Chapter 24
G reta pressed herself into a shadowed alcove between two ruptured bulkheads, heart hammering against her ribs. Another click — closer. Then the low, resonant thrum of a large body moving through water, displacing it with powerful tail strokes.
A rival.
She caught a glimpse as he passed the junction twenty meters away — massive indigo frame, silver jaw markings glowing faintly, powerful tail cutting through the corridor with predatory grace.
He was tracking her scent, head tilted, gills flaring wide as he tasted the water for any trace of her. He hadn’t seen her yet, but he was close. Too close.
Greta’s mind raced. Open water was behind her, but the rival now blocked the most direct exit route. She was alone in an unfamiliar metal maze with a predator between her and freedom.
Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Klari, where are you?
She waited until he moved past the junction, then slipped out and took a different corridor — narrower, darker, lined with collapsed ceiling panels that created a natural obstacle course.
Her tail moved silently, pink scales blending with the faint rose glow of the emergency lights. She used every trick she knew from years of crawling through tight engineering spaces on Earth:
Stay low, minimize disturbance, read the flow of water through the breaches.
But he was fast. Even at prowling speed.
Another series of clicks — closer this time. He had doubled back. She darted into a side passage, heart pounding, and pressed herself flat against a collapsed ceiling panel.
The rival swam past the entrance, so close she could see the fresh scars on his flanks and the hungry glint in his golden eyes. He paused, tasting the water again. For one terrifying second his gaze swept toward her hiding place.
A single moment stretched. She shut her eyes and prayed for help, from any deity that might be watching.
He continued down the main corridor.
Greta exhaled shakily and kept moving, weaving deeper into the wreck.
She passed through what might have once been a command deck — shattered viewports looking out into sand, overturned command chairs, consoles dark except for one flickering screen that showed nothing but static and the ghostly outline of a long-dead star map.
She used the floating debris for cover, slipping behind drifting panels, sliding through holes in bulkheads too small for the rival’s broader frame.
She had no idea where he was now. He could be right around the next corner. Being unable to see him was almost as bad as having right there in front of her.
BANG !
The heavy thud reverberated through the hull as he slammed into a narrow passage behind her.
Greta let out a terrified scream. Screeeeeeee!
He struggled, trying to force his way through. Metal groaned.
Greta swam faster, tail burning with effort.
The narrow corridor blurred past her in streaks of corroded metal and flickering amber emergency lights. Every powerful stroke sent a fresh spike of pain through her muscles, but she pushed harder, refusing to slow. Behind her, the rival was no longer silent.
She could hear him now.
Not just the sharp clicks of echolocation, but low, aggressive grunts that echoed off the walls like a predator losing patience. The heavy scrape of claws against metal followed — sharp, frantic, relentless.
He tore through the obstacles she had slipped past so easily, ripping away collapsed panels and shattered conduits with raw brute force. The sound of twisting steel and crashing debris grew louder with every second.
He was closing the distance.
Greta risked a glance over her shoulder. In the stuttering light she caught a flash of indigo muscle and silver jaw markings, his massive frame slamming sideways into a bulkhead as he forced his way through a gap that had barely slowed her down.
The impact rang through the corridor like a struck gong. He snarled — a deep, guttural sound that vibrated through the water and into her bones.
“Come here, little prize,” he growled, voice distorted and ugly. “You can’t run forever.”
Wanna bet?
The words sent a fresh jolt of adrenaline through her. She whipped around a corner, tail flicking hard to propel her into a tighter side passage.
The rival crashed after her, shoulders scraping against the walls with a screech of metal on scale. He was too big, too furious, too impatient. Every time she slipped through a narrow breach or darted under a fallen beam, he had to smash his way through, leaving dents and torn plating in his wake.
The sounds grew louder. Closer.
A heavy thud. Another grunt of effort. The scrape of claws dragging along the ceiling as he propelled himself faster.
Greta’s gills flared wide, sucking in water as fast as she could. She couldn’t afford to let him get his hands on her. She would never escape.
Her heart hammered against her ribs. She could feel the current of his pursuit pushing against her back — the displaced water from his powerful tail strokes washing over her like a threat.
He was right behind her now.
She could almost feel the heat of his rage.
The timer ticked louder. Twenty-four minutes. Maybe.
She spotted a hull breach ahead — a jagged tear in the outer plating, narrow and twisted like a lightning bolt frozen in metal.
Perfect. Too tight for him.
Greta shot toward it, squeezing through the sharp edges. They scraped her pink scales, leaving thin, stinging lines of darker rose, but she made it. Cold open water rushed over her as she burst out the other side, relief flooding her chest.
It lasted half a second.
The rival had emerged from an exit ramp.
He slammed into her from the side with terrifying speed, massive arms wrapping around her waist and dragging her hard against his chest.
Greta twisted violently, tail thrashing, claws raking across his shoulder, but he was stronger, built for exactly this. His silver jaw markings flared bright as he bared sharp teeth in a triumphant snarl.
“My little pink prize,” he growled, voice distorted and ugly through the water. “Running from me was stupid. Very stupid. You cannot prevent what was always destined to happen.”
His grip tightened, one clawed hand sliding down to pin her tail against his. He tried to pull her closer, hips already pressing forward with aggressive intent, cock emerging from its slit as he sought to force a claim right there against the wrecked hull.
Greta struggled harder, but he only laughed — low and cruel — and shoved her back against the cold metal plating, pinning her there with his greater bulk.
His face loomed over hers, golden eyes bright with hunger.
“You may have already been claimed by another but it will be I who own you in the end.”
He leaned in, mouth aiming for her neck, body pressing her harder against the wreck as the timer inside her chest screamed its warning.
But it was too slow.
She couldn’t die here. Not now. She still had minutes left.
Please Klari. Please come find me. Please!