Sk’p kept his weapon trained on Callahin as he slowly started to laugh darkly. Paige had to have a reason to spill everything now, but he didn’t know it. It had to be something that she sensed from Callahin. And the only thing that could set her off, was that he was ready to kill them.

“So you are a reader? I should have known! To think that my prey would be able to get one over on me!” Callahin spat as he leered at them.

Sk’p only clenched his rifle as he aimed at Callahin, and tried to keep from shooting him. They had no idea what he could do, or how fast he could reactivate his suit. So they had to keep him talking.

“It was easy, I mean I figured out something was wrong with you from the start. I mean just think about it! You came here and you were from the same system as one of us? Come on!” Sk’p said as he kept Callahin in his weapon’s sights.

It was, wasn’t it?” Callahin said absently. But then he just chuckled, his eyes glowing. “But one of my meals was from that system. I thought that I could finally use one of the few bad gains, but I guess not.”

Sk’p looked at him and tried to figure out what Callahin meant. But then he felt his blood freeze as what Callahin said clicked together. He didn’t know how, but that was the only thing that made sense here. And the reality before him was something that he never would have ever figured out. “Memories. When you feed on people, you take their memories.”

“So you didn’t know? But you knew about the Power? Quiet interesting. But then I suppose it’s only fair. You were the easiest to trick since I was marooned on this island! Not even those insect fools were easier!” Callahin said, his voice growling as he looked at them.

“Insects? So then these are other castaways from this world then?” Sk’p asked. “And you were able to fool them like you did us?”

Callahin only laughed and took a step backwards. “Of course! Those fools were all too eager to help me! I watched them for days, picking my target! And then I was able to get him alone and I took his memories, and I learned to do what he could with the Power! And I claimed this place and made the beast within this wreck mine!”

Sk’p looked at him, quickly dissecting what he just heard. And that at least answered the question of what he did with the bodies of his victims. “So then you have beast? Must be something. So you were hunting to feed it? Don’t want it to eat you then?”

“That thing, eat me!? That beast doesn’t have the brains to even think of that! It’s a slave, nothing more! I just need it fed so it won’t bother me too much!” Callahin said with a glare.

From the way that Paige gasped behind him, Sk’p thought that Callahin was lying without knowing the truth. But if that beast was here before Callahin moved in, then they would have to investigate the mountain.

“That’s what’s coming here!?” Paige asked as she looked at the opening that they had come through.

From the way that she was looking at it, she felt it. And something told Sk’p that she felt something more than an animal coming at them. He couldn’t risk a look behind, but he flashed a sign at Paige behind his back. From the short gasp, he hoped she understood.

“Yes, yes it is. And soon I will have it capture you, then once I feed on your memories I’ll let it eat you! Once I gain your memories, I’ll learn how to sense emotions like you! Die knowing you’ve made me that much stronger!” Callahin said before he started to laugh madly.

Sk’p looked at Callahin, only shaking his head internally. He had seen a lot of mad men over his career, but the ones who laughed were always the ones to look out for. And from what he had heard in Paige’s voice, he was going to be one of those eaten by his monster.

“You sure about that? I mean you sure that you can control it? I don’t know when you crashed…… you’re a native, aren’t you?” Sk’p asked as everything suddenly clicked into place.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“I was outcaste! My home is all about strength and I was born sickly! I was the weakest, the lowest of them all! I fought, and tried in vain no matter what I did! But finally, my effort paid off! I was given a blessing, the Power to Take!” Callahin roared as he glared at them. “Those fools called me a demon, a mistake! But I fought back! They wanted to kill me for the blessing this world gave me!”

Sk’p swallowed and looked at him with a hard look. Those who thought they had something to prove were always the ones to handle delicately.

“But I escaped! I found this place! I found my ally! And from that Bug, I gained Power, unlike anything I ever knew!” Callahin roared

“What ally!? What’s coming here?” Sk’p challenged

“No. They’re in their section. What’s coming is my pet!” Callahin said with a laugh as he shook his head and then the walls burst as something broke them.

Sk’p gazed at the beast, struggling to understand what he was seeing. It had a large spider-like body at least five feet wide. It was reared up a five-foot wide tail to a height of over eight feet as it loomed over Callahin. It had six spider-like legs that ended sharp points, and they were red and wet. Its head only had three pure white eyes that were in the center. It growled and a white liquid dripped from its maw of needle-like teeth.

“So normally I Take then I eat, but I think I’ll let this thing eat first! The others must have more knowledge for me to take, and that one might even help me make this place work! So eat!” Callahin roared.

