Enid shot the two engineers that had stumbled inside the secondary antimatter storage area she put her palm on the panel and spoke again.

“Seal this room, password: Momma’s got a battleship.”

“Acting Eminence Nutina voice print recognized.”

Enid smelled at the door and was almost skipping as he walked away, the lightness in her step vanished when she felt another wave of mental pressure hit against her barriers. The silver scale was getting stronger and but she needed her to keep the crew distracted while she solidified her control and removed the…crew. Enid got on the tube and rode to the bridge. The ship was pure pandemonium now. Crew running and screaming, others curled in balls. Their worst nightmares unleashed. She leaned on a wall as the silver scale hit her again. It was definitely getting worse. She got to the bridge and found the ship in microcosim a female silwrath was clawing at another who was trying to…Enid looked away. Even seeing dragons deal with it made her feel slightly ill. The captain was hiding behind his chair, he was using a finger gun to fight off unseen foes. Enid shoved snapped the neck of one of the techs who tried to get handsy and kicked another who was trying to climb into the captain’s chair. She put her palm on the panel on the end of the arm rest.

“Lock down all ship controls to Acting Eminence Nutina. The crew is compromised. Password, same as before.”

“Ship, vent all atmosphere immediately. Authorization Acting Eminence Nutina.”

“Acting Eminence are active holding cells included in this command?”

Another one of the bridge crew came lunging at her and Enid shot him in the head absently.

“Show cell on screen.”

Enid saw a ruby scaled Silwrath woman, smaller like the silver scale, the tips of her scales looked almost frosted.

“Who is that?”

The screen showed gibberish.

“Audio only please.”

“Countess Rubina Silverscale, Heir to the first house of Murush, Keeper of the sac-”

“That’s enough. What are her crimes?”

“Sedition, Talcatic Terrorist Bombing, Disobedience to the Crown, Murder, Conduct unbecoming a Noblewoman of high status…”

The list was starting to go own and Enid silenced the computer again.

“I think I might like her, ensure life support is maintained in her cell.”

Enid went around the bridge shooting the various crew members that were still alive. She did not want to see them die a slow death of suffocation. She did her best not to think of the crew on the rest of the ship. The captain was the last he stared up at her, his yellow eyes wide in terror.

“Did you stop them Primark.”

“No.”

“Get to cover they’re coming over the hill!”

She pointed her wrist at the captain and the red beam burned a hole through his skull and scorched the deck.

“I’m pretty sure that was merciful.”

Enid sat back down in the captain’s chair. She glanced around at the crew members to ensure she’d finished them all off and suddenly realized once she vented all of the atmosphere she would not be able to issue commands because she would be in vacuum. She could still feel air coming into her lungs and put her palm on the chair quickly.

“Restore atmospheric pressure to the bridge.”

She heard a rush of air and slouched into the chair. She wasn’t sure how long Silwrath could hold their breath so she got good and ready to wait. Within fifteen minutes the constant pressure against her mind had vanished. She assumed that meant the silver scale had been neutralized. She had spent another half an hour watching the ruby scaled Silwrath pace in her cell. The guards who had been watching it were on the deck clawing at their heads…then nothing. Enid touched the panel again with her hand.

“Open a comm channel to the cell occupied by Countess Rubina.”

The usual angry male silwrath voice responded.

“Channel open!”

She quirked an eyebrow and wondered why they wanted such an unpleasant voice for their computer. She cleared her throat and the ruby scaled Silwrath started to look around.

“What is happening?”

“The silver scale went mad, I was forced to…euthanize the crew.”

“Who are you?”

“Acting Eminence Nutina.”

“Oh, you’ve decided to gloat because you have no one else to talk to you. You vile pawn of the Emperor and the military industrial complex.”

“I’ve heard better insults in my day.”

“What do you want?”

“Do you know how to fly a starship?”

“What do I look like a military stooge sucking on the teat of the empress?”

“I’ll take that as a no. Well sit tight Rubina.”

“Countess Rubina!”

“I wonder how long that will have meaning considering your…very, very, very, long list of crimes.”

She saw the Rubina’s wings flair out and plasma blast the forcefield holding her in the cell. Girl had a bit of a temper on her.

“You may want to be cautious with that bad breath of yours, the bridge and your cell are the only compartments with life support currently.”

Enid sighed and reached into her pack to pull out a book then realized her clawed hands were too big to be of any use in the endeavor of reading. She sighed and crossed her legs and tapped her fingers. She figured two hours would be more than sufficient to ensure that there were no living creatures on the ship. She put her palm on the panel again.

“Restore atmosphere to a pathway between the bridge and the brig. Provide directions. Also begin filling bio-containment lockdown area with hydrogen and oxygen. Ratio, two parts hydrogen to one part oxygen. Let me know when it is at capacity.”

“That is not recommended! That is a highly volatile mixture.”

“Just do as I say.”

“Command acknowledged!”

Enid followed the opened corridor to the brig and was face to face with Rubina the Silwrath was glaring at her. Enid was fairly sure if the shield as down she’d be fighting for her life. Enid put her hand the panel on the security post in the brig.

“Computer cease all monitoring of the brig immediately. Resume in sixty standard minutes.”

“Command acknowledged!”

Rubina narrowed her eyes at Enid, her tail swaying, her wings twitching. Enid could feel the same pressure the silver scale had exerted on her mind, she easily shoved it aside. Without the added benefit of a nano-virus the telepaths of the Silwrath seemed ill equipped to deal with an ancient vampire.

“Open the cell and lets have a rematch. You motherless scale-licker!”

