The Willowfield: Rapid Engagement
It was dark when I woke up. Dark, a pre-dawn shadow over everything, and only the faint glow of my wall monitor gave any sense of where I was. The time was early - barely four in the morning - and the minute hands clicked slowly away. A slow rhythm beat from the unseen speakers - a soft song that had been running through the night and through an inbuilt play list within my personal computer section. The song was alien - a strange beat. But I liked it.
I woke up alone - my bed empty of last nights companionship. I could smell their scent upon the pillow and buried my face into the depression that their head had left. A nice scent - promising, strong, healthy - I inhaled deep, my body remembering what had occurred in only the vaguest of terms, of sensations. A bar. A drink. A conversation. The heat of two bodies, one human, one alien. I loved it, and yet I always felt sad to wake up alone. I shook it off and slowly sat up, blinking away the last haze of sleep. I pushed my hair back and slowly rose out of my bed, feeling the wooly carpet under my feet. Two hundred years in space, and still carpets sucked.
I took a hot shower next. The heat was exhilarating, warming me up and the steam helped push away the last vestiges of unawareness. I gave myself a long scrub, getting the dried stains of last night off my thighs, my chest, my mouth. I soaped my hair, getting any built up oils out, and followed through with the rest of me - wanting to feel good, clean, my dark skin getting a healthy glow to it. I stretched out, long legs and toes flexing against tile. The hot water became a sinful pleasure after the soap was out, and the way it licked down my back gave me shivers. All I needed was coffee, to complete the morning ritual.
I took over an hour to clean myself and feel awake - an hour that made me feel less like a zombie and more like a decent and civilized human being. As if on cue, the internal system of my room spat out a hot cup of coffee for me, and I savored the heat that burnt my tongue and filled my mouth with steam. Liberating, really, it always gave me a kick and jumpstarted my heart, followed by the onrush of the natural caffeine. Synthetics could damn near come close to the effects of a hot cup of coffee, but nothing was as good as the real thing. I savored the heat and warmth, and made my way to sit at my personal console. It turned on at my approach, and the feed from the ‘net gave me all I needed to know for today.
"You have four new messages." Chimed the friendly internal alarm. I gave it a baleful look, as over in the corner it automatically filled out - and gestured for the messages to be played back. The first two were spam - and I trashed them with a slam dunk. The next was from my mother, asking me what I was doing with my life, how work was, all the things a mother would harass their child with, without really saying anything. She only sent it because she loved me. I knew that - and I dictated a letter back to reassure her that I cared.
I did.
The last was an audio message.
"Dear Sam,
Thank you for a wonderful time last night. My first time with a human, and wow. Thank you.
Nsshyerdi"
Glad they liked it. I enjoyed myself too, was always fun to experiment with something that had more limbs than you did. And the fine hairs were almost like feathers against the skin. Sure, I had to get past the long snout and the odd tongue, but, they gave really nice kisses. I smiled, feeling the bite that had been given to me. It itched and ached, but only in a good way - like a hickey, in a way. I gave the area of my neck a rub, and replied back.
"Glad you liked it. You weren't so bad yourself. Lets try it again sometime. Sam."
Short, to the point. I liked being that way about everything. Then again, being only five-six, I was short anyway.
Nothing was interesting on the feed. No new shows, no new feeds, nothing interesting but some minor riots on one of the older colonies, who was complaining about not receiving any of the aid given to the newer colonial ventures. I didn't blame them, but they didn't deserve it, either. All most of them did was take, take, take, without giving anything. They hadn't even started on one of the seven ships they were due to produce - and their mining operations didn't work out at all. Or, so the news-feed said. I didn't care.
It was nearly sixth hour - and time to get things moving. I pulled myself up and finally got dressed, pulling on a short-sleeved shirt and a pair of pants, then a quick tug pulled my hair back into a ponytail.
I wanted to look halfway presentable today. I had a lot to do. But first, breakfast!
"Hello, Sam, it is good to see you again." I looked up from my meal - a half-bland pasta and sauce mix that could have used some salt and garlic seasoning. The voice was that of Jeralitor, a friend of mine. I gave him a look past his long green and brown mottled snout. Every time I looked up at him, it reminded me of gazing up at a salamander. I couldn't help it. He was the owner of the resteraunt I took my breakfast at typically, and I always liked to see a friend of mine.
"Same to you. Come, sit, Jera. It's been too long." Well, really, it had been last week. I had been very busy with my work. He understood and never pressured me - culturally, the Iriliathorians of his sub-breed were rather laid back and relaxed, and never let themselves get too worked up into a panic about anything. His pleasant expression reminded me of that - and though his mouth wasn't as mobile, he could crack a grin - or as near an expression. Humanity had a lot of culture that rubbed off on people.
