The Red Veil

Tuesday, October 24th, 21:30, 2184.

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. But as the survivors of the Erebus darted away in their escape shuttle, those silent screams reverberated through their minds.

Barry Anderson shoved one Jaxter Pholarus against a hallway of their rinky-dink vehicle, "We don't talk about this. At all."

Jax as he was called, shakily brought a cigarette to his mouth, lit it, and took a long drag. The smoke somewhat bellowed into Barry, but his glare didn't waver, "I don't know that anyone would believe what I said anyways" said Jax manically. He chuckled lightly.

Barry shoved Jax again and grabbed the collar of his shirt, "We do not talk about this. Understood?" asked Barry. His expression was one of beaming concern.

Jax got close to Barry's face, "Fine" his Russian accent came out strongly.

Barry backed up, leaned against the opposing wall and sighed, "We need to get our story straight or we're in for a load of shit," he said.

Jax offered a cigarette and a light to Barry who took it quickly. Barry sparked up and took a long drag as well.

"I think," Jax said as he finished lighting Barry's cigarette, "we're going to be in for a load of shit, as you say, regardless..."

--24 hours later--

"So, you and your crew were taking," a man in a black suit across a metal table checked his tablet, "Dr. Felati and Dr. Howel to Erebus?"

Jax shifted uncomfortably in his metal seat, "Uhm, yes... it was a standard space flight."

"What was the function of Erebus from your perspective?" The man leaned forward and clasped his hands.

"It was... uh, a mining outpost, as I think," said Jax nervously.

"You think?" the man jotted something down in a separate small notebook.

Jax stuttered slightly: his English wasn't the best, "I-I-I know it-it was a mining outpost... I-I-I mean, that's what I was told anyway."

"Right... And what was Dr. Felati and Dr. Howel going to be doing on Erebus?" he asked. He continued writing in his notebook.

"I-I was never told... The Company doesn't tell me much about these things," said Jax with a bit more confidence. That much was true.

"Neither Dr. Felati nor Dr. Howel ever briefed you in anyway about their reasons for going to Erebus?" The man stopped writing and glared at Jax heavily.

"N-N-No... I knew they were Doctors of some kind... b-b-but I didn't know what they were doing there..." Jax shifted in his seat again. Not entirely untrue.

"Hmm... so you and the crew of," the man checked his tablet again, "the Cassiopiea arrived at Erebus around 0900 that day, correct?"

"Y-Yes..." said Jax, "As I said, it was a standard space flight..."

----

In the empty blackness of deep space, the Cassiopiea cruised along at subluminal speeds towards Erebus Station. The 54-meter long G-class starship, developed by Lockheed Martin, had a standard engine for its size. Traveling at subluminal speeds would put the Cassiopeia and her crew at Erebus in approximately twelve hours.

Inside the ship's medbay rested five large cylindrical tubes with front facing glass panels. Halfway down the right side of each tube rested a control pad, which monitored the inhabitants of each pod while they hyperslept. The control pads all read “STABLE” and emitted a soft blue light. While traveling through space, the ship was mostly in a powered-down state: the only lights on inside being the soft-blue emittance of those pods.

Next to the row of pods rested an android-terminal, where a dull-blue android stood motionless. It powered up suddenly and approached a lit control panel on the opposite wall and hit a series of keys. The lights in the Cassiopeia began flickering on in each room one by one. The hypersleep control pads instantly switched from its soft-blue to a blinking green and read “WAKING...” The pod's front facing panels lifted up towards the ceiling revealing the passengers and crew of the Cassiopeia. The blue android then approached a kiosk at the other end of the room and gathered some supplies for the waking members.

Jax awoke to the bright lights of the medbay, and it took him a few seconds to realize that their hypersleep period had ended. He groaned and took a shaky step out of the pod. The others began stirring as well. He steadied himself after getting out and was hit with an intense wave of nausea. He barely managed to get to the nearby trash bin before vomiting profusely inside it. Dr. Felati suffered a similar fate, while Dr Howel seemed to nearly collapse onto the nearby bench.

Jax sat on the same bench and leaned his head against the wall, “I hate hypersleep.”

Dr. Arthur Felati sat down as well, “I’ll never get used to it.” He crossed his arms on his knees and rested his head on them.

