CHAPTER TWO (PART ONE) NICK AND AJ Kevin and Howie ran down the dark hallway, Howie kept in front, the light bobbed around wildly not proving much use, but it did show the two men where the hall ended and turned. Their sound of their footsteps pounding on the ground seemed to explode through out the entire station, it echoed off the walls and empty corridors. In the back of Kevin's mind, the brief thought of the all the sound they were making would probably alert the creature where they were exactly, but he didn't pay much mind to it though. Both men tore around the corner and saw a little faint light spilling through a door that was cracked open a little, they ran towards it. "Please! Help!" The voice pleaded from inside the room. Stopping at the door, Howie looked at it before placing his hands on either side and began pushing. Kevin grabbed on to and tried to help, even though any strain on his muscles shot pain through his back. Grunting and straining, they kept pulling on the door, it giving them plenty of a fight. But slowly it began to open a little, finally it gave way enough to let them squeeze through. Kevin got through and stopped, the med bay had no light, save for the one that seemed to be hidden on the other side of the room that gave the entire medical facility a strange faint blue gray glow to it. Howie came through and stopped as well, looking around. The smell of medicines and antibiotics was heavy in the air, that mixed in with blood and other wonderful medical smells. This place had the feel of it being completely sterile all the time, a few beds were placed around the room in odd angels, when Kevin raised his eyes though he saw why they at those places, above the beds, hanging from the ceiling were medical tools on long rods that extended downward. Scalpels, and needles shined in the little light, along with a lot more instruments that looked twice as painful. Kevin saw on one of the beds a body lay, dead by the looks of the sheet covering it, and the blood that had seeped into the white cloth. There was another door that probably led to the recovery rooms. A lab was at the other end of the room, and in the middle of the room was a round almost pedestal, that had an organ on it that had obviously been or had been waiting to be examined. And I thought the place were I was kept was creepy, Kevin thought looking around. Howie suddenly hit Kevin's arm and pointed ahead, there by a wall, was five odd contraptions. A large metal ring connected to the ceiling and floor, in the middle of one of the rings was a person, the one who had been yelling for help. His wrists were cuffed to the metal ring, as were his ankles, a almost helmet like visor covered his eyes and half of his face, tubes that held strange colored liquid were attached to the back of his neck and ran down his spine. "God!" Kevin said as they both rushed forward. "Please help me!?" The figure cried out again, sounding desperate. Howie and Kevin stopped next to the ring, Howie reached to grabbed the metal cuff, restraining the man, while Kevin went for the visor. The man gasped when Kevin grabbed the visor and recoiled violently, making Kevin and Howie jump back. "Wow man! Chill! Were here to help you!" Howie said holding out his hands, though a lost gesture because the guy couldn't see. "What!?" The man cried confused, breathing hard. "Just clam down, well see if we can get you out of this........... thing." Kevin settled with. He reached for the visor again then paused, "Okay I'm going to take off this visor alright?" "Okay," The man didn't sound so sure. Kevin grabbed the visor, even though the man flinched away he pulled it off quickly. Squeezing his eyes shut then blinking rapidly, the man squinted at Kevin and Howie when he could finally see. "Who are you?" He asked confused, shaking his head a little to try and get the few strands of blonde hair out of his face. His bright blue eyes didn't look as if they were focusing to well. "I'm Kevin, that's Howie." Kevin introduced while peering into the visor to see if it had been giving this kid some kind of drug. The man looked at Howie who was examining the metal cuff, he gave the guy a wide grin. "Hey," he greeted, "What's your name?" The man hesitated for a second before answering. "Uh, N-Nick. Nick Carter." "Well Nick, hate to say this, but they got you in one hell of a gizmo here." Howie said frowning and stepping back, looking the metal ring over. "Do you know how