Project Hela
PROJECT HELA CREW REPORT
Crew Number: 040
Dates Active: <<Error #110/V: Information Not Found>>
Mission Planet: Telos
Stated Purpose: Polaris Mining Operations funded through HORUS Mandate C-0912 for Sustainable Settlement Development
Company Purpose: [REDACTED]. Concerns addressed to [REDACTED] regarding deployment of 040 and subsequent mission 041.
PMO Notes: [REDACTED]
All contents of this portfolio are not to be disclosed without the express permission of the Polaris Corporation. Any and all information that is found to be shared without consent will be disavowed and the guilty parties will be prosecuted for their actions.
CREW LOG – HARRY OLSEN, 34
FRONT PAGE INSCRIPTION:
Staring into the unknown will do funny things to your mind. People laugh or cry or scream. I guess that just shows you. We all go mad in our own special ways.
DAY ONE
Polaris’s having us hand write these entries, although I’m not sure why. Paper is a luxury that even my parent’s generation envied. We’re all so used to using tablets that taking the time to write out each word is almost excruciating. I feel bad for the poor bastard that has to decipher this garbled mess. Least the journals can fit in my pocket; anything bigger and I would have told Polaris to stuff them.
Sev has the most beautiful cursive I’ve ever seen. It’s not just writing, it’s art. I tried to get him to show me how to at least do my name, but I gave up after an hour. The best I could do is make the H in my name look relatively presentable. It must be something they teach Vishnus that they don’t teach us plebs from Tyr.
In training there’s this unspoken rule of don’t ask, don’t tell. That rule is as good as sacred to Crew 040. But with a crew this small and tight knit, rumors are bound to crop up. The way I heard it, Sev had been hooked so deep on mirth that he started ripping cheap skins in order to put up the money. Course, we’re all damaged goods out here. Even the pretty faces have ghosts to outrun.
Tish was a drop trooper, earning her the dubious title of commander. It’s hard to imagine what she would have had to do to get the military to chuck her out to the edge of known space. I heard that she served on Hecate towards the end of the Guild Wars, but I wouldn’t put to much faith in that story. If it were true, she’d be old enough to be my grandmother. But then, she’s got the scars to show it. The one night she got drunk on the transit out to Telos, she took us through a guided tour of them all. Your skin crawls just to look at some of them. No one should have survived what she did.
As for Clara, she is clearly running from someone. You can hear her sometimes, crying in her sleep. Murmuring the same names, the same words over and over. I tried to wake her up one time, and she almost took my head off with her tablet before she realized who I was. Even though she’s barely more than a teenager, I made sure to keep clear of her after that. Some demons are best dealt with on your own.
Marvin is the only one who’s relatively undamaged, and he’s not even human. He’s one of those old Quorridan androids used for fine work, demolitions, and bot management. The older models are sleek works of beauty. I can’t help but marvel at the craftsmanship of the joints alone. If Polaris ever figured out the kind of asset they had on their hands, we’d all be out of work. But then, maybe they already have an idea; he was the one keeping it running while we were on ice, taking the time to straighten up the mess left behind by the previous crew. Besides the occasional dings and scuffs typical of human wear, I would have thought the place was brand new.
Since I’m the head techie, Marvin tries to follow me around like a lost puppy. As much as I love seeing Tish’s face turn red at his dry comments, I sent him out to start the mining again. You can feel it now – a deep rumbling in the rock walls, steady and relentless. Barring inspections or some major fuck-up, that rumbling won’t stop while we’re here.
So begins the long year. Thankfully, a year on Telos is only a hundred days. If it were the more standard three sixty, I think we’d all lose it.
Photo of Maj. Patricia Andelista, Courtesy of UMC-119 and Polaris Corporation
DAY THREE
Solar storm is moving in. We’re doing our best to batten down the hatches, but there isn’t a whole lot we can do. Since we’re below ground, the biggest concern is over the solar panels up top. If those things fail, we’ve only got the backup generators. After forty generations of crews, the old generators are reliable half of the time at best. Marvin, Sev, and I tested it out earlier today and almost trapped Clara in her quarters after a circuit shorted. That’ll be my pet project for the next few weeks. We brought some new gear and equipment from Polaris, but the generators needed for this kind of operation are too heavy to simply replace.
Nights here are strange. I say nights, although it’s impossible to tell – for all I know it could be midday right now. We all take vitamin D supplements to help with the lack of sunlight, but there’s something that just gets into your skin about constantly being inside. Strange sounds amplify, abrupt lights startle. The constant groaning of the mining bots doesn’t help. Every now and then, Sev will orchestrate a demolition and the whole base rattles like a skeleton in the wind. Even with the warnings, they always make me tense. I took a nap earlier and had a strange dream where the mining bots collapsed the floor of the base, forcing us all to swim through the air in order to survive.
Clara is to administer the first psych evals in a week. I don’t know if I’m more curious or terrified to see what will come up.
DAY TWENTY-ONE
Three weeks in! Only eleven left to go. Just writing out the words makes me feel sick.
The solar storms have finally started to calm down. After the first one ripped out solar quadrant eight, we had to send Marvin out there and repair the entire quad bit by bit. We ran out of spare parts two-thirds of the way through and so had to jerry rig some spare parts from the rovers in order to keep the panes generating enough power.
Tish is peeved beyond hell at the fix, but I don’t really have much of a choice. If quadrant eight fails, it’ll overload the two solar quadrants immediately next to it before I can flip the fail switch.
No rovers means that our ability to catalogue the surface is severely limited. Sev and I toyed with the idea of sending Marvin out to go wander around and record for us, but we quickly decided against it. He’s is our only link to the surface and is the only android capable of the finer work of the mining. Without him, the entire mission would be a bust.
Sev is going out for his first cave walk later this afternoon. The official reasoning is to make sure the suits are still fully operational and to check on the work of Marvin and the mining bots. In reality, we all have been itching for an excuse to explore since the day we stepped off the ship. Out of all the crew reports we read, only one of them mentioned anything about what the caverns looked like. There was mention of a strange bioluminescent moss that shifted color as it was interacted with. It’s that moss, among other things, that Sev is going to try to look for.
I think he’s mostly excited to show off his suit. As one of the perks of working on Telos, we all got to choose how to colorize parts of the suit. Sev chose a deep burnt orange for the accent coloring, not a bad contrast for the dark grey of the suit. He had also etched on an old family crest on the right shoulder plate - a serpent coiled around a roaring lion. I still need to ask him about that. It’s archaic, but in a badass kind of way.
But maybe that’s just who Sev is.
