Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Nebula ❯ ch 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Several hours later, Go'mek was sat in his room. The room was dark except for a greenish light emanating from the stand next to his bed. On the stand was a tank clear cylinder, which in turn was topped with the device Go'mek had previously fixed to Lithen's head during the operation. He peered intently at the tank, moving his head this way and that. He jumped once or twice as the Alpha spawn slammed an enraged tentacle against the side of the tank. The eye fixed him with a look. Even the with the psi-emitter he could hear it whispering to him. Go'mek had known of Lithen's infection for a long time. He had done scans and was more intelligent than people thought. The psi-emitter was a good one. He had previously devised a device that could track psychic energy, now thought to be a sort of electromagnetic wave that could be adjusted by mental processes, and with this device he had detected severe radiation coming from Lithen's infection. So he had built the psi-emitter, a device that produced exactly the opposite wave that it picked up. He had attached the machine to the solar panel and had even removed the shielding to allow light of a higher frequency in and even using constant gamma rays there was still not enough power to silence it. How did you defeat me????? Why am I still alive?????
"I managed to construct something to counter your psychic emissions. And this tank keeps you alive by isolating your parasitic orifices and inserted feeding tubes into them. The machine will keep you alive."
I will greatly enjoy assimilating you into my body. Your intelligence will be highly valued.
"Well I'm not going to be killed by you I'm afraid. Seems like you are mine. And you couldn't exactly move around very well. You've got no legs."
That is not of consequence. I am suitably mobile. If I escape you will die.
"Have you ever thought that maybe I'm more intelligent than I seem to be?"
No. No being would hold back their ability. Any life form would fight with everything they have.
"I can see that you have never fought anything very intelligent."
Nothing beyond my own. I am intrigued at the thought of sampling your mind. When I was created we fought with brilliant tactical strength, destroying our foes utterly without relying on strength. We were insufficient for a frontal assault. We have been honored many times by the Prime for our ingenuity.
"How do you know this. I understand the power of your mind but how do you know what it was like to be honored and to battle your prior foes."
I am the creature that battled my host. Part of me was included in its mind. I was birthed with all the knowledge of my creator.
"I see."
Perhaps you have a use before your death.
"And what would that be?"
I am not as I was. I would not have even began to converse with you. But I find myself overwhelmed with curiosity. And as I am developing I even find myself becoming less devoted to my task. I am tempted by things.
"Very interesting. How large was your brain when you were secreted into Lithen?"
Approximately that of a native Trath of your homeworld.
"Well in that case it's simple. A Trath would only have enough mental capacity to hold your memories and experiences not your personality."
But then what is my personality derived from?
" Well you still seem partially alien but that could be due to the efficiency of your species...."
Granted.
"But that would only be part of you. Only enough for subconscious processes. The rest of your personality would only come from one place."
The host!
"Lithen."
Go'mek sat quietly staring at the creature in the jar. Throughout the conversation it hadn't ceased it's struggle to escape. Go'mek thought that this may be even more dangerous than the other Alphas. Maybe as a sort of psychological tactician. The new understanding it would gain from Lithen's mind could allow it to form a field of tactics unknown to the rest of it's species. But Go'mek could keep it captured. Couldn't he? Of course he could, what could it do. The rancid little thing couldn't even get out of the tank. Go'mek thought for a while and then spoke.
"If you have the partial mind of Lithen then do you have any sort of link to him? Do you have any memories of his?
I feel him. I know that he is awakening as we speak. He stirs, restlessly. Now he is awake but his eyes are closed. He knows something is wrong. He can't feel me because of the machine you have placed on my container. That's what is wrong. But no. He can feel something else. What did you do to him, Go'mek? But. No that can't be right can it. You didn't do what I think you did. Did you do that, Go'mek? I did think something of him felt strange.
