Virus

This was a story I wrote a couple of years ago. It was supposed to be a novel, it turned into a short story. You may see this story's formatting change over the next two weeks, as I'm still trying to fix it (Blogger doesn't like to keep the formatting when I copy and paste from Word).

*********************************************************************************

She heard the device even as her subconscious was off into the past. Remembering the events of the previous two years.

Not two whole years

Akira sat up in her bed and rubbed her arms.

"Good morning, Akira. It is oh-six-hundred-hours on fifteen February, twenty-eight-twenty-six. Would you like to see your schedule for today?"

"No thanks. I know what I have to do. Just set up the tests in the lab for me, okay?"

"Affirmative, Akira."

Akira stood up and walked over to the automated dresser that took up most of the starboard side of her bedroom. She dressed much like usual―a bra, panties, a black tanktop, camo cargo pants and pink sandals. After she was done with her dressing, she walked out of her room and took a look down the hallway.

Three of them stood to her immediate left, with four more thirty feet away.

The creatures didn’t turn to look at her. They never had, as long as the ship had been infected. The only thing they cared about was warm, living flesh, and apparently, her’s wasn’t living enough. It didn’t matter that she was alive―they just didn’t care about her.

The creatures used to be humans. They were the crew of the ship. Now, they were just creatures that needed flesh to survive. Akira couldn’t understand why they needed flesh, as none of them had working digestive systems anymore. They couldn’t use the electrical impulses from the flesh to move their bodies or their muscles.

She didn’t dwell on the creatures long before travelling to the laboratory deck.

The Orchard was the only Centurion-class vessel in the fleet that had a laboratory deck. Lab decks were primarily reserved for Helsinki-class ships. But the Orchard was different―it was the first ship built specifically for studying other world’s unique organisms. It was probably this specification that lead to the downfall of the Orchard and its crew, but it was the first―and so far only―of its kind.

The laboratory deck itself was located on the mid deck, near the bow of the ship. It took only one hundred yards in both bow-aft and port-starboard directions, and was three decks in size vertically. The ceiling of the laboratory itself was pure glass, for observation purposes by high-ranking officals and visiting scientists.

Now, it was the only deck on the ship that Akira cared most about having energy.

As she entered the laboratory deck, the test blood batches were set up on a table in the center of the room.

"The tests are ready, Akira."

"Thank you, computer..."

"Is something wrong?"

"It’s my birthday..."

"Is this not a time for a human to be happy?"

"With other humans, yes. There aren’t any other humans on the ship any more."

Akira began running the tests on the infected blood cells from the test subject that she had locked up in the chemical freezer. Since the creatures didn’t feel anything, it was still wandering around the room in search of food.

Not for the first time, Akira pitied the creature.

The first test was the BioDNA test―one that checked for biohazardous waste in the DNA of the infected creature. The process was accomplished by picking apart exact strands of DNA and recombining them in the opposite order―the same technique used in biomedical cloning back home. As usual, no waste was found in the subject’s DNA.

Test number two was known as the BetaDNA test. It involved taking an exact copy of the DNA and mixing it with non-infected cells. Akira usually skipped this test, since she was running low on the stocked non-infected cells and couldn’t use any of her own.

C Test was the final one―the Recombination. In C Test, the DNA was once again picked apart and recombined, however it was not recombined in the opposite order―it was recombined exactly the same, only after being cleaned off by nutrient chemicals. This was so far the only viable way to cure an infected person, only Akira had no one to test it on. The way it could work was if the infected person was in the final stages of infection. No one else on the ship was still alive. Another problem with the process was that there was a potential threat of death due to the incredibly painful process used.

"Okay, computer, what are the results of this test?"

"Test Cappa was once again successful in the simulation, but since there was no real test subject, I cannot determine its effectiveness in an actual situation."

"All right. Begin testing the other infected DNA samples. I’ll be right back."

Akira walked out of the room and continued down the hallway toward the Mess Hall.

During her trip, Akira took a look at each and every creature, looking for a specific one.

She still didn’t find him.

***

Two Years Earlier...

Doctor Toshiro Ishiyama stood outside the brig as two of the infected deck officers banged against the window. Neither of them knew what was between them and the uninfected flesh, they only knew that there was uninfected flesh standing two feet from where they were, and that something was in the way.

The only one not doing anything was Akira.

She was simply sitting on the cot inside the brig. She held her knees to her chest and just rocked back and forth. It was more of a surreal sight than the infected crewmen staring at him with cataract eyes and missing portions of their faces.

"Sir," the SEAL next to him put his hand on Toshiro’s shoulder. Toshiro didn’t respond however. He just kept watching Akira. "Sir," the SEAL said again.

"Hold on just one damned minute," Toshiro said to the SEAL.

Toshiro had never understood why the special forces officers supplied to space vessels were still known as ‘SEALs’. Back before space travel had become something normal, SEAL had stood for Sea, Air and Land, and were used by the US Navy. Since the Navy had been turned into the space travel experts, the SEALs had come along for the ride, and for some reason kept their name.

Toshiro didn’t dwell on that for very long, however. What he ended up dwelling upon was Akira. Still, she sat there, all curled up. She didn’t do anything other than sit there. He walked around to the glass panel that was beside her. He tapped the glass and said, "Akira?"

She barely looked at him.

