TRIGGER WARNING: This episode involves large spiders. I tried to keep the descriptions minimal, but there are descriptions. (No innocent parties are bitten by spiders.)
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Find the series’s Table of Contents here.
February 02, 2051
Dr. Henry Phillips eyed a new box of pain medication, his mind drifting to the first morning after Colton’s injury, when he’d given the engineer some. It had been twelve days since then, twelve days since Colton had almost…Henry shuddered, remembering it.
Ever since January 21st, Henry had kept thinking of what Colton had told him earlier in the month, just before he’d gone to confront Taylor. “...when I came to this station, I didn’t expect to find people who’d be like siblings to me, but that’s what you are.”
But you didn’t feel you could tell us what you were going through.
He tore his mind away. Colton was alive, and he was doing much better now than he was then.
The doctor finished putting away the supplements and medications the transport carrier had brought in that night.
Alex and Lew had flown the mission, transporting the rebel prisoners to Earth and bringing back supplies. And new personnel.
Autumn had informed him they’d be getting two new doctors to replace Alvarez, Harley, and Yorke. When he asked why two instead of three, she’d replied, “Governmental efficiency.”
Henry hadn’t met the new doctors, but he’d seen them while he was unloading the medical supplies. They’d left the bay immediately, along with a few other passengers, which had given him a few minutes to talk with the pilots before they had to file their reports.
Autumn had asked him to help her keep an eye on their new medical personnel, and he was not looking forward to it. Hopefully, both doctors would just want to stay in their assigned quarters tonight and sleep off their flight.
After he told the others goodnight, he hoped to go to sleep.
Since they’d confirmed Colton’s fingers were all right, the engineer had moved back into his own quarters (after he’d carefully gone over his bedroom and bathroom/closet to make sure no one had added anything to them while he was gone.)
Henry missed having him around.
Footsteps sounded behind him, and he whirled.
The new personnel, a young man and woman, stood there, smiling.
And no one else was around.
He found himself wanting to draw his electrical pistol. Settle down. Not every new person is a rebel.
The young woman greeted him. “Hello, I’m Dr. Rogers.”
The young man gestured to himself. “Dr. Long.”
“We just got in,” Dr. Rogers added.
“It’s nice to meet you. My name is Dr. Phillips.” Henry didn’t offer to shake hands.
Dr. Rogers started to put her hand out, then dropped it. “Ah, still nervous. One of the other doctors told us what happened to you last year.”
Henry kept his gaze on her, relying on his peripheral vision to track Dr. Oakes moving toward them from the direction of the doctors’ quarters.
Since their last conversation in January, the other doctor had kept his distance.
What is he doing now?
“Hey, Henry. Yeah, I told them about Dr. Hughes the rebel.” Oakes smirked. “I also told them how crazy you were acting two weeks ago, tearing all over the station yelling for Engineer Close.”
Is he just trying to make it clear he doesn’t like me, or is he still trying to find out what happened that morning? If it is the latter, this is not the smartest way of doing it.
Henry’s chest tightened, but he forced himself to sound calm. Friendly. “Ah, yes. Did you also tell them how two rebels tricked you into helping them with their plan? Remember, when they tried to murder an operator?”
Dr. Oakes’s taunting smile faltered.
Henry’s CID buzzed, but he didn’t dare check it in front of them.
“Aren’t you going to…” Dr. Long gestured.
“No, it just means it’s low battery…”
Autumn was coming from the direction of her office. She glanced between the four of them as she approached, then focused on Dr. Oakes, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”
“Yes, Doctor.” Oakes spun on his heel and marched off in the direction of the doctors’ quarters.
Autumn turned to the new doctors. ”I suggest you try to sleep as well—I know what hours spent in microgravity during flight can do.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Dr. Long answered. He nodded a goodnight to Henry and Autumn, as did Dr. Rogers before she joined Long in heading for the doctors’ quarters.
As soon as they were gone, Autumn turned to Henry and lowered her voice. “What was that about?”
He told her.
Her throat muscles tightened. “I don’t trust them, Henry.”
“Is there something in their files that doesn’t look right, or is it just their demeanor?”
“Their demeanor. Their files look fine. Rebels’ files always look fine.” She frowned. “I don’t like how…casual they were in their reference to what Dr. Hughes did.”
