"Who do you think gave him that ball?" Rimmer asked.

"Nessie did."

"Nessie liked him. But the ball-that was mine."

Jerry considered it. Maybe Rimmer wasn't as big of a tool as he'd thought. "So where is he?"

"He's in the morgue now. I'll make sure his body is properly disposed of."

"He won't be fed to the spiders?"

"No. He'll be studied and preserved. He was one of a kind."

"So, aren't you pissed off? Your commanding officer killed Wolfie for no reason at all."

"Being pissed off doesn't keep me from following orders, Jerry."

"That's a total cop-out."

"Whatever. We're here."

They were in front of a seemingly empty cell.

"You sure it's empty?" Jerry asked, dubious.

"Do you see anything inside?"

"Could be filled with invisible, man-eating pythons."

"It's not." Rimmer used his fob to access the LED panel and opened the steel door.

"Well, bugger it, what am I supposed to do in here? Is there a television?"

Rimmer shoved him in and began to shut the door.

"C'mon, mate! At least give me a magazine or something!"

Rimmer paused. Then he reached into his pocket- -and took out a rubber ball.

Wolfie's.

He tossed it to Jerry, and then a siren began to wail, the overhead lights starting to blink.

"What the fuck is that?" Jerry asked, pocketing the ball.

Rimmer's eyes narrowed. "Security breach. We're in lockdown."

The idea of a security breach in the Spiral scared the piss out of Jerry.

"Shit. Did something get out? Are we trapped down here?"

Rimmer didn't answer. If there were monsters running around, the last place Jerry wanted to be was locked in a cell, unable to run. If it was Bub-and Jerry had a hunch it was-that demon was smart enough to get out of his cell, which meant it was smart enough to get inside the cells. If Jerry stayed locked up, he would basically be the equivalent of convenience food.

Out of all the terrible ways to die, being eaten was probably the worst.

Jerry made his eyes go wide as he looked beyond Rimmer. Then he raised his hand and pointed. "Oh, shite! Behind you!"

Rimmer swung around, reaching for his sidearm, and Jerry bumped him hard as he could, sending the man sideways, and then went running down the hallway in the opposite direction, heading for the elevator. He pressed the button and the doors opened immediately. Jerry popped inside and watched as Rimmer snarled at him. Jerry frantically looked for some button to press, but there were none.

Voice activated. It's voice activated.

"Level one," Jerry said.

The doors remained open.

"Doors close."

They didn't close.

Rimmer began to charge toward the elevator.

"Come on, you bloody lift, move!" Jerry remembered he no longer had that fob thing. The elevator likely wouldn't work without it. Rimmer was only a few meters away, and he didn't look happy. Jerry winced at what he assumed would be a punch in the face at the minimum.

Then, magically, the doors began to close. They finished closing right before Rimmer reached them, and Jerry blew out a big breath of relief. The elevator began to rise, and Jerry wondered if maybe he didn't need a fob after all.

It stopped on subbasement 1. Not the surface, but a definite improvement.

At least, it seemed like an improvement until the lift doors opened and Jerry found himself tackled by imps.

They leapt on him en masse, clinging to his limbs. Small, green, somewhat clammy Smurf-like creatures that freaked Jerry out so bad he began to scream as he tried to shake them off. They screamed in response, shrill like monkeys, but the family of four clung to his arms and legs like they were tied on; the world's ugliest fashion accessories. Several of them were pointing back into the hall.

Jerry controlled his hysteria long enough to glance upward- -seeing Sun Dennison-Jones in front of a cell, opening it up and releasing...

It's the unicorn.

The cell opened and the magnificent equine trotted out, then let out a nicker. The nicker became a scream when Sun stuck it in the nose. But it wasn't a simple slap. Jerry took a closer look and noticed that Sun's hands had become claws.

She wasn't Sun anymore. She was a monster.

A monster who was releasing all the other monsters.

The unicorn reared up on its hand legs, pawing the air, and then charged past Sun, toward the elevator, horn lowered like a rhino.

"Close!" Jerry commanded the elevator doors, the imps clinging to him momentarily forgotten.

The doors stayed open, but his shouting got Sun's attention. She smiled at him, her mouth crammed with fangs.

"Close, goddammit!"