"Akira, please. Say something."

Nothing.

"I know you can, Akira."

Still nothing.

"Right now, Akira. Right now, or I’ll have to do something about that."

Once more, nothing.

"Fine. I’ll have to do something."

Toshiro stuck his face to the glass and started pulling on his cheeks, creating a very humerous image. It got the wanted effect of making Akira giggle.

"There, I knew that would work."

"Please," her voice was lessened by the glass. "Don’t make me laugh... I don’t wanna laugh right now..."

"You don’t have to laugh. You just have to say something. You just have go give some acknowlegement."

"I’m sorry..."

"Don’t be."

"Sir," the SEAL snapped out, this time. "The captain is waiting for you."

"Yes, I know." Toshiro turned back to Akira. "I’ll be back in a little bit, okay?"

"Okay," there was something in her voice. Not sadness, but something.

Toshiro smiled at her, then followed the SEAL.

They weren’t halfway to the Captain's quarters when the SEAL told him to wait. They had stopped outside the Mess Hall. Toshiro looked into the Mess Hall and saw someone convulsing on a table. It was a woman―one who was at least fifteen years older than Akira―who was thrashing about on that table. She screamed for help, then quieted.

"Back off!" the SEAL shouted as he drew his weapon.

The woman sat up seconds later and looked at him. Then she jumped up and onto the SEAL. The woman bit into the SEAL’s left shoulder―his dominant side, by the way he drew his weapon―and must have created a spasm in his arm, because as she did it, he fired his weapon and hit Regalsio―Toshiro’s assistant, when Akira wasn’t around―in the stomach. All of this action was practically over once another SEAL put a bullet into both the woman and the original SEAL’s head.

"Everyone back away!" the second SEAL shouted, his weapon still aimed downward at the two victims. "You!" he shouted at Regalsio.

"I’m fine..." he didn’t sound like it. His voice was cracky, and very light. Regalsio normally had a very hoarse voice, and it didn’t crack very often.

"Someone get him to the medical bay!"

A hand fell onto Toshiro’s shoulder and nearly made him jump out of his skin. "Helluva situation here, isn’t it, Doc?" the Captain’s tone of voice made it seem as if the man had wanted this to happen.

"Indeed it is, sir..."

"C’mon. Let’s talk in my office, eh?"

***

Toshiro admired the Captain’s extensive collection of gold space vessels. Everything from the Orchard to the Captain’s first vessel―the Pegasus. Of course, there were very few variations between the seventeen small gold ships on small gold stands―the Centurion-class hadn’t changed much since the Centurion itself four hundred years prior.

The other thing he was admiring was the Captain’s cool demeanor. The Orchard had been drifting in space for over three months, and he hadn’t lost his professional attitude.

As soon as they walked into his office, the Captain sat down in his chair and propped his feet up on his desk. "So, Doctor, what progress do you have? What is causing the people on this ship to die and become mindless walking corpses?"

"I’m not sure, sir. We don’t know what’s causing it, we don’t know why it’s only happening to certain people, we’re not even sure how Akira is able to walk around with it and not infect either herself or anyone else. And as far as the ‘walking’ part... I’d say they’re doing a fair amount of running as well."

"Yes, I know. I’ve seen my fair share of it. And what about young Akira, anyway? How’s she doing?"

"You know how she’s doing, sir. She’s locked in that room with those things."

"Unfortunate."

"Sir..."

"Toshiro, I know what you’re going to say. The answer is still ‘no’."

"But sir, if Akira is let out of there, she can help me with my research."

"And if she’s let out of there, who knows when she’ll finally succumb to this disease. She may end up infecting half the crew."

"With all due respect, sir, half the crew is already infected."

The Captain leaned back in his chair. His feet were still propped up on the desk. "All right. She’ll be let out, but, only if you can provide me solid proof that she’s not contagious."

"I’ll do that."

***

Toshiro’s head felt like a ten ton brick as he stared at the experiment results on the holo-screen. None of them were telling him what he needed to know.

"Dammit..." he tried to shout, but he was too tired to do anything but utter it in a very thirsty, hoarse voice. He rubbed at the stubble that had been accumulating on his chin for the past sixteen hours as he watched the holo-screens. Nothing that he’d tried on Akira did anything to eradicate the virus from her bloodstream. Nothing even slowed its replication cycle. "Dammit, why? Why? What’s so goddamned special about her?!" his voice rose slightly, but not enough to make it sound like an honest shout.

He took the very last sample of her blood that was in the lab at the moment and placed it in the virus indication sensor. He was about to stand up, walk over to the counter and get himself a twentith cup of coffee when the holo-screen flashed the results in front of him.

0% INFECTION

He stared at the screen for more than ten minutes before throwing his cup at the wall and screaming "Yes!" repeatedly.

A SEAL ran into the room with his weapon drawn. Toshiro waved him down and said, "I need to see the Captain right away."

The SEAL nodded and then lead the doctor out of the room. He just managed to catch a glimpse of the screen, only the last part of the word INFECTION was in his sight. He didn’t see the results on the holo-screen change from 0% INFECTION to 100% INFECTION.

***

"She’s not infected at all," Toshiro said to the Captain after he entered the room.

"You’re sure?"

"Zero percent infection rate. Even after being bitten, she wasn’t infected by the virus at all. I don’t know how, but she was never infected."

