It had been heading back the way he came. His brow furrowed.
Leaving his drone behind to collect data, he made his way for the surface, watching for the hatchlings as he went.
He came across them a short time later.
A wave of them, to be exact, filling the entirety of the passage and blocking him in. Chittering and screeching pierced the damp air, echoing low. Stunned, he watched as the hatchlings swarmed the larger bug he’d caught earlier, devouring it whole. It had woken up just in time to be eaten alive. And they were fast, so much faster eating than they were moving about.
Yeah, Titan has a problem.
A real big one.
And he suspected they already knew that. Hysterian’s nostrils flared.
He waited until the hatchlings finished their meal—when they noticed him—before he pulled out his laser gun. They charged at him right as he twirled the weapon, melting them where they skittered. He continued until there was nothing but guts and sizzling remains. Even still, hundreds remained.
He grabbed some of the stragglers and placed them in his remaining capsules, kicking out and swiping the ones that got on his boots and suit.
On his way out of the mines, he blasted one of the lower passages, closing off the hive to the surface. At least from this access point.
When he stood in front of Titan’s ambassador two hours later, Hysterian tossed him the hatchlings, sent him the video access from the drone he deployed, and told him to get his people evacuated out of the area and to leave these mines alone. To go far, far away and hope they never encounter the billions of aggressively hungry insects beneath them.
Life was too short, after all, for a human.
Even a sick one like him.
Then Hysterian told him to go fuck himself.
Eight
“Leave,”Hysterian ordered.
Horace and Daniels stopped what they were doing and stood. They walked out of the bridge when Hysterian changed his mind.
“Daniels,” he barked. “Stay.” Hysterian triggered the door to shut once Horace was on the other side.
Hysterian had just returned from his meeting with Titan’s ambassador. He had yet to wash the dirt and guts from his suit. The ambassador had been furious Hysterian hadn’t offered a solution to their problem. Having a bloated man yell at him did nothing for Hysterian’s mood.
Titan’s ambassador reminded him of Raphael, and not in a good way.At least Raphael came up with his own solutions.He massaged his brow.
“Do you need something from me, Captain?” Daniels asked.
He pivoted to face his bridge officer. “Why were you in my quarters?”
“Your quarters? I don’t know what you mean, I wasn’t in them.”
He always knew a lie when he heard one.
Daniels is good at lying.
Or I’m losing my mind.Hysterian’s mood soured further.
“Don’t bullshit me. I have you on video. I have everything that goes on in this ship on video. It all streams back to the source: me. I knew you were in my quarters the moment you walked in. I won’t ask again.”
Daniels crossed his arms, straightening. Hysterian had to give it to the man; Daniels wasn’t as intimidated as he should be being confronted by battletech like Hysterian. Daniels was either confident or dumb. Hysterian hadn’t paid his officer enough attention the past few weeks to know which it was.
He just hadn’t fucking cared.
“I was in your quarters, Captain, several weeks ago,” Daniels said. “I was looking for my stash. I thought you may have found it, confiscated it, and I wanted to prove to you I can still use and do my job well.”
