"Pro. Maxted, check in," Captain Meyers demands. "Commander Sissay, Five and I are on the route through the colony's main garden area, in search of the figure I saw. Are you tracking us?"

"We see you, Captain. Simons and I are in the colony's command hub watching your suit cams."

I try not to look at the bodies. I don't want to see them, and I don't want Maxted or Peter to have to see them either.

"My drones detected movement in your area, Captain Meyers," VR1-ICA states in her neutral tone. "But with most sensors offline, I cannot localize."

Peter lets out an unsure noise. It's displeased, worried. "I still think we should focus on fixing the coms satellite. The city's falling apart. The people butchered each other! We need to call for rescue and leave."

I understand his worry. This is all terrifying. I mean, we've technically done what we were supposed to do, which was investigate why communication with the colony stopped. It stopped because everyone here killed each other. The only thing we don't know is why, but it's hard to focus on finding out why when you're stranded and you know if you die too, no one will come find your body for months, possibly years.

I may have to die on this planet, but that doesn't mean I want anyone else to.

"My satellite software needs to be fully rebuilt," VR1-ICA says. "Doing so will take time. Until then, it can only transmit malware."

"Someone's sabotaged the satellite, Mr. Simons," Meyers says. "Someone might be able to tell us why and how, and we need to know what happened to these people."

"Do we have any ideas?" I ask. "I mean, what causes this type of thing? Even if there was some sort of conflict, the fact that there's only one survivor is... unsettling."

Commander Sissay nods in agreement, his hazel eyes focusing on the sky. "Got to say, not a fan of this yellow sky. The way it swirls over the dome, it-it's nauseating."

I raise a brow. His voice is wavering. He must really not be feeling well. I make a note that once we've found this survivor, I'll try to find some mint for the Commander. That's what the doctors told me to use whenever I have bouts of nausea.

"It's the bodies I can't stand," Pro. Maxted replies. "I know you military types are hardened to it, but the rest of us... There's another colonist hanging from a tree ahead of you."

As we pass it, I study the noose around the woman's neck. I can only wonder if she did that to herself, or if someone else strung her up. I can't truly say which one is worse.

Commander Sissay shudders. "I-I never thought I'd say this, but... I miss the earth. Sure, the climate's wrecked, the planet's polluted and the UN's barely holding the brush fire walls back, but at least when people die, you know why."

"Mostly because someone like you shot them, Commander Sissay," Peter mumbles, and Sissay clenches his jaw.

"I've had about enough of you, Simons!" He roars. I flinch away from him, eyes widening when I see the absolute rage on his face, as if he's ready to go back to the command hub and strangle Peter himself.

"Stop it, both of you," Captain Meyers shouts, glaring at Sissay. I can only imagine the look she'd give Peter if he were with us. "We're all tense enough as it is."

Sissay sighs, reaching past his visor to rub his temples. "Sorry. Sorry. I... I've got a hell of a headache. Think it's post-cryo hangover."

I frown. Usually post-cryo hangovers don't take effect until a day or two after emerging from cryo-sleep. We've only been up and about for a few hours now.

I don't get the chance to point it out when Sissay points to something ahead, his eyes wide, frantic almost. He sounds skittish when he speaks.

"There! Uh, movement ahead. A-A person heading towards the base pyramid in the distance, the-the one covered in foliage. Come on, that way. Run!"

He sprints off, forcing Meyers and me to follow. I bite the inside of my cheek, wondering if we should suggest sending Commander Sissay somewhere to rest. If he is suffering from post-cryo hangover, he needs to sleep it off. I know sending him back to the hub would be a bad idea, since he'd probably kill Peter.

No, it's best to keep the two away from each other.

I love Peter, truly, but sometimes he doesn't know when to be quiet. And even though he's the same height as Sissay, Sissay literally fought in wars. I don't doubt he would have my boyfriend on the ground in minutes.

That being said, he still needs rest. The stress we're all under from this, plus being out of cryo-sleep so suddenly, might make him make rash decisions that could hurt all of us. I mean, this witness could be dangerous, and Sissay's sudden skittish nature and loud outburst could make our witness lash out in fear or... whatever it was that made everyone else lash out and try to kill each other.

I wish we could just send out that distress signal already. I don't want to be here. I know VR1-ICA said it would take time, but still it's... this place screams danger. I've never been one to shy away from conflict. My reputation before Pandora Haze shows that when I came across a problem, I fixed it, sometimes through creation and machinery, and sometimes, when necessary, through violence and death. I did what I had to to survive.

