Erika woke up back in the med bay, because of course she was in the med bay again.

  That makes three times since leaving Tartarus. I wonder if there will be a fourth.

  The AutoDoc whirred around Erika, bandaging wounds and giving her injections to accelerate healing and stop the pain. Erika’s entire body throbbed, but some places hurt more than others. The shoulder she’d been shot in, and her gashed thigh, were bright spots in the sea of pain.

  At Erika’s side, on the other AutoDoc table, lied Theo. He was awake and watching his AutoDoc fuss over him.

  “What happened?” Erika mumbled.

  “Don’t tell me you’ve got that amnesia shit,” Mi-Cha said from the corner. She and the Carnifex stood side by side. Erika wished she had a camera so she could have taken a picture.

  “What’s your name? How many fingers am I holdin’ up?” Mi-Cha held two fingers.

  “I’m Erika. You’re Mi-Cha, holding two fingers.” Erika was faintly surprised that Mi-Cha wasn’t holding up one finger–her middle finger. That was more the pilot’s style, though Erika wouldn’t complain about the newfound kindness.

  “Thank fuck,” Mi-Cha sighed.

  “The Ark is drifting toward Earth,” Theo said.

  “Slowly,” Mi-Cha added.

  “It will take us four months to reach Earth,” Theo said.

  That meant the trio would miss the SmallWorld deadline by two months.

  You still care what SmallWorld thinks? Erika decided that no, she did not care anymore. Even if SmallWorld was ready to accept only a single alien, Erika wasn’t going to give the Carnifex up to them. They had human intelligence; they should not live out their life in a zoo.

  “We will need to assess the damage and the resources we have left,” Theo said.

  “Do you really think we can fly for four months with our ass hanging out?” Mi-Cha demanded.

  “There are less people to strain the Ark,” Theo said.

  A spike ran through Erika’s heart. If nobody died, the Ark might not have a chance, or maybe the extra people would have helped get the ship into working order.

  “Moreover, we’ll broadcast a distress call as we drift,” Theo said. “If anyone hears us, they will have to rescue us.”

  Mi-Cha nodded, lips tight.

  Space was massive, and running into another ship was a rare occasion. The Hell’s Ark traveled into the unknown frontiers, where no other ship had ventured before. It would take time for the ship to reach civilized space again, and it would take a miracle to bump into another ship. It was more likely that the Ark would reach Earth before running into another ship. Wether or not the Ark’s survivors would still be alive when they reached Earth, however…

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Erika sat up in the bed. The room swayed, but Erika was certain she could walk.

  The Carnifex chirped. Mi-Cha tensed next to the creature.

  “They’re okay,” Erika told Mi-Cha, then she chirped back to the Carnifex.

  The creature darted out the airlock. Erika frowned.

  “Uh, the fuck’s happening?” Mi-Cha asked.

  “I don’t know,” Erika said.

  “We’re not about to all die, are we?”

  “No. The Carnifex doesn’t seem the type to break deals.”

  Mi-Cha wrinkled her nose.

  Theo sat up. He moved without a trace of pain or disorientation.

  “Has the ship been properly looked over?” Erika asked.

  “I glanced at the console,” Mi-Cha said.

  “That’s not enough, is it?” Erika asked.

  “No. We should check everything,” Theo said.

  “Okay. Then that’s what we’ll do.” Erika dragged herself off the table. The spinning intensified, but she held her balance. Erika, Theo, and Mi-Cha walked the halls of the Hell’s Ark together.

  The bridge hadn’t taken any real damage. The console wore some dings from when the Lamia attacked, but the machines all still worked. Theo stopped at the console, and brought up some reports.

  “Mi-Cha, you already turned off the non-essential items,” Theo said.

  “Well, yeah. That’s what you do when you’re on emergency power,” she answered.

  Theo nodded.

  He went through a list of commands, and turned off some more systems. Erika didn’t know what sections of the ship Theo turned off, but she trusted his judgement enough not to question him.

  Once through with the bridge, the group headed into the galley. The lights were still off, and the room was as black as the vacuum. Theo navigated his way to the cabins, and came back with some flashlights from his room.

  “Only the reactor room still has lights,” Theo said.

  “But the reactor room’s fucked,” Mi-Cha said.

  “We need to check the Aranea.”

  The group shined their flashlights through the trashed galley. Items from Luther’s shrine littered the floor. The movie Erika offered was crushed at her feet. Erika picked the movie up, and set it back in place.

  “Does that matter anymore?” Mi-Cha asked.

  No, it doesn’t. Erika didn’t have the heart to say it.

  The group descended to the third floor. The shuttle bay was empty. The waste processing plant made only a low gurgling noise. Some pipes were bent out of place, but Theo said it would be okay. The lab was a mess, but none of the equipment was damaged. Clive was still on the floor in two ragged pieces.

  “We don’t need to be in here anymore,” Erika whispered.

  The group left the lab, and went to the reactor room.

  Aranea corpses littered the floor. A lot of the webbing had fallen, and the webs still in place were quiet. The adult Aranea was dead against the core, limbs wrapped around the dead reactor like a mother trying to protect her child.

  The ship groaned.

  Erika turned to the sound, and stared into the darkness. She expected the Carnifex to materialize in a corner.

  Actually, you haven’t seen them at all. Where did they go?

  “I cannot repair the reactor,” Theo said.

  “We’re drifting in the right direction though, and the Aranea are all…incapacitated,” Erika said. “That counts as a success.”

  “We also have damage to the air filtration system and the engines outside. The food printer in the galley seemed to be experiencing a malfunction, though I think I can fix that,” Theo said.

  Mi-Cha muttered something under her breath, then silence filled the room. Everyone was waiting for orders, but Ryder wasn’t there, nor was Naoki or Luther.

  Erika cleared her throat.

  “It’s a lot of work, but we’ll take care of it. We’ll survive,” she said. “So, what’s first?”

  “The air filtration system is the most crucial component that we can fix,” Theo said.

  “Then that’s where we’ll start.”