by Bruce Marcom
Chapter Five
After traveling in Elemental Space for seven days, the crew is out of food, and very little water is left. Long-range sensors start beeping.
42 says, “Contact bearing 90 degrees starboard. They just dropped out of warp, probably because they detected us. We are not in commercial shipping lanes. What do you want to do, Boss?”
“What type of ship is it?”
“Looks like a small Elemental Transport ship, not commercial. The ship’s ID indicates a governmental transport of some kind, with about 30 people.”
“Okay. Let’s play dead; maybe they will try to board us.”
“Just life support barely on…well, that actually isn’t false, ha-ha,” Helma laughs.
“Pass out the weapons.”
“Roger that, Boss.” Gartooth starts handing the weapons.
“They are heading this way,” Pura says. A few minutes pass and they hear the other ship trying to attach to the airlock.
“They will come up to the bridge first, so let’s wait in the storage space downstairs near the airlock. When they come in, they will go down the other hall and up the stairs to the bridge. We will slip onto their ship, de-attach the airlock connector, and trap them here. Then we’ll take over their ship. They will probably send over most of their security since it is a small vessel, and we can trap them on our ship.”
They run down to the storage space and wait. After a few minutes, they finally see seven people who look like security guards running alongside a couple of leader types. Eve senses magic, so one of the leaders must be a sorcerer. She can feel the overwhelming urges of her daughters as they smell food come through the doorway.
“Patience, my pretties. Not that one, but there is probably one on the ship that you can eat. Just wait,” Eve assures her daughters. She sees the intruders go down the other hall.
“Let’s go,” Eve whispers. They pile into the airlock and go across. When they emerge on the other side, there is a human male about 25 years old standing in robes and guarding the door. The young sorcerer, probably an apprentice, is caught off guard. Before he can react, the daughters have plunged their claw hands into his chest and back. They began to suck his life force out of him in a frenzy. His face and body shrivel up like a dried prune as the girls snap him into two pieces in the same fashion as dogs fighting over food. The others freak out over what they just witnessed. They back away from them in fear. Eve feels the satisfaction her daughters felt.
“It’s okay guys. They only eat sorcerers and Undead, so relax. They are just as hungry as we are, they just eat different food. Let us move,” Eve states as she de-attaches the airlock bridge. She then destroys the controls so they cannot be activated again.
“Here is an access panel. I am plugging into the computer, getting the maps for the ship, and um…this is a prison ship: 16 prisoners and 14 crew. Seven are on the other vessel, and four flight crew and two others are still here, considering we just killed one,” 42 says.
“Let’s go up to the bridge first and get control before they figure out they have been duped.”
They head up to the bridge. Upon entering the bridge, the flight crew figures out something is wrong but it is too late. Eve grabs all five of them using telekinesis.
“Bind them. Gartooth, Pura, and Doc, find the last one. 42, figure out how to fly this thing. Helma and Nelma, take navigation and helm stations,” Eve commands quickly.
“I am linked with the ship computers. Fortunately, they did not have time to lock us out. I am changing all the command codes to ones that only we know. We have complete control of the ship now.”
“Good. Back us away from the other ship, and blow our ship up using their weapons.”
“Roger that,” 42 says.
Helma moves the ship away and fires all weapons at the other ship. The ship is quickly destroyed.
“Plot a course back to Reptilian space and let us get out of here.”
Nelma says, “Plotted.”
Rulu says, “Jumping to light speed now. Should be home in 14 days.”
Downstairs on the cell levels, Gartooth’s party sees some cells with prisoners in them, and then spots a human guard who bolts down some stairs at the other end of the hallway. They begin to chase after him. They go down a couple of flights of stairs to the bottom level and then an alert begins blaring.
“Danger! Prisoner escape! Isolation cell red!” The message continues to cycle over and over again.
Gartooth goes down the corridor with the others following behind him. They come down to two doors at a ‘T’ intersection. One door is red and one yellow.
“Special cells that look like they are magically locked. And that peckerwood we are chasing decided to let something out.” Gartooth presses his com badge and says, “Boss, the dude we were chasing let something mean and nasty out of a special cell down on the bottom level.”