But here... Here I just want to run.

"I-I-I'm sure I saw movement here, Five," Commander Sissay stammers once we reach the pyramid. His hands are shaking. "They must have gone into the pyramid, or they could be hiding in the trees. This is a textbook ambush scenario. Weapons out."

He pulls out his firearm, and I hesitantly follow. I never partook in the wars, only the chaos of the cities as they fell. I can't say I completely trust him, but having my weapon out does make me feel safer.

"Commander Sissay," Captain Meyers says with a warning tone.

"There! Motion sighted, two o'clock. Open fire!"

He starts shooting, and I just stand there in shock, watching as he fires his space firearms. The sound is more high pitched than that of regular gunshots. I see bits of metal scatter across the streets, sparks flying.

When Sissay finally stops, I hear VR1-ICA sigh.

"That was one of my drones," She says. "I redirected it to assist you."

"Steve, what the hell is wrong with you?! Holster your firearm. You too, Five!" Meyers snaps at us, and I flinch, even though I didn't even shoot. Sissay still looks tense.

"Sorry, Captain. I-tension's getting to me, I-I guess."

"The beige pyramid is the colony's town hall," Peter states after a brief moment of silence. "And before Mr. Sissay's little... display, a cam spotted somebody slipping inside." There's another pause. "Specialist Five, I think you should head back to the command hub. I don't want you coughing and Commander Sissay deciding to open fire on you."

It's a jab, but the tone of his voice tells me he's serious. He doesn't want me here. Sissay's acting paranoid, and paranoia leads to bad things. I try to think of a reply, since I'm honestly not sure if I'm comfortable being around Sissay at the moment. If that had been a person, he would have killed them. But I also know it wouldn't be smart to just abandon the two just because I'm uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, Meyers speaks before I can.

"Stop it, Mr. Simons. Steve's not going to shoot your girlfriend."

I choke, and I can taste bile on my tongue as fear shoots through me. "I-I'm not-we aren't-"

"Oh, please. It would be less obvious if you had it written on your foreheads," She replies, crossing her arms. "You know Pandora Haze has a pretty strict 'No dating' policy. And I find it funny that a corporate officer with an attitude like yours, Simons, would be one to break it."

Now I'm the one that's shaking, although Peter doesn't say a word. I can't see him, so I don't know if he's actually worried or not. He said earlier he didn't care, that it would be his word against theirs, but Peter says a lot of things. Doesn't mean he always means them.

"I-" I try to choke out more words, but none come. I feel sicker than I've ever been before, and I have to fight to keep from swaying, my whole world becoming unstable.

"Captain, it's Ellie here," Pro. Maxted cuts in. "Sorry to cut off whatever you're talking about, but I've finished going over the signal from Veronica's database. The audio components contains phonemes that link to symbols in the visual stream. Some parts clearly communicate mathematical concepts. I think it's a Rosetta stone, a-a guide to decoding a language. But it's nothing I've ever seen before."

The Captain sends a sideways glance at me, and I do my best not to shrink back, but then her face hardens as she addresses the professor. "Keep working, Prof. Someone is clearly trying to send us a message. Five, Steve, whoever's in that pyramid, we don't want them getting away. We go in fast, use our suits' motion detector to hone in on the movements. Sidearms down, Steve. With me, both of you."

She doesn't say much more to me as we head inside, and she turns on the sensors on her suit, but I know. There's no way she isn't going to report this once we get back to earth. It won't hurt me, since I'll already be dead, but Peter...

A million curses fly through my head as Meyers' suit starts beeping. I have to find a way to fix this. Peter's already going to lose me. I can't have him losing his job because of me.

"Sensors detected a blip from down the hallway, straight ahead."

Sissay fidgets beside me as he looks around. "Lots of plush, red curtains in here. Good-good for hiding behind."

Meyers sighs and turns off her coms, prompting us to do the same. "You want to tell me what the hell happened out there, Commander? Because you look like you're barely with us."

He shakes his head. "Sorry, Cap. I-I uh, I'm having trouble concentrating. N-Not sure why." He breathes in deeply. "Simons... had a point, you know. I've killed a lot of people in my time."

Her lips curl into a sneer. "Simons is a frightened weasel. You don't have to listen to him."

I glare at her, but don't say anything.

