BETH

They exited the marketplace to a set of corridors. Captain Samuels led the way with his shotgun aimed forward. Beth made the sweetness slow down, not wanting to waste all the precious strength she had left. Milo coughed at her back, he was conscious but also dangerously pale and cold to the touch.

A droplet of green ooze launched from Captain Samuels’ shotgun, impacting a combat suit square on. The liquid melted through not only the metal armor, but also its pilot. Inhuman screams of agony. What would that stuff do to her metal skin? Nasty.

“Captain Samuels! Wait, wait, wait. We need to talk,” Beth said, slowed down and sat Milo down.

Maybe they could escape, but what good would it do? Saif and his people would still start a war with the aliens. They needed to stop him.

“What?!” Captain Samuels said, blood trickled down the Navy man’s face but not his own blood.

Beth calmed her voice. “We cannot leave yet. We have been given an opportunity to stop him, Milo broke his mind somehow. We need to act upon it, before he regains his power.”

“Idiot. No,” Captain Samuels said. “I am leaving with my friend. You do whatever you want to do.”

“Saif truly believes that these aliens are out to attack mankind. but he is wrong, I think. I met them. They did not shoot first. They responded only with violence when humans opened fire. The admiral got skittish. Humans opened fire and the battle began,” Beth said. “I think that they wanted to communicate with us. We should prepare for peace. Saif has to be stopped.”

“No chance. Look at Blue. We barely made it this far. There is no scenario where we win,” Captain Samuels said. “Lets move to the ship and then come up with a plan.”

But maybe there was a third alternative.

Captain Samuels took point again, his hand terminal chirped and he brought it up while moving. “What? The dockmaster will not release the clamps’ lock? No wait, do not blow them yet. Wait for us.”

Beth interrupted the Captain’s call. “I know. If we steal the alien remains and the data from the Au-delà, we might be able to figure out a way to communicate with the aliens. We cannot stop Saif, but we might be able to delay him.”

“Good idea,” Milo grunted, on her back.

Captain Samuels did not look convinced. “This is a goddamn cluster fuck,” Captain Samuels said.

Beth looked at the tired Milo. “You up for this?”

Milo nodded in response.

Captain Samuels pulled out his hand terminal again and Beth listened. “Leopold, warm up the core and prep charges for the clamps.”

They were actually going to do it. Something felt wrong, not a shadow, but something else. Beth looked at her arm, eyes wide. A milky, almost translucent shape of a human hand reached for her. She screamed and yanked herself to the side, but too late. The hand clawed after her, turned into a real fleshy hand with four fingers still inside her bicep. The flesh, muscles and skin had just vanished from the four finger-wide gouges. Blood seeped out from the four wounds. The agony! She pulled the arm closer, cradling it against her chest.

“What?!” Beth yelled.

Her metal skin had done nothing to protect her. Amanda. She had phazed into her body and then Beth’s own flesh had been canceled out as she re-materialized inside her. Since not two cells can occupy the same space at the same time.

“Run!” Captain Samuels yelled.

Beth lifted Milo up on her back, channeled the sweet taste, her leg muscles grew stronger and her boots left dents in the metal floor as she plowed forward. Milo would have to hold on tight on his own, she only had one functional arm left and she needed it. The Captain was too slow. She scooped up the Captain under her uninjured arm and continued the sprint.

The milky, almost translucent shape swung its hands and arms after them. Straight through the corridor ceiling, floor and walls. Beth ducked to the side, the swinging hand barely grazing her shoulder. If it had connected with her neck her head would have rolled off her shoulders.

Captain Samuels fired his shotgun, but the weapon could not harm something that did not have any matter. The Captain yelled and dropped his shotgun. Beth had missed the attack. The Captain’s left arm fell down to the floor, a dead limp which had previously been attached to him. A warm, wet feeling spread across her right side; his blood.

Beth managed to see the hands, which sprouted out from the floor, before it reached her feet. She slammed down a foot hard and distinct. The floor collapsed. They followed with it into the floor below. A woman’s scream of pain, but it was not Beth’s. Captain Samuels had passed out from blood loss, but his chest still moved. Milo grabbed something from the Captain’s belt, a spray can and sprayed the can’s content onto the Captain’s stump. A synthetic seal grew across the wound, effectively stopping the bleeding. Beth raised her gouged arm and when Milo applied the spray it burned hot but the throbbing agony shimmered slowly away as the seal set. The arm would barely flex, she cradled it to her chest again. It would be unusable until a real doctor fixed it.

