Aymeric and Mi-Cha scrambled up the ladder. Theo was not behind them.

  Abandoning Theo seemed like something Mi-Cha would do, but Aymeric? Why wasn’t he helping?

  Aymeric hurried to Erika and took her arm.

  “We should be able to hide.” He pulled Erika to the cabin doors. He hit the button on the side, and the doors opened. The Captain’s Override had been lifted.

  “That mad son of a bitch,” Mi-Cha mumbled.

  “What happened to Theo? He’s not responding to calls,” Erika said.

  “You know what happened,” Aymeric said. “Now come on, or his sacrifice will be in vain.”

  Something thumped below. If Theo really was dead, would the Lamia still be so agitated?

  No, I don’t think so.

  Erika yanked herself out of Aymeric’s grip, then backed into the galley.

  “No, don’t,” Aymeric said.

  “Theo’s still alive,” Erika said.

  “For how much longer?” Aymeric asked.

  He was right. Erika could reach to the shuttle bay only to find the Lamia gloating over Theo’s mangled corpse. It would be so easy to write Theo off as dead, then cower in her room. So what if Theo was another casualty? Erika didn’t have any strong connection to the mechanic.

  Another thump, and the floor quivered.

  Erika sighed.

  She turned and ran.

  “Erika, no!” Aymeric shouted.

  She snatched the shock spear in the kitchen, and took the ladder to the third floor. The Carnifex crouched by the elevator.

  Oh, fuck off. Erika couldn’t conjure up even some token fear for the creature. As long as it stayed away, Erika would let it do whatever the hell it wanted. There was a far bigger problem aboard the Ark.

  Erika opened the shuttle bay doors.

  The Lamia–or what used to be the Lamia–was on the far side of the bay. The creature was a motley red, and bony spikes protruded from its body. The new limbs in the rear were jagged.

  The Lamia came back even stronger than before.

  Theo darted out from beneath a staircase.

  An arm swiped out and sent Theo careening to the other side of the bay.

  Erika ran in.

  “Hey!” She shouted at the top of her lungs and flailed her arms.

  The Lamia had no head to turn, but it seemed to turn its attention to Erika. It swiped an arm out.

  The spike came so fast that it was only a blur. Erika dropped to the ground.

  The spike empaled itself on the wall behind Erika. If she’d been a little slower, that spike would have gone through her chest.

  Remember how Ryder looked when the Aranea stabbed him?

  Erika scrambled back to her feet.

  Theo was back up, too. He ran toward Erika.

  She flicked the power on the spear. It wasn’t going to hurt the Lamia, but hopefully, it would distract.

  Erika rose her arm, and threw the spear with every ounce of strength she could muster.

  The spear arced through the air, then bounced off the Lamia’s fleshly, bloated skin.

  “Why are you here?” Theo made it to Erika’s side.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  “I thought you needed help.” Erika grabbed Theo’s hand and pulled him out of the shuttle bay. They clambered into the elevator. Erika slammed her fist on the console.

  The Lamia thundered toward the shuttle bay’s open doors.

  Why didn’t I close them?

  The elevator hadn’t completely shut yet.

  The Lamia shot a spike. It pierced through one of the elevator doors.

  Erika scrambled back.

  The Lamia shot forward.

  The creature punched its arm into the cabin, and flailed it around. The tip brushed against Erika’s calf. It cut through her pants and left a gash.

  Erika scurried back. Her leg burned.

  “Through here!” Theo pulled the emergency hatch down from the ceiling. The limb swung in his direction.

  Theo caught the limb and shoved it back. His hands were scratched up.

  Erika hurried to the hatch. She was too short to reach the ledge.

  Theo grabbed Erika by the waist and lifted her up. Her fingers found the opening.

  “Got it!” Erika scrambled through the hatch, then reached down for Theo.

  He grabbed the ledge, and Erika helped haul him up.

  The Lamia’s arm stretched out and grabbed Theo’s back. Erika shoved the tentacle off him.

  “Are you okay?” Erika asked.

  “The ladder,” Theo pointed.

  There was a ladder on the side of the elevator shaft.

  Erika climbed. She was tempted to ask Theo if he was okay again, but she doubted he would give her an answer.

  Erika and Theo reached the second floor doors. Erika clambered to the side, and waited for Theo to reach the other side.

  “Is there a button or anything?” Erika asked.

