Erika stood by the exit to the storeroom with her net gun in hand. The Carnifex, as far as anyone knew, hadn’t left the lab storage. The door Erika stood over was the only way in and out of the room. If the Carnifex wanted to step out, it would have to go through Erika first.

  Petra and Clive padded through the racks with shock spears in hand. They were the scouts, and when they found the Carnifex, they’d lure it over to Erika, who would tangle it up in a net. Once the Carnifex was down, everyone would zap the alien with shock spears to keep it immobilized long enough to get it into a holding cell.

  You’ll be able to study it in the cage, until a permanent solution comes up. That thought came so far from a good future that it almost made Erika giggle. She kept her composure, and kept sweeping the darkness with her gaze.

  “Oh shit,” Petra whispered. “Left corner, guys.”

  Erika looked into the corner, but couldn’t really see. She trusted that the Carnifex was where Petra said it was. Erika aimed the net gun into the corner. Her finger trembled on the trigger.

  Petra waved Clive over, and the pair stalked to the corner.

  “Keep some distance. Remember, the Carnifex needs somewhere to run,” Erika said.

  Petra and Clive moved closer together to form a wall. Petra rose a hand to her helmet, and turned the flashlight on. The corner of the room lit up. So did the Carnifex. The alien’s gleaming exoskeleton darted out of the light.

  “Erika!” Petra shouted.

  Erika stepped back. She gripped the net gun too tight. It was better than holding it too gently.

  A shape moved in the darkness.

  Erika aimed the net gun.

  The Carnifex appeared only meters away.

  Erika pulled the trigger.

  The net flung through the air, and hit the alien. The Carnifex crashed to the ground in a series of high pitched whistles.

  “It’s down!” Erika tossed the net gun to the side, and grabbed the shock spear she’d leaned against the wall.

  Sorry about this.

  Erika jabbed the spear into the net.

  The Carnifex writhed and whistled.

  Petra and Clive came up and stabbed at the alien.

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  The Carnifex tried to shake its way out, but there was nowhere for it to go. Its clawed hands were balled up and held close to its chest. Erika hadn’t noticed that behavior when the Carnifex was first captured. In her defense, the first capture took place in acid rain, and she couldn’t see all the details.

  The Carnifex jerked its arm forward. It didn’t break through the net, but something round came through.

  Erika scrambled back.

  The cylindrical object bounced on the ground with a metallic noise. It rolled to a stop.

  “Hey, uh, Erika?” Petra pointed to the sphere.

  The object broke into a supernova.

  Erika could only see white. Her ears rung. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to cover her ears, but her helmet stopped her from touching her head. Erika stumbled backward, and clipped the edge of the door on her way out.

  That was a flash bang. The Carnifex made a flash bang.

  Shapes were coming back. Barely.

  The Carnifex might be able to see, though. And it was smart enough to craft weapons. If it could make a flash bang, what else had it constructed? Did it have a gun?

  Erika’s vision returned. She was standing in the lab now. The Carnifex was at the far wall, tail up and ready.

  Petra and Clive stumbled out of the storeroom.

  “That was…” Petra spotted the Carnifex and rose her spear.

  “No!” Erika ordered. “We’re not attacking it.”

  Petra nodded. She lowered the tip of her spear.

  “We need to capture it,” Clive said.

  “We will, in time.” Erika picked the empty net gun off the ground. “Right now, we’re going back, though. We only attack when we understand the Carnifex’s intelligence better.”

  “Right.” It sounded like Clive was speaking through his teeth.

  The group inched back. The Carnifex stayed in place, tail up.

  ? ? ?

  The Captain would not accept this. He would have wanted the Carnifex captured as soon as possible, by any means necessary.

  You can’t walk away from this. Still, Clive was walking away from the alien. He had a weapon in hand, but he was leaving the alien free to roam the ship.

  How had the Carnifex been captured before? Erika had lunged at the alien when it hadn’t expected her. Right now, the alien expected a retreat.

  Clive stopped moving.

  The Carnifex would not expect him.

  Clive dashed toward the creature.

  “Clive, no!” Erika shouted.

  Clive rose his spear, and readied to strike.

  The Carnifex spotted Clive.

  Clive let out a war cry. He rammed the spear with all the force he could muster.

  Pain cut through his calves.

  Clive hurtled to the floor.

  He no longer had control over his feet. In fact, he couldn’t feel his feet. His feet were gone, replaced by fountains of blood.

  The Carnifex grabbed Clive by his shoulders. The creature’s arms were thin, but it had enough strength to hold Clive in place.

  It cut my legs off.

  The thought was detached from any fear or rage; it was a clinical observation.

  The Carnifex shoved Clive back, and he was airborne. Then the alien’s tail whipped out from the side, and–

  ? ? ?

  The Carnifex’s tail ripped into Clive. It tore through the skin, then muscle, then bone, and came out on the other side.

  Clive dropped to the floor. In two parts.

  The Carnifex’s tail completed its arc, and sprayed blood across the wall.

  Erika’s breathed shards of glass.

  The Carnifex skittered away from the shredded meat that was once Clive Burton. Its beady eyes looked up and found Erika.

  Erika opened her mouth to shout “run,” but nothing came out.

  Petra stood like she was carved from wood, eyes wide and mouth open.

  They couldn’t stand around and wait. Erika snatched Petra’s arm and hauled her to the Lamia’s enclosure.