Infested

          Here I am.  I’m in this locker on the docking bay.  I don’t want to come out.  Two people are out there.  They want to destroy the pod I want to escape in.  Not on my watch.  I have my gun poised and ready to fire.  This is how it all began.

My name’s Jade Raven Smith.  I’m a 24-year-old engineer.  I’m probably the youngest engineer ever to serve aboard a ship.  Sitting here in the cargo bay, I’m working on a shuttle pod.  Repairing a broken conduit.  Underneath the console, I fiddle with a clear wire that’s linked to a small silver box.  That box is the intercom casing. 

            “Jade?  Can I see you for a moment?” I hear a voice ask.  That’s Jordan Corin Winsley, the doctor.  I slide out from under the console.  I look into his dark face, his brown eyes twinkling. 

            “Sure,” I say sweetly.  I stand up, gather my tools, and follow the medical man out of the shuttle.  We stop at sickbay.  Ugh.  Sickbay.  I hate them.  My mom died in one when I was younger.  Every time I step into one, those memories flood back. 

            Walking in, I throw my tools onto a chair.  I hop on the table.  What now?

            “Remove your jumpsuit, please,” he told me, turning around and grabbing a machine off the table in front of him.  I start unzipping my suit.  I like these suits.  They’re comfy and warm.  Other people hate them because they only come in two colors: gray and black. 

            “Geez, Jordan.  Couldja turn up the heat a little?” I ask, wrapping my arms around my body.  He smiles at me and turns a dial behind me.  Feeling hot air blow on me, I unwrap myself.  Ummmm.  That air feels so good.  Jordan holds a machine in front of me.  I sit up nice and tall.  The device he’s holding is a scanner.  It scans your internal organs and makes sure everything’s nominal. 

            “Let’s see how your little machine is doing,” Jordan says, flipping a switch on a monitor beside me.  I turn my head and look at the screen.  I see my heart pumping normally.  Then, a spidery thing crawls to the edge of my heart.  That’s my robotic helper.  It’s an RHD: a Robotic Heart Defibrillator.  It shocks my heart if it stops or slows down from its normal rate.

You see, I have this heart condition where my heart is very weak.  When I was born, my heart was beating very faintly so the doctors thought I was dead.  But, they put this thing in my chest and it started my heart up; it beats normally now.  I’ve had it all my life.

            “Everything’s fine, Jade!” Jordan exclaimed.  I hopped from the table as soon as he put the scanner down.  Dressing rapidly, I looked into his eyes.  He leaned forward and kissed me gently.  His big, soft hand caressed my right arm.  Quickly, I grabbed his head and pressed my lips to his.  We kissed long and deeply.  Then, I ripped my lips from his.  We were both out of breath, like we were running a mile.

            “I-I’ll see you later, Jordan,” I stammered, sucking in my breath.

            “See ya,” Jordan whispered back, touching my face.  I grabbed his hand, squeezed it gently and left.  Wow!  I never did that to him before!  I’ve wanted him ever since I first saw him, which was four years ago.  Whew!

            I strode happily back to the cargo bay.  I whistle as I arrive.  I hop back up into the shuttle and under the console.  I get a slender, silver tool out of my pocket.  Turning it on, the tip turns red-orange.  I run it over the end of the wire that’s going into the box.  It’s a sealer instrument.

Finishing that, I get out from under the console and plop down into the seat.  I turn on the shuttle and start it up. I changed the engine battery, and sealed the leak in the fuel tank.  I called Jordan on the intercom.

“Hey, Jordan!  Guess who fixed the intercom?” I questioned enthusiastically.

“Hmmmm.  Was it Jade?”

“Why yes!  I’ll see you later!  Oh, I love you, Jordan.” I added softly.

“I love you, too, Jade,” he whispered back.  I signed off and grabbed my engineering box.  I hopped off and punched a big button to the right of the door.  It closed with a rush of air behind me.  Strolling back to my room, I look out the window.  I see the stars slowly streaming past.  I leave the glass and walk to the closet.  Opening it, I throw my box on the top shelf.  I take off my suit, fold it up, and place it on the floor of the closet.  A little door opens and a box comes out and collects my dirty suit.  That box opens a chute and our dirty clothes slide down to the laundry floor. 

I stand there in my thin undershirt and short-shorts.  Slinking over to my bed, I pull back the covers.  I start to climb into bed when I hear a loud booming voice over the intercom.

“All crewmembers report to the cryochamber for mass transport.  I repeat, all crewmembers report to the cryochamber for mass transport.”  That’s our captain, James Charles Elvon.  He’s about 50 years old, but he looks 30.  He’s a good friend of mine.  He has jet black hair, olive skin, and a large nose.  He hails from Italy.  Well, he was born there but his parents moved to the States.  

“Huuuuuuuuuuuuh!  I hate those iceboxes!”  I shout.  I go to my door and it opens swiftly.  My bare feet touch the cold grates.  I wince slightly but I start to walk.  I walk quickly down the hallway and turn left.  I see other people walking down here, too.  There are twenty of us serving on this ship.  We’re a scouting ship.  We go around looking for people in need.  We help a lot of people, but not lately.

Walking behind a tall, blonde woman, we file into the cryochamber.  Hers is next to mine.  I jump into my capsule and look over at the blonde woman.  Her white skin is pale in the bright light.  I vaguely remember her name.  Shakowski?  Schlotsky?  Something.  Oh yeah!  Shender!  Rebeka Shender!  Her ice blue eyes look deep into mine. 

“Where do ya think we’re going?” I asked cheerily, smiling despite the cold.

“I don’t know,” she answered, her voice deep and menacing.  She doesn’t seem to like me.  I try to be nice to her, but she doesn’t return it.  I turn my head and look at the keypad next to my right hand.  I push a yellow button.  The glass top closes over me.  These things remind me of the blue pills I take to keep my Heart Defibrillator up and running.  Because these pill-boxes are horizontal, I strain to see that others are closing theirs, too.

I see Jordan across from me.  I smile; he smiles back.  I wink and lay my head back on the soft pillow.  My smile fades as a cold mist wafts over me.  I panic every time.  My heart races and I feel the urge to beat on the glass and scream “Help!  Help!  I don’t want to go under!  NOOOOOOO!”  I did that my first time in one of these things.