FROM RECOVERED CAMERA FOOTAGE FROM ANDROID UNIT M4-V
The android is staring at the exterior of the base. From this perspective, the hexagonal walls shimmer in the fluorescent lights. Sections of the wall have been opened, revealing crates full of spare mining equipment, cables, powered down bots, and canisters of oxygen. The walls of the cavern hug close around the base; the top is completely swallowed by the roof of the cavern, shielded on all sides by stalactites as big around as men. Someone – a crew member from one of the earlier expeditions – had scrawled a message on the side of the base in dark red ink.
Dome sweet dome.
Sev’s face comes into view. Through the thick glass of the visor, all that can really be seen is the strip from the top of his sapphire blue eyes to the midpoint of his crooked nose. His suit, one of Polaris’s Minerva models, is a streamlined version of the typical suit used for space stations and ships. In the place of the propulsion unit on the back is a much smaller pack with equipment used to measure and sample the environment with minimal risk of contamination or damage. The thick fabric of the suit has been fortified, making it resistant to water, fire, sharp trauma, and radiation.
“Alright there, Marvin?” Sev’s voice, accented with a deep warmth, rings with a metallic edge, courtesy of the helmet.
“I am running at optimal efficiency. Are you ready to begin the expedition?”
“You know it, buddy. Lead on.”
The camera turns away as Marvin begins strolling through the cavern. The click of metal against the rock floor is the only sound other than Sev’s breathing. The cavern narrows down into a tunnel, leaving just enough room for the tall android to squeeze through. As they press into the tunnels, the lights embedded in the rock flicker on. Though the mining bots don’t require the neon blue light, it makes it more convenient for their human counterparts to not rely on the more shaky lights of their suits.
“Marvin, is this water on the ground here?”
The video feed turns to see Sev kneeling down near the side of the tunnel. He is studying a pool of liquid being fed from a small stream from the wall.
“That is the main constituent,” agrees Marvin. “There are other minerals and dissolved elements in the solution. It would be comparative to the saltwater found in Earth oceans.”
“Uh-huh. Has it already been sampled, then?” Sev reaches out to touch the liquid.
“Severin, keep moving on to the end of the tunneling. We can worry about detail work later.”
Tish’s voice interrupts Sev, broadcast clear into the video thanks to Marvin’s recording settings. Sev pulls his still dry fingers, disappointment crinkling the edges of his eyes.
“Yes ma’am.” He straightens and continues to follow Marvin.
Within a few hundred yards, offshoots begin to appear as the work of the mining bots slowly reveals itself. Since the offshoots were meant for robotic workers, the miniature tunnels could twist and turn in bizarre, gravity-defying ways.
There are a few other large tunnels, carved as emergency exits in case of a demolition gone awry. These, which are devoid of the lights that the main tunnel boasts, open like black abysses.
“What’s it like down there, Sev?” Clara’s voice pipes up.
“It’s like walking through the trunk of a hollow tree,” Sev says, as he drags the tips of his fingers along the wall. “It’s beautiful.”
“Quiet on the comms,” orders Tish. “Marvin, how far to the end of the tunnels?”
“Another quarter mile remains. The first large refinery is coming up. Would you like Severin to stop there for a report?”
“Push on to the end and work your way back.”
The tunnels rounds a corner and abruptly the lights ahead cut out. Marvin jolts to a stop, putting himself in front of Sev.
“What happened?” Sev asks.
“I’m not sure. It appears that the lighting has failed.” Two panels on Marvin’s shoulders flip, revealing two miniature lights. They flicker on, bathing the tunnel in brisk white light. Sev activates the lights on either side of his helmet, further chasing away the shadows.
There’s a flicker of movement deep in the shadows. It’s so brief it looks like nothing more than a shiver of light.
“Did you see that?” Sev’s voice is tight with excitement. He moves closer to Marvin, his helmet hovering in the edge of the video.
“It is unclear.”
“What’s going on, Sev?” Tish presses.
“I’m not sure. I think just a trick of the light.”
“Thermal scans appear nominal.”
“Thanks, Marvin.” Sev lets out a breath and rolls his shoulders back. “Let’s keep moving. If there was something down here, we’d know.”
“Be careful,” warns Tish.
“Yeah, yeah.” Sev speaks under his breath, but his hand remains firmly on the knife strapped to his side.
After another fifteen minutes, they reach the first refinery. The mining bots squat in their charging docks, their spiderlike bodies condensed down to spheres to save space. Their green charging light cast an eerie glow about the massive cavern, which has been expanded beyond even what the base sits in. The stalactites and stalagmites have been smoothed away to make room for the metal monstrosities responsible for sorting the chunks of raw minerals from the useless grey rock. Stacks of storage units tower twelve feet high, making up for a third of the space. Ideally, each crew would have brought away some of the units back to Polaris. Although some have been cleared, there are still more than even three crews could take away.
Something else has drawn Sev’s attention, however.
“Marvin, you hear that?”
The android moves to come stand by Sev. He’s standing in the corner of the room, beneath one of the many offshoots made by the mining bots. His helmet is cocked to one side, listening intently.
“I hear nothing, Severin. Perhaps-“
“Shhh.” Sev holds up a finger, stopping Marvin mid sentence. “It almost sounds like-“
There’s a piercing shriek and a bright white form drops down from the mining shaft, slamming into Sev’s helmet. Sev immediately starts thrashing, screaming as he tries to rip the creature off of his suit. Marvin grabs it, his strong metallic fingers sinking into the soft-bodied creature like hooks digging into clay. Quick as lightning, he flicks it off of Sev, sending it crashing into the wall with a sickening squelch.
The thing shrieks again, the sound so shrill that even the helmet’s automatic dampening system can’t stop it hurting like a stab to the ears. Before Marvin can snatch it for a second time, the thing scuttles away, slithering into a fissure in the ground.
“Marvin…” Sev’s words come out shaky, a little kid’s frightened voice.
Marvin turns to see Sev holding out his arm. Deep ragged puncture marks have torn through the arm of the suit, revealing pale skin already slick with blood. Before Marvin has a chance to speak, Sev jerks back and stiffens. Alarms go off in his suit as Marvin moves into action, catching Sev before he can strike the ground.
Emergency Procedure A-12 activated. Please report back to base immediately for medical attention.
“Severin? Report what’s happening.” Tish’s voice is tight as she speaks into the com.
“It appears Severin has been exposed to some sort of alien venom. I am bringing him back now for medical attention.”
As the android speaks, he kneels down next to Sev. His eyes have rolled back up into his head, and his breathing is growing rapidly more ragged. Blood bubbles to the surface of the puncture marks, threatening to spill over onto the floor of the cavern. Marvin pulls out a small medkit from Sev’s belt and takes out a pressure bandage. He wraps this around Sev’s arm and the bandage immediately swells, compressing the wound.