“I heard Amanda’s scream of pain, but I cannot see her. Maybe I hurt her? Otherwise she would have been at us again,” Beth said and got up on her feet again with Milo on her back and the Captain under her uninjured arm. Forward.

Carl, Amanda and their combat suits were well behind them. But the Navy docks would be riddled with opposition. Beth took a breath, Milo shook her and pointed towards a lone ship still locked in its clamps. Safety. How wrong she was. A line of heavily armed combat suits stood between them and the Final Sight. The metal cladded men and women raised their beam weapons.

“Stand down. Kneel. Or we will open fire,” the centered combat suit said through his suit’s external comm system.

Beth’s metal skin would protect her, Milo was somewhat protected behind her back but what about Captain Samuels under her arm? She could try to shield him from the energy barrages with her arm and a leaned shoulder, maybe, but that would not be enough. The Captain was toast and probably Milo too. She took a step forward. Maybe if she caught them by surprise and moved quickly enough.

“Surrender,” the combat suit said. Their cannons spun up, ready to open fire.

An ear deafening explosion of fire erupted behind the line of combat suits. A ship rose up from the billowing smoke with a side hatch sliding open. Final Sight was spelled out on its hull. It’s railgun lined up and fired. The solid projectile crashed into the line of combat suits. At those speeds a metal ball torn their bodies and suits into pieces.

Beth let the sweetness flood, not holding back anything. Her legs moved like pistons and pushed forward with desperate haste. The combat suits were in shambles, in pieces. Her good arm held tight to the Captain and Milo’s choking grip around her neck told her that he was ready. She leapt at the centered combat suit, landing on his helmet and launched off from it with a powerful push.

Into the ship.

Beth rolled over as she landed on the ship’s floor, shedding her velocity. The side hatch slid close. The Final Sight took off.

Captain Samuels fell away from her loosened grip. Milo already sat down and leaned on a bulkhead wall.

“Cap’n! Demente! Loco woman!” The man yelled.

Was that Spanish? she thought, recovering her breath. She let the sweetness trickle to a halt, there was still some left and she might need it. Her metal skin flowed away, her human skin became exposed and suddenly she felt a cold chill. It felt wrong and naked to not have its protection covering her. There would be no explanations until her breathing calmed down.

The spanish man came forward. “Milo, what have you done to him? He is missing an arm and is unconscious.”

“Not our fault, Doc,” Milo said, puking again.

He was still pale and looked more exhausted than any of them.

A woman kneeled by Captain Samuels’ side. “Captain, you blew the rig? I hope it made a nice boom. I felt the vibrations right back to my workshop.”

“It did a fine job, Claire,” Milo said, turning to Beth. “You will have to go alone. I feel broken inside. After I drained the blood deposit, I couldn’t even reach the sweetness.”

“Go where?” Claire mumbled.

“The Au-delà,” Beth said.

Milo found a hand terminal. “Leo, push hard for the Au-delà. No, no, we don’t have time to argue. Do it. And fast!”

“Good, you stay behind. I can move faster without you,” Beth said, turning to the spanish man, the ship’s doctor and showing her injured arm. “My arm is useless. Give me something against the pain. I need to use it.”

The doctor stared at her. “Nice to meet you. My name is Diego Rubalcava. The woman hiding in the corner is Claire Williams. You are a loco lady. I cannot fix this. Your biceps is missing half its muscle mass, you have severe nerve damage and even some bone tissue is missing! Your arm is ruined and the bicep will not be able to support any weight in its current state.”

Beth grunted. “Right. I am Beth. But you can do something?”

She needed to have synthetic tissue grafted unto it. Months of rehab. Plow forward without it then.

“I can lock down the forearm. Then you at least can use your elbow without the bicep moving too much,” Diego said.

Beth sighed, this was a long day. “Do it. Quickly, now!”

Diego bound her arm with constricting plastic bands. She tested to move it, trying a jab with the elbow. It was set properly. A needle pierced her upper arm and she felt the whole thing go numb. The relief that washed through her as the pain faded was blissful.

“The anesthetic will last you for some time,” Diego said.

“We are nearing the Au-delà! There will be no docking procedures. Whoever is going across will have to go through an emergency airlock. I will line you up. Enter the airlock,” a voice explained through the speakers.

Milo looked at her. “I hope you know what you are doing.”

Beth grunted.

