As they stood on the pier of Gordion, in front of the impossibly tall Company building again, James enjoyed a few moments of peace, simply listening to the wind howling and feeling the cool water droplets prickle his face, the smell of seaweed and salt. The feeling was short lived.

  'Get your ass moving,' Bill said.

  'Yeah yeah.' James picked up some scrap and brought it to the counter in the wall. Watched the screen above. Empty yet. He glared at the hatch in the alcove behind the counter. Was the monster in there real? Was it maybe a machine, to scare the employees? Were there really nobody working inside? If not, why was the building so large? Why were there no windows? He had so many questions. But he was more interested in getting away, then finding out. He had to try something. If he failed, at least he'd tried.

  His hands sweaty from nervousness, he yelled:

  'Hey! Anybody in there? Who's in charge here? I need to talk to the manager!'

  Everyone stopped and stared at him. He didn't care. He wanted justice. He wanted revenge.

  'I'm talking to you! Come out and talk to us. We have complaints.'

  'Man, you need to stop that,' Rich snapped from behind. 'It doesn't like loud noises.'

  'It?' James turned to face the man. His eyes were wide, his face pale. James frowned. 'I don't care about the monster. We need to talk to someone. We need to get out of this mess.'

  'Man, they're not gonna talk to you. They'll only ignore you, or kill you. You should know this.'

  'Yeah, I know. But I still have to tr-'

  A metallic thunk came from behind.

  James froze for a second, then quickly looked back.

  The hatch had opened. He swallowed, his throat gone dry. His determination almost evaporated as he stared into the darkness inside.

  'Get back,' Rich hissed.

  'James, what the actual fuck,' Bill half-shouted from the shuttle.

  James steeled himself. 'Anyone in there? Come out. We need to talk.'

  No reply, just some odd scraping noises and deep grumbles.

  James grabbed a bottle from the tray he'd set on the ground, raised his arm and aimed. 'Assholes!' He threw the bottle through the open hatch.

  A loud rumble and faint quake had James regret his actions, and he hastily sidestepped. A second later, the two large tentacles he'd seen before whipped out, grabbing for him. He scrambled further back. One of the tentacles nearly curled around his leg, but he jumped, and it wrapped around the tray with the glass bottles, yanking them back inside.

  James stood, his whole body trembling, watching the hatch close. Shit, that had been close. Too close. He didn't need to be told the thing would pull him inside as well, if it got a hold of him. Still, there had to be people somewhere. Had to be.

  'Are you insane,' Olivia called from behind a container. 'It almost got you then.'

  He nodded and croaked, 'Yeah. I noticed. But I have to try.'

  'You don't have to anything. But I think we all agree that we'd rather you stayed alive,' Bill commented rather sharply.

  'Rebecca died!' he snapped back. 'Dak died. We can't just let them do this to us. It's not fair. The least they could do it give us weapons. But they don't give us anything. They send us out to die. I want to... I need to get out of this. We all do.'

  'Yeah, but it's not possible,' Rich muttered. 'We just have to try and survive, and then when the contract goes out...'

  'You seriously think you can survive until your contract goes out? For real?' James shouted. Filled with rage, James tossed another piece of scrap at the closed hatch. 'Those evil bastards need to be held accountable, or they're gonna keep doing this and sending more people out to die. For what? Why do they even need this stuff?'

  'James, calm down. You know we can't change anything. I'm pretty sure there's only the monster in there. They're not here. There's at least no people here,' Bill said, his dark eyes unusually wide.

  Did he see fear there? Maybe he should calm down. But he really didn't want to. He wanted vengeance for his friends. 'How do you know?'

  'The phone call, when they first contacted you,' Bill continued.

  'What about it?' Confused, James looked up at the building again, over to the container-like shuttle, and back to Bill.

  'It didn't come from Gordion, or even Earth.'

  James blinked. What? What did he mean. He opened his mouth to say something, but found no words.

  'I traced it, when I was angry, like you,' Bill rasped. 'It came from somewhere else, far away. I don't know where. But no known human settlements.'

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  'That's... impossible,' James said lamely.

  Rich and Olivia stared at Bill as well, still as statues.

  What did all this mean? What could he do about it? Could he do anything about it? If their employers weren't human, if they were something else, maybe that explained why they were so callous and didn't give them what they needed. But in that case, what was that thing in the building. And what did it need the scrap for? It made no sense.

  'All I know is they're not from here. And I think the only thing in the building is the monster. Let's leave it at that and try to survive. Maybe we can buy better gear. Sometimes there's zap guns and stun grenades.'

  'That's it? No guns? No explosives?' He'd never used a gun or grenades, but he sure wanted them now. It couldn't be that hard to learn to use. He was very motivated.