42 replies, “Looking it up on the prisoner roster. Says ‘Classified, level one clearance needed to access.’ Sorry, can’t help you.”
“Bah.”
“Um, I think I know what was in that cell,” Doc says, peeking down the other hall. The others come and look as well.
“Yeh…I am pretty sure it is an Arachnid.”
“You think?” Gartooth stares down a hall filled with huge spider webs. “I hate Arachnids. Ha ha. Looks like we don’t have to worry about that human.” As he knocks on the humanoid cocoon in the center of the webs, he also notices that a corpse has been sucked dry.
“Yeh, the webs harden when contact is made—a silicon-based material. Keeps the food fresh until the Arachnid is hungry,” Doc says.
“I could have gone all day without picturing that in my head,” Pura says with a queasy stomach.
“There are two types of Arachnids: sorcerers and warriors. Sorcerers cast webs to catch food, and warriors can go invisible at will and enchant weapons like swords and then track down and kill their prey. It appears this one is a sorcerer. I will inform the Captain,” Doc states. She presses her com badge.
“It appears we have a sorcerer Arachnid running loose down here, Captain.”
“Okay. I am on my way, so wait there.” Minutes later, Eve appears at Gartooth’s location.
“The ship’s diagram shows a cargo area down this corridor and to the left. Let us proceed with caution.” They to go down the hall and turn to the left, creeping through the door that leads into a large cargo chamber. It is filled with huge webs that cover the entire cargo bay. The party stands there staring in astonishment at the size and density of these webs.
“I sense something, but it is not magical, not a sorcerer. It is a familiar presence, telepathic in nature. Not picking anything up on sensors with these hand-held devices, but I feel it,” Eve whispers quietly. She enters the cargo bay slowly and cautiously.
“I know you’re in here. I can feel you. I sense your fear. I am not here to harm you. I feel your pain,” she says transmitting a telepathic message. She receives images of an Arachnid in a laboratory being tortured and experimented on in a horrific manner.
“42, recall that lab data from your memory banks and do a search for Arachnid experiments,” Eve says.
“Yes, Boss,” he says using his com badge. “Yes, it appears they captured a young female Arachnid warrior and did many experiments on it. They made it Undead and used its physiology as a baseline for the disease that was created to destroy the Undead. They also injected PSI enzymes from your DNA sample to see what would happen to a non-telepath. The creature is immune to the Undead disease but is still a carrier. The PSI injections had some unusual effects on the Arachnid, such as being able to cast webs like a sorcerer Arachnid.
“The eyes were altered as well. The subject has the ability to fire energy beams from its eyes that cause catastrophic damage as well as an area-of-effect knockback to things that are close to the target. Her eye beams are similar to the main cannon on a battleship. An eye device was created to modulate and control this effect and wa
s placed on the creature. I would advise proceeding with extreme caution as this ship was not designed to take hits from a battleship cannon.”
“Understood,” Eve acknowledges.
“Geez, you got to be kidding me—freaking laser beam eyes?” Gartooth says with concern as he and the rest of the party back out of the room in fear. Eve has the same concerns but stands there in the middle of the cargo bay in the midst of all the webbing. She switches her sensor scanner to translator mode and finds the setting for Reptilian-Arachnid.
“I know that you are hurt and scared. We have captured this ship, and the people who did this to you have been captured or destroyed. The laboratory that you were in was also destroyed. We are here to help you, not harm you. Please trust me. I can remove the control collar around your neck, but I cannot do it unless I can see you,” Eve reassures. “The sorcerer with the controller for your collar has been destroyed as well.”
A bluish-purple Arachnid appears, hanging from the ceiling webs. She has a human female’s torso with black spider legs and a large red hourglass on her stomach. She is wearing a visor over her eyes and has a control collar around her neck. She also has short, bright orange hair on her head with matching orange lips with protruding fangs.
“There you are…you are so pretty,” Eve says as she unlocks the collar, letting it fall to the ground. “Come down here and let me have a look at you.” The spider slowly crawls down the webs and moves toward Eve. Eve gestures with her hands to come forward. She can still feel the fear coming from this poorly treated creature. Eve walks up to the Arachnid.
