The Spider Queen

(Unknown Starship)

(Seventh Floor- Washroom Facility)

"I… I…I don't want to die," Pirene muttered in a daze as he slowly rocked back and forth on the ground.

His body constantly trembled and quivered, and his eyes stared off into the distance blankly.

"How long has he been like this?" Cordata asked the other person in the room.

"Ever since he took a glance at the security monitor and saw his partner get eaten alive by that beast," came the cold reply from Lilise.

The two survivors fell into silence while Pirene continued to mutter incoherently in the background.

They had no idea how many people were left on the starship or if anyone else was still alive.

The majority of the crewmembers were from a race called the Stukuins with noticeable physiological traits such as abnormally pale skin, mental abilities such as telepathy and long, slender limbs.

"Look… we can't just sit around and wait for death. Why don't we head to the armoury and grab some weapons to fight back?" Cordata suggested.

"Brilliant plan! I'm sure the numerous squads of security guards sent to kill the beast didn't think of that exact same method," Lilise exclaimed sarcastically.

"You work in data entry! Pirene is in the middle of a mental breakdown… and I haven't shot a plasma rifle in over thirty years!"

There was a trace of despair hidden beneath the harsh words.

It was not that Lilise was ready to die but the creature hunting them down was just too powerful to resist.

That monster was a killing machine.

Ruthless, efficient, and deadly.

Bang! Bang!

Two loud thumps against the metalloid door blocking the entrance to the washroom caused the aliens trapped inside to panic.

"No… no…. no…NO I DON'T…. I CAN'T!" Pirene shrieked loudly.

His frantic yells and cries were immediately cut off by Cordata placing a firm hand over his mouth to get him to stop making noise.

But it was too late.

Screech!

A bloodcurdling animalistic sound came from the other side of the door and all the aliens could do was watch in dread as the firm metalloid door was ripped apart like paper.

The predator had arrived.

There it was in all of its inhuman glory.

A humanoid creature standing around seven feet in height with four bladed appendages jutting out of its back.

Its entire body was covered with a mixture of blood, guts, and fleshy chunks which caused it to have a body odour that was vomit inducing.

However, the real horror was the knowledge that the beast was covered in what remained of their co-workers, friends and even family.

Pirene slipped further into madness as the creature stepped forward slowly with deliberate steps.

His cries of terror could no longer be blocked as Cordata had dropped his hand.

There was no point in trying to silence him now.

"Why are you doing… why…" Lilise questioned in a trembling voice.

The alien had not even realised just how badly her arms and legs were shaking under the killing intent.

Her question would remain unanswered as the beast vanished from the spot and reappeared right in front of them.

The survivors did not even have time to react before a vial of pinkish liquid was thrown in their direction.

The glass tube fell on the ground and cracked open. A thick fog of pink smoke filled the air which caused the survivors to cough violently.

Lilise collapsed to the ground along with her two other companions as her vision slowly sank into darkness.

The last thing she could remember before falling unconscious was a soft voice whispering a quiet reply.

"I'm sorry."

(Sophie's POV)

Taking one last look at the entire area of the floor with her enhanced vision, Sophie scanned every nook and cranny for more survivors.

There was no one else.

Sophie sighed heavily as she realised that these three aliens were the last ones that she needed to collect.

She no longer trusted herself to attack directly and knock the survivors unconscious so using sleeping agents was the only method left.

There weren't many vials inside Sophie's storage bag but there was enough to knock out the handful of survivors.

She had already brought fifteen crewmembers from the other floors to the holding room and now with these three, the final number would be eighteen.

From a crew of hundreds… to just eighteen.

Starships were mostly controlled by the onboard AI unit so there should be enough people to operate.

But how could she get these aliens to fly the starship and not backstab her once they reached the border region.

Would she need to threaten them?

Force them to work for the monster that butchered most of the people they knew?

Sophie could feel a mixture of shame and guilt bubbling up in her heart but pushed that feeling down.

There was just too much work that still needed to be done.

She had to get these three inside the holding room and then head out of the starship to look for Lily.

There were dangerous monstrous plants living beneath the seemingly calm exterior of the desert and while the numerous protective devices on the child's body may keep her safe…

Sophie knew that it did not mean that the little girl would be invulnerable.

With one smooth motion, Sophie picked up the three unconscious bodies and walked towards the holding room.

These aliens were surprisingly light but that might have something to do with Sophie's impressive strength since she was a qi tide cultivator.

This floor was the final stop of her search through the starship, so it took around twenty minutes to get back to the holding room.

Sophie unlocked the door using a severed hand from one of the nearby corpses and then tossed the three bodies inside.

The other survivors were still unconscious, but they would be in for a rude awakening once the sleeping agent wore off.

Unfortunately, Sophie could not find any other rooms that locked from the outside, so she was forced to use the place where she had killed remaining mercenaries.

There was no time to cleanup, so the survivors were placed in a room with blood and body parts scattered across the floor.

Sophie took a quick glance to double check that none of the survivors in the room required immediate medical attention and then closed the door.