Chapter 49
Vytln
Beautiful. An absolutely beautiful menace.
If Vytln hadn’t been in love with Haven before, he would have fallen for her now.
Watching her work, doing her best pestering, was like watching an artist at work.
He could only offer his body and what little remained of his strength – which wasn’t much and was fading fast. But she didn't need him to cause problems for people. She was trouble all on her own.
Right outside of the viewing room, she used him to climb up into the ceiling. He didn't see what she did, but it set off the alarms yet again. And, just like before, they only rang for a moment before her termites, wherever they were, silenced them.
She came down then and led him away. She did the same thing at two more spots in the ceiling before she called out.
“Gotting it!”
“What did you get?” Vytln asked, looking at the foot he could see poking out of the hole she’d knocked out of the ceiling.
Soft tile covered the hard metal so it looked nicer, and it created a small space that, normally, a lvtl wouldn’t be able to climb in.
Not just because it was too small, but because those soft ceiling tiles wouldn’t hold their weight.
But Haven fit comfortably and, spreading out her weight, she could stay up there without a problem.
“I am close enough for my termites to getting to the ship’s nanobot main center.”
The nanobot center? “Okay. And what does that mean?”
She giggled wickedly. “It is meaning I am having control over them. Which is meaning I can use them to destroy this place!”
Almost every ship, especially the big ones, had nanobots. Their primary purpose was to monitor the hull for integrity. However, they could also do some minor repairs to the hull in case that integrity was compromised.
However, if someone took control of them, and then used that same ability to instead begin digging holes into the hull…
Haven was such a vicious, devious, evil little thing. Her foot was bouncing happily as she did whatever technological magic she worked to gain control of the ship. While everyone was trapped inside, unable to get the evac pods to launch, she was digging tiny holes into the hull.
The pressure difference from inside a starship to the vacuum of space, on the whole, wasn’t actually that drastic.
Sure, the vacuum of space wanted to suck all the air from a room, but holes, if they were small, could only pull air out so fast. And doing it that way meant Haven could slowly, gradually, carefully drain the ship of all its air.
And while the ship crew should have the envirosuits as well, there would be those that hadn’t put theirs on for whatever reason.
She was methodically, evilly, wickedly being a danger to everyone on this ship.
Doing everything he’d known was a possibility when he first realized there was someone moving around the Humility’s walls.
Haven, for all that she was small and innocent appearing, was an absolute problem to an entire starship.
So beautiful.
Vytln leaned against the wall, trying to rest the more injured side of his body, as she muttered and mumbled to herself from above.
He wasn’t aware of what she was doing, but he could see the sealed doors at the end of the halls and could see, based on the control console beside the door, the moment the halls to their other sides started losing pressure.
All the bulkhead doors closed and sealed, airtight, the moment the ship detected a hull breach. They didn't lock, however. Just because all doors sealed didn't mean all areas of the ship were compromised. It was a safety feature to ensure that the breach was contained.
However, if the area beyond a door was depressurized, the force of it would pull on the bulkhead door.
Not much. Just enough that it would trigger the permanent lock, keeping anyone from opening the door accidentally.
It was a failsafe so that no one was locked up in a ship if they didn't have to be, but also so that no one would open a door to a breached area and spread the breach further.
The best part was that it required no power to do so.
Even in the event of total power failure, the locking system would still be in place, keeping any surviving crew and passengers safe.
By looking at the consoles, he could tell the moment the other side became depressurized, because the console suddenly turned red, flashing slowly, warning anyone that might try it that the door could not be opened.
That it certainly shouldn’t be. First one door, then the other, until the hall they were in was surrounded by the vacuum of space.
Haven’s foot disappeared, and a moment later her head was poking over the side of the ceiling tile. She looked so preciously evil as she smiled down at him.
Perfect. He had an absolutely perfect mate. Even broken and battered and pained, he felt his cocks twitching, trying to rise for her. Eager to breed such a wonderful female again just to make sure his younglings were as powerful and formidable as her.
