Last chapter. The Heaven's Wing

"Do you think this could be the same contagion that had altered the dog, or are we dealing with two different, uh, I don't know what you'd call them...pathogens?"

Maya adjusted her scanner, cross-referencing the data from both the mutated dog and the altered human. "It could be the same pathogen," she said, still analyzing. "The mutations are extreme, but the timeline complicates things. This happened days ago, so distinguishing between the effects of a singular contagion or multiple agents at play is difficult." She glanced toward the remains of Ryan Carter, then back at her screen. "Whatever this is, it’s capable of radical biological restructuring. If it’s the same infection, it seems to affect different creatures in different ways."

Meanwhile, Douklan moved across the hall, stepping carefully over shattered debris. He searched for any identifying markers on the next door but found none—no labels, no signs of what lay beyond. With no further indication of danger, he cautiously triggered the door’s mechanism.

The door slid open, revealing a dimly lit corridor leading to a series of rooms. Two were clearly freshers, and the other four were staterooms. As Douklan and the others stepped inside, their suit lights illuminated the grim reality within—eight human bodies, scattered across the floor and bunks, twisted in various stages of decay. The air filtration system had preserved them unnaturally well, their expressions frozen in agony.

As Hank moved to examine the room, a flicker of movement caught his eye. His head snapped toward Ryan Carter’s body—just in time to see it and the suit he was wearing dissolve into nothing, like ink washing away into the floor.

Mercer will check the staterooms.

Douklan will check the ones opposite the ones Mercer is checking. There's absolutely no chance that any of the things that the crew needs to find are here in these little rooms, but it pays to make sure that there's nothing antagonistic or dangerous left behind to surprise them later.

Hank says, "Maya? Did you just see what I did? Are there any traces left?"

Maya swept her scanner over the spot where Ryan Carter’s body had been, adjusting the device to its most sensitive settings. There was nothing. No biological residue, no heat signature, not even the faint chemical markers a decaying body should leave behind. "It’s gone," she said, her voice quiet with unease. "As if it was never there at all."

Without further comment, Mercer and Douklan moved into action, each taking a side of the corridor. Mercer methodically checked each of the staterooms along the left, Douklan covering the opposite side. Though it was unlikely that anything crucial to their mission would be hidden in these tiny personal quarters, they both didn't want to leave any unchecked space behind them.

The rooms were grim, filled with the stillness of death. Every stateroom held at least one body, some slumped in bunks, others collapsed on the floor. A couple showed signs of having been moved, as if dragged or propped against walls. One body had even been partially eaten, ragged chunks of flesh torn away, though whether by a dog or something else was impossible to say.

Most, however, appeared to have died in their sleep — faces slack with no indication they even had time to react to whatever killed them. It was a quiet, chilling reminder of how quickly everything on this station had unraveled.

Corbin keeps a look out towards Bay 11 while the other search the room. He's ready to move as soon as they're done.

"Nothing we can use." Douklan reports. "Just more dead bodies. Some of them have been chewed, which means that it wasn't a dog. It must've been an...altered human...or an alien." Douklan moves to the next bulkhead in the direction of Bay 11. "Let's keep going."

I guess Douklan and Mercer check the next door down on the "top" wall, which I assume in another set of bedrooms, then move to the door on the "right" side of this passageway. "I'm just glad you were here to witness this, too!"

Hank and Maya move to keep up with the others, since there isn't anything else to do where they are. He'll make sure they are between Corbin and the lead group. I assume Erin is supporting Douklan and Mercer; Hank is ready to help Corbin immediately if needed.

Corbin stood at the rear, keeping his rifle up and his eyes locked on the passage.
Without hesitation, Douklan moved to the next bulkhead, leading the way toward Bay 11.

Hank and Maya followed, settling between Corbin at the rear and the others at the front. Erin moved alongside Mercer, her rifle at the ready.

Then, the sound came — sharp and metallic, reverberating through the walls, a groaning crash of metal shifting against metal. It came from behind them, from the direction of the powerplant. The noise echoed through the corridor, followed by a dragging, scuttling sound, something scraping along the deck, the walls — something moving. Not just moving, but advancing.

It was coming.

Mercer will turn and get between the noise and the party, waiting to see what turns the corner.

Hank thinks, Oh, great. Another Ryan?"

Since Mercer has moved back to join Corbin, Hank moves forward so we can check the end door of the corridor. It will be good to know what's in front of us with something approaching from behind. (Not the one pointed to by the blue UP arrow, but the one to its right. I assume Douklan has already checked the room pointed to by the blue UP arrow.)

Oh bother..., Corbin thinks at the loud noise. He sees Mercer join him in facing 'whatever' is coming. Tapping his comms, Corbin feels like expressing a thought. "So, we really need to pick up the pace finding the Heaven's Wing. Mercer and I are cool walking backwards as long as it takes, but if we, I don't know, suddenly need to run. It'd be nice to know where or what we're running to and maybe having some prepared backup when we get there. You know, just a thought."