Chapter 7 – Voices

Looking out the doorway, the captain as at the airlock putting in a combination. Lana turned to Jack and said, "I swear the way he was standing near the trees… He was acting so strange. I asked him if he was hearing voices, he dodged the question. I thought his mind was gone already."

"Good thing you found him when you did." Jack said as he reached over and pulled on her the sleeve of her shirt. He said, "You look good in green. Definitely your color. Did they have anything in my size?"

Lana looked down at the shirt and back to him with a smiled. It felt a little out of place for Jack to complement her outfit, but she didn't think twice about it. Lana said, "I didn't get a chance to look over the men's clothing. Gena is in there now. Maybe when she is done you will get your chance."

Jack peeked out in the hallway. The captain was no longer at the airlock. As he was leaned out into the hallway, Gena was just coming out of the main bedroom with her new outfit on. She chose a red shirt with a faded set of jeans. Jack smiled at her and said, "Nice threads." Gena just smiled back at him as she walked past them to return to the dining hall.

Lana and Jack left the dining hall and slowly crept down to the crew quarters. Peeking inside they could see the captain was laying on one of the beds. He had removed a wet articles of clothing and wrapped himself up in a blanket. Lana was happy to see the captain was finally getting some much-needed rest. Jack walked down to the end of the hallways and checked the airlock door. It had red lights on the control panel to display the keypad was locked. Jack gave Lana a thumbs up. He came back and whispered in her ear, "Door is locked. Looks like no one is going anywhere tonight."

Lana felt his hot breath on her ear. For a fraction of a second, she imaged Jack whispering sweet sensual nothings in her ear. The moment past as Jack walked away down the hallway. Lana turned to watch him. He entered the master bedroom, probably to change clothes. For a second, all Lana could think about was Jack. He flooded her senses. Lana stood there for a moment, normally she had no problem keeping her emotions in check, but for some reason she was falling victim to her inner most desires. Was it the planet breaking down her mind? Or was Jack actually getting under her skin?

Lana shook off 90% the idea. She forced herself to image Jack as just another crewmember. Lana checked on the captain one last time and then returned to the dining hall. Gena had already picked out her bottle of alcohol on the bar. Gena acknowledged her and said, "I haven't seen any of this in a long time. Devar Aletone Brandy. This stuff goes down smooth as butter. You should try some."

Lana disagreed, "I don't think it is a good time to start drinking, Gena. The sun is only going to be down for another more 3 hours then we are getting off this rock."

"Steve, Wright, and Paula are dead. We have less than 3 or 4 hours of oxygen left in our O2 tanks, and we are probably going to die here. Our sobriety is the least of our worries." Gena took the cap off the bottle and took a drink. Lana watched as Gena drank away her sorrows. In a way, she was right. A few drinks couldn't hurt. Gena took the bottle of Brandy over to the table and sat down.

Lana approached the bar and grabbed a random bottle of wine. She turned it to read the label. It wasn't a type that she had ever heard of. But then again, she didn't drink hardly at all back on Earth. Why not? Why did she have to be in danger on a faraway planet to consider doing something that she could have done anytime on Earth? Oh yeah, her parent would have been so disappointed.

Lana thought about her parents. They had always been so strict on her. Get a job. No, not that one, a good job. A good job that is close to home. Now get a better job. Be the master of your field. Find a boyfriend. Make him happy. Get married. Have some grandchildren. Do it all. Her parented wanted her to have everything in life. Maybe it was everything they wanted in their own lives, and they were just living vicariously through her. Maybe it was nothing. But in the attempt of making her parents happy Lana had lost something. Freedom.

In a moment of clarity, Lana turned around and really soaked in the room. She wasn't here because she wanted to be a space traveler. She took the job because of her parent's ambitions. Not her own. Would her parent be more upset that Lana died a drunk or that she a mindless corporate slave? Lana pulled the cork off the bottle. She said to Gena, "Cheers."

Gena held up the brandy and said, "Now were talking."

