The biologicals avoided Nicole like the plague for the rest of the journey to the Euphorion. Nicole sat motionless when there was no work to be done, which was always. She had no interest in the mission anymore. Despite her directives, she felt… heavy.

  When shuttle three finally docked near the medbay, the Euphorion was nothing but a gigantic dark shape. The biologicals suited up to exit into the vacuum while Nicole tenderly removed the wrapped body from the airlock. Now stiff and frozen, she dared not peer inside lest it break her all over again.

  Over the chatter of the communications system, Nicole could hear the other shuttles docking, preparing for the very same mission shuttle three was.

  Nicole deactivated the lockdown and reluctantly joined the biologicals preparing to exit. There was little more than an uneasy peace between them. Nicole did not care. She had timed a total lockdown in 6 hours. If the biologicals wished to avoid a slow, painful death, they would have to wait for her.

  It was shockingly easy to hold them hostage. Why had she not considered it before?

  The biologicals wiggled their way into their helmets, testing lights and radio signals. Nicole just waited for them.

  “We’ve all got the list of what we’re bringing back?” Hewett checked. Everyone nodded. “Good. Alright, crew, let’s do this.”

  The airlock door hissed open. One by one, they stepped out into metallic darkness, flashlights clicking on.

  While they wandered about, perspiring in panic, Nicole kicked off the wall, dashing ahead. She left them behind, uncaring for their paranoid company. She would let them handle the important things; finding her repair pod was the priority. Fortunately, the lack of gravity made maneuvering with her dysfunctional leg far more plausible.

  She found herself in a waiting room, frozen corpses floated in space, motionless until finally disturbed by her presence. She crawled along the wall, grabbing onto handrails as she pulled herself towards the back door. She knew where she was, even in the dark the layout had not changed. The night vision option on her optical cameras solved the remaining issues.

  She pushed it open and pulled herself through. She paused, kicking back the way she had come as she found the cryogenics freezer full of spare organs. The organs would be freezer-burned to oblivion, but the electronics might have survived the temperature. She opened it and pulled out all of the liquidized packages. Nicole then began the process of floating the whole thing back to the shuttle.

  It just barely fit through the airlock. But the lack of gravity made moving something so big infinitely easier. Once back inside, she wheeled it inside and plugged it in. It began to hum a successful freezer sound.

  She settled Elsy inside, providing her with a makeshift coffin. A semi-burial until Nicole could procure the flowers she so deserved.

  Something fell out of the bundle and bounced along the floor.

  Nicole crouched down and picked it up. Tears rolled down her cheeks at the sight. It was a chocolate protein bar. Elsy must have been saving it. Now she would never taste it.

  Crying over chocolate was now entirely reasonable.

  It was a slow process to fill the shuttle with everything they needed and more. All the perishables were unusable, blood and organs gone to waste. That would surely prove to be a problem. Much of the medication was also ruined, including antibiotics and vaccines. Only the most stable mixtures survived. The machines were wheeled on; they took up the most space but were the most valuable. Their functionality could not be ensured, but if any of them worked, it could save lives.

  Nicole managed to wedge her repair pod in the bathroom, which had just enough room for her to lie down. As the repair pod was built precisely for her dimensions, thus a perfect fit. She wheeled the freezer in there as well, hefting her repair pod on top and strapping it down with belts.

  It occurred to her that she was building a den. A hoard of what she valued most. The first aid kit now had a place tucked along the wall where none would find it. She had been checking on the creature periodically, cracking the container open enough just to ensure it continued to wriggle.

  Surely she would need to feed it, but she had no idea what.

  On another haul, she grabbed some of the unusable blood packs and a frozen liver. If it truly were a parasite, perhaps it would find nourishment from them.

  There were so many corpses aboard, something that left the biologicals increasingly pale and haunted. They crept through a mass casualty event, frozen in time. All suffocated, burned and frozen, bloated with blood vessels bursting, eyeballs popping, and tongues boiling. Not a pleasant way to go, Nicole imagined.

  But they did not suffer long.

  Zahra focused on communications, ensuring all other shuttles knew what they had acquired. They did not load more than a couple of medical beds; engineering was having great success with construction droids. But they loaded blankets and pillows, the biologicals were definitely eager to sleep comfortably.

  Engineering may have been having success, but those tasked with agriculture were not. The livestock were ruined; that entire sector had nearly entirely been liquidized by heat. The same went for Nicole’s experimental crops. All her hard work was destroyed, save for what she kept in her mind.

  A variety of seeds from the Euphorion's food production levels had been retrieved, but it was anyone’s game as to whether they would even survive, let alone grow successfully.

  It was shuttle six that found eight cryogenically frozen cows in the kitchen’s industrial freezer. They were so carefully retrieved. The likelihood of their survival was low, but eight cows could potentially go a long way if they could somehow survive and reproduce.

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  The chatter was so optimistic, crackling voices always announcing the next exciting find. Nicole did not feel happy for any of them.

  At least so much good news improved the spirits of shuttle three’s biologicals. The calculated likelihood of them attempting to destroy or abandon her had dropped significantly.

  They continued scavenging without rest.

  Shuttle Two was the first to encounter a problem, a malfunction in one of the space suits exposed one of their officers to the vacuum of space. He likely would survive, just now with extreme burns and bruises from ebullism and radiation. He had at least been fortunate not to hold his breath lest his lungs rupture.

