As work began on the jump drive, a strange phenomenon started to occur. At first, various noises were heard throughout the ship, mostly in the less-used areas. People reported seeing things out of the corner of their eyes—strange, indescribable things. Then, everyone working on the project began complaining about a certain presence, as if something was watching them, though they couldn’t articulate what exactly gave them this sensation. Finally, the disappearances began.
The first two were Kharlath workers, easily dismissed as having simply run away. The next was an Assault Corps soldier—harder to dismiss. But with no traces of him and no leads, there was still very little that could be done. By the time they realized they had a real problem on their hands, six people were missing: four Kharlath and two humans.
Soon enough, a breakthrough occurred, though what they uncovered was little comfort. They had managed to capture a strange creature after it had unsuccessfully tried to kill another Kharlath worker. All the hairs on Jack’s neck stood up as he examined it, safely locked behind a force field in the Library. He couldn’t shake the feeling that it was, in all aspects, wrong. It was about the size of a large dog, or at least it seemed that way, though its shape was hard to parse.
Its entire body was a jumbled mess of limbs, various other unclassifiable appendages, and mouths, all lined with teeth of varying shapes and sizes. It was a dark grey-brown color, and its movements seemed to barely follow the laws of physics, its entire body undulating as it jumped around and changed direction mid-air seemingly on a whim. As far as Jack could tell, it had no head and no sensory organs, though its movements were too fast and erratic for him to get a proper look. Whatever it was and wherever it had come from, it was by far the scariest thing Jack had ever seen. He shuddered to think that six people had already met their end in its teeth, all alone.
“Lower the force field!”
Jack looked back, eyebrow raised, only to be greeted by Dr. Liu. On his right hand, he held one of those disintegrator weapons the Kharlath had used against them. The scientist was his usual confident and cheerful self, which could only mean that he was finally onto something.
“You’re going to shoot it?” Jack asked incredulously.
“Don’t worry, it’s not going to work!” Dr. Liu smiled broadly.
The two guards stationed on either side of the entrance reluctantly obeyed, lowering the force field and pointing their makeshift cattle prods—nerve inhibitors on a very long stick—at the creature. Dr. Liu pointed his weapon at it, pressed the trigger, and with an anticlimactic clang, nothing happened. He ordered the force field raised once again.
“Well, that confirms my suspicions,” the scientist exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief.
“What just happened?” Jack asked, trying to catch up.
“You see this?” Dr. Liu pointed the weapon at Jack, causing him to momentarily recoil. “It’s not a weapon. Well, I don’t think it was meant to be, anyway. It ages organic matter, practically enclosing it in a tight field of sped-up time. I’m sure the mechanics behind it would improve our understanding of temporal manipulation by centuries, but that’s not the point. It didn’t work! Which can only mean one thing.”
“…Yes?” Jack struggled to follow the scientist’s point.
“Well, clearly, the so-called creature is not made of organic matter. Which either means it’s a very exotic type of animal, or, more likely, it is an artificial construct. Which all but confirms my theory: this is an antibody!” The doctor was almost jubilant.
“An antibody?” Jack was still behind him.
“Yes. You remember when we talked to the ship’s computer? It referred to us as parasites.” Dr. Liu continued, undeterred. “Well, what do you do when you have foreign parasites in your body? You secrete antibodies to expel them!”
“Doctor, that’s not exactly good news,” Jack admonished him, concerned. “You’re saying the ship itself wants us dead?”
“Oh, hardly. The only part of the ship with actual wants and desires is asleep. No, it’s far more likely that this is simply some innate response, triggered by us messing with its internal architecture too much. In fact, I think it’s specifically us starting to dig through the walls that caused this.”
“So, we have to stop doing that, then? Is there another way to rewire the jump drive?” Jack wondered aloud.
“There isn’t. At least, not one we can implement in time. But that doesn’t mean the situation is out of our hands. I’ll instruct Agent Okoro to make preparations. We need to find the rest of these creatures and either put them down or capture them. More importantly, we need to pinpoint whether the ship is manufacturing them in real time, or simply releasing them from somewhere,” Dr. Liu spoke with precision and seriousness, his entire demeanor suddenly changed. “We’d better hope it’s the latter; otherwise, we have a serious problem on our hands.”
