When they got to the storage room Lissia checked the door. Locked. While it was annoying, it did mean no one else had been inside. Lissia put her communicator away and drew her hand torch. Gabriella wordlessly moved ahead to keep watch down the dark corridor as Lissia slipped on her respirator and began cutting open the door.
It was slower work than the footlocker, and the minutes began stretching on. Suddenly Gabriella said “Wait!” and Lissia quickly turned off her torch and waited, listening intently.
Holding her breath, she could not hear anything. She looked towards Gabriella who after a moment mumbled ‘never mind,’ and Lissia turned her torch back on. She had been working for less than a minute when Gabriella inhaled sharply and her posture tightened. Lillia turned the torch off again and strained her ears. She almost began cutting again, but then she heard a muffled scraping. It was faint, but somewhere down the corridor something was periodically scraping against the metal walls.
Unsure what to do she waited for Gabriella to make a move, but she seemed caught in indecision as well. Making a snap decision she turned the torch back on and resolved herself to getting the door open. Her and Gabriella seemed to be on the same page as the safety of her rifle clicked off. Gabriella knelt down, bracing the rifle against her shoulder. As Lillia worked she tried to ignore the scraping as it got closer. She snuck a glance in Gabriella’s direction, but her flashlight did not reveal anything but an empty section of dusty hallway.
Lillia guessed she was about two thirds through the lock when the scraping was accompanied by a distinct sniffing sound. She froze, hoping her mind had played a trick on her. She looked at Gabriella, hoping she had not heard it as well, but she was looking back at her with a wide-eyed expression. Lillia put down her torch and drew her gun, pointing it down the hallway.
The scraping was now coming from right outside Gabriella’s cone of light. The sound paused and was replaced by the sniffing. It sounded like whatever was making the sound was on the trail of something. As it stopped sniffing it marched into the cone Gabriella’s flashlight.
The creature was no bigger than a chicken, with two legs and a squat body covered in a gray loose skin. It had a thin snakelike neck that ended in a long stony saw-toothed beak. Even though it had no eyes it slowly craned its neck around to face Gabriella. It sniffed the air and shifted its beak to point at her flashlight. It then snapped its beak a couple of times and slowly but with great determination started walking towards Gabriella.
It had taken a couple of steps before the corridor was lit up by her muzzle flash, and the gunshot rang through the hallway. The creature was knocked backwards by the shot and slid to a halt just outside of Gabriella’s light. For a moment they were both too stunned to move, but when Gabriella got up and carefully inched towards the creature Lillia joined her.
Getting closer it was clear it was dead. Not only had it stopped moving, but the bullet had torn clean through it. Its black insides had begun dissolving and leaking onto the floor, releasing tiny sparks of electricity.
“Holy shit, that’s a Sgark.” Lissia said dumbfounded. She did not want to believe it, but Sgarks were the only thing that decomposed like that. “I have never seen one that looked like that before.” She mused as she inspected it more closely.
“Me neither” Gabriella agreed. “Do you think it’s a new type of scout? Maybe it’s come here alone?”
There was a desperate hope in her voice, but Lissia doubted it. “Maybe. But I have never seen Sgark alone before.” Suddenly a realization struck her. “Gabriella all the lights are off in this part of the ship. I don’t think that one drained that much by itself.”
Power loss in parts of a ship was one of the first signs of a Sgark infestation. “If this one was scouting it probably sensed the power cells.” Lissia thought out loud.
“And we just made a lot of noise…” Gabriella said, finishing her thought. “Get that door open right now.”
Lissia quickly got back to cutting again, but the progress felt painfully slow. It did not take long before more scraping and sniffing came from down the corridor, and Lissia jumped when Gabriella’s rifle rang out again. This time it was followed by another shot quickly after the first.
“Lissia this is definitely an infestation. We have to get out of here.” Gabriella called out over her shoulder.
“I’m almost through, just hold on.” Lissia called back through gritted teeth. The Sgarks backed up the power cells being there, and she was not leaving without them. Gabriella’s rifle rang out again. At this rate the torch would not get them through before the real muscle of the Sgark swarm would be all over them.
