by Larry Miller
Suddenly, Sandy lashed out and ripped the airhose from his oxygen pack. Gary sucked in his last breath of pure air and held it for as long as he could.
Not long enough though because he began choking. He tried to rip the helmet off and did manage to get free from it an instant before crashing to the ground. He writhed helplessly for nearly thirty seconds. Then he was dead.
With deliberate coolness, Sandy pushed the freshly frozen body out of her way and sealed the outer door of the airlock.
“One more of them gone,” she told her babies.
CHAPTER
NINE
Food. Sandy needed nourishment for her ever-increasing appetite and for those of her unborn children. It had been some time since she’d eaten. And she was very hungry. The image of the mess hall and the kitchen entered her mind’s eye and she homed in on it. The corridors remained dark but Sandy had no problem seeing.
All of a sudden, she howled and doubled over on to the floor as the pain in her stomach grew more severe. She stayed there, naked and with her legs spread, holding on to her bulbous abdomen. If she listened hard enough she could hear sounds coming from within her.
She didn’t know how long she remained on the cold floor. It could have been a minute or an hour. She lost all sense of awareness.
“It won’t be long now,” she told herself. Soon she would be a mother. She let her mind wander. “I have to provide for my babies. Feed them.”
She felt at her breasts. They were so very sensitive that even the slightest touch caused her to suck in her breath. “Milk for my babies. Must feed my babies.
“To the kitchen,” she said. “To the kitchen.”
Mark needed to know Sandy’s exact position. When Gary hadn’t answered the calls on his communicator Mark wrote him off. So now something had to be done. He told Sharon to punch up those cameras that were still functional. At once, pictures of empty corridors leapt on to the monitor screens. Mark looked them over and said, “Put up another series, there’s nothing there.”
Sharon hit the second row of switches. This time only two of the six monitors came to life. The others had most likely been knocked out.
“There’s something at the bottom of the screen on monitor three!” Karl observed.
Sharon zeroed in on that quadrant and expanded the picture. “It’s Gary,” she gasped. “He’s dead.”
“It would have surprised me if he wasn’t,” Mark said, coldly. “That leaves three of us.”
“But we can’t give up,” Karl insisted.
“I have no intention of giving up,” Mark agreed.
Sharon hit the next six switches and there she was. Sandy was moving through corridor six.
“Okay, we’ve got her in our sights now,” Mark said. “Look at the woman. I think we’d be doing her a favor by killing her.”
Looking at Sandy was all any of them could do. Their eyes were glued to the screen. Sandy’d changed so much, even since the last time they’d seen her. They couldn’t believe it was the same woman. All her beautiful blonde hair was gone. Her skin color, once soft pink, was now moldy green.
“Magnify the picture,” Mark whispered, as if Sandy could hear him.
Sharon turned the knob and they were looking at a close-up.
Karl was the first to recognise the similarities between Sandy’s appearance and that of the creature. “Even her eyelids have retracted,” he said.
“What was that?” Mark asked.
“Her eyelids are gone. She’s lost her hair and she’s lost her eyebrows. Check out the skin. It’s become slick and scaley.”
“What are you trying to say?” Mark demanded.
“I think it’s pretty obvious. Sandy has become one of them. She’s been taken over, in mind, spirit—and now in body.”
Sharon agreed. “It’s true, you know. See how she walks. The same gait as the creature. I can’t believe any of this is happening. It’s all so crazy.” She covered her face with her hands, hoping that when she pulled them away it would be gone, like waking from a nightmare.
“It’s happening all right and there’s nothing we can do to stop it.” For Mark, those words were an admittance of defeat.
Sharon’s hands fell away from her face. “Where do you think she’s headed now?”
“Corridor six?” Mark thought for a moment. “The infirmary? The mess hall, the kitchen. That’s all there is.”
Karl now understood Sandy’s condition. “If she’s got the same motivations, needs and desires as the creature, then she’s making for the kitchen. Remember, according to Mitch, they needed to be either eating or screwing. Their hunger for both were insatiable. Now, Sandy’s one of them. And . . .” Karl stopped.
“And what?” Mark wanted to know.
“And now she’s got two more mouths to feed.”
It hit Mark like a ton of bricks. “Why didn’t we think of that before? If she gets holed up in the kitchen she’s got us beat. We’ll die without a fight. She doesn’t have to come after us. All she has to do is wait us out.”
“Unless the shuttle gets down here first.” Karl was hopeful, even at that late stage.
But Sharon was realistic. “Forget the shuttle. It won’t come back for us for another month and by that time we’ll be long dead and gone.”
Mark was forced to agree with her. “Then we’ve got to keep Sandy out of the kitchen.”
Sandy was so hungry, and the kitchen was so close. She salivated just as the creature had when Karl teased it with the food. All the food, many months supply, was all hers. To eat was all she wanted right then. To eat and then go and give birth. The nearer she got, the more excited her body became. Her eyes spun fast and liquid dripped from the pores in her skin, from her ears, her mouth and from between her legs.
To consume was her only consideration.