Lana took a drink from the wine bottle. It was bitter. Not her style but she didn't complain. She was drinking it of her own free will. And it tasted like freedom. She put the bottle down and coughed for a second. Then she said with a smile, "You know what Gena, I am quitting my job." Lana started laughing hysterically.

Gena laughed and said, "Me too."

Once Lana was done with her laughing fit, she walked out into the hallway. She took the bottle of wine to the master bedroom. Just as she got there the door opened from the inside as Jack was coming out. Lana stopped just short of running into him. She giggled a bit and said, "Sorry, I… hi."

Jack's eyes widened as he saw the bottle of wine. Then he said, "Oh no, you're drinking too?"

"It's fine, I only had a sip." Lana handed him the bottle and said, "I am not drunk, seriously. I just wanted to tell you that Gena and I have decided to quit our jobs. That sounds like something a drunk person would say. Anyways, we want you to join us. It's going to be a mass exodus. I want you to join us."

He smiled and glanced left and right down the hallway. Jack said, "Lana, I would love to, but I can't quit."

"Why not? I am sure there are a lot of places looking to hire a pilot."

Once again, Jack's eyes darted left and right half expecting someone to be watching their conversation. Then he said, "Come here." Jack pulled her into the room and closed the door. Lana was thrown off by this. Jack turned back to her and said, "Have you been talking to Gena?"

Lana put the wine bottle down on the nightstand and replied, "No. I mean, yes but not about you. What is going on?"

Jack paused for an uncomfortable second then the said, "Nothing. It's just… I am under contract until I am 36. I have to work for SEU Aeronautic until then." Jack nervously peeked back to the door and then he lowered his head and said, "I can't quit my job."

Lana threw a confused look at him. Then she said, "Jack, people are dead. After all of this, you are compelled to complete your contract? Why do I feel like there is something more to this? Do I need to ask the captain?"

Jack's eye budged then he covered Lana mouth with his hand. He quietly said, "Shh, stop. Okay, okay, okay." Lana tried to back up pulling away from his hand, but he kept it there forcing her silence. Finally, Jack let go and said, "We can't talk about it here. The closet." Jack walked over to the closet and opened the door. On the floor was a pile of wet clothes from Lana, Gena, and Jack's changing. Jack kicked the clothes to the side and turned around waiting for Lana to come to him.

Lana was beyond confused but followed him into the closet. Jack pressed the button to close the door and said quietly, "Okay, I am only telling you this because you aren't a regular member of the crew. Captain Garcia told me not to tell anyone because there would be trust issues. I am not here under a typical contract. This is…" Jack paused for several seconds looking for the right word, or maybe he was hoping not to say it. Then he finished by saying, "My sentence."

"Sentence?"

Jack lowered his head even more. Then he said, "Yes, sentence. Like prison sentence."

Lana gasped, "Oh, wait, what? How is that possible?"

Jack explained, "After I got out of the Academy it was difficult finding work for new pilots. You can't pay off a college debt without a job. I got hired to fly some shady characters to fly into some restricted zones. It was one of those no questions asked kind of jobs. Could have been anyone, I didn't know and didn't care at the time. They were paying and I needed the credits. Everything was fine for a while then on the third flight we… got caught. Turns out they were smugglers, and I was an accomplice. Long story short, the judge was lenite on me. He gave me the choice. I could rot in jail for 15 years or do a service to the space industry."

Lana was speechless. This wasn't what she had expected. Everything started to make sense. Jack and the captain gave each other such a hard time. They were the only ones that knew the truth. Jack knew the captain couldn't fire him. The captain knew Jack couldn't quit. Gena and the others didn't know. Lana finally found her voice, "Oh, that's okay."

