Snapshots - The Final Frontier
#6 of Snapshots
Space is very large... but there are also many things contained within it. Not all of them are friendly...
_Author's note: It had to happen eventually. I began this with the intention of it being another 1k fic, but it quickly blossomed into something far too large to pare down without the story losing most of its structure. Regardless, I've kept it as part of the 'Snapshots' series, as it fits the spirit if not the letter. Not much to say about this one, except that reading late at night may not be recommended... ;o _
Thanks to Guri for helping with the proof.
_ The Final Frontier _
Fires blooming in the dark, over the horizon. Shouts of men, the ground trembling beneath me. Hard-edged shapes scuttling about, carapaces gleaming. Silence. So cold. So very cold...
Pain seared my awakening consciousness. Fluid dripped onto my head, trickling through my fur and running down my cheek. The world before me blurred into a thousand spiderwebbed images. No... not images. Fragments. Glass, partially shattered, surrounding me on all sides. Tiny fragments scrunched beneath my bare feet, mixed with a tiny pool of bluish liquid. Why was I naked? Cold, so cold...
Nearly falling over from a spasm of shivers, I thumped my fist on the large green panel that said, 'Open' in large, friendly letters. There was a horrific grinding screech from some mechanism above me, then a fizzling spark. The noise ceased. I glared at the ceiling of my glass prison. The letters lied.
Gritting my teeth, I braced myself against the back of the chamber and kicked out at the cracked and useless door. I needed out. Now. The blow rattled up my leg, forcing a grunt from my throat. The chamber shook, but the glass held firm. I hissed as a tiny line of fire on the sole of my foot marked a sharp edge slicing through skin, but I steeled myself for another try. Brace, aim, kick!
This time, the force of the blow carried me flying through the barrier in a cascade of flying crystalline daggers, tumbling me head over heels across the floor. I couldn't help but cry out as tiny shards cut into my shoulders and back as I rolled, but then I was on my feet again, free. Panting from the effort, I cautiously stood erect, shaking myself to loose any slivers of glass from my stormcloud colored fur. Nice to see that my reflexes hadn't abandoned me. Unlike the medics who should have released me from that regen chamber long before its contents had leaked out across the deck.
It took me a moment to realize it was dark in the room. I'd been in nightvision mode by reflex. I blinked rapidly, flicking to normal sight. Not quite pitch black. Emergency lights were still on, glinting off the puddle and the glass on the floor. My muzzily churning brain told me that puddle couldn't be more than a few hours old, but how long had I been out before that? Days? Weeks?
Time to move. Like they said in training: assess, plan, act. I needed more information, and maybe some clothes, and I wasn't going to get either here. My stomach growled for attention. It could wait too.
Flicking back to nightvision, I slipped out the open door of the medical bay. Thank god the hatch wasn't shut, or I'd likely need to pry it open somehow. With the power on emergency, who was to say what was working and what wasn't. One step into the corridor, and I nearly tripped over a sprawled form. Instantly, I dropped down beside it, giving the combat armored shoulder a shake.
" Hey, buddy." My voice was a harsh croak. "You with me?"
No response. I rolled him over with a grunt, and winced at the sight. Hard to say much with half your face gone. Couldn't even tell what species he'd been. Murmuring a quiet apology, I pried the combat rifle free of his stiffened fingers. Hadn't done him much good, but it might still save my tail from whatever had done this. My fingers found the slide all the way forward, indicating a full clip. Maybe I wasn't completely out of luck.
Pausing only to check if my fallen comrade had any spare plasma clips (he didn't), I proceeded down the corridor, heading for the bridge with the rifle at ready. Some of the emergency lights were flickering. That was a bad sign. My footfalls and breathing sounded overly loud, harsh. Blood rushed through my ears, giving the illusion of hearing my own heart.
Wait.
That one definitely wasn't my feet.
I froze, listening. Scrabbling noises. Light, quick. I had the crazy impression of hundreds of tiny legs, scurrying about on wickedly curved gripping claws. It was coming from above... no, below. Both? My rifle muzzle tried to track them, but it was a hopeless cause. As suddenly as it had begun, the sounds cut out. I waited a moment longer, eyes roving. Nothing.
Keep moving.
Many of the hatches I passed were closed, though some were open halfway, looking as though they'd been forced. One of these was blocked by several limp bodies, trapped between the doors as they attempted to shut. Two were in combat armor. None had faces. Something scuttled inside the compartment. At least, it sounded like it was inside. Keeping low, I passed by, heart pounding. It was too exposed in the passageway. I couldn't watch my own back. I needed to get to the bridge. It meant supplies if nothing else.
My ears perked at every scratch and scrabble. Was it following me, or was I following it? I wasn't cold anymore. In fact, I was sweating. I rather liked my face. Girls usually told me it was a handsome one. Getting half of it torn off wouldn't land me a lot of dates back home.
