Work Text:
Sara Ryder
Location: Unknown
8 hours till extraction
Sara’s fingers tried to find purchase on the slippery rocks. Viscous liquid clung to her skin. Every time she failed, she slipped back down into the pit of unidentifiable goop. Truth be told, she didn’t want to know what the fuck it was. It was thick and smelled disgusting, and fuck it was in her hair too. She’d give anything for a shower after this shitshow.
Simple search and rescue mission, my ass.
Finding a rock that wasn’t dripping in goo, she hauled herself up onto the bank, dragging herself against the stone floor. Sara took a moment to catch her breath. “Is anyone there?” she asked over the comms, but none answered. They were too far away.
I hope they’re okay.
Sara pushed herself to her feet. The goo clung to her armor. It weighed her down. She tried to wipe as much of as she could but it felt futile. It just clung to her fingers and smeared over her armor. She huffed. Just her fucking luck. She tapped the flashlight on her helmet. Please work. She just needed one thing to work.
The light flickered to life. It illuminated the viscous brown liquid. Sara pressed her lips together. She definitely didn’t want to know what it was. Instead, she looked up to get a better sense of the cavern she had fallen into to. Pointing the light up, she noted it was dark. Fuck. How far had she fallen?
There was only one path in front of her. Another cave. Another death trap. But she needed to get back up. Get back to her crew and get them the hell out of here.
They better be alive.
With a deep breath, she walked forward into the dark cave. Even with the flashlight, it was dark. Sara moved as quietly as she could. She didn’t want to attract the wrong kind of attention.
The cave grew smaller. She crouched down to continue. The sound of her breathing filled her helmet. It was quiet. Too quiet. It made her feel alone, but she knew she might not be. There could be something behind her. Stalking her. Sara fought the urge to look. She was just psyching herself out. Scaring the shit out of herself.
Sara crawled out of the cave and into an eerily lit cavern. This cavern was smaller than the other and filled with a soft purple light. It emanated from down below. That was the last place she wanted to go. To her right was a cliff face. She could probably climb it if it had enough footholds.
Her foot caught on a rock, making her stumble. It skidded across the stone floor. An unearthly screech came from behind her.
Sara ran.
22 hours earlier
Sara read over the mission report again. When Evfra marked something urgent, it was urgent. An expedition crew had gone missing after responding to a distress signal. The planet was right on the edge of Heleus space. He didn’t have the resources to send a rescue crew, but he was hoping she might. The Tempest crew was itching for something new after defeating the Archon. And traveling to unknown areas and determining their efficacy was part of her job. That’s how she was going to sell it if anyone questioned her.
“SAM, how long before we reach the planet?” she asked the holographic display on her desk.
“Three hours, Sara.”
“Do we have anything on it yet?”
“Scans show the planet is barren, stripped by severe storms that last for months on end,” he responded.
She grimaced. “Why would anyone go there then?”
“I do not know,” he answered. “There are moments of calm on the planet. Perhaps they were searching for resources.”
“Doesn’t seem like it’s worth the risk.”
“I concur, Sara.”
She set the datapad down on the table and stood up, stretching her arms over her head. “Are we going to be able to land?”
“Scans show the storms have ceased for the time being. When we get closer, I will be able to determine how long we have to search.”
“A timed mission too,” she grumbled. “I don’t know what Evfra was thinking.”
“There is always a reason. Evfra does not do things arbitrarily.”
“I know,” she sighed. “I hope whatever is there is worth all of this trouble. But if it ends up being too dangerous, I’m not sending a team down there.”
“I am sure he will understand.”
“I hope so. I don’t need to fuck up the tentative relationship we have with the resistance.”
The door to her room opened. She didn’t have to see who it was. The staticky feeling against her skin told her Cora had walked in. “SAM, tell everyone to ready their gear. I don’t know how many I need to bring with me.”
“Yes, Pathfinder.”
Arms wrapped around Sara’s waist and a kiss was placed on her cheek. “We have a mission?” Cora asked, her lips close to Sara’s ear.
“A search and rescue. Supposed to be simple in and out if Evfra’s intel is to be believed,” Sara said, leaning back into Cora’s embrace.
“You don’t think so?” Cora asked.
“Well, I don’t feel good about where we’re going and the info we have so far. I still don’t understand why Evfra would send a team to that planet in the first place. It sounds downright hostile.”
“I guess we’ll figure it out when we get there.”
Sara blew out a breath. “I hate not knowing. And given we’re on a timer, I won’t have much time to strategize.”
“You’re good at on the fly,” Cora reminded her.
“For some things, sure. I don’t know. Maybe I’ve just realized it doesn’t work for every situation.”
Cora grinned. “Is that responsibility I hear, Sara Ryder?” she teased.
Sara snorted. “Shocking, I know.”
“Don’t worry. You have a good team. We’ll complete the mission.”
“I know, I know,” Sara said, sighing. “I think I’m going to want you to lead a secondary team. Cover all of our bases. With time against us, I want to cover as much ground as possible.”
Cora nodded. “Who are you taking?”
“Jaal and Liam.”
“The bro team.”
Sara laughed. “We’re looking for an Angaran team that is possibly injured. Those two are my best choices.”
“I’ll take the other three then. We can split up in groups of two if necessary.”
“Only if it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t want us scattered all over the place just in case we need a quick extraction.”
“How long till we get to the planet?”
“About three hours.”
Cora rested her chin on Sara’s shoulder. “Why don’t we relax for a little bit then. We still have plenty of time to gear up.”
~
Sara has the planet information on the holo with the planet framed against the darkness of space. Swirling clouds covered the surface. She had no idea how the hell they were supposed to breach the storms. Hell, she didn’t know how a Resistance team had managed. Unless they hadn’t. Unless they had crashed. Evfra should have told her that. Then again, maybe he didn’t know.
The mission hadn’t even started and she already didn’t like this. There were too many unknown factors. She deliberated pulling out. Apologizing to Evfra and calling it a loss. But she knew herself. She wouldn’t sleep at night if she didn’t at least try to find a way.
“The storms cover the entirety of the planet,” Suvi said, looking at her readings. “I don’t think we can get down there, Pathfinder.”
“Can you get any readings past the storm?” Sara asked. “If we can find out where the resistance team landed, then maybe we can determine how to get down there.”
“I am scanning now, Pathfinder,” SAM responded.
“Didn’t you say the team was responding to a distress signal?” Suvi asked.
Sara nodded.
“If we can find the distress signal, then we can find out where the resistance team would have landed,” Suvi said, moving things around on her display. “This would be easier if we knew what frequency they were using.”
The doors to the bridge opened and Jaal and Liam walked in. Both were already in their armor and Jaal had his rifle in his hand. Despite having a weapons locker, he always slept with the rifle in tech bay. She didn’t pop him for it. While he trusted them now, he still felt the need to be prepared for any possibility and she wasn’t going to stop him from doing so.
“How the hell are we supposed to get down there,” Liam said, pointing to the planet.
“It does seem impossible,” Jaal added.
Sara sighed. “I’m not sure myself.”
“Found it!” Suvi declared, swiping her hand across her screen, and throwing the signal up onto the holo for everyone to see.
A strange atonal ring played. This was the distress signal? It sounded like a bad song. How had the Angara known this was a distress signal? Sara looked to Jaal, but even he looked confused. The sound looped every few seconds.
“Where is it coming from?” Sara asked.