“What bit him, Marvin?” Harry’s voice speaks up for the first time.
“Unclear. It appears some sort of life from, although I was not able to get a clear visual on the creature.”
“Can you grab the life form, Marvin?” asks Tish.
“It has disappeared.” Marvin straightens to his full height, Severin curled in his arms like a child.
“Just get Sev back here, Marvin,” Harry says. “We can worry about whatever the fuck that was later.”
“Understood.” Marvin picks up his pace, moving with a superhuman speed and grace back to the base.
Photo of Android Unit MV-4, courtesy of Polaris Corporation Crew 032 Report
A small woman dressed in a white lab coat — Clara — meets Marvin in the med bay, her round face furrowed with concern.
“Get him into the chair and remove the suit,” she orders. “How are his vital signs?”
“HR 168 BPM, BP 90/50, pulse ox 95%.” Marvin recites the vitals even as he lays Sev in the chair. The monitor above Sev flickers into life, displaying the same vitals as the chair reads his physiological signs.
The helmet comes off with a slight hiss. Sev’s face is ashen and lined with pain, head slumped to one side. Glossy amber eyes stare blindly out of half-closed lids. Sweat mats his hair, plastering it to his face.
Clara darts over and stabs him in the neck with an injector, muttering a list of medications under her breath.
Marvin tugs away the top half of the suit, revealing more of Sev’s body. The bite mark has swollen and grown red. Dark yellow liquid gathers around the eight puncture wounds, which form a perfect circle on the side of his bicep. Blood flows incessantly, even as the tireless android wipes it away.
The camera zooms into the pulsating wound as Marvin studies it closer. “There are no remaining debris in the wound, Clara.”
“Is there anything that we can use to identify the toxin?” Clara demands.
“It does not appear so. However, because the wound is alien in nature, I feel it is safe to assume that it would be no venom that we would recognize.”
Abruptly, Sev jolts upright and spews vomit across the med bay.
“Puta madre!” swears Clara. She manages to avoid getting struck by the vile projection, but her face still twists with revulsion and alarm.
“Heart rate is increasing – 174, 186, 189.” Marvin’s cool, level voice is a disturbingly serene sound in the frantic atmosphere of the med bay.
Sev retches again, but this time Marvin manages to shove a bedpan into his lap, catching the sick in the metal receptacle. Sev shivers, sweat soaking through his white t-shirt. His head lolls on his neck, eyes writhing in their sockets, unseeing and uncaring to the world around them.
“Keep an eye on his breathing, Marvin. There’s a chance we might have to do a tracheotomy. I’m going to try to stop the bleeding.”
The door to the med bay hisses open and a lanky man with peppery hair dressed in a flight suit comes charging in, a stocky woman right on his heels.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Now’s not the time, Harry,” Clara replies, her voice curt. “I’m doing the best I can but I’m working blind here.”
Tish grabs onto Harry’s arm, her eyes clouded with concern and uncertainty. “Harry, we should leave-”
“I’m not leaving my friend behind!” snaps Harry. He moves to stand next to Sev, shaking away Tish’s hand.
The shaking intensifies and Sev bites down hard on his tongue and bottom lip, drawing a thick line of blood. Clara pushes Harry aside and forces Sev’s mouth open, squeezing in a rubber disk to keep him from biting his tongue off.
“If you want to stay in here, fine,” Clara says, speaking through gritted teeth. “But if I tell you to move, get out of my way, or Sev is as good as dead.”
“Clara.” Tish’s voice, normally so steady and unemotional, tremors with fear. Harry and Clara turn to see her looking down at Sev’s injured arm.
The puncture marks have widened, becoming ragged-edged circles with deep black centers. The skin around it is deathly pale, as if all the blood had been drained away. Sev’s fingers clench and unclench, the muscles stiff and spastic.
Tish swallows hard once, then again. The sight is so disturbing she has to walk away, the back of her hand pressed to her mouth.
“He’s not bleeding anymore,” Harry notes quietly. “Isn’t that good?”
Clara blinks tears from her eyes and shakes her head. “I don’t know. Maybe? I’ve never heard of a reaction like this.”
But Sev did appear to be settling down. The shaking slowly subsides, his breathing deepening and evening out. Only the hand continues grasping, clenching, reaching for something that isn’t there.
“Let’s just assume that things are settling down for now,” Tish says, her voice strained. She turns to Clara, keeping Sev firmly out of eyesight. “Clara, continue to monitor his condition. If so much as a heartbeat changes, I want to know about it.”
“What are you going to do?” Clara asks.
Tish can only shrug. “My job. Report to Polaris and then keep this base running smoothly.”
She nods to Harry. “That means you too, Harry. I can’t do the job of three people.”
Reluctantly, Harry nods and follows Tish back out of the med bay. He glances back at Sev one last time before he leaves, his normally bright features clouded.
“It’ll be alright, Sev,” Clara murmurs. “Marvin and I will take care of you.”
[Footage damaged or not found.]
Portrait of Clara Castaneda, discovered in Polaris’s Employee Records
DAY TWENTY-NINE
I’m sitting with Sev, giving Clara a chance to sleep. He’s sleeping again, hands folded across his chest. His right hand is still bloodless and freezing to the touch. He’s lost all feeling there – there’s every chance that he’ll need to get a prosthetic limb. We haven’t really talked about it.
At least he was awake earlier. Just talking with him, you’d never know that anything had happened. He was a little chagrined, as if being attacked by an alien was somehow his fault. I thought Clara was going to cry with happiness. She hasn’t stopped grinning since he woke up – I guess Sev got a little touch and go after Tish and I left last night. Sev is still too weak to get up, but Clara says that’s normal. By the end of the week, he’ll be back to his old routine – at least, that’s the hope.
I’m just grateful she finally bandaged those freaky bite marks. The first time I saw those, I almost vomited. Every time I look at my own arm, I can see those gaping holes, ready to tear deeper and wider, to rip me apart into thin shreds…
Telos is fucking cursed.
Though he insists that he’s fine, we’re keeping Sev in the med bay for observation for ten days. If something is incubating in him, we need to make sure that he isn’t in a place where he could risk himself or somebody else.
Tish has gone ballistic. She has both of us pulling double shifts to try and make up for Sev’s and Clara’s absence. I’ve been out of the base so much that my eyes are almost permanently sensitive to fluorescent lights. When I go out, I activate the electric mesh in my suit. If anything so much as brushes it, it will receive a jolt strong enough to fry a bull. I also have my pistol strapped to my belt, and keep Marvin within eyesight at all times. As an extra precaution, none of us have gone back to the refinery where Sev was attacked. Still doesn’t keep me from jumping at every sound in the caves. One of the mining bots knocked over a tray of rocks the other day and I almost leaped into the ceiling.
