Thin appendages dug into Theo’s shoulder. He stumbled back. Whatever landed on Theo was heavy. It threw him off balance. The floor raced to meet Theo. He stuck his hands out before he could slam his head against the ground.

  The creature crawled around Theo. Its pincers stabbed through his jumpsuit and into flesh.

  Theo got his arms beneath the monster, and shoved with all his might. He managed to throw the monster off. It twisted its many limbs around, then scurried up the wall.

  Clive slammed through the door and raced to Theo’s side.

  “Are you okay?” He asked.

  Theo glanced down at himself. His jumpsuit was torn in several places, and beneath, he had a variety of scratch marks. Some bled.

  The creature reached the ceiling. Its eyes focused on Theo and Clive. The pair backed to the corner of the room.

  Clive brought up his comm, and Theo did the same.

  “Captain, one of the aliens is in the reactor room,” Theo said.

  ? ? ?

  “What! Is this a–no, you don’t joke.” Ryder huffed. “Walk me through it, gentlemen.”

  “The alien is on the ceiling. I think it plans to attack us,” Clive said.

  “We need to get out,” Theo added.

  And leave the reactor in a broken state?

  “No! Not yet!” Ryder snapped.

  “There’s an alien in the reactor?” Naoki said. Because, of course, Ryder needed another problem.

  Naoki showed up to the galley a few minutes ago, and decided he would set up shop there. The fucker didn’t even ask if he could help with anything; he just worked on his reports and silently judged.

  “What does the alien look like?” Ryder asked.

  “Kind of like a cockroach,” Clive said.

  Like a cockroach. The Aranea thing looked like a giant cockroach to Ryder.

  “Okay, okay,” Ryder said.

  “I’m calling Erika,” Naoki said.

  “I’ve got this!” Ryder hissed.

  Naoki’s IRIS glowed blue as he made the call. Ryder wanted to order Naoki to stop, but that would waste time.

  “Okay, you’re looking at the Aranea,” Ryder said.

  Naoki talked with Erika. The noise was distracting.

  “Is there a way to deal with the alien?” Theo asked.

  “Well, uh, subdue it. You can hold the thing down, right?” Ryder said.

  Something crashed over the radio.

  Theo was silent.

  Ryder held his breath.

  “Do you have a method to subdue it?” Theo asked.

  The elevator opened, and Erika hurried out.

  “What’s going on?” She asked.

  “Let me patch you into the call; I forgot all about that,” Naoki said.

  “No, let me handle it.” Ryder was too late; Erika’s icon appeared in the chat.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Um, this is Erika. Theo, Clive, can you tell me what’s going on?”

  “The Aranea’s loose in here!” Clive’s radio picked up hissing in the background.

  “Okay. I think a team with a net gun can take care of this,” Erika said.

  “Who said you had permission to do that?” Ryder demanded.

  Erika reeled.

  “She’s giving us good advice,” Naoki said.

  Ryder turned away from the SmallWorld people.

  “Theo, Clive, find something to hit the Aranea with. When it’s stunned, jump on top of it,” Ryder said.

  “That’s too dangerous,” Erika said.

  “Not for my crew.” Ryder couldn’t let the scientists get involved. The Hell’s Ark was his ship, and he would solve the problem his way.

  ? ? ?

  That’s too dangerous. Erika’s words rattled around Theo’s skull.

  The Aranea clicked again. It perched itself on top of the reactor core, and stared down at Theo and Clive.

  “We need to leave,” Theo said.

  “The Captain told us to stay,” Clive responded.

  Theo wasn’t sure why he bothered. He was tempted to walk out of the room and leave Clive to do whatever he wanted, though Theo wouldn’t abandon Clive.

  While keeping his eyes on the creature, Theo reached for the hammer on his tool belt. He didn’t know how effective it would be against the alien, but if the creature attacked, Theo would defend himself.

  Clive pulled out a screwdriver.

