Irini held up her hands, fingers splayed. Golden threads twisted about her fingers, from her thumbs to her pinkies. The threads trailed on the floor, glittered over Halfmoon’s consoles, and headed out of the ship in all directions. Each thread led to a different creature, and there were so many that Irini could barely see through the glittering strings to her board.
She held her hands a little higher and squinted. Halfmoon’s scanner glowed, quiet but not still. Little lights, mere dots, moved around the edges of the screen. Those dots, like her threads, represented the creatures. So far, the bat Volanter kept their distance.
That’s what they called them. The name came from Meladee, second only to the gargoyle Volanter, which Irini struggled to say.
Irini knew they wouldn’t stay away forever. Meladee’s failed attack built their confidence. They recognized magic. They sought it. Irini was pretty sure it angered them.
About an hour ago, she’d asked her thread to find spots of anger in the great, floating forest. The thread had found the same number of creatures that entangled her hands now. They wanted to attack Halfmoon.
“I really thought that would do it. How could they be fine?” Meladee sat at the helm, arms crossed. She stared at the wall. “Why does no one take Agaric magic seriously?”
Benham bent over the helm. “It’s not a matter of not taking it seriously. Magic just doesn’t work well on them. You know…it is just like that shell Ul’thetos had. That protected Ul’thetos from all energy. I bet…I bet that Halfmoon’s weapons aren’t going to work very well.”
Irini turned away. The creatures reminded her of primates from other planets. Scaldigir had no primates. It hadn’t even had intelligent life before the Scaldin colonized it. They had been a single people, lost and looking for a home. The Volanter added a wrinkle to their lives but not more species to their planet. Before the Scaldin, Scaldigir was full of furry, cute, non-sentient animals. No wonder their ancestors wanted to live there.
The lack of primates served as an extra plus. Irini used to think that primates were cute. She spent hours, pouring over videos and pictures of them. Then, her parents took her down to the Liti home world, and Irini got to see primates up close. Her father lost his sunglasses to a yellow male. Her mother got bit by a purple female, and Irini never looked at pictures of primates the same again. She understood that primates, especially non-sentient ones, could be a headache. She had a headache now.
Irini raised one entangled hand and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She didn’t need to take care around the threads, but she tried to keep them off her face anyway.
“Irini?” Meladee asked. “What have you got on the scan?”
Irini spread both her hands to the sides of the screen, until she got a clear view of the scan. “I see a lot of them, but they aren’t coming closer. It’s more like they’re jumping around and gathering in clusters. Some dots move between the clusters. They…have us surrounded.”
Meladee let out a sigh of exasperation. “Of course, they do.”
Several dots on the scan moved forward. Then, the dots surged towards the center of the screen and its representation of Halfmoon.
Irini drew a long breath. “They’re coming.”
“I’ll shield us this time. That might be the only thing that works,” Meladee said. “But, I might not get the entire ship. I don’t have any concept of how big the new cargo bay is.”
A fleeting circle and a shimmer of magic traveled through the consoles and sank into the walls and deck.
Irini felt instantly safer and let her shoulders slump. Her threads dissipated. She had no reason to keep her fingers so entwined, with her anxiety fluttering away.
Eva had two more plates to fit in place. Then, she really should try to seal up the cracks. She could paint on some sticky sealant and call it a day, given that they would rip the modifications off the moment they arrived back on Iruedim.
If Sten worked beside her, he could use the sealant, while she welded the last plates. But, she only had Sten BBV for company. And, brain box version could not be the companion that she missed.
Sparks flew from Eva’s welder, as she traced the edges of the patch. The welder sputtered, finding space a bit too cold for its liking. Eva’s inner workings might sputter too, if she didn’t have the special temperature regulation suit. She could freeze or she could overheat. She wasn’t sure which it would be.
Eva clicked the welder on and off, trying to reignite its sparks. She got a few showers, but it wouldn’t restart. Eva almost popped a heater off her arm to give to the welder.
She paused because a face slid into view. It was dark, with large eyes, no nose and no mouth that she could see. Little stone like fingers curled into the opening.
Eva flicked the welder again, and it sparked. She held it to the thing’s face. The creature ripped her tool from her hand and streamed inside. Others followed.
Eva pushed herself back and hit a wall. She thought she’d bumped into Pen Pal’s egg-shaped prison, but it was a wall of magic instead.
The creatures papered the shimmering shield. Some headed for the golden lock on the base of the egg, attracted by its shimmer.
Eva picked up a scrap of space slag. She hurled it at the creature. The slag hit hard, drawing some kind of blood. The creature flew away, and blood arced into the space, floating a few feet from the lock.
The creatures stretched the mounds that were their mouths and finally opened them as if screaming. Membranes spread over a hole beneath.
