If the Martian government could figure out how to target the controller Xeno, they’d be able to stop attacks as they began. The amount of intelligence they could gather from the hundreds or thousands of captured Xeno would help them create new weapons, defenses, and tactics. Few, if any, innocent lives would have to be lost to the Xeno ever again.
A deep rumble shook the passageway, and several groups of glowfrogs went dark. Their aquariums broke and spilled them onto the deck, where the poor creatures writhed and squirmed. Though I thought they resembled Earth-based amphibians, without their watery liquid to support them, they all but turned to gelatinous pools of mush. The fluid, it seemed, both kept them buoyant and maintained their shape.
Another tremor rattled me against the walls. It only lasted a second, and I suspected some part of the hive had just broken away. I bolted, throwing caution to the wind.
I emerged from the narrow hallway into the hangar and surprised a Xeno who looked like he’d been in the middle of sneaking up on my team when the Queen died. It looked at me stupidly but made no other gestures. I put it out of its misery by holding onto its head tight as I kicked its body, separating the two. No use taking a chance that it would somehow recover its wits.
The hangar was a mess. Pools of acid slicked the floor, walls, and ceiling. Nyna was healing Beatrix from a nasty acid burn on her leg while Reaver provided cover. Skrew was busy shooting the stationary Xeno troops one at a time while he threw insults at them.
“Status!” I ordered as I picked my way around and over the myriad of bug parts.
The team looked up from what they were doing, relief evident in their eyes.
As I approached, something about the alien vessel seemed familiar. It had huge armored plates covering its surface, much like the exoskeleton of the Xeno themselves. Its nose was round, and the last third branched into appendages similar to Xeno troop legs. Overall, though, the ship strongly resembled a squid. I didn’t have time to think about why exactly, but I suspected the similarity was not coincidental.
“Everyone’s present and accounted for,” Reaver announced. “Skrew’s cleaning up the leftovers. Beatrix’s been injured—took two shots to the leg when she ran straight for them before they stopped moving. Nyna should have her fixed up quick.”
“She’ll have to finish it on the ship,” I said. “Grab Skrew and get aboard. I’ll bring Nyna and Beatrix.”
As if to amplify my urgency, a crack that sounded like a gunshot echoed through the large room, and we all ducked reflexively.
Nyna scrambled to her feet, Beatrix a little slower. Another crack, this one duller and more hollow than the last, caused us to pause.
Then, my ears popped.
“Run!” I called out. “The hull’s about to—”
The room exploded into a hurricane of wind and debris. The sound was like an enormous spectral wolf mourning the passing of the moon. I held on to Beatrix around her waist and dug my fingers into a slight divot the battle had created on the floor. There was some acid at the bottom, and I felt my fingers begin to burn, but I didn’t let go.
A few seconds later, the wind stopped, and the howl that had accompanied it changed to a high-pitched whistle. I looked toward the breach and saw several Xeno bodies gathered and pinned to a section of the wall about a third of the way down the bulkhead.
“They’ve sealed the breach!” I said. “It won’t last long! Keep moving!”
Reaver reached Skrew, who’d kept himself from getting sucked out into space by grabbing a door frame on the far side of the hangar. She scooped him up under one arm and ran with him back toward the ship.
I lifted the injured Beatrix, who grunted in pain, and brought her to the craft’s hatch. It was wide and tall enough for one of the Xeno troops to enter but nowhere large enough for the Queen to have escaped, even if her workers and troops hadn’t confined her to her quarters. It was a transport vessel, I decided. Probably for drones.
Although it might have been as old as the rest of the ship, it looked like it was in good shape. I lifted Beatrix into its dimly lit cabin and turned to Reaver, who handed Skrew to me. He didn’t seem injured, so I wasn’t as gentle.
Nyna was next, but just as I turned to find her, the breach the Xeno bodies had been plugging opened again. It was wider than before. The howling sound became a cacophony of noises as loose debris, Xeno bodies, and air rushed into the vacuum of space. I searched for Nyna as quickly as I could and found her half of the 90 feet toward the breach. She’d found a crack in the deck and was holding on for dear life. Her face was buried between her outstretched arms, and her short hair whipped viciously against her back.
She couldn’t hold on for long, and the air wouldn’t last forever. I held on to a strut and looked to Reaver. Our expressions delivered an unspoken message. Mine, I’m sure, told her that I didn’t have a choice. I had to go rescue Nyna. I also hoped it told her that if I didn’t make it, she was to carry on with the mission in my stead.
Ser expression told me she understood and respected my decision, but also that she feared for me.
With just a curt nod to end our communication, I drew Ebon and drove its tip into the deck, but only about an inch. I reached out with my hand,
