“Excellent!” the tall alien beamed at her. “I’ll have the package delivered to your ship immediately.”

“But--” Lana started again, only to be cut off for the second time as Bulco’s voice came over her communication implant.

“The repair work is finished. Our shuttle is back, and we’re good to go.”

“We’re on our way,” Nori’s voice answered him. “Lana, are you done?”

“I guess,” the young woman said, glancing up at her host. “There’s a few last things … I’ll catch you all up back on Unity. See you there.” She turned to Alzigo. “I guess this is goodbye, for now. Thank you for everything.”

“It was my pleasure, Miss.”

***

They reconvened at the docking bay. The three women looked on with amazement through the air lock’s windows.

“Well?” Bulco said wide a wide grin. “What do you think about my little addition?”

Large words were painted on the side of the ship, proudly declaring their identity to all.

Unity

Earth Force

“Not bad,” the Navigator said.

“I like it.” Lana smiled at him.

“Badass,” Cattie agreed. “So what are we up to next? We’re finally going to test the new warp drive?”

“Null Tunnel,” the Navigator corrected her, leading the others into the ship. “And no, we’re going to make a quick pit stop on the moon first.”

“The moon?” The Sharpshooter frowned. “What the hell for?”

“We found something interesting the last time we were there,” Lana explained. “We wanted to check it out before we leave our solar system.”

“And then?”

Nori’s eyes grew distant. “And then we’ll go looking for whoever did this to us.”

Bulco smiled grimly. “And make sure they pay for it.”

“Or, you know,” Lana added. “Something a little less ominous sounding.”

“But equally permanent,” the Engineer finished.

Cattie looked between them with an amused grin. “I can already tell this is going to be fun.”

***

The loud banging carried on for hours.

“Don’t worry,” Richard, a bearded man wearing a hunting suit, told his frightened guests. “I’ve been preparing this bunker for years. The walls are reinforced concrete and the door is twelve inches of carbon steel. Nothing is going to come through it.”

The other people looked at each other uneasily. They had been huddled in Richard’s bunker for several weeks, and though it offered more safety than any other man-made construct so far, the monsters were still trying to get them. Every few days the banging would continue and last for a while, until the crazed creatures gave up and went looking for easier prey.

The noises quieted down and everyone breathed a little easier.

“See?” Richard said arrogantly. “Nothing can go through--”

A terrible screeching sound pierced the air. Everyone’s head snapped toward the steel door at the end of the staircase. Three sharp claws pierced the durable portal and were slowly moving down, rending it apart.

“Impossible,” Richard said, wide eyed.