"Even if we ever get away from this goddamn stench, I'm afraid it'll be stuck permanently in the back of my nose." Morrison wrinkled his snout as he swept his flashlight over the bank of monitors and control panels in front of him.

"Me, too." One of the maintenance crew, Luana Phillips, drifted past his left shoulder and aimed her light at the empty beds lining two of the walls. "Between that and the stale air …"

"At least we have air, now," another tech -- Sparky something-or-other -- said as he hovered a few feet away, waving his ultratool around. "Of course, if we can't get the power turned back on, we'll run out sooner or later. Not for a while, given how big this ship is, but still …"

"Well, as ahead of our technology as this ship appears to be, it's not all that different from the stuff we had back home. And since we've got a couple of dozen tech experts here, if we can't figure out how it all works, nobody can." Steam puffed out of Luana's mouth and she shivered. "If we don't freeze to death first. I bet my nipples could cut glass right now."

Morrison grinned. "The image that brings to mind is warming me up already."

She laughed. "You offering to keep these warm for me?"

"Well, if you insist."

"How sweet," Sparky muttered distractedly, still keeping most of his attention on the various parts of the med-bay that appeared briefly in his flashlight beam. "I'll keep that image in mind next time I masturbate."

Luana burst out laughing and Morrison snorted.

A faint skittering from off to the right shut them all up. Moving almost as one, everyone in the med-bay swung their flashlights toward the sound.

"I hope that was one of us making that noise." The tip of Morrison's tail lashed back and forth.

Even as the words left his mouth, the eight beams of light landed on a writhing mass of…

"What the fuck is that?" one of the techs behind Morrison whispered.

Morrison shook his head slowly, his mind barely able to process what he was seeing. Each of the things looked like an unholy cross between a spider and a centipede -- and each of them was easily the size of his arm. They had appeared from behind the bed in the far corner.

"Everybody, get behind me and head for the door," he whispered, easing his sidearm out of his hip holster. Naturally, we run into these things after Omega leaves us here to keep exploring. His mechanical body would probably be immune to whatever these fuckers can dish out.

"I can't," Luana squeaked, trembling and staring wide-eyed at the creatures. "I'm not close enough to anything to grab onto."

Morrison reached out slowly with his free hand and grasped her ankle. He pulled her toward him -- but also ended up pulling himself toward the oozing mass of alien critters on the wall.

"Oh, shit!"

The mass surged forward, flowing over the walls like liquid.

"That's it, I'm outta here!" Sparky flailed around until he got hold of Morrison's right horn, yanked on it and launched himself toward the door.

"What -- Christ!" Morrison tumbled toward the onrushing whatever-the-hell-they-were -- but stopped when a hand clamped onto his left ankle. He glanced down and found Luana holding onto him while one of the other techs gripped her ankle in one hand and the door frame in the other.

The guy pulled them into the hallway and Morrison grabbed the manual control. He glanced into the room to be sure everyone else had gotten out, and began turning the handle.

The door slid across the opening inch by agonizing inch. The swarm reached the door a split-second before it closed and one of the spider-centipedes squeezed through just before its locks engaged with a solid clunk.

It turned toward Morrison and snarled.

A cold shiver rushed up and down his spine.

Its front end lifted, bent, tightening like a spring, and it leaped at him. He screamed and kicked at the wall, pushing himself away -- but not fast enough. The thing landed on his left leg, gripping his short fur and the cuff of his cargo shorts.

"Fuck!" He cocked his right leg back and drove his hoof into the creature. "Fuck!"

The blow dislodged it, sending it tumbling down the hall.

"Keep away from it!" He grabbed the manual-control handle to steady his aim, pointed his gun at the centipede, and took a moment to make sure the others were clear. He pulled the trigger, hoping the shatter-round would pierce the thing's exoskeleton.

The bullet ripped through the middle of the creature and burst apart on impact with the wall behind it. Trying not to shake as he adjusted his aim, he pumped three more rounds through it just to be sure.

A sickly yellow-green fluid spurted from the holes he'd blasted through it. It hissed and twitched for a few more seconds before it bled out.

He kept watching it. Once a good thirty seconds had gone by without it moving, he sighed and shoved the gun back into his holster. "Everybody okay?"

A few of them nodded, others muttered something under their breath.

Morrison looked around and found Luana. She stared at the bug, rubbed her arms and shivered. Her dark skin had lost some of its color. Morrison reached out to touch her shoulder.

"Hey, you gonna be okay?"

"I … guess." She shuddered, pushed against the wall, and turned away from the critter.

Morrison reached out to hold her hand and activated his comm implant. [Asuka? Morrison.]

[Hey, Henry. Your team making any progress yet?]

[Well, I think we might've found what killed the crew.]