by H. J. Lawson
“You hurt yourself?” I asked him once he’d flipped on the lights in the supply room which lay behind the treatment space.
“You know how it is. We never know when the next hit will sweep us off our feet, and we smack against whatever we land on.” He rubbed his hip, turned and winked at me. “Your cold must be really bad. Your eyes are bloodshot.”
If panic flashed across my face, Brody must not have noticed since he continued on to the back of the supply room, as if he knew exactly where the painkiller drugs were. We rummaged through the supplies like children groping for candies at Halloween. Brody’s hip must have been bothering him badly because I noticed the Vicodin boxes he snagged. Hydrocodone, one of the most potent prescribed narcotics. Brody must be in a lot of discomfort.
“You want me to check on your hip?” I asked him. I’d fished out a few cartons of codeine and stuffed them into my pants pocket.
“You making a pass at me?”
“I may not be a doctor, but I spent hours in my dad’s study reading his medical books.”
“So that qualifies you as a…?” He raised his eyebrows at me.
Point taken. “Whatever. Just trying to help.”
“If I need your help, I’ll ask.”
But just then he fell to his knees, clutching his middle.
“Brody?”
He writhed on the metal floor as if someone was gouging his insides out. Even as I slid to the deck beside him, my stomach twisted. I slumped down, with barely enough strength to keep myself upright. The throbbing in my arm flared up for a second then subsided.
Brody and I could be in the same boat. Infected. But when did the contagion hit him? More importantly, how many of us were contaminated? Perhaps direct contact was not the only way the virus spread. My heart clenched as the truth dawned on me. If we didn’t find the cure soon, we’d all be dead. Death Ship, that’s what we should name this vessel.
“Brody!” I shook his arm hard. His legs stopped jerking and lay splayed like a dead frog’s limbs. A bubble of giggles rose within me, and I swallowed hard a few times. How could I think this was funny? That the contagion had seeped into my brain, compromising my nervous system, crossed my mind. Breathe deep, I told myself as my heart raced. My hand shook as I reached out to touch Brody. Was he alive? It was impossible to tell how badly off he was.
“Help,” Brody croaked out. He turned his face toward me and mouthed the word again, his eyes glazed as if he wasn’t really seeing me. Blood mapped out one side of his temple. He’d slammed his face against something. I peered toward his head, his tow-colored hair matted with blood. His forehead must have struck an edge. I squinted and noticed the metal handle protruding from the foot of the first cabinet where the bottom of the door met the floor. A strange place for a handle.
“Hang on, stud,” I told him. He smiled.
I groped inside his pocket where he’d shoved the boxes of Vicodin. With my teeth, I tore the package open and punched the tablets out of their foil casings. “Let’s swallow a couple of these,” I said. I gently lifted his head, one hand cradling it, while the other pulsed with cramping spasms, and tried to pop the pills into his mouth. “Swallow if you can. It’ll ease the pain.” Duh!
But he shook his head vehemently, lips in a thin clenched line.
“C’mon,” I coaxed him.
He pushed my hand away. “It’s too late…for me. Save them…”
Chapter 5 – Adam Kayce
Grace
"Where are you going?" Walt asked.
"As thrilling as it is watching you play with that stick," I said, "I have some work to do."
"Come on back and see me now, y'hear?" he drawled. I looked at him sideways. "What? I'm a space cowboy!"
I couldn't help but chuckle. "Okay there, Walt. You have fun now."
I left Walt and headed back down the ladder toward the lab. To be honest, calling it a lab was stretching it a bit. It wasn't much more than a closet with lab equipment in it. But on a ship like this one, it wasn't often a medic would have to run lab tests. Most of their work was patching up the crew's scrapes and scratches, treating the nausea of the civilian tourists along with the occasional flu, and of course, passing out the morning after pills. SpaceRx's tourist clientele was infamous for wanting to be a part of the 250-Mile-High Club.