The unicorn picked up speed. It's eyes were wide with terror, and Jerry imagined getting impaled on its horn. It truly would be one of the most painful ways to die, while also being one of the gayest.

"No no no no no no..."

The imps clutching Jerry began to repeat "no no no" as well, but higher-pitched and faster. It would have been kind of cute if Jerry wasn't seconds away from wetting his pants in fear.

When the unicorn was less than a meter away from the lift, the doors finally began to shut- -and the horn wedged itself between the doors. Jerry backed away, bumping into the rear of the lift, his jaw hanging in horror as the creature forced the doors back open.

And that's when the imps dropped off Jerry and attacked, flinging themselves at the unicorn going straight for its eyes with their tiny hands. The beast grunted, retreating a few meters back, and the imps jumped back into the elevator just as the doors shut.

"Yes!" Jerry shouted, pumping a fist into the air.

"Yes yes yes yes," they said in their preternatural helium voices, also repeating his fist gesture.

Cool.

"You guys are little gangsters. Cheers."

The imps began to chitter at one another. The elevator continued to rise, coming up to the Nucleus.

"Get behind me," Jerry said. "We don't know what's on this floor."

The imps stared at him. Jerry got on one knee, using his arms to corral the family behind him. When the lift stopped, Jerry held his breath, expecting the worst.

Which is exactly what he got, because as soon as the elevator doors opened, six men pointed automatic weapons directly at Jerry's head.

Chapter Twenty-Eight.

Andy had an idea where his wife had gone.

Actually, not his wife. That thing his wife had become. That monster wasn't Sun. It was Bub, controlling her DNA. Bub had infected her, altering how she looked and acted. Almost as if Sun were possessed. But he knew the cause was physical, not spiritual. Sun had some kind of disease.

Which meant, hopefully, she could be cured.

Hopefully.

Until then, he had to figure out some way to protect her. If there was even a tiny chance of getting Sun back, Andy would do whatever it took.

That, however, would pose a problem. Shortly after Sun ran off, the Spiral went on full alert. Rimmer's men were all armed and looking for targets to shoot. One target in particular.

Andy had gotten to Kane's office just as the General was leaving.

"You can't kill her," Andy demanded, holding out his palm and keeping the older man from advancing.

Kane's eyes narrowed. "It isn't your wife anymore, Mr. Dennison-Jones. It's a demon."

"You don't know that for sure."

"Oh, really?" Kane stepped back, and Andy followed him to his computer monitor. Kane typed in a command, and Andy stared at the security footage, watching as Sun opened cell after cell, freeing terrifying creatures.

"If we don't stop her right now, at this rate she'll have released every guest within the hour."

"You don't have to kill her."

"Dr. Gornman tried a sedative. It didn't have any effect. The knock-out gas didn't work on the faustling, either."

"You can capture her. A net. Or force her into a cell."

"And risk the lives of those under my command?"

"Please, General. It isn't Sun who's doing this. It's Bub. If you kill Bub, she could return to normal."

"Is that so?"

Andy didn't think so. Sun had an infection, and the infection affected her thoughts. It was unlikely that Bub, if destroyed, would cure Sun. But if Kane focused on killing the demon, maybe it would buy Sun some more time.

"What if it was someone you loved?" Andy implored. "Wouldn't you try?"

Kane sighed, his lips pursed. Then he said, "I can't make any promises. My first duty is to this facility, to make sure the visitors are detained and never reach the outside world. My second is the protection of those who work here. But if I can fulfil those duties, and still contain your wife without destroying her, I'll try."

"Thank you, General. Do you know where she is?"

Kane frowned, then typed another command on the keyboard. It was a camera on subbasement 5, Sun rushing up to it and tearing it off the wall, making the image go dark.

"She's destroying some of the surveillance cameras as she opens the cell doors. We're sending a team down."

"How is she opening the cells?" Andy asked.

Kane didn't answer.

"General?"

"She apparently got a key card and the access code from Dr. Chandelling, after she tore off his ear. He's in the infirmary."

"Can't you change his code?"

"No. It's a safeguard. The key personnel all have unique codes. That way, if there is a breach in the chain of command, others can override it. Several of us have the power to secure the facility."

"What do you mean by secure? You mean fill it up with cement?"

Kane stayed silent. Andy made his hands into fists, trying not to let his anger bubble over. This was Samhain all over again. History hadn't taught these people anything.