Page 96 of Stripped By the Alien

The command chamber gradually empties as crewers return to their duties. The living star chart continues to pulse overhead while the Beast adjusts her course. Around us, crewmembers exchange signals and consult organic leaves filled with navigation data, all of them acting as though they already know where we're going.

Which, I suppose, they do. The problem is that "somewhere in this enormous section of the galaxy" isn't much of a destination.

Krix'vorr crosses the chamber toward me. His large frame blocks part of the glowing star map above, and I find myself looking at him instead of the impossible distance we're supposed to search.

"That looked encouraging," he says.

I nod, conscious of the crew around us. "It reduces the number of possible planets," I agree.

"And so it further increases our chances of great glory."

I glance up at the map. "It’s a big galaxy. I hope Lucius will come through."

Krix'vorr studies the stars for a few moments before answering. "Many worthwhile things are impossible when viewed from far enough away. The trick is to go closer, so they look more possible."

"Is that a Harrower saying?"

"No." He reaches out and brushes a strand of hair behind my ear. "It's a Krix'vorr saying. Harrowers usually prefer something about glory and conquest."

Despite everything, I smile. The warmth of that smile fades when I remember why we're doing this in the first place. Somewhere out there Sophia is still missing, and every hour spent searching empty stars is another hour she spends alone among the Gzet.

Krix'vorr must see the change in my expression. "You’re thinking about your friend?"

"I keep thinking that every delay makes things worse," I admit. "What if we're already too late? What if we're searching for someone who's already been sold to somebody else? What if we find the planet and she's not even there anymore?"

The questions have been circling my head for days. Saying them aloud doesn't make them sound any better.

Krix'vorr lowers himself beside me and rests one arm along the edge of a fleshy console. For a while he simply watches the stars.

"I've hunted prey through asteroid fields," he says eventually. "I've tracked ships across half the galaxy. Every time I started wondering what might have happened while I was searching, I became worse at the search itself."

I look over at him. "So what's the solution?"

He meets my eyes. "Find her first. Worry afterward."

“What happens when we find her?” I ask, because I’ve been thinking about it.

“The Gzet are our enemies, and if they have her, we will have to decide what to do.”

It makes a lot of sense, and it’s also not a full answer. But it’s fair - Krix’vorr has enough to deal with if he’s not going to plan for a situation that’s completely theoretical.

He returns to his duties, and I wander around the Beast, hoping to find some kind of observation platform or something that shows me more of space than the small window in the cabin.

For the first time since Sophia disappeared, we’re moving toward something instead of wandering blindly.

A metallic rattle echoes through the corridor ahead. It’s strangely melodic, like a giant glockenspiel.

I pause and listen. Another sound follows a moment later, a scraping noise accompanied by a heavy thump that reverberates through the flesh-lined walls.

I follow the sounds through the passage until I reach the room that Deeg the monster was put in. The membrane's standing partially open. Peering through the gap, I see the big room packed with metal pipes arranged in every imaginable direction. For several seconds I don't see anything moving among them. Then one of the pipes twists.

My heart jumps before my brain catches up.

A black-and-orange tentacle unwraps itself from the metal and reaches toward another pipe. Several more follow, moving with such speed and precision that I can barely track them. Deeg swings through the chamber in a blur of scales, eyes, spikes, and muscle. His body never seems to fall and appears lighter than it must be.

Every motion flows naturally into the next, like a gymnast performing a routine he has practiced a thousand times. And all the while he makes the metal bars ring, as if this is him playing music on them.

Deeg launches himself across the room and catches a pipe with three tentacles at once, making it ring. His momentum carries him into a graceful spin before he secures himself upside down near the ceiling. For a creature that looks as though it was designed specifically to terrify children, he moves with remarkable elegance.