Arrival

ShadowPublications.com presents Station 3, written and performed by Paul E. Cooley. Station 3 is available in audiobook from ShadowPublications.com and in e-book and paperback at Amazon.com. published by Severed Press. This podcast contains adult situations, language, and violence. Listener discretion is advised. Hello, fiendlings, and welcome to the serialized, unabridged podcast presentation of my novel, Station 3. What is Station 3?

It's an action horror survival story in the spirit of the Dead Space Alien and Carpenters The Thing franchises. What does that mean? Suspense? plasma weapons, powerful augmented suits, and an infection burning through the denizens of three underwater stations. In short, it'll have gore, violence, and harsh language. Let this be your warning.

Now, an announcement before we get going. For those of you that know me from the Black Series, you should check out my update podcast for the Black. I'll include a link in the show notes. Why should you listen to that one? Well, it'll explain what I'm going to say next. Station 3 will likely be my last foray as a professional narrator. At this time, I'm planning to have all my future works narrated and performed by other folks.

The reasons are varied, and I cover them in that episode. Now, on to happier things. Because you've been good fiendlings, I'm going to give you a surprise. You're getting three episodes this week, two without any jibber jab. Feel free to mainland them to your heart's content and remember that there are only 32 episodes to go before the series finishes. Is that too long to wait for the story's conclusion?

Well, head on over to shadowpublications.com and purchase the audiobook directly from yours truly, meaning I get nearly 95% of the profit as opposed to 25% of Audible. Or if you'd rather read your way through, look up Station 3 at Amazon.com and get the e-book or trade paperback. Links are in the show notes. That said, let's get to the story. Be safe, have a great week, and we'll talk again real soon.

Here's Episode 1 of Station 3. Chapter 1 Zulfikir closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself floating in water. The feel of the bright purple liquid against his skin, the salty tang of ocean air filling his nostrils, and the occasional bump of a curious fish or maybe an innocuous nibble to his toes.

Floating in the water with the ever-present whisper and shush of the waves was perhaps the only place in the universe he ever felt at home. Too bad he wasn't heading there and wouldn't be for at least another six months. This is your captain speaking. A bored, tired voice sounded over the intercom. We will begin our final deceleration burn in five minutes. Please return to your jump couch and strap in for the remainder of the journey. Self sighed.

deceleration and acceleration burns had always been his least favorite part of star hopping so much so that most of the time he demanded to stay in stasis until the ship landed no such luck this time He couldn't afford to be drowsy and puking when the team hit the station. Shinshou Corporation, their employer, expected them to land, gear up, and take care of business, whatever that business happened to be. Ah, Zilf, Reki said.

You're already starting to turn green. Zylf, who had remained strapped into the couch since leaving Stasis, gave Reki the middle finger. Reki, her laugh something between a snort and a howl, grin displaying white teeth that were far too even to be real well mostly too even one of her incisors had been filed down to a dangerous looking point i don't know how you can sit here after stasis should have been up in the viewing lounge

Zulf grunted. To see what? Crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes, she said. Space? Uh-huh, he said. Seen it. No, she said. You've never been to this system, right? Nope, he agreed. Never. Well, you missed a beautiful blue spiral nebula, one of the most intricate I've ever seen. Pity, Syl said. Guess I'll just have to look it up when we get back home. Rekki shook her head in disgust. Hopeless.

Through a yawn, Zulf said, the others still pasted to the observation window. Before she could respond, he heard the rest of the team laughing in the clomp of their mag boots. The trio walked in and headed to their couches. each sparing a glance at Zilf with no one grins. Yuri, Lijiao, and Griggs, together with Zilf and Reki, comprised one of Shinshou's many Emergency Engineering Teams, or EET.

