Patterson asked James to come with her back to Sci-Med after he returned from gathering stores from Habitation. She felt guilty doing so. Analyzing the blood samples hadn’t taken long and so she could have already completed a meaningful amount of the cleanout work that was required. He knew it too. Hopefully he didn’t think any less of her.
He simply looked around and gave her a discreet kiss. “Let’s do it,” he whispered in her ear.
She was glad to have him with her. Sci-Med now felt threatening, especially while alone. They entered the airlock and peered through the porthole on the inner door. The area nearby was clear and looked just as it always had over the years she had worked here with the exception of the smoky haze. But a part of her mind warned her over and over that it had changed. And she knew James felt the same while she motioned for him to enter Sci-Med.
They passed through with their weapons drawn and sealed the door behind them. James looked down the hall outside airlock access while smelling the air. “No alarm for quarantine breach and I can’t smell anything unusual besides what we burned. I think we should cross to the other side and ensure the airlock to Aux Two hasn’t been disturbed.”
I’ll follow you. She nodded.
They stalked through the smokey lower deck like hunters. The rooms where she kept the lab’s plants and animals was a charred mess. Chandna still lay undisturbed on the stretcher in Examination. The halls and rooms were verified empty. Each required a lengthy, careful look (and smell) since they were both aware of how the mind plays tricks when under severe stress and sleep deprivation. Finally, they saw that their barricade blocking the airlock to Aux Two had not been disturbed.
Patterson at last felt her racing pulse begin to slow down. They would have a warning if it struck. And he would be at her side. She sighed while looking at him. “I feel a lot better.”
He winked at her and made a confident grin. “Let’s quickly get this done.”
“Here’s what we’ll do,” she said. “I’ll take the lift to the top deck and get our material samples. You start down here and I’ll join you once I finish.”
“Do you need any help with those?”
“No, they’re staged by the elevators and so it will only take a few minutes. Start cleaning out the burned rooms. I want to get out of here ASAP. We’ll go through the scuttling procedure last.”
He looked at her with evident reservation. “I’m not familiar with that, are you?”
Same. “I’ve never wiped the lab computers either and that’s why we’ll do it together. The designers say it’ll work but we can’t afford a mistake.” She left at a brisk pace for dressout and yelled back, “Be safe down here, James.”
She opened the cabinet in dressout to get a new bubble suit. And she began to think about her weapons while putting it on. She could just stash them here, go up, get their samples, and then retrieve her guns. She would be just as safe up there as she was here.
But a part of her mind spoke back: Nowhere is safe.
She couldn’t silence it or dismiss it. Pazuzu had always thought of things that she hadn’t. Even when she had believed that she had gotten ahead with her attempt to start an interrogation and dialogue, it had a surprise for them in advance and sprung it.
It was a small sacrifice and so she would take one of her weapons. She stashed her 9mm in the cabinet and finished dressing, and then she pressurized and waited to ensure it held. Satisfied, she took her laser pistol, inspected the elevator, and then rode up one deck with her eyes closed during the decontamination process. And from there she took the other elevator to the top deck.
And she saw them when she arrived. Not the frozen samples, because she expected those. Rather it was the containers with live animals. She sighed. Oh well, a few more. I’m sorry you’re going to get zapped with EUV and then burned.
She loaded the containers in the elevator one by one. And she looked around her surroundings after each one. She couldn’t hear well in the suit and she still felt as though nowhere was safe. The general status display for the Isolab aggravated that feeling. The general alarm on the door console flashed repeatedly.
Her stomach tightened and her pulse rose when she first noticed it. And she remained completely still for several seconds while staring at it. Her mind conjured fantasies of a terrible monster right behind the door and which would step out into the hall any second. Her memory of James and Samoylova testifying that it resembled a red sprite filled her mind.
She imagined a great beast somewhat like a squid but emblazoned with some sort of bioluminescence. And it had innumerable ways to kill: chemical weapons, infectious pathogens, inhuman strength, and inflammatory compounds. She watched the door but it never opened. And then she remembered the airlock. The creature wasn’t here and didn’t know that they were here.
She told herself the alarm was probably nothing. It was expected really – since they had not been performing hourly checks. There could also be simple and common problems such as a faulted camera, a dead animal, or a test result needing review. She had more important matters to attend to and so kept loading containers in the elevator. There were only a few animals inside the Isolab that Pazuzu could harvest.
She needed to get back to James. Being alone was terrifying not just because of the risk of being attacked by the creature. You also lost your point of reference with regard to sanity. If you felt fine it could be because you really were. But it could also be because Pazuzu had already compromised your mind and wanted you to feel that way. Fuller and Qureshi had never complained of feeling ill or requested medical examination.
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There was a flaw to their current plan of action. She had to admit that to herself. They would spread themselves throughout the Nineveh to do the many jobs which were necessary to prepare for the burn. Each would be out of sight of the others – just as James and she were now. They had to not do that for too long. Everyone needed to be routinely observed by others.
She loaded the last container in the elevator and then looked at her laser pistol. She couldn’t be guaranteed that the EUV light would reach every surface of the device. She thus threw it down the hall and set the elevator to take her down.
If she had been of a sounder mind and better rested she might have done more. She might have inspected the labs and discovered what Pazuzu was doing to the animals within. It wasn’t Los Tres Amigos anymore. They had finally merged together into something more monstrous, and it had changed in crafty ways to adapt to its prison and triumph over it. And having gotten out, it was now absorbing the other infected animals. She would have seen a true abomination.