Whatever the thing was that attacked Sev, it hasn’t made a reappearance. Each time I go out, I scan for every variation of life, but the reading always comes back negative. In a way, that freaks me more than actually seeing the damned thing. And where there’s one creature, more usually lurk close behind. The thought of something bigger and more dangerous than what attacked Sev… it’s enough to make an algharib run and hide.
The bastards from Polaris still haven’t responded to Tish’s messages. I suspect they’re biding their time, waiting until the last possible moment to swoop in and rescue another “precious” expedition. There was talk though – if ours fails, that’ll be it.
One can only hope.
I need to sleep. I’ve been awake for forty-eight hours straight and it’s taken its toll. The stim packets in the galley have done nothing but worsen my headache. Shadows shift and warp, lights tear and bite. I can’t eat, it’s so bad. Maybe I’ll talk to Clara and get a melatonin capsule. I hate getting chemical help but at this point, I’m desperate. I’ll even risk the nightmares again.
Sev just woke up. I’m going to see what he needs and then-
Filed Photo of Severin from Polaris Corporation
[Footage from Android Unit M4-V]
“Marvin! Get your ass to the med bay now!”
The video feed flickers on, but all is darkness except for a sliver of light surrounding the edges of the doorway. Marvin moves and the door hisses open, reacting to the motion.
The door opens to a scene of chaos. Harry is holding back a struggling Sev, his face bright red with exertion. Sev’s face contorts in a mask of barely controlled rage, his teeth gritted and his eyes glinting. Harry pulls at his arms and legs, but Sev is still able to inch his way forward, step by step.
The bandage on his arm have been ripped away, revealing the ugly pale wound. With Harry pulling at Sev’s arm, the skin grows taut and stretches the punctures, making the black holes gape like opening mouths. Harry’s hand slips down, his fingers brushing the grotesque marks and his face twists with disgust. The momentary distraction is all Sev needs to break free. Stumbling forward, Sev charges towards the exit.
Marvin stops him with one hand, as if holding back a raging child.
“You appear to be distressed, Severin. Please sit back down so we may administer medical care.”
Sev grunts and tries to jerk free, but the android’s grip is like a vice.
Slowly, firmly, Marvin marches Sev back towards his bed. Just when Marvin is about to push Sev into his seat, Sev gropes, his fingers locking around a bedpan. He slams the metal tray into Marvin’s head, knocking him to the side. The video feed tilts as the android stumbles. For a moment, all that is shown is the metal floor. But as Marvin straightens again, it is clear that Sev is bolting for the exit.
He makes it out into the corridor, his bare feet echoing on the metal floor.
Harry and Marvin hurry after him, calling to Tish and Clara to try and slow down Sev.
“He’s headed for the exit!” Harry shouts.
Tish steps into the corridor in time to see Sev barreling towards her. She steels herself, ready to catch him, but he uses his shoulder to slam into her chest, dropping her hard to the floor. Tish topples to the floor, wheezing for air.
Harry stops to help her even as Marvin continues after Sev. He makes it to the door to the mining tunnels and swings it open. Alarms begin to blare, the lights automatically switching over to the red flashing bulbs. Though the atmosphere of Telos is pressurized, the contaminants in the air would be enough to kill a human within hours.
Marvin manages to get to the door, and closes it behind him, locking himself and Sev outside of the base.
“Marvin what the hell are you doing?” Harry shouts, pounding on the door.
“My primary objective is to look after the safety of the crew,” Marvin replies, even as he moves to continue his chase. “That includes preserving the life inside the base.”
Even the few seconds it takes to shut the door gives Sev an advantage. He almost disappears from sight, a pale figure scrambling deeper into the tunnels.
Marvin follows him, through the twisting mine tunnel, past the off-shoots that run like veins through the tons of rock surrounding them. Past the refinery and the eerie glow of the charging bots, all the way to the end of the tunnel. But there’s another off shoot, one that no one had seen before.
Sev ducks through it, his eyes alight with an excitement that is barely containable.
Marvin pursues him, his even gait slipping on the suddenly slick rocks.
The small tunnel opens into a massive cavern, easily forty feet in height. The floor is a twisted mess of swirls and uneven holes, centuries of water spent wearing away the smooth floor into a convoluted sprawl.
Stalagmites stab up from the cavern floor, their sharp edges clustering together like hordes of dark grey daggers. A strange glow emanates from them thanks to the smear of some kind of algae clinging to their sides. It bathes the walls in light-green and blue light, casting ghostly reflections of the water around the room.
The majority of the cavern is filled with a fathomless lake. The water is as still as a sheet of glass, but impossible shadows shift and swirl beneath the surface, staying just out of sight. The sound of Sev’s breathing is strangely amplified. Everything echoes, reverberates, contorts. If Marvin had a heart, he would have felt its beat echoing in his head.
“Can’t you hear it? The water… it’s calling to us. Singing to me…” Sev murmurs, his voice as clear and as loud as a shout thanks to the amplification of the cave.
Pools of blood surround his feet; he must have cut himself on the rocky floor of the cavern. Each footprint glistens, more blood draining with every step he takes. The light from the algae gives him an ethereal look. With his white medical tunic and his tousled black hair, he looks more like some ancient ghost than human. The wound in his arm stands out harshly against his body, unnatural and foreboding even in this haunting place.
Marvin starts to walk towards Sev, but a dark tendril whips out of the water and wraps around the android’s leg. More join the first, razor sharp spines scratching and sparking against Marvin’s metal skeleton. Marvin stumbles as the tendrils tighten, bringing him down to his knees. Marvin sweeps at them, his hand sliding open to allow a wicked blade to appear. A knot of the tendrils falls down, black blood spilling across the stony ground. Deep below the water, there’s a dark wrenching cry, the sound eerily similar to shattering glass. More tendrils join in, wrapping around Marvin’s arm. They tighten until the metal buckles, tearing first pieces then chunks of the android away.
Shouting fills the video – Tish and Clara and Harry all calling to the suddenly helpless android. Black liquid pours down his once pristine frame, releasing equally dark smoke that spirals towards the remorseless stone icicles above.
Marvin begins to speak, his hand groping towards Sev, but a tendril punches through his throat, destroying his voice box. The last thing the android sees is Sev lying down in the water, a contented smile spreading across his face. The water glows around him, sliding over him in a gentle embrace.
The tendrils pierce through Marvin’s skull and the video cuts into darkness.
