Zero Sixx

by Lynn Mullican

  Frank screamed.

  Aurora stopped mid-stride, cocking her head. The door had shut. Frank? She turned and ran back the way she had come.

  “Frank!” she screamed.

  As she neared the end of the corridor, she spotted the lower half of Troy’s body at the base of the external door. The light above the door was lit, showing that it was locked shut.

  Aurora whimpered, covering her mouth, trying not to make any noise. She glanced around, the alien was nowhere to be seen. She fought to breathe, a knot forming in her throat.

  The door to the cabin stood open. Peter lay on the floor dead, his body decomposing before her eyes. Derek’s decayed body lay across the floor between the two seats, blocking access to the control panels.

  Eyes wide, she slowly and quietly walked toward the cabin, glancing at Troy. His body was already decaying. How the hell…?

  Static came across the radio in the cabin. “Zero Sixx, come in.”

  She froze, her eyes on the receiver.

  “Maxx Nine here. Zero Sixx, we have a problem. Can you hear me?”

  She stood there, afraid to move.

  “If you can hear me, stay away from Life Space, and from the debris. It appears there may have been an alien attack. I don’t know the specifics but we have footage of two spaceships that collided. In the collision, it appears there were some alien life-forms that had been ejected. One appears to be a man, the others, we’re not sure how many there were but they appear to latch onto the outside of spaceships and other debris. I don’t know if they can get inside…”

  Static bellowed out from the receiver. “We lost Tina and Devon…they were killed by a…” More static. “Life Space is infested with these things.” Static erupted.

  Tears welled over her eyes. She glanced around, her hand over her mouth.

  Something banged against the ship. She wished Andro-Forty-two would stop shifting against the ship. Then, something to the left of the window caught her attention. It wasn’t part of the spaceship.

  “Zero Sixx, is that you?”

  Her heart lurched into her throat.

  “Zero Sixx, stay away from the station. Get out of here. Wait, is that Andro Forty-two next to you?” He muttered something inaudible. “Would somebody answer me?”

  Silence.

  “Did Andro Forty-two sustain damage?”

  Finally, she ran for the cabin and grabbed the receiver. “Maxx Nine, this is Aurora! Yes, we need to detach from Andro-Forty-two. It’s set to terminate.”

  Silence.

  Tom’s voice lowered. “Aurora, listen carefully to me. This rescue mission isn’t…”

  Static filled the cabin.

  “Tom?”

  He didn’t answer.

  The incessant beeping on the ship reminded her they were in deep trouble.

  “Aurora? Can you hear me?”

  “Yes, Tom.”

  “This isn’t a rescue mission…”

  A shot echoed throughout the ship. Aurora flinched, bumping into Peter. She turned to gaze past the door. Something burned her leg. The scent of burnt flesh filled her nostrils.

  What the…?

  “Aurora, where’s Derek and Peter?”

  She gazed at the darkness beyond the cabin. Something moved within it. She couldn’t speak. She pressed the button to avoid the sound of Tom’s voice. Her heart beat faster.

  Was it watching her? What was it waiting for? Why didn’t it just kill her?

  Her finger slipped off of the button.

  A female voice came across the radio. “Zero Sixx, this is Andro One Twelve, we have reports of a fire on Andro Forty-two. No one is responding on the ship. Have you talked to anybody there?”

  A fire?

  Aurora glanced at the external door. Something scraped against the ship again. She glanced back. The space station and Maxx Nine came into view. She squinted, focusing in on it and the spaceship. Her mouth dropped. The eight-legged alien beings were everywhere. Several flew onto Zero Sixx and latched onto it, crawling across it toward the window.

  Damn, her leg burned. She glanced down. The material on her pants was quickly deteriorating, exposing the burn that spread across her leg. She gasped. Then, something slithered across her back and looped around her waist, turning her to face the six-foot alien. Her jaw dropped.

  ***

  Aurora’s scream echoed within the spaceship, sending a chill down Kym’s spine. Hunter had disappeared somewhere within the spaceship, leaving Kym alone to her own demise. She had snuck into Medical and locked the door behind her.

