“They do what now?” Cattie frowned.

  “Experiment on personal storage space devices.”

  Bulco shrugged. “So? We saw them messing around with null tunnel drives, and the ladies found the lab where they do who knows what with the warped.”

  Serk shook his head. “This is different. The storage device is a delicate technology that is barely understood. It relies heavily on the Tec itself, and its misuse can lead to catastrophic results.”

  “So is it illegal?”

  “Depends which part of the galaxy you’re in, but generally—no. It is, however, extremely dangerous. There are safeguards in every device that negate the risks, like activating a storage device within another storage device. If those safeguards are circumvented by someone without the proper understanding of the process …” He shook his head.

  “And the other thing you saw?” Nori prompted.

  “They were experimenting with the Warped.”

  “But we know that already. The scientists even explained what they were studying.”

  Serk shook his head. “I said they were experimenting with the Warped, not on the Warped.” Seeing the vacant expression of his friends, he explained. “They have containment fields holding animals that were in the process of transforming into Warped. My guess is that they found a way to cause the Warped mutation to occur intentionally.”

  Nori stared blankly at him. “And you didn’t think to mention it first?”

  “The Warped are a minor, even if constant, nuisance. The inherent danger of meddling with internal storage devices is much greater.”

  “So they found a way to turn animals into Warped,” Bulco said darkly. “What’s stopping them from doing it to intelligent creatures?”

  Lana’s gasp was audible over their comms.

  “You can say that again,” the Engineer said. “From what we’ve learned so far, it seems the mutation percentage on Earth was off the charts. Coincidence?”

  Nori slowly shook her head. “I don’t like it. I don’t like it one bit.” She stared at the small alien. “Anything else?”

  “There was one more thing,” he admitted. “It was weird. There was a pillar of stone that had green channels of energy running along its length leading to a device I’ve never seen before.”

  “Can you describe it?”

  “It was a circular, flat piece of metal, though it didn’t look like any kind of metal I’ve ever seen. It looked broken; about a third of it was missing. Torn away would be a better description: the missing edges were jagged. The item’s surface was covered with unfamiliar symbols that glowed in the same green energy as the column.”

  Bulco furrowed his brow. “A stalagmite? We only saw stalactites up until now. Now that I think about it, how is that even possible?”

  “Guys,” Lana said through their comms. “Serk’s description reminds me of something. Give me a minute.”

  “There’s something unnatural about this place,” Nori said. “We’ve been taking a lot at face value, but Bulco raises a good point. Stalactites don’t grow on their own. There should be stalagmites. And there’s no natural phenomenon that I’m familiar with that causes them to grow horizontally from the walls.”

  “And what’s with the way they pulse,” Cattie added. “That’s just weird.”

  “I’m back,” Lana said. “I’m sending you something. Serk, check your wrist console.”

  The alien lifted his arm and a holographic image appeared above him. It was a piece of torn metal with green glowing glyphs along its surface. “This looks very similar to the item I saw,” he confirmed. “Only smaller.”

  “That’s the piece we dug up on the moon!” Bulco exclaimed.

  “The Relict shard,” Nori nearly whispered and shook her head. “Things are starting to make sense.”

  The door swung open suddenly and half a dozen Aky holding guns rushed in. The small green men looked almost comical in their armored suits, but there was nothing funny about the weapons they aimed at the four crewmembers.

  Cattie was the first to react. The soldier snatched up her shotgun and aimed it back at the small soldiers.

  One of the Aky stepped forward. “Stand down. Your weapons are useless here.”

  “What the hell is this?” Bulco said hotly, stepping forward.

  The Aky leader seemed unimpressed by the human’s sheer’s bulk. “You are charged with trespassing and compromising the facility’s security.” He glared at Serk who lowered his head. “You will be imprisoned until Grotula decides what to do with you.”

  “Like hell we are.”

  The leader pointed his gun straight at Bulco’s face. “Obey or we’ll have to resort to using force.”