"I know. I-I just followed orders. That's what I always tell myself. Remember Paris? The whole city was rioting because there was no food, and they called us heroes for putting it down. The place looked like that garden of corpses by the end... You-you ever wonder if-if you've made the right choices, Skipper?"

"Sometimes. I was gonna be a doctor once."

His eyes widen. "You never told me that."

"Never even made it to training. Chicago burned, UN Peacekeep was rolled in. It was either join them or join a refugee camp. Ex-wife said I picked the wrong life. Always cheery, my Louise." She looks at me. "And what about you, Five? You ever wonder if you made the right choices?"

I do my best to retain a neutral face. By the way she's looking at me, I'm failing. "I don't. I did what I did and that's that. Arkansas lasted longer than most states, being the Natural State and all that, but soon the air became polluted there too. When I stole the oxygen tanks, I gave them to my little sister. I thought if I could make hydroponics for the few communities still standing, I could make myself some decent gas masks, and she could keep the higher standard ones.

"But eventually people from fallen states kept coming in to take what little we had left. UN Peacekeep came along when I was about... fifteen, I think? Took me to a refugee camp across the ocean. I helped make the water purifiers and had pretty good knowledge on testing the air quality of some places. When I was twenty, I was recruited to Pandora Haze as one of the specialists in finding and creating clean food and water with the given environment."

"And how the hell did you get with Simons?" She doesn't try to keep the judgmental tone from her voice, and I roll my eyes.

"I met him during a trip to one of the newer labs. He was a level three corporate officer then, seeing over me since I was a newbie. He was very... uptight, but I thought he was cute and asked him out. He was very clear that he knew of the 'no dating' policy and that I should do the same, saying he wouldn't report me only because I was new." I smile at the memory. "Although I think he didn't report me because he thought I was pretty. I told him that it wouldn't be a date, just two adults hanging out together with the possibility of something more than friendship on the table... He didn't like that very much.

"But he did agree to it, after me asking a couple more times and telling him a few stupid jokes, and well... things happened. He wasn't as careless with showing how he felt with me at first. Not even my friends or sister knew we were dating until I was twenty-three, but then I started getting sick..." I sigh deeply. "Turns out my homemade gas masks weren't as efficient as I thought. Prolonged exposure to toxic air does things to the body, the blood. After some tests, the doctors told us it was terminal. It would take a few years, but eventually it would kill me.

"He still did pretty well with keeping our secret. I mean, we kept it secret for another five years, until now... But he's become less careful as I kept getting sicker, getting paler and my veins started to show, and my hair started to thin... and I started losing weight." I sigh again. "When I heard he'd been chosen to oversee this mission, I chugged three cans of CeretinPlus and went to sign up for this mission. I had to pass through the obstacle course within a certain time, and I did... Ended up throwing up all night though from the strain, which got me an earful from my sister. And I bribed one of the overseeing officers when I had to do a physical since I knew I wouldn't pass it any other way."

I look at the two with seriousness. "I came on this mission so I could have a bit more time with Peter before I died. I love him. I said goodbye to everyone else earlier so I could say goodbye to him last. That's why I'm going to ask you to not say anything about this. Peter will lose his job if you do. I... the only reason he's acting like this is because of me, because he doesn't want to accept than I'm dying. I know it doesn't excuse it but... Please. If not for him, then for me. This is my dying wish to you. Please. You got my story. You got my reasoning. Just, please... don't report this."

Meyers looks at me for a moment, then huffs through her nose. "I'll think about it."

Suddenly the beeping on her suit speeds up, and her eyes widen. "Movement, Five. On the stairs, top floor. Both of you, behind me. Run!"

•

"Command hub, this is Meyers. Five, Steve and I have followed the blip into this state room. A lot of plush furnishings in here, and a uh, gilded bar. There's uh, a massive portrait of Amelia Spens on the wall."

"Oh my God," Peter replies, and I cock my head to the side as I study it. I don't think anyone can realistically have hair that great.

The beeping speeds up even more, and Meyers gasps as she spots something in the corner. It's a cryo-pod, recently opened.

I hear a gun cock as a person pops up from behind the bar. My breath hitches when I see a rifle is pointed right at us.

"Oh, good Lord, please turn off that insufferable beeping," The woman groans, and I stare in shock.

"Amelia Spens?" I cough. "I... what the-how did-"

"I heard gunfire downstairs," She interrupts me. "Are you here to help, or are you trouble?"

