Unexpected surprise..

The next couple hours were punctuated by hustle and bustle as security officers swept through the station checking all access points and security cameras and marking items off their checklists. The various kitchens in the marketplace food court bustled with activity as workers scrambled to clean everything and stock up on ingredients for their best menu items. The reprocessors were rechecked for safety compliance.

Station Control had some momentary excitement followed by confusion and annoyance. Ladar sensors blipped briefly but observation scopes found no ships in sight. A simple glitch but it meant an engineer would need to be called up to run diagnostics on the sensor array. That would impede perimeter defense for at least half an hour. If all went well, the diagnostics would show no faults and the Ladar sensors would be back online well before the safety inspector arrived.

Muttering under his breath, Corporal Davis made his rounds at Main Engineering. Most of the staff had already left for the day. Chief engineer Grover was finishing his safety checks. The ward would be locked down for a few hours for routine diagnostics and maintenance.

Davis walked the area stopping at each entrance to close and seal the door. He would save the rear door for last. It lead through a narrow corridor to the Life Support ward, the next stop on his patrol. Already apprehensive at the news of a surprise inspection, Davis wanted to hurry up and finish his rounds and then go have a beer.

As the chief engineer finished his duties, Davis motioned him toward the last open door. Grover would have preferred to use the front door, it provided a shorter route to crew quarters but the corporal had already sealed it so he was out of luck. The middle-aged engineer hurried out the door and Davis anxiously reached for the silver lever that would close it and activate the maglocks.

He was about to pull the level when he heard a scuffling sound from inside. He instinctively whipped out his pistol and stepped back inside the ward, scanning all about. Most of the lights had already dimmed but he could see well enough to discern if someone was lingering inside.

There was no one in sight. Maybe he was just hearing things. He holstered his pistol as he turned and stepped back into the corridor leading to Life Support. Just outside the door, he reached for the lockout lever when something caught his eye. He sidestepped back into the ward and stared intently. What the hell?

It was still dimly lit inside but his field of view seemed blurry, as though he were staring through a cloud of natural gas. A strange clicking sound broke the silence. The last thing he heard was his own scream as something pierced through his rib cage spray-painting the wall with his blood.