Recovered Footage Still from M4-V
[Recovered Audio from Command Center, partially supplemented with accounts later found in Harry Olsen’s personal entries.]
HARRY: I’m going out after Sev.
CLARA: Are you crazy? That…thing will tear you apart! Look what it did to Marvin!
HARRY: (sound of fist slamming into table) I don’t care. He could still be alive for all we know! I’m not just going to let my friend die out there.
CLARA: It’s suicide, Harry! We need to stop – we need to think through what we’re going to do next.
TISH: She’s right, Harry. We can’t just rush into this.
(There is a long pause. Sounds of sniffling, shuffling feet. After a few minutes, Tish speaks.)
TISH: Look, as far as I’m aware, no other mission has reported contact with this kind of alien life. Assuming we’re the first, we have an obligation to quarantine it off without killing the alien species. Besides, protocol dictates that we need to recover the android’s memory chip if possible.
HARRY: Protocol also dictates give Severin a proper burial, if that’s even possible. If he’s even dead.
TISH: Agreed. Our best plan of action is to return in a couple of hours, give whatever creature is in there a chance to settle. Balance of probability favors that it’s nocturnal, so we’ll go in the middle of the day shift.
CLARA: And by we you mean?
TISH: Me and Harry. Did you take bloodwork of Severin?
CLARA: Of course.
TISH: Then your job is to study that. I want to know why he snapped like he did. If there are toxins in his bloodstream, they may be passed in more ways than one. Try to figure out if we’re at risk, and, if you can, to come up with an antivenom.
CLARA: Yes, ma’am.
HARRY: What are we going to tell Polaris? When they find out about this –
TISH: We’ll talk with Polaris after we get back. It’s not like they’d be of any help anyways. For now, we focus on our own.
[The rest of this recording was redacted under Section AS-9c of HORUS Mandate C-0912a]
[Recovered Oculus Camera Footage]
[PMO Note: The Oculus camera, once popular among so-called “extreme-reporters”, was banned over privacy violations and public safety hazards. It is to date the only camera with a neural link that dictates the thoughts and mental impressions of the user. Polaris does not condone Mr. Olsen’s choice to use this device, and recognizes that the following footage can not be used as suitable evidence in any court of law. For the purposes of documentation and future research, the footage has been preserved.]
The video feed begins with Harry staring at himself in the mirror. His face lined as much with exhaustion as with stress. It is clear he hasn’t slept in several hours. In his right eye, there is a faint shimmer around the iris.
Okay, so it looks like this thing is recording properly. I know I’m supposed to hand write these entries, but this… this is all I can handle right now.
Maybe it’s wrong to be recording this, but… I don’t know. I just have a feeling that this is the kind of the thing that needs to be remembered.
“Harry! Are you coming today or what?”
Crap, that’s Tish. I better get going.
The camera swings down to the table as Harry grabs a small cylinder and clips it to his belt. From the gauntleted hand, it is clear he is wearing his Minerva suit, helmet clipped to his waist along with a med kit, a small pistol, and a few other tools. In the dim light of his room, the blue handprint in the center of his chest plate fades to black.
Outside of the sleeping quarters, Tish is in the corridor by the exit. Her helmet is already on, her face lost behind the dark tint of her visor. She chose a white accent for her suit, but unlike the others, there are no obvious signets to make it her own. Clara is standing at the door of the med bay, chewing anxiously on her thumbnail.
“Be careful,” she says in as Harry slips on his helmet. She’s putting on a brave face, but he can see the tremor in her hands and the not-quite steady shine to her eyes.
He turns to her, but instead of cracking a joke, he bows so that the top of his helmet kisses her forehead. It’s a gentle gesture, one as old and as familiar as the call to explore.
“I’ll see you soon,” he says.
Tish and Harry leave the habitat, stepping out into the darkness.
Employee Photo of Harry Olsen, Courtesy of Shimigami Prison
Even with his auditory sensors turned up, all that can be heard is Harry’s breathing. The footage, interlaced with Harry’s personal thoughts and emotions, reveals that the is painfully aware of his own frantic heartbeat. No matter how much he tries to ignore it, fear, that sickening, bone-chilling monster, has its hooks sunk deep.
As they walk, Tish pauses and plants explosives along the walls. It isn’t something Polaris will take kindly to – years of mining, threatened by a single woman and a bag full of delta-class explosives – but they are beyond caring. Survival is the only goal now, even if it means bringing down the entire moon with them.
Harry’s fingers tighten on his pistol as Tish leads the way into the cavern, her rifle raised and ready to fire. The light from her weapon and her helmet throws her into shadows, making her seem like a ghost. The thought forces Harry to suppress a shiver as he follows her into the gaping maw.
“Oh fuck.”
It is black as tar in the cavern. Even their lights do little more than nudge the darkness, leaving them swarmed in shadows. But the video transmitted from Marvin had shown bioluminescent algae.
What had happened to that?
There’s movement besides Harry as Tish fiddles with something. A moment later, she lobs a glowing ball into the air. It rises to the center of the room, casting a ghostly fluorescent blue light about the cavern. The jagged edges of the stalactites seem to tighten under the glare of the light, their slick surfaces spreading shadows like spilled oil.
Harry draws closer to Tish as they inch towards the expansive body of water. It’s impossible to see the far side of the cavern – even the bright light of the ball is swallowed by the oppressive darkness that waits in the distance.
“There’s Marvin.” Tish’s voice is so quiet, Harry barely catches the words. He looks to where she is pointing and sees their android friend – or rather, what remains of him – near the edge of the water.
Marvin’s face, once polished and chiseled to resemble a human’s, has been ripped in half. The fragmented jaw hangs onto his chest, giving him a permanently surprised expression. A round hole pokes through the opposite cheek, the edges jagged thanks to the razor sharp teeth of the tendrils. The rest of his body is equally trashed. One of Marvin’s hands still reaches to the spot where Sev had stood, a last desperate attempt to help. Tears spring to Harry’s eyes, surprising him and blurring the video feed. He blinks them away even as he kneels down next to Marvin. Gently, he lifts up Marvin’s head and turns it over to pull out the memory chip. The chip – a small card as big as the pad of Harry’s index finger – slips easily into a small pouch on Harry’s belt.
He sets Marvin’s head back down.
“Harry.”
Tish’s voice brings his attention back to her. She’s standing on the very edge of the water, the toes of her boots sending tiny ripples out into the expanse.
Harry hurries over to join her and nearly leaps out of his skin when he sees what she’s looking at.