  “Guys,” Lana’s voice whispered in their comms. “I can scan those guys from up here. Most of their weapons are F rank. The leader’s is E.”

  Nori took a step forward, facing the Aky leader. “Why are you creating new Warped in the lower level?”

  The Aky gave her a feral grin. “Oh, something tells me you’ll learn that soon enough.” There was no mistaking the malice in his voice.

  “I don’t think so,” Nori said. She ducked low and yelled, “NOW!”

  Cattie’s shotgun thundered in the closed room. The heavy slug hit the Aky leader on his chest piece and though it didn’t penetrate the armor, the force was enough to hurl him back against the wall.

  As one, helmets formed out of the visitors' armor, covering their heads, and energy shields flared to life around them.

  The other five Aky guards started shooting a dazzling display of colorful energy rays, but all of their shots bounced harmlessly off the Earth Force’s superior armor.

  From her low position, Nori went into a roll. Using her arms as an axis she sent a leg swipe that threw down two guards. Bulco hurried to close into melee. Like a giant in a playground, he picked two of the thrashing Aky and banged their heads together until they stopped moving.

  “Don’t kill them!” Serk cried.

  Cattie’s next shot caught the last standing guard on the chest and hurled him against the wall. He fell limply to the floor, crushed, beside his leader.

  “That was easier than I thought,” Bulco grunted in satisfaction, then glanced at Serk. “Don’t worry little buddy. They’ll have a mean headache when they wake up but that should be the worst of it.”

  Cattie cocked her shotgun and grinned smugly. “Weapons don’t work here my ass. Nothing like a good ole’ Earth boomstick to get the job done.” She looked at Nori as the woman untangled herself from the pile of limbs, leaving behind the two unconscious guards. “I didn’t even have time to see how you took those two down.”

  The captain shrugged. “A knee to the temple took care of them. Once I got them down to the floor, it was easy. Luckily, they didn’t have their helmets on.”

  “They are all alive.” Serk breathed a sigh of relief, checking the two guards the Sharpshooter had shot. “If we hurry, we can get back to the shuttle before reinforcements arrive.”

  A distant alarm started to wine. “Facility is on lockdown. All security personnel to guest quarters on sector 32G.”

  “Sounds like the shuttle is a no-go.” Nori stood up, holding one of the downed guard’s pistols. “So we go with plan B instead. It’s time we get some straight answers on what’s going on in here.”

  Bulco nodded. “Damn straight.” He bent and picked up the leader’s beam rifle and shook his head. “Too high level for me. Catch.” He threw the weapon to Cattie and picked up a pistol from one of the other guards.

  “Thanks,” the Sharpshooter replied, the alien weapon coming to life in her hands. “So what’s the plan, Captain?”

  “We’re going down there,” Nori said. “And we’re going to have a face-to-face with the head scientist himself.”

  ***

  “This way. It’s not far!” Serk called out as he ran, leading the others down the winding corridors.

  “You sure you know the way?” Cattie breathed heavily as she ran, trying to manage the arsenal of guns she was carrying.”

  “Yes, I’ve been here not an hour ago. It’s just around the corner.”

  They turned the corner and came to stop next to a locked elevator door.

  “How are we going to get inside?” Cattie frowned. “Brainiac isn’t here to hack the door.”

  “I cloned the guard’s security credentials,” Serk explained. “It would have been impossible for you, but as Aky, our consoles share some similarities that allow me to do this.”

  “Handy,” Bulco noted.

  Serk waved his arm in front of the elevator’s light console and the door swung open silently.

  “All aboard,” Cattie declared brightly. “Next stop, the lower level of a dark, probably evil, science lab. Available attractions: the Warped mutation lab, the experimental alien workshop, and the prisoner torture chambers.”

  Bulco raised an eyebrow. “Torture chamber?”

  “Hey, I’m improvising here, give me a break.” The woman rubbed her chin. “Visitor Hall of Agony?”

  The large man shook his head.

  “I’ll keep working on it, then.”