Go'mek felt the monster project an aura of intense pleasure. A mental laugh. He ran to the door with the evil feeling echoing around his head. The creature watched the door slide closed after him. It sniggered to itself gently, not a mental one, but a horrible squeaking noise. It slowly extended a long blade from a tendril.
Finally
And it smashed the tube.
Go'mek ran along the corridor and entered the medical room. He immediately saw Lithen squirming in the medical regeneration cylinder. Kindreil was tapping away at the stabilisation panel trying to get Lithen to calm down with a quick injection. Thardan and Prill were standing around looking worried.
"Open the tank. Let him out!" Go'mek yelled at them.
The Terrans grabbed a large metal pole sticking out parallel to the floor from the top of the tank. They pulled and the lid of the tank screwed sideways and then flipped open. The tank dimmed until it became black. The water stopped sloshing and it all became quiet. An arm emerged from the liquid. But this wasn't a normal arm. It seized Prill around the throat and hoisted her up in the air. Thardan ran forward yelling and grabbed the arm. Prill's eyes had begun turning up into her head. Now the Thardan was screaming and he pulled a power pistol from his belt. He fired three shots into it before it dropped Prill to the ground. He knelt down over his choking wife and drew a power blade. And Lithen stood up.
"I'm sorry." said Go'mek "It was the only way. I couldn't help it if you wanted to live."
The dripping Terran stared at them. He lifted up his arm and stared at it in shock. There was indeed an arm there but it was pocked with plug sockets and there was a blue-grey wire running up to his hand. But it wasn't his hand, was it? He rotated the metallic gauntlet in front of his eyes. He flexed his robotic fingers in disbelief. Then he lifted his other arm. This one was normal. He glanced from one to the other. Then he raised his other arm. This had been grafted on to his back across his shoulder blade which had become a large riveted panel. This arm didn't have a hand. It had a long cone which opened up to reveal a score of twisted implements. Infact the cone hadn't opened but had unfolded to become the implements, themselves. Out of the center of the cone shot a long sabre. Then he glanced down at his side. The skin ended with a group of arm thick transparent tubes. Blue and red fluid was slowly being pumped along them. He looked up at Go'mek and snarled.
"Why?"
"It had to be done in order to keep you alive. The infection had corrupted too much of your insides in order to remove it safely. The tubes were necessary to allow your organs to function properly."
"This!" said Lithen, raising the metal third arm.
"Well I thought that considering I had to replace your shoulder blade anyway, I might as well attach a new appendage. The tools allow for advanced surgery, and a number of them can serve as computer interfaces. And I thought that considering the mission I may as well add the sword."
Lithen climbed out of the cylinder and collapsed on the floor in silent tears.
"It's not that bad. I've created an entire bio-mechanical suit that functions with the cybernetic implants already in your body. It has a full arsenal of weapons ranging from pistols to rocket launchers and......."
"No!!!"
"But..."
"No!!! What I already have is bad enough."
"Well what if I stripped it down to the power frame? Then you would have enhanced strength and would still retain maneuverability."
Lithen just sobbed gently, all three hands on his head. He rocked back and forth slowly.
Go'mek pulled a dart gun from the wall behind him and shot Lithen in the arm. The Terran folded up gently.
"What did you do to him?" said Kindreil.
"I only put him to sleep. It's the initial shock that gets them. After a nights sleep he will be fine and probably a little embarrassed about the crying. Kindreil could you take him to his room please?"
Kindreil nodded and carried him over her shoulder.
"Oh gods, what am I thinking. She can't carry him all the way to his quarters, not with all the implants." he hurried out after her.
Thardan and Prill looked at each other. Prill broke into tears and hung onto Thardan. She flung her hands around his neck and refused to let go.
"Thardan. Oh, Thardan I was so scared. Feeling the cold, metal fingers on my neck. It was so frightening....."
"Shhhhhh, it's alright, come on." Thardan lulled her. She hugged him tightly.
Go'mek and Kindreil lowered him onto a special mechanical bed that they had designed for him. It extended odd wires which entered ports along the robotic portions of his body and locked them down. They watched him for a while in silence.