“You are truly beautiful. What is your name?” Eve asks.
“Gothica,” she replies.
“That is a good name for an Arachnid. I like your hair,” Eve says, running her fingers through the short orange hair. Eve can feel the fear dissipating from Gothica.
“I want you to meet some friends of mine. They are little scared of you, but it is okay.” Eve gestures for the rest of the group to come inside. The doctor comes inside and the others follow shortly at a slower pace—not too thrilled about meeting in Arachnid.
“My name is Doctor Farshe Mezeenabark, but calling me ‘Doc’ is okay. Pleased to meet you, Gothica. I have never actually met one of your race. Are you hurt in any way?”
Gothica hears the word doctor and suddenly fear takes over.
“Gothica, Doc is not like those people in that laboratory. She is not going to harm you. She actually keeps me and the crew from getting sick or hurt. She just wants to make sure you are okay. This is Gartooth and Pura.”
“Um, hi. Can I go to the bridge and check on the prisoners?” Gartooth says, just looking for any reason to leave.
“Sure.” Eve frowns at Gartooth.
“Hi there. I think you’re an adorable spider-person,” Pura says with a wink. She notices Gothica looking at her jewelry. “Oh, you like jewelry? Here. Take this necklace—it matches your hair.” She offers her the necklace. Gothica hesitantly accepts the gift. Pura helps her put it on.
“Pura, stay with Gothica for a bit, if you don’t mind. I need to get back up to the bridge,” Eve says. “Doc, come on.”
“Sure. I think we will get along just fine, cat and spider. We are both predators, ha-ha. Besides, I want to paint her nails orange to match her hair. I wish I had four arms—that is so cool,” Pura says, getting out her nail kit. “I never leave home without it,” she giggles. Gothica is feeling a lot more comfortable and begins laughing with Pura as she starts painting the nails of one of her four hands.
As Eve and the Doc walk up to the bridge, Eve says, “Just remember that she has been in a laboratory being experimented on, so lay off the poking and prodding if all possible. I know you are curious just like all doctors are, but around her you are probably going to have to explain everything that you do, including touching her or poking or whatever. The poor creature has been tortured enough.”
“I know. I’m just excited about having an Arachnid on board, even though she is Undead. I do not think she really understands what being Undead means. Everyone is going to hate her. Being an Arachnid is hard enough. What about your two daughters? They aren’t worried about being around an Undead, are they? A word of caution: this particular Undead is not one that your daughters would want to feed off of. It will probably kill them. Just make sure they understand that. This is a mutant Undead. Also, I noticed she still has many injuries; she will need to feed on live subjects to heal all of the damage that was done to her. She is probably not susceptible to ultraviolet light like the regular Undead are.”
“I will inform my daughters when I get up to the bridge.”
As they continue down the corridor and walk into the bridge, Eve spots the five prisoners bound up and sitting on the floor.
“Take the prisoners down to the cargo bay, Gartooth.”
“You mean down where the….?”
“There is more space,” Eve interrupts. “One at a time.”
“Yes, Boss.” He clearly does not like this assignment.
Eve sends a telepathic message to Gothica. “Gartooth is bringing some food for you. They are some of the people who captured you.”
When Gartooth brings the first one down into the cargo room, the prisoner begins to scream as soon as she sees the Arachnid. Gartooth tosses the human female into the webs and exits the room to get the next one.
Gothica sees the prisoner and scurries over to the struggling prey. She wants to feed but hesitates, turning around to Pura.
“Whatcha waiting for? I don’t mind. Eat and remember I am a cat. Us cats eat the same way. There is nothing to be ashamed of,” Pura reassures her.
“I am not used to eating in front of people,” Gothica says. The human is screaming in terror by this time.
“Go ahead.”
After hoisting the body up with her four arms, the Arachnid plunges her fangs into the human. The body goes limp after a few minutes, and Gothica feels much better as her wounds heal.
“I feel much better now. I guess I will wrap the others up in a cocoon and eat them later.”
