The human must not die.

Yvian ran. Her weapons were slung. The Captain was draped over her shoulder. Her voidarmor counted the seconds until his death. The armor granted her its strength and speed, letting her leap over the bodies scattered through the strange ship. The radio in her helmet sent a steady stream of her sister's quiet curses. Lissa was not used to piloting the Random Encounter.

Their plan was reckless. Foolish. Yvian raced for the bottom of the ship. Lissa flew to meet her. The anti-tech field that rendered the medpods useless was not active inside the crystal ship. Unfortunately, the medpods were built into the Encounter. Lissa could remove them and set up a portable power source, but not in the time Mims had left. His life ticked away in Yvian's HUD.

Yvian reached one of the main hallways. She found a ladder leading down. Climbing it was awkward with one hand, and made more awkward by the limp weight of the Captain. She tightened her grip on him as she climbed, afraid he'd slip.

She felt a vibration through the ladder. Then another. She froze. Looking down she saw it. Three meters of hulking crystal biped, strolling down the hallway below her. She muttered a silent prayer to the Bright Lady. Let the beast pass. Let it not see. She had no idea what senses the guardians used, but she'd seen how swift and deadly the things could be. She'd had to use an anti-ship weapon to stop the one that maimed the Captain. If this one decided to attack she would die, and the Captain would die with her.

The Captain must not die.

Even knowing they were in the void, where sound could not carry, Yvian held her breath. She watched the guardian stomp heedlessly through the bodies of the Xill. It stepped on the remains of its crystal brethren with similar dispassion. The corpses made of flesh and blood it carefully stepped around. Interesting. And alarming. A mindless crystal sentinel was scary enough. If they could think, Yvian was in a lot of trouble.

The guardian continued on its way. If it had noticed Yvian's presence, it gave no sign. Yvian waited for it to get out of sight, nearly vibrating with impatience and fear. Her HUD calmly counted down the remainder of the Captain's life. Finally, the crystal hulk rounded a corner. Yvian continued.

The ladder did not go far enough. Yvian found herself in another hallway one floor below the patrolling guardian. Yvian sprinted along it, looking for another way down. It would have been wise to move cautiously, but she didn't have the time. She just hoped the vibrations of her run wouldn't alert the guardian. And that she wouldn't run into another one.

She found no more ladders. Instead, the path she was on changed into a ramp. A ramp leading up. Crunch. Fear of dropping the Captain forced Yvian to slow down instead of rapidly changing direction. As she came to a stop, she could feel the steady thumping vibrations of heavy feet. The crystal guardian. It was coming down the ramp.

She sprinted back the way she had come, as fast as her body could take her. The Captain jounced dangerously around on her shoulder. She used both arms to hold him steady. A part of her idly noted that she'd never tried to push this hard while wearing the voidarmor. Running full tilt over uneven terrain for this long should've set her muscles on fire, left her gasping for breath. She didn't think she was even sweating.

The hallway looped around, not in curves, but in angles. A large hole appeared around one of them. The star filled void shone through a gap in the hull five meters wide. Two meters of floor were missing, ragged at the edges where some kind of explosion had ripped them away. Yvian didn't hesitate. She threw herself over the edge. Her head almost clipped the ceiling, but she landed on the other side of the gap. She landed off balance and immediately fell, dropping Mims and skidding along the crystal floor. She howled in frustration.

"Yvian?" Lissa's voice filtered in through the radio. "What's happening? Are you alright?" Lissa's voice was calm, measured. It was the same tone she used to use when Yvian still had panic attacks. This time the tone wasn't about Yvian. Lissa was terrified. Trying to be calm for Yvian was a way to keep herself under control.

"I'm alright." Yvian tried to keep her voice steady. Her sister was on the verge of panic. "Had to jump over a big hole. I dropped..." She glanced up at her HUD. Mims' status wasn't showing. Horror struck, but she quickly realized the cord connecting their voidarmors had been disconnected by the fall. "I dropped the Captain." She plugged it back in. "I don't think it hurt him any worse." She picked up his body. "I'm moving again."

The hallway turned into a ramp. Heading down. Ten meters down the ramp the hallway opened up and Yvian found herself in a large open space. The entire bottom of the ship was a hangar. Thank the Bright Lady. Yvian saw a few ships sitting. The hangar doors were all closed. None of that mattered. What mattered was it was a large enough space, and there didn't seem to be any vital ship systems on it.

"Lissa, I've found it!" Yvian almost shouted. "The entire bottom of the ship is a hangar. I don't see any big crystals or power sources. You can blast your way in!"

"Where are you?" Lissa asked. "I don't want to kill you by mistake."

"I'm..." she looked, "About ten meters up from the floor. I should be alright. Hurry. Mims only has twenty six minutes left."

"Alright. Brace yourself. I'm firing..." Yvian got a good grip on her limp captain and readied her jetpack controls, just in case. "Now."

Nothing happened.

Yvian waited for a few seconds. "Lissa? Are you shooting?"