Dr. Malcolm Howel sat and massaged his legs, “Damn dystrophy...”

The blue android approached Jax and Dr. Howel with a small cup of water and a gray pill, “Dr. Felati, Mr. Pholarus, this medication should help with your nausea.”

Jax took the cup gingerly, popped the pill into his mouth and downed it, “Ugh... thanks Joe.” The water alone made Jax feel a bit better.

“Certainly,” replied the android, “Dr. Felati?” He offered the same, although the doctor still had his head buried in his arms.

Dr. Felati shook his head lightly, “I need a minute...”

“Certainly, I will leave the medications on the kiosk. Dr. Howel, would you like something for the dystrophy?” he asked to Malcolm.

Malcolm shook his head, “If I need something, I’ll get it myself,” who continued massaging his legs.

“Certainly,” said Joe returning to the kiosk.

The other two crew members, Jamie Pollack and Kevin Gruggard sat on another bench in the same hallway. Joe approached the two of them with the same offering, “Ms. Pollack, Mr. Gruggard, do either of you need medications?”

Jamie shook her head, “Just the water, thanks.” She took the cup and downed it quickly.

“Same here,” said Kevin, doing the same. He got up and walked into the ship's main cabin: Kevin usually became egregiously hungry after a long hypersleep and walked straight to the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and began taking various things out to begin cooking: chicken, beans, rice, potatoes and the like. It was enough for everyone until they got to Erebus.

Jamie walked by Kevin as he prepped, “You’re a lifesaver. I’ll get the cockpit warmed up.” Kevin nodded as he continued rummaging. Jamie walked past the kitchen area towards the cockpit and began the boot-up sequence of the flight: it would take about a half an hour for all systems to get to a ready-state, so she had a decent amount of work to do. She put her headset on and toggled the intercoms, “Hey Jax, can you do a sitrep when you’re able? Thanks hun.”

Jax tilted his head up from the medbay, “Working on it...” The anti-nausea meds were beginning to kick in, so Jax stood up and joined the other two.

Dr. Felati finally managed to stand and hobble his way over to the kiosk. He quickly downed the meds and then sat back down on the nearby bench, “We’ll be in there shortly...” he said.

Joe, looked at both Dr. Felati and Dr. Howel, “Should either of you need anything, do not hesitate to ask,” and walked towards the kitchen-area as well.

Arthur looked to Malcolm who was still massaging his legs, “Great start, huh?”

Malcolm slapped his legs to get the blood flowing again, “Sure.”

Arthur sat down on the bench behind him, “Hopefully the rest of this goes a bit more smoothly...”

Malcolm’s legs finally seemed to be agreeing with him, “See ya in there,” he said leaving the bay.

“Okay then...” said Arthur to himself. He poured himself some more water and fought back another wave of nausea.

Malcolm made his way into the kitchen area, and walked over to Kevin, “Anything else besides water?”

“Probably not,” he said, pouring oil on a pan. He already had water beginning to boil and chicken sliced up.

Malcolm groaned, “Excellent.” He filled up a glass of water and sat down at the nearby table.

Arthur slowly made his way into the kitchen and sat across from Malcolm, sipping his own small cup of water, “This had better be worth it... whatever they got there.”

Malcolm set his glass down, “They didn’t tell you what we’re looking at either?”

Arthur shook his head, “Strict need-to-know for documentation... Thinking they either don’t have much to give, or whatever they do have is locked behind higher clearance.”

Malcolm spun his glass slowly and stared into the water, “Thinking probably the former... Otherwise they wouldn’t have cleared us to come out here and see whatever it is.”

Arthur nodded, “True... Odd that there wasn’t a briefing at least.”

Malcolm seemed to zone out slightly, “Yeah... those are usually bullshit anyway though.”

Arthur nodded in agreement, “Fair... I guess I’m used to some bullshit at least.” Malcolm grunted in response.

Jax suddenly sprung from a dimly lit hallway flanking the kitchen and seemed to rush towards the cockpit, “Blyadʹ! Ty, dolzhno bytʹ, shutishʹ, chertov Sigson i ikh deshëvaya grebanaya khernya! Jamie! Jamie!” He banged on the cockpit door from down the hall.

Arthur watched Jax disappear down the hall, “That can’t be good.”

