Target 10 S2.1 Trapped
Reby glared at him as she leaned against the smooth, off-white wall and yawned.
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The shuttle never looked better. Still, RJ had an urge to do a quick inspection before entering, but knew they only had a few minutes.
"Hurry up, you two!" He said. As he turned around to check on them, a piece of the produce pile fell out of his arms. He bent down to pick it up and saw the teleporter door close. Shit! "We don't have much time!"
"What are you on about? Why should we hurry?" Reby said, slowing her pace.
"I really want to look at the dock now that we can see it. There're many more symbols than I saw before." Jemy stopped, then changed direction towards some writing on a wall.
"Shit! Can you just come inside for like five minutes? Or less? He might already be listening."
Reby shook her head and brushed past him towards the ramp. "I told you he doesn't want to harm us."
"Jemy!" RJ yelled.
"What? Alright. But I'm coming back out."
"Sure. Whatever. Just hurry."
RJ waited at the top of the ramp for Jemy. Reby glared at him as she leaned against the smooth, off-white wall and yawned. He mashed the control to close the door as soon as Jemy made it inside.
"Let's go to the common room to talk. I need to get some food," Jemy said.
"Sounds good." Reby peeled herself off the wall.
"No, let's debrief here. You know he can listen, but based on Reby's experience, he needs to be in a chair. He probably teleported to one right after we left. So let's talk quick."
"About what?" Reby asked.
RJ held his breath and frowned. "We just spent the day wandering around an alien structure, following a fucking weirdo who is at least a little unstable if not a shit-ton crazy, he's also got a strange, faceless robot, we've teleported, and you went to the Demption without leaving the chair... what the hell do you think I want to talk about?"
"It has been a long day," Jemy agreed. "And I need food so I can make all my notes."
"And I need a nap," Reby said. "I also disagree Clay is a weirdo. He's been alone for ten years. You'd be a little off too, if it were you."
Reby and Jemy looked at each other in the way that drove him crazy. I'm not going to be shut out! "We need to talk about him. Quickly, before he starts observing us." He took a deep breath in. "Even if he's only a 'little off' that is still a problem. Also, I don't trust him. He gives me the same vibes as a Birciean clerk."
"Look, I'll admit there were moments it all felt weird," Jemy said. "But I have to agree with Reby. He isn't a threat. Not like a scavie or a Hernos. He wants off planet, and we're going to take him. He's getting what he wants." Jemy sighed. "And he doesn't seem to mind waiting for us to do some exploring first. I—"
"Doesn't that seem weird to you? If it were me," he tipped his head toward Reby and poked himself in the chest, "I'd want to get the hell off as soon as possible to get back to my life, my friends and family."
"We don't know what his situation is. Maybe he doesn't have a family to go back to," Reby said.
"Exactly! We don't know shit about him. Just his story of how he crashed. We need to be careful." He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and ears. "Plus, the chair had an effect on you. It was measurable. If he's been connected to that alien tech for a long time... who knows it might have done to him?"
They exchanged looks again before Jemy spoke. "Ok. So, we don't know anything about him. But we also don't have anything to suggest he isn't what he says he is. Just a stranded guy looking for a ride off planet."
RJ clenched his fists.
"Still, we're in a strange place, so I agree we should be careful. I'll take first watch since I can't sleep until I put my notes—"
RJ opened his mouth to protest. More than once Jemy had forgotten to wake him at the agreed time. Once Jemy started working, he became totally absorbed and lost track of time, and other things.
"I know what you're going to say, RJ. I'll set an alarm, several if it makes you happier."
"Yeah, but if you get lost in your 'notes' again—"
"Can we stop this macho-shit? I'm tired," Reby said.
"Macho? It's our standard protocol when we're on an unknown planet. What's wrong with you?" RJ regretted asking as soon as the words left his mouth.
Reby rolled her eyes. "I'm going to bed." She turned down the corridor towards their sleeping quarters.
"What about dinner?" Jemy asked.
"I'll eat tomorrow," she hollered without missing a step.
RJ's gaze lingered on her as she walked away. It was too familiar a scene. At least she's not walking towards him.
"You're worried about her."
"Aren't you? When's the last time she went to bed early?" RJ asked. "We really should have had her checked by the autodoc."
"We'll never get her there now. Let her sleep. You can check her again before you go to bed. If it looks off still, I'll wake her, and we'll drag her to the lab."