Deep in the water, frozen and pale, is Sev. The flesh of his chest has been torn away, revealing the glistening purple and red organs trapped in the stark white ribcage. Burrowed in the ribcage, fastened to the organs and to the strips of flesh still hanging from the bones, are vibrant creatures and plants. There are vines, their long willowy arms curling around the bones and the shoulders and up the neck, as blue as the summer sky. Creatures akin to starfish, covered in vibrant purple and green cilia, latched onto his lungs and diaphragm, next to urchin-like balls of orange spikes, which quiver in an invisible current. Looking closer, Harry can see that more have stripped away the skin in his arm, revealing the dark red muscle and yellow tendons that have relaxed. The puncture marks, which had scared and sickened all of them, have been ripped away, but the strips of flesh that remain carry the same black hue.
Sev’s eyes, amber and still glossy with lack of sight, stare up into Harry’s. Harry wants to look away, to vomit and scream and cry, but all he can do is stare back. No one deserved such a death.
“Oh my god,” Tish whispers. “Oh my god, his heart.”
The fist-sized organ beats. Slow, impossibly slow for a human heartbeat, but still it beats.
“He’s still alive.”
Tish stumbles away, to a corner, her hands gripping the sides of her helmet as if she’s resisting the urge to throw it off.
Harry doesn’t move. He can’t. It’s horrifying and it’s beautiful, the not-quite corpse of his friend.
And then Tish begins to laugh.
The sound startles Harry, shocking him so badly he almost falls into the water. Instead he catches himself and falls back, chest heaving.
Looking around, he realizes he’s suddenly alone in the cavern. He’s on his feet in an instant, his heart crawling into his mouth as he looks around for Tish. Her laughter is growing louder now, the sound unnaturally high-pitched and broken.
The light from the ball cuts out, plunging Harry into fresh darkness. He swears violently, pistol raised and ready to fire.
“Tish!”
An inhuman shriek splits through the cavern. Fire erupts around Harry’s leg as something lashes around it. There’s a flash as the electric mesh flares and dies, sizzling as the tendrils rip through the suit like tissue paper. And still, through it all, that ceaseless, inhuman laughter.
Harry falls hard as more tendrils join the first, dragging him towards the water. The pain is so bad the video feed turns scarlet as the neural link overloads. Tears stream down Harry’s face as he fumbles for the cylinder in his pocket.
With a whoosh of heat and energy, the thermite sword blazes into life. Even with the photochromatic shielding of the helmet, the video feed momentarily whites out. Slowly, his eyes adjust, the blurred shadow solidifying into a monstrosity in front of him. Red eyes like slits widen and bleed black blood as the thermite’s piercing light blinds it. The tentacled beast – its body a writhing, glistening mass – bellows in rage, the sound shaking Harry to the pit of his stomach. Its mouth – a four-sided beak that opens and shuts, revealing needle thin teeth – gnashes at his feet even as Harry swings the sword.
There’s a horrible sizzle as the sword bites through the tentacles holding Harry, dropping him to the rocky floor. The creature roars again, the sound at once shrill and deep, haunting and agonizing. It falls back into the water, heaving up black waves that wash over the shore, drenching Harry’s torn legs.
The thermite in the sword burns out, and darkness falls again, hiding Sev and the monsters below the water.
Trembling, beyond tears or vomit or even hysteria, Harry drags himself away from the water’s edge until his back hits the stone wall of the cavern. The scorching pain from his legs is unbearable. He can feel the blood pouring down his legs, the heat from it steaming in the air of the cavern. The frantic voice of Clara calls to him, muted by the pain, even as the calmer voice of his suit’s automated response murmurs in his ear.
Suit compromised beyond repair. Please return to base immediately.
“Harry? Harry, please come in.”
“I’m here Clara.” Harry touches his fingers to his throat, cringing.
Was I yelling? I must have been.
“Are you okay?”
“I-I think so.” Harry grunts as he shifts so his back is flush against the wall
He looks around, trying to catch sight of the lights of Tish’s helmet or rifle. Nothing.
“What’s going on, Harry?”
“I dunno. Tish is gone…”
“Maybe she’s coming back here?”
“Maybe.” With a fresh grunt of pain, Harry forces himself to his feet. “I don’t think she’s in here anymore, at least.”
He shuffles his way out of the cavern, grateful to leave the monster and Sev’s horrifying remains behind.
He’s still alive in there.
Harry’s fists flex with guilt, but he knows he can’t go back. There was no way Sev – his Sev – was still alive.
He makes it back to the tunnel and starts his slow, staggering way back towards the base. The explosives wink scarlet at him as he trudges. Visions of white creatures swarming him fills his thoughts, making the hairs on his arms stand on end even as he scans the ceiling above.
“Harry!”
With a start, Harry realizes that Clara has been trying to talk to him.
“Sorry, Clara, I must have zoned out.”
“S’okay.” There’s a sniff. “I was just wondering…would you mind talking? It doesn’t have to be anything special. I’m just… I’m really scared, Harry.”
“Yeah, Clara, of course.” Harry clears his throat, realizing his mind is blank of everything except the horrifying image of Sev’s body. “What did you have in mind?”
“How did you end up out here?”
The question catches Harry so off guard he can’t help it. He laughs. “What in the seven systems possessed you to ask that?”
“Everyone else I know. Sev, drug addict, Tish, ex-soldier. You’re still a mystery.”
“What about you?”
There’s a pause.
“Killer.” The word sounds strange coming from Clara, as if she had switched to speaking a different language. “I killed my husband. He had it coming, but…”
“You still feel like you needed to pay for it.” Harry’s voice is soft.
“Yeah.” Clara clears her throat, already answering the unasked question. “I was in a bad speeder crash. He was the attending surgeon, and at the time he was so kind. It didn’t take much for me to fall in love. But as time went on, he grew more and more jealous. More and more controlling. I missed my sister’s wedding, my best friend’s baby shower. And then he tricked me. Lied, so he never had to worry about having kids.”
Her voice hardens as she speaks. This is no longer the small girl from the capital planets, this is someone far too old for their years. Far too broken for their kindness. Even though he didn’t think it was possible, even though it hurt worse than any cut or bruise he had, Harry felt something in his chest give out for Clara.
“I’m sorry.”
“I am too.”
After another pause, Clara clears her throat and speaks again. “Alright, you’ve had my sob story. Now you have to spill yours.”
Harry chuckles, but there isn’t much mirth to the sound. His skin crawls with the sudden memory of what remained hidden in the darkness. “Must I?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Harry blew out a breath, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. “You ever seen one of Kamadeva’s penal colonies?”
“Yeah, in old holo films. They always looked horrible.”
“Yeah, trust me, whatever they showed you barely scratched the surface.” Harry’s face is dark with memory. The laughing, jovial features suddenly take on an angular edge, like the features of a wolf. “I was a prison guard in Shinigami – not the worst of the worst, not by a long shot. Just some people who made some bad choices and had no other place to fall. They didn’t deserve what we did to them.”
