Beyond the Stars [Hiatus]

FOURTEEN

As they prepared to leave the chamber, Alex glanced at the computer terminal that Sara was still working on. "Sara, how's it going? Anything important on that system?"

"I'm making progress, but it's slow going," she replied, her fingers flying over the keyboard. "There's a lot of security on this thing."

As they continued to wait for Sara to finish, Alex glanced back at the tank where they'd found the woman. The glowing substance still covered her body, slowly seeping into her skin. He shuddered at the thought of what it might be doing to her.

"Captain, we're almost ready to head back," Jason reported over the radio. "Sara says she's almost in."

Alex turned to Sara, who was finally finishing up her hack. "All right, Sara. What did you find?"

"Well, I was able to access some files that should prove useful," she replied, her voice tinged with excitement. "Apparently, this base was involved in some top-secret research on alien biotechnology. They were trying to harness the power of the glowing substance that was found on the woman."

"Really?" Alex asked, glancing at the still-glowing woman on the ground. "What kind of power are we talking about here?"

"I'm still going through the files," Sara replied, "but it seems like they were experimenting with using the glowing substance to enhance abilities. Strength, speed, agility."

"That's interesting," Alex said. "It could be useful for our own operations. But first, we need to get this woman back to the ship and figure out how to treat her."
As they carefully lifted the woman again, Thomas inspected her glowing skin more closely.

"Jason, I think we should put something between her and us, just in case the glowing stuff is toxic. Maybe one of these lab coats?" Jason nodded and began rummaging through the cabinets, eventually finding a few lab coats. They quickly put one on the woman, then put on the others themselves.

Sara finished hacking into the computer system just as they were about to leave the chamber. "Okay, I've got all the information we need."

As they made their way back to the airlock, Alex kept an eye on the woman, who was still glowing faintly under the lab coat. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of abilities she might have possessed before the glowing substance started to affect her.