Heavy footsteps echoed from the corridor they’d just left. Multiple sets, moving with the deliberate coordination of warriors who knew their quarry was trapped.
Doren’s tail lashed against his leg—a nervous tell he’d never fully suppressed. He forced himself to think, to push past the fear clawing at his chest. There had to be another option. There was always another option.
Except when there isn’t.
“Give us the child.” The voice was deep, resonant, speaking Galactic Standard with the harsh accent of the Grorn homeworld. “Surrender it now, and we will let you live.”
Emma’s arms tightened around Ari. “Like hell.”
Doren positioned himself between her and the entrance, raising his blaster. “Generous offer. I’ve got a counter-proposal.”
A massive figure stepped into the chamber—a Grorn commander, easily eight feet tall, his mottled-grey scales gleaming in the equipment’s ambient light. The fanged skull insignia on his uniform marked him as Order of Eternal Night,a true believer. Behind him, more warriors filled the corridor, their weapons trained and ready.
“You are Doren va Karr.” The commander’s black eyes studied him with cold recognition. “The treasure hunter. We’ve been monitoring your activities for some time.”
“Flattered. I’d love to catch up, but?—”
“You have something we want.” The commander’s gaze shifted to Emma, to the small silver form visible in the sling at her chest. “The Key. We will take it now.”
“She’s not a thing.” Emma’s voice was steady despite the terror Doren could see in her trembling hands. “She’s a baby. A child.”
“It is a tool. A mechanism. Nothing more.” The commander gestured, and his warriors began spreading out, flanking them. “Cooperate, and your deaths will be quick. Resist, and we will make you watch as we dissect the creature piece by piece, searching for the secrets encoded in its flesh.”
Doren’s blood went cold.
He’d heard stories about what the Grorn did to captured Aurelians. The records in the first waystation had shown him images that still haunted his sleep. But hearing it stated so casually, so matter-of-factly, made his finger tighten on the trigger.
Six warriors. Half a power cell. Emma and Ari behind him, no combat training, nowhere to run.
The numbers didn’t add up. They never would.
I’m sorry, he thought, not sure who he was apologizing to. Emma. Ari. The universe that had finally given him something worth protecting, only to snatch it away.
And then Ari began to glow.
It started as a soft luminescence,barely visible against the equipment’s ambient light. But it intensified rapidly, spreading from the baby’s silver skin in waves that pulsed with an almost musical rhythm.
The Precursor machinery responded.
Dormant systems flared to life throughout the chamber. Displays activated, showing streams of data in languages Doren couldn’t read. The humming increased in pitch and volume, building towards something that felt like anticipation.
The Grorn commander’s eyes widened. “Seize them! Now!”
His warriors surged forward—and the floor opened beneath their feet.
It happened too fast to track. Panels that had seemed solid stone retracted in perfect synchronization, revealing shafts that dropped into darkness. Four of the six Grorn vanished, their startled roars cut short by the distant sound of impact.
The commander and one warrior managed to leap clear, but the machinery wasn’t finished. Cables whipped from the walls—not cables, Doren realized, but some kind of automated defense system, tentacle-like appendages that moved with terrifying speed and precision.
The remaining warrior was wrapped and dragged screaming into an alcove that sealed behind him with a hiss of ancient pneumatics.
The commander fired wildly, his plasma bolts striking equipment that sparked and smoked but kept functioning. The tentacles closed in from multiple directions, forcing him back towards the corridor.
“This isn’t over!” The commander’s voice was ragged with fury. “We will find you! We will hunt you across the galaxy! The Key belongs to?—”
The tentacles seized him.
Doren didn’t wait to see what happened next. He grabbed Emma’s arm and ran.