“From underground it seems,” Suvi said. A blip on the map began to blink in and out. “It’s originating from here, but the depth is…astronomical. Almost as if it’s coming from the core.”
“Impossible. Must be the storm interfering with the signal,” Kallo piped up.
“Impossible isn’t really in my vocabulary, Kallo.” Suvi swiped more information onto the holo. “There will be a break in-between storms based on these calculations.”
“For how long?”
“Eighteen hours, give or take.”
“That should be more than enough time,” Sara said, grazing her bottom lip with her teeth. There was still something strange with all of this. Something that unsettled her.
It didn’t seem like enough time at all. Sara had to make a decision. Fast. “SAM tell everyone to finish gearing up. We’re touching down in less than an hour.”
“Understood, Pathfinder.”
“You sure about this, Ryder?” Liam asked.
“Not really, but if there are survivors, I’m not willing to leave them.”
Sara Ryder
Location: Unidentified Planet 003
18 Hours Until Extraction
Sara led the teams off the Tempest. Despite the supposed window, the winds were still strong. They pushed back against every step she took. Kallo had taken them down to where the signal was originating from. If the expedition team was following the same signal, they should’ve landed close by.
“Make sure to keep the Tempest doors closed. We don’t need any stragglers,” Sara ordered over the comms. She doubted this planet had any wildlife, but she didn’t want to take that chance.
“Should we implement a password?” Gil teased.
“Sure, it’s “The Pathfinder is going to kick your ass if you don’t open the door” or is that too long?” she shot back.
Various chuckles sounded over the comms.
“Don’t worry, Pathfinder. The baby will be safe while you’re gone,” Gil said. “Good luck.”
“The resistance shuttle should be close by,” Sara said. “Fan out and let’s find it, but don’t stray. I don’t need anyone else getting lost.”
The terrain was barren. No trees or grasses. The ground was soaking wet, but there were no puddles. It was surprising. She would expect there to be a lot of water on a planet like this. But also, she would expect to see a shuttle with clear line of sight. There was nothing. Could Evfra’s intel be wrong?
No. Evfra wasn’t that careless. He would have double and triple-checked everything before asking her for help. He was nothing if not thorough.
“Over here!” Vetra said over the comms.
Sara looked over to see the Turian waving her arms. They pulled back together and made their way to her location. When Sara realized what she was standing next to, she understood why the shuttle couldn’t be seen.
“How far down do you think that goes?” Peebee asked, leaning over the hole.
“Only one way to find out,” Cora said, looking over to Sara.
“You can’t be serious,” Peebee said. “We can’t even see the bottom and you want us to go down there?”
Sara reached and pulled a glowstick from the back of her suit. She cracked it and tossed it down into the hole. It barely illuminated the entirety of the hole, but it did land on something metallic. Possibly the top of the shuttle.
“Jaal, Liam, and I will go down and check for survivors. I need the rest of you prepared to get people to the Tempest,” Sara ordered.
“That was fast. If only all missions were this easy,” Drack said.
“Don’t tempt fate,” Cora chastised him.
Sara snorted and shook her head. She turned on the flashlight that was attached to her helmet. It would be a relief if it was a simple in and out. If there were survivors—and she hoped there was—they could evacuate quickly and the time window wouldn’t be a problem at all. Then she could ask them what the hell were they doing this far out.
She jumped down first, waiting for the right distance before she activated the jump jets to soften the landing. Jaal and Liam landed beside her. The metal platform—she was certain it was the top of the shuttle—was wedged into the hole. She didn’t think it had created the hole. It just had the unlucky fortune of crashing into it. She kicked the flare from the platform and watched it fall over the side. It didn’t land again. Not where she could see it.
“The hole goes down far,” she said. “Let’s be careful not to shift the shuttle.”
“I’ve found the hatch,” Liam said, squatting down to look over the opposite edge. “It’s open. I don’t see any movement inside.”
“I’ll go down and check,” Sara said, moving to stand beside him.
“What if there is no one in the shuttle, alive or dead?” Jaal asked.
Sara sighed. “I don’t know, but if they fell, they’re probably not alive anyway. Let’s hope there’s someone inside.”
She knelt down and with a firm grip on the edge of the shuttle, she lowered herself down. Jaal and Liam had ahold of her forearms. The shuttle opening was large enough that she could swing herself inside. She would cross the bridge of getting back up when she came to it.
The shuttle shuddered as she landed on the floor. Sara froze, letting it settle again before she moved. At first glance, there was no movement inside. No bodies that she could see. The equipment was fairly standard for an expedition team. The weapons locker sat open and it was empty. Armor and helmets were all gone with the exception of a spare suit.
“What do you see, Sara?” Cora asked over the comms.
“Equipment is intact. No bodies. Armor and weapons are gone,” Sara reported. She swore. “I think it means they survived the landing but left the shuttle.” Stupid choice. It would’ve been safer for them to stay on the shuttle. Rations would’ve held them over for a little while. She walked up to the cockpit. There was nothing.
“What do you want to do, Ryder?” Liam asked.
Sara rubbed the top of her helmet. “Let me think,” she said.
There was no way of telling just how far the hole went down. If Sara had to guess, they were above a large cavern system. Probably attached to a cave system. If the Angara left, they could be anywhere. They could be close or far. Could they be found before the time window closed? It was doubtful. There were a lot of risks and she didn’t want to make the decision on her own.
“I’m coming up,” she announced.
Sara maneuvered herself until she was barely in the shuttle. Liam and Jaal were waiting with their hands outstretched. Activating her jump jets, Sara shot up the side of the shuttle. They grabbed her and hauled her to the top, landing harder than she intended.
“Thanks,” she said.
Liam tapped her on the back. “Don’t worry, Ryder. We wouldn’t let you fall—"
The shuttle shook and tilted to the side. Everything happened so fast, but Sara felt it in slow motion. She lost her balance. Her footing. They reached for her. Missed. She was too close to the edge. The jump jets couldn’t save her. She was falling. Her arms grasping for something in the nothingness. Knocked loose, the shuttle began to slide down the side of the wall, bringing her two companions down with her.
So much for easy.
Cora Harper
Location: Unidentified Planet 003
17 Hours to Extraction
“Sara!” Cora shouted, watching the shuttle disappear further into the hole with a grinding noise. The comms were silent. Not even static came through. They couldn’t be dead. She wouldn’t believe it. Sara had come back too many times to die now. “SAM, do you have anything?”
The AI didn’t answer.
Drack grabbed her shoulder as she leaned precariously over the edge. “Careful.”
“We need to get down there,” Cora said. “Do we have any climbing gear?”
“On the Tempest,” Vetra answered.
“Does anyone come in?” Cora tried again.
There was a burst of static and then nothing. That was good enough for her. She was going down there with or without the backup. “Get the climbing gear,” she ordered, nodding to Vetra and Peebee.
The two barely took five steps when the ground began to shake. No one had warned them about seismic activity. But this could be from the shuttle falling. The ground around the hole began to crack and crumble.
“Shit!” Peebee shouted.
Cora stumbled away from the hole. “Run!”
The cracks spread under her feet. They weren’t going to get away in time. Cora felt the earth crumbling her. Her heart dropped into her stomach. Looked like they were going down faster than they anticipated. Her fingers clawed for something to hold onto, but everything gave way under her. Her panicked shout echoed in her helmet.
