Vapor raised her handgun directly at Arachna, whose body was still shimmering. Both the adversaries turned semi-transparent before removing their stealth cloaks entirely.

"Do you know how to spot a rifter?" Vapor said aloud, cocking her weapon.

Arachna was silent. Was this the end? Even she couldn't dodge a shot from this range. A bullet from this Yumen would end her.

"Look for bending light," Vapor said. Arachna recalled the bright flashlights held by the marines. The men hadn't noticed her movement but Vapor had.

Bam.

Vapor fired her weapon, a red flicker flashed as its firing pin ignited the bullet. This was the end. Arachna again saw her life flash before her eyes. The bullet moved in slow-motion, sailing through the air like a particle in an accelerator.

In an instant, the tiny metal thing smashed against an invisible boundary that lit up with the fire of a blue dwarf star.

Vapor widened her eyes. Then fired again.

Bam, bam.

Two more shots bounced off a glowing blue orb surrounding Arachna in crystalline light. It was like looking through colored glass. Ripples of light ran outward from the points-of-contact where the bullets hit the sphere.

"It can't be," Vapor said, jaw dropping. "A force field?"

Arachna clicked. Had she really just used a force field? It made sense. Vapor had the same powers as she did and Vapor knew how to use a field. It was only a matter of time before Arachna could do the same.

"Fine," Vapor said. "You want to do it that way?" She pulled out a set of knives from twin sheaths at her side. They glowed brightly with violet light. She held one knife in each of her balled fists, pointing them downward.

Arachna clicked. What in the horde was the rifter holding? They looked like small Yumen blades made of—Xitherium.

"Force fields don't work against melee attacks," Vapor said, lunging. It was true. Her jab penetrated the field with ease.

Arachna managed to sidestep in time, dodging the thurst. she was faster than this Yumen but not as strong. Strange, it was as if the field surrounding her was designed to protect against high-velocity weapons but not those moving a slower speeds.

"A Krath rifter," Vapor said, shaking her head. "I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen one in person. And are those—hands?"

Arachna balled her hands into fists as she climbed backwards onto the wall, preparing to leap.

"The strange just keeps getting stranger," Vapor said, her Xither-blade knives glowing in her hands. "I've heard about strange mutations from the Krath wars, but it's been generations. Maybe you've been hiding all this time, getting smarter."

Arachna sized up her opponent. Vapor was small for a Yumen but still much larger than she was. The woman was nimble, quick, and seemed to have a sense

Vapor lunged, slicing at Arachna who scampered backwards, dodging the blow.

Whiz

A flying knife came at her, nearly lopping off one of her limbs. Need to be careful about that, Arachna thought.

"You know," Vapor said, tapping her helmet. "I never was able to get my X-48 fixed. This thing is broken thanks to you. They said Krath were intelligent at Star Academy, not that most people have seen real Krath, but I wonder if you really know it was that you stole."

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Click, click. Arachna chitted her beak and twitched her spinnerette. Maybe she'd lunge at the rifter and sink her teeth into the Yumen's side?

"I was told to stand down," Vapor said. "They said I'm going insane from rifting without proper equipment. Two dead marines and a broken helmet prove it."

Arachna prepared herself to lunge, her legs tensing. She even pegged her damaged leg into the ground, the blood from her missing paw seeping into the metal below.

"But Commander Rip is still in the Medica, recovering from food poisoning," Vapor said, rubbing her fingers against her remaining knife. "Which means I'm the ranking military officer on board this ship. Even if I don't have full command, I don't have to take orders from anyone."

At that moment, Arachna leaped. She contracted a muscle near her head, pushing blood out of her cephalothorax into her legs, forcing them to extend at lightning speed. As she did, her body flew through the air like a dart.

At that point, Vapor threw her second knife.

The glowing object soared through the air like an interceptor missile, catching Arachna in mid-air. It sliced into her spinnerette, which spilled sticky fibrous goo mixed with acidic blood. Her body clashed with the knife and fell to the ground with a thud.

She never stood a chance.

The Xither-bladed knife cut cleanly into her carapace like water, nearly sheering off her side, liquid falling out like yolk from a cracked egg. Arachna lay on the metal plank, clutching her side.

"I hesitate to kill you," Vapor said. "The Ides of Mars would pay a fortune to study a Krath rifter. I'd be a very rich woman."

Arachna let out a low guttural click, barely able to contain herself. The pain was so intense. It was as if she was being dissected on a lab table, her insides falling out her back.

"But," Vapor said, her eyes narrowing. "As I said before, I'm not entirely sane." She wrenched the Xither-blade out of Arachna's side and held it up, looking at the shining object.

No, it couldn't end like this. Arachna couldn't die. Not yet.

"Plus," Vapor said. She held the blade above Arachna's head, preparing to stab it her in-between her eyes. "You broke my helmet."

At that moment, Arachna focused her mind. Time slowed as she watched Vapor prepare her killing stroke. There would be only one chance to survive. A single chance to influence this Yumen who badly wanted her dead.

Arachna reached into Vapor's mind and peered into her consciousness. While she couldn't ordinarily delve into Yumen's minds, this Yumen teamed with psionic ability.

Vapor was by far the strongest Yumen psionic on board the ship. Her mind overflowed like a river of burning water rushing out of a bursting dam.

Peering in, Arachna saw that this woman was deeply wounded, her whole life spent pushing away any semblance of Yumen relationship in pursuit of a dream. She had no real friends, no family, not even parents. Her 'dream' was finally realized when she became a rifter, but she found it hollow.

Empty.

Vapor was a merely tool used and abused by the Martian Authority to carry out its twisted goals of brutally controlling a galactic empire—putting down revolts, carrying out assassinations, and fulfilling promises of vengeance. She was a death knell to the enemies of the Authority. With a single rift, she could wipe out colonies or even entire space stations, causing them to disappear from existence in an eruption of blue flames.

And she'd do it in complete stealth.

Though she projected a tough exterior, Vapor was a vulnerable Yumen. And not just because she was losing her sanity. Vapor deeply yearned for something more. Something real. No, they just wanted her for her talents. Like all Yumens, Vapor wanted to believe in something bigger than herself, something that could prevent her from squandering the remainder of her measly existence as a galactic enforcer.

Her life lacked any real sense of purpose, and it hurt. The killing and destruction she'd created didn't solve her pain. It only made it worse.

Arachna was surprised at what she'd seen. The Yumen's mind had poured out in the blink of an eye, as if this person wanted to be heard, wanted to be seen. Arachna sensed that deep down, Vapor was really the one screaming for help. Not Arachna.

This Yumen was so real, so vulnerable, beneath her icy exterior. Were all Yumens like that? They were like Krath in a way. They had a rock-hard emotional carapaces covering their soft fleshy cores. Horde, maybe there was more to them than mere food?

Arachna didn't know the answer to that question but thought she might have a way to help heal Vapor's pain. The saving grace that powered all Krath to work with transcendent strength and to achieve a dream that was truly beyond themselves.

Reaching deep within, Arachna drew upon the driving force behind her very existence. She had no idea if Yumens were even capable of comprehending the wisdom that it contained. Still, she had to try. In a single instant, Arachna emitted a single profound thought that encapsulated everything she believed in, everything that she was.

The Cause.

Xither-blade knife [http://www.atticusandrews.com/wp-content/uploads/Chapter-37-Xither-blade-knife.jpg]

Xither-blade knife