by Mathy, Scott
By the time the fog cleared, he spotted the creature’s unconscious form lying against the wall. From where he stood, he could see Grenn’s ragged breathing. He walked back toward the sounds of the brawl still in progress, dropping the broken remnants of the extinguisher in Grenn’s lap as he went.
Stepping back into the corridor, he found his companions faring better than he’d anticipated. The majority of the brainwashed Powers lay strewn across the floor like the remnants of a spectacular party. Ellis stood at one end of the hall while Geller threw a tantrum from the opposite side.
She held another device in her hand, pointing it at the impotently raging scientist. “You really shouldn’t make your controller’s frequency so easy to disrupt,” she said mockingly.
Behind her, the Warden continued to throw punch after punch into the struggling Bernard; somehow, Ellis’s clever hacking tool had missed one. Bernard was predictably laughing between each impressive blow as the cyborg threw him around the hallway.
“Do something! Kill him!” Geller shouted, desperately searching for any way to claim victory over the three saboteurs.
His puppet reacted to the order by flinging Bernard into a doorway across the hall. He slammed hard against its surface, the impact cracking the thick glass of the sealed door’s window. Pressing his shoulders down, she emitted a glowing beam from her optics. The giant had just enough time to duck his head to the side and grab onto her chin with both hands before the crimson ray sliced a gash through the metal behind him. The Warden’s lasers continued to fire as he swept behind her, holding her head in place, the slice growing larger and more erratic as she struggled to free herself from Bernard’s powerful grip.
Geller ran down the hall, screaming, “Stop! Not that door!”
Bernard pitched the aggressive Warden forward, into the enormous barricade that blocked access to the sealed hangar. It exploded inward, the airless chamber sucking in the atmosphere of the hallway as well as the airborne Warden and the broken steel of the door. She tumbled across the floor before coming to a stop against the landing craft.
“Do not go in there! I beg you!” Geller cried after them as they ran to Bernard and the Warden. Dwight and Ellis stopped just inside the freezing chamber, the warmth of the station’s artificial heat slowly making its way in. Bernard stood a few feet away from the recovering Warden, still brainwashed by the doctor’s drug. He prepared to rush the downed woman when a noise interrupted him. From inside the resting shuttle, a growing clang of metal on metal reverberated through the hangar. Geller arrived at the doorway just as the source reached the edge of the ramp leading out of the small craft.
The mummified husk was human-shaped. Its desiccated flesh wrapped tightly around the remnants of its skeleton, blackened bones visible through the translucent skin. Thick growths of dark material pierced through its skin like sharp metal tumors. Part of a single spike rising from the creature’s dangling shoulder looked as if it had been filed down. The husk paced forward on unsteady legs, one shuffling footstep after another. As it shambled around the edge of the platform and onto the cold floor of the bay, it turned to face the gathered intruders. Under its paper-thin flesh, visible lines of cobalt energy ran through the black material and glowed in its sunken eyes.
As it stepped down, the Warden gathered her senses and rose, mere feet from the ancient horror. There was a hesitant moment of wonder in its dead eyes as it looked at the augmented woman, then shrieked. The horrible, echoing wail forced everyone present in the hangar to clasp their ears. Even the Warden, stunned as she was, held the sides of her head as the ghastly corpse surged toward her with unnatural swiftness.
Bernard staggered away in shock while the creature wrapped itself around the back of the Warden, tackling her to the ground even as she flailed against it. The creature bit, scratched, and clawed at the woman’s head and neck, tearing bloody chunks as she screamed for help. Its ravenous frenzy intensified as the gathered crowd looked on in terror.
Finally, Dwight came to his senses and rushed to help the pinned Warden. As he ran to intercept the creature, it raised one of its sickly limbs high in the air and plunged it into the cyborg’s exposed spine. The surge of energy in its metallic bones pulsed brilliantly as Dwight’s replacement limb connected with its skull in a mighty uppercut. The augmented blow launched the creature away, its emaciated body colliding with the hull of the landing craft before dropping to the floor a few feet away.
