Most of the heat had been sapped out of the pen—it was meant to be used on small specimens for short amounts of time—but she gave a final stab at the thrashing, wailing beast as she ran past it. That seemed to be the last straw for the creature. It expanded, black limbs shooting out in all directions, and the remaining parts of Stanos’s body were shredded under the motion. The tendrils hit the cold storage, blowing the door off and scattering little plastic packets everywhere. Another arm hit the wall holding the protective suits, cutting through the thick yellow fabric and leaving a large dent in the wall.

So much for hoping my suit would protect me, Kala thought, ducking as she ran for the door.

Another of the tendrils launched at her. She felt it coming more than saw it and dove to one side. It grazed her shoulder, knocking her off balance and cutting a large hole in the suit before sailing past her and hitting the door with enough force to smash it off its hinges.

Without even pausing for breath, she kept running, ducking underneath the tendril, and racing through the open doorway. The thick suit made it hard to run, but she moved her legs as quickly as she could, leaning forward to use the momentum. She didn’t stop to collect herself until her left foot got caught on her right pants leg and sent her crashing to the ground.

The creature was still in the lab; she could hear it thrashing, breaking their priceless equipment, and smashing through the glass windows that looked into the room for larger specimens.

I hope you cut yourself, she thought furiously, pressing her palms against her eyes. It was a stupid thing to hope for; even if the creature did cut itself, it would be repaired in a matter of seconds. She suspected that even the burns wouldn’t bother it for long. Strangled laughter rose in her throat as she began to realise just how dire the situation was.

Get it together. You’ve got to tell someone. Got to warn them.

She stumbled to her feet, tugging off her gloves and throwing the face mask behind herself. She wasn’t far from where she’d been standing earlier that evening, waiting so anxiously for Stanos to return. The door to the living quarters was only a few dozen paces ahead of her. She began to run for the door, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the creature behind her figured out how to get out of the labs. She couldn’t risk it entering the main parts of the station.

Her thoughts were so focussed on what was behind her that she didn’t notice what was happening ahead until she swiped the door open. Screams filled her ears, followed by a staccato burst of gunfire. Kala stood in the doorway, shocked dumb, as she watched two guards race past her and disappear down one of the curved hallways leading to the bedrooms. One of the guards had a splash of something wet and red across his helmet.