"All right," the Captain looked over at the SEAL behind Toshiro. "Let her out of the containment room."

"Sir, yes sir."

The Captain looked over at Toshiro. "You’re not entirely certain about that infection result, are you?"

"Well... I find it hard to believe that Akira’s not infected. Something about it is strange."

"I assumed you’d be happy."

"I am. Of course I am."

"Well, first I believe you should go see your assistant. He’s been asking for you for the past sixteen hours."

"I will. Akira should be able to find me."

***

Toshiro sat in the chair next to Regalsio. "How are you feeling?" he asked, crossing his legs.

"I’m better. The surgeons gave me a pain killer."

"Good."

"I overheard someone saying that they were letting Akira out of the brig."

"Yes. She’s...We don’t think she’s infected."

"Don’t think? You’re not sure?"

"All but one test said one hundred percent infection. The last said zero. Normally, I’d be willing to believe the

most recent test more, but something about this virus... It’s just not right." He uncrossed his legs, then leaned forward. "I’ve checked samples from recent infectees―the virus has mutated."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"We’ve all noticed the ones that have somehow gained immense speed and strength. Tests have shown that the virus is enhancing their muscle capabilities to a rate almost thirty percent higher than any human being should be capable of. And that’s not all."

"What?"

"If the SEALs hadn’t gotten you here for treatment, you’d have been one as soon as you died."

"But, I wasn’t bitten."

"The air is being permeated with this virus now. So many of them have died... we’re breathing it in, now."

"Breathing it? So, that means..."

"Whoever dies now, becomes one of them. If you fall off of a ladder, if you accidentally cut your wrists and don’t do anything about it, if you choke on a piece of biscuit, if you’re bitten especially. No matter what, you become one of those... those ‘zombies’ that we’ve got held in the brig."

"Is that what happened with Lieutenant Samson?"

"Did you see a bite on her? I wasn’t able to check her corpse."

"I wasn’t really looking."

"Well. This epidemic might be getting too out of hand. And since our engine failure, we can’t return to the station."

"Isn’t there..." Toshiro cut him off.

"There’re no stations out this far at all. That’s what this mission was for: checking planets for colonization."

"Then we’re fucked."

"Fucked indeed."

***

Akira stepped into her suit and secured her helmet. She then tapped the LINK OPEN button on the wall holo-screen. The Captain’s face appeared on the blue-white screen in front of her.

"You’re looking for an open door on deck twelve, okay?"

"Yeah."

"We’re certain that Figeroa is infected. He probably jumped outside to die on his own terms."

"Right..."

"What’s the matter?"

"Nothing, sir. I’m just..."

"Toshiro gave you a clean bill of health, and I trust him."

"Right, sir. I’m heading out now."

She pressed the LINK CLOSED button and then opened the airlock door. She attached her line to the wall clasp and made her move outside the Orchard. The white stars out in space stared at her almost accusingly.

She’d never seen a Centurion-class outside in space. What little light there was reflecting off the side of the hull was enough illumination to see every single detail. Most of the ship, on this side, was covered in darkness; but, the starboard side of the ship was clear as day.

And twelve feet directly ahead was the open door to Cam Figeroa’s post.

She moved toward it, slowly. Every two feet, her line tug at her. That was annoying. She made it to Figeroa’s post and looked inside.

There was Figeroa’s floating body.

Oh, Christ... she thought, looking at him.

He was wearing a space suit. His helmet looked secured. She looked down at the comm device on her left arm and saw that he had an open comm channel. She typed in his comm number and waited for the connection. The red light turned green a second later.

"Mr. Figeroa? Sir?"

Her voice must have woken him up, or something. He looked looked up and outside. "Akira? Is that you?"

"It is."

"I didn’t know they’d let you out of the brig."

"Yeah... Sir, are you all right?"

"All right? All right? I’m so far from all right that it’d probably take me light years just to reach it."

"What are you talking about, sir?"

"One of ‘em bit me, Akira, one of ‘em bit me."

"I’m sorry, sir. If you just go inside, we can get you medical trea―"

She was cut off by his actions. He raised his right arm. In his hand was handgun. He pointed it directly at her, cocked back the hammer, and―

―fired. But the round never reached her. The obvious laws of gravity and physics meant first that the bullet was slowed greatly. Second, the gun wasn’t aimed at her at all.

It was aimed at the carrier behind her.

She watched as its head flung backward, blood spilling out of the wound. After spilling from the wound, the blood seemed to hang there in space.

And nothing stopped it.

"Sir? Mr. Figeroa?" she looked back at the man. He was still floating there.

His gun wasn’t in his hand.

"Sir? Mr. Figeroa?" she repeated, moving closer.

His head snapped toward her.

His dead eyes fixed on her.

He’d died after shooting the carrier.

Then he tried to move, but it seemed as though he couldn’t move his body at all.

What’s going on?

As she got closer to him, he stopped trying to move.

What the hell?

The dead Mr. Figeroa wasn’t doing anything anymore. He’d even stopped looking at her. It was almost as if her presence near him was nonexistant. Was the creature truly unaware?

"Akira?" the Captain’s voice came over the comm channel loudly, almost to the point of blowing out Akira’s eardrum.

"Yes, sir?"

"What’s the status on Figeroa?"

