Three Square Meals Ch. 099

***

"Still no sign of an airlock?" John asked, peering through the shuttle cockpit at the black hull of the enormous Vulkat command ship.

Alyssa shook her head. "Nothing yet."

After activating the shuttle's stealth mode, they had crept into the middle of the Vulkat fleet, their tiny black ship no more than a ghost with its miniscule energy signature. John had never felt more vulnerable than when approaching the colossal Vulkat command ship in the unshielded shuttle. He knew that should they be detected, the girls in the Invictus would never be able to reach them in time to save them from the wrath of the hostile aliens surrounding them. It was like being a fly trying to sneak across a spider's web, where a single misstep would bring their swift and terrible end.

"How about that circular indentation over there," John said pointing to a bevelled disc on the hull. "Or that one fifty-metres to the right..."

Dana patted him on the shoulder. "The first one is a missile launch tube, you can tell by the propellant scoring around the edges. That second one is probably a refuelling port."

He blinked in surprise and glanced at the redhead. "How can you tell?"

She pointed towards the hull as the shuttle swept past. "Those raised edges look like clamping points, but with the angle of the hull at that point, I don't think it's an airlock as you'd struggle to form a vacuum seal. We're also near their main engines, so fuel storage is likely to be nearby. Oh, and I saw one of those smaller vessels with the fuel scoops linking up with one of those other big-ass ships. This ship's probably far too big to be trying atmosphere skimming with a fuel scoop and besides, I haven't seen any of those deployable vanes on the underbelly."

Alyssa teased the flightstick to the left, feathering the turn with retro-thrusters. "I'll head towards the main hull; we've covered most of this leg and I haven't seen anything promising."

As the nose of the shuttle turned to point towards the tear-shaped central body of the Vulkat mothership, Dana jabbed a finger straight ahead. "That indented rectangular section on the hull... I bet that's a sealed Hangar!" Her eyes narrowed as she leaned over Alyssa's shoulder and glanced to the right. "There! I bet that's one!"

John tried to see what she was pointing at, but there wasn't enough room for him to see as well with the redhead in the way. When the blonde rolled the shuttle and lifted the nose, he immediately saw what had attracted Dana's interest. Amidst the orange stripe banding the hull was a black disc, with orange lighting about the circumference.

Alyssa brought the shuttle closer, rotating them so that the airlock on the side of their ship aligned with the orange portal. She grimaced as they got closer and shook her head. "The Vulkat airlock is the wrong size. It's too big... we can't make a direct connection."

"Just clamp us to the hull nearby and we'll do a spacewalk to the airlock," John suggested, turning back to pick up his sword and rifle.

Doing as he asked, Alyssa touched down on the Vulkat ship's orange hull, then activated the magnetic clamps to stop the shuttle from floating away. She frowned in confusion when the clamps were unable to engage and had to activate a local tractor beam to keep them in place instead. Everyone was fully armoured in pressurised Paragon suits, so Dana walked over to a panel and swiped across the controls, venting out the atmosphere with a disconcerting hiss. As soon as the light on the panel flicked to green, she activated the single airlock door, exposing them to the vacuum of space.

Hopping out of the shuttle, they discovered that the magnetic soles of their boots were as ineffective as the docking clamps. Activating anti-grav suspensors for propulsion, they floated across the pitted surface of the old ship, manoeuvring their way towards the Vulkat airlock. John stopped at the large disc and glanced around, spotting a panel with very alien script written in glowing characters. "Are you able to hack your way into this?" he asked Irillith.

The Maliri hacker studied the interface with interest, her violet eyes glowing with a soft radiance. After a few seconds, she frowned and shook her head. "It's purely mechanical. If there is some kind of data connection to the airlock control, I'm not able to access it."

John turned to look for Dana, surprised the redhead wasn't all over the airlock already. He didn't spot her immediately as she had stopped a few steps back, squatting down to run her armoured hand across the plating beneath her feet. "What is it, honey?" he asked, seeing the bright golden glow shining from her eyes.

"The hull plating, it's organic!" she gasped, a look of wonder on her face.

"The ship's alive?!" John asked, glancing wide-eyed at the orange-striped section of hull beneath his armoured boots.

