As the Nova Star flew through hyperspace on course for Tatooine, another alarm went off, only it wasn't anything to worry about. No, it was the ship's communication system picking up what was believed to be an emergence beacon from another ship. Jens who had been the first to see the readings, ordered the Nova Star to investigate the distress signal.
The Nova Star came out of hyperspace and right before them, an eerie looking freighter drifted before in the empty void of space. Lyra activated a scan of the ship, her eyes widened at the name that came up on her screen.
"Ember Moon?" she said in disbelief.
Jens looked over at her, equally shocked. "Can't be," he said looking at the ship before them. "The Ember Moon went missing six months ago."
"The scans don't lie, Captain," Lyra replied, but then Fang spoke up who had been sitting quietly.
"I got a bad feeling about this," he said, his voice filled with worry.
The Nova Star circled the Ember Moon like a predator stalking prey. There was no sign of any lifeforms on the ship, just darkness. Still, feeling that this ship might have something worth salvaging, Jens made the decision to board the vessel and explore it. Maybe they could even find out how the ship had been drifting for so long without being seen or heard from.
Inside the cargo bay, everyone was getting suited up. Each crew member was given a communicator, a dozen flares if their lights on their suits went out, and masks for them to breath if they came across something toxic. As the Nova Star docked with the Ember Moon, Aleah and Dray both felt a disturbance in the force, but they didn't want to cause the others to panic when they entered the other ship. As the cargo bay doors opened, the crew were met with gust of musty air and big cloud of dust.
"Oh that smells awful," Danny said as he tried not to throw up. Unfortunately for the Mirialin, he couldn't keep the contents of his stomach down and he threw up all over the cargo bay floor.
The others looked as if they were going to puke too, but were able to hold it in. Jens stepped forward. His eyes full of caution. "Alright, we're going to secure a perimeter, then sweep the ship. Our goal is to find out what happen to this ship, not to go looking for trouble."
Fang turned to his sister and pulled out a SX-21 pump-action scatter blaster from behind a crate. "I always keep this handy. For close encounters."
"Yeah, real cute." Kenna favored the scatter blaster with a last admiring look. "Just make sure you don't end up shooting one of us."
The male Shistavanen smiled thinly. "I wouldn't dream of shooting a member of our crew."
One byone, the crew walked through the door into the dark corridors of the Ember Moon. As soon as the last crew member was out, Clank sealed the door to make sure nothing snuck into their ship while they explored the freighter. Siv looked around at the walls which were covered with dust and… he wasn't sure ifhe was seeing things clearly, but it looked as if there was dried blood on the walls.
The Mandalorain turned to Feline. "Hey, scan this for me," he said.
The Zygerrian pulled out her scanner and held it close to the wall. After a brief second, the scanner beeped. Feline looked at Siv, the look on her face said it all.
"It's blood?" he asked hoping that it wasn't.
"It is," she replied softly.
"What happened on this ship?" Kenna asked out loud, but everybody had the same answer. They didn't know what happened. So, the only thing to do was looked for answers. The Nova Star crew then came to a four-way intersection. Each path led to another section of the ship. Jens, Fang and Lyra headed for the bridge. Kenna, Danny and Feline headed for the crew quarters. Dray, Aleah, Siv and Cutie head for engineering. Clank, Faolahd and Feline headed for the cargo bay.
The four groups each felt that something evil was stalking them, something that they couldn't see. Every step taken felt like a mile, soon, the cold feeling of fear began to wash over them.
As Jens' group reached the bridge, they found it to be sealed off. The captain looked at the external door controls. His fingers tried every combination. None of the telltale lights came alive.
"Busted?" Fang inquired.
Jens shook his head. "No. Sealed. There's a difference. Lyra, we need a bypass."
The Chiss bent down to examine the door panel. "This will be easy," she said in less than a minute. Using a tool taken from her work belt, she pried away the protective leather facing and studied the wiring. "Take twenty seconds, Jens." Lyra's fingers deft and deliberate in their movements, she began patching around the ruined circuity.
Fang and Jens waited and watched.
There was a faint beep and door opened. But what was behind the door was something that Lyra wished she had never seen. Slumped in the captain's chair was a rotting corps with a blaster clutched in it's hand. Dry blood was all over the consoles, and another body was lying on the floor, but from the looks of it, someone had shot it in the head, no doubt the by the corps in the chair.
Jens and the others walked into the bridge and looked for clues. Fang checked the two bodies. The one in the chair was indeed the captain, but the one on the floor was identified to be his chief scientist. The Shistavanen then noticed something about both bodies. The captain had died from a self-inflicted blaster shot, while the other had only two wounds. The first one was the blaster bolt to the head, but the other a single bite wound to the neck.
Lyra tried accessing the captain's log, but it seemed that before he died, the captain locked the system. He clearly didn't want someone to be snooping into the logs.