  She searched the room, looking for any potential weapons. Then, a shot rang out. She froze, looking up at the door. Maybe, she could just hide out somewhere until this was over. After all, she was able to sneak away and lock the door.

  Ruby’s voice echoed throughout the ship. “Fire on Andro-Forty-two. Andro-Forty-two still connected. Andro-Forty-two system still connected. Potential risk of fire to Zero Sixx. No human life form on Andro-Forty-two. One unknown life-form on Andro-Forty-two. Two human life forms on Zero Sixx. Twenty-six unknown life forms on Zero Sixx.”

  Kym’s jaw dropped. Twenty-six unknown life forms? She stared at the door.

  “Space station, Life Space, connected.”

  Kym sat on the bed, her head in her hands. Life Space connected? Who was manning the ship? Did Frank make it back on board? Or, was it Aurora?

  A male voice came across the system. “All passengers on Zero Sixx, we are connected. Be prepared for our visitors. They will be joining us. Andro-Forty-two hasn’t…oh wait!”

  Something banged against the starboard, shifting Zero Sixx back and forth. Kym fell to the floor, banging her head against it. She grabbed her head and rolled to her side, her gaze shifting beneath the bed. She let out a gasp. A decomposed human body lay beneath it, along with a dead alien. A baseball bat lay between the two of them. She covered her mouth to keep from screaming.

  The male voice came across the system. “We have visitors…”

  Kym crawled to the end of the bed and pulled the bat out. Wait…what? Visitors? What did he mean by visitors?

  ***

  Hunter stood at the end of the corridor, gun in hand. The corridor opened up into a rec room and kitchen area. Two other corridors branched off of it toward the back of the ship. He glanced around, surveying the area. Once he was done with these bastards, he was going to eliminate the rest of the humans. He was tired of them trying to protect the Andros. Right now, the humans served a purpose, distraction.

  Something on the wall moved. He cocked his head, studying the mirror. Again, it moved, ever so slightly. Hunter moved across the floor in a fluid motion, ready to shoot. The Andros were clever. They could flatten their bodies or contort them to hide in the most obvious of areas. They were known to hide behind and inside of anything, which is why he made sure to study his surroundings.

  Once he was three feet away from the mirror, he raised his gun and fired. The mirror shattered, the alien form behind it crashed to the floor. Something shrieked. It was the bigger alien. He spun around, catching sight of one running across the floor. Another shot took the second alien down. As he moved throughout the room, he surveyed it, advancing into the next corridor. This one opened up into the sleeping area. Several beds lay in the room, each one closed, except for one. Cautiously, he neared it, his gun pointed at it. A decomposed human female lay in it. He shut it and moved on, studying the area.

  Something smacked against the side of the bed he had closed. He peered back at it. Just as he suspected, an alien clung to the cover of the bed, trapped within it. He snickered, and then moved through the room. The damn thing wasn’t getting out of there now.

  Ruby’s voice filled the room. “Fire on Andro-Forty-two. Andro-Forty-two still connected. Andro-Forty-two system still connected. Potential risk of fire to Zero Sixx. No human life form on Andro-Forty-two. One unknown life-form on Andro-Forty-two. Two human life forms on Zero Sixx. Twenty-six unknown life forms on Zero
Sixx.”

  Like he said, they were an infestation. He had been instructed to kill them all, including the warriors, the larger of their alien-kind. A weird sucking sound came from above him.

  Hunter glanced up. A solid transparent line of fluid hung from the ceiling. He stepped back. There were probably ten or more on the ceiling alone. He opened fire. Two detached and flew at him, attempting to take him off balance. Hunter dodged one, but the other caught him, whipping its tail around his hand, catching him and tossing him backwards into the wall. Then, the alien latched onto the wall. As Hunter fell, it dropped down onto him, its tail moving in to impale him.

  Kym ran into the room, a baseball bat in hand. She swung at the alien, striking it, sending it airborne and into a wall. It bounced off and landed on the floor, blood spraying from it. Then, Kym smiled, offering her hand.

  “I guess I owe you one,” she said. “Even if you are going to kill me later.”

  Hunter stared up at her, unsure of what the hand meant. Instead of taking her hand, he bolted to his feet.