Lissia turned off the torch and stepped back from the door. She had cut through most of the teeth of the mechanical lock, so she just needed to get through the last couple. She drew her pistol and aimed it at the smoldering spot on the door she had just been cutting.
“How many shots do you have left?” She asked, her eyes fixed on the lock.
“Six.” Gabriella’s rifle rang out again. “Five in this mag, another ten after that.” Lissia had the six in her gun, and two more loose in her pocket. It would have to be enough. Flicking her safety off she drew in a breath and lined up the shot. Her handgun sounded out, louder than the crack of Gabriella’s rifle. It had left a sizable hole in the steel lock, but the door still did not budge when Lissia gave it a pull.
“Shit.” She muttered, and fired at the lock again, trying to hit the same spot. This time the boom of her gun was accompanied by the clang of metal shattering, and after giving the lock a kick for good measure, she managed to pull the door open.
Quickly sweeping the room with her light, Lissia frantically looked for the power cells. According to her source it was by no means a huge score, but at least twenty fresh cells. Most of the shelves were empty, but here and there was a smattering of spare parts. If they were not in danger of being overrun by Sgarks she would have loved to root through them.
In a corner she spotted a heavy metal box. She hurried over, flipped the clasps off and opened the lid. Six power cells the length of her forearms sat in the mostly empty box. They were risking their lives for six measly cells. The sound of Gabriella’s rifle in the hallway shook Lissia out of her despair, and she quickly looked for a way to make the cells more portable.
With a roll of heavy tape, and the strap from a hazmat harness, Lissia managed to wrap the cells into a bundle she secured on her back. She quickly walked out the storage room. They still had to make it out of here. She drew her pistol and whistled to get Gabriella’s attention.
“Alright let’s go, we have to move.” Gabriella got up from her crouch and quickly glanced at Lissia before returning her gaze to the hallway.
“Where are the cells?” Gabriella asked.
Lissia showed her the bundle on her back. “I have them, let’s go.” Gabriella hesitated for a moment but followed her back down the corridor the way they had come.
“That can’t be all of them. Saxon said there would be at least twenty.” Gabriella said in a defeated tone.
Lissia suppressed a grimace. “Yeah, well I imagine Saxon might have been low on juicy tips.”
When they made it back to the terminal they paused as Lissia checked her map. “Do you think they are going to be on the way to the airlock?” Gabriella asked nervously.
“Honestly, I have no idea.” Lissia answered. “This map is essentially just blueprints, so I don’t know how much of the ship is drained. Either way I say we just head for The Kestrel. It’s closer, and we can signal your ship from there.”
Gabriella seemed apprehensive, but as the sound of sniffing as scraping returned faintly behind them, she seemed to make up her mind. “Okay, lead the way.”
The lights in the hallway leading towards the hanger still worked. On the one hand it was reassuring as it meant the Sgarks had not spread to that part of the ship, put on the other it meant they would be drawn towards it. Lissia pushed open a door and stopped in her tracks.
A Sgark was blocking the way. The drone had its mandibles buried in an electrical panel, meticulously cutting through wires and fuses. Luckily, it was not fully grown. It was the size of a large dog, with four short legs and the signature gray skin of a Sgark hardened into a stony plates. Lissia slowly raised her gun, hoping not to startle it. When Sgarks found a power source they usually focused on nothing else, but as she took aim the Sgark stopped its destruction of the ships power grid.
From inside the panel came an enthusiastic sniffing. With a sudden movement it pulled its jaws from the panel and pointed them at Lissia. It tilted its head, not quite at her, but through her. Lissia realized it was sensing the power cells.
As the Sgark trotted towards her she fired. The shot hit it in its head, and the creature seemed more surprised than angry. It attempted to sniff, but Lissia seemed to have hit whatever organ caused it to make the sound. It began teetering on its four legs. Lissia was not sure if Sgarks felt pain, or even confusion, but looking at the drone she was pretty sure it at least felt something.