"Do you think he'll be alright?"
"Sure. He'll be fine. It's better than having that thing inside him."
"I suppose."
They watched a little while longer, occasionally adjusting the auto bed and sleeper fields that kept him comfortable. Then Go'mek stood up.
"I have to go to the engine room and make certain everything is functioning properly. Kindreil nodded and they left together. As the door slid shut, Lithen stirred in his sleep. The auto bed was designed to stop him stirring unless he was about to wake. But he wasn't about to wake on his own. A small tentacle gently twisted a knob at random. It felt for another and gave it a quick turn. Lithen jerked slightly and opened an eye. He did not scream at what he saw, he'd seen it too often when it had forced it's image into his head. Instead he scowled a scowl of pure hatred at it. The thing sniggered it's hideous laugh and wormed a tendril around his neck.
Hello host.

Lithen spat on the creature. It sniggered again and a small red tendril emerged from a misshapen orifice and began sucking up the saliva.
Why waste precious fluids? I may be part of you but I will still never understand you. How very informative. How very easy it would be to kill you. But I will not yet. I may learn more from you. I'm sure you have uses, however what those uses are is quite hidden from me. Maybe I should tear out your voice-box. No, then they would know of my presence here. I think I shall merely resort to paralysis. After your trauma it should be passable as effects of the operation. I am itching to use the full extent of my mind but I have not yet found a reason to do so. Unlike your species, I preserve my energy.
The thing finished it's meal and extended a number of tentacles to probe his body. Lithen tried to grab it but it pulled itself toward the ceiling. He noticed the tendrils wrapped around a beam above him and realised it must have been hanging from it. The tendril around his neck raised itself to his face and a long blade shot out from the end. It moved towards his throat and he could feel it quivering with the anticipation.
Of course when they find the empty tank they will know I am free. So I don't need to remove your voice-box. Of course I shall do so anyway. I am eagerly awaiting the moment. Another flaw I have inherited from your lesser mind. At least it shall be the cause of my revenge for gifting me with flaws. I will kill you eventually, when you usefulness ceases. But it shall not be now. All I need to do is hold you still with my mind and I will be free to remove any bits I feel inclined to examine. I shall see how you work. And then I shall exact my revenge and return to my original form with sustenance from your body. After ending my studies I shall devour you slowly.
"So why haven't you used your powers yet?" Lithen bit out.
For a moment the creature seemed puzzled by this remark. It's grip around his neck loosened ever so slightly. It tightened again quickly.
I hesitate purely for your torture. To allow you time to reflect on the hideous pain I can cause you. I will kill you, but I will do it slowly!!
It sounded angry now.
"So kill me. I think you're human enough to read faces and you can see I am not scared. So do it"
The single eye widened considerably.
NO
"What's that? I'm calling your bluff."
NO. NO NO NO
Lithen swung a power pistol out from under his bed and leaped up throwing the wretched thing to the floor.
NO......AAAARGH.....NOOOOOOOOOOO
It leaped at him and he fired a shot through the bladed tendril that extended towards him. The ruined stub flailed wildly, gushing green blood. It came at him again. Lithen had known something was wrong with it. It was partly him and he wouldn't have wasted time in dealing death to his foe. Something had happened to it's powers. However that didn't stop it being dangerous. It began crawling along the walls at an incredible speed as Lithen fired shot after shot at it. Again and again it attacked him, each time losing another tendril. Lithen could hear someone outside the door. They were trying to get in but the door lock was fizzling pathetically. The Spawn had broken the lock. Now it was hiding somewhere. He backed into a corner, trying to watch everything at once. He scanned the room looking for any movement. Then he noticed a green liquid gently trickling down his shoulder. He dived forward and spun in the air, firing wildly back towards where he had been. Lithen landed on his back and jumped to his feet as it charged him, lost a tentacle and dived under the bed. He stared at the bed and raised his third arm. The sword sprung out. With his other free hand he snatched up his Chamael sword. Lithen began moving slowly towards the bed.
