Captain Elena Markov stood on the bridge of the Heraclea, her pristine uniform still crisp and orderly as if it had just been pressed. The emergency horn blared around her, yet she remained a pillar of composure amid the chaos, surrounded by her remaining senior officers. Her eyes gazed into the distance, a forlorn look shadowing her features despite her military bearing.
Control panels before her flashed angry red, each light signaling another critical system failure as the mysterious crystalline infection spread through the vessel''s vital areas with increasing speed.
"The containment has been completely breached," her first officer reported, voice steady despite the circumstances. "The crystalline structure has reached the propulsion system and is advancing towards the fusion reactor."
Markov studied the ship schematics displayed across the bridge monitors, her expression grim but resolute. "Evacuation status."
"Pods in sectors three through seven have all been jettisoned. Two hundred and twelve crew accounted for. That leaves eighty on board, including the infected."
She retreated into her thoughts, brow furrowing in concentration. The self-destruct sequence showed ten minutes remaining on the countdown. Time was slipping away.
"Accelerate the self-destruct sequence by five minutes. Authorization code Markov-Theta-Nine-Three."
"Affirmative, Captain." The first mate''s nimble fingers worked the control panel, and the countdown dropped to five minutes. He turned to his captain with the stoic composure of a soldier. "Now we should evacuate with the rest of the crew."
Markov looked down, conflict visible in the subtle tension of her jaw. She wanted to leave. She wanted to live. Her hands formed into fists, a slight tremble working through her entire body. Fear crept in, the desperate need for survival momentarily overpowering her sense of duty.
But only for a moment.
Iron-clad discipline drove out the fear, stilled the trembling, and suppressed the animalistic instinct to survive.
"The crystal infection must be stopped here. It cannot be allowed to expand beyond the confines of Heraclea." She took a deep breath, her resolve hardening visibly. "I will stay on the bridge and ensure the self-destruction sequence completes."
She turned from the monitors to face the remaining crew. One by one, she met their eyes, her own gaze unwavering. All of them understood what she was conveying without words.
Each officer stood, raising their right hand in a fist and placing it over their heart. Their left hands hung at their sides as heels clacked together across the bridge—a farewell salute to their stalwart leader. Then, with a singular voice, the bridge echoed with their words.
"Farewell, Captain. We look forward to seeing you in the archives of Azimuth."
Tears threatened to well in Elena''s eyes. The display elicited an emotion that resonated deep within her bones—no, deeper than that. It touched her very soul.
"This is my final order as your Captain." Markov, moved by her crew''s honorable display, returned their salute. "Evacuate the ship immediately."
The crew hesitated just a moment before turning to the bridge''s escape pods. They entered the lifeboats efficiently, ensuring everyone boarded before the vessels were jettisoned from the sinking Heraclea.
"Farewell." The emotions finally won through. Markov''s statuesque face and perfect composure softened, the corners of her mouth turning downward as tears escaped her eyes.
She allowed herself the catharsis of those emotions as she turned back to the monitors behind her. One tracked unique biosignatures of the ship''s crew—twelve distinct red dots approached the bridge from different directions, seemingly set to converge at approximately the same time.
Markov offered a knowing smile. "Not random passengers," she murmured. "Something else entirely, bless the Architect."
________________________
Elias''s group had encountered a new horror in the vertical shaft—a corrupted form unlike any they had seen before. The amalgamation of faces melded together was the stuff of nightmares. One face stared back at him, distorted yet somehow familiar.
The already plummeting temperatures went from cold to freezing. Each rung of the ladder frosted over, making the climb even more perilous.
"FASTER!" Elias screamed; they needed to reach the lower platform immediately.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Maren somehow increased her pace, as did Etta and Nira.
Looks like another 15 feet to go before we reach the platform; we can make it! Elias''s mind ran wild, imagination painting pictures of them being caught by the rapidly approaching beast from below. "CLIMB!" There was no time for more than that singular thought.
His breath turned to soft white crystals in the air, the moisture from his lungs freezing upon contact with the putrid atmosphere in the shaft. The stench of corruption was overwhelming, unlike anything he had ever smelled.
Maren finally reached the top of the ladder, climbing onto the lower platform of the bridge access. She turned to help Etta and Nira quickly get out of Elias''s way.
As Elias rolled himself off the ladder and onto the platform, a glossy black hand reached up and shredded the metal rungs. If he had been even a moment later, he would have been a bloody stain on the wall.
Realization struck him as the monster reached the hatch to the platform. "Tavin. Tavin is a part of that beast!"
Maren, Etta, and Nira''s eyes widened. Nira had witnessed Tavin''s downfall and assumed he had perished under the influence of corruption.
The monstrous form emerged from the hatch and stepped onto the platform. The myriad of faces began to recede into the black abyss, leaving only Tavin''s disfigured face visible.
