No Screams in Space

         Doctor Richard Kertz flipped several switches on one of the consoles in his laboratory, keying up the three large lights over the examination table and illuminating the object resting there.  It looked like a snail; a dark shell spiraling inward.  Laying on its side it measured almost four feet across and a foot and nearly two feet tall.  The opening was filled with a half dozen worm-like tentacles, each about as thick as Richard's wrist and tapered rapidly and retracted so that only the tapered tips were barely visible outside of the shell.  The shell was cool to the touch and had become moist since its arrival in the ship's laboratory, covered in a thin film.  A closer inspection of the worm-like tentacles revealed them to be tough and rubbery, with a sparse peppering of coarse, black hairs.  Richard pulled a scanner- a box roughly a foot in height, width, and depth, with a cylinder six inches wide and just over a long protruding from one side- over by way of the long mechanical arm that attached it to the ceiling and began cycling through various types of scans, from xray to CT.  The images appeared on the massive screen on the wall, with basic analysis scrolling up the monitors on one of the consoles.
         "No internal heat signatures. An absence of a skeletal structure," Richard said out loud to himself, stroking his chin thoughtfully. The last scans startled him, however and he felt his skin prickle all over. 
         There was neural activity. A lot of neural activity.
         Whatever this entity was, it was obviously still alive. Somehow.  It went against nearly everything he knew as a scientist in regards to life.  There was no pulse; no heartbeat of any kind; no apparent respitory activity. Nevertheless, neurons within the creature were firing and doing so very rapidly, as shown on the EEG image.  Just then the door to the lab slid open and Captain Ruhaus walked in, his face still cast in a look of bewilderment and curiosity while his gaze settled upon the specimen.
         "So what've we got?" Ruhaus asked, stopping several feet away from the table with his hands clasped behind his back.
         "I'm not entirely sure yet, Captain. I've finished just finished the initial tests to see what sort of activity is going on within the shell and...well, I'm not sure what to make of the results.  There's nothing to indicate that there are any kind of cardiac or respiratory functions and yet there is clearly something going on within because the EEG readings are much higher than normal. Well, that is to say, they're much higher than those of a conscious animal or even human," Richard said, turning to face the examination table then leaning back against the wall. He traced a forefinger back and forth across his chin in obvious perplexity.
         "So its alive?" Ruhaus asked, taking an uneasy step back. "How is that even possible?  We pulled this thing out of space and God only knows how long it had been floating there.  How the hell does something like that even get in to space?"
         Richard shrugged, "I can't even begin to speculate, Captain."
         "Has it moved?"
         "Not at all.  In fact, it doesn't react to any form of outside stimulation. Touch and sound have no effect on it, not even on the cluster of tentacles.  They remain retracted," Richard said, then turned and gestured to the xrays of the shell. "It seems a simple enough construct, much like a squid or hermit crab.  The tentacles make up most of the mass within the shell, coming together in a fleshy cluster here.  There is a motley of tissue at the center, though given the way it is compressed into the shell, I can make no clear identification."
         Ruhaus frowned while he listened to Richard's report, his eyes never leaving the creature except to glance occasionally at the images on the screen.  His ship, a science vessle called The Coronae Storm, had picked up the creature on its sensors just a few hours ago, while en route to the colony on Ursa 339.  It had taken Richard a half hour to convince Ruhaus to bring the creature aboard.  Though the ship was a science vessel, Ruhaus himself was no scientist; he was a ship's captain and the safety of his crew came first.  Finally he relented, but not before a strict set of precautions were taken.  First, they had used a mechanical arm to maneuver the creature into an airlock.  Then an extensive series of tests had to be applied to check for any kind of radiation.  It was only after these conditions were met to his satisfaction that Ruhaus allowed the creature to be transported to the laboratory.
         "I don't like this, Kertz," Ruhaus said after several moments of silence.
         "It has made no indication of hostility, Captain," the scientist reminded him.
         "For all we know that's just pure luck.  I'm going under the assumption that he cold of space has put it into some kind of hibernation and that's a scenario I wish to exploit. I want this thing transferred to cargo hold three and kept in lockdown until we reach Ursa three-thirty-nine.  If it so much as farts in a way I don't care for, I'm flushing it back into the void," Ruhaus said, his gaze turning to Richard to convey his seriousness.
         "Captain, I cannot effectively study it in the cargo hold," Richard said.
