Melora was standing on the Promenade, the air was filled with a sharp tang and made one choke and watered her eyes. It had a terrible stench of burned hair and copper, one could even smell something sweet. She was standing, trying to process the carnage around her. Staring towards the big screen which showed the sun, she could imagine its tender touch on her skin. Drying her off after swimming in an ocean back home, a salty taste in her mouth which made her thirsty. She wished she had a drink in her hands, even water could sate her thirst. But alcohol would be better, much better.

After her daze ended, she decided to take stock of the current situation. From a quick glance, order had been restored, but taking a closer look revealed just how dearly it cost. There were puddles of blue blood all over the floor, bloody footsteps between them, smears on the walls and long streaks leading towards the morgue. There were still corpses around, the soldiers were trying to remove them as fast as possible with body bags, but until then they covered them up with sheets.

The storefronts were destroyed, their goods thrown all around and the shop glass shattered. All of them were empty now, except a few corpses which still occupied them. As she walked further down the main path, the devastation only increased, as if she was getting closer and closer to the source. The Admiral ordered her to investigate who started this, in the meantime she would prepare a few squads to investigate the old section. Melora would leave that to her, she had enough for today.

“Commodore! Commodore!” She heard a rough voice calling to her, from where she was unsure. “Commodore Melora, what a glorious hunt we had! Come, sit with us and let us share our stories.” Melora knew that voice, even if it was raspy. She turned towards the ruins of the officer’s lounge. Fera was sitting on the steps with a drink in her claws. A few others of Veneration’s security detail with her, including Lijung and Trynell.

“Fera, how are you? I see you are alive and well, I hope?” Melora walked up to the group, the six of them saluted her, but she suspected they could barely stand.

“Delightful, wonderful. I tasted blood and now I am washing it out with free alcohol. My fellow officers were quite happy when a Rakiri burst down their barricade to liberate them from the burning lounge.”

“Well, at first they did try to hit you with a stick, a really big stick.” Trynell interrupted, earning himself a glance from his comrades. “What? They almost hit our big furball here, but then she snapped that stick in half.” He took another swig from the bottle. “Probably shit themselves.”

“Trynell, come on, two of them tried to hit her. One with a bottle.” She turned to Melora. “She has apologized, all of them did. They are actually paying for our drinks, Commodore.”

“I am afraid we will catch up later, Fera. Elinsys and Nilni are still missing.” She looked around, hoping to spot one of them.

“Have you checked the morgue?” Trynell suggested and pointed towards the body pile amassing near the service gate.

Fera looked at him and put her drink down. “Sergeant Tyrell, you shall not speak such vile things and make our superior more worried. When Elinsys returns to her duties, I will suggest to her she puts you on extra watch and to increase your training regimen double fold. You will sweat as much as a Rakiri on the Halkam homeworld.” She showed her fangs, opening her mouth as if trying to show her disgust, but she looked more threatening than disgusted.

Tryell took another swig. “Terribly sorry Commodore, the drink must have gone to my head. I heard from Nilni about this one ‘restaurant’ she wished to visit, on the more expensive side. Perhaps she and the Major, well, went together and visited it.”

Fera was giving him a cold stare. He raised his hands as if trying to block her gaze. “As friends or colleagues I am sure. It's down the road. Look for ‘Sha’dies,’ Commodore.” He saluted and went back to his drink.

Melora said her goodbyes and left them to their celebration. Sha’dies was her next stop. She saw the difference between the richer and poorer sides of the station as soon as she got near. The streets were being power washed around her, decontamination protocols as the Admiral explained. This area was almost fully cleaned already, but there was a sort of tent set up further ahead and warning signs all around it.

“Commodore, here are the post battle reports you asked for.” Henera said as she walked up to her. Her usually dark hair had a few strains of blue, and her clothes were covered in blue spots and splashes. “I suggest you don’t go in there, Melora, it’s very… grisly.” Henera was being followed by Gelln and her second, helping her carry the stack of documents. “I have checked the morgue for Elinsys or Nilni, they are not there. Hopefully, they are safe somewhere, mistaken for civilians and forced to share quarters with someone. Better that than being stuck with the few remaining pockets of crazy.” She walked with Melora towards the tent.

“I hope so. What happened here?” Sha’dies was covered with sheets and tents, obscuring everything inside it from view.

“It’s the source of… well, this riot I suppose. Our cameras show it started here and the mob spread out from it onto the Promenade. We have found traces of the dust.” She paused when they reached the tent. “I say traces, but we found more of it here than we found in that asteroid. Someone was importing it. They used it as a spice for the food, the drinks, and dancers.”

“Prostitutes they served food on... and other services.” Gelln said, straightening the pile. “I guess Nilni didn’t catch onto that part of the experience. The only question is for how long the Major went along with the whole charade. I suspect they left quickly.”

