Chapter 18 #2
We leave his personal chamber and move through the Beast again. The warm organic corridors feel familiar now, though I still can't look at them for too long without remembering that we're walking through the insides of a living creature.
The Beast's pulse travels beneath our feet in a steady rhythm, while crewmembers hurry past carrying bundles of biological equipment I can't identify.
After everything we've learned about Sophia, I'm eager to move forward, yet the activity around us makes me suspect that finding her won't be simple.
As we continue deeper into the ship, I notice that the atmosphere has changed.
The battle is over, yet the Beast feels more active than before.
Membranes open and close constantly. Messengers hurry from one chamber to another.
Groups of locusts cluster around tablets covered in writing before dispersing again.
"What are they doing?" I ask.
Krix'vorr glances toward a group of crew before answering. "The battle ended. Now we determine what it means."
I consider that while we walk. On an Earth vessel there would be reports, tactical reviews, sensor analysis, intelligence summaries, and enough bureaucracy to bury everyone involved beneath paperwork.
The locust version appears more direct. It looks like information flows toward the strongest mind available.
That mind examines it and decides what happens next.
When we enter the command chamber, the atmosphere changes immediately. Several crewers rise from kneeling positions. Others stop what they're doing and bow their heads.
The giant viewing lenses still show stars drifting past outside, though many of the secondary lenses now display enlarged images of the damaged enemy vessel, fragments of the wreckage field, and biological diagrams that seem to depict injuries suffered by the Beast during combat.
Nobody waits for Krix'vorr to ask questions.
Information begins flowing toward him immediately.
One crew member presents a tablet. Another reports observations from the battle.
A third provides updates on the enemy vessel's condition.
Krix'vorr stands in the center of the chamber while information arrives from every direction.
Occasionally he asks a question. More often he glances at a report, hands it back, and moves on to the next one.
Watching him is strangely fascinating. A few hours ago I watched him command a living warship in battle.
Now I'm watching him command information with the same confidence.
He never appears rushed. He never appears uncertain.
The crewers seem to know exactly what he expects from them, and he seems to know exactly what to ask.
Lucius comes buzzing, staying out of the way close to the wall. “As far as I can gather, they’re trying to find out where those Gzet aliens took Captain Crendle. They keep assuming that she’s dead and that her body was taken. The wreckage looked too damaged for her to be alive.”
“I still think she is,” I tell him softly, satisfied that finally I can tell him something new. “Because the Gzet are a slave trader species that like to permanently alter their captives and then sell them. To me, it seems unlikely that they would bring a dead body anywhere.”
The drone lifts his front edge, an AI’s way of displaying surprise. “Really? Krix’vorr told you that?” His voice is barely audible, even if it’s projected only at my ear for privacy.
“He’s on top of things, Lucius. I think we’ll find Sophia pretty soon.”
“And then Krix’vorr will have two captives,” the drone points out, his light a tense yellow.
I don’t like his tone. “Mhm. Am I a captive? Krix’vorr claims that he rescues me and would take me back to Earth if I would tell him where it is.”
“He obviously wants to know where Earth is so he can strip it bare.”
“Well, yeah. We know that. But we should think of what to do when we find Sophia.”
The drone hovers closer and lowers his voice even more. “I want to point out that Earth’s position weakens a great deal if she’s found. Because then the locust will have two captives, and twice the chances of one of them telling him where Earth is.”
"Sophia would never tell him," I state with conviction. "She knows the stakes here." But even as I say it, Krix'vorr's words echo back at me — they modify bodies and minds — and for one cold instant I wonder what's left of the Sophia I knew, if the Gzet have had her for weeks.
“Not willingly,” Lucius agrees.
A thought passes through my mind: Lucius has not been a reliable helper since the minefield, and I can’t live with that.
I need to know that he's fully on my side, and fully committed to the best outcome.
“And what do you want me to do?” I add with fake nonchalance, hoping he gives me the only right answer to that. “Kill her and then myself?”
“I didn’t suggest that,” the drone sniffs. “But that would eliminate all the risk.”
A coldness goes down my back at him giving me the wrong answer so casually.
I stiffen, then slowly turn to face him square on. “What did I tell you about that kind of talk?”
“I’m sorry, Captain,” the drone says, his light an alarmed light blue. “I went back to my old routi-”