Tangled Skein: Final Chapter part 2
Brandon Flickenger shook his head ruefully at Hector Petridis. "That's all I can remember, sorry."
Hector nodded, and slid a piece of paper across the table to Brandon. "Just sign at the bottom then, Captain. That will conclude our business here. We'll naturally have to have a one week quarantine, but I've already sent the fax to Central Command, and it's not like you planned on leaving anyway, right?" Hector said as Brandon scribbled on the paper.
Brandon shook his head again, "Not particularly, as long as that was the last I see my doppelganger. I'd leave if that sick fuck came back though." Abruptly, Brandon winced and coughed lightly into his hand. "Holy crap, I just realized how parched my throat is. You got any water?"
Hector nodded, and walked over to the water cooler, pouring out a measure into a little paper cup for Brandon. He came back and Brandon coughed again, harsher this time. Hector set the drink down, and ever the mindful care provider, he pulled an analgesic spray from his belt and handed it to Brandon. "Here, take a spray of this orally and go take a nap. I'll have the nurse check on you in about fifteen minutes."
Brandon nodded gratefully and laid down in Patient Room 2. He took a hit of the spray and closed his eyes.
---
Two Hours Later
---
Nurse Selgen was a female Skrell of medium age. She was somewhat easily distracted, and so she had forgotten about Brandon in Patient Room 2 quite quickly after Hector had asked her to check on him. Suddenly, realizing her mistake, she closed out of the game she was playing on her PDA, and stood up primly.
Selgen walked the ten steps to Patient Room 2 and the door slid open as she came close. Inside the room was a gruesome scene. Brandon lay on the bed, the spray in one hand, his eyes closed. His ribs had split open from the inside out, leaving a ragged hole about three inches across in the center of his sternum. Inside, his organs were scrambled and shredded beyond recognition. Blood covered his chest and a puddle had formed on the bed and was dripping through to the floor beneath. A bloody trail led from the bed to underneath a small chest of drawers in the room, typically used to store a patient's belongings.
Selgen screamed shrilly and sealed the door quickly, fearing an infectious threat. Hector came running, a scalpel in one hand, and what appeared to be an unfiled report in one hand. Seeing no violent threat, Hector slipped the scalpel back into a pocket and looked past Selgen at the door. She shook her head at his questioning gaze, and Hector sighed. He activated his comms device and said, "
At this time, station-time 1506 hours, Captain Brandon Flickenger has become deceased. Medical is investigating the situation. Security, please dispatch an officer for oversight."
Selgen wiped her face compulsively, and put a sterile mask on. Hector opened the door and looked at the bloody mess beyond. He shook his head, "This isn't a disease, Ms. Selgen. This looks like some sort of attack. Violent trauma. Probably a pneumatic device of some sort, but it looks like it puncture his ribs outwards, not inwards." He took a step forward into the room, looking at the bloody trail. Suddenly realizing his mistake, Hector took a big step backwards and started to press the button to seal it again.
In the instant before the door hissed shut, a creature about two and a half feet long, of tan coloration except for all the gore crusting it's hide, slithered under the door and down the hall. Selgen jumped and screamed again, and the Medbay doors hissed open to reveal Axl Blyant, his black trenchcoat billowing as he strode forward. "What's the situ- OH FUCK, GRAB THAT THING!" He picked up his pace, running forward faster, after the snake-like creature that had fled the patient room.
Hector likewise took off in pursuit of the little monster. It slithered around the corner towards the sleepers, and Hector lunged, getting a hold of the beast's midsection. His grip was poor and it slipped free quickly, leaving his hand covered in blood and viscera.
Axl came around the other corner of the sleeper section, bringing his heavy jackboot up to stomp the snake-creature to death. His first stomp missed, but his second caught it's tail as it slipped through the grating of a vent. It ruptured with a squelch, and the creature squealed and hissed. Then, Axl's boot started smoking and hissing, as did the metal hull under the creature. With more leeway, it slithered free, it's ruined tail half flattened from the attack.
It disappeared into the vents.
Axl cussed in Tradeband, and Hector sighed, then coughed violently as the fumes of dissolving metal and highly corrosive acid hit him. They both started back for the lobby doors, and Hector grabbed Selgen's arm as they went by, pulling her with.
They got into the lobby, and Axl called the Engineering division on his communications device while Hector checked over Selgen, who appeared to have succumbed to sudden-onset extreme SSD, her eyes wide and blank, her features slack.
In maintenance behind Medbay, Lillian and Jericho were searching for more bodies, hoping to find none. In the ventwork under their feet, they heard skittering, clattering, and the occasional hiss. They thought nothing of this, for maintenance drones frequently scurried by, making similar sounds.
The alien made clean it's escape through the vents, emerging in one of the unused sections of the station.
There, it began to grow...
Author
Topic: The Lillian Helsbrecht Story (Read 28647 times)