Henry nodded. “I feel the same way.”
“Good. Never let your guard down around them—and keep several pairs of gloves in your pockets. Speaking of which, I need you to carry some bags for me.”
“Am I taking them somewhere?”
“We have a meeting.”
Henry finally checked his CID. “Ah, so that’s what the message was.”
____________________________________________________________________________
Claire stood between Topaz and Colton in front of the general’s desk, Autumn and Henry on Topaz’s other side, and Alex next to Colton.
Temporary Station Head Gonzalez placed a folder on his desk. “When Gerard arrives, we’ll begin.” He glanced at Colton. “It’s good to see both your hands healthy, Engineer Close.”
Colton smiled. “Thank you, sir.”
Someone tapped on the door, and the general rose and crossed his office to it. He typed in the passcode that unlocked it, then swung it open and gestured. “Come in.”
“Thank you.” Gerard entered the room, and Claire’s chest tightened.
He started toward them, then halted, glancing at Colton. Guilt flitted across his features. He looked down and moved to stand slightly apart from the group.
Good.
Claire took the general’s word for it that Gerard wasn’t with the rebels, but she was still wary of him. And while she guessed the look Colton threw him was a smile, she knew she saw her friend’s fingers twitch.
Topaz gently nudged her, and she focused on the general.
“First, Barr’s little suggestion to Colton on January 21st.” The general’s voice took on an edge. “My people have completed their research and have concluded that yes, the major’s friends in the government would make removing him from his position difficult. Given that he is technically qualified, I would need a very good reason for replacing him, and considering there isn’t any recording of what he said to you, Colton, I’m afraid I don’t have one.”
Brigadier General Gonzalez gave the engineer an apologetic look.
“I understand,” Colton said softly. “That’s why he scanned me and confiscated my CID to begin with—so I wouldn’t have any evidence.”
“There’s another angle to consider, too.” The general let his breath out. “We know what Barr is. With any replacement division head, we’d be starting over, and he or she could be worse—perhaps even turn out to be a rebel.” He turned to Gerard. “I want you to help Colton keep tabs on Barr. Dr. Lucinda Burke and her son will already be doing the same thing, but they’ll be more focused on getting the tracker built.”
Gerard nodded. “Yes sir.”
Brigadier General Gonzalez turned to Topaz. “Your last report two days ago stated that you and your team hadn’t found anything else in your systems that might have been left behind by the rebels, and that after examining a series of deletions, you think you’ve finally determined what the file found on your computer on January 20th was related to. I’d like you to explain it for everyone here.”
“Yes sir.” Topaz glanced back and forth to include the others. “We believe the file was linked to the station’s cameras’ failure to capture any footage of the enemy fighter or fighters that placed the bomb on the station sometime between the last two exterior maintenance checks.
“The file contained several lines of code that would very briefly turn the cameras off—similar to if they were disconnected for maintenance. Pretty clever attack that doesn’t look like malware to our systems but instead looks like a normal prompt. Except it wouldn’t work if the operators monitoring the cameras saw it happen.
“So, we believe the deletions were the missing pieces—probably code for tricking our systems into thinking the cameras were still connected, and static images that would be displayed on the monitors of the operators on duty so they’d be tricked into thinking they were looking at live footage.” She looked at the general.
“Thank you, Topaz.” His gaze swept the group. “I wanted all of you to hear that so you’d know what kind of new attacks we might come under in the future. And now, more bad news.”
Brigadier General Gonzalez opened the folder on his desk and took out a photo that he held up for the group to see.
“What the—” That came from Alex.
____________________________________________________________________________
Alex’s eyes fastened on the photo, his heart dropping into his stomach.
A close-up of a freakish, light brown spider—a Goliath Birdeater, according to a line of text under the picture—filled his vision. He blinked and looked away, but the image was already cemented in his mind.
The general returned the photo to the folder. “NASA didn’t bother to ask my permission before they sent them to us, probably because they knew what I would say. Unfortunately, they were loaded with supplies for the Engineers Division, and the engineer who collected the supplies accidentally released them.” He looked at Colton. “From now on, I’d like you to unload everything intended for the engineers.”
“Yes sir.”
Brigadier General Gonzalez took out his CID and started typing. “There are six of them at this station now.”
“Six?” Alex stared at the folder. “They sent six?”
