Another hesitation. Garth suspected he was weakening the other’s will, a feat unto itself.
Very well, we will act. But if there are suitable humans aboard this craft, I will abandon you, mount. You are most uncooperative.
Garth thought of many sarcastic remarks, but made none of them. Instead, he both thrilled and feared to feel his body rising up and painfully extricating itself from its cramped hiding place.
Aboard Aareschlucht, the situation was grim. Aldo and Joelle crept through chamber after chamber, but met only scenes of slaughter. Aboard the bridge, they found the pilot and navigator dead at their posts, but another of the enemy killbeasts was there too. Mortally wounded, it dragged itself toward them purposefully. Aldo dismembered it, so that Joelle could save her weapon’s charge.
On the lower decks they found the intruding ship itself. The aliens had not bothered to attempt docking with their craft, but had instead crashed right into the underbelly. A ram-like wedge had poked through the metal, forming a breach. Aldo examined the scene as they crept closer.
“I would have thought the ship would have lost all pressure,” he said.
“Yes,” Joelle agreed, “but see this organic material that glistens all around the intruding hull? I think it must have sealed the connection point.”
Aldo circled the angular intrusion. To him, it resembled the nose of a shark rammed up into their hull. The underbelly hull was much thinner, as it did not have to absorb passing particles. “How do you get into this thing?”
Joelle cast him an alarmed look. “Get into it? Why the hell would you want to do that?”
“We must finish what we’ve started-before they do.”
Aldo walked up to the breach. Gray vapors smoked from the site, spiraling upward. “I think I see a portal of sorts, here in the side of it. But I have no idea how to open it.”
“Then we should wait until they come out,” Joelle said in a whisper. “The moment they do, we will ambush them.”
Aldo pursed his lips and shook his head. He had no intention of allowing the enemy to determine the moment of their next conflict. As a duelist, he had strict tactical policies in these matters. When one had an advantage in mortal combat, it had to be pressed home, not fritted away waiting for the perfect opportunity.
Experimentally, he thumbed his sword up to the highest power setting and thrust it into the portal mechanism. There was a brilliant flare of light and a sizzling sound, but the most alarming reaction came from the slimes that glistened over the hull, sealing it so the cold vacuum outside could not seep within either ship. The material bubbled and churned as if it were alive and in pain. Some of it turned brown, as might a slurry of melted sugar as it burned. The mass slid away from the blade, leaving a rime of burnt material behind.
“It’s hard metal,” Aldo said, grunting as he worked the tip gently deeper. He did not wish to break his sword, but he applied as much thrust as he dared. The weapon vibrated in his hand, and he put a second palm on the hilt.
“Is this wise, Aldo?”
“Probably not,” he admitted, “but we must take action while we are able.”
Suddenly, the portal gave way and groaned inward. He almost lost his sword and his balance, but being athletically inclined, he managed to spring backward and take the sword with him. He looked at the dark opening, puzzled. The mechanism must have shorted out and yawned open-either that, or…
Something rose up from the opening. It was an alien, but not like any they’d seen before. It was certainly not a killbeast, nor was it a shrade. It was vaguely humanoid in configuration, but had a beard of fine tentacles circling the lower portion of its head, and it had a weapon in its tentacled hand.
Aldo and Joelle were taken by surprise. Cursing, Aldo struggled to his feet. Joelle lifted her pistol. The creature aimed its weapon, and somehow managed to utter a word. The word came not from the creature itself, but rather from a mouth that appeared to have been grown on its abdomen. The mouth resembled a shellfish, or some other bizarre thing one might expect to meet at the bottom of a strange, dark ocean.
“Ssurrender,” the mouth said.
Aldo and Joelle froze, knowing the alien had the drop on them. They did not lower their weapons, but they did not lift them, either. Could this thing be attempting to capture them? Aldo was uncertain as to the best course of action. If they attacked, one of them might survive. But if they at least pretended to surrender-he didn’t know how that would turn out.
The moment was an odd one, and the situation might have turned deadly in a dozen different ways, but the final result was quite unexpected. The alien’s head exploded.
As the corpse sagged down, the gun in its hand fired once reflexively. A bolt spanged off the walls around them, making Joelle and Aldo crouch. They raised their eyes and their weapons again, but what rose up next from the breach was quite a different surprise.
It was a man-after a fashion. Thin, with pale features and a twitching face, the stranger carried what appeared to be a hammer in his hand. The hammer was shivering, and Aldo was uncertain if the vibration was caused by the tool or the odd being that held it.
Joelle took a step forward and aimed her pistol at the stranger.
“Freeze right there, or you are dead where you stand,” she said.
The man paid her no heed. Instead, he crawled over the gory corpse into the hold of the ship.
“I don’t like this,” Joelle said. “There’s something wrong with him.”
She raised her weapon toward the stranger who seemed to understand he was being threatened for the first time. A series of unusual emotions ran across his face. It was not unlike watching someone undergoing a seizure. The nose wrinkled up as if smelling a sharp new stink. The lips curled from the teeth in a flaring grin. The eyes widened impossibly, then closed to slits and widened again in turns.
Aldo reached out with a single finger and tipped up Joelle’s gun. She fired, but the shot went high. She glared at him in disbelief. “Look at him! He’s a mad-thing. We can’t allow him aboard the ship. The aliens have taken his mind.”
“Yes,” said Aldo thoughtfully, “he exhibits madness. But he struck down an enemy to our benefit. More importantly, I think I recognize him. He’s not possessed by invading aliens-not exactly.”
Joelle peered more closely at Garth. “You’re right. I’ve seen him in the vids-the ones from Garm.” She stepped toward the writhing man. As she did so, Garth’s grav-hammer twitched upward. Aldo pulled her back.
“Garth? I believe that was the name,” Aldo said. “Is that you in there, sir? Are you the mad skald who fled Garm long years ago?”
The stranger’s lips trembled and the left half of his mouth spasmed as he forced words out. “I am not Garth. I am Ornth. I ride Garth. I have taken his reins.”
“I see,” Aldo said, nodding. “You are an alien invader, but possibly a friendly one.”
“Your description is insulting.”
Aldo laughed quietly. “Touchy, and arrogant as well. You will make a fine companion on this long journey.”
“It will be a short trip if we’ve not expunged every vestige of the Skaintz on this vessel.”
“Agreed,” Aldo said with a sweeping gesture. “Welcome aboard, and let us formally declare our alliance to defeat the-as you call them- Skaintz.”
Again, the lips writhed and the eyes stared sidelong. Finally, one corner of the stranger’s mouth ejected a single hissing word: “Agreed.”
Together, they mounted a search, but found nothing left alive aboard Aareschlucht save for themselves. The aliens had very nearly been successful. Joelle continuously cast uneasy glances at Garth, and Aldo didn’t blame her. Was he going to be completely trustworthy? Aldo has his doubts. The coming months of deceleration would clarify matters.
“One thing puzzles me Garth-ah, Ornth,” Joelle said. “When we met you, the alien from the invading ship did not fire on us immediately. Why did it hesitate?”
“I believe they were under orders to bring back live prey-you two, specifically. A breeding pair would be most prized.”
“Take us back to Gladius? Why?”