Eva had just enough time to read a message on the cargo com.
We are covered in these things. They mean business. Can we fly out of the forest at least?
Eva typed back: Yes.
So, Meladee had protected the ship, even though it meant locking Eva out.
The bat-like primates rushed at Eva. She swiped with her largest hammer and hit another. They scattered again, like a swarm but wouldn’t leave the bay. In fact, a few more streamed into the hole that Eva had not yet closed.
Sten BBV activated the lights that scared them before. Red and orange circled the space. The light glinted over the metal, even the dull space slag. As the light passed the magical shield, it shot in all directions and sparkled.
A few of the creatures took the light in their faces. They rushed out of the ship. Most stayed.
Eva counted far too many of the things. If the lights didn’t work, then Sten BBV and she would never get them out, so instead, she would have to bring the creatures along. Unfortunately for them, they would have to be dead.
Eva didn’t have time to type a message to Sten. She hoped he would realize it was time to do something drastic. Or, maybe, he would follow another line of thinking and find a new way to scare them off.
Eva traced the wire that led to her stolen welder. She pulled the wire, and the welder yanked back to her. Eva got it in hand, clicked it on and welded through the arm of one of the primates.
Black blood gushed out of the stump.
Eva set her welder on another of the creatures and sparked through its wing. The creature jerked away.
The sparks continued to fly from her rejuvenated tool. Eva carved up more of the creatures, so many that she lost count. Still, some got through her defense and yanked at her suit.
Eva could feel the temperature dysregulation start in her right leg. She glanced down and saw a few loose nodes. She thought that Halfmoon might set off enough heat to make the overheating scenario more likely.
It was just a leg though, and only one side of it at that.
Eva hit a mallet through a cloud of bodies. She got a live creature in the bunch and shattered its skull.
One perched on the lock, and Eva pushed away from the safety of the wall and the com. She floated her way there and started to head by, but not before she hit the creature over the head. More black blood spewed out.
Eva touched the egg’s lock. She could feel vibrations through her hand. She looked up. The ship jittered all around, probably Sten BBV’s doing.
The creatures began to flee. Some popped out the hole.
Eva planted her legs on the egg and pushed herself towards that hole. She scooped up the final patch and took her welder in hand. She landed just ahead of the hole and began to weld the final patch, though she hadn’t finished the penultimate. She melted both into place, with the added challenge of the ship’s bumpy ride. The loose metal flapped with the vibrations. She would fix it.
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Eva felt bigger vibrations rattle through the walls of the ship. She looked up and counted four more of the things. They all stalked over the walls and ceiling, heading her way.
She had blocked their escape. She would be glad for them to be on their way, but she wasn’t going to undo her work. They could die in the cargo bay and share the resting place with their fellow creatures, whose bodies already littered Eva’s airspace.
For a moment, Eva wished she could invite gravity and air back into the deck. The things would probably keel over, of their own accord. But, there was no air to call back. The air on the upper decks needed to stay there. And, without the air, Eva would not get the gravity.
Sten BBV probably realized that long before she did. He resorted to the lights again.
Red and orange circled the space.
The first creature spread its wings, dodged around two bodies, and bounded for Eva. She pulled the welder across its face.
It went limp and floated back.
The second one was right behind it. Eva sent the mallet sailing through its chest and its newly dead comrade. They shattered and burst. Eva found herself in the wave of blood and could feel the disgust on her face.
The third and fourth pulled more of the nodes from Eva’s legs and attempted to pull at her skin.
Eva welded right through the tops of both their heads. Their hands relaxed and failed to grip. They floated where they’d died.
Sten BBV shut the alarm lights off.
The com showed another flashing light.
Eva pushed her way there and floated just ahead of the com panel, mallet and welder still in hand.
Can we go? They’re regrouping. They aren’t going to let us out of this.
Eva put the welder in her teeth. She tapped out a message: Ten minutes. Then, you go to superliminal travel. Should be good enough by then. I’ll hide in the closet, don’t worry about me. Only stop if the sensors say we lost the egg.
Eva took the welder from her teeth and pushed herself through the bodies back to the flapping scrap metal.
A message from Sten BBV flashed on to the screen, but she ignored it.
Hands scraped at Eva’s head, pulling her hair and taking the nodes from her scalp in a tangle.
Eva aimed the welder up, clicked it on, and killed the very last of the creatures. It popped slowly through the bodies of its friends, a body itself.
Eva dropped the mallet and brushed at the nodes, tangled on wires. They laced through her hair. She would need to fix the arrangement or shut down – not sleep – but totally shut down. Eva couldn’t shut down, so she opted to fix it.