It wasn’t the time, of course. Not because he was injured.
He didn't think any injury – save probably one directly to his cock or sac – would be enough to deter him like that. Only because he couldn’t safely get her out of that suit did he not take her now.
Right in the heart of their enemy’s ship, fucking on top of their victory over them, would be an excellent way to finish this out.
But he wouldn’t put her at risk like that. It didn't matter that his envirosuit readouts indicated that the air around him was still pressurized, assuring him that she’d kept them safe. The hull breach was only one door away to either side of the hall. He would not risk her in that manner.
The moment he had her in a safe place, however, he was going to strip her out of that suit, and spank her little ass, punishing her for being such an evil, wicked female.
Then fuck her until she screamed, rewarding her for the very same.
Oh, he could not wait to build her new trap.
He was going to include so many places to strap her down, to tie her up, to claim her while she squirmed and thrashed and screamed, defying and tempting him in equal measure.
“I’ve most of the ship broken,” she said, completely oblivious to the direction his thoughts had taken.
“I’m only missing this hallway, the bridge, and the engine room.
I don’t wanting to damage any of the bridge consoles so we can still use them.
And I’m having the nanobots overloading the engine and subspace generator so we can make this place exploding! ”
“Great work,” Vytln praised, so proud of her. “You can decompress the bridge though. All the components there will be safe to continue working even in the void.”
“There are people in there,” she said, giving him an odd look.
“There are people all over the ship,” he agreed unsure of what she meant.
“Yl’ln is in there,” she said. Still gazing at him with those patient, expectant eyes.
Ah. She thought he would be conflicted about killing the female that he had once considered taking for his mate.
But he hadn’t claimed Yl’ln. Instead, Yl’ln had let Kldyn claim her.
Vytln had a better female. And while he wasn’t precisely comfortable with the idea of killing females in general, when it came down to it, this was a matter of survival, and everyone else’s life was forfeit if it meant protecting Haven.
“Is there anyone else in the bridge?” He asked.
“Four others.”
“Bridge crew. Navigation and pilot at the very least. Unless Kldyn has changed things, the other two will be defenses and communications.”
“Right.”
“They’re specialized fields, so they’re not going to be the best fighters.
Not to say they can’t, just that they won’t be as skilled at it.
Yl’ln, however, is a very good fighter. She’s fast and she’s tricky.
She’s the type you can’t let get behind you.
And I don’t have the ability to take her on right now. ”
Haven cocked her head at him. “Are you okay?”
She was so kind. So thoughtful.
So innocent.
Despite what a problem she could be for others, she really underestimated just how little Vytln cared for anyone that wasn’t her.
“I’m fine,” he promised, and the words were genuine. “Is everyone on the bridge wearing their envirosuits?”
She checked her tablet, tapping at it a couple times, before nodding once. “Yes. All five.”
“I can’t take on all five. And I can’t fight Yl’ln. She’d be much faster than me right now, and she would be able to overpower me.”
“Right.” Haven made a face.
Frowning, she put her head in her hand. Tapping her fingers against her cheek as she thought for a moment.
Vytln said nothing. Just letting her plot and plan.
Trusting her completely. She was rescuing him, and she was doing an amazing job.
He was just going to let it happen and enjoy bearing witness to her at her most powerful, most devious, most destructive.
“Oh! I know!” She suddenly perked up.
Laughing evilly, she grabbed onto the edge of the hole and slid out.
She swung her body around in a neat, controlled flip.
The contrast between her graceful figure, sweeping elegantly through the air, and the bulk of her leather jacket, was entrancing.
She dropped down, landing with a neat little flourish of her hands before laughing and bringing up her tablet.
“First, I’m going to depressure this room,” she said, typing out some commands to her termites - and the nanobots that the termites commanded.
Vytln didn't notice any change physically.
But the display on his envirosuit alerted him that the area around him was losing pressure.
It happened slowly, he knew she must be having the nanobots carve many small holes throughout the ship.
