19 days until Mars Arrival

"Five days?" Arachna clicked. "I was locked inside that box for five days?'

"The cold," Beaky clicked. "Your body reacted to it by going into hibernation."

"Strange," Arachna clicked. "It didn't feel like that long."

They'd managed to slip back into the ship's trash compactor after clearing out the marines in the kitchen. It remained shut down. She prayed that the Yumens wouldn't find them any time soon.

Somehow, they managed to evade detection. After the alarm about a loose Krath dactyl, all the Yumens had fled, leaving most of the halls clear.

"I searched for days to find you," Beaky clicked. "Losing your psionic pulse made it difficult. "

"How did you do that?" Arachna clicked. She was small enough to travel through vents and to hide when needed. Plus, there was her stealth cloak, if she could learn to use it properly.

"Followed your scent," Beaky said. He was still bleeding profusely from the bullet-holes through his wings and abdomen, barely able to hold himself up.

"But how did you get here without attracting attention?" Arachna clicked. She needed to keep him talking so that he didn't lose consciousness. If he dozed off, she feared for the worst. Horde, where was the Xitherium when she needed it? She'd need to sneak back into the engine room and gather some.

"Attracted lots of attention," Beaky slow-clicked. His head bobbed back and forth as he looked like he was about to black out. "Kill many Yumens. But no time to stop and eat."

Yes, well, that was a shame, Arachna thought. There was something wrong with these Yumens. They were very aggressive and violent and lived meaningless lives. Food should die more willingly. But maybe that was the point. That was why she was here. To put things right. Put things back into a proper order.

"Now need sleep," Beaky clicked, his eyelids opening and shutting. The dactyl's head bobbed as he spoke.

"No," Arachna said. "Stay awake. I can't lose you."

"Me?" Beaky clicked. "I am not important." He curled up into a ball on a pile of waste.

He needs Xitherium, Arachna thought. And fast. It was the most nutritious food a Krath could eat and it also contained healing properties. Of all the places on the ship she'd been to, only the engine room held Xitherium.

"This will help," Arachna clicked. She released webbing from her spinneret and wrapped it around Beaky's wounds, forming a gauze. "Will stop the bleeding."

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Beaky didn't respond but simply lay on the ground with his eyes closed. He was still breathing and his twin hearts beat, albeit softly.

Arachna was starting to panic. She couldn't lose the only friend, the only family she had on this ship. It was a lonely place. This dactyl had given his life to defend her, to help ensure her survival. She would do the same for him.

Arachna scampered up a pile of waste toward the exit. As she made her way out, she noticed a flashing red light in the corner of her eye. It was one of the Yumen datapads.

Right, she'd seen that here last time. Yumens wasted perfectly working tools because of a few small cracks. So inefficient.

The datapad had large red flashing letters that said, "Alert." They blinked rapidly, the image bending slightly in the corner of the screen where it was chipped. Below the letters was a picture of Beaky impaling a marine through the neck.

Beneath it, there more of the Yumen symbols below. "Extreme Caution: Krath Dactyl Escaped. Emergency Powers Authorized under Executive Order No. 32 Granting Military Rule. Rifter agent has been deployed. All insubordinates will be shot."

What did that mean? Emergency powers? Military rule? Rifter agent? Arachna peered down at the rectangular device. It was so strange—like looking into a window full of unusually bright colors and odd shapes.

Yumens seemed to transfer information through devices like this. Not a bad idea entirely, she thought. For a race with limited psionic abilities and weak memories, dull mental capacity, using colorful pads to write things down made sense.

She reached out with her hands—Arachna still needed to get used to having hands—and touched the device, curious to see what it felt like.

The glass was cold to the touch. And smooth. As she pressed one of her soft fingers against it, the screen changed. Whoa.

Had it reacted to her? Was this thing alive? It couldn't possibly be.

There was now an image of Xander on the screen—this was the man she'd eaten in her second meal. The screen read, "Wanted: Xander Corvinus, saboteur. Lethal force authorized."

Huh? A declared criminal? How did the Yumens justify killing their own so quickly? Well, it was nothing new considering what she'd seen so far.

The screen continued to read, "Xander Corvinus has been implicated in the attack within the Engine room which remains on lockdown and under heavy guard. He is further suspected to be involved in the escaped Krath dactyl."

Heavy guard, she thought. It was as she suspected. She'd need to have a plan in place to retrieve Xitherium again.

She pressed down on the screen again. This time another image flashed up—this one hit her hard. It was like looking into her own face, and yet it wasn't.

"Wanted: Humboldt Carlsen, saboteur. Lethal force authorized."

The picture below was of a middle-aged man with a clean-shaven face and large spectacles. He had dark brown eyes and neatly combed hair. The man stared out at her as if he was a reflection of her own soul. Arachna peered down at this man—her host—the man who had died to give her life. This man was a saint. He deserved to be honored.

Instead, the Yumens had labeled him a traitor.

"Humboldt Carlsen's quarters were searched today under Executive Order 32. He appears to have fled active duty and is believed to be working with fellow engineer, Xander Corvinus, to sabotage the ship. Motivations remain unknown."

Arachna hissed and chomped her beak. She felt her hands instinctively balling themselves into fists. Strange how these new appendages seemed to have their own way of reflecting her emotions.

Yumens were fools to slander the name of Engineer Carlsen. She would put things right.

Glancing back at Beaky, who rested while clinging to life, she scampered toward the exit.

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