Another chapter for Tales of the Eternals. I'm really proud of this one and its surreal atmosphere. I took inspiration from both Journey and Warrior's Gate...so its not that original, but I hope you all still like it.

Also not sure whether to rate it mature or general as there is one gruesome scene...but we'll see

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The room was dark and gloomy. Constructed of metal with solid metal walls and a metal grated floor, the whole place had a cold, sterile feel. Around the room are three rows of bench like beds, with bare bases. Each has a bundle of blankets wrapped tightly around something or someone. Tubes snake from the blankets and into pump like machinery or medical drips. The room is silent save for the tick tick tick of the machines.
Outside are metal corridors with sliding doors leading to other areas and a metal staircase to the upper levels, lit by flickering dim orange lights. Scattered here and there were control panels and banks of dated worn out looking technology. On some of the walls were graffiti scribbled in lurid colours, drawn on top of each other so that the original message they were conveying is long lost. Further down one corridor the corridor widens and a sort of atrium, with another floor above. On the lower floor two men in grey boiler suit like uniforms were sat playing a game of cards; the taller of the two is a skinny blueish amphibian person with a frill, shiny skin and long snout, the other was a more stout reptile with a wide beaked mouth and two short stubby horns on his cheeks. They both stare vacantly upwards at the second floor, but the stout one shoots a furtive glance at his companion before surreptitiously substituting one of his cards for another from the deck.
On the second floor, more people in grey uniforms busily work away at control panels...all except one. Connected to a machine via a headset and sat in a chair with his hands clamped down with handcuffs is an unusual figure, looking much like a dragonfly, with a carapace like skin and four large vein-covered wings. The head had three mandibles instead of jaws. The strangest part of his face was the eyes, unlike the rest of his insect like body, they had green irises and pupils similar to a humans. In start contrast to the grey clad people around him, he was a brilliant green. He stares blankly ahead, seemingly unaware or else uncaring of his surroundings.
Seated at desk covered in controls, a large creature seats, dressed in a uniform similar to the others but blue instead of grey. He looked something like a hyena or wolf, with a long fanged snout which quivers with agitation. His furry body is scattered with dark brown spots over a lighter tan coloured body and his tawny cheeks are streaked with silver hair, giving him a refined look. Dark shadows are blotched around his bloodshot eyes and his whole body seems on edge, twitching and baring his sharp teeth. The rest of the crew seem rather bored and exasperated as they go about their work, not helped by the stuffy atmosphere; the whole chamber despite its size felt hot and sticky. A computerised voice chimes around them;
“Seven….Six….Five….Four….Three….Two….One. All systems checked out and power on standby. Take off preparations completed.”
“Ignition!” the hyena like creature barks at his subordinates.
“But Captain Xaeistan, we’re not getting any feedback from the navigator.” one of them, another finned amphibian, a red coloured one this time, replies, flinching at the scowl his captain throws back at him.
Xaeistan gets up and walks over to the insectoid, venom in his eyes. He considers the prone figure for a moment before turning back.
“Send an electrical boost down his feed point. That should persuade him.”
“Kill him more likely, we’ve never done this before.” The red amphibian whispers to the person next to him, an enormous boar like creature with a pig like snout, but is a light blue coloured and with three pairs of tusks. The boar nods in agreement. Xaeistan hears them, one of his ears perks towards the two and he groans.
“Always such a ray of sunshine aren’t you Mr. Neiban?” The captain replies drily, rolling his eyes.
The insectoid stiffens as the headset starts humming with energy, breathing rapidly and looking terrified. The controls go wild, lights flashing randomly and figures pouring across screens like a flood.
“Sir! I think we’ve got a fix on something! Its faint but...its coming closer! A rescue ship maybe?”
The captain bounds back to his chair and flicks a switch. With a huge roar, the floors begin to shake and rattle. The two card players seem very uninterested and unmoved by the tremors; the tall one catching a cup that threatened to fall using his tail with ease without even having to look up from his game.
“We have lift off!” one of the crew shouts excitedly and Xaeistan’s face lights up and he grins.
