First Encounter

by Jasper T. Scott

  Walking quickly now that gravity had been restored throughout the ship, they brushed past Lt. Asher in the open doors of the bridge. She was now lying in a pool of her own blood, bent at the knees, her feet still pinned to the deck by her mag boots.

  They stormed down the corridor from the bridge, heading for the bank of elevators at the end. Clayton hit the call button from a distance with his ARCs.

  The elevator doors opened just a few seconds later. Devon started in, but he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “Take the next one and head up. We’ll go down. Use the ship’s schematics to find all of the exits for that maintenance tunnel. Make sure you check them all. Set your comms to channel one.”

  “Understood, sir,” Devon replied.

  Clayton activated his comm piece and switched to channel one, then hurried into the elevator behind Delta, Richard, and Doctor Stevens.

  They dropped down just one deck, and OQ26 appeared on the display above the doors. “First stop,” Delta said as he stepped out and swept the corridor with his rifle.

  Clayton nodded to Doctor Stevens and Ambassador Morgan before following Delta out. Both of them looked scared, but Doctor Stevens made a visible effort to push past it. Morgan didn’t. He was the last one to leave the elevator.

  Clayton frowned at that. Keera had obviously killed those two officers, but the circumstances were unknown. When they’d found her on the bridge, she’d been docile and passive, clinging to her mother’s neck and crying. That didn’t add up to a cold-blooded killer. Maybe she’d acted in self-defense.

  And yet her own father was afraid of her, so maybe not. He ought to know by now what Keera was capable of.

  “You think she killed those officers in cold blood,” Clayton whispered, glancing back at Morgan as they crept down the corridor past the doors to the ship’s sleeping quarters.

  “Yes.”

  “Why?” Clayton asked.

  “Because that’s just what she is. She’s a carnivore who likes her meat to be bloody and fresh. She’s a killer, Captain, and I have the scars to prove it.” Morgan rolled up one of his sleeves to reveal crisscrossing ridges of scar tissue running through the hairs on his arm.

  “She did that?” Stevens whispered.

  “And more. Lori’s breasts look like they’ve been through a cheese grater.”

  Clayton and Delta traded worried glances. “We’re going to have to put her in cryo for the rest of the trip,” Clayton said.

  “That’s what I’ve been saying to Lori for months!”

  “Should we be checking these rooms?” Stevens asked, glancing at one of the doors as they walked by.

  “The maintenance tunnels don’t come out in any of the officer’s quarters,” Delta replied.

  A muffled thump sounded to Clayton’s right. He whirled toward the sound, his rifle aiming at room number 18.

  “You sure about that, Delta?”

  “Positive, sir.”

  “Then she must have already left the tunnels,” Clayton replied.

  “That’s my room,” Morgan whispered, his voice trembling. “I was just in there!”

  “Quiet,” Delta hissed.

  “What do you mean you were just in there?” Clayton asked.

  Morgan hesitated.

  “I thought you were up on The Wheel.”

  “I couldn’t stay there with that creature any longer. I came down here last night,” Morgan said.

  “Before those two officers were killed,” Clayton said. “That’s why Lori said it could have been you.”

  “You saw their wounds. How could I have done that?”

  Everyone was staring at Morgan now.

  “It wasn’t me,” he insisted.

  “The autopsy will tell us,” Clayton replied. “Delta, let’s get this over with.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  Clayton used his ARCs to open the door. The dim golden hues of night cycle lighting left plenty of shadows for a child Keera’s size to hide within. Delta led the way inside, and Clayton mentally turned the lights up. The shadows fled, but there was still no sign of her.

  Clayton’s eyes found the door to the bathroom, and he triggered it from a distance as he stalked over.

  But it was empty.

  “She’s not here,” Stevens said, peering in over his shoulder.

  “Check the lockers,” Clayton replied. Leaving his rifle to dangle by the shoulder strap, he went and grabbed both locker handles, sucked in a breath, and said, “Cover me, Delta.”

  “I got your back, sir.”

