fighting each other for the chance to get in. There were smaller things that seemed to be all teeth and claws pouring over the lower edge of the airlock in waves. There were flying things and lashing tendrils of vegetation with vicious spines and barbs, and it all wanted to get in. There were screams and roars and ululating howls, echoing deafeningly in the confined space of the airlock.
A long tentacled thing surged toward Owen, and he shot it automatically. The energy blast hit the beast at point-blank range, and its head exploded, showering him with foul-smelling blood. Something with huge clawed hands and a mouth bigger than Owen's head hauled the tentacled body out of the way and hurled itself at Owen. He met it with his sword, and more blood spurted as he cut deep into the leathery flesh.
'Shut the hatch!' he screamed. 'Shut the bloody hatch!'
Everyone was firing their guns at once, but the creatures kept coming, slavering in their eagerness to get at new prey. The airlock was full of awful life, and swords swung viciously. Hazel fought to get back to the control panels. A long tentacle whipped through the air, snatched up Moon, and hauled him bodily out the hatch and into the surging chaos outside.
'Don't shut the hatch!' yelled Owen. 'They've got Moon! Somebody help him!'
'Somebody else help him,' snapped Random, cutting doggedly at a slimy creature that was apparently too stupid to know it should have been dead by now. 'I've got my own problems.'
Hazel managed to hit the control button with her elbow, and the hatch began to close. The heavy steel weight moved remorselessly forward, cutting slowly but firmly through everything that got in its way. Gradually the hatchway grew smaller, and the larger creatures were forced outside. The hatch finally slammed shut, and the remaining smaller creatures were trapped in the airlock. Owen and Random fought back to back, cutting down the vicious alien life as it struggled to get at them. Random fought well, Owen thought, for an old man. Hazel and Ruby were also fighting back-to-back, and making a bloody mess of anything that came within reach. The horrors fell, one after the other, large and small, until finally it was over. Owen slowly lowered his sword and leaned against the bulkhead wall, panting for breath. It seemed very quiet in the airlock now, though the air was thick with the stench of blood and death. There were bodies everywhere, and blood dripped from every surface. Behind Owen, Random was coughing up something large and juicy. Hazel and Ruby were leaning on each other for support and glaring about them, swords still at the ready.
'Moon,' Owen said harshly. 'He's still out there.'
'Then he's dead,' said Hazel. 'And so would we be, if we were stupid enough to go out after him.'
'Not necessarily,' said Ruby. 'He is a Hadenman, after all.'
They all looked up sharply as the sound of energy guns firing came dimly to them from somewhere close at hand.
'Could the Empire have found us already?' said Hazel.
'It's not the Empire,' said Owen. 'Oz said we were alone down here. I think those are our guns;
'But who's firing them?' said Random. 'Your computer is supposed to be shut down. Have you been keeping something from us, Deathstalker?'
'Oz, is that you?' Owen waited, but there was no reply. The guns suddenly stopped firing, and it was very quiet in the airlock. 'I'm going to look outside,' said Owen.
'Is this wise?' said Hazel. 'After what happened the last time I opened the hatch?'
'The guns should have cleared some space around the ship,' said Owen.
'And if they haven't?'
'I don't give a damn. Moon's out there. A Deathstalker doesn't abandon his people.'
He hit the hatch controls before anyone could raise further objections, and they all turned their guns on the opening hatch. Crimson light spilled into the airlock again, along with the channel stench of the jungle.
Everyone braced themselves against another invasion of bloodthirsty creatures, but all was still and quiet. The hatch ground to a halt at its furthest extension, and Owen peered wearily out. There were dead aliens everywhere, torn and tattered and piled up around the ship, but no signs of life or movement anywhere. The surrounding jungle was a mass of conflicting vibrant colors, predominately scarlet. The sky was mostly hidden by a thick canopy of branches overhead. There were huge towering trees and gushing vegetable shapes everywhere, all spines and barbs and overripe flowers. And then something moved among the heaps of the dead, and Owen snapped his gun to bear before he recognized who it was. It was Moon, standing at the side of the ship, hip deep in carnage, covered with alien blood and looking inordinately pleased with himself.
Owen jumped down from the airlock and made his way toward the Hadenman, clambering awkwardly over the heaps of bodies. The creatures ranged in size from gossamer insects the size of his hand to huge forms easily twenty feet long. None of them looked in very good shape. The ship's energy guns had torn them literally limb from limb. At such close range they never stood a chance, but Owen couldn't bring himself to feel any sympathy. The smell was appalling, and he did his best to breathe through his mouth. He reached the Hadenman, and Moon nodded to him calmly.
'About time I had a decent workout. I think I'm going to like it here.'
'All right,' said Owen. 'What the hell happened out here?'
'I tapped into the ship's systems through my commlink, overrode the computers and took control of the fire systems. Then I had them blast everything that moved, while I sheltered among the bodies. Quite simple, really.'
Owen looked at him. 'That shouldn't have been possible. Even with Oz off-line, the security codes should have kept you out of the systems.'
'I overrode them,' said Moon. 'It wasn't difficult. I'm a Hadenman.'
'I didn't know you could do things like that.'
'There are lots of things about me you don't know.'
Owen didn't have any answer to that, so he turned and gestured for the others to come and join him. They made slow progress through the heaps of the dead, keeping a constant wary eye on the surrounding jungle. Owen didn't blame them. He could feel the pressure of uncounted unseen eyes following his every move. The ship's guns had taught the creatures caution, but there was no telling how long that would last.
'What did you say this hellhole was called?' said Hazel.
'Shandrakor,' Owen said absently, still looking around him. 'This is where my ancestor fled when the Empire turned on him and sent the Shadow Men after him.'
'Who were they?' said Random, still trying to get his breath back after clambering over the bodies.
'No one knows anymore,' said Owen. 'People apparently didn't talk about them much back then, if they knew what was good for them. The Shadow Men were the Emperor's hounds: unstoppable, quite deadly and never once defeated. Basically, pretty nasty and proud of it. They tracked my ancestor here, to the very edge of the Empire, and then nothing more was heard of them or him. No one ever came back from Shandrakor, no matter how large a force the Emperor sent. Eventually he turned his face away from the planet, and Shandrakor was not spoken of by anyone. Its coordinates became lost, its nature forgotten, and the name Shandrakor only survived as the battlecry of my Clan. Even then, we walked our own path. For a long time now, Shandrakor has been nothing but a legend, hidden away out here on the very edge of the Rim. Forgotten by everyone save obsessive historians like myself. We're about as far from the Empire now as you can get without passing into the Darkvoid.'
'Once I would have found that comforting,' said Hazel, 'but not anymore. This is a vicious place you've brought us to, Deathstalker. Humans don't belong here.'
'I like it,' said Ruby. 'It's got style.'
'We should head for the Standing while things are still quiet,' said Random. 'Do you have any force shields aboard, Owen?'
'Just a portable screen. It's got enough range to cover us all while we walk, but as I recall the power cells are pretty depleted.'
'You're just full of good news, aren't you?' said Ruby. 'Will it last long enough for us to reach the Standing?'
Owen shrugged unhappily. 'Unknown. It's only half a mile, but who knows how long that'll take through this jungle. It might last, or it might cut out at any time.'