RJ shivered. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that." He slapped Jemy on the arm and headed towards the common room. "But now we need to get you some food—"
Half the pile of fruit RJ carried rolled out of his grasp. One large orange piece splatted on the floor, sending moist little bits up the walls and onto his pants.
"Shit!"
Jemy patted his back and stepped over the mess on the floor. "While you take care of this, I'm going to hit the auto and get to work. I'll wake you in four."
"You better!" RJ couldn't think of anything else to say as he mourned the meal he could have made.
***
Light from the corridor spread over the room as the door to the sleeping quarters slid open. It illuminated the four bunks, two on each side of the small room, and four lockers along the wall between them. The close quarters were the biggest reason they usually returned to the Demption, and their individual quarters, rather than stay planetside.
RJ saw Reby in the lower right bunk, still dressed, on top of the bedding. She'd thrown her jacket on the top bunk, however. The signal of "Don't sleep here" was loud and clear.
He pulled out the analyzer and checked her stats. Her bio-field still looked different from her baseline, but much less so. He cursed himself for not taking a med-tech class instead of Balonic Cooking Techniques when they were docked at Dinucent.
Though the analyzer provided comparative data on a variety of subjects, he wasn't sure how to interpret the bio-data. She's getting back to normal, it seems. That must be good.
He sat on the lower bunk opposite Reby and ran his hands through his hair. Thoughts of what he should have done differently, and what to do next, flooded his mind. He kicked off his shoes and placed them neatly on the floor next to the bed. The familiar motion seemed to trigger sleepiness. He laid down facing Reby, wishing she would roll over so he could see her face.
***
"Hold on," Jemy said as he made a beeline into a room to their left.
RJ let out an audible sigh and leaned against the doorway of yet another gray room off the same style corridor they'd been exploring for almost a week. He'd given up counting how many times Jemy had diverted off their planned path. The number was so high he couldn't even tease Jemy about it anymore. Each diversion was serious business to his scholarly friend.
"What do you see now?" Reby asked as she followed Jemy to the far wall of the room.
RJ discreetly held up his analyzer as she walked toward Jemy. Her bio-field had returned to normal after her daily check in with Aida. It seemed the more one used the chair, the quicker the body adapted to whatever effect it had on them. Still, RJ checked her and Jemy often, just to be sure.
Jemy's voice echoed through the empty chamber as he held up his tablet to take video and scans of the symbol. "This is a totally different type of symbol, Reb. See how it includes multiple geometric shapes? I need to record it."
RJ resisted the urge to turn around and see what Clay was doing in the corridor behind him. Though his opinion of Clay as a potential psychopath had shifted slightly to be more in alignment with his crewmates, he still didn't like him. He'd decided that ignoring him whenever possible was the best route to keep the peace.
An image of Clay scuttling down the ramp of the Demption as they off-loaded him at the nearest station crossed his mind. His lips curled slightly up at the pleasant thought, as he shoved down another reminding him they'd have to live together for weeks before getting there.
Clay cleared his throat.
RJ turned toward the noise. To his surprise, Marisil, face glowing a mixture of green and blue, was next to Clay. Damn, that thing is quiet!
"Marisil has something to show me, so I'll be gone for a bit." He stepped toward the door and looked at Reby and Jemy far across the room, both absorbed in whatever Jemy had found. "Can you let them know? I'll rejoin you as soon as I can."
"Something wrong?" RJ asked.
"Ah. No. Not really. Just something she noticed when harvesting in the lounge. I'm sure it's nothing. I'd put it off until later but it seems you three are quite comfortable getting about now."
"And we're slow as hell. Still, how will you find us?"
"With a thought, of course."
"What if we're not near a teleporter?"
"I'll be taken to the nearest one. Finding you from there shouldn't be hard. You're as loud as you are slow." Clay grinned then left with Marisil down the corridor.
RJ wanted to believe the comment was made in jest, but still he felt insulted. We're not loud. He watched them go until they turned a corner. Finally.
He jogged across the room to find Reby examining the wall around the symbol and Jemy making notes on his tablet. "What's so interesting?"
"Figuring out how to open a door," Reby said, sliding her fingers out from the symbol.
"Maybe." Jemy looked away from his tablet toward RJ. "See these lines at the top and bottom? I'm ninety-nine percent sure those always indicate a door, or passage, or travel. Conceptually. I think we have more words in our lexicon than they do. It's a logographic system so one symbol can mean different things—"
"Let me stop you there." RJ could see Jemy was winding up to explain much more than he needed to know. He didn't mind listening to Jemy explain his ideas and theories back on the shuttle, when there was food, drink and a comfortable place to sit. Now, though, he had other plans.
