Tyrix
TYRIX
I moved silently through the darkness, tracking the faint chemical traces that marked the cache I’d placed when I first arrived on Nova’s Edge. Behind me, Nalina’s footsteps whispered against the deck plates - so quiet for a human. The thought nagged at me, along with Jevik’s broken warnings about human test subjects.
I pushed the thought aside. Focus on the mission.
“Here.” I pressed my palm against a seemingly solid wall panel. The hidden compartment clicked open, revealing neatly packed survival gear.
Nalina studied the equipment as I laid it out. “That’s some serious hardware for a ‘basic’ survival kit.”
“I like being prepared.” I pulled out two respirator masks, checking the seals. The units were compact but efficient - designed to filter toxins and provide supplemental oxygen in compromised environments.
“Let me adjust yours.” I held up the smaller mask. “The oxygen mix needs to be higher for humans.”
She stepped closer, and my fingers brushed her neck as I fitted the straps. Her pulse jumped beneath my touch.
“How thoughtful,” she said. “Wouldn’t want me passing out down there.”
“That would be inconvenient.” I kept my voice neutral, though my own heart rate had picked up. Focus. “Check the schematics while I test the rest.”
She pulled out her tablet, the screen’s glow highlighting the curves of her face. “Access point is two levels down. But the schematics are blank here.” She frowned. “Like something’s blocking the signal. But that shouldn’t be possible - these are hardwired maintenance systems.”
I studied the darkness ahead. “Someone’s gone to a lot of trouble to hide this section.”
“The access codes should still work though.” She input the sequence Jevik had given us. “Even if we’re going in blind.”
I checked the seals on our emergency lights, the backup power cells, the climbing gear. Everything we might need in the darkness below. What I wanted to say was: Stay here. Let me handle this. But I knew better.
“Ready?” she asked, still studying the tablet.
“Almost.” I hesitated. “Nalina...”
She looked up, eyes narrowing. “Don’t even think about suggesting I stay behind.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I shouldered the pack. “Just... stay close.”
The maintenance shaft entrance groaned as I entered Jevik’s access codes. Ancient mechanisms ground to life, revealing a tunnel that plunged into darkness. The air that whispered up from below carried traces of ozone and something else - something that shouldn’t be there.
“That’s not right.” Nalina frowned. “These sections should be completely stagnant. But the air’s moving.”
“Moving, but not breathable,” I noted, checking our rebreather seals again. The chemical traces in the air had shifted from stale to actively toxic. “Something down here is circulating atmosphere, but not cleaning it.”
We descended in silence, our lights catching glimpses of corroded infrastructure. Pipes leaked unknown fluids. Wiring hung in tangles from damaged panels. But beneath the decay, newer modifications caught my eye - power taps spliced into ancient systems, data lines running through gaps in the walls.
A strange scratching sound echoed through the tunnel ahead. I held up my hand, signaling Nalina to stop. The noise grew louder, more organized. Multiple sources moving with purpose.
Then they swarmed out of the darkness.
Razor voles.
Station vermin - every station had some variation - but these were wrong. Mutated. Generations of breeding in darkness and radiation had changed them. Their eyes were huge, milky orbs. Extra limbs sprouted from twisted bodies. But worse than their appearance was their behavior. They moved as one, coordinated, intelligent.
“Well,” Nalina said. “That’s deeply disturbing.”
The first wave of voles launched themselves at us. I met them with blade and boot, their mutated flesh parting under my strikes. Three came at once - I caught one with my knife, kicked another into the wall, ducked as the third sailed over my head.
Nalina’s shock prod crackled in the darkness. She moved with deadly grace, each strike precise and powerful.
But then she stumbled, just for a moment.
The hesitation nearly cost her. Another creature lunged for her exposed side, but my blade found its throat before it could connect. I stayed close after that, our backs pressed together as more vermin poured from the walls.
The battle became a blur of motion and violence. The creatures seemed endless, pouring from hidden tunnels in the walls. They clicked and chittered in some horrible language, coordinating their attacks with unnatural intelligence.