“Or tried to, the footage shows them entering and about half an hour later the mob broke out. Are you sure you want to go in?” Henera asked, she was truly concerned for Melora.

“We have to find them. Henera, if you want, you can come with me.” Melora entered the tent, it was a sort of makeshift airlock. Hazmat suit-wearing doctors and soldiers stopped them. Melora and Henera put on gas masks, surgical gloves and jumpsuits to enter Sha’dies.

Sha’dies was a bloodbath. The dust covered the walls, specks of it filling the air with a lazy haze. The red lights, now turned purple from the blue which covered them, reflected on the gold bits as if it was glitter. Corpses were strewn about the entrance hallway, marks, cuts and dust covering their skin. Cold, dead eyes looked back at them, the gold circles slowly fading away from their pupils. A few were smiling, but most had expressions of sheer terror on their faces.

“Dear Goddess, is it a virus? This can’t be just some drug, unless it makes one go completely insane.” Henera asked.

“I wouldn’t know. I think it’s the drug, possibly due to a slow, but regular ingestion? Go find us the ledger, we need to know when they started adding the special ingredient.” Melora pointed towards the service door.

Henera left Melora alone, going into the back rooms and office area. Meanwhile, Melora checked the reception desk.

“Major E. -- Regular package.” She read the reception log. They might still be here.

Melora moved towards the private rooms. The doors were breached, hanging from a single hinge, an empty space where the knob used to be. The first room was empty, but torn apart. Melora was not quite so lucky in the second room. There was a body in it, barely recognizable as one of the staff, eviscerated from neck to groin. The third one was in good condition, but she heard weeping and crying from behind the overturned table.

“Anybody here?” Melora asked with as gentle a voice as she could, but she prepared her sidearm, just in case.

Slowly she moved towards the table, holding the gun out of sight, but ready to fire at anything that might jump out at her. When she reached the other side of the table, there was a pair of gold eyes looking back at her, shivering from the cold, and terrified.

“Easy, relax.” Melora raised her hand, gesturing to the woman to remain calm. “I am here to help you, not hurt you. Why are you naked?”

The woman looked at her, shivering from the unnatural cold around them. By the Goddess, why is it so cold? Melora thought while looking around the room for something to wrap the woman in, making sure her gun remained hidden. The room was a mess; the table was knocked over, cushions and the curtains were torn apart. Melora pulled the curtain down and handed it to the woman, but she refused to grab it.

“I see, let me wrap it around you then?” The woman looked at Melora then at the curtain, which was covered with bloodstains. “You will freeze to death if you don’t put something on.” Melora moved the curtain a bit, it waved around a bit before stopping again. After the woman refused to grab it she laid it down on the floor and stepped away. The woman shot her a nasty look. “Sorry, I will turn around.” Melora turned, but she was watching in the mirror if the woman tried anything. She wanted to help her, but she could be dust-mad.

The woman wrapped herself in it and sat on the destroyed couch. She looked around and pointed to the omnipad on the floor. Melora walked over to it. Its screen was slightly cracked and had some blood on it. She wiped across the screen and then turned it on; it was a video. She pressed play and the first thing she saw was Elinsys and Nilni, eating the food before leaving rather quickly and heading down the hall. She wanted to follow after them right away, but the video had five more minutes. At first the woman simply dressed back up, complaining about the weird pair. Then the screaming started and the woman grabbed a knife which was hidden under the table. The mob started to bang on the door, trying to break it down. Slowly it gave way, the woman trying to find somewhere to hide, but, in the end, her efforts were in vain. They found her and forced the dust down her throat. A few seconds after that she stopped struggling and went limp, and the attackers walked out of the room. She remained there on the floor jerking spasmodically for the next two minutes, the power stopped working and the video ended.

Melora put the omnipad down on the couch and walked up to the woman, holstering her gun. “Goddess, are you oka-…. better now? Even a little bit?” She extended her hand towards the woman. “Come with me, we must get you out of this terrible cold.”

The woman's face morphed into the rictus of a snarl and she hissed, and swiped a broken nailed hand at Melora. Melora backed away and looked at her arm. She wasn’t bleeding, at least not yet. “Listen, you will freeze to death if you stay here, you must already be hypothermic by now.” Melora gestured towards the frosting which started to form on the walls. Was it below freezing?

The woman raised a knife at her and stood up, the curtain dropping down to the floor. She slowly started to walk up to Melora, who now had one hand on her holster and the other in the air trained on the woman. “Please, put it down.”

The woman came closer still. Melora looked around. The door was blocked by the woman, who kept inching forward with her blade. “Put the knife down, you are clearly still drugged up, please.” Melora looked towards the door. Henera was standing there, her gun drawn. Melora gestured to her not to shoot and Henera put her gun away and slowly made her way towards the woman.