As Gabriella came through the door she shot the drone again, and it fell over and began to curl up. Watching it die filled Lissia with a strange melancholy. Even after all the Sgark had taken from her, she could never quite hate them.
Gabriella quickly examined the Sgark. “A drone, dammit. This place is going to be crawling with swarmers in a moment.” She said matter-of-factly
“Soldiers, if we are really unlucky.” Lissia mumbled in response.
“If that one sensed the power cells the others will have the scent at this point. I’ll take the front.” Gabriella said as she stepped over the Sgark, careful not to get any of its crackling innards on her boots. Lissia followed mutely.
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They hurried through the corridors of the ship. Lissa would shout directions to Gabriella who swept through the halls like a predator. Looking at her move Lissa felt awkward by comparison, lugging the power cells, and constantly glancing at her communicator. They paused at an intersection while Lissia made sure they were on the right track when they heard a muted buzzing of wings. On instinct Lissia fell in behind Gabriella who leveled her rifle in the direction of the sound. The grate of a vent in the direction they had come from clattered to the ground, and a swarmer the size of an apple buzzed into the hallway.
“Pick a direction and move Lissia!” Gabriella shouted and fired. She caught the first one off guard, but as more came out of the vent they began flying in erratic patterns. Lissia tapped Gabriella’s right shoulder and said “this way!” after a moment’s deliberation. She ran down the hallway while Gabriella backpedaled, keeping her sights on the swarmers. She fired and missed, causing her to curse under her breath. The swarmers began advancing, unfolding their razor-sharp legs.
Lissia found an electric door that still worked. She pressed a button and the door slid open with a slight groan. She stepped through and held her hand over the display on the other side. “Gab! Get in, we can shut them out!”
Lissia hoped she sounded less panicked than she felt. Gabriella was still walking backwards while taking aim at the growing number of swarmers. Their thin wings filled the hallway with their droning sound, their long legs hung free from their thin bodies, ready to tear into Gabriella. As they began advancing, she fired and missed one by a hair's breadth. The swarm pulled back, buying her some time. Again the swarm pushed forwards, and again she fired. This time she hit one, but the corridor was quickly filling with more to take its place.
Emboldened by their numbers they kept advancing, and Gabriella fired into the growing wall of wings and knifelike legs. It was getting hard to distinguish if she had even hit one. “I got you, go!” Lissia shouted and raised her pistol.
Gabriella turned on her heel and sprinted the last distance to the door. The swarm surged forwards, and Lissia realized how pointless it was to shoot at them at this point. Nevertheless, she sent a shot over Gabriella’s head at one diving at her. Lissia stepped out of the door just as Gabriella threw herself through it, and slammed down on the door controls. It wheezed shut, cutting off the swarm.
Leaning against the wall, Lissia took a moment to try and get her heart rate under control. It almost worked, until she looked over at Gabriella, who was thrashing violently around on the floor. She slammed her back into the floor and grunted in pain. Rolling back over she showed her back to Lissia and asked “Did I get it?”
She had in fact gotten the swarmer that had been stuck to her back, but it had equally gotten her. Its legs had drawn long cuts in her back, and when she had rolled over on it some of them had dug into her back.
Stunned by the display all Lissia could say was “Yeah you got it.” The swarmer was crushed all over her back and shoulders. As it began to dissolve Lissia quickly began digging in her satchel for something to wipe it off with. The only thing she found was her new shirt. Of course she would not even get to wear it before she slathered it in Sgark guts.
She quickly stepped up to Gabriella. First she pulled out the legs sticking out of her back before they dissolved in the wounds. Gabriella made a series of choice sounds, but did not squirm. Lissia whipped the worst of the swarmer off and tried to get an idea of how bad the injuries were. Gabriella handed Lillia the open water bottle, and Lissia managed to get her back decently clean.
The cuts looked bad, but were shallow. A couple were deeper where the legs had pierced her, but there was a reason swarmers were named that. They killed with numbers, surrounding and cutting their victims thousands of times. Like they had almost done in the hallway.
“How does it look?” Gabriella asked.