"That's rude." Reby turned away from the wall.
RJ swallowed the first words that came to mind. The pained look on Jemy's face tempered his tone when he spoke. "I want to hear what he has to say, just not right now. Clay's run off with his girlfriend and says he'll be back later."
"She's not his girlfriend, RJ. Why do you have to be such a dick?"
"I think I've been rather charming considering the circumstances and possibilities. And I still don't like him. Even if he hasn't tried to murder us."
Reby stared at him and slowly shook her head.
"Can you two please stop? We need to focus. It's been a week and we've barely scratched the surface of what's here." He adjusted the tablet and started typing some notes.
"Exactly what I wanted to talk about. I need to run some experiments, and now seems like a good time to—"
"Ditch your self-appointed chaperone duties?" Reby asked.
"Yes. And go find out what's keeping our comms from working."
"I thought we'd agreed to stay together because comms weren't working."
He knew Reby was trying to provoke him and he wasn't going to let her get to him. He had promised Jemy he'd do better, even if she didn't. "Exactly why I need to go do my test. We could all go, but Jemy is finding all sorts of good things in this section. I'd hate to take him away from it."
"How kind of you." Reby's comment came with a fair share of daggers.
"Reb, please. RJ is right. We need to figure out comms. We'd all feel much better if they were working. You should go with him though."
"What?" RJ and Reby asked.
Jemy looked up from his tablet. "I'm just recording as we go, building a database for later analysis. Neither of you need to be here to babysit me. Don't give me that look! It's true." He slid the tablet into an inner pocket of his jacket. "It made sense to stick together at first. But we're going to be here a while, so I think it's time we started making more progress on our practical needs. Comms is top of the list."
"I'm here to help you, not babysit," Reby said. "RJ is perfectly able to experiment on his own."
RJ tried to ignore the sting and stay focused on what he needed to do. "That I am."
Jemy ran his hands through his hair. "Clay said he's been through this section, so I don't expect anything shocking or dangerous or he would have found it. I'll be fine. But RJ's going someplace new, and potentially dangerous. Protocol means he doesn't go alone."
RJ wanted to argue, but knew Jemy was right. He hadn't planned on taking anyone with him on his little side adventure, but it was the smart thing to do.
"So either we all go, or you two go." Jemy stood tall and put his hands on his hips.
That's a Captain's pose if I ever saw one. "I don't want to stop your progress or we'll never get off this rock." He looked over at Reby and shrugged his shoulders. "I promise to behave." He tilted his head and tried to give her his best smile while he braced for her reply.
"We should follow protocol. That means one person stays on the shuttle to monitor in case something happens. But that assumes we have comms. So protocol doesn't exactly apply here, does it?" Reby directed her question to Jemy.
"Sometimes I think you try to be difficult," Jemy said.
RJ held his tongue. She always tries to be difficult.
The two siblings discussed the definitions of protocol and adaptability, while RJ did his best to be invisible. He knew Jemy's rational argument would win her over. It was only a matter of time.
"Fine. RJ and I will go as long as you don't enter any new areas on your own," Reby said.
"That would violate protocol." Jemy raised his eyebrows and smirked at Reby.
She laughed. "Come on, RJ. Let's go do your experiment." She punched him on the arm as she passed him on her way back to the door.
"Hey!" RJ rubbed his arm and looked at Jemy.
"Good luck. And be careful." Jemy said.
"Always," RJ said.
"Come on, slowpoke!" Reby yelled from the corridor.
He took a long breath in before running after her and leaving Jemy behind. Alone.
"Wait up!" RJ yelled.
Reby was almost at the transporter. "No. You go faster. I don't want to leave him alone more than we have to."
He sprinted the distance between them. "Jemy knows how to handle himself."
"Is that why you've been hanging around watching over him instead of doing your experiment?" She raised her eyebrow at him.
He shook his head. "We all voted to stay together." He noticed her jaw set. She can't argue with that.
The teleporter door slid open as they drew close. She gestured for him to enter first, even though the doorway could easily accommodate five people across. He strode in, straight to the control panel at the back.
"So where're we going, grand experimenter?" she said, putting her hands on her hips.
Her vibrant blue eyes were daggerless, and her tone had softened, even with the jab. She's in work mode. I'll take that any day. "Down to where the field is failing. At least that's what I'll be thinking." He took a deep breath and focused on the conditions he wanted since he didn't have any idea what it would look like. Then put his hand on the recessed panel and closed his eyes.