to get it to release you?" "Um," Nick thought for a moment, looking like he was having trouble doing so. "The...the central main frame. It-its over there." He said looking over at the round pedestal. Howie glanced over as well and made his way over to it. Kevin tossed the visor away and looked at Nick. His eyes raised up a to the IV tubes. "Are those something you need to depend on?" He asked. "No! Get them out, please!" Nick begged. "Kay," Kevin circled around behind Nick, placing his hand against his back and pinching one of the colored tubes, he pulled. "Aaaaahhhhhhhh!" Nick cried out in pain, Kevin frowned when the tube didn't come out, he tried once more and Nick screamed. "STOP! STOP!" He cried and Kevin instantly let go. "Sorry!" He yelped stepping back. Howie let out a mental sigh and took out the glass disk, he stared at it for a moment before relenting and sliding it into the side panel of the main frame. He wrinkled his nose at the organ on top as the computer booted up, he glanced over at the covered body and shuddered. The computer clicked, signaling it was powered up, Howie began typing, his eyes running over the information that ran down the screen. Kevin tried another IV line, but Nick's agonized cry made in stop. "Damn it!" He said in frustrated, "Howie, do you think we can cut these off?" "No! Here's why they won't come off," Howie said still staring at the screen, the light from it making his face look pale. "The IV lines are attached to certain implants in his spine that are feeding the drugs to specific points in his brain, that's why they wont come out. I think I can get them to release, if not then we'll have cut them." Kevin nodded and came back around, Nick shook his head in an attempt to fend off the fuzzy feeling. He focused on Kevin once more. "What's going on? Who are you? Where are the doctors?" He demanded in a weak voice. Kevin hesitated for a second, not quite sure how he should phrase the explanation. But Nick caught the hesitation and he gulped. "They're dead aren't they?" He asked in a small voice. Kevin nodded, and Nick moaned. "Oh man, I knew it. I knew it! I tried to tell them," He insisted, as if he were trying to convince Kevin. "But they wouldn't listen, I told them that it was cold, it was just so damn cold! Its hunger.........so hungry, and here we came, just fresh meat to it, yum!" He moaned. Kevin raised his eyebrows, man! They must have fried this kids brain one to many times! He thought and looked over at Howie, but he hadn't been paying attention. He continued to type, intent on his task. Kevin turned his attention back to Nick who shook his head again. "What....ah....what are you talking about?" Kevin asked. Nick stared at him blankly, "Talking about what?" "What you were just saying, about cold, and hunger." Kevin prodded. But Nick just gave him a weird look. He has no idea what he was saying! Kevin realized after a moment, he doesn't remember! Kevin opened his mouth to ask another question when suddenly there was a beeping sound, he turned around as Howie let out a triumphant shout. "Got it!" He cried looking up, Kevin turned and watched as the IV tubes suddenly went limp, he stepped forward and reached around Nick's head and gave one of the tubes a light pull, Nick let out a hiss of pain, but thankfully the tube popped out with no trouble, Kevin instantly began working on the others. "And now for my next trick.........." Howie began as Kevin pulled out the last tube. There was a clicking sound and the cuffs around Nick's wrist popped and cracked open. Howie beamed proudly. Kevin grabbed the metal and pulled one of the cuffs open, inside of it was another needle, he winced when he saw it dripped a clear liquid. Nick didn't even wait for help with the next one, he yanked his arm down, breaking his wrist free. "Wow!" He yelped when he almost fell forward, his arms quickly shot out and he balanced himself by pressing his hands against the metal ring. Kevin kneeled and began pulling on the cuff around Nick's ankle, Nick bent over and worked on the other one. After a moment he was finally free, he eagerly jumped down, Kevin ready to spring forward in case the kid fell down. Nick just stretched though. "Its okay," He assured, "The needles in the cuffs, were a stimulate that kept the circulation going in my muscles, so I wouldn't have to move." Howie mean while, had bent over and pulled a metal paneling off the main frame, he reached into the computer and felt around for a minute, he perked up when his hand grasped a smooth object, He gripped it tightly and pulled, he succeeded in knocking himself over, but grinning he held up another power disk. He eagerly pocketed it, making a mental note not to use it unless it was an emergency. Nick took a deep breath and looked around, "Thanks," He said looking back at Kevin. "I thought they had just left me there to die!" "No problem." Kevin insisted, "At this point the more the merrier." Howie stood back up and brushed himself off. He looked around feeling uneasy. Nick squinted at Kevin, "Your hurt." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. "Oh," Kevin looked aver his shoulder, "Yeah. That's why we originally came down here." Nick hesitated, "Well," He said slowly, "I can help you. I've been in this place for a long time. I know a few medical procedures." He offered. Kevin looked at him surprised, Nick pointed to the bed that was under one of the many hanging medical instruments. "Go over there," He ordered, Kevin didn't see how he had a choice. He began walking over. "Make this fast, I don't feel safe in here." Howie called over uneasily. Kevin hopped onto the bed and Nick walked around behind him. He peered at the torn skin, "Hey um..........Howie! Can you get me that bottle over there?" He asked pointing. Howie looked over and walked away, he returned a moment latter, carrying a pinkish liquid. "This one?" "Yeah, thanks." Nick took it and reached up, he pulled down one of the deadly looking needles. Kevin saw Howie's eyes widen and started to look over his shoulder. "What is it?" He asked. "Uh! I wouldn't look if I were you!" Howie said quickly, prying Kevin's attention away. Nick injected the needle in the bottle and pulled up some of the liquid. Pulling it back out he aimed the needle at the skin above Kevin's wound. "This might sting." He warned. "OW!" Kevin yelled jumping, Nick quickly pulled the needle back out. "THAT DIDN"T STING! THAT HURT!" He yelled. "Well it's a numbing solution!" Nick said defensively, "I didn't think you wanted me to use this with out it!" Nick had reached up and had pulled down a wicked looking instrument, Kevin's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "Holy shit!" Howie exclaimed laughing when he saw it. It looked like a huge clamp, with sharp metal prongs in it, and a hole inside that was attached to the tube. "What the hell is that!?" Kevin asked in disbelief. "Well you need stitches, this works a lot better then that and heals a lot faster too, is faster also. It clamps the skin together, and a chemical comes through here," Nick pointed to the hole, "It seals the skin shut." Kevin's eyes widened as he looked forward, Howie grinned and punched him lightly in his arm. "Come on Major, take it like a Squad Force pilot!" He encouraged grinning wildly. If looks could kill! Howie thought with amusement as Nick looked back at the wound, as he positioned the clamp Howie decided to make conversation to distract Kevin. "So Nick," He began, "What were they doing to you here? Dissecting you guys?" Nick glanced over at the body on the other bed before looking back at the wound. "Not me specifically." He said uncomfortably. There was suddenly the sound of almost a weapon's computer warming up. CHEUM! Kevin jerked a little when the sound rang out as Nick clamped the instrument down, he didn't feel it, but it still gave him a creepy feeling. Nick repositioned the instrument. "So what were they doing to you?" Howie pressed. "It-it was some kind of mind experiment." Nick said, sounding like he did, and didn't want to talk about it. "They were trying to create a drug that would enable a person to tap into the psy part of the brain." CHEUM! Kevin winced again, Howie kept his eye on him as he continued the conversation. "They were trying to make you psychic." Howie said carefully. "Yeah." CHEUM! Kevin didn't even move that time, he sat with his shoulders hunched, waiting. But Nick didn't position the instrument again, instead he let go of it, and it rose back up to the ceiling. "Done!" He said proudly. "Really!?" Kevin and Howie asked at the same time. Nick nodded. Howie went behind Kevin to see, sure enough, his skin and been pulled together, and new skin seemed to hold it together, even though you could faintly see a red line through it. Howie nodded impressed. Kevin hopped off the bed and turned around, rubbing his shoulder. "Thanks." He said. Nick shrugged. "So