Sara Ryder
Location: Catacombs
17 Hours to Extraction
Sara drew in a shuddering breath and winced. Her body ached. Her head throbbed. They had fallen. How far? She had no idea. But she wasn’t dead. Which was a surprise. Sara opened her eyes. The flashlight on her helmet was off. Darkness covered her. It was everywhere. There was no telling where she was or what else was down here.
“SAM?”
“Yes, Sara?”
“Where are we?”
“I do not know.”
She pushed herself up onto her elbows. “Where are the others?”
“I do not know.”
With a sigh, Sara tapped the light on her helmet. It flickered on. She slowly looked around. The light barely penetrated the darkness, but at least she could see her immediate surroundings. She was in a tunnel of some sort. The hole was directly above her. She must’ve crashed through.
“Jaal. Liam. Come in,” she said, pushing herself onto her knees.
Static. Silence.
“Shit,” she murmured, placing her hand on the wall to guide herself into standing up. The chill came through her gloves. She pulled her hand away. It was wet. Water? She turned so her flashlight could illuminate the rock wall. It was glistening. She hoped it was from water. “Have you tried the Tempest, SAM?”
“They are not responding.”
She huffed. “Just great.” This whole damn mission was a bad idea. She should’ve listened to her gut. Told Evfra they couldn’t do it. It would have been very “Pathfinder” of her, but at least she wouldn’t be stuck in some tunnel underground all by herself. “Which way should I go, SAM?”
“I am unsure, Sara. Please scan the area.”
Sara activated the scanner function on her omnitool and held her arm up. The buzzing of the scanner echoed through the tunnel as she walked. With the darkness, it seemed endless. There were no other ways to go. No other paths.
“Jaal? Liam?”
A burst of static over the comms made her yelp. “Hello?” she called again.
“S…a…”
“Jaal! Liam!”
“S…ra…”
Sara kept moving. If the comms were picking up, they had to be close. She needed them to be close. She didn’t want to be alone down here in the dark.
“Jaal!”
“Sara!” His relief was palpable over the comms. “Sara, are you injured?”
She almost burst into tears. “Nothing major. Are you okay? Have you heard from Liam?”
“Hey, Ryder,” Liam’s voice came over the comm.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to let me fall,” she teased.
“Yeah…heh…my bad,” his breathing was labored.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m alright. Maybe a cracked rib or two.” His cough was wet.
“Shit,” she mumbled. “Is your medigel working?”
“It broke in the fall,” Liam said. “Jaal’s malfunctioned. Feel like a sitting duck, to be honest.”
“Can you tell me where you are? Anything that helps me get to you?”
“We’re in some kind of room,” Jaal answered. “There is some light here.”
“From above?” she asked. She hoped.
“No, I believe it’s a bioluminescent organism. Perhaps a fungus,” Jaal said. “We landed in a tunnel and I brought Liam here.”
“I fell in a tunnel too. I’m using the scanner to try and map it out. SAM can’t reach anyone else, not even the Tempest. If he could, he might get a better scan of the underground,” she said. “I’m guessing I’m closer to you since I can hear you over the comms. I’m going to keep going.”
“We’re not going anywhere, Ryder,” Liam promised. “Hope you got some spare medigel.”
“Don’t worry, Liam. I’m on my way.”
Cora Harper
Location: Catacombs
16 Hours to Extraction
“Sound off!” Cora barked.
Peebee coughed and raised her hand. “Here.”
“Here,” Vetra said.
“Still alive,” Drack grumbled, his prosthetics creaking as he pushed himself onto his feet.
“How far do you think we fell?” Peebee asked, shining her light up.
“Far enough that we can’t see the sky,” Vetra answered.
“Anyone injured?” Cora asked.
“I think we’re good,” Vetra said. “Don’t suppose anyone knows how we’re going to get back up.”
“Sara?” Cora called over the comms. “Jaal? Liam?”
“Do you think they’re okay?” Peebee asked.
“They couldn’t have fallen much farther than we did,” Cora said. “I don’t know in what direction though.” The flashlight bounced over the walls and multiple entrances. They were standing in a circular structure with multiple passages. Cora didn’t know where to even begin. She opened her omnitool. The interface glitched in and out. “SAM?”
The AI didn’t answer again. Perhaps it was with Sara. When necessary, it would prioritize the Pathfinder. She hoped that meant Sara was still alive.
“Tempest, are you there?” Cora tried.
Nothing.
She huffed in frustration.
Vetra walked around the room, eyeing the passageways. “Where should we go?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Cora said. Sara hadn’t wanted her to split up unless they had to. It was looking like they would have to. “Four passageways. One for each of us.”
Peebee shook her head. “What?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Vetra added.
Cora turned to Drack. “What do you think, old man?”
He snorted. “Comms are fried. No light. No sense of direction. Options are limited already. Is it worth the risk?”
“Maybe we should look around some more and see if we can find something,” Peebee suggested.
“Fine, but if we can’t find anything then we’re going to have to make a decision. Since I’m in charge, that’s on me,” Cora said. “Spread out and search.”
Cora swept her flashlight over the floor and the walls. There was just rock. The wall was wet. Possibly from an underground body of water. Rocks were scattered on the ground. Probably from their fall. Nothing to indicate the direction they should go in.
“Hey, I think I saw something!” Peebee called.
They walked over to her. Cora just saw a dark tunnel. Nothing significant. “I don’t understand—”
“Turn of your lights,” Peebee said.
“What?”
“Turn them off.”
Everyone turned them off. At first, Cora didn’t see anything. She wondered if the fall had given Peebee a concussion. But then she saw it. A faint glowing in the distance. A light source? Perhaps from Sara or the Angara they had come down to rescue in the first place. It was as good an indication as any.
She turned her light back on. “Let’s go.”
Sara Ryder
Location: Cistern
15 Hours to Extraction
She saw the light Jaal had been talking about. It clung to the ceilings. She followed it to a room with a large pool of water. It lapped at the sides of the rock. It had to flow under their feet. She walked around the water until she reached a room on the other side. Liam was leaning against a stone structure that jutted out from the floor. He raised his hand in greeting as she ran into the room.
“I’m so fucking glad I found you guys,” she said, kneeling down and unhooking a medigel pack from the back of her suit.
“Me too, Ryder,” Liam muttered, his bottom lip wet with specks of blood. He breathed a sigh of relief as the medigel moved through his body. It would stabilize him until they could get out of here.
“I told him not to speak because of the ribs,” Jaal said.
“I don’t think anything could get Liam to stop talking,” Sara teased.
Liam smirked and gave her the finger, slumping back against the stone pillar.
“Any sign of the other Angara?” Sara asked, looking up to Jaal.
He shook his head. “Nothing from what I’ve seen, but I haven’t ventured far. Has SAM been able to map this place?”
“Only the places I’ve been able to scan. He can’t reach the Tempest or anyone else.”
“Do you think the others are still topside?” Liam asked, sounding a little better.
“I don’t know. I hope so. We just have to find a way up to them.”
“This place is a maze and we have no idea how far it goes,” Jaal said, kneeling beside Liam. “I wouldn’t know where to start.”
Sara looked back into the cistern. “Maybe we can use the water.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean find out where it’s flowing. A current could give some sort of direction and we could follow the flow one way,” she said.
“But which way?” Jaal asked.
“It could flow out of the cave system—”
“Or into it,” Liam interrupted.
