I get out my tools and crack the edge of the bio-sensor, then use a tiny pair of tweezers to lift the panel up. Once I do, it’s a breeze to get the system to request an override. From there, I get to work, typing in a bypass code and then attaching my flooder. The flooder brute-forces its way into their network and “floods” their system with passwords until the master-code sequence is uncovered, and then feeds it back to me. It takes a few moments, and I drum my fingers on the panel impatiently. If it weren’t for the fact that this is such a cut-rate cheap system, my flooder wouldn’t even work. I suppose I should be grateful that whoever set this place up cut corners. Now I’m just wondering what other corners were cut and if we’re in danger.
“Access granted,” the system chirps at me.
I immediately type in a request for a scan of all lifeforms on the station. When nothing comes back but me and Helen, I breathe a sigh of relief. Safe, for now.
“You’ll be glad to hear,” I begin, turning toward Helen, where she’s waiting at the end of the hall.
But…Helen is gone. And somewhere in my hacking, I’ve opened all the doors to the station.
CHAPTER 9
HELEN
MONTHS AGO
This place isn’t so scary after all. I take a few breaths of the refreshingly dusty air, smelling the sour, overused filters in the ductwork. It reminds me of home so painfully that my heart hurts, but it hurts less than it used to. Maybe this can be my new home with Mathiras for a little while. While Jade, Alice and Ruth aren’t here and I miss them dreadfully, I get to spend alone time with Mathiras. That could be fun. Maybe he’ll kiss me and whisper romantic things in my ears. Maybe he’ll hold me close and tell me how beautiful I am.
As long as he doesn’t give me the creepy pinches like the other males did, I’ll be happy.
Mathiras fiddles with one of the panels down the hall, and the door to my left opens immediately. Oh. Maybe he did that so I could look around. That must mean it’s safe. Brightening, I step inside.
The interior of the room is…kind of boring. The walls are more gray, and there are a few benches in front of a lot of compartments with things that don’t look interesting to me. I smell a lot of metal, some grease, and a lot of old stinky boots. I move toward the wall, where the compartments are long and have pieces of clothing in them. The top of each compartment has a helmet, so I pick one up and put it on my head. Immediately, it smells like sweat. I wrinkle my nose and take it back off again, replacing it. Is this a closet of some kind? Alice says humans keep their clothes in a closet. I touch some of the clothing, but none of it looks like female clothing. It looks like more uniforms, in bright colors and with shiny marks that catch the light. The top of each compartment has lettering on it, but it’s not human language, so I can’t read it. Maybe…maybe this is a whole bunch of closets for males? It smells like old sweat in here.
Well, if there are male closets, surely there will be female closets, too?
Farther down, I see something that looks like a door. It’s covered in pictures and alien writing, but the pictures look boring. I lean over, studying them, but they seem to be warnings about watching for falling rocks and washing out eyes. Falling rocks? I glance up at the ceiling, but it looks fine. After a moment’s hesitation, I move back to one of the closets and pick up a stinky helmet after all. Just in case.
Helmet on, I peek inside the new door. It’s not a sliding, mechanized door like the one Mathiras opened, but one that wobbles back and forth when you push on it. I push on the right hand side and it opens, revealing a lavatory. Oh. I like this. It smells like water and I’m thirsty despite all the nutritional tabs we’ve been having in the pod that are supposed to take care of that kind of thing. I move to the sink and wrinkle my nose, because it looks gross. Whoever was in charge of cleaning here did not do a very good job. The room is dirty and there are rusty-looking stains everywhere. There’s a mirror above the sink that has the same nasty stains, and even though I’m thirsty, I don’t touch anything. I look around the lavatory. There’s another one of those long benches, and then more compartments, these for what look like showers. I finger my hair, thinking. It’s been a while since I had a good cleansing, and these smell like water showers instead of sonic ones. I’ve never had a water shower but Jade says they’re the best. Super relaxing.