Whew!  Glad that’s over.  Anyway, I feel my eyes getting heavy.  I breathe deeply.  Suddenly, I’m asleep.  The last thing I heard is the computer’s voice saying, “Now approaching Sardan Station.”  A thought crosses my mind.  Sardan Station?  Isn’t that where those people died?

We traveled eight light-years.  Pretty long, huh?  Yep.  Well, we arrived there good and rested.  I stirred as I felt warmth.  The capsule has unfrozen and warmth floods in.  Aah.  Heat.  My eyelids flutter and open.  My vision is a little blurry.  It clears after a few seconds.  I press the yellow button again and the glass top opens.  I sit up and notice everyone else is gone.  Except Jordan.  He’s standing to my left.  I fling one leg from out of the box and then the other.

“Hi,” Jordan whispers, stroking my curly auburn hair. 

“Hi.”  I jump down and he steadies me.  I give him a big hug.  We walk out arm-in-arm to the mess hall.  He sits at a table near the door we came in and waits for me.  I skip giddily to one of the replicators.  We have fifteen replicators in here.  The mess is big and gray just like the rest of the ship.  I order two cups of coffee and two bagels with cream cheese.  They appear out of thin air on a tray.  I grab it and cart it back to our table.  I plop it down in front of Jordan and he snatches his coffee and bagel.

“Hey!  Did I say you could start?” I question sarcastically.  His golden-brown eyes stare into my smoky grays.  I take my bagel and coffee off the tray and slide it into the middle of our table.  Doors open in the middle of the table and suck the tray down. 

“May I join you two?” A deep, gravelly voice asks.  I turn my head and Captain Elvon is standing behind me.  He’s wearing a long black robe over his underwear.  I gave it to him for his birthday.

“Sure!  Sit on down,” I say cheerily, patting the seat next to me.  He plops down and sets his plate down.  He’s eating French toast and bacon.  He has coffee also.  He puts cream and sugar into his coffee.

“Could you pass me the syrup, Jade?” Captain Elvon asked, smiling.  I slide him the small, clear glass pitcher of golden syrup.  He slathers his French toast with it.  Setting it down, he cuts his toast.  He commences eating.  Jordan and I begin to eat our bagels.  Ummm.  These bagels are delicious!  They’re the herb and onion kind.  The cream cheese is herby also.  I sip my coffee.  I feel energized already!

After we ate, Captain Elvon stood up and went to the front of the mess hall.  I pushed his tray to the middle like I did ours.  It got sucked down.  He pulled the sole microphone from the wall.  It was slim and rectangular; it looked like a remote control.  He pushed a button on the side.

“Attention crew.  We are in the vicinity of Sardan Station.  We will be heading to it shortly.  When we arrive there, we’ll try to look for any survivors.  I had gotten a distress call before we went into cryosleep.  It sounded urgent.  So, I repeat, we’ll look for any survivors,” Captain Elvon concluded, putting the microphone back in the wall.  We all got up and filed out of the mess.  We all went to our rooms to get ready.

Running into my room, I tore open my closet and took out my standard-issue black jumpsuit with multiple pockets, loops, and lobster-claw hooks.  Throwing it on my bed, I walk quickly toward my shower.  I turn on the water, undress, and jump in.  I scrub my body vigorously, the soap tingling as it ate away the dirt.  I jump back out, towel off and go get ready.

I pull out an undershirt and a pair of underwear from my dresser, both black.  Slipping them on, I then struggle into my jumpsuit.  It’s a little bulky but comfortable.  It’s made of a lightweight material but it’s tough like titanium.  I walk to my closet and get my black combat boots.  I shove my feet into them rapidly and snap them closed.  I spot one of my ponytail holders on my dresser, a black one.  I grab it and walk out of my room. 

Pulling my hair back into a ponytail as I walk, I run briskly to the armory.  Everyone’s in there, loading up.  I walk to an unoccupied area and pick out my weapons.  I find a flashlight rifle (a paralyzing dart rifle with a flashlight attached to it), a knife with a black handle and a long silver blade, a pair of night-vision goggles, two small flamethrowers, and three large grenades.  These grenades contain an acid that’ll eat through anything.  They’re about the size of grapefruits.

I find a large black backpack and load it up with my weapons.  I put the knife in a long pocket on my thigh.  I slip my goggles around my head and put my backpack on.  I go to find Jordan.  He’s standing near some medical supplies.  He picks out a large suitcase and opens it.  There’s a plethora of instruments: scissors, regeneration scalpels, flashlights, dermapads, fold-up crutches, etc.

“Ready?” I ask, smiling.

“Yep.  You?”

“Um-hum,” I answer.  We all file out, Jordan walking beside me.  We go to the bridge.  Captain Elvon is standing there in his black jumpsuit, hands clasped behind his back.  He spoke loudly.

“Ladies and gentlemen!  We’re at Sardan Station.  We will travel in all five pods, four to a pod.  Once we’re there, we’ll split up and look for survivors.  Got it?”

“Yes sir!” We yelled in unison.  Captain Elvon went to the pilot and told him to ease the ship in orbit around the station.  He nodded.  The pilot’s name is Erlin Wayne Williams.  He’s a portly white man with ocean blue eyes and curly brown hair.  He’s a nice guy.  His slightly pudgy fingers gripped the steering wheel, turning it slowly to the left.  I felt the ship move.  I looked out the view port at the station.  It’s a massive thing.  It’s a huge disc floating in space.  A chill runs up my spine; I shiver.  Jordan senses it.  He turns and asks me if I’m all right.

“You okay?”

“That station gives me the creeps.  Didn’t people die there?”

“Yeah.  But, I hope there are survivors.”  Captain Elvon stares at the station.  Then, he turns and walks to the door of the bridge.  We part to let him through.  The door opens silently as he shuffles through it.  We follow after him.  Arriving in the cargo bay, we spot the five large shuttle pods.  Jordan, a man named Jaysen Allen Jorge, a woman named Keva Debira Jones, and I boarded the first one.  Jaysen Jorge is a tall, dark-skinned man from Nigeria.  He’s a nice guy.  Keva Jones is nice also.  She and I were roommates in engineering school.  She’s my height and biracial, like me.  She’s a mix of black and white Brazilian; I’m a mix of black and Hawai’ian.  She has curly red hair and gray-green eyes.  Jaysen and Keva are boyfriend and girlfriend.  I guess you could call Jordan and I the same.