“Have you felt any wind?” Sara asked.
“I’ve felt nothing; the air is still here,” Jaal said.
Sara sighed and leaned against the wall. “I honestly don’t know what to do. We have maybe 15 hours until extraction which means we have to be on the surface by then.”
“That’s 15 hours to search,” Jaal said.
“What about the Angaran team?” Liam asked.
Sara shook her head. “We can look for them while we try to find a way out, but if they’re not on the way then they’re lost. I’ll have to take the hit with Evfra.”
“Evfra will be upset, but he will not begrudge you for trying and failing. The important thing is we get out of here,” Jaal reassured her.
“I guess we better get started then.”
Cora Harper
Location: Catacombs
15 Hours to Extraction
The tunnel stretched on and on with no end in sight. She couldn’t reach anyone over the comms. Not Sara. Not the Tempest. They were alone down here with no idea of where the hell to go.
“Can anyone else get their omnitool to work?” Vetra asked, fiddling with the device.
“No, it keeps fizzling out,” Cora said.
“Which means no map,” Peebee complained.
“We’ll be fine—”
A sound made them all freeze. Drack drew his weapon first. The others followed. Cora kept hers pointed down to the floor in case it was a friendly. She hoped it was Sara. The sound came again. It sounded like a rock rolling across the floor. Could be a shift. But she had to be sure. She led them further into the tunnel.
A voice came through this time. Low, but clear. It sounded like—
“Sara!” Cora shouted, taking off down the tunnel.
“Cora, wait!” Vetra shouted after her.
She didn’t listen. Sara’s voice wasn’t far away. She could be injured. Cora needed to get to her. The sound of her boots on the rock echoed loudly through the tunnels. Sara would know she was coming. That help was coming.
A hand on her shoulder jerked her back.
“What are you—”
Drack’s hand clamped over her mouth. “Quiet,” he growled. “You’re running into a trap.”
Before Cora could argue, he pointed to the tunnel in front of them. The bioluminescence began to move. At first, it looked like it was crawling along the walls, but then she noticed the shadows. Unfurling limbs. Claws. A chittering sound came from the light and then she heard the voice again. A perfect mimic of Sara screaming. How did it have that?
Drack slowly tugged Cora backward so they didn’t alert the creature.
Peebee came up behind them. “What the fuck—”
The creature screeched and Cora shook off Drack to turn around and run back the way they came. The others were right behind her. So was the creature. She heard the god-awful screeching mixed with Sara’s screaming coming down the tunnel at her. It made her blood run cold. Sweat dampened her bodysuit. Where were they supposed to go?
They made it back to the room. Cora didn’t contemplate anything; she picked the first passageway in the hopes that it would get them away from whatever the hell that thing was. Her lungs burned. The tunnel widened into an illuminated cavern. Cora didn’t know if this was better or worse. They were exposed.
The floor fell into steps and Cora took them two at a time, hoping they wouldn’t crumble under her feet. A shot rang out behind her. The creature shrieked. Cora turned, wielding her own gun.
“Get down!” a voice shouted behind her. Not one she knew but recognized the Voeld accent.
Cora dropped just in time to avoid the hail of gunfire from behind her. The rest of her team—with the exception of Drack—were also on the floor. Shots tore through the creature’s limbs and torso, spraying black ichor onto the walls. It fell into a wet heap.
“What the fuck was that thing?” Peebee shouted.
Cora pushed herself onto her feet and turned around. A group of Angara were standing behind a fallen pillar, their weapons still pointed in her direction.
They had found the expedition team.
Sara Ryder
Location: Catacombs
15 Hours to Extraction
Gunshots rang out ahead. Sara pulled her rifle from her back and ran towards the sound. It could be the expedition team. It could be her team. Liam and Jaal were right behind her. The gunshots stopped, but she was close. The tunnel widened into a cavern and she skidded to a stop.
“Cora!”
Cora looked up, her gun in her hands, and her shoulders dropped. “Sara!”
Sara jogged down a set of small stairs and met Cora in the middle near a downed pillar. She didn’t miss the group of Angara in the room, but she was relieved—and upset—to see Cora. “You fell too?”
“A seismic event. The ground gave way,” Peebee said.
“You always did like it when I fell for you,” Cora teased, touching her helmet against Sara’s.
Sara giggled and squeezed Cora’s hands. “Is anyone injured?”
Cora shook her head. “We’re fine. The expedition team,” –she gestured to the Angara with her chin— “didn’t sustain any injuries either.”
“We climbed down here,” one said.
“Unfortunately, we lost our anchors and haven’t found another way up,” another one piped up.
Sara sighed. “Liam got hurt in the fall, but that’s it.”
“I’m fine,” Liam said, leaning heavily on Jaal as they descended. Jaal let him sit down next to the Angara.
“I’m Sara Ryder, the Pathfinder,” Sara gestured to herself. “This is my team. Evfra sent us to rescue you.”
“I’m Kjaan Sjora,” the one who spoke first pointed to themselves. They had vivid yellow skin and red markings on their face. “I’ve seen you on Aya before, Pathfinder. I am one of the Moshae’s students.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Kjaan, but can I ask what the hell are you doing out here?” Sara perched onto the fallen pillar.
“There was a signal we followed to this planet. We believed it to be a distress signal, but now, I am not so sure it was,” Kjaan explained.
“Could it have been this,” Vetra spoke up, pointing to a dark lump on the floor.
Sara swung herself over the pillar and walked up to the lump. It was covered in the bioluminescent fungus that had been in the cistern. Vetra kicked it over and Sara hopped back. It was a creature…a monster. Long spindly arms ended in three large-clawed appendages. Its hind legs resembled a canine’s. Its lips had peeled back to reveal large, sharp teeth. Sara didn’t see any eyes. Just ridges on the side of the head where ears might be.
“What the hell is that?” she asked, crouching down beside it.
“We’re not sure,” Kjaan said. “But it’s not the only one. We’ve noticed that it seems to hunt based on sound. It has adapted to the darkness.”
“Apparently it can mimic too,” Cora said. “I thought I heard Sara screaming and ran towards it.”
“I screamed when I fell. They mimicked me based on that?”
Kjaan nodded. “They have tried many times to lure us into the tunnels.”
“Why not just come here?”
Kjaan shrugged. “They don’t seem to like this room. This the closest one has gotten and it’s because it was chasing your team.”
Sara looked around the room. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, except it was underground, and she couldn’t see the ceiling. “How long have you been here?”
“A few days.”
“Do you have any ideas on getting out?” Sara asked.
Kjaan shook their head. “We have tried to navigate the tunnels, but with no map, it is easy to get lost. We haven’t seen any natural light since we’ve been here.”
“Shit,” Sara murmured. “We have 15 hours until the next storm hits and who knows how long it will last. SAM can’t reach the Tempest, and they may not know what’s happened. So, we need to think of something and fast.”
Peebee turned her light up to the ceiling. “Do you think that could be a way out? If we could knock out some of the ceiling.”
“Our jump jets won’t go that high and there’s no climbing gear,” Cora reminded her.
“We could climb the walls. I’ve done plenty of free climbing,” Peebee said.
“There was a cistern back where we came from,” Sara said, turning to Kjaan. “If we can find the direction of the current, we might find a way out.”
“It’s a long shot, but it would be better than not trying,” Liam piped up.
Kjaan nodded. “I will go with you, Pathfinder.”