Given the way Walt had been looking at me, I wondered if he was thinking along those lines, but then I remembered how he'd been looking that way at pretty much nearly all the women on board. Bah. I've gotta put it out of my head. Doesn't matter to me if Walt sleeps with everyone on board. I've got a planet to save. And besides—I'm engaged.
I went back down the hallway and past the medical bay to the lab. Through the circular window in the door, I could see the lights were on, which was odd. Even more curious was the fact the quarantine light was glowing red. I looked through the window of the sealed door and who was standing at the table with my samples but Monroe. Damn it all to hell.
I pressed the intercom button. "What are you doing?"
"Prepping Jacob's samples, like we talked about."
"We talked about me prepping the samples. You're a medic."
"I'm the ranking medical officer on this ship," he sniffled.
"You're—" I stopped short, knowing Monroe was a short-tempered fool with low self-esteem. I didn't want him to do anything stupid to Jacob's tissue samples out of spite. The tissue samples weren't the same thing as having a live infected, but it would have to do. "You're not a researcher, Monroe."
"Neither are you," he said, drying his nose with a long wipe up his sleeve. At least he was careful enough not to get any snot on his gloves. "Besides, I'm almost done fixing this batch, and I've got another batch in the freezer. If it makes you feel better, you can process the frozen ones when they come out of the cryo-box. Should only take a few hours, and then we can see what all the fuss is about."
"The fuss," I pushed through my clenched teeth, "is that if I'm right about these things, we'll be a lot closer to finding out what makes them tick, and what it'll take to stop them." I decided to spare him the science.
"Exactly. All the better now that I've done the first part."
He was as frustrating as he was ugly. "Okay, fine. Do you have the stain kit in there?"
"Uh," he said, looking around. "Not as of yet. Must've left it in the med bay."
"Fine. I'll get it." I stepped away from the intercom and swore a bit more than I should. Then I swore a bit more when I remembered I couldn't get into the medical bay because the door was locked. I went back to the lab door and pressed the intercom. "Door's locked. I need the code."
"No way you got there and back so fast."
I wanted to put my fist through the window. "I tried it earlier."
"Oh."
I waited for the code. "And?"
"And if I get back to the med bay and I find any drugs missing, we're going to have a long talk you're not going to like. You get what I'm saying?"
I could not believe what I was hearing. "Yes. Code?"
Monroe looked up from the samples. "Two seven nine two."
"Thank you."
"You're—" But I was already halfway down the corridor.
Kearyn
"Stay with me, stud."
Brody's eyes flickered open and shut again quickly. I could tell he was in a lot of pain, and I didn't know how much longer he had. Hell, I didn't know anything about what was going to happen to him. Images of Jacob's glistening, skinless form flashed through my mind, and I was pretty sure the same images weren't far from Brody's. How long it would take for him to go from human to that, I had no idea.
"How did it happen to you, Brody? When were you...bitten?"
He winced, and under the thin skin of his eyelids, I saw his eyeballs roll back in his head briefly. "Uhh. I'm not sure."
"What do you mean? How can you not know?"
"I was fine when we left Earth," he moaned, "but maybe..." He trailed off.
"C'mon, stud! St
ay with me!" I wanted to slap him.
"Maybe...maybe in the rush to get on board," he managed to get out, though I saw how hard he was gripping his abdomen. He could pass out at any second. "There was lots of fighting. I got knocked around a lot getting on the ship. Maybe then?" His eyes screwed up in pain, and if he'd had more strength, I'm sure he would've doubled over.
I had to think. I needed air. I stood up and moved away, but his hand grabbed my arm, hard.
"Can you feel it?" he said, half-sitting, his eyes wide with mania. A second ago he could barely move, but the strength in his grip held me tight. It didn't make sense, but neither did the look in his eyes. It didn't feel like him anymore. It felt like Brody was gone, even though he was looking right at me. "Can you feel it taking you?" I tried to stay calm, but I could feel the giggles coming back over me, and I was scared I was losing it.