“At last.” He breathes.
But lights start flashing again and a klaxon blares loudly like a frightened animal. The ship takes a violent lurch backwards, sending items and crewmen flying, slamming into control banks or onto the floor. All the while, the insectoid sits, impotent, breathing calmly. He opens his eyes slowly and a flickering cracked screen catches his eye. Squinting, he can see a strange shape poking through the static, looking something like a crescent moon or horseshoe. The insectoid gives a small nod before slumping against the floor, unconscious.

Miles away, the shape he had seen is flying gracefully through space, blue streams of light flowing behind it like ribbons. Inside the flight deck, Shern’aath was sat near the column, looking rather bored. The raptor had started growing brown downy feathers down the back of his head and neck, his elbows, tail and a patch on his chest. Beside him on the right is a box of strange tools. Sticking out from an opening under the column to his left are a pair of blue clad legs. A hand pops out.
“Could you hand me the turalino please?” Altallo asks “Its the one with the green handle.”
Shern’aath sighs and picks out the tool, a device that is something like a hammer. He hands it to Altallo and a series of loud bangs coupled with odd flashes of light from the vent.
Kiya enters from another room, dressed in a fresh white dress. She exchanges a smile with Shern’aath before addressing the legs.
“What exactly are you doing?”
Altallo rolls out, a patch of blue goo on one of his cheeks.
“I’m trying to repair a module to make the ship invisible while flying. Its not been fixed in some time, I really should have done it earlier but I was too busy...and a bit lazy I will admit.”
“A bit?” Shern’aath asks with smirk.
“It just slipped my mind!” Alty’s muffled voice huffs and he taps the raptor with his foot “And I need that thingamajig with hole on one end and the pointy end at the other.”
“You have no idea how wrong that sounds.” the raptor replies with a roll of his eyes.
“Why do you want the ship to go invisible though?” Kiya asks, barely concealing a snort of laugher “Surely it doesn’t matter if it’s seen, I doubt anyone could damage it.”
“Well, someone seeing it may have dire consequences. I don’t want to sound rude, but I don’t think people of you’re world are ready for this sort of thing. They’d want to use it as a weapon or something.”
Kiya frowns thoughtfully and nods.
“Never thought of it that way. How long do you think it will take?”
“Ah shouldn’t take long at all. Be there in a jiffy. As someone once said, ‘Practice practice and more prac-”
But with a loud bang, sparks fly from the column, causing Kiya to scream and Shern’aath to jump.

A door slides open and two tired crewmen drag a medical stretcher on wheels behind them, on which the insectoid alien lies still, hands secured with a pair of chained handcuffs in a strange bronze like metal, apparently unconscious. When the reach another door though at a deserted T-junction, his eyes snap open and he kicks out at one them, sending the unfortunate crewman into a pillar. The other whirls round in shock and gets another kick in the face, knocking him out. The insectoid gets up awkwardly from the bed and searches the pockets of one of his captors. He finds a small electronic device with a single button on it, he presses it to one of his handcuffs. With a high pitched buzzing the cuff clicks open. He does the same for his other cuff and flexes his wrists, which are red from rubbing against the hard metal, in relief. His antenna perk as he hears muffled voices and clunking footsteps on metal girder. Swiftly he rushes off, barely making a sound away through another door.

Altallo has packed away the tools and stands in front of the blue liquid in the column’s basin, wiping away the goo from his face with a cloth.
“We’re making good progress and we’ll be home in about an hour or so. I think we’ve earned a well deserved break!”
“Where are we now?” Shern’aath asks.
Altallo picks his astral map from a cavity in the column, a dark blue, almost black sphere dotted with coloured dots and examines it.
“Not a very lively area of space; only a single solar system. Could be a useful case study in its own right, we’re just passing over the only planet in that system that can support life in fact.”
Kiya sighs.
“What I wouldn’t give for some food now.”
“Not to worry, the food machine is there and ready-”
“I mean real food Altallo,” Kiya sighs “Real smells, real textures.”