“Sara or Ryder is fine, Kjaan.” She turned to Jaal. “Jaal is coming, and maybe another one from your team?”
Kjaan turned and gestured for a young man with blue skin and black markings to step forward. “This is Nesh. He’s a geologist.”
“Perfect.”
“What about me?” Cora asked.
“Stay here with the team. Let Peebee try her climbing idea and keep an eye on Liam. I gave him some spare medigel—”
“Do you have enough for yourself?”
Sara nodded. “I’ve plenty. I’m gonna be fine. Don’t worry.”
Cora huffed. “When has telling me not to worry ever worked?”
Sara squeezed her hand. “I’ll be careful.”
Location: Cistern
14 Hours to Extraction
Sara crouched down near the moving water. “What do you think?” she asked Nesh.
“The current is strong. I believe the water could be moving down due to gravity, which means upriver would also be the way up,” he said, closing the screen on his ushataliin. “I think it may be our way out, Pathfinder.”
She sighed in relief. “Good. How do you think we can track it?”
“The rocks,” he said, turning his head and pointing at the wet walls. “It will be the easiest way to tell. As for direction, if I can determine a direction here, then we can follow it as we navigate the tunnels.”
“Thank you, Nesh.”
“Thank you, Pathfinder. I was beginning to think we were trapped here,” he admitted. “I’d like to get home. My child is young.”
“I’ll get you home to them,” Sara promised.
He clapped her on the shoulder and walked off. Sara hoped she could keep her word. She wandered back over to Jaal and Kjaan. “What do you think?”
“It is our best chance, it seems,” Jaal said.
“I agree. We can’t sit around and wait much longer if we are to make it out of here before our window closes,” Kjaan added.
“Once Nesh gets a direction, we’ll regroup in the cavern. Do you think we’ll meet more of those creatures?” Sara asked.
Kjaan nodded. “Probably. The good news is, they can be killed by gunfire. The bad news is, they are fast and crafty and may be upon us before we even know.”
“So, we have to be vigilant.”
“That would be wise.”
“I have it!” Nesh said. “I believe the current runs from northwest to southeast. If we go northwest, we should be able to ascend the tunnels to the surface.”
“Are you certain?” Kjaan asked.
“Yes.”
“Can you keep track of that SAM?” Sara asked.
“Yes, Sara. I will add directional markers to the current map.”
Kjaan looked at her. “You have a map?”
“Not a good one,” Sara said. “I’ve been scanning tunnels as we go to give us something since the Tempest can’t send scans to SAM.”
Kjaan nodded. “It is better than nothing.”
“Exactly.”
“Let’s return and gather the others,” Kjaan said. “I am eager to leave this place. Nesh let’s—”
Kjaan gasped in horror. Sara turned to see Nesh staring at them with wide eyes. Three large claws emerged from his chest. Blue blood dripped from them, staining the stone floor. Nesh gurgled, his knees buckling. A creature chittered behind him. Bright green saliva dripped from its mouth.
“Run,” Nesh choked out.
Sara took a step towards him, but Jaal’s hand wrapped around her elbow to jerk her back. The creature bared its teeth at her and dragged Nesh back. Nesh opened his mouth the scream.
“RUN!”
Cora Harper
Location: Cavern
13 Hours to Extraction
Cora stayed out of the Drack and Dhanira’s way as they studied the creature. She grimaced at the wet sounds coming from the carcass. They were probably taking it apart and she did not want to know. She just hoped it was the only one they would run into. They were at roughly twelve hours before their extraction window closed and the Tempest would have to leave the planet. Leave them behind. She tried not to think about it.
“Hey, Cora!” Peebee called from the side of the rock wall. “How far up am I?”
“You’re not even halfway!” Cora shouted back.
“Damn!”
Vetra nudged Cora with her elbow. “You okay?”
Cora snorted.
“Okay, so it was a dumb question.”
“I just want to get out of here,” Cora said. “I have a bad feeling about this place. Sara had one before we even landed here and I told her to ignore it. I wish I hadn’t.”
“We’re not always going to know how a mission is going to go until we’re in the shit,” Vetra reassured her. “All we need to do now is get out of here in one piece. All of us.”
Shouting from the tunnels stopped Cora’s reply in her throat. It was Sara. Her hand went to her gun. Jaal, Kjaan, and Sara burst into the cavern and didn’t stop until they were firmly in the middle of the room.
“Where’s Nesh?” Dhanira asked, stepping away from the creature.
Sara looked away, leaning over to rest her hands on her knees. Jaal was the one who spoke. Nesh was gone. Taken by a creature they didn’t even notice.
“I should’ve saved him,” Sara murmured. “I could’ve done something.”
“And then we might be down a Pathfinder,” Drack said.
“Kjaan?” Dhanira looked to her leader.
Kjaan shook her head. “I—”
“I’m not dead yet, Kjaan,” a voice came from the tunnel.
They all turned with weapons drawn, but it was just Nesh, stumbling out of the tunnel covered in blood and black ichor. He had survived? Dhanira ran to his side, putting her arm around him to guide him to the group. He was still bleeding. Kjaan moved to their camp, pulling out a medkit.
“How?” Sara asked, shaking her head. “I thought for sure—”
“It tried to take me down the tunnel. It was dragging me by the foot when it would’ve been safer for it to have kept its claws in me. Turning its back to me was a bad idea,” Nesh said, grinning—or grimacing—as Dhanira helped him set down.
“They abandoned you,” Dhanira hissed.
“I told them to run, Dhanira,” Nesh rebutted. “If they had tried to save me then, it might’ve torn me apart.”
“You didn’t know that!”
“I’m here, Dhanira.” He patted her arm.
Cora grabbed Sara’s hand and pulled her away. “Are you okay?” she whispered.
Sara shook her head. “I thought for sure…I…”
Cora gripped Sara’s upper arms. “He’s here. That’s what matters. But we have to get out of here.”
Sara nodded.
“Pathfinder!” Nesh called while Dhanira and Kjaan tended to his wounds. “Let’s make a plan to get out of here.”
Sara Ryder
Location: Catacombs
11 Hours to Extraction
She let Nesh lead. Two hours of walking through winding tunnels while on the lookout for more of those creatures. Two hours of eerie silence and their careful footsteps. Nesh was certain of the direction. Sara wasn’t one to argue, she couldn’t make heads or tails of the place. Everything looked the same. They didn’t find another room like the cavern or cistern. Just tunnel after tunnel. Sometimes she felt like they had walked through the same ones multiple times.
“Are we any closer to the surface?” Peebee asked.
“We’ll get where we need to be,” Nesh said, his tone monotonous.
It was strange. She never met an Angara that did monotone. They were always such expressive speakers. Maybe it was because he was hurt. Sara shrugged it off and kept walking.
One hour later…
Two hours later…
“Can we stop a sec?” Liam asked, leaning heavily into Jaal.
“For a few minutes,” Sara said. “Everyone could use a food and water break. Nobody wanders.”
Liam looked rough. Even with the medigel he was looking ashen. They needed to get him out of here and back onto the Tempest. Sara just hoped he wasn’t bleeding internally. The medigel should’ve staunched any, but it wouldn’t hold forever. He probably needed surgery.
“Sara,” SAM said over their private channel.
Sara turned her back and switched her comm off. “What is it, SAM?”
“Based on the composite map I have rendered, I believe we are being led in the wrong direction.”