"He’s... he’s dead, sir."

"Well, will you take care of him?"

"I’ll cut his suit loose from the airlock and close it from the outside, then I’ll return to my airlock and close that one."

"All right. In the meantime, the good Doctor and I’ll be attending a meeting of the higher ranking officers. Join us when you’re done there, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Captain out."

The comm channel closed. Akira looked back up at the floating dead body that was no longer aware of her existence.

What the hell is wrong with this picture?

***

Toshiro spun the pen around in his hand and kept his legs propped up on the conference table.

"Dr. Ishiyama, do you know anything more about these creatures that are causing us quite a bit of trouble? Or are you just going to keep playing with your pen?" the Captain asked, standing at the holo-screen that dominated the main wall of the conference room.

"Well, Captain, I’ve discovered a few things about them. The first is that the creatures have no need for the flesh they consume. They just eat it, for no reason at all. They can, however, continue on probably for years without fresh flesh. And, if neccesary, they’ll probably begin to cannabalize one another, as well.

"Then comes their decomposition rate. Human bodies begin to decompose after a few days―these creatures do not. They decompose slowly upon death, but it decelerates immediately. Unless exposed to the extremes of heat or cold, their bodies will decompose at a rate that is ninety percent slower than a human being.

"The next thing, however," Toshiro stood up, then continued, "is more of a pressing concern, it is this new type of creature: the kind that can run, that can jump, the kind we’ve all been seeing recently. These creatures appear to be filled from head to toe with the most recent mutation of the virus that we’ve been experiencing here. They’re capable of speeds ten percent faster than a human, strength that is twenty percent higher than a human, and their infection ratio is over one hundred percent higher than the slow creatures."

The door to the room opened. Every head turned to the door as Akira walked in, wearing her teenagerish tank top, running shorts and shoes. She blushed when she saw Toshiro looking at her.

I need to have a talk with her about that...

"Ah, Akira," the Captain said, standing up. "How good of you to join us."

"Thank you, Captain."

"Dr. Ishiyama, continue please? After your updates, we have some that Akira and I have noticed."

What?

"Uh, yes, of course." Toshiro walked over to the holo-screen on the wall. "We know that amputation of infected limbs will cease infection, and decompose the amputated limb at a rate fifty percent higher than a human. But the amputation effect is only possible if infected by one of the shamblers. The infection due to the runners spreads too quickly through the body, no one survives that long enough for the amputation to have an effect on the outcome.

"We’ve noticed a major behavioral difference between the runners and shamblers. Shamblers seem content to stand there until they see food, they won’t do anything unless food is present. Runners, however, attempt to brain their fellow runners so that they’ll have no competition for food. Runners are, on the whole, a good deal more aggressive. They’ll tear apart bodies more often than just stopping them and eating them on the spot.

"And then there’s our largest problem: anyone who dies becomes one of them. Unless eliminated in the proper manner, anyone who dies beecomes one of them. Now, so far, anyone not bitten by a runner will become a shambler, whether bitten by one or not. This is fortunate, because that means that the creatures can be eliminated before they become a problem.

"Everyone knows this, but destruction of the brain is the only way to end the creature’s unlife. Removal of the head results in the inertion of the body, but the head will remain active. Any type of bludgeon will work, so those are more reccomended than our limited supply of ammunition."

"Is that all, Doctor?"

"Indeed it is, Captain."

"All right. Akira, will you please come foreward?"

Akira did as she was asked, stepping to the Captain’s side.

"Now. I was being a bit misleading when I said that this was something Akira and I have noticed. I’ve noticed it, but whether or not Akira has, I don’t know."

"What is it, sir?" Commander Wertz asked, leaning foreward in his chair.

"Akira’s apparent immunity to the virus also translates to an immunity to detection from the creatures."

Toshiro felt the blood drain from his face. He’d already noticed that Akira wasn’t seen by the creatures she’d spent time in the brig with, but he’d surmised that she was infected at the time. And Akira had kept away from the creatures in the brig. When had Akira come in contact with a creature since?

"This is overwhelming," he said, unaware he’d spoken.

"Indeed it is, Dr. Ishiyama. So far, as you’ve yourself said, the creatures are attracted to warm flesh. Akira, being alive, would qualify as warm flesh, so why aren’t they attacking her?"

"I do―why did you not bring this to me earlier?"

"What?"

"Why was I not informed of this before this meeting?" Toshiro found himself standing up, basically slamming his fists down on the table. "Did I not have the right to know?"

"Doctor, listen..."

"Akira is my daughter, for chrissakes! Let alone the fact that I am the chief scientist on this vessel and she’s my assistant, I’m her father!"

"Dad, I..." Akira began, but trailed off. "I knew about this, too..."

"Then why didn’t you say anything?"

"Because I just found out!" Akira folded her arms across her chest. "I didn’t know until just ten minutes ago!"

There was a chorus of voices around the table. The Captain slammed his own fist down on the table and shouted, "Quiet!" The whole room was bathed in silence. "This bickering is pointless. I didn’t inform you, Doctor, because I wasn’t entirely certain. And apparently Akira discovered this for herself after dealing with Ensign Figeroa."

"What about Ensign Figeroa?" Commander Talshib asked, being the security officer.

"He died a little while ago, after being infected," Akira answered.

