The dimly lit interior, cavernous to the power armoured marines. Towering high above them and the stacked containers lying dormant, the crane system running down the length of the Krath’let’s Fore and Mid compartments with airtight shipping containers stacked high. Although Alex was not inside the Krath’let, himself, the sense of impunity from observing the massive interior still lingered. Massive bulkheads stood idly in front of the large collection of marines; between the titanic walls of solid metal was a gap which the marines used to flatten themselves on opposing sides before slowly aiming their rifles and entering single file. Once they were inside the compartment it was shown to be disorganised unlike the rest of the cargo bays: Oil stains and grease were left in puddles, container doors were left ajar and many were placed at odd angles. Albeit the compartment was much roomier than the claustrophobic crawl spaces in the adjacent compartment.
The marines spread out into small groups of three or four, carefully they tread past the makeshift workbench that was set up behind one such container. Once they had circumnavigated the hollowed out container, what they saw in front of them had their jaws drop. Many lowered their rifles when they saw the strange pillar that stood alone in the centre of the cavernous storage facility; Very peculiar and alien in its design, it seemed mechanical in function but organic in appearance. Tubes ran down the length of the pillar while many converged to a central alcove that rested inside it. It had odd curves and unusual symmetry about it with strange symbols lining one of the flat surfaces it had, the centre contained an oval shaped outcropping embedded in the wall of flesh. Organic tubules and thin wires hung from the wall inside seemingly without purpose. A soldier crept close to it with their back guarded by their comrades. The larger tubules were a dark purple in colour with light yellow veins visibly bulging out of the surface whereas the thinner wires had looked metallic. Yellow lighting dimly glowed inside a small hole next to the oval shape. Alex felt sick to his stomach looking at it.
The pillar’s unusual design and organic construction hinted at what strongly suggested intelligent alien life. A juxtaposition that was in stark contrast with the vicious predatory creature they encountered. Marines leaned over to each other, quietly speaking to one another. Crewmen and officers in the combat centre also found themselves entranced and captured by the foreign design and whispered to each other as they stared at the alien machine. Fëderov spoke over the radio but it had gone over Alex’s head, barely a mumble. It was only when he called him again that the captain snapped out of his stupor.
Alex shook his head to regain his focus. “Didn’t copy that, Major. Please repeat.”
“I said what do you want us to do with this thing, captain?” Fëderov said, annoyed.
Alex’s decision was ambiguous. He glanced at the strange alien machine once more to fuel his decision, instead he was captivated by its strange and otherworldly design. There was no way he could live with himself if he let the only proof of extraterrestrial life be destroyed by his own word. A careless choice it would be indeed. The chance to study it and learn from it would be the chance of the century, it would be irresponsible to let it be destroyed. Yet, Alex remained haunted by the knowledge that his orders dictated otherwise. He had a responsibility to the safety of the entire Alliance.
“Major Fёderov; lock down the area and prepare to have the alien artefact transported to the Phoenix.”
Fёderov acknowledged Alex’s order and began ordering his troopers around.
In coordination with his best friend, Alex and Milo coordinated for another duo of Wedge-Tail dropships with a full crew detachment aboard. When they docked, the engineers and crewmen were more vocal about the undisturbed carnage than their combative counterparts. Some of whom had vacated their guts into their suits internal waste processor.
While in his office, Alex had made use of his time sifting through the reports from the freighter. He had hoped he could piece together what happened when the time came for him to report back to STARCOM. For an independent merchant vessel he was amazed at how well kept and organised their records. The sound of rapping knuckles from his door frame caught him by surprise, he walked up to the hatch and broke the seal on his side to allow his visitor in. Milo stepped over the hatch frame and into the office, his bright orange suit was stained with oil blacker than the space outside and stood at attention in front of Alex’s desk.
“You rang, sir?” Milo asked.
“Yes, I did, at ease Commander.” Alex said, his friend’s stance eased up. “Milo, I know this is late but given recent events I need to tell you something.”
“What’s wrong?” Milo said with a concerned expression.
