She took a deep breath and willed herself to relax. “I should be grateful I am here and not blasted into ions. I should be grateful I can finally rest, and as I rest, I will pass into the arms of the universe. It will be a beneficent ending, and I should be grateful.” A tear rolled over the bridge of her nose. “I should be, but I am not.”

Closing her eyes, she waited for unconsciousness to overtake her. It was when her ears caught the faint clanking sound, the fog shredded, leaving her alert.

JeVit sat up. Holding her breath, she strained to hear the sound again.

There.

Struggling to get to her feet, she waited one more time, hoping to locate the source.

There. And it was moving. Not coming from the same location.

A part of her told her to run away from the sound. What if it was an intruder? Or there actually were creatures on this ship, and her arrival had awakened them?

However, her instinct for survival demanded she discover the source. Her hand automatically went to the small weapon at her hip. It may not be powerful, but she could protect herself with it.

She had to find sustenance. If she kept out of sight, perhaps she could follow the creature. Possibly discover where it ate or how it ate. Best case scenario would be for her to find out how the inner doors worked, if there were any. See what triggered them. Anything but traversing these endless corridors until she was no longer able to move.

She followed the clanking noise until she caught the scraping, scratching sound that accompanied it. It took on a more metallic ring, and she drew her weapon. She argued with herself whether or not to turn off her suit’s light. Part of her claimed she might be seen by whatever she was trailing. The other part of her reminded her that if that happened, she’d see it first and have the advantage of firing on it before it could react.

I have the advantage. And I have nothing to lose.

Rounding a section of the tunnel, she heard the scrap and clink almost simultaneously. The creature was directly ahead of her. She raised her weapon, poised to fire, and slowly, silently went around the next curve.

Something was up ahead. Something big almost filled the tunnel with its presence. Its back was to her, and it was moving away from her. It also had lights, but those were aimed ahead of it. It didn’t seem to be aware she was behind it, but she didn’t lower her guard.

She narrowed her eyes, giving herself the chance to study it. It appeared to be mechanical. Perhaps a robot or automaton. If it had originated from somewhere on this ship, her best guess was that it had to have come from one of the rooms she knew, she would swear, this ship contained. Question was, where was it going?

It had to have been triggered by the ship. Something I did had the ship send this out. But what is it supposed to do? Guard the tunnels?

That seemed to be the best answer. This could be a guard bot who regularly traversed the halls, and she was just now encountering one, although she knew the chances of there being only one such guard was improbable. There had to be more of them. She was lucky she hadn’t encountered one until now.

It didn’t seem to be aware of her lights shining behind it. She was far enough away from it to only get a glimpse of its metallic outer shell, but that was all. She noticed it was bipedal, and the scraping and clanking noises were its feet hitting and sliding along the floor.

What would happen if I confronted it face-to-face? Would it scan me? Give me a warning when it cannot recognize me? Demand I identify myself? Or would it fire on me without provocation?

JeVit continued to closely watch the thing. After a few more seconds, she noticed the creature was acting…oddly. Initially she was willing to write it off because it needed repair. If this ship had been lying abandoned for untold years, maybe eons, it would make sense that the other machines, including this robot, would end up in this state.

However, this creature…the vibes she was getting…didn’t indicate it was damaged.

More like it was, but it wasn’t.

It seems as if it is…

Her mind told her the thing was injured, not damaged. Which meant part of it had to be made of flesh, not metal.

It tried to take another step when it stopped and collapsed against the wall. And moaned. Moaned in pain.

She stepped back. She was right. It wasn’t an automaton. It was alive. It was another species.

Someone else was trapped in this ship like she was.

JeVit held her breath as the person slumped to the floor, then rolled over. It was then he realized someone was behind him, and he turned to face her.

She froze in shock as the human tried to see past her lights. Before she could say anything, he lifted his large weapon and aimed it at her.