Andi stumbled forward, and the room wobbled, going in and out of focus. She blinked, suddenly realizing that much of the blood must be from her own wound, and pressed onward, stepping over fallen soldiers until she reached the only other living soul on this ship.

“Please,” the voice begged, the exterior com of the soldier’s helmet crackling. Half of it was bashed in, likely from one of Andi’s hits. “Please.”

The sound of that voice...

Something tugged at Andi from within.

The soldier’s hand lifted, reaching for the helmet, trembling as it moved upward.

Andi leaned forward and removed the helmet herself, wondering why she was doing it, even as the soldier’s face was revealed.

“Help me,” the soldier gasped, this time not through a com, but through bloodied lips.

A young woman with eyes the color of a clear sky. Her skin was an ashen gray instead of its usual ocean blue, and pain filled her eyes as she stared up at Andi, breathing her last few breaths.

“Lira,” Andi whispered. “What are you doing here?” The shock faded, giving way to horror as she stared at Lira’s rapidly paling face. Andi gathered her friend’s fallen body into her arms, choking on a sob. “I’m so sorry, Lira. I can stop this. I can fix you.”

But the blood was pooling out of Lira’s lips now.

“Come closer,” Lira whispered. Her chest rattled, heaved, as she sucked in a breath.

Andi bent down, agony shredding her heart. How had she done this? How had she not known her best friend was inside that uniform?

She felt Lira’s wet lips touch her cheek as she spoke again. “You killed me. You killed us all.”

Then Lira began to laugh. A sickening, howling laugh that struck Andi deep, rattling her bones. She skittered backward, away from her friend’s dying body. Her head spun as she turned, realizing Lira’s laughter had multiplied.

The fallen Xen Pterran soldiers were gone.

In their place, it was her crew who lay dying.

Gilly, with braids the color of fire.

Breck, her beautiful dark skin now coated with blood.

Lira, those sky-blue eyes growing empty and cold.

All of them, barely alive and bleeding out.

“No,” Andi said, nearly choking on the word. “No, this can’t be happening.”

She lifted her hand, realizing she was gripping the dagger again. It was wet with their blood, and yet she didn’t remember any of the hideous act. Andi’s body felt a million miles away, her mind screaming at her to make sense of the scene. To change it.

“Very good, Androma,” a woman’s voice said from behind her. “Now bow to me, before you become like the rest of them.”

Andi turned slowly, her heart filling with dread. For she knew that voice, and the monster who possessed it.