  Clayton pulled both lockers open and stepped back quickly, snatching his rifle and taking aim at—

  But both of the lockers were empty, too.

  “The room’s clear,” Delta said and lowered his rifle. “There’s no one in here.”

  Clayton looked to him with a frown. “Then what the hell did we hear out in the corridor?”

  Chapter 28

  Lori walked between Lieutenants Devon and Davies as they checked level 30. The whole deck was devoted to the Officers’ mess and rec areas. The maintenance tunnels came out here, in the kitchen. Lori began to walk off toward the game tables on the far side of the deck.

  “Get back in line, Reed,” Devon ordered.

  Lori did as she was told, but her eyes narrowed at that order. Devon insisted she stay between them because they had guns and she didn’t. But she wasn’t afraid of her own daughter. No matter how bad things looked, she knew there had to be some kind of mistake. Keera would never intentionally hurt anyone. She wouldn’t have attacked those two officers. Not without provocation at least.

  And now Keera was on the run, but only because they’d threatened to put her in cryo for the rest of the trip.

  The ship’s lights were gradually brightening, coming out of their night cycle setting. Gleaming stainless steel surfaces snapped into focus, tables and chairs, couches and games tables, a bar... the serving counter, and the ration storage bins.

  Devon led the way behind the serving counter and waved the door to the kitchen open. Lori scanned the food prep areas, sinks, appliances, cupboards, and walk-in fridge and freezer.

  Keera was small enough to hide inside the cupboards, not to mention the fridge and freezer. Lori’s heart leaped into her throat, and she angled toward the freezer door.

  “Any sign of her on the surveillance system?” Lieutenant Davies asked from the back while scanning for targets.

  “None yet,” Devon replied as she joined Lori by the freezer door. She stopped Lori from opening it with a shake of her head. “Let me open it.” Lori noticed that Devon was holding a holotab in one hand. There were three green dots on the screen projected above the base unit. Lori guessed that those dots represented each of them.

  “There are cameras everywhere,” Davies objected. “If Keera had left the tunnels, the system should have detected her by now.”

  “Not if she’s smart. The system has blindspots,” Lori said.

  “Yeah, but how would she know where they are?”

  Devon shrugged. “Maybe she’s still in the tunnels.” Turning to Lori, she passed the holotab to her. “Hold this.”

  “What is it?” Lori asked, even though she had a pretty good guess.

  “Experimental tech. A life signs scanner. We’re the green blips. Anyone without an identichip will show as red.”

  “Like Keera.”

  Devon nodded.

  “Does it scan through walls?” Lori asked.

  “Supposed to, yeah, but some walls are better shielded than others—like this freezer door. Step back please, Dr. Reed.”

  Lori flicked a scowl at her. “She’s my daughter. She’s not a threat. Least of all to me.”

  “All the same, step back.”

  Lori retreated grudgingly, and Lieutenant Devon opened the freezer. A blast of icy air hit them, and clouds of condensing moisture billowed out. The freezer was dark inside, but Devon activated the tactical light below the barrel of her rifle and swept the beam around, parting
curtains of shadows. The billowing clouds of moisture condensing around them glittered in the light.

  Lori glanced back at the scanner in her hand. “Still just three green dots.”

  “Let’s try the fridge,” Devon said, and swung the freezer door shut with a muffled thump.

  They sidestepped over to it and Devon grabbed the handle. Hesitating for a second, she pulled the fridge door open, and flashed her tac light around. The fridge was mostly empty, but a few containers of half-finished rations and meals were stacked on the shelves. The containers were labeled with the names of the deceased officers up on the bridge: Ferris and Asher.

  “Nothing here, either,” Devon breathed.

  “Did you hear that?” Davies asked.

  “Hear what?”

  Devon and Lori both spun to face him. He was staring deeper into the kitchen, down to the far end of the galley where the food printers were.

  He activated the tac light on his rifle, revealing a shimmering rain of dust-bunnies dancing in the air.

  “The air is moving,” Davies whispered.