One level down from the bridge, Siv was covering the rear of his group when the sound of scraping metal was heard. The Mandalorain stopped as the others ahead of him went on, passing another darkened adjoining hallway. Siv then saw something in the dark. He looked closer.
It was a military weapon, some heavy-duty beauty, just lying there on the floor. Siv couldn't believe it. What could have made a soldier just abandon his piece like that? He knew an extra weapon might be useful.
Glancing cautiously around, he snatched the weapon up, only to discover yet another one, lying five yards further up the hall. This was too weird. Shouldering the first weapon, he approached cautiously, and reached down to pick it up.
Behind him he could hear Aleah's voice.
"Siv?"
"I'm coming!" he shouted back and grabbed the blaster. As Siv lifted the blaster, a gelatinous slime trialed off it. Gross.
"Siv!" Aleah called again.
Before Siv could respond, a shiver ran down his spine. Turning around, the Mandalorain came face to face with something so horrifying, so evil looking that he couldn't find the will to even scream. The creature was at least ten feet tall, with slimy black skin, with sharp silver teeth and killing claws on its hands and feet. With inhuman speed, it lunged at him.
Meanwhile in the crew quarters, Kenna was going over some medical documents she had found. The thing was that none of the reports made any since, it was all about the crew suffering from some unknown aliment. As she flipped the screen to another report, her eyes went wide as she saw images. It turned out that a number of the crew had started committing random acts of violence. Then she reached the final report. "Crew have changed. Killing those that can't be infected. We have brought this evil upon us." she read quietly.
Feline was scanning the room when she heard something in the vents above her. The noise was faint at first, but soon grew louder which caught the attention of Kenna and Danny. The three of them stood very still as the noise continued to grow louder, it sounded as if it was right over their heads when suddenly it stopped.
The Mirialin drew his knife and looked up at the ceiling's only air vent. Danny climbed up onto an overturned table and reached out for the vent. Before he could push it open, the sounds of Aleah's cries for help were heard. Jens voice boomed over the comlink.
"This is Jens! All crew to the mess hall now!"
Within five minutes, everyone had gathered in the mess hall. Dray held two items in his hands. One was a blaster covered in slime, the other was Siv's helmet. He placed the beskar headpiece on the bare tabletop.
Kenna gazed sadly at him. "Where was it?"
"We just found it lying there, on the floor," the Bothan said dully. "No sign of Siv. No blood. Nothing."
Aleah was being cradled by Lyra who was trying her best to calm her fellow crew member down.
"We have to find him," Fang said.
Cutie suddenly started beeping wildly. Clank who had been staying silent looked up. "Movement detected!" he shouted and drew his blaster.
"Where from?" Jens inquired.
"Behind us," Clank replied.
Jens led everyone back out into the main corridor and turned right, into a stainless-steel labyrinth. "Getting closer. Definitely not a droid." he held his blaster firmly in one hand, holding onto Fang's shoulder with the other. "Where are we now?"
Danny surveyed the surroundings. "The kitchen. We'll be in among the food-processing equipment if we keep going this way."
Aleah had slowed until she fell behind Kenna and Clank. Realizing that there was nothing behind her but darkness, she hurried to catch up to her companions.
Danny's appraisal was confirmed as they advanced and their lights began to bounce off the surfaces of bulky machinery: freezers, cookers, defrosters, and sterilizers. Jens ignored it all, intent on Cutie's tracker.
The little droid beeped three times. "It's right in front of us," Clank said.
Lyra's gaze was cold as she scanned her environment. Plenty of cover in here. Her finger twitched on her DH-17 blaster pistol's trigger. An overturned long preparation table coated in dry blood loomed in their path.
The crew advanced on it, their tread a deliberate, solemn march. Faolahd stumbled over a metal canister and angrily kicked it aside, sending it clanging off into the shadows. A pile of stockpots suddenly came crashing down off to the right of Lyra, and a dim shape was faintly glimpsed moving through the shadows behind the preparation table.
The Chiss pivoted smoothly, her finger already contracting the trigger. At the same instant Fang's scatter blaster slammed the light barrel upward. Blaster bolts ripped into the ceiling, sending droplets of molten metal flying. She whirled and cursed at him in her native tongue.
"That was kid I think!" Dray shouted. Using the force, the Bothan lifted the preparation table to see a little girl.
Filthy and staring, the little girl cowered away from the intruders. In one hand she held a plastic food packet that had been half gnawed. The other clutched tight a small doll, holing it by the hair. The child was emaciated as she was dirty, the skin taut around her small face. She looked far more fragile than the doll she carried. Her red hair was tangled and matted, a garland of steel wool framing her face.
Kenna got down on her knees and extended a hand to the small child.
"Come on," she said soothingly. "It's all right. We're not going to hurt you." She tried to coax the girl to come closer, but she moved behind a cabinet.
Faolahd who had managed to sneak around to the other side of the cabinet, reached out and grabbed the child's arm. "I got her," he said, but in an instant later he drew his arm back.
"Watch it, she bites," Jens chuckled.
