I Monstrum

Chapter 3 -Stalker

      As captain Haines gazed at the viewscreen displaying the asteroid he sighed heavily. He hated the fact that he didn't know what the situation was below the surface of that ugly chunk of rock hanging in space. It didn't look that much different than the other asteroids they had mined so far. Maybe it was a little more pock-marked and larger than most of the others.

      Now, they knew what they thought were caves, were actually tunnels dug by a horrific monster. A creature so powerful it could dig tunnels in solid rock. It could live in the cold of space. How did it get here? Were there others? He had never heard of such a creature. Mister Saunders was assigned to check and see if anyone had ever run into such a creature before. He had his doubts as to whether his 1st mate would find anything. In the meantime, he couldn't stop thinking about those poor miners in the tunnels with that thing. Where was Steve Blake? Had Samantha Fenton found him? He desperately wanted to know the answers to these questions.

      "Sir, I have searched the library records that we updated last time we were docked. I only found one thing. You're not going to like this."

      "Please don't tell me how I'm going to feel about something mister Saunders. Just tell me what you've found."

      "Sorry sir. This is all I found."

      A video appeared on the main viewscreen replacing the view of the asteroid. A young woman was urgently speaking to the recording camera. Behind her, was the rocky surface of a planet or a moon. She was in some sort of vehicle travelling across it's surface. Every once-in-awhile she would nervously look over her shoulder at something. She looked really scared.

      "Where is the audio for this?"

      "There is no audio sir."

      "Why not?"

      "Somehow it was lost in the transmission process. This message came from this sector sir. It was relayed through various communication arrays on its way to the Titan station."

      "That's incredible. How long is this video?"

      "Only two minutes and sixteen seconds."

      "Even though this message came from around here, I don't see how it has anything to do with our current situation."

      "You will sir, at the very end. Let me just skip to close to the end. Oh, and just because we don't have the audio, doesn't mean we have no way of knowing what she said. To sum up, she is saying they are under attack. She calls them giant wingless invincible hornets. Sounds familiar doesn't it?"

      "Yes, it sure does... Wow! Now that looks familiar. So, that's the end you were talking about."

      "Yes. Even though you can't see all of the creature through the window, you still see enough of it to recognize that it is the same kind of creature we're having problems with."

      "This can't be the same exact creature."

      "True."

      "How old is this video?"

      "It's one hundred nineteen years old sir."

      "That's... really old. Where exactly were they?"

      They were on one of the moons that orbit the only gas giant planet in this solar system. The moon is called Osler 4."

      "Osler 4. Is that close enough for us to send a scout team?"

      "Yes, but it will take approximately a week for them to get there."

      "That's a long time. Too long. We need answers now. Is there any current information in our library concerning the status of Osler 4?"