*****The Species*****
Charles Chiarelli


CHAPTER 1

	It had been 2 years, long ones, since Samus watched the entire 
planet of Zebes enter a Nova state, but still it haunted her. 	

	"The Metroid, it died and I couldn't save it.."
	She was sitting 
in her room in the S4 Spacestation watching a ship docking the loading bay. 	
	"I helped end the life of the metroid that could have been the 
greatest tool..."
	She again shared at the ship which had now fully dock and was 
unloading its cargo. Feeling her depression grow she moved herself from 
the couch to the shower, were a good hot shower would warm her spirit. 

	"Samus, Samus are you there? Pick up this transmission please."
, it was Huston.	
	"What Huston?"	
	"Are you still depressed over 
that metroid? Man, get a grip."	
	"You're still the heartless bounty hunter I remember. 
You called just to prove this..?"	
	"No, but I have news for you. The Federation is looking for you,
some sort of deep-space mission.."	
	"No, I don't do that anymore, I retired from the bounty hunter 	
business."	
	"Fine. You sit there feeling sorry for yourself. Die that way too!"
	And with that the transmission ended.	
	"Heartless..."

	With that Samus took her sonic shower, but with no relief 
from her pain.
	
	Later that night while all were sleeping on S4, Samus was 
still awake, now looking at the distant stars with a zombie-like stare. 
	
	"Is thzzzzzzz Zamuzzzz Arannnn, ple... Help..." 
	The message was 
breaking up but it still got it reaction from Samus.
	"Who are you and where are you?"
	"Conv... In sec.. 45.12, be.. attac... by Pirates....."
	"Pirates? You're too far, you would be dead before I got there!"
	"Help... cargo.. con.. alien..alive...may .....Metroi.. Hurry! 
Ther.. utting.. thro..ter door! Ensign hi.. the Met.. floor now be.. 
boarded!" Beyond that there was screaming and gunfire and finally silence. 

	For all she knew she had heard the last words of convoy ship's 
crew. Suddenly something in the message hit her hard, they had said 
something about a Metroid alive!


CHAPTER 2

	As Samus stepped into the transport she thought back to her 
childhood, of her fateful friend.
	It had been 21 years since the accident with the colony's 
transporter. Back then they were shoddy and unreliable, and because of 
that, reserved for supplies only. Lesse and Samus had been playing 
hide-and-seek near the transporter. Lesse hid behind one of the crates 
and suddenly someone activated it. During transport the beam broke subspace 
and was lost, and with it, Lesse.
	That was 21 years ago. Since then the technology of subspace 
transport had reached its high, bringing perfect transports. But she 
still couldn't help thinking...she had done a lot of thinking after 
the last metroid died.

	"Ready Miss Aran?"
	"Yes.."
	"Have a good trip."
	And with that Samus was suddenly off the space station and half way 
across the solar system on a small planet called Chozian Gluk, home to 
"Old Bird," her old friend and fosterfather.

	"What may I thank for this visit young one?"
	There in front of her was Gul'gen "Old Bird", a hundred year old 
chozo, in fact, the last chozo.
	"Prirates.."
	"Well, I believe you came for your ship and suit then. It's as if 
you and your past can never part."
	"Yes, I have thought the same."
	"Samus, about that metroid...you must move on, or your clouded mind 
will never focus the protection of the suit."
	"You are right, but it is hard."
	"The Past is never easy to lose."
	"I will try."
	"Then you are as ready as you can be now."

	Minutes later Samus had climbed into her suit and ship and was 
now clearing the planet's atmosphere. She looking back at the shrinking 
planet, and thought of Gul'gen watching her, he was the last thing she 
had left.


CHAPTER 3

	Samus arrived at the correct coordinates to find the ship, but 
something about it felt wrong. She had seen what was left of 
pirate-attacked vessles, almost nothing. Pirates left nothing valuable 
to others, what had value on the black market had value to the Pirates. 
But this ship was almost intact. In fact, this looking seriously like a 
trap.

