Nehuasta and Skinner stepped onto the bridge, the former shoving the door open with one arm as if it weighed nothing. She pushed it so hard that Skinner was certain that he wasn’t going to be getting the door out of its slot any time in the near future. He said nothing, though – the fact that Nehuasta had been planning on killing him earlier already made his stomach turn. At this point, if she’d yelled ‘boo’ loud enough, he’d probably have wet himself. The Senate Hunter strode over to the window and looked down at Schunston’s surface, her posture betraying nothing of her thoughts. She touched the side of her helmet again. “Aksak, are you getting any readings on that anomaly?”

Lumos piped into Skinner’s helmet. “Captain, the object has reached a level of Type-II radiation heretofore thought to be impossible,” she said. “The density is so great that it is causing the immediate collapse in the ionic bonds of all molecules within the neutrino dead zone.”

“And what does that mean?” Skinner asked as quietly as he could.

Nehuasta answered before Lumos. “It’s going to explode,” she said curtly, turning back to him. “Our readings show a Type-II radiation density that’s off the charts. It can’t sustain that for long. Is this crap-heap capable of getting out of system or are we dragging you with us?”

“It’s flightworthy,” Skinner said defensively. “I’ll fire it up.”

Every alarm on the Dangerous went off at once. Lumos came over the intercoms again, an edge of panic to her voice. “Captain! The anomaly is imploding!”

A shockwave hit the Dangerous from the underside, knocking out power to the bridge lights and the gravity. Skinner felt his boots leave the decking as he scrambled for purchase along the wall, finally catching a maintenance handle. Nehauasta barely moved, floating a few inches off the floor where she’d been a moment before. A moment later, she was silhouetted by an enormous beam of white light that shot up past the Dangerous and out into deep space. The resulting pulse wave flipped Skinner’s ship end over end like a toy, flinging it completely out of geosynchronous orbit and out into space.

Skinner slammed into the wall like a doll, his suit absorbing most of the force. He still gasped in a combination of surprise and pain, the lack of any kind of shielding suddenly very apparent. A moment later he was colliding with the far wall of the bridge as the ship continued to tumble. His left arm slammed against the floor hard enough for a crunching noise to echo in his helmet. Skinner lost any and all control of the limb, watching helplessly as it floated next to him. Nehuasta leaped away from the window, seemingly suspending herself in the center of the bridge as they flipped around and around, avoiding the jumble of loose objects that went flying around the room. Skinner suddenly realized what it must be like inside a salt shaker as he crashed into the captain’s chair, grabbing onto it for dear life, screaming like a baby.

Nehuasta’s impassive helmet looked down at him as she touched the side of her helmet. He could almost feel the disdain leaking off of her. “Aksak, what is your status?”

Lumos’s voice filled Skinner’s helmet. “Captain, we have sustained minor damage to our hull but are otherwise unharmed. The anomaly’s implosion created a shockwave which threw the Dangerous clear of the worst of the blast. The Senate frigates sustained major structural damage, but are otherwise unharmed. Both fighters also escaped the blast zone intact. The Heil cruiser was thrown clear as well, and was able to get its shields up in time to absorb the worst of the blast. To the best of my knowledge, there are no casualties.”

Nehuasta made a snarling sound. “There’s interference everywhere,” she spat. “My headset can’t link with my crew.”

“From what my CI can see, they’re fine,” Skinner told her. “Your frigates got dinged up, but the fighters got clear of the blast in time – probably thanks to your warning.”

She didn’t respond, clawing her way up the tilted bridge towards the window. Skinner followed, keeping a safe distance from the Senate Hunter. It was slow going with the use of only one arm. He ground his teeth, pulling himself up to the window a few feet away from Nehuasta. He didn’t want her to suddenly snap and murder him on the spot.

Schunston was no longer a gigantic planet filling their view. Instead, it had been reduced to a fist-sized sphere that Skinner could’ve covered with his hand. Even from here, though, he could see the scorched spot on the planet’s surface. When the anomaly had imploded, the radiation had utterly cooked the ground beneath it. A burnt sphere at least five hundred kilometers across stained the surface of Schunston. Skinner wasn’t sure how Type-II radiation affected things, but if it was anything like regular radiation, nothing was going to live there. Not in his lifetime, and definitely not for a few dozen more after that.