“I have to agree with her,” Shern’aath says, “No offence, but this stuff just feels so nasty on your mouth after a while. It sticks to your teeth and loses its taste after a while.”
Altallo splutters in anger and shuffles off to the other side of the flight deck, grumbling.
“Ah don’t worry about him,” Shern’aath tells Kiya, before sighing “I’d love a Horn Faced steak right about now.”
“Horn Face?”
“Yes, you know, great big creatures with three horns and a frill on its head. Very dangerous but very tasty. Do they have any in Egypt?”
“...no?” Kiya looks aghast and confused “I’d love some delicious bread and dates, lovely soft sweet dates and-”
She stops and looks nervously to the doors. Shern’aath also stops and listens, his feathery crest perking up. Beyond the doors, they could both hear something, a soft ticking or scraping, like claws. Kiya grabs Shern’aath’s hand, eyes wide with fear.
“What is that?!” she asks him in a hushed voice.
“Dunno, maybe its someone or something trying to get in,” Shern’aath whispers back, then without looking behind him calls out. “Hey, Alty. I think there’s something out there.”
But Altallo is too busy sulking, cradling the red food and water machine like a mother with an infant.
“Nothing wrong with my food. Its ok little machine, they just don’t understand you. You’ll always be my favourite-”
The doors of the ship suddenly open wide and the air starts flooding out of the ship, howling like a banshee. They dive behind the column for shelter, clinging to it like a life ring. Shern’aath and Kiya’s lungs ache, they could hardly breath in the empty vacuum and they gasped like fish out of water. All of a sudden, the doors slam shut with a bang. Gingerly, they peek around. Standing like a statue, breathing deeply as though he had ran a long distance was a large humanoid looking creature, covered in carapace, with four long wings and antenna on his head. Pausing only a moment, it lurches at the column, grasping the basin for support and then to Altallo’s shock, it plunges its hands into the turquoise liquid. The fluid seems to climb up the arms of the intruder, following the pathway of his arteries.
“Don’t do that!” Altallo yells, vis voice full of panic “You could destroy the whole ship!”
But the alien seems unaffected by the liquid and everything tilts to one side, causing Kiya, who had loosened her grip, to slide into the far wall. Then with a gentle thud the craft shudders. The insect man takes his arms out of the basin, the liquid dripping out from his fingers. Taking a measured breath, the insect walks back to the doors. Altallo darts forward, skidding to a halt in front of the creature.
“Who are you?”
“I am Tentrac,” The figure responds, looking Altallo right in the eye with a piercing stare. The Eternal backs away, looking deflated. His voice was clear despite the clicks of his mandibles and other mouth parts. “Others will come. Do not trust them, they are dangerous. Help us, please.” And with that he slips out of the ship’s doors, which open up seemingly of their own accord to a dazzling bright light.
Altallo and the others run after him.
“Wait come back!” Altallo cries out.

Outside, they stop short, stunned by what they see.
All around them are vast dunes of shimmering white sand, stretching all around them and utterly devoid of vegetation. Above the sky is a deep beautiful indigo colour, with patches of deeper purple or lighter blue, strewn with clouds, white and wispy. It is almost silent, except for the gentle whisper and whistle of wind and a breeze weakly tugs at their clothing. On the horizon to the West is the titanic shadow of a mountain, a bleak foreboding thing like a towering beast. Behind them the ship, shaped once more like a blue and yellow crescent moon, is partially buried in the sand and perched on the face of a dune.
“What a beautiful place!” Shern’aath says in a hushed voice, staring at the sky.
“What’s so beautiful about it?” Kiya asks in a huffy voice. She looks fearfully around. “Deserts are places of death and chaos, the realm of Set. Anyway you heard what that Tentrac person said, there are dangerous people out there somewhere. Lets just get out of here while we still have-”
“We can’t.” Altallo says, who had just reappeared from the ship carrying his astral map again and looking rather grim “There’s a fault in the systems. We can’t leave until I fix it. I suppose it couldn’t hurt to look around though. I’ll go out myself and-”
“I’ll go.” Shern’aath cuts across “You stay here.”