Jaysen hopped in the first pilot’s seat and Keva hopped in beside him.  These pods have two-pilot cockpits.  Jordan and I sat in the seats behind them.  The pods also have couch-beds so people can lie down on them if there’s a long trip or someone gets sick. 

“Start the engine,” Jaysen ordered in a deep voice.  I’ve always loved his voice.  Keva nodded at him and pushed two levers up and turned two dials.  I felt the pod vibrate slightly under me.  I gripped the armrest tightly until my knuckles turned white.  Jordan grabbed my hand and stroked it.  He leaned over and whispered:

“It’s okay, baby.  Put your harness on.”  I did what he said.  After strapping myself in, I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.  That always happens to me whenever I get into one of these things.  I get nervous whenever the engine comes on.  Overcome it, overcome it, I thought to myself.  Keva and Jaysen pulled steering wheels from under the console.  I heard a muffled voice from outside.  It was Captain Elvon announcing to the cargo bay guard to open the airlock hatch.  Captain Elvon was in another pod, using the intercom system. 

“Open the hatch.”  I saw the guard nod and push a button on the wall.  The hatch opened underneath the pods.  We hovered there for awhile.  Then, the pods descended into space.  Keva was driving the pod smoothly down towards the station.  Just then, I had a premonition.  I saw two pods get blown to smithereens by laser beams.  The beams came from the station!  I opened my eyes abruptly and looked out the viewport frantically, glaring at the station.  Then, like lightening, two laser beams shot out and cut through two pods in front of us like paper.  We all screamed.  Someone in one of the other pods got on the ‘com system and spoke rapidly, a scared tinge to his voice.

“The captain!  He was in there!  He-he!  W-w-w-was in THERE!  OH GOD!”  He started to cry.  He slammed the ‘com off.  Tears cascaded down my face.  He was one of my best friends!   I thought sadly.  Someone killed him!  How could they?  Keva jerked the wheel to the right to dodge another beam.

“Who’s doing this?  Whoever it is, I’m killing ‘em when I get in there!” she exploded, dodging another beam.  I looked out the viewport and saw the station’s gun turrets spinning wildly, as if possessed.  Suddenly, they stopped spinning and receded back into the station.  Huh?   I looked over at Jordan.  His mouth was open in awe.  I grabbed his hand and shook it.

“Jordan?  Jordan?  What’re we gonna do now?”  I questioned, sobbing.  He closed his mouth and turned his head to look at me.  He was shaking.

“I g-g-g-guess continue on with the mission?  Find out what happened?”  He struggled to get out.  Jaysen spun his seat around.

“What?” He boomed.  “Continue?  Captain Elvon’s DEAD!  Are you nuts?”

“He would’ve wanted us to!  Wouldn’t you?”  Jordan spat back.

“No!”

Yes you would Jay!”

“Jordan!  No!  I’d never continue a mission if the captain died.  Never!”

“You’re a coward, Jay, you know that?”

“I’m not a coward!  I chased lions away from my village when I was 10!  Is that cowardly!”

“We’re not in Africa!  We’re in SPACE!  COLD, FREEZING SPACE!”  Jordan shouted at the top of his lungs.  I unstrapped myself angrily and stood between them.

“NOW LISTEN!” I yelled, “Captain Elvon wouldn’t want us to argue!  He’d want us to find out what’s wrong with the station, find any survivors, and bring them on board!  Got it?”  I stood there, shaking uncontrollably.  I looked back and forth from Jaysen to Jordan.  They were dumbfounded.  They’d never heard me scream like that before.  Jordan held up his hands, palms facing me.

“All right, Jade.  We got it.  Just calm down.  We got it, don’t we Jay?”

“Yes.  We understand.”

“Okay,” I rasped.  I sat back down and strapped myself in again.  I looked out the viewport and saw the station filling up the glass fast.

“Uh, guys?  I can’t slow down!”  Keva shouted, trying to brake.  The brakes wouldn’t work!

“Try the reverse thrusters!” I yelled hoarsely.  She pushed a big red button.  I felt a slight jump back.  But that’s all we got before being thrust back forward again.  We all screamed again, until we came to a dead stop inches before colliding with the station.  We ceased.  I saw that the two other pods were stopped as well. 

“Okay,” I said slowly, “find the airlock Keva and park us there.”  Keva nodded and turned the wheel right and drove straight for a few feet, the other pods in pursuit.  I saw a large rectangular door.  It was opening two feet and closing slowly.  I felt a chill go down my spine.  Another premonition flashed in my mind.  I saw a man yelling for our help; then he killed Keva and Jaysen.  Keva pulled in front of the door and stopped. 

“Try to patch into the computer to keep the door open, Jay.” I told him, staring at the door.

“Okay.”  His slender fingers deftly maneuvered over the keys.  I unstrapped myself and stood behind him.  A schematic of the station popped up on the console.  I saw the computer room and touched it.  It enlarged and I saw a thing called “Door”.  I touched that and the door opened all the way.  We all breathed a sigh of relief.

“Now, into the airlock.” I said, sitting back down, strapping myself in.  I saw the blackness come forth.  Keva turned on the lights and slowly inched us forward, the two pods followed.  The door closed behind us with a clang.  She lowered the pod until we came in contact with the floor.  We shook slightly as we landed.  Keva unstrapped herself rapidly and headed for the pod door.  I called out to her.

“Wait!  Don’t go just yet.  Aren’t you gonna scan the airlock or somethin’?  Make sure there’s no surprises or anything?” I struggled to get out.  Keva shrugged and sat back down.  Jordan, Jaysen, and I unstrapped ourselves and stood behind Keva.  She scanned the airlock.  Nothing.  Or so it seemed.  I know something’s here.  I can feel it.

