Stellaris

My body jolts awake, the blood rushing to my head, instead of walking on the floor, I’m hanging above it, a wound on my head from hitting the floor bleeds into a puddle. The flamethrower is a few feet away from me so it’s useless right now. I stepped in a fucking trap, out of all the dangers in this ship...a trap. Set by who? A thought pops into my head, Mason. My watch begins beep, slow at first and then faster. Oh god, I’m gonna die here. But it’s not the alien that pops around the corner, literally sprinting. It’s Mason Jones, the ass hat that brought hell on board a floating pile of metal in the middle of space two years from Earth. He cuts the rope as he runs by, my body hits the floor and sends a shock throughout my spine. What the fuck?
My head is a little fuzzy when I finally get to my feet, he was running awfully fast but there’s nothing on my pulse watch. I bend down to pick up the flamethrower and when I look up there’s my worst nightmare. Not just one alien, but three. I frantically grab the weapon and leap backwards, shooting a blast of fire at them. My mind throws my senses into a panic and everything seems so slow, but I’m running so fast. I can hear their feet pound against the metal floor, they’re coming and I’m so close to death, the grim reaper is sitting on my shoulder. The last thing I see is Mason and he’s holding a pipe and I’m pretty sure he smacked it against my head.

Where am I?

It’s blurry, but I see her...my mom. She’s working on the ship. Her welding helmet slides up and she hugs my dad, they’re both smiling, they’re so happy. I did this for them, this was their dream, they should be here, not to be eaten by aliens, but to see their work floating through space, searching for new things. Mom kisses dad, dad says something, mom walks away, switch to car, dad is angry, drunk driver slams into them, switch to hospital, dad dies first, mom follows close behind him. There I am, in the waiting room, crying. My parents, my everything...they’re dead.

My head hurts, it fucking hurts bad. Who the fuck does he think he is? I’m blind for a few seconds but when I can finally see, he’s standing over me. I lean up quickly and sharp pains shoot throughout my body, especially my brain. He walks over to a computer and types something in, the clicking is so loud. My feet hit the floor, or do they? I’m not even sure. I’m walking now, more like wobbling. I’m so weak, I fall against a chair, trying to keep myself up but I just can’t. Mason helps me to a chair and dabs a cloth against my bleeding forehead.

“After hitting me in the head with a pipe, you take care of me?” My speech is slurred, but I’m sure he gets the point.

“I thought I’d at least help out.” He smirks.

“You have a lot of nerve, Jones.”

“Why thank you.”

“Why didn’t you detach the drop ship when you noticed a fucking alien on it?” I ask, my teeth pressing hard together.

“That wasn’t my job.” He says so calm.

“What was your job exactly?”

“The aliens...I sent to observe. Supposed to bring eggs back so they can be used as weapons back on Earth. I left the thing in there, hoping it would produce eggs.”

“Well, the fucker did.” I say. “I don’t know how many is out there, but they’re going to kill you and I’m going to blow this ship to shit.”

He laughs. “You think you’ll make it that far?”

“I’m not letting those aliens reach Earth.”

There’s a sound in the vents above us, he reaches for the flamethrower but I jump for hit, hitting my chin off the table. I manage to get just as the alien falls from the ceiling. I slide under the table and pull a chair in front of me. The weapon is pressed hard against my chest. I don’t know where Mason went, honestly, I don’t really care. The monster’s stomps echo through my ears. My watch starts beeping, not a soft beep, but a loud one that draws the alien right towards me. I quickly unlatch it and toss out into the middle of the room, my body trembles. It turns to the source of the throw and walks my way. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Before I know it, the chair is kicked out and I’m burning the fuck out of the alien. It falls to the floor and I keep burning it, just to make sure it’s dead. Then I turn it to Mason, which is heading for the door.

“You’re not leaving this ship, or this room.” I say, my heart pounding.

“What are you gonna do?” He asks.

“I don’t want to, but you’ve doomed the ship, you killed the crew, and you were going to send these things to our home. I’m going to fucking end you.” I close my eyes and pull the trigger on the flamethrower, I can hear his screams, I had to do it.

Am I a monster?

“Hey, Watson!” Monty yells, he’s cheerfully skipping towards the ship. “Your parents would be proud.”

“Thanks Monty. Ready for this?”

“I’m not sure, I’m kinda nervous.” He smiles slightly. “I hope we find them.”

“We will, I’m sure of it.” I climb on board and head to the hibernation pods.

“Ready for a two year nap?” Jonas asks as he lays down.

“That’s really all I’ve wanted to do my entire life...sleep.” I laugh and drop down into the pod.

“So they hook everything up once we’re asleep?” Jameson rubs his hands together and lays back.

“Yeah, don’t worry.” I give him a reassuring smile. “Everything will be fine.”

But it’s not fine.