“But-”
“You can’t track, I’m not sure if either of you have noticed but our visitor left no footprints.”
Altallo and Kiya instinctively look around the sand, but Shern’aath was right, there was not a footprint to be seen.
“I’m...I’m just scared-” Altallo begins, but Shern’aath interrupts him again, putting his hands on his shoulders.
“I’ve survived long before I met you, remember. I can take care of myself.” He presses his nose against Altallo’s, causing the Eternal to blush in embarrassment. Kiya giggles from nearby, also blushing.
"Oh wait," Altallo says suddenly before bustling back into the ship. He comes back carrying his shield. "You may need this, just i case."
Shern'aath starts sniffing the air and then at the ground. Catching Tentrac’s scent, he slides down the dune and moves off towards the mountain. Altallo and Kiya watch him go before going back inside.

Xaeistan is prowling the second floor of the bridge like a stalking predator, his heavy footsteps clanking on the metal meshed floor.
“So,” He growls “We have no navigator and a busted engine. Nowhere to go and no way out.”
He pauses. All the rest of the crew were sat morosely at their controls, just staring blankly ahead, fiddling with pencils or pens or else drinking what looks like some sort of coffee out of chalices, though the liquid within is a pale green colour.
“Well? Any thoughts?” The captain snaps.
“Wait a minute sir.” the red amphibian called Neiban calls out, looking up from a monitor.
The captain rolls his eyes.
“’A minute’, pfft. We have an eternity,” he mutters to himself “Well Neiban, what is it?”
“I’m picking up an energy signal. Its a solid mass in area 39, the Dune Sea. We had a weak recording of it when we rigged up specimen 6 to the system.”
He presses a switch and on a screen, the blurry image of a crescent shaped object appears. Xaeistan stares intently at it, eyes narrowing.
“Seems like we have company!”
“They may have someone who can fix our engines.” Neiban suggests, looking intrigued but Xaetsian looks more sceptical.
“We’d best go scout it out. Rolce, Vicnar!” He calls out to the lower deck. “Break out the Mass and Energy Detector and then bring another one of the cargo out.”
The blue skinny amphibian and the stubby beaked reptile rise to their feet wearily and shuffle sadly out, giving their abandoned cups mournful looks as if they had lost an old friend. The short one shakes his head.
“Its non stop Rolce,” he says to his taller companion in a rather squeaky voice “Non stop.”
Neiban looks confused.
“Why are taking out more of our cargo? You do know we can’t revive them without the proper facilities.”
“We need another navigator and I’m sure we can jury rig something. So what if some die? We can always find some more.” Xaetsian gets up and raises his voice to the whole crew. “If anyone wants to complain, bring it to Misters Inal and Poric for loosing our navigator.”
He then turns to the large pale blue boar, who towers over him.
“You will be leading the way.”
“Why me?” the boar demands, sounding indignant and glowering down at the captain, who’s lip curls into a sinister sneer.
“We’ll need someone as a meat shield in case their hostile.”
The boar’s defiance melts and is replaced by a look of horror as the captain moves off.

