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  King frowned while taking the unit from Murph. "I'll just hold on to this for a while."

  "Of course, sir."

  King's comm bleeped. "Go for King."

  "Sir, this is Nana. We've got company. The three Noru are heading back at a goodly clip. Either they're being chased by a horde of demons, or they found an empty ship."

  "Corporal, button up and stop them. We'll join you in a moment." He sealed his helmet. "Captain, put on your work clothes and follow me." He handed the containment unit back to Murph. "When I say so. Got it?"

  "Of course, sir."

  The three team members stepped outside and found three merged Noru surrounded by an Alue in a power suit and two strykers. To say they weren't happy would be an understatement. "Who are you?" one of the merged demanded.

  "The name's Colonel King, and this is my second in command, Captain Kalana Grenor, and this tall gentleman with the horns is..."

  "Murphy," Murph said as he stepped out of the Minotaur suit while carrying the containment unit.

  The three necrue screamed while shooting out of the backs of their Noru bodies only to slam into the waiting Marines. One of the necrue tried to merge with Mersa, but was rebuffed by her armor, so it tried to re-enter its noru body, but couldn't so it just stood there and shook.

  "Sir, please, return us to containment," he begged.

  "Hold, Sergeant," King ordered. "What's your name?”

  "Sissel, sir,"

  "Have you reported the missing crewman to your leader?"

  "Yes, sir. She ordered us to return to the control room immediately."

  "Does she know about us?"

  "Not to my knowledge, sir," he said as sweat poured off of him.

  King nodded to Murph who aimed the containment unit at the three necrue and pressed the button. The necrue disappeared, leaving the six team members alone. King looked down at the bodies. "Captain, can we freeze them?"

  "I think so, sir." An access panel opened in her armor. Inside was a mini-rack of metal capsules. Carefully removing one, she placed it on Sissel's chest. A mist emanated from it which encased the body in frost. "Zero-degrees Celsius. It should last at least 72-hours, sir."

  "Good, freeze the others, then we'll get going. Not one of the better ways to die."

  "Nope," Kalana said, "though I have seen worse." She froze Sissel's companions before walking off to deal with the two bodies near the ship.

  Mersa walked over to join King. Lowering her helmet, she said, "Sir, I'm concerned that we have not heard from Reton or Maddy by now."

  Lowering his helmet, King replied, "They're following protocol to avoid detection. Once we have the merged threat contained, we'll send out a call that Reton should be able to pick up. Just in case, we'll perform a systematic search of the ship. Have you always been this much of a worry wort?"

  "Aye, sir. Always."

  "Good. That makes two of us." He looked over as Glean and Kalana ran out of the ship.

  "Done, sir. The corpses are on ice and the ship is locked down."

  "Move them out, Mersa. Time to button up this operation. Team 1, we are heading to the sleeper ship's control room."

  "You heard the Colonel!" Mersa barked. "Move out!"

  CHAPTER TEN

  Captain Martia Menos, commanding officer of the Ventosian Cruiser Mekla, stared at the screen as the mighty warship dropped out of other-space and back into real-space. A thousand meters behind them, the Super Tug Horatio did the same. "Communications Officer, signal the Horatio to wait out here while we check on things," she ordered.

  "Sending message, Captain," the comm officer replied. "Horatio is standing by. Ma'am, we're being hailed by the Mugwump, but it's not Colonel King."

  "This is Captain Martia Menos of the Mekla. To Whom am I speaking?"

  "Martia! It's Jonah. Damn, it's good to see you. We've had a hell of a time..."

  "Computer, voice print analysis."

  "Confirmed. Captain Jonah Ceta, commander of the Earth Survey Vessel La Nostra Ricerca is speaking. Stress analysis suggests he is not under duress."

  "Don't get your tail into a twist, old friend. It's really me, and we're safe, well most of us."

  "Sorry, Jonah. Protocol. What the hell is going on?"

  Captain Ceta explained. Menos and her bridge crew gaped.

  "Copy that, Jonah. We'll bring you aboard through Dorsal Bay Three. Can your people handle the Mugwump?"