The cockpit door opened quickly, “Jesus Jax, what?!” she screamed.

Jax flipped through the metal clipboard containing post-sleep ship-analysis paperwork that needed to filled out following waking up, “Levyy modulʹ giperdvigatelya isporchen! My poluchili neznachitelʹnyye-”

Jamie shook her head and snapped her finger, “ENGLISH, JAX. ENGLISH.”

Jax cursed, “Blyad’!”, he slightly composed himself, “The left hyperdrive module is badly damaged. Other systems have sustained minor damage. When do we get to Erebus??” he appeared very flustered.

Jamie groaned and rubbed her forehead, “Fuck... We’re at least six hours away. That’s assuming no solar wind activity... just... do what you can. I’ll radio into the station now and let them know we’ll need repairs...” Jamie closed the door just as quickly.

Jax threw his hands up and quickly walked down the hall “Blyadʹ! Delatʹ to, chto vy mozhete? S chem? Moy chlen!? U menya tut nichego net... grebanaya kompaniya... polnaya chushʹ.”

Arthur turned around as Jax passed back through the kitchen, “Uh... everything okay?”

Jax scowled, “NO!” he screamed and left the kitchen.

Arthur shook his head and finished his water, “Definitely not good.”

Jamie put her headset back on and radioed ahead to Erebus, “Erebus Station, do you read? This is Jamie Pollack, of the USG Cassiopeia.”

She heard static for a little bit but finally heard a click on the other line, “This is Ivan Goflock of Erebus Station, reading ya loud and clear, Jamie. Go ahead”

“Ivan, the ship sustained some damage during hypersleep. We’re going to need a repair crew ready and waiting for our arrival,” said Jamie worriedly. There was no guarantee they had the manpower for that.

Another brief pause, “Gotcha. Well, we’ll do our best to send down a couple technicians when ya get here, but we’re pretty stretched thin as it is. Let us know when you’re closer and we can try to work something out.”

Jamie sighed, “Yeah, I figured something like that. Will do. Over and out.” She heard a click on the other end and took her headset off.

“This is going well so far...” she said quietly peering out into the ocean of stars in front of her...

----

Barry sat in what otherwise was a dull-gray box for far longer than he wanted. After a while, a fair skinned woman with blonde hair, dressed in a black suit sat down in a metal chair across Barry. She dropped a thick manilla folder full of assorted-color documents which landed on the metal table with a loud thud. She began flipping through the pages wordlessly, pausing briefly at times, and otherwise appeared engrossed in reading.

After a little while longer, she placed her pointer finger on a pink-colored page and read line by line. She paused abruptly, "Wow, you signed a TSCI-NDA? For a Station Marshall? Must have an impressive background to be read in on that kinda stuff," she continued reading.

"Yup. Five gold stars per week on the calendar is what I was told," said Barry bluntly: he’d been through way too much to take shit from a well-dressed blonde from the up and up.

The woman closed the folder abruptly mid-reading and pulled out a small black notebook and pen, "Barry Anderson: former UAC Field Marshall, Jack of all trades. Marksmen, Gunner, Tech, Mechanics. Whole nine yards. Don't see the likes of you too often, honestly," she replied sternly. She'd been through too much to take shit from a lowly Marshall: anyone could do that kind of work.

Barry cocked an eyebrow, "Seem to know a lot given that you stopped reading halfway through," he said nodding towards the folder.

She ignored him completely and wrote something down in her notebook, "So, there was a cave-in on-asteroid the day prior to all this, right?"

Barry’s face tightened up a bit at the classic interrogation tactic: jump around from topic to topic to throw off the person being questioned. Luckily, Barry was wise to the act, "Yup. Structural integrity of the system was weak at that point. A ‘grotto’ of some sort was found in the next shaft over, which resulted in a weakened cave system at that portion," he stated verbatim. That was what the report given to him said.

She nodded and jotted something else down, "And what is your understanding of what was found in the... 'Grotto'?" She paused her writing and waited for a response.

Barry was slightly taken aback: he wasn't sure this type of questioning would come up honestly, "Uh... 'Biological Samples' is what I was told."

"Of...?" She let the question hang.

"Why don't you tell me?" He said, leaning forward.

"I'm the one asking questions, Mr. Anderson," she clasped her hands and looked at him square in the eyes.