  “Alright, well, so much for that,” she said, holding the bat up.

  He grabbed his gun. Blood soaked his hand.

  She gazed down at it. “What happened to your hand?”

  “Their poison kills. Luckily for my kind, it doesn’t as happen as fast. But, for your kind, you’ll be dead within minutes.”

  “Okay,” she muttered, her heart racing. “Well, then maybe you can help defend me.”

  “I don’t defend anyone but myself and my race.”

  She sighed. “Even for a friend.”

  They locked eyes.

  “What’s a friend?”

  “Someone you enjoy spending time with, have the same interests, do things with, you know, like someone you would do anything for, like defend their life or pull their head out of the toilet when they drink too damn much.”

  Hunter stared at her, his brow furrowed in.

  “In our case, maybe someone you enjoy killing aliens with.” She scratched her head. “Uh, listen, the system said there were twenty-six of these mothers on board. I can’t do this alone and whether you like me or not, can we at least kill these things together? You can kill me later if it comes down to it. I would rather die at your hands than one of these rabid beasts. I just want to make it out of here alive or at least try.”

  The spaceship shook, knocking Kym off of her feet.

  Ruby’s voice echoed overhead. “Andro-Forty-two disconnecting from Zero Sixx. Andro-Forty-two termination activated. Zero Sixx disconnecting from space station, Life Space. Two human life forms on Zero Sixx. One hundred and three unknown life forms on Zero Sixx. Life expectancy, zero.”

  Kym’s jaw dropped. She ran over to the control panel in the room and jabbed a button.

  “Ruby, why is there zero life expectancy?”

  “Zero life expectancy is projected due to unknown life forms. All unknown life forms are presumed dangerous.”

  Sweat beaded on her forehead. “Ruby, how many different life forms are included in the unknown life forms?”

  “Calculating…” Silence filled the air.

  “Screw this, I’m getting off of this ship,” she said, turning to look at Hunter.

  Ruby answered, “Two. Both lifeforms are predatory in nature but both are different life forms.”

  Kym hung her head. “What’s my survival rate if I fly the Eclipse out of here?”

  “You have an eighty percent chance survival rate.”

  “Those are better odds for me,” Kym said, scrambling to open a door within the room. As she pulled her spacesuit out and climbed into it, she turned to Hunter. “You can stay here and fight these things if you want, I’m not. I’m flying the Eclipse out of here.”

  Hunter cocked his head. “You do not want to fight?”

  “No, I have zero expectancy of surviving a fight with these things. You can either fly with me or fight them on your own. If you want to fly out of here with me, there’s a spacesuit over here for you. I’m not taking a chance.”

  Hunter pointed his gun at Kym. “You do not fight, you do not live.”

  Kym drew in a deep breath. “Fine.” She walked up to him and stood before him, resting her forehead against the barrel of the gun. “Shoot me. But, make it quick. I don’t want to die by these things.”

  Kym stared at his hand. “You can come with me. You don’t have to stay and fight them. We can look for a way to help you, to find an anecdote to reverse the effects of the poison. If it takes you time to die, you have a chance of survival.”

  Something shrieked in the hallway. The high pitch of it hurt Kym’s ears. She covered them with the hopes to block out the noise.

  Then the pilot’s voice came across the system. “In route to transporting our visitor’s home. We have a lot of testing to do. I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I do.”

  Kym glanced at the corridor and then ran to the control panel again. She slammed her fist on the button.

  “Who the hell is this?”

  “Why, it’s the pilot, Miss? And, you are?”

  “Who’s the pilot?” she screamed. “What’s your name?”

  “Mikhail, Miss. And, yours?”

  Son of a bitch! They put a humanoid in charge of the ship. That’s why the system was picking up another human. It was part human and part android.

  “You’re not taking these things home!” she screamed. “They’ll kill everyone and take over Earth!”

  “Ma’am, they are not an infestation like everyone believes. They merely want to live and breed, just like us humans do.”

  “You’re not human!” she screamed. Tears fell down her cheeks. “You’ll kill everyone!”

  “It’s all part of the testing, ma’am.”

