Julia jerked the gun up and squeezed the trigger. The M16 chattered three times and the body of the alien exploded as the rounds hit it. Chunks of gray flesh seemed to come off and splatter the nearby walls.
The fatigue vanished again.
The adrenaline came back.
Julia frowned. They must have had the ability to shut down the adrenal glands through their mental manipulations.
So much for that.
Julia surveyed the scene with a detachment fueled by hatred.
Time to find Mick.
She turned to leave and stepped out of the room.
As soon as she did, an alarm sounded from deep inside the ship.
And Julia knew that any surprise she'd had was now gone.
32
She moved faster now, feeling as though time was of the absolute essence. Would the aliens kill Mick if they thought she was on her way to rescue him? Would they set a trap and wait? Or would they dispatch whatever remained of their dinocreature security force?
Julia couldn't see any video monitors on the walls, and the fact that they hadn't seemed to know where she and Mick were earlier on, made her feel at least somewhat good about not being observed.
But maybe they didn't need them.
After all, the aliens had already demonstrated they could easily tap into her mental psyche and manipulate it to their advantage. Sure, she'd fought them off this last time, but was that the best they could do?
And if they could play around inside her head, couldn't they maybe also know where she was at any given minute? Could they hear her trying to figure out where Mick was?
Too many questions.
Julia found herself longing for an easier life. She wasn't cut out to be a soldier, but that's just what she'd found herself becoming. What she really wanted was to make all of this go away. She wanted her team back. She wanted to see their smiles and hear their laughter. She wanted to remember what it was like before the horror of this trip had unfolded.
And she knew she could never go back to that ever again.
She hefted the M16 and kept moving. Another door led out of the room and she moved through it into another corridor.
She heard a screech, wheeled around, and saw a dinocreature aiming a laser rifle at her. She ducked and fired off several rounds.
They caught the alien square in the chest, ripping his sternum open and spraying blood all over the corridor. It fell with a dull thud and Julia moved ahead to another door.
At last, she crossed into another corridor.
Filled with doors.
Everywhere.
Was it an illusion? Was it some type of trick?
How was she supposed to choose?
She had a feeling that time was running out quicker than she wanted it to. Were the aliens leaving? Were they planning to take off and bring Julia and Mick back to their home world with them?
She had to hurry!
Julia started punching the door releases up and down the corridor, trying to work as systematically as she could. First one on the right, then one on the left, then back again.
She kept an eye on the door she'd come from and used it as a marker for her starting point.
But then it got too confusing and she almost forgot where it was. So she fired a single round at the door, watched it scar the metal surface and then turned back to the other doors.
Where would they have put Mick?
She ran down the corridor. 'Mick!'
It was silly, she supposed. Shouting would draw them to her. But she thought they might know where she was anyway. They were smarter than her after all.
Or were they?
Had they allowed themselves to develop to the point where their minds simply overshadowed every other aspect of their being? Were they mentally so profound that they failed to grasp the primal any longer?
Perhaps.
'Mick!'
Another dinocreature came running at her from down the corridor and Julia killed him, too.
More brass shell casings littered the floor. Julia dropped the empty magazine and slapped another one home, jerked the charging handle and kept moving.
More doors opened. More empty rooms beckoned.
And still, no Mick.
He has to be here! He has to be alive!
Why would they kill him? Wouldn't they use him as bait to get Julia back here so they could try to impregnate her all over again?
Wouldn't they?
She ran to another door. Inside, she saw two gray aliens. They raised their hands at her and Julia felt an incredible wave of pain sweep over her. She wanted to drop the gun, vomit, and scream at the same time.
Her ear filled with a high-pitched whine.
Her eyes watered.
'Mick!'
She brought the gun up and shot both the aliens. They toppled over and Julia thought she could hear their screams mentally. But then the whine stopped and she felt a measure of relief come over her.
She had to find him.
Another room, further down the corridor.
How many more to go?
Hundreds it looked like…
She'd never get through them in time. Even now, she could feel some type of low growl coming from the underbelly of the ship. It felt like they were starting up the engines.
For takeoff?
More doors hissed open.
A few more dinocreatures made a half-hearted attempt to rush her or fire their guns, but Julia felt like she was in some type of weird zone now. She felt cool and collected even as the waves of panic that she'd be trapped here swept over her.
She fired again and again.
More aliens died.
And Julia kept searching.
It was taking too long.
And then she saw another door. Unlike any of the others she'd opened before. This one was blue.
Blue?
She found it weird to see a color in the entirely gray environment. And even thought she wasn't close to opening it, she felt a strong tug to go to it and open it.
Now.
She ran over.
Pressed the door release.