Barry reached for the pack of cigarettes that rested near his right hand, "I can smoke in here right?" He got a cigarette, and began lighting it.

"No, not usu-" she began saying.

Barry took a long drag, and puffed a plume of smoke towards her, "You honestly expect me to know the answer to that question? You know my background apparently," he said, flicking ash on the table, and taking another drag.

She was clearly uncomfortable with the smoke and batted it away. She sighed and jotted something else down in her notebook, "Why don't you just tell me about your morning?" clearly not happy.

Barry smirked, "Like any other day on Erebus. Shit, shower, shave... radio in, see how everyone’s doing." Barry stopped. The woman wrote, waited a second and then looked at Barry. She motioned with her hand, carry on.

Barry grunted, “Then I got a buzz from Weathers...”

----

Barry woke up with a splitting headache. The weekend had a way of getting away from him and the whiskey wasn't treating him kindly this particular Monday. He sat up from his cot inside the barracks of Erebus and rubbed his temple with both hands. Beside his cot rested a framed picture of him and his wife, Eleanor. He glanced at it and smiled lightly, One day soon. One day soon, he thought and got up to get ready for his day.

One shower and shave, brushing of teeth, and cleaning of glasses later and Barry stood in front of his bathroom mirror. He took his morning meds, which consisted of an antidepressant and mood stabilizer, and then readied for his workday. He approached his bedside table, strapped his pistol and holster around his waist, and then popped a clear earbud in his right ear: he immediately began hearing the various voice channels that people were speaking on in the vicinity of Erebus.

“Morning everyone,” Barry said as he poured himself a cup of cold coffee.

“Hey! Morning Marshall!” said a choppy male voice.

“Beaut of a morning out here Barry. You’re missin’ something,” said another male voice with an overly sarcastic tone.

“Fuck off, Frank” Barry responded bluntly. A chorus of laughter filled the primary channel before another voice pinged him privately.

“Barry, we need to talk,” stated Deputy John Weathers. He sounded a bit frantic, which was odd for John.

“Sure, let’s take it off-primary”, he said.

They switched voice channels to one of the many direct lines that the station had set up. John immediately began speaking once the switch was complete, “Barry, something attacked Dr. Garland this morning in research.”

“What? What happened? When? Is Garland okay?” asked Barry with concern.

“He’s unconscious in medical, and Campbell is looking after him for now... Barry I think whatever attacked him came from the eggs. The one they were looking at is... uh... open,” said John with nervous exasperation.

“Open? As in, something hatched from it? I thought they were petrified, as in lifeless,” asked Barry nervously.

“That’s what the consensus was... I’m not really sure honestly... I think you need to come see this thing...” he said in a quieted voice.

“Wait, is the thing dead??” asked Barry.

“I think so...” said John in a whisper.

“Okay... secure the body and be cautious. I’ll be up soon,” said Barry, dumping out his cup of coffee: no time for that apparently.

“Okay, thanks Barry,” said John. Barry heard a click as he left the line.

Barry exited his cabin, which was a part of the hab block of the station. His small cabin was positioned across from a restaurant and a mini-mart: the engineers who made the station had to make it somewhat homey. Barry made his way towards the transit tunnel, which rested in the center of the hab block and boarded the port elevator there. He pushed the button labeled “Deck I” which contained the Science Module of the station. The elevator had a slight lurch down, but then a rapid increase in speed going up.

Something was off. Weathers hardly ever called about anything. Never in this kind of fashion, “I don’t like this...” said Barry quietly to himself as the elevator hummed its way to the upper decks.

The Science Module was in the upper decks of the station, and was about a ten minute elevator ride without stops. Barry got lucky that morning and managed to get to the Module in a straight shot: usually the ride took anywhere from ten to thirty minutes depending on who was getting on or off.

The elevator doors opened and Barry stepped out into the center of the Science Module. Given the importance of the Module, the Company spared no expense with equipment: state of the art patient quarters containing recently made hardware; an investigation facility that any chemist would die a few times over to have; some of the finest computing hardware and software systems available, and of course the best freezer on board the station. Some of the miners got into brewing in the past, and would sometimes use the Science Module freezer to store their experiments.