“Look?” Lissia said in what she hoped was a jovial tone. “Terrible. But none of these cuts seem that deep. Gonna have to get you patched up on the ship though, don’t want you bleeding all over the upholstery.”
“Hilarious” Gabriella counted in a particularly dry tone. She bent down to pick up her rifle, and pulled the lever ejecting its empty magazine. The hot brick of metal shot out the side of the gun and clanged onto the floor. She blew into the chamber, trying to cool it. “I really hope we went the right direction.” She said while examining the inside of her rifle. She pushed the lever closed and opened it again, releasing the casing of the last round that had been stuck.
Lissia checked her communicator. “Yeah, the hanger is right through this…” She was interrupted by the sound of Gabriella slamming the butt of her rifle into the door controls behind them “…room.”
Gabriella shot her a look. “Oh I’m sorry did you leave something back there? I can circle back and check.” Lissia cracked a wide grin at her tone. “Okay, no need to get cranky, you haven’t lost that much blood. Let’s go.”
The grin stayed on Lissia’s face as they gathered themselves and crossed the room. With the danger gone her heart rate and breathing were leveling out, but the adrenaline was still in her bloodstream. Without fear it just made her feel light on her feet and giddy. She could barely contain a giggle. It felt like it had been forever since her and Gabriella had been scavenging, or rooting out smugglers, or any of the many other ways they had put themselves in danger.
There was always a good reason, but Lissia had quickly come to terms with the fact that she didn’t really need an excuse to put herself in danger. The moment when the danger had passed, and she had made it, was like nothing else. Gabriella had always insisted she only did what she had to, but during and after a fight she always got a certain look in her eyes. Lissia looked over at her and caught a glimpse of her face.
Her expression was measured, but her eyes told the truth. They looked hungry, like they dared another pack of swarmers to come out of the vents. Like she was sure she could take on anything. She did not look in pain despite her wounds. She looked perfectly in control. Gabriella quickly looked away, like she was embarrassed by the feeling. For some reason she refused to revel, just a little bit.
The door to the hangar read ‘airlock’ and they both got out their respirators. After securing her own, Lissia looked at Gabriella who made sure her seal was tight and gave a thumbs up. They both stepped into the airlock, and secured the door behind them. The atmosphere controls still worked, and after hitting the button the room began decompressing. Their respirators clicked on as the oxygen level dropped, and after a couple more seconds the lights on the controls switched to red, having pressurized the room. Lissia pulled open the door to the hanger, and they both stepped through.
The hangar had artificial gravity like the rest of the ship, but was open to space. It had most likely had some sort of decompression field over the hangar opening, but it had given out long ago. This meant that debris from outside would float in and be caught by the artificial gravity, scattering scrap, rock, and dust all over the hangar. The only thing in decent condition in the hangar was The Kestrel.
The ship was parked between some empty metal containers in the only open space. Compared to most of the ships still flying, The Kestrel was a wonder. Its main engines were two electrical ion thrusters mounted on either side of the ship. Both were gimbaled, allowing the ship to use its thrust vertically and horizontally. This combined with the large number of small thrusters mounted across the ship allowed it to hover and maneuver with great precision. It gave Lissia access to a lot of places clunkier transport vessels could not get close to.
The airlock had taken them out onto a catwalk above the hangars floor. Gabriella touched Lissia on the shoulder and indicated with her hand along the catwalk to a ladder leading down close to The Kestrel. Lissia gave her a nod, and they moved towards the ship. The ladder was a bit rickety but held as they both descended it. Lissia pulled the glove off her right hand and held her thumb to the screen of her communicator. After a moment, The Kestrel hummed on, and its bay doors slid open. The ramp had barely touched down before Lissia jumped on it and hurried inside the ship, with Gabriella not far behind her. Despite the adrenaline, they were still on a ship with a Sgark infestation.
The Ramp led into The Kestrel's modest cargo bay. It had no dedicated airlock, so after closing the doors it took a while for air to fill the room. When the light in the hold turned green they both took off their respirators. Gabriella sighed and sat down on an empty ammunition crate. She rubbed her face before realizing she was getting soot from her rifle all over her face.
