USCSS Casimir: Outer Rim Territories

Sophelia was lifted off her feet by the explosion flying back into the pressure door with a solid thud and a nasty whack to the head. Immediately she crumpled to the deck, evidently unconscious.

"SOPHELIA!" Madison shouted, banging on the pressure door window, trying in vain to wake her over the din of the blaring alarms

Meanwhile the flames, momentarily blown out by the concussive blast, flared up again with a vengeance as the spray of Xenomorph acid blood leeched and burned into everything it touched. Founts of sparks and acrid smoke boiled out of control consoles and electrical panels, most of which were already rent apart by shotgun blasts and/or shrapnel.

Despite this ruin and smoking hellfire Madison expected the worst was yet to come. Likely very soon the acid blood would melt through the hull or compromise the view ports. As soon as that happened Sophelia's chances for survival would drop to zero. If fate was kind she would bleed out before she suffocated; fading into death before the endless void claimed her soul for itself.

Yet even as her own unconscious mind avowed it's too late! she was thinking how Bartimaeus must not have closed the other pressure door behind him. That's how the Xenomorph got at him. With luck it'll still be open and I can drag Sophelia out to safety the same way!

Inspired by that one chance, Madison turned and bolted back through the mess, turning right, running towards the main bridge corridor. Up ahead was another companionway junction with a pair of storage lockers for vacuum suits. One was open. Overhead flashing sirens bathed everything in strobes of orange light as Madison kept running towards the bridge.

At the end of the corridor she could see jets of flame and smoke roiling together, visible through the open door frame as if she were looking into a gas oven. Madison sprinted towards that fire just as the bulkhead pressure door started shutting itself automatically; sealing off the bridge from the rest of the ship.

No you don't! Madison cursed, diving under it at the last instant, rolling with the impact as best she could to avoid scuffing her palms and elbows in the process. Behind her the pressure door shut with a hum and thunk of finality. Mad, this was a very bad idea, even for you! she could hear Jex say in the back of her mind.

Immediately her lungs and skin were scorched by the intense heat as she gasped and coughed, struggling to take in a breath. There was barely any air left in here at all! No doubt the ships A.I. had already closed off the bridge air supply in the effort to let the fire burn itself out. Everywhere around her, tell-tale pitting and smoking holes of Xenomorph acid blood continued to burn into the ship, especially around the corpse of Bartimaeus-the-Greek. What was left of him anyway.

Madison used to think she was accustomed to death. She saw all sorts in her previous line of work, yet the word took on a whole new meaning after witnessing the harm done by a Xenomorph to a human being. Madison had to turn away to keep from gagging as her stomach churned.

A portion of the Xenomorph's eyeless skull was melting through the deck plates near one of her feet. It looked to be grinning up at her with a maw of bloody, metalized fangs. Madison stared at that evil visage, sickened with loathing and hatred. Enjoy your trip back to hell! she cursed inwardly, wondering also, What have I done to deserve these demons in my life?

That's rich, Jex replied in the back of her psyche. It's sadly ironic that you think to pity yourself now after what you've done for so many years? Let's be honest. We both know exactly what you are, and it's certainly no angel! Sure I'm not even human, I shouldn't judge, but all those years I helped you hunt murderous fugitive scum gave me an education. I learned to recognize a bad apple when I see one.

Madison gritted her teeth and did her best to ignore the feeling that it should have been her undone by the Xenomorph's claws. Begrudgingly she even gave the ships engineer some credit. He put up quite a fight!

At this point most of the lighting and electrical circuits were now offline, or else shorting out and blinking on and off at random. Madison understood that some of this would be the result of the A.I. attempting to isolate the bridge from the rest of the ships systems to limit further damage. At least she hoped that was the case. One benefit of this was the loud alarms stopped blaring in her ears.

What was the name of this ships A.I.? Madison could hardly remember as she struggled to think. Something Greek wasn't it? Alpha? Omega? Something like that. It wasn't a unit manufactured by Weyland Yutani, she remembered that much. That was one of the reasons she chose this ship for passage to Ashkelon Station in the first place.

The vacuum suit brought in by Bartimaeus-the-Greek was lying on the deck close by. Prompted by that most basic of human motivations, the need to breath, Madison lurched towards it. She desperately wanted to suit up as her lungs were already aching and burning with lack of air, but there was no time! Not at least until she was sure Sophelia wasn't already dead. Instead of putting it on she dragged it over to her side.

Madison checked her pulse. It was weak, worryingly weak. She's lost too much blood! Madison easily recognized the signs. Quickly she cut aside the fabric of her blood soaked flight suit with her knife revealing the ricochet wound on her thigh that was still hemorrhaging blood. Fortunately there was no exit wound so she affixed a self-sealing zero-g bandage from a med kit in one of her belt pouches to staunch the bleeding. Sorry you aren't going out the easy way. I'll do my best to keep you alive as long as I can survive! Madison muttered. She also repossessed her pistol from Sophelia's hand and placed it back in her holster.

Next she charged back into the smoke, grasping for a fire extinguisher beside one of the control consoles. She couldn't put the flames out entirely but she could at least minimize them. As she did so, enough of the smoke dissipated to be able to glimpse Ashkelon Station up ahead through the view ports. It was close! The ship was drifting in on approach which meant there was a good chance they were already spotted.

As if in confirmation, powerful, searchlights flashed through the viewport as another ship took up close position alongside. A rescue ship! Madison hoped, turning away to grab a partially melted emergency flashlight off of the furthest control console from the flames. She waved the beam of light frantically through the glass hoping to catch the ships attention, clicking it on and off in a rapid S.O.S. for good measure.

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Abruptly, the queer sensation of a pressure loss in her inner-ears occurred at the same instant that a harsh sucking whistle sent chills down her spine. FUCK! Madison immediately lunged back towards Sophelia and the single vacuum suit.