"Yeah, I'm shooting." Lissa cursed. "It's not working. No damage at all."

Yvian remembered how useless the blasters had been against the crystal guardian. Kinetic weapons, on the other hand... "Use a missile."

"I can't!" Lissa's voice cracked. "Missiles are controlled by the targeting computer."

"Ok," Yvian told her. "It's ok. I've got this. Stop shooting and keep calm. I'm going to open us a door."

Yvian ran down the ramp. The hangar bay doors were clearly delineated. The controls for the doors were not. Yvian stared frantically around the hangar. It was all one big space. Nine walls, each with a hangar door. Three of the doors had a ship parked in front of them. The ships were crystal, long four sided pyramids attached to short four sided pyramids. Each was roughly the size of The Random Encounter. Yvian saw no sign of a control panel anywhere.

She ran to one of the doors. She didn't have a way to measure, but it looked to be twenty meters tall and eighty wide. She didn't see any buttons or levers near it. She did see an oddly shaped blue crystal on the wall. It was about chest height.

Yvian set Mims down. She pushed the crystal. It didn't budge. She pulled on it. Nothing. She held it with both hands and told it to open the doors in a stern voice. It ignored her. How in Crunch was she supposed to make the thing work?

Yvian abandoned the crystal for the moment. She concentrated on the door. Even with the full strength of her voidarmor enhancements, she couldn't budge it a centimeter. She pulled out her sniper rifle. Checked the ammo. She had eleven rounds left. Mims would have another twelve in his. Would that be enough? She didn't think so. She put the rifle away and turned back to the control crystal.

"Open, you motherless son," she grumbled as she fiddled with the thing. She thought back to the room with the pyramid of light. The people there had been holding crystals when they died. Had they been wearing gloves? She didn't think so. Maybe she needed to touch it with bare skin. Not a good idea, since she was in vacuum. Still...

A pulsing vibration interrupted her train of thought. She spun, whipping out her KL53 assault rifle. Too slow. A metal hand gripped her throat. It was a Xill. The same model as the ones she'd seen guarding the Hub.

Faster than she could pull the trigger, the Xill crushed her throat. It lifted her in the air with a savage jerk. She heard a sickening snap...

Yvian was on the floor. The Captain's status was missing in her HUD. Instead, she saw:

WARNING! CRITICAL DAMAGE! SPINAL CORD SEVERED. LARYNX CRUSHED. PAIN REMOVAL ACTIVE. INJURY STABILIZATION PROTOCOLS ACTIVE. EMERGENCY MOBILITY PROTOCOLS ACTIVE.

The Xill was a few meters away. The motherless son had snapped her neck and thrown her aside. It was leaning over Mims. It's frame was heavily damaged, and all but one of its arms were missing. That arm was jerking the Captain's body around.

Yvian's assault rifle was half a meter away. She didn't bother with it. She pulled the BFSR4 sniper rifle strapped to her back. Set it to charging. "Shields up," she commanded. Well, tried to command. She couldn't breathe. Fortunately, mouthing the words was enough for the suit to pick up on. The shield icon appeared on her HUD with a 100 next to it. She pointed the rifle at the Xill. It still hadn't realized she was alive. She squeezed the trigger.

As before, there was no recoil or muzzle flash. The Xill flew backwards as a chunk of hangar door exploded behind it.

Yvian stood, charging another anti-ship round in the rifle. She bent and scooped up her KL53. The Xill wasn't moving. A large hole had been punched through its back and chest. Yvian considered putting another round through it, but when she raised her rifle, something struck her shields. A lot of somethings.

Yvian turned, rifle leading the way. More Xill. Three of them. These ones were smaller, but also less damaged. They were firing some kind of kinetic weapon. They had taken cover behind one of the crystal ships, leaving just enough of themselves exposed to shoot at her. Their aim was perfect, but the kinetics didn't seem to be doing much to her shielding. It was holding steady at 98 percent.

Yvian decided not to waste any more tungsten slugs unless she had to. Instead, she synced her KL53 to her voidarmor and activated AIM ASSIST. Her target disappeared just as she squeezed the trigger. She switched to a different Xill. Same result. She was suddenly glad she'd holstered the BFSR4.

Her shields were down to 94 percent. Not an immediate concern, but not a good sign, either. Yvian switched tactics. She activated her jetpack and blasted above the ship they were using for cover. The Xill scattered, moving fast. With AIM ASSIST's help, she riddled one of them with bullets. It kept moving for two whole seconds before the steel rounds brought it down. Her first good look at the thing told her it was about her height, but thin, with two spindly arms and three spindly legs.

Yvian reloaded, casting about for the other two. One of them found her first. It barreled into her, ripping the assault rifle from her hands. Its metal fists hammered at her shields. She grabbed its leg and jerked, surging to her feet. The Xill clutched at her for purchase, but its digits couldn't grip through her personal force field. She grabbed another leg and spun, her enhancements granting the strength to throw the metal beast.