"Yes, it has been. Have you had any news about your-"
The lights flickered over-head, the normally white-yellow tone turning black, then flickering back on to a red emergency hue. I grunted, and gave a look over at the nearby wall as the display screen on the side turned on automatically. Jera looked as well - and turned to face it. It was probably nothing important, but it was always imperative that one watched an issued command from the high-crew of the station.
"Attention. There has been an unknown explosion in fourth-level medical and research. Biological contaminants are located. Fourth floor is sealed and in quarantine. All non-required personnel are required to return to quarters and await further instructions. This message will repeat."
I gave Jera a look, and he was a bit pale around the gullet. He had friends who worked there. I put a hand on his shoulder and stood, gesturing for him to lead on. I was tired of staying inside of my room when having nothing else to do, so I might as well do something interesting with my time. He nodded mutely after taking a final drink of the coffee he had carried, and we made our way together towards the lift.
"Brighten up. It's probably just a minor accident. Nothing to worry about, my friend." I gave him a gentle pat on his ridged shoulder. He looked over at me, blinking both eyelids. His smile returned slowly, though not as intense behind the eyes. The lifts opened with a whoosh of air and hiss of pressure being equalized, before we stepped in together. We shared the same floor for our personal quarters - hell, it'd been how we had met.
The lift descended after we climbed in. The walls were painted red from the emergency lighting up above us, and gave me an eerie feeling. It never bode well when red washed the walls, always it reminded me of blood. The small and delicate scales along my friends face looked almost a bruised purple in the red-wash over them. It wasn't a very flattering color. The elevator gave a soft whirl as it descended, and we stood in a respective silence.
And then it jerked and stopped, and the red light above went out, leaving us in darkness. I wasn't the only one that gave a yelp.
I paced in the dark, feeling along the side walls and reaching up to test the vent along the side that kept the air pumping into the small transport cube. They weren't giving anything, and I could feel the warmth beginning to build in the small chamber. This wasn't pleasant.
"The damage must be worse than we thought or was reported." I said, and reached into my pocket to pull out a thin tool. I always went around with at least a screw-driver on me, it had come in handy quite often. A quick jerk and thrust, I began to pry the vent open - if only to open up a way for even a little bit of fresh air to get in. The thing came off with a rattle. It was black as pitch inside of the box - and I was starting to feel claustrophobic, but the faint glow that came through the vent and the opening of the air passage helped me calm down.
"Right. Now hurry it up, you are heavy." He held my feet as I switched to reaching for the service hatch on the elevator roof. Finding and twisting a few knobs and puncturing the seal, I pushed it open and blinked blearily at the red lights that lined the passage walls. Ordinarily they gave off a comfortable blue that was almost sedating. Then again, red was good for emergencies, for it triggered a heightened sense of awareness in most species.
"I've been losing weight, lizard-lips, so shut it." I pulled up, and swept my legs onto the rough surface of the roof. Reaching down, I held a hand out for Jera to pull himself up beside me. He was heavier than I was by a good sixty pounds - but that wiry muscle served him well for climbing. Certainly, he'd lost a bit of it after moving into the far more sedentary field of cooking - but this soldier still had his moves.
"Yeah, whatever you say." He closed the lid behind him and we waited for our eyes to adjust to the light - letting it go from sting to just bloody annoying. I popped the screwdriver back into the hidden sleeve inside of my pants, and took a look at the doors that were sealed and shut. It would be a pain to get them open.
When the door was pushed open - I looked down the empty hall and pulled myself up, screwdriver in hand and oil coating my top. I'd had better days, by far, and I knew getting that line repaired would cost me significantly. But, the release of hydraulic pressure made my job easier. I'd partially bent my screwdriver as well. Damn it. The halls gave off the same brain-aching color and Jera pulled himself up beside me, panting a little from the work of pushing and twisting the pipes to get the oil to spit. He was covered too - thankfully, it wasn't corrosive - just itchy.
"Reminds me of trying to help rebuild Emeret." He said offhandedly. I glared and kicked him in the foot, then rose back up to my feet. I didn't want to remember. It'd taken days to get clean.
"Shut it. We are on the sixth floor, it looks like. Uh, you might help me get to the security station. They may have more information about what's actually going on." It was quiet - but the air vents gave off a cooling feeling from the vents - and I let my body dry from the sweat of opening the doors. We walked through the hall together, hoping security had been paying attention. The same warning was still on repeat.
And it'd taken almost two hours to get the door open, and an hour of working the vent and ceiling tile, but the reward was pleasant - no squeezing box, fresher air, and even a drinking fountain on one of the walls to savor at. I drank from the stream, Jera from the basin beneath - long tongues were skilled for things like that. Relaxing, I waited for my legs to stop aching and my shoulders to quit tensing up. They hurt. It'd been a while since being that active and mobile.
"Still got it." I said. He smiled, despite the weariness of holding me up into the air, and gave me a pat on the top of my head. Soon enough we made our way across the carpeted floor towards the security station, and I gave the window a tap. Looking inside - I found it was empty. That wasn't good. Pushing the door to the stall open, I found blood across the floor - which was even worse. Something wasn't right.
