25 days until Mars arrival

Bright white light flooded through the open vent in the side of the air duct. Whatever was in the room below gave off a distinctly different type of light than she'd seen in other parts of the ship.

The scent was also different. Very sterile. It was as if the entire room were flooded with powerful chemicals designed to eliminate all other smells. Why would these Yumens do that?

Arachna crawled toward the light, tilting her head to one side so that she could get a better view through the grates.

What she saw nearly made her jump.

The room was lined with large glass tanks filled with transparent green liquid. Floating in the vats were—she gulped—dead Krath.

Arachna wanted to jump down and remove her lost siblings from such a profane position; she wanted to topple over the tanks and give them a proper burial; she wanted to click loudly in mourning.

But she couldn't.

The entire room was flooded with a bright white light. There were Yumens in the room. They wore sterilized white suits. These white suits weren't like those the team of chefs wore. These white suits covered their entire bodies, including their heads. It was as if these Yumens were so afraid of Krath that they didn't want a single microorganism from a dead Krath to even come near them.

Such fear. That was why Yumens were the weaker race.

Arachna decided that she wouldn't cower in fear. Despite wanting to stay comfortably inside her air duct, she couldn't stand the way the dead Krath were treated—as if they were objects to be studied rather than living beings to be respected. No Krath would treat another living being like that. Arachna would not even feel comfortable treating a Yumen like that.

Closing her eyes, she attempted to activate her stealth cloak. Nothing happened. If there were a time to become invisible, it would have been now.

But no matter. Arachna removed the grate and crawled out from the inside of the air ducts, onto the ceiling. Luckily, Yumens rarely looked up. If they did, they'd spot her for sure. In an entire room that was bright white, she'd be easily seen.

There were three Yumens, mostly working on small computer screens that connected to the tanks. There were eight in all. She noted several Krath inside—three underlings, an unhatched egg containing a larval tumbler, a harvester, and a dactyl.

She stared, fixated on the six different creatures. This was the first time she'd actually seen any other Krath before in her short lifespan. So this was it? They were amazing, each one of them.

The underlings had four legs, a stinger-tail, and menacing mandibles. The dactyl looked like a flying version of an underling except it had a sharp beak like Arachna's and wings. The larval tumbler was a rolled-up, armored ball while the harvester was lean and sturdy, with six legs and large, sturdy mandibles. Each one was simply amazing.

Yet they all floated motionless inside their preservation chambers—dead. Arachna clenched her beak.

"I'm going to take a break, Doc," one of the lab workers said.

"Me too," said a second. "Frank. My shift's almost done so I'm going to take off."

"Fine," said the third. "I've got a few more tests to run but go on ahead."

Two of the men exited the room. There was a chamber between the lab and the hallway that both entered. It filled the room with some sort of gas for a few seconds. Then it cleared the gas and opened the door to the outer hall where the men exited. Arachna was able to observe through the windows surrounding the laboratory, which were plentiful.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Arachna clicked to herself as she scampered on the ceiling above the final lab worker. Only one Yumen? He would be easy prey. She dropped down directly behind him, preparing to kill.

The man known as Frank worked away, turning knobs and changing various settings on scientific instruments. His computer seemed to show a sort a variety of charts and graphs detailing genetic information about the specimens.

He would make a decent meal.

"Ah, there we go," Frank said.

Arachna raised her beak in preparation for a single solitary strike. Her beak would slice right through his suit, and she'd snap at his neck. If she didn't kill him on the first bite, her saliva would make quick work of him.

Arachna.

She paused. What was that voice?

"Perfect," Frank said. "When Sigmoid is revived, he'll be pleased with our findings here."

You're alive? I'm so glad.

Arachna was so confused that she hesitated. Was the man speaking to her? It couldn't be. In that momentary pause, Frank turned around.

Arachna reacted on instinct, climbing up her silk thread so that she dangled just above his head.

But Frank didn't look up. The lab worker ignored her entirely. Was he talking to her psionically and also pretending she wasn't there?

Frank began humming a strange Yumen tune to himself.

Arachna scanned the room. Something or someone was speaking to her. Was it this Frank?

"Time to go home," Frank said, stretching his arms and entering the decontamination chamber. "End of a long day's work."

I'm in here, the voice said.

So it wasn't the Yumen. Then what? Arachna swing over to one of the empty vats and scanned. Where?

The dactyl jerked its head ever-so-slightly.

Surprised, Arachna jumped up into the air and onto the wall. She clicked in Krath-speech, "You're alive?" Could it be that there really was another Krath who was alive on board this ship? Her twin hearts beat rapidly in succession. She was ecstatic. "Let me free you."

No, the dactyl said, psionically.

"Can you speak normally?" Arachna clicked.

Only like this, the dactyl said.

Arachna decided that it would be hard to click audibly inside a flotation chamber like the one he was in. She desperately wanted to free him.

I will die, the dactyl said. Soon.

"What do you mean?" Arachna clicked. "You will be fine? I will free you. You do not belong here. How did you even get in here?"

Too hurt, the dactyl said. Barely alive when they put me in here. Not much longer.

"You need food," Arachna said aloud, clicking furiously in Krath-speech. "I will bring you Xitherium. Or better, Yumen. Then you will heal."

They'll find you if you do, the dactyl said. That will go against my mission to protect you.

"You were sent here to protect me?" Arachna said. "Who are you?"

I am Beaky, the dactyl said. My mission was to deliver you. The Hive Mother foresaw you would bring great blessings upon our race.

"Me?" Arachna said in disbelief. "Blessings?"

Yes, Beaky.

Arachna shook her head. How was that possible?

At that moment, Frank the lab worker reentered the room. Horde, he'd see her now. She dropped into the empty crate.

"Forgot something," Frank said aloud to himself, continuing to hum his obnoxious Yumen song. To Arachna, the tune didn't sound very musical. Perhaps Yumens had a different musical cadence.

Frank walked directly by Arachna's vat. She held herself frozen, in imitation of a dead Krath, floating in the transparent green liquid. It tasted disgusting.

"There it is," Frank said, grabbing a datapad. He made for the exit, again walking by Arachna's tank.

Frank froze in place immediately in front of the door.

Arachna's eyes flitted toward him. Slowly, Frank turned around and walked toward Arachna.

"Strange," Frank said. "I don't remember a queenling. How could I have overlooked a new specimen?" Frank's lips slowly curled upward as he cracked his knuckles.

Turning away from Arachna, the Yumen known as Frank opened up his datapad and immediately began searching for information as various reports and pictures flitted across his screen.

"I've always wanted to study a queenling," Frank said. "Who is this specimen checked out to?"

Arachna slowly crawled up the side of the tank, her eight limbs working together to move in a sort of pumping action to propel her upward like a swimming jellyfish. She reached up and pulled herself over the top of the tank and peered down at Frank.

Frank the Yumen lab worker didn't look up. He pounded away on his datapad searching for information. "Where is the check-in for this queen—"

In that instant, he lifted his head and stared straight up at the menacing image of a live Krath queenling.

Arachna let off a guttural series of clicks.

Then she leaped.

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Beaky

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Frank the lab worker