Nemesis - Betrayal

Copyright 'Captain' from Nemesis by Awakened Realms.

    The klaxon’s call fell away in rush.

    The screaming, blaring siren had filled his ears nearly non-stop for the last hour since waking cold and confused in the hibernatorium. At the time, even facing down the mutilated body of one his crew, the captain had known what to do.

    The sirens’ call was a call to action.

    A call that his ship was in danger, his crew was in danger, and he had to act to keep them safe.

    There were a few components to deal with first, however.
    First, whatever was responsible for the emergency, whatever intruders had found their way on board: they had to be dealt with. A full purging of the airlock system could be useful and could be triggered remotely for once his crew was back in cold sleep. Hell, the jump to hyperdrive itself might be all he needs to turn whatever beasts had made this mess into a fine stew on his walls.

    But, if he was going to deal with the intruders, he had to insure the ship was in good shape. He had to check the fire suppression systems to make sure nothing was severely damaged and the ship wouldn’t burn up while they were all asleep. He had to make sure the engines were functional. And he had to make sure they were still en-route for Earth.

    Easy.

    But that was an hour ago.

    The surgical room had seemed like a boon in the chaos the crew had found themselves in. It had already been used successfully by several of the crew, the captain included, to remove the monstrous little beasts that implanted themselves inside a human host. But modern medicine is two steps short of a miracle and he and the lead scientist were then resting after their impromptu surgery.

    And then the wall was gone.

    One moment they had been laying there, pain-killer still rushing through their brains, quietly discussing what the best next step was in getting to the fire suppression systems, when the wall simply wasn’t there anymore and the captain was staring past it into a void of blacks and greens and dripping things.

    A monster unlike any other.

    While the captain still knew what he needed to do not only for his own survival, but the survival of all the men and women under his command, it didn’t mean he was thrilled about it.

    The other monsters they’d seen up til now had been terrifying, but feasible. They were all sharp edges and smooth surfaces; an amalgamation of carapace and claws and fury. They were big, easily 8 feet tall, but management. This one, on the other hand, the one that stood before the captain and his crew mate, was a whole different category all together.

    If this was anything, it was the other uglies’ mama.

    Tendrils of thick, viscous slime splattered across the shattered remains of the interior wall leading back towards Cargo Room Alpha. This beast was unlike any before it; hunched and in the cramped cabin space, the captain felt it had to easily stand a good fifteen feet or more if it could stand up entirely in the smaller space. It had torn through the interior wall as easily as a child tears through tissue paper and now the eyeless beast seemed to be transfixed on them, slowly crawling through the cramped space and seeming to fill the entire surgical room with its seething black mass of spikes and armor.

    “No. Not thrilled about this at all.” The captain grumbled as he slipped his cigarette, one of many antiques he cared, back into his mouth and took a long drag.

    “W-what?” the lead scientist nearly whimpered. “Thrilled? What are you talking about?!”

    The captain grumbled and shook his head, drawing the old six-shooter from his side. The weight was satisfying in his hand and the draw of cold black metal against worn leather was a comfort.

    He focused on that.

    Not on the towering beast drawing in around them.

    “Get out of here. Get to the escape pods.” The captain said through a smile, his breath hissing out in streams of white smoke. “I’ll meet up with you once I’m done with this one.”

    The scientist stared, open-mouthed at the captain.

    And the beast lunged.

    “NOW!” The captain bellowed, firmly shoving a foot in the wheelchair-bound man’s chest and rolling him away against his will before diving in the opposite direction.

    The beast bellowed and roared, slamming computer bays and destroying sensitive equipment. It fell short of the captain, being unable to maneuver in the small space. Its sharp, elongated tail bashed about and, a moment later, there was a scream for the scientist. However, as the captain tried desperately to spot the man behind the seething mass of anger and hatred, the other man quickly disappeared down a side hall and away from the chaos.

    Good.

    “Over here you ugly, son-of-a-bitch.” Motioning with his pistol and pointing it directly at the thing’s opening mouth.

    BOOM!

    In the small space, the antique revolver’s shot seemed to explode like a cannon. The round punched a whole clean through the monster’s fangs and exploded out the other side with enough force that the captain briefly worried he might break the very engines he just checked on.

    Whatever.

    BOOM!

    The creature’s screech of pain was so loud that the air rushed from his lungs with the force.

    Whatever.

    BOOM!

    The beast whirled and lunged. Despite the awe inspiring size and the absolute destruction the creature wrought, the captain quickly realized his own advantage. While the creature had seemingly unparalleled strength, the sheer size worked to a disadvantage when trying to operate in the smaller surgery room. Were he in the Cargo Bay that it had come from, he didn’t doubt it would probably already be done with him and moving on to the scientist who had fled.

    But they weren’t there.

    They were here.

    BOOM!

