Clear the Alien Infestation

The job sounded simple when Mikhail explained it, which should have been my first warning. A remote mining colony called Orpheus Ridge had stopped responding three days ago. The final transmission mentioned an unknown infestation spreading through the lower tunnels, followed by gunfire, screaming, and the kind of abrupt silence generally considered bad for business. The company wanted someone to investigate, rescue any survivors, and eliminate whatever had moved into their mine. Usually a job for a team of at least ten, preferably forty, we would be going in with three.

Payment upon completion: 80,000 Xens.

Considering our current financial situation, we couldn’t turn down a job offering eighty thousand Xens, no matter how dangerous it sounded.

The Arrow touched down outside the isolated mining town beneath an overcast sky. Prefabricated buildings surrounded the mouth of a massive open-pit mine, conveyor lines stretching between silent processing towers. Excavation machines sat abandoned where their operators had left them. Nothing moved.

“Quiet,” Mikhail said as we descended the ramp. “I don’t like it.”

“You’re carrying a Gatling gun that fires explosive rounds. Quite probably doesn’t like you either.”

Rei followed with one hand near the knife on her thigh, her ears twitching at every metallic groan. We found blood before we found a body—a dark smear leading through the entrance of the administration building. Inside, chairs had been overturned, papers littered the floor, and a shattered coffee mug lay beside reception.

Then the lights came on.

“Welcome to Orpheus Ridge Mining Cooperative. How may I assist you?”

All three of us spun, guns and knives raised.

A blonde woman sat behind the reception desk as if absolutely nothing unusual had happened. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, with tousled blonde hair, bright blue eyes, generous cleavage and the kind of figure looked deliberately designed to boost morale in such an isolated place. A blue colony vest covered a fitted black top, paired with a matching blue skirt, dark tights and work boots.

Then I noticed the faint seams beneath her jaw, Android. Her eyes moved from my pistol to my face. “Are you the contractors?”

I lowered the gun.

“More accurate to say, Exterminators” Mikhail laughed to himself.

She stood. “Designation A-118. Special Companion and Morale Support Unit assigned to Orpheus Ridge. You may call me Alli.”

Rei raised an eyebrow. “Companion?”

“I was assigned to provide intimate companionship to personnel stationed here for extended rotations, as well as carry out basic logistic work.”

“Oh.” Rei’s ears flattened.

I understood half a second later. “Oh. I was spot on about her boosting morale I just didn’t realize to what extent.” I looked over her incredibly designed body once again, hell I’d stay on this rock too if it meant fucking her regularly.

Alli walked around the desk, revealing several deep scratches across her back shoulder. Torn synthetic skin exposed metal underneath.

“What happened?” Rei asked.

“One of the creatures attempted to bite me. It determined I was unsuitable for consumption.”

Mikhail nodded. “Maybe you just taste bad.”

“I found it humiliating.” She snapped. I wasn’t sure whether she was joking.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“Taken.”

“Dead?”

“No. I personally observed thirty-seven colonists being removed alive. Security footage suggests considerably more.”

A holographic map appeared above the reception desk, revealing dozens of tunnels descending kilometers beneath the colony. Alli brought up security footage. A glossy black creature with an elongated skull raced across a wall and disappeared into the darkness.

Mikhail leaned closer. His visible eye lit up. “Oh, I like this job.”

“Of course you do.”

Another recording showed several creatures dragging unconscious miners through a tunnel.

“They aren’t feeding here,” Rei said.

“No,” Alli replied. “They’re transporting the colonists deeper underground.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Unknown.”

The map returned. Almost all the recorded movement converged around a massive natural cavern beneath the oldest section of the mine.

“So we go there,” Mikhail said, pointing his thick finger dead center.

“There are two viable routes,” Alli replied. “The primary elevator provides direct access to the central cavern. It is also where the highest concentration of creatures has been recorded.”

Mikhail smiled.

“No,” I told him.

“I said nothing.”

“Your face did.”

Alli highlighted another route branching away from the main mine. “Maintenance Shaft Seven connects to abandoned prospecting tunnels beneath the infestation. The creatures rarely enter them.”

“Safer?” I asked.

“I did not say that.”

Naturally.

Alli opened one final recording. The image shook as workers fled through a tunnel. Black creatures streamed past the camera, but instead of attacking, they suddenly stopped and lowered themselves. Something much larger approached through the darkness. For a moment I saw a distinctly humanoid silhouette among them. Then the recording died.

“The miners called her the Queen,” Alli said.

Mikhail’s grin widened. “We kill Queen.”

“You don’t even know what she is.”

“She is Queen. Like chess, you kill queen, all the pawns die.”

“I really don’t think you understand how to play chess.” Rei sighed.

I studied the two routes. The main elevator would take us directly toward the missing colonists—and whatever ruled the hive. The maintenance tunnels offered a quieter approach beneath it, assuming whatever lived down there wasn’t worse.

Alli stepped beside me. “I should accompany you. I possess complete facility maps, security clearance, and the creatures have demonstrated little interest in me.”

“You’re not combat personnel.”

“Neither were the miners.”

Fair point.

I looked at the map again. The alternate route may be safe enough for Alli to accompany us but she may not survive the direct route.