“Nothing Jade.  Now can we go?” Keva confirmed, staring at me.  I nodded nervously.  We grabbed our weapons and opened the pod door.  The others were already waiting.  The airlock was illuminated.  We saw a huge door in front of us.  Jaysen went to the keypad and tried some codes.  It wouldn’t open.  He tried more codes.  After three tries, he punched the pad, frustrated.  Just then, the door opened.  We held up our guns, ready to fire.  Jaysen turned on his light; there was nothing in the doorway.  Jaysen, Keva, Jordan, and I cautiously walked in, sweeping the place with our lights.  Still nothing.  From a dark corridor, a man stepped out, bleeding from his temple.

“Help me!  Help me!” He shouted, running towards us.  He fell to his knees in front of Jaysen.  He hugged his legs.

“What do you need help for?” He boomed, kicking the man off his legs and pointing his gun at him.

“Th-they’re after me!” The man stuttered.

“Who?” I asked, walking up and kneeling near him.

“I-I-I, don’t, kn-kn-know,” he stuttered again, looking at me.  Then, he smiled evilly.  Something’s wrong.  He’s not himself.  I got up quickly and stood next to Jordan.

“Something’s wrong with him,” I told him.

“I know.  He’s bleeding from his head.”

“No, not that.  It’s something else.”

“What?”

“I have no idea.” I looked over at the man.  A chill ran down my spine.  I looked away and turned to the eight people behind me.

“Every ten feet, light up your Light Orbs,” I ordered, turning back after they nodded.  Jaysen yanked the strange man up.  Like a wild animal, he turned on Jaysen and ripped his throat out.  With his bare hands !  I screamed and raised my gun to shoot when he lunged at me.  I got off a shot in his stomach.  He flinched and turned to Keva.  He punched her in the stomach, but his fist went right through her!  He pulled his hand out, coming away with a handful of blood and guts.  She slumped to the floor.  He bit into a piece of her stomach.  He looked at me and grinned evilly again, blood surrounding his mouth.

He lunged at Jordan, but before he got to him, I shot the guy in the head.  A chunk of his head blew off.  Blood and brain matter splattered on the wall, Keva, and Jaysen.  He fell over them.  I was breathing rapidly.  I lowered my gun and looked at Jordan and the others.  They were as stunned as I was.  I turned to the others and told them to go on ahead and start lighting up the hallway.

“Start lighting this place.”  They nodded and started walking, dropping Light Orbs.  The strange man was in a heap on the floor.  Suddenly, he started to move.  First, his arm fell away from his body.  Then, he sat up, half his head practically gone.  What remained of his brain was pulsing.  I was sickened.  His mouth slowly twitched, then went into that evil smirk again.  I shot him repeatedly, his body dancing in my gunfire.  I stopped shooting.  I slithered over to him and kicked his leg.  He didn’t budge.  I walked over to his head and kneeled down carefully.  I pulled out my penlight and turned it on.  I shined it onto his brain.  Something grotesque slithered from his brain.  It looked like a cross between a snake and a slug.  It was about a foot long.  The dark brown thing paused and reared up, like it was gonna strike.  I stood up quickly, stepping away from it.  A slit of a mouth opened and it hissed at me.  Like an arrow, it shot up into the air at my face.  I raised my gun and shot it before it struck me.  It exploded, little splatters of goo spraying everywhere.

Jordan came running up to me and looked at what remained of the creature.  He knelt down, setting his medical case down.  He opened it, picking out a vial and some tweezers.  Grabbing a few small slivers, Jordan dropped them into the vial.  He placed the vial and tweezers back into the case to study later.  I looked ahead of us and saw our four crewmembers placing Light Orbs near the walls of the corridor, ten feet apart.

“Okay, stop you guys!  Come back here!”  I shouted, running my hand over my face nervously.  I was scared.  I’ll never get over this.  The others came over and stood near us.  We all headed up the corridor slowly and carefully, guns raised.  I was behind a tall man and a short woman.  Another premonition hit me like a lightening strike.  I saw a woman lying in the middle of the corridor.  The short woman knelt down and took her pulse.  Then, the woman on the floor sat up and grabbed my crewmember’s throat.  She crushed it and ripped a chunk of flesh out.  The crewmember fell backwards, blood flowing down her chest.  I could hear her gurgling.  I came out of the reverie and nearly fainted.  Jordan caught me.

“What’s wrong?”

“A-another premonition!  A woman, in the hallway!  The female crewmember!  Her throat!  Ripped out, blood!  Ooohhhh…” I struggled to get out, slowly breathing.  The female crewmember gasped and looked at me.

“M-m-me?  I die?  Oh God!” she shrieked, running past us, back to the airlock.  Another crewmember, a dark-skinned man, caught her.  She started cussing, arms flailing.

“Let me go!  I don’t wanna die!” she shouted, beating the man in the face and body.  He never flinched.  He put her down and let her go back to the pods.  But then, I heard her scream and then gurgle.  I saw a man biting at her throat.  He looked up, dropped her body, and ran at us, growling like an animal.  We open fired.  He danced in our gunfire.  He finally fell to the ground after we fired at him.  He looked like Swiss cheese.  I heard a slippery, sucking sound.  I saw that same creature that was in the other man come out of this one.  Jordan ran over to it, kneeling and opening his case.  He grabbed a long, thin case and grabbed the creature in tweezers.  It didn’t even struggle.  Plopping it in the case, he closed it and replaced the case within his larger case.

“What’s wrong with that one?” I asked, shining my gunlight at the body.

“I don’t know.  Maybe it was dying from the host getting shot up,” he answered, standing up and slinging the case around his shoulder.  I turned back around and told the crewmembers in front of me to lead the way, cautiously.  We continued down the corridor, slowly and steadily.  I didn’t have any other premonitions as we walked.  Then, far away, I heard gunfire.

“Gunfire,” I said, trying to gauge where it is.  I finally pinpointed where it was coming from.  It came from the end of the hall.  I ran ahead, to the end of the hall, and came to a door.  I pressed my ear against it.  Sure enough, gunfire.

