Transient Signal

Chapter Thirteen: 2461 C.E.

 Concordia Space Habitat, Concordia

Airlock Six approach

The maintenance shaft had led just beyond the residential section of Concordia. There was now just a small pathway that separated Jack and the others from the airlock. The air was oppressively hot and hazy, more so than usual. It was thick with smoke from explosions that Jack could hear as soon as they exited the hatch. Screams could be heard in the distance as well, echoing against the high-rises.

"That doesn't sound good," remarked Jack.

"How many people live here?" asked Jamie.

Jack thought about it for a moment. "Anywhere from thirty to forty thousand people. Mostly miners and whatever families they have. The rest are company people and...service industry people."

Daniel looked at him. It was impossible to tell what the Black Ops trooper was thinking--either of them--with their helmets still on. However, Jack had a feeling that he knew what Daniel was thinking.

"Prostitutes, bootleggers, drug dealers," explained Jack. "Orion turns a blind eye to them as log as they kick some profits up to the company."

"Wow..." Jack heard Jamie mutter.

"Laws pretty loose out here," commented Jack. There was a sound of metal on metal and Jack immediately whipped around to where he thought the sound came from. "We need to go. After this bulkhead there is still the processing and immigration areas to go through. And trust me, it's hard enough getting through there to get in."

Neither Jamie nor Daniel could say anything before there was the sound again. This time however, it was followed by a scream. Jack felt a chill go up his spine. He turned and saw another one of the creatures from the Scholar charging towards them from an alleyway to their left.

The rifle found Jack's shoulder almost like a reflex. He had two shots off before the creature was out of the alleyway. One hit it dead centre in the chest, the other in its shoulder. Well, can't be perfect. Not after five years he thought dryly. The creature kept coming.

Jamie and Daniel fared better. They both fired their weapons near simultaneously. Jaime's the tell-tale buzz saw sound of a sub-machine gun firing full auto bursts. Daniel's was as loud as a shotgun. Jack was able to see the sub-machine gun rounds bounce off the creature's toughened hide. The round from Daniel's...whatever it was exploded on contact, blowing the creature's arm off at the shoulder and tearing a large dinner plate sized chuck out of its body. The creature fell to the ground and did not move.

"What the hell was that?" asked Jack, not believing what he just saw. Nothing he had seen in the SCU even came close to that.

"Mass reactive rounds," replied Daniel. "Explode on contact. I've been trying to get a field test in for months."

"Fuck..." Jack muttered under his breath. If that was the kind of hardware the taskforce had access to, it changed everything.  In the meantime, the three of them stood still for about five minutes to see if the gunfire had drawn the attention of anyone or anything nearby. When nothing human nor...creature came, they continued forward through the bulkhead.

Now within the climate controlled areas inside Concordia, Jack was finally able to breath and not get a lung full of the crap that was normally in the air. The administrative sectors, like this one, were all well-lit with almost blinding fluorescent lights. Jack had to blink a few times before his vision stopped being blurry. This particular admin sector--one of Immigration's interviewing areas--was completely empty. The heavy, pneumatic steel office doors were wedged open, and papers lay discarded about on the floor indicating that whoever had been in the offices had left in quite the hurry.