Lusac’s breath caught in his throat. This could mean only one thing: Dasht had discovered Leviathan.
Reminding himself that feigning innocence in the whole issue was his only escape, he quickly stepped up to the comm and pressed the button to reply.
“I’m here, Dasht. What’s up?” He kept his voice light, refusing to display the unease he truly felt.
“I think there’s something you forgot to do, after the mission,” the Nemarian cryptically replied.
Lus tensed further. “Huh? I don’t remember having any post-mission assignments.”
“It’s about something you ended up with on the planet’s surface. Something rather important that you forgot to handle properly,” he continued.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Lusac said. Did Zer-Dasht see him pick up the USB? But why was he bringing it up now of all times? And if it was this big of a deal, why didn’t he just report Lus to Nippy right away?
“My rifle, Loser! I specifically told you I wanted it back,” the Nemarian exclaimed. “And not only did you fail to do that, but you abandoned it in the kitchen of all places! When are you going to grow some sense?”
“Oh,” Lus managed to say, too busy being relieved that Dasht hadn’t discovered the Demon lurking in the interbox to really care about the insults. “Sorry. I’ll get it put away today before I start my shift.”
“No, no. I already got it, no thanks to you. But this is the last time I’m loaning you anything of mine, you hear Lus?”
“I understand, Dasht. I’m sorry.”
A few mumbled insults ended the exchange as the comm went quiet. Lus checked the time. Breakfast wouldn’t be ready for another hour yet if he knew Lbrvr. The Kremel had taken up the other half of the chef job upon Wlnp’s death, and she was even less punctual than him when it came to getting food out on time. He couldn’t blame her though. The breakfast shift was the worst. The cook not only had to get up early to make the food, but then they had to clean and do dishes since the cleaning golem only came at night, after the dinner shift. Lus had been sure he was going to lose his prime position with the evening meal after so many failed dishes, even with Lbrvr’s horrible attempts, but with his handy-dandy system and actual recipes to follow, he was basically guaranteed the preferred shift.
Instead, Lus crawled back into bed to pretend to sleep for a few more minutes until the computer woke him up, and he was forced to actually drag himself through the chore of getting ready for the day.
The Runner’s uniform was black with thick, dark gray lines decorating it. One wrapped each of his upper arms while a pair made an X across his front and back, hooking to his belt. Two more sprouted from there to wrap holsters on his thighs that often held tools rather than guns. A shoulder pad on his left held his rank, a lowly Corporal, but that was everyone’s rank who wasn’t in some kind of leadership. Underneath it was supposed to be a marker for how many years he’d been with the Runners, though his was empty since it counted by fives, and he only had two years under him. It was strange to think of the Runners having so much hierarchy and organization when in reality it felt more like a formalized family in a lot of ways. Then again, it was probably different on bigger, more well-known Runner ships who ran in the populated sectors.
Once he was dressed and had attempted some kind of style with the mop of brown hair on his head, Lus dipped out of his quarters and into the morning bustle of the corridors. The hallways were wide enough that two of the broad Kremel could pass by without either having to slink to the side, making it easy for someone of Lus’s size and agility to dodge into the flow without any problems.
The cafeteria wasn’t overly busy, though based on the mess on most of the tables, that meant he was late getting to food this morning. That left him with the charred meats and overly soggy fruit, the humble scraps everyone else avoided by being on time to fight over the more edible portions. Still, his morning brightened considerably when he noticed Becky sitting at one of the tables near the window, engrossed in some holobook.
Her tight ringlets were dyed neon pink on the edges, slowly bleeding to its usual raven shade towards the middle and top. Her glasses reflected some of the light of the holodevice before her as she chewed her cheek, an empty plate resting to the side of a meal she long ago finished.
“Hiya Becks.” Lusac plopped his tray next to her, the motion of which sent a few drops of coffee over the edges of his mug.
She mumbled what might have been a greeting as her eyes continued to scan the words of her novel.
“Argo to Becky.” He once again attempted to get her attention.
After another lack of response, he risked his life and waved his hand through the screen, forcing a disruption to her reading.
“Hey!” She shouted as her brown eyes shot up to his in a moment of pure fury. They softened as she realized who’d committed the crime. “Lusac! Hi! When did you get in?”
“Just a couple of minutes ago. Not that my presence has anything on your book.” He smirked.
Becky rolled her eyes and brushed a loose strand of hair from her face. “You wouldn’t get it.” Her smile resumed. “You snuck out too fast last night for me to get the chance to say it then, but great job with dinner. It was nice to finally have something…” She paused for a moment, as if deciding what word to use.
“Good?” Lus suggested, keeping a grin on his face. He’d taken enough flak from the crew to know that his food had never been what anyone would call tasty, even if Becky was too polite to say it aloud.
“I was going to see ‘normal.’ But, anyway, good job. Can I ask what changed? Did you get your hands on a translation program or something for Wlnp’s recipes?”
