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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February 02, 2051
Colton checked over his entire quarters twice and stretched duct tape over the shower drain in his bathroom (engineers’ quarters didn’t have sinks) before he lay down.
He was tired, but hearing what Topaz had discovered had made him even less inclined to sleep than the news about the spiders.
Not to mention how he felt about his room.
Had it only been twelve days?
He didn’t want to think about it, or the letter he’d sent home, letting his parents know he’d been injured but had recovered safely. What he’d been going through inside during that time, he’d decided to save for when he talked with them in person, when he returned to Earth in April.
And he meant to return.
He just hoped nothing came through the vents while he slept. He wasn’t that bothered by spiders, but he had heard spiders walk before, and the sound was similar to—his CID buzzed, and he checked it.
A message from Henry: Goodnight.
A warm feeling spread through Colton’s chest. His friends were an indescribable comfort. Smiling, he typed back, Goodnight. See you tomorrow.
Colton put his CID away, turned out the lights, and curled up under the covers.
He closed his eyes and was almost asleep when he heard a quiet click.
His door had unlocked.
Only his friends knew the passcode to his quarters.
Colton’s stomach dropped. As quietly as possible, he got off the bed.
Silently, he stepped to one side of it, reaching for the lights with one hand and his electrical pistol with the other.
The door opened just enough for the light outside to edge its way into the room, and then a very faint sound reached Colton’s ears.
He’d heard one like it before, when he was seven years old.
He flicked the lights on and aimed. “Freeze!”
The door slammed shut.
Colton glanced at the floor. Nothing. He bolted forward and yanked the hatch door back open. Ducking into the hallway, he looked around. Footsteps pounded away from his room, and he sprinted after them, lifting his weapon.
He caught up to the intruder in seconds. “Stop!”
The intruder was almost to the open hatchway that led to the main area of the engineering section. He kept running.
Straight into the arm that appeared in front of his face.
Engineer Morgan fell backward. “Ow!”
Dr. Lucinda Burke stepped through the hatchway. “What have we here?”
Colton moved to stand beside her, sighting his gun on Morgan. “Thank you, Doctor.”
“Anytime.”
Colton kept his expression blank as he stared down at the other engineer. “What were you trying to do back there? Opening my door?” A thought flashed through his mind. “How’d you unlock it?”
Morgan didn’t answer.
Colton remembered the engineer’s previous fear of him. “Would you like me to turn you over to the temporary station head as a traitor?”
“No! I’ll tell you, okay? Two weeks ago, when you fled your room, you didn’t hug the keypad like you usually do, you just typed the code right in for anyone nearby to see.”
Of course. For some reason, the automatic lock hadn’t activated when he’d shut the door that day, so he’d used the keypad. “Go on.”
“Well, I was nearby. I was saving your code for the perfect prank. I didn’t know you were still awake.”
Dr. Burke eyed him. “What prank?”
“I…” Morgan looked embarrassed. “I made a fake spider. May I?” He gestured to one of his jacket pockets.
Colton nodded, but didn’t take his aim off him.
Morgan sighed and dug a small bundle of wires out. “I know it doesn’t really look like a Goliath Birdeater, but I thought it would still freak you out.”
“How thoughtful.” Colton kept his tone neutral. “I will be letting the temporary station head know—I don’t think he’ll appreciate your prank.”
“You can’t!”
Colton holstered his gun and took out his CID.
Morgan smirked. “Fine, go ahead. Nothing’s going to come of it. Major Barr likes me. We all know how he feels about you, though.”
Oh, you don’t know the half of it. Colton finished typing and hit send.
____________________________________________________________________________
February 03, 2051
Alex jerked awake under the blanket he’d septuple-checked for spiders. He shoved the covers off and felt over his jacket. Nothing there. He grabbed his right pantleg and pulled it up. Nothing there either.
He fell back onto his pillow, hoping none of his roommates had heard him.
They’d only triple-checked their bedding.
Thank goodness none of them had commented on his search. And thank goodness no one in the general’s office had noticed his reaction to seeing the photo, or hearing that the spiders were carrying cameras and microphones.
They were all pretty sure a rebel had placed them, but whether that same rebel was now at the station was anyone’s guess.