  "I'm a little rusty, but I think I can get her down to the deck without denting anything. See you in a few minutes. Mugwump out."

  Menos tapped the intercom. Dorsal Bay Three, this is the captain. Prep the bay to receive the Mugwump. Once she's down, evac the bay. I repeat, evacuate the bay."

  "Prepare the bay for landing then evacuate once the shuttle is down, aye. Dorsal Bay Three out."

  "Security, this is the Captain."

  "Lieutenant Rasa here, ma'am."

  "Get a security team up to Dorsal Bay Three and prepare for the arrival of the Mugwump. She'll have the crew of the Earth Survey Vessel La Nostra Ricerca aboard. I want them taken into custody and brought to Sickbay for evaluation. Secure the Mugwump and the bay until I tell you to release them."

  "Aye, ma'am."

  "One more thing, Rasa, your team is cleared to use extreme prejudice.”

  "Aye, Captain. Extreme prejudice is authorized. Security out."

  "Extreme prejudice, Captain?" the first officer asked.

  "Doesn't that mean..."

  "Shoot to kill? Yes, Number One, it does. Sickbay, this is the captain."

  "Doctor Trillian here, Captain. What can I do for you?"

  "You'll be receiving the crew of the Earth Survey Vessel La Nostra Ricerca shortly. I want them scanned so thoroughly that you can tell what they had for breakfast last week. When you're finished, have security take them to secure quarters and post guards, except for the captain. I want to see him up here ASAP along with two guards."

  "Roger that, Captain. Should we look for anything in particular?"

  "Big eyes and mottled skin. If Captain Ceta is correct, two of his officers were taken over by some kind of creature. I want them to be the last."

  "Roger that, Captain. Full biocontainment procedures will be in place. Sickbay out."

  "People, the League will offer food and shelter to anyone in need. That does not include the bodies of her citizens. Number One, bring the ship to condition one."

  "Aye, ma'am." The first officer pressed a button on her console. "General quarters, general quarters. All hands to battle stations. This is no drill. Set the ship to condition one."

  "I hope this is all for nothing," Captain Menos said as klaxons sounded around her.

  ###

  "Wait!"

  King and the team turned toward the voice with suits closed and weapons at the ready. Running toward them carrying a human body was a necrue. Following close behind was Reton

  "We need a medic!" the necrue yelled, "and a medical bed!" She ran past and headed toward the ship.

  "Captain!"

  "Aye, sir," Kalana yelled as she went organic and ran after them. "Mersa, with me!"

  "Ma'am!" Mersa quickly fell in behind the team's medic and followed her into the ship.

  "Sir?" Murph asked.

  "Go!

  "Reton! Hold!" King ordered. "Report!"

  Reton stopped, turned, and told the team everything that had happened. The other members of the team stared in shock when he got to the part about necrue merging with life forms. The team stopped and looked at Nova and Parker who were still in their suits, though truth be told, the team had seen them in their natural form on previous missions.

  "Look, people, every species has some skeletons in their closets. The necrue are no exception," Parker explained.

  "We're still the same old Parker and Nova you all love..." Nova started to say, but stopped when Glean walked over and hugged her, then turned, lowered his helmet so that everyone else could see his frown. "She has saved my bacon more
times than I can count," he informed them.

  Kalana, Mersa, Murph, and the necrue took this moment to walk out of the ship and join the colonel and Captain Menos while the team kept watch. "Report, Captain," King ordered.

  "He's Sean, the helmsman of the Ricerca. We were able to get him into a medical bed and stabilize him. It was close. If he had been merged for much longer I couldn't do anything for him except freeze his remains."

  "What about Myriam?" Reton exclaimed.

  "Her time is running out," Kalana explained. "We have to get the necrue named Tenshen out of her stat."

  King turned to the new necrue. "What's your story?"

  "I'm Maddy, the Ricerca's AI, excuse me, necrue. Reton found me hiding in the sleeper sphere."

  "Does anyone want to tell me how you ashed two of your kind?"

  "She's a..." Murph started to say when Maddy interrupted him.

  "I'm a peacekeeper. My job is to be judge, jury, and executioner. My genetics have been modified to give me the ability to induce spontaneous combustion in any necrue I feel is in need of execution."