Aleah then held out her hand and said softly to the girl, "Come to us. Let us help you."
The little girl slowly crept toward Aleah and stopped at her feet. The Nelvaanian then gently picked the child up in her arms and carried her back to the mess hall and sat her down on a table. Feline pulled out her diagnostic scanner. After a quick scan, the Zygerrian smiled at Aleah. "Physically she's okay. Borderline malnutrition, but I don't think there's any permanent damage."
Kenna also took a closer look at the little girl. With a gentle hand, she felt her pulse and checked her temperature. Everything seemed fine, but the Shistavanen medic couldn't figure out how this child had lasted this long without being attacked by the crew who she remembered reading about in the medical reports.
"How is she mentally?" Aleah asked as she looked at the small child.
Kenna shook her head. "Not so good. What ever happened on this ship has really messed her up." Then she left to join the others to find out where Siv could be on the ship.
Now only Dray and Aleah stayed with the little girl.
The Bothan frowned sadly at the little girl. "I don't know how you managed to survive with everybody else gone, but you're one brave kid."
A sound new to the two Jedi's ears, barely audible. "P-princess."
Aleah smiled as her excitement grew. "What's your name?" she asked softly.
"Bethany, that's what my father calls me. But everyone else calls me Princess." Princess replied, but her voice was growing cold with fear.
"Hello Princess. I'm Aleah and he is Dray," Aleah said introducing herself and Dray to Princess.
"You know what happened here?" Dray asked stepping closer.
Princess looked at him, her eyes filling with tears. "The monster awoke. Took my brother and sister away. The crew turned into monsters and then the ship went dark."
Before Dray or Aleah could asked her about the so-called monster, the sound of scarping metal was heard. Jens and the crew all heard it as well, but it was Princess who started to panic. She threw her arms around Aleah and sobbed.
"The monster is coming! It took your friend!"
Jens pointed his blaster at the main door while the others took aim at all the other ways the monster could come into the mess hall. Cutie began beeping like crazy.
"Movement! It's all around us!" Clank shouted, then checked his own readings. "Nine meters and closing. Eight meters!"
"Can't be," Feline was insistent, despite the fact that the tracker she was holding offered the same impossible readout. "That's inside the room."
Dray looked at Aleah, and the same realization hit them simultaneously. Both bent their heads back, and they stared at the vents above them.
Fang climbed onto a table. Slinging his scatter blaster over his shoulder and clutching his flashlight tightly, he raised one of the acoustical ceiling panels and shone his flashlight inside.
It illuminated a vision Fang could not have imagined in his wildest nightmares! The serviceway between the suspended acoustical ceiling and the metal roof was full of mutated Ember Moon crew members. More mutants than he could quickly count. They clung upside down to pipes and beams, crawling towards his light, glistening metallically. They covered the serviceway as far back as his light could shine.
Fang quickly brought his scatter blaster up and jumped backwards, firing as he fell to the floor. The ceiling exploded, raining debris and nightmare shapes into the room below. Princess started screaming. Faolahd opened fire with bowcaster, and Lyra gave Fang a hand up as she opened fire with her DH-17 blaster pistol.
Aleah and Dray ignited their lightsabers, lighting the room in a green and blue glow. This gave e everyone a clear view of the mutated crew.
The Nova Star crew fought the mutated crew and retreated back into the corridor. Danny was slicing every mutant that came close to him with his knives. As a mutant lunged at him, the Mirialin jumped back avoiding the attack from the front, but the floor panels erupted under his feet. Clawed arms seized him and began dragging him down.
"HELP!" Danny screamed as Kenna tried to grab onto his arm, but he was gone in seconds, swallowed by the darkness of the subfloor crawlway.
With in minutes, the remaining Nova Star crew made their way through the Ember Moon's many hallways, only losing one more of their team, Feline, to the monster that was stalking them. They finally reached a large room that could provide some protection. Lyra recognized the equipment scattered around and realized that they were in the communications room.
Jens turned his attention to the door, fumbled with the controls. It was nearly shut when two sets of long claws suddenly appeared to slam into the metal flange like pair of powerful hammers. Princess ran and hid in the corner. The mutated crew member was trying to get in.
The captain managed to find enough wind to yell, "Get on the door!"
The mutated crew member opened its mouth to try and bite Jens, but Fang jammed the muzzle of his scatter blaster between the gaping mutate jaws. "Eat this!" he shouted and pulled the trigger. The mutant's head exploded, and bits and pieces splattered the walls and the captain. Finally able to close the door, Jens shut it and locked it tight.
From outside, the sound of the mutants and the monster banging on the door filled the others with dread and despair. They were now trapped and none of them was likely to ever see the Dune Sea of Tatooine.
Looks like the Nova Star's crew walked into a real nightmare. Three members down and many hostiles have trapped them. How will they ever escape? Will they be able to rescue Siv, Danny and Feline? Find out in the next chapter of Voyagers.