Jack and Lana stood there in an uncomfortable silence for a second. Then Jack said, "I am not trying to tell you what to do or anything. You know. It would just be easier… for me… if you didn't mention it to everyone else. You know how people pass judgement… it's just…"

Lana blocked out his words. For a moment she really wanted to kiss him. His honesty was endearing. Lana reached up and put her hand over his mouth just like he had done to her. She felt his unshaven face on her fingertips. Lana smiled and said, "I won't tell a soul." Lana removed her hand and winked at him. Maybe it was nothing, but Lana felt like there was a connection between them now. Where nothing had been before, now a plot of trust had formed. Lana blushed a bit then said, "If we are being totally honest with each other then I need to tell you something too."

This sparked Jack's interest. He smiled and said, "Go ahead, I am all ears."

Lana thought about it and backed out. She deflected by saying, "Oh no, I have only had one drink as of right now. I need to be three sheets to the wind to tell you all my secrets." Lana turned away from Jack and pressed the button to exit the closet. As the door opened, Lana saw something strange on the bedroom floor. There was a black stain near the foot of the bed. All pervious thoughts of Jack and the confession of his past escaped her. Lana walked into the room and examined the spot. "What's this?" In an instant, her words caused the spot to come alive.

The black spot grew and moved on its own. It slowly absorbed itself across the carpet as Lana backed up into the closet again. The black sludge grew tendrils as it climbed up the sides of the bed. Lana watched in horror as it consumed the entire room in darkness. Lana turned to Jack for a possible answer. He was just as confused as she was. As the sludge approached the closet door Lana quickly reached up and pressed the button closing the door. It snapped shut as the sludge was only arms reach from the closet door. Lana backed away from the door into Jack's arms. Her breathing was escalated.

The sludge pounded and struggled to open the door as tiny pieces of it seeped through the cracks. Without looking at him, Lana pushed Jack away from the door and said, "What is this?! Jack what's happening?!"

Jack calmly put his arms around her and with a little laugh he whispered, "It okay. It will all be over soon."

This whisper wasn't his voice. It was deeper. Darker. Lana turned around to look at him. That was when she noticed his eyes. Jack's eyes were black. His pupils oozed with the same black sludge that was attempting to break into the closet. He blinked once causing the sludge to roll down his cheeks. Lana backed away from him, but it was too late. He lunged at her with ferocious speed. He pinned her against the door with his hands around her throat. The tiny pieces of sludge that had seeped through the cracks of the door started crawling into her hair and on her back of her shirt. Lana tried to break his grip, but he was too strong. With one hand he lifted her into the air and said, "We belong here." Lana struggled to take a breath then after a few seconds he pressed the button to open the door. Lana fell backward into the bedroom that was now full of black sludge. Lana was completely consumed by the substance. It ate away at her cloths, hair, and skin. A thousand little teeth biting her countless times over and over again. The pain was immeasurable… and then there was nothing.

Lana woke up to the sound of the wine bottle rattling. She was on the bed in the master bedroom. Without sitting up she inspected her hands and clothes. It was a dream, it was a dream, she told herself over and over again. Tears almost came to her eyes, but she held them back. Lana took a breath and sat up. Lana checked the foot of the bed for that black spot. It was not there, thank goodness. Where was Jack? He was nowhere in sight. Somehow, she had fallen asleep on top of the covers still wearing her boots and everything. How and why were questions she did even ask at this point. Lana stood up and stretched before turning to the small window. From the glow she determined that it was now daytime.

Lana walked over to the hallway and listened. There was no sound. Like the ship was completely vacant. She shouted, "Hello?"

A loud audible beep was heard then Max said, "Greeting Ms. Lana, you look well and rested this morning. How can I assist you?"

"Max, where is everyone?"

Max did not respond right away. After a few seconds he said, "I have one unidentified female in the dining room by the table, Ms. Lana you are standing in the hallway outside the master bedroom, and Mr. Jack is in the master bedroom closet."

"The closet?" Lana turned around and walked back into the bedroom and over to the closet. She opened the closet door to see Jack sleeping in the fetal position on the ground. Lana thought this was strange even for him. She leaned to the left to see his face. She wanted to make sure he wasn't leaking black fluid from his eyes. There was no black fluid. He was just sleeping. Lana said, "Jack?" as she reached down to wake him up. He was shaking a little then out of nowhere Jack violently woke up. He launched his right fist toward the wall smashing his hand into the panel.