She looked down and saw the other Xill standing over Mims. It tore at his body. Rage and fear surged through Yvian as she triggered her jetpack. She tried to scream her rage as she streaked towards the monster. It came out as a gurgle.

The Xill reared up, the humans BFSR4 in its hands. Yvian collied with it half a second later. She slammed it into the hangar door. The Xill tossed the rifle and grabbed her arms, but her enhancements were stronger than it was. She twisted a wrist out of its grip and grabbed its head.

"Yvian?" Lissa's voice piped in. "What's going on?" She must have heard the gurgling noises Yvian had started to make. A hint of panic threaded through her measured tone. "Yvian? Are you alright?"

Yvian tuned out the voice. She couldn't answer anyway. She got another hand on the Xill's head and she wrenched. The machine gripped her wrists, trying to stop her. Yvian slammed it into the floor, stomped a foot on its chassis, and wrenched again. The head pulled free.

The final Xill was holding the Captain's BFSR4. It was ten meters away, pointing the rifle at a hulking figure on the ramp. A guardian. A flash of insight struck Yvian as she went for her blaster.

These Xill were the last of the boarding party. They'd been hiding, unable to acquire the firepower to defeat the remaining crystal guards. Until now. The anti-ship weapons Mims and Yvian had brought on board could easily destroy the few remaining defenders. With the BFSR4s, the Xill could finally complete their mission. They could take the ship.

Yvian fired from the hip, trusting AIM ASSIST. A blaster bolt struck the sniper rifle just as the Xill pulled the trigger. Yvian didn't see if it affected the shot. She kept firing, bolt after bolt reducing the rifle to worthless debris. The Xill dropped the weapon and fled. The crystal guardian chased after it.

Yvian ran back to the Captain. He lay on the deck like a broken doll. She found her connecting cord and plugged it back in. Mims was still alive. He had nineteen minutes left. Nineteen minutes to get a door open. She could do this.

Mims must not die.

Yvian pulled her sniper rifle. Charged a shot. If the Xill or a guardian came back she would be ready. She went back to fiddling with the control crystal. She couldn't make it work.

A sudden vibration warned her. Yvian didn't look this time. She just jumped sideways as quickly as she could. A massive fist slammed into the wall where her head had been. It was the one armed Xill she'd shot earlier. The big one. It moved in jerks, slower than it had been before. Yvian rolled to her feet. AIM ASSIST made the shot easy. The Xill's head exploded along with a chunk of the hangar door.

Yvian slung her rifle long enough to pick up the big machine. She didn't want to give the thing a chance to surprise her a third time. She shoved it through the hole she'd made in the door. Once outside the ship, the anti-tech field should keep it from getting up again.

She turned from her task in time to see the last Xill flying towards her. She brought her hands up defensively, hoping her shields would hold. The Xill never touched her. The guardian snatched it out of the air as it performed a leap of its own. It landed with a force that sent a tremor through the ship. It crushed the synthetic into a ball and tossed it aside. It turned to Yvian, a mere meter away.

Lissa's voice was still churning out of the radio, demanding that Yvian answer her, damn it to Crunch. Even if she could speak, Yvian had nothing to say. She had failed.

Mims loved her. She hadn't had a lot of that in her life. She had her sister, of course. It was possible her Mom cared. A few romantic relationships had progressed to the L word before falling part. No one else. He was her only friend.

Her friend must not die.

Tears gave way to resolve. Yvian leapt, relying on her enhancements to get her out of danger one more time. If she could get some distance she could bring the BFSR4 into play. The guardian caught her. Its hands passed right through her shields. She struggled, but it was much, much stronger than the Xill.

The crystal guardian took a hand off her waist and cupped it against the back of her head. She gripped it with both arms, but couldn't budge it. Her HUD flashed a new warning below her injury notifications..

WARNING! SUIT BREACH! FOREIGN OBJECT DETECTED!

A few seconds later the guardian removed its hand. It set her down. It turned and stomped away. She stared after it, dumbfounded.

"Damn you to crunch, Yvian, ANSWER ME!" Her sister's shout snapped Yvian back to reality. Lissa was sobbing over the radio.

There wasn't much time left. Yvian ran back to the door control. She had to figure out a way to make it work. This time the crystal lit up when she touched it. Blue light poured over her hands. The hangar door shuddered, then opened.

Bright Lady, Yes! Yvian tried to crow her elation, resulting in a nasty sounding gurgle. Right. She looked out the open door, but couldn't see The Random Encounter. While her GR17 could keep her blood oxygenated, it couldn't do anything to fix her voice. She had no way to tell Lissa.

The solution hit her almost immediately. She scooped up the Captain and ran the perimeter of the hangar, opening every door. When she'd got the last one she saw the Encounter flying in. Well, sort of. Lissa's training hadn't yet made her comfortable with manual controls. The Encounter banged against the top of the entrance as she tried to fly it in. She managed to get it inside on the third attempt.

Yvian didn't wait for the ship to come to a stop before dashing to the airlock. Mims only had nine minutes left. Nine minutes to get him into a medpod. She could make it. She had to.

The human must not die.