Near where the forest is retaking the star.
But still within the field, though the outside is accessible.
I wonder if Clay crashed near a spot like that?
The last thought caught him off guard. Focus! It was too late. He knew they'd teleported. It was an uneasy sensation, one he found hard to explain. It wasn't a word or a sound, just a knowing. He dropped his hand and opened his eyes.
The room looked the same as all the other ones they'd used. His skin crawled. It always did when he controlled the transporter. It was like the part of him that knew they'd moved couldn't reconcile with his five senses that said they hadn't. When he was just a passenger, though, he didn't feel a thing.
Reby stood next to him, tall and strong. She'd adapted well to traveling around Havenstar after her first reaction. "Let's go see where we ended up," she said, her face brightening.
"Wait." He pulled out his e-blaster and gestured she should do the same. "I asked for a spot with access beyond the field. Who knows what it thought that meant. Clay said there were some large predators."
"So you trust him when he talks about predators?" She scoffed. "You haven't believed anything else he's said, not even when you proved him right." Still, she reached into her jacket and pulled out her e-blaster.
"Trust him? Not a chance. But believe him? Sometimes. Besides, we should be cautious anyway. We're still in a freaking alien structure."
"I don't get why you have a problem with him. He's done nothing but help us, even though he wants nothing more than to get off this planet."
"Of course you don't have any problems with him." He walked past her.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
RJ stopped and stared at the floor. Do I, or don't I? He didn't want to get into a serious argument with her, and he still didn't know if Clay could listen in on them. He took a deep breath in, turning to face her. "It's just you seem very cozy with him. And he's tall, handsome. Just your type."
"What if he is?"
"Look," he picked his words carefully, betting they'd appease her and Clay if he was listening, "I just want you to be careful. He might be a great guy who's gone a little wonky trapped alone for so long. But we don't really know. So be careful, that's all I'm trying to say."
She stiffened. "I don't think you have the right to say anything about who I get cozy with and who I don't. Now let's get this over with." Holding up her e-blaster, she strode out of the room, glanced around, and turned right.
"Hey!" He jogged to catch up with her again. I should tell her. The words choked in his throat. Instead, he yelled, "I thought this was my experiment!"
She spun to face him.
He nearly ran into her.
"Which way would you have gone?"
"I don't know. I didn't get the chance to decide since you ran off in this direction." Her nostrils flared. He braced himself.
"Look down the hall." She pointed behind her. "Notice anything?"
He did. Where the corridor turned left, about twelve meters away, it was darker, shadowy. They'd seen no shadows in Havenstar. The light was too uniform. "It's darker down there. Not a lot, but definitely less light. You could have just said something rather than storming off."
"I didn't storm off. And you just could have let us know you would be late on Dinucent. Or answered one of gazillion times we tried to reach you."
"Are you still hanging on to that? I've apologized." He reached up and felt his nose. "And I'm pretty sure the auto-doc left my nose crooked."
"Serves you right," she said, turning away.
"Hold on." He grabbed her arm and swung her back around. "I thought we got past this." I shouldn't have said anything!
"You've been such a jerk. It's hard to get over it with just one apology." She ripped her arm away from him but didn't walk away.
"To be fair, I've apologized many times. For everything." He locked eyes with her, and for once let his true regret show.
She swallowed, then narrowed her eyes. "You promised we'd never, ever, discuss that. Why am I not surprised you've broken another promise?" She crossed her arms.
When she'd joined the Demption, she'd pulled RJ aside and gave him an ultimatum: never, ever mention what had happened between them before she'd left for university. It had been the best week of his life, until it wasn't. She'd gotten it all wrong and then ghosted him. "Did you even read any of my messages? It wasn't what you thought."
"Really? It's been seven years and you're going to try to explain yourself now? Wait. Have you told Jemy?"
He felt the full sting of the daggers returning, but he also thought he saw her lip tremble. "Never." He reached out to touch her arm.
She jerked back and shook her head. "No. I didn't read your messages. Not a single one. I saw you and that's all I needed to know!" She rubbed her forehead. "And it doesn't matter anymore. I've moved on and you clearly have to. Never, ever—"
A guttural growl reverberated through the hallway.
He saw her eyes grow wide. His skin rippled as the hairs stood on end, the feeling even stronger than the one he got using the transporter. He looked past her in the direction they had been walking. Nothing was there. It was still dimmer than it should be, but that was all.