Leaning against the westward hallway entrance was John Weathers, who appeared very anxious. Barry approached and John snapped to attention. He rushed over to Barry, "Barry, sorry to bug ya... But this is... Out of my wheelbarrow to say the least. Come on," and started moving towards the freezer section of the Module.

Barry grabbed John's shoulders, "Hey, hey. Let's just... Calm down a sec, okay? Breathe," he motioned up and down his chest in an attempt to calm Weathers down. Barry had never seen him like this before.

"Right... Right..." John ran his long sleeve across his forehead to wipe away the sweat. He took a couple of deep breaths and then slapped himself lightly.

Barry laughed, "There ya go! Now... Let’s see what we're dealing with."

John led Barry slowly down the sleek metallic hallway towards the freezer, "Nothin’ I've ever seen before Barry... Words can't do it justice," he said leading them into a small room towards the far westward end of the section.

The freezer of the Science Module was little more than a larger walk-in freezer. Weathers approached the weighty door and using both hands opened it. A plume of condensation poured out, and Barry walked in. Weathers came in, closed the door and then walked towards what looked like a closed metal crate located near the door. He pulled it out into the freezer hallway and took off the cover of the crate. Inside rested what looked like some demented combination of a spider-scorpion-like creature with a long tail on a bed of ice. Its six legs were curled up towards the center of its body, which was a yellow-grayish color. The back of its body appeared to be badly burned.

“What the fuck?” asked Barry.

“Yeah... like I said, words can’t do it justice...” said Weathers.

Barry shook his head, “Close that thing up,” he turned to leave the freezer.

“What should we do with it?” asked Weathers.

Barry put a hand on the freezer door handle, “It’s clearly dead. Keep it here for now. We need to find out what happened...” he said, pushing the door open.

Barry and John quickly left the freezer and made their way towards the medbay quarter, which was located in the northern part of the module. John kept pace with Barry who walked quickly, “From what Campbell told me, she wasn’t anywhere near Garland when the incident took place...”

“Check the footage?” Barry asked, looking at John with concern.

“Yeah, but outside of Garland falling to the ground with that... thing on his face, there wasn’t much to see...” said John.

“On his face??” asked Barry. He stopped walking and looked at John with shock.

“Uh... yeah... the thing... I dunno, hatched and then... hugged... his face?” John shrugged, and looked away from Barry as if he was embarrassed by what he was saying.

Barry looked at John quizzically for a moment before continuing to walk towards the patient quarters, “Well... let’s hear it from the horse's mouth.”

John sighed, “Sorry Barry... I... really don’t know” he said with exasperation.

Barry put a hand on John's shoulder, “One thing at a time,” and kept walking forward.

The Science Module was nothing if not elaborate in its design and implementation. The Module had four quarters to it: the patient quarters, which was a state of the art medbay in the North quadrant; The Lab, which was a bespeckled and shiny research laboratory to the East; The lockers to the south which is where all personnel kept their belongings and Storage in the West quadrant. As they entered the patient quarters, John and Barry were presented with a number of hospital cots hooked up to current generation hardware. Only one person laid in one of the ten available beds: an older fair-skinned gentleman with graying black hair and a six o’clock shadow. Standing over the man with a medchart was a young dark skinned woman with brown hair.

Barry and John made their way towards Garland and Campbell, who was engrossed in the unconscious doctor’s chart. Barry cleared his throat as they came in, “I know you’ve had better mornings Marie,” he said approaching slowly.

Marie jumped a little bit and then turned around. Her expression became one of instant relief, “Jesus, sorry Barry,” she set down the doctor's chart and hugged Barry.

“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” said Barry. He pulled up one of the chairs close to the nearby window and sat down. Weathers did the same.

Marie looked at Garland, then at his chart, and then to the floor, “I... I wish I could say for sure...”

“What were you two doing right before the good doctor blacked out?” asked Barry. He leaned in as he asked the question.

Marie’s face went a bit pale, and she became visibly flustered, “Uh... sure... so, the doctor and I had one of the eggs sent for inspection. We received the egg late last night and were planning on studying it this morning...” Campbell looked at Garland and shuddered. She continued, “From what I gather, Garland couldn’t just wait and started poking at it once it got here.”

“Poking at it?” asked Barry.

“Like... usual testing. He tried his best to hook it up to machinery for vital readings, but didn’t get far with it. They set it up in a secured test-box, so we didn’t have physical contact with it...” she said. She looked at Garland again as she spoke.