  “Just force.” Theo grabbed one door and pulled. Erika grabbed the other side and did the same.

  The doors groaned as they opened. The Lamia groaned from below.

  Just let us get this done, please.

  The doors smiled wide enough for someone to slip through.

  “Go,” Theo said.

  Erika squeezed through the doors, then held them for Theo. As soon as he got through, Erika let go. The doors slammed closed.

  Erika glanced at her leg. The twill of her pants had been pushed into the gashes. The wounds stung, but they stung less than Erika expected. She had a sneaking suspicion adrenaline kept her from feeling the full extent of the pain.

  “Was there something else?” Theo asked. His hands bled.

  “Come with me.” Erika hurried to the cabin hall. “If we’re in the cabins, the Lamia shouldn’t be able to find us.”

  “It can tear through doors,” Theo said.

  “It can’t see through walls, though. We’ll be safe enough.” Erika pressed the button to the airlock. Nothing. She pressed it again, but the door wouldn’t respond. It was okay only five minutes ago; why wouldn’t it work now?

  Erika banged her fist on the door.

  “Aymeric! Mi-Cha! Are you there?” She called.

  “Right here!” Aymeric’s muffled voice responded.

  “The door’s locked up!” Erika said. “Can you open it from your side?”

  A pause.

  Something thumped. It came from the elevator shaft.

  “What the hell? Mi-Cha, can you get the other door open?” Aymeric asked.

  “Fucking shit!” Mi-Cha responded.

  “Is the door locked?” Theo asked.

  “No! That’s the first thing I checked!” Aymeric snapped.

  Theo approached the controls and tried. Once again, nothing happened.

  “This makes no sense!” Aymeric shouted.

  No, it does make sense.

  Erika found herself back in the Lamia enclosure with Luther and Aymeric at her sides. They stood in front of an exit that wouldn’t open.

  The doors wouldn’t open because a saboteur didn’t want them to open. The saboteur is still here, and is still trying to get me killed.

  The Lamia burst through the elevator doors in a cacophony of broken metal.

  “It’s here!” Erika shouted.

  The Lamia swung its limbs out. The spikes slammed into the wall.

  “This way.” Theo ran along the wall. Erika followed because she didn’t know what else to do. She glanced over the galley for anything that could be a weapon.

  If Erika reached the kitchen, she could throw the Aranea anesthetic at the Lamia. She doubted it would stop the Lamia, but it might do something.

  The Lamia lurched toward Erika and Theo.

  Theo stopped. He slammed his fist on a button.

  The galley went dark.

  The Lamia moaned.

  Something slammed into the wall–a spike. It was to Erika’s left.

  The Lamia moaned again.

  Erika tried to make out anything in the black, but the darkness was total. Erika shut her eyes. It’s not like she could see, anyway.

  She imagined what the galley looked like, then dropped the Lamia into her imaginary room. It stomped around the tables, close to where Erika and Theo stood. The darkness left the creature confused. It could see through its skin, but if there was no light to work with, the Lamia was blind. Theo’s light trick was smart.

  Wait, where’s Theo?

  Erika reached out and found his shoulder. Theo’s hand found Erika’s forearm, and held it in a vice. He guided Erika across the room while the Lamia rumbled in the dark. Erika figured that she and Theo were at the kitchen alcove now. She was tempted to feel around the countertop to find her work, but she didn’t want to make a sound.

  Theo came to a stop.

  Doors opened, and light spilled out from the shower room. Theo hurried inside, and Erika followed.

  The Lamia groaned.

  Erika slammed her fist on the button.

  The Lamia was in the light, limbs poised to strike.

  Then the airlock shut.

  The Lamia slammed against the doors. It moaned, then slammed into the doors once more.

  Erika felt the pulse in her throat.

  “We need to keep going,” she said.

  Erika and Theo exited the shower room into the gym, and from the gym, into the cabin hallway. Aymeric and Mi-Cha milled by the door to the galley. Their eyes widened in surprise.

  “Thank God.” Aymeric cracked a weary smile.

  “Y’all look like shit.” Mi-Cha tried to hold a stern expression, but it quickly broke and she slouched against the wall.

  They both look happy that I’m alive.

  Erika glanced over the three other survivors. One of them was the spy.

  If you don’t figure out who the killer is, and soon, they’re going to kill you.