For the fourth time this solar year, they've been scrambled from Taka Station, dumped on a jump ship, and sent to one of the far corners of Shinshou's domain to handle a quote-unquote situation of utmost importance. for a normal person such an ominous phrase might lead to anxiety but for eet's the words were all too familiar every mission was of utmost importance because if an eet had been sent the shit had already hit the fan

Reki looked over at the newly arrived trio. Li Zhao? The compact woman's head snapped upward to regard Reki, her eyebrows raised in a question. Reki nodded to her. Straps, now. Li Zhao blinked her brown eyes before rolling them and buckling herself in. Yuri and Griggs got the message and followed suit. Zilf didn't know why those three always waited until the last possible second to be in their couches or on the ready line or, well...

barely on time for anything. Reki had once said they'd be late for their own funerals. Zilf, however, was pretty sure even EET members were on time for those. Low nebula, Zilf, Uri said. You'll miss the good one. His stubble-free baby face was turned up into an infectious grin. So I heard, Sylph said, thinking that maybe he did need to take a look at the nebula. If the sight impressed Yuri, then it must be worth seeing. Eh, Ricky?

Griggs called. You got any more intel for us? She shook her head. No, and I didn't expect any. Figured, Griggs said. Just for once they could give us the whole briefing before we land. Zulf stifled an annoyed laugh. Before every landing, Griggs asked for Intel updates, and there never was one. Shinshuo, paranoid to say the least, would never brief an EET in flight unless privacy was ensured. And while the jump ships were hardened against surveillance, corporate security simply didn't trust them.

which Zill found funny since corporate security were the ones responsible for the jump ships. Not for the first time, he wondered if they were just that bad at their jobs. Their new jump ship pilot, Captain Wilkes, now assured all his charges were secured.

started the burn countdown at five zulf closed his eyes and entered his imaginary ocean once more he barely heard his team's chatter over the vibration of roar of the engines firing they were shouting at one another but zilph had tuned them out while he attempted to ignore the ship's violent trembling purple water purple water purple water diving swimming floating spear-fishing net-fishing sailing

life his homeworld's ocean teemed with life while space was its antithesis was it any wonder he loathed space the vibrations intensified the burns volume rising until his ears rang with the wall of sound Zilf kept his eyes closed, knowing from experience that opening them would just make him nauseous. His teeth clicked together as the rattling continued, face set in a quivering grimace. Zilf could just make out the sound of Reki laughing over the engine's roar.

God, he hated when she was enjoying herself, and she always laughed like that during a jump, ship, drop, deceleration, acceleration. Reki was one of those people who just loved the idea of being dead. Well, that wasn't true. She was an adrenaline junkie. In the past two years that he worked for her, he'd seen her get giddy like that not only during ship launches and arrivals, but also when they were on the job, when something could go drastically wrong and kill them all.

That had almost happened a few times. Regardless, she was the commander of the EET, and therefore, they did what she said. And they had to live with her little personality quirks, just like Zilf had to live with everyone else's personality quirks. and everyone else his just when he thought he couldn't take the rattle anymore feeling as though his eyes were going to pop out from behind his eyelids and roll around the cabin like marbles on a bus

The vibration lessened and then disappeared as though the engines had completely cut off, which he knew wasn't true. Still, the roar had diminished enough to where he could barely hear the engines at all. Recky sighed. Oh, I wish that had lasted a little longer. Li Zhao, a grin on her face, said, Well, yeah, best vibrator ever, boss. Reki glared at her and then blushed. Li Zhao laughed.

Griggs and Yuri looked at one another before they started laughing and even Zilf couldn't help smiling. Attention passengers, Wilkes said over the intercom. We will be arriving in seven minutes. Repeat seven minutes until arrival.

Please remain strapped in. Seven minutes, Zilf breathed. Reki's wristband vibrated. She stared at it for a moment, her fingers swiping against the display. She blinked and then looked over at Zilf. We're going to need an equipment check as soon as we land and get into our pressure suits. Include aquatic packages. What's up, boss? Griggs asked. They tell you something? She turned to him, a sneer on her face.

Yeah, they told us to get ready. Griggs leaned toward her. What does that mean? Reki didn't say anything for a moment. She looked back at Zulf one more time. You have the manifests? Of course, Zulf said. Listen up, people, Recky said. Soon as we land, we're going on a search and extract inside a potentially hazardous containment area with the potential for lots of water. That's what I've been told we should prepare for. So no screwing around.