"Captain, I would like to know why you choose to keep things from this crew when it matters during this crisis?" Talshib’s voice took a demanding tone.

"I keep nothing that isn’t worth keeping. As I said before, I wasn’t certain about Akira’s invisibility to the creatures, nor was I aware that Figeroa was infected. All I was aware of was that he was keeping an airlock open for no reason and Akira was the closest one to ask for assistance."

"Why?" Toshiro asked.

"I was going to ask her if she’d noticed that the infected Lieutenant Fischer was staring straight at her and didn’t move or even make a noise as he did. Then I saw the open airlock and that no one had been assigned outside the ship."

"Lieutenant Fischer was infected?" Talshib asked.

"And he’s been disposed of. After I discovered his infection, I dumped him outside."

"So that’s who that was..." Akira said.

"What?"

"There was a creature floating around outside that Ensign Figeroa shot before he died. It was trying to float to Figeroa to eat him, probably."

"Well," Toshiro said, leaning foreward in his chair, "it seems they don’t even need air to breath."

"So it seems, Doctor," the Captain sat down in his seat. "I’m going to call an adjournment to this meeting. We’ll have another at 0940 tomorrow morning."

Toshiro watched as Akira quickly left the room.

Sweetie...

***

Akira shut and locked the door to her quarters as soon as she got inside. She didn’t want to talk to her dad right now. He knocked on the door anyway, though.

"Go away, Dad! I don’t wanna talk!" she shouted.

"Akira, open the door before I have to hit the manual override."

"Computer, disengage manual override controls."

"Manual override disengaged, Akira." The mechanical voice of the computer was only broadcast in the room itself. Her dad would have no way of knowing until he actually tried to use the manual override.

"What the...? Akira! Either open the door or reengage the manual override!"

"No, Dad!"

Akira sat down on her bed, took her shoes off, and got under the covers.

I’m gonna go to sleep. I need some.

***

Toshiro slumped against the door. He didn’t even try to ask her to reengage the manual override again.

"Akira... Will you at least talk to me through the door?"

"No!"

"I didn’t do anything to deserve this, sweetheart!"

"I know that! I just don’t wanna talk!"

"Bu..."

"No ‘buts’, Dad!"

I’m supposed to say that to you, sweetie... God, who’s really the parent in this relationship?

"Fine," he said, standing up. "I’m going to go talk to the Captain, alright?"

"Fine. I’ll still be in here, asleep."

"Okay. I’ll talk to you later, then."

***

"She disengaged the manual override for the door? How’d she manage that?" the Captain said, rubbing his stubble-covered chin.

"I don’t know, sir, I just want to know why you didn’t inform me at all about Akira. Even if you didn’t want to worry me as her father, I still needed to know as the chief scientist, this would give me more information on the creatures."

"If I told you at all, would you be the chief scientist first or her father?"

"I’d... I’d be her father."

"See?"

"Then why didn’t you tell her?"

"I didn’t want to worry her. Fourteen year old girls don’t exactly take news like this lightly."

"Akira’s more mature than the average fourteen year old."

"With a father like you, it’s hard to imagine how."

"What?"

"Well, you are a little more immature than her."

"Captain, is this supposed to be high school again?"

"No, it’s not."

"Good."

"Look, Toshiro, I’ll start to inform you more often, now. But only you."

"Why?"

"Because. I’m almost certain that the people either military, science and civilian are starting to buckle under the pressure of our situation. We’re over ten thousand light years from Earth, our engines and communication equipment no longer function and the dead are returning to life and consuming the flesh of the living. I’m surprised you and I aren’t dying of the stress."

"You have no idea, sir."

"Go get some sleep, Dr. Ishiyama. Go sleep and go spend time with your daughter."

"That sounds like a good idea," Toshiro said, yawning. He hadn’t realized the amount the fatigue had gotten to him. "I’ll report in the morning."

***

Akira hugged her pink teddy bear to her chest while she laid in her bed.

I wanna go home... she thought, I miss Mom.

She was almost asleep when her dad opened the door and turned on the light.

"When did you reengage the manual override?" he asked.

"After you left."

"Oh."

He walked over to her bed and sat down beside her. He started patting her on the head.

"What are you doing, Dad?"

"Just... You know that you’re all I’ve got on this ship, right?"

Akira turned to lay on her back. "What do you mean?"

"Well, your mother didn’t come along. She decided to stay on Earth. Then your brother died when we discovered the virus in that rock. I almost lost you after Tomoru bit you."

"But you didn’t. I’m still here."

"I know."

"And Mom’s still on Earth. So you can’t lose her."

"But I’m not with her right now."

"I know. I miss her."

"So do I, sweetie." He ran his hand through her hair. "So do I."

***

The Captain was the last one to enter the conference room at 0940 the next morning―in fact, he didn’t get there until 0959. Commander Vaux almost cancelled the meeting.

"So, any news to report from last night?" the Captain asked, sitting down in his usual seat.

"None in general ship’s quarters, Captain," Lieutenant Hibara answered.

"None from the Science Division," Toshiro answered.

"None from Engineering," Deck Officer Francis answered.

"None from the bridge," Commander Vaux answered.

"Well then, I’d say this meeting is adjourned." The Captain began to stand.

"Wait!" Akira shouted. "There is news from the Science Division."