	With Mother Brain dead, most of the pirates' organization was 
gone. Pirates had little intelligence and got most of their directions 
from Mother Brain, and with her gone, Samus was suprised the Pirates 
remembered to breathe, let alone attack.

	With caution Samus engaged her ship's highly advanced 
cloaking/phase shield, blocking all sensors and phyical attacks 
completely. Once on the other side of the ship, Samus saw the casulties 
of the attack. Since the Pirates had cut the hull, once they pulled away, 
the vaccuum of space had pulled the dead crew members and loose debris out 
of the ship, and were now floating around the gaping holes. Samus almost 
lost her head and lunch at the same time as a brutaly mangled body 
floated past her ship.

	"I think I'll make my own hole considering that Pirates usually 
booby-trap theirs before they leave to kill any rescue crews that enter 
through them." Samus was now thinking aloud, calmly, and professionally 
again.

	As Samus's ship cut the access hole she thought of what she would 
find still inside; mainly, and hopefully, a Metroid. Finally the ship's laser 
cut the last inch and the hole was complete. 

	As Samus stepped inside she saw something so hideous she could never 
have ever expected or imagined it. 


CHAPTER 4

	"Oh my lord, what is that?!" 

	Samus was trying to hold back her scream and almost lost it.
	Standing in front of Samus was the most vile of all creatures 
she had seen. The creature's head looked like an alligator except for its 
six black eyes. The creature had four shoulders with four tentacles 
from each shoulder, and each tentacle was covered with suckers that 
had teeth in them. The legs were double hinged with one forward knee 
and another reversal knee. 

	But before Samus could get over the shock, the creature lunged 
towards her with a piercing scream, to which Samus could see the creatures 
two tentacle tongues that lashed around widely. The creature's double-kneed
legs allowed it to jump fifteen feet and land right in front Samus. 
Then the tentacles wrapped around the still shocked Samus and the 
suckers started scratching at her armor with speed. Then that scream 
escaped from Samus, with no holding back.

	Samus could feel herself become weak from some sort of energy 
drain that the creature was using, almost like a METROID! Realizing 
what the creature could be, Samus regained her thoughts and raised 
her gun arm.
	"Freeze cannon!" Right away the suit activated the freeze 
option, and with no hesitation she fired point blank into the creature's 
chest. Suddenly the tentacles loosened and fell off Samus and the whole 
creature fell back and landed hard on the floor.

	"So the metroids still exist...that would explain the Pirates' 
attack and sudden disappearance. They were probably scared stiff."

	Before the metroid thawed Samus dragged it to her ship and put 
it into her cyrocell for safe travel, as it would be a long 
trip to the science station in the Vortech solar system. As she looked 
at the metroid she saw the absorption membranes inside the creatures 
chest, the red fleshy spheres that stored the energy inside a metroid. 
Like all metroids the membranes where covered by a thick, greenish, 
transparent skin that had vessels connected to it, leading to the membranes. 
	"Well, you guys sure evolve fast, and the scientists are going to 
have their hands full with you."

	With that Samus pulled away from the cargo ship and engaged 
her hypedrive. She felt better now, even if the metroid had tried  
to kill her. But her job was far from over.   


CHAPTER 5

	"Incoming ship, please identify yourself."
	"Samus Aran, you should know that, Curtis."
	"Just playing with ya, I got to do it anyway."
	It was Curtis Garbol, a kid she had knew in her childhood,
and he was still wet behind the ears. 
	"Pull me in. I got a live one."
	"What kind this time? You seem to collect all the freaks in the galaxy.
Heck, didn't they name something after you since you found it first?"
	"No, just get me in before it thaws, or YOU can fight it this time."
	"Engaging docking tractor beams now."
	Slowing, the ship was pulled into the docking bay and there it came to 
a rest beside a small research probe no bigger than a Cadillac. The 
loading hatch in the back of the ship opened and two older scientists 
greeted Samus with weak smiles. 
	"It's back here in cryo, and its big!" she said.
	The two hurried in and froze almost as stiff as the frozen metroid, 
one let go of a short prayer.
	"God almighty, where did you find this, Miss Aran?!"
	"On an attacked cargo freighter."
	"We'll get this right to the lab."
	They reluctantly carried the cryotube on a hoverhauler to the Dangerous 
Entity Research and Examination Laboratory were they would study the 
creature. Suddenly she remembered the little metroid she had handled to 
scientists in the Gamma Asteroid Belt, and how it had fallen into Mother 
Brain's hands.
	"Guard this one with your best security. Someone may want this thing 
pretty badly."
	"Will do, Miss Aran."
	She boarded her ship an slowly pulled away from the dock, thinking of 
the metroid again, not with sadness, but with worry. Worry for she knew the 
Pirates would soon hear of this, and with that comes trouble. 
	She wouldn't let the Pirates get this one.


