SHARD

The woman scrambled forward, sprinting toward the raised metal slab and menacing machines lining the wall. The other creatures trapped nearby began screaming, howling in alien tongues as they clawed at the jagged, uneven bars lining their cages. Her captor was just a few steps behind. It wasn't rushed — she'd glimpsed its expression just before she'd bolted. Keen red and gold eyes had glanced down at the fallen alien and then back up at her. She swore it had smirked with its horrifying mandibles, which framed grotesque inner fangs, as it took a single long stride toward her.

Adira's eyes darted about, frantically looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. She swiped the syringe, still laying on the counter. It was filled with some kind of dark fluid. Claws grazed her back, tearing at her hair and shredding her baggy work suit. The woman yelled and spun about, thrusting the needle into the creature's chest.

Her captor froze, staring at the liquid capsule in her bound hands as it hissed and began to drain into its body. The creature snarled and backhanded her. Adira crashed into the side of the metal table and crumpled to the ground. The taste of copper filled her mouth. A sharp pinch to her arm snapped her alert.

The monstrous alien crouched over her, injecting her with what was left of the dark fluid. Liquid fire seeped into her skin, blackened veins wriggling down her arm and over her shoulder. Adira cried out. One of the alien's massive hands held down her head, pinning her against the cold metal floor. She kicked and spasmed but to no avail.

The needle withdrew and the hand holding her down encircled her neck. The alien rose, dragging her up to eye level as if she weighed no more than a sack of tools. Adira gasped as its grip squeezed the sides of her neck, her bound hands grabbing weakly at its thick arm. Fiery pain seared her muscles and bones, crawling past her elbow and up her face. Sweat beaded her forehead. Her skull swelled with pressure.

This was it. She was going to die. Why? Why poison her if it was just going to strangle her to death? What did it want? The monster just stared at her with its hateful, inscrutable face covered in spikes.

The door hissed opened. Adira's gaze flicked over, her blurred vision catching something large leaving the room. The creature's head snapped to look back, dropping her as the door hissed shut. It roared in rage and took off after it.

The woman lay on the ground, coughing and moaning. The pain swept over her like ravenous flames, leaving behind charred webs of veins. Her left hand spasmed in pain. Searing cramps roiled her gut. The pain crawled over her skull, a vice-like aura of agony squeezing her brain and stealing her vision.

Adira gasped as she came to, vomiting up the sludge she'd been fed earlier. She groaned as she rolled over, arms trembling as she pushed herself up onto her knees. She hazarded a guess that she must have passed out because the pain had moved down into her back and legs. It felt as if a thousand tiny insects were biting her from the inside out. Everything hurt. She didn't want to move.

Adira wept, growling in anger and desperation as she used the metal slab to pull herself upright. Then the world lurched.

She shouted in surprise as up suddenly became down. Adira hit the ceiling, the blow driving the air from her lungs. The other creatures in their cages wailed in alarm. She gasped and righted herself once more. What the frack was going on?

Sounds of distant thunder echoed through the room. Metal shrieked. Klaxons started blaring, a deep thrumming bass that vibrated through her entire body. Adira rose, panting as she staggered toward the door. Since it spanned the full length of the wall, it didn't appear any different. When she approached, it swished open automatically. Well, frack me. I could've just run out of here.

She stepped out into the hall, crimson lights pulsing in time with the growling klaxons. Distant roars echoed down the hall to her right. Nope. No way was she running toward the sounds of a fight. Time to find the exit.

Adira turned, stepping in the opposite direction when a hulking shape standing at the end of the hall made her freeze. It stood on all fours, low to the ground, long sharp horns jutting from its back and shoulders around its face. A face that resembled a grinning skull with fangs. It opened its jaw, drool spilling from its long tongue as it let out a menacing snarl.

Bigger nope! The woman turned and bolted down the hall. The four-legged creature snarled as it chased after, the scraping of its clawed feet against the metal ceiling sending spikes of adrenaline through her body. It masked the pain, narrowing her vision. Frack! Frack! Frack! Don't look back!