"It was a uh, a misfire, ma'am," Captain Meyers says quickly. "Captain Meyers, SS Abel19. Had no idea you'd shipped out here."

She laughs mockingly. "Excuse me. I don't ship anywhere. I'm not a peasant. If I need to travel a long distance, I have a clone body fast grown on site, and I transmit a copy of my memories. There's over thirty of me between earth, Mars and lunar. You should see the Christmas parties." She laughs again. "Oh, the memories we share."

"We're Pandora Haze, Miss Spens. Rescue party," Commander Sissay says. He sounds... somewhat better. "Our ship crash landed."

She crosses her arms. "Doesn't sound like much of a rescue to me, and that one looks like she's two seconds from death's door."

I scowl when she points to me, but then her eyebrows raise. "Wait a minute. Glover. I hardly recognized you from your file. You're the one who fixed my lunar colony four years ago when their water recyclers burned out. You built seven of them in a matter of two days from old plastic bottles, rubber bands and some pipes." She turns to Meyers. "And I remember you too. You're the war hero. Dynamite PR.

"If you've no ship, I assume you've called another? Our urgent priority is transmitting data to earth. I'll show you where it is." She sets the rifle down and heads for the door. "Don't just stand there gawking. My study's this sway. Chop, chop. Come on."

Confused, but knowing it's best not to disobey the woman who cuts our checks, we follow her. She's speedy for someone wearing heels, so I have to pick up the pace to keep up with her. She seems very determined, and I wonder just when we should tell her we haven't called a rescue ships due to coms being down.

I know I can't exactly get anything out of this by saving her, but the team can. One of those things might be never having to do something like this again. I'm certain Pro. Maxted will be hanging up her coat when it comes to things like this, and Peter might even decide to do the same, sticking to watching over earth and critiquing people there. I don't think I would blame him.

"Keep going down the hall," Amelia instructs. "It's past the next portrait of me."

She speaks of herself with such pride. I can't help but roll my eyes at her vanity.

"Ah, Five, slow down a sec," Commander Sissay says. I look at him in shock. He looks... very unwell. "I feel like my... whole body's coming loose."

"Do you need to grab my arm? Are you feeling faint?" I ask him, but he doesn't answer and no one else seems to notice.

"Miss Spens, you still haven't told us what happened here to the colony," Captain Meyers says, and Amelia looks back at us with a face twisted with horror.

"Utter madness. It spread like the plague shortly after I arrived. The colonists started losing their minds," She explains, and it's almost like I can hear the screaming, the fire roaring, weapons clashing. "They started killing each other or killing themselves, sabotaging vital systems. Very unpleasant, although I've seen that sort of thing before. I had the science staff hide me in a cryo-pod, triggered to unfreeze when the coms system was repaired. I knew either order would be restored, or a rescue ship would come. I've been scouting since I woke up."

"Her pod must've been hooked to an independent circuit, Captain, or I could have warned you about it," VR1-ICA says just as we arrive to two large double doors slide open when Amelia reaches it.

"Here we are, my study. Rather nice view of the colony, no? Gather around the holo-projector. Let me show you why I came here." She turns the projector on, and suddenly a large hologram of a mountain pops up, made of orange and red rock.

"Oh, God, Five. It's beautiful!" Sissay proclaims. Through the cracked visor of his helmet I can see he's sweating.

"It's a mountain," Meyers states plainly, and Amelia grins.

"A mountain on Venus, Captain, which extends forty kilometers up into the atmosphere. The colonists stumbled on it during an atmospheric survey. Probes indicate it's of artificial construction. Non-human origin."

Pro. Maxted gasps. "That's incredible."

"The winds around it are in a permanent maelstrom, but dead in the center. The colony is riding on the edge of the vortex, and it's emitting a constant signal. Listen."

She presses a button on the table the projector is on, and a loud noise comes through. It's that same sound that sent chills down my spine and made me want to curl in on myself. That deep voice keeps talking in a language I can't understand, and I shudder violently when Amelia turns it off.

"That's the signal we found in Veronica's memory banks!" Pro. Maxted exclaims. "The language isn't human. This is unbelievable! The first signs of alien life in our solar systems! This is what space travel is supposed to be about! Discoveries that will change our world."

Commander Sissay grabs my shoulder, squeezing to the point that I arch my back, trying to get out of his grip. "Five... I can feel it," He says. His breathing is fast, and I'm gritting my teeth in pain. "Oh, God."

