Screams

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say…but you don’t have to hear one to know the horror that brought it on, that pop following the last scream. I can’t look at another one die, to be slowly dissolved by these things, we can’t even see them, their camouflage is like a shadow…then…POP! We don’t know where they are…we don’t know where we are.

This station was supposed to be my last ride before the MMR (mandatory military retirement) settlement. 32 years and I get a retirement on the Red (Mars). The military takes care of their own, no more security protocols, no more not supposed to be here missions, and no more death…well, so much for that… now, I have to deal with this. The only thing keeping them from me is my armor, it was a parting gift from the ole’ sarge, Thanks, a lot! The military developed it to withstand about just about anything we came against during our so-called missions. It was mined from a planet circling Red-1 they called it Neuronanium. The developers put it up against everything and every weapon they had in its arsenal, and nothing even scratched it. Its ultralight weight makes it easy to wear and they developed it into panels, it is easily shaped and because of a magnetic characteristic in it, it allows the panels to form around your torso. The camouflage capabilities allow the user to pick from the internal display just by thinking about it. Sounds perfect…Far from it!

The armor was only designed to be worn for about 72 hours before a recharge was necessary. Once the charge dwindled the camouflage flickered in and out for about 5 mins before total failure. Once exposed the magnetics in the armor allowed the panels to move thus exposing flesh, then…POP! It starts at your feet and works up your torso exposing your internal organs and once it reaches your heart, the speed increases, your screams echo…your head, your eyes…mouth…POP! Gone! 20 seconds seems so short, but like an eternity if it takes you.

There were 23 of us grunt types onboard the Taurus headed to Red, and a crew of 12 including 4 security officers and 42 civilian workers headed to the Red-1 on a jumper after we landed. The Taurus was on auto-pilot, and it would be another 3 months before landing. The ship is still operational, and I can get around undetected I have watched them all die with exception of the ship’s navigator, the ship's medic, two workers, and three other SECSAT (Security and Special Armament Technicians) guys like me left. We are set up in different hubs of the ship we are hiding, watching...waiting.

2 weeks ago, the ship came across some space debris that looked like mining canisters from Red-1, the ship’s captain came over coms to let everyone know we were picking up some space junk so as not to damage any future incoming ships. The ship slowed, we flared engines and a few reverse thrusts to let “DD214” the Taurus’ external arm pick up what it could reach, the captain told me they were able to get about four of them into the quarantine pod. The protocol called for pressurized quarantine for 1 week before hands-on.

They should have just incinerated them!

1 week ago, two security officers were on patrol in the lower lockouts, one of the officers looked in the quarantine pod, and after a good couple of seconds, one of the security officers could see one of the lids on one of the capsules was showing more threads exposed than the other three which were screwed all the way down. He opened the double airlock and picked up the canister to screw the lid back down, suddenly the ship jolted into autopilot which startled the security officers who dropped the canister, the lids popped off, a couple of seconds went by, and an unusual smell filled the pod, like tar and a black whisp of smoke spiraled out of the canister and circled inside the pod they encircled his feet…legs…screaming…he slumped to the floor, his torso, organs dissolving around his heart…screams echoing…your head, your eyes…mouth…POP! His HEART popped! This is how the second security officer recounted what he saw and heard to the captain.

We tried everything to stop them, but how can you stop what you can’t see? Immediately our training took over and we armored up and scoured the ship for 3 days as this thing dissolved most of the crew and workers, we realized we had 23 of us who needed to recharge our suits and only 12 recharging stations onboard. After each suit charge, the charging station had a 20-minute ship reboot to full charge. Some gave up recharging, some fell asleep, the others, lost their minds I guess…now there are only four of us, the others we have hidden for now…

They say “Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space,” I say…POP!