Toshiro spun in his chair to look at his daughter, standing in the back of the room and still wearing her night clothes.

"What are you talking about?" the Captain asked.

"I think I’ve figured out how exactly the virus has spread so quickly through the ship."

The chorus of voices from last night began once more, with everyone talking amongst themselves―all except for the Captain and Toshiro.

Toshiro stood up and walked over to her.

"What?"

"I do, Dad. I think I know how."

"But... when did you figure this out?"

"Last night, after you left. I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to do some work. I took a look at all the reports from every division on the ship. After that, I noticed―"

Toshiro cut her off. "How did you get access to reports from every division on the ship?"

Akira bit her lower lip. "Um... I hacked into the ship’s computer."

The Captain slammed his fist down on the table. "Quiet! Akira, please explain."

"Yes, sir..." she said, walking over to the holo-screen. Toshiro hadn’t noticed the datapad she’d been holding until she tapped into the holo-screen to display her findings. "Well. Last night, I began to research reports from every division on the ship. I discovered this," she brought up a radiation report from two months ago, when the viral outbreak had began, "which clearly shows that the virus from the rock we picked up two months ago was being carried along by radiation emitted from the rock."

"This report was from Engineering," Deck Officer Francis pointed out the obvious, "and Science Division isn’t supposed to have access to Engineering reports unless specifically ordered by the Deck Officer in command―me."

"I know. I hacked it out of the computer."

Commander Talshib―the security officer―rolled his eyes. "Captain, what is the penalty for hacking into the computer of a Centurion-class war vessel?"

"The Orchard isn’t a war vessel, Commander," the Captain answered. "Akira may have overstepped her bounds, but I’d say this seems to be for the good of the ship’s crew." He turned to Akira. "Continue."

"Right. Well, as I was saying, the radiation from the rock was carrying an airbourne strain of the virus."

"Is this how Ensign Ishiyama was infected after bringing the rock on board?" Talshib asked.

"I’m not sure, though I’m pretty sure he was infected by direct exposure to the rock itself. His infection ratio doesn’t match any radiation pattern emitted by the rock."

"So, why weren’t the effects of the radiation felt until just recently?" Vaux asked.

"The radiation effects on people weren’t felt until just recently."

"What?" the Captain asked, suddenly laying his hands flat on the table.

"Well, here," the report from Commander Vaux himself about the engines and communications systems being disabled appeared on the holo-screen, "is Commander Vaux’s report about the engines. We weren’t able to determine the cause of the engine and communcation failures. This," another image replaced the report on the holo-screen, "is the radiation read-outs from when Commander Vaux discovered the failures. As you can see, radiation build-up is strongest in the engine room and the tramsmitter room."

"I’ll be damned," Vaux said, leaning forward. "So you’re saying that this virus deliberately damaged the engines and the transmitters?"

"Mm-hm," Akira nodded. "Not only that, but look at this," another radiation read-out appeared on screen―this time, the space around and in the life-support maintenance room. "The radiation here is ten times that from the communications and engine rooms, yet nothing has happened to our life support."

"Other than the viral radiation travelling through the ductwork of the ship," the Captain pointed out. Akira nodded to that, as well.

"Exactly. This is a sentient virus."

"Sentient?" Toshiro said, astounded. "This virus which causes the dead to rise is capable of thought?"

The Captain snorted a laugh. "Ironic, it robs its victims of thought."

Toshiro continued on: "How could we come across a virus inside of a rock that is sentient?"

"I’m not sure," Akira answered. "All I know is that there are currently three other areas where radiation is most significant," the holo-screen showed only these three areas, "the bridge, the messhall, and the laboratory deck."

"The most three most heavily populated areas on the ship, and the three most useful areas on the ship," the Captain said aloud what everyone else in the room had to be thinking. Toshiro was certainly thinking it.

This thing could mean the end of civilization if it got off this ship... he thought, drifting to the dark place in this head. If we got to Earth with this on our ship, we could cause a total collapse of human society.

Toshiro looked up from his lap and noticed the Captain staring straight at him. "Yes, Doctor, we’ve got a problem bigger than anything on our hands."

"You’re not shitting, Captain," was all Toshiro could find his voice to say.

***

Three Days Later...

　

Akira stood in the examination room and watched the infected crewman. His name had been Alejandro Vargas. His rank had been Ensign. His position had been checking the capacitor for the lightspace travel.

His life had been over the minute he’d entered the Engine room.

In the three days since Akira’s discovery and report of the alien radiation (she’d began to think that way because she couldn’t possibly figure out how a virus of this type could be anything other than alien), the six areas that the radiation had kept itself around had become hotzones, anyone entering them instantly became infected, instantly died and instantly became a Shambler.

"Akira?" her dad’s voice came over the comlink she was holding in her left hand. The carrier heard the noise and instantly jerked its head toward the comlink.

Sound, huh?

"Akira, what’s going on in there?"

"They react to sound."

"We’ve speculated that for six weeks, Akira... Do you have anything new to report?"

"You mean other than the fact that I’m not being affected by the radiation in this room?"

"We’ve speculated that for six hours, Akira... Seriously, something new."

"Okay." She put her helmet on and switched on the holo-cam transmitter, then the helmet-comm. "You seein’ this, Dad?"

"Yep, we are."

"Good. Wait, who’s we?"

