The Planet 7.2

7.2 Spirits hunt

I crouched down to feel the flooring. It was unheard of but that was the ghastly thing I did. Well, I stop at having to sniff it. That will placed me in peer with the canines; a sarcastic or was it vile comparison. Well, the darn flooring was clean. Not a speck of dust but I traced a faint trail of plasma and platelets. It was blood from the organic. I switched the view on my goggles and saw where it went.

The Corsairs were there and then moved.

But how? Spirits don’t cart away bodies.

Only a physical being could do that.

Was the dust a physical being?

I leveled my rifle and then cautiously proceed along the corridor. I moved with the trail of blood as my guide. I tried to communicate with the others but there was only static. We were jammed was the pondering question but I had no answers then.

It was my mistake then. I should have waited for the answer. I ran on without looking back. In our recon basic training, the instructor tells one basic rule on recon tactics; “If it was there, and then it went missing, then it must still there but the question where? Since it’s not ground level, then check around you. Or above you.”

I did not check above me. When I looked up, I saw the mass of dusts there; layered to the ceiling. It must have moved there from the flooring. It had formed into a layer of dust coating that was glued to the ceiling. I took up my pace. When I ran past it literally rained from the ceiling but behind me. I sneaked a back view of it. It had formed into a form that resembled one of us with the four limbs but its upper limbs ended in a blade formation. The foot long blade was slashing from right and left as if it was fighting a foe. I grabbed a pencil explosive and armed it. I tossed it behind me when I turned the corner. The explosion went off but I was on the other adjacent corridor. I felt the vibrations of the blast but I was not stopping to check the damage. I did not need my instinct to tell me that dust had resumed the chase. I leveled the rifle in reverse over my left shoulder while pulling the trigger. I was firing blind but it may hand been a respite for me from the dust. I heard the click on the rifle and tossed it. I kept on running and took every turning I could find. Finally exhaustion overtook me.  I slumped against the wall and then leaned on the wall. It was then I took a glance for my foe.

Fool hardy perhaps. I guess I wanted to see them before I lose my head.

I was surprised not to see any dust on those corridors. It seems to have cleared off.

Well, I was wrong.

Suddenly it was in front of me. It had formed a wall of dust that blocked the corridor behind me.

“Damn!” I grabbed two pencil explosives to arm before tossing it. I then crouched down for the blast. It went off and the vibration blew me away. I guess my construct parts took the major blunt of it. I did suffer some shards of metals that were embedded into me but I was alive. The explosion also blew a hole in the wall next to us.

So much for the years of training in battle tactics. I was aiming the explosive towards the wall of dust and blew the space next to it. My instructors will peeve if they were there.

Or what Duggan will say; if you can’t toss it then canned it up your butt. Don’t waste my explosives.

No time to dwell on the mistake. I ran past the open hole and found myself in a cold room. It was huge. I wondered why they needing such a big cold room for but I was past reasoning for every event. In the cold room were rows of shelving that were lined up there. Every shelf was filled with some containers and was individually marked. I ran past the shelves for fear of the dust on the shelves before it could form into any blade; or I was just lucky to miss it any that was there.

I ran forward with my hands over the head. I took the turnings on cue on the shelves while sweeping the dust off my sleeves or head gear. I did not stop until I saw the closed doorway. I reached it and grabbed the handle. I pried it open and then rushed in. I slammed the door shut behind me before I took my deep breath. I care not what I was breathing but it was refreshing.

And damned it was freezing there.

It was then I noticed the dusts were falling off my body like droplets of rain.