Halbman dropped his sidearm shock on his face. “Oh, Crats, I’m sorry. I don’t know why, but for a moment, you didn’t look like you.”
Bell glanced up at the trajectory of the blast. The shot burned a small spot into the wall behind and above Andrisican by a good four feet. “Well, good thing your hallucination was tall, or that would have been difficult to explain.”
Halbman snorted, “It’s Fear, isn’t it? The slime that touched me it’s causing hallucinations. I’m infected.”
“It would seem so,” Bell said, tapping the keys on the med console to his right. “I’m running a sweep for known hallucinogens.”
The room suddenly lit up red then green. Elsa turned red-faced to Andrisican. “That balk rat infected me, didn’t he?”
Haldman nodded, “And me.”
“Good that worked. The office had been under protocol for a while, but the virus controls were set for diseases only. That could be why Hoosier Fear is living up to his name.” Bell pressed another button, and a gate dropped over the door. He moved toward a door on the right of the entry wall. “Coming?”
Halbman smartly turned to follow. Elsa looked at the door, shocked. “Are we prisoners?”
Halbman scoffed. “Don’t be stupid. The gate is to keep things out. We’re registered to be here. The Marshall made sure. We’re at the very least ‘security public.’”
“Security public?” Elsa repeated.
Bell responded. “Security public means public only spaces. No private quarters, not your own, and no secure locations are open to you.”
“But can I leave?” Elsa asked
Bell could see she was agitated when he answered. “Of course, the gate is added protection. If you leave and return, you’ll need to state your business and name at the door. Then submit to the security processes, a cleansing. You will then be allowed access.
Elsa looked torn. “So I can leave but if I come back, I could be infected again and will need to be cleared.”
“Yeah, it’s a precaution for the office. But also a way to free you.” Haldman said.
Elsa glanced at the gate and followed Bell into a game room of some kind. “This is the central public area. To your left are the guest quarters and other public places. To the right are the barracks and employee restricted sections.”
Elsa nodded then turned to the hall for the guest rooms. She took a step when another voice called from the other door. “Who the calk are you? You have no authorization to be here?”
“Hello, Aubnu,” Andrisican said, voice full of authority.
“This local yours then?” The female Aubnu asked.
Bell smiled. “Yes, she’s with me. What happened here?”
Aubnu looked disgruntled for a moment before her eyes glazed over. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
Andrisican stepped back from the woman, hitting a button on the wall. The ship’s computer voice responded. “Self-diagnostic! Problem found. Problem resolved. Run virus protocols.”
Light surrounded Aubnu for a moment then released. “That slimy little rodent dropping. I’ll eviscerate him. Oh hi, Marshall Andrisican. What can I help you with?”
“What happened Aubnu?” Bell asked letting Aubnu know the situation wasn’t ‘formal’ business.
“Fear happened. The upper management fo the Marsh took a stand against Marauders in our galaxy space. The marauders took exception. They sent in Hoosier Fear though we didn’t know that at the time, it started slow disappearances. Then bodies started to appear. Before we knew it, the people began to turn on each other. We never did find the source of the mind poison.” Aubnu said weariness in her voice.
Bell sighed. “Slime, it’s a living slime probably from the Ependras galaxy. Whose behind it do you know yet?”
Aubnu looked sick. “The Intiarans, though we only saw their lapdogs the Resenchi in our systems. Without Mars protection, the Milky Way is ripe for attack.
Stella K's Journey Journal 