The scientist soon departed, leaving Jack to continue marveling at the strange specimen they’d captured. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t imagine it being a robot or any kind of artificial construct. Its design appeared much too chaotic and unhinged for that. And if it was, what would that say about the vessel’s original inhabitants? Was it constructed in their image? Molded after a creature from their homeworld, perhaps? Jack shuddered at the implication. He tried not to be prejudiced against aliens of all shapes and sizes, but something that looked like that seriously challenged his efforts. How could something so violently repulsive be anything but evil?
Then there was the idea that he might have to fight these things. He didn’t enjoy sitting on his ass all day, but compared to the possibility of coming face-to-face with one of them in some narrow, dimly lit corridor, doing nothing suddenly seemed much more enticing.
Jack stared at the creature for a few more moments, before his wristpad mercifully gave him an excuse to leave. It was Mr. Okoro—he was being summoned. As Jack walked the brief distance from the Library to the elevator, paranoia began to set in, and he found himself fondling his pistol’s grip reflexively, his eyes darting around every time he turned a corner. As he stepped into the tiny, enclosed space of the elevator, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Jack!” Okoro greeted him with a smile as he entered the lobby of Barrett’s office, now effectively the office of the person actually running the ship. “I’ve been assembling our hunting parties. Corporal Āwhina, Sergeant Mendel, and Knight Zhōu have all picked out their squads. I want you to lead the fourth party.”
Jack pondered the offer for a few seconds. He was terrified of the creatures, but the prospect of hunting them appealed to him more than the idea of being hunted. Just sitting around, waiting for others to solve the problem, would have probably driven him insane. Finally, he replied, his voice slightly trembling:
“Do I get to pick who’s on it?”
“Yes. But a word of warning—don’t pick your friends. I know it’s tempting to have someone you trust guarding your back, but there’s a flip side. You don’t want to be in a position where you have to order them to their deaths.” Okoro’s smile faded as he spoke.
“And ordering people I’m not friends with to their deaths—that’s supposed to be easy?” Jack argued, though he wasn’t entirely sure what he was trying to achieve.
“Yes. Easier, at least. It’s not fair, but that’s how it is,” Okoro replied quickly, as if he already knew what Jack was going to say. “Oh, and one more thing: the Kharlath who was ambushed this morning, the one who helped us capture the creature? They’re coming with you. Armed. Is that going to be a problem?”
“No,” Jack replied curtly, as he began to peruse the ship manifest on his wristpad. Deciding to take Okoro’s advice to heart, despite his protestations, he scrolled through the list of names, picking a few Assault Corps crewmen at random. Seeing the list of names before him, realizing that he might be deciding, in that moment, who lived or died, filled him with a sense of anxiety. He decided that he wouldn’t even look at the names he chose. It was the only way to be fair.
“How many people do I need?” he asked absentmindedly as he scrolled, doing his best to appear as if he was actually weighing who to pick.
“That’s up to you, Jack,” Okoro said, as if admonishing him for not knowing already. “What kind of squad do you want to lead? Would you prefer the speed and efficiency of a small group, or the firepower of a larger one? Do you want experienced people who can keep their cool under pressure, or more expendable ones we can afford to lose? These are all questions a leader must ask themselves constantly.”
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It was fairly obvious to Jack that they were no longer talking purely about selecting a squad for the hunt. Reluctantly, Jack added another name to the list: Private Scheer. Someone who had come with him on the Bismarck. Someone he had fought alongside before. Was it someone he was comfortable ordering to his death? Jack didn’t feel like answering that question, even in his own mind. He sent the list to Mr. Okoro, and, without looking him in the eyes, left the room.
“Hey!” An unfamiliar voice stopped Jack in his tracks just outside the office. He turned around, surprised to see it coming from a very familiar face: it was Arda! Dr. Liu had managed to activate the ship-wide translation protocol to help coordinate with the Kharlath prisoners, but Jack was still getting used to it.
“I want to be on your squad. I want to help hunt those creatures,” Arda spoke with conviction, straightening her back as she approached.
“How did you—” Jack barely managed to get two words out before being interrupted.
“Because I can hear better than anyone on this ship. That might be useful when you’re trying to track down creatures that seemingly no one can hear coming. I can fight better than most of you too, the humans at least.”
“Why didn’t you ask Mr. Okoro?” Jack inquired, though he could already guess the answer.
“I did. He said I’m too valuable to risk. I disagree. I’m betting that you do too.”
He didn’t. But he didn’t feel like arguing either. In truth, he welcomed another friendly face on his team, especially one as confident and self-assured as Arda seemed to be. The two of them set off toward the armory and were soon joined by the rest of Jack’s squad. The last one to enter the room was the Kharlath.
