Alessicka slammed her hand on the button that opened the airlock, and Carly stumbled inside. Jen stared at her, shocked that she had survived the unbreathable air long enough to get back to base, let alone lived through having her helmet ripped off. Alessicka was talking rapidly over the speaker as she changed the settings on her control panel.

“Hang on, Carly. I’m depressurising the airlock—filtering in oxygen—stabilising the seal. Just a moment, and we’ll have you back in the base.”

Jen couldn’t take her eyes off Carly as the woman leaned against one of the walls, panting and shivering. It seemed incredible that she could have made it back. More than incredible, actually. Impossible.

“Carly?” Jen asked. “Are you hurt?”

Carly was unzipping what remained of her thick suit. Jen saw tears in it; one arm had been shredded completely, and Jen thought she saw a splash of red on the inside as Carly shimmied out of it. “A few bruises,” she said, flashing them a shaky smile, “but I’m alive and in one piece, so I guess I can’t complain.”

“Thank goodness,” Alessicka said. She was adjusting the levels in the airlock to filter out the planet’s toxic air before she opened to doors to their base. “We thought—”

“Yeah, I thought that for a moment, too,” Carly said. “I heard you come for me, Jen, but it had me pinned, and I couldn’t help. I’m glad you got away okay.”

“Me, too,” Jen said automatically, raking the woman over with her eyes. She looked fine, completely fine, and that terrified her.

“It’s dead, by the way.” Carly took one of the towels from the storage closet and rubbed at her sweaty face. “The monster. Lifeform. Thing. Once you stung it, it let me go, and I was able to get my own stinger and finish it off.”

“I see.”

Alessicka looked ready to cry again, but a wide smile spread over her face. “Okay, Carly, central doors unlocking.”

“Wait.” Jen grabbed Alessicka’s wrist to stop her from opening the metal doors that separated them from Carly.

The girl blinked up at her in confusion. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No. Uh, Carly, I’m sorry about this, but you need to stay in the airlock. Quarantine.”

Carly’s jaw dropped. She walked towards the plexiglass window. “Is this a joke? Because it’s really sucky timing. I want a shower, damn it.”

“I’m sorry, Carly, but you were exposed to that thing. We don’t know what it was or if it infected you with anything. You need to stay in there until the team from Perros arrives.”

Carly swore at her. “This is ridiculous! Let me back in, Jen!”

“Surely—surely she’s fine,” Alessicka said, offering a weak smile.

Jen let go of her wrist. “We can’t take that chance. It’s only twenty-eight hours, Carly, then we can decontaminate and release you.”

Carly stared pure hatred at her leader, and Jen felt her resolve slipping. Maybe I am being over-cautious. We were told the air was poisonous, but not how poisonous. Maybe someone could survive in it for short amounts of time. Maybe it isn’t so unbelievable that she’s still alive.