What was that? James and Dakarai set the axle down and tried to see out the doorway. Bill walked out and looked fearlessly down the corridor.

'It's just a hygrodere,' he commented after a moment. 'Nothing to worry about. As long as you don't touch it.'

'Oh! Eww,' Rebecca said as she exited the room.

'What is that thing?' James said, following them.

'A slime!' Dakarai shouted.

Seemed like a decent description. A large greenish blob, as wide as the corridor and about a hand thick slowly edged towards them on the concrete floor, leaving a slimy wet trail behind it. Like a large snail. Very weird. Making a face, James stepped a little closer to it. Harmless, eh? 'What happens if you touch it?'

'You get eaten,' Bill said offhandedly.

'Wha?' He back-pedalled. 'Why's it here? It's disgusting.'

Rebecca whimpered and scuttled further away from it.

'They are attracted to anything living in its vicinity. It'll keep following us until we leave it far enough behind, or it gets to us.' He glared at the blob. 'Let's go, take the stuff with you.'

'Wait.' Dakarai held up the scanner towards the blob. It was getting dangerously close to his feet.

James had totally forgotten about the scanner the moment he'd spotted the weird creature. Feeling stupid, he decided to get a move on. 'Here, help me with the axle,' he told Rebecca.

Reluctantly she came back to them, and grabbed one end of the heavy piece of metal. Bill had his hands full.

Where had he found those things? When? I have to be more attentive, James thought.

Keeping their eyes on the slime, they put all their stuff outside the entrance door. Ready to leave, James was caught off guard when Bill told them to get back inside.

'Are you crazy,' Rebecca spat. 'There's a slimy thing in there. Following us! I'm not going back in there.'

'Girl, if you're this afraid of a slime, you won't make it. There are much worse things out there. Just get a move on. But don't stand still and stare at them. You gotta be fast in this job,' Bill snapped. 'The slime is slow and easy to get away from.' He went back inside.

'Wow, what a douche-bag,' Rebecca grumbled.

'Yeah, but maybe he's right. It's slow. We can get away from it easily, right?' James patted her shoulder. Though unease crawled though him like he'd become an anthill. This was nothing? What more was there. He wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

'I thought it was pretty cool,' Dakarai said and entered again. 'I mean, I've never seen anything like that, have you? Maybe it could be a cool pet? But then...' He kept babbling to himself as he moved further into the large complex after Bill.

James shook his head. Totally crazy. A pet? 'Come on, let's get going. We're working, remember? And we have to stick together.'

'Yeah.' She smiled and came with him back into the dark.

They turned left this time. But James closed the door and glanced back every few minutes to make sure the slime didn't creep up on them, unawares.

They went through room after room, corridor after corridor. James wasn't even sure where they were anymore. Or how to get back out. He hoped dearly Bill or Dakarai were better at remembering directions. This place was a maze. Besides, his pockets and arms were full of scrap.

'Bill?'

'Yeah?' He stopped in a doorway, his face hidden behind the reflective visor.

'I can't carry anything more. Rebecca needs to help me open the doors. Maybe we should get back?' His arms shook, and his back hurt from all the walking, reaching and carrying heavy things.

Bill glanced at his watch. 'Yeah. It's about time to get back to the ship. We might need to go back and forth at least once.'

'Oh my God, I'm gonna die,' Rebecca panted.

'Me too. I'm so tired I think I'll crawl the last bit.' He chuckled. He'd never worked this hard for anything in his life. This job really did suck. But the salary was good. It was totally worth it.

'Dak, move it,' James shouted.

Dakarai's head popped out from a doorway further ahead, then he waved. 'I found this cool thing. Worth pretty much. I'm just gonna grab it.' He vanished again.

Bill grunted and shook his head. 'What is it?'

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Suddenly the few lamps still working winked out and a background buzz James hadn't been aware of silenced. The pitch-blackness lay heavy over him, and his entire body tingled with tension. They were gonna die, damn it.

'What happened? Oh my God. I can't see shit!' Rebecca's voice pitched high, and he heard her shuffle about. 'We're gonna get eaten by the blob-thing! Ah!'

'Calm down,' Bill's gruff voice sounded. 'Did you pull out the Apparatice?' Bill called.

'I dunno. It's heavy as a mountain,' Dakarai grunted as he came into the corridor, carrying a big, warmly glowing power cell. It lit the corridor like a large lantern.

'Oh thank the great ones,' James sighed. 'You put out all the lights, you s-' He cut himself off before he said something he'd regret later.

Dakarai laughed. 'Yeah, I noticed. But look at this! It's valuable. I think it's great.'

'It's customary to take those last,' Bill sighed. 'Well, we were leaving anyway. Let's m-'

A loud alarm blared, deafening them all.

