Once they reached the side of the battered vessel, a metallic slab slid out. The collar around her neck tightened, making it hard to breathe. Its hold lifted her into the air, and she hovered for a moment before it settled her onto the slab. She shivered. The icy surface seeped through her clothes, a frigidity that burned the skin on her back. Straps emerged automatically, binding her with ruthless efficiency. Toni’s mind screamed in defiance, as if her mental struggles made a difference. This couldn’t be the end! Not here, not like this.
Her only answer was the hiss of something piercing her neck. Her gasp of welcome air was the only good thing before darkness claimed her and put her out of her misery.
Azazel slid up the wall he’d leaned against, straining to stand as his thigh muscles screamed in protest with every movement. It took a while, but once the spinning in his head slowed to a dull ache, he rested his hands on his thighs and raised his head to look around. He couldn’t believe how weak he still was. JR14 flittered in front of him like a ladybug in flight, his wings beating faster than the eye could follow. The droid turned down the corridor toward the open doorway next to them. With slow, sure steps, Azazel trailed him, watching the bot’s eight golden legs with their red trimmings dangle.
The room they entered was barely big enough to hold the coffin-like stasis pod. Its clear casing was as grimy and crusty as the rest of the ship he’d seen so far. A rancid smell hit him, making his eyes water. The closest Azazel could describe the stench was a mix of something rotting and sharp, like sour meat soaked in cleaning chemicals. It also carried an underlying bouquet of feces, vomit, and urine, all marinating in a vat of ammonia.
“Son of a lilit!”Azazel wiped the tears from his streaming eyes. “What is creating that odor?”
JR14 buzzed beside him, his small metallic head tilted. “Hold for determination.” The bot flew to the other side of the pod, then hovered. “Analysis complete. Organic classification: Ozevroc male, deceased. Cause of death: undetermined.”
Azazel strode in the direction where JR14 pointed one of his front claws.
“Olfactory analysis indicates advanced decomposition.” JR14 continued, his front claws clicking as he processed. “The odor is consistent with sulfuric compounds and putrefying proteins. Summary: the specimen is dead, thus creating what you organics would specify as a very smelly experience.”
Azazel’s mouth twitched into a small grin when the droid said “smelly”. Glancing at the dead Ozevroc, he frowned. Even though he was unfamiliar with this type of creature, it was clear it had died a painful death. The Ozevroc’s six arms twisted at awkward angles, and its long, clawed fingers curled inward, as if clutching something unseen in its last moments. The alien’s snout gaped open, exposing sharp yellowed teeth now bared in a silent scream of agony. The creature’s matted, dull, navy-blue fur clung to its emaciated frame. Two sets of glossy black eyes stared at the ceiling.
Azazel crouched closer. No obvious wounds marred the Ozevroc’s body. No gashes or punctures to suggest how it had died. And yet, every detail of the scene—the tension in its limbs, the unnatural arch of its back—spoke of unbearable suffering. It was as if an invisible force had crushed the creature from the inside out. Sheer, unrelenting pain had snuffed out its life.
“JR14,” Azazel said, his voice tight, “please analyze the cause of death.”
The tiny spider-like AI perched on his shoulder and his front claws clicked softly in response. “Analyzation in progress: death likely caused by severe internal trauma or system failure. No external injuries detected. Pain levels during expiration—estimated as extreme. Final determination: This organic suffered before dying.”
Azazel’s jaw tightened, his hands balling into fists. Whoever caused this Ozevroc’s death wasn’t looking to just eliminate a foe, they reveled in causing extreme pain and suffering. He looked up at the stasis pod holding the woman.
“JR14, please examine the woman in the pod to ensure her health.”
“Affirmative.” JR14 buzzed away.
Azazel turned his attention back to the dead alien. He couldn’t let someone who suffered like this to be ignored in its final moments.
“May the universe cradle you once more in her tender embrace, my friend, and renew your spirit in the boundless warmth of her eternal grace.” He closed his eyes and ran an open palm over the torso of the Ozevroc. With his psychic ability, he scrambled the creature’s molecules into the finest stardust, then waved them free to be absorbed into the cosmos. When he opened his eyes, the alien’s body was gone, as if it had never been there.
“Spatial analysis of the unconscious human female is concluded.” The bot returned. “I confirm this is the human female known as Antonia Soo-min Choi, who prefers to be called Toni. The female suffers from dehydration and malnourishment but is otherwise in optimum health.”
Azazel went to the pod and peered in. He’d only gotten a brief glimpse of her when JR14 zipped in front of his face. He jerked back. “Why did you do that?”
JR14’s front claws became silent. “Recommendation: hide. This ship has docked within the Krystalii mothership. Conclusion: Krystalii forces will be upon us momentarily. Thus, we will not have ample opportunity to discover how to release the female from her containment device.”
“Ezeru!”Azazel cursed in his ancient tongue. “Quick, take your place on my shoulder and do not speak.”
His sense of urgency must have penetrated the android’s unemotional makeup. JR14 zipped and landed on Azazel’s shoulder.
Satisfied the bot was secure, Azazel closed his eyes and visualized himself and the droid becoming invisible to the naked eye. He opened them when a mammoth creature made of clear crystals strode into the room. His form was like a humanoid male made of translucent, shard-like material that reflected the dim light into sharp, prismatic bursts. The Krystalii’s movements were eerily smooth and deliberate, more like a being of fluid than one of solid crystal.
Azazel doubled his efforts to keep his mind blocked and his breathing and heartbeat remained shallow and slow.
The crystal man paused in front of the stasis pod containing Toni.
Azazel’s fists clenched as the creature’s jagged fingers curled around the pod’s reinforced frame. Without so much as a grunt, he lifted the pod from its pedestal, one-handed, as though it weighed no more than a fluffy pillow.
Azazel’s jaw tightened. An apparatus like that had to be made of dense alloys designed to contain volatile energy—materials that would crush even a trained warrior under their weight.
The Krystalii hoisted the pod onto his angular shoulder, his spiked frame absorbing the load without strain.
Azazel glimpsed Toni inside, suspended in the pale light, her features serene but vulnerable. His pulse quickened, and JR14’s metallic legs clicked against his collar as the AI shifted.
The creature turned toward the exit with the same unhurried precision, the stasis pod balanced like a trophy.