“Yeah, after I eat, I just feel sleepy. Come back over here and let us finish painting your nails. They will look so cool, and they are going to match your hair.” They both giggle.
Back on the bridge, everyone is feeling more at ease now that they are on the way home. They are all eating food from the galley.
“We have plenty of food for us, but I am not sure were going to have enough food for all those prisoners,” Doc says, trying to calculate food consumption.
“Let us get rid of some of the prisoners then. Pull up the prisoner roster and see what we have onboard,” Eve says, entirely unconcerned.
42 pulls up the list on the main Vid screen.
“Looks like we have sixteen prisoners. Eight are telepaths being held on charges of being a telepath. Four are captured telepaths or collaborators. One is a political prisoner. Three are just psycho serial killers who need to be killed.”
“Keep the telepaths and the collaborators alive. That has to be the stupidest law I have ever heard of. Being a criminal just because you are a telepath. I mean, seriously. That is retarded. We will let the telepaths and the collaborators off at home world. Do you have enough food to include the political prisoner?”
“Should be able to manage.”
“Okay, then. The serial killers will be fed to Gothica.”
“The political prisoner is also a sorcerer.”
“Really? That is interesting.” Eve is obviously intrigued. “I am going to go down and talk to our political prisoner. You know what they say, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’” She disappears down the corridor. A few minutes later, she walks by the force field doors of the cells on Level 3. She comes to the appropriate cell according to the prisoner manifests.
“So, Archibald. It says here you’re a political prisoner. It is quite odd for a sorcerer to be a political prisoner in the Elemental Empire.”
The male hu
man replies, “I don’t know who you are or what you are doing on the ship, half-breed…whatever. It’s none of your business why I am here.”
“My, such an attitude. And here I was thinking about releasing you…Guess not.”
“Are you pirates looking for a ransom? Unfortunately, my brother will not pay anything for my release because it was I who tried to overthrow him and assume my rightful place.”
“So you are a failure. A failed sorcerer. You look lonely. I can arrange for some company for you. I will send two of my girlfriends down here to keep you company.”
“I don’t need any of your slutty girlfriends to come down here.”
“They will be here in a few minutes.”
Eve sends a telepathic message to her daughters to come to Cell 18. After a few minutes, her starving girls come around the corner.
“Enjoy, my sweeties.” Eve drops the force field. The girls pounce on the arrogant sorcerer and began draining all of the life force out of him. They rip him to shreds as his screams echo down the hallway.
“Nothing like fresh sorcerer on the table! Or I should say arrogant bastard?”
All three of them head back up to the bridge.
“I think I will name you Xaqu and Chaca Noctu, my daughters. Remember you cannot eat Gothica because she is poisonous to you. She has my blood running through her just as you do. In fact, I think I will adopt her and she will be your sister. So you will need to get along with each other,” Eve says telepathically. “I need to get some education for all three of you and learn some languages.”
After a few days pass, they enter Reptilian space. Eve activates the main Vid screen.
“Contact Fartan Balltail.”
A male Snake appears on the screen.
“Well, how’s my favorite client? I have not heard from you in a while,” Fartan says snidely. There is something undeniably sleazy about this creature.
“Don’t you mean ‘money pit’ that you suck funds from?” Eve says with no sarcasm in mind. “I am going to need a bunch of documents drawn up. Going to need birth certificates for two, which are for my daughters, who are 17 and 18. Citizenship papers as well. I will also need some adoption papers for an Arachnid female, age 17, that I found—also with the citizenship papers. Also, I need some papers made up for a salvaged ship with these serial numbers; it is an elemental transport ship. I am sending over the details now.”
“Looks like you have been busy. I can make all the documents for my usual fee, but the Arachnid is gonna cost you four times as much. Not to mention a lot more bribing.”
“Do not give me that crap! I will give you double for the Arachnid and not a platinum bar more or your wife finds out about your mistress.”
“Okay, calm down. I accept your terms.”