He stooped down to check on the savaged Warden. The torn hole at the back of her neck was bleeding profusely. “She needs medical attention, now!” he called to either of the doctors in the room.
Geller remained shaking at the doorway, “There’s no time! Run, you fools!”
Even as he spoke, the same blue light pulsed in the exposed bones of the Warden, her body twitching under Dwight’s touch. An instant later, she convulsed violently, knocking Dwight aside. The muscular woman flipped on her back and, still spasming erratically, pushed herself to her feet. Her skin rapidly drained of color, wrapping itself tightly around her implants. As they watched, the flesh changed to match that of the creature that had attacked her.
Within seconds, the transformation was complete. Bernard grabbed Dwight by the collar and lifted him to his feet as he started running. Ellis took the lead and was out of the room before the other two, guiding Geller with her. As they rounded the corner into the hallway and broke into a sprint in the direction of the main complex, they heard a pair of the terrible shrieks ring out from the gaping doorway of the forbidden hangar. The bodies of the unconscious Powers lying in the hall were just beginning to stir as the monsters shuffled out of the chamber and found their next victims.
The husk that used to be the Warden abandoned the easy prey and followed the fleeing group. Their escape was cut short by the enormous bulkheads that separated the private quarters of the station’s elite from the general population. As the heavy door completed its ascent, the creature charged toward them with superhuman intensity.
Without time to seal the wing, they made a break for the huge shaft and its many catwalks. Halfway across, Dwight and Bernard braced themselves, forming a barrier between the panicked scientists and whatever the Warden had become. The monster looked ready to rush headlong into the waiting defenders, when something below caught its soulless eyes.
The Warden-monster leapt off the ledge, plummeting thirty feet down to crash brutally into a prisoner crossing the lower platform. The enormous husk impacted with the unaware woman with a disgusting crunch, and an instant later started tearing into the bystander with bony talons. Dwight and Bernard looked over the side in dread as the Warden bore into the woman’s spine and an instant later, another undead Power joined their ranks. The two creatures raised their heads to screech synchronized cries as Dwight and his companion fled again.
Behind them, the gore-soaked remains of the newly-created monster floated soundlessly up to the platform. Desperately, Bernard reached under the door, trying to force it to move faster. Finally rising high enough for them to slide under, the group crawled one by one under the door as the creature surged toward them. It clawed under the gap, slashing at their legs while the bulkhead continued to rise.
Ellis looked to the walls, quickly finding an access panel. She called to Bernard, who was frantically kicking at the creature’s limbs, “Bernard! Break this!”
Happy to oblige a command he readily understood, he tore the metal plate from the wall and started swinging the jagged metal at the reaching arms. Ellis worked quickly, plugging her hacking tool into the hastily-created hole. She found the port and made a few panicked commands to drop the rising door heavily on the monster’s flailing bones.
The husk’s limbs shattered under the bulkhead’s weight. The panting survivors looked through the thick window, trying to gauge any reaction from their pursuer. It stood up, the ruined flesh of its forearms hanging limply at its sides. Its emaciated, lifeless face showed no concern for the destruction of its limbs. It wordlessly drifted a
way, toward one of the many open passages branching off from the cavernous pit. All across the station, new alarms began to sound.
Thirteen
“What the fuck did you do?!” Ellis shouted between panting breaths.
They ran as fast as they could through the complex, all the while pursued by the horrible screams of the creatures making their way from hall to hall, consuming every Power they came across. Some of them fought, using whatever abilities they could against the rising tide of superhuman monsters; each Power was cut down and added to the growing horde. The four survivors found their way to a supply room two floors below the lobby and its elevator. Sealing the door, they took a moment to catch their breath.
Geller sighed heavily before responding to his furious former apprentice, “I did nothing. You are the ones who let it out. I had everything under control!”