But Topaz had been able to determine from the tiny device that the camera and microphone were streaming to an unidentified network—which was also password protected.
Another thing for the operators to work on.
And now everyone at the station had to be really careful about what they said and did in case they were being recorded—by spiders, of all things.
What kind of sicko attaches recording equipment to a spider?
At least Autumn had examined the dead ones and was 90 percent certain the rebels hadn’t found some way to make them venomous, although she warned that that didn’t mean the others hadn’t been altered.
And at least there were only four left—maybe everyone would get lucky, and the remaining spiders would move into Barr’s office.
No, Colton was in engineering, and with his luck, the spiders would stalk him.
Alex shuddered at the image his mind helpfully conjured without his permission.
The spiders wouldn’t want to bite Barr anyway—that’d be cannibalism.
Alex’s bunkmate turned over. Everyone would be up soon. He might as well get up now.
Claire, Topaz, and he would be on an afternoon patrol, so they’d have time for breakfast with their friends. Alex hoped the others would be available.
Messaging Autumn and Henry confirmed they would be. It also confirmed another spider death—Autumn had killed one that she and Henry found in her office.
Three left.
Alex decided to ask Colton to breakfast in person. After what Barr had done, he thought it might be good to make a point of visiting the engineers’ section more often—let the major know Colton wasn’t alone.
Lew caught him on the way out of the pilots’ quarters. “Hey, just wanted to warn you, a spider got away from me earlier. Darted through one of the vents.”
Alex stopped. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It didn’t bite me, and the general said they’re not venomous if they do.”
“Right. Uh, I’m headed for engineering.”
Lew nodded. “I’ll walk with you, then I’m going to meet up with a couple of station guards. They want to look for the spiders, and I thought I’d join them before patrol. Are you coming?”
“Mind if I grab breakfast first?”
“Not at all.”
Lew left him at the entrance to engineering, and Alex held back a shudder. He did not want to join a spider hunt, but if they could actually kill the rest of them that way…He glanced around, looking for Colton.
Colton was checking CIDs with Gerard at one of the tables. The Burkes were at one of the computers, messing with a schematic.
Good, he’s close to Gerard and not far from the other two. He approached the two engineers at the table. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, Alex.”
“Hello, Pilot Fletcher.”
“Got time for breakfast, Colton?” Since Gerard had to pretend he wasn’t associated with the general or them, Alex didn’t invite him.
“I should—”
CLANK.
Alex whirled in time to see Major Barr charge out of his office—the noise must have been his door smacking the wall when he threw it open.
Most of the engineers looked up, then quickly turned their attention back to their work as if afraid of him noticing and directing his rage at them.
“Engineer Morgan!” The major bellowed.
Morgan hurried over. “Sir?”
The major’s voice abruptly lowered, and Alex missed what he said. Morgan looked nervous, but nodded and entered the major’s office, leaving the door open.
Barr stormed through the closest exit and disappeared into the corridor.
Alex glanced at Colton. “I wonder what that was about. Want to go to the rec area before he comes back?”
“Yeah. We’re finished with the CIDs now.”
The personnel in the rec area were trying to eat breakfast while constantly looking around for the remaining spiders. Conversation existed, but it was somewhat stilted as people broke off to make sure there weren’t any spiders nearby.
As usual, Alex and Colton snagged an empty corner table. This time, Alex regretted it. They were sitting directly below a vent. “Colton, what if we went—”
“Hey guys.” Claire took a seat next to the engineer.
Topaz shot both young men a grin before plopping into a chair beside Claire, apparently leaving the two near Alex for Henry and Autumn.
“Hello.” Colton smiled, then looked at Alex. “You were say—”
“Autumn couldn’t make it.” Henry took the chair closest to Alex. “She decided to stay and oversee one of the new doctors treating Major Barr.”
The rest of them froze.
Alex forgot about the vent. Something actually happened to Barr? How?
Claire voiced Alex’s thoughts. “Something…actually happened to him?”
Henry lowered his voice. “A spider got into his office and bit him.”
If it had been anyone other than Barr, Alex would have felt sorry about it. Since it was Barr, he snorted and threw a grin at Colton. “So, that’s what it was about.”
Claire was grinning herself. “What?”
Alex told the group what happened in the engineers’ area. “I guess he was hurrying to the medical bay.”