Shern’aath meanwhile had followed the scent deeper into the desert. Progress at first was very good, he felt alert and full of energy as he rises a dune and scans the area around him, hand raised over his eyes to shield them from the sun’s glare. Seeing nothing, he slides down the dune, sending particles spitting out in all directions and starts climbing yet another. The scent takes him to a flat plain away from the dunes, spreading out into the horizon. Looking back, he couldn’t even see the ship or anything distinctive. Nothing but rolling dunes of sand behind him and the ever present mountain ahead, though no matter how long he walked he never seemed to get any closer. The glare of the sun reflecting off the sands makes the horizon shimmer and the raptor’s eyes water in the brightness. Oddly, he didn’t feel overheated or dehydrated. The air wasn’t dry and it wasn’t hot, but very neutral, neither too hot nor too cold. He trudges on and on, kicking up puffs of sand, his legs starting to ache. It wasn’t just his body that felt numb, his mind seemed to have blanked out also, he felt oddly calm and at peace with the surroundings. He was just considering turning around and going back, as much as he didn’t want to, when he’s shaken from his Zen like trance when his foot left the ground. Crying out and instinctively jumping back, he finds himself on the edge of a deep crevasse or crater. At the bottom was even more sand, but poking out amongst them were strange pillars and other odd remains of buildings, some still standing, while others are lying nestled, half submerged in the sand. The whole of the chasm was ringed with more desert, but at the other side from where the raptor stood it began to rise upwards, where the mighty foot of the mountain began On the right and left ledges, sand trickles in a solid stream into the chasm like some sort of waterfall. A steep slope of sand winds its way down between rocky formations and other ruins like a sluggish stream. Shern’aath experimentally crouches down and dips his spear into the sand, testing the depth. It sinks lower and lower until the flint spearhead is barely sticking above. Taking it out quickly, Shern’aath taps his chin, pondering, then he takes off the shield and places its front on the sand, where it floats much like a boat. With his tongue stuck out to one side of his mouth, the raptor flexes his knees and then jumps onto the shield. Pushed forward, the shield slides down the slope, slowly at first but soon gains speed, zipping around boulders and other obstacles sticking out from the sand stream. Shern’aath was starting to really enjoy himself as he passed what could have been a pillar, but the shield bucks and overturns and he’s flung into the sand stream. All that could be seen of him is a green tail poking out, wiggling like kelp in a current. Eventually the stream slows down at the bottom of the slope in a large pile of sand. Shern’aath bursts from it, his feathers covered in grains. He opens his mouth and coughs out a stream of sand.
“Eurgh! Disgusting!”
Dusting himself down and stretching his body, he picks up the shield again and starts exploring. The ruins seem much clearer now up close. He could see faint traces of paint on some of the walls and pillars, exposed to the elements for so long that their colour had faded beyond recognition and they were now a pale yellowish white like the bark of birch trees. The remains of dwellings lie in a ring, creating some sort of a cul-de-sac around a small basin of stone which may have once been a well, but was now as dry and lifeless as the sand around it. All the houses were in decay, some were now roofless and others had missing walls. Inside, the rooms are bare of any furniture or decorations; silent hallways of stone through which only wind echoed through. The whole place had a certain beauty to it, the sandy colours of the buildings contrasting with the stark white of the sands and the deep blue of the sky.
At the far end of the chasm Shern’aath could see a massive natural gateway, made of pale solid stone. Beyond is dark cave, where a faint light shimmers. Shern’aath peeps inside of it curiously, the scent of Tentrac lingered at the entrance. The cave is wide and full of small niches with oddly shaped stones with markings on them. Unlike the buildings outside, their colours had not yet been bleached by the sun and were still vivid despite the dust. At the back of the cave is a the mouth of a tunnel where the lights flicker. The raptor sits down against one of the cave walls, feeling worn out from his long journey and rubs his legs which had started to ache again.

On the ship, Kiya is staring out of the window, looking concerned and trying to ignore the renewed bangs and whizzes behind her.
“I hope Shern’aath will be safe.”
“He’s survivor,” Altallo’s muffled voice replies. He was once again examining the insides of the column, his legs sticking out. “Never underestimate him.”
“I know he’s good but it wasn’t him I was thinking of. It was about what that insect man said, others are coming and they are dangerous.”
All the noise stops behinds her and she looks around. Altallo’s hand was hovering just above another tool beside him.
“Ah I’m sure we’ll be safe. Even if they do find the ship they can’t harm it, its as solid as it looks.”
But as soon as he says that, the column goes completely dark and stops humming.
"Oh yes, very solid." Kiya sniffs. "Solid as a rock!"
“Well now that isn’t supposed to happen. Hold on.” Altallo mumbles to himself.
More clattering and bangs issue from the column, but Kiya pays them no attention. She squints out of the window, her eyes caught by movement far away. Three shapes appear on the horizon, but moving closer. Kiya’s widen.
“Altallo.” She hisses.