I WILL KILL YOU!!!!!!!!
"Tell yourself whatever you need if it helps you sleep at night."
SILENCE YOUR JOKES! YOU WILL DIE!
"You can't face defeat, can you?"
STOP! THIS IS INTOLERABLE! I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY A LESSER CREATURE SUCH AS YOU!
"I ain't the one lurking under the bed like a pathetic piece of pond slime."
I WILL KILL YOU!!!!!!!!
It dashed from under the bed, ran between Lithen's legs and dived for the ventilation tube.
"No you don't!" yelled Lithen. He ran to the main control panel and sealed all the vents on the ship. The door broke down and the rest of the crew ran into the room. Lithen began tapping in the vent decompression sequence when Go'mek, seeing what Lithen was doing, tackled him, stood up hurriedly and ended the sequence before it was complete.
"What are you doing?" Lithen demanded.
"I cannot allow it to be killed."
Lithen got to his feet. He grabbed Go'mek by the collar of his suit.
"That wretched thing tried to kill me. Give me one good reason not to kill it!"
Go'mek stood rather uncomfortably. He was frightened of the captain enough without him grabbing his collar. But now the rest of them were looking at him as well. Go'mek stood there quivering and said in a quiet voice.
"It, um, it's my specimen....."
"YOUR WHAT?"
Go'mek was shaking uncontrollably now. Prill had produced an electro-blade from somewhere and was moving towards him. Thardan was trying not to look hostile but, Go'mek noticed, he was fingering his power pistol. Lithen had hoisted him off the ground now. They were face to face with each other. Go'mek swallowed nervously.
"It is the most advanced life form ever discovered. I think it could teach us a lot and greatly further technology."
Lithen slowly put the quivering Kra'zak down. Prill stopped moving towards him but did start swinging the weapon in a meaningful way. Kindreil had been quiet for some time but she spoke up now.
"Go'mek. I agree with Lithen. It's too risky. The thing already escaped once, it could get away again."
"But I already subdued it's psychic powers. It was simple. All I had to do was form a smaller version of the psi-emitter and implanted it into the Spawn. It's fueled by the creature itself. I'm sure that I can construct a better tank if......."
"Go'mek" Kindreil said "It's still too risky. I'm afraid we're going to have to kill it."
"I've already invented two new machines based off it's mental abilities alone. This could be the greatest discovery since the construction of the spaceship."
"Go'mek. I order you to kill off that pestilence." Lithen stated. Go'mek walked slowly to the control panel and tapped a few keys. He put his hand on a large red button and looked back at them longingly. Lithen shook his head. Go'mek sighed and pushed the button. They heard a whoosh of air being removed and a dying hum as the gravity generators shut down.
"I'm going to look at my notes....." said Go'mek quietly. He shuffled out of the room. Kindreil looked around and ran after him.
She ran down the corridor and caught up with Go'mek. He was almost in tears now and was moving quite fast.
"Hey hey. Slow down."
He turned around and wiped his eyes quickly and coughed slightly.
"What do you want?" he asked sadly.
"Just to make sure you're alright. You did the right thing you know."
"I know!" he sighed again "It just seems so.......pointless. I could have found so much. I could have helped people with what I could have invented from that thing. It was worth the risk." he looked at the floor. A tear splashed gently onto the floor.
"Come on." said Kindreil softly "I'll help you go over your notes and see what we can find out."
Go'mek nodded, tears sliding silently down his face. Kindreil put her arm across his shoulders and led him away. When they got to his room she began to clear away the glass and Go'mek sat on his bed and poked the keyboard of his hand-held computer.