"Don't worry, stud. I'm just getting some water." Understanding returned to his face, but it still took him a minute before he let me go and slumped back to the floor.
I stepped out of the supply room, both relieved and terrified, and paced the floor of the medical bay. I didn't know what to do, but then I pictured Brody turning into another Jacob. And then I imagined it happening to me.
If Brody was dying, and that thing was taking him over, I couldn't let it. I just couldn't. If it took him, and it took me, what about the rest of the ship? And what if other ships—clean ships—found ours and started it all over again? The horror of it stopped me in my tracks. Oh, hells no.
And that's when I heard someone at the door.
Grace
I stomped down the hall, barely containing my anger. I couldn't believe the nerve of that grunt, but I needed to think of ways to distract him for when the relevant tests would begin. I didn't know if he'd cooperate or not, but the only thing that mattered was testing Mark's hypothesis.
Mark was a damn fool for doing what he did, but it gave us our biggest break so far. I'd have to confirm his ideas, but I think he was onto something. If Jacob's samples came back with the same kinds of markers...well, maybe there was hope for humanity after all.
I reached the door of the medical bay and pulled on the handle, knowing it was locked but still holding out hope. It didn't move, but as I went for the keypad, movement through the door's viewing window caught my eye. "Kearyn?"
I saw a rush of movement as Kearyn's head went past the window, and heard the metallic clunk of the door's emergency bar being thrown into place. "What the hell?" I said and punched Monroe's code into the keypad. The light flickered green, but the door wouldn't budge. "Kearyn!" I called.
"Can't open the door, Grace," Kearyn said through the intercom. Now I was pissed.
"What the hell, Kearyn? I need to get in there."
"Can't," she said again. "It's not... Brody and I..."
I fumed. "The medical bay is no place to get in the 250-Mile-High Club, Kearyn!" Can't this woman keep her pants on? "Open the do—"
An arm slapped against the window of the medical bay door, and I saw the fear and determination in Kearyn's eyes behind it. I looked at her arm and saw the same inflamed splotches as Mark had when he came back from the alley that day. Cold realization dawned on me. I had no words.
Kearyn took her arm down from the window and kept looking at me. Looking for answers. Answers I didn't have.
But I would.
I pressed the intercom button. "Hang tight, Kearyn. I'm not gonna let you die."
Chapter 6 – Sabrina Sable
Kearyn
I had seen the fear in Grace’s eyes. She was supposed to be our salvation, and yet she had shown me with that one-second look that we were beyond help even though her words said otherwise. She wouldn’t let me die.
As if I needed her permission. For some reason, that idea set me off laughing again, though I couldn’t logically explain the hilarity of it. Maybe it was the fact that I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that Earth was being destroyed at that very moment, overrun by whatever those things are. I looked at my arm. Soon that would happen up here too. The irony of it is that I thought I could do something to help. When Treavyn asked me to jump on board first with Grace and told me why I already envisioned myself as some kind of hero for the ages.
He had expected me to protect her. Their hasty engagement had put any fantasies about him and myself out of my mind, and I committed the rest of my life to my survival. So, yes, when Treavyn handed me the instructions for getting off the planet, I took them and used them. Running with Grace toward the ship as the hordes first overwhelmed the nearest ships, I knew that she and I would have to find a way to work together. The awkward silence we’d built between us in earlier months didn’t make sense anymore.
Especially since Treavyn might be dead by now. And my sister. I wondered if she knew I was no longer on the same planet as her. I wondered if she cared. I covered my mouth as another giggle escaped me out of respect for Brody.
Brody. He’d been quiet a terribly long time. I made my way back to the supply room and saw him lying in the same position.
“Brody?” I said, staying close to the door. “Hey, stud, you alright?”
He grunted in response, and I gave a sigh of relief. He was still with me.
“Grace is going to help,” I told him if only to comfort him with false hope until he was gone. We’d only met four days ago at the launch, but I’d kind of gotten used to his flirting and innuendos.
