She took a deep breath and willed herself to relax. “I should be
grateful I am here and not blasted into ions. I should be grateful I
can finally rest, and as I rest, I will pass into the arms of the
universe. It will be a beneficent ending, and I should be grateful.”
A tear rolled over the bridge of her nose. “I should be, but I am
not.”
Closing her
eyes, she waited for unconsciousness to overtake her. It was when
her ears caught the faint clanking sound, the fog shredded, leaving
her alert.
JeVit sat
up. Holding her breath, she strained to hear the sound again.
There.
Struggling
to get to her feet, she waited one more time, hoping to locate the
source.
There. And it was moving. Not coming from
the same location.
A part of
her told her to run away from the sound. What if it was an intruder?
Or there actually were creatures on this ship, and her arrival had
awakened them?
However,
her instinct for survival demanded she discover the source. Her hand
automatically went to the small weapon at her hip. It may not be
powerful, but she could protect herself with it.
She had to
find sustenance. If she kept out of sight, perhaps she could follow
the creature. Possibly discover where it ate or how it ate. Best
case scenario would be for her to find out how the inner doors
worked, if there were any. See what triggered them. Anything but
traversing these endless corridors until she was no longer able to
move.
She
followed the clanking noise until she caught the scraping,
scratching sound that accompanied it. It took on a more metallic
ring, and she drew her weapon. She argued with herself whether or
not to turn off her suit’s light. Part of her claimed she might be
seen by whatever she was trailing. The other part of her reminded
her that if that happened, she’d see it first and have the advantage
of firing on it before it could react.
I have the advantage. And I have nothing
to lose.
Rounding a
section of the tunnel, she heard the scrap and clink almost
simultaneously. The creature was directly ahead of her. She raised
her weapon, poised to fire, and slowly, silently went around the
next curve.
Something
was up ahead. Something big almost filled the tunnel with its
presence. Its back was to her, and it was moving away from her. It
also had lights, but those were aimed ahead of it. It didn’t seem to
be aware she was behind it, but she didn’t lower her guard.
She
narrowed her eyes, giving herself the chance to study it. It
appeared to be mechanical. Perhaps a robot or automaton. If it had
originated from somewhere on this ship, her best guess was that it
had to have come from one of the rooms she knew, she would swear,
this ship contained. Question was, where was it going?
It had to have been triggered by the
ship. Something I did had the ship send this out. But what is it
supposed to do? Guard the tunnels?
That seemed
to be the best answer. This could be a guard bot who regularly
traversed the halls, and she was just now encountering one, although
she knew the chances of there being only one such guard was
improbable. There had to be more of them. She was lucky she hadn’t
encountered one until now.
It didn’t
seem to be aware of her lights shining behind it. She was far enough
away from it to only get a glimpse of its metallic outer shell, but
that was all. She noticed it was bipedal, and the scraping and
clanking noises were its feet hitting and sliding along the floor.
What would happen if I confronted it
face-to-face? Would it scan me? Give me a warning when it cannot
recognize me? Demand I identify myself? Or would it fire on me
without provocation?
JeVit
continued to closely watch the thing. After a few more seconds, she
noticed the creature was acting…oddly. Initially she was willing to
write it off because it needed repair. If this ship had been lying
abandoned for untold years, maybe eons, it would make sense that the
other machines, including this robot, would end up in this state.
However,
this creature…the vibes she was getting…didn’t indicate it was
damaged.
More like
it was, but it wasn’t.
It seems as if it is…
Her mind
told her the thing was injured, not damaged. Which meant part of it
had to be made of flesh, not metal.
It tried to take another step when it stopped and collapsed
against the wall. And moaned. Moaned in pain.
She stepped
back. She was right. It wasn’t an automaton. It was alive. It was
another species.
Someone
else was trapped in this ship like she was.
JeVit held
her breath as the person slumped to the floor, then rolled over. It
was then he realized someone was behind him, and he turned to face
her.
She froze
in shock as the human tried to see past her lights. Before she could
say anything, he lifted his large weapon and aimed it at her.
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