  “You do that.”

  “We’re here,” Serk said quietly.

  The elevator door slid open, revealing the cave and the vast gate that bordered the far side of it. Miraculously, no other Aky guards or scientists were anywhere in sight.

  “I don’t like it,” Bulco grunted. “Smells like a trap.”

  “We’re too far inside to turn back now,” Nori said. “Lead on, Serk.”

  The small alien led them toward the door, where he waved his hand over another light console.

  The giant door groaned and opened, releasing pressurized air with a hiss.

  The area beyond it looked just like Serk had described. It was a large rectangular chamber, carved into the planet and poorly lit. A variety of workbenches, tools and dismantled components lined the wall on their right.

  A growl from their left made everyone jump in place. A row of a dozen Warped was visible in the dim light, all caged inside shimmering golden energy cells.

  At the far end of the room, right at the center, was a tall pillar of stone. Green lines of energy seemed to flow from the floor, crawling over the length of the shaft until swallowed by an item at the top. An item the intruders instantly recognized. A Relict shard.

  It was larger than the one they had found on Earth’s moon—nearly four times as large—though it was still obviously incomplete. Mysterious glowing green symbols covered the surface.

  A small table stood on a rise just before the stone pillar.

  Nori took a hesitant step in.

  “I don’t like it,” Bulco said. “Something doesn’t smell right to me.”

  An audible chime came from the direction of the elevator. The closed doors started to light up.

  “They’re coming!” Nori whispered urgently. “Get inside, quick. Serk, close the door.”

  They did as she commanded. The huge door shut down with a bang just as the elevator’s door began to open.

  “Now this is unexpected,” an unfamiliar voice spoke, coming from the far side of the room.

  Everyone whipped their heads toward the source of the voice. A small Aky, dressed in scientist’s coat stood behind the table. “I guess we can skip the imprisonment part and go straight to the final verdict,” he said lightly. “I’m afraid this is the end of your tour of Grotula3.”

  The telltale light of a console flickered behind the table as the scientist touched it.

  And as one, the force fields surrounding the Warped shimmered and faded away.

  The monsters were free.

  ***

  A dozen Warped in levels ranging from 3 to 7 stormed the four friends, who were caught out in the open.

  “Fire!” Nori shouted. The alien pistol she looted from the guards was already in her hand and shooting repeatedly at the incoming monsters, felling two of them. From her personal storage space, she took out three grenades. They rolled on their own toward the Warped, each detonating on impact, injuring and slowing the monsters’ charge.

  Not needing much prompting, the others quickly joined her. Bulco’s small pistol looked like a toy gun in his huge meaty palm, but it was still a deadly energy weapon, and three well-placed shots quickly took down a level 5 monster. Serk followed suit, his own looted pistol barking repeatedly as he took down two of the lower level creatures. The three were doing well, but Cattie was in a league of her own. Using the pillaged energy rifle, the Sharpshooter brought down Warped like flies. She moved forward slowly, aiming at the nearest monster, taking them down with single headshots. She was like an angel of death.

  Only two creatures survived the long-ranged attack long enough to close into the melee.

  Bulco stepped forward, sheltering his smaller companions with his body, and clashed head-on with a level 6 Warped that looked like a cross between a spider and a squid.

  The two brawled on the floor. Sharp metal arms repeatedly sliced at the man, but his bulky armor had no trouble deflecting the attacks. In return, Bulco’s fists locked around disfigured limbs and pulled them apart one by one.

  Nori intercepted the last Warped with a well-placed round kick, sending the level 5 creature to the floor at the Sharpshooter’s feet. Cattie instantly shifted her weapons and blasted the monster’s head off point-blank.

  Serk ran to help Bulco. In a surprising display of strength that looked impossible on his small, frail body, the small alien managed to tear the Warped away from the large man. With their forces combined, the two quickly reduced the flailing monster to a pile of lifeless limbs.

  Not wanting to let the real enemy get the drop on them again, Nori fluidly turned and pointed her weapon at the faraway scientist. “Hands up where I can see them!” she barked.

