She counted the offshoots in the walkway until she found the one she remembered Stanos coming out of and followed it down towards the ship. The passageway was refreshingly clean and calm. Kala could almost believe the last hour had been a particularly traumatic movie, and she was now exiting the theatre and returning to the real world. What a good show. The special effects were really something, weren’t they?

She stifled a hysterical laugh as she reached the end of the hall and punched the button to open the ship’s door. It was compact but orderly inside. She thought about Stanos and his two co-pilots, navigating the ship home with borrowed memories, hiding their true, monstrous insides behind respectable human suits.

Kala glanced up the walkway towards the observation area. She could just barely see the doors leading to the living quarters, hiding unspeakable horrors. Vivian hadn’t followed. She wanted to wait and watch the doors, hoping Vivian would come through them whole and unhurt, but Kala knew the odds were abysmal. Even with the flamethrowers, the fight had been a massacre. The station was as good as lost; Kala had done her best to give the occupants the knowledge of how to fight the monsters, but she needed to get out and warn the other stations. How many mysterious calls for help had come in over the past ten days? Forty-five? Were all of those returning ships going to cause a repeat of Station 333?

Kala locked the doors. Anger and grief tasted bitter on her tongue as she settled into the padded pilot’s chair and began powering up the ship. Focus. Get off the planet and send a signal to Central. People need to be told about this. Do your job.

The Delta Shock hummed into life. Kala took two deep, stabilising breaths, relishing the clean air of the cockpit, as she prepared to launch.

A flash of motion in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Kala looked up and felt a cold chill sweep over her body as she saw Vivian tearing along the viewing deck towards the walkway. Her right arm was blackened with soot, and drying blood painted the front of her suit. She unhooked and dropped the flamethrower as she ran.

Kala rose out of her chair, hope and fear battling inside her, as one of the beasts burst through the door behind Vivian.

“No,” Kala muttered as she realised the impossible choice she had to make. Is it Vivian? Or is it a monster wearing Vivian’s body? If she wasn’t being chased, I could keep her outside until I was sure…

Vivian would reach the door in seconds, and only seconds after that, the creature would catch up.

You can’t risk it. You need to alert Central. Her life is a small price to pay to get an early warning out. But Vivian saved you. Can you live with yourself if you don’t open those doors?

Vivian was nearly at the end of the extendable walkway, fear painted across her face. Even though Kala couldn’t hear her, she could easily read her lips: Open the door!