Then again, she might not have survived encountering the horror.
----------------------------------------
Patterson stacked the containers on carry-buddies (small, wheeled robots with a flat top which can hold stores of considerable weight) once reaching the lower deck. She directed them to follow her and she searched for James, only stopping briefly to unload the emergency rations from their supply locker. She then found James scouring the burned rooms with a brush and dustpan, and he had several filled body bags arranged in the hallway outside.
“Hey there.”
He smiled at her. “Are you finished up there?”
She nodded.
“I have Zira and the other animals bagged. I’m just sweeping up anything else that I think is important now. Do I need to get everything?”
She looked at the charred room. “No, that’s plenty. Let’s wipe the computers and get out of here.”
He brushed the last remains into another body bag, sealed it up, and then he followed her to her office. And she quickly made final copies of all files. She read the procedure steps on her tablet and got his concurrence for logging on at the highest privilege level, accessing the emergency interface, and every setting she changed. A computer prompt informed her that data erasure was in progress, and it looked as if it was overwriting all files with randomly generated data.
He put a hand on her shoulder. “We should go.”
They indeed didn’t know how long it would take. But the whole thing appeared to be automated and would continue to completion. She nodded and followed him to the airlock to Propulsion Three. They let the carry-buddies through and then followed behind, sealing Sci-Med behind them forever.
They walked toward Green Gate with Patterson in front and each of them dragging a body bag behind them. They reached the supervisory consoles in the central catwalk of Propulsion Three and then James smacked her butt, tossed her up in the air, and set her atop a console.
She stared at him, mouth agape, at a loss for words.
He wrapped her in his arms, and she felt his hands rub across her back, strong but gentle.
“There’s something I need to do with you soon,” he whispered. He breathed through his nose slowly with long deep breaths, savoring her aroma.
She knew exactly what he was doing. And she wondered if she should warn him because he would only fantasize about her more if he kept doing it. She wrapped her legs around him while deciding against it. “And what do you need?”
He whispered in between kissing her neck. “There are a lot of things I need. And one thing I want.”
She tilted her head back, savoring his hot breath against her skin. His lips pressing against the urticant affected skin on her neck produced a slight burn. It was the sort of pain that was pleasurable so long as there wasn’t too much of it. “And what can I help you…”
He stopped her with a long kiss. His lips pressed against hers with vigor. She felt his hand tug her scrunchie down her ponytail and then his fingers caressed her free-flowing hair.
He leaned into her, tilting her far back. But she had no fear of falling. She caressed the contours of his chest and shoulders with a gentle touch. She would not cause more than a mild burn.
He pulled her back upright and looked in her eyes, continuing to stroke his fingers through her hair. “First, I need to finish the rest of my work for the burn. And then I’m wondering how long we need to watch the others to make sure they’re who they say they are?”
“A day…maybe a bit more.”
“That gives our skin time to heal.” He kissed her cheek and whispered, “Good.”
She nodded in agreement. “And what then?”
He slid a hand underneath her and lifted her high in the air. And a moment later she was falling. She gently landed on her back, lying flat on the deckplates. He straddled over her, reached under her shirt, and grabbed her breasts. He squeezed gently and rubbed his hand across her chest. “This doesn’t hurt, does it?”
She softly placed a hand over his and smiled in appreciation. She shook her head. “I’m good there.”
“I need to get you alone, Amanda, and I’m going to take you to total exhaustion.”
She saw the determination in his eyes and didn’t know what to say. He resolved to relieve a desire which had been building since they had first met. She hadn’t been aware of the depth of his feelings for much of the time.
She breathed in quick, deep breaths. All her nerves were on edge. Was it safe to have sex with a man so powerful? His eyes promised he would never hurt her but his build was intimidating.
“We need to be private about intimacy.”
“Nobody will sneak in on us,” he assured.
She didn’t doubt his ability to give that assurance when he was of a clear mind. But she knew how distracted he could get. “I mean it.”
He let go of her breasts and thrust his hand between her thighs – over her privates. “So do I.”
She gasped and looked straight in his eyes upon feeling his touch. “Do you love me?” She didn't know what else to say.
“Always.”
She wrapped her arms around his head, pulled him down, and kissed him. She then looked straight in his eyes. “You have to promise me something.”
He looked in her eyes with full attention while continuing to rub her down there.
“You will not tear my clothes! I don’t have much to wear now!”
“I promise.” He returned her kiss. “I love you. And I won’t cause you any distress.”
He got up and then lifted her to her feet. “After the blaze, I’ll use our stores to make some bedding for you. And I’ll 3dprint a washtub so we have something better than sanitation wipes. I’m going to do right by you. And we will survive out here.”
She hugged him, resting her head against his chest. And she felt so safe when he put his arms around her and breathed in her scent.
“Now, honey,” he said, “is there any part of your body that I haven’t touched?”
You got everything. She shook her head.
“Then you smell right,” he whispered in her ear.
She looked up at him speechless. You marked me!
He stepped over to one of the supervisory consoles and logged in. “Go on back now. I’ll follow after I’ve reviewed the systems status. We should fix anything required before we lose access to this Gate.”
You…marked…me!
She remembered him earlier saying that he wanted her scent on everything in his bunk – and which conversely put his scent on her. She would need to adjust to how conscientious he was about scent. She wasn’t sure how. But it was always good to show affection. “I love you.”
“I love you more,” he said with a large grin.
You’d better. She went out into Green Gate still feeling nervous about the future. But she wasn’t as scared of Pazuzu as before.