At first he struggled to find the right words to say to his friend and colleague.“I regret I have not been fully transparent with you. However, I am under strict orders to only reveal the full extent of our mission with somebody I trust in my staff. Milo, we’ve known each other for all our lives and I trust you more than anyone else. But I think now is the time I tell you so I know we are on the same page.”
“What’s going on sir?”
“Milo, that ship, the Krath’let is… was transporting cargo from a colony. And evidently this whole crew has now seen it so secrecy will be an issue.”
“I can put the word out that everything seen is to be taken to the grave and spoken to no-one.” Milo offered.
“Thank you, my friend. But that isn’t the whole thing. My orders from Councillor Grayich was to determine if anybody was alive aboard the freighter and determine what happened to the V.R.O Tug and offer any aid or assistance should the need arise. Then we were to carry out orders to see to it that the destruction of the Krath’let was carried out. However, I have reconsidered the parameters of our orders and have decided that as soon as that artefact is transported on board, I want you to seal it behind as many doors as possible. I don’t care if you have to weld them shut to prevent anybody from going near it.” Alex ordered. “And we are going to throw two nuclear torpedoes at that freighter.”
Milo’s neutral expression quickly shifted to one of concern.
“Nuke that cargo ship? Sir, even you have to admit that it-“
“That it is overly dramatic?” Alex interrupted. “I agree, commander, however, Grayich. The politician, not the one onboard, said that if there was nobody alive then we were to pull out and destroy that ship.”
“Wait a minute, you knew that thing was onboard?”
“No,” Alex stated defensively. “All I knew was that they were transporting highly sensitive materials, that was it. But thanks to the computer entries from the Krath’let, I think I have been able to fill in the gaps in the story, now get this: About two days into their Jump, a few crewmen get curious and inspect their cargo. They got close to this thing and apparently tried to take a souvenir except they released our guest from some kind of metabolic stasis chamber.” Alex explained.
“If they were in Jump when that happened then how did that ship end up here?” Milo asked.
Alex held a finger as he pulled up the files on his terminal and began summarising the events to his commander. “After that thing got loose, the crew had sealed it below decks. It got clever and started using the vents to pick off the crew one by one. Captain ordered the ship to abort jump and then anchored themselves to the asteroid. That was when things went downhill. It targeted their engines, butchered the mechanics and that is what forced the reactor to scram. From there it was a game of cat and mouse.”
Milo rubbed his snout, his left ear twitched then he looked back at Alex “How did it survive for so long? The freighter didn’t have any air.”
“I have ordered Doctor Grayich to perform the Alliance's first alien autopsy. I’m hoping our little dragon doctor will be able to shed some light once the creature is in sickbay and gutted like a fish. Commander, once our men are off that freighter, I will need your command codes to fire our nukes at that freighter and prepare the ship for a Jump at maximum velocity”
“Sir, is this sanctioned?”
“Yes.” Alex said monotonously.
Their conversation was interrupted by a chime from his desk, a young gravelly voiced officer reported from the CIC that the first wave of shuttles had arrived and successfully docked with the Phoenix. Alex left his office and Milo walked alongside him, in perfect lockstep they marched toward the nerve centre of the operation. After crossing the threshold into the CIC, Milo donned an earpiece and coordinated the shuttle and directed its sensitive cargo out of the hangar bay and into one of the Phoenix’s many available storage compartments. While observing the operation, Alex glanced his eyes to the camera that was placed in one of the many corners of the hangar while the fully suited marines carefully carried the bag that contained the corpses of their fallen comrades. Another duo of soldiers followed suit only this time carrying the gurney of their alien guest before setting it down in front of the rear hatch of the shuttle. Major Fëderov had already disembarked the shuttle and was already reporting to the armoury, he began cleaning his armour in a ritual of dampening a rag and rubbing the blood and dirt marks off the metal chassis.