Jack shot out a minor groan from the pain. He clenched his now injured fist as he sat up. Seeing Lana he said, "What? What is going on here?"

Lana attempted to comfort him as she said, "It's okay, we are on the Maxwell ship, remember?"

"What am I doing here?"

"I think you fell asleep in the closet."

Jack sat up and leaned against the wall. The took a moment to taking everything in. Then he said, "Did we get drunk last night? Because if we did, I am never drinking again."

"I don't think so. What do you remember?"

"Hang on, let me think here." Jack said as he slowly stood up. He stretched and said, "We talked. Here in the closet." Jack paused then he said, "I am having a hard time remembering when the day stopped, and my dreams started."

Lana realized that Jack was also suffering from the same horrific dreams. She said, "Did you dream about black sludge?"

Jack's face changed completely, he asked, "I did see sludge… You tried to kill me. Are we having the same dreams?"

This wasn't an isolated event. The planet was more than effecting their personalities. A new motivation struck Lana. She said, "We need to get out of here. The longer we are here the worse things will get."

Lana got up and ran out of the room and into the kitchen. She stepped on broken glass that was all over the floor. The label was still there. From the label and the color of the glass Lana could tell this was the bottle of brandy Gena had been drinking. Gena was still there passed out on the table. Lana shook her shoulder to wake her up and she shouted, "Gena, wake up. Wake up!" Gena opened her eyes and mumbled a few words, but she held a disturbed look in her eye. Lana shouted, "Jack, get her some water. We need her to fix the shuttle."

Jack grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen, opened it, and gave it to Gena. She drank a little bit of it then burst into tears. Gena held her head and said, "I could have saved him. It was all my fault. I couldn't even save myself." Lana stood back realizing that Gena was traumatized. She had probably suffered the same dreams that her and Jack did. This only pushed Lana to double her efforts.

Lana backed away from the table and said to Jack, "Watch her. I will get the captain. We have to get out of here."

Lana left the kitchen as she stepped around the broken glass. Back in the hallway she hastily walked toward the crew's quarters. As she did something caught her eye. There was an object on the floor. It only took her a moment to realize what it was. It was a pistol. One of the energy weapons that she had given Jack and the captain yesterday. A rush of panic ran over her as Lana remember what Max had said. One in the kitchen, one in the closet. She had complete forgotten about the captain. Lana quickly ran to the crew's quarters. The beds were empty. The captain was gone. He left the ship?! She went back to the hallway stepping over the pistol and ran over to the airlock door. The red locking lights were now green and unlocked. He was the only one with the combination.

Lana shouted, "Max! When did the captain leave?"

A loud audible beep was heard then Max said, "Greeting Ms. Lana, if you are referring to man who slept in the crew quarters, he left an hour ago. Would you like to see the footage?"

Lana did not respond, instead she grabbed one of the O2 masks that was laying nearby and jumped into the airlock. As the system locked the inner door and unlocked the outer door Lana could see through the little windows as Jack came out of the kitchen into the hallway. He must of hear the airlock cycling. There was no time to explain.

Lana stepped out of the airlock into the into the rain. She shouted, "Captain!" She staggered around looking for him in the distance. Her vision was limited. The rain was too thick. Lana pressed the button on her mask and shouted into the radio, "Captain, where are you? If you can hear me, please respond."

There was no answer. Of course, there wasn't. Lana looked down to the grass and mud. A few steps away from the Maxwell ship airlock she found an odd footprint. She had seen it several times before. It was the captain's unique footprint. He had a prosthetic leg. Lana tried to eyeball the direction the footprint was facing. It was slightly northeast. The same direction that Paula had pointed when she claimed she was talking to her boyfriend.

The airlock door opened behind her. It was Jack, Lana turned to him and said, "Get Gena to the shuttle. Get it ready to launch. We are leaving when I get back."