“What?”
“I believe we are descending, Pathfinder.”
Sara turned to look at Nesh. He was standing in the middle of the tunnel, staring in the direction they were going. No one else noticed that he wasn’t near them. That he wasn’t eating or drinking or moving. Sara carefully unholstered her weapon and kept her arm close to her side. No need to alarm anyone yet.
“Nesh?”
He didn’t turn to look at her.
“Nesh, I need to look at the map,” Sara said.
“We will get where we need to be, Pathfinder.”
“Give the Pathfinder the map, Nesh,” Kjaan ordered, moving to stand beside Sara.
“We will get where we need to be.”
Kjaan looked at Sara and unholstered her own gun. Something wasn’t right. “Give us the map, Nesh,” she repeated.
Nesh said nothing.
“Turn around, Nesh,” Sara said.
Everyone was looking now. On guard. Drack—who never holstered his weapon—had it pointed right at Nesh. Sara moved slow, not wanting to startle the Angara, until she was a foot away from him. “Turn around. I won’t ask again.”
He was slow. As if it was some big reveal. Sara gasped, stepping back when she saw the large weeping pustules on his chest. Black spread from them, crisscrossing over his torso and up his neck to his cowl and face. His eyes were black. The galaxy in them was dead. Swallowed by a black hole of ichor.
“Nesh!” Dhanira tried to get close, but Jaal held her back.
“Are you still in there, Nesh?” Sara asked.
“We will get where we need to be,” he repeated.
“I don’t think you’re Nesh anymore, but you’ve been leading us further in. What’s down there?” Sara’s voice trembled slightly. It was unbecoming of a leader.
“They are waiting for us.”
“Who is they?” Kjaan demanded.
Nesh pointed down the tunnel. “They are waiting,” he repeated.
“I vote we turn the hell back,” Vetra said.
“I’m with her,” Peebee added.
“Liam are you ready?” Sara asked.
She didn’t turn back to look at him, but she heard the sounds of him pulling himself up the wall. “I’m ready, Ryder. I want to get the hell out of here.”
“We must keep going, Pathfinder,” Nesh said, taking a step towards her. “They are waiting.”
“We aren’t following you anymore, Nesh.” She pointed her gun, the red laser dot resting in between his eyes. “I’m sorry we can’t get you back home.”
Nesh opened his mouth and a horrible screeching noise erupted from his throat. Kjaan was the one who pulled the trigger before Sara could. It was better that way. Killed by one of his own instead of by the Pathfinder. Death was more political than she liked sometimes. Nesh dropped like a stone, silenced within seconds. But the damage was done.
Nesh had called, and the creatures that waited within answered.
“Run!” Sara shouted unnecessarily as the others were already moving. They ran back in the opposite direction. The tunnel was long and had no exits. They were ripe for the picking. It was too narrow to spread out and protect each other. Sara just had to hope that they would be faster than the creatures.
Unlikely.
The creatures were on their heels. Sara could hear claws digging into dirt and stone. The screeching and trilling noises they were making behind her. Her heart pounded in her ears. Bile rose in her stomach. The knee she had damaged during the fight with the Archon, screamed in pain. But Sara had to keep running.
“There’s an exit!” Cora shouted from the front.
“Take it!” Sara hollered. She didn’t know where it led, but they had to do something fast.
They veered down the right into a wider tunnel. Sara hoped and prayed it would lead them up or, at the very least, to a safe place like the cavern from before. It was hard to tell in the darkness. The flashlight barely provided enough light. She burst out from the tunnel, not seeing the ledge or the drop off into darkness until she was right at the edge. Drack grabbing the back of her armor and hauling her back a foot was the only thing that kept her from falling…again.
“A dead end?” she asked.
“Look up,” Drack said, extending a clawed finger upward.
The gap in the middle was huge and who knew how far down it went, but all around the edge was a ramp. It led up and down. Maybe it could even take them up to the surface. It was their best option right now. And worth trying. Sara waved for Cora to start leading the others up. The creatures still screeched in the tunnel behind them.
She hoped they stayed in the tunnel instead of coming out of this exit.
Liam leaned against the wall, stopping beside the tunnel entrance. “I need a minute,” he wheezed.
Sara touched his arm. “I’m not sure we have one, Liam. We’ve got to move.”
“Please, Sara,” he mumbled. “My chest is on fire.”
“I can give you more medigel.”
“What if you need it.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I don’t—”
A creature burst from the darkness with a screech, its claws digging into Liam’s suit and launching him towards the hole. Sara grabbed onto his arm. Her heels dug into the dirt. It was stronger than she was, but she was more stubborn. She wasn’t letting go. A weight slammed into her chest and the floor disappeared from under her. Someone screamed her name. She screamed Liam’s name. A creature screeched in her face. She was falling again. Further into the unknown.
Why does this always happen to me?
Cora Harper
Location: Staircase
8 Hours to Extraction
“Sara!” Cora screamed over the edge.
The only answer were the creatures in the tunnel coming for them.
“We have to go, Cora!” Vetra yelled.
Cora didn’t move. She had to go get Sara. She couldn’t lose her. They had finally found a way up. If Sara went too far down, she wouldn’t make it out. Or she’d die. Cora couldn’t let what happened to Nesh, happen to Sara.
“Cora!” Vetra shook her.
“I’m not leaving her!” Cora snapped.
“Our best bet is to get the Tempest and get climbing gear to haul her up. If we go down now, we have nothing, and we’ll have wasted time. Get yourself together and get us out of here!” Vetra barked.
The creatures sounded closer. Cora hated it, but Vetra was right. “Let’s go. Drack and Peebee, I want you bringing up the rear. Lay down cover if you have to!”
Drack’s answer was to cock his gun.
Cora led them up the ramp. For whatever reason, the creatures didn’t follow them. Either they weren’t interested or they couldn’t sense them now that they were away from the tunnels. It didn’t make sense. Nothing did. All the time Cora spent under Alec, being primed to lead if necessary, and it turned out that Sara was the better leader. Cora floundered. Sara led even when she didn’t understand. She made decisions Cora wouldn’t. There was no better Pathfinder for them. Cora was the poor imitation.
The only thing that motivated her now was getting to the Tempest and getting what was necessary to get Sara. Cora wasn’t leaving this planet without her.
“How close do you think we are?” Peebee asked.
“I don’t know. I can’t see any light or anything,” Cora answered.
“And we are pretty far down,” Jaal added.
Will we even have enough time? Will Sara?
Cora stopped in her tracks. “I’m going back down.”
Vetra turned to her. “What—”
“We’re on limited time. It’s already taken us hours to get down this far and it will take hours to get back up. We can’t make that many trips,” Cora said. “I’m doing down to get her and Liam. The rest of you should keep going up.”
“You can’t go alone, Cora,” Vetra argued.
“She won’t,” Kjaan said. “I will go with her.”
“As will I,” Jaal volunteered.
“Thank you,” Cora said before turning back to the others. “Vetra, you’re in charge. Get up to the Tempest, send out a signal to anyone in the area who might be able to help, and get the rope so we can get back up.”
Vetra shook her head. “Damn it, Cora, fine. Just don’t get yourself killed.”
“I won’t. I’ll bring them back,” Cora promised.