"Tavin must be the main host, with corruption consuming the other crew members using his body," Maren spoke with certainty, though Elias doubted she truly knew if her statement was fact or fiction.
A humanoid figure, approximately Tavin''s size, stood before them. Crystal formations had layered themselves over most of its host, bits of flesh and uniform still visible in the gaps. Limbs ended in elongated blades—a mix of shrapnel and black crystal. Tavin''s face was perhaps most disturbing; his eyes spoke to the consciousness that still lay beneath the surface.
Etta let out an audible gasp. "He''s still in there."
Horror swept over the group with this realization. This vile thing was trying to consume Tavin whole, but the slum-born scholar was still fighting for his sanity.
Tavin''s corrupted head tilted, studying them. His mouth moved, and two voices echoed from the creature''s throat—one Tavin''s, the other something monstrous and inhuman.
"The pattern... I found it too late... Searching... Hunting... The Corruption... Is hunting for something or someone on this ship."
Elias drew Sable Kiss. "Hunting for what?!" Desperation laced his voice, making it impossible to hide his desire to know more about the Corruption and understand what the Maw wanted them to see.
"Vessels... It needs vessels for transformation," the small frame, made of obsidian and flesh, contorted suddenly. Tavin was losing control once more. "Run... it knows... what you are."
With that warning, the figure launched itself at them with inhuman speed, bladed limbs slashing at their throats. Elias met the attack with Sable Kiss, expecting it to pass through as before.
CLANG!
Metal scraped against metal. The blade met a wall it could not pierce, causing Elias to lose his balance. Pain seared his thigh as the monster''s other limb cut deep. A flash of purple light propelled the shadow away from Elias as he regained his footing.
"The steel mixed with corruption, I can''t cut through it!" Elias warned the others that something was different from previous encounters. This mix of steel and crystal could resist the miraculous weapons of the Maw.
This would not be an easy fight. Wounded and with his weapon less effective, Elias scrambled for a solution. The monster was too fast, too strong. Without Sable Kiss giving him a massive advantage, the situation looked bleak.
Tavin was back on his feet, lunging again. His limbs shifted, growing into massive hammers that slammed into the ground where Elias lay. Luckily, Maren made it in time, Twilight Twins weaving a protective sigil over his chest.
"Get up! I can''t hold this thing for long!"
Elias rolled to his left as a black, barbed tongue whipped from the monstrous maw on Tavin''s face, aimed straight for his heart.
Sable Kiss slashed down, slicing through the corruption as if it were made of air, transforming it into ashy mist and consuming it with the crimson-edged blade.
Energy surged from the blade—not much, but enough. His senses heightened, and his reaction speed increased. His strength and endurance received a small boost. Tavin moved again, already closing in on Elias, his shoulder ramming the young human''s chest.
Elias was thrown into the wall, a flash of black coming in like a guillotine to cut off his neck. Instinct and the desire to live pushed him to thrust his stiletto forward, but it was too late. He was too slow.
Death came easy. He didn''t even feel the blade cut his throat.
Only...
It didn''t cut his throat at all.
Sable Kiss was plunged into Tavin''s chest, his eyes once again showing signs of human consciousness.
Tavin had saved him.
Tavin''s will and determination had refused to surrender until the very end. His stubborn resistance to the glassy infection gave him control at just the right moment.
Elias was saved, and now Tavin would die.
Agony was the only other emotion that reflected through the window into Tavin''s soul. His essence was being sucked dry.
The gaping wound on Elias''s thigh closed, healing at an accelerated pace. His energy returned, and all of his physical traits received a massive boost.
It was over.
Elias sank to his knees as a new vision flashed. His mind was completely transported to another place.
His vision was blurry and fractured as he witnessed the entity whose memories he was seeing murder and consume crewmate after crewmate. He felt himself becoming ill at the gruesome sight.
Then coherent thoughts:
The corruption moves with purpose.
Followed by more death.
It knows what it is looking for.
Another crew member, face distorted by fear and pain.
It knows about the Maw.
Screams of agony filled the air, almost animalistic and desperate to survive.
It knows about the Chosen.
The smell of blood and decay.
It''s hunting us... It knows we are different.
He saw himself and Maren fighting desperately.
The Maw isn''t in control of this Corruption. The Maw has been... infiltrated!
The ship shuddered violently, waking Elias from his vision.
"No. This can''t be! This is just a simulation created by the Maw!" Elias struggled to come to grips with the incredible revelation.
"Elias, we''re out of time; we need to move!" Etta screamed, grabbing his arm and pulling him to his feet.
As they made their way to the bridge, Elias glanced back at Tavin''s vanishing form. A brand new fear gripped his core.
We are doomed.