James raised one eyebrow at Alley. "Fine, but I'm still going to check." He whispered back. "Rather safe than sorry." He finished his lunch quickly, and left the room. As long as we can keep everyone safe, then we don't have to make them worried without cause. The note only said they saw signs, maybe they were wrong. James thought. He walked to the control room and started a scan on the ship, to make sure every part of the ship was fully functional and in prime shape. The ship hadn't needed fuel until last week, but that was an easy fix.
Alley leaned back and continued to eat.
The scan was going smoothly until an error popped up. "What? You were fine yesterday." James mumbled.
Error in the cargo dock. Ventilation system compromised.
"Cargo dock." James repeated nervously. He looked at the security feed video from the cargo dock. There was nothing out of the ordinary, except… "The box is gone." James says. Turning on his walkie, he turns onto a private channel and contacts Alley. "Did you move the… shipment?" He asks nervously.
"No, why?" Alley was worried.
"Alley, it's gone." James says, trying to remain level-headed. "The ventilation system has an error in the cargo room, so when I checked on the security feed, I noticed the box was gone. I think something got into the ship via the vents." James says, coming to a conclusion.
Alley blanched. "This is bad."
"No kidding," James replied. "Listen, gather everyone on the ship into the safe room. I'll be there as soon I put the ship on lock down. We need a day's worth of supply, in my estimate. I'll check the security cams for any alien figures."
Alley nodded. She ran off, shyness forgotten, to gather everyone up.
James turned on every security camera and looked for a non-humanoid. Only Alley running down the hallway. Everyone else was in the bunk. Alley was running down… two hallways at once? One Alley stopped, and turned to look at the camera. It took a gun out and shot the camera. The sound echoed around the hall, and James heard it after he saw it. "Crap." He said. He watched the real Alley go into the bunker. He turned on his walkie again. "ALLEY, WATCH OUT THE THING IS COMING AND IT LOOKS LIKE YOU! I'LL GET SUPPLIES BUT HURRY, AND AVOID THE SOUTH CORRIDOR!" He yelled. James ran to his locker and got his handgun. He also grabbed a kitchen knife he'd used to cut a sandwich earlier and ran into the west corridor, and into the cargo room. He grabbed four oxygen tanks and a smaller sized crate of food and put water into it. Hoping it was enough, he began his run to the safe room.
Alley heard James and blanched. She yelled,
"This is an emergency!! Everyone needs to get to the safe room!"
Aza ran to the safe room, feeling her mind flip upside down. No, no, NO! This is not the time she thought. The demons were coming for her thoughts…
She reached the safe room and sat with her back against the wall.
James looked around the corner and exited the cargo room. He closed the door with the code he saw Alley use earlier. The door closed with a slam and James cringed. He dragged the cargo box down the west corridor and took a detour to avoid the south corridor. He peeked around every corner, and dragged the cargo to the safe room safely.
Penny looked up, grabbing her book and walkie talie and hightailing it for the safe room.
Alley ran, trying to get to the safe room.
The Alley look-alike was wandering the corridors, shooting cameras and causing chaos.
Bullet-shots rang out every one minute or so, and each time, they sounded closer. James waited at the safe room, watching Alley and Penny enter. (should we say Aza is with them?)
(She is already in the safe room)
Alley was the last to reach the door. Panting, she looked behind her. The Alley look-alike was making its way down the hallway. It caught Alley's gaze and gave a cruel smile. It ran towards her. Alley slammed the safe door closer and entered the emergency code, locking it from the inside.
(dang I didn't read above sorry!)
(That's fine, don't worry :))
"Is everyone okay?"
James stared at the space where the Alley look-alike was. "That." He muttered. "That was close," He said louder. "We're all safe in here, those are chromium doors."
Alley shivered. She didn't know what the thing was capable of.
"I wonder why it chose my form…"
Alley snapped her fingers.
"The cargo. I was the one who read the note."
"That's gotta be it," James replied. "But how did it know? I mean, that means it was in the room with us when you read the note."
Alley thought for a moment.
"There was a second box. I assumed it was full of the same stuff as the one we opened, but…" Alley shivered again.
"What if someone is trying to sabotage this mission?"
The Alley look-alike pounded on the door. While our four companions couldn't see it, it was leaving dents in the door.
James's blood went cold. "Why would anyone do that? No one did anything to upset anyone when they were on Earth, right?"
Alley shook her head.
"I'm not the type to get into arguments."
(I have a good idea of why this is happening, I'll be dropping hints ;))
James looked at Aza and Penny, and then back at Alley. "I did wonder why our group was so small…"
"We are supposed to be one of many ships to head to Mars. However, only three ships made it off the planet in time. We have the smallest crew, however. One of them, the Salvation II, is a colony ship."
Alley glanced at her tablet.
"Damn, it took out all of the cameras. We're sitting blind."