A left turn, then a right, and another stretch of darkened passageway, then the two massive bridge doors stood before me, shut tight. Holding my breath, I keyed the access panel. Machinery groaned in protest, but the hatch gradually yielded, allowing me in. I didn't wait for it to change its mind, jumping through before it was halfway open.
I squinted in the sudden glare, immediately blinking away nightvision. Unlike the rest of the ship, the bridge still had full power. Instrument panels winked merrily, but the grisly scene they helped illuminate was anything but cheerful. A female wolf in an officer's uniform lay sprawled near me, hands still reaching for the door's controls. The iron tang of blood filled my nose, making my stomach churn. Bodies slumped in chairs or across the deck, some in poses that spoke of attempted resistance.
Stepping cautiously around dark stains on the deck, I headed for the captain's module. None of the corpses I could see didn't belong here. Either my marine buddies needed to go back to basic, or these attackers were damn fast. A whole platoon, and not a single bogey down. My instincts were screaming Bad News.
The captain had shared the fate of his crew. He lay flopped forward onto his comms panel, white uniform dyed half brown down its front. Poor guy hadn't lost just his face. More like half his head. I eased him out of the way, frowning at the sticky controls. Which colour was for diagnostics again? Was it yellow or blue?
One of the buttons was flashing. Lacking a better option, I pressed it. The giant display screen covering the forward wall flickered to life with a pop. Normally, it was used for nav maps and tactical overlays. This time, it only showed the wild-eyed captain, as yet in possession of all his limbs.
" Command! Urgent message from frigate Hermes! We are--skttzz!--ck! Unknown alien entities on board. Highly--skkzzttttz!--_dly. Do not engage. Repeat! Do _not engage!" He paused, looking around frantically, his feline ears twitching. "Good god, they're in the walls! Marines! Seal the -skttzz!-"
The entire screen shuddered, the image warping, before snapping back into place. "-ing this, we are lost," the captain was saying, a somber hush in his tone, even though he was all but shouting over the sounds of plasma fire in the background. "Do not try to--_skkkktttzz!--_for us. If you are on this ship, alive, and hearing this message, it is imperative... imperative... imperative... imperative..."
I blinked away my stupor, realizing that the image was skipping back on itself. Growling in frustration, I slammed my fist down on the panel, banishing the giant visage of the frightened captain. The last words seemed to echo in my ears, like a mocking devil on my shoulder. "_Imperative, imperative, imperative..."_A last, desperate message to any survivors --or would-be rescuers--, cruelly cut off before any useful meaning could be gleaned from it.
This gets better every minute.
Whatever these things were, I wasn't inclined to follow the footsteps of everyone else here. Training wasn't super powers, and the best weapons and armor available had been apparently worth about as much as rocks and clubs. Leaving the captain to his doomed ship, I turned and ran full tilt, skidding out into the main passageway. I could hear them scuttling in the dark once more, having their way with whatever was between the bulkheads.
They're in the walls...
The lifeboats weren't far. If the bridge was active, so were they. I sprinted like the devil himself were after me. For all I knew, maybe he was. The rifle felt heavy. Too heavy. But, I clung to it like it were my own firstborn. Shallow as it was, any illusion of safety was a welcome one.
I careened around a corner, bouncing off one of the walls in my haste. I barely noticed the pain. The red rings of emergency lights beckoned me from the large open chamber at the end of the passage, most of them online, indicating a lifeboat in the bay. Only two had ejected. Maybe I wasn't the only one left, but any other survivors had done the smart thing and abandoned ship.
I didn't pause, dashing for the closest lit up boarding tunnel and slapping the door panel. The hatch hissed closed, sealing me off from the rest of the ship. I let out a gasp, stumbling forward through the opening inner hatch leading to the lifeboat. I'd made it. Now, it was time to get off this tub.
These things were made for four, and didn't require you to be a pilot. A simple matter of strapping myself in (after a brief pause to don one of the garish orange jumpsuits from the equipment locker), and throwing the two override switches to their forward positions. Instrument panels winked to life, a muted hum slowly keying up, then dying away as the launch doors opened beneath the tiny ship. Metallic clunks accompanied a few shudders, marking the clamps releasing. I stowed the rifle in the mesh beneath my seat. Who knew? It might still save my tail. Someday.
Moments later, I was falling away, the receding underside of the doomed frigate filling the canopy as the lifeboat waited to finish its 'get clear' program before firing up the main thrusters. I settled back, my pounding heart beginning to slow its panicked trip-hammer beat. I'd be lucky to get any sleep anytime soon. Once I was in motion, maybe I'd look through the storage lockers and satisfy my still grumbling belly. Now that I wasn't on the run, it was making itself heard once more. I closed my eyes, counting off the seconds until the engine engaged. 7...8...9...
From the depths of the tiny ship, came the sound of skittering legs.