"Something isn't right." I loved being obvious.
"You could say that again." Jera took a look inside and pulled an emergency rifle from one of the cabinets - and engaged it. The rifle gave an audible whine, while the power readout went to full - a good fifty shots were contained in each cell before going dead and would last for a few days if required. Next to it, I took a pistol and thrust it into my belt, then followed the blood trail. In retrospect, it wasn't really a good idea. "Must have been an ambush."
"That's what it looks like. Keep your wits about you - we may have contact. And I left my body-armor at home, shame on me." I gave another laugh and then eased my way past him - into the room the blood spots had lead to. A double-blink proved that I wasn't seeing anything - two bodies lay in the middle of the room - tables torn apart, chairs strewn, and the viewing port had a massive crack in it. There were six layers between the outside and the viewing layer, so there was little chance of a breach - but it wasn't exactly easy to crack even the outermost layer.
"Damn. Looks like something got loose." I muttered. Crouching, I duck-walked a little deeper inside, my gun low, but ready. I even made sure the safety was off - I wasn't a stranger to using a firearm. I hadn't killed anyone, but I was ready. I eased closer to the body - and pulled the key-clip off of his hip. It could serve some use. A scraping sound made me tense up. I took a look up - as something rushed me.
I ducked down and hit the deck - the thing leapt at me - only for it to get hit upside the head with the flat of my friends rifle. A loud crack echoed through as the creature was thrown to the side and landed with a thump, only to roll up - and rush again. This time I was ready and brought my gun up - a double-tap at the chest and once towards the head. The head jerked back with a wet thump, and the body fell, flailing, scrambling, then laying still. Blood matted the thin mane and cuts were visible along the torso and the tattered cloth it wore.
"Oh god. It's Zhelkerv." I looked up - past the missing top of the skull, and gazed upon the fallen form of Zhelkerv, a Sladar. The bronze mane was matted with blood, the two eye-stalks blood-shot if glazed over, and the mouth open, displacying the needle sharp teeth and the dark purple tongue, which looked bloated. I slowly sat up from where I had rolled to. Zhelkerv had been a gambling buddy - and worse, the bastard owed me three hundred still. "Oh no..."
"He was crazy, he attacked us. We didn't know. It's not our fault. He attacked us."
"I know..." I gave his shoulder a pat, before moving on. I hated it when he was tense like this.
The lights above flickered white and red, and the changes in pitch ached behind my eyes. Weathering the pain as best I could, I went with my dear friend in deeper through the floor - the level awash with signs of a fighting - some spots of blood not the least of issues. I circled to the left and he to the right; we cleared our way on either side of the open room, and kept our backs to the wall - like it were in combat training.
A noise took my attention - and I crouched, drawing all the closer towards what made the soft moans. Reaching down, I moved to the side and eased to take a glance at a body that bled and gasped. Terrible marks were across that form - almost like teeth or some form of incisors. A hand lifted for me and pain-filled eyes stared up towards me - that of a six-eyed Cerathian who was missing three of them. Zie was bleeding to death.
"Run." The creature gurgled out.
And then I heard the screams.
"Shit!" Jera did not liked to swear - not at all. So it was a surprise when I looked over at him - then up at the blood-soaked people who ran at me. Their eyes were red or purple, their tongues were bloated, and they charged forward like a meth-addict ran for the fix. Pulling myself back, I brought my gun up - but there were too many to pull off even a half-dozen good shots. I backpedaled, slamming into the wall, and Jera pulled me through the doorway as I was pulled, firmly, through the doorway. I ran back and hit the controls to seal the door - which slammed the door down with a crunch - the crunch from what had rushed towards us. The thing was cut in half at the hip - but it drug itself forward - and tried to swipe at me. Even cut in half it was fast.
A quick stomp of Jera's foot caught at the temple and crushed a good portion of the skull - which killed the beast. But even with the door sealed, I had a feeling we weren't safe - no, not with the sounds that were coming from a side hall. I didn't look - no, I ran - and ran fast towards the elevator. The doors were still open, which would be a bit of a problem in the short of things. I slid down into the elevator and pulled on Jera's tail. For a moment it felt trapped, before the lid was slid into place. It landed with a thump and the bolts were put back up. The bolts were tightened, and I prayed they would hold.
"What the hell was that?"
"I don't know. Something very bad has happened. This must be related to the power outage. An attack of some kind?" I gazed up at Jera, and he rubbed at his tail which had been landed on rather painfully. The pounding continued, and I heard the sound of groaning coming from above, from the breaks. I could heard the sound of bodies up above - which made me suddenly very nervous. The weight limit on the elevator was considerable, but accidents could happen. The doors to the elevator were sealed shut, and it'd be a pain to get them open. But, in reality, we didn't have much choice.
Trapped in an elevator.