Kimma the Killer

Kimma the Killer

     Melvon dived for the deck just as three Laser Balls sailed past him at chest level. If he had still been standing up, he would have been killed. Once he realized it was save he got up and continued his run down that Corridor.

     Pointing his weapon around a corner first Melvon checked out that side Corridor. Looking at the small Mini Monitor on his other wrist Melvon could see Kimma crouched behind a steel pillar that extended about a foot from the wall. She used a pattern of small holes in that pillar to point her weapon toward Melvon.

     “I can see you Kimma,” said Melvon. “There’s no one else here but us.”

     “I’m not responsible for all those deaths,” responded Kimma. “I didn’t kill anyone.”

     “It’s just you and me,” Melvon continued. “Everyone else is in their Personal Chambers like ordered to do so.”

     “I didn’t kill all those crewmembers,” said Kimma. “It looks like I did it, but I didn’t.”

     “We can talk about it after you surrender,” replied Melvon. “If you don’t I will have to kill you.”

     Kimma thought about that for a minute. Then she stepped into that Corridor. And dropped her weapon. A few seconds later Melvon came around that Corridor. His weapon up and pointed at Kimma.

====-=====-====-=====-====

     Standing over a crewmember Vicore bend down to check the man. She used a small hand sized box to drift from head to feet then she reversed it. Once completed she looked at the box.

     “He died like all the others.” Vicore looked up at Melvon who stood behind her.

     “It was salmonella¹ poisoning wasn’t it?” “If you look around here you will find a partially eaten mozzarella¹ stick,” responded Melvon.

     “We already have,” said Vicore. “I just sent it to the lab for testing.”

     “I thought we got rid of all of this poison,” commented Melvon. “How did this one get pass the disposal?”

     “It’s my fault,” answered Kimma. “I didn’t hear the order to dispose of them.”

     “Why didn’t you hear that order?” Melvon asked.

     “I have been in a Deep Freeze for the last two weeks,” said Kimma. “I’ve only been out for a few hours.”

     Melvon looked toward Kimma. All he saw was her feet. The rest of her stood in darkness. “Why were you in a Deep Freeze for so long?”

     “It was to make sure the poison I got from a cut got out of my system.” “But it’s not from that poison.” A hand came out of the darkness to point at the dead crewmember.

     “He must have known about the disposal order,” said Melvon. “Why did he eat it anyway?”

     “I made him do it,” answered Kimma. “He said that he couldn’t eat it, but I forced him to because I thought he was lying about his Taste Problem.”

     Melvon returned his attention toward Vicore. “The cut she got, could it have gotten out of Deep Freeze somehow and spread.”

     “No that’s impossible,” answered Vicore. “But I think I do know how it spread though.”

     “It’s the sticks wasn’t it?” Melvon asked.

     “That what I think is responsible,” answered Vicore. “The Rescue Team did say they had eaten some more of the sticks on their way back here – including Kimma.”

     Melvon glanced in the direction that Vicore stared at. “Maybe it’s alive, and when it infected the sticks it thought that was the way to kill us all.”

     “That sounds pretty crazy,” said Vicore. “But it’s not any crazier than what I have come up with.”

     “I knew that I would get blamed for Gottim’s death.” Kimma stepped out of the darkness. She had a hand weapon in her hand. “I didn’t expect to be blamed for everyone else here dying.”

     Before anyone could respond Kimma took off out of that chamber. Melvon was right behind her. His weapon already in his hands too.

=====-====-=====-====-=====

     “No one ever blamed you for the death of Gottim – or anyone else,” said Melvon. “We only wanted you to show us the plant that cut you so we could get a cure for this death.”

     Melvon, Vicore and Kimma walked through a thick Wooded Area. They stopped when Kimma told them to. “That’s what cut me.”

     Covering his eyes for a better look Melvon stepped up to the cutter. A second later he pushed a button on his chest. Out of a hole in his back what looked like an umbrella¹ popped up to cover his eyes from the bright Sun. “That’s better.”

     Suddenly they were joined by three other crewmembers. One of them had what appeared to be a novella¹, but when opened read like a log entry of some kind.

     “We found this in a cave system near here,” said PoWell. He handed it Melvon.

     “Still no sign of the Research team we were sent here to find out about,” said Yenni. “But there was a lot of signs they were there.”

     “Any indication where the Research Team is at?” Melvon asked.

     PoWell looked at Yenni before speaking. “The only thing we found there are a lot of bones.”

     “They were the same as the ones who have died on our ship,” continued Yenni. “If they did have a cure for the death they didn’t find it in time.”

     Melvon started skimming through the log entry. “Hopefully, they found a cure.” “They just didn’t have time to save themselves with it.”

     After reading the log entries Melvon found out he’s right. The Research Team had found a cure. But it wasn’t in time. Melvon read that on their way back to the MiniShip. As he got the MiniShip ready to leave Melvon thought, sometimes it’s hard being a Commander of a Rescue Ship – especially when we are the ones who need rescuing.


¹The only reason why I used these words in my story is because they are part of
 today’s Prompt. It’s the only reason.

The Word Count, including this line, is 998