Without a word from him, Lana sprinted toward the forest. Time was against her. She ran through the trees keeping an eye out for the captain's footprints. She ran deeper and deeper into the forest. Before too long she was so far away from the clearing that all she could see was trees. She didn't stop. She couldn't stop.

Before too long, Lana found new terrain. There were giant rocks that jutted out of the ground. Each one was 4 or 5 feet tall and shaped in the most bizarre fashion. Some were flat while others were sharp coming to a point at the top. In a world of nature, these rocks felt almost intentionally place here. The lack of trees caused the ground to be covered with grass. Lana lost track of the captain's footprints. Lana found herself walking in circles trying to find them again. It was hopeless. Finally, Lana climbed up onto the boulders to get a better view. She could see where the footprint came from but not where they were going. The captain had to have come this way. She switched to a different rock and searched the area. After several minutes Lana could not find anything. She needed something, anything that could point her in the right direction. There was nothing. Frustrated and angry Lana let out a scream. It was one of those screams that shook your core and rocked your bones. When she was done, Lana sat down on the rock exhausted.

Lana sat in the rain for a moment. She had failed. The captain deserved better than this. If only she had heard him leave the ship.

"Hey, can you hear me?"

The voice almost started her. Lana straightens up and looked around. Someone was talking to her. She said, "Hello?"

"Lana it's me. You're not going to believe what I found."

"Captain? Is that you?" Lana said as she stood up. His voice was coming from nearby. It was coming from the deeper in the rocks. Had the captain climbed over all of these rocks? Lana started jumping from boulder to boulder trying to get a better viewpoint.

"Lana, come here. I need you to help me with this!"

It was the captain's voice. Lana replied, "I hear you. I am coming. Stay where you are." Lana climbed down and quickly moved through the thick wall of rocks. On the other side there was a few more trees and a huge mound of dirt. After walking through the trees Lana could see the mound better. It was at least 3 times her height. The mound was raised up so all the rainwater ran away from it. Oddly enough, it had no grass or trees growing on it. Lana walked toward the mound and shouted, "Captain? Where are you?"

"This way."

Lana was confused how the captain could speak so clearly from far away. An awful feeling was building in her gut. Out of the corner of her eye, Lana saw something shiny on the ground. It was small and caused a reflection in the sunlight. As she approached Lana could easily identify it as a pen. She picked it up. What a curious thing to find out here. She stopped and searched around and sure enough there was some paper nearby. It was old and rotten away from all the rainfall. As she picked it up, she saw more objects buried in the mud. There were clothes, broken oxygen masks, wallets, old watches, and all sorts of items.

"Lana, stop screwing around. Are you coming or not?"

Lana did not respond this time. She couldn't take her eyes off the buried items in the mud. The mud. The mound. The whole mound was made of personal items. Wallets and clothes. It was like a wall built with brick and mortar. Lana reached over to a rock and touched it with her hand. It wasn't a rock. It was a helmet half buried in the mound. At some point, this helmet protected someone's head. The person was gone, and the helmet remained. It was a chilling discovery. Lana stood up and stepped away from the mound. What could have caused this?

That was when she saw it. To her left, just barely out of sight was a metallic item that caught her attention. Lana cautiously stepped towards it. As she approached, her heart sunk. It was a prosthetic leg. A small section of metallic leg from just below the knee and down. "Oh no… don't be the same." Lana said as she picked it up. The entire thing was covered in mud and black tar like the leaves in the forest. Lana turned it over to see the bottom of the foot. It was the same tread that she had been following all the way out here. This was the captain's leg. There is no way the captain would leave this behind. Lana fell to the ground devastated. This mound wasn't a trash dump for unwanted things. It was a graveyard. These items are all that remain of the people that disappeared. She could no longer hold the tears back anymore. For a moment, she sat there in the mud wallowing in her own sadness.

"Over here."