  “I’m going to knock it down. Ready?” He asked.

  “Ready,” Theo answered.

  Clive threw the screwdriver. Theo expected it to miss, but Clive struck the Aranea in its abdomen.

  The alien fell, limbs thrashing as it went. It hit the ground with an impact so loud that Theo thought the creature died. The Aranea scrambled back to its feet and hissed.

  Clive lunged at the creature. Theo did the same out of instinct.

  Sorry about this.

  Theo’s hammer cracked against the Aranea’s face. The creature stumbled back. It dragged a few of its limbs.

  Theo scrambled duct tape from his tool belt. He grabbed one of the Aranea’s limbs to hold in place. He felt like he was gripping a cockroach. Theo instinctively let go.

  The Aranea skittered out of reach, close to the reactor core.

  Clive stepped forward, hammer ready.

  The Aranea lunged.

  ? ? ?

  Another crash over the radio.

  Ryder winced. He lowered the volume on his IRIS so the noise didn’t blow his eardrums out. Ryder felt guilty doing so, but he didn’t need to hear every crash and bang for the job to get done.

  The elevator doors opened. Petra and Aymeric spilled out, concerned looks on their faces. Oh great, more opinions.

  “Is something happening? How can we help?” Petra asked.

  “Who made this a hang out spot?” Ryder asked.

  “How can we help?” Aymeric demanded.

  “You are going to sit still and wait for my professionals to take care of this thing,” Ryder said.

  “The Aranea is loose in the reactor room,” Naoki added.

  “So why aren’t we doing anything about it?” Aymeric’s voice was rising.

  “Because Theo and Clive have this under–” A crash over the radio interrupted what Ryder was going to say.

  “We really need to get down there,” Naoki said.

  “Let my people handle it,” Ryder said through his teeth.

  Naoki shook his head at Ryder. He marched to the elevator.

  “Excuse me?” Ryder demanded.

  Naoki hit the button to open the elevator doors.

  Ryder pulled up the Captain’s Override, and locked the elevator down before the doors could open.

  Naoki hit the button a few more times.

  “This is my boat, remember? I call the shots, now and always,” Ryder said.

  Naoki glared at Ryder, and Ryder couldn’t help but grin back.

  ? ? ?

  Erika expected Naoki to do something. He wouldn’t attack Ryder or force the elevator doors open on his own, but Naoki would do something. He had to.

  Naoki sighed through his nose, and his expression shifted back to neutral.

  “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Naoki said.

  “I do,” Ryder said. The Captain had no clue what he was doing, though. If he did, he would let the scientists go to the reactor room.

  Clive shouted over the radio. The Aranea hissed in the background.

  If Naoki wasn’t going to do something, then someone else would. Petra was bold; she’d stand up to Ryder. The same was true for Aymeric. Hell, even Mi-Cha, who had been silent in the pilot’s chair, could pitch in to help her crew. Erika could march to the ladder in the corner of the room, and go down all by herself.

  Why don’t you do that?

  The question left Erika stunned. And yeah, why didn’t she do what she wanted to? She was technically the lead investigator and she had the power to make these kinds of decisions. Even if she wasn’t the lead investigator, even if Luther was here and agreed with Ryder, Erika should make her own decision.

  Erika faced Ryder.

  “You won’t let us help?” She asked.

  “My men are tough; they don’t need babysitters,” Ryder said.

  Erika nodded. Then she marched toward the ladder.

  Petra gasped from behind, and hurried to Erika’s side. Aymeric followed.

  “Where the hell are you three going?” Ryder demanded.

  Erika reached the ladder.

  She turned, and made the mistake of looking at Ryder. His face had turned into a thunderous mask Erika had never seen before.

  This is the face of the traitor.

  Erika had no concrete proof, of course, but there was enough circumstantial evidence for Erika’s rogue thought to ring true.

  “Get back here. Now,” Ryder growled.

  Erika slipped down the ladder.