“-Now you, get back in there!” Altallo laughed to himself. The column lights up again and he crawls out, looking very pleased with himself. “Well that’s the main systems all worked out but-”
Kiya had seize him by the shoulders and spins him to face the three figures standing right in front of the ship. Altallo falls completely silent. The creatures were examining the ship with great interest, poking it tentatively with the butts of their guns and one, a large boar like being, seemed to be making notes on a large bulky computer device that he was carrying.
It was such a strange experience for Kiya, seeing them mere inches from her and Altallo and yet seeing them oblivious to their presence. She was so close to them that she could make out every detail on their faces, their tired eyes ringed with purple shadows and the grim and sweat coating their clothes and faces. It was a repugnant sight.
“Maybe they could be friendly?” Kiya suggests, though not sounding very confident.
“They’ve got guns,” Altallo points out. “But of course there’s only one way to find out. I’ve got an idea, you stay here and watch me closely and if I do this,” He turns away, puts his hands behind is back, taps his fingers together and then clenches them, “It means I don’t trust them.”
“What do you mean—you’re not going out there are you?!”
But Altallo has already slipped out of the doors. Kiya rolls her eyes and then looks around for the strangers. They had wandered from the entrance and were looking at left side of the craft.
“Its mass is enormous!” The boar exclaims, reading from his hefty scanner. “Quite a lovely colour scheme too.”
“Never mind the tinsel and paintwork Phimo. Looks like its been deserted for years.” Xaeistan snaps. He regards the ship sourly. “Bah! We’ve just wasted our time here.”
“But if its been abandoned for so long, how come it never registered on our scanners before?” Neiban asks.
“Hello there!”
All three jump as they look up to see a strange figure standing on top of the craft. It was dressed in blue and yellow like the ship, with a weird flat freckle covered face, long reddish brown hair and green eyes. It jumps and slides down the ship’s hull, landing on its feet in front of Phimo, who looks petrified.
“Oh, that’s a nice looking bit of machinery you have there. What is it?”
“Um...it detects power sources. Electricity and that sort of thing.”
“Excuse me, but who are you?” Xaeistan asks, glowering over Altallo, who had his back to him, still examining the Energy Detector.
“Well I-oh I beg your pardon!” Altallo starts, turning and accidentally colliding with the captain’s nose. Xaeistan rubs it, looking even more surly. “I am Altallo, traveller and general wanderer. At your service! And this you see is my ship.” He pats the ship like a pet. “Forgive me for assuming, but you look like you come from Kroumolokia.”
The captain exchanges a look with his underlings and they frown, suspicion etched into every detail of their faces.
“Oh I’ve visited there once. Lovely orchards and a few friends there, including Seron, Jur, Maris and Berusa, nice people.”
Xaeistan yanks a false smile onto his face. Kiya, noticing this, grimaces and whispers ‘Be careful’ under her breath, despite knowing full well that Altallo couldn’t hear or see her.
“Well my little friend, seems like you’re quite knowledgable. You’re not mistaken, we do come from Kroumolokia. We’ve ventured out here on a...business trip, something of rare commodity.”
“Ooh. Some sort of plant maybe?”
“No, not a plant, but never mind that. Are you alone?”
“Not now you’re here.” Altallo replies sweetly. Despite the huge smile, Xaeistan’s eye twitches somewhat.
“Did you at least see anyone else while you were here?”
“Mmm, tall, green carapace, four wings and weird mandibles?” Altallo asks casually, smiling up at the captain innocently. Unnoticed by the captain, he puts his hands behind his back, taps his fingers and then clenches them. Neiban looks utterly baffled at this strange behaviour and then slowly turns his head towards the ship. Kiya could see the gears whirring in his mind and began to feel a pang of dread.
“You’ve seen him! Where did he go?!” Xaeistan eyes were alight again.
Altallo looks around the barren desert surrounding them, tapping his chin.
“Now, that is a very interesting question...No idea! So anyway, what about your ship?”
Xaeistan’s smile slackens and he becomes gloomier looking and shoots Phimo a withering glare as his subordinate starts talking.
“There’s been an engine failure, a sudden burst of energy which has also damaged the hull.”
