The Navigator

Improvise

Improvise

"This way!" Hubbell yelled, motioning as she began to run.

Not waiting around to find out what was about to happen, Dr. Fox bolted after Hubbell. She ran down the length of the ship, staying well to the middle. The creatures hooted again from either side. The sound made his blood run cold.

They were about to reach the nose of the Falcon, when several of the creatures lowered themselves down and squiggled under the ship.

"Emma, on my mark, fire thrusters C-thirteen through eighteen, and don't forget the down-thrust," Hubbell cried.

"Roger," Emma replied.

The two creatures began to advance. Hubbell's arm shot out, shoving Dr. Fox behind her.

"Now!"

Suddenly the hidden maneuvering thrusters at the nose of the ship slid open and fired, each one igniting in turn from each side, effectively trapping the creatures between two walls of fire. Their green-gray flesh boiled and tentacles disappeared into nothingness. Hair and flesh were burned away, leaving only an elongated skull, which burst into flames as it fell.

Dr. Fox was stunned, but elated. Hubbell wasn't completely outgunned. She had just improvised a flamethrower. Well, it worked as long as they remained under the ship.

As he mentally cheered, he felt a pressure around his ankle. Then suddenly he was whipped off his feet. Landing hard he saw stars and lost his breath. It took several moments to realize he was being dragged.

He struggled to free himself from the tentacle's grip. The beast's eyes stared down at him greedily, its teeth gnashing in anticipation. Then Hubbell's gun rang out, sharp cracks as she fired off several rounds. The first two took the thing in its face. The last shot punched through the tentacle holding his ankle, severing it completely.

The tentacle flopped limply as he struggled to free himself, unable to take his eyes off the threat before him. It bled from two large holes in its skull, but it didn't seem bothered. Hubbell grabbed his collar and hauled him backward.

"V-thirty-four, now!" Hubbell screamed.

The creature in front of him burst into white hot flame as the thruster fired, turning it into a pile of flaming goo. Whirling around, Hubbell fired off another quick shot. He spotted several more advancing from the rear of the ship. They were closing in from all sides.

"All except V-thirty five through W-twenty seven, now Emma!"

Fire erupted all around them as the maneuvering thrusters ignited. The heat from the jets was unbearably hot, scalding his very eyeballs. The furnace disappeared as Emma cut the thrusters. Good thing, too. They would have been cooked had she run them any longer.

Hubbell raised her gun and scanned around. A mass of charred bodies were strewn around them in nearly every direction. It showed just how close the creatures had come to getting ahold of them. He shivered, despite the residual heat.

"I hope that was all of those buggers," Hubbell remarked. "Let's go get to the airlock before their buddies show up."

Dr. Fox trotted after her, nervously looking around. He spied the stairs lowering from the airlock. Emma must have been listening. And watching too, he realized.

As he and Hubbell sprinted to the stairs, fear crept in that at any moment another one of those hooters might jump out from the darkness. They had nearly reached the ladder when, to his horror, a beast did lunge from the darkness at them.

Hubbell fired off a rapid fire volley of shots right into the creature's skull, tearing a huge hole. It was undeterred and lunged at them anyway.

As it advanced he focused on the wound she had inflicted. It seemed to be oblivious to it, even though it was pouring thick red ooze. It didn't appear to have any organs in its head.

"Shoot it in the body, below the head," he yelled, trying to be heard over the hooting sound the creature was making. Calling more of those bastards, no doubt.

Hubbell heard him, though, as the rounds stitched down the face and into the soft rubbery middle where the tentacles came together. The rounds chewed through the pliable skin and into the creature's midsection. Undeterred it squirmed onward. Hubbell put at least ten rounds into it and finally the thing ceased moving.

"Up the ladder, go!" she said shoving him into motion.

Not hesitating, he scrambled up the ladder and was greeted by a worried looking Reese. She helped him aboard and looked out to Hubbell, who was just beginning to climb the ladder. Hooting from the darkness trailed after Hubbell as she triple-timed it up the ladder, reaching the airlock and staggering inside, breathing heavily.

"Bloody hell that was intense!" she cried between panting breaths.

Reese palmed the door and it slid shut, just as Dr. Fox saw the creatures advancing.

"Dammit, what are we going to do about those things?" Reese exclaimed.

"Nothing," Dr. Fox replied. He sure hoped he was right. It was just a hunch after all.

"What do you mean, nothing?" Hubbell returned.

"Well, I think they'll be gone in the morning," he explained. "I believe they are nocturnal."

"Time will tell," Reese said severely. "But I'm not going anywhere regardless. I'm not giving up what I came here for."

"But Reese, those damn monsters out there want to eat our flesh. How you gonna stop them?" Hubbell retorted.

"I think, like Chris does, that they are in fact nocturnal," Reese proclaimed.

"Okay, so we wait 'em out," Hubbell declared.