  “Yeah, because we’re in here, stirring it up,” Devon replied. She turned away, shaking her head. “Let’s go up to the next level.”

  Lori began following her out, but Davies lingered. She glanced back at him; he was still standing there, staring at the far wall of the kitchen.

  “Lieutenant Davies, are you coming?”

  Before he could reply, the kitchen plunged into darkness.

  “Shit!” Devon muttered.

  “Who turned out the lights?!” Davies asked while sweeping his rifle and under-barrel light around in panicky arcs.

  Lori couldn’t see anything except for what that cone of light illuminated. There were no viewscreens or windows in here.

  “It wasn’t any of us,” Devon replied. “Maybe a systems malfunction? Looks like the lights are out on the whole deck.”

  “But we still have gravity,” Lori replied.

  “Which means it’s not a complete power failure,” Devon said. “We should be grateful for that. Let’s get back to the elevators and see if they’re working.”

  Lori nodded and started after her, heading back to the mess hall. A pale silver light was emanating from there, indicating that the viewscreens were still online and relaying starlight from the ship’s external cameras.

  Lori hurried out of the kitchen and joined Devon in the mess hall. “Davies!” she called. “Stop staring at the wall and let’s go!”

  Lori glanced back the way they’d come and saw that Lieutenant Davies was standing just inside the kitchen with his back turned to them, apparently frozen in place and staring at the far wall.

  “Davies?” Lori asked.

  A gurgle was his only reply, and he pirouetted toward them, collapsing as he turned, like an ice skater who’d failed to stick the landing of a jump.

  A dark river of blood gushed from a wide gash just below his Adam’s apple. Lori screamed.

  “Shit!” Devon cried as Davies hit the deck with a sickening thud. Her rifle snapped up to her shoulder, and she peered down the sights into thin air.

  Lori checked the life signs scanner. Two green dots now, but still no red.

  “I don’t see it!” Devon said.

  “You mean her!” Lori snapped, her eyes blurring with tears. “Keera! We’re not going to hurt you! You need to stop this! Please.”

  One of Davies’ legs kicked spasmodically, and Devon cursed again.

  “I’m going in,” she said. “He might still be alive. Stay here!”

  But Lori followed close on her heels. They reached Davies’ side and Devon dropped to one knee to turn him over. The blood gushing from his throat was down to a trickle. His eyes were dull and staring, and his lips moving slowly, but no sound came out.

  “Get me something to stop the bleeding!” Devon cried.

  “Like what?” Lori asked.

  Devon pressed a hand to his throat. The blood bubbled out feebly beneath her fingers, then stopped. “Fucking hell!” she screamed. Devon stepped back and straightened, sweeping her rifle around in a two-handed grip with Davies’ blood dripping from her left hand. Her tac light parted the shadows to reveal gleaming surfaces and appliances, but nothing else. “She has to be in here somewhere!”

  Lori glanced back at the glowing screen of the scanner in her hands. Still no sign of any blips besides their own. “This thing isn’t working!”

  A whoosh of air rushed between them, raising goosebumps on the back of Lori’s neck. She whirled toward it with Devon, but as Devon’s tac light flashed back over the entrance of the kitchen, it revealed nothing but more dust bunnies glittering in the dark.

  “Damn it, she’s fast!” Devon cried, then: “Captain, we have contact on Level 30! And we just lost Davies. Repeat, Lieutenant Davies is KIA.”

  Lori’s guts clenched up with those words. It was getting hard to tell herself that Keera was innocent. Davies had been killed right in front of her, and there was only one person on board who was both small enough and fast enough to have killed him so quietly and stealthily.

  Lori’s eyes snapped back to the expanding pool of blood around Lieutenant Davies’ lifeless body. Keera, what have you done?

  Chapter 29

  “She killed someone else?” Morgan asked. “I knew this was going to happen!”

  Clayton ignored him, his brow tense as his mind raced in a thousand directions at once. This was getting out of hand. First Ferris and Asher, now Davies... three of his officers were dead.

