Chapter Ten (2/2)

”It's behind us...” he whispered.

”That's impossible, you can't follow another ship in...” Nakteti said.

Her display flickered to life, writhing twisting code appearing around the edges of the window that displayed the rear hatch optical sensor.

The massive black ship was approaching in jumpspace.

And gaining.

In her defense, Nakteti's people were herbivores who wouldn't pass up the odd tasty insect or smaller creature now and then. She was not used to being prey, she wasn't used to feeling doom rumbling behind her whispering twisted promises of death and suffering into her brain, onto her displays, into her soul.

THERE IS ONLY ENOUGH FOR ONE

Nakteti shrieked and hit the emergency jump icon.

While still in jumpspace.

To the surviving crew members felt like they were being turned inside out. Others felt like they were being stretched across infinity. Still others felt as if they were sucked into themselves until they were little more than the size of a proton.

For a third of the crew, how they felt is what happened.

The ship dropped out of jumpspace and Nakteti felt the ship shudder, saw the icons on her screen, of the jumpdrives failing and the jumpcore venting into the ship.

There was nobody there alive anyway.

”Any ships, anyone, help us!” Vekan said over the comms.

”Where,” Nakteti coughed. ”Where are we?”

”Astrogation and navigation is down, no telling,” Vekan coughed.

”Hanging from a branch by a broken thumb,” Chukava said weakly.

For long moments the only sound to Nakteti's ears was the sound of Vekan begging someone, anyone, for help and Chukava coughing.

”Jumpdrive is charging,” Lektat said. ”Slowly, but the core is damaged and discharged into the ship.”

”Casualties?” Nakteti asked, dreading the answer.

Chukava shook his head. ”Everyone in the surrounding three decks was already dead.”

Nakteti opened her mouth to reply when the scream sounded out again and the monitors all displayed THERE IS ONLY ENOUGH FOR ONE over and over and over.

Lektat pulled the ship around, trying to coax every iota of speed he could from the damaged and battered ship. Diving for the nearest celestial body, a gas giant that was yellow streaked with red.

”Unknown vessel at one point two million kilometers and closing,” Vekan said, his voice sounding weary and defeated. ”It jumped in inside the boundary again.”

Nakteti thumbed the icon for shipwide broadcast. ”Prepare yourselves,” she said, tears rolling from her eyes. ”We are about to join our ancestors, our shipmates, and our families that were on the colony.”

She leaned back. ”It has been a pleasure,” she said.

”We're receiving a transmission, multiple wavelengths, multiple bands,” Vekan said, suddenly sitting up.

”What is it?” Nakteti asked, privately wanting to tell Vekan to order whoever it was to flee.

”May I be of assistance?” The voice, calm and assured, asked her in Unified Civilizations Standard.

The other part of the message was in text.

//Goodboi will help newboi//