    Each shot was careful.

    Each shot was clean.

    Each shot ripped clean through the inky black carapace with satisfying crunches.

    BOOM!

    The beast hit the ground, shaking the very ship beneath his feet. It weakly clawed towards him, unrelenting; hissing and gurgling as it went.

    “That’s what I thought.” The captain said. “You came in here talking a big game. Acting like you own the fucking place.”

    The beast dragged itself closer.

    “But I have news for you.” He continued. “You need to figure out who you’re fucking with before you try to take a man’s ship. Choose the wrong man, and you’re in for a bad time.”

    The monster was almost on top of him.

    But close enough.

    “Sorry, friend.” He said, almost placing the revolver’s muzzle against the hard shell of the hissing monster. “But I’m the captain. Now get off my fucking ship.”

    BOOM!

    The beast stopped crawling.

    For a long moment, the captain simply stared at the mountain of a creature before him and how its black carapace filled most of the surgical room and said nothing. His breath escaped him in a long, slow sigh and then the smile reasserted itself.

    “That’s what I thought.” He muttered, wisps of smoke trailing out with each word.

   Flipped open the weapon, the captain reloaded the antique six-shooter with renewed confidence. If he could take down something like this, there was nothing to stand in his way of dealing with the rest. He just had to make sure they got home safe though.

    Everything was going to be fine after-all.

    With a quick shuffle around the gargantuan corpse, he made his way after the lead scientist and, with a turn and a quick run here and there down a few darkened hallways, he found the fire suppression system.

    But something was wrong.

    Stepping into the bay of computer terminals, the starboard door behind him suddenly slammed shut.

    And then the bow door.

    And the port.

    And the stern.

    “Sorry about this.” a familiar voice chided over the intercom.

    The soldier.

    They had woken up together but the coward of a man had run off the moment they had woken up to ‘check something’. The man had been added to the company roster a day before launch for ‘additional safety’ and disappeared the moment they needed someone with his skills.

    Skills at killing and little else.

    At the time, the captain had been pissed that the man with the biggest gun and the most training to use it had suddenly run away.

    Not things made a bit more sense.

    “You have to understand. They paid me a lot of money…” the man spoke over the tinny intercom.

    “The fuck are you talking about?” asked the captain as he approached the port side door. The lead scientist, to his surprise, was looking back at him through the viewport, fear in his eyes. “What are you doing with the door systems? I already dealt with that thing back there.”

    “Oh, I know. I was watching on the monitors. Quite impressive.”

    “Then what the fuck are you doing?”

    “My job.”

    Of course you are.

    A new klaxon suddenly sounded in the room, replacing the one from before. Cycling red and gold lights threatened any space faring man’s worst nightmare.

    His worst nightmare.

    The lead scientist was now in a panic. He was screaming for the mechanic who the captain could see, but not hear, running down the hallway towards the closed doors.

    “Your job.” The captain said with burgeoning anger. “You the one that let all these monsters on-board then? You the one who killed all my crew?!”

    “No.” came the clipped response. “That was just a useful distraction.”

    “Then what’s your job?”

    “You.”

    The captain closed his eyes.

    Through the pressure doors, he felt like he just might be able to just hear the sounds of the panicked screams of his crew. He could see them on the other side of the door frantically tearing at wires near the door panel.

    They were trying to save him, their desperation clear by their frantic motion.

    They knew what was coming and so did he.

    The fire suppression system, like any critical control circuit on his ship, was directly linked to a local airlock cycle system. The idea was to all for critical circuits to be replaced completely when needed and, in the instance of catastrophic fires or intruders on a ship, the air could be cycled out as an absolute failsafe in key locations.

    Kind of an ironic location given the circumstances really.

    “Who paid you?” the captain asked simply.

    “If you must know, it was your father. But he has the entire backing of the board, so really take your pick on who you want to blame.”

    “Makes sense.”

    “If it’s any consolation, I really did respect you. Takes guts to do what you did. And that was before you killed that thing back there.”

    “In that case, let me ask for a favor.” The captain said coldly.

    “I’m not stopping the cycle.”

    “I’m not asking you to, you dumb son of a bitch.” The captain growled. “I’m just asking that you make sure my people get home. And make sure these things don’t.”

    There was silence over the intercom for a long period before it crackled back to life.

    “You have my word.”

    The captain glanced back through the viewport. The scientist was crying. The mechanic was desperately tapping something on a tiny wrist computer. Cables were strewn everywhere.

    It didn’t matter though.

    Time was up.

    “One other thing.” The captain said softly as he looked up towards the fissures forming in the airlock seal.

    “Yea?” came the tinny voice.

    “You’re a real piece of shit.”

    “Yea. I know.”

    The air rushed out.

    The captain flew towards the void.

    And the klaxon’s call fell away in rush.