"They aren't firing!" Caraval said. "They're oriented, they just need to fucking fire!"

Ambassador N'Keeea looked at the screen, and even on his strange face Caraval could see the horror and sadness. "They have entered the Reality Break Shadow."

K'Raaiia let out a sound of rage. "No, we are so close! I desire revenge!" he snarled. "Can they yet still fire?"

"Maybe," Caraval said. "I don't know what it's like in there. But there's still a chance."

"Captain, zerodrive prepared!" a crewmate called. "Will hold as long as possible! Twelve seconds max!"

*******

Something was overcoming Brooks. A presence, like nothing he had ever felt, was pressuring upon him, crushing him, suffocating him. A will.

It was not Kell, and he knew in a way that Kell would be a far harder nut to crack than anyone else on the ship - but eventually, he too would be crushed.

Subsumed. Become part of the Leviathan.

Brooks had no idea how long it had been since they had crossed the RBS - Seconds? Hours?

He felt a growing paranoia, a feeling that all were his enemies. His eyes went over Cenz, Cutter - aliens, not like him. Betraying him to the Leviathan? Urle, his right hand, but no longer like him. More machine than man.

Even those like him, they were not him. And Kell, the most like the Leviathan - surely colluding with it.

Another feeling was pressing into him, something he had never felt. It smothered even the paranoia, and in a sense he felt singled out, targeted by the Leviathan. Against his will, his eyes were drawn forward, towards it.

Though they existed in the heart of the Craton, the ship seemed to melt away. All he could see was the Beast.

Its eye filled his entire vision, filled his reality.

"It does gaze upon you," Kell told him. "It knows you, Captain. It is not stupid. You oppose it, you desire to fight it."

He heard the words, barely able to understand them. The feelings pressuring him, they were like nothing he had ever felt, emotions for which he had no name.

Alien. Eldritch.

Something moved between him and the eye. A shapeless mass that was all eyes, vague and unformed, but he knew somehow it was Kell. Shielding him with its presence. Through all the rock and metal and space itself, the Leviathan could see. But not through Kell, through what he was.

"I cannot do this, Captain. I do not know what needs to be done. Only you can."

Brooks did not know if Kell's presence was some protection, or if it was his words, but he felt like something lessened. He strained everything, his mind and body, willing himself to move.

Something took hold of him, something cold. It pulled him forward, closer to the console.

Yes, he thought. He moved closer, and willed with everything that he was to move his hand.

Yaepanaya was there, her hand so close to the button. She was straining everything she had to try and hit it and give the fire command. But she could not.

She had no help.

It felt like something broke inside him. He screamed, and his hand lashed out.

Did he hit the button? He could not even tell. The grip of Kell around him slackened, weakening. Even it was succumbing to the Leviathan.

He could only hope he had done his duty.

*******

"Projectile incoming!" a Hev officer screeched.

"Activate!" K'Raaiia screeched. "Blood for blood!"

The system activated, and space deformed around the section that had been part of the Hev ship. It seemed to shrink, light around its edges that made it glow.

The projectile moved far too fast for any eye to track, leaving only a searing afterglow.

The section that had held thousands of Hev exploded. And for a brief moment, they saw into a hole in reality itself.

The fiery carnage and shattering debris, no matter how fast, could not resist the pull into that abyss. All motion reversed, and into zerospace it went.

Before they could see more, it was gone.

But the effect was immediate.

"Sir!" a Hev said. "The Leviathan has disappeared from scopes!"

"Gone?" K'Raaiia gasped. "Dead? Tell me!"

"Just gone," Caraval confirmed, reading the sensors. "It . . . I don't even know what else to say. It's like it ceased to exist. Or . . ." He looked up. "It returned to zerospace. The explosion was bright to us, but in that place . . . god, it must have looked like a supernova. And we just propelled it across space."

Something cold creeped up his spine. Had they just done something terrible? If the Craton had awoken something with a shout in the dark, what would an explosion that big bring?

"The Craton is not responding," Pirra's voice chipped in. "Her systems appear to be down - I can't raise anyone!"

Caraval looked to K'Raaiia. "Captain . . ."

The Hev suddenly looked exhausted. He nodded. "We will help your people, as you have helped us."

"Thank you, Captain."

K'Raaiia's expression was something like a wry smile. "I do what I must to survive. But you are in trouble because you helped me. You could have kept going. I repay my debts - and my allies."

His eyes went to the side, fixing upon Ambassador N'Keeea. "I only ask for one more thing - take him off my ship." He addressed N'Keeea directly. "I am sure you will understand, Ambassador, that I no longer wish for your commission."

N'Keeea nodded respectfully. "I understand, Captain. I simply hope you understand why I did what I did."

The Captain did not reply, and the Ambassador approached him, taking a pistol from his belt carefully, and offering it. "I return your property," N'Keeea said.

K'Raaiia accepted it without a word.

Caraval watched it all, only able to wonder what that had been about.

"I hope my presence will not be a problem, Commander," N'Keeea said to him. "I can offer you at least some commission if you wish. Whatever you feel is fair."

"Not necessary, Ambassador," Caraval answered, smiling. "We don't charge commissions - I am sure I speak for Captain Brooks when I tell you - welcome to the Craton."

Pirra's voice came through the com. "Commander, I think we had better get back. Immediately."

Caraval waved to the rest of his crew. "She's right - everyone, bring only the equipment we might need. Let's get over there and make sure our people are all right."