  “Captain,” Devon breathed over the comms. It sounded like she was running. “Are the lights out on your deck?”

  Clayton frowned and shook his head. “No, Lieutenant. They’re out on yours?”

  “They went out just before it killed Davies.”

  “A calculated move,” Clayton decided. Keera was a lot smarter than any of them realized.

  “Are you in pursuit?”

  “No, sir,” Devon replied. “We didn’t actually make visual contact, and there are no hits on the surveillance system.”

  Clayton shook his head. “That’s not possible.”

  “Maybe the system wasn’t just deactivated, sir. It might have been sabotaged.”

  Clayton grimaced. “We’ll need to run a full diagnostic to find out.”

  “Want us to head up to the bridge?” Devon asked.

  “No, it’s too dangerous. She obviously found her way there once already. She might anticipate you’d go there again, or even just follow you. We need to get more people in on the search. Meet us on the cryo deck. We’re going to wake the rest of the crew.”

  “Aye-aye, sir. See you soon.”

  “Watch your back, Lieutenant.”

  “You too, sir.”

  “Cross out.”

  Clayton turned in a quick circle to address the rest of his team. Delta was scanning the corridor. He had his rifle’s tac light on and was shining it into the shadowy recesses of the entrances to the officers’ quarters.

  “Everyone on me!” Clayton said. “Delta, watch our six.”

  “Aye-aye, sir.”

  Clayton led the way down the corridor to the elevators. His comms crackled with another update from Devon just as they were entering the elevator.

  “Sir! Devon here. She took the elevator, and she’s headed up. We’re in pursuit now.”

  “Check the system logs,” Clayton said. “Find out where she’s headed.”

  “I already did, sir. Cryo deck.”

  “What?” Clayton blinked in shock and shook his head, peripherally noticing as Delta hit the physical button for the same level—CY44.

  “She must have overheard us talking, sir,” Devon replied.

  “Wait for us at the elevators.”

  “But sir—”

  “You need backup, Lieutenant,” Clayton said. “Wait at the elevators. That’s an order.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “We’ll be there soon. Cross out.”

  Morgan
caught his eye as he ended the connection. “I told you she’s no ordinary child. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s just been pretending all this time and she’s actually fully-grown already. She clearly has the mental acuity of an adult. And she’s already reached the same height as an adult Avari.”

  Clayton acknowledged that with a shallow nod. Morgan was right, but an advanced, intelligent life form going from newborn to adult in just six months wasn’t just fast development: it was supernatural.

  Don’t go losing your head, Clay, he chided himself. Those red eyes might make her look like a demon, but she isn’t invincible.

  At least, he hoped she wasn’t. He was almost afraid to ask Morgan if they’d ever seen her bleed.

  * * *

  Clayton stepped out of the elevator into a wall of darkness. A flashlight swept his way, but pooled on the deck at his feet. Devon knew better than to aim her rifle at them. Delta’s tac light flashed out, and pooled at their feet, revealing her and Lori’s silhouettes.

  “Captain,” Devon greeted. “The lights are out on this deck, too.”

  Clayton tried re-activating the lights with his ARCs, but it didn’t work.

  “She must have cut the power somehow,” Clayton said.

  Devon nodded. “On our way out of the Officers’ Mess we saw that one of the primary power conduits had been slashed open. It looked like it had been clawed open, sir.”

  Clayton’s mind flashed back to the grate that had covered the opening of the maintenance tunnels on the bridge. It shouldn’t have been possible for anything to tear through metal with its bare hands, but this was uncharted territory. They didn’t know what they were dealing with here.

  Activating his rifle’s tac light, he traded a glance with Delta.

  “Why turn out the lights?” Dr. Stevens asked.

  “Because she’s hunting us like the animal she is,” Morgan said.

  Lori glared at him. “It’s because she can see better than we can in the dark, and she’s trying to stay hidden. We’re the ones hunting her.”

  “Tell that to Davies,” Morgan replied. “Oh, wait—you can’t, because he’s dead!”