Lana did not turn her head, she peered out of the corner of her eyes toward the mount. From this new angle she could see an opening in the mound. It was at least two meters tall and a meter wide. Big enough that someone could walk into it without any problems. Muddy tracks lead into the opening of the cave. Inside the cave she could see nothing but darkness. The voice was coming from there. Lana stopped crying and faced the cave entrance. Then she responded, "Stop it. I know what you are doing. This is the same thing you did to the Indras. The same thing you did to Paula, and probably the same thing you did to the captain."

The voice did not respond. Lana stared at the cave entrance half expecting a glowing pair of eyes to be staring back at her. But there was nothing. After a few seconds she said, "I know you can hear me." Still the voice did not respond. Lana could feel the weight of rain pouring down on her head. Suddenly, Lana felt lightheaded. She stepped away from the cave and back to the long wall of rocks. Her vision was blurry. She was having trouble standing. She climbed over the rocks to get away from the mound. It was too late. From the tunnel she could hear something coming up after her. A slithering sound like nothing she had ever heard before. Something was coming for her. Lana crawled around the rocks as quickly as she could.

Lana looked back at the mouth of the cave. There was nothing there but the sound was coming closer. Lana continued to crawl away under extreme mental strain. In the process she bumped her head on one of the rocks. It hurt but it cleared up her light headedness. Her head cleared up and her legs started working normally again. The effect was wearing off. As soon as she could Lana jumped to her feet and sprinted into the forest back toward the ships. She was running so fast she lost her direction. She searched the area to see footprint but saw none. After a few seconds she plowed headfirst into a branch.

The branch was clearly stronger than Lana was. She dropped to the ground holding her head in pain. After a few seconds Lana opened her eyes again to see that the impact had cracked her face mask. Carbon Dioxide was starting to leak in. She put one hand over the crack. This slowed the leak a little bit, but she needed to get back to the ship fast. Lana turned around to get her bearings. She recognized nothing. She was completely lost.

With one hand over the mask Lana started to walk. The lightheaded feeling started to come back. Lana stopped and took another break. Up ahead she could see the ships. She was back at the clearing! With one hand covering the hole in her mask, Lana took off running toward the clearing. This excitement was short lived though. What she had thought was the clear was actually the boulders. She had somehow traveled in a complete circle back to where she started. Lana turned and walked away from the boulders. This forest was a maze. Either that or the entity that spoke to her was playing with her mind.

After a few minutes Lana was lost again. Her mind was fading. She was having problems remembering simple things. Where she was from. Her familiar faces. Lana shook her head and slapped the back of her head. FOCUS. She pulled herself together for a second. She needed to stop the gas from leaking into her mask. Lana bent over grabbing some mud in one hand. She attempted to pack it into the crack. It wasn't working. The mud was now slowly getting into her face mask. Lana put both hands on the mask in an attempt to squeeze the crack shut. Doing so, it made a familiar clicking noise. Lana had accidentally pressed the radio button. Lana pressed the button again. How had she forgotten about the radio?!

"Jack! Jack, can you read me?" Lana yelled into the headset. She tried again, "Jack! I am lost in the forest. Come in, please."

For a second Lana could hear Jack's voice. But the trees were creating a lot of interference. Lana stepped to the left and right trying to get a better connection. Finally, she the signal cleared up enough for her to heard Jack say, "Where? Lana… me… Hello?"

Lana tried to signal him again. "Jack, I am lost in the woods. My mask is cracked. I'm in trouble. Please tell me you can hear me." This time Jack did not respond. Lana waited and attempted to contact him again and again. No response.

Lana leaned again the nearby tree. This was it. There was no way around it. She was going to die on this stupid planet. She sat against the tree and took some deep breaths. She closed her eyes and thought of home. Earth. The warm sun, sandy beaches of her hometown. All things she would never see again. This was the end. Lana accepted her fate. Then it came again.

"Turn around."