Sara Ryder
Location: The Pit
8 Hours to Extraction
Sara Ryder surfaced, spitting up a disgusting—and somewhat slimy—liquid. Her helmet was broken. It wasn’t just a thin crack she could fix with her omnitool. Half of the visor was missing. The rest was cracked. She pulled off her helmet and retched, trying to clear her mouth.
How far down am I?
“SAM?”
“Yes, Sara?”
“Any idea on where we are?”
“I do not.”
“Great.” She turned the flashlight on her helmet and held it up, turning in a slow circle to get an idea of where she was. The liquid rippled around her as she disturbed it. Shining a light on the liquid didn’t give her a better idea of what it was. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
Stalactites hung from the ceiling and stalagmites rose up to meet them. She could assume that some of the liquid was water. There was a ledge on the side. Liquid clung to the floor and walls, but at least it wasn’t a pool of it. Sara moved to the side and set her helmet down on the ledge. It took her a few tries to pull herself up. Her entire body was slick from the fluid.
She rested for a moment on the ledge. The flashlight flickered and turned off, leaving her in darkness. That’s when she noticed an eerie purple light. It came from a tunnel on the far side of the room. Great. That was the last place she wanted to go, but upon another look around, Sara noted it was the only exit she could see.
It was imperative that she get out and try to make it back to the ramp. She also needed to find Liam. He had to be close. Or he’s dead. Sara shook her head. No. Liam wasn’t dead. She wouldn’t allow it. Sara grabbed her helmet, tapping it until the flashlight turned back on and swept the room again. She grimaced at the murky brown liquid.
With nowhere else to go, she quietly moved to the tunnel. The flashlight canceled out the eerie light. She knew it was still there. Coming from God knows what. She just hoped it was also a way up.
The tunnel grew smaller, forcing her to crawl out on her hands and knees. The cavern was bigger, although not as big as the one she had been in earlier. Purple light emanated from the bottom. There was a drop-down to a ledge and then another drop further than that. No way up that she could see. Guess they didn’t need stairs anyway. Down was the last direction she wanted to go in, but it didn’t seem like there was much of a choice.
A screech came from behind her. That made her decision for her. Sara ran towards the hole in the floor and dropped down to the ledge. As she dropped lower, she noticed the purple light pulsated. It reminded her of a heartbeat. Or a breath. It was steady. Didn’t waver. What was it?
Sara hit the bottom. The light surrounded her like a cloud. She wasn’t sure if it was safe to breathe, but with her helmet busted, it didn’t matter. She didn’t have a backup. Sara kept going until she could see more clearly. The tunnel she was in wasn’t natural. It had a wall. Ceilings. Sharp corners. She ran her fingers over the grooves in the walls. It felt like a hallway.
“Is this a ship?” she breathed. Remnant maybe? Or something older. Much older. She didn’t see any of the usual Remnant markings. And there had been no bots. Just the creatures. Could they be a creation by the Jaardan? Sara wasn’t sure.
“Are you getting this SAM?”
“I am, Sara.”
“What do you think?”
“If I had to speculate, I believe it could be the remnants of a ship. I will need to collate the data from scans.”
“Do you think it could be remnant?”
“It is unlikely.”
“Are you picking anything up from, Liam?”
“I am not.”
Sara swore under her breath. All she could do was keep going down the hallway and hope it led her somewhere useful. Her flashlight swept across the floor. The creature hadn’t followed her down here. Perhaps it couldn’t. She hoped it couldn’t.
It felt like an hour before the tunnel changed. Before she reached a new threshold. A broken door that was open just enough for her to slip through into a room. It was hard to tell what it was before. A control room possibly. It looked as if a round table sat in the middle of the room and computers and equipment sat on the far wall, but it was all covered by a film that dripped a viscous liquid. Sara swallowed, carefully ducking under a veil of the film and towards another door. The next room nearly made her vomit.
Cocoons were scattered all over the walls. Some were closed and pulsating with purple light. Some had broken open and oozed the liquid. There was one cocoon that was closed but the membrane was thin. It looked recent. Sara noticed a familiar logo underneath the membrane.
“Liam!”
She rushed forward, her fingers tearing the membrane to reveal Liam tucked into the cocoon. A film of liquid covered his face and armor. Sara patted him on the cheek and called his name while her other hand kept tearing at the cocoon. He slumped forward and she slowly lowered him to the floor.
“SAM?”
“Vital signs are normal, Sara,” SAM intoned.
Sara opened her omnitool to scan him. It flickered a few times before dying. “Damn!” She shook his shoulders. “Wake up!”
Liam groaned. “Stop yelling,” he grumbled.
The air left her lungs and she slumped over. “Thank god.”
“What happened?”
“We got tossed down here.”
Liam opened his eyes and looked her over. “You look like shit, Ryder.” He sniffed. “Smell terrible too.”
She snorted. “Fuck you, Kosta.” She gingerly sniffed her shoulder and grimaced. “I fell in some weird liquid. At least I wasn’t in a cocoon.”
“Ugh.”
“We need to get moving. Get the hell out of here.”
“Best idea you’ve had today, Ryder.”
Cora Harper
Location: Tunnels
5 Hours to Extraction
“What do you think is down there?” Jaal asked.
“Honestly? I don’t know and I don’t care. I just want to get Sara,” Cora said.
“We will find them, Cora,” Jaal reassured her.
“We will.”
The ramp had gone down far. Far enough that Cora could see a light radiating from below. It made her uneasy. The entire place made her uneasy. Then the ramp stopped and they had no choice but to go into a tunnel. It was quiet so far. She preferred it that way.
“There’s something ahead,” Kjaan alerted, pointing down the tunnel with her rifle.
All three of them paused. Cora pointed her pistol in the direction of the noise. If it was one of those creatures it was going to get the business end of her gun really quick. Nothing was going to stand in the way of getting to Sara. She wasn’t leaving this fucking rock without her.
The sound was too slow to be a creature. They ran; they didn’t shuffle along the ground. “Who’s there?” she called.
“Up was in the opposite direction, Cora,” Sara called back.
Cora sighed, lowering her weapon. “I wasn’t leaving here without you.”
Liam and Sara came into view. Liam looked terrible. If it weren’t for Sara holding him up, he would drop, Sweat cascaded down his face. His eyes were sunken. Cora took a small step back. Was the same thing happening to him that happened to Nesh?
Sara looked at Cora and shook her head. “We need to get back to the Tempest.”
“Are you sure it’s safe to bring him?” Kjaan asked. Cora noticed Kjaan hadn’t lowered her weapon.
“I’m not leaving him behind,” Sara snapped. “He needs medical attention. This isn’t what happened with Nesh. It’s…something else.”
Jaal holstered his weapon and jogged over to help prop Liam up. Liam looked up at him and tried his best to smile. “Thanks, man. I’m just tired.”
“What was down there?” Kjaan asked.
“I don’t really know,” Sara said. “I fell into a pit of weird liquid. Found my way out into what looked like a derelict ship—”
“Remnant?”
Sara shook her head. “SAM doesn’t think so. I didn’t stay around to find out.”
“I was in a cocoon,” Liam added. “It was some Ridley Scott shit.”
“We should get moving. We’re at less than five hours now,” Cora said. “It took us several just to get down here.”
“Agreed,” Kjaan said. “I am still not sure about him.”
“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Sara said.
Kjaan didn’t look convinced, but she stopped pointing her gun at Liam. Jaal took the lead with Liam. Kjaan stayed behind them. Cora and Sara took up the rear. Sara didn’t look so great either. Pale. Exhausted. Dark circles ringed her eyes. It made Cora worry. Was something going to happen to Sara too?