“Randall, get over here,” I called to a tall, white man.  He was the tech in our group.  He came up to me, unslung his backpack, and opened it.  I shined my light on a keypad near the door.  He punched in a few codes, but it didn’t work.  He took out a screwdriver-type instrument and placed the flat end into a crack between the keypad and the wall.  Pushing a button, we heard a quick buzzing noise and then a pop.  Putting the instrument away, he pulled the keypad from the wall, exposing colored wires.  He searched in his pack for another instrument.  Randall found a wire cutter and proceeded to cut the wires. 

Then, I had a premonition.  Randall was cutting the wires and he cut three red ones at the same time.  He got fried, his flesh burning and falling off.

“Wait!  Don’t cut three red ones at the same time.  Cut ‘em separately,” I warned him.  He looked at me quizzically, shrugged, and proceeded.  Oh yeah.  He hasn’t heard about my premonitions.  When he came to the red wires, he cut each one separately.  Whew.  That was close.  The door opened slowly, then stopped at my eye level.  Luckily, it’s enough for all of us to get through.  We proceeded through, Randall in front, Jordan and I in the middle, and the other seven brought up the rear.

I heard a thud behind us; one of the other crewmembers tripped on a tripwire.  He screeched.  Jordan, Randall, and I ran over to him.  I knelt down and saw his ankles were wrapped in wire.  Everytime he moved his legs, the wire cut into them.

“Don’t move,” I told him, Jordan kneeling next to me.  Setting his case down and opening it, he pulled out wire cutters.  Cutting the wire off, he bandaged the man’s legs.  After making sure he was okay, he got up and we continued.  He limped a little on his legs as we walked, but he could manage.  I led the way, Randall and Jordan behind me.  I sensed something; something was wrong.  I heard the faint whine of gears shifting.  Then, I saw an explosion flash across my mind.  The wall to the left of us exploded, sending shrapnel everywhere, killing two of the crewmembers with us.

“Run!” I yelled, sprinting forward.  I heard pounding feet behind me, and then the wall exploded outward, shrapnel flew everywhere.  I looked back as someone screamed.  The person that screamed, a black man with close-cropped hair, was clawing at his eyes.  I saw two other crewmembers lying on the grating, their bodies riddled with large and small pieces of metal.  Not again! My mind screamed.  I could they were dead when I looked at them.  Jordan confirmed it when he knelt and took their pulses.  He went to the black guy with shrapnel in his eyes.  He took out as much of the shrapnel that he could.  Jordan bandaged his eyes and I told two other crewmembers to escort him back to the pods.  They nodded and took him back to the hangar.  We waited for them to come back.  One of the two reported what they did.

“Ma’am, we secured him on a couch and set up the armor,” a man said.  I nodded.  Good.  Nothing should be able to get in, I thought.  I turned and led the way again.  This corridor was dark.  We turned on the flashlights on our guns.  The corridor opened onto a mess hall.  A scene unfolded: people lay strewn everywhere.  They seemed dead to me.

“Jordan, get out your thermal scanner.  Check to see if anyone’s alive,” I ordered him.  He got it out and stepped in front of me.  Turning it on, I saw the thermal scans of all these people.  Mostly bluish-purple scans, with a few reds and oranges mixed in.

“Okay guys.  Let’s collect these survivors and head out,” I order, stepping up to a body that I saw red on the scanner.  I nudged the person with my boot.  No movement.  I nudged again and the person sat up, startled and drawing her knees up to her chest.

“Wh-who are you?  Are you people?” She questioned, eyes darting from side to side.

“Take it easy.  We’re people from a rescue ship.  We’ve come to look for survivors.  Looks like we’ve found a few.  And no, we’re not infected,” I told her, holding out my hand.  She looked at it and hesitantly grabbed it.  As she did, she fainted.  I had seen she was bleeding from her head, on the left temple, near her hairline.  I motioned for two of the others to carry her to our pods.  Jordan gave them a portable stretcher to put her on.  The rest of us checked out more people, to see if they were alive.  We found three more people, grabbed them up, and headed back to the pods.  As we did, I had a sneaking suspicion that something very bad was gonna happen when we got back to our ship.  Very bad.

After we left our survivors in the infirmary, there was a meeting with our Second-in-Command, Louis Cole Freeman, a tall, chocolate-skinned man who was in his 30s, in the mess hall.  He had a commanding presence, but he was kind and gentle.  I could tell he was still shaken by Captain Elvon’s death.  After we all were assembled, he spoke.

“Uh, I called you all here to get a re-report from each team about how many survivors they retrieved,” he stuttered, hands going to his face to wipe it, even though he wasn’t sweating.  There weren’t many of us left from the mission.  Only three pods were left after the other two were blown apart.  There were four to a pod, so that leaves twelve of us.  One team spoke up.

“Sir?  We found three survivors,” a man with a bandage over his right eye said.

“We found three as well,” a woman with really light blond hair said.

“We found four people, sir,” I spoke up.

“Okay.  We’ll get in our cryopods, go back to our space, and find these people homes,” Louis told us, leaving abruptly.  He seemed to run from the room.  We all disassembled and went to our quarters.  As I went past the infirmary, I had a premonition.  This one was bad, real bad.  I saw the lady with the bleeding head was asleep.  Then, she started heaving up, her upper body moving.  Her eyes flew open.  A smile crept across her face.  Then, she ripped open her shirt, exposing her breasts.  Something seemed to push up inside her stomach and chest.  Suddenly, a sharp thing pierced her skin, just above her stomach.  Something forced its way through the hole, opening it wider.  She still had that smile on her face.  That something that was coming out was an egg-shaped creature, with three legs, each had a little nail or claw on the end of it.  The lady’s hands went up to the creature and helped it out.  She said something: “Come my baby.  Come on.  Ah, ah, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” She screamed.  After helping the creature, she dropped it to the floor.  It scuttled across the infirmary, crawled up the wall and attached itself in a corner of the ceiling.  Her hands dropped, and she was gone.  But, more of those creatures came out.  About five more came out of her and did the same thing the first one did.

When I came out of the premonition, I was lying curled up on the floor, my eyes tightly shut.  Sweat poured down my face.  Jordan knelt beside me, as others stood around, wondering what was going on. 

“What happened?”

“Is she alright?”