         "You can study it all you want when we get to the colony. Until then, I would rather have the option of getting it off the ship quickly than making sure it's in a convenient place to look at.  If studying it means that much to you, you'll just have to make due in cargo hold three," Ruhaus said.
         "Captain Ruhaus, let me remind you that you are under contract as a science vessel which stipulates that we act like one. If we arrived at Ursa three-thirty-nine and I report that you dumped a find because it spooked you a bit, you would be filling out reprimand forms for the next two weeks as well as trying to explain to the company why they should continue paying you," Richard said, mustering all the nerve he could.
         Ruhaus fixed the scientist with a steely stare that nearly crumbled his resolve. "And let me remind you, that, despite my contract, this is still my ship. I do not issue topics for debate. I issue orders, orders which I expect to be followed to their completion.  Are we perfectly clear?"
         Richard's jaw tensed, but he nodded, "perfectly so."
         Ruhaus turned on his heel and left the laboratory, but not before calling over his shoulder, "get that thing into the hold."

         Richard closed the hatch to cargo hold three behind him and locked it, then turned and looked at his specimen in the center of the otherwise empty room.  The hold was a pod attached to the ship, a pentagon shaped cylinder extending from the belly of the ship towards the rear.  At the far end was a circular portal with steel rings within each other that when activated, would open like the iris of an eye.
         He had brought with him a massive stainless steel cart, upon which were all the instruments he could from the laboratory.  There were a few monitors, various scanners, along with a few surgical instruments.  He knew Ruhaus would disapprove of what he had in mind, but it was crucial he figure out as much as possible before the creature was taken away from him once they arrived at the colony. It was a given.  The company would steal up this find before he could even voice his opinion.  Bureaucratic bastards. They'd ship it off to some facility where he'd never see it again and some dried up, old 'specialist' would view it with a self-proclaimed 'brilliant mind' that was as closed off to the universe as cargo hold 3 of The Coronae Storm.
         That wouldn't happen. He wouldn't let it. If he could compile a respectable report, they would have no choice but to let him continue his work.  Motivated by these thoughts, Richard pulled up the hood of his body glove, then secured the filtration mask around his head.  Eager as he was to learn about this entity, he was not so blind as to realize precautions needed to be taken.  From the cart he lifted a long, narrow, stainless steel tube with a heavy gauge needle on one end and a trigger mechanism on the other.  A lack of respiratory activity meant the sedative would need to be given via injection.  He stepped up to the creature and crouched, then pulled back and jabbed the needle into the end of one of the appendages.
         Causing the shell to lurch away from him, the appendage pushed out with shocking speed, revealing a long, slender tentacle with a bulbous end.  That end slammed into Richard, sending him reeling back and crashing to the floor.  With eyes wide in surprise and terror, Richard watched as the tentacle grew to nearly eight feet in length, sliding from the confines of the shell like a snake from its hiding spot.  For several moments the tentacle simply waved in the air, the dark, reddish-brown skin glistening in the light of the cargo hold.  Then, with a sickening, wet sound, the thick end unfurled itself into a trident shape of broad, flat flaps.  The flaps gently waved in the air like seaweed under the ocean, revealing pinkish undersides and a faintly fluttering orifice at their base. 
         Without warning the tentacle came down, the flaps spread wide, and slammed onto Richard's head, completely encompassing it.  The flaps latched on tightly, holding with an iron grip and muffling all of Richard's screams.  He clawed at the rubbery leathery flesh, but the thin rubber of the body glove and the slick, oily coating on the skin made his fingers slip off.  It seemed like he was held there for an eternity, his head beginning to feel light from the struggled attempts to draw breath. 
         Your irreverence is unacceptable.
         The voice was in his head, filling his senses.  It was not just one voice, but echoed of many, each different from the others. Male, female, adult, child...it encompassed them all. 
         Your mind is open unto me, it said.
         Who...who are you? Richard asked, the words coming to his mind as his mouth was held shut by the flaps that secured his head.
         One of many. Proof of polythesism. A beautiful existence caught in a limited coil, was the reply.
         Richard's hands slowly fell to his sides and he could feel a numbness beginning to creep through his body.
         I don't understand, Richard said, the thought anguished in its ignorance.
         I am a god.
         The notion shook Richard and his mind recoiled, rejecting the proposition.  You cannot be a god.
         Why not?
         A god is a supreme being.  An intellect infinitely superior to our own.  A being that transends mortality. Though Richard was by no means a believer, he had been raised attending church on Sunday's and was therefor privy to the general concepts.
