“Private Shepherd,” she said again.
“A-Arin?”
“Riana, get your ass up to the communications room, now. I need you.”
“B-but…” In the background, Arin could hear voices. Slurred voices. Drunken voices.
“Riana,” she growled, “have you been drinking? Where the hell are you?” She shook her head. “I don’t care. Get up here now, or I’ll file a report about a certain illegal hacking activity that happened on Fortuna Tau. If I remember correctly, it was something to do with the X-rated networks.”
“Don’t you dare,” Riana gasped. “I’m on my way, Sarge.”
“Hurry up.” As Arin shut off the comm, she heard those strange noises again. They were like the noises she’d heard in the elevator, except they were louder now.
They seemed to be coming fromaboveher.
Thud. Thud. Taptaptap.Skitterskitter.
Fucking Xargek. Arin stood, hefting the EI launcher onto her shoulder. She set it toactivateand waited.
Thudthudthud.
Something pierced through the metal roof. A black blade.
Arin steeled herself, preparing to shoot. The thudding was deafening now. The blade disappeared, then reappeared again and again, stabbing dozens of tiny holes in the roof.
Something else was stabbing through, too. A giant black claw.
Oh, shit. It was a big one.
“Rykal?” Arin called. Relief flooded through her. So he hadn’t left her, after all. He’d just hidden from her.
Stubborn Kordolian.
“Get out of there, Arin,” he shouted, although his voice was slightly muffled by the layers of metal that separated them. “Take cover!”
How the fuck had he gotten into the ceiling in the first place?
Arin looked around wildly, but there was nowhere to hide.She did the next best thing and backed into the corridor, keeping her launcher pointed towards the direction of the noise.
There was a loud crash, and the ceiling began to fragment into pieces. Two black figures fell through the roof, along with a shower of small, disgusting, swarming Xargek larvae. Arin almost discharged her rocket, but now Rykal was in the way, jumping to his feet as he raised his sword. It met the adult Xargek’s giant foreclaws with a loud crack.
Arin groaned. Not this again.
“Get out!” Rykal yelled. She couldn’t see his face; it was hidden behind his menacing visor. He was a black whirlwind of savage motion, matching the Xargek blow-for-blow as it tried its best to cut his head off.
Arin took one look at the scenario before her and obeyed, dashing out into the corridor, the sliding doors closing behind her. She was met with a swarm of Xargek larvae, approaching her from the direction of the elevator. In the ceiling just before the elevator, there was a giant black hole through which spilled various wires and bits of debris, along with the occasional Xargek hatchling.
Arin swore and lifted her rocket launcher, preparing to rain a firestorm down on the Xargek larvae. The damn things gave her the creeps, and there was no way she was going to let any of them so much as even touch her boots.
She was about to fire when the light above the elevator flashed, indicating that someone was about to step off.
“Shit.” Arin held her fire as the doors opened. She lowered the launcher and pulled out her bolt gun.
Riana appeared, and the Xargek larvae swarmed towards her. She screamed. Arin ran towards her, firing at the larvae that skittered at her feet. Every time she hit one, it would explode in a burst of foul-smelling liquid.
Riana found her gun and started shooting, but her aim wasway off. One of her shots narrowly missed Arin as she sprinted towards the elevator, her long legs covering the distance with powerful strides.
“To me, Riana! Don’t shoot. Just dodge. Hurry up and get out of there before they box you in.”
