SKELETON CREW
PART III

They had left me. Kessler and his skeleton crew from wherever, had left me
alone in Hydroponics.

I kept thinking about what they had said…about the eggs, the cyborg nurses,
Erin…

If I was going to keep moving I was going to have to get a grip. The door
opened and I was not met with a shining, welcoming light but a dull, almost
unsettling shadow of Hydroponics D.

“Having second thoughts?” Kessler said from behind me, causing me jump
forward.
“Jesus Kess…” I said catching my breath. “Where’s the rest of your
skeleton crew?”
“We got word that some people were trying to send a signal to earth…warning
them…I thought I should help you,” Kessler said, almost laughing at his
stupidity for following me here.

A light fluctuated down the hall then blew out. I turned around to observe
then looked back at Kessler. He had those familiar blue eyes but they were
surrounded by black rings…no sleep.

I slung the assault rifle over my shoulder and looked at Kessler’s puny
sidearm.
“I’m going in. A one-man search party. If you don’t wan tto come then
don’t but I AM NOT turning back.”

Another light burnt out down the hall. I didn’t turn around this time.
“Alright already, lets go!” Kessler said cocking his pistol.

The doors opened and we entered. There were barely any lights and the dark
floor didn’t help much. A replicator was spewing electrical sparks; it gave
the hallway a strobe light effect.

Kessler looked it over. He reached out his hand but quickly retracted it as a
renegade spark nearly hit him.
“We should get power back on this deck,” Kessler said.

My PDA crackled. I had gotten used to its abrupt episodes of static.
“Shaw Shaw Shawn?”

Erin.

“Erin, Jesus where are you?”
“In a chemical store room, --------
“Erin we cant see anything, can you come to us?”

Down the hall, in the darkness metal footsteps erupted. Kessler raised his
weapon. I ducted into a vacant room in the hallway. The door closed behind
me, Kessler remained outside. He took cover behind a pillar.
“Alright Erin we can talk now, where are you?”
In the background I heard someone pounding on a door.
“Shawn, someone, Dr. Miller, he’s gonna rip down the door.Oh god, please
hurry…”

Kessler began firing shots at whatever was making the loud metallic noise.
“It’s one of those fucking midwifes!” Kessler exclaimed, firing off more
shots. His voice was faded, him being in the hallway and mebeing in an
abandoned room.
“Erin?”
Kessler’s gunshots.
“Erin?”
Kessler’s gunshots.
“Erin!”
Miller’s gunshots.
“God Damnit Erin!”
Silence.

The door opened and Kessler strode in. He threw his gun to the ground.
“Fucking thing jammed but I took the bitch down with it,” Kessler said,
pleased.

I looked around the boring room. A poster of a book, a magazine, a desk.
Kessler tried to distract me from surveying my surroundings.
“Did you hear me? My weapon is fucked!”
I still looked around, the desk…
I opened it, oblivious to Kessler’s wining. Inside was an audio log.
“You OK?” Kessler had come to realize I wasn’t my usual self.
“She’s gone,” I said looking over the log. Someone named Sanger.
“Miller has her.”
“You had a thing for her?” Kessler asked.
“No. But when I first came aboard, she was the one who showed me around.
She told me about her kids.” I glared at Kessler.

He backed off as I played the audio log back.
SANGER
Re: Power

I just had to do a routine check of coolant on Hydroponics. Somethings
wrong. The power’s been cut but whoever cut it didn’t do it on Hydroponics,
down in Engineering. I’m gonna mess around with the fluidics controls and
maybe I can find a way to re-route power here. We NEED that power back on.
Reeves andMitchell are still messing here and the search parties haven’t come
backyet. No one else is going in until weget power back. If anyone reads
this, I’ll be in the fluidics control on Engineering deck.

The Log clicked off.
“Alright then, we’re getting power back here.” I said, staring at the exit.
“Why the fuck do you care about Hydro? Your not Sanger or Reeves or whoever
the fuck those people were. It was there fault they went in. Forget them,
I’m getting to Rec. tomeet up with Cortez.”
A long pause.
"What if they were you? Would you be saying that? Would you just leave them?"
I said. My voice echoed out into nothing.

Kessler exited the room and I slid down the side of the room until I hit the
floor.
I wondered what happened to the doctors I had met on Med/Sci. I wondered
what happened to Erin. And I wondered what was going to happen to Kessler.
I played the log back. Fluidics control.

I jogged back to the elevator. It was silent, not eerily silent, but silent.
The annelids must not be in full force. I looked over my assualt rifle. I
would have ran into something by now. The elevator doors swished open.
“Your Flesh Betrays You!”
A gunshot and a searing pain in my side. I fell back onto the floor. A
hybrid exited the elevator and stood over me. He pointed the shotgun down .
With literally all my strength I raised my assault rifle and discharged an
entire clip into the hybrid. I felt my side. A pool of blood was forming
around me. I got tired…I didnt want to die. My limbs ached. I had gotten so
far. My head ached. Not here, not on this wasteland they called a ship. I
blacked out.

I woke up but was careful not to make any sudden movements. I raised my
head, it was drenched in something. I slowly, leaning on my assault rifle,
got up. My side was still bleeding but the pain had subsided a little. The
elevator was right in front of me. I remembered Sanger’s log. I raised my
rifle with one lazy hand and opened the elevator. There wasn’t any hybrid
but a body was left, crumpled in the side. I entered the elevator,
limping. Kessler’s body lay in front of me, punched full of bullet holes. He
was pale and his eyes and mouth were wide open. In his pocket was a log.
Must have recorded it before he died.

KESSLER
Re: Cortez
Cortez I’m going up to Rec right now. I’m sorry but my weapon’s jammed so I
got nothing to add to your resistance team.

Kessler was running. He hadn’t reached the elevator yet.

As for the signal transmitter I found some spare parts forit in a desk on
Hydro. And Cortez, don’t die on me. I need someone else, I’m fucking
scared alone, down here.

Kessler opened the elevator door.

Do not die on m-

Some shotgun shells discharged.

Oh Jesus NO! Ugh…

His body hit the floor, shells still being discharged.

It clicked off. I locked and closed the elevator door. Now I had to make a
decision. Go with Sanger onto Engineering, find the search party, and go
home. Or go up to Rec to meet Cortez and send this“transmitter” thing. I
knelt over on my assualt rifle and entered a new clip into its barrel. My
side split andI collapsed onto the floor…

THE FINAL CHAPTER, IF DAVE IS SO KIND TO PERMIT ITS POSTING WILL COME
SOON…YOU CAN PLAY A PART IN THE ENDING AND WHAT PATH HE CHOOSES…e-mail me at
Wesborland13@aol.com .