  'No, nothing lethal, usually. You'd have seen them by now, if there were.'

  James nodded. Then he had an idea.

  He headed to the shuttle and started the ship's computer and opened the store. He scrolled down the list of items, ignoring the pieces of conversation he heard from outside. Was there nothing useful? He stopped scrolling as he spotted a ladder. Extendible ladder. That could be useful. He glanced at the door, but couldn't see the walls from in here.

  Maybe, if it extended far enough. It was worth a try, wasn't it?

  He ordered it, hoping the others wouldn't get mad. Then he went to the landing pad for the rocket, and watched the grey clouds for a while.

  A hand on his shoulder made him jump.

  'Sorry, didn't mean to startle you,' Olivia said. 'What did you buy?'

  'Just a ladder.'

  'Ladder?'

  'Yeah. I wanna test how far it extends. Might be useful.'

  She eyed him for a moment before replying. 'Useful for what, exactly?'

  He grinned guiltily for a second. 'Escaping.'

  They all stood around the extendible ladder as James fiddled with it. The tall gate stood as unyielding as ever. James hoped the ladder would be long enough. The gate wasn't as high as the surrounding walls, so it was their best shot. He pressed the button.

  The metal box opened, and a ladder clicked upwards, one step at a time.

  'I hope it'll be enough,' Olivia whispered.

  Bill shrugged, and Rich simply watched in silence. James thought he knew what they were thinking, and he thought the same. Surely, The Company wouldn't sell something that made their escape this easy. But he still had to try. Sometimes people made stupid mistakes. And hopefully, so did aliens. Or whatever they were.

  The ladder stopped. James groaned. It didn't reach all the way up.

  'Fuu...'

  'I'll climb up and see if I can reach,' Rich said unexpectedly.

  'It's too short,' James grumbled.

  'Yeah, but maybe it's tall enough if we add some things.'

  'Didn't think of that. Good idea.'

  The Company didn't sell rope, but maybe if they scavenged some good cable and something to use as a hook, they could have themselves a makeshift rope and get out. It wasn't a bad idea. His spirits rose as he watched Rich climb the ladder. He reached the end, and standing on the top rung, he leaned against the gate for a while, reaching up with his hands. He wasn't close enough, but with a rope, he could toss it over. James was certain about it.

  Then the ladder started folding itself up. Rich shouted and flailed his arms for balance. Then he simply flopped forward against the gate as he slid down with the ladder, a squeaking cry escaping him almost all the way down. James and Bill rushed to stand under the ladder, and as Rich fell the last bit, they caught him, if clumsily, and eased his fall.

  'Holy... thank you, guys,' Rich panted. 'I thought I'd fall and smash my face on the concrete.'

  'Don't mention it,' Bill said and James nodded.

  James had gotten Rich arm in the face, and his temple stung a bit, but other than that, it hadn't been too bad. Nobody was injured.

  'I have an idea,' James announced.

  Later, they all sat in the shuttle, eating canned food; the scrap sold and their new gear collected and ready for the next day.

  'I like the idea. And even if it ends up not working, we can at least feel like we tried out best,' Olivia said between spoons.

  James nodded. 'I think it'll work. Unless they stop us somehow.'

  Bill looked unusually pleased. 'It could work. But I wouldn't be too hopeful. We don't know what they might have up their sleeves. But I'm all in for trying.'

  'Where do you think we could most likely find the scrap we need?' James asked.

  Bill grunted and got up to check on the computer. He hummed to himself for a while before looking back at them.

  'There's a moon called Offense. It's like Assurance, but less looted. It's also a little more dangerous, but no worse than March.'

  'Danger's my middle name,' James muttered.

  Olivia snorted. 'I don't like the sound of that.'

  'There's greater chance of finding what we need without needing to pay for it. Or, we go back to March.'

  'No, thank you.' James shook his head violently. He had no wish to go back to the giant infested forests or shadow filled corridors. Logically, he knew it wouldn't be better anywhere else. Just different, but he'd rather go somewhere new.

  'Pay for it?' Olivia asked.

  'The best moons cost a lot to go to.'

  'Wait, we have to pay to work there?' she gaped.

  'Yes.' Rich nodded. 'But it's worth it. If you live.'

  'Well?' Bill looked at the others.

  Olivia shrugged, looking pale.

  'It doesn't matter,' Rich said.

  'We don't have that much money now,' James pointed out.

  'Let's try Offense then.' Bill typed on the computer and pulled the lever.

  James' stomach knotted. He hated this. But at least they had a plan, a goal. This time it felt slightly more worth going as they didn't just do it because The Company forced them. If only his friends could have been with them.

  He lay down on the bunk bed to attempt some rest before they arrived at the new moon.