“Ugh, can I use your bathroom?” she asked, getting up from the crate.
Lissia had slung the power cells off her back and was kneeling over them, freeing one from the tape. “Yeah, head on up. The hatch is closed but not locked, I’ll be there in a minute.” With a cell free she picked it up and headed to the grate leading to the engine room.
“Lissia, are you kidding me, you’re out of fuel aren’t you?” Gabriella said in a tone Lissia was not the biggest fan of.
“Not, out per se.” she objected as she pulled the grate to the side. “But if we want to make it to Haven anytime this month, yeah I need one of these cells.”
For once, Gabriella seemed too tired to argue. “Fine, I’ll be upstairs.” she said as Lissia hopped down into the engine room. The Kestrel had a large internal battery, but since nowhere had the kind of power needed to charge a ship, Lissia usually made do with cells. She ducked through the engine room and got to the battery. Of the three slots for cells, one was occupied. The cells display read 3%.
She would have been able to limp back to a port on 3%, but it would have been cutting it close. She inserted the new cell next to the old one and watched as it hummed on. Its display lit up with a glorious 100%. The cells had not degraded at all. That was amazing news, even if they had only found another five cells.
Lissia made her way out of the engine room and up the ladder. As she poked her head into the combined cockpit and living quarters she cringed slightly. She had gotten used to the mess, but now that someone else was onboard she saw it in a new light. In short, the place looked like shit. Clothes were strewn about, and rappers from rations were left where she had finished them. None of her dishes were clean, and finding what she needed was always a scavenger hunt.
From the sound of running water Gabriella was in the bathroom, and Lissia was pretty sure it was in no better condition. She closed the hatch after her and quickly went to the front of the ship, where she jumped into the pilot seat. Muscle-memory took over as she went through the startup sequence, ignoring the yellow lights informing her of the myriad of small problems with the ship. Some were problems she did not have the means to take care of right now, some were just the kind of problems ships had now. A new water filter was salvageable. A whole new water filtration system was a different story.
As the ion engines hummed on the cabin rattled slightly, and Lissia carefully inched the ship off the hangar floor. When airborne she folded in the landing gear, and slowly maneuvered around the debris that littered the hangar. As she tilted the ship around the cockpit came to face the airlock they had entered the hangar from. The steel door was being cut open by a Sgark. Its beak was relatively small, but it used two huge claws to cut open the steel. As it made its way through the door it paused and regarded the ship. For a moment Lissia hovered The Kestrel, caught in a staring contest with the creature.
She was so absorbed she almost jumped out of her chair when Gabriella spoke from behind her. “So there were soldiers onboard after all. Guess we got lucky with the swarmers.”
All Lissia could muster in reply was “I guess so.” She continued maneuvering the ship until she was clear of debris. As she approached the hangar exit she throttled forward, and as they exited the hanger compensated for the sudden lack of artificial gravity pulling on the ship.
Safely out of the hulk she let out a sharp breath. As The Kestrel pulled away Lissia spotted a transport ship dangling from the hulk by a tether. “I assume that’s Varek.” Lissia said as she fixed the other ship's signature on the scanner.
“Oh shit, Varek, '' Gabriella said and jumped into the copilot seat to Lissia’s right. She flicked open a channel and put on the headset dangling off the controls. “Ship X744-32 this is Q331-32, please confirm.” Gabriella spoke into the microphone. After a pause she continued “Yeah Varek, it’s me. Yeah I’m fine, but I ran into some complications. Yup, I’m on The Kestrel with Lissia. I know, I’ll explain later. The payload is onboard, so just head back to Haven. Copy that, flight safe.” With that she flicked off the channel and put the headset back on the controls. Lissia had plotted in the course for Haven, and the ship's autopilot took over.
Gabriella sighed and began leaning back in her chair but froze when Lissia made a sudden alarmed sound. “EAH! What did I say about my upholstery? You aren’t leaning on anything until we clean and wrap those wounds.” Lissia tapped a couple of buttons and got up, motioning for Gabriella to follow her.