Chapter 9

It was a soldier, armed with a mean looking gun. No-Tongue now knew something was wrong indeed, very wrong. Did Arthur's superiors decide to halt Arthur's project? Apparently so, but what happened to Arthur? He wanted to know, but he had to take care of the immediate problem first.

Fortunately, this soldier was unblooded, as he could smell the fear off him: guess the officer in charge thought he was tame enough for him to be an easy first kill for this man. Problem was, No-Tongue didn't feel like obtaining dozens of likely fatal holes in his hide. Thankfully the soldier hestiated before pulling the trigger, giving No-Tongue time to react. He leapt toward one side of the soldier, ensuring the spray of bullets missed him, then with a flick of his tail knocked the weapon out of the man's hands. Unnerved, the man screamed and started to run, only for No-Tongue to pounce upon his back and send him crashing to the ground face first. Now in full panic, the man thrashed, trying to get away.

-Calm down.- No-Tongue told the man. -I'm not going to kill you.-

"W...wh...what?" The man stammered, shocked that this Alien was talking to him. "You're not?"

­-I have no reason to kill you.- No-Tongue clarified. -I just want to know where Arthur is.-

"Arthur? You mean Proffessor Arthur Jinkins?"

­-That's the one.-

"In the brig. I think it was because the higher ups deemed him a threat to mankind."

No-Tongue frowned. It was likely because they didn't like Arthur making his kind appear more 'likeable'. It made sense, in a twisted sort of way. If humans started treating his kind like fellow sentients, these men would be out of a job and job secuirity was always high on a human's mind from what Arthur told him. Didn't mean it didn't still disgust him though. -Where is this...brig?- He asked.

"Lowest level of the ship. There's several lifts that go down there on this level."

-What the heck is a...oh nevermind I'll figure it out.-

Just then the floor underneath them shook violently, knocking No-Tongue off the soldiers back. Just as the two managed to get back up to their feet another, much more shutter knocked them back down again, a faint rumble heard along with it. The lights flickered, then finally went out, plunging them into total darkness for a few seconds before the red, emergancy lights came on. No-Tongue couldn't actually see the changing status of the lights, but the shaking floor was enough to tell him something was very wrong.

/EMERGANCY. EMERGANCY./ Announced the ships computer. /CRITICAL CORE BREACH HAS BEEN DETECTED. EVACUATE ALL PERSONNEL IMMEDIATELY./

"Dammit!" The soldier cursed. "They obviously didn't take the advice to fully service the damn core at our last pit stop."

-I take it this means it's every man and alien for himself?-

"Honestly, I doubt anyone will let you in the escape pods with them."

­-Arthur would.-

"Yeah if you can find him and get to the escape pods in time. Look if you're not going to kill me...I'm out of here."

No-Tongue didn't stop the man as he ran out, instead he followed him out. He noticed immediately the difference in material that made up the hallway and took to the ceiling. Up here, evacuating soldiers won't be as likely to spot him, thus take pot shots at him, making his race to find Arthur a lot safer. In all honesty, he had no clue why he was going after Arthur, until the ship's new state gave him one. It was a race against time to not only find his friend, but for them to find a way off the ship as well.

In the brig, it wasn't the sudden increased darkness of his cell that bothered him, it was the fact that the Alien's pens weren't connected to the backup generator power. The engineers that built the pens hadn't seen the need to, but now there was the high risk of escape. He knew No-Tongue wouldn't take advantage of the situation and go on a killing spree, however the one he had dubbed 'Switcher' would. Making that Alien even more dangerous was his apparent insanity and who knows how many men will be killed before that one is taken out. With most minds on evacuating the ship, that count could be high. As much as he hated to think it, considering he valued No-Tongue as a friend, he hoped the Aliens were already destroyed.

The door to his cell suddenly opened and he saw one of the soldiers in the doorway. "Come on!" The soldier said. "We got to get out of here!"

Well that was one thing Arthur was grateful for: they didn't think he was crazy enough to just be left behind.

It was feeding time, but something happened. The door is stuck. Stuck open? Yes. Escape? Yes. Escape!

With a burst of speed he hadn't shown since before he was captured, the Alien dubbed Switcher dashed through the open door. He knew something else wasn't right, but that didn't matter to him. What mattered to him was that there were men close, many men. Men that took him from his hive and imprisoned him. Forcing him to suffer the torment of being alone with only himself to talk to. They will pay. Yes. They will pay.

Revenge. Yes. Blood to spill. Yes. Humans must die. Yes.

Death to humans.