  While shuttle three’s crew was lugging back various types of blood analyzers and centrifuges, Nicole found a weapons locker. Several rifles and pistols, munitions, and even some small explosives.

  She took a pistol for herself and several boxes of condensed plasma bullets. She was so used to carrying one, it has been odd to be unarmed for a few weeks. Though she had far more important matters to attend to.

  Having a pistol holstered made her immediately feel like her usual self. That made her feel worse; that usual self had barely known Elsy. Too busy running errands for Tobias, or preoccupied with her own research and plans.

  She considered bringing back more weapons but decided against it. Humans were a volatile species. If Captain Tameron and his loyalists got hold of them, a mutiny would be easy. Nicole may not have liked Tobias, but he provided her with a status she much preferred to keep.

  Still, she took a second, smaller pistol upon finding a convenient ankle holster. Better to have a backup just in case. She grabbed more bullets.

  It was not as though there would ever be any more of them.

  When Nicole returned, she heard Zahra discussing communications equipment that had been salvaged. There was hope of making contact with the Imperium. Finally, something that might ensure their prolonged survival, assuming the Imperium cared enough to send resources.

  Finally, they all gathered in the cockpit of shuttle three to assess their cargo. The shuttle had been packed tight; one couldn’t simply walk down the aisle anymore but had to instead climb and shimmy around boxes and machinery.

  Out of good faith, Nicole removed the lockdown countdown. The body was safely tucked away in the freezer; getting it out would be impossible without unloading so much other cargo.

  The biologicals looked exhausted, scarfing down nutrient brick as they took a moment to collect and organize themselves.

  “We can fit more,” Hewett said.

  “We’ve drained the fuel rods substantially, already,” Davidson grimaced. “We need to make it back with everything we have. And the constant use of the airlock is a serious power drain.”

  “How much will it take to get back?” Stoyer asked.

  “Can’t say,” Davidson grimaced. “But the added weight would be less of a problem in zero gravity. Once we’ve accelerated, it might be worth disabling it.”

  Hewett nodded. “The shuttle's not really equipped for that. Last resort.”

  “Shall we get going then?” Nicole suggested politely.

  All of them swivelled and stared at her silently for a moment. Perhaps they still held onto some resentment.

  “I was able to find several packages of freeze-dried ice cream,” she added optimistically. “Perhaps you would like a treat after all your hard work?”

  “Well, that’s not ominous at all,” Zahra muttered.

  “We’re good,” Davidson replied, with a smile that was entirely a grimace.

  Ice cream. It was ice cream. Biologicals went mad for the stuff. Perhaps there was simply something wrong with this bunch.

  She left them to figure out lift off. She had a new pet to attempt to feed.

  Back in the bathroom, the blood bags had begun to thaw. It had separated, the organic bonds broken. It contained clumps of tissuey viscous ooze and reddish liquid which sloshed on top. Certainly not usable as blood.

  She closed the door and fetched the first aid kit. This time, when she cracked it open, the thing wedged its tentacles in the gap and tried to pry it open further. Perhaps not so stupid after all, clever little bugger.

  It didn’t stop her from simply picking the thing up. It was clumsy enough that a human would have no problem holding onto this thing. It flailed at her, once again seeming to attack her wrist as it tried to free itself.

  Awkwardly, she cut the blood bag open with the first aid scissors, careful not to spill anything. She brought it over to the creature. It did not seem to notice, still wriggling in her grip.

  She relaxed her hand and tried to slide the thing into the blood bag. It would certainly cause a mess, but perhaps it could simply stay there. Its body temperature was cold; perhaps the cold blood slurry would simply put it into hibernation of some kind.

  The thing latched onto her hand, sliding its body away from the bag she tried to drop it into and pressing against her palm. Nicole would probably have shivered if she were capable of it. The texture was bizarre, not a beak but… it must have had some kind of orifice?

  With her repair pod, she was far less worried about cleanliness. Contaminants would remain the biologicals’ problems.

  The thing relaxed. It still held on, but its grip loosened from its attempt at a vice.

  Squeeze squeeze.

  Squeeze squeeze.

  Squeeze squeeze.

  Nicole frowned. It was doing it again. Did it recognize her? Like a canine wagging its tail? Except that she had no relationship with this thing, it did not even seem capable of perceiving her. But the pattern had started up again, rhythmic and consistent.

  She considered introducing the creature to one of the biologicals. Perhaps it was attempting to break through her skin, but could not due to the synthetic nature, thus it resulted in the squeezing sensations?

  “What do you want?” She hummed, nudging one of the waving arms into the bag. It dipped into the mixture and jerked back. The thing stopped squeezing, distracted as it dipped its arm back into the slurry. Finally, it added another tentacle, the squeezing forgotten.

  Was it eating? Or simply curious? Nicole did not know. She suspected the squeezing was something to do with a food drive, some kind of signal of its hunger that would have acquired nutrients in its natural environment.

  Nicole had no idea. She simply held the creature gently as it slithered more tentacles into the blood bag and seemed to relax a bit.

  Soothed by the cold? Except it would have been living in a warm environment. The human body temperature was nearly 40 degrees Celsius, and an uxor’s even higher.

  Perhaps she should have attempted to access the Euphorion’s data banks. Without power, they would be dead, but there were always scraps left over. Though they were not remotely accessible from the medical bay.

  So much information was destroyed in moments. A new library of Alexandria had gone up in flames.

  Nicole sat on the freezer, leaned back against her repair pod, and watched the strange, helpless thing she held. It’s life in her hands.