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Their duties had changed. They were sent on what they suspected were meaningless errands by their commanding officers. Their hours had been cut, so they spent a lot of time on their own in their quarters. The break areas, where the men could grab their daily allotment of off-duty alcohol, were barely used. No more than half a dozen people, and often far fewer, showed up between shifts.
Ilid performed his duties, the handful he was given, by skulking as silently as he could. He wished he were a Nobek. The warrior breed had been trained as children to creep up on others soundlessly. He learned to listen at corners before he rounded them, hoping and fearing to hear some clue of what had come among the Kalquorians and what their plans were.
The day came when he got more than he bargained for.
He’d been sent to deliver a message to Engineering, the only task he’d apparently be given during his shift. The supervisor in Operations had handed him a small drive. “Give this to the chief engineer, then return to your quarters. We’ll contact you if you’re needed.”
“Yes sir.” Ilid left the room, suppressing a shudder as he saw an indistinct blob on his supervisor’s upper back from the corner of his eye.
He scurried from Operations, stepping as quietly as possible through the corridors. Here and there, he spied movement up ahead, but he pretended not to. He pretended his mouth wasn’t dry and his heart didn’t pound.
In the lift, there was no sign of the shadows. He sank into the little relief the momentary aloneness afforded him, but it was brief. The door to the engineering level opened too soon.
He noted nothing outside the space from the back of the elevator. He crept to the door, listened, and heard nothing. Making his scrutiny as nonchalant as possible, he scanned the corridor. No shadows.
Ilid knew the reprieve was temporary. Of all the sections of the ship he’d visited, the shadows populated the bridge most, Engineering second. He steeled for weirdness as he listened at the open door leading to the main area of the ship’s heartbeat. Quiet reigned. He crept in.
There was the usual complement of nearly twenty men working the area. He kept from settling his gaze on any of them directly, letting peripheral vision assure him each engineer and tech was saddled by a shadow. He was so intent on locating his enemies, he initially failed to recognize none of the damned things were scurrying on the floor or along the walls as usual.
At the same moment he realized it, he also noted every crewmember stood stock still. They faced the plasma generators at the far end of the room, their attitude watchful and waiting.
Ilid was motionless too. He paused, as noiseless as the rest, staring at the generators and wondering what they waited for. Wondering if it was something bad they expected to happen.
Ancestors, I want off this ship. I want to go home.
The notion startled him. He’d been afraid for weeks. He’d first feared he was going insane. Then, as his fellow grunts mentioned the strangeness of their reduced workloads, he’d grown afraid he wasn't crazy after all, which had been worse.
He’d hidden in his quarters. He’d done his utmost to call no attention to himself. He’d slunk around the ship while playacting nothing was amiss. But until that instant, he hadn’t admitted how he wanted to escape the situation. Every mote of his being begged him to turn tail and run like hell.
Ilid steeled his nerves. He was a Dramok, a natural-born leader. He was terrified, but it was no excuse to be a coward. He had to face his fears. He had to confront the fact something terrible had infested the ship and his crewmates, especially the officers who were tasked with so much that was secret and potentially dangerous to the empire. There was danger, and only he, Dramok Ilid, saw it. It was up to him to do whatever was possible to fend it off.
He continued to stand silent, watching the engineering crew and the plasma generators, in the hope of discovering what they were up to. Minutes stretched out, the rest of the Kalquorians continuing their motionless postures, until someone’s console beeped.
A dark head bent to it, then straightened. “More assistance is required to re-route the power relays.”
Someone else spoke. Ilid thought it was the assistant chief engineer. “Proceed.”
Ilid had kept his direct gaze trained to one side of the tech who’d spoken first. It allowed him to see small shapes dropping from the shadow on the tech’s back. Little scuttling things the size of his ear raced across the floor toward the generators.
He must have made a noise, possibly a gasp, because everyone swiveled in his direction, fiercely glaring to have been discovered.
Chapter Ten
Ilid went in motion, as if he’d just stepped in the room, walking straight to the chief engineer. He acted as if he noticed none of the small shadows swarming over the generator casings, though they made him want to scream. He forced the expression he’d learned to wear to hide his terror to slip over his features like a mask: wide-eyed youthful innocence, pleasant, dutiful.
“A message from Operations, sir.” He hoped the tremor in his voice would pass unnoticed. He held out the drive.
“Thank you, ensign.” Cold purple eyes threatened to bore into his skull, and Ilid wondered what the chief engineer saw. Did he view Ilid as a fellow Kalquorian or a stranger? He swore he sensed loathing beneath the chief’s blank stare.
He was surrounded. He could feel them staring at him, suspecting him. He kept his gaze trained on the engineer’s face.I’m doing my duty is all. I see nothing strange.
“Dismissed.”
Ilid offered a quick bow and turned. No one was looking at him after all. They were moving about, doing what appeared to be normal tasks, tapping on control podiums. They appeared so damned normal, he wanted to question his senses again.
A tiny shadow scurried over the toe of his boot and rushed on toward the generators. Ilid swallowed and hurried out of Engineering, as if it were only another workday and he had plenty of tasks to accomplish.
He got in the lift. “Door, close.” He glanced around, once more reassuring himself he was alone. He paused there without giving the transport a destination. He caught his breath and waited for his heart to stop pounding. When he was steadier, he thought the situation over.
