Pain & Pleasure - Part 4 (OC)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Chapter 2

Hope means naught in the depths of space

The flash of rotating metal shells carries to my eyes

Not one is sanctuary

In our odyssey on wings of flame

Cosmonauts lost in the sea of time

Went away and some will not return

Europa - Home to the largest human colony in the Milky Way galaxy

  Elizabeth watched his lips move. She saw the salacious words form and vibrate the air between them. Yet, its sound was muffled. His skin felt soft and smooth, and it felt weak. She could feel it peeling as she moved her fingers across his body. She retracted her hand. Not real.

“...I love us being alone. Having you all to myself,” he was saying.

  She looked into his wide, honest eyes. Pits of blue and black. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. It came apart in her hand. She felt the wetness of his raw scalp. No. His hair was soft and he was smiling. The smile froze on his face. Diffused white light filled the cubic chamber. An intercom clicked on.

“Commander, there’s been a situation."

  She looked back at the facsimile of a smile on his motionless face. His eyes were empty holes of decayed flesh.

“Clear,” she whispered.

  The man vanished. Elizabeth clothed herself. She open the door of the projection deck. In the passageway she found Lieutenant A. Jackal, who had called her on the intercom. His face was a mask of forced calm.

“There has been another attack, ma’am.”

  From 3752B the inhabitants felt just a small shudder. They heard the screams, and they felt the footsteps beating along the passageway that connected the cells. And the sirens. Hundreds of bodies reached the sealed airlock.

“The bomb went off in sector, um, 3752C. Residential cell. It was a chemical bomb,” Jackal said.

  They had walked from Elizabeth’s housing unit to the other side of the base, and were in the situation room. Seven other high ranking officers sat around a table with them watching the visual feed from 3752C. Elizabeth watched the residents swarm around the door like ants when their nest is disturbed.

“Sanitize them,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am.”

  On the monitor they watched as clouds of neurotoxin gas slowly drifted from the ventilation system. Jackal approached Elizabeth and asked her to speak with him privately in an adjoining room. When the door shut he began talking in a low voice.

“Ma’am, there’s been an update regarding the stolen simulation program. We’ve identified our suspect."

He showed her a picture of Sean on a handheld device.

“He’s in Hunger City, ma’am.”

“Ready your team, Jackal. We need to snuff this before it get’s out of hand.”

Elizabeth and Jackal reentered the situation room and sat down. On the monitor the last of the residents of 3752C were gasping their last breaths. The rest lay dead around them.

Thanks for reading!!

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