Absolute Zero by Phillip Tomasso

Author:Phillip Tomasso [Tomasso, Phillip]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2017-11-05T06:00:00+00:00

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“What the hell happened, Bell? Murray? Murray, what happened?”

Marshall Weber leaned his blaster against the wall, set Bell’s spacesuit and helmet aside, and knelt alongside his friend. “Hey, man. Bell?”

The lieutenant opened his eyes. Whites. And then he blinked. When he opened them a second time, the dilated pupils. “Weber, I’m not doing so good. I’m, hey, Web, I’m not doing so good.”

“You’re fine. You’re gonna be okay, buddy. You are. Tell me what happened. I need to know what happened.” Bell had clearly sustained a traumatic injury.

“There was this thing,” Bell said.

Weber thought about the story Stanton and Ruiz told. “What thing?”

“It was outside the shuttle. I thought it might be the commander. I went out to look. Make sure everything was alright, you know. And the thing, it just attacked. It came out of nowhere. I wasn’t ready for it. The thing is, I went out ready.” His skin was pale, pasty, and clammy. He smiled, though. “Okay. Maybe I thought I saw something, and maybe I went to check it out. I know I shouldn’t have, but I thought for sure it was one of you guys, you know? The commander coming back for something …”

Weber peeled off his gloves and pressed a gloved hand against Bell’s forehead. The man had a fever. He wasn’t burning up, but it was higher than normal. “Okay, okay, man. I got it. I understand. I just want you to rest, okay? Stay awake. Stay with me, Bell. But rest. No more talking.”

“It was an ugly thing.” Bell raised an arm, his hand bent at the wrist, his fingers in a fist, with two fingers extended like fangs. “I’ve never seen anything like it, Web. Never.”

“It’s okay now. I’m just—I gotta grab the first aid stuff, okay? I got everything I need right outside. You just, look, just don’t move. Okay? Don’t do anything. I’ll be right back.”

Bell’s hooked hand shot forward. He latched onto Weber’s forearm. “Don’t leave me, Web. Man, don’t—I don’t wanna be alone, okay?”

Weber had to break free so he could put his gloves back on. “No, no. I’m not leaving. I just have to get the medical stuff, okay? It’s right outside.”

Bell’s hand, now on Weber’s leg, squeezed, tightening his grip on Weber’s arm. “You can’t go out there. You gotta stay here, you have to stay inside. That thing, it’s out there. It’s still out there.”

Weber imagined a giant anaconda slinking about just outside the Eclipse shuttle. “You’re still losing blood, Bell. If I don’t help you …”

He stopped himself from stating the obvious. Bell wasn’t a fool. They both knew he was in rough shape. The tourniquet was tight but needed readjusting. Bell had done the best he could under the circumstances. The man’s quick thinking had kept him alive this long, of that Weber had no doubt.

His friend shook. He was in shock. Weber needed blankets. Bell was in serious trouble. There wasn’t time for arguing. He freed himself from Bell, peeling away fingers.

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