"The Captain and a few of the other commanders are watching this as well."

"Oh..."

Akira walked right up to the carrier and brought her hand directly in front of its face. Its dead white eyes followed her hand back and forth.

"You seeing this?"

"That’s getting a little too close, Akira..."

"I know, but he’s not gonna do anything."

She pushed the carrier by the shoulder and it fell back against the wall. It stood up moments later and continued its oblivious search for fresh meat.

"ruahar" was the only thing that came from its mouth.

"Okay, Dad, I’m coming out."

She shut off the helmet-comm and the holo-cam transmitter and walked out of the room. She kept her helmet on, however, because she’d be walking through vacuum until she got to the blast doors. Once she was clear of the door to the lab deck, she let the air flow back into the room―radiation free air―and took off her helmet. Then the blast door opened and her father was standing there, his lab coat covered in blood, shirt unbuttoned, his tie gone completely, his pants stained with blood as well.

He looked like hell.

"Well?" he asked.

"I locked him in the exam room. He won’t be getting out of there unless he breaks the glass."

"Okay."

"Dad?"

"What?"

"Do you think we’re all gonna die?"

"I don’t know, sweetie. What I do know, is that we can’t afford to give up until we find a way to purge this radiation from every part of the ship. We’ve been able to purge it from a good deal of―" he was cut off by an alarm blaring. Then the Captain’s voice came over the intercom.

"Doctor! Get yours and your daughter’s asses outta there!"

Her dad practically punched the button on the wall. "What’s going on?!"

"Radiation! Get a goddamned move on!"

"Shit!" He let his finger off the button. "C’mon, Akira."

Akira ran after her dad as blast doors all around them closed off. The areas they’d passed would be emptied of air and radiation, then radiation free air would be pumped into the sealed-off sections of corridor.

They’d just made it to a corner before the blast door ahead of them closed. Akira scrambled for her helmet, saw her dad do the same, and then waited. Within seconds, her datapad registered no oxygen in their portion of the corridor.

Akira looked over to her dad and saw him talking. She quickly switched on her comlink.

"―need to make certain that I’m not full of radiation before we can get out of here."

"I know, Dad."

"Don’t worry, sweetie. I’m certain that I’m not―" he was cut off yet again by the Captain.

"Doctor. You’re rad free."

"Thank God."

"There’s one small problem, though."

"What is it?"

"The radiation is spreading to too many parts of the ship. Soon, there won’t be any place left to run."

"What about draining all the oxygen on the ship?" Akira asked.

"There’s a problem with that: the oxygen dump mechanisim is in the Life Support Control Room, which only you can enter, and you’re not a registered maintenance worker or a Life Support officer. And anyone else, helmets or no, well be an infectee within seconds."

"Damn it..." She snapped her fingers, but made no noise in the vacuum.

"Well, gentleman and lady, I’d say we’re about to be dead in the water pretty soon."

***

One Week Later...

　

Akira felt the tears running down her face.

No! No! It can’t be true! It just can’t!

"Sweetie..." her dad’s hand was pressed against the glass―or what was left of her dad’s hand. For some reason, his decomposition had began before his actual infection. "I want you to leave the room..."

"No! I’m not going!"

"Akira Jan Ishiyama... you will leave this room before I die..."

"No! Dad! I’m not gonna go!"

"Akira..." the way his voice sounded, he couldn’t yell, even if he wasn’t about to decompose right in front of her.

"Daddy... I don’t wanna lose you..."

"It looks like... you’ll have to... baby..." He coughed, blood and vomit splattering against the glass between them. "You still... have... your mother..."

"But I can’t go home! We’re too far out, and the engines have corroded... not to mention the fact that I’m infected..."

"You’re not... infected... if you were... you’d be dead by now..."

"No, Dad... I took the tests. The results: I’m infected on a level sixty percent higher than a Runner can cause."

"That’s..." He slammed his fist against the glass, losing it in the process. "That’s impossible..."

"Daddy..."

"Go Akira... Get the hell... away from here..."

"Dad..."

He fell to his knees, which broke apart once he hit the ground. His scream was the last sound that Akira heard him make while he was alive. After that came the hungry moaning that characterized all of the Shamblers.

Akira pulled the handgun from her waistband, checked to make sure the safety was off, then walked into the brig. Her father, Toshiro Wilbur Ishiyama, was staring at her with dead white eyes.

She held out her right hand, supporting it with her left, carefully aimed the handgun, then squeezed the trigger. The resulting sound was louder than anything she’d ever heard before. The resulting jolt up her arm almost made her drop the gun. The resulting effect was a mass of blood and gray matter hitting the wall behind the carrier that had once been her father.

He was finally dead.

Akira dropped to the floor, and sat against the door. She was crying and repeatedly pulling the trigger of the gun while pointing it at her own head.

The bullet in her dead father’s skull had been the last the weapon had.

***

Six Days Later...

　

Akira walked around the Orchard. The few Runners left were all standing perfectly still, so were the Shamblers.

She was holding her pink teddy bear in her hand, letting it hang from her hand.

This was my dad’s last gift to me... his last gift...

She stopped at the observation window to the laboratory. There were probably sixty Shamblers mindlessly standing around in the lab. In the six days since her father had died, she’d seen every single living person on the ship become infected and die.

All but one.

The Captain had been no where to be seen. His quarters had been locked.