“I actually found a recipe book on a data stick during the mission yesterday. Isn’t that lucky?” Becky wasn’t one to pry, so he didn’t really worry she’d press for more details, and he did have to stick to that story if he wanted anyone to keep from discovering the truth.
“Really? Isn't it kind of dangerous to take any old data stick? And you got it cleared with Nippy or Cewi before you used it, right?”
Lus shrugged as he stabbed at a burnt hunk of mystery meat with his fork. He definitely hadn’t thought about those things before he plugged it into the interbox, but there was nothing he could do about it now but play it cool. “It’s just a recipe book. No harm in that.”
Becky frowned, but she chose not to push the subject.
“Anyway…” Lusac cleared his throat around the large bit of char he’d just taken. “Do you have any word on what tasking we’ll end up with today?”
“You mean what tasking you’ll end up with today. I’m off today after pulling a double yesterday to make up for your absence. Why else would I still be in the mess hall this late in the morning?” Becky raised her eyebrows knowingly.
“Eh, Yrqw’s never minded before if I was a few minutes late.” Still, Lusac checked the time to ensure that he wouldn’t be that late reporting to his supervisor. “And don’t sound so snotty about it. If you managed to hold your stomach together well enough for off-ship missions, you wouldn’t have to spend so much time covering for me. Instead, I’m the only Human grunt sent into the heat of battle.” He took a sip of his coffee which was cold and flavorless.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Becky laughed. “Dasht filled me in on just how much you help out in those ‘battles.’ If you keep your accuracy that low, I might have to brave my g-sickness anyway just to show them what Humans are really capable of.”
“Well Dasht actually likes you so he’d probably give you a decent gun and then that wouldn’t be a fair comparison at all.”
“You’re going to be late you know,” Becky nodded to the large clock on the wall to their right.
“I’ve never been on time before. No point in messing up tradition.”
She sighed and shook her head. “Well I do have better things to do than watch you shuffle that stuff Lbrvr calls food around your plate. See you tonight, Lus.”
“Bye Becks,” he called after her. He continued to drag his utensil across the plate in hopes of seeming casual, but as soon as he heard the door close, Lus stood from his seat and jogged to drop his tray off. Whatever he claimed to Becky, he actually really, really didn’t want to be late today. Yrqw had already warned him last time that next time he was late to shift start, he was going to have to spend an extra hour to make up for it which would then put him in a tight spot for prepping the evening meal. Knowing the Kremel, he would fulfill his word regardless of whether or not dinner for the whole crew was on the line.
Lusac was out of the cafeteria in another instant, speed walking through the corridors and down the ladders to Systems Control, the section which housed the engine and many other key systems to keep the Argo running. A typical day meant crawling through the fsylan tubes, making small repairs for hours on end. The Kremel were too large to fit, and the Nemarians frog-legs weren’t conducive to necessary crawling. That left Humans to accomplish any work required in the shafts.
Systems Control was the busiest section of the ship most days, over a fourth of the crew worked out of the large bay to keep things in tip-top shape. Today seemed especially chaotic as Lus entered the space.
Dre-Shawiv, the Nemarian in charge of the entire section, was standing at the center of the room, the red glow of the engines faintly illuminating his head fins. It might have been majestic to see the Systems Chief in such a position with such striking lighting if he hadn’t been screaming at the crew while wildly waving his fists.
At least the yelling made for such a spectacle, no one noticed that Lusac was in fact late to shift start, but only by three minutes which was much better than his usual ten. He was quietly making his way to the corner where the holotablet with his assignments waited when a heavy green hand appeared on his shoulder.
“Lusac, I believe we’ve discussed your tardiness on more than one occasion as of late. Care to give me an excuse today?”
Lus stared up at Yrqw’s firmly set jaw and smiled.
“I don’t know if we can count today as tardy, can we? I was much earlier than normal.”
“Late is late,” the Kremel said, his lips darting into a frown.
“Come on, Yrqw. You can’t expect me to change overnight. I did better today. That’s the important thing.” Lusac continued to smile, begging the Watcher for mercy this one time.
Yrqw exhaled heavily. “Fine. But I expect you to be on time tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir.” Lus saluted the Kremel, hoping a little extra honor would tone down the veteran’s edge.
“Well, no point in delaying more. There’s lots to do today, especially with Becky off,” Yrqw said, reaching for the tablet on the wall.
“Not so fast,” Dre-Shawiv said as he grabbed Yrqw’s arm. Lus hadn’t even realized that his rant had ended, much less that he’d approached the pair. “Something else has come up that takes top priority over maintenance.” The Nemarian turned his beady, black eyes to Lus. “It seems on our last resupply we picked up a stowaway. Some vermin are making a mess inside the fsylan network. Consider yourself the exterminator for the day.”