Lana did turn around. She grabbed the tree and turned shouting, "SHUT UP! Shut your stupid mouth! This is all your fault!" Lana continued to shout profanities in the direction of the cave for a minute. Only stopping when she was out of breath. At least, she thought so, perhaps it was the CO2 build up in her mask. In one quick motion she disconnected the Oxygen hose from the mask, removed the mask from her head, and put the Oxygen hose directly in her mouth. She took deep breaths, in through her mouth and out through her nose. Lana dropped the cracked mask to the ground. She took the hose out of her mouth to shout a few more profanities in the creature's direction. She only stopped when she heard the music.

Lana turned around and listened to the music. Lana remembered, bass music travels farther. With newfound strength Lana ran toward the music.

Within a few minutes, Lana found her way back to the clearing. Lana was so happy to see the ships again. She waved to the Maxwell ship, then she took a knee in the grass. This small walk in the woods had really take it out of her. She continued to hold the pipe to her mouth and drag on the oxygen. Somehow, this system worked pretty well. The music soon stopped. Jack exited the back of the ship and ran to her location. He knelt down to look at her. She was covered in mud and was breathing through a tube. Jack said, "Holy shit, I thought I was having a rough morning."

Jack handed her a new mask. Lana took one big breath then put it on. She quickly adjusted the straps on the mask and stood up. Lana said, "I found the source of our problems." She pointed back into the forest and continued, "Deep, deep in the woods, there is a creature living under a huge mound of dirt filled with… things. Things like… personal items, wallets, and stuff. Tons of them, there are so many. I think they belong to the people that have died here."

Jack didn't know what to say. From his face Lana could tell he was horrified. Finally, he said, "I was going to say okay… but there is nothing in that sentence that I would say is "okay" by any means. So, I will just say, how about we get away from the forest right now?"

Lana returned to the Maxwell. Before they went inside, she asked, "Where is Gena?"

Jack pointed in the direction of the shuttle and said, "She is taking the connector off the shuttle so we can get out of here. She wasn't feeling to hot this morning. A bit hung over. Apparently, the alcohol gave her bad dreams. I didn't tell her that we all had bad dreams. I didn't want to freak her out." Jack stood at the door and said, "I am going to go check on her. Are you going to be okay this time? You're not going to get lost in the ship, are you?"

As Lana shot him a surprised look and said, "Oh no, I am not going in the ship. We are both going to check on Gena. We don't need to stick around any longer than we already have. The only place I am going is in the shuttle and into space. Then I am going to tell the Earth Defense Forces about this planet, and they are going to come here and bomb the hell out of this place."

Jack smiled and said, "I can't remember if the old you had a phobia of explosives. I don't know what has happened to you but I kind of like it."

Lana and Jack walked around the side of the research station to the shuttle. Lana noticed the connector was off. That was a good sign. However, Gena was missing. Jack called out for her as he glanced in the back of the shuttle. Then he saw the generator. "Oh no. No! NO! Gena, what have you done?"

Lana had no idea why he was so upset. She looked at the generator, but she didn't know what was wrong with it. She said, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?!" Jack picked up a metal box with wires hanging out of it and said, "She removed the freakin Chamber Converter to get the cable off!"

"And… I am assuming that is bad?"

Jack dropped the box and said, "Yeah, without the Chamber Converter it won't start… Well, it could start. I don't think anyone has ever tried it. But even if it did, the inner chamber is exposed! We would die of radiation sickness before we could get off the ground. Why did she do this?"

Lana nodded and said, "Okay, I am sure she had her reasons. We will go find Gena and we get her to put it back on. There is no reason to panic, right?" Lana shouldn't have asked that last part. She could see the look on Jack's face, he was panicked. Maybe it was a bit of desperation. He wanted to leave as badly as Lana did.

Lana walked around the shuttle, but Gena was nowhere to be found. She wasn't inside, she wasn't outside. Jack used the radio to call out for her. Nothing. Lana searched the research building. Nothing. Jack walked back to the Maxwell ship. Maybe she went back inside for a break or something. As Jack went in the ship Lana noticed something. Feet. The Maxwell was high enough off the ground that you could see someone's feet on the other side. Gena was hiding behind the ship. Lana walked over to the side of the ship to look at Gena.

