“I’ve got a body in the cockpit,” Tarl told them, “I’ll start nudging us toward the wreck. Get suited up. We’ll need to do an EVA.”

  “What are you, a hive mind?” Eli inquired.

  “I have many brains, but just one consciousness, one soul,” then he hastily added, “If you believe in that sort of thing. Enough small talk. Go and get ready. We need to be quick.”

  “Fine,” Eli said, before heading into his ship.

  Gami followed him, “There’s a few pulse rifles in the armory. We can use them in the void without worrying about recoil.”

  “Good thinking. What do you make of this? Is this some kind of cult?”

  “I don’t know. It’s weird.”

  They retrieved a pair of plasma rifles from the packed armory. Then they made their way to one of the airlocks, where several spacesuits were stored. She showed him how to properly wear the suit and how to check the seals. Then she went over how to use the maneuvering jets which were positioned in different places on the suit.

  “How many times have you done this before?” he asked, with a knowing smile.

  She gave him one back, “A few. What are we going to do if he betrays us? What if he tries to steal the ship?”

  “Remember that bomb on the power core?”

  “You never removed it?”

  His answer was an evil grin.

  ***

  They met Tarl at one of Rust Goddess’s airlocks. He was wearing a well-worn spacesuit. It was covered with tool pouches. Several tool kits had been placed on a bench in the airlock.

  “I’ve done a few salvage jobs before,” the strange being explained.

  “I’ve never even done an EVA,” Eli admitted.

  “Be careful and plan out your moves. You’ll be fine,” then he looked at Gami, whose face was visible under the wide visor of the space suit, “A Gaaktar. I used to know a Gaaktar. He was fifty years into a pilgrimage that had become focused on finding the one true faith. Another one that I met died of an overdose less than a year after he left home.”

  Gami frowned, “Each of us chooses the direction of our journey. For many, this is the key to endless joy and glory. For many others, this is a death sentence.”

  They picked up the tool cases and cycled the airlock. The outer doors opened. The half-destroyed wreck of a brightly painted ship greeted them. Eli was unsure exactly what type of vessel it had been, but the prominent gun turrets screamed military. It was much smaller than the vessel that sat in the center of the debris field. He guessed that whoever was behind the trap had picked it up from an old battle site.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Other pieces of detritus floated around the stricken vessel. A fuel container that had long ago lost its contents sat off to one side. A mangled ore collector could be seen somewhere behind the warship.

  Tarl and Gami stepped out and tapped their rear thrusters. Eli followed. A memory returned, the first time he had dove out of a plane in jump school. Hesitation was highly frowned upon. His strategy was to just go for it, to just force any fear, any thought at all out of his head.

  The thought washed across his mind, there wasn’t anything more than a few layers of material between him and the unforgiving horror of the void. What would it feel like? Perhaps some mixture of the agonies of freezing, burning, choking, and being rapidly depressurized. He realized that his heavy, rapid breathing was loud in the helmet. Feeling shame, he worked to control it.

  There in the gap between the wounded freighter and the corpse of a warship, he felt like he was hanging over an abyss. At least there was the debris field. If not for that, he’d be surrounded by deep space. In every direction, the junk tumbled and turned.

  They had all picked out a com channel for the operation. Eli spoke, “You said that you were a…what was it?”

  “A Mandruuka. I get that it weirds you out. The idea of having only one body weirds me out. It’s total nightmare fuel.”

  “I’ve seen weirder,” Gami declared. Eli surmised that it was her way of telling him that she believed the fuzzy being.

  “Ya. I’m having trouble wrapping my head around it,” Eli admitted.

  “I just saw one of those lights!” Gami exclaimed.

  “What did it say?” Eli asked.

  “It was an order to check around the ore collector.”

  “They’re closing in!” Tarl warned, “We’ve got to hurry.”

  The group cleared the gap between Rust Goddess and the wreck. Tarl pushed ahead a bit, leading them through a jagged rip that had been torn in the hull. Eli focused on the controls, trying to stay as far away from the sharp edges as possible.

  They drifted into the belly of the dead ship. Tarl activated a forward-facing light. Gami did the same. After spending several seconds searching for the correct key, Eli turned his light on. The beams swept across warped lumps that had once been highly sophisticated pieces of technology.

  “There!” Tarl said excitedly, “A fuel line. If we follow this, we should be able to find a pump.”

  They moved in close, skimming along the surface of a pipe that was big enough for them to easily fit inside of. After a few minutes, it disappeared into a wall, and they were forced to find a way around. They managed to find it again. The line snaked through the absolute darkness.

  Tarl pointed at something that was mounted on the pipe, “There! Gami, please give me a hand. Eli, can you cover us?”

  Eli moved the beam of light around the innards of the ship. Bolts and other fittings floated by as his companions worked to get the fuel pump free.

  The interior walls were plain grey, seemed to press in on him. The darkness started to take on a life of its own. It felt like he was underwater, like they were exploring a sunken ship.

  The beam found something, something jet-black, as black as the places between the stars. Details were difficult to pick out. He believed it to be a hardened spacesuit, something armored, both to survive the hazards of open space, and combat. But the lines were curved, organic. The head was elongated, as if it was a downward curving snout.

  It started to raise a weapon. Eli fired first, the pulse of blue light struck the target. An energy shield absorbed the attack. The enemy returned fire, the burst of energy striking his shoulder. His own shield ate the ray.

  Tarl and Gami joined in. One charge at a time, the three of them burned through their adversary’s shield. The enemy tried to jet away. Eli was unsure who scored the kill shot. But it was certain that the series of explosions killed them.

  Gami and Tarl scrambled to complete the task. By the time they had gotten the pump free, more enemies had arrived. The trio fired their thrusters, darting away as rays filled the area around them. Gami carried the pump. Tarl and Eli took potshots as they sped away.

  They raced along the fuel line. Rays melted through the pipe, which had thankfully been drained by damage countless years ago. They took a turn, zoomed across an open space. They spotted the rip in the hole and went through it.

  The mangled remains of the ore hauler filled the space in front of them. They had come out of the wrong side of the warship.