Shadows in the Void

Chapter 52: An Empty Pod

Dagr activated the door controls and the hatch hissed open, steam curling from the seals like breath escaping a tomb. The cryopod bay loomed before him, vast and silent, the only illumination coming from the faint glow of the pod control panels. Rows of glass chambers stretched into the dark, each one humming faintly with life preserved in frozen suspension.

The silence was wrong. Eerie. Too complete. Even the usual hum of coolant pumps seemed muted, as if the ship itself was holding its breath.

He stepped inside, plasma rifle raised, Geri close at his flank. The drone's six legs clicked softly against the deck, sensors sweeping the shadows in arcs of red light. Behind them, smaller drones followed, their optics glowing like scattered embers, servos whispering as they moved.

Every step echoed faintly, swallowed by the oppressive stillness. Dagr's eyes scanned the rows, searching for any sign of movement, any flicker of the queen's presence.

Then his foot slid, catching on something slick. He froze, gaze dropping. A pale, viscous pool spread across the deck, shimmering faintly in the dim light. Coolant?

His stomach tightened. Not coolant. Cryogel.

He crouched, fingers brushing the substance, cold and sticky against his skin. He followed the trail, heart pounding, until it led him to the next row.

One of the pods was open. Not shattered. Not forced. Open. The glass canopy lifted cleanly, seals disengaged with surgical precision. The chamber was empty.

Dagr pulled his PADD from his belt, hands shaking as he connected it to the pod's interface. Data scrolled across the screen, lines of text flickering in the dim glow.

Designation: LT Danver. Gamma Crew.

Dagr's jaw tightened. He didn't know the man. The name meant nothing to him personally. But the data kept scrolling, and his breath grew shallow.

Specialization: Engineering. Sub‑discipline: Artificial Intelligence Systems.

His eyes widened, pulse hammering. AI systems... Helena.

The realization hit him like a blow. The queen hadn't simply opened a pod at random. She had chosen. She had woken Danver deliberately.

Did she wake him to get to Helena? To twist him, to use his knowledge against her?

Geri pressed closer, sensors flaring crimson, servos clicking in agitation. The drone's presence steadied him, but only slightly.

Then another alert chirped from the drones. Dagr turned, rifle raised, and froze.

Three pods stood shattered, glass splintered outward, jagged edges glistening in the dim light. Red cryogel splattered across the deck and bulkheads, smeared in grotesque arcs like a crime scene frozen in time. The chambers were empty. The occupants gone.

Dagr's stomach twisted, bile rising. He crouched, fingers brushing the sticky residue, the metallic tang of coolant mixed with something fouler. Not opened. Not chosen. Smashed.

"She took them..." His voice was a rasp, barely audible. "...not for their knowledge... but for food."

A chill ran down his spine, colder than the cryogel pooling at his boots. He straightened slowly, eyes narrowing, rifle gripped tight.

"If she mates with Danver..." His throat tightened, the thought clawing at him. "...who knows what monstrosities she will give birth to."

The bay seemed to darken around him, shadows stretching long across the rows of broken pods. The silence pressed in, suffocating, as if the ship itself recoiled from the horror.

He turned to the drones, voice hard, commanding. "Seal the bay. Lock every hatch. No one in, no one out. We hunt her here."

The drones scattered, servos grinding, optics glowing as they moved to obey. Welders sparked, cutters hissed, hatches clamped shut. The ship itself was becoming a trap, a cage for the predator.

Dagr advanced deeper into the bay, Geri close at his side, rifle raised. The corridor narrowed into a junction, shadows pooling thick at the edges. The air carried a faint metallic tang, sharper than cryogel, heavier than coolant.

Then he saw it.

One of the creatures hunched at the junction, its grotesque form half‑hidden in shadow. Its limbs were long and jointed wrong, bending like broken steel rods. Its skin glistened wet, a pallid sheen stretched over muscle that seemed too taut, too alive. The creature's claws dug into a limp body, stuffing it into the crawlspace hatch with frantic, jerking motions.

Dagr's breath caught. She's feeding again, taking more for her 'children'. 

The creature froze, sensing him. Its head snapped up, eyes glowing with a feral darkness. A guttural roar tore from its throat, reverberating through the corridor like a blast of static.

Before Dagr could fire, the creature seized one of the drones it had already smashed, a small repair unit, its casing twisted, optics shattered. With terrifying strength, it hurled the ruined machine across the junction.

The drone slammed into Geri, metal shrieking against steel. Geri staggered, sensors flaring wildly, legs scraping against the deck as it absorbed the impact.

The distraction was enough.

The creature lunged for the crawlspace, claws scraping sparks against the hatch rim. In a blur of motion, it seized the limp body and yanked it deeper into the shaft.

Dagr lunged forward, horror tightening his chest. "No!" The word tore from him, raw and useless.

The body convulsed once as it scraped against the hatch rim, then vanished into the dark. The sound of tearing fabric and grinding claws echoed back, a grotesque symphony swallowed by the crawlspace.

Dagr froze, rifle trembling in his grip. He had watched another crew member taken, helpless, consumed by the queen's brood.

Geri steadied itself, sensors flickering back to crimson focus. The drone pressed close, optics sweeping the crawlspace hatch, servos clicking in agitation.

Dagr's stomach twisted, bile rising. She's feeding. She's breeding. She's building an army in the dark.

He closed the crawlspace hatch with a final clang, leaving only silence and the faint drip of cryogel on the deck. "Seal this," Dagr stood rigid, rifle trembling in his grip, the image of the body being dragged away burned into his mind as a drone welded the hatch.

Then his gaze fell to the wreckage at his feet. The repair drone the creature had hurled lay crumpled against the bulkhead, casing twisted, optics shattered, servos bent at impossible angles. Its faint hum had gone silent.

Dagr crouched beside it, plasma rifle hanging loose at his side. He reached out, fingertips brushing the dented steel as if it were flesh. A pang of sorrow struck him, sharp and unexpected. It fought. It was part of us. And now it's gone.

He swallowed hard, throat tight. "You were more than a tool," he murmured. "You were a friend."

Geri pressed close, sensors dimming in quiet acknowledgment. The smaller drones clustered nearby, optics glowing faintly, waiting.

Dagr straightened, voice low but steady. "Do what you can for it," he said to them, the words carrying both command and plea. "Please. Don't let it be forgotten."

The drones chirped softly, servos clicking as they moved to gather the wreckage. Their optics glowed like candles in the dark, a vigil for the fallen.

Dagr turned back to the crawlspace hatch, jaw tight, eyes burning with resolve. She won't take another. Not while I'm breathing.

The bay lights flickered, shadows stretching long across the rows of pods. The silence pressed in, heavy and suffocating.

The hunt continued.