did it work?" Howie asked. Nick looked at him, "Did what work?" "The experiment, to make you physic. Did it work?" He stared at him patiently. Nick shifted his weight uncomfortably. "A little. But, ah........ not with the exact results they wanted." "What dose that mean?" Kevin asked. "Well, you see, I'm sort of physic. But............ it kinda comes ands goes whenever it wants to. You know, like a light being turned on. One second its on, then next its off." Nick paused, "And well...they couldn't put together what I was saying." "Come again?" "Well you see, when the power is there, I have a tendency to say weird stuff, you know, babble out what you would take to be incoherently, but if you ever figure out what I meant, it would make sense." "Like a riddle." Howie suggested. "Yeah! That's exactly what its like! A riddle!" Nick said, happy that someone got it. A realization dawned on Kevin, "Oh! So that's what you were talking about! About the cold and hunger! Your power or skill or whatever must have been "on"." Nick stared at him blankly, "What'd I say?" "Just about how you tried to warn everybody, and how that thing was cold and hungry." "Oh," Nick looked at him sheepishly, "Well, you see, when I babble out stuff like that when my power is "on", I don't exactly remember what I said." He admitted, letting out a little embarrassed laugh. "Hey, man. That little power of yours might come in handy, course it won't do you nothing if we don't off this station that is." Howie said. Nick stared at him, his eyes wide. "If?" "Only way off is the transport that got us here." Kevin said. "And unless you know when that's coming, were stuck here." "Well what about a supply ship? Don't those come here?" Howie shook his head," Supplies come with the people. Supposed to be easier that way. Besides, the transport doesn't even come on a timed schedule, it sometimes doesn't even come for weeks or even moths." Nick thought for a moment, then his face lit up. "No! Wait a minute! The station has to report in every couple days to.......... Whoever funds this place. If they don't call in within a week, then they'll send someone here to investigate." "A week?" Howie said sounding doubtful. "Hey, its better then weeks and months." Nick shot back. Kevin nodded, "Yeah, at lest now we might have a time frame of when someone will come." "I think we can cut even that time in half." Nick boasted proudly. "How?" Howie demanded. "The Central computer matrix. It's the main computer for the entire station, if we can get to it then we can send a SOS and they'll get here in a total of three days." "Hey! I like that plan!" Howie said grinning. Kevin nodded thoughtfully, "Its worth a try. Do you know where it is?" "Ah...now see, that's the one flaw in my plan. I know which deck its on but I don't know where it is exactly." Nick admitted. Kevin sighed, "Well its not like we don't have plenty of time to kill," He looked around then squinted at Nick. "Could you sense the creature that is lose on this station if it came near us?" He inquired. Nick looked thoughtful. "Yeah, I guess so." "Good, if were going to have to run all around this damn station, I at lest want a warning if were going towards it, or if its coming towards us." Kevin said firmly. "Now lastly, does this place have any weapons we could use?" "Nope. Med Bay instruments are as you can see, attached to the wall or locked up until they are needed." "Besides!" Howie jumped in, "That thing that chased me was huge, I don't think a scalpel is going to make it tremble in fear!" Sighing again, Kevin gave the place one last look. "Alright, if we come across another guard well grab his weapons." Kevin said taking a step back from the bed. "Lets go." "Thank god!" Howie said eagerly turning around, they all went to the door, Nick staying timidly behind the two older men. Kevin went through the door first, Howie handed him the flashlight and went next, Nick was last. They stood in the silent and eerie hall looking around. "So which deck is The Central computer matrix on?" Kevin asked shinning the light on Nick's face. "Uh, it's about fives decks down." Nick said wincing at the bright light. "Oh wonderful, like we need the exercise." Howie groaned. Kevin grinned, and aimed the light at Howie, "Come on Howie, take it like a engineer would!" With that cheeky remark, Kevin turned and began walking away leaving Howie fuming. Nick laughed as he walked past him. Howie smirked and started