THE FALL OF ROSENROT STATION

OLD FRIENDS

There was a flash and a bang outside. Light poured through the slot of the door and lit inside the room white for a fraction of a second. Then darkness. When his hearing came back he could hear a strange and piteful moaning from outside. Like an animal in pain.

Even moved over and grabbed the edges of the door. A moment later and the synthetic joined him and they heaved the door across.

Even pulled his carbine against his shoulder then stepped through the door. On the other side the floor was marked with the explosion a zone of white burned into the floor then black and the walls blackened around it. There was intestines flung all about and bits of meat stuck to the wall and the stench of burned meat filled the air along with a quantity of smoke.

The moans came again and Even swept the floor with his light and then settled it onto a heap of flesh that lay slumped alongside the wall. There was a gaping red wound and then a mound of pale flesh that quivered and twitched. He worked out the biomorph had been cut in half by the blast. He could see a white stick of spinal column poking out between two slabs of red meat from which blood liberally poured and out across the floor. It had been gutted. It's intestines trailed behind it and its abdominal cavity was open a meat cavern empty of all organs save, he assumed, the twin hearts and the breathing sacs. Even stepped around the monster and faced its enormous head and arms splayed before it. It had fangs as long as daggers hanging from its mouth. Around its neck was its throat sac which filled and deflated constantly. It moaned constantly and air whistled in and out from the sac which was punctured.

Then it's eye a small black and beady thing swivelled towards him and Even saw himself reflected within it. It lurched and then lurched again and rolled over onto its belly. With awe Even watched as the creature rose up on its frontal limbs and began moving, towards him. He remained watching it trying to understand what could drive a creature to attempt to continue trying to kill after it had already lost the game of survival. That required building reserves into the creature reserves of strength and energy that did not get spent to preserve its life in the first place. It didn't make sense from an evolutionary perspective. Unless.

Sarah barrelled into him and knocked him backwards. At the same time the monster struck forward with one of its limbs and the sword like appendage on the end stabbed into the plascrete floor several centimeters. It passed through the space where Even had been standing a moment before.

Sarah twisted round and fired her rifle from her hip. It stammered and sent a burst of hot needles into the creatures throat and mouth and exiting the back of its skull in a spray of red tracers and brain. It spasmed once then all the strength contained in those vast muscles left them. It slumped to the floor.

She turned to him and looked at him.

Sarah. He said. I think they are eusocial.

She shook him by the shoulder. We have to leave.

Sorry. He said. He looked around then looked at her to see if she was ready. She nodded to him.

They headed down the corridor towards where several tens of meters distant the corridor intersected another that ran left and right. Left would take them to the entrance to the complex. There was no light at all save that they brought with them and visibility was reduced further by everywhere a cold mist that flowed past their thighs.

You're correct.

About what.

They're eusocial. She looked about to say more but was cut off by a chorus of howls behind them. She glanced back then at him.

Run.

Yeah. Run.

When the intersection was no more than twenty meters away the floor began to vibrate. From ahead there came thudding footfalls against metal.