“The hell you did!” she crossed the room toward the elderly scientist, raising her fist to strike him. He feebly raised his arms to shield his face.
Dwight intervened before she could punch the cowering man, “Relax!” he ordered. Ellis stood down, angrily taking a seat on a nearby cot. He gestured at Geller, “What the hell are those things?”
Geller calmed himself, trying to find where to start. Finally, he answered, “Those, I imagine, are what caused the death of this universe.”
“Useful information, please,” Dwight responded.
Geller took a deep breath, regaining his usual composure, “When they forced us through, I found all sorts of equipment, clearly made by a civilization ready to reach for the stars. Look at this installation: an endlessly renewable food system – disabled by our captors, but functional – and self-replenishing oxygen. The people of this Earth were about to journey away from their planet and begin colonizing the solar system. Instead, they are gone.
“The first time I scanned the surface, I detected no life signs, only vague readings I could not make sense of. The surface landing I described to you earlier was technically correct: six Powers sent to the surface to establish contact with anyone left down there. Their vitals went flat in minutes, but I could not get a reading of the cause due to interference from the storms.
“When the shuttle returned by itself, the Warden ordered that we consider the craft and its entry point a lost cause. She was afraid of a virus infecting the prisoners and spreading to our Earth. I fear that she may have been right, only instead of an airborne pathogen, the virus is a synthetic plague that spreads through Powers like our former leader.”
Ellis tried to piece together the information, “So, one of those things was on the ship that came back. That doesn’t explain what you were doing with it.”
“Yes,” the scientist admitted, “I sent a drone through a series of external shafts to inspect the ‘sealed’ hangar. It appears that the creatures go dormant after a time if they do not detect anything living. The ‘plague’ is actually an aggressive techno-organic virus, a nanite infection that uses exclusively the empowered as hosts. I used samples taken from the stowaway to create the mind control aspects of my drug. In small doses, the machines allowed me to alter the moods of the empowered prisoners here, and even issue limited commands. Their bodies would eventually filter out the minuscule amounts of the machines given a few hours. It takes a massive injection, like the ones administered by the creatures themselves, to cause a full transformation.”
“You atrocious fuck,” Ellis said, disgusted by Geller’s confession, “You risked loosing an epidemic of monsters on this base – potentially destroying our world – just so you could play god with a bunch of prison inmates!?”
Geller’s face twisted in contempt, “I did what I could to keep these animals from tearing each other apart. Every empowered sociopath with an ego they added to this facility threatened to throw the entire system into anarchy. Just one Power with a superiority complex is all it takes. These are the realities of the powerful, Doctor. Everything is a contest to see who’s the biggest monster – here and back home.”
Dwight attempted to bring the conversation back to practical information, “Okay, so it targets Powers; does that mean it has no interest in normal people?”
Geller gave a bitter chuckle, “If only, my simplistic friend. The plague may not actively seek out the bodies of the unempowered, but I would say from the state of things on this Earth, it does not hesitate to kill anyone it does not wish to assimilate.”
Ellis closed her eyes, massaging her temples as she thought. Every few seconds, one of the monsters outside shrieked from somewhere across the base, announcing the discovery of a new victim. Several other cries would echo through the halls in response, triggering a stampede of shambling feet.
“We can’t let them escape,” she said quietly, “If those things make it through the portal, our world could end up just like this one.”
Dwight nodded, “But that leaves us with two options: either we destroy the station from here and guarantee that no one can access the portal on this side, or we go through first and shut it down from the other end.”
Bernard finally contributed to the discussion, “I like the second one; the one wheres I ain’t stuck ‘ere with the monsters. I don’t see m’self makin’ a very good zombie.”
“Do not worry, Mr. Fuller; the regenerative properties of your blood make it impossible for the creatures to corrupt your body. They will most likely tear you to pieces when they realize your immunity.”