Perform status checks as if we are already on mission the moment we step out of this ship. We need to be prepared for anything. But, Uri asked, what is the up? Reki stared down at the wristband again. It doesn't say anything about a job. She looked up at him. Oh, I remember. We're an emergency engineering team.

I guess the job involves an emergency, engineering is required, and we're a team, right? So since I'm the team leader, your boss, you do what the fuck I tell you. Reiki saw the perplexed look on Yuri's face and sighed. Sorry, excuse me. Yuri grinned. You know, this is a lot like being in the military. Reki harumphed. If this were the military, I'd have already kicked all of your asses by now. Griggs laughed. Wait a minute.

Didn't you already do that to Yuri last week at the bar? Sure did, Reki said. Yuri brushed his hand idly at a bruise on the upper side of his left cheek. That must have been a good scrap. Zilf hadn't been at the bar when it happened and wasn't even sure what had caused it. He thought maybe it was just a matter of two people being drunk, or maybe it was some kind of strange foreplay they had going on. Zilf thought it was pretty obvious the pair wanted to fuck one another.

but he didn't think either of them really knew how to ask the other. So instead of hugging, kissing, or fucking, they fought. Wasn't the first time the pair had thrown hands. It seemed to happen just about, oh, once every three months or so. Sylph had considered putting a calendar together to mark the time and make sure that his memory of a pattern was correct. Was it really every three months or had it been more frequent than that? He couldn't remember.

Zilf swiped his wristband and after a few taps brought up their equipment manifest. Amongst the items, seven EET pressure suit sprinters. Each suit designed to wield tools, attachments, specialized sensor packs, and capable of heavy construction, demolition, and rescue. When you joined an EET,

the first thing you had to prove was proficiency with the suits. EET recruits often washed out on the suits alone, let alone demonstrating engineering proficiency while wearing one. Operating an EET suit in hazardous environments took skill, caution, and, not to mention, a bit of a death wish. Part of Zilf's job description included suit printer repair, maintenance, and to ensure the suits worked when they needed to. Same with the weapons.

Even when his EET was on leave, they usually remained at their dispatch station. Zilf kept up his routine every day of going down to the loadout bays, checking suits, other equipment, and occasionally adding his own special mods to them based on previous mission experience.

That was his true love, tinkering with machines. Two minutes, Wilk's voice said over the intercom. Two minutes before they entered the planet's atmosphere, Zulf's wristband's haptic activated and he saw there was a new entry. Zhao II. He tapped the message and a mission dossier appeared. There wasn't much information, of course, because of Shinsho's legendary paranoia, but what the file told him was more than enough to make his balls shrivel.

The image of the planet showed fractures and striations of rusty red marring an otherwise beautiful blue and white orb. The planet's atmosphere was all but devoid of clouds. Far from the star's habitable zone. not that there were any habitable planets in the system, Zhao II's temperature hovered around negative 200 degrees Celsius. However, its gravity was 0.9g, nearly Earth's gravity. The similarities, however, seemed to end there.

Zhao II was an ice ball with a once active molten core. Its surface was ludicrously uninhabitable, although at some point in the distant past, it might have been. Maybe. Considering its star was fading into a red dwarf, whatever heat it might have dispersed to its five planets had long ago waned. Zilf didn't know about the other planets in the system, but experience told them they wouldn't be in much better shape.

A fuel supply depot orbited the planet just above its atmosphere. The diagram showed the facility as being tethered to the planet. Sylph frowned for a moment, and then understood. Space elevator. What? Erie asked. his eyes still studying his own wristband. The station has an elevator leading to the planet's surface. Yuri looked up at Zilf, his mouth set in a frown. You're shitting me. Nope, check the schematics. You'll see I'm right, Zilf said.

Griggs groaned. We don't even get to land on the planet? Oh, we land, Reki said, a mischievous smile on her face, when the lift hits the surface. The others kept talking, but Zilf had pushed the noise from his consciousness. Aquatic packages meant Shinshou expected the EET to perform their duties while submerged, meaning their target either floated on the water or was beneath it. He brought up the planet information again and found what he was looking for.