It was, even by Kharlath standards, a gigantic being, standing almost three meters tall, with powerful, bulging muscles barely contained within a dented and worn suit of armor. Its right shoulder was bandaged, with the arm hanging limply beside its gargantuan body. The most surprising feature was its face, unlike any Kharlath Jack had seen before: its features were surprisingly delicate, with two striking purple eyes that betrayed a sharp intelligence. In place of the usual spiky frill, its forehead was adorned with two large plates on either side that briefly united in the middle.
Silence fell over the room as everyone stared at the giant now standing in their midst, casually leaning against an energy lance.
“Greetings,” the giant spoke in a deep but surprisingly gentle voice, or at least that’s how the translator rendered it.
“Greetings,” Arda broke the silence while the rest of the party tried their best not to stare too much.
“I hope my presence is not causing you unease,” the Kharlath continued in the same gentle, measured tone. “I simply wish to avenge my fallen brethren and rid us of these foul beasts. Same as you.”
“It’s strange for us to fight alongside a Kharlath,” Jack took the initiative to speak, measuring his words carefully, “but we’ll get used to it. We have to.” He glared at his men, still staring slack-jawed. “For everyone’s sake!”
With those words, they set off into the bowels of the ship. They were certainly a strange group, and Jack could feel how much the Kharlath’s presence left everyone on edge. Yet, to him, it was weirdly comforting. It felt good to be on the same side for once. And it was even better to know that the only person who had managed to fight off one of these creatures was standing right beside him.
His wristpad buzzed with a message from Dr. Liu. It was just a list of coordinates on the ship, with no further explanation. Jack shrugged and directed his team to follow him. He would have preferred to know what the actual plan was, but he trusted the doctor. Besides, if he called for clarification, he knew Dr. Liu would give him far more information than he actually needed.
“Are you in position?” Dr. Liu's voice, more timid than usual, came through Jack's headset.
“Almost,” Jack replied, doing his best to project confidence.
“Good. Once you’re at the coordinates, I want you to set a detonation charge on one of the walls and leave one man behind to observe. The rest of you should hide in the nearest room with the door closed. If I’m right—and I usually am—that will attract the creatures.” The doctor sounded far less certain than usual. It might have been his plan, but he clearly wasn’t comfortable with it.
“You want me to leave a man behind? As bait?” Jack questioned him, incredulously.
“I’m afraid we don’t have much of a choice. From what we know, the creatures only attack when someone’s alone. Staying together will scare them off.”
“Fine. I’ll let you know when it’s done,” Jack cut him off bluntly.
He didn’t like the plan at all, but he had to agree with Dr. Liu’s assessment—it was their only option. Once he reached the coordinates, Jack planted the detonation charge himself and started thinking about who would act as bait. He briefly considered asking for a volunteer, but quickly dismissed the idea. He was in charge; he needed to act like it. But who would it be?
Arda probably had the best chances of survival, given her environmental suit and the durability of Platharian physiology. But she was, as Mr. Okoro had pointed out, too valuable to risk. The Kharlath was next, but it was already wounded, and making it face death twice in one day didn’t seem fair. Jack looked at the faces around him, all showing a mix of anxiety and grim determination. Finally, he emptied his mind and blurted out the first name that came to him:
“Private Scheer!”
The young soldier stepped up, doing his best to appear confident, gripping his rifle tightly to keep his hands from trembling. Almost immediately after saying his name, Jack began to have second thoughts. Why did he pick him? Was he trying to prove something? To whom? Did he just call out the name he was most familiar with? Regardless, it was too late to back down now. Private Scheer would be the one serving as bait.
With the charge set, the rest of the group retreated into an adjacent room. As soon as the door was closed, Jack set off the charge, sending shockwaves throughout the ship. At first, his team was so tense that they could hardly even breathe. The eerie silence was broken up by Private Scheer checking in every 10 seconds, as Jack had instructed him. Though he counted the seconds himself each time, every interval seemed to be longer and longer, with the tension mounting ever higher.
Suddenly, and unexpectedly, Arda burst out of the room, and instinctively everyone followed her. Jack turned a corner to find, horrified, that one of the creatures had grabbed Private Scheer, and was throwing him around like a ragdoll. One of its tentacle-like appendages was gripping his neck firmly, with the end of it stuck in his mouth, preventing him from making any sound. For a moment, their eyes met, and the look of sheer horror in the young soldier’s eyes almost made him collapse.