She shook her head and giggled. "No, not like that. The Vulkat must have somehow grown this section of hull-plating; it's made from some kind of superfolded protein material... I've never seen anything like it!"

Rachel knelt down and rapped a knuckle on the hull. "Spider silk is formed from proteins. Maybe this plating is some kind of highly-refined variant of that?"

Dana shrugged and replied, "I've no idea how they made it, but I've had a look at the atomic structure. It's very tough and light... perfect for ship plating."

"Stronger than Crystal Alyssium?" John asked, studying the hull with interest.

The redhead winked at him. "Nope! But it's quite a bit stronger than titanium. I can see why the Brimorians had real problems with them if the Vulkat ships are well-shielded and well-armoured."

John nodded thoughtfully, then glanced at the airlock. "You reckon you can get this open?"

"Let me take a look," Dana replied, floating over to join them. She crouched down by the panel, placing her gauntlet next to the locking mechanism. Her eyes glowed again and she stared intently at the control panel, her mind's view of the device expanding outwards as she visualised the components inside. She turned to look at Sakura and tapped a point above the control panel. "Can you freeze this section please. There's an alarm behind two-foot of armour plating. Don't go too bonkers in case you break the trip line, but getting the internals down to minus-fifty should make it unresponsive."

"Yep, on it," the Asian girl replied, her right fist swirling with ice crystals as she squatted on the hull.

Dana glanced at Irillith then tapped a point on thirty centimetres below the lock. "Can you channel some electricity through here please?"

"Sure, how much?" the Maliri girl agreed, kneeling beside her.

"Just start off gently then gradually crank up the voltage," the redhead replied, keeping her eyes on the hull.

Irillith nodded, arcs of lightning jumping between her fingers as she placed her hand flat on the orange plating. She closed her eyes and the dancing electricity began to spark, growing in intensity. A few feet away, Sakura drew all the heat from the Vulkat hull, dropping the temperature way below freezing. Ice crystals swirled around her fingertips, frost growing on the hull like tiny white trees as she froze the alarm mechanism. There was a hiss as the circular portal cracked open, then the air rushed past them into the vacuum of space. The door segmented as it opened, spiralling back into the hull and allowing them access to the ship.

"Nice work, ladies," John said with an approving grin, before holding up a cautionary hand for the girls to wait. Stepping into the open portal, he checked the inner airlock to make sure it was safe, before turning and beckoning them inside.

The girls followed him inside, their eyes taking a second to adjust to the murky darkness inside the spacecraft, where the soft glow of starlight seemed afraid to enter. They found themselves in a long airlock chamber, with an identical inner door inside.

Irillith paused a second then grabbed John's arm. "We could just break open the inner doors and depressurise the ship... Maybe take out all the Vulkat crew before we even get started."

John considered it for a moment then shook his head. "Let's try to stay undetected as long as possible. If we can find what we're looking for, we might be able to slip out of here and back to the Invictus without them even knowing we've been here. Besides, they're bound to have sealed pressure doors to break up the ship into sections, so it's extremely unlikely we'll be able to take out the Vulkat in one go."

She grinned at him and shrugged. "No problem, just a suggestion." Turning around, she sealed the outer airlock door behind them.

Dana had already examined the inner door and directed Sakura to freeze the alarm by the time Irillith was done. After opening that up with a quiet hiss of onrushing air, they got their first glimpse inside the Vulkat ship, the sight freezing them in their tracks. Outside the airlock was a wide corridor, at least double the width of those typical in a Terran Federation ship. The walls were black, with strange ribbing that formed an endless series of arches down the gloomy passage, looking like the inside of a giant's ribcage.

Dust motes were thick in the air, highlighted by an eerie pale light from lamps set into the walls, which cast forbidding shadows down the long hallway. The floor was scattered with strangely shaped husks, the broken fragments crushed underfoot by whatever roamed these ancient corridors... and they were ancient, John could feel it in his bones. There was something about the vessel, an eerie feeling that he couldn't shake, like they were delving into some archaic mausoleum where the living should not trespass.

He felt someone gently tugging his arm and when he glanced to his left, he saw Dana looked at him with wide, frightened eyes. "Can we just forget about it?" she whispered, visibly shaking with fear. "Let's just go back to the Invictus..."

"You feel it too?" he asked quietly, releasing his tight grip on the barrel of his rifle to hold her quivering hand.

