Part 18

    The beasts kept circling as though planning with each other to attack together, or in some sequence. Regardless of how they attacked the apparent planning was what worried him.

    He fired the shotgun again, dead center mass on one of the creatures - and missed... The toothy thing side-stepped, lightning fast. Two shots rang out from behind him as Graves fired at his own target, though judging by the cursing that followed, he had missed as well. A screech emanated from the beast that neither had targeted, and Kevin glanced in its direction. Looking closely, he noticed a scar running down the creature's right leg. Normally he would stack this bit of information in the "coincidence, bordering on paranoia" stack, but the way it was eyeing him, the way it almost smirked - if it had the ability to - and seemingly telling the others what to do, Kevin had half a mind that this was the pale, speedy juvenile that he had wounded earlier.

    'Okay,' he thought, 'they grow quick.'

    "What are they waiting for?" asked Graves.

    Captain Andere groaned beneath them, as if to say "We're not being eaten, why does it matter?" Kevin agreed silently, then replied "This one seems to be  in charge." He nodded in the direction of Scar-Leg "I'd bet the others are waiting on his order."

    "They talk to each other?"

    Kevin rolled his eyes at the incredulity in the Rear Admiral's voice. He seemed to have walked into a hidden character trait. Absolute vexation at having to listen to stupid people... Or stupid questions - he wasn't entirely sure which. Also the rank from which the stupid came from may have to do with it.

    Okay, so he hadn't exactly nailed down that trait.

    A high pitched bark from one of the circling monsters snapped him out of it, and he fired at the monster as Scar-Leg answered. The shot impacted and the blood of the beast that had dodged him earlier sprayed out behind it in a mist. Scar-Leg screeched again and both remaining monsters bolted; one toward the pair covering their captain; Scar-Face toward the exit. Kevin tried to take a shot at him, but the other conveniently blocked his escape with a leap through the air.

    As Kevin was about to squeeze the trigger, Graves unloaded the rest of his clip, He only connected with four rounds, but brought down the flying, fanged fungus before it could attach to his face.

    Scanning their surroundings, Kevin felt confident - to an extent - that they were safe enough. "Graves, watch that door while I check on the captain."

    "Seeing that you have the medpak," Graves replied, "I'll let that insubordination slide..."

    Kevin made sure that Graves was looking the opposite direction before rolling his eyes so hard he could swear he saw the corner of his brain. As he leaned down to check on Captain Andere, the man groaned and spat up blood. His face was a tattered mess, and Kevin wasn't sure how long long the man would survive, even with the bit of paltry healing he could provide. The captain pulled him closer as he started unwrapping gauze to tend to his wounds.

    "Let me die." The captain's grip was surprisingly strong for a man coughing up blood. "The pain is too much, just let me die."

    "I can't do that."

    "You can," the captain's voice got quieter and he placed something Kevin's hand; a flash drive by the feel of it. "Take that to the comms array. When it's back online, transmit it. The coordinates will upload automatically before the message sends. All you need to do is make sure the satellite is operational."

    Graves started speaking behind them, but Kevin was too invested in what the captain was saying to notice. "After, you need to set the ship to self destruct," he continued. "The best place to do that is from my office up there, or from engineering. We can not let these things planet-side..." He coughed up more blood, and his voice became little more than a hoarse whisper. "Then for the love of god, get to an escape pod. Get off this boat."

    "I will, captain"

    "The escape pods... are prepped..." The words were punctuated with gasps and sputters. His last ragged breaths slowed to nothing and the bridge fell silent.

    One thought intruded on the somberness of the scene.

    'I'm getting back to Earth.'