Save me, please...

Chapter 6

Conrad was still standing slack jawed in front of the board when Dr. Anderson started to make her way towards a door on the side opposite from where they had come in. She swiped her card against a panel and the doors opened to a hallway with multiple other sets of doors. Conrad followed. She stopped in front of the set of doors directly across from hers and motioned towards the panel.
"Go ahead," she said, stepping aside. He swiped his card and the doors opened to reveal an office identical to that of Dr. Anderson's.
"This will be your office for the duration of your time here." She sounded like she hoped that wasn't long.
Conrad turned on his heels to face Dr. Anderson, not taking the bait of her distraction.
"That video, that can't be it. There has to be more."
Dr. Anderson sighed. "Years after the Mars expedition failed, they sent a second craft, to investigate the previous land site. If possible, they were to retrieve any information that the previous team managed to uncover. Due to the development of technology, there was only a slight chance to return but like last time, they went anyway. By some miracle they managed to get back but it wasn't on their own ship."
"Excuse me?" Conrad was convinced he had misheard her.
"The life form that killed the previous team was still there, on Mars, in a form of what we can only assume was cryogenic hyper sleep."
Cryogenics... Humanity was still decades, if not centuries, away from unlocking the secrets of anything so advanced.
"How did they get back? Surely they had no way of commandeering the alien life form's ship," Conrad said into a small pause.
Dr. Anderson laughed. "Of course not. That technology was far too advanced for those simpletons to understand. No. They woke it up."
"What?!" cried Conrad in horror. "What kind of idiots wake up a homicidal alien life form?!"
"Of course, they had security measures in place. Besides, they were stranded so they had literally nothing to lose."
Dr. Anderson went back into the hallway and headed for the thick metal doors at the end of the hall. "They somehow managed to disturb its sleep state and it wasn't hostile."
Conrad followed down the hall.
"They learned that Earth was its previous destination but something sent it off track. It could speak almost perfect English and had in-depth knowledge of our planet. So, sharing a common goal, they repaired the alien ship and it piloted them home in the promise of safety upon their arrival."
They finally reached the end of the hallway after what felt like ages of waiting.
"Prepare yourself. What you are about to see will, for lack of a better term, blow your mind."
She swiped her card for the millionth time.
"Doctor Anderson," stated Ava. "Access granted."
The heavy doors opened and she walked into the dark room.
Conrad did the same and soon stepped into the abyss after his professor.