She nodded, revealing the whites of her eyes as she flashed another glance down the creepy passageway. "We shouldn't be here..."

"There's so much pain and grief in this place," Alyssa murmured, her voice reverberating eerily in the stultifying silence of the crypt. "Millennia of heartbreak and sorrow... tormented wraiths that mourn the dead and loathe the living... I can hear their tortured screams echoing back over the aeons..."

"Fuck me..." Dana muttered, glaring at the blonde. "Are you trying to get me to shit myself?!"

John hesitated, then glanced at Sakura. "I completely understand if you want us to change plans..."

She lifted her chin, her jaw firmly set. "I'm not scared, I'll be fine."

He recognised her bold declaration for the brave lie that it was. "I'll come with you, I don't want you roaming this place on your own."

Sakura hesitated then shook her head. "I appreciate the gesture, but you'll slow me down. Trust me, you can't keep to the shadows like I can..."

John glanced at her white armour, then said to Dana. "Can you drop the runes on her suit for a moment."

Dana nodded, looking relieved to have something to do to distract her. She touched the Asian girl's glistening white Paragon suit and the faint Progenitor script was swept away from the armour plating. John placed his hand on Sakura's shoulder then focused his will on the crystal Alyssium under his fingers. He leeched away the snowy-white perfection, dark swirls sweeping over her suit until the armour was as black as night. While the soldier in him wanted to sigh with relief at the far more practical colouring, he felt a flicker of regret, feeling lessened for lowering himself to the colours favoured by his Progenitor opponent.

Sakura watched Dana re-rune her black Paragon suit, then with a final nod to her friends, she was off... running into the ghostly depths of the Vulkat vessel.

John watched her leave, then glanced at Alyssa. "Alright let's move out. We need to find somewhere to hole up until Sakura's finished her scouting."

The blonde nodded and the girls slipped into formation, moving with fluid grace as they followed their Matriarch's instructions. John was flanked by the twins, with Alyssa directly behind him covering their rear, while Dana and Rachel spread out to the edges of their formation. The corridor was wide enough for them to effectively advance five-abreast, meaning that any incoming foe would be met with devastating fire from three Reaper Cannons, a Quantum Rifle, and a pair of Reaper pistols.

They didn't have to advance far before they came to the first set of doors, one on either side of the corridor. John held up a clenched fist and they held position in silence, while he amplified his audio pickups to maximum. Straining his ears for the slightest noise, he heard a faint skittering sound coming from inside both rooms, the noises exactly the kind he'd expect seven-foot-tall arachnids to make.

With a quick shake of his head he led the group onwards, reaching a crossroads fifty metres later. As soon as they stopped, he heard a scuttling approach from their right, so he darted his head out for a split-second. Seeing nothing in the shadowy darkness beyond, he sprinted across the junction, the girls rushing to keep up with him.

Setting a faster pace now that he knew something might turn at the junction and head in the same direction, John advanced down the corridor at a light jog. He kept his rifle to his shoulder, ready to fire at the slightest sign of movement, readily admitting to himself that the unsettling interior of the ship had his nerves on edge. Spotting a second set of double doors, they froze as before, everyone remaining quiet so that John could listen for the slightest sounds in the adjacent rooms. After hearing nothing for ten seconds, he nodded to Dana, who straightened her first two fingers and pushed them into a slot beside the doorway.

The doors split apart and spiralled open, revealing a large musty room filled with inactive machinery. John swept the room, but could see no signs of life, or death for that matter, so he waved everyone in after him. Dana was first to dart inside, her fear forgotten with her curiosity, as she approached the waist-high equipment in fascination. She let go of her Reaper Cannon, which floated patiently at her side as she cooed over the Vulkat machines.

Alyssa walked up to John and said, "Sakura's not been detected yet and I'll let you know as soon as she finds anything."

"We need two covering the door at all times," John said, glancing behind him as the portal spiralled closed. "Hopefully this room is completely disused, but we don't want to take any chances."

The twins caught Alyssa's glance and moved into position, standing guard with weapons at the ready.

Alyssa turned back to John and met his troubled gaze. "I could sweep this place myself... on the Astral plane."

"I'm not sure that's wise," he replied, shaking his head. "You were attacked on your last spirit-walk and those creatures in the mists might be waiting for you."