  He shook his head. “Too slow, I’m afraid.”

  The giant door behind them hissed as it opened. Everyone but Nori turned to face the new danger ... and froze in place.

  A line of at least twenty Aky guards, many of which held heavy weapons, was waiting beyond the door. Several assault drones towered behind the guards, pointing an assortment of cannon barrels and laser pointers at the invaders.

  There was no way out.

  “You have fought well, but it’s over now,” the lead scientist said. “Now drop your weapons and come over here.”

  With the guards pointing their weapons, they had little choice. With a wave of Nori’s hand the four companions dropped their weapons and approached the raised table.

  The Aky narrowed his eyes at the approaching prisoners.

  Coming closer, they were finally able to view their captor’s details.

  Grotula, Aky, Level ??

  ??

  “Great, another one of those,” Bulco grunted.

  Grotula’s nostrils flared as he looked down at them. One of the weird stone pillars on the wall behind him pulsed. “I allowed you entry into our facility, showed you hospitality and friendship, and this is how you repay me? Scheming behind my back, sneaking around, and sneaking into unauthorized areas?”

  Serk lowered his head. “There is no excuse. We are ready to receive the full—”

  “What the hell are you doing?” Bulco growled at his small companion. “That nutjob unleashed Warped on us!”

  “You have violated the trust that was shown to you,” Grotula said, undeterred.

  Another stalactite pulsed.

  Nori frowned.

  “You will be punished accordingly,” the scientist continued. “The humans will be turned into Warped, to replace the specimens they’ve destroyed, and the Aky will have his memory cube destroyed.”

  “No!” Serk paled.

  “I really feel like that should’ve been our line, buddy,” Bulco said between clenched teeth. He stared hard at the scientist in front of him. “I’ll die before I’ll allow you to turn me into one of those things.”

  “By all means, try,” Grotula said. “Guards! Put them in the energy cages, we’ll begin immediately—”

  “No, wait!” Cattie shouted, interrupting the facility leader’s command. The Aky glared at her. “It doesn’t have to come to that. We can resolve this another way! We have something you want.”

  “Oh?” A stalactite pulsed as the head scientist sized up the woman. “I’m willing to hear you out.”

  Nori’s frown deepened.

  “We noticed your centerpiece over there isn’t complete,” Cattie said, pointing at the pillar. “We happen to have—”

  Nori’s eyes widened in realization. “Cattie, stop.”

  The soldier looked at her. “But—”

  “No.” Nori crossed her arms. She looked straight at Grotula. “Very well. You hold all the power here. Let’s get it over with.”

  The Aky’s eyes narrowed. “You’re willing to accept your punishment?”

  “Yes.”

  “Nori …” Bulco started, placing a steadying hand on Serk’s shoulder. Their Aky friend was trembling, looking like he was about to faint.

  “No,” Nori said firmly. “We violated your trust and hospitality. If you deem the punishment worthy of those actions then so be it.” She looked at Grotula defiantly. “Well? What are you waiting for?”

  With a sigh, the scientist waved his hand at the Aky guardsmen. As one, they lowered their weapons, turned, and left.

  The heavy door closed behind them, leaving a very confused group of people behind.

  “How did you know?” Grotula asked Nori, with a faint smile.

  She shook her head. “I should’ve figured it out sooner. The signs were there all along: at first, you didn’t want to grant us access, then you scanned our ship and suddenly we're welcomed guests. You allowed us to freely inspect your facility, and when we wanted to look at the lower level, Serk just happened to come across someone willing to show him around, and even left him there unsupervised. For what is supposed to be a state of the art science facility this is a highly improbable security hole. Everything that happened made no sense. Unless ...” The tall woman smiled. “Unless we were meant to come here. You wanted us to see what you were doing—your Relict shard specifically. You scanned our ship, you know we have another one, and you want it. This was just a ruse to have us buy our freedom with it. Isn’t that right?”