The Space Between

Chapter Fourteen: "Trust No One"

After sharing a worried look, both Mark and Hiro whirled around to run back toward the steps. Hiro took the stairs two at a time, but Commander Steele grabbed Mark's arm to stop him. Mark pulled against her for a minute, until she pleaded out to him. "Please! Wait! Don't go!" For a second, Mark was torn between running after Hiro or staying. She looked so scared though that he couldn't bring himself to leave her alone. When she realized he wasn't going to leave, she released his elbow to saying breathlessly. "Are you from NASA? I don't recognize your uniform?" Mark looked over her white jumpsuit with NASA patches. It was a suit that NASA only recently stopped using since the merger into the Space Force. Smirking a little, he told her lightly. "Yes and no. NASA merged with a military branch. I'm one of the first Space Force soldiers to see Space. I guess, you didn't hear about that up here?" She shook her head. Rushing to the door, she pressed a button to close it and blurted out in a quickly. "You're an Engineer?" Mark felt suddenly uneasy as he answered cautiously. "Yes... What are you doing?"

Waving her bracelet across a small scanner pad, the door's heavy locks engaged. Mark yanked his hammer from his belt holster, when she raised a hand to tell him nervously. "Wait! Listen to me! Please!" Mark's grip on the hammer tightened, but he said calmly. "Start talking." She took a shaking breath, before rushing out. "Listen to me very carefully. Someone in your crew isn't human. It wants this person with a primal aggression." Mark licked his dry lips nervously, before asking curiously. "How do you know that person isn't me?" She shuffled her feet nervously, then said. "When I startled you at the window. Your eyes didn't change. Fear and physical pain give them away. Otherwise, the damn thing can look like anyone or anything!" Mark raised an eyebrow, but she continued before he could say anything. "I know I sound crazy... but how do you explain my chief engineer over there?! I've known him since my first year of college! And I've never seen him look like THAT!" Mark glanced over at the dead lizardman, then looked back at her to say calmly. "Trust me... That's proof enough for me. But what does this thing want?"

She shrugged, informing him quickly. "I told you. It's after this person called the 'Ambassador' and he's PISSED! But I think that's my fault... My crew tried to eject him from the airlock..." Mark couldn't help snorting and she let out a nervous chuckle. Brushing her bangs shyly away from her eyes, she grimly told him. "We found out really quick that he either doesn't just breathe air... Or he can hold his breath longer than any human." Mark watched her move to the control panel to type something out, while he asked her. "Why do you keep calling it a 'him?" She blushed, mumbling out a little distracted. "Well... He was wearing a loin cloth and covered in war paint and built like a... You get the idea..." Mark smirked a little, mumbling out mostly to himself. "Sounds dreamy..." She cleared her throat, avoiding his eyes now as she told him seriously. "I... It's not my fault. I think he excretes a scent that attracts things to him. I was talking about it with a few of my crew. When he entered the station... everyone smelled something different coming off him. All the woman said he smelled so good... but the men all said he smelled fowl. Like burnt rubber or ammonia."

Mark glanced at the door, saying softly. "I guess that makes sense... attract the females and scare off the males. I think I remember some lizards doing that on Earth." She rolled her eyes, replying promptly. "It's a chemical cue. A type of pheromone excretion for reproduction purposes." Mark shivered, grumbling out. "You don't think he planned to...?" She blushed a more, bringing something up on the large monitor screen, when she told him a little embarrassed. "No. I think he did it as a territorial response. Look. This is what I know." Mark started to look at the screen, when a bang hit the window of the door. Hiro pointed at the door, giving him a confused look. Mark started toward the door, until she rushed around to block his way. Holding her hands out, she pleaded with him. "Don't! Every time you open the door is a risk to let him in!" Mark shrugged, asking casually. "I saw what it did to the escape pods... How is that door going to keep him out?" She took a deep breath to calm herself, then replied as clearly as she could. "I don't know... He just hasn't tried and it's all the comfort I have to keep something between me and him!"