“My my! Sounds like you were asking too much from it. You really should take better care of your ship. Its like your best friend when travelling, you need to treat it as such, give it compliments and gentle handling and-”
“Well if you’re so confident, maybe you’d like to have a look at it!” Xaeistan spits through clenched teeth. He nods to Phimo, who after a brief look of surprise, places his hands on Altallo’s shoulders and starts guiding him back where they came from. Altallo’s relaxed expression dissipates and he trembles.
“Y-yes. I’ll go with you.” He squeaks.
As they lead him away, Kiya see Neiban and Xaeistan walking a distance behind Phimo and Altallo. Neiban whispers something into Xaeistan’s ear, who frowns and nods. Waiting until they disappear behind the next rise, Kiya cautiously exits the ship and follows them.

After a tense trek across more desert, Altallo and the crew climb up another dune overlooking a flat area. In the middle is a huge craft. Made from black and grey metal, it had a very functional look, with no decorations or lavishes. Its shape reminds Altallo of a leering bird of prey, with two metal wings folded either side of the large boxy body and a raised compartment, presumably the command centre, like a head on a neck.
“Interesting...has a sort of aura about it.” He comments. “What type is it?”
“Bulk freighter,” Xaeistan grunts “You ask a lot of questions don’t you?”
“Mmm!” Altallo replies, smiling up at him.
They approach the ship’s doors which slide open and step inside. Kiya appears just around the bend to see them go inside. She dashes up to the door and slips in just before it closes. Hiding behind a second doorway just a few feet from the outer one, she hears clanging of feet on metal stairs and just sees the Neiban’s tail disappear around the corner. She decides to give them a head start before following.
“You two! Get down below!” Xaeistan bellows at Vicnar and Rolce who were lounging in the captains chair. They get up and slouch away glumly. Xaeistan stands with his hands on a railing, looking proudly at Altallo “And this is the bridge, the nerve centre of our operation.”
Altallo didn’t seem impressed with the dilapidated state of the entire ship. He frowns at the outdated computer banks and his nose wrinkles at the smell, a repugnant mixture of sweat, rust and a petrol like odour. Unbeknown to any of them, Kiya is hidden behind pile of crates piled against the wall. She peers through a gap between two.
“It seems to need a bit of a dust up. How do you navigate with all this? There’s no way you can see where you’re going.”
“That is where you are wrong my little friend.” The captain says, another smile spreading across his face, showing his sharp yellowing teeth. “We have a very...unique navigational system, using the mind of a living being. It helps us track down on commodity, as most of them tend to think about one thing, home.”
“The things you’re looking for have...homes? Wait.” Altallo’s eyes widen in horror.
Other crew members slowly close in around him. In desperation the Eternal tries to trip up one crewman to create an escape route, but its no use. Strong hands seize and lift him into the air, carrying him towards a chair with handcuffs and a headset, adjacent two others to form a triangle. He’s forced to sit down and is powerless as the handcuffs are closed around his wrists.
With a shriek of anger, Kiya leaps onto Phimo’s back, punching, biting and kicking. The huge alien yowls with pain and flails, trying to get her off his back. Xaeistan grabs her by the ankles and hoists her neatly off Phimo, who scuttles as fast as he can away from the wild human.
“Well well,” the captain sneers, dropping Kiya painfully to the floor “You were right Neiban, we were followed. Looks like we have two new navigators.”
Kiya is placed in a chair next to Altallo’s and secured. Helpless, they can only struggle fruitlessly against their bonds. Xaeistan strokes his chin as he considers both of his prisoners.
“We’ll start with the girl in a trial run, no engines or lift off attempt. Begin the set up programmes and cable attachments.”
The crew busy themselves, Kiya’s eyes wide with fear, she thrashes against the chair, trying to unbalance it. Altallo shouts at the crew, begging them to let her go, but they ignore him.
Roylce, who was sitting next to Vicnar, turns to his companion.
“I doubt she’ll last five minutes.”
“Wanna bet on that?” Vicnar asks.
