She wasn’t even scared anymore.

  She was dreaming. She had to be. There was no way that reality was this absurd.

  ‘What other explanation could there be for a race to have two separate levels for weapon standby power?’

  It made no sense. Even the humans weren’t that insane. When her Communications officer had relayed that piece of information, she had nearly sent him to the brig for insubordination. Joking at a time like that? Unheard of. Which was true, since he was sincere. The ship really did have separate levels, she had looked at the information herself.

  So, clearly, this was a dream.

  When the young voice on the other side of the radio had asked for instructions, it had seemed like things were going to take a turn for the worse. When a quick query to the information that had been sent across and a confirmation from the voice on the radio sent them towards the absurd instead, she hadn’t really had a chance to sigh for relief.

  Worse had instruction manuals. Absurd was always unexpected.

  She now had to decide on who to possibly send to their deaths on a ship no sane being ever wanted to set foot on, while it was locked by a quarantine. The fact they weren’t going to stay on said ship and the quarantine was contained didn’t account for much. It was still a terrible thing for her crew’s mental health.

  “Acknowledged. We are sending a small vessel with the inspection team, as it seems the weaponry is under control. We will be locking with the SW docking clamp, please allow access as soon as possible and keep the channel open for any further developments.”

  She could at least inform the other ship. No sense in getting caught up in something that was already well known just for the possibility of catching them in a lie. Not with everything that was supposedly happening.

  “Um, I’ll try?”

  ‘Why did that sound like a question?’

  This was far too absurd to be a trap, right?

  It didn’t matter. The inspection needed to be done and that ship had enough firepower to take out both her small group and the station they were protecting. If, for whatever reason, they were trying to get hostages, then the only thing to do was go in armed. Some exo-armor wouldn’t be out of place right? They were inspecting for a quarantine after all, closed suits were to be expected. If those closed suits could handle enough hits to get them clear, that was just a happy coincidence.

  “I need volunteers for that inspection.”

  Her heart sank as no one moved.

  ‘Of course they don’t want to go. How can I order them when even I don’t want to be there.’

  “Someone is joining me on that shuttle, so I suggest that you all figure out which of the rest of you are going!”

  That got them moving at least.

  She left them to it and made her way to the command armory to suit up. It had been a while since she had to wear her combat armor. It always felt bulky and over the top when she was trying to maneuver her four legs into it, but once it was on and functioning it was almost like a second skin. Not donning the hand units so that she could confirm everything was tight and working properly, she made sure to grab an extra air tank. The extra time might come in handy. Her gloves and the air tank could go on in the shuttle, as they were too bulky for simply walking down the corridor and manipulating the ships’ controls.

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  ‘At least it’s a ship, I would hate to have to suit up in a mech armor. They always leave my body sore.’

  Not that she could get mech armor through the halls. It was meant for station or planetary missions. Complete overkill for a ship. Even if the extra environmental features would be nice in this instance. Far better than a simple hazardous environment suit.

  After making her way to the shuttle bay and finding the unlucky souls that would be accompanying her, she was pleased to find out that there were enough for a proper mission. She would still have gone if all she had was a pilot, but having the two extra sets of hands helped to ease her mind.

  “At least one of you is going to need a closed environment suit. Your choice of what.”

  An uneasy glance between the three and one of them hurried off. Returning a few minutes later suited up with an extra tank like her.

  “Alright, everyone on the shuttle. Let’s get this over with.”

  ‘Of all the days to lead from the front. I knew I hated that training for a reason.’

  The shuttle ride over was both tense and quiet. After she finished equipping her gear and making sure everyone knew the plan, one followed her and two stayed with the shuttle, everyone had gone silent. There was a bit of fear when the ship scanned their shuttle, but when nothing else happened things went back to how they were.

  ‘Clearly, we aren’t a threat or that happens every time.’

  Once the pilot had attached to the docking clamp and everyone staying was safely enclosed, she nervously pressed the access request on the clamp. It took enough time that she began to worry, though her equipment assured her it wasn’t long enough to be hostile. Even if those few minutes felt like hours.

  When the door finally opened and the two of them made it inside, she had to stop and reconsider. This ship was massive. Far too large to be used for anything practical. It rivaled some of the larger cargo haulers meant to jump start a colony. These hallways may be far too large for sense, but they certainly were not meant to store cargo.

  ‘What are humans expecting to find out there?’

  She really needed to rethink her entire plan. How exactly was she supposed to verify this massive ship was free of whatever had triggered the quarantine? At best she could take some random samples.

  Concluding the best place to start was the voice on the radio, she made her way ‘inwards’, if that even had any meaning in such a large space. Away from the docking clamp was probably a better description. Whatever she called it, she was making her way along a hall when her equipment picked up movement and heat, which was good. The lights were a bit low for her comfort.

  ‘Likely our contact. I hope.’

  Coming face to face with a Canirean a little farther along, her mind skipped a bit.

  ‘I guess that explains some things.’

  “Um, Hello?”

  Hearing the voice from the radio coming from the girl in front of her, she shook herself back into her captain’s duties.

  “I am Security Officer Krikra. I assume you are the voice on the radio?”

  A nod and a short wait for a reply later, she concluded that the girl wasn’t much for small talk. As the girl seemed to get more nervous the longer the silence stretched, she decided to do the talking.

  “We are here for the quarantine investigation. As the size of the ship prohibits a full sweep and won’t be necessary as you won’t be trading atmosphere with the station, we will simply be making a note for a full sweep in your record before such a thing can occur and doing simple spot checks, aimed towards trading.

  Please bring us to the brid—”

  Her heart thumped hard while her mind stuttered as a weightless feeling came over her and her body tensed. Her thoughts caught between screaming in panic, running as fast as she could and her duties as a soldier. Watching a shadow move then detach from the wall and come into the light, she could feel the blood draining from her face as she looked up.

  ‘Oh, no. Why is there a Wa—’

  Her last thought interrupted as the floor came up to meet her.