“Sure, I’ll get right on that. And do you talk to your mother with that mouth?”

Rubina glared at Enid meeting her gaze. Enid felt the familiar pressure but waved it off. Rubina punched the force field.

“How do you resist me still? What is your secret?”

“Who me?”

Enid saw another blast of plasma hit the forcefield.

“Have you seen somebody about that? That seems like some pretty nasty heart burn.”

Rubina’s wings flared again and she pounded the force field until blood dripped from it. Enid shook her body and let the Nutina form slip away.

“Let’s start again, I am Enid Aurelius, Empress of the Eternal Night. And you are Countess Rubina..ect ect ect. We both have impressive titles, so lets just go with I’m Enid, you’re Rubina.”

Enid smirked when saw utter confusion in the eyes of the countess. Her wings and tail were swaying of their own accord as she seemed to try and process what she was seeing.

“What are you?”

“I’m a vampire”

Enid showed her fangs.

“You’re so small an and soft looking.”

Enid ripped one of the wall mounted lights off of its moorings easily and tossed it aside.

“Appearances are very deceiving at least in my case.”

“You’re mind is so powerful, I’ve never felt the like, Nutina was resistant but you’re…you’re like touching infinity.”

“I get that a lot. So every Silwrath on this ship is dead except for you. And when I’m looking like good old Primark Nutina I am in control of it, so I have a proposal for you, Countess Rubina.”

“Rubina is fine Empress Aurelius. I am intrigued.”

“Enid is fine, and I have a problem, I cannot understand your language.”

“Yet you speak it like a native.”

“I speak it fine but I cannot read it. I know how to fly… transports, and fighter craft, and I know how to plot FTL courses, but I cannot read any of your control panels. So simply put, I need your services as a translator, in exchange, I can free you, send you on your way with a transport, or since it looks like you’re pretty much dead if anyone catches you in this galaxy, I’ll take you home with us and you can, well plot your return there.”

“You would free a known murder and terrorist.”

“Rubina, considering what I’ve done in the last three hours, holding your crimes against you would be the very definition pot calling the kettle black”

“I understand the words but your manner of speaking is very strange.”

“So you want to stay here in this cell while I try to figure this shit out, or are you gonna help me get back home to my fiancée and children?”

“Getting back home to your children sounds like an honorable goal, I will assist you so far as it suits my purposes.”

“Do I have your word you will not act against me, or my people?”

“You have my word as Countess Rubina-”

Enid’s gift advised her she was telling the truth. She held up her hand in an effort to listening to half an hour of titles.

“Good enough, as I said I’m well aware of your list of holdings and titles.”

She shifted back into the Nutina face and pressed the panel on the security desk.

“Open Countess Rubina’s cell.”

“Confirm request.”

“Do as I say you stupid computer!”

“Request confirmed!”

The force field shimmered out of existence and Enid motioned for the Countess to go first. The pair walked down the hallway towards the tube. The computer spoke again.

“Acting Eminence Nutina biohazard lock down command complete.”

Enid touched the closest panel.

“Initiate a spark inside the area synchronize with rapid vent.”

“Command accepted!”

The ship shook suddenly. Rubina grabbed onto something, Enid did not and continued walking.

“What was that? Are we under attack?”

“No, I used a bioweapon to get control of the ship I was just eliminating it.”

“You are…as ruthless as I am.”

“I am a pragmatist. It is what I had access too. Though my intent was to actually blow up the ship not capture it. Who knew that silver scale would get infected and start driving the crew mad.”

“That is why I kept feeling like she wanted to drill into my skull.”

“Yes, I actually feel bad.”

“Don’t, she betrayed her kind. We do not work for the military! Or it used to be that we would not. I did not realize she was so powerful as to affect so many minds.”

“I think it was the infection.”

The pair entered the bridge. Rubina locked around her wings were twitching.

“They did this to themselves?”

“No most of it was me.”

“Alone?”

Enid sat down in the command chair.

“Yes, sorry for the mess. Didn’t have a chance to clean up.”

Enid pointed around at the various consoles.

“Rubina could you please determine which says FTL on it?”

The ruby scaled Silwrath started looking around and had to wipe purple blood off the screen in one case. After fifteen minutes she pointed at one.

“This is it.”

“Excellent I just need to do one last thing before we leave.”

She put her palm on the control pad again.

“Computer, create a log entry and deploy it to an emergency beacon.”

“Command acknowledged!”

“Log entry, Acting Eminence Nutina: We encountered a Synthlin terrorist cell utilizing temporal shields to avoid cleansing. Through the use of a nano-virus they destroyed two ships of the battlegroup. We are losing ground on the Great Wyrm. It managed to spread between our ships. I am unsure of the mechanism. The terrorists blew themselves up in an attempt to avoid capture. Before they did so they launched sixteen FTL missiles targeting Silwrath worlds. We were unable to stop them as my crew went insane. I have determined that the ship is lost to avoid spreading the nano-virus to other ships of the fleet I have initiated a breach of secondary antimatter containment. Long live the Emperor! Know that the betrayer Rubina suffered greatly and died first in your name. End log.”

Enid pressed the pad again.

“Launch the emergency beacon, set to start broadcast in ten standard days.”

Enid stood up and walked to the FTL console and glanced at Rubina and shrugged.

“Welcome to the land of the dead? Anyway, which one here says jump coordinates?”

Enid worked with Rubina to plot a course to the system Apollo had provided coordinates too and sat back down in the command chair slouching, this was going to be an interesting seven days.