Subsurface ocean, he said aloud. Below 200 meters of ice. Oh, shit, Yuri said. No wonder we're not landing. Zulf sighed and patiently waited for what he knew was coming next. Um, wait. Yuri said while looking at Sylph. How the hell are we getting below the ice? Sylph only grinned. Oh, fuck. The elevator? The elevator. Sylph agreed. Which means, Recky said,

We'll need to take down all of our gear. The elevator's more than large enough for our containers, and we sure as shit don't want to have to come back up here if we need something. Say that again, Lijia said. Would take an hour minimum to get back up. Zilf grunted, but said nothing.

The elevator would either take them to an intermediate station on the surface or would dump them straight into the ocean. How far below the surface were the stations? The dossier didn't have that information. If it was more than 50 meters, and he imagined it was,

That hour minimum would more than likely easily stretch into two, depending, of course, on how many miracles the Shinshou engineering teams had pulled while constructing, well, whatever it was they'd built. You must be happier than a pig in shit, Zilf. Lee Zhao grinned at him. You're going to be back in the ocean. Freezing temperatures aren't my thing, Sylph said, even if there's water involved. Can't swim in that shit. Not without an aquatics package, you won't, Reiki said. On it, boss.

Zilf said. I know you are. Reki turned to Griggs. Search and extract, aquatic and terrestrial. Lijiao, S&E medical loadout, Reki said. Yuri, your Zilf's back up on the heavy side. I'll back up Lijiao and Griggs.

standard rolls eerie muttered be a lot easier if we had a full team eerie said reki shrugged five is a full team you know what i mean eerie said and rubbed a hand across his eyes no doubt trying to clear a crunchy Seven would be better. Whatever, Greg said. When's the last time you won a team with seven? I've never been. Training, Yuri said wistfully. Back in the good old days when I didn't know shit. You still don't know shit, Reki said.

Yuri mocked Hurt, but Recky ignored him. Questions? Thirty seconds, Wilkes said over the intercom. Two adjustment burns and we'll be on station. Ligiao acted as if she hadn't heard the voice on the intercom. Biohazard in play? Looks like, Reiki said. Apart from the fact there's no one to meet us, that's all I know. That's just rude, Griggs said. We travel all this way and we don't even get a welcoming committee? The sigh of Lijiao heaved echoed in a small room.

If they're sick, you don't want a welcome committee. Oh, Griggs said, a flush of embarrassment coloring his cheeks. Right. The ship vibrated for a few seconds and Zilf clamped his hands on his knees in response. A short burn, as Wilkes had promised, but it was still enough to ramp up Zilf's anxiety. When the burn finished, he had just enough time to settle himself before a harder burn began. Fingers clenched, eyes clenched, sphincter clenched.

Zulf gritted his teeth and waited for the vibration to pass. Reki was saying something, but he ignored it. He conjured his ocean again. A blasto shark swimming two meters away from him, its pair of dorsal eyes were guarding him with both suspicion and curiosity. A septipi, its stubby, powerful arms moving ten times a second, glided past the shark without a care in the world.

The Blasto knew better than to give chase and risk being smacked by one of the armored spiked appendages. There was a reason most predators ignored Septipi. Too bad humans found them tasty. The very thought made Zilf's mouth water. Stillness. The burn was over. He opened his eyes and found the rest of his team staring at him in fascination. His cheeks felt too warm. What? Rekki shook her head and giggled.

Sylph, you're the only person I've ever met who could be scared shitless and still smile. Where the hell do you go when you close your eyes? He grinned sheepishly. My ocean. The ship lurched once with a brief grinding noise. and locked, team, Wilkes said over the intercom. Reki looked upward at the speaker and then back at Zilf. Let's see if their ocean is anything like yours.

Station 3. Text and audio copyright 2022 by Paul E. Cooley. This presentation is protected by a Creative Commons attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives license. To support the podcast, please consider purchasing the book or visit shadowpublications.com and become a member for exclusive content, tip the author, or purchase audiobooks directly from the author.

Station 3 is available as an e-book and trade paperback from Amazon.com, published by Sever Press. This has been a presentation of ShadowPublications.com, where some mysteries shouldn't be solved.