Back in the hangar, Alex spotted the medical team enter the hangar in their clean white plastic suits and metal respiration masks, many of them carrying some kind of equipment while another carried the stretcher. Their gait looked too comfortable, like they were casually strolling through the streets of a rural town. Alex made a mental note of it to see to it that the medical staff didn’t look so casual while on duty. Suddenly their body language changed, they had gone from relaxed to a fearful stance. The lead medic front took a step back, dropped his gear which looked to have shattered upon impact with the floor. Alex raised an eyebrow when he saw this but then his expression quickly soured when he saw the other medics stop suddenly in their tracks and run out of the camera’s peripheral. The CIC’s lighting shifted to a deep shade of red and an alarm sounded off. Alex looked around on the cameras to find what was going on. But his answer soon came to light when he looked at another monitor to see the creature’s corpse reanimate itself to life once more. Its organic scythes swung wildly in every direction. All the while it freed itself from the body bag. “Sir, that creature is still alive!” One officer said.
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“Alert the Marines, seal that hangar bay. Close all vents!” Shouted with authority.
The crew that remained in the hangar, the mechanics, the flight crew and the support staff. All fled the hangar, slipping past the closing doors to seal the hangar shut. The creature rose onto its legs, quivering its thorax before it turned its attention to two marines who remained trapped.
“Alert the Major!” Alex shouted. His heart escalated once more. Its persistent thumping drowned out the background noise and his ears burned. The fresh memories of the insects' attack capabilities rushed back giving him reason to be worried.
He opened a channel to the two marines still present in the Hangar. “Marines, this is the captain speaking: I am ordering you to hold that thing off. Don’t let that thing escape your sight.”
They both acknowledged their orders.
They reached for their rifles and unslung them off their back. Both of them crouched while aiming down their scopes while a series of controlled bursts at the creature was fired.
Son of a bitch, how much can this fucker take!?
The creature shrugged off its volley from its attackers. While leaning close to the monitors, he hoped the duo could hold it and kill it for good. On another monitor the onboard company had all rushed to the armoury to rearm themselves with heavier weapons with Fёderov equipping himself with a combat flamethrower.
No, there is no way they can handle it, this thing took out a freighter and a rescue tug. We have a battalion of battle-hardened soldiers who have faced worse. No way, I cannot risk this thing doing the same to my ship. Not to my crew. I must end this!
The Captain’s hands shook uncontrollably and his breathing became shallow. He couldn’t think straight and by the time he finally wrangled control of himself he realised what he was doing. The controls for the Hangar doors were already overridden. Cold, hard logic swept over his mind like a wave of calculated decisions leaving Alex to embrace this mode of thought for what was to come. He pushed aside all doubts which awarded him a kind of relief. One of the marines looked behind him before running the length of the walls to avoid the approach of the alien, he rushed off to try and pry open a tool cabinet, possibly to engage it in hand to hand combat but the insect came at his comrade and tore into him. Alex had to squeeze his eyes shut when it looked as though the creature was about to pull his arm off. The sounds of his pained screaming echoed in the round control room. Chaotic chatter surrounded Alex before slowly dissolving into muffled tones of those around him. Alex tried to regain his clarity. While his eyes remained shut he took a deep breath and focused on the muffled voices around him. His patience was awarded with clarity and the cacophony of chatter around him began to take the form of understandable dialogue.
“The captain has ordered the Starboard hangar to be sealed off.”
“Marine fire teams are en route to the hangar.”
“Major Fëderov is still in the Armoury?”
“Prepare DC teams Alpha and Beta for action.”
While staring at the monitors, Alex watched the lone marine run around and empty entire magazines at the creature from behind cover. It had scaled up the fuselage of the dropship evading the soldier's sight. However, its absence had put the soldier on high alert as he scanned with his rifle raised, sweeping the area for the wrong places it could be hiding.
“Soldier, it's on top of the-“ However, Alex’s warning arrived too late. The Insect had its remaining raptorial appendage raised high above its head. It lept off the dropship’s fuselage and ambushed the lone soldier. It pinned him under its weight while its appendage swung left and right as though it was trying to dig. Its abdominal carapace barely moved as its arm swung wildly, the floor of the hangar was covered in crimson splatter of its latest kill.
“Somebody open the goddamn doors!” Fëderov shouted over open communication.
Alex stared blankly at the screen. His anxiety worked itself up again when he looked at the creature digging into the corpse. He faced the controls again and accessed the hangar control systems remotely. He shot a glance at an officer near him. “Is the hangar ventilation sealed up?”