It was almost on top of her. There. A hallway. She could hear its heavy, hungry breathing in between the rumbling klaxons. "No!" she yelled as its spikes grazed her thighs, drawing blood.

The world lurched again.

The creature sailed under her as she fell toward the floor, crashing and rolling several feet away. It must have tried to pounce. Adira scrambled upright, limbs still tingly with adrenaline. Run! her body screeched.

Fear drove her down the hall. She had to keep going. Find a weapon. A barrier. Something to improve her odds. Adira stumbled as the walls and floor shuddered. Metal groaned and the flashing red lights turned a sickly green. Was this a ship?

The creature howled as it charged down the hall behind her.

Adira ran, skidding right, straight toward the sounds of fighting. The door hissed open. She flew inside, hoping the creature couldn't follow. Shrieking plasma streaked by her face. The hall exploded behind her, heat slamming into her back and showering her with sparks. A yelp of pain sounded from behind. Adira lowered her raised arms to glance back, relieved to see the four-legged creature had been reduced to a charred hunk of meat as the door sealed closed.

A snarl made her flinch. Adira snapped her gaze back to the center of the room where the two aliens appeared to be struggling for control of some sort of weapon.

Surprised by her presence, the larger of the two hissed something. The smaller one clawed at goth-boy's face, ripping off one of its mandibles. It howled in pain and kicked the other alien back.

A console on the other side of the room glittered with a holographic map of the galaxy. Jackpot. Adira ducked out of the way of the fighting, leaping over steaming plasma craters blasted into the floor. Hopefully, they killed each other and left her the ship all to herself.

The map glowed red, billions of stars swirling slowly in her hands. Adira waved her fingers about, frustrated at how awkwardly she had to navigate since her forearms were bound. A flickering triangle caught her attention. Her eyes narrowed. That was the Orion Spur. Which meant they weren't that far from where she'd been picked up then. Adira zoomed in on the beacon, guessing it indicated the ship's position. She needed a nearby planet. Any planet with humans on it. Most settlements were clustered in the Orion and the Perseus Arm. It didn't have to be Earth. She just needed someplace with people on it.

Alien symbols trickled down around her, no doubt providing coordinates. Another blast went off, taking out part of the ceiling. Fists pounded flesh and roars of pain sent prickles up the back of her neck and hands.

She just had to pick one. Adira zoomed in on a world, one that was as close as she could reasonably get near the Sol system. It seemed like it had liquid water, mountains, rivers, forests. Lists of creatures appeared to her right, fearsome beasts that she had no interest in meeting. What mattered was that it was habitable. Humans love golden worlds. Terraforming was astronomically expensive, after all. "Please," she whispered, fingers crossed. Then she touched the gleaming red planet.

The ship trembled as a wail of surging energy resounded through the hull. The display set over the cockpit window began flickering with streams of symbols. Shrill warning sigils flashed. The fighting behind her ceased. Adira whipped around in time to see the larger alien holding the smaller, bloodier one up by its neck, clawed fingers drawn back like it was about to rip into its chest and pull out its heart. The creature tossed its defeated foe aside, snarling as it came for her.

She couldn't let it get to the controls. Adira grabbed a piece of metal that had fallen from the ceiling, holding it up as threateningly as possible. "Stay back!" she yelled. What a joke. If one of its own kind couldn't take it down, then what chance did she have?

A keening whine filled the air. The creature lunged. Adira flinched. Time slowed to a crawl.

Then it stopped.

For a brief moment, seconds stretched by. Her heartbeats interrupted the suffocating silence every so often like the distant thunder. The alien was almost frozen before her, hand outstretched, eyes and fangs wide with rage. It moved millimeter by millimeter toward her, giving her time to think.

Adira slowly adjusted her stance. Time began to retract. The blood echoing in her skull pounded like an urgent drumbeat. She reached forward with the metal shard, planting her feet. No more running.

With a pressurized pop in her ears, reality snapped into focus.