After walking some more, she entered her own quarters. She tossed her teddy bear onto her pillow, then sat down on her bed herself.

A few minutes later, she was crying uncontrollably.

It’s all my fault... It’s all my fucking fault!

***

Present Day...

Akira rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stared at the holo-screen on the wall. The read-out on the screen wasn’t surprising.

CONNECTION FAILED

She slammed her fist down on the control panel and shouted, "Shit!"

Akira stood up and left the bridge―

―but not without feeling that something was watching her.

She stopped, turned around, and looked all around the bridge. Nothing there. Nothing except the survailance camera at the very front of the room. Could that be it? Was the virus capable of using security cameras to watch her? It wouldn’t surprise her. The damn thing was capable of everything else.

She walked out of the room and kept feeling that something was watching her.

Why would the virus choose to watch me two years after it killed off the rest of the crew?

The thought plagued her for the better half of the day.

As she turned in to bed at 0240 that morning, she kept thinking about it. The only room that she hadn’t checked since the beginning of this was the Captain’s. The room was locked, and every effort entering the room failed quickly.

Could the Captain... still be alive?

No, that’s impossible. I’d have seen him by now.

Or would you? Would you really have seen him? He was a reclusive guy before all this happened. Only Dad was able to really talk to him.

She turned the light off and tried to fall asleep.

***

Akira awoke the next morning again with the feeling that someone―or thing―was watching her. She was tired of it. Something about the Captain's quarters and the feeling of being watched felt tied together. She knocked on the door. "Open up!" To her surprise―the door opened. Standing there was a corpse. The Captain no longer had skin to the lower half of his face. From nose down was all skull. His eyes, dead white like all other zombies, looked down on her.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," he said in a ragged voice.

"How are you still... um... lucid?"

"Your blood."

"My blood?"

"You're immune. You aren't affected by this virus. I discovered that if someone were to use your blood, they could become somewhat immune. Not the full immunity that you have, but a half-immunity." He led her into his quarters. Every holo-screen was showing some part of the ship. "I'm dead, but as you said, I'm also lucid, unlike these mindless flesheaters. Of course, lucidity doesn't mean anything compared to the hunger."

"So, you've still got some mega meat cravings?"

"You'd never understand, young lady. And I'm going to make sure you never come close to understanding."

"What do you mean?"

"As you've already known, we can't get a communication out of here because of the virus and its effects on the communications system."

"Yeah, I figured it out."

"Exactly. You also discovered that the engines were compromised by the virus. The virus has taken control of the engines―we've been moved out to an area uncharted by the Space Battalion."

"So, what does this mean?"

"Space Battalion had our previous location, and they've been spending the past two years trying to find us. Yesterday, I saw a Centurion out there, looking for us."

"But they didn't see us?"

"No. We were just out of range."

"Oh. So, how does this help?"

He tried to do the skeleton version of a smile. "Get to an escape pod."

***

Akira ran down the hall. She rounded corners, took elevators, then got to the hallway closest to the escape pods. When she rounded another corner, she stopped. There were thirty or forty zombies standing there, waiting for her. "Captain, what the hell's going on?"

"They're looking for you."

"How do you know this?"

"I have some kind of link to them. The virus is telling them to stop you."

"What?!"

"Look, there's another way, but you've gotta go fast. The link doesn't go both ways from me, so they don't know I'm helping you. Get the hell on and go!"

She turned and ran down the corridor and got to another hallway close to the escape pod. This time, only one zombie stood in her way.

Her father.

"Hello, Akira," he said, plain as day.

"No... You're dead... I shot you myself..."

"It brought me back. You've got to stop, Akira."

"No. If I get to that Space Battalion ship, this ship can get blown up and this goddamn virus will be gone."

"Yes, yes it will be. And so will the promise of ever-lasting life."

"Ever-lasting life? You mean to tell me that this stupid virus is so desperate to stop me from leaving that it'll throw that card into play?" She glanced behind her. The zombies were walking around the corner. "All the virus wants is to kill people. It doesn't want to help anybody, and it doesn't want to die. Neither did you, Dad. Neither did the Captain. Neither did any of these people!"

Toshiro shook his head. "I'm sorry you can't see things my way, sweetie. I was sure you'd―" He was cut off by Akira rushing past him. She hit the escape pod door button and jumped inside.

"Captain, launch the pod!"

***

Akira must have blacked out at some point after the escape pod launched. She awoke in a bed, in what appeared to be an infirmary. Where am I? She sat up and pulled a blanket off. "Hello?"

A man entered the room. He looked around as if the thought of someone speaking was incredulous. Akira stood up and walked over to him. She flipped the light switch to her left.

"Ah, Jesus!" he shouted. "You scared me, Ms. Ishiyama."

"Where am I?"

"The Dedalus, we're almost back home to Earth."

"So, the Orchard was destroyed?"

"Yeah. Nothing left but debris."

"How'd you know to blow it up, anyway?"

"We received a message from Captain Matthius. He said he was staying behind to stop the undead crew from using the shuttles to get to us."

"How did he get a message out?"

"The normal way, subspace communication via holo-comms."

"But, the..."

"Look, Miss, I don't understand it, but you're here. I did want to ask you something: when we did our preliminary scan of you, we noticed that none of your internal organs were actually working..."