“Y-yes sir.”
“On my order, I want you to open them all up.”
“Sir?” she looked at him with a puzzled expression. Alex looked back at her with a stern expression and she turned to face her console. On his wrist pad, Alex opened up another channel to the environmental department and ordered them to increase the atmospheric pressure to the hangar. The warrant officer in charge advised against it, he claimed it would rupture the ventilation since it had been closed off but he complied nevertheless. Alex ordered to be alerted when the pressure was going to reach critical. And then he waited, Major Fëderov yelled at the CIC over open communication for anyone to respond. The insect scurried along the walls, it reminded Alex of the lone cockroach in his home whenever he tried to kill it, it responded by being faster and harder to catch. He heard the Warrant officer over the comms warn him the ventilation pressure had almost reached its rupturing point.
Calmly he looked down at the controls he had set up, his finger hovered over the ENTER key. Turned to face the young female officer once more and she looked at her captain with a worried look. “Mark.” Was all he said.
“Ventilation opening.” She said, biting down on her own lip.
Alex pressed down on the key. Another alarm rang out, ringing out with a different tone for the pressure along with an automated message regarding the drop in pressure. The cameras focused on the hangar bay doors silently watched as the massive walls parted. The expanding chasm between their edges pulled in every loose item. Moisture in the air became visible in the form of fast moving clouds when it rushed towards the door. The alarm rang with its dull tones and recorded messages.
“Warning, Atmospheric breach detected. Starboard Hangar.”
Slowly the hangar doors drifted apart allowing the larger items it pulled off the deck to escape from the hangar and out into space. The insect’s back arched itself into a sharp curve like a frightened cat.It started losing its grip, this was it Alex thought. It was losing its grip, it was going to get pulled out. The camera showed tools, crates, the broken medical equipment all getting pulled out into space. Its grip weakened and soon the blast of air from the overly pressurised ventilation system proved to be enough to force the creature out of the Phoenix. He sighed in relief when he saw the creature getting pulled out until it disappeared from the widening doors before switching to an external camera outside the hangar bay and seeing the creature flail about helplessly into the void. He tapped on another key and the doors began to close. The pressure alarm ceased its repetitive dull buzzing.
Shortly after, the hangar was sealed and pressurised as though nothing had happened. Flight crew and engineers alike returned to the empty hangar after the doors opened up, heavily armed marines poured in formation. Many looked around them, perhaps they were cautious if the creature was successfully sucked out of the ship. The hangar was cleaned out of any loose items; it was apparent now that the bodies of the dead soldiers had been pulled out by the grasp of the cosmos along with the creature. The internal sensors showed the conditions of the hangar had a mild increase in background radiation that was still considered safe.
Thank fuck its over! Alex had repeatedly said to himself, hanging his head low.
“Where the fuck is he!?” A rough masculine voice demanded loudly.
Alex looked over to see Major Fëderov storming out of the corridor and into the CIC. His helmet was not on as he looked around before spotting Alex and raised a finger at him. “You!” he shouted.
Fëderov’s footfalls pounded the deck plating as he stomped his armoured feet into the panels. His face wore a scowl and his brow furrowed deeply into his forehead while keeping his pointed finger raised.
“I should kill you for what you did, mu’dak!” Fëderov spat. His accent grew thicker while his charged footsteps toward the captain before several officers who had been distracted by his outburst stood up and restrained the Major from getting physical.
“I- I am sorry for your loss, Major Fëderov.” Alex spoke calmly.
“Sorry? You are sorry!? Because of you another two of my soldiers under my command are dead and it was not me who ordered their deaths! You had no right to take command of my soldiers. You are not a soldier; you are a captain. Your authority ends there. You don’t face their families; you don’t write apology letters. My marines are not under your authority, Captain. They are under mine! Now I have four families, four widows to address and explain to them why their husbands and wives are not coming back and they will hate me for it. It’s your fault!” He shouted, holding up four fingers to exaggerate his point.