The general nodded. “A scientist emailed me about it a little before I called this meeting. His team wants to ‘test the survival capability of lower life forms in space.’”
Alex’s stomach tightened. “Why didn’t they just send scientists then?”
The temporary station head smiled. “A fair question, Pilot. I’ll be putting out an announcement warning everyone, but I wanted to warn all of you first.” He finished typing. “I’m sending you each a copy of NASA’s email—it will tell you more about the spiders.”
They checked their CIDs, and then Gerard cleared his throat. “Sir—does leg span mean what I think it does?”
“Yes.”
“These things are huge.” Gerard shook his head. “I’d hate to have one of them sneak up on me.”
“With their size,” Colton said, “you’d hear them coming—if you were in an area that was mostly quiet, like your room.”
Alex’s stomach turned. Thanks, Colton, I needed that! He managed to keep his voice steady. “We can just shoot them, right?”
“Better to crush them,” the general answered. “Some spiders are resistant to electricity—NASA was helpful enough to inform me of that.” He put the folder in a desk drawer, completely unaware of Alex’s horror. “Stick to your normal duties as much as you can, but keep an eye out. Especially watch where you sit. As the email says, they are not venomous, but their fangs are sharp—”
Alex wasn’t listening anymore. He was frozen, staring at the arachnid slowly crossing the temporary station head’s desk. He opened his mouth, trying to warn the general, but no sound came out.
“Ah, there’s one.” The general slammed his gun down, then looked at the result in disgust. “Another thing. The bags please, Autumn.”
Autumn pulled several large, clear plastic bags out of her lab coat, and Henry did the same. They placed them on the other end of the general’s desk.
The general took one and used his gun to scrape what was left of the spider into it before zipping it closed. “Each of you carry several of these bags. If or when you kill a spider, put it in one. I want to make sure we don’t lose count. I want them cleared out.”
“Yes sir.” They spoke in unison.
“Watch the drains in your bathrooms. And the vents everywhere else. Considering my door is closed and locked, it must have entered this office through a drain or vent. You’re all dismissed.”
“Yes sir.” They collected their bags.
Alex shoved his into his jacket, trying not to shudder in front of the others. Why did it have to be spiders?!
____________________________________________________________________________
Topaz stood in the room she shared with Claire, her back to the pilot while she shook out her pillowcase, then shoved it back on her pillow and started in on her sheets. “I hope none of us dreams of spiders tonight.”
“Me too.”
Topaz could hear the ruffling of Claire checking her own bed.
“Claire, do you think it was really NASA behind this?”
“I’d think the rebels would send us venomous spiders, not ones that can’t poison us. Unless they were trying to distract us from something…Topaz!”
Topaz whirled as Claire rushed past her to the foot of her bed, pistol in hand. She ground to a halt and clubbed a spider off the wall.
Topaz whipped out one of her bags. “Ew!”
“You said it.” Claire held out her hand.
“I got it.” Topaz used the bag to scoop up the mess, grimacing as she zipped it shut. “I don’t mind killing spiders, but why’d they send us such gross ones—Claire, take a look at this.” She held the bag up, pointing to one corner of it. “Do you see what I see?”
Claire’s eyes narrowed. “A small piece of reflective material? On a spider?”
“Yeah…” Topaz opened the bag and reached inside with her gloved hand. “There it is.” She grasped a device with just her thumb and index finger. Pulling it out, she turned it more toward the light. “Looks like a tiny…microphone? And a camera? With a computer chip. We need to”—she stopped, then grabbed a backup battery for her electrical pistol from her belt.
She moved it to one of her jacket pockets and slipped the device in with it. “Whoever’s listening can enjoy all that interference while we tell the others that the bugs are bugged.”
Thank you for reading “The Bugs” (Part 1). Read the next part of this episode here.
The previous installment in this series is “Silence Pt. III” (Part 2). Read it here.
Copyright © 2026 Li Mitchell All Rights Reserved
Note: Everything I write is written without AI—even if I do use a lot of em dashes (and some semicolons).
I will have to go and read this universe, awesome diligence!
Ugh, I'm with you, Alex! Why did it have to be spiders? 😵💫
Also, I feel like we definitely need to replace whoever is in charge of staffing back on earth, because the number of new staff who turn out to be rebels is becoming alarming!