Chapter 6

	Samus had hardly searched the cargo ship before the Metroid had 
attacked her, now was a good time to explore the ship. Samus latched onto 
the ship where she had cut into it and entered the dark ship. Beside her 
own breathing she could not hear anything else, it was dead quiet. 
Samus engaged her nightvision in the dark corridor to see what was 
there hidden in the concealing darkness.
	She came upon a corpse of a Pirate, now lifeless and fragile. 
It was one victim of the metroid and had been drained completely. 
She brushed against the Pirate and it crumbled into a cloud of dust, the 
artifical gravity had been damaged in the still sealed parts of the ship. 
She found a crewman and more Pirates, all had been fed apon, the crewman 
had wounds from laser fire and had died from them. 
	Samus entered the bridge and saw more dead and drained crewmen. 
That Metroid had gone around the ship feeding on the dead and on the 
attacking Pirates. Samus remembered something about a Metroid that was 
not seen here; Metroids never attacked the dead, they preferred living 
victims, plus one humaniod victim would usually fill a Metroid's thrist, 
this one had fed off the an estimate of 10 bodies now and that number 
could still grow. She now decided to pick up her pace and search faster.
	She found a hatch that lead into the crew's quarters but it was 
tightly sealed. She noticed that the hatch had circular scratch marks on 
it, like the Metroid had tried to get through the door. Thinking of this 
Samus had a thought that there may be survivors, why else would the 
Metroid attack this door. So Samus backed up, engaged her plasma beam and 
fired at the door. The powerful beam melted the door quickly and Samus
stepped through.
	As Samus stepped through the door five pairs of human eyes met 
with hers.



CHAPTER 7

	Samus stared into eyes of a small girl maybe 8 to 9 and a small boy 
not much older. The kids of the crewmen had survived the pirate attack and 
the horrifying Metroid. Samus was about to speak to the boy when out of 
the shadows an older boy with a pipe clubbed Samus in the head. The suit 
protected Samus from most of the force of the blow but the pipe caused 
the suit to vibrate taking Samus off balance. 
	"Hold it Tommy, it's someone that came to rescue us!" said the 
little girl.
	"It's human!" said the little boy.
	The attacker stepped back as Samus removed her helmet knowing that 
she wasn't going to be attacked again.
	"A woman?" said Tommy.
	"Identify your target before you attack. If I hadn't been wearing 
my helmet...." Samus looked down at her helmet which had a dent, but the 
repair systems were already working on it.
	"YOU of all people should be talking, you nearly killed Sarah with 
that laser of yours!" he pointed to the little girl still staring with 
wonder at Samus.
	"How did you keep the metroid out?"
	The children looked at each other and returned a blank look at 
Samus.
	"Didn't you hear any scraping on the door?"
	"Yeah, but...we don't know what a metroid is."
	The kids had been riding in the craft with no idea what was on 
board.
	"What were your parents hauling and from where?"
	"Some egg shaped thing from...uh..um ..Rigos 3."
	"Did they tell you what is was?"
	"They didn't know either. The job was to take it to Nigel Prime 
for study," said Tommy, who had now laid the pipe down.
	"What is a metroid?"
	"You'd be better off not knowing. Right now I'm going to take 
all of you off this ship."
	Samus found the hatch for the life pod and led the children to it. 
Once freed Samus locked onto the pod with her ship's tractor beams. 
	"Next stop, the Vortex Space Research Lab."