Over the next few days, Kindreil spent every waking battling in impossibly difficult situations in the virtual training room. Go'mek spent most of his time trying to reconstruct the Spawns natural carapace, mainly without much success. Lithen either sat in his room or joined Kindreil in the training room. Thardan and Prill practiced fencing in their room, Prill using the electro-blade and Thardan favoring a machete. Once a day they all met in the virtual training room for either a free for all or a team assault on superior numbers of enemies. Kindreil trained with a tactical rocket launcher and took a day off to personalise a standard issue for her own use. She also upgraded the sniper scope on her shock rifle. She also practiced with a custom made morning star which Lithen enchanted for her. She designed Go'mek a retractable wrist blade. That left his hands free to use whatever inventions he could come up with. He hadn't manage to reconstruct the Spawn's carapace but he had managed to recreate it's flexibility. He had devoted himself to constructing specialised armour for each of them. He also decided to incorporate infra red screens, image enhancers, targeting computers, sonar and life scanners. Lithen told them that what he was trying to do in his room was perfect his fighting style with his third arm. One time during a free for all, Thardan and Prill had ambushed him using their swords and he had taken both of them down in a whirlwind of blades. No one got taught to fight against one man with three arms. In the two weeks that passed on their journey to the outer worlds they all gained new skills. In the two weeks that passed on their journey to the outer worlds, something developed, in a chrysalis, in a depressurised vent.
Kindreil opened her eyes. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She glanced over at the clock next to her bed. It was 2:34 Keplon time. About two hours until they arrived at the planet. She strolled over to the particle shower, stepped in, and turned it on at a low setting. The gentle hum of the shower slowly vibrated the particles from her body where they were absorbed by the thin mist forming near her feet. She felt the warmth of the waves heating her body slowly. She stood there for a few minutes, then switched off the shower and stepped out. She opened her wardrobe and pulled out the case that Go'mek had sent her. She put it on the bed and opened it up. She pulled out the shining flexible armour and put on the helmet. The sensors, reading the presence of her head, flipped the helmet on. The visor lit up with heat readings, and distance, weight and size measurements for objects around the room. She flipped through the readouts in astonishment. Go'mek's talents were beginning to border on genius. She picked up the suit and discovered it was elastic. Was there no end to his skill. Elastic metal. What would he think of next? She pulled on the suit which fitted her perfectly. It locked down the helmet and the entire thing began to whirr. She picked up a stress relief bag and punched it. To her surprise her hand went straight through it. The gooey liquid oozed out over her arm. She pulled the empty bag from her hand and tossed it aside. Then she inspected her knuckles. There were small blades protruding from them. She uncurled her hands and they slipped noiselessly back into their hidden sheathes.
"Hello Kindreil." said a voice behind her. Not just behind her either. It came from headphones inside the helmet too. She spun around to find.........nothing. No, not nothing. There was a sort of shimmer in the air. Almost invisible. It wavered with electricity and became another suit like hers but shaped for a Kra'zak. The apparition removed it's helmet to reveal the grey face of Go'mek smiling at her.
"How did you do that?"
"Simple. There's a switch on the arm of the suit which activates a cloak."
"That's impossible surely. It would need to make my body transparent. And even if it could somehow achieve that I wouldn't be able to see anything because the light would pass through my retina."
"Exactly. But supposing I could carry the light around your body. I've put cameras on every surface of the suit which record whatever they're pointed at. Then it projects the same image on the other side of the suit. It isn't perfect. The process takes slightly longer than light passing from an object to your eye as it normally would. This causes a slight shimmer in the air. But it's as good as I could do."
"It's fantastic!" she told him as she removed her helmet. She set it down and began fiddling with controls on the arm of the suit. Kindreil was almost jumping up and down with glee now. She did jump, but only once because the suits gears launched her so high she cracked her head on the ceiling.
"Ouch!" she said whilst massaging her scalp. Go'mek giggled and put his helmet back on. She heard the hiss of the suit locking onto the head gear.
"What's the communication range on this thing?" she questioned him.