I experienced some lightheadedness all of a sudden and took a deep breath, willing myself to stay steady on my feet. The muscles in my legs felt incredibly weak, and I sat down in the doorway to keep an ear out for Brody. Every once in a while, I called to him. Each grunt he gave me was a big win, and sometimes I fooled myself into thinking we were waiting for actual help that would come soon.
My eyelids felt heavy, and I remembered how much I’d slept after a surgery a few years ago when I’d been prescribed pain medicine.
Colonel Jones
Colonel Jones paced around the suite. It hadn’t been too long since the outbreak, but already the world was a living hell. If the mad rush to these ships was any indication, the other millions of civilians in the country were undoubtedly desperate. Nothing could have prepared her for what she was about to hear.
“Ma’am.” The captain popped her head in. “Major Driggs for you on the phone.”
Colonel Jones sat on the edge of the desk and hit the speaker button.
“Tell me some good news, Major.”
“I would if I could, but I don’t think we’ll be having any of that for some time. It’s the complete opposite actually. We’ve just received a threat.”
“Threat? The whole world is a threat right now.”
“Well, we’ve got some decisions to make. An outside agency entered our private lines and gave me some rather unpleasant information.”
She tapped the side of the desk repeatedly. “Spit it out, Major. What do these hackers want?”
“I don’t know. But they claim to have remote control over all SpaceRx vehicles. They recited launch sequences, which Salazar confirmed. They even read me a transcript of the communication between control and the pilot at launch.”
Her eyes narrowed as ideas and possibilities ran through her mind, but she discarded each one. “Is there a way to confirm their claim of having control?”
“We’re working on it.”
“And you say they didn’t list any demands?”
“Nothing yet, but it sounded like they weren’t done with us.”
“Oh, they’re just getting started. Keep me informed. I want to know if they so much as call and hang up.” She hit a button on the phone, walked to the window, and stared out at the ruins of the damned ships. What could they possibly want and what would they be willing to do to get it?
Grace
I almost slipped running through the narrow corridors and nearly bumped into Sephia. Her eyes were bloodshot, and I apologized, running past her. When I reached c
ontrol, Walt was still sitting at the helm with Finn next to him. The pair grinned at each other; they seemed to be recalling something from before. Before sickness and evacuation and now imminent death if they couldn’t fix part of the big problem at hand. It was such a lovely moment for father and son, and though I hated to spoil it, they were the only ones who could help me.
“We have a problem,” I announced. They turned their faces toward me, the happy moment destroyed. “Kearyn is infected. She’s locked herself in medical. What can we do to keep her quarantined there without chance of infection for the rest of us? Can the ventilation be isolated for that unit?”
They looked at each other and then back at me. Finn nodded and said, “I’ll see what we can do.” I ignored Walt’s admiring glances.
“Quickly,” I said, turning on my heel and hastening to the lab.
Monroe didn’t believe me at first, thinking it was a ruse to let me into the lab. It was when I finally pounded on the door that he snapped his head up at me and saw the raw anger on my face. He took off his gloves and goggles with painstaking patience, something I did not have.
“Who did you say was sick?” he asked, the door closing behind him.
“Kearyn,” I repeated, trying not to sound as aggressive as I felt.
He started to walk with me. “Symptoms?”
“She looked pale, weak, she had the markings on her arm, and it was swollen.”
“Wait, you mean…she’s sick with the disease?”
“What did you think I meant? The sniffles? Goddammit, Monroe. We have to work together better here!”
He threw me a nasty look, but at least he sped up, and soon I was trailing him to medical, where he tried the code. I explained about the emergency bar. We tried the intercom, but Kearyn wasn’t in sight. Monroe put his face against the small window.
“She’s asleep in the doorway to the supply room. What the hell? Brody’s sprawled on the floor.”
“What?” I shoved Monroe aside and saw for myself. Both were immobile. “She didn’t say. What can we do?”