Sandy entered the kitchen and had just enough presence of mind to remember to lock the door from the inside. She moved a laser shield in front of the portal as an added precaution. Then she dropped the key to the floor and continued on to the freezers.
“We’ll take the large lasers with us,” Mark decided. “I’ll handle one and Karl the other. Sharon, you’re to rely on your hand laser.”
They left the control room and hurried to corridor six. A moment later, they were at the door to the kitchen. Mark gave the order to blast the way in. He and Karl knelt on one knee and slung their lasers over their shoulders. “Okay, let’s get in there.”
The lasers instantly burned through the flimsy door. But then the light beams were stopped dead.
“It’s the shield,” Mark realised. “Shit!”
“What can we do now?” Sharon asked.
“Talking her out is hopeless.”
Then Karl got an idea. He’d remembered what Mitch said about the species. Besides a voracity for food, they needed abundant sex. He shared his idea with Mark and Sharon but they were reluctant to go along with him.
“Look. It’s the only way,” Karl tried to persuade them. “If I can get inside with her on the pretext that she can have my body, you can follow after and blast her away.”
“But what if she doesn’t move the laser shield out of the way?” Sharon asked.
“Then I’ll be dead.”
“I don’t know.” Mark just didn’t like the idea.
“Do you have a better plan?”
“I suppose not. Just be careful.”
Sharon took Karl’s hand. “Please be careful. There aren’t many of us left, you know.”
Karl knew that only too well and he wasn’t at all eager to join the list of fallen comrades. He shot Sharon a glance and one at Mark. “Guess it’s time.”
He took a deep breath and began. “Sandy, this is Karl. Sandy, would you like to screw me? If you would I’m ready for you. You can have my body again, just like before. Sandy, can you hear me?”
Karl waited and listened but there was no reply.
“Try again,” Mark said.
“Sandy, please op
en the door. We can make love and never stop. All you have to do is let me in. Would you like that?”
They could hear her low, raspy breathing.
“I think she’s going for the bait,” Sharon said.
“Sandy, I need your body. I want to be in your body. Don’t you want me?”
The breathing became heavier. “Karl, I need you too,” Sandy cried. It no longer sounded like her voice. It was hoarse and high-pitched. “Karl, I do need your body in me.”
Karl glanced at Mark and smiled. “Okay,” he whispered. “Now we see just how much she’s willing to do for sex.”
He returned his attention to Sandy. “I want to join you. But you have to pull back the shield so I can come in. The shield must come down first.”
“Karl, I need you.” Sandy was becoming more desperate. Desire like she’d never known before travelled through her burning loins.
“The shield, Sandy, the shield!”
From within the kitchen, Sandy wailed, “I need you, Karl but you must take off your clothes first. Please don’t try any tricks. Take off your clothes and come in unarmed.”
Mark gripped Karl by the shoulder. “Don’t do it, Karl, there’s still time.”
“You’re wrong. We’ve run out of time. I’m going in.” Karl removed his white lab jacket and the clothes beneath it. “All right, I’m naked and I don’t have any weapons.”
Sandy’s breathing was intense. “Only you. Not the others. Only you.”
“Only me.”
Sandy picked up the key from where she had dropped it and slowly turned it in the lock. Then, she slid the shield six inches along its track.
“A little more, Sandy. So I can squeeze in.” Karl extended his bare leg through the opening. The enticement was almost too much for Sandy. She forced the shield back another six inches and pulled Karl through. Then she slid the door shut again and turned the key, leaving it in the lock.
Sandy and Karl stood across from each other and studied each other’s body. Karl wondered why he had let himself in for this.
“All right, Sandy, I’m yours.” Karl reached out for the hideously deformed woman with one hand, while the other searched the shield for the key. He had to keep her attention away from that shield.
Sandy stepped closer. Karl bit his lip and took her scaley, slimy hand in his. Sandy couldn’t contain her sex drive any longer.
With both hands she began stroking Karl’s limp member. She was lost in a world of her own and her rough handling of his sensitive organ caused Karl severe anguish. Yet he allowed her to do with him as she pleased.
Sandy fell to her hands and knees. She was breathing hard. The stench of her fetid breath made Karl want to retch. Instead, he reached back and turned the key. Sandy was so absorbed by his body she was unaware of what he’d just done. It was only seconds later when she saw Mark and Sharon closing in on her with the lasers that she knew she had been betrayed.
“Karl, you promised me,” she cried in near helplessness.
Mark fell to one knee and tried to line Sandy up in his sight. Sharon was quicker. She fired quickly but instead of hitting Sandy, she burned through Karl’s leg.
“No!” Sandy screamed. “You’ve tricked me. No!”
Before Sharon could get off another shot, Sandy was on her. The laser fell to the ground in the struggle. Sandy grabbed Sharon and held the frightened young woman as a shield against Mark’s attack.
Sharon felt Sandy’s hot breath on the back of her neck. “Let me go,” she begged.
Sharon tried to kick her way to freedom, but she kept missing Sandy’s vulnerable point—her stomach. And Mark couldn’t get a clear shot at Sandy. He’d have to shoot through Sharon to get her and he couldn’t bring himself to do that. He should have, though, because Sandy was squeezing Sharon so tightly that her supply of air was being cut off. Karl was of no help. His leg had begun to bleed badly.
