Horde, the Yumens already found out about their escape from the lab. That was fast. Another worker must have come by and reported the incident. There was no mention of her in the alert, though. As far as the Yumens knew there was only one Krath loose on the ship, not two.

Beaky gnawed on an animal bone, crunching it within his beak. He was hungry. Everything okay? he asked psionically.

"They know," Arachna clicked. "That you escaped."

"They'll find me eventually," Beaky clicked, snapping the bone in half. "Maybe I'll just stay in here."

Arachna twitched her spinneret. Perhaps that wasn't a half-bad idea. Did the Yumens look in their own garbage? If they did, Beaky could hide somewhere else.

"Eat good food," Beaky clicked. "So good."

Well, at least it was nice to see that she wasn't the only one who enjoyed Yumen food. Other Krath did too, apparently.

Wolfing down the animal bone, Beaky turned his head to a half-eaten pie. "I like pie," he clicked. "So tasty."

Arachna nodded, "I know."

"Feeling much better," Beaky said, lifting his wing. There were incisive cuts along his wings with portions removed. The skin was healing over quickly, the wing repairing itself. "Soon I can fly."

Not that there was very much space to fly around in, but it was a nice sentiment.

"What happened?" Arachna clicked.

"Yumens cut my wings," Beaky clicked. "They scanned me, pumped things into me, and put me in tank. So horrible. Not fun. Bad, bad Yumens." He shook his head as he spoke, drooping his wings.

"Sorry," Arachna clicked, inching toward him. "You are safe now." Her instincts were maternal. She desired to give him a sense of security.

"Not safe," Beaky said. "Never safe until Yumens gone. But I do not need to be safe. Only keep you safe."

"We are one," Arachna clicked. "One race, one mind."

Beaky nodded, gulping down a large bit of food. "One stomach."

Arachna rolled her eight eyes. Technically they were four stomachs as each Krath had two, but that was neither here nor there.

"Tell me about her," Arachna said, curling up next to Beaky.

"Who?" Beaky clicked. Even his clicks were beginning to sound more energetic.

"Our Mother," Arachna clicked. She wanted to hear all that there was about her Mother.

"Spectra," Beaky clicked, pausing. He put down his pie and turned to look Arachna in the eyes. "She was beautiful."

Spectra, Arachna thought. The name sounded so strange to her, so Yumen. Yet it was also beautiful precisely because it was her Mother's. Spectra.

Stolen story; please report.

"Tell me more," Arachna said. She desperately wanted to meet her Mother. Here she was in the black of space. Beaky was her only connection to the Krath, her only family.

"She was majestic, queenly," Beaky clicked, his eyes wandering the room as if to imagine her presence. "Everyone respected her commands and she respected everyone. Spectra was the most intelligent and most loving Krath I have ever met."

Arachna swooned. How she longed to meet her Mother.

Beaky clicked, "She spawned an army underground. Fought off hordes of Yumens. Learned to Rift."

Arachna listened in silence. She already knew instinctually that mother was a great warrior. It was still good to have confirmation that it was all true. She was happy to be of such noble lineage. Yet there was something she didn't quite understand. "Rift," Arachna clicked. "What is Rift?"

"First Krath to Rift," Beaky clicked, nodding. "She passed it onto some of her offspring, but I am no Rifter."

"What is a Rifter?" Arachna clicked, tilting her head to one side and scratching her back with her hind legs.

"Rifting comes in three known forms," Beaky clicked. "Cloaking, force fields, and rupturing."

Arachna straightened her back and locked her eyes on Beaky.

"Cloaking can turn you invisible," Beaky clicked. "Most basic skill. Mother was able to spawn underlings with this trait after she herself mastered it. Force fields create a shield of protection against blasts. Harder to master this."

Arachna clicked in anticipation. What about the third? "And what is rupturing?"

Beaky shook his head as if he was afraid to speak further. He paused for several moments before he spoke. "A rupture releases a powerful blast, killing all in its wake."

"Sounds pretty amazing," Arachna clicked, sidestepping. Beaky looked so sad. "Why so down?"

Beaky breathed deeply, heaving out a lungful of air. "My mission," Beaky said. "Came at the end of a long battle against the Yumens inside our final base on Planet Xither. The Yumens were winning but Krath courage and grit were turning the tide. I was sent to give a parting gift to the Yumens as they retreated into space."

"Me," Arachna clicked.

"Yes," Beaky said. "Mother sent me to deliver you. It was only as I escaped, making my way onto this ship that I sensed a rupture from down below." He hung his head.

"Do you think they all died?" Arachna clicked.

"Krath are a hardy race," Beaky said. "I do not know. But I do know that immediately following this rupture, my psionic link with Mother was severed." The dactyl curled up into a ball, next to Arachna.

Arachna was silent. A single solitary tear welled up in her eyes.

"I do not know what happened," Beaky said. "But ruptures have killed Hive Mothers before. I was told that was how Grandmother died"

Arachna paused to take in the story. Was her Mother dead? It couldn't be. "Why," Arachna said. "Would Mother rupture if it would wipe out her own hive?" She was confused. No Hive Mother would kill her own.

"Spectra would not," Beaky said. "But you misunderstand. Rifting is not typically a Krath trait."

Arachna tilted her head. Confused.

Beaky perked his head and looked directly at her. "Rifting is a Yumen skill. Yumens attacked us using Yumen weapons. They knew they were lost so they sent a rifter to kill Mother."

"No," Arachna clicked, "It cannot be." Her worst fear.

"I cannot stomach the thought," Beaky said. "I miss her too much. But she sent me here to deliver you. You are the hope of our race."

"She's not dead," Arachna said, insistent. "I refuse to believe that she's dead."

"Spectra was a very special Hive Mother," Beaky said. "Unique."

"She was a rifter as you said," Arachna said."

Beaky nodded. "Her host was special. When a Krath spawns inside a Yumen host it can inherit characteristics of that host. In Mother's case, that was Rifting. In your case, I do not know."

Arachna paused, then clicked, "Engineer Carlsen. That was the Yumen's name. May his memory be honored into the Xither."

"Yes," Beaky said. "He has served the Cause well and we honor his sacrifice."

"Mother was born a rifter," Beaky said. "As she mastered its powers she learned how to pass them onto her offspring."

"Us," Arachna said.

Beaky nodded.

"Beaky," Arachna clicked, coyly. "There's something I should tell you."

"What is it?" Beaky clicked.

"I think," Arachna clicked. "That I can rift. At least the first part of it."

In that moment, the garbage room began to hum. The sound of gears churning reverberated as piles of waste were pushed toward the center. The walls pressed inward from each side.

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Rifter