I fought my way to Nalina’s side, worried by her momentary lapse, but she was moving again. Was it just my imagination?
When it was finally over, the deck plates were littered with twisted corpses. Nalina leaned against the wall, her hands trembling slightly as she checked her shock prod’s charge.
I studied the corpses, noting details that didn’t add up. Some showed signs of technological modification - crude implants melded with twisted flesh. And they’d been nesting near a functional power conduit, one that hummed with active current.
“They were guarding it,” Nalina said, reaching the same conclusion. “The conduit. Like they were trained.”
I nodded, trying to ignore how quickly she’d recovered her breath after the fight. How steady her hands were as she examined the power readings.
“This leads deeper.” She traced the conduit’s path on her tablet. “And look - pressure’s equalizing ahead. We can remove the rebreathers soon.”
“Convenient.”
She shot me a look. “You think it’s a trap?”
“Everything about this feels like a trap.” I checked my weapons. “Let’s spring it carefully.”
The tunnel opened into what had once been hydroponics bays. The growing pods were empty now, stripped for parts. But someone had repurposed the space. Sophisticated equipment filled the gaps between dead plants - and all of it looked recently used.
“These setups...” Nalina studied the strange configurations. “Never seen anything like them.”
“Necessity breeds innovation.”
A figure emerged from the shadows, aiming something that hummed with lethal energy.
“Don’t move.” Dr. Gondon’s sand-colored skin shifted to match the metallic walls - an Orlian defense mechanism. Her large eyes fixed on us with cold suspicion. “Hands where I can see them.”
I raised my hands slowly. “Doctor. Your son sent me.”
“Lies.” But her aim wavered slightly. “The Consortium’s getting sloppy, sending a Vinduthi. Your kind aren’t known for subtlety.”
“He said to tell you... the stars still shine in Martian caves.”
Her expression changed - shock, then hope, then fresh suspicion. “Where did you hear that?”
“From Ralen. He’s worried about you.”
“Ralen.” Her voice cracked on the name. “He’s alive?”
“He hired me to find you.” I kept my voice gentle. “We’re not your enemies, Doctor.”
“Prove it.” But she’d lowered her weapon slightly.
Nalina stepped forward. “We found Jevik. What was left of him.” She pulled out the modified medical core. “He had this.”
Dr. Gondon’s hands shook as she took the device. “Where... where is he now?”
“Dead.” I watched her reaction carefully. “But he fought the control until the end. Gave us codes to find this place.”
Dr. Gondon turned away, clutching the medical core. “I need to see what’s on this. If Jevik accessed the primary research files...” She moved toward a makeshift workstation, her elbow catching a shelf of equipment.
A series of crashes echoed through the lab - one of Dr. Gondon’s experiments toppling. Glass containers filled with mysterious liquids teetered on the edge of a shelf. Critical samples and weeks of work about to be destroyed.
Nalina moved.
I saw it all with a hunter’s perception - the impossible speed of her reaction, the way she crossed three meters in the blink of an eye, her hands catching containers that should have already shattered. But there was something wrong in the movement, a fraction of hesitation that shouldn’t have been there.
She set the containers carefully back on the shelf, then swayed slightly. If I hadn’t been watching so closely, I might have missed it.
Dr. Gondon hadn’t missed it either. Her eyes fixed on Nalina with sudden, sharp focus.
“How long?” The doctor’s voice was but a whisper. “How long have you been exposed?”
“What?” Nalina straightened, trying to hide her unsteadiness. “I don’t-”
“Those reactions. That speed. But the slight tremor in your hands...” Dr. Gondon was already pulling out scanning equipment. “I need to test you. Now.”
I stepped forward, torn between protecting Nalina and finally getting answers. “Doctor-”
“You don’t understand.” She calibrated her instruments, eyes narrowed. “If she’s been exposed, if the deterioration has already started... there might still be time. But only if we act quickly.”
“Test me,” she said quietly. “I need to know.”
The doctor nodded, already calibrating her equipment. And I stood guard, watching the shadows, while my world shifted beneath my feet.