“What’s goin on?”  That’s what I heard around me.  I wrapped my arms around my body, hugging myself tight.  My stomach was hurting badly.  Finally, I shouted something.

“NO!  NO!  NO!  NO!  She’s giving b-birth to them!  Those creatures!  NO!  NO!  NO!  NO!  NO!  NOOOOOOOOOOO!”  Everyone jumped back at my screams.  After a few seconds, they left, going back to their quarters.  I heard them mumble things about me.  Jordan scooped me up and took me to his personal infirmary, right next to his room.  He laid me down on the operating table.  My body heaved up and down, up and down.  I felt like I was convulsing.  Sweat poured off me, soaking my clothes.  My eyes were still shut.  Jordan helped me out of my suit, leaving me in my underwear.  He wiped my sweat and grabbed my head, trying to calm me down.

“Jade!  Jade!  Can you hear me?”  Jordan asked, forcing my eyes open.  I looked at him, seeming not to recognize him.  I convulsed and rolled from his grasp.  I was on my side, holding my stomach.  He forced me onto my back.  He strapped me down so I wouldn’t move.  I still tried to move.  I pulled at the restraints.  My head thrashed back and forth, spittle coming out in threads.  Then, I felt a prick, and I was out.

When I came to, I heard screams and running feet.  Oh no!  It’s happened! I thought.  I felt no restraints and I jumped off the table and got dressed.  Jordan was nowhere to be found in the infirmary.  I went to the door and pressed my ear to it.  I heard the shouts and screams.  I pushed the open button on the keypad next to the door.  It silently opened.  Lights were flickering in the hallway.  People ran past me.  I stepped out and looked around me.  One man was chewing on another man’s head, taking huge bites out of his skull.  He looked up and saw me, blood and brain matter dripping from his mouth and chin.

“Blood!  I need blood!” He screeched at me.  Dropping the man, he got up and lunged at me.  I hit him with my forearm as he came close to me.  He fell to the floor.  Spotting a gun next to the open door of the infirmary, I grabbed it, cocked it, and aimed it at the man’s head.  I fired, his head exploding, sending blood and brain splattering.  I ran down the hall, to the main infirmary.  I saw the egg-shaped things on the ceiling, pulsating and squeezing out the snake-like creatures.  I aimed at one of them and fired.  The egg exploded, goo dripping from the ceiling.  Suddenly, I was assaulted from behind.  I fell down and dropped my gun.  It clattered a few feet ahead of me.  I heard the person that knocked me down say something.

“NO!  Don’t destroy them!  NO!”  I wrenched out of the person’s grip and reached for my gun.  I grabbed it, got up on my knees, and fired at the person.  Bullets riddled her body.  It was Rebeka Shender.  I fired more shots into her head, killing the creature within.  I heard slithering all around me.  The snakes!  There was too many to shoot with my gun.  I fired at the eggs on the ceiling, destroying their sources first.  Then, I ran towards the door, stepping on snakes that were under my feet.  I got outside the door and closed it, locking it and smashing the locking mechanism, so no one infected could get in.  I’ll get rid of the snakes in there later.

I ran down the hallway, shooting any person that lunged at me.  When my gun was empty, I dropped it and pulled out one of my grenades and set the timer for 15 seconds.  I threw it at a man that hissed at me.  He caught it and looked at quizzically.  After 15 seconds, he was covered in acid and screaming.  His screams dissipated into gurgles.  I kept running, my calves burning.  I turned a corner and saw people and snakes feasting on other people.  I stopped in my tracks.  I pulled out my last two grenades, set them each for 20 seconds, and hurled them down the hallway.  I stepped away from the corridor and tears started flowing a little.  I saw Louis Freeman down there; he was calling to me.  I couldn’t help him; that’s the only way I could.  I ran down the hallway as I heard the explosion, screams, and gurgles.

I found two guns down the hall.  It was eerily quiet.  I heard two people coming; a man and a woman and they were talking.  I hid on a corner of a new corridor.  As they passed, I heard this conversation:

“We must get to the bridge of this vessel and steer it to our home planet.”

“Yes.  Where do you think it is?”

“I don’t know.  We’ll have to scan through the walls and find it.  This vessel has plenty of food for our young.”

“Indeed.”

How weird.  The others that were infected never sounded like that.  Maybe they can access our vocal chords and speak to each other that way.  Maybe when their hungry, the people they’re in speak their thoughts.  When they were gone, I continued on down the hallway.  Then, I spotted Jordan down the hall; he was in an alcove where a window was.  He was looking in the direction I was headed.  I shuffled quietly over to him and grabbed him.

“Ah!” He gasped, gripping the gun he was holding tightly.

“Jordan!  I’m so glad I found you!  What happened?”

“After I knocked you out, I heard a screech come from the main infirmary.  I went to check it out, to see if everyone was all right.  I opened the infirmary door and saw egg things coming out of a woman and crawling up to the ceiling.  I rapidly closed the door and ran with a group of people that were fighting off the infected people from the station.  They gave me a gun and they ended up dying.  And, that’s why I’m here.” He explained, leaning his head on my shoulder.

“Alright.  We’re gonna get out of here, okay?  Come on.  Follow me to the docking bay.  I’ll get us a pod and rig the ship to blow up,” I told him, grabbing his arm and pulling him from the alcove.  We walked cautiously down the hallway, peering down dimly lit corridors.  I spotted a man down the hallway, propped up against the wall.  He had bandages over his eyes.  As we walked around him, he stood up with ease. 

“Hey doc?  Could ya help me?  I need eyes,” he spoke and ripped off the bandages.  His eyes were black as night.  He growled at us and held out his hands.  Jordan shot him in the head a bunch of times, ruining any chance the creature could come out.  We continued on our search for the docking bay.  We found a corridor marked “Docking Bay”.  We turned and saw it was pitch black.  I whipped out my night-vision goggles and put ‘em on.  Jordan got his out, too.  Switching them on, the corridor was awash in green light.  Bodies were strewn everywhere; hard to tell if they were alive or dead.  We had our guns ready in case someone should pop up. 

