YMIR

“No, you saw what I wanted you to see, Jack. There is no white furred monster from the surface and I have waited a long time to live again,” the ghost whispered as its shimmering form began to coalesce into a more tangible body. “Daniel is dead and he is mine, his body, his heat. I am given form once more.”

“Screw this,” Jack thought, leveling his rifle at the thing that was now Daniel. He opened fire, mini-missiles spitting from the barrel of his weapon. Each impacted with tremendous force, tearing huge hunks from Daniel’s now solid corpse. But the thing stood unmoved. It raised a hand, palm open at Jack. Jack screamed as a funnel shot from his chest, whirling through the air to be absorbed into the creature’s waiting grasp. Jack’s frozen body toppled to the floor and shattered into pieces.

Katrina burst inside Duncan’s quarters without knocking. Startled the Captain whipped around with a force pistol aimed at her face. Katrina cried out.

“God, Kat!” Duncan shouted, “I nearly blew your freakin’ head off. What the hell do you want?”

Katrina gasped for breath as she stuttered out the report, “Daniel missing. Simpson…not answering com. Surface doors overridden. There’s blood. He said to round everyone up. Meet him in the armory.”

She sank into an empty chair and stared up at Duncan, awaiting orders, expecting a plan.

“What?” Duncan just stared at her in shock. A year and a half of nothing, no life forms-human or otherwise- existed in the sub-zero temperatures of this wretched planet, and now the base was suddenly under attack. It made no sense.

Duncan’s gaze bored into Katrina, “Is it Daniel? Has the isolation finally caused him to snap?”

She shook her head, “I don’t know. I don’t know what’s happening. Jack just put the YMIR on
Condition 1 and need to head to the armory.”

“Condition 1?” Duncan swore. “He’d better not be yanking my chain.”

“Okay, Kat,” Duncan assumed his no nonsense captain stance, “Go to the armory and get a weapon. Tell Jack to radio me with all the details of the situation. I’ll round up the others and bring them down there.”

He put on his com headset and turned back to find Kat staring at him with an anxious expression.

“Sir,” she hesitated, her cool British composure falling away, “I’m not really comfortable going
alone.”

Duncan almost smiled. Of course Kat would never admit she was afraid of anything. He reached out and took her delicate scientist hand in his large soldier’s palm.

“I’ll go with you as far as the elevator, but, after that, I need you to be strong. The others have no idea what’s going on. And you know how they are about security and protocols. They probably think the red lights mean we’re having a party.”

Katrina smiled weakly at him as they headed down the hall. She watched him stalk away from her, force pistol at the ready, as the elevator doors closed, cutting her off from his protection.

She fidgeted nervously as the lift descended. She didn’t really think that something had come in from the Surface with Daniel. It seemed much more likely that Daniel had snapped. It was a possibility much more dangerous than any outside threat. Daniel knew the base, knew the security codes.

The elevator doors dinged open. Katrina gasped at the crumpled body on the floor just outside the doors.

“Katrina,” it whispered.

“Daniel?” she cried, “My god, what happened?”

“Jack,” Daniel gasped, “He shot me. Thought I was crazy. I told him that Simpson attacked me. He didn’t believe.” Daniel coughed; specks of blood spattered his lips. “Please help me.”

Katrina leaned over to examine Daniel’s wounds. There were large holes though him from a gun of some sort, but no blood. Puzzled, she looked back at Daniel’s face, and recoiled in horror. His brown eyes had turned an icy blue and his flesh had begun to lose all color. She tried to back away, but Daniel grabbed her wrist. His grip was powerful and so cold it burned her flesh.

“What’s going on, Daniel?”

He smiled and the expression made his face even more inhuman. “Jack destroyed my host,” he answered in a voice no longer his own. “Now I need a new one,” and he jerked her towards him.

Duncan stared at the frost-covered corpse in front of him. He lifted up one side of it with the toe of his boot. Tiny shards of ice splintered off onto the floor.