“What if Saif regains his strength and seeds you again?” Milo asked, as she stepped into the vacuum suit. “I am tapped out. I cannot burn his influence away so soon again.”

“If I come back you will have to figure something out,” Beth said, the oxygen level looked alright on the suit’s display.

Milo looked concerned. “It is not that simple.”

“Solve it. Do something,” Beth replied.

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“You do not get it. You are dangerously strong. And if you turn, we cannot stop you. What method could we use to detain you? Nothing,” Milo said, his eyes turned down.

“If I come back without a suit or a leaking suit, just vent the airlock and I will pass out. Then keep me down until you can figure out what to do. Do something,” Beth said, swallowing. “Or if it feels better for you, do you want to leave me behind?”

“I didn’t mean that,” Milo said.

“Yes, you did. Of course you care more for your crew than me. We just met,” Beth said. “I do not have time for this. Make up your mind and then tell me. I am going in.”

Beth stepped into the airlock, sure that she would not return. If Saif was weak he might not be able to stop her. The inner airlock door slid closed and sealed, she turned and looked at the others. Maybe this Milo was really Jonathan? Maybe. He had been a small child when Saif had taken him, so it was difficult to tell.

“Deploying emergency docking netting!” Leopold yelled in the speakers. “We will stay as long as we can.”

Sweetness flooded her mouth, but not as vibrant as usual. She was tired and weak. Only a bit more. Underneath the vacuum suit’s thin metal, her skin flowed into metal. Muscles tensed with anticipation. This was it!

The atmosphere and pressure equalized with space. The outer airlock door unsealed and slid opened. Empowered leg muscles launched her straight at the hulking metal beast, that the Au-delà was, in front of her. The emergency dock netting kept her in a straight path. She grabbed its railings and pushed away from them.

Before impact she flipped around, legs preparing to absorb the inertia. A soundless landing. Knees bent at impact, but with her strength it was effortless. She activated the emergency airlock’s cycle, the outer door slid open and she dived in. The Au-delà's artificial gravity pulled her down, feet clanked to the floor. The outer airlock door slid close, pressure and atmosphere returned to human levels and the inner airlock door slid opened. She dashed into the ship.

Beth quietly thanked herself for exploring the Au-delà when she had woken here. She knew its corridor, knew how to navigate with its internal maps, she knew how things were connected. The vac suit creaked as her mad dash moved her towards the target. Sweetness still tasted distinct, but it slowly ebated. Lips were already chapped, face felt dry and throat hoarse. She neared the limit. Just a little more.

The lab! Two guards in combat suits. She was spotted. Their beam cannons spun up. The vacuum suit provided minimal resistance, but her metal skin protected her. More warmth bled through this time. Not good.

She crashed into the two guards. The remains of her suit were torn in pieces on impact. The combat suits were surprised and her punches landed twice, destroying the helmet and face of one. Blood splattered across her. The second guard shoved its spinning cannon to her face and fired.

Her face burned, her eyes blinded.

She ducked underneath it, reached for whatever grip she could find on the combat suit. Her fingers found something! She squeezed, twisted and jerked. There was a satisfying crunching sound and the thud of something heavy landing on the floor. She opened her eyes, the world shone brighter but her vision functioned. The combat suit was lying on the floor, its legs and knees looking like twisted metal spirals. She leapt on top of her victim before he retaliated. The guard threw a punch. She caught it and smiled. She pulled back her head and headbutted the guard’s helmet. Blood and brains splattered across her and her hair felt sticky with the wet mess. Guards neutralized.

Beth crashed through the two airlocks, not caring about the damages. One person in full lab suit occupied the room. Oh no. Dr. Birgitta turned and caught her glance, her eyes widened and Beth hesitated. Would she try to stop her?

Dr. Birgitta’s face locked stern, but still her wide smile hid underneath. “I saw you breach the hull! Can I come with you?”

“Come with me?” Beth asked.

“I have seen what happened through the video feeds. I like you and trust you a lot more than Admiral Harris or Commander Meyer or whatever his name is,” Dr. Birgitta said.

“Then you watched me kill those guards. Doesn’t that frighten you?” Beth asked.

“Not really. I know you,” Dr. Birgitta replied.

You don’t.

Why should she trust her? Saif could have planted stuff in her mind.

Beth stepped forward. “I cannot trust you.”

Dr. Birgitta reeled back, but did not draw a weapon as Beth leapt forward. She shoved the scientist up to the wall and held her firm in place.