Lana approached her at a distance and said, "Gena? Are you okay?"

Gena did not respond. She was crying and holding her head with one hand. Then she said, "No. No, I am not okay. Nothing is okay. I fucked up."

Lana tried to comfort her as she said, "Gena, it's okay. I saw the generator. We can fix the converter. We just…"

"No, we can't!" Gena shouted as she interrupted her. Gena turned toward Lana giving her a look of despair. Her face was flush, and her eyes were bloodshot. Lana could tell Gena was a wreck. Gena continued, "I snapped off the bolts. Not one or two. I broke them all! I have never done that in my entire life. Steve would be so disappointed in me. We don't have a tap set to fix it. Now the generator is ruined. Nobody is leaving this place now. We can't… we can't leave. I just killed all of us!"

Lana walked towards her slowly, "We can figure it out. There is another way. We can take the generator out of the other shuttle."

Gena laughed but only for a second. Then she said, "Lana, do you know how long it would take to transfer a fusion generator? We could be here for another two or three days. I can't stay here that long. I won't. I went inside to activate the distress signal… funny that we came here to find the source of a distress signal only to activate one ourselves. Maybe someone will find us. Maybe…" Gena turned to face Lana while hiding something behind her back. The she said, "Every minute we are here I feel like I am slipping closer to madness. I feel like I am forgetting things. Things that I shouldn't forget. Do you know what that feels like? To forget yourself?"

Lana focused on the item Gena had in her hand. It looked like the handle of a pistol. Where did she get that? Lana quickly remembered, that was the captain's pistol. He dropped it in the hallways before he left the ship. Gena must have picked it up when she left the Maxwell. Lana realized this was not a simple engineer with a memory problem, Gena was extremely dangerous. What was she going to do with that gun? Lana put her hands up and said, "Gena, we are all forgetting things. It's not your fault. There is a creature on this planet that is attacking our minds, it makes us all do stupid and terrible things. It's all just mind games, Gena. You have to block it out."

"The voices?" Gena nodded because she understood. Then she continued, "The voices telling me… that Steve is waiting for me. But he is dead. I know he is dead."

Lana confirmed it, "Yes! That is the creature, it wants to lure you away from the rest of us. Just like it did to the captain. I don't want that to happen, Gena. I don't want to see anything bad happen to you or anyone. Let's go inside the ship. You already activated the distress beacon. We just have to wait for someone to show up. Even if we don't, We can make a new plan to get out of here."

Gena thought about it for a moment then she turned back to the ship and said, "I already have a plan." With one hand, Gena pulled the control panel off the side of the ship revealing the three power cells that Jack and Lana had installed yesterday. Gena slowly lifted the gun and pointed it at the power cell in the middle.

Lana backed away as she said, "Gena, I am pretty sure that's a bad idea. Those power cells are extremely dangerous. It's in the name. They are POWER cells."

Gena gave Lana a crazy eyed look and said, "I know what I am doing Lana. If I pull this trigger, I am gone. The explosion will be instantaneous. It is a painless death. This is the only way we can be together now."

Lana didn't have anything to say. In this moment, Gena wanted to die. What do you say to someone this close to the edge? She had a gun inches away from the cells. There was nothing Lana could do to stop her if she pulled the trigger. All she had was words. Lana finally said, "Don't do this to yourself. We can get out of here. I don't want you to kill yourself, Gena. I want to talk to you tomorrow and the next day. I want you to be with us when we are off this shitty planet. Believe me, I don't want to live in a world where you killed yourself. Please, just put the gun down. We can find a way."

Gena paused then laughed and said, "The voice just told me that you're lying. It really is in our heads."

"Yes, it is, but it is not going to kill anyone else, because we know it's tricks. We can beat it. You and me. I won't let the creature kill anyone else. You have my word."

Gena smiled at her, then she said, "I wish that were true." With that said, Gena pulled the trigger.