Humanity Endures

Part 9 - Infiltration | Chapter 2

"Do I have your attention?" rang out a voice, emanating from seemingly every corner of the featureless dark that Velan occupied. The voice was utterly inhuman and of an unnatural pitch, but every word it uttered was spoken with consideration and impeccable accuracy — somehow, Velan doubted that it was alien, even as it filled his heart with fear. When the voice spoke, Velan's thoughts rushed away, all of his focus being forcibly diverted to what was being said to him.

Velan, unable to speak, instead thought "Yes," in reply.

"Good," the voice uttered immediately, "Your mind is mine. Know that I can kill you with a mere thought, know that I can reduce your vessel to ash with as much effort as it takes to breathe, and know that the aliens lurking amongst your crew are of no concern to me: all I want is the adolescent girl. The one who changed her name to 'Kalmah'."

Confusion and apprehension seized Velan's mind simultaneously, and just as he began to think in reply, the voice answered his question.

"You do not need to know why I seek her, nor should you try to stop me once you deal with your alien threat, if you even manage to do that. Regardless of what happens, I will come for her before this ship docks, and when I do, I recommend you stay out of it. The one who commands me doesn't want you or your crew to die, though despite this, when compared with the girl, they consider you all to be a secondary priority."

Velan felt pulses of pain ripple throughout his mind, and the faintest sensations of his body began to return to him, though he remained ensnared as the voice said, "Go on; fight for your lives. I lack the time and the desire to continue this."

Velan felt his corporeal feeling flood back to him, though for a brief moment, his mind remained utterly enslaved by the source of the voice; Velan struggled to tear away, yet was powerless to do anything but listen.

"Do not make me regret my mercy now — I will have none later, should you fail to do something as simple as nothing," said the shrill voice, speaking without malice, but with the confidence of an omnipotent god.

Velan felt another pulse of pain ripple across his form, though after this, his will was unshackled, his body's control was restored to him, and his ravaged vision began to recover, allowing him to witness the anarchy that had emerged in the wake of whatever had stunned him so violently. His shaken implants revealed that only a few seconds had passed from when he blacked out to when he regained control of himself — doubtless, whatever he had talked with had somehow accelerated his thoughts as it held him captive.

Through the rapidly-subsiding cloud of debilitating gas, Velan caught sight of people, struggling to their feet, or opting to simply regain their wits from the comfort of the floor; though Velan's ears were on the verge of deafness, he still faintly heard the distinct clamor of gauss weaponry being fired. Glancing upwards at the source of the weapons fire, Velan saw Korthekar and the two other enforcers shooting machineguns at what appeared to be nought but dust-filled air, though somehow, this air sparked intensely when one of Korthekar's rounds struck something, and the faintest outline of a not-quite-human figure became briefly visible. Velan felt a pang of fear, a surge of confusion; a moment later, he was struck by a moment of clarity that only served to make him feel like a fool for not recognizing what had happened earlier, while also making him subtly quake with horror now that he knew what actually had transpired. Despite being trapped on a damaged space station, with no external help, and with aliens amongst his crew, the universe had found a way to torment him with yet another threat.

The gauss fire in the room died down, the screams and moans of those who had been incapacitated by the stunning set of detonations ceasing with them. As the room recovered, Korthekar grunted in frustration with such intensity that it could have been mistaken for an alien fiend's roar, and a tight collection of gauss shots could be heard coming from somewhere nearby, though aside from this, there was a strange silence.