  "King looked at Murph with a raised eyebrow.

  "Tough times required tough solutions, and I'm not talking about just the mergers. Like other species, the necrue have a plethora of abhorrent behaviors which require intervention by our peacekeeper force. Maddy is one of our best."

  "Thank you, Murphy," Maddy said with a small bow.

  "Captain, can we leave Sean alone for a while?" King asked.

  Kalana nodded. "The ship's systems are stable and the medical bed can run on its own for a month, so he should be fine. I'll set it to call us if it runs into trouble."

  "Good." He looked at his chrono. "The Mekla and Horatio should be here by now. We are running out of time, so let's get moving. Gunny!"

  "You heard the colonel! Make sure the house is locked up, then we're on our way. Move!"

  ###

  Tenshen stared out the forward windows at the system’s star off-center of the windscreen, she could see their fate which they would meet in only a few hours unless someone could convince the computer to release the controls. Meanwhile, her fellow prisoners were disappearing under mysterious circumstances. Tenshen hated mysteries. She picked up an alien communication device and activated it. "Mreck, Stahl, report! Have you been able to free the others?" The only reply she heard was silence. "Sissel, report!"

  "They're gone, ma'am! The entire alien crew is gone!"

  "Condition of the ship?"

  "No sign of forced entry. It is as we left it except for the missing alien crew."

  "Get back here!" She switched channels. "This is Tenshen, everyone back to the control room. NOW!"

  Shortly, the remaining escaped prisoners had returned to the control room. Two of them ran up to Tenshen and handed her small bags of ash. "Why thank you for this. I shall cherish it. What is this shit?"

  One of the prisoners pointed to a bag. "We think that's what's left of Kress, and we think that's Walmb," he added while pointing to the other ash-filled bag. "Kress' alien was lying on the floor nearby. He was dead."

  "What about Walmb's alien host body?"

  "No sign of it."

  She looked at the bags of ash. "Of all the ships in all the systems in the universe, why did I have to pick the one with a peacekeeper on board?"

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Tenshen/Myriam stood at the center of the control room as some of the merged necrue handed out the last of the weapons they brought with them from the smuggler ship. "Listen up!" she said to the assembled merged beings. "We have a peacekeeper on board, and they've been busy. We have two of our companions confirmed dead and five missing. You know the score! We've run out of bodies, and these have expired, so if you unmerge, you will have nowhere to go." She raised her weapon. "These weapons may be primitive, but they shoot projectiles, so they can stop or kill a peacekeeper..."

  "Ours are bigger," Kalana said as she, Nana, and Marcus stepped through a side entry with their rail guns aimed at Tenshen and several other necrue. "These weapons fire hypersonic projectiles. They will leave a hole in you the size of your head, or they can tear through a wall and expose this space to vacuum. Now, my companions and I are wearing armored space suits, so we won't have any problems breathing in a hard vacuum. Can you say the same? Lower your weapons. Now!"

  Slowly, the necrue in the room placed their weapons on the deck before raising their hands. Instead of complying, Tenshen place the muzzle of the weapon against the side of Myriam's head. "Get me out of here, and I'll release her. Screw with me, and we both die."

  "No," Kalana said as she returned to organic form.

  "Captain! Return to stryker-mode this instant!" King yelled. "That's an order!"

  "I'm sorry sir, but we're about to lose Myriam to this maniac. Tenshen! Take me! I have the codes to unscram the Ricerca's engines, and I can fly her anywhere you want. Once you've taken over, the stryker-mode will make you invincible. Just let Myriam go."

  "Yeah, yeah, that'll work. Hold out your hand."

  "Kalana, don't do this," Mersa said as she set her blaster to precision mode. She knew she had one chance to kill the merged Kalana before the armor was in place."

  "Mersa, you are such a worry wort. I’ll be fine."

  Kalana held out her hand and touched Myriam’s. Instantly, Myriam went limp as Tenshen changed bodies. Before she hit the floor, Nana grabbed her and formed a forcefield around the two of them while the rest of the team went full space suit.