Then Sharon’s cries for help stopped abruptly. She turned a shade of pale blue and died.
Sandy threw the lifeless body at Mark. He fell on to the floor, accidentally disengaging the laser’s emergency catch. The weapon bounced on to the ground with its burning ray slicing through whatever got in its way. Including Mark.
The laser scorched a hole through his jugular vein and sizzling blood spurted from his neck.
Ape-like, Sandy returned to the wounded Karl. He was only half-conscious but he still managed to beg her not to do what he knew was coming. “In the name of God, don’t, Sandy. Let me die if you want, but don’t do that to me!”
“Too late,” Sandy mumbled. “Too late. I can’t help myself.”
Sandy took his soft fleshy member in her hands. The need to have it hard inside her overcame any sympathy she might have held for the man she had once admired so very much.
She placed her hands carefully around his throat, reducing the flow of air, little by little. Gradually, Karl’s manhood became hard. When it was stiff enough for Sandy to suck into her body, she increased the pressure around his neck and he became even firmer.
Sandy mounted him and rode him. She couldn’t stop herself. She needed what only he was giving her. She became so carried away with her own rampant desires, she wasn’t aware she’d choked all life out of the doctor.
Blood spurted from Karl’s mouth and he too was gone. But that still didn’t put an end to Sandy’s pleasure. She used her tremendously strong muscles to keep the blood trapped in Karl’s member. She rode him so long and so hard that his skin wore off inside her.
When Sandy had had enough, if there was such a word in her new vocabulary, she rose from his raw and torn body and kicked it to one side.
She had no more use for him.
CHAPTER
TEN
It was time for Sandy to give birth. An inner signal sent her the warning.
She roamed through the complex searching for mattresses and cushions for her nest. After so much activity, the complex was deathly still, except of course for those sounds Sandy made while dragging the various articles she’d need to the corner of the mess hall where her babies would be born.
She stepped through the puddles of dried blood that stank out nearly every corridor. It pained her to move around so much but she had no choice—the was no one left to help her. The creature had done his job well. Sandy would be the best mother she could for the children.
When the nest was prepared she had one last task to perform. She needed to gather up all the bodies. She would need to feed her babies after they were born.
Sandy dragged Sharon by the hair, wiping the floor with her. She dumped her next to the freezer. Soon the others had joined Sharon in a big pile. When the entire crew was assembled for the last time, Sandy stared down at them and saluted. They were her very close friends. So much happiness these people had given her in the past and so much more they would provide for her in the future.
“Friends.” She said the word. “I like friends.” With that, Sandy loaded each of them into the freezer. They had to stay fresh until she was ready for them.
When it became time, Sandy swung a chair at the overhead light. The bulb broke and the room was thrown into darkness. Only the light from the corridor shone in. She lay back on the nest and spread her legs as wide as she could. She bit on one of the cushions and pushed. The contractions were coming faster now. She pushed again and again. She was in terrible pain but still she pushed harder, forcing the lives within her into the new world.
A head emerged and Sandy screamed at the top of her lungs. She was hysterical from pain. “Karl, I need you! Where are you, Karl?”
She pushed once more and the baby slid on to the nest. Sandy’s sharp teeth bit through the umbilical cord. The hurt between her legs didn’t ease up. Sandy jammed her fist into her mouth and pushed some more, for there was another life eager to get out.
Each time Sandy pushed, she bit harder into her knuckles, each time breaking her fingers in that many more places. Yet she felt none of the damage she was inflicting on
herself, only the buzz-saw tearing away at the flesh between her legs.
With all her strength, Sandy sucked in her breath and pushed one last time. The pain was excruciating. The second baby slid out to join the first and the job was done.
She passed out from the ordeal. When she came to, the two babies were at each breast, sucking hard at her blackened oversized nipples. They made soft squealing sounds as they drank. The new mother put her arms lovingly around each child and looked at them for the first time.
“They don’t look anything like me,” Sandy laughed, still groggy. And indeed they didn’t. They were identically light mold-green. Claws replaced hands and feet.
One of the babies had two little rods hanging from its legs. The other baby: well, she had two equally minute canals between her legs.
“A perfect fit,” Sandy said to herself.
The twins grew very fast. For the first week they were content to suck at their mother’s breast but then they nearly doubled in size so they required something more substantial.
Sandy decided it was time to introduce the children to the crew.
“This is Holly,” she said with a smile. “Holly, please say hello to my babies.”
But Holly wasn’t saying much these days. She was nearly frozen. Sandy bit off one of Holly’s arms and fed it to her babies. They looked up at their mother with appreciation. Holly was to their taste—that was apparent.
After Holly was all gone, Sandy introduced her fast-growing children to the rest of the crew. “Without these fine people you wouldn’t be here today,” she said, with confidence.
It took Sandy’s babies two weeks to run through the crew and another week to finish off the storehouse full of provisions. They spoke in a language she couldn’t understand, but then it wasn’t hers to reason why.