Being unarmed as they crept through the Krampusonian ship had Jaspar on edge. In hand-to-hand combat, they’d be hard-pressed to prevail against horns and claws. As they reached a fork, mini-Beta announced, “To your left is the access to the engine room where you can turn off the shield.”
“What’s to the right?” Cade asked.
“Bridge and crew quarters.”
Jaspar took a step left, only to realize Cade didn’t shadow. He glanced back over his shoulder. “Aren’t you coming?”
Cade pressed his lips in a thin line. “Go without me. I’m going to try and stop the Krampusonians from eating a baby.”
Commendable but also suicidal. “Without a weapon?”
“Beta said crew quarters are this way. Shouldn’t be too hard to find something.”
Beta confirmed. “The Krampusonian don’t tend to use armories.”
“Is it wise to go off on your own and confront them? We’re about to disable the ship so they can’t do anything,” Jaspar reminded.
“And what if you’re too late?” Cade retorted. “They might already have a child in their custody.”
Jaspar stopped arguing, as it wasted time. “Good luck,” he said.
“You too.” Cade then added, “If we both survive this…”
“I would be honored if Colette agreed to a triad with us,” Jaspar stated.
Would it be easy to share? No. But they’d figure it out.
The warriors split, Jaspar jogging to reach the lower levels, only slightly reassured by mini-Beta’s announcement. “I’ve gone through the ship logs and scanned the vessel. There’s only two living Krampusonians on board. Records indicate they started out with a crew of thirteen but killed each other on the voyage here.”
“Got into a spat, did they?” Jaspar huffed as he climbed down a ladder.
“More like they got hungry.”
The fact they’d cannibalized themselves didn’t cause Jaspar’s grimace, but rather the thought of eating one of those rank creatures.
The bottom of the ladder ended in a tight room with a single door. Passing through it brought Jaspar into the engine room. The stink of burning wires and oil, along with the noise, proved almost painful. The machinery appeared unmaintained and in rough shape. It was a stroke of bad luck the Krampusonians even made it to Earth.
Mini-Beta first had Jaspar disable all of the system alarms. Once he’d made sure the Krampusonians wouldn’t be warned, Jaspar then transferred all of the ship’s control from the bridge to the engine room. After that, it took but a simple push of a button to lower the shields.
The moment he did, main Beta exclaimed via his embedded transponder. “Congratulations, Commander, on making it this far. Now for the tricky part.”
Causing the power core to overheat and blow.
“Are you able to monitor Cade?” Jaspar asked as he began pulling apart the cooling system, which proved easier than expected, given the partial repairs holding it in place.
“Commander Cade has acquired a weapon and is about to engage the Krampusonians to retrieve the child they stole.”
“No need for that now. Beam them both out,” Jaspar commanded as he pulled a pipe that emitted steam hot enough it singed the skin on his face before he jumped away from it.
“Unfortunately, that’s not possible, as he’s entered a shielded area.”
“Why would they have a sensor-blocking room?” Jaspar asked as he redirected the steam from the pipe he’d yanked toward the power core, which began to hum ominously.
“Unknown, but theories state it might be to keep the spirits of those they’ve killed blocked from escaping and warning others.”
“As if we don’t already know they’re the scum of the universe,” Jaspar grunted as he swung a hammer left lying on the floor at the support structure for the power core. It began to wobble as well as spark.
“Excellent work, Commander. Preparing to beam you aboard.”