to walk after the two. "So Kevin," Nick began, as they walked, the empty hallway feeling even more empty now for some reason. "What's with your nose?" "Excuse me!?" Kevin asked not sure if he had heard right, he stopped and turned a little, his hand flying to his face. "Your nose, there's a red ridge here. " Nick traced down his own forehead to demonstrate. "Hey yeah! I was meaning to ask you about that!" Howie piped in. "What is that? Was it some kind of experiment?" Kevin delinquently felt the ridge and let out a laugh, "What? No this is natural! I'm half Neoshian." He explained. "Oh!" Nick and Howie said at the same time. Neoshin's were a human species that lived on a planet in the galaxy bordering Earth's, there had been a war between the planets a couple hundred years ago, but that had been long over with. Though some groups seemed hell bent on starting another, the two species got along well now thankfully. The men began walking again, "So which side of the good ol family is Neoshian?" Howie called up, "Mom's side? Or Dad's?" "Mother's side." Kevin answered, his eyes shifting to take in every shadow. "My father was visiting Neosha when he met her." "So where'd you grow up?" Nick asked. "Neosha or Earth?" "Neosha, though I trained for the Squad Force on Earth I visited there a bunch of times." Kevin stopped at four-way walk, he thought for a minute before choosing to go right, the two other men tromped after him. "So how about you Nick?" Kevin asked. "Where'd you come from?" "Oh," Nick hesitated, "I don't remember. My brain's been zapped so much its basically shot at this point. I don't remember much." "Not anything?" Howie asked sounding disappointed for Nick. "Well a few things, but its all just a blur." "Man, that's gotta be rough, sorry." Howie said. "Aw don't worry about it, who knows, maybe my life was horrible and they were doing me a favor getting rid of it." Nick said, looking on the bright side. Maybe it was wonderful and they were just being the monsters they were by taking it away from you, Howie thought but wisely chose not to voice. The men walked in silence for a few minutes, listening to the deafening silence that had wrapped around the station. A thought suddenly stuck Howie, "Do you know where you're going?" He demanded to Kevin. "No," He answered easily, if they were going to get out of this together, he figured they mine as well tell the truth. "But I've been on other stations before that had the same design as this one, hopefully its close enough to the design." "Wonderful," Nick muttered, Kevin ignored him and continued walking. Suddenly a sound rang out, loud and clear in the blanket of silence, all three men stopped. It sounded like a computer turning on, Kevin aimed the flashlight down the end of the hall where a little faint light spilled through the darkness. "What was that?" Howie whispered. "I don't know," Kevin said, sounding leery, he took a cautious step forward and licked his lips nervously. "Uh, maybe you two should wait here." "What? Is that a joke?" Howie demanded. "I'm the one with the gun Major, Nick's the one who can probably tell you if there's danger up ahead. No offense Kev, but you have zilch compared to us. And splitting up isn't a good idea." Nick nodded in agreement, Kevin grinned. "Fine, but stay behind." He ordered, turning back around. "No problem," Nick muttered, all three slowly walked to the end of the hall where the light was coming from, pressing against the wall, Kevin stood at the edge of the wall and peered around the corner. "What is it?" Howie whispered. Kevin stepped out into the open and gestured with his flashlight. "Take a look for yourself," He said. Nick walked out followed by Howie, Howie raised his eyebrows in surprise. A few doors down was an elevator, the glowing cylinder lit up the hallway dimly like a night-light. Kevin held out his hand to the glowing object in confusion. "I thought all the power was out?" He said. "I thought it was!" Howie was clearly as amazed as Kevin. "Maybe it's coming back on." Nick suggested, "Can it do that?" He directed the question to Howie, who shrugged. "I don't know, maybe! Who knows? Could be emergency power kicking in." "Well," Kevin said looking over his shoulder then back at the tube, "At lest we have a faster way of getting down." Pocketing the flashlight, Kevin walked over, Howie and Nick shuffled after him obediently. BACK NEXT |
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