“Are you okay?” Cora murmured.
“Pretty far from okay,” Sara admitted. “This whole mission has gone to shit. Where are the others?”
“I sent them ahead to the Tempest. I’m hoping they can send down some climbing gear. Maybe something to lift Liam out of here.” She leaned close to Sara. “Do you think he’s going to make it?”
“He has to. We all do.”
Cora found Sara’s hand and squeezed.
Sara Ryder
Location: Staircase
2 Hours to Extraction
The further along they got, the more she worried about Liam. Jaal was practically carrying him up the ramp. The good news: Sara could finally see a sliver of light up top. The others had to have made it out.
She was dragging. Exhausted. Her head throbbed. Sara wanted—needed—sleep. But she pushed herself to keep going. They were so close. She wasn’t going to give up now. Her throat twitched and she coughed. Did she have more of that stuff in there? God, she hoped not. It was disturbing to think she hadn’t hocked all of that liquid up. Sara cleared her throat, but nothing happened.
“Can anyone hear me?” she tried the comms.
Nothing.
She sighed in frustration. “We’re close and the comms still don’t work.”
“Ryder,” Jaal said, getting her attention. “Liam is worse.”
Sara jogged up to the front. “Shit,” she muttered.
Liam’s breathing was shallow. His eyes were half-lidded. If he wasn’t breathing, she might’ve thought he was dead. They were running out of time.
“We need to hurry,” Jaal urged.
Sara nodded, the movement making her head hurt worse. “Let’s pick up the pace. I’ll keep trying the comms.” Every couple of hundred feet, she would call over the comms again. The sliver of light grew wider and wider as they ascended. Ryder even believed she could see ominous clouds moving. Sky. A little bit more and they would be clear.
Exiting hell is never easy.
“Ryder!” Liam shouted.
Jaal looked down at him “Liam?”
Ryder jumped. “What?”
His eyes were squeezed shut. They moved behind his eyelids. “Ryder,” he wheezed. “They…my head…I can…feel them…”
“What the hell is he talking about?” Cora demanded.
“In…me…us…Ryder…”
A cacophony of noise rushed up from below. The creatures knew they were close. They were coming. Liam knew that. And a small part of Ryder did too.
“Run!” Ryder ordered, helping lift Liam up so she and Jaal could get him up the ramp.
It was mayhem. They ended up dragging Liam up towards the light. Sara felt the familiar buzz of Cora’s biotics. There was an explosion. Dust filled the air. Shrill screams nearly made her ears bleed. Kjaan laid down cover fire. The light was so close. They could make it. They would make it.
But there was still a gap from the top of the ramp to the surface. Too large to jump. Sara grunted in frustration. Until she saw familiar faces peeking over the edge. Vetra shouted something unintelligible but followed it by dropping a length of rope down to them.
Sara quickly secured Liam and shouted for them to get him up. Another rope followed and she wrapped it around Jaal despite his protests.
Three left.
Sara turned with her gun in her hand as she waited for the ropes to be free again. Cora was next whether she liked it or not and Sara knew she wouldn’t. She would argue. It would be moot.
The creatures were gaining on them. There were so many. They ran up the ramp. Clung to the walls. Had they all come from that ship down below?
Sara grabbed the back of Cora’s armor and yanked her back as the rope came back down. Before Cora could protest, Sara had the rope tied around her and signaled for Vetra to pull her up. Cora reached for her, fingers barely grazing Sara’s armor.
“Goddammit, Sara!”
Another rope came down. “Come on Kjaan!”
“Will it hold us both?” Kjaan shouted over her gunfire.
Sara shook her head. “You have to go.”
“They will overwhelm you, Pathfinder.”
“I’m willing to risk it.”
Kjaan looked at her. “I’m not. Go, Pathfinder. I will stay…with my son.”
“Nesh is gone, Kjaan, you don’t have to stay. Please,” Sara begged.
“Goodbye, Pathfinder.” Kjaan ran towards the creatures, her guns ablaze.
Sara wrapped the rope around herself, letting herself be lifted to safety, but she didn’t once take her eyes off of Kjaan when the creatures caught up. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry. Sara blinked away tears. Hands pulled her away from the hole. Undid the rope.
Cora cupped her face. “I hate you so much,” she said, choking on the words.
“It’s okay, Cora,” Sara murmured.
It wasn’t fucking okay.
As soon as they made it back to the Tempest, Jaal carried Liam to the med bay. Sara shuffled onboard. She tried her best to avoid Dhanira’s gaze. Two of her crew were dead. Dhanira would have to return alone. Sara took a step and felt a sharp pain in her chest. Her ears rang. There was screeching in her head. Her throat tightened. Bile rose. Someone called her name. Sara retched. If something came up, she couldn’t tell. Pain exploded in her knees as she fell to the floor. She couldn’t breathe.
“Sara—”
~
A steady beeping woke her. Sara blinked under the harsh fluorescent lights. Wherever she was, it didn’t look like the Tempest. At least she wasn’t dead. Turning her head, she saw Liam asleep in a bed not too far from her. A clear plastic sheet separated them. It went around both of their beds. Were they quarantined? Where?
“Ryder?” Lexi’s familiar voice took away some of the edge.
“Lexi?” Sara faced the voice and saw Lexi covered in a hazmat suit.
“You’re awake. Good.”
“What happened?” Sara asked.
“You collapsed. I was able to stabilize you while we traveled back to the Nexus. Once I made the report, they had to enact quarantine protocols. They opened up a whole docking bay for you,” she teased.
“Where’s the rest of the crew? Cora?”
“Cora is fine. Everyone is fine. Only you and Liam were infected—”
“Infected?”
Lexi opened her omnitool and showed Sara a picture of what looked like a giant fleshy shrimp. “It’s a parasite. It was small, almost microscopic when you were implanted, but its growth rate is…I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You sound almost excited.”
“I’m not excited you almost died, but I’m always excited to learn something new.”
“Do you think that’s what those things were? Beings that were infected by the parasite?”
Lexi tilted her head. “It’s possible. The only way to know for sure is to go back and study—”
“Fuck that.”
“The crew is being quarantined separately. Dhanira as well. She has already reported to Evfra.” Lexi closed her omnitool. “The Tempest is being scrubbed and meticulously cleaned as we speak.”
“RIP to Gil’s porn stash,” Sara joked.
“Well, you’re making jokes, you must be just fine.”
Sara snorted. “You know me, doc.” Sara pointed to Liam. “What about Liam?”
“The parasite has been removed from both of you. Liam is still sleeping off the anesthesia, but he will be fine.”
“How long are we stuck for?”
“It’s hard to say. We need to be sure all traces are gone, so at least, a few days maybe. We might try a few different therapies to be sure.”
Sara sighed and shifted around in the bed to ease her stiff joints. “Any chance you could sneak my girlfriend in here?” Sara teased.
Lexi shook her head. “You can call her via your omnitool until you’re cleared for contact. But right now, I recommend you get some more rest.” Lexi patted Sara’s hand with her glove and moved to Liam’s tent.
Against the advice, Sara opened her omnitool and selected Cora’s name. The answer was instantaneous. There was silence and a choked sob. “You jerk,” Cora said, sniffing. “I thought you were going to die.”
“As if I’d ever leave you, Cora.”