Once the engines finished cycling and the ship came to a full rest the transport’s ramp lowered. This allowed light to spill into the seating area and not wanting to waste anyone’s time, Frank led the way with Charles and the others following not far behind. They were greeted by a handful of security personnel dressed mostly in standard black colours. Each of them had a badge marking them as a member of the Lazarus Foundation's Outreach Corps.

“This is just a formality,” said the officer closest to Frank. “I’m Adam Cain, Chief of Security. For you to be let loose from here, we will have to run some quick checks. If you would follow me please.”

“Understood,” said Frank.

“I presume you’ve all installed the required biomods. Our scanners require them to verify your identities. Any problems, we’ll deal with it, if it comes to that,” Adam said while leading them to a biometric scanner. He left them to enter the observation room that looked into it. The extra guards remained at their backs, looking a little more nervous than usual. Do they suspect something is up with us?

“If you would kindly one at a time, pass through the scanner before entering the decontamination chamber.”

Frank looked out of the corner of his eye at Melina. He knew most Aevetas members had symbiotes inside them, and he was sure she said she had one too. What would happen if it got exposed? Would they suspect us or think we were non the wiser? A bead of sweat ran off his brow, and he had to resist wiping it. The doors parted, and he entered a long, narrow corridor. It had all kinds of technology plastered about, from cameras to heat sensors. From what he could see, there was no expense spared.

“Please stand right in front of where we are standing.”

Frank said nothing and approached the centre of the corridor, where he came to a stop. The scanner began running, and a red line draped over him. This ran back and forth before a buzzer signalled the all-clear.

“This one’s clear. Please continue into the decontamination chamber.”

At the end of the long corridor awaited a bulky, reinforced white door that led into the decontamination chamber. The green light above the door turned on and he stepped inside the small white-walled box. The process of decontamination was shorter than he expected. He was sprayed with some gas that completely shrouded the room. Once satisfied and the gas was sucked away, the door unlocked and he was now safely past the main hurdle of this mission. Next to enter was Melina. If it detects her having a symbiote this could be troublesome.

Frank waited, tapping his foot at certain moments until he heard the chamber he just come from whir up. After some time passed, the door opened and the residual gas dissipated outward. Clearly unphased by everything around her, Melina joined him.

“You need to meditate more, Captain. I can teach you some time if you like.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“I appreciate the offer, Mel, I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

She gave him a sinister grin. I know what you are, that’s why I don’t want to be alone with you. Last thing I need is a Mortan teaching me how to meditate. How does that work anyway with there being two of them in one body?

‘Easier than you’re making it sound.’

‘Less invading my thoughts, Mel.’

‘Spoilsport.’

The next person to join them was Charles and others soon followed. The last one to join them would be Andrey. Frank spotted something off with Melina, a paleness had come across her face.

‘It’s Andrey, his symbiote failed to cover his biomods. He thinks he’s been exposed.’

‘We play it dumb. It’s not uncommon for Mortes to hide in plain sight. ’ he winked at her.

‘Never do that again, Frank.’

The warning sign came when the light above them faded and turned a dim red. From the small square window into the decontamination chamber, another light rotated blocking the room in a mixture of light reds and pure darkness. Frank got close to the door and cupped his hands so that he could see inside. Crouched in a foetal position was Andrey.

“Don’t worry, this happens more than you might think. A lot of Mortes think they can escape persecution by coming out here. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way,” said Adam from behind Frank. “Move aside, Captain Clarke. We’ll deal with the monster.”

Frank stepped back and joined his crew. Adam was flanked by two other guards carrying high-powered plasma rifles. The type of weapons that would make short work of anyone never mind a Mortan capable of regenerating its body.

Frank almost stepped forward but Charles grabbed his wrist and shook his head. “Let it go, Frank. How were we supposed to know.”

Even Melina showed little care for the execution that was likely about to happen.

Likely as a precaution, the door shut trapping the guards in the room with the downed Mortan. Frank approached the glass window once more and peered inside. He could just make out the three guards standing over the man. He remained still and unmoving. Frank looked back to the others.

“Hard to say what’s happening, but Andrey doesn’t appear to be moving at all.”

“What do you mean?” asked Melina.

“He’s curled up for some reason and doesn’t appear to be responding to anything.”

An unexpected eruption of aether energy from Andrey’s back hit the warning light above and plunged the whole room into darkness. Frank stepped back uncertain of how best to proceed.

“This could be a problem, Charles.”

“You think we might have to deal with Andrey?”

“I would hope not,” said Melina. “I really liked him, he was a charming man.”

“You think all men are charming,” said Frank.

Melina almost looked offended but they each were distracted by the fluctuating light overhead.

“That can’t be what I think it is, right?” asked Frank.

“What actually happened?” said Charles folding his arms.

“An energy of sorts exploded from Andrey’s spine. And then plunged the chamber into darkness.”

“You mean to say he possibly breached,” added Melina scowling. “That is not good. I hope they are okay in there.”

The standard lighting for the chamber soon returned after a few more minutes passed and the doors parted. Adam came out first with the other two men behind. He looked flustered but mostly fine.

“I saw the light go out, what happened?”

“Not sure,” said Adam. “Your friend just became like dust. I hope you all understand, that we may need to detain you all for a little bit longer. You see nothing like this has ever come up before.”

Before Melina could mouth off, Frank held up his hands. “We never wanted any trouble, Chief. We’ll comply with everything you need us to do.”

“That’s good to hear, take them to the detainment centre. Once we’ve cleaned up here, we’ll get to the bottom of whatever just happened…”