"Can you believe it," whispered Lawrence, excitedly as Elara led the way through customs. "An alien, a real life alien in our engine room! This groundbreaking, !"
"Yeah," you answer, distantly. "Real neat."
"What's wrong with you, man," he asked, looking at you curiously. "This is amazing, we aren't alone in the universe - and you're the first person to see it! Why's a dead alien dog not getting you excited?!"
No one but you and Janice knew about what really happened - you lied and told everyone that the creature appeared to die upon breaking through the hull.
"Quiet you two," hissed Elara. ", this door is jammed, can you override it?"
Silently stepping up to the fried control panel, you quickly locate the proper wires to force-activate the door. They spark and the door thunders open so powerfully that it shakes the floor!
"Damn, ," laughs Lawrence as the team steps through into a dark waiting room, "way to keep it subtle!"
"Screw you, Fisher."
"C'mon, , he was only - what was that," whispered Janice. You all froze, beams of light searching the pitch black room, for the source of what sounded rather like a hiss.
"A faulty cooling vent," announced Elara - her headlamp alighting on an open vent spewing misty white smoke. ", see if you can get through the security door and turn on the lights."
Easily making it through the door flagged 'Emergency Lock Engaged - Security Code: 59B', you gasp in shock at what you see - a dead woman, mutilated beyond hope of recognition.
"Elara you've got to get over here," you speak into your communicator. She had barely walked two steps toward you when the emergency lights activated and the security door slammed shut!
"Damn it, ," she swore, "get this door open!"
You momentarily freeze in surprise and fear - out of the open vent was slithering what appeared to be an endless, slimy deep purple snake, now wrapping stealthily around the sides of the room, towards an oblivious Elara.
Snapping out of it, you manage to shout into the com-unit, "Elara, behind you!"
She turned just as the tentacle wrapped around her ankle, pulling her to the floor as five more tentacles burst out of ground vents and attacked your panicking team!
", seal that door," screamed Elara through the DSUS radio. "We'll handle this, just get out of here!"
You wanted to argue - but as Elara used a electron-knife to cut through the tentacle curling up her body and ran to help the others, another tentacle squirmed through the air vent on your side of the door and dived for your legs as you ran down the hall!
Running harder than ever, terrified of the hissing tentacle snaking furiously across the metal floor after you, you sighted a heavy secure door - just as you slammed your fits into the control panel, begging the door to open faster, the tentacle wrapped around your neck and pulled you to the ground! |