“How did... it attack the doctor if it was in a test-box?” Asked John. Test-boxes were simply heavily fortified glass boxes with glove-inserts that allowed the scientists to interact with specimens without actually touching whatever was inside.

Marie sighed, “... He opened it...” she said bluntly with a hint of frustration.

Barry was taken aback, “He... opened the test-box containing... whatever was found?” definitely out of character for Dr. Garland to be so callous in approach. As far as Barry knew Garland anyway.

“He opened it and handled it directly,” she said, clarifying the statement, “and then... it hatched and... leapt onto his face,” she said. She was visibly shaking as she spoke, “It leapt onto his face, and then he started trying to tear it off. He made a mess of the lab and then... well, I got here, saw him, grabbed a nearby torch, sparked it, and...” she looked at Garland again and then went silent.

Barry leaned back in his chair and rubbed his head, “So it attacked him, you burned the thing until it fell off, and,” he looked to Garland, “That leads us to here?” Marie nodded.

Barry looked to the doctor and sighed, “What the fuck?”

As the three spoke, the heart rate monitor hooked up to Garland began increasing. The Beat-Per-Minute clock rose rapidly: 60-per-minute, 80-per-minute, 120-per-minute. The monitor began audibly beeping.

Marie looked to Garland, “Fuck.” She checked the monitor itself: his temperature was rapidly rising, along with his heartbeat, and his oxygen intake was dropping just as quickly as his heartbeat increased. The doctor began turning his head side to side. His breathing became evermore labored: the doctor began seizing up.

“FUCK!” yelled Marie, “I need help! Hold him down!”

Barry and John snapped to attention. They both held down the left and right side of the doctor while she grabbed a long piece of rubber from a nearby kiosk.

“Pry his mouth open!” she yelled. Barry and John let go, leaving the doctor to momentarily thrash about. They pried his jaw open after a lot of effort. Marie stuck the rubber in between his teeth.

“HOLD HIM!” she yelled again. She ran to the kiosk to get a sedative.

The doctor’s thrashing only increased in urgency. Barry and John barely managed to keep the man from vaulting himself off the side of his cot. Just as Marie rushed back with a sedative needle, the doctor stopped thrashing. He went limp. Just as quickly, his back arched and John and Barry heard the forever haunting noise of the doctor’s rib cage cracking like dried twigs in a forest. A bulge formed directly over the doctor’s stomach, and after a couple of attempts, broke through the doctor’s chest. All three in attendance fell away from the doctor’s cot.

A gray-skinned, snake-like creature with bared teeth popped out of the doctor’s chest. It made a piercing, high-pitched scream at the three human beings surrounding it. It vaulted from the doctor’s chest and leapt to the floor, covered in blood. It quickly slithered its way across the ground down the hall.

Barry reacted with fierce instinct: he grabbed his Walther PP7, took aim and fired. His first shot missed completely. The being darted around the corner of the patient quarters and made its way down the hall. Barry followed quickly. He rounded the corner and saw it clawing its way into one of the many vent-shafts located on the ground of the module. It finished clawing away the metal grate when one of Barry’s shots finally hit: Barry lined one up, and pulled the trigger. The bullet dashed across the creature’s face, leaving a notable scar. Green-looking blood flew out of the wound and onto the floor next to the creature. It screeched loudly, fled into the vents and disappeared. Barry heard the sound of tumbling above him as it made its way out of the Module.

Barry huffed in exhaustion, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

----

“Well, welcome to Erebus Station. Hope y’all enjoy your stay,” said Ivan, signing off.

“Whatever,” said Jamie, throwing her headset onto the dashboard of the Cassiopeia.

The rest of the crew was gathering their relevant supplies to leave the ship. She met the rest of them near the kitchen-area, “Alright guys. This should be easy-peasy: Felati, Howel, just keep in contact with me and let me know how you guys are holding up. Jax, let me know when you’ve secured the replacement parts,” she said.

As Jax left the ship, he examined his surroundings, “Easy peasy... no technicians to help... I have to go get supplies to fix their ship... Nice place though!” he said loudly. As the words left his mouth, he heard a tumbling in some vents above him.

“... Maybe not that nice...” he said entering the loading bay.