From the corner of his eye, he saw the major lying in bed. He sighed with relief. So he was still sleeping. Everything was OK. He was about to close the door again, when the foul smell of blood and dead flesh leapt into his nostrils. He opened the door wider and took a step into the room.
Blood! Blood everywhere!
Jeff let out a twisted scream.
Within seconds, the others had arrived and jostled him further into the room as they tried to get a look for themselves.
The major—or what was left of him—was lying in a red pool on the bed. Blood was dripping onto the floor—there was too much for all of it to be absorbed by the sheets. As Jeff approached the bed, his shoes made a squelching noise in the sticky liquid. He looked at the major and retched.
It was even worse than Fields. A huge wound stretched from his chest, across his stomach, and down to his crotch. Because of all the blood, Jeff couldn’t see the organs. He looked into the major’s face. His eye patch was missing, revealing the deep cavity of the socket. The other eye was dangling onto his cheek from a twisted thread. His mouth was ripped wide open, as if he were screaming in pain even in death. Jeff tried to look away, but then he noticed that Irons’ head was no longer connected to his neck, but lying severed on the pillow.
Shorty pushed his way out of the room, vomiting.
“Oh my God,” Joanne whispered. She shoved Finni aside so she could examine the major’s body.
“Was it…” Owl began and choked. “Was it an animal?”
Joanne ran her fingers very gently over the bottom of the severed head. “If it was an animal, it must have had damned sharp claws.”
Jeff had to force himself not to look away. In any case, it must have all happened very fast, because the major’s pistol was untouched in his holster. “He didn’t even defend himself.” They’d been so nearby in their rooms, and hadn’t heard a thing.
Joanne nodded, lifting the major’s hands one at a time. “The fingernails are clean. He must have been taken by surprise while he was sleeping. Here, this was lying next to his hand.”
Jeff took the piece of paper and turned it over. It was a photo of a little boy lying in the grass and laughing at the camera. It must be Jack—Irons’ son. Jeff put the picture back on the bed and shook his head. “I can’t imagine he was sleeping when it happened.” But something must have taken him by surprise, otherwise he would have tried to defend himself. And suddenly Jeff realized that his own room was right next door. It could have been him lying on his bed like this. Jeff remembered his bizarre conversation with the major the night before. Had the major really had some kind of premonition of what was going to happen to him? But how was that possible? And how had the… animal?… got into the room?
“Who was on guard duty last night?” Jeff asked.
“I had the first shift, then Green and Finni,” Joanne answered.
“You didn’t fall asleep?”
“No—at least, I didn’t,” Green said. Joanne and Finni shook their heads, too.
“Did you notice anything? Anything at all? Strange noises, maybe?”
All three shook their heads.
“What a fucking nightmare,” Owl whispered. “Either we’re dealing with some invisible being, or an animal that can walk through walls.”
“The light alien!” Castle said. “It must have followed us from the other side of the gate.”
Jeff walked around the bed, careful not to step into the puddle of blood again. He glanced into the bathroom, but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. Although… part of the wall was slightly dented. He went in and kicked gently at the spot. With a clatter, the piece of wall fell to the ground. Not a wall, a cover. Horrified, Jeff saw a hole that was big enough for a man to crawl through.
“You’re kidding me,” said Finni, who had come up behind him. “That’s like the shaft down by the gate.”
“Get a flashlight,” Jeff ordered the radar technician.
“At least now we know how the… thing… got in here,” said Owl. “There’s probably a ventilation shaft like that in every cabin. Fuck! This is a fucking nightmare!” His voice became shrill.
“We’re not safe here,” Green said, echoing what Jeff was thinking.
“Here…” Finni handed Jeff a flashlight. Jeff dropped to his knees and shone it into the shaft. There was a right turn just beyond the opening. Jeff hesitated a moment. What if one of those things was hiding behind the corner? It was no use. Sending someone else in there would make him look like a coward. He drew his pistol, crawled inside, and shone the flashlight down the tunnel. A few feet further on it forked to the left and right. Jeff had seen enough and backed out of the shaft. “The whole ship is probably riddled with these ventilation shafts,” he said after straightening up. He put the gun back in his holster. “Whatever it was must have sneaked in unnoticed and taken the major by surprise.”
“At least now we know that these light aliens aren’t ghosts,” Joanne said.
“How do you know that?” Owl asked.
“If they could walk through walls, they wouldn’t have needed the ventilation shaft,” Joanne replied impatiently.
Jeff took another sheet from the pile of spare bedclothes neatly folded on a shelf, shook it open and spread it over the major’s corpse.
“What do we do now?” Castle asked after they had left the major’s room and returned to the rec room.
Jeff went to the kitchen, took a glass off the shelf, and filled it with water. He felt sick and wasn’t sure if he could stop himself from throwing up. He knew the answer to Castle’s question, but was afraid to say it out loud.
“Captain Austin will decide,” Joanne replied on his behalf. “He has the highest rank now.”
Jeff sipped his water, but felt barely any better. He turned around and gazed around the faces of his shipmates, who were all staring at him expectantly.
“We’re dead meat!” Mac said.
“Wouldn’t it be better if someone else took command?” Castle asked Joanne. “You or me?”
Joanne gave him a withering look.
Owl whispered something to Finni, who shook his head and looked at Jeff in disgust.
“I’m not taking orders from him,” Mac said to Shorty, not even bothering to lower his voice.
Jeff swallowed. Perhaps it would be best to hand over command to Castle. Or to Joanne, who was a good at thinking logically, and usually came up with better ideas than he did. But then he remembered his conversation with Irons. The major had trusted him. He would have had Jeff transferred, if he was dissatisfied with his work. What had Irons said?
Your problem, Captain Austin, is your unwillingness to lead.
No, it was his job. It was what Irons had wanted. There was no way he would hand over command to Castle, with his big mouth, or to Green, with his awkward manner. But what about Joanne? She was clever, logical, and decisive—but she’d never shown any interest in taking on a leadership role. And Jeff wasn’t sure if she would be able to stand up to Shorty and Mac. No, he couldn’t put the burden of responsibility on her. He was in charge.
Jeff pulled himself up straight. “I hereby take over command.”
Mac groaned. “It’ll never work. He doesn’t have what it takes.”
Jeff knew he couldn’t let him get away with talking about him like that. Not anymore. The situation had changed. Irons was gone. Someone on this ship was trying to kill them. They had to pull together as a group. If he didn’t enforce his authority now, they didn’t stand a chance.
Jeff took a deep breath. “Private McGuinness, I will no longer tolerate your continued insubordination,” he said with all the authority he could muster. “You will obey my orders, unconditionally.”