 |
| FT Espresso Addiction |
Main Cargo Bay camera, stationary, wide angle. Regular flashing power lights on cargo containers and door controls provide the only illumination. Audio consists of the background hum of life support systems during a jump.
Door to Central Corridor slides open. Lights come on. Two sophonts, one human (ID: Valdez, Vivek; Role: Captain and Navigator), one aslan (ID: Raka'oh; Role: Security Chief and Gunner) enter.
Valdez: -why I pay you, Raka! You need to at least look at the cargo before it's loaded. It's a ship security thing, right? Can't have hijackers hiding in a crate and smothering us in our sleep, right?
Raka'oh: Those wealthy provincial crafters have no guile. The cargo is the cargo, nothing more.
Valdez: Prove it. [Valdez points to the cargo containers, then waits, hands akimbo.]
[The two stare each other down.]
Raka'oh: When I prove my words, you owe me another share of pay. Mistrust marks you as Outsider.
[Raka'oh opens cargo containers and performs a cursory inspection, staring daggers at Valdez the entire time.]
Valdez: Next time you'll do this before we leave the dirt, and definitely before we jump. Is that clear?
Raka'oh: You assume I will submit to your weak rule on another journey. [Raka'oh smiles dangerously.] You assume much. At your peril.
[Valdez's smirk falters.]
Valdez: Anything?
Raka'oh: Nothing that you did not pay for. I expect the extra share in my account when we land, unless you have something to smooth my fur now.
[Raka'oh reseals the cargo containers and stalks toward the door. Valdez follows.]
Valdez: I have the other haunch of that grazer you loved so much, if that interests you.
[Valdez starts to clap Raka'oh on the shoulder despite the height difference. Raka'oh hisses in Valdez's face. Valdez retracts the hand.]
Valdez: Right. No touching.
[Raka'oh stares for a moment.]
Raka'oh: It had better not be frozen.
[Both sophonts exit through the door.]
Valdez: That's why we work so well together, Raka. We understa-
[The door slides shut behind them. Lights remain on for the mandatory 30 seconds, then turn off.]
[3:24 elapses in darkness before a faint liquid squelching sound breaks the monotony. 4 seconds after that, the lights come on again, revealing a purple/grey pseudopod oozing out of the frame of the camera. It moves quickly, only visible for 1.5 seconds in the light. The metallic scrape of a conduit grille removal and reattachment echoes in the cargo bay. 30 seconds later, the lights turn off.]
Analysis: Low-light enhancement not available on the camera, and enhancement of the footage revealed no other details. The second camera in the cargo bay was disabled, and no data has been logged by the second camera for at least 5 weeks prior.
Comparison reveals that the entity concealed itself either inside or in the shape of a small coolant unit on the side of one of the cargo containers. The coolant unit was visible during the inspection, but no longer appeared during the anomalous motion-sensor-triggered period of illumination.
Conclusion: An amorphous life form attached itself to a cargo container picked up on Pendar, then somehow made the crew turn on each other during the jump. The Espresso Addiction arrived in the Elysium system with its crew deceased, and it immediately drifted on an uncontrolled intercept course for Stygia. We've stabilized the situation for now, and we're awaiting orders about next steps. Quarantine protocol remains intact, and we haven't found any trace of the amorphous life form despite constant searching.
Part of the Promptober project for 2025.
No comments:
Post a Comment