Main Priority

Down on C-Deck, two women were working in a dark cramped office, the only sound being the gentle hum of the air conditioning and the tapping of their fingers striking the keyboards.  A new sound was then introduced, the sound of a knocking at the door.

The two women looked at each other for a moment, as if telepathically deciding who should answer it, before one eased herself up and made her way over to the door.

As the door slid open it revealed Sanguis, who was crouching slightly to let its new victim fully see her executioner.  One of Sanguis’ tentacles passed through her throat before she could scream and pinned her to the far wall.  Her co-worker freaked out and immediately tried to run for the other exit.

Sanguis dropped its first prey and climbed up the wall and along ceiling with a surprising speed before dropping down in front of the still alive woman, who instantly fell to the floor and crawled into a corner to cower.

As Sanguis slowly approached her, fresh thoughts were generated in its mind:

Live specimen: HUMAN FEMALE
First subject captured uninjured
Opportunity for practical anatomy data
Initiating autopsy program…

It picked up the woman by the throat with one of its long metal hands and pinned her against a wall.  Using two more it spread her arms and readied its upper right arm.

A circular saw slid out of a compartment on its forearm and began to rotate rapidly.  Petrified by terror, the woman didn’t make a sound until it began to cut into her chest.

***

While Mariella skipped down one of the many corridors of Heaven’s C-Deck during her latest wander, she came across red footprints with three long toes pointing forwards and one pointing back.  Out of curiosity, she began to follow these feet that seemed too large to be human.

***

Back in the C-Deck office, Sanguis examined its now deceased specimen laid out on the floor.  It had already removed her ribcage and was presently studying her internal organs.

Human anatomy file updated
Lethal efficiency increased

With that task completed, Sanguis then turned to one of the women’s computer terminals and began to type at an extraordinary rate before the monitor showed what it wished:

Public information activated
Downloading crew list...

Sanguis copied the list of names and faces to its database and then moved on to the next wanted file.

Downloading Heaven schematics…

 A detailed map of Heaven appeared onscreen, which Sanguis then studied and copied the intricate diagram perfectly onto his HUD.

A-DECK: Control Room
B-DECK: Crew Quarters & Recreational Facilities
C-DECK: Docking Bays & Maintenance
SPIRE: Research Laboratories

Independent analysis processing…
Control Room responsible for communications
Main Priority

Sanguis looked up to an air ventilation shaft lining the top of one wall and swiftly climbed up to it, using his saw to tear open a fissure in the vent, before slinking through and disappearing.

***

In a circular tunnel, Ridley mopped up while a large intimidating fan rotated in the background and Rob took a break to one side.

“My back’s tired,” Ridley complained.  “Quit resting.”

“Just give me a minute,” Rob said.  “I’ve just eaten, I get sleepy when I eat.”

Originating from the communicator currently located on Rob’s tool belt, a voice was heard that said, “Rob, it’s Stevens, you there?”

Rob slothfully picked up his communicator and responded with, “Yeah, I’m here.  What do you want?”

“I know this is last minute but can you guys clean up the Control Room today?” Stevens’ voice said.

“You gotta be kidding me,” Rob said.  “What the Hell should we?”

“Sorry Rob but my team’s just been told we’ve got to go have our medical reviews.”

“Fine,” Rob sighed.  “We got it, but you owe me.”

“Yeah, absolutely,” Stevens said.  “Thanks man.”

Rob slotted his communicator back into his tool belt and said to Ridley, “You heard him, we gotta go up to A-Deck after this and clean the Control Room.”

“B******s,” Ridley said as Mariella entered the tunnel by crawling through a vent.

“Mariella?” Rob said.

“Dad!  Dad!” she cried excitedly as she ran over to her father.

“Didn’t I tell you not to wander off again?” Rob said.

“No,” Mariella said.  “You just told me not to tell mum.”

“She’s right Rob,” Ridley said.

“What is it then Mariella?” Rob said.

“There’s an alien onboard,” she said.

“Is there really?” Rob said.  “What did he look like?”

“There’s no such thing as aliens Mariella,” Ridley said.

“There really is an alien,” she said.  “But I didn’t see it.  I just saw its footprints.  It had three long toes and one at the back.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rob calmed her.  “Me and Ridley will take care of it later, OK?”

“Really?” a wide-eyed Mariella said.

“Of course,” Rob said.  “That’s part of our job.  We clean up the place, fix anything that’s broke and kill any aliens who are stupid enough to try and invade.”

“OK,” Mariella said.  “I don’t think you’ll win though, this was a big footprint.”

“You think the alien can beat both of us?” Rob said.

“Yep,” Mariella said with a smile.  “You’re gonna die.”