The beast did nothing, only glaring down at Sk’p and Paige.

For a second, Sk’p went still. Every instinct in his body told him not to move, but his training said otherwise. Without even thinking, he aimed and fired at the beast. As it reared back in pain, Paige reached the Access Pad. As he heard the door open, Sk’p turned, ready for almost anything.

<>------------------------------------------------<>------------------------------------------------<>

Racha looked over the makeshift barricade they had built and nodded. It was the best that they could do with what they had with the time they had.

“Look, there’s a chance I’ll be able to close the door behind us once I open it…..” Al began.

Burt only shook his head and readied his rifle. “And they just open the door. It shouldn’t take you too long to get them switched off, right?”

“If everything is still in a reasonable piece, yeah!” Al said as he looked down.

“Then you two go and do it! This is bigger than me! So go! And we’ve moved one of them in front of the door. I’ll fall back if I have to so go!” Burt said.

Al was about to say something when Racha reached over and grabbed his shoulder. He looked at her and she shook her head.

She knew people like Burt, and when they made up their minds, they never changed it. This was just a waste of time, the best thing was to move.

“You just stay alive, got it? No last stands,” Racha said sternly.

Burt only laughed and bowed. “Don’t worry. My mother didn’t raise any fools here. Just go and do what we came here for.”

Al looked at them and opened his mouth before he closed it and nodded. Turning he walked to the Access Pad and touched it, coming free in a moment. As the door opened slowly, Burt ducked behind the barricade and looked through a gap.

“Got one coming around the corner! Firing!” Burt roared before he fired. “You want us? Come and get us!”

Racha looked at the door and scowled at the speed it was moving. She looked at Al who looked back and nodded after a moment. Racha nodded and ran forward, ducking under the door, fanning the corridor with her weapon as she did. She saw a few blaster marks that told her that whatever had happened here, it had reached the bridge. With a heavy heart, she jogged towards the bridge. She was hoping that what they needed was still intact, that what she feared didn't happen.

She had reasons to be worried, good ones. Over her career in the Service, she had boarded almost as many ships as she had traveled on. Boarded as in invaded of course. Sometimes, to keep the enemy from winning the captain had tried to scuttle the ship. This ship had crashed, but she was still worried, nothing about this wreck was making sense!

Like a shadow, she came into the bridge and looked around. The room was over thirty feet wide and forty long and a view screen on the wall across from her. In front by ten feet of her was a small wall three feet high that went around the whole bridge. Beyond the wall was a large chair in the middle of the room twenty feet ahead of her. Beyond that was a row of stations ten feet away, with ten feet past the wall to the view screen empty. Along the walls on the sides were a row of consoles, with chairs every five feet.

But the bridge wasn’t empty, there were at least twenty bodies, nothing more than skeletons now. They were wearing an array of clothing, with half wearing a uniform of some kind. She hadn’t spent much time on Cult duty, but there was something religious about them to the uniform. Each one was a silver cloak with barcodes on their breasts. Each body these were on, the face had metallic components built into them. “Could these people have been cyborgs? But those models…..”

“Good! The command station is still intact! I can…… how!? what are they doing here!?” Al demanded from behind her.

Racha turned and stared at him. Al’s face was shocked, as if the bodies had come back to life.

“What? The Cloaks!? Are they from the Scholar’s Way!?” Racba demanded in shocked horror.

“NO! These are the enemy of my faith! The Science Desecraters! They are the reasons that my people have Taboos! They created all of them!” Al said with horror.

Racha looked at the bodies and tried to keep calm. She had heard about these beings once before. And old mission file, one that was over a thousand years old. But to find them here and now, just what was this? What was this planet to even have these here as well?

“Later! We’ll talk about it later! For now, find that program to turn them off!” Racha ordered.

Al nodded and moved towards the chair in the center of the room. But not soon had he taken five steps then a bolt of energy shot out from the right side. It hit him in his side and he screamed in pain as he went down.

Racha aimed towards the area the shot came from as she dropped behind the wall. “Al! You alive?”

“Yeah….. Ow! My nanites are blocking the pain, what shot me!?” Al asked.

Racha didn’t say anything, all she did was look over the wall and fire at where the shot had come from.

What her shot hit was a skeleton in the same robes that the corpses on the ground wore. The only difference was that this one had metallic parts on its legs that held it up. Its face had been replaced by a back metallic sphere without eyes. The arms were long guns, and one of them was red having been fired.

“I don’t know who or what you are! But there are robots out there that are a threat to everyone living here! We just want to turn them off! Will you fight us!?” Racha bellowed as she hid.