The company supply ship Encounter arrived for its regular quarterly visit to the HEEP installation on the planet Galapagos, and established an orbit while a message was sent advising the research station to prepare.

After several attempts the video screen remained blank and Commander Hunter Lewis told his engineer to broadcast on all channels in case there was some atmospheric disruption on the surface.

"Nothing on any of them. Just dead air."

"Keep trying, meantime, Mr. Chesterton log the times and the situation as it stands."

"Wait a sec." The engineer played with the radio and settled on a faint blast of static. The screen lit but was just flashing lines.

"Hell of a lot of good that is, Miller."

"No! Wait! Listen." He handed the headset to Hunter.

A voice, shattered by static, screamed the word, help then broke off, blaring back suddenly so loud Hunter yanked the headset away and the crew could hear the panic jumble of words that followed, then silence.

"Can you get it back?"

Miller held the set to his ear and closed his eyes. "Nothing. Not a peep."

"Play it back."

Everyone crowded around, straining to hear anything on the recording that might make sense.

"It's everywhere, is all I could make out besides, help." One crew member stated.

"We need to get down there." Chesterton stared at his Commander.

"No way. Not until we have some idea of what we might face."

"They're in distress for God's sake - it's our duty!" The executive officer complained.

"I said no. I've got eighteen people and this ship that I'm responsible for and I'm not risking any of them until I have an idea of what we're up against."

Hunter turned to his engineer. "Send down a camera drone and do a focused sweep. Mr. Chesterton bring the ship down to operational altitude."

"Those people are in trouble, Hunter the longer we wait--"

"Look, you heard the same as the rest of us - it's everywhere! I'm not setting down until we can establish what the hell is happening."

"Drone's away, Skipper. I'll send the image to your console." A shaky picture of the planet surface came into view and once the drone passed through the atmosphere it steadied.

Galapagos appeared as a strange mix of biota on a fantasy tale landscape. Soil, rock, plants, fungi even expanses of yellow desert could be seen - everything except surface water; a creepy place everyone thought, but heaven to the HEEP scientists.

The drone approached the three large, connected structures of the station, slowing as it did a circuit of the site then dropped lower and began to track along the sides of the buildings.

"Nothing. I don't see a damn thing."

"I can see there are no lights in the buildings. That's not normal."

"Can you hover by that window in the sleeping quarters?"

"Black. Can't make out anything. Don't remember the windows being blacked out, even at night."

Hunter swore under his breath. "Try another one. Damn it, try them all!"

Fifteen minutes later the drone returned having revealed nothing that told them of the emergency. A quick pass over the surrounding territory showed nothing of concern. The team that was supposed to be out collecting samples, according to the schedule sent to the Encounter's log, was nowhere in sight.

"We have to go down!" Chesterton persisted.

"Anything on the channels," Hunter asked his engineer again, getting a shake of the head.

Several members of the crew all echoed the exec's demand and he finally acceded rather than risk a mutiny. He prepared the Encounter for landing and then led a party of ten, fully armed men, to the station.

The sleeping quarters were closest and they approached the structure cautiously, spreading out with weapons charged. Terry, the ship's doctor and science officer, a recent addition in the form of an AI droid, went to the hatch and took readings with his portable monitor and integrated camera, showing the results to Hunter.

'Readings all appear normal, Commander. Do you wish to open it?'

"Let's try the lab first. It's everywhere, has me a little spooked."

The party moved carefully on to the next structure, noting the connecting passages were all blacked out. Terry repeated his monitoring of the outer lab hatch but backed quickly away and showed Hunter and his exec the result.

'The readings are abnormally high, Commander. That could only happen by equipment failure or someone deliberately used full decontamination.'

Hunter waved a couple of men forward. "I want a Peeper camera inside that wall,"

A hole was bored through the building's insulated panel wall and a tube slipped inside. The camera cable was fed through the tube and they huddled over the viewer.

"Holy- what is that?" The camera swivelled around to take in the entire room, showing a black slime coating on the walls and windows; there was no sign of people.

"Go back! Over there. The Medpod." Hunter gaped at the face of a woman staring terrified through the small port of the medical transfer pod.

"That's Diane Sommers! She's sealed herself in there. We can get her out through the exit hatch!"

Terry called Hunter's attention to the camera lens as it was retrieved. The cable was covered in the black slime. He shook it trying to get the substance off and some flipped onto his suit sleeve. Immediately it began eating through his suit and his bionic skin. He looked up at Hunter, acknowledging the inevitable as within seconds his arm began dissolving.

The Commander backed way, his image reflecting in the other's helmet face plate.

'I understand, Commander.'

"Forgive me, Terry." Hunter fully charged his weapon and fired. In the intervening seconds the slime had eaten through the droid's suit and was reducing the body to a small black pile.

The crew members sealing the probe hole in the wall began screaming and panicking when they saw Hunter kill the doctor and along with the others, began running for the ship.

"Happy we came now?" Hunter said to his exec.

Chesterton was stricken with the scene that just took place but had presence enough to call the ship and tell them to admit nobody no matter what they saw or heard and to lift off to hover level.

Both men hurried around the back of the lab to the Medpod hatch and Hunter used his communicator to tap into the pod's system.

"Hello! This is Commander Hunter Lewis from the supply ship. Can you hear me?"

"I hear you." The voice was faint and he could tell she was crying.

"Listen, do whatever you have to do inside to detach and exit the pod. Let me know when you're ready."

A few moments later the voice crackled, "Ready."

"Hurry for God's sake!" Chesterton was gaping all around checking the surrounding ground.

There was a hissing noise and a clunk and nothing.

"It's jammed!" The voice inside was desperate.

"I'm going to blow the hatch so we can get the pod out. Hang on." Hunter used his weapon to blow the hatch bolts and when they shoved it open the Medpod slid forward out of the lock.

"Okay, open the hatch and get the hell out of there!"

"Oh, crap! It's in the chamber and on the back of the pod." Chesterton was waving his arms frantically. "We have to go!"

Hunter pulled on the opening hatch door and grabbed Diane by the arm, yanking her out onto the ground.

"Up we get! Let's go, fast! Is your oxygen on?"

She nodded, clutching a pack to her chest as he dragged her to her feet and they moved away from the structure, making their way quickly back to the ship.

When they arrived, two of the crew from the landing party were flopping around on the ground like beached fish. They had no suits left and were covered in the slime. Hunter ordered the ship down and then dispatched both men before they scrambled into the entry chamber. Decontamination was activated and when the signal light and announcement sounded they removed their suits and went the rest of the way inside.

"Status." Hunter said.

"Five crew still in the cargo bay. They scrambled aboard as we were preparing to lift off. None came into the ship's command centre."

"We lost three outside, picked up one," Hunter nodded toward Diane. "There should be eleven of us here, I count ten." No one spoke. "Computer, crew count and disposition."

The report came through with a count of fifteen plus the presence of an alien life form.