It was such a gradual thing, he felt not a single change as his suit adapted to the new environment.
The consoles blocking the door also lost their red warning sign.
The pressure difference exerted on the door that would have set the lock was gone.
Which meant that the lock was also gone.
They could move freely between the rooms as if they were pressurized normally.
Though the air had all been stolen from the room, the ship itself was still intact.
The fact that not a single announcement of evac pod launching had been made, however, told him that Haven still had absolute control.
“There!” She smiled at him. “Now, we go.”
“And they still inside?”
“Got it covered!” She beamed, holding up her metal cutter. The pointed end got super heated, but it did not use actual fire, so it was still fully functional even in an airless environment.
Vytln trailed after her, each step sending electric fire screaming up his leg from his knee injury. He was limping and could not move fast. He kept the hammer he’d taken tight in his hand, but he knew better than to think he could use it well. Not right now.
But if he had to, he’d drive his body to the very brink to keep Haven safe.
He didn't care if he never walked again, if he lost this leg entirely, it would be worth it. As far as he was concerned, he’d already lived through the worst possible eventuality – losing Haven.
Nothing else could compare to that, so everything else was worth sacrificing.
But Haven didn't take him to the bridge like he was expecting. Instead, she led him to the med bay. It was completely empty. No one had lingered around here. Everyone who wasn’t trying to fix the problems with the ship were probably all hiding in the evac pods, trying to get them to launch.
He wasn’t that surprised that the space was empty.
“Okay!” Haven called out, rushing to the storage units. He thought she might be reaching for the medicines. A pain killer would help a great deal right now. It wouldn’t stop him from damaging his limbs, but if he didn't have to fight through the pain, he could move better.
But she didn't come up with medicines. Instead, she stood with spare first aid kits in hand. The kind used to distribute around the ship for those who couldn’t get to the medbay, or who needed to be stabilized before being taken to medbay.
She began opening them and grabbing the splint kits. Metal rods and bandages for wrapping.
“Come here,” she said, gesturing him forward.
Confused, but not unwilling, he followed as she sat him down in a chair.
She kneeled down and, using two short rods meant for his arm, began stabilizing his knee.
But in such a way that the hinge action of his knee wasn’t impacted.
For a broken knee, a hinge splint like that was useless.
But he realized what she was doing as she was tying the gauze around the rods.
She wasn’t splinting his leg, she was giving it extra support. Trying to help him distribute the weight off the knee so he could move easier.
Then, she reached out and touched the wall.
When she brought her hand back, it was covered in her termites and a brighter sheen that he realized were the ship’s own nanobots.
As he watched, she wiped them on his leg.
They began to spread and move, centering on the hinge part of her splints.
She brought up her tablet and began tapping quickly.
It wasn’t done fast, but they had plenty of time.
And when she finally stood, stepping back with a fierce, satisfied smile, he didn't need her to tell him to try standing. The metal support frame she’d built around his leg went with him.
The termites and nanobots moving the splints as he did, helping to support his steps.
It still hurt. His knee was still broken, he knew. But he could move.
Smirking with satisfaction, he moved to one of the drawers and, after a short search, found a medicine injector.
He yanked it out and loaded it with one of the pain medicines.
He put it to the neck of the envirosuit and the two devices communicated enough that the suit opened a hatch specifically for medical application.
The medicine was short straight into his neck. It was a rush of relief, spreading over his body like sinking into a soothing, hot bath. A temporary measure, but between the pain meds and the basic robotics built around his broken leg, he felt like a renewed male.
“Perfect,” he said, talking to Haven. “You really are a wonder.”
She beamed, bouncing happily on her feet. “I’ve been learning trying to build Alred’s body. It’s not going to lasting forever.”
“It doesn’t have to.” He tossed the hammer up and caught it. The air might all have been gone, but the gravity generators were working just fine. “You’re a wonder to me, Haven. Now, let’s go deal with the bridge crew.”