We walked slowly through the bodies, making each step precise.  I gripped Jordan’s arm tightly, making sure he doesn’t stray.  I spotted the docking bay door at the end of the hall.  A smile crept across my face.  Yes!  Almost home free! I thought.  Just then, a hand shot up and grabbed my ankle.  I screamed and aimed down at the hand.  Shooting it, I aimed at the body it was attached to.  It was Erlin Williams, the pilot.  He stood up quickly and knocked me down.  I struggled to get one of my guns up under his weight.  He spoke.

“Shh-Shade.  Gimme a kish,” he slurred, blood dripping from his mouth.  He opened his mouth wide and I saw a hole at the back of his throat.  One of the snakes must’ve burrowed through his mouth to get to his brain.  As I stared in his mouth, a snake slithered out of the hole, hissing at me.  I finally got a gun up and shoved it in his mouth, pinning the snake up against his palate.  I fired, Erlin’s head exploding.  Blood and bits of brain fell on me.  Shaking him off, Jordan helped me up.  We continued, moving quicker this time.  Finally arriving at the door, Jordan was the lookout as I worked the locking mechanism.  I pushed several keys and the door rose a few feet off the ground.  Not enough for us to squeeze through.  I pushed the same sequence of keys and it rose up to my chest.  That’ll have to do.  I grabbed Jordan and we ducked under the door.  I pushed the same keys again and the door slammed down.  I locked it and disabled the keypad.

Snatching off our goggles, we turned around and saw a few people strewn everywhere and one person in one of the pods.  Two of the three pods were destroyed.  I ran to the pod with the person in it and knocked him from his seat.  Jordan pulled him out and dropped him to the floor.  He sat next to me.  I pushed the engine button and the pod started.  Just when I began to strap myself in, I have a premonition.  I see the two people that wanted to find the bridge bust the door down, wanting to destroy this pod we’re in, so we can’t escape.  They knock us out and strap us in our cryochambers.  Then, we arrive at their world.  The snakes switch from them to us.  We rule their planet as king and queen.  We go from planet to planet, galaxy to galaxy, taking people and implanting our seeds in them.

I come out of it and unstrap myself.  Jordan wonders and asks about the premonition.

“What’s wrong?  What’d you see?”

“They want us to lead their world.  They want us to be king and queen,” I explain, grabbing my guns.  I power down the pod and tell him to hide in a locker.  I do the same.

So, we’re back at the beginning.  I’m in this locker hiding from the two infected ones.  One speaks.

“Where is she?  I can feel her.  That auburn-haired girl.  And her mate.  That dark man.  He’s a doctor.  Where are they?”

“I know.  In the pod?” The other answers.  I see them through the slits in the locker.  They go to the pod and check inside it.  When they don’t find us, they get out and go to the lockers near us.  I can’t see them this time but I can hear them, tapping and sniffing at the lockers.  When they get to the one near me, I duck down as much as I can, so they won’t see me.  One gets to mine and sniffs at it.  I hear that person’s voice.  It’s a woman.

“Mmmmmm!  She’s here my lord.  In here.  I can taste her,” she says, laughing evilly.  I hear her trying to pull the door off.  She gets a couple of screws off and the door leans out a little.  I see the bay through the cracks.  Alright.  Time to be brave girl.  Get these snakeheads! I think to myself.  I kick the door out, knocking the woman down.  I stand on top of her.  I aim my guns at the door, gauging where her head should be and I fire like crazy.  I stop when I see blood seeping out around the door.  Her mate lunges at me and knocks my guns from my hands.  I fall to the floor, him on top of me.  He hisses. 

“Jordan!  Help me!” I yell, struggling with the man.  Jordan kicks his door open and shoots the guy in the shoulder.  He jumps off me and stands up.  I crawl over to Jordan and stand up.  The guy yells at us.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?  We want to have you both to lead us!  My mate would have enjoyed your brain my love!” He shrieked, laughing after he said the last line. 

“But that’s okay.  I’ve got plenty,” he said, starting to wretch.  He fell to his knees and threw up black slime.  Then, snakes started coming forth.  After the last snake, his jaws cracked open and an egg came out.  He fell forward, obviously dead.  I screamed at Jordan to get into the pod.

“Get in the pod!  NOW!”  I ran for the pod and jumped in, Jordan close on my heels.  I closed the door tight and locked it.  Snakes were everywhere; they crawled all over the glass.  I powered up the pod again and pushed the button to open the bay doors.  The doors open behind us and I pulled the steering wheel out from under the console.  Backing out of the bay, I turn on the engine schematics.  There are four engines that powered the ship.  I turned them up to the highest capacity, until the computer started blabbing over and over: “Warning--Engines unstable.  Warning--Engines unstable.”  I turned the pod around and got as far as I could from the ship, but not far enough so I couldn't see it.

We watched as the snakes on the glass froze and broke off.  We could see the ship clearly.  We listened as the computer said: “Engines failing.  Engines failing.  Ship will explode in 30 seconds.”  We breathed easier, sighing with relief.  The computer continued:

“Ship will explode in 25 seconds…….20 seconds…….15 seconds……10 seconds…….9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”  We saw the ship go up in a giant ball of orange.  Yes, all the snakes were destroyed, never to be seen again.  I turned to Jordan and smiled at him.  He smiled back. 

“We made it,” I said.

“Yep.  Sure did, babe,” he said.

“I’m so tired.  Think I’ll get some sleep,” I told him, unstrapping myself and getting up.  I went to the couch at the back and lay down.  As my eyelids dropped, I felt Jordan lay with me and enfold me in his arms.  Mmmmmm, how comforting.  Being in the arms of my man.  I feel everything’s gonna be all right.

Or so I thought.  As we cruised through space, I dreamed.  I dreamed I was giving birth.  I was sweating and going through the labor pains.  My stomach pulsated and heaved.  It was huge!  Jordan was delivering my baby.  One last push and I saw….an egg!  Jordan held up an egg!  NOOOOOOO!!  I screamed in terror.  Then, snakes surrounded me, slithering and hissing as they slid all over me.  Men and women stood around me, heads bowed.  They said something: “Jade, our Queen.  Jade, our Queen.”  They said this over and over.  I screamed in horror.  The egg Jordan held burst open and a giant snake flew out and into my screaming mouth.  It burrowed through my throat and into my brain.  I was calm and I smiled.  I spoke: “Yes, my children.  I am your Queen.”  I laughed.

