“Warning. Proximity alert,” the computer announces.
Bennie looks up from his work, his face scrunched up. “Computer, report.”
“Multiple contacts detected. Collision imminent.”
“Missiles or something?” He calls up a sensor feed window on his monitor. “Dren!”
“Negative on missiles. Objects are non-explosive.”
Bennie taps some commands on his console and looks at the main display at the front of the bridge. The image is zoomed in on one of the objects.
He blindly reaches over to another console, fumbling for a button. “Uh, Wil. What exactly do your metal monsters look like?”
“What? I mean, they look like squid, sorta.”
“For those of us not familiar with ‘squid?’” Bennie says, eyes never leaving the main display.
“Oval main body with a bunch of glowing red sensor things. Tentacles coming out the back, lots of ’em. Claws and other stuff at the ends.” A pause. “Why?”
“Oh, nothing. Just a dozen or so of them are about to land on the Ghost.”
“What! Hurry up and get this bulkhead open!”
“I’m working on it!” From somewhere, he hears several loud clanks reverberate throughout the ship. “Computer, engage external defenses!”
External drones initiating contact with foreign vessel.
Foreign entity has penetrated firewall Z-Seven.
Internal defense drone losses exceeding expectations.
Activating maintenance drones to begin recycling damaged units.
“Wil, I have good and bad news,” Bennie says, looking intently at his screen. The banging on the hull has gotten louder, and significantly closer to the bridge.
“Shoot,” Wil says, the tension evident in his voice.
“I can open the bulkhead that leads to the airlock.”
In the background, Bennie can hear banging. “I assume that’s the good news.”
“It is. I can’t isolate just that bulkhead. I’ll have to open them all. I’m Sorry.” Bennie looks up at the ceiling, where more noises are now coming from.
Wil sighs. “Okay, wait a second.”
There’s a loud crunching sound from somewhere down the main corridor off the bridge.
“Okay, Bennie. We’re ready. Do it.”
Wil looks around him, at the grim and terrified faces. Maxim and Zephyr are on either side of him; Prathea, Jor’ Lu and Xan are behind them, flat against the door. Gabe is standing in the middle of the group.
Over the comms, Bennie counts down: “Three, two, one—” On one, the bulkheads all snap open.
“Run!” Wil shouts. The scientists dash down the corridor, just as the first mechanical squid enters the room.
“Call your targets!” Maxim says, through clenched teeth. “Our weapons will overheat—no need to rush it by shooting the same targets.”
“Fall back,” Zephyr says, firing her rifle into a tentacle that is reaching for Wil’s leg.
Just then, from every corridor in the room, dozens of squid-things erupt.
“Shit! Back, back, back!” Wil shouts, over the sound of tentacles scraping the walls, floor and ceiling.
Calmly, Maxim says, “Top right,” firing one of his rifles in fully automatic mode. Plasma blasts rip both drones and corridor plating to shreds.
“There are too many! Bottom left!” Murta shouts, firing his rifle into the mass of red-glowing sensors and tentacles.
“Bennie! Can you close those bulkheads?” Zephyr is running backwards as fast as she can. She’s right behind Gabe, firing around his tall humanoid figure. Maxim and Wil are in the lead. It doesn’t take them long to catch up with the fleeing scientists.
“Faster!” Wil shouts.
“My legs are half as long as yours!” Xan screams back, terror visible on her furry face. Maxim picks her up without missing a beat. “Hey! Oh, this is much better.”
A tentacle whips out and slashes across Gabe’s back, sending him crashing into Zephyr, which sends her sprawling forward.
Maxim and Wil spin around and immediately open fire. Another tentacle slices through the air, nearly catching Wil in the helmet.
Murta isn’t so lucky—a tentacle lances out of the mass, stabbing right through his leg, his suit armor doing very little to protect him. His scream is one of the worst things Wil has ever heard. Wil fires a single shot, severing the writhing metal appendage, leaving half a meter of it sticking out of Murta’s leg. The armor seals itself around the appendage.
Wil leans down and helps the Harrith man up, bearing his weight. “No more pizza for you,” he grumbles.
Gabe is up and helping Zephyr gain her footing. “My apologies,” he says to her as they both run.
The team turns a slight bend, to find Jor’ Lu standing at the airlock to the Ghost.
Wil stops, looking through the transparent portion of the hatch. On the other side of the outer door, he can see the white plastic material of one of the Ghosts boarding tubes—the soft, atmosphere-filled tunnels connecting the airlocks of both ships. Boarding tubes are better than full EVA—but only slightly, since they will still be in free fall the entire time between vessels. At least there will be handholds, he thinks grimly.