“I will contact my office on our home world and have them transfer the money to you. Make sure you have all those ship documents filed at the port by the time I arrive at the landing pad. The ship still has elemental identifying markers painted on it. I will change the transponder now to the new salvage title identification number. Just tell the port officers that I will be painting the correct numbers after I land. Make sure you do it quickly. I do not need the ship to be confiscated due to improper paperwork. I have already lost an expensive ship this week, not to mention couple of hundred good workers.”
“Also, contact the Consortium consulate and tell them I need papers for twelve telepathic refugees and get reptilian work visas for them; they will be working for me. I will transfer you the information on them shortly.”
“I also need you to make up a couple of shell corporations. Make them complex enough so that it will be difficult for anyone doing research to find out who owns the companies. I am planning some hostile takeovers and company purchases, and I do not want anyone to figure out exactly what I am doing until it is too late. Also, I know that you run across a lot of seedy characters in your profession. I need one of your contacts from the black market, if you can arrange that. I’ll give you 100 platinum bars, 50 for you and 50 for the contact just for setting up the meeting.”
“Sounds like you’ve got big plans. I can smell the money now,” Fartan says, already spending the money in his head before anything has even happened.
“I think when they created the saying ‘Lawyers are a bunch of slimy snakes’ they were thinking about you, Fartan,” Eve remarks.
The Snake man responds, “Why, thank you, My Lady,” even though he is still trying to figure out if that was a compliment or an insult.
After a few days, they enter the port at Hosan and touch down. Their arrival is met with some controversy, though.
“Yes, I see your lawyer filed all the papers on this ship, but he didn’t pay the docking fee or the penalty fee for not having the correct ship identification number painted on the vessel,” the port supervisor insists.
“That is bureaucracy for you,” Gartooth says.
“Okay.” Eve retrieves the currency transfer pad from her vest and pushes some buttons. “There, that should do it,” she sighs.
“Okay. Here is a package your lawyer left,” the supervisor says as he hands her a box. She opens up the box to find it is full of passports and other documents. There is also a note in there from Fartan.
“The Consortium consulate will have the rest of your documents.”
“Okay, guys. Take a month-long vacation. I have some things to attend to, and I added bonuses for everyone for this hardship we have been through. I am going to be working on getting us a new ship. 42, before you take off on vacation I need you to check on the status of our other ships and the funds we have available to buy a new ship.”
“Thanks, Boss.” They speak in unison as they depart on their separate ways.
Doc says, “I don’t think it is a wise idea to allow Gothica to walk around in the city, since she is Undead.”
“We do business with Arachnid merchants here in the home world. They even have a consulate here. Granted, there are not very many of them here. They may be a rare sight, but they are hardly a disruption. As far as being Undead, the only reason you think that is because you know she is Undead. But look at her: she looks like any other Arachnid; her coloring has not changed or anything. You said yourself she is a mutant Undead. I mean, they eat the same things in the same way whether they are alive or Undead. The sun has no effect on her. Trust me: no one will know. Besides, she will probably walk around invisible most of the time because she is so shy.”
“Hmm…That is true. You know me, though. I am just a worry wart.”
Eve chuckles. “That is the truth.”
“I will do more research on Arachnids while I am on vacation. I will read a lot of books and stuff. I am a curious person.”
“That is fine, Doc. I will call you and we’ll do lunch sometime next week.”
“Sure.” The Wolfkin waves goodbye as a taxi hovercraft appears and scoops her up. About that time, a rather large hovercraft appears in front of Eve. It is a luxury model with all the bells and whistles. A human chauffeur gets out and goes to the other side to open the door.
“Hi, Henry. I see you have been keeping my prized limousine in good condition while I have been gone. I do not have any baggage this time around, since I unfortunately lost my ship, but I’m going to go shopping with my daughters. Say hello to Xaqu and Chaca and my adopted daughter, Gothica,” Eve announces.
Henry is alarmed by the sight of Gothica, who has changed her Arachnid legs into two humanoid legs while still retaining her four arms.
They all get into the eight-seater hovercraft that contains Vid screens and other cool gadgets.
“Take us down to the market center. Stop at Giuliana’s store first, Henry.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay, girls. Stay close to me; do not wander. And no eating people, okay?” Eve knows this is an odd thing to have to say, but chuckles inside nevertheless.
