Grean stared at the spot where Good Golly Golem had exploded, and then stared at the rush of air coming in from the deep reaches of space. He yelled and clung onto the iron bars of the hangar bay as with a ripping noise the front half came off. Arroq Statol's atmosphere was dead ahead of them. If the ship crashed, they would be burned alive by the reentry.

Skeleton #3 knew it, too. He swung on the bars towards an air vent in the ceiling. Grean followed quickly on his heels (hands, whatever you call it), and slid his body in behind Skeleton #3's, inside the air vent. With a bang, the lid closed. They were alone, save for the sounds of rushing air from outside, and even that was muffled. It was very dark, very quiet. Grean dared to move in the cramped space. A rough surface told him he'd touched Skeleton #3's skull. He moved back, and discovered a previously unknown sub duct on his right side.

"Follow me," he hissed to Skeleton #3. He set off at a sort of climbing crawl up the diagonal passage.

There was a crash from outside, and a sound of rending metal. The ship vibrated. Then the noise of crashing stopped abruptly.

Grean concentrated on the corridor ahead, which was now tilted downwards. He let himself slide down the floor until he hit another cold, hard wall with his head. Grean turned like a fish in water and moved down the next corridor. Down here, noises were completely muffled. It was silent except for the clack of Skeleton #3's knees and arms against the duct's walls.

Then, footsteps over his head. Grean realized that there must be a room above.

"Skeleton, can you let me borrow an arrow for a moment?" Grean asked. An arrow was given to him by a bony hand, and Grean began to cut the thin ceiling down the middle. When he was satisfied, he inserted his hands inside the crack and pushed to either side. Light spilled in.

He was in a room, a room with a forge in it, or so it seemed. At least, there had been a forge. Liquid metal spilled from a hole in the wall onto the floor. Grean climbed up into the eerie red glow cast by the fiery substance. Skeleton #3 followed.

At the far end of the room, a vivid red man sat, dead. He had no face, only skin stretched tight against a blank stretch of bone. His hands and feet were long and bony, with bony ridges on the bottom of each finger. A Vacuum Monster.

"He's probably not dead," Skeleton #3 said. The head snapped up. "See?" They ran for it. The Vacuum Monster pursued them down the corridor they had arrived in. The thing wheezed horribly from an invisible mouth, and it didn't stop running. The thing had no room for fatigue. It just followed and followed and followed. Grean ran faster, but soon he tired and slowed. The monster caught up and grabbed Grean with a branch of a finger, turned him around, and hit him hard across the head. In the miasma of sleep, he heard the twang of a bowstring and the thud of the monster's skull splitting in two…

He came to with Skeleton #3 standing by his side.

"Shove off for a while," Grean said. "Where are we now?" They were in a large area of red grass that came up to Grean's eye level. The ground felt hard and solid, and dry as well.

"I guess Arroq Statol," Skeleton #3 replied.

"I don't know where else we'd be but Arroq Statol. Fitting." Grean felt in his pocket for a gun, and found nothing. Oh, Telamon.

"I see a town up ahead," Skeleton #3 went on, "one with all lights in. But, see, I... didn't think you'd want to risk it?" Grean was running towards where he thought he saw lights. "Wait!," Skeleton #3 shouted after him, and dashed on his heels.

Grean could see the town. He had almost made it. Yes, he had. It got closer and closer-

Grean spun out of control, flew into a docking bay full of spacers, skidded on his face across the cobbles, and came to a halt at the feet of an Arroq. He waited for the pain to cease, which took a long time, then looked up, expecting to see a cheerful Arroq merchant smiling at him. But the Arroq was dead...

"What are you doing here?" a voice said from beside him. He looked up.

"Mwuh?" he mumbled. A dark-cloaked man stood, brandishing a big-ass sword and looking none too happy at all.

) ooooooooooooooooooo (

In the marketplace of Arroq Statol, I bought a small roll filled with cheese and walked away smiling to the ship.