Then a loud crack broke the silence. The woman whirled around and saw Henera, who had stepped onto some broken glass. She started to shake and breathe fast, then she charged at Henera. Slashing with her knife, Melora pulled her gun, but Henera was ready. Grabbing the woman by her raised hand and knocking her leg sideways with hers, she sent the woman falling to the floor. Then she restrained her with her weight.

“What the fuck, Melora!? You should have called me! She could have killed you, by the goddess, do you have a death wish?” Henera was shouting and tied the woman up with some rope that was nearby.

“I tried to calm her down, help her, not… smash her face into the floor.” Melora grabbed the curtain and wrapped the woman in it. “Take her somewhere warm and get her some clothes. I need to find Elinsys and Nilni.” Melora walked out of the room, following down the trail of destruction and carnage. The walls became more and more slashed, the carpeting was sodden and had holes in it. Then she found it. A loose wall panel with some markings, bent and with scratches on it. She pulled it back to reveal a tunnel.

“What, by the Sea of Souls, is this!?!”

*

“Saved you there, didn’t I?” Henera interrupted and looked at the clock. “Mrek should have filled out all the files by now, I will go check on him.” She got up and left, Melora turned back to Elinsys.

“After that we sent a rescue party into the tunnel, and sent two more by the main gate. Then they found you. I returned back to the command centre to organize our supplies for our trip.”

Elinsys froze. “Trip? Isn’t it a bit soon?” She wanted to leave, but she didn’t expect it to be this soon.

“The Admiral has requested us to leave and continue our mission, we are already too far behind the schedule and there are plans to fix up the whole station, including the old part. It would be better if we weren’t here when they start working. They will have to fix the hangars, which means we would have to undock, and we might as well leave before the Interior comes knocking.” Melora smiled.

“How is this woman doing?” Elinsys asked, did she really care?

“Oh, same as Nilni I am told, quiet and refuses to speak. Mrek is delighted to have someone more impacted by the dust. He says he should have results by the time we get back for our next scheduled stop.”

Mrek and Henera walked in, Mrek was looking dour, Henera indifferent. “Commodore, I will ask again for you to leave the patient with me, she requires further study…” Mrek stopped talking when he saw Elinsys watching him. “I do believe she needs help. She is staring at me as if she plans to kill me.” Everyone stared at him for a moment.

“She can hear you.” Ir’ela interrupted, breaking the awkward silence. “I didn’t mute us yet, doctor.” Mrek looked worried, but quickly returned back to normal.

“My point still stands, she is a possible threat to your mission. I believe we must keep her for study. She had a violent reaction, suffers from PTSD and she will have to stay.” He slammed his food into the ground, producing only a weak thump. Elinsys could do better than that.

“Am I free to go?” She asked, enjoying her tea, the sweet taste of it remaining long after. How she had missed the pleasures of flesh.

“Yes, all the papers are signed and you are free to go, but...”

Elinsys walked over to the door, as Ir’ela opened it for her. “Thank you, dear. I do hope we can enjoy a drink when I return for our next supply stop.” Elinsys smiled at Ir’ela, who smiled back. “Deal.”

“Come on, we have to go and celebrate.” Melora was practically pushing Elinsys and Henera out of the room, wanting to be done with the horrid business as soon as possible. Elinsys stopped at the door and extended her arm to Mrek. “Thank you, doctor.” Mrek was hesitant, but shook her hand. His annoyed face flinched when he felt the nails bite into his skin. Elinsys was pressing them in, giving him a handshake. “Goodbye.”

Elinsys, Melora and Henera walked out into the hallways and started to walk towards the reception. “Now, where are we going for drinks? Can you drink, Elinsys?” Melora asked, woman of priorities if Elinsys ever met one. “I think she shouldn’t; maybe a nice meal. The food here must be awful, tasteless.” Henera suggested as they reached the reception.

“Sadly, we will have to wait until the officer’s dinner. I must go and see Nilni right now. I was dying of worry.” Melora stooped next to the reception desk. “You can wait for me here, but I would like to see her alone. I hope you understand.”

Henera wanted to object, but Melora spoke up first. “Yes, understandable, go and see her. I am afraid she might not talk back, but do go. We will wait here for you, then we can get you reacquainted with the ship. I heard the crew are planning a small party.”

“The one you organized.” Henera interrupted, smiling to herself.

“Oh shush, you.” Melora gently hit her shoulder. “Yes, I organized a little something for the staff of Operations, I felt you all deserve a ‘thank you’ for your services in defending the station. And you could use a more relaxing first day. Anyway, go, we will wait here.”

Elinsys left towards Nilni’s room, it had been too long since she had last seen her. She hoped Nilni would talk to her. The hallways were like a maze, but eventually she found the room, the door had a warning sign. Elinsy knocked on it, and after a few seconds it opened.

“Can I help you?” A female doctor asked Elinsys.