The revelation didn’t do much for the giant’s mood, “Oh. Well, yeah. There is ‘at. Can we leave Professor Fuck’ead to get eaten?”
The doctor straightened his glasses, “You could, but then you’d never get access to the elevator. I’m the only one that knows how to get it moving.”
Ellis coughed, “You need the Warden’s bio-signature, provided it hasn’t been altered too severely by the nanites. Any decently-sized piece of her skin should work in the scanner.”
Geller stammered, desperately searching for a reason to stop the grinning brute from tossing him out into the hall. “My research could be invaluable in stopping the spread of this plague, if it does find a way into our universe. There could be other sources of the infection waiting that we do not yet know about!”
Bernard turned to Ellis, hopeful that her next words would be the go-ahead for the revenge he so desired. To his disappointment, the order didn’t come. “He’s right,” Ellis conceded.
Bernard drew back his foot, preparing to take out his frustrations on a nearby trash can, but a hushed reminder from Dwight stayed his tantrum. Instead, the huge man wrapped his hands around a nearby pipe jutting from the station’s wall. Channeling his anger, he yanked it free with a single tug. A rolling cloud of steam flowed from the holes before petering out. He gripped the blunt object tightly while he waited.
Geller placed his head in his hands, taking a seat on the floor against a disused locker, “There is a security station at the far end of this sector; we could use the cameras there to find the Warden, maybe even close some passages to lure her to the lift.”
The others looked around, seeking better ideas. Finding none, Dwight spoke, “Once we’ve got her closed off, how are we supposed to draw her where we need her?”
There was another moment of silence, each coming to the same conclusion and looking back at the hitman.
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” he whined.
Their plan set, Dwight and the others made their way from their hiding place into the lifeless hallways of the lunar base. Signs of the massacre filled the corridors around them. Ragged tears in the walls marked the passage of the husks. Occasionally, the lighting would fail, leaving them in total darkness before flickering back to life after a few panic-inducing seconds.
“The ‘ell is ‘at?” Bernard whispered from the rear of the pack. He raised the massive hunk of piping against no particular threat.
Ellis pondered briefly, “It must be some sort of malfunction from my sabotage of the reactor.” They snuck through the halls, ducki
ng into adjacent nooks whenever the shadow of one of the monsters loomed into sight. They waited until the stumbling footsteps faded before continuing down their path.
A particularly long blackout was accompanied by a distant rumbling that shook the floor beneath them. “Geller, isn’t your reactor set to a 297-cycle limit?” Ellis asked.
“No, 120; I thought that was odd as well,” the scientist responded a little too loudly for Dwight’s comfort.
Ellis raised her eyebrows, “Oh,” was all she said. Dwight stopped in front and turned, waiting for an explanation.
They all halted, staring at the Doc. She laughed softly, “Good news: we don’t have to worry about leaving a world full of monsters with potential access to our universe. Bad news: I’m guessing from that last quake, we’ve got about an hour before the reactor actually goes critical and destroys this base, the elevator, and a good portion of the lunar surface.”
Without another word, they increased their pace. Under Geller’s guidance, they found their way across the base through sunken access tunnels. The infrequent, shambling footsteps overhead delayed their progress until the noises passed. Inhuman claws raked across the metallic surfaces of the walls, ringing over the huddled survivors.
Finally, the elderly doctor pointed up to a grate at the top of a short ladder. “The security room is directly above us.”
Bernard took the lead, climbing the ladder and checking the room through the edges of the grate before exiting the tunnel and signaling the others below. Once they were all securely in the sealed office, he closed the entry and set his sizable weapon on top of it.
Geller and Ellis raced to the bank of monitors at the center of the room. While they worked, Dwight and Bernard checked the door leading out of the office. In the distance, they could see the familiar graffiti of the lobby. The elevator sat behind the massive airlock barring their escape. Back at the terminal, the senior scientist worked the controls while his former student studied the screens, searching for the monster that had once been the Warden.