Every survival instinct she had insisted she should put on the suit immediately to save herself, yet as soon as the beam of the flashlight played over it she saw a half-dozen holes melted through it by the Xenomorph's acid blood spray, “GOD DAMN IT!” she cursed loudly.

At the sound of her voice, Sophelia's eyes fluttered open causing Madison's heart to sink. I should have let you bleed out when I had the chance. Now we'll both suffer to our last gasping breath.

Sophelia started wheezing, already struggling to breath. This seemed to help her regain her senses quickly. Adrenaline was good like that. Madison grabbed her hand and broke the bad news, “There's a hull breach!”

Sophelia seemed to gather her wits quickly gesturing to the third door in the far corner of the bridge. The access door for the A.I. mainframe! There's probably more air in there! Madison realized, hoisting the bulky vacuum suit up over her shoulders.

Now with no time to waste she gave Sophelia a shoulder to lean on as she limped over to that door. It slid open revealing a short corridor with another identical door at the other end. They both collapsed inside, sucking in deep breaths as the door shut again behind them. Madison also noted the door into the A.I. mainframe was locked.

When she had recovered her breath, Madison asked, “Can you get that other door open?” jerking her chin towards the A.I. mainframe.

“Yes.” Sophelia squeaked, tears starting to bubble up in her eyes.

Madison put a hand on her shoulder. “I'm sorry about your dad. And the others. I tried to warn you.”

“Fuck you!” Sophelia cursed, batting her hand away. “This is your fault!”

Madison frowned but held her tongue. There was no point arguing and she would not spite this young woman for her grief. Instead she looked through the window back into the bridge. More hull breaches were opening up, one after another, as the Xenomorph's acid blood melted through the hull like embers burning through paper. At least the fire was out now, fully extinguished for lack of oxygen.

The searchlights of the other ship remained flashing over the windows. Without the smoke and fire it would be easier now to glimpse the damage, and the carnage, within. She wondered what the other ship would make of it?

“What ship is that out there?” Madison asked Sophelia out loud, “Did your father try to hail the station or send out a distress call?”

“No, but I tried,” Sophelia blubbered, “He yelled at me to keep still and keep quiet! No one would believe this anyway. He kept saying that.”

He wasn't wrong, Madison agreed, “Well, it's very likely that ship out there is gonna board us. I flashed them an S.O.S. But before that happens, I need to get down to the cargo hold. That's very important.”

Sophelia glared at her, “Why? What was that monster? And why did you bring it on board?!”

Madison sighed, “It's a long story. But knowing more about it will only make your life more dangerous. Trust me. You need to forget what you saw.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to forg...” Sophelia started to argue before Madison cut her off.

“OK! You're right, that was a poor choice of words. I understand you'll never be able to forget it, but you have to keep it to yourself. You have to pretend like you never saw anything. Get me?”

Sophelia turned away from her and crossed her arms in frustration. Then she noticed the bandage on her thigh, “Thanks for this,” she said softly.

“No problem. Please believe me, I didn't want anyone to get hurt!”

Sophelia nodded slowly, but she wasn't about to forgive Madison, and that was fine. Madison stopped forgiving herself a long time ago.

Madison laid out the vacuum suit and examined the damage up close. None of the holes were larger than a quarter in size. She should be able to manage a temporary repair job. It only had to work for a very short length of time anyway, just until I get off the bridge. The rest of the ship should still have plenty of air. She used a roll of medical tape from her kit to path the holes in the suit.

“So what happens next?” Sophelia asked in a whimper. Her pallor was pale as the adrenaline was starting to taper off. She needed proper medical care, and soon. Without it she would pass out again unless Madison gave her something to do.

“I need to get down to the cargo bay before the other crew gets on board,” she repeated. “While I'm gone I need you to access the ships A.I. mainframe. Can you do that?”

“Yes,” Sophelia answered after a pause.

“Good. You need to delete any and all camera footage on the ship since it left Torin Prime.”

Sophelia frowned, clearly aggravated. The look in her eyes now was the same as Madison was used too from cornered fugitives. Taking orders from her in these horrid circumstances couldn't be easy. No doubt she would prefer I be put on trial for multiple murders and the costs of all the damage to the ship. Truthfully, I should. No denying that.

Madison decided to speak frankly, “Look, If I was in your position, I wouldn't wanna help me either. It doesn't seem fair that I should ask you to cover my tracks does it? I get it. You want justice, and I deserve the blame. No argument here, but I saved your life specifically because you don't deserve to be killed over this.”

“Why would I be killed?!” Sophelia exclaimed, taken aback.

“Because powerful people, dangerous people, sick people want to study and exploit those creatures at any cost. These people don't want witnesses, or survivors, spreading tales that threaten the secrecy of that research. I've barely kept one step ahead of their hired killers for years!

Not a great life, I don't recommend it,” Madison stated with a sad shake of her head. “Like I said, your best chance is to feign complete ignorance about what really happened. Getting rid of any visual evidence that creature was ever here makes those lies possible.”

Sophelia swallowed, “Apollo is an old, glitchy mainframe at the best of times. Only the captain and the X.O. had the master codes that make it fully cooperative. I can't make any promises.”

Madison's brows furrowed. She didn't expect that answer. She didn't like that answer. But an alternative solution sprang to mind just the same. “Ok, well, if Apollo doesn't want to cooperate, use this...” she said handing back the pistol from her holster.

Sophelia stared at the gun, “Are you suggesting I should shoot the A.I.?”

“It shouldn't matter if you can't delete the files if you blow enough holes in the mainframe to make access impossible. Besides, haven't you ever wanted too?”

Sophelia took the pistol.