“I am here to see the patient, I am her superior and would like to see how she is doing.” Elinsys looked at the doctor, straight into the eyes.

The doctor looked away. “Yes, please come in.” She let Elinsys in.

Elinsys now knew what it was to be on the other side of the glass, when she saw Nilni. Huddled in her bed and barely moving, she looked light bluish. Were they feeding her right?

*

Just like everyday, I woke up from running. The light was bright in the room, and they'd even set chirping birds as my alarm. They said it was supposed to help end the dreams with less side effects. To make my mornings more pleasant, Mrek explained. They don’t want to startle me every morning with the alarm. I think it's starting to work, at least a little, and if it isn’t helping, at least the bird’s song is nice.

Mrek, punctual as ever, walked in. "Good morning, Nilni! And how are we feeling today?" He really could wear that lab coat, reminding me of something me and my sisters used to watch back home, those romantic movies where the guy would take off his shirt by the end.

"I'm doing alright, Mrek." I replied, I wished he was like those doctors, buff and always wearing too small of a shirt. Sadly, Mrek always wore multiple layers, I wonder what his chest looks like.

"Dreams getting better? Sleep well?" I'd be lying if I said I slept well, but at least the dreams were starting to become less vivid. I couldn't let the cutie down, though.

"I'm starting to feel a lot better, Mrek. Maybe I can leave soon?" Hopefully then he would be free for a drink or two, maybe… just maybe, go to his quarters.

"That's great news! One step at a time, though. Let's check with the other doctors, we want to make sure you're set for a full recovery. Speaking of which, one of your friends wanted to see you. Elinsys…” He paused, clearly something was bothering him. “Are you up for seeing her?"

Darkness. Running. Always one step behind me. Cold, so cold. The Voice. So sweet, so sour, so...

"...I think it's fine, Mrek. I've been wondering how she's been. Is an hour alright?" I asked, but then Elinsys was before me, guess she was early.

She looked...different...and yet, the same. There was a haunted expression in her eyes, and she seemed frail. But she wasn't broken, at least, not like me.

I feel sick, like my organs are turning upside down; there is this heat, this pain in my back. This voice behind me, calling out to me to grab her…

“Hello Nilni, how are you?” She asked me, with a monotone voice. Everyone was always so cheerful, but she looked sad and distant. Like there is something between us, an invisible barrier only she could see. Sadness and pain in her beautiful golden eyes, something was off with them, why was it wrong? It must be the green even deeper down.

I put on a big smile, soon I would be out of here. “I am well! So glad...”

“You are not, Nilni. You are crying.” She tilted her head, and looked me over. She was further away and more unclear. My vision began to blur and stretch, ever so slightly.

“Could you come closer, Elinsys? My eyes must be tired.” I asked her.

“You are locked in here, I can’t let you out.” She was almost gone now.

“Come back, please! I don’t want to be alone.” I begged her, I begged HER. I begged and begged, but the walls turned black like before. Doors closing violently, and the scratching of talons on the floors, the walls and even the ceiling made by that thing, the voice.

“Again? What have I done to deserve this?” I waited on my knees for it to catch me, there was no escape. Never, no matter how long or far you got, it would always hunt me down.

I felt its claws on my neck, slowly moving down it towards my shoulders. “NO FUN.” It always said that to me, when I gave up. Is the hunt all it ever wants?

“I will not be your plaything, kill me now or let me go.” I had enough of this game, unfair and no fun.

“FREE. ANOTHER.” It said as it cut my throat, blood splattering from my neck down the hall. Then I woke up finally.

*

The door opened and three hazmat suits walked into the room. One was carrying a metal briefcase, painted white and having danger stickers all over it. Two of them grabbed her by her arms, one each, and pressed her back into the sweat ridden bed. She hated the feeling, with every hair of her body rubbing into the filth, the wet shirt melting together with her back. The third opened the briefcase and pulled out a needle with a liquid inside of it. It was dark green and sloshing around in its container.

She tried to kick the suit back, but it was out of her reach. She tried to bite her captors, but her teeth were not sharp enough to chew through the suit and reach their skin. She could imagine their screams and the sweet feeling of pain these cruel monsters would feel.

The needle punctured her arm, causing her to release an animal-like scream and thrash around even harder. She managed to raise her knee so high up she kicked one of the captors into its face. They all moved back as she stood up to fight them, but the green liquid had entered her blood stream already, burning hot, making her flesh ignite inside out, making her scream in even more pain. The fire spread all over her, from her arm to her chest, then to her neck and head, then finally her mind. She felt the flame burn itself out and she couldn’t feel her body anymore, collapsing onto the ground. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t feel or hear anything. She only saw as they raised her back into the bed. Then darkness once again took over her mind, sweat still running down her purple skinned neck towards her shirt.

*

Elinsys watched Nilni be sedated, she would have to visit another time.