“Find something to jam it in place,” shouted Talbot.
Richard backed away and cast his eyes around the room. There was nothing suitable. One of the creatures appeared at the window and watched Richard move through the room. When his toe stubbed something, Richard looked down at the warped floor panel. He hooked his fingers under one end and raised it. It was metal, about eighteen inches wide and eight feet long; it might just do the trick. He dragged it over to the door and rested one end against the table. Talbot helped him jam it under the strengthening bar that ran across the middle of the table’s underside.
Ready to slam his weight back against the table if it moved, Talbot backed away. Lacking the body mass to dislodge the prop, the creatures’ attempts to break down the barricade failed.
For a few moments Richard and Talbot stared through the windows at the wreckage still slipping into the lower levels. Slowly the main bulk settled and loose pieces rolled and slid as they sought new resting positions.
Richard turned away and sat by one of the containers. “I need to rest before we carry on. I don’t have the benefit of your army training.”
Talbot glanced around the room. “Believe me, none of my training remotely prepared for this.”
When Talbot noticed two of the transparent pods along the wall by the door were broken, he walked over and peered inside. Except for the layer of reddish-brown dust that also covered everything in the room, it was empty. The next container was cracked with a small hole near the bottom. He wiped a hand on the surface to clear a patch and peered inside. A jumble of thin bones and tiny skulls he thought matched the Insectoids lay at the bottom of the tank―baby monsters. The next tank in line was intact and full of orange, semi-transparent liquid. He brushed a patch clean and looked inside. Suspended from tubes were Insectoids. Though smaller than those that had chased them―the biggest here was only about ten inches long―they looked no less formidable. He glanced at Richard.
“Are these things inside alive?”
“Probably. We found a room full of specimens and they seemed to be in some sort of induced hibernation. Some escaped when the ship crashed and infested parts of the ship.”
Talbot glanced at the broken container absent any bones and then at the door the creatures continued to scratch at. “What is this place?”
“Does it matter?” said Richard. He had given up trying to fathom the reasons for the strange rooms he had passed through. He was just thankful that for the moment nothing was trying to eat them and he could rest. He doubted it would last. He watched Talbot cross the room, examining everything he passed. “If you find any weapons, I get first choice.”
“It seems more like a laboratory than a room where you’d find weapons.” Talbot walked past the strange pieces of equipment that lined the countertop around two sides of the room, without coming to any conclusions as to their use. The instruments and unusual tools, most of which had sharp or serrated edges, but too unwieldy to use as weapons, reminded him of medical instruments of the type a mortician would use. He turned towards the tapping at the window. An Insectoid drummed on the glass and stared straight at him. Talbot crossed to the window and placed his face close to the creature’s ugly head.
Richard climbed to his feet. “It’s probably best not to antagonize them.”
Talbot looked at him. “Don’t worry; I doubt they’ll be able to break the window.” When he turned back to the window the creature had gone. A loud bang echoed through the room when an Insectoid crashed into the glass. Talbot yelled in surprise as he recoiled. As soon as it dropped from view, another Insectoid slammed into the glass.
Both men stared at the crack that formed and snaked across the window when a third one struck. They backed away and crossed to the door on the far side. Thankfully, it opened and closed again when they had passed through.
Talbot was going to say they were safe now, but thought better of it. He doubted it was true. He was finally becoming aware of the spaceship’s ability to throw one surprise after another at those who dared to trespass within.
Sullivan led the men down the ladder and after the elevator doors had been forced apart on the level they needed to access, they stepped through into the darkness and roamed flashlights around the area an exact copy of the level above.
When Ramirez crossed to the central stairwell where the broken spiral staircase above swung slightly with a groan of metal, he noticed the floor sloped down slightly. It was evidence the train wreck had damaged more than just the stairs. He dropped a flare and noticed two of the strange twiggy monsters they had glimpsed earlier move through its devilish glow.
Colbert looked over at the corridor directly opposite the elevator. The armory should be about one hundred feet along it on the right. He glanced back at the elevator shaft, their only known means of exit. It might also provide them with a shortcut to the hangar level if they could climb past the elevator. Then they would be able to avoid the medical facility and the monsters that dwelled there and not waste precious time looking for a route around it.
“It looks clear,” called out Sullivan.
Colbert glanced over at Sullivan and the corridor highlighted by his flashlight. “Cleveland, remain here to keep our exit open and protect our backs. The rest of you with me.”
“Don’t forget to grab me some of those alien weapons,” Cleveland called out, as the men headed along the passage.
The SEALs halted at the armory door, which was a little larger than normal. Though the corridor lights were off, the tiny light on the door panel indicated it still had power. After the men had stood back and aimed their weapons at the door, Crowe pressed the button. The door rasped open to reveal a small chamber and six-feet away another door that wouldn’t have looked out of place protecting a bank vault. A light flickered on when they entered. While Stedman, Crowe and Sullivan guarded the corridor, Colbert and Ramirez approached the impressive door.
“This could be a problem,” stated Ramirez, running a hand over the cold metal.
Colbert had reached the same conclusion. To have come so far, faced so much and lost a good friend, their mission now seemed doomed to failure. He crossed to a small control console on a side wall. With the inclusion of the alien hand-shape recessed into the top, it was obviously a hand scanner and the door could only be opened by those authorized to do so. With nothing to lose, he placed his hand in the larger alien crew size indent. A green light lit up his hand and buzzed for a moment before turning red. The door remained closed. He stepped aside as Ramirez unwrapped a roll of tools taken from his rucksack and watched him begin dismantling the device. The ship was too fragile to risk blowing open the door, though they would have to try if Ramirez failed to jury rig it.
Cleveland turned away from staring down the corridor the men had taken and walked around the room, checking all the other corridor exits were clear of anything creeping up on him. As he passed the open elevator a sound halted him and focused his light and gaze on the dark opening. Though he thought it was probably nothing but his nerves reading danger into an innocent sound, he took a few steps nearer and cocked an ear at the deep shaft. Though the clicking and scratching sounds were faint, they couldn’t be ignored. They didn’t want to encounter any surprises when it was time to leave. A few more steps brought him to the edge of the long drop. He listened again, but this time heard nothing out of the ordinary. To double-check, he leaned forward and shone his light into the shaft. The beam highlighted the walls descending into the darkness, but nothing else. Something warm, wet and slightly viscous splattered on his hand. The threat of danger tilted his gaze upwards. The Insectoid assassin perched on the wall above dropped. Cleveland lashed out with the rifle but the creature’s surprise attack had caught him off guard. It crashed into him and knocked him into the shaft. His head struck the wall with enough force to crack his skull and plunge him into unconsciousness.