.Space///The Darkness Within (Part VII)

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John stood, his eyes flashing from side to side of the dark room. A small leather couch sat on one side, occupied by Alcaeus. Alcaeus slept, his dark, wavy hair flopping down. Anderson grinned sarcastically when he imagined what Alcaeus would say when he found himself so disheveled.

Aurora was sitting; her head leaned back across the headrest. She held a grappling gun in one hand and had a blaster pistol in her lap. The Zech’Tal had spent the last hour making clicking noises. Anderson supposed they were for some kind of sonar, but, as he was ‘sleeping’, he neglected to ask. 

	A quiet snarling noise split the silence. Aurora’s eyes opened and she jumped up, pistols drawn.

	“What was that?” she asked quickly.

	“Dunno,” said John. “Let’s wake up Pretty-Boy and get moving.” John resolved that by knocking Alcaeus’s couch onto its side. “Get up,” said Anderson shortly. “We’re leaving.”

	Alcaeus sputtered and clambered up. He flipped a mirror out of his pocket and hastily straightened his hair. Anderson flared his nostrils in anger and started to the map at the other end of the room. A red circle in the center of the map showed their current location. Scanning the map, he searched for a communications room. Then, he found it. Room 1631. On the west side of the building. 

	“Let’s go,” John called.

	Anderson kicked down another door. A hoarse hissing noise came from inside. A pair of red eyes gleamed from inside. Anderson pulled out his grappling gun and laser pistol. He turned on the flashlight of his grappling gun. 

	The thing that stood inside was staring at Anderson. It stood eight feet tall, with two curving tails slicing through the air behind it. Its double jaws were set at odd angles, amplifying the horrifying appearance. The monster’s red eyes flared as it screeched blisteringly, sending ripples of pain shooting through John’s skull. It began to advance, talons clicking on the metal ground as it skittered oddly toward him. 

	The creature crouched down, spreading its arms and preparing to spring at Anderson. He coolly fired a dozen blasts at the creature, sending it sprawling on the ground, writhing and screeching. It got back up and growled menacingly. Anderson stumbled backward and prepared to die.

	The Zech’Tal reacted first, firing a glowing scythe at the monstrosity. It buried itself in the creature’s hide, knocking it into the wall. It bent its head, closed its jaws around the knife and tore it out of its chest, throwing it to the ground. The creature leaped at the Zech’Tal, who fired off another volley of shots. It was too late. For the Zech’Tal. For all of them.

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	“Move!” Anderson yelled. He had no idea what the monster was, but it wasn’t happy, and it wasn’t coming for cookies and tea. Aurora fired her grappling gun at the creature. It clenched around its arm, slamming it onto the ground. She ejected the cord and fixed the electromagnet on the end of the rope onto the ground, securing the creature. Temporarily. Alcaeus stood, shaking in morbid terror.

	“Let’s go!” yelled Anderson. They moved into the next room. Anderson pounded on the light switch. The creatures inside screeched as the lights pounded into their blood-red eyes. One of the creatures recovered and made a mad dash for Anderson, who flipped a scout knife from a hip sheath and dove at the creature. 

	The pure insanity of the move stopped the beast for a second, but that was all Anderson needed. It was dead before the creature could blink. Anderson turned, beckoned for the others, and sprinted.

	John ran up the staircase, pursued by a trio of the beasts. The others were ahead, lead foremost by Alcaeus. Anderson fired shot after shot at the attackers, but they ricocheted off their armor and slammed into the ground, scorching the metal floors. Aurora yelled for John and threw him a grappling hook from her grappling gun. 

	“Slide down the banister!” she cried. Anderson grinned and leaped onto the railing. The strong cord caught the creatures by the necks, throwing them down the flight of stairs and into another pair waiting by the door.

	“Thanks!” exclaimed John. “Come on!”

	They reached the communications center with little interference. They shut the door quickly and strode over to the kiosk of computer consoles in the center of the room. Anderson recognized the interface. It was a Black Sun computer. It was a Black Sun facility. The creatures had been bred by Black Sun genetic technicians to use as brutal killing machines. The Barbarians had nothing on these. Anderson quickly skipped through the interface and sent out an emergency signal to anything within three star systems. They were safe.

For the time being.

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