“Don’t fire!” Jack yelled out, coming to his senses almost immediately.
But it was too late. A torrent of plasma hit the creature, and Scheer along with it. With a horrifying and inhuman howl, the creature vanished further down the corridor, leaving Scheer’s limp body behind. Jack ran up to him with bated breath, and placed a finger on his neck. He felt a pulse.
“Medic!” He yelled out, desperately.
A young man walked up, trembling, with a first aid kit in his hands. Just as soon as he kneeled besides the Private, he threw up. The smell of charred flesh, combined with the sight of his half-melted torso proved too much for him to handle. Without skipping a beat, Jack took the kit from his hands, and began patching Scheer up to the best of his abilities. He only had the most basic of first aid training, but it was better than nothing: bandages around his neck to stop the bleeding, dermagel on his burns, painkillers so he doesn’t go into shock, and emergency stimulants so his heart keeps beating. That was the extent of his medical knowledge, and he prayed it would be enough, even though he knew it wouldn’t.
As Jack finished patching Private Scheer, the young soldier opened his mouth, attempting to speak, but only a torrent of blood spilled out. Jack gently propped his mouth open to inspect the damage. Most of Scheer’s teeth were gone, and his gums and tongue were shredded beyond recognition. Jack shuddered and closed it again—this was well beyond his expertise.
“I can hear more of the creatures!” Arda’s voice cut through the chaos. “Three from the front, two from the back. One’s staying behind—it’s probably the one we injured.”
“Form a circle!” Jack snapped into action, barking orders. “Gather around Private Scheer, guns outwards. Get ready to fire!” As the group huddled together, weapons raised, Jack was struck by a grim sense of déjà vu. He had given these same orders, on the same ship, mere weeks ago. Yet it felt like a lifetime.
Just as Arda had predicted, five creatures burst into view—three from the front, two from the back. The group unleashed a desperate salvo of plasma fire in all directions, but their shots found little success. The wild, erratic movement of the creatures and the sheer terror they inflicted made aiming impossible.
One of the creatures leapt toward the group, but the Kharlath reacted swiftly. With a single, powerful strike of its lance, it tore the creature clean in two, in mid-air. A fine mist of silver, shiny liquid sprayed across their faces as the halves of the creature fell to the ground with a dull thud. The remaining creatures recoiled at the sight, momentarily halting their advance.
“Fire!” Jack yelled desperately, and another volley of plasma followed.
This time, they found their mark. One more creature went down, and the remaining three retreated out of range, scrambling to escape.
“There’s more coming!” Arda screamed, her voice tinged with urgency, just as the group began to breathe a sigh of relief.
“How many?” Jack asked, his heart sinking as he braced for the answer.
“I… I don’t know!” For the first time, there was trepidation in Arda’s voice. Not a good sign.
"We need a defensible position!" Jack growled, trying to project authority and convince himself as much as the others that he was still in control. "We'll have to get back in that room. Maintain formation, guns ready—we move on my mark!"
Without a word, he gestured for the Kharlath to pick up Private Scheer. The massive alien obeyed, effortlessly draping the wounded soldier over its shoulder as the group began the slow, tense march toward the relative safety of the room. The distance was only a few dozen meters, but each step felt like it took an eternity. The tension hung thick in the air, almost suffocating, as the creatures remained unseen, which only heightened their collective anxiety.
Just as they reached the door, it swung open—and a spiky appendage shot out, grabbing at Jack’s throat. Before he could even process what was happening, a figure lunged forward with incredible speed. It was Arda. In one fluid motion, she latched onto the tentacle, her legs anchoring firmly to the ground as she wrestled it with both arms. With an explosive display of strength, she hurled the creature against the wall, and Jack quickly fired two well-aimed plasma shots into it before it hit the ground.
Still gripping the tentacle, Arda dragged the creature out of the room, dumping it unceremoniously onto the floor of the hallway. Someone fired one more shot into it for good measure.
With the chaotic sound of dozens of steps approaching now clearly audible to everyone, the group hurried inside the room, finally allowing themselves a collective sigh of relief as the door slid shut behind them. They were alive—for now—and, miraculously, most of them were uninjured. All things considered, it could have been much worse.
“We have a problem.” Arda’s gaze met Jack’s as she spoke, and he could see the uncertainty in her eyes. “My environmental suit’s pierced!”