Short Story "Codename: Wolf Virus"

Author's intro: Here's a little sci-fi story I wrote in my spare time. I was trying to prove that you can turn any story into a sci-fi epic simply by setting it in Space. I suppose I was inspired by Avatar and Prometheus. (I thought of getting these stories I have published, but then I thought: I have my own publishing space!)

CODENAME: WOLF VIRUS

First, she looked around the bleak metal hull of the Wolf Base, then she drew out her force field tube, and generated the energy necessary to capture the brain-like entity codenamed the Wolf Virus. She stepped onboard her ship.

Shelley Shepherd, Commander of the science vessel Copernicus, was ordered to take the viral being to the nearest military lab. “Roger that.” she said over her sleeve comm. She placed the growing viral being in a force field bubble, and into a little observation slot. Strange, she almost felt a little sympathy for it, even though it had killed millions. Like a rabid dog being put down. But, off the ship went, blazing through hyperspace. In the total silence of the ship’s autopilot, she often felt compelled to check on the little bugger. She tapped on the forcefield bubble.

“Two eyes appear to function…” she said in fascination. Shelley felt a cool pulse in her brain, and then a stab as the creature responded.

“They are fine.” It said in garbled vocals. Telepathic communication! Shelley turned to go to bed, but then figured as they were all alone she might as well talk to the trapped brain-like puppy-thing.

“What planet are you from?” She asked it.

The thing glowed. “Kurs’zi. A planet of warriors.”

Shelley had heard of the destruction of the Wolf Base, but from this thing? She tapped on the field again. Surprisingly, the viral being did the same. Shelley couldn’t suppress her amusement. “Your jaws are fantastic. They change in size according to…what?” she asked.

“Prey!” The creature bit down on Shelley’s face, breaking through where she had tapped on the forcefield with its gigantic maw. The ship went into red alert, and robot security teams rolled in line by line with plasma rifles, but the little alien was gone, slurping around the lab. As it absorbed Shelley’s mind, it bit her briefly. In shock, she threw herself into the laser fire until she lie there in the aftermath. Her spacesuit took the laser's impact.

But, Shelley obtained a link with the being. She knew what it wanted. After all, he was a scared viral being from a race of warriors. He wanted a body to eat with. In animals, she noted, there is only basic instinct: hunger. In warrior cultures, only the hunt: he needed a weapon. She deactivated the red alert alarm and the robots fell silent. She gasped, as the viral being bared its teeth.

“You wanna eat me, do it now!” she yelled, summoning all her strength.

“Hold still!” the being growled and lowered its teeth to clamp down on her leg. But, with one free hand, Shelley opened the airlock, and knocked the creature into the robot chassis, sending it hurtling violently through space. In her spacesuit, Shelley survived. In its robot chassis, the being did not. But, it died of starvation having tasted food, and with a rifle in its robot hand. She honored it, but lived on.