“Where is the artifact, human,” Nehuasta snarled. “Tell me – now!”

“It was here on the bridge,” Skinner said, holding up his right hand defensively. “I swear – give me a second to find it!”

“Find it,” she snarled, dragging her way over to him. “NOW!”

Skinner kicked off the window, drifting back across the bridge as he swept his gaze left and right looking for the Gaither Key. He had no doubt that Nehuasta was going to kill him unless he found it quickly. “Lumos? A little help here?”

“The Gaither Key is near the uppermost portion of the bridge,” she said. “Behind the dislodged copilot’s seat.”

“Beans…” Skinner said, hitting the far wall and kicking off it at an angle. He aimed himself upwards where he could see the copilot’s seat rotating lazily in the zero-gravity environment. Behind it, he could see the faint outline of the octahedral artifact. He fumbled for it as he drew close, grabbing it with only one arm and throwing it towards the Senate Hunter. “Here! This is it.”

Nehuasta reached out and snatched the Gaither Key before it reached her, drawing it in and examining it closely. “This? This is what caused that blast?” she asked before turning her helmet towards him. “You are lying.”

“No, I swear I’m not!” Skinner said as he floated around at the top of the bridge. “It gives off that same Type-II radiation. Cutlep tried interfering with it because he said it was a signal, and then it went nuts!”

He didn’t see Nehuasta kick off anything, but she drifted menacingly up to the top of the room. Her arm shot out and grabbed him by the armor plating on the front of his polyform suit, dragging him closer until their helmets were touching. “You,” she snarled, “are going to tell me what happened. What did this artifact do, human?”

Skinner almost wet himself out of fear. He could feel his good hand shaking as he took a deep, calming breath. “Cutlep put it in a housing to interfere with the signal,” he said. “This thing—the Gaither Key, apparently—opened up. There was this red ball inside it. A minute later, the two halves turned inside out and just… exploded. I don’t know the science behind it, I can’t tell you more. I got thrown into a wall and Cutlep got blasted into dust.”

“And the anomaly that just threw us several thousand kilometers?” she snarled.

Skinner could see his own reflection in Nehuasta’s visor. He looked terrified. “It formed overhead as I was escaping. My CI thought I should grab the artifact because…”

Nehuasta shook him by the collar. “Because?” she prompted, the anger seeping into her voice.

“Because there were these… things…” Skinner said, suddenly feeling lame and pathetic. “They were like white… monsters. They were coming for the artifact, or at least they started moving when Cutlep started messing with it. She said we should take it because it wasn’t a good idea to let them have it.”

“White things? Monsters?” Nehuasta sounded almost like she wanted to laugh. “How much more pathetic can you get?” she shoved him away from her in disgust. “So, you’re telling me that there was something else on that dead planet that wanted this thing?” she held up the Gaither Key as she spoke.

Outside the window, Skinner saw the Heil cruiser pull into position next to them. From here, he could clearly see the lettering along the side that spelled out “LRRC Winds of Fury”. He swallowed thickly and nodded. “Yes. Cutlep had one in his lab. I fought it – it got loose…” he realized how pathetic he sounded. “I made it out because my CI was able to provide covering fire and give me an opportunity to escape.”

Nehuasta sighed and shook her head in disgust. “I want to say you’re lying,” she snarled.

“If I may,” Lumos interjected over a single undamaged speaker near the navigation console. “I can confirm that Captain Skinner is telling the truth. There were indeed several unidentified life-forms on Schunston prior to the anomaly appearing, including three inorganic objects which appeared intelligent. While biosignatures read as ‘human’, closer examination revealed them to be anything but.”

The Senate looked over at the speaker, her helmet hiding her features. From the side, Skinner saw that it protruded quite far away from her face, creating an almost birdlike silhouette. “What else?” she snapped.

