It was the first undamaged room they’d found. The shelves, cupboards, and cooling unit were all neatly stacked. Charles skimmed the labels and snorted when she discovered they were arranged alphabetically.

“Damn perfectionists.” She bumped one of the packets of liquefied fruit so that it no longer lined up with its companions. “I’ll bet she spent the entire week rearranging the shelves in here to be aesthetically pleasing.”

Without deigning to respond, Jay pointedly turned his back on Charles as he made a show of searching under the table. Huh, he must really like her.

The kitchen was empty, so Charles led the way through the door that divided the living quarters from the work area. The lights didn’t work, so she lit another flare.

The room had been demolished: the workstations were broken and knocked against the walls, the lab equipment had been smashed, and the floor was littered with scraps of paper that had been torn out of their crumpled filing cabinets. It really did look as though a monster had been through it.

Charles hesitated by the door and watched as Jay paced through the destruction, crunching glass under his boots. He had his gun held to his eye, and sweat shimmered on his face in the flickering red light of the flare as he searched the room.

Something wasn’t adding up. Something about the bodies in the bedroom… Her mind grappled with the memories, trying to discern what was disturbing her. Something clicked into place: Ellan had lied.

The scientist had said she’d locked herself in the kitchen to stay safe from the monster, but she couldn’t have. Charles had opened both kitchen doors with an easy turn of their handles. She swore. “Jay, I think we should find Robin.”

“What?” he stopped between a crushed shelf and a crumpled DNA extractor, glaring at her.

“I don’t like leaving her alone with—”

Gunfire, harsh and loud, drowned out Charles’s voice. She ducked instinctively then realised the noise was coming from deeper in the station.

Robin.

CHAPTER NINE

“Commander!” Charles yelled as she rushed down the hallway that led towards the airlock. She heard a crashing noise to her right. Jay’s footsteps echoed behind her as he tried to keep pace.

Charles burst into the control station, panting, searching for her missing team member. The room looked exactly how it had when they’d arrived: crushed panel, overturned chair, and black smudges on the floor. No sign of Robin or Ellan. She squinted through the large plexiglass window, but the airlock was empty, and the door was still closed.

“Damn!” Charles shoved Jay aside as she ran back into the main hallway. She hesitated, trying to decide which direction to go. They’d just come from the passageway directly ahead. To the left was the corpse-infested bedroom, and to the right was the living area where they’d first met Ellan.

“Robin!” she yelled, praying the older woman would answer.

“I’m—ugh—here!”

Charles swung around to face the hallway that led to the bedrooms. Robin was doubled over, clutching a hand to her stomach. Ellan stood just behind her, arms around Robin’s shoulders to support her. Drops of bright-red blood fell from Robin’s hand as she straightened up.