Her fingers explore her hair, and she pressed the nodes back into place. She got all but two. Of those two nodes, one had a broken seal; the other was gone. She prioritized her important spots, but truthfully, Sten knew those spots better than she did.
Eva’s right leg felt numb. She bent and pressed the nodes back into place. All remained intact, but she couldn’t feel their effect. Maybe, they would reignite function in her leg. Maybe, not.
Eva pulled herself along the cargo wall, back to her job. She had less than ten minutes to finish the welding. Eva clicked the welder on. She focused on the cracks and welded the makeshift piece into place.
As she worked, her vision rippled, and Eva shook her head. She probably had five minutes before the ship began superliminal travel. She had to get it done.
Meladee didn’t bother with summons. She saw what they did to her brand-new otter. That otter would never answer a call from Meladee again. Meladee didn’t know where summons came from, but she knew the otter would let her spells ring.
So, she used a less favored strategy. One that had grown a little stale during her year of peace.
Meladee watched a map of the ship for guidance. Penciled on the rear was a crude drawing of the cargo expansion. Still, Meladee didn’t think she had Halfmoon’s correct size in mind. It was like the back end had fallen off her internal map. She needed to see the ship from outside; then, she’d have an idea of how it all looked.
First, Meladee dispelled the intense shield. The shield had set off too late, and a number of the bat Volanter made their way in. They scrambled under the shield, trapped against the ship, but Meladee had given them enough room to bound about and tear sensors from Halfmoon’s exterior.
“What are you doing?” Benham shouted.
“They’re in here with us.” Meladee gestured to the windshield. “Anyway, I don’t think I got the entire bay in the shield. I have to do something different.”
“Make the shield flush to the hull. Can’t you do that?” Benham asked.
Meladee shook her head. “I can’t. I still don’t have a good inner map.” Meladee placed her hands on the console. “Let’s see if we can get some of these things out of the fight.”
A ring of blue hovered around Meladee. The spell wasn’t going to work quite the way she wanted. She was about to block Halfmoon’s view and complicate their exit. And, god knew how well the spell would work on them.
The ring sang and sank into the deck. Meladee leaned over the helm and watched the swarm of bat Volanter out the windshield.
They flew in dizzying patterns, never colliding with each other. Two headed straight for the windshield. They landed. Their hands and feet froze in magical ice. They fell free; no longer able to grab hold.
Meladee’s heart jumped.
The bat Volanter shook their hands and feet and generally blocked the way. Their panicked dance was not the effect she wanted, but it was good enough.
More creatures collided with Halfmoon. The frozen creatures shouted warnings. Their mouths stretched in seeming silence. Few companions heeded the warning. Most bumped into Halfmoon and floated away, with parts of their bodies trapped in ice.
“I remember this one!” Benham cheered. “Worked better in atmosphere.”
“Yeah, well, it’s best in places where people can still fall. And, it works a lot better on people who aren’t immune to magic.”
Benham pushed the ship forward. Halfmoon plowed the frozen creatures aside. Ice crept over their limbs and started to knit together.
“Be careful,” Meladee warned. “Don’t get us trapped in our own spell.”
Benham urged Halfmoon down. Slowly, their view cleared.
Meladee glanced back. Irini sat at the weapons station, hands on the trigger, but eyes on the forward view.
“You alright?” Meladee asked.
“Yes.” Irini pointed ahead. “What are they doing?”
Meladee turned back. The bat Volanter swarmed in a spiral pattern and blocked their new route of escape. “How many of these things are there?” She slapped Benham’s arm. “What do we do? Suit up and charge out there?”
Benham shrugged and shook his head.
The swarm pattern started to close in and wrap them.
Irini worked the few turrets that remained. Each release sent a swarm of Volanter bats into motion above their ship. Even the hit bats continued to fly, unhindered by the shots of energy.
Meladee watched their bodies, circling as one. She shifted in her seat and leaned close to the windshield.
“If they try to touch us, I’ll…” Meladee couldn’t do anything.
As Sten BBV had warned, the creatures only responded to physical attack.
Meladee frowned. “I’ve got to summon something. A lot of somethings.”
It was what she did best.
Meladee called a circle into being, just ahead of the Halfmoon. It was her beloved basan. As the basan bobbed through space to take on the creatures, Meladee called the dragon. The dragon, in its colors of blue, surged after the basan. Last but not least, she called pizza man. He spun anchovy nun chucks and held a pepperoni shield.
Meladee put her face in her hands. “There they go. How are they doing? I can’t watch.”
“They’re clearing a space,” Benham said. “But, it does look rough. What about Ul’thetos?”
Meladee shook her head. “She’s too useful against enemy fleets. I can’t afford to lose her.” Meladee would gladly trade Ul’thetos for their freedom, especially in place of all the creatures she loved.