“What kind of vermin?” Lus questioned. He wasn’t particularly in the mood to face down a colony of rats or sablis. Between the teeth and claws on either species, he knew he’d come out significantly worse for wear.
“The kind that makes a mess,” Dre nearly shouted. “A pack with traps is waiting near the tube entrance. I trust you to handle this today, Loser.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll get it taken care of,” Lus muttered as he turned away. Today was going to suck, no doubt about that.
“The last incident was reported somewhere near Beta Bay,” Dre said before walking away.
The entrance to the fsylan tube was an oblong circle close to the engine access. True to Dre’s word, a small pack waited nearby with a variety of traps that he only half knew how to use. Luckily all he really needed to do was figure out what was causing the problem, and then Yrqw could advise him on which extermination method to use.
On the wall was the equipment locker where he retrieved his mobile comm unit that hooked to his ear, a headlamp, and a few tools that might come in handy while trekking through the tubes.
He then scanned his thumbprint, and the door rolled away, revealing a dark hole full of hot, dry air.
“Here we go,” Lus murmured as he grabbed the sack in one hand and crawled inside.
Alunitanium walls surrounded him, with only the yellow cone of light from his head to guide him as he squirmed in among the oppressive metal. A few lights blinked as he made his way through the tube, marking access panels of key circuitry. Fsylan tubes were always hot, but being this close to the engine was comparable to the inside of an oven. Still he slithered onwards to the nearest junction as he attempted to plan a way to protect himself from the biting of rats or slashing of sablis.
Beta Bay was the next closest section to Systems Control, so at least it wasn’t too long of a crawl, but still Lus had no idea what he was supposed to do when he got there. Assume that the rodents would show themselves to the large being invading their space? It was a stupid assignment, but he dealt with it anyway. If he spent the next ten hours crawling around in these tubes, so be it, but he wasn’t going to go back to Dre or Yrqw whining about not finding anything.
It was only a few minutes before Lus stopped for a breath, craning his neck as best he could to see if there was any noticeable damage nearby that could tip him off as to the whereabouts of their pest problem. Instead, he found one large yellow eye staring at him from just around the corner of the next junction. His heart started to race. That was no mere sablis or even rat. It was way too large for either.
Gulping heavily, Lus forced his way forward, hoping that a strong swing of the pack of traps would be enough to stun the creature, whatever it was. Time seemed to stand still as he crawled towards the eye, waiting for the alien beast to spring into an attack. Yet it only watched him with that unblinking yellow eye.
Upon arriving at the corner, Lusac discovered what seemed to be a black cat, except in cyclops form where its single eye stood at the center of its forehead. He tentatively reached a hand out, and the cat-thing eagerly brushed against it, starting up some kind of a purr.
“You aren’t so bad, are you?” Lus smiled. Sweat started to drip into his eyes. “Ugh. Let’s get out of here, shall we? Obviously someone lost track of their pet. Dre will be relieved to hear that it wasn’t anything worse.”
He glanced around and discovered a door only a few yards down the tube. As he slid towards it, the cat followed behind him, offering up a strange, pitchy sound that wasn’t any kind of meow Lus had heard before.
Lusac inhaled the fresh air heavily as he pulled himself from the tube. After dropping the sack, he turned to see the cat had followed him. It was way too friendly to be a wild creature, but he didn’t know of anyone who kept a pet like this around. Perhaps it had gotten lost last time they resupplied.
Still, he reached his hand to his ear and pressed the button that connected him back to System Control.
“Yrqw, come in. I found the ‘vermin,’” he said.
“What was it this time?” The Kremel answered in his rumbly tone.
“A cat. At least, sort of a cat. It seems someone lost their pet. Can you do a general announcement to see who owns it?”
“Sure thing.Find some way to keep it contained while I figure that all out. I’ll contact you when I know something. Yrqw out.”
The cat made its pitchy meow, recalling Lusac’s attention. As he bent down to continue petting it, he discovered that it had two tails in place of the usual one.
“You’re an interesting fella, aren’t you?” he said. The cat continued to purr as it rubbed his legs, dusting them in hair.
“Alright, alright. That’s enough. Why don’t we find a place to keep you safe like Yrqw suggested.” He looked around the large bay, but nothing easily acceptable for his purposes. Instead he began digging through the pack. “Nothing here either.”
Letting the bag fall from his hands, he started towards some of the shelves nearby, and the cat moved to follow. Lus was so busy scanning for some kind of carrier, he didn’t notice when his new friend darted in front of his legs and ended up kicking it.
The cat went down with a strangled sound.
“You’re fine. That will teach you to run in front of someone while they’re walking,” he said.
His search for a box was interrupted, however, when he realized the cat was no longer a cat, but rather a two-foot cyclops monster with four legs and two beefy arms. He also realized that it had a row of sharp teeth gunning straight for his leg, and he had no way to stop it.