I woke in a sweat.  I was surrounded by darkness.  I sat up and started to feel around, trying to gauge my surroundings.  I felt soft sheets; a bed.  I started to slide all over the bed, feeling a way to get down.  I brushed past someone; could it be Jordan?  I finally found a curved edge; a circular bed.  I put my feet on the floor, a stone floor.  I stood up, feeling weak.  Why am I so weak? I thought.  I put my hands up, feeling for a wall or something.  I saw a crack of light from a far wall.  I ran to it, tripping over something.  Getting up, I limped over to the light.  I touched the light.  It was coming from doors or something that could be opened.  I pushed at the wall.  It opened outward.  Blinding light flooded the room.  I heard someone moan behind me.

“Ummm.  Come back to bed,” the person moaned.  I turned around and saw a man laying in bed.  It was Jordan!  I ran to him, wincing as my leg hurt.  I grabbed him in a tight hug.

“Jordan!  I’m so glad you’re here!  Where are we?” I rejoiced, pulling away and looking at him.  He smiled slyly.

“Don’t you know my love?  We’re home,” he answered, touching my cheek.

“What?  Home?  What home?  Earth?” I questioned, moving away from his touch.

“No.” He said, still smiling.  Just then I thought, Oh my God!  We’re on the snake’s planet!   I was about to get up when Jordan tackled me, knocking me down.  He forced himself on me, his face hovering over mine.

“Now, we’ll rule together,” he said, pressing his lips to mine.  His mouth opened and I felt something force its way into my mouth.  I started gagging and hitting Jordan repeatedly.  Then, my hits slowed as the snake bored its way into my brain.  One last thought came: Oh no!  NO!  I don’t want to go out like this!  NO!  Then, it was gone, replaced by a new one: Yes!  I will rule by my king’s side.  We’ll rule together, forever.   I accepted the kiss.  I grasped his head and kissed him lovingly.  He let up, looking at my face.  He smiled; I returned it.

“Now do you see my love?” Jordan asked.

“Yes, my dear.  Yes I do,” I answered.  He got off me and stood up, taking my hand.  I sat up and stood up also.  He led me to a closet.

“Get dressed my Queen.  You must greet your subjects,” Jordan told me, opening my closet.  He went over to his closet and got dressed also.  I saw an array of beautiful clothes.  I picked out an orange, flitty dress.  It was sheer, long, and flowing.  I put it on, revelling in the softness of the dress.  I looked at myself in the full-length mirror near the closet.  The dress was form fitting and the shoulders dropped off, like big straps.  It had long sleeves attached to the dropped shoulders.  I fluffed my hair and placed a tiara, with an orange stone in the middle, on my head.  Jordan came over and gazed at me. He was wearing long flowing orange pants and an orange top with cap sleeves.  He had on orange slipper-shoes.  I went back to my closet and put on orange slippers too. 

“You look radiant my love,” he lovingly told me, grabbing my hand and kissing it.

“So do you my love,” I returned, grasping his hand.  We turned and walked over to the still open doors.  We walked out onto a balcony overlooking a small town.  People stopped what they were doing and gazed up at us.  I raised my hand in blessing.  I spoke.

“I am Queen Jade.  This is my King, Jordan.  We will give you things you’ve never dreamed of.  We will give you shelter, food, and love.  But, only a few of you will be chosen to serve us.  We shall rule you forevermore!” I yelled, garnering yells of appraisal from the multitude.  I smiled and thought: They’ll never know the pain we’ll put them through.  We will lead them on rampages throughout the galaxy.   I turned to my King and led him back into our room.  I spoke to him.

“Now I understand my dear.  We live on many planets, recruiting people as our slaves,” I said, hooking my arm in his.  Closing the doors, he lit the torches on the wall with his mind.  He grabbed me up and carried me to the bed.  We lay next to each other.  His hand went to my stomach.

“This womb will give birth to great power.  Our children will rule after we are gone,” Jordan said, caressing my stomach.

“Yes, my King,” I softly said, leaning over to kiss him.  Then, we made love, consummating our union.  Over the next few days, I lay in bed, weighed down by my huge stomach.  One day, I screeched in pain.

“J-J-Jordan!  Help me!” I screamed, grabbing his hand when he got over to me.  He went to the foot of the bed, where our baby was to come out.  He told me to push; I did, straining.  He told me to push one more time and he delivered an egg.  I smiled at it, sweat streaming down my face.  He handed it to me.  I set in on my already flat stomach.  I caressed it and cooed at it.

“My baby, there’s my little baby.”  As I caressed it, it pulsated and heaved up.  A tiny hand pierced the side of the vessel.  The egg flopped over a little bit.  As it did, another hand ripped at the torn side, opening it wider.  A little head popped out.  The hands worked at the egg, pulling it apart so the baby could get out.  It was a caramel-colored boy.  He screeched a tiny screech.  I pulled him the rest of the way out, pulling open the top of my nightgown so he could be against my flesh.  Jordan got some water and a towel.  He wiped our son off.  I stroked his head, listening to him breathe.

“What are we going to name him?” Jordan asked me, laying beside us and stroking his head, too.

“We should name him Devronin, ‘heir to Devron’, our home planet,” I decided, stroking his back.  I gave Devronin to Jordan and got up, wiping the egg sac off me.  It fell to the floor with a sickening plop.  It melted away.  I closed up my nightgown and walked to the doors and opened them.  It was nighttime.  I looked to the left and saw a huge moon.  A smaller moon was just at the northeastern curve of the bigger one.  I breathed in the cool night air.  I smiled.  I felt Jordan’s arms around me.  I stroked his hands.  He nuzzled my neck.

“Aaah.  Peace, my love.  I’m at peace.  We have a beautiful son who’ll be more powerful than the two of us combined.  Hmmmmm.  I love you,” I said, turning my head to his.

“I love you, too, my Queen.”  We kissed softly.  Then, we heard a whimper come from the bed.  We turned around and saw Devronin sit up.  His little mouth opened in a big smile.  We smiled with him.