Stephen Rook couldn’t really understand why he had been chosen for this mission. Six days ago he had been sitting in his unexceptional one-bedroom apartment, at his boring desk, his brain numb from trying to come up with twelve different ways to tell people the same thing. You are exceptional, but lack motivation. You will receive good news in the near future. Your cat has cancer.
He sighed, and wiped sweat from his brow. Wasn’t anybody else here nervous?
As he glanced about the shuttle, he realized that all of the big, burly, and gruff men surrounding him were totally at ease. He regarded their weapons with slight jealousy, as nobody had bothered to give him a gun.
“Ready for this?” Stephen realized that this was directed at him. He leaned forward and exhaled, intent on absorbing every detail on what seemed to be a lone particle of dust on an otherwise immaculate craft. Finally he turned to the voice.
Lt. Sloan, the commanding officer for this venture, looked at him as one might regard a whining dog: just a bit of pity, and a little annoyance. Who could blame him? He had to escort somebody that had no idea what to do. Although they all assumed he did.
Stephen stammered out a reply, “N-no. I’m kind of new to this sort of thing.” He felt like a coward every time he opened his mouth around these guys.
“Well, don’t worry. We’re sure you’ll be able to handle it.” Sloan gave Stephen a hearty slap on the back as he chuckled. Stephen tried to find a way to sink further into the metal bench.
“Docking now!” The voice from the front of the craft sounded almost excited. Stephen figured that he must be new to this.
And still infinitely more qualified…
A dull thud rang through the craft as it joined with the Starship Excalibur. A hiss of air and an inrush of an awful scent that Stephen couldn’t quite place followed. Then the doors opened.
Death. Death everywhere. Stephen’s mouth was agape as the scene flooded his vision. Mangled bodies littered the airlock, some jammed into cubbies and some floating idly by. The marines immediately flooded out of the craft, ignoring the bodies as they formed some sort of perimeter. An eternity seemed to pass before Sloan’s face appeared before Stephen, now upgraded from “whining dog” to “why do I have to take care of this idiot?”. Stephen was shaken out of his trance and nervously moved from his place in the shuttle out into the loading bay.
As he stood in the middle of that wide open space, he felt a presence viewing him from somewhere. He looked around but barely scanned a single wall before a scream broke the silence. He whipped his head around and barely caught a glimpse of a creature dragging a marine away, blood trailing behind. Even as he tried to catch up to the sight, another scream came from behind him. Then another, then another.
Stephen realized very quickly that he was alone. Then a hulking… thing… appeared before him.
“Thkj su jhi mrrrn?” The alien seemed to want to communicate. Stephen thought for a moment about what to say, but was distracted slightly by all the blood. Finally, he found his tongue.
“I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing here.”
The alien looked him up and down, turning to another alien and gesturing emphatically. Stephen was too busy staring at a floating hand to see the huge alien open it’s maws and swallow him whole.
The young rookie barely had time to break his shuttle away from the ship and high-tail it to the nearest military station. As it was a long flight, he looked down at the latest Astrology piece in the paper, and something near the bottom caught his eye.
Astrology Readings by Stephen Rook
MrZakGuy 