  For a moment, Kalana's eyes went huge and her skin took on a mottled pattern as Tenshen merged with her, but only for a moment. Tenshen screamed as she was dragged out of Kalana's body by a very angry Maddy who had been hiding in Kalana's secondary computer network. Tenshen screamed again as Maddy threw her into a wall and stared at her with eyes full of fire and death.

  "Maddy, put her down. She has nowhere to go now," Parker said as he materialized next to her.

  "He's right," Nova said as she appeared on Tenshen’s left.

  "All the living are protected by armor and force fields, even the sleepers and their livestock," Parker said as she appeared on Tenshen's right side, bracketing her between the four necrue. "Unless she wants to spend her days locked into a bacterium."

  "Please, mercy. Don't kill me like the others."

  Maddy lowered her to the ground. "I've only killed two of your kind today. The rest of you are sentenced to imprisonment. Murph?"

  Murphy aimed the containment unit at the remaining group of mergers, then activated it. Now, only Tenshen remained.

  "Any last words before I carry out your sentence?"

  "I have a question. Why are these creatures so important to you?"

  "They're people. If you can't understand that, then nothing can help you. Goodbye Tenshen." She nodded and Murph sent her into the containment unit.

  "We're clear!" Murph yelled. Immediately, Kalana and Mersa attended to Myriam while the others froze the remaining bodies.

  "Trent!" King called out.

  "Sir!"

  "Get into the computer system and get this ship back on course."

  "Aye, sir."

  "I'm going with you," Nova said.

  "Après toi, mademoiselle,"

  "Aren't you sweet," she said as the two of them disappeared.

  "Marcus, call the Mekla, and tell them they can stand down while we try to fix the ship."

  "Yes, sir!"

  "Maddy, Reton, a word!"

  "Sir!" they replied as they joined the colonel.

  "You two have had a busy day," he said. "Just FYI, your crew is safely aboard the Mugwump guarded by two mini-Minotaur suits under remote control by Nova and Parker..." the deck shook for a few moments as Trent and Nova reappeared.

  "All fixed, sir," Trent said. "Just a simple adjustment. The computer is now executing a course correction which should set us up for orbital injection."

  The door opened, and a dozen armed aliens walked in and took positions at the control
consoles. One of them walked up to where Reton, King, and Maddy were standing. King lowered his helmet and switched on his universal translator. "Hello, my name is Titus King. I bet you have a lot of questions."

  The aliens were sort of Alturan-like with numerous tentacle legs attached to a torso with three tentacle arms equally spaced around it with a head sporting a tooth-filled mouth and large, expressive orange eyes. "Yes, that would be wonderful, but we need to land the ship first. Are you hostile?"

  "Nope."

  The alien lowered its weapon, then pushed past King. "Good. I'd hate to have to shoot you. Someone move those bodies while the rest of you keep out of our way. Sarge!"

  "Yes, Captain!"

  "Landing stations!"

  "Well, I guess he told us!" Glean said with his hands on his hips.

  "Yeah, I guess he did," King chuckled as the ship came alive around them

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Mersa groaned as Glean worked the kinks from her back, especially the area between her wings. "I'll give you a thousand years to stop that," she said. She reached over and ran more hot water into the tub.

  "You like it hot, don't you," Glean asked as he worked her neck.

  "Yeah. People find it odd that a reptoid has a higher than average body temperature, but we do. I love hot tubs. How about you?"

  "The heat reminds me of the plains of home. Though we Weck are more into dust baths."

  She turned her head to look at him. "Dust? Really?"

  "Three hundred Weck rolling around in the dust of home is truly a sight to see."

  She stopped staring at him when he found a stubborn knot right in her left shoulder. "Right there," she said, "and don't spare the horse power."

  A Weck laughing was truly a sound to hear.

  ###

  Trent, Marcus, and Nana, sat in front of a 90" Ultra HD viewer connected to a vintage video game from the early part of Earth's 21st century. The three of them were playing a game which used Marine urban combat techniques in an underground bunker on some alien planet. Sitting next to them were three members of the ships security contingent. The two groups controlled virtual teams sweeping the bunker which was infested with undead zombies.