The sound came again. Closer. He stepped past her, his blaster held ready.
A thud, then another.
"Transporter." Reby pulled on his shirt.
He stepped backwards. A dark shape poked around the corner, about as high as his shoulders. He squinted, trying to make sense of it. It looked like a long snout attached to an even longer neck. It widened from front to back, with a protruding ridge just behind what he assumed were its eyes.
Reby's tug on his shirt grew more insistent. He stepped slowly, trusting her to keep him in the right direction.
The creature's head bobbed up and down, then stopped, raised high.
It's smelling us. He could hear it breathing in, sniffing, then snorting. Something like a bubble appeared near the center of the snout, changing the profile for a moment before disappearing. He had hoped they were far enough away they hadn't been seen. They'd definitely had been smelled.
The creature turned its head towards them and lumbered forward, its gigantic body nearly filling the width of the corridor. RJ's heart pounded, his breathing quickened. As it moved into the light, he saw it was spotted black and brown, but it was too far away to see much detail. Only one detail mattered, anyway. It's huge! He suppressed a primal urge to run, determined to protect Reby, who had put her hands on his back to stop him.
"Let's go..." he urged her.
"We're there. The door won't open," she whispered back.
"What do you mean, it won't open? It always opens!"
"It just isn't and I don't think I have time to theorize about why. Let's shoot the damn thing and figure it out after." She stepped to his side and fired. Electric pulses sizzled through the air, then crackled as they struck the creature.
It stomped its huge feet, then opened its massive mouth. A rolling, thunderous growl swept past them in waves.
What he assumed were rows of teeth lined the jaw, a few that seemed significantly bigger near the front. "You made it angry!" He backed up, this time pulling Reby by her jacket.
She shot it again, and again.
The beast stepped closer. After each shot, it waved its head as if shaking it off.
He joined her, shooting with one hand while holding on to Reby with his other. They moved backwards past the transporter down an unknown hallway. At least it's slow.
The creature snarled, lurching toward them.
They sent a barrage of rapid fire before they broke into a full run.
The creature howled.
RJ looked back.
It lowered its head and charged.
The pounding of massive feet sprinting behind them, louder and closer every second, drove RJ to run faster than he ever thought possible. The beast was impossibly fast for its size. "Go! Go! Go!" He pushed himself harder.
Reby's longer legs meant she was a few meters ahead of him. She dashed down a side corridor and disappeared. "In here! Quick!"
He tried to take the turn at full speed, but slammed into the wall. The air left his lungs. His vision blurred. He stumbled forward.
Something grabbed his arm, yanking him along.
A black mass crashed next to him.
Burning across his shin barely registered. He let himself be pulled, no idea where he was going, until he sensed nothing at all.
***
RJ opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. Intense light pricked him, as if dozens of pins shot into him the moment he lifted his lids. Squeezing his eyes shut made the throbbing in his head swell.
"Relax," Reby said. "We're safe. For now."
He sensed she was nearby, but didn't dare open his eyes again. Not yet. "Where—"
"A room. The first one that opened as I passed. Some kind of storage or workspace. I think I locked the door. It hasn't been able to get in at least."
The mention of "it" brought back his memories of his close encounter with the wall. He pushed himself up onto his elbow.
"Don't! You hit your head."
He heard the words, knew from the knives stabbing his skull that she was right. He sat up anyway and leaned against something hard and cold, his eyes still closed. A wave of nausea flooded over him, but passed. "Bottom pocket on my right leg. Mini-fixer." He clenched his jaw, forcing the contents of his stomach to stay down.
Reby didn't say anything, but he felt her rummaging in the side pocket just above his knee. She shifted to his other side, and his head tingled before the throbbing faded. Opening his eyes, he found the light bearable. He turned to look at her.
"Don't. I'm not done yet."
He obeyed. While waiting, he took in his surroundings. He sat on the floor, leaning against the wall of a room that should have been like all the others. The door was to his left, and the structure, the lighting, was all the same. It was uncharacteristically small, though, only six or eight meters square. There's stuff here.
Brown boxes were strewn around the room, some open, others tipped over, even more stacked, seemingly untouched. He ran his finger along the side of one close to him, trying not to move the rest of him. The box felt cool and smooth. A transport composite. His assumption meant it was human made, though there were reflective specks in the surface unlike any composite he'd seen outside of university.
To his right, along the back wall, a few small boxes and items littered the top of a table. A human height table, not the enormous built-in ones for the Obexpl. Clay's ship...? He moved to get up.
