Outpost 1

Phobos

Sleep-The mistress of the tired weary souls. From the corners of my room she beckons to me with the promises of warmth and peace. Promises I believed. 

Leaning down I zip off my heavy black leather boots. They fall to the floor in the darkness. Instinctively I reach for the light switch over my head 'click' and close my eyes.

Through the thin walls. I could still hear the muffled sound of men playing Poker and laughing amongst themselves. I know there is much I should tend to beforehand but maybe, just maybe a short nap before dinner? Just a ten minute nap. That's all I needed right? I leaned backwards until my head touched my pillow. It felt so so good. Within seconds I already knew there was no point in resisting.

I sighed quietly in resignation as sleep smiled and wrapped me in her warm embrace.

It was three hours later that the night shift crew would begin to emerge from their rooms. Slowly and quietly ,one by one, they opened their doors and made their way down narrow steps and hallways as they had done a million times before. Careful not to disturb their daytime alternates sleeping in rooms adjacent to their own.

WHOOOOP!!! WHOOOOOP!!! WHOOOOP!!! WHOOOOP!!!

What was THAT ??!!!

I awoke with a start! My heart began pounding in my chest a hundred times a minute.The sound was deafening and painful. The air itself reverberated in unison with the sound. In the darkness I was momentarily disoriented. Covering my head with my pillow my hands instinctively reached over to the nightstand looking for an alarm clock that wasn't there.

WHOOOOP!!! WHOOOOP!!! WHOOOOP!!!

It finally dawned on me that what I was hearing was the Emergency Air Raid Siren blasting outside on the roof. It meant we were under imminent attack!

Swinging my legs over the side of the bed my foot tripped on the boots Id taken off the night before. I felt a sharp pain in my right ankle as I fought to get up.

I fumbled for the knob and opened the door to the hallway.

WHOOOOP!!! WHOOOOP!!! WHOOOOP!!!

The sharp sound had now increased in intensity by a factor of 10 !!! From complete darkness I now was overwhelmed by the bright strobes and hallway lights. They stung my eyes causing me to step back as I covered them with my hands. Looking down I saw a pair of bare feet running on the cold cement floor past my open doorway. Someone barking incomprehensible orders to my coworkers.

Out in the hallway I could see Major Dome frantically banging on doors with his fist, shouting aloud to be heard above the incessant horns and sirens, trying to get men up and moving. Dome was normally the calmest Officer in a crisis but today was different. His actions alone spoke volumes to me. I knew instantly this was definitely NOT a drill.

I hurriedly pulled my boots up and tugged my armored vest off from the back of my chair before stepping into the hall. In so doing I accidentally slammed into Major Domes chest as I rounded the corner. Being just as startled as myself he steadied himself , placing his hand on the wall and looked me up and down angrily.

"Snow! Where's your rifle? Get your rifle and head for the Lobby NOW!" he shouted.

I returned to my room and reached my hand behind the door. Feeling the familiar touch of worn leather that was my shoulder strap I pulled out my disruptor rifle and swung it over my shoulder.

I ran with a slight limp as every other step pressed on my ankle making me wince in pain. I could see Ron and Dolf taking their positions by the front door. Dolf was still wearing his sweaty gym clothes while Ron had hastily thrown on a thin bathrobe. Wide eyed they looked completely out of place with their rifles and Full face helmets on.