Not yet."
The entry then ended and Ellen opened the second one, made four days later and three days before today's. John came up behind her and looked over her shoulder without saying anything. Quentin didn't join them, which was fine with her, but Ellen had a feeling he was listening carefully.
"Doctor Edwyn here from Antibaar. Fuck what it's like outside, it's all haywire in here. I caught Doctor Vicerus stealing something from the lab a few hours ago. The security service was alerted immediately, but he somehow escaped from them and now there is no trace of him. It's possible that he's still hiding out here somewhere, but maybe he's already in another system. He left us two parting gifts though: all outside communication is blocked by a virus on the network, and two doctors and eight assistants have been infected with something he released. You're coughing your heart out and get rashes and strange bumps all over your body. One's bones are even beginning to deform, but there's nothing we can do about it and the disease progresses incredibly quickly." Someone could be heard calling for Edwyn in the background. "Yes, I'm coming!" he replied and the transmission was stopped.
The last entry was made a day later. Ellen opened it tensely and was startled when she apparently saw Doctor Edwyn in front of the camera again, but he was no longer recognizable. The face was riddled with bulges and twisted into a grotesque mask. The maw that had once been a mouth began to move.
"The pathogen is in the air and we have all become infected with it. But at least so far we have not been able to determine any direct human-to-human transmission, although it cannot be ruled out that bites, for example, can lead to allergic reactions. Vicerus had been researching ways to improve human biology and experimenting with extraterrestrial pathogens. If we're experiencing one of his findings right now, he was obviously on the wrong track. I doubt there is anything to stop this, and if there is, then he has the antidote." Edwyn shook himself and coughed heavily. "Those … b- … who have been infected for some time are hardly recognizable as people and are extremely aggressive. They're trying to get into my lab." It was only then that Ellen noticed the rumbling in the background, which sounded like someone banging into a door over and over again.
"I'm going to end my life now so I don't end up like them. Tell my wife I love her. Vicerus… what have you done to us?"
He raised a gun that he appeared to have been holding the entire time, and the video was cut off. Shaken, Ellen looked at the deformed corpse on the floor next to her.
"What sick shit," John muttered, placing what he appeared to have found as a smock on top of Doctor Edwyn's remains. "How's your arm, Ellen?" His tone was both concerned and somehow guilty.
She looked up from the corpse, confused. "It's okay, just throbbing a little." She activated her omni-tool and scanned the video files. Washington definitely had to see this.
"Ellen, come here, I just changed my bandages and I should do the same for you," Quentin said, sitting in a chair across the room. Ellen tried to get up, but felt dizziness coming over her and she had to sit down again.
"Webber, what's wrong?" O'Malley asked concerned.
"I'm alright. Just a little dizzy."
The doctor walked over to them and put a hand on her shoulder. "It must be one of those allergic reactions. But you'll be better soon, Marine." With deft movements, he unwrapped the soaked piece of cloth from her arm and fastened a new one.
"Soon you will be back on your ship and get a good night's sleep. That works wonders, believe me!"
"Thank you," Ellen answered simply. Something was irritating her, but she didn't realize it until after they'd all sat in chairs in silence for a while, listening into the silence. It was too quiet in this room. At first Quentin had been plagued by a bad cough, but now he seemed to be fine. She eyed him suspiciously, waiting for him to show any signs of illness.
He noticed her look and asked brightly, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Doctor," she said, "I'm fine." She would keep her doubts to herself until they were out of here. Ellen looked at John and noticed that he was watching her, finally tilting his head in Quentin's direction and nodding. He seemed to sense what was wrong here as well.
The Privates winced as Washington's voice came to them over the comm.
"Be ready," she said. "I'll be at the door in three minutes."
A short time later, rumbling footsteps were heard in the hallway and the bawling of several mutants. John pushed the closet aside and kept his assault rifle trained on the door. Ellen matched him with her pistol. The door slid open, Washington jumped in, and the Privates fired at the monsters trying to follow the lieutenant. After they were dealt with, the entrance was again locked and barred.
"Nice work," Washington said, sheathing her gun. "I almost managed to come back unnoticed because those things are pretty stupid and easily distracted."
"Did you reach someone? Do we get picked up?" Quentin asked hopefully.
The lieutenant nodded. "Whatever was shutting down communications here appears to have been removed a few hours ago. At least the system was completely restarted according to the log entries. The cavalry will come for us in thirty minutes."