Slime pt. 1

Captain...

           

A lot of good the title did her now. Captain Lana Diaz had worked her entire adult life for that title, and now it was as worthless as moon dust. Her post was being shut down, and from the way the big boys back on Earth were talking, she was as good as retired once she returned.

           

She stood in her state room, the once comfortable space she had called home was now littered with half packed boxes and packing supplies. She hadn’t even bothered putting on her dress uniform, opting instead for something loose and comfortable.

           

Fuck protocol, she thought to herself.

She stood up, taping the last of the boxes, and stretched her back. Her long, brown hair swung loose down her back. She sighed heavily, turning towards the large, floor to ceiling window.  With the holo-program down her once beautiful vista was replaced with the dusty, empty terrain of Tetra-18.

Had her home for the past eight years really been this barren? This ugly? The holo-program had been a nice little trick, but with the trick gone, she could see why people had started calling Tetra-18 a dump.

           

What had started as a terraforming project had quickly turned into a quick mining expedition after the backers realized that the planet they had so blandly named held more worth in pieces than it did as a new homestead for the human race.

           

That was when Lana had sensed the end coming.

           

The families had fled within a year, replaced by the miners. The mining teams were nice and all, but the feel of the compound had changed. People weren’t trying to build a community anymore. Now it was just a bunch of blue collar joes and janes trying to get a paycheck.

           

Most of her crew had left, as well. Only Rochelle and Heather had stuck behind.  Rochelle was her right hand woman, her lieutenant.  She was the one who kept Lana’s more rebellious urges in check.

           

Then there was Heather. Sweet innocent Heather. She was the spirit of this dump.  She kept it lively, running her little bar, and doing her best to keep the spirits of the miners up as the work load came to end. Lana had actually expected the miners to eat Heather alive, and sure, a few had made passes at her, but the rest quickly became very protective of the young woman. 

Most of the miners were gone now, too. Only a small group remained behind to help load up equipment when the shuttle arrived in two days. The skeleton crew mostly remained to themselves, and for the most part, it felt like they weren’t there at all.

           

Her personal crew had been pretty large back when the station was busy. Now it was just the three of them.  Well, until the transport shuttle arrived to take them to the Bliss Corp. Space Station.

           

The shuttle wouldn’t be there until the morning, though, so tonight Lana and her two remaining friends would do their best to send off the settlement at Tetra-18 before it was blown to space dust.

           

A sudden rumbling pulled Lana from her thoughts.  The planet had had a few quakes in the past, but this one felt different. This one felt more... violent. Hell, at the way she was being tossed around, it felt down right angry!

           

She grabbed onto one of the built in shelves, and did her best to stay upright. The whole room seemed to be tossing and turning around her, and outside...

           

Outside the planet seemed to be rippling. The stone and dust bucked and writhed, the ground seeming to ripple in waves.  Then there was a split, a crack, and a burst of steam.

           

Something sputtered out, splattering onto the dusty surface.

Then it was over. During, the quake had felt like an eternity, but the reality was that it had probably been only been a few seconds. Lana collected herself, stood up straight, and walked towards the window. 

Had she really seen it? Had the planet really been rippling? It had looked like a dirt and stone ocean out there, but now... now it was completely solid.  She stepped closer to the window, squinting her eyes to try and make out the substance that had been ejected in the rupture.

It... it wasn’t there. It was gone.

The buzzer in her room went off, making her jump.

“Captain?” It was Rochelle. “Are you alright?”

           

“I’m fine. You and Heather?” She turned from the window, facing the intercom.

           

The view screen was flickering in and out, and Lana could only catch brief glimpses of Rochelle’s face. The image zigged and zagged, creating bright swirls of color along the cracked screen. 

“We’re alright.” On the screen Rochelle gave her intercom a hard slap, and the picture cleared, perfectly displaying Rochelle’s narrow, brown face. “I regret having to say this, Captain, but...”

“We have to go out there and investigate, don’t we?” Lana sighed deeply.

“Yes, Captain.” Rochelle nodded.

“Well, then we better suit up.” Lana pushed herself away from the window, and headed towards the door to her quarters.

She was trying to keep her voice positive, but the truth was Lana was no looking forward to stepping out of the station and onto the planet that she had just seen rocking and rolling only moments before. It wasn’t just the fear of another quake, though. There was something else. There was something in her gut telling her that this was all about to go very wrong, very fast. As the door to her quarters slide open, she prayed that she was wrong, that her gut was wrong.