Symbiotic ship

Critical failure: Capture and Isolate

The next day Sarah awoke to a pounding on her door. She sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes. The pounding continued. "Who is it?"

"Sarah, this is Deputy Tex Bowie. Come out with your hands up."

Sarah paused, glancing at the nightgown she wore and the work clothes she had left on the floor. She quickly threw on the jump suit and hit the door open command. "How can I help," She froze when she saw that Tex was flanked by two other officers, Belle and Lei to be precise. "Did something happen?"

"Sarah, we need to ask you a few questions. One, did you go up into the infected zone of the ship?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes, I was in deck 14 when the power went out. I received a ticket instructing me to investigate and see if I could fix the problem." This raised an eyebrow from Lei. "What?"

Tex nodded. "And did you go alone?"

"No, I was escorted by Cleo. She made sure the chimera stayed away." Sarah paused. "Is that a problem?"

"Well, little lady, you're going to have to come with us." Tex nodded to Lei and Belle. Sarah noticed each carried a long metal catcher's pole. "Sorry about this." Before she could move Lei had the loop around her neck. Sarah grabbed for the metal, only for it to tighten.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Sarah exclaimed. For a moment the thought of electrifying the pole came to mind, before she realized how that would make things worse.

"Wish it were, Carlos's orders." Tex mumbled in apology. "Come on, no reason to drag this out."

"Forwards." Lei whispered. Sarah turned just as Lei took a step. She tripped, grabbing the noose for support. The sudden change in weight pulled the pole right out of Lei's hand. He made a mad grab for it, just in time to meet Sarah's boot. Sarah threw off the choking restraint and ran. The moment she turned a corner and was out of sight she bolted, accelerating beyond human speeds. She ran past the first corner and instead took the third, turning just before Tex could catch up.

"What's going on?"

It seems Carlos has finally decided to kill you outright. I recommend going up to the infected levels for the remainder of the trip.

Sarah thought about it for a minute, then had another idea. "Cleo, you there?"

Cleo yawned through the resonant link. "I'm here, still sore from yesterday. What's up?"

"I just got woken up by Tex, and he used some sort of pole with a cable loop on the end."

"He used a dog catcher pole? That doesn't seem like him, Carlos must be behind this. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, apparently Lei wasn't trained in it and I got out. They'll probably be coming for you next, I might have mentioned you were there. Sorry."

Cleo chuckled. "No worries, I've always thought the hand to hand training was a bit lax."

Sarah broke the resonant link and accessed her tablet. The first thing she saw was an APB for her arrest for "Quarantine." She clicked the x key and accessed the map. "Ok, so, where wouldn't I go?"

The upper decks?

"Too dangerous, and we might as well be admitting to whatever Carlos is saying." She thought. I've got it."

"Found her!" A security officer Sarah didn't recognize called out. He took out a stun baton that crackled with electricity. He was dressed in heavy black armor with his face hidden behind a mask. "Hold still."