“This is your punishment?”
“In a sense, yeah. There was one prisoner. He –”
Harry’s voice cuts out as he enters the refinery.
Tish is sitting in the corner, helmet discarded, the light shining up at her head. Her dark hair falls around her shoulders, and with a start Harry realizes it’s the first time he’s seen it outside of its customary bun.
“Clara,” he says, his voice cool and calm even as the video feed visibly shakes, “I just found Tish. I’m going to put you on mute for a second, okay? I’ll report back as soon as I find out if she’s alright.”
“Be careful, Harry.”
With a click, Clara’s voice disappears.
Harry switches to external speakers so Tish can hear him. He crouches down slightly, as if approaching a wounded animal.
“Tish? You alright?”
No response.
“Tish, look at me.”
The hysteria has faded away, leaving something cold and hard in its place. Harry inches forward, and sees that her gloves have been cast off as well. The fingernails have been bitten down past the quick, tinging the tips of her fingers red. Her dark skin is waxy, as if she were sweating like a candle.
After what feels like a lifetime, Tish looks up and her eyes lock onto Harry’s. Harry immediately recoils. Her eyes are glazed over with a frosty white substance. At first, Harry mistakes them for cataracts, but as his light shines into them, he sees the first worm sliding across the surface of her eyeballs.
“Oh fuck.” Harry scrambles away from Tish.
Gradually, almost peacefully, Tish stands. Her suit slides off of her as she does so, like a snake shedding its skin. Wearing nothing but her dark grey flight suit, she takes a step forward. More of her skin is sliding, loosening, tightening, tearing. Thin lines of blood appear forming perfect rings around her arm, her leg, her stomach. She takes another step forward, and her foot kicks a small metal box. It skids to a stop in front of Harry and for a moment he can’t register what it is.
When he picks it up, his heart skips a beat in his chest.
It’s the detonator.
The explosives are still there, still blinking scarlet on the walls.
Another step forward. A chunk of Tish’s beautiful, hard face peels away, revealing the deep red muscle and the dead-white bone.
She’s moving slowly, but in another step she’ll be within reach of Harry. And suddenly he knows what he has to do.
Harry’s knuckles whiten around the detonator as he sprints away from Tish and squeezes the control.
Ten, nine, eight, seven…
He makes it out of the refinery, out of sight Tish and those horrible, unseeing eyes.
Six, five, four…
The end of the tunnel is in sight, past the last of the explosives, the warning lights blinking more and more rapidly as the timer counts down.
Three, two, one.
BOOM
An invisible wave slams into Harry and he is thrown forward, tumbling across the hard rock like a leaf caught in a strong wind. The heat sweeps through to his bone, singeing him as he rolls to a stop in the base. The neuralink again fades to red.
It takes Harry a few seconds to realize that Clara is once again yelling at him.
“–is attacking the base! It’s already taken out the sleeping quarters! Harry, please!”
The quiver of fear in Clara’s voice is unmistakable. She sounds close to tears. It’s enough to make Harry’s already uneasy stomach churn more. He forces himself to sit up, cursing every ribbon of pain that complains at the movement.
Not the end of the tunnels after all. He’s in one of the emergency tunnels, one of the many redundancies in case of a collapse. Harry could just make out a dim light at one end of the tunnel. That could only be the base.
Or another lure to my death.
Harry shoves the thought away as he stands.
“Where are you?”
“In the med bay. I’ve activated the deadbolt seals, but I don’t know if that’s going to stop it. Whatever it is,” she adds in a whisper.
“Just hang tight, okay? I’ll come and get you. We can make a run for the shuttle.”
“What about Tish?”
There’s a pause. The feed shivers ever so slightly. Harry restraining himself from looking back.
“She’s not going to make it.”
Harry pulls out a small canister from the medkit and sprays it haphazardly across the scratches. The spray foams purple and then hardens, forming a cast-like seal across his legs. It makes his movements stiff and awkward but it slows the bleeding and eases the pain. Still, it’s a very temporary solution to a very serious problem.
Gritting his teeth, Harry makes his way out of the cavern. As he walks, he presses one hand against the tunnel to steady himself. He can hear rather than see the scuttling of more creatures around him, the sound of thick scales scraping against rock.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
When the first white creature appears, Harry almost laughs. It’s almost underwhelming after everything else he’s seen. Featureless save for the dozen or so legs protruding from its body, it looks more like a ghostly starfish than a bloodthirsty predator. It shrieks as it skitters towards him, moving unnaturally fast for a creature that size. Harry blasts it down with his pistol. Two more quickly join the first, black blood exploding from their bodies. As they die, their legs curl inward, the sharp teeth lining them digging into its flesh, drawing out more beads of blood. The creatures swarm their fallen comrades, relinquishing him for the easier prey.
He arrives at the base only to find a disaster zone. Fires lap the twisted chunks of metal and wiring, rocks pulverizing the reinforced walls as if they were made of clay. The smoke hangs acrid in the air, darkening the video feed.
Tools are scattered around like discarded toys, most smashed beyond hope of recovery. But there is something else as well. Something that drew Harry’s gaze and threatened to drain the last remaining strength from his bones.
The med bay had been reduced to a smoking pile of rubble.
“Clara?” Harry whispers.
Laughter shakes the open space. It is different from the crazed laughter of Tish; this is more ancient, more powerful, more vicious. The laugh of a spider knowing that a fly has wandered into its web.
Harry tightens his grip on his pistol, even as he feels his insides freeze. Something in the darkness shifts, clicking and shuddering with its own mass.
“Harry? Harry, is that you?”
Clara’s voice, so clear and so terribly afraid, rings in Harry’s ears. Coming from the commlink, but also from the terrible monster crawling towards the light. There’s a flash as bone-white features come into view. Yellow eyes open, two, then four, then six in total. For just a brief moment, there’s a glimpse of a long, narrow face, surfacing out of the darkness. Teeth, long and sharp and thin, glisten, bared in a wicked grin even as they pull apart.
“Please Harry. I’m scared.”
“Enough!” Harry roars. He aims the gun at the head of the monster, fury burning away the fear that would otherwise stop his heart.
“Go ahead and try it, umani. Shoot me with your little fire.”
The beast’s voice changes, taking on an older deeper voice. The voice of a commander, but not one from this crew.