         The flaps squeezed harder, eliciting a fresh wave of panic and fear though Richard. He tried to raise his arms, to strike and claw at the leathery flesh once more, but he found his body unresponsive. 
         I AM a god! In comparison to your weak and pathetic existence, I can register only as a notion to you. A thought. A concept.  However, I am a concept that holds your life in its hand! Who are you to judge? Who are you to dictate the parameters of a god? the voices wailed, the chorus making his head scream in pain.
         Forgive me! Please! Richard pleaded.
         Perhaps...I see potential to be unlocked in you.  I will give you a wonderful gift.
         The orifice at the base of the flaps flared open, making way for another tentacle tipped with a cruelly hooked talon.  The numbness had consumed his body, so as the talon forced itself through his eye and into his brain, he was oblivious to the pain, only feeling a faint pressure before his world turned black.

         The airlock slid open and the investigation team of the colony on Ursa 339 slowly advanced. Their heads swiveled from side to side and up and down, cutting through the darkness with brilliant beams of light from the lamps mounted on the sides of their helmets. The Coronae Storm was completely without power and as they progressed deeper into its innards, the sounds of the team's retrieval craft faded until only their footsteps and the wheezing of the filtration systems in their suits could be heard.
         "Can anybody hear me? Is anybody alive?" Officer Taves called out through the voicebox in his helmet.  His team kept close behind him, their rifles raised and pointed out away from each other.
         There was no response, just the wheeeeze...click- wheeeeze...click-wheeeeze.
         They broke up into two teams of four, making their way to the rear of the ship.  They found five bodies and a quick check of the ship's personnel records revealed them to be the engineering crew.  They had been killed by strangulation and blunt force trauma.  Taves thought the bruising around the necks looked like it came from bare hands. 
         "Mutiny?" Officer Hickler asked, crouched over one of the bodies while the camera on his helmet, opposite the lamp, snapped pictures.
         "Let's not jump to conclusions yet. We're here to gather evidence and transmit it to control for an assessment.  Stick to your job," Taves said.
         The first two cargo holds were full of sensor modules and other such equipment for the labs on the colony.  The third hold, however, came as a shock to the team, causing them all to bring their rifles up to bare.  Resting in the center of the otherwise empty hold was a creature, the likes of which none of them had ever seen.  It looked like a hybrid between a giant snail and some kind of squid.  One of the tentacles was extended from its shell, ending in a trident-like set of flaps from between which another tentacle protruded, tipped with an ugly, curved talon.
         "What the hell is that?!" Officer Lavrum shouted.
         "Whatever it is, it looks dead," Hickler said.
         "Take some pictures of it and lets move on.  We need to find out where the rest of the crew is," Taves ordered. This mission was getting less and less to his liking.
         They found more of the crew as they progressed towards the bow of the ship, each in the same condition as the engineers.  They made checks on the personnel record, identifying each body and listing it as deceased.  Outside the doors of the bridge they found the first mate, his neck bent to a grotesque angle.
         "That leaves a Richard Kertz, scientist; and the ship's captain, Lazlo Ruhaus," Hickler said, looking at his data pad.
         Taves could guess what lay beyond the doors to the bridge. Nevertheless, he set two of his men to bypassing them while the rest squatted.  Moments later, the massive doors slid open and their lights spilled into the bridge.
         The room was comprised of two sections.  To the left and right the floor receded to a series of stations populated with consoles and monitors.  In the center, a set of stairs climbed to a dais that overlooked it all, as well as gave a the best view through the massive forward viewports.  Their lights all converged on the figure standing upon the dais.  He was back-to, dressed in a body glove covered in spatters of blood, particularly on his hands and forearms.  In one hand, his fingers were clenched in the hair of a second figure who gazed at the investigation team with vacant, lifeless eyes and a jaw slacked in death.
         His rifle trained on the man, Taves shouted, "turn around slowly and identify yourself!"
         Slowly the figure turned and Taves felt his heart skip a beat while the hairs on the back of his neck rose.  The man was missing his left eye.  In its place was a fleshy mass that seemed to consumed most of the left side of his face. 
         "Identify yourself, now!" Taves shouted, his voice wavering slightly.
         The response came, though the man's mouth never moved.  Instead, Taves heard it in his own mind, a dozen voices all speaking the reply at once.
         I am a god.