Rebecca screamed, and James squinted his eyes in a futile attempt to block out the loud noise without being able to hold his ears.

'Let's move it! They're gonna come for sure now,' Bill barked. Then he ran. Arms full of scrap, he moved like an athlete.

James grunted and panted as he tried to keep up, Rebecca helped him with her one free hand as they ran and held up the doors for him and Dakarai. Clearly Bill knew exactly where to go at least, James thought.

Another sound behind them caught his attention then. A speedy tapping, as if from many small feet. He glanced over a shoulder as they rounded a corner, but saw nothing in the dark. His stomach knotted and adrenaline made his head spin. He somehow managed to speed up.

'Watch out!' Rebecca yelled.

James looked forward in the faint light. His eyes widened. The darned slime. Was it bigger? In a desperate manoeuvre to avoid it, he stepped up with a foot on the railing to one side and jumped over it as Rebecca continued forward on the other side. He dropped a few things clattering loudly to the floor. Dakarai was right behind him, using the same strategy to get past the slime. He was younger and faster, but the weight of the power cell pulled him down and he stepped on the thing. Just the edge, but it was enough. The young man screamed, and stumbled.

'Shit! Rebecca!' James cried.

She ran back towards them, empty-handed, grabbed Dakarai's elbow and pulled him with her.

'Faster! Go go go! Almost there.'

Panting and huffing, sweating rivers, James finally burst out through the front door. He didn't stop until he reached the very edge.

'Shit,' he cursed. The ladder. How were they supposed to get all these things down?

'Toss the things down an' climb,' Bill barked. He'd already thrown the scrap they'd left by the door earlier.

Too tired to talk, James did as ordered. Then he swung his legs over the edge and climbed. The others were not far behind and the ladder shook dangerously with their weight. He hoped the thing wouldn't follow them out.

'We're clear,' Bill panted as they landed.

'You sure?' Rebecca stared up the ladder.

'They don't usually come outside. At least not while the sun's up. So we need to hurry up.' Grabbing their scrap, he started toward the ship.

The sun wasn't far from the horizon. Had they been here that long, James wondered. No wonder he was tired. Long shadows stretched across the sandy hills and the sky held a warm red tone. Forcing his tired arms to cooperate, he picked up the scrap, leaving the heavy axle behind. No way he'd get that with them now.

Dakarai huffed, hobbling after them. 'Oh man, this thing's heavy. I'm never taking one of them again. That was a stupid idea. Well, at least we had light, I suppose.' He grunted. 'Man, my foot. That shit burned...'

James stopped listening and focused on setting one foot in front of the other. How did the man have air to talk? He was barely able to get enough in this suit when working. After this run, he was faint and shaking. His entire body trembled. If he made it to the ship, he'd praise the lord.

About halfway there, they met Bill going the other direction.

'Did something happen to the ship?' Rebecca asked.

'No. getting the rest of the scrap. I'm not gonna leave it behind if it's not an eclipse.'

'Huh?' James managed. But Bill had already left. 'Whatever,' he puffed and hurried the last bit to the ship.

They all flopped down on the floor, shoving the scrap up against one wall.

'Wow, that was crazy!' Dakarai said and laughed. Then he grimaced, pulled up his left foot and inspected it. The hazmat suit had a hole in it, and Dakarai bled from his heel.

'You must be some kind of insane,' James retorted. 'Are you okay?'

'Yeah, people do say that. It's okay, you can call me crazy.' He smiled, his face shiny with sweat behind the visor. 'Quite a stunt you did there though.' He jumped with his hand on an imaginary fence.

James laughed, despite his aching body. 'Yeah, I'm proud of that. Gonna feel it tomorrow I'm afraid.'

Dakarai grimaced. 'We're going again tomorrow, remember?'

Rebecca and James both groaned. They had three days to reach the current quota. So they had to work for two more days before they could have some rest.

'Hey, get off the floor and help me here.' Bill struggled with the large axle and some other pieces of scrap. 'Get this.'

They all moaned as they pushed themselves up to their feet again.

'Get this in,' Bill ordered.

James and Rebecca grabbed it together, and Bill closed the doors behind them. Then he walked up to the terminal and pressed in some commands on the computer. The ship hummed, and the lights went out for a second. Then a warbled voice announced they could remove their helmets, the air had been purified.

James sighed in relief and pulled it off immediately. Never had he thought he'd be so delighted to breathe some recycled shuttle-air.

The ship shook and rumbled as they lifted off.

'We'll stay in orbit, and get back down first thing in the morning,' Bill said. 'Congratulations, you all survived.'

James wasn't sure if he meant it as a joke, or if he was fully serious. But he'd decided that, perhaps, adventures were overrated.