Breached in Hollow Space

We had the sample contained in the lab, a spherical black orb that occasionally pulsed a faint purple light. Ecstatic about the success of our mission, we were only a few hours from entering Earth's orbit after a grueling month long trip to a dead spacecraft that was orbiting the Moon.

Months ago, NASA had sent a crew to the Moon, the mission called Aeneas I. Their goal was to do a lap around the far side of the moon to gather more intel on the sustainability of possible life. We unexpectedly lost all communication with the ship and we were sent on Aeneas II to uncover why.

The ship was in total ruin, barely holding together structurally. My crewmate and the pilot for the mission, James Holloway, had discovered the black orb sample during our search, already trapped in one of our reinforced polycarbonate sample capsules, indicating that one of the astronauts from Aeneas I had trapped it before their demise.

There were three of us on this mission, and we were ready to be home.

"What's the first thing you're going to do when we touch down, Talia? The first thing that I'm going to do is get the greasiest burger possible and a beer so cold it makes my teeth hurt," the Mission Commander, Lee Anders, asked.

"As amazing as that sounds, all I want to do is sleep horizontally. On a bed. Made of clouds," I said. We were chilling in the common area, letting the lack of gravity control our movement. From the other room, Holloway pushed himself from the cockpit to join us.

"This entire trip, I've been worried that I left the lights on in my apartment. The first thing I'm doing is turning them off," Holloway said, looking through our food supply. We all laughed at that.

"Wow," I said, looking out the window. "Earth looks so small from here. It's beautiful."

"It looks so much more peaceful from up here," Anders said. "From here, there are no borders. Our planet looks like a single, fragile home and I wish we were doing more to protect it."

"Amen," Holloway responded.

Suddenly, the alarms started to sound. We all looked at each other in panic, then at the computer for more information.

"Unidentified object in the lab," the computer screen read. As the main scientist on board, I took the lead and immediately made my way over to the lab, with Anders and Holloway closely behind. The first thing on my mind was to check the sample. As I entered the lab, I looked for the pressurized steel box that I had placed the capsule in.

"Where's the sample?" I asked, frightened, staring at the hole in the box. It looked freshly burned and was hot to the touch.

"What do you mean, where's the sample?" Anders asked, trying to remain calm.

"It's not where I left it... The box has a whole in it." I replied.

"Guys..." Holloway warned. We both looked at him, and he was holding the capsule, which was now empty.

"It... escaped?" I mumbled. "It's alive?"

"Aren't you the scientist here?" Holloway snapped.

"Calm down, man. We all saw the computer readings say it was Metallic Hydrogen after Talia's research input. How could it possibly be alive?" Anders responded as I was looking around.

"We have to find it!" I screeched. The door to the lab suddenly closed without warning, we all turned our heads toward it.

That's when we saw it. What was previously just a 3 inch spherical black orb had now grown to about 10 inches.

"It's growing!" Anders yelled.

"What do we do?" Holloway asked.

"We have to get it to the airlock and shoot it back into space," I suggested. They both nodded. Just then, the orb sped at Holloway. He pushed himself against the wall and narrowly avoided it.

I got myself to the door that the orb had previously closed.

"The door won't open!" I yelled, as I repeatedly pressed the buttons. I could hear them grunting and yelling behind me, but I was focused on the door. I squeezed my fingers where it would open from and yanked as hard as I could.

"Talia, watch out!" I heard one of them yell. I turned and saw it coming for me. Using the lack of gravity to my advantage, I was able to push myself across the room, avoiding it.

"What is it doing?" I asked, scared. Then, Holloway went for the door. The orb turned towards him.

"Holloway, watch out!" Anders yelled.

"I almost got it," Holloway said, yanking at the door. The orb was nearing him, causing Anders to jump in front of Holloway to take the blow.

The orb entered the center of Anders' body through his skin. He gasped for air and began going pale. I put my hand over my mouth in horror. Holloway got the door open, turned, but then noticed Anders.

"Anders!!" I yelled. "Oh no..."

Holloway flung himself to the next room to get himself farther from the orb. Anders had now turned blue. It was as if the Metallic Hydrogen was using his body heat to expand. His eyes rolled into the back of his head. Then, he disappeared into the darkness of the orb. It grew bigger as it absorbed him.

"Oh my God, what is that thing?" Holloway yelled.

"We're gonna die... we're gonna die..." I started crying.

"I need to get to the airlock!" Holloway reminded me, staying calm. "Just stay there, I will draw it this way." As Holloway headed for the airlock door, I watched in disbelief.

"Holloway!" I yelled, chasing after him. The orb was much faster and closer to him than I. He pushed the button to open the airlock, and as he did so, the orb got to him. It entered his body and began pulsing. He began turning pale.

"No no no no..." I repeatedly said, unable to control what was coming out of my mouth. I finally got to the airlock.

"Push me..." Holloway whispered, barely able to get a breath out.

"Push you?" I said.

"Into... airlock chamber," he said. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and the orb began absorbing him.

The last of his limbs were still exposed, so I kicked his body and let the lack of gravity take over. Holloway and the creature both entered the chamber. I closed the door.

"Holloway... I am so sorry," I said. With his last breath, he reached for the side panel of the airlock and pulled the lever to open the door to space. They both exited the spacecraft and entered space.

I was panting, every possible emotion running through my veins. Panic, anger, grief, fear... I didn't know what to do. We were still only a few hours from splashdown.

I rushed over to the communications console to report back what just happened. The ship began rumbling. I looked out the window and immense terror turned my veins cold.

The orb was now larger than the ship.

"Wait..." I realized. "If the orb had survived on the spacecraft that orbited the moon for those past few months... it can survive space. It can traverse it."

Suddenly, a large shudder vibrated throughout the ship. I screamed and fell back. I eventually caught my bearings and made my way back to the window. I gasped at what I saw.

The ship was hurtling and spinning away from Earth. I tried the engine, but no luck. It was so silent, all I could hear was my heavy breathing. The ship was adrift and the orb had pushed me into deep space.

I was starting to get dizzy from the spinning, but as I held onto the walls of the ship to steady myself at the window, I could make out where the orb went.

It was going towards Earth.