Topaz giggled and glanced at Henry. “Was it nasty? Please tell me it was nasty.”
Henry covered his laugh with a cough.
Colton’s mouth slowly turned up. “So, he called Morgan over to deal with the spider.”
Alex started to laugh, then stopped, his stomach tightening. That means when we were at the table, we weren’t far from where...He didn’t feel like eating anymore.
He really didn’t feel like eating when a spider came down the wall to land on the table.
Noooooo!
Alex didn’t think; he reacted. Leaping to his feet, he grabbed Henry’s sleeve and pulled both of them back against the wall, knocking over their chairs in the process.
At the same time, Topaz lunged and smashed her gun down on the spider.
Claire pulled out a bag. “I’ll get this one.”
“Thank you.”
Claire zipped it closed. “Four dead—wait, are the spiders the same gender? Because if they aren’t, we could end up with more spiders.”
“Thanks Claire,” Alex muttered, then realized he still had Henry by the sleeve. He quickly let go.
Too late.
The room was staring at him.
Feeling heat creep up his face, Alex looked down. He wanted nothing more than to sneak away and not be found by anyone. Including his friends. They’d seen him scared by a spider. He couldn’t look any of them in the face again.
A pilot from a nearby table approached, his concerned eyes flicking between Henry and Alex. “You two okay?”
Henry nodded. “We’re all right. We just weren’t expecting it to…”
“Come from up top? Yeah, I thought I needed to watch the floor. I should have watched the vent more—”
“Four down!” Station Guard Stewart entered the room carrying a bag, and several members of the Pilots Division cheered. The engineers and doctors remained silent, but probably weren’t fooling anyone.
“Five.” Topaz corrected, nodding to the bag Claire was still holding.
“Great! One more to go!”
“In fact,” Colton said quietly, “maybe we should look for it.”
“Good idea.” Claire agreed.
Topaz took the bag from her and offered it to Station Guard Stewart. “If you’re dropping yours off with the general, could you…”
“Absolutely.”
“Thank you.”
Henry helped Alex pick up the chairs, and then the five of them left the rec area in silence.
Colton led the way to the second level of the station, and Alex felt his stomach tighten at the hum of the engines. Why are we going here? Why would Colton want to go here if he didn’t have to?
They entered the room, and Colton led them to the motion sensors’ blind spot near the right of the stairs. “If there are any spiders in here, their recording equipment won’t be able to see or hear us.”
Alex sucked in a breath. “Uh…Maybe we should look for the last spider.”
“I don’t think you should be looking for it,” Topaz said gently.
“Actually, Lew said some station guards and he were going to go spider hunting—Station Guard Stewart’s probably part of that group, and he found one. So maybe I can help—”
“Alex.” Claire spoke. “We know you’re afraid of the spiders. And we could tell that embarrasses you, but it shouldn’t. These spiders are so…awful.”
“Autumn and I were both disturbed by the one that appeared in her office,” Henry added, “and it didn’t appear…the way the one in the rec area did.”
Alex opened his mouth, then closed it as he realized what they were saying. They thought he was only afraid of the spiders they were dealing with now; they didn’t recognize his fear for what it really was.
If they don’t know, then maybe no one else in the rec area knew either.
Maybe it was okay.
“Alex?” Colton asked softly.
“Um…” Alex bit his lip. “You’re right. I shouldn’t be embarrassed, but…Could we not talk about it, either? I mean, it’s just these spiders…The rest are no big deal.” He probably shouldn’t have added the last part.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.” Claire somehow located his shoulder in the dark and rested a hand on it. “But you also don’t have to go looking for the last spider, okay?”
“Okay.”
Except Lew expected him to. What if everyone but him was looking for the spider, and—“I think I should conquer my fear, though.”
“Alex,” Topaz said, “if you’re worried about other people making fun of you…Well, who cares? You don’t have to prove anything to them. Or us, for that matter. And…it’s not just these spiders that bother you, is it?”
Thank you for reading “The Bugs” (Part 2). Read the next part of this episode here.
The previous installment in this series is “The Bugs” (Part 1). 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).
Of all the people on the station, I can't think of one who deserves less sympathy. 😤
I am not sorry to hear that Barr got bit by a spider. 😄