She woke, but slowly. Too slowly. We were watching the doors, but every passing moment the odds tipped away from our survival. We needed to keep moving, but we also needed the captain.

“Ma’am? Yes, I’m afraid something went wrong and we couldn’t complete the surgery.”

“I’m very sorry about the hair, ma’am, but it was part of the prep work they did.”

“They were interrupted, yes. I’m afraid we need to get you to the bridge to authorise an immediate evacuation. Something went terribly wrong in Refrigerated Cargo 03.”

“The one we picked up from Ultra Ebil, yes. We’re not sure at the moment, but it appears to be releasing some kind of hallucinogenic gas into the ventilation system. One of the doctors mentioned dancing rodents. Chinchillas, I think, but then we had to restrain him.”

“I’m afraid there’s no time for any more questions, ma’am. We need to get to the bridge, and it’s very urgent.”

This was taking too long. I supported her as she got to her feet, but already knew we wouldn’t make it.