Iscariot

[Zapp]

Goodwinn wasn’t sure what to make of it—the low keening coming across the emergency channel. She was in the middle of nowhere, floating about and scanning for new and exciting things. She had found a jump hole in the Omicron Delta system to a strange and empty system, save a couple of uninhabitable planets.

And there was someone’s death rattle on the emergency channel.

Winn—as folks called her—decided to answer the phone.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

The groan ceased, and then an old voice listed a set of coordinates. He finished with as much emphasis as he could probably muster: “Hurry.”

She wasted no time. In about half an hour, she came across a strange looking ship. Its hull was pockmarked with holes that looked more the result of corrosion than weapons fire. Her Eagle’s sensors couldn’t penetrate the hull. The ship had two swooping wings dropping off what appeared to be the main fuselage. There was much more debris floating around the ship than appeared to have come from it. With more than a little trepidation, Winn maneuvered her Eagle over a docking hatch and made the connection. She donned her EV suit, just in case there were parts of the ship that didn’t have any atmosphere, and boarded it.

The entry hallway was devoid of light. Even the emergency lighting had failed, but the flashlights on Winn’s helmet revealed a ghastly scene. Corpses floated about, as the ship’s gravity plating had failed. She flew along the halls, afraid to say anything for fear of angering the spirits of the crew.

At first, she was too nervous to give a closer inspection. But once she did, she realized that there were two distinct uniforms. One she recognized as belonging to the Order. The other, she had never seen before. How strange, she thought. This was no Order ship she had ever seen, so who were the others?

She came to the first junction and looked both ways. To the left, she saw a bulkier figure floating next to a console that emitted weak light. She pushed off towards the figure. Up close, she saw it was more like armor than an EV suit. But he—she? it?—was completely covered from head to toe. She marveled at the intricate and brutish design.

Then its arm moved and grabbed Winn’s arm. She screamed and tried to move back, but the grip was a vise. Then, she heard the same voice she had heard over the emergency channel.

“Help. Almost. No. Air.”

She wasted no time in bringing him back to her ship, though along the way she began to have doubts. The man’s armor looked downright sinister. Who would design something like that? How had he survived? This ship looked like it had been dead for a long time.

---