Mohini had failed in her duties as a Captain, failed to protect her crew. The lack of response from the comms unit as she hailed various crew members, highlighted the immensity of her defeat at the hands of unexplainable forces.
The monument that was to be dedicated to her storied and lengthy spacefaring career, the one foretold by her superiors who had a promoted her, lay in a heap of rubble.
When the Dwaraka crew was deployed on missions they were provided heart monitors and location trackers. Given the sensors were not worn on the ship during space voyages, Mohini floundered as she looked for signs of life in the ocean of static delivered by the comms channels .
"Is no one alive on this goddamned ship?" she thought.
As if to answer her query, her comms device chimed warning sounds. The navigational subsystems needed her immediate attention on the bridge.
She abandoned her decision to go exploring the ship, looking for the other members, and ran towards the bridge.
Rahu smiled as it directed the new puppet, created with the lingering essence of Agasura, to destroy the ship by initiating the self-destruct sequence. A beautiful flower of fire and shrapnel would blossom in space as the robotic countdown ushered in the destruction of the nuclear core.
Agasura's bodily form might have been destroyed by the goody two shoes Captain Mohini, but there was still enough of his hateful presence trapped in this dimension to facilitate the destruction of Dwaraka.
This doleful gleaming artefact of human endeavour would perish and It would be released into the void to continue its search for beloved ketu.
Its puppet had smashed open the Emergency procedure capsule, extracted the relevant key codes and fed the access passwords to the Navigation computer. The first steps towards self-immolation had been taken. The vacuum of space awaited.
Then it heard the whisperings. The sweet hushed tones It had waited to hear for years.
A delectable surprise.
It was not too far now. The other half of itss vast infernal intellect and unholy power.
The whispers urged Rahu to curtail its destructive impulses for now, so that they may finally meet and enact a greater war of attrition on humanity.
"Do not destroy the ship. Ensure its safe arrival at its port. Wait for my arrival," the voice said.
"What about the humans?" Rahu said.
"What about them?" The voice asked.
"I had offered them up to Agasura to fulfill its blood lust," Rahu said.
"Leave one alive, to execute our agenda,"it murmured from across the stars.
When she reached the bridge Mohini found Raghuram standing at the Navigation computer console. The warning sounds had ceased.
"Raghuram is that you?" Mohini said walking cautiously towards the figure.
The form stood frozen for a second like, muttering under its breath, like it was in the grip of a fever dream. Then it abruptly turned around.
Raghuram's uniform was covered in blood and gore and his face was a picture of exhaustion.
"Mohini," he said at first and then addressed her as," Captain."
Mohini let out a big sigh of relief. She then gathered him in a tight embrace and wept.
Raghuram slowly placed his arms around her. He did not cry, but his silence spoke volumes.
YOU ARE READING
Meru
Horror(Complete) Indian mythology inspired horror story set in space featuring a toxic love triangle. INSO Dwaraka, the Indian National Space Organisation's most advanced mining spaceship has had its share of tragedies, but when they retrieve a mysterious...