  Her jaw dropped. “I can’t do it. I can’t let him do this.”

  “What are you going to do about it?” Hunter asked.

  “We’re going to kill them, all. I don’t care if I die.” She threw her helmet down, ripped the top half of her spacesuit off, and grabbed the bat.

  “Let’s do this,” she demanded.

  Hunter raised an eyebrow. “It’s about time one of your kind listened to me.”

  A sound echoed within the entry way of the corridor. As the aliens scurried through the entrance, Hunter fired at them. The smaller aliens that flew into the room, Kym took the bat to them, plucking them off one at a time, narrowly avoiding their tails.

  As Kym smacked one back into the entrance, one of the larger aliens came around the corner, his tail whipping around him. The smaller alien rebounded off of the larger alien’s chest.

  He hissed at Kym, turning to face Hunter. The alien’s tail whipped around him, smacking Hunter, knocking the gun out of his hand. Hunter hunkered down and lunged for the alien, knocking it off of its feet. It grabbed Hunter with its claws, cutting into his arms and torso. The alien snapped at Hunter with its teeth as Hunter grabbed its head, wrenching it to the side. The alien’s claws dug deeper into Hunter’s wounds when a second large alien slinked into the room, turning its gaze upon Kym.

  Kym froze, her heart beating faster. She had managed to kill about twenty of the smaller aliens but was tiring. Her arms hurt, and now it was time to face one of the bigger aliens. She wasn’t so sure she could take him on. It slinked around the other alien, whipping its tail around him, and then raised it, poised for the kill.

  She remembered what Hunter had said earlier. They had poison in their tail and they would inject it through their stinger, into their victims. Kym backed up, bat in hand, ready to take him on. Then, he lurched at her, his tail whipping back around, going for her legs. She managed to jump out of the way the first time. It was the second time when it whipped back, taking her out. She slammed down on the ground, bringing the bat down, hitting it in the head. It shrieked and then hissed at her. A distinct scent of acidity emerged from its flesh. Then she realized the tail was poised above her head. She rolled to the side, avoiding the stinger. Instead of embeddi
ng it in her, it struck the floor.

  Kym scrambled to her feet but it was quick to grab her, dragging her back, clawing and scratching at her. Blood leaked from her wounds, staining her clothing. She tried to spin around to hit it again but it grabbed the bat and dropped it. She tried to pull away. The tail curled over its shoulder and took another stab at her.

  “No!” she screamed.

  She threw herself back against its body, the tail penetrating the floor in front of her. She struggled to escape its grip as it snapped at her with its teeth, grazing her shoulder.

  To her left, Hunter threw the other alien backwards into the Eclipse. It hit the window and rolled down it, giving Hunter time to grab his gun. He ran toward the alien he had been fighting but spun around, aiming it at the alien fighting with Kym. One shot to the head brought it down, spewing blood everywhere.

  Then, Hunter spun back around. The other alien scrambled to its feet. As it lurched at him, he took another shot, striking it in the chest. As it fell, he retreated, turning to face the smaller aliens that flew into the room.

  Kym grabbed the bat, turning to swing at another as it latched onto her, knocking her down. She scrambled to get it off of her, the tail whipping around, smacking her in the neck. She screamed.

  Hunter latched onto the alien and ripped it from her neck, slinging it across the room. As another alien flew into the room, Hunter swung his arm around and shot it down. Then, he glanced down at Kym. The wound in her neck began to decay.

  “I don’t want to die,” she cried. “I know I said I did but I don’t. Kill me, please. I don’t want to suffer.”

  Hunter stared down at her, the gun pointed at her head.

  “Make it quick, please.”

  “For you, friend,” he said.

  She smiled, the pain taking over her body.

  “Thank you.”

  Then he pulled the trigger. Before he turned toward the corridor, he grabbed the baseball bat. He took one last glance back at her and headed down the corridor, bat and gun in hand. The darkness welcomed him.

  The incessant beeping echoed within the ship. Hunter glanced around to make sure there were no more aliens. It wasn’t until he walked into the main area that he saw another Andros. He holstered his gun and took the bat to it, driving it backwards into the wall. A grin appeared on his face.