"So, you can see why I'm here," Amelia continues. "And why we kept it secret. First, alien life. Who knows what we'll find there and what it's worth? Everyone on this colony was vetted, but someone must've sold the information to a rival company. I was preparing to lead our first man expedition when the madness hit."

Sissay lets go of me, and I immediately step away from him and watch as he removes his helmet. He looks pale, and he's sweating terribly. He's burning up!

"It happened like a neural bomb or contagion. Pandora Haze has been working on a weapon like that for some time. I suppose someone else got there first. I have my suspicions about Brent Valmont, to be frank." She pauses. "Why is the handsome man clutching his head?"

Meyers' gaze snaps to Sissay. "Steve?"

"I-I can feel it!" He stammers. "I can feel it! It's screaming inside me. Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop!"

He grabs his gun and starts firing.

"Hit the deck!" I yell, dropping to the floor as he starts firing like a madman. He has no target. He's not even trying to hit us. What is he doing?!

"Steve, put the gun down!" Meyers yells, and he drops it, shaking his head, grabbing and clawing at his face.

"I'm sorry. I-I'm sorry! I-I don't want to be reborn like this. Please, God! Make it stop!"

He grabs the projector and tips over the desk, sending it crashing into the floor with a loud bang, and then he takes off, running out the way we came in.

"Steve!" Meyers yells before looking at me. "Come on, Five. After him. Run!"

We follow Sissay out of the town hall, but he's fast, running as if his life depends on it. He didn't leave his helmet, so he must have put it back on to carry that projector. Meyers keeps trying to reach him, but he's not responding.

By the time we get out to the garden, he's gone, lost in the city.

"Command, this is Meyers. We've followed Steve out of the town hall. No sign of him in the garden. Whatever that madness contagion is, the spore must still be here. Crew, everyone, reconnect your personal air supplies. Something on this planet is infectious."

I close my visor, pressing the button on my suit to get my air supply connected. Amelia simply laughs.

"Oh, I don't think so. This is espionage. The projector he's carrying stores all of my master data module of the mountain. Cartography, survey reports-it's priceless. He'll be trying to send the data back to his masters on earth."

Meyers scowls. "No one is sending anything anywhere. The colony's coms systems are down. We're stranded!"

"Oh, for heaven's sake! My personal access codes can authorize a full access and reinstall, but I want my data back, Captain! Or I'll make sure any ship rescuing us leaves you behind!"

"Captain, we've spotted Steve," Pro. Maxted says. "He's moving towards the colony's bay of scientific survey crafts."

"We'll move to intercept him," She replies. "Five, into that maintenance tunnel. Come on!"

•

Machinery buzzes all around me as we get to the launch bay. We're on an upper gantry, overlooking a huge hanger with large triangular aircrafts.

"These are ARCs," Amelia states. "Atmospheric Research Crafts. They use propeller engines and hydrogen inflated wings to navigate the atmosphere."

I hear an engine coming to life, and I turn my head to see one of the ARCs lifting up, with the bay doors opening. I grab the railing to avoid falling off as the gantry starts to shake and the ARC starts getting closer. It'll pass right by us to get out of those bay doors.

"Maybe Steve is a corporate spy," Meyers mumbles, sounding devastated, and the coms link crackles.

"There's something tearing me up, Cap," Sissay chokes out. He sounds like he's crying. "If I don't go, it'll kill me. Best friend I ever had, Skipper. I'd follow you anywhere. But for God's sake, don't follow me! Please!"

He takes off into the clouds, and we're left to just stand there, watching a yellow sky.

"Captain," VR1-ICA says, "he is on a direct course for the alien mountain."

Peter clears his throat. "Well, that's... that. I mean, he'll-he'll starve down there... He didn't hurt any of you, did he? Callista?"

I shake my head. "No, no, he didn't... he just ran. And yeah, you're right. He'll starve."

"Unless he plans to transmit from there somehow." Amelia huffs and groans. "The crewman is expendable, but the data is not. We must retrieve it."

Captain Meyers glowers at her. "No one is expendable, Miss Spens. Not on my crew, and not to me." She turns to me. "Five, get another ship prepped for launch. We're gonna find Steve and get out of here."

A/N: Here you go, guys! Sorry it's a bit later in the day! I got really busy with some projects and assignments at school! Still I hope you enjoyed it! Please be sure to vote and comment! Thank you and have a blessed day!