“These biosignatures apparently lay dormant until the artifact was tampered with, at which point they swarmed the crater where Cutlep had constructed a base station. Two of the inorganics were with them. A third, measuring 355 tons, emerged as we were escaping. Its utilization of a magnetohydrodynamic weapon was of particular note.”

“MHDs are prohibited by both the Senate and the Constellation; they’re too destructive.” Nehuasta’s posture had changed abruptly, going from threatening to alarmed.

“I am aware,” Lumos said. “However, that does not change the fact that it was utilized here on Schunston a short time ago.”

Nehuasta let out a long sigh. “I can see this isn’t going to be as simple as I’d like, is it?” she said before turning to Skinner. “Grab your CI chip and get ready. You and I are going to head back to the Winds of Fury for a full debriefing. You’re going to tell me everything you know from the minute you found this artifact up until now.”

“Yes ma’am,” Skinner said. He tried to turn himself around one-handed to leap for the CI port when Nehuasta grabbed him by the shoulder and lifted his limp arm in her fingertips as though it was an insect.

“What’s wrong with your arm?” she growled. “Don’t tell me you’re that fragile that—”

“Let go!” Skinner said, jerking the arm out of her grip… or trying to. Instead, there was a popping nose and it came off in Nehuasta’s grip. She let out a gasp and released the limb, leaving it to float in the empty space between them. Skinner groaned in irritation, snatching up the arm with a scowl. “Thanks. Now it’s going to take ages to reattach.”

The arm was completely mechanical, complete with several hookups where it was meant to attach to a socket. His polyform suit had closed over, keeping him from simply popping it back into place, and he’d already been concerned with the state of it since bouncing off the floor. He kicked off the top of the bridge successfully this time, sailing downwards to where Lumos’s dock was located. “Lumos, you ready?” he asked.

“Yes Captain,” she said. “Your arm seems detached.”

“Really? Gosh, that’s a shock. I hadn’t noticed,” he said dryly as he removed her chip from its slot. He looked back at Nehuasta, tipping his head back as far as he could go. “I don’t suppose you’ve got anyone on your ship skilled at reattaching a prosthetic, do you?”

“We have an onboard medic,” she said. “I will refer you to him before you debrief.”

“That’s a relief,” he said.

The two made their way back to where the Oberon-class had docked with the Dangerous. Luckily, or perhaps as a testament to the docking clamps, it had remained attached during their chaotic flip through space. Nehuasta went first, consulting with her entourage before beckoning Skinner through. “I am going to have them pilot your ship over to the Winds of Fury,” she said. “As Senate law forbids me from just abandoning your trash out here, we will store it in our hangar for now.”

Two of her soldiers ventured into the Dangerous. Skinner watched them go, almost feeling violated. How dare they think they could fly his ship? What gave them the right? He sighed, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. He didn’t really have a leg to stand on at this point, and he was missing an arm. If he raised a fuss, he wasn’t going to be much of a challenge to subdue.

Skinner strapped himself into one of the seats, resting his head back against the wall. He draped his severed arm across his lap, sighing again. This wasn’t how any of this was supposed to have gone. He was supposed to have struck it rich finding the Gesiak. Now he was probably going to get arrested.

“Pilot, take us back,” Nehuasta barked as she grabbed an overhead handle. “I need to feel gravity under my boots again.”

The shuttle disengaged from the Dangerous, pivoting slowly in the vacuum of space before making a beeline for the Winds of Fury. Skinner watched through one of the portholes as the cruiser got larger… and larger… and larger… he had totally been mistaken when he’d been estimating the size of it. The cruiser was larger than the colony of Felicity and probably could have gone a few rounds in a fight with the Venan-class ships that had plagued him earlier. Not that it mattered now.

The shuttle they were in flew over to one of the bays along the port side of the cruiser, lining itself up with a tubular hole and approaching it dead on. Skinner felt the familiar sensation of a gravitic tether seizing the ship and drawing it in, guiding it so as to minimize pilot errors. He swallowed nervously – he wasn’t exactly comfortable with the idea of being on board a Senate Hunter’s ship… but he doubted Nehuasta was going to give him much say in the matter.

After all, he was lucky she hadn’t killed him yet.