“Gothica, people are not used to seeing Arachnids on this planet, so they
might stare at you. Do not be alarmed. If you just want to walk around with us, being invisible is fine.”
“Okay. I am nervous anyway.”
“We are nervous, too,” the sisters say telepathically to Gothica and Eve.
“Well, if anyone messes with us, we will just eat them,” Gothica says with sarcasm, winking at Xaqu and Chaca. All three of them laugh. Eve frowns at them, but then laughs.
“No eating people…young ladies,” Eve says with a smirk. Gothica, being a warrior Arachnid, has the ability to enchant magic weapons, so she can enchant some items and let her adopted sisters drain the magic for food.
The first stop they make is at a clothes shop. They enter the rather large boutique and start trying on clothes. Gothica stays invisible and follows them. Luckily, Eve can still see Gothica even when she is invisible. The doctor had told Eve that the more contact she has with the three girls, the more she will pick up their traits or any other phenomenon the exhibit, because they are mutant versions of her own DNA. The girls might also pick up some of their mother’s traits.
“So put the ones you like into that basket and I will pay for them. Those outfits you are trying on now are cute, so just keep those on. I will buy them, too.”
They pick up their packages and climb back into the large limousine. They head down the street to an Arachnid vendor Eve remembered seeing before. They pull up in front of a small shop and go inside. Gothica decides not go invisible this time.
Upon entering the store, they see two Arachnid shopkeepers wearing beautiful silk clothes. There are Arachnid clothes of all types and sizes hanging from the walls and turnstiles. The beautiful coloring of the clothes is one of the most fascinating things about this little store. Exotic jewelry and metal weapons, daggers, throwing items, and bows are also hanging in a different parts of the shop.
“Greetings. I am Vosha and this is my assistant Higja,” Vosha says, speaking for both female Arachnids.
Eve speaks. “Hello. Nice shop you have here. These are my daughters, Xaqu and Chaca, and step-daughter, Gothica.”
“Don’t get many Arachnid customers in these parts, unfortunately. Most of my sales are jewelry and weapons. You have beautiful daughters. I think we can accommodate Gothica very well here.”
“Good, because she needs some clothes and other stuff.”
Vosha looks Gothica over.
“She is pretty big, even for an Arachnid. Must be in the warrior class with those muscles. I have some fashionable Arachnid clothes and some warrior armor in her size.” She signals to her assistant to fetch the merchandise. The assistant comes back with some boxes, and all of the ladies, including the sisters, start putting clothes on Gothica. She picks about nine outfits and three sets of Arachnid warrior armor that fit her. She also gets some shoes and combat boots specially designed for Arachnids.
“Every good warrior needs some weapons. Let us go and look these weapons over so you can pick what you like,” the shopkeeper suggests.
Gothica examines some of the weapons and swings a few.
“I like the swords, but I need four of them.”
“All of our weapons are made in fours for obvious reasons. Here are the other two. These are made out of Osmiridium metal, which is harder than diamonds— extremely hard to break and very easy for a warrior to enchant. Very expensive at 100 platinum bars each. They come with matching sheaths that snap onto your armor.”
“We will take them,” Eve says.
Gothica takes the swords, holds all four in the air, and starts to mumble. “Ney cha fer do asa met u” The swords light up with magical flames. The feat is surprisingly impressive to all the ladies there—not something many get to witness. They clap in excitement. Gothica then enchants her armor, too.
“Now I know you ladies will want some jewelry to go with all your new clothes.” Walking over to the jewelry section, Xaqu spots a snake staff that she likes and asks her mother if she can have it.
“Yes, dear, you can get it. I think it will look great with your outfits.”
“I can enchant it for you, too, Xaqu,” Gothica says. Xaqu’s face is filled with happiness. They continue to try on jewelry for a couple of hours before they leave.
“Take us home, Henry.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
They arrive home. Eve shows them around and assigns each of them their rooms. Then they stay up talking, playing games and, of course, laughing a lot. The girls have never had this much fun in all of their lives.