More of the beast emerges from the darkness and Harry glimpses ribcages, split open and hugging a contorted body like armor, the bones stained grey and yellow. Even through the filters of the spacesuit, the smell permeates the helmet. It reeks with the scent of rotting flesh, so vile that the contents of Harry’s stomach force its way into his mouth. Somehow, he’s able to keep from retching and instead starts looking around for a weapon. The pistol was going to be useless against a beast this size – its taunt was a clear enough indication of that.
The rattling intensifies, the sound of bones crashing together. Thick claws scrape the ground, drawing sparks as they tighten against the rocky floor.
“What are you?” Harry asks. The creature laughs again, pulling back once more into the shadows.
“Your predecessors tasted so wonderful. All that adrenalin coursing through their veins…the hot blood, so sweet, so full of life…all so scared they forgot to even name me.”
The voice changes again, this time to a more familiar one. “Why not give yourself over now? Spare yourself the pain of life.”
Djion-Lee. The first commander of the first crew, the one whose voice Harry grew to hate during the endless trainings and instructions.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry sees a familiar flash of silver.
“So you steal voices then. You lure in innocent victims, pretending to call for help.” Slowly, imperceptibly, Harry inches his way to the right. “More than that. You’re able to absorb their knowledge, their thoughts.”
There’s a rush of darkness and instinctively, Harry pulls the trigger. In the enclosed space, the discharge of the pistol is deafening. Ears ringing, Harry looks around, but the creature has vanished. The hairs on the back of his neck stand up and slowly, painfully, Harry pulls his eyes up.
And there it is.
Clinging to the rocks like some demon out of hell, the creature leers at him. Its elongated face grimaces, its needle-thin teeth stained crimson with blood and chunks of flesh. Its long serpentine body is covered in bits of skeleton – from neck to hind legs are ribcages, three across and three down, crackling horribly even as Harry sees that bits of lung and heart and other organs shiver among the grey bones. There are femurs and clavicles and other innumerable, unknowable bones, sliding and colliding across the creature’s six legs, which are as wide around as Harry and which end in thick claws that dig through the stone as if they were made of balsa wood.
“Don’t be afraid, umani. The kill is swift and effortless. Greater men than you went as peacefully as leaves falling to the forest floor.”
Harry’s foot bumps into what he is looking for. He kneels, not taking his face off of the creature. The yellow eyes narrow and the head turns, teeth baring wider with confusion and suspicion. A deep growl emanates from the creature’s chest, loud enough to make the stalactites around it tremor. Grimly, Harry allows his fingers to close around the thermite sword, thumbing the blade into blinding white light.
With a roar, the creature lunges towards Harry. Harry slashes with the sword, the bright edge catching the creature’s neck even as its teeth graze his shoulder. Blinding white hot pain erupts in Harry’s arm and a primal cry is ripped from him, even as a rush of darkness overwhelms him. He feels the sword cut through bone and sinew, feels it catch those jagged teeth and rip out through the skull, carrying the bloody remains of eyes and brain with it.
The creature falls hard, its body lashing out even in death. The great tail slams into Harry’s stomach and he flies backward, slamming into the rock wall behind him. If Harry thought he knew pain, it is nothing compared to what he feels now. Every nerve felt as if it has been doused in acid, every blood vessel threatening to explode with the sheer ache of existence. He can’t think. He can’t even breathe. Paralyzed, he slumps against the ground, waiting for the darkness to come and claim him.
But it never comes.
The beast of the cavern lies sprawled across the cavern floor, black blood staining the rock. The crack and rattle of bones finally settles, allowing a flood of silence to overwhelm the cavern.
I’m still alive.
Tears spring to Harry’s eyes as relief washes through him. Slamming his fists into the floor of the cavern, he yells, the grief and the pain and the raw, aching fury coursing through him as a violent, relentless torrent.
When his voice finally gives out, he falls back against the wall, shivering. The victory, the relief, the freedom, all ring hollow. Everyone else is dead. Torn apart by this godforsaken planet, their humanity eviscerated.
But he can’t give up here. Not now. He has to keep moving
It’s what Clara and Sev would have wanted. It’s what Tish and Marvin would have done.
First one leg, then another. The effort almost makes him pass out, but he grits his teeth and blinks away the darkness.
He inches his way to the ladder. The ladder, which Marvin climbed so often. How many times had he enviously watched the android crawl up, wishing he could stand out under the red sun?
The ladder, which now would lead to salvation.
Or certain death.
There’s no way to know if it’s daytime or night. If a solar storm is raging, he would be vaporized in seconds. If it’s the middle of the day, the radiation would kill him in a matter of hours. Night, and he would freeze to death in minutes. Seconds, minutes, hours. The timing is almost irrelevant – the same prognosis inevitable. But there is still one slim chance…
One step, then another. Each one awakes a new pain, a new fountain of fatigue. Out of spite, out of love for his friends, out of some unknowable drive, Harry keeps going.
Making it to the bottom rung of the ladder almost breaks him. When he reaches up to grab the rung, he almost sobs with the effort. His left shoulder is useless. He can feel the blood from that horrible wound soaking through his suit, smearing down his back, draining the little warmth that remained in his bones. Fuck it. He’d pull himself up with his teeth if he had to.
One rung, then another.
Up, away from the lost corpse of Clara and the flowery grave of Severin. Away from Tish’s never-ending hysteria and Marvin’s hollow, lifeless skeleton. Up and up and –
He hits the panel to the outside and pauses. Sweat stings his eyes, swirling with the tears that have yet to dry on his cheeks. He can taste it, taste the blood and the salt and the fear that still refuses to die. Taste the death, begging for him to turn to its warm embrace.
With a grunt, he shoves the hatch open.
Warning. High levels of radiation detected. Please return to base immediately.
It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dazzling reflections of light. The red sun of Telos churns the clouds into soft fuchsias and oranges as it rises over the distant spires. After weeks spent in confinement, in darkness and harsh metal walls, the expanse of vibrant sky is heartbreakingly beautiful.
The spires of Telos – carved by eons of wind and dust and radiation – shimmer around Harry. Some scrape the very limits of the sky, their broad bases wide enough to hold entire buildings. Others are as small and as thin as ghosts. The sapphire pillars are clear enough to cast brilliant shadows across the landscape, the rays of light refracted like reflected water.
And there, nestled in the heart of them all, is the shuttle.
The Ferrous, durable and ugly and still here even after all the horrors of Telos. Harry stumbles towards it. When his fingers brush the metal door, he almost falls to his knees in relief. Somehow, he is able to open it, somehow, he pulls himself through. The ship welcomes him with a hum, the AI interface already taking the burden of control away from him.
“Where to, Mr. Olsen?” A familiar voice. Marvin’s voice.
The thought makes Harry sick even as he crawls his way into the medbay.
“Home, Ferrous. Take me home.”