“Sedate yourself and I will carry you. I cannot trust you to be awake,” Beth said.

“I saw what you did with Tom,” Dr.Birgitta said. “I don’t have a grudge against you.”

Beth let her go and the scientist measured up a syringe with anesthetics. “Right.”

“I want to wake up,” Dr. Birgitta said, handing Beth the syringe. “I really do.”

Its content would have the desired effect.

“Step into one of those vacuum suits, take the syringe, put the cores and tubes in your vacuum suit’s inside pockets. I will tie your suit to me with these,” Beth explained, pulling out three pieces of lab coats. “ And carry you. I will have the box under my arm.”

She was always the one who carried others. How were problems solved before her strength?

Beth walked over to the alien orb’s box, but she glanced at the second box, with the remains of the fleshy creature, it was empty.

Dr. Birgitta observed her reaction and showed a set of transparent tubes. “Yeah, about that. I fed the sphere all the remaining flesh, except for a few samples. I just wanted to help it. To try to jump start its core.”

“Great,” Beth said. “You will take the tubes and the data cores.”

To place her hands directly to the orb’s surface came across as stupid. She would need to carry the entire box. It should not be a problem, unless they were ambushed. She and Dr. Birgitta could make it. If they hastened, before Saif could deploy reinforcements.

“This might save the world a lot of suffering,” Beth said, unlocking the locks which kept the box locked on the table. “Hurry.”

Dr. Birgitta looked at her. “I am ready.”

“Inject the sedative,” Beth said.

“Alright,” Dr. Birgitta said, her smile fading away.

Dr. Birgitta followed Beth’s order and injected the syringe’s content into her arm, then sealed the suit again. Dr. Birgitta’s eyes drooped. She caught the doctor before she fell, pulled her up to her back and threw the improvised rope around her back. A good, robust knot. She cradled the box under her good arm. The sweetness was down to a trickle, but it was not far now.

-

Leaving the doctor was not an option, she would be a great help when trying to wake up the alien, deciphering the data and communicating with it. Also, Beth felt bad about the woman, she deserved better than to be left behind in Saif’s rule. Everyone deserved better.

Tom came to mind. If only the kid had not been so stubborn. She wiped away the tears with her elbow and shoved away the thoughts. There was nothing she could do about it now. Done was done.

She turned right in the junction. They arrived. The airlock stood not further than ten meters and the Final Sight’s emergency docking was still attached behind it!

There was a familiar itch in her head, a slow burning pain. Seeds sprouted into vines, they clung with newfound strength. Her eyes went wide, she could not move her legs or arms.

“So. Here we are again,” Saif said.

He was behind her. A shiver crept across the length of her spine.

“You versus me,” Saif said. Footsteps. The man walked closer to her. “Put the box down.”

Beth’s muscles obeyed Saif’s command without hesitation. She put the box gently down and stood up again.

“I see in your mind what you intend to do. But you still do not get it. If I lose humanity dies, if I win humanity stands a chance. Your mind glows with determination. I admire that,” Saif said. “Don’t this situation remind you of an earlier encounter? Talk freely.”

The vines slightly loosened. Thoughts slipped away from their bondage, free to move and be created as she saw fit, but her body was still frozen in place.

The sweetness was all but drained and her body exhausted.

Saif could not be here in person, too little time had passed. This was a projection inside her mind. How far away could he be? Surely, distance affected the output of his power?

“Last time you were here in person,” Beth said, stalling. “You are such a coward.”

“Oh wow, you got me,” Saif said, smiling. “But I see you. You are tired, your sweetness emptied. What do you expect to achieve? Your brother took me by surprise, but you don’t have his tricks or his deep connection to your manifestation. You cannot fuel yours with blood,” Saif said. “And look.”

Beth’s body turned by itself towards the airlock and through its window the Final Sight’s emergency docking detached with a clunky metallic sound.

She stared. They were actually leaving her behind. Or was it just another one of Saif’s vile tricks?

“The second time you try to escape me and you fail again,” Saif said.

Did she really expect anything less? Saif’s gunships were probably targeting them. Retrieving the alien data and corpse had been a gamble. She had to try. Her metal skin flowed back into normal, she needed strength not protection. Rage and the sweetness trickled into her mouth. The last of her strength flooded her body. It was not much, it had to be enough. She gripped the box with her good hand.

The vines constricted tightly again. Her temples throbbed, she grunted and took one step forward. Still several left.

Thoughts did not survive long past being created.

