bright sparks shot out in a spray from the opposite wall.
Someone was trying to get on board my ship by cutting a hole in its hull.
Why would the rescue team damage the ship like this? Unless the crash had been bad enough to disable all entrance points at once?
I moved over to the control panel. The stream of sparks had completed a full circle. The cut-out fell with a loud thud. A stream of smoke or steam blew in, filling the interior. Its chemical scent was unfamiliar, and I held my breath, trying not to inhale too much of it.
The smoke cleared quickly, revealing an inky silhouette in the glaring light streaming through the hole in the wall.
From the first glance at the person, it was clear—they were not from my station.
Tall and broad, the being had a humanoid form with male proportions. Dressed only in a pair of worn dark pants and heavy boots, he was holding the tool he’d used to cut the hull.
Tossing the tool aside, he stepped inside my spacecraft.
“It stinks in here.” He rubbed his nose with his forearm, then added a long curse that got simply translated as “fuck” through my device.
I touched my fingers to the universal translator implanted in the back of my head.
My entire team had gotten the implants before leaving Earth. It had been only a few decades since the extra-terrestrial Federation had made first contact with Earth. Humans had finally discovered another intelligent life form in our galaxy. However, it came not as a single race, but dozens of them. The Federation included representatives of seven populated planets from five different solar systems. All of them were much closer to the Anomaly my team had been studying than to Earth.
The male who had just barged into my spaceship must have been one of the species that belonged to the Federation. He obviously spoke a language recognized by my translator, though I couldn’t immediately place him.
If I understood what he had said, chances were he’d understand me. The translation implants had been mandatory for thousands of years among the members of the Federation. Many races had them implanted within the first year of a person’s life. His would now be automatically updated with a number of languages from Earth, even if this was his first contact with a human.
Hope sparked inside me. As a member of the Federation, he would be obligated by law to assist me.
While I was gathering my thoughts to come up with an appropriate greeting, he clicked on the light strapped to his upper arm, illuminating my empty spacesuit on the ground.
At its sight, the newcomer leaped back. Raising both fists in defense should my suit attack him, he seemed fully prepared to fight back.
“Wyck,” he said over his shoulder.
Another one of his kind climbed in through the hole. Just as intimidating in size, with wide shoulders and massive arms, this one wore dark pants similar to the first one. In addition, he also had on a short leather vest.
A chain was wound around Wyck’s thick wrist. He yanked at it, and I nearly yelped in shock as a large, terrifying animal leaped into the ship. Black, with red markings, the monster had three heads, each maw open, displaying several sets of sharp, translucent teeth.
“See if this one is alive.” The first newcomer ordered Wyck, tipping his chin at my spacesuit.
Wyck led his animal to it. The three-headed hound from hell took a sniff at the suit, then pivoted my way instead. All three of its heads lowered to the ground, the middle one gave out a loud hiss. My insides leaped from fear, but I straightened my spine.
“Greetings...” I cleared my throat, addressing the one with the flashlight on his arm, since he seemed to be the one giving orders here. “Under the interplanetary law of the Federation, I request your assistance. My ship—”
The one with the flashlight twisted my way, illuminating me. I blinked at the beam of light directed at my face and quickly covered my eyes with my arm.
“Well, this one looks very much alive,” the male sneered. Something thick and heavy in his voice sent icy shivers of dread down my spine.
This didn’t seem right.
These individuals and their behaviour were unnerving and intimidating. Their rugged appearance raised concern. The clothes they wore were not recognizable uniforms. Several rips and slashes in them seemed to have been made by teeth, claws or blades.
My throat went too dry to speak.
The monstrous animal moved