“Major,” Alex said in a patient tone. He felt his stomach tie itself into knots, worried about having to fight the Major in power armour. A sure fight he would lose given his opponents experience, bullet proof exterior and enhanced strength. “I apologise for going over your head and commandeering your soldiers but you are out of line, Major. That thing was a threat to every person on this ship and I couldn’t risk it getting loose. You saw what it did to the Krath’let and you saw what it did first hand! I had no other choice.”
“Chush’ sobach’ya!” Fëderov spat. “You could have waited ten seconds before closing the hangar and let my men escape, trapped it and waited for my soldiers and I to armour up and destroy it with better weapons. Instead, you acted impulsively, irrationally. And my men paid the price for your incompetence” He shrugged off the hold the officers had on him. Fëderov slowly crept toward Alex, he could almost hear the whir of servos from the suit as he moved about.
“In training they teach you about camaraderie, what it means to be part of a unit” he continued. His voice grew softer but his anger remained the same. “I… I know the names of all my soldiers. I knew their full names, I’ve met their spouses, their children. Now I have to tell them, face their anger. It is different when I order them to die but at least I know the risks, you do not have that understanding.”
Alex’s frow burrowed deep into his forehead hoping his display of anger would tell the Major to back off. “Your objections are duly noted, Major Fёderov however you are out of line. Now, I am ordering you to secure the artefact and the hangar and ensure there is no more of a threat to this ship.”
The major scoffed before turning around to walk out, the air still ripe with his fury lingered in an almost contagious form as Alex felt furious. He turned around once more and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. “When I am done cleaning up your mess you can expect STARCOM to be getting a very detailed report from me!”
After he stormed out, the officers who had stood to hold him back looked back toward Alex who felt shame at what he did. Was he right, was there truly another way to deal with the situation he didn’t consider? It bothered him, rightfully so, Alex told the officers to return to their stations before facing the cameras again. He had hoped to hide the shame he felt inside, that perhaps maybe the Major was right. He dreaded the things that could be said in the report.
Inside the Medical Bay, Alex saw the young doctor placing surgical tools away, he had peeled off his gloves and disposed of them in the biohazard waste bin near the bench. He craned his neck to look at the captain and a smile appeared on his snout. “Captain Rowan, it’s good to see you. It’s a shame that thing had to be disposed of. I was truly looking forward to having a look inside and learning more about it. I could’ve written papers on its biology and be the first Terran with the title: Xenobiology. But I guess I will have to settle for being among the first to have seen such a creature.”
Alex leaned on the door frame of the medical bay. The rest of the medical staff tended to the injured crewman and the post mortem of one of the Marines. When Alex saw their body on the table, he approached it to find out who it was. The chevrons on the shoulder armour pad signified the rank of Corporal First Class; Connors. Her headless body rested on the table. Nearby, a smaller portable bench had her severed head preserved in a transparent plastic bag, the acrid stench from the exposed body soon translated itself into taste. He felt his gag reflex activate and pushed down a lump of bile that travelled up his throat.
“Sir, you don’t have to be here for the autopsy. I just need to fill out the paperwork and submit it to you.” Liyurch said.
The small dragon stood on all fours next to Alex, his height came up above Alex’s waist and the drakes’ wings folded in closely to his body. Rowan looked down at him and opened his mouth to speak before the stench of death filled his lungs. “May I ask you a question, doc: Your sense of smell is far superior and more sensitive to humans. How can you tolerate the smell?”
“In all truthfulness, Captain Rowan? I am cheating. I use a nasal spray: Niapedarafin, it disables the odour receptors, I won’t smell it.”
The drug’s mention came as no shock to him. The use of medication to block or weaken senses was common among the non-human species with stronger senses of smell or hearing. Alex nodded as the young dragon spoke. His long tail gently swayed over the deck plating. Looking at the back of the dragon he started noticing his scale colour wasn’t as vibrant as it was when he first met; perhaps it looked duller from an angle.
“But even still,” Liyurch continued. “The smell of death is not appealing to anyone.”
“No… It isn’t” Alex said flatly.
Liyurch excused himself from the conversation. Alex barely registered his words until after he left to which he left the medical bay too. The last thing he saw before leaving was Liyurch leaning against the table with his forelegs as he prepared to commence the autopsy.
Was there anything I could have done differently? Is the Major right, am I really underprepared for this job.