The all-clear had come down to all decks about an hour ago. Corporal Blake had submitted his report to Damage Control. He couldn’t explain the dissappearance of his two companions.

They were there, then the pain hit, then they weren’t there.

His head still hurt, though. Right behind his eyes. He felt warm and breathing was too hard.

His earpiece chirped. GC, Relief. Blake was thrilled to hear those words. Finally, his shift was up.

“Copy. Authenticate.”

Tophat.

Blake keyed the safety sequence into his gun control console and removed his HUD -Visor. Standing up from his chair, he crossed the room. He reached out to enter the unlock code into the keypad when an unexpected warning coarsed through his mind.

It isn’t safe out there.

He was too tired for paranoia, so he shrugged it off and opened the door. Three faces stared back at him.

A movement.

It took a moment to see the drawn sidearms. The officer was barking into the comm on his sleeve..

“Intruder Alert!”