They look up at Kiya and then turn back to each other and shake their heads.
“Connections ready. Energising….now!”
A humming builds and Kiya stiffens, breathing rapidly and eyes staring blankly ahead, but she cries out in pain and twitches horribly. A screen above the control panels shows only static. Altallo watches horrified, mouth agape.
“Ach! Nothing but static!” Neiban reports, “Her lifesigns are weakening. We need to disconnec—wait! Look!”
On screen, a fuzzy image of a mountain appears. It gradually becomes clearer until they could see an entrance and a narrow path up to it. The image follows the path downwards where it hovers just above an opening leading to a cave. At this hight they could even see the ship, like a tiny model, in the middle of the sands.
“That’s it...That is our ticket out of here!”
Xaeistan leaps up from his chair.
“Right you miserable lot, listen up! The girl has just shown us our way out. But to make sure we, best revive some of our cargo as backup navigators and remember; no screw ups! If we lose any, that’ll be a dint in everyone’s bonus. You two!” He barks at Vicnar and Roylce. “Bring up another specimen, the rest of you, get ready for an expedition. Leave them here.” He jabs a thumb to Altallo and Kiya.
Kiya’s head had slumped forward, her breathing slow and shallow. As soon as the bridge empties, Altallo frantically tries to get out of the chair.

Below, Roylce and Vicnar enter the dark cold chamber full of blanket bundles attached to life support. They stare uneasily around the beds, shining torches on them.
“W-well….I dunno which one would be the strongest.” Roylce says, his voice high pitched with fear.
“What about this one? It looks huge!” Vicnar asks, pointing to an enormous bundle. Roylce shrugs.
They carefully load it onto a trolly, wheeling it out of the chamber into the main corridor to a terminal. Vicnar pulls out three wires from the machine and feeds them into the folds of the fabric.
“I think that’s how it goes.” He says, not sounding all together sure of himself.
“Oh come on! That’s so lazy!” Roylce snickers “You’ll just kill it.”
“Ah don’t worry! It works either ways. Anyway sooner we wake it up, the sooner we can have a break. Just flip that switch.”

Up in the bridge, Kiya groans and slowly opens her eyes.
“Kiya!”
“Altallo! What happened? I...I just blacked out and-”
“Yes, it was that horrible machine. I thought it looked haphazard, its all cobbled together from pieces of junk.”
“Never mind that, how do we get out of here!” Kiya’s voice shakes with panic.
“Look, j-just try and be still. Calm. We’ll figure out a way, but we need to-”
Altallo is interrupted by a blood curdling scream.
The bundle of blankets writhes and screams, lit up with electricity. Smoke pours out from the folds. Panicking, Roylce pulls out the wires. The figure in the blankets stops squirming and lies flat, still smoking. After a stunned silence, the two crewmen flee the scene like a pair of criminals. A large arm flops out from the blankets, covered in brown chitin.

Altallo and Kiya are having little luck with their chairs. Altallo perks up, looking towards the door. Loud footsteps are coming closer and closer.
“Its them!” Altallo hisses to Kiya “I didn’t think they’d be back so soon.”
Kiya stops struggling and listens to the footsteps. Her face pales at the sounds.
“No...its something bigger.” She says in a hushed voice.
Altallo looks at her questioningly, but then the door slides open. Framed in the doorway is a towering creature, much bigger than Xaeistan. It steps into the forward, its feet clunking on the metal. Its figure is then thrown into the light; skin covered in thick carapace, two large wing-cases on its back, a head with two antenna perched on top and ringed with a shield like thorax and a pair of antenna perched ontop, it was like an enormous beetle on two sturdy legs. Its arms were very powerful looking with dexterous hands. Part of its face was burnt and twisted, like melted plastic; one eye was obscured with burn marks to a squint, the other was full and an odd pearl coloured. Kiya loses her nerves, screaming and renewing her struggles against the chair. The beetle’s eyes snap to her. Altallo mouths for a few seconds before finding his voice and shouting at the thing. The beetle looks at him and then back to Kiya, before stretching out a hand towards the girl.