Javonivic let out a cry. Not Regina. No, not that thing. Not that horror. She didn’t have the strength to fight against it now.

(ALICE DO NOT TURN AWAY FROM YOUR MOTHER)

Javy shook her head from side to ride. It was not real. None of it could be real. She had to force it from her head, but as she tried, the strength of what had invaded her mind swelled until it filled her skull.

(ALICE)

(LOOK AT ME ALICE)

(I AM YOUR MOTHER LOOK AT ME)

Javy, tears rolling down her face, found herself walking to one of the viewports. She had no will of her own. The monstrosity that was Regina worked her like a puppet and she blindly shambled forward with spasmodic strides.

Oh Christ, oh Jesus Christ…

(LOOK UPON YOUR MOTHER)

(ONLY I LOVE YOU)

(ONLY I)

She saw an agitated, boiling storm of bubbles and a maelstrom of conflicting currents swirling in some great, churning whirlpool, an immense white mass born from it that opened like a fist, unfurling gigantic white tentacles that reached out for the Neptune.

And then the entire habitat began to shake.

36
CHAOS

The LSB was under attack.

Orr was not in his right mind. In fact, he felt like he was lost somewhere south of where his mind should have been. Time had become fluid. He could remember little of the past few days in which Anderson and he waited and waited to hear from the habitat in vain. There were things he should have done. He was in charge. This was his operation. Yet, he had only waited, seemingly watching himself do nothing, shouting at himself to take action.

There was a way to end this, he thought as the LSB rolled with turbulence. You know what it was and what it is. You have the codes.

Anderson was curled up in the corner, covering his head as the LSB groaned and shook, hatches blowing open, computer screens exploding with showers of sparks and smoke. Rivets popped from the walls. A chair from across the room flew through the air and slammed into a bulkhead.

The cable car. You need to activate it before it’s too late if it’s not already.

He climbed to his feet and the deck beneath him rumbled, rolling with a shockwave that tossed him back down. He fought forward, the air filled with smoke and a perfectly sickening smell of burnt wiring and melted plastic. He took hold of Anderson who was a trembling bag of bones. Yanking him none too gently to his feet, he pulled him through the door out onto the deck.