located the manual air lock. None of the tears in the hull looked big enough to risk sliding though, the sharp metal edges of the tears could easily rip his suit.
John gripped the wheel of the airlock and pulled hard to open it, feeling it slowly give way under the pressure. Easing the door open he ventured inside the airlock, trying to peer through the small window of the next hatch. John could see nothing but darkness, he brought up his hand-held torch to the glass but it seemed that something must have been blocking the window.
"Opening the next hatch into the main hull of the ship." John reported back to base nervously as he gripped the next wheel.
"I got you John, Dave is only ten minutes away now. You won't be alone for long." Frank said reassuringly, recognizing a hint of fear in John's voice. "You can wait for him outside John, you don't have to go in alone."
"No it's okay I want to do this." John said, grunting in exertion as he spun the wheel open. As the door swung open, John gasped in shock as a body fell into the airlock almost hitting him.
"Damn!" John exclaimed. "God damn!"
John darted back, pressing against the wall of the airlock, watching the body slowly drop to the floor as if he was in a dream.
"John, go outside and wait for Dave." Frank said, breaking John from his daze. John could recognise nervousness creeping into Frank's voice now.
"No I want to keep going, we both should have expected bodies. They couldn't exactly start a farm out here after they crashed." John said as his heart beat slowly returned to normal.
"Fair point, just be careful John. We don't know what happened here." Frank said.
John looked over the body, trying to ignore the eyeballs that had obviously ruptured when the hulk depressurised and the dark lines along the desiccated skin where the blood had begun to erupt from inside the body. He could see nothing that indicated death by anything other than depressurisation. Around the neck of the body he saw a pair of dog tags. Reaching over he carefully pulled them from around the dead crew-members head..
"Looks like we have Eric Carlton here Frank. That match up with any of the crew from this ship?" John asked.
"Checking... Yep, he was the first officer. 35 years old, had two kids." Frank said.
"Did he have the kids before or after his supposed return?" John asked.
"Good question I'll check... It was before." Frank replied.
"Well that's good at least." John said. "Heading inside now."
Slowly John entered the hull, scanning his flash-light around the corridor outside of the airlock. Debris littered the ground made up of broken equipment, and parts of the hull from what he could make out.
John carefully made his way down the corridor and towards the central area of the ship, trying to keep his nerve as he kept an eye out for any more of the old crew.
"How you doing John" Frank asked over the radio.
"I have been better Frank but it's okay I can do this. Coming up to a large room now." John said as he came up to a doorway. The room was sealed by another hatch similar to the one in the airlock. John gripped the wheel and spun the door open.
John stepped back in shock and revulsion as he peered inside the room.
"Jesus Frank! This is not cool." John shouted, breathing heavily and starting to feel faint.
"John, go outside and wait for Dave, he is almost there now." Frank said.
"They're all dead Frank, there's like five bodies in there." John said shakily.
"It's okay John just take a breath."
John stood outside the room for a few seconds taking deep breaths then poked his head around the corner for another look inside.
The room appeared to be a common room of sorts, chairs with harnesses were arranged around a pair of tables. Food dispensers were situated on the far side of the room and an old TV screen was mounted on the wall. Three bodies lay on the floor, their skin grey and desiccated, mouths open in a silent scream, eye sockets dark and empty. Two other bodies were strapped into the chairs and slumped over the table. Even from a glance John could see something had smashed them over the head, their skulls were caved in at the back.
"Frank, something killed these guys, this was no accident man." John said, pulling back into the corridor.
"What do you mean? They didn't die in the crash?" Frank asked in surprise.
"Doesn't look like it to me, the way the bodies appear I'd say someone or something took them out." John said, struggling to control his panic.
"Okay John, don't worry. If someone did kill them they are long gone, you have nothing to worry about okay?" Frank said reassuringly.
"Yeah okay, you're right. You're right I should know this, just panicking a bit here." John said slowing down his breathing.
John checked his oxygen supply on his suit instinctively, still plenty left. "Where is Dave, Frank?"
"He will be there any minute now, his signal just broke up a bit but he shouldn't be too far away." Frank said, his voice crackly with static making it hard for John to understand.
"Frank? The signal is going. Frank?" John called down the radio. Nothing but static came back, the signal was lost. This did happen on occasion, the whirl of electromagnetic radiation from Jupiter could cause havoc to communications. This was little consolation to John, however.
"Dammit! God damn!" John shouted at no one in particular. "Pull yourself together John!"
Gritting his teeth John decided to leave the derelict spacecraft until Dave arrived or his connection with Frank came back. Probably shouldn't be messing about with anything when there is a good chance one of the crew went nuts anyway. John reasoned.
Slowly John made his way back through the corridor and through the airlock, careful not to disturb the cadaver in the airlock any more than he already had.
As he walked outside John saw Dave's ship parked next to his and a wave of relief instantly washed over him. Dave was making his way out of his ship and waved at John. A crackle of static came over John's radio that John assumed was Dave trying to communicate through the interference.
John began bounding over towards him when he noticed a strange shape form up from the ground near Dave about a meter away from him.
Dave must have noticed it too and turned towards it in surprise.
The shape seemed to flow like water but still held a firm shape as it quickly drew up to the same height as Dave.
Dave backed away slowly while John watched on in stunned silence. John tried radioing Dave and Frank but couldn't get anything but more static.
John stared on in shock as the shape swiftly moulded itself into Dave's form, mirroring him completely.
Dave stepped back in surprise almost falling over on a rock behind him.
John began to run towards him, fearing the worst. As he looked on, too far away to do anything, the copy of Dave darted forward with inhuman speed and punched straight through Dave's helmet exposing him to the poisonous and thin atmosphere of Callisto. John skidded to a halt about twenty meters from his friend and watched in horror as Dave reached up instinctively and pulled off his helmet. His eyes were bulging and his face red as the pressure of Callisto's atmosphere took its toll. Within seconds Dave collapsed to the floor, twitching as his life slowly ebbed away. The Dave copy reached down towards his head and gripped it between his hands. The fingers seemed to worm in to the skull and the brain underneath. John knew there was nothing he could do for him and began to circle around the Dave copy and towards his ship.
Suddenly John's radio came on, clear as a bell without a hint of static.
"Where are you going John? Look behind you." Dave's voice said, coming over the radio, sounding exactly the same as if his friend was still alive.
Panic gripped John as he glanced over his shoulder, fearing what he would see.
Just like Dave, a copy of John stared at him, a slight smile on it's face.
"Jesus!" John shouted and began to run as well as he could towards his ship. Within two steps however, he felt something grab his leg and fl
ip him over in midday, putting him onto his back. John lost his breath as he cracked into the hard surface and heard a quiet hiss of air escaping as a tear ripped in his suit. John started to sit up and keep running when his copy stood over him and looked down. The Dave copy moved next to him.
"Why?" John gasped out, struggling to breathe.
Dave's voice came over the radio again. "What better way to take control of your kind John? Don't be afraid, your friends memories and personality are now a part of us. Just like your friends at the base will be, just like you will be."
John struggled for his radio to try and warn Frank and the others. His copy smiled down at him, knowing he was too weak to do anything before it reached down and tore off his helmet.
As his vision clouded and he began to black out, his radio came on one last time. "Welcome John." Dave's copy said, as his own copy reached down towards his head, fingers grasping for his skull.
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