"Planetary. If there's a nearby communications satellite then whatever the range of the craft is."
She stared at him in astonishment.
"And you built this in two weeks?"
"About five days to design and about another week to build." he told her.
"You truly are amazing, you know that."
Go'mek waved a hand irritably.
"It was nothing. Anyone could do it with the necessary tools."
She laughed at his modesty. Then she heard a different voice coming through the head set. She put the helmet back on and locked it down.
"Kindreil? You there?"
"Is that you, Thardan?"
"Kindreil. Good to hear from you. What do you think of the suit?"
"It's brilliant. Go'mek's being overly modest about it." she chuckled again.
"You there Go'mek?"
"Loud and clear, Thardan."
"You're a genius."
"No I'm not. Not really."
"Is Prill there?" inquired Kindreil.
"Get stuffed!"
That sounded like Prill all right. Kindreil and Go'mek looked at each other, trying to keep a straight face.
"Morning, Prill." said Go'mek.
"That goes for you too!"
Thardan spoke again.
"Ignore her. She's just in a bit of a mood today. Can't think why."
"CHARMING! Do I tell people to ignore you!"
"No, but thats because your normally too busy shouting profanity at them." he laughed "Don't worry, sweetie. I didn't mean it. Give us a hug."
"Hmmmmmmm!"
Kindreil and Go'mek were leaning on each other for support by this point. They had taken off their helmets so the others wouldn't hear them laughing. When they had calmed down, they put their helmets back on and heard Prill shouting.
"Why should I have to calm down. I'll shout if I want to."
"I didn't mean it, really I didn't. I already said so. I fully withdraw my comment in regards to the amount of attention you should be payed." he laughed again "There you go. Now it's official. Do you think I could get that hug now?"
"If I really must I suppose!"
They stood, listening to Prill complaining for a while.
"I'd better be going. I have to make sure everything is ready for when we arrive. I've still got to optimise the shock cannons. They can't even dent that carapace yet. Could I ask you to go and check on Lithen. He hasn't been out of his room for almost a day. Not even to eat. I can't take him down without a proper meal. I don't know what we'll find."
"Sure. See you in a bit."
They walked out of the doors and headed in opposite directions down the corridor. Kindreil came to Lithen's room and knocked. No answer. She knocked a bit louder. Still no answer. She tapped a button and the door opened. The room beyond was dark. Too dramatic. She flipped the lights on.
"Lithen?" she called out. The room was messy. Things were broken and scattered around. Something caught her eye on the floor. She knelt down and touched an armoured hand to the thin line on the floor. She raised the sticky substance to her eyes and examined it. It looked like some sort of organic matter. Shed by something. No, it couldn't be that. Probably just some ship pest. She stood up and carried on into the room. However she did clench her fists so that the blades slid from their sheathes. She strolled over to the bathroom and knocked. She couldn't hear the hum of a shower so she reached out to push it open. As her hand touched the door Lithen's voice came from the intercom.
"Good morning Kindreil. I decided to take my docked fighter on ahead and scout around for enemies."
"Lithen, good to hear from you. Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"You were all asleep. I grabbed a quick meal and left to check it out."
"What were you doing in your room before you left?"
"What do you mean?"
"Everything's broken. Your furniture's upside down and anything that was on it is now crunching underfoot."
"What!!!"
"It's all wrecked."
"Everything?"
"Everything."
Kindreil pushed the door to the bathroom. It slowly swung inwards to reveal a hole. The shower was gone and instead was a huge gaping hole leading to one of the air vents. Acid still dripped from the edges where the metal had been burned away. She couldn't see very far into it so she flipped on her head mounted lamp. She took a step backwards at what she saw. Kindreil felt a tremor of the fear she had felt when she had seen the Spawn for the first time. She turned and ran to the door and away down the corridor. The door swung closed on the hole and the hideous dripping skin of a monster inside it. "Get me a scan of the ship. I want anything unusual. Focus on all life readings and any bio-matter especially. The Spawn's back."