Reby pushed him back down. "Not yet. This mini-fixer can only do so much. And you went headfirst into the wall. Or don't you remember?"
"Yeah, I remember." He winced as he thought of it.
"I guess your low center of gravity didn't help you this time." A beep-beep sounded close to his ear. "Fixed as much as this thing can."
He turned his head. She was sitting on one of the small boxes, her hair falling forward as she leaned on her knees. "What happened, you know, after I cracked my head?"
She sat back. "Thankfully, you bounced toward me, so I grabbed you. Then we kind of fell into the room. Just in time too, since that thing recovered faster than you did." Standing, she stepped over him and knelt by his right leg. She held the mini-fixer up and changed the settings. The small wand-like tool split open at the top, creating a Y-shape.
"What are you..."
Blood.
Below his knee, blood soaked through his pants. No, it wasn't his pants. Wrapped tightly around his calf was his shirt, or part of it. "What the...my shirt?" He held up the ripped ends on the part he still wore.
"Well, I certainly wasn't going to use mine. Now sit still. I think this might be worse than your head."
"I can't even feel it."
"What about this?" She whacked his knee.
"Hey!"
"Good," she said, grinning at him. "Looks like those immunity boosters are doing their job." She held up the wand, passing it slowly over the center of the blood stain.
He still felt nothing, not even the tiny tingle that signaled healing. "Why can't I feel it?"
"The gash wasn't very deep, but it wouldn't stop bleeding. Even after I wrapped it up with your shirt. Maybe it's like a bluiran."
His eyes widened at the thought of the creatures on Azu with their pointy beaks filled with teeth. Their bite injected a kind of poison, one that prevented the wound from healing. "But it didn't bite me, did it?"
The mini-fixer emitted three beeps, two high and one low.
That's not good. "What?"
"It's recommending cauterization. To stem the bleeding."
"That's barbaric!"
"Here." She handed it to him. "I don't understand the diagnosis codes it's using." She stood, pacing back and forth in front of him. "We really should've done more med tech training."
He looked at the tiny display on the mini-fixer. It's medical terms left him just as clueless as Reby. The recommended treatments, though, he understood: seek immediate treatment in a trauma health center or, if none are available, cauterization.
"Yeah. Top of the list when we get back." He fiddled with the wand, passing it over his leg a few times with different settings. Two high and one low beeps sounded. Crap! "At least it doesn't hurt."
"I'm pretty sure that's not a good thing." She went to the door and placed the side of her head against it.
"What are you doing?"
"Shh!" she said, waving her hand at him.
I can't just sit here. He leaned over and pushed himself up to his knees. Using the box as leverage, he forced himself to stand, ignoring the screaming muscles on his back and left shoulder. He took a tentative step forward on his right leg. Though it still didn't hurt, it was like walking with a leg that had fallen dead asleep, only without the tingles.
Reby side-eyed him from the door.
He pretended not to notice as he hobbled over to the table he'd seen while sitting. As he suspected, metal and synthetic parts were strewn across the surface. All of it looked used, old. He picked up a smooth black square with grooves along one side and a thin knob on top. He slid it into a rectangular, dull silver box that had sat next to it on the table. It clicked into place. Examining the box, he saw a hairline crack running lengthwise. Useless. He put it down and surveyed the rest of the parts, stopping at a hollow cube sitting on the floor next to the table.
It had ten slots, four of which were empty. The missing parts matched what he'd seen on the table. All of them broken. "This is old. Really old."
"What are you mumbling about?" Reby asked from the door.
"These are ship parts." He waved his hands over the table. "Some really old ones. This is a cubic stabilizer array." He pointed to the cube on the floor. "No one uses these anymore, but we studied them at university." He leaned on the table as a wave of weakness rolled over him. "It's pre-collapse. At least five, maybe six-hundred years old."
"So?"
"Don't you—"
Crack!
Reby jumped back from the door.
RJ rushed over to her, dragging his right leg. Together, they watched the door as the creature hit it four more times. It held. "I don't know how long that door will hold."
"Seems fine." Reby ran her hand along the door.
"Seems being the operative word. A catastrophic failure happens fast. It might be fine, until it isn't. Then boom! Big chompy monster gets in and eats us." He swayed and reached out for her.
She caught him as he fell, her arms wrapped around his torso. He steadied himself against her as she helped him get to a nearby box.
"We need to get you to an auto-doc."
Another loud thump hit the door.