"They only started homing in on me when I went deeper into the plane," the blonde objected, doing her best to appear bold and confident. "I should be fine within the confines of the ship."

"What about all the psychic resonance from the Vulkat you're picking up?" John reminded her, narrowing his eyes with worry. "You got overwhelmed on the Legacy and if your mind gets trapped in the Astral Plane, I don't know if I'll be able to get you back."

Alyssa hesitated then slowly nodded. "You're right, it's probably too risky. We'll just wait for our fearless ninja to return."

***

Sakura willed her psychic speed into effect as she rushed along the corridor, her armoured feet barely making a whisper even when stepping on the chitinous husks on the floor. She activated the heat masking properties of her armour, making her effectively invisible to infra-red as the armour cooled to room temperature. Crystal Alyssium was barely detectable in mag-view, and being spotted by normal vision wasn't too great a concern, not while running in a blur while wearing black armour. So she was quite confident in her ability to remain undetected by the denizens of this unsettling crypt.

Remembering that the Vulkat were partly cybernetic, she switched to mag-view as she rushed along, reasoning that the metal parts would appear bright-white in her HUD. That was why she ran headlong into her first Vulkat. Long before she saw it, she heard the skittering noise of its eight legs sweeping across the ground, and Sakura slowed her break-neck speed to a cautious jog as she kept her eyes peeled. With her psychic speed enabled, she was still racing down the corridor, and she let out a shocked gasp when she suddenly slammed into something ahead of her.

There was a sickening gurgling sound as whatever she had run into began to turn, and she backpedalled as fast as she could, desperate to put some distance between herself and this unseen foe. Darting into a side-passage and huddling around the corner, she froze and listened as the scuttling footsteps followed after her, drawing ever closer. Sakura grimaced as she grabbed hold of the hilts of her sheathed ninjato, preparing herself to put down whatever it was she had bumped into. Fortunately, the eerie shuffling stopped a little way from the junction, then began to head away from her, back down the corridor again. Poking her head around the corner again, she deactivated mag-view and jumped when the bulbous rear of the Vulkat crewmember suddenly appeared, not more than a dozen metres away.

She squinted at the glistening black cybernetic parts that covered the ragged creature in confusion, wondering why they hadn't shone brightly in the mag-view. Flicking the magnetic imaging on again via a glance at the HUD, the big spider disappeared from view, only reappearing after she'd disabled mag-view again. Remembering that Dana had said the outer hull plating was protein-based rather than metallic, she could only assume the Vulkat cybernetics were made from the same material. She tried switching to infra-red and caught a soft red glow emanating from the midsection of the creature, but it wasn't enough to really make it stand out.

Settling with low-light amplification, she studied the Vulkat crewmember, her eyes roaming over its faded grey and orange hide. Its exoskeleton looked withered like parchment in the eerie light from the wall lamps, the extreme age of the creature readily apparent. There was a crumpled indentation in the centre of its bulbous abdomen, at the point where Sakura had crashed into the eight-legged monster, and now some kind of viscous purple ichor oozed from that cracked carapace. Suppressing a shudder of revulsion, she chose another passageway and rushed ahead into the murky darkness, eager to get her scouting mission out of the way as fast as possible.

Running along the corridors, she heard the occasional brushing sound of many pointed feet walking across the detritus on the floor, but managed to deftly avoid any further confrontations. She was able to cover an incredible amount of space in a short time while running at this pace, although not being able to enter the individual rooms was reducing the effectiveness of her search. Alyssa explained how the doors opened, so after a moment's hesitation, Sakura started opening doors as she explored, taking a quick peek before sprinting onwards.

While the corridors were largely clear, she was shocked to see how many Vulkat were in the different chambers. In those fleeting glimpses, she saw many dead-eyed arachnids just standing lifelessly, but there were some going about their tasks with purpose. It was hard to tell what they were doing in those brief flashes, but by not staying long enough for them to turn towards the door, she was away before they came close to catching her. The further she delved into the Vulkat vessel, the worse the feeling of trepidation grew, and soon Sakura's heart was pounding in her chest as she roamed the corridors. That ominous sensation grew more intense as she ascended through the decks, almost as if she was approaching some dreadful heart of darkness buried deep within the command ship.