NOVEL NEXT Chapter Ten: Offerings
Day 16
Transport and Storage Wing
United Space Systems Vessel California
11:19 hours
Two colonial marines; a man with a buzz cut and a woman with a blonde spiked hairdo, stroll down the corridor. Both marines brandish their weapons and are scanning the area for possible threats.
The silence is interrupted by a flurry of activity a few meters ahead of their present position. Down the hallway, there appears to be a scuffle going on. The marines move closer to the scene, weapons at the ready. Upon closer inspection, the marines are unable to believe their eyes. A large Judas female is being mounted by a male. The blonde marine’s mouth twists into a sly sneer.
“Can you believe this sh—” the marine says.
The spike-haired marine's words are cut off by a sharp gasp to her left. She turns to her partner—only to find him writhing in the grip of yet another adult Judas specimen. A large appendage juts from the male marine’s chest and blood trickles from the corners of his mouth. His eyes are wider than she's ever seen them; pain stretching his eyelids to capacity.
“Oh crap!” The woman marine yells and prepares to lift her weapon. “Phillips!”
Before the blonde can fire a single round from her rifle, two insect forelegs punch through her shoulders. The rifle falls from the marine’s hands and she screams at the top of her lungs. The male Judas lifts her into the air—offering her as a meal to his beloved. The queen wastes no time accepting the offering. She starts by consuming the blonde head of the marine.
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The halls of the enormous ship are silent as the grave. Red and amber lights flash, and a computerized voice repeats the same warnings over and over. Human bodies are strewn in almost every direction. Some mutilated beyond identification.
A juvenile Judas ambles down the hall, it stops only to nudge a decaying corpse. With a swift motion, it yanks off a thick chunk of decomposed flesh from the torso of a dead human. Not exactly a creature known for cleanliness, the hybrid roach messily consumes the putrid meat and then rips piece after piece from its chosen entree.
Engorged, the Judas moves on. The once artificially lit habitat wing is now dark and foreboding. Almost every inch of the walls, ceiling, and floor is covered in vile roach secretions and large mounds of excrement.
Other Judases arrive on the scene. The bugs crawl erratically through the maze of bodies. In a corner, a large female tosses her head. A chunk of meat flies into the air, only to land squarely between her enormous mouthparts. The queen draws the portion of human head and shoulder blades slowly into her mouth. Her grotesque mouthparts massage the meat, tenderizing it.
Her much smaller mate waits nearby, his mandibles clicking audibly in the spacious human common area. The female pays him no mind. She has what she wants. Her insectile eyes rove over her squalid kingdom with vain disinterest. None dare contest her. She is queen of all.
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FROM: Patrick Ang, Ryan McDermott, Henry Ellis (Weyland, Yutani, and Associates); General Erik Weyland
MESSAGE: Final meeting to discuss future of Dayshadow Industries. All company heads, and other essential players, to be present. What is the status of your mission?
Delete this message once you have read the information therein.