Alien Killing Machine

There was only one rule: don’t open the door.

Which made perfect sense. The vacuum of space would suck everything out of the craft in an instant.

But the engineers had not accounted for my being trapped inside with a creature whose only goal was to kill me.

There was only one escape: open the door.

I was protected against the vacuum, but nothing could protect me from this highly-evolved, genetically-enhanced killing machine.

Nothing except distance.

Its shadow spilled up the corridor. It was almost inside the airlock module.

I nestled between the pipes and ductwork, desperate for camouflage, and gripped the orange Emergency Purge handle.

Then the creature emerged.

Its pink face filled the glass bowl over its head. In its soft gloved hands was a pulse rifle, the red symbols on its side shone in the dark. Its two wet eyes roved across the room, wide and terrified. It hadn't seen me.

I tightened my claws on the purge handle and pulled.

There was an explosion of noise and chaos. I saw the creature bounce off two walls then get snatched out of the airlock.

I slammed the handle back down. Everything in the craft fell to rest. The atmosphere generators whooshed.

I was alone and alive.

Now I could kick back while the auto-pilot took me to the creature's home world.