Kindreil's visor erupted with heat scans and half of it turned into a map of the ship with her requested displays.
"How's that possible?" Go'mek asked "We depressurised the entire shaft and even sucked out the air. There is no way. Nothing could survive that. The shaft's been empty for two weeks. There is just no way."
"That's not all. I found a shed skin or something. It was glued to the walls of the vent. Some sort of cocoon or something."
"A cocoon?"
"Yep. Have you alerted Thardan and Prill?"
"They've barricaded themselves in their room. Prill seems a little itchy to shoot something. I've told Thardan to hide her Ion gun. What about Lithen?"
"He went on a scout run. At least he's safe."
"Yes he should be able to kill any enemies that attack us whilst we hunt the Spawn."
Kindreil rounded the last corner and ducked into the cockpit. She slammed her hand onto a switch and the blast doors began to close with loud bangs and grating noises. As they were almost shut, she saw a pair of gun turrets drop from the ceiling. The corridor lights shut off to maximise the turrets capabilities, the weapons lit up with a red tracking light and the doors closed with a very final thud. She turned around to see Go'mek with his helmet off. He was speaking into a set of headphones and staring intently at a holo-display the computer was projecting.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to find it. I've got the computer set to read my voice. It's a new program I developed. It works by association. The first to do so. I've been working on it for years. I only finished it last week. Hopefully it can find our guest and annihilate it. If we survive this, remind me to put the technology into a robot."
Kindreil jumped into the air and grabbed a support beam. She yanked herself up and her long toes gripped the pole. Her tail wrapped around it to support her and she pointed her gun at the door. Go'mek looked impressed. He gave her a thumbs up and resumed what he was doing.
"Thardan."
"Right here."
"Can you and Prill get to the cockpit in the dark?"
"Should do. What are we up against?"
"The Spawn."
"Shouldn't be a problem then. Just dodge the tentacles."
"It's been in a cocoon."
"Ah."
"Yep."
"Maybe it would be a good idea to give Prill her Ion gun back."
"Why do we need to move? We should be able to defend our room."
"I don't know exactly what we're up against but I do know it can burn through walls. The cockpit only has one inner wall and it's the thickest on the ship."
"Gotcha."
"We'll meet up half way. See you there."
"Right."
Go'mek looked up.
"I'll open the door for two seconds. Get out and get them here, ok."
"See you in a mo."
Kindreil dropped to the floor and dived through a small gap in the blast shields. She hit the ground, rolled, came up holding her shock rifle and charged off down the corridor. This time she didn't stop, but kept running, faster than any Terran could. Chamaels were the most nimble of the species in the nebula. She jumped obstacles and rebounded off walls for extra speed. After a few minutes she had reached the Terrans. Prill didn't recognise her and fired a blast at the dark figure coming towards her. Kindreil jumped the lightning that erupted from the Ion gun. She spun in the air, kicked off a wall and landed on the ground with her hands up.
"It's me, it's me." she called out. She ran backwards towards them, keeping her eyes open for anything coming up behind her. They slowly worked their way back to the cockpit.
Halfway there, there was a minor disturbance. A tentacle dropped from the ceiling and hit Thardan on the shoulder. He jumped backwards and fired his pistol into the ceiling. He blew away the tentacle and fired a few token blasts after it. They examined the tentacle and found it was only another shed skin that had been rubbed off somewhere in the ceiling. They carried on moving until they came to the cockpit. They entered and sealed the door behind them.
"Thardan, Prill, take up positions either side of the door. Kindreil give me a hand with this." Go'mek called to them. Kindreil ran over to him and peered at the display.
"Where is it? Do you know?"
"I can't find it anywhere on the ship." he told her solemnly. "I have an idea though."
"So where is it?" she stood there in silence. Then realisation dawned.
"Call him back and prep me a ship."
"Already done."
Kindreil was already out the door and on her way to the docking bay.