Box. Dr. Birgitta. Out.

Airlock.

One more step. But many more to go.

“Elizabeth, stop,” Saif said. Beth froze midstep.

Muscles tensed as the sweetness fueled them. Foot followed through the step, landed on the floor. Forward. Just forward. More steps left.

“Stop,” Saif said. “This is stupid. You cannot win.”

His words echoed through her mind. New vines sprouted and pulled at her thoughts. Lift foot, put it forward. Forward. Need to go forward. Just a handful left. She could do it!

Saif sighed. “Alright. I am sorry about this. Down.”

Her knees buckled, she fell. Knees connected hard on the floor, hands caught her momentum before her face impacted. Forward. She crawled another centimeter as she roared.

“No. Stop, I command you,” Saif said.

Agony. Vision turned blurry, muscles screamed in pain, joints felt broken. Breathing came in short gasps. Only a little more. Forward. FORWARD! Another step.

The airlock was two meters away, but it could just as well have been an entire light year. Too far. She was spent.

“Down. Sleep,” Saif whispered.

Her body flattened on the floor by itself, her cheek pressed against the floor. Darkness fell slowly. She had failed. The sweet taste retreated. She would never reach the airlock.

There was relief in giving up.

She sighed, slowly letting go.

The box with the orb stood next to her face.

The orb moved slightly.

What exists in large quantities in space?

Radiation.

Beth roared and grasped for the last sliver of sweetness. She slammed the box forward. The box shattered against the airlock. The orb grew darker and its movements agitated.

“What have you done?!” Saif yelled, probing her mind without concern for her wellbeing.

The alien orb sped up. The airlock bulkhead stood no chance as the orb plowed through it. The bulkhead shattered. The explosive decompression pulled her into space. The orb flew away.

Saif vanished like a smokescreen and his commands lost its grip. Beth’s skin flowed into metal, her body desperately trying to defend against the hard vacuum.

A burning agony spread inside her. Into every piece of tissue. Like something tried to claw its way out. She curled into a ball, eyes and mouth tightly shut. Her body fought a losing battle against the pressure difference. Blood in the veins and arteries pushed outwards.

Something crashed into her. Beth peeked slightly. Dr. Birgitta? When had the makeshift rope failed? Beth grabbed the human shape of the doctor and clung on.

Time moved slowly during pain.

A light.

A light!

A light directed at them!

Something grabbed onto them and pulled.

-

The artificial gravity slammed Beth down against the metal floor. She gasped for air as the airlock cycled and re-pressurised. The burning agony simmered down, but did not go away for quite some time. Dr. Birgitta was lying beside her. A single person in a vacuum suit towered her. Milo. Milo’s mouth moved behind the visor, but she could not hear. She touched her ears and looked at her numb fingers. Blood.

Airlock finished, the inner bulkhead slid open. Milo grabbed her shoulders and helped her in. Diego helped Dr. Birgitta, with the help of another crewmember, and laid the tall woman on a table.

Milo settled her down and locked her wrists to the armrests. Of course, but she was too tired to care. Exhausted, she leaned heavily into the seat and her muscles relaxed. Breathing turned into its slow, normal rhythmen. A warmth spread from the chamber’s temperature into her body. Milo disengaged the suit’s helmet to reveal his friendly face. Sounds grew hearable again.

“Doc! Is Beth’s friend okay?” Milo asked.

Diego turned. “Yeah. She’s unconscious, but alright. Let me look at Beth!”

Diego pulled his specialized hand terminal up to Beth’s face and scanned her body.

“Isolate,” Beth mumbled.

“What?” Milo asked and leaned forward.

“Isolate us,” Beth mumbled.

“She is right. We do not know what Saif could have left in their minds,” Diego said.

Tears trickled down her face. Exhaustion was really biting into her. Both Milo and Diego grabbed onto her and helped her up on her feet. Her legs could not carry her own weight.

Through a corridor and into a separate room they pulled and half carried her. A bed on the other end. They let her slowly down on the mattress. Soft.

“You can let go of the metal skin, Beth,” Milo said.

Beth shivered underneath the blankets. “I can’t.”

There was no sweet taste in her mouth. But why would the metal not retreat? Something was wrong. She was damaged.

“I can’t,” Beth stuttered.

“Just rest. We will help you,” Milo said.

The room’s door slid closed as Milo exited. It probably locked, but Beth could not hear. Rest. Beth let sleep pull her into the darkness.