Finally, Meladee looked up.
Space opened before them, and the creatures thinned. Meladee’s summons gave them a clear shot to freedom, but all her summons had perished. Meladee didn’t know if they would ever answer her call again.
Benham eased Halfmoon forward, but his eyes watched the scanner. “More behind, but ahead looks good.”
Meladee glanced at the path she’d calculated. “I’m going. Do you think she’s ready?” Meladee held her hand above the button to engage superliminal drive.
“She said ten minutes. We’ve waited fifteen,” Benham answered. He watched Meladee’s hands.
“Okay.” Meladee hit the button.
The Halfmoon went, giving Meladee little to do while she waited for the trip to be over.
Meladee’s fingers flew across the com panel. She typed: You alright?
The cockpit remained silent, and Meladee just stared at her panel, waiting for the little green light that would tell her she had a message from Eva.
“Nothing.” Meladee gestured to the com. “I wish I could just call. Then, she’d hear it.”
“She’s probably hiding in the closet,” Benham said.
“What if we repressurize the whole cargo bay? Should be able to hold air now.” Meladee pointed to the indicators that showed the ship was intact, as it sailed through space.
“We lost the air for that part of the ship. If you want to shut down another, then be my guest. Otherwise, we can’t make air out of nothing. We’ll thin out the supply.” Benham stared at the console too, watching the indicators for their prize, the egg.
All remained sturdy.
Meladee put her hands on her head and sat back. She just had to wait. Meladee felt her eyes widen. She shot forward and tapped into the com again. Sten? You there?
Again, no answer.
Meladee exchanged a glance with Benham.
“That’s weird,” Benham said. “I hope he didn’t get unplugged.”
“Yeah, cause then he’d die.” Meladee whipped around in her seat. “Ask the thread where Eva is. Go on. Sten BBV too.”
Irini sat a moment. Then, she looked down at her hand. A moment later, she looked up. “Eva’s down in the cargo bay. Sten is…Sten’s dead.”
Meladee sighed. “Fuck. We killed Sten’s copy. How did we do that?” Meladee pointed to herself. “Do you think it was one of my inaccurate spells?”
Benham shook his head. “You’d never forget to put Engineering in.”
Meladee wasn’t so sure. When she’d placed her spells around the forward part of the ship, she had been sloppy.
Meladee slumped against the back of her chair. “At least Eva’s fine. Thank god. Only got one of her.” Meladee faced forward again.
“So, we return to the coordinates we first left from. Then, we can use the wormhole bombs to get home.” Benham glanced at a clear box, with one of the fabric balls inside. “Or, we can just use one now. See if we can cut down the journey. The runes should still bring us to the right destination.”
“Inez said to use them from the specific points. It’s too precise. I’m not taking any more risks,” Meladee said. “We’ll just wait till we reach the entry point. Then, we know it’ll all work. And, if it doesn’t, they’ll know where to find us.”
“Good point.” Benham tried to settle in his seat.
Meladee did too, but she just couldn’t relax knowing Eva was trapped in a closet.
The ship rested askew, having landed on its new rear. The egg strained against its restraints, but the sensors said it still held its position. Though, the gravity of Iruedim weighed it down.
Meladee was the first to take the ladder into Engineering. She glanced into the space and saw Eva’s tools, along with some computer parts, scattered over the deck. She didn’t see Sten BBV, but she didn’t need to. He was just a copy.
Meladee headed further down and entered the now air-filled cargo. Her whole world seemed to tilt, showing Meladee just how lopsided the ship had become. Landing it had been a bitch.
“Got to break our way out,” Benham said from above.
“Why?” Irini asked.
“We only had the one door. That was cargo. The rest were sealed up because of the monsters, a long time ago.” Benham’s steps on the rungs sounded heavy and slow. “Whoa. Careful,” he told Irini, above him.
“It’s just so hard, with everything practically sideways. Hey, what’s all that stuff on the floor in Engineering?”
“Eva’s stuff. Looks like it wasn’t secured, probably shook loose after Sten BBV destabilized the ship. Wasn’t the smartest move, given it destabilized him.” Benham sighed, and the sound echoed in the ladder space.
“Poor Sten,” Irini said.
Benham said something back, but Meladee jumped the last two rungs to the bottom and left the space around the ladder. She backed up and bumped into the egg.
The surprisingly hard surface jabbed her in the shoulder blade.
Meladee rubbed her back. “Ow. This thing’s a pain the…back.” Meladee rounded the egg, expecting to see a sliver of light and a way out, already cut by Eva.
It was dark, except for the light that came from the ladder, and the egg cast a shadow that doused even its shimmering gold lock in darkness. Within that darkness, Eva lay on a patch of scrap metal, in a golden heap.
“Eva?”