

## SPACE MONSTER

By

### John Cosper

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2012 by John Cosper

www.johncosper.com

For Sam

And every other kid who has grown up on Star Wars

### Prologue

Lisa Donovan stared at her reflection in the mirror as Michelle put the final touches on her hair. "Almost done, Lisa," the stylist said.

"It's Miss Donovan," said Lisa.

Michelle looked up, resisting the urge to snipe back. "Sorry, Miss Donovan." She knew not to take it personal. She'd seen more than a few cub reporters go from working remotes to the anchor desk. Any time one made the leap, they went from first name basis to the more formal title. It wasn't worth arguing over; not if you wanted to keep your job, as Michelle did.

"Lisa Donovan to the set, please," a voice crackled over the intercom. It was Glen Hankins, the producer, himself a nervous wreck. If this worked, it would make both him and Lisa famous, maybe even catapult them to network. Lisa leapt out of the makeup chair and headed down the hall without the faintest hint of a thank you. Michelle dutifully cleaned up the chair and the room, thinking of the awful things she would write if she could just once get her hands on the TelePromTer.

"We're at one minute!" the floor producer shouted as Lisa entered the room. She double-timed it to the desk and put her earpiece in.

"You ready for this?" said Glen.

"I was born for this," said Lisa, all the confidence in the world. This was her moment; nothing was going to ruin it.

"Stand by," said Glen. "We're establishing the uplink to Ken and Butch now."

Lisa's cool, professional manner vanished in an instant. "Ken?"

"Ken Dickens," said Glen.

"Ken? Ken is up there? Ken?" she said.

Glen nodded, a bit taken aback by the alarm in his star anchor's voice. "You didn't know?"

"No," she said, a bit angry. "No one told me... Ken's up there?"

"Do we have a problem, Lisa?" said Glen, not in the least interested in dealing with a diva tantrum. "Because we're thirty seconds to air."

Lisa swallowed her pride. "No problem, Glen," she said. "Ready when you are."

Ken Dickens... of all the luck, she had to share this moment with Ken.

"Stand by!"

There was some relief in this knowledge. Maybe he did have an excuse for not returning calls. But still... He lied to her! He lied about where he was going, then refused to respond to her calls for more than a month!! Who did he think he was???

In five... four... three..."

Keep it together, girl.

The light on the center camera turned red.

"Good evening. This is Lisa Donovan. We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this special report. Following a successful launch at 5:07 PM Eastern Time, the _Lunastar Four_ spacecraft is underway with more than six hundred new settlers headed for the lunar colony. _Lunastar Four_ also carries a much-needed volume of food stores, some weapons systems, and a new living quarters module that will be attached to the colony. Most exciting for us here at Channel 62, our own Ken Dickens is on board with cameraman Butch Grayson. We've been able to establish contact with Ken, and we're going to bring you his live report now. Ken, how's the weather up there?"

The dashing, handsome devil in disguise popped up on the monitor below Camera 2. Lisa felt a burn in her stomach when she laid eyes on him. He _would_ do this to her!

Ken grinned into Butch's camera. "Hi, Dave, can you hear me?"

"It's not Dave," said Lisa, gritting her teeth. "It's Lisa, and yes, I can hear you."

Ken looked to his camera guy. "Butch, are they getting this?"

"Ken, it's Lisa. We can hear you loud and clear."

He heard her that time. The awkward, nervous glimmer in his eyes said so. "Ah, Lisa. Didn't expect to hear from you. Where's Dave?"

"Dave has the night off," she said.

Ken laughed, nervously. "Well, what a surprise, huh?"

"Likewise," said Lisa. "I was unaware you were the lucky guy who got this assignment."

"Well, when duty calls, a good journalist never asks questions, right?"

_You didn't want to tell me, did you?_ she thought to herself. "So, the _Lunastar Four_ , huh?"

Ken got down to business. "Yes, Lisa, as you can see, we're on board _Lunastar Four_. I've been told we are on schedule and on course which means—"

Ken's train of thought was interrupted as two crew members carried a crate down the narrow ship's hall behind him. "Whoa! Excuse me fellas! Live broadcast here."

Lisa smiled as she heard the reply over the mic: "Keep outta the way, will ya?"

Ken played it off like a pro. "Sorry, Mike. That's Mike, one of the many crew members up here making sure that things are in order."

"Ken, do you need to move to a better location?" Lisa offered.

"No, no, no, we've got clearance to move about the ship, thanks to the extended training we had in preparation for the voyage."

"Is that so?" Lisa was still seething. "Did they take away your phone when you went to training?"

"I'd love to tell you more about it sometime," said Ken, lying through his teeth, "But we have a special treat for you here. Joining me now is Captain Roy Minter of the _Lunastar Four_. Captain?"

Butch widened the lens to bring the ship's captain into view, a man of about fifty-five with salt and pepper hair and a handlebar mustache. He was just the kind of guy you wanted to see skippering a _Lunastar_ -class ship through outer space, although the scowl on his face showed he was not in the mood for some TV face time.

"I'm a little busy here, kid. Got a ship to run."

"I know, Captain," said Ken. "And I'm grateful for your time. It will just be a moment. For the folks back home."

Captain Minter nodded. "I suppose I can do that."

"Captain, how many passengers are we carrying at present?"

"We have the capacity for a thousand," said the captain, "But on this particular run, I think the number's around six hundred."

"Now of course it's only a five day trip to the moon, so for the benefit of those watching, can you explain why the passengers are in hibernation?"

"Well, hibernation is typically the preferred method of travel on long distances," said the captain. "You wouldn't normally put people into hibernation for a five day trek, but doing so allows us to take more passengers at a lower cost. Sleep beds are smaller than cabins, and you don't have to worry with food or restroom accommodations."

"What happens when you get to the moon with a ship full of sleepy passengers who have to go?

The captain gave Ken a look to let him know he wasn't funny. "There are ample facilities in the space port, though I imagine a few will have to hold it."

Ken chuckled. Again, the captain was not amused. "What can the passengers expect when we arrive?"

"Well, the biggest difference is that the lunar colony has a lighter gravity than Earth," he said. "There are generators to enhance the gravity, but it's still only about 90% of Earth's."

"Will there be any disorientation or what we on Earth might know as jet lag?" asked Ken.

The captain nodded. "About one in twenty gets some mild discomfort, or what the doctors call hibernation sickness, but it only lasts a day or so."

Lisa nodded. She thought how fun it would be to witness Ken enduring such discomfort and pain.

"How are we looking as far as an on-time arrival?" asked Ken.

"Well, it's a bit premature, but all systems are running at optimal levels. I don't expect we'll see any delays whatsoever."

Ken extended a hand to the captain. "Captain, always a pleasure."

The captain shook Ken's hand once with a grunt, then made his way out of the shot quickly. Ken grinned. "Busy man, that captain."

Lisa chimed back in. "Ken, the captain mentioned hibernation. Are all the passengers actually asleep?"

"Ha ha. That's why they pay you the big bucks, right?" He stopped, regretting the quip almost as soon as the words left his mouth. "Yes, Lisa, they are sleeping. In fact, if we can move the camera - Butch, get a shot down the hall, will you?"

The camera swung down a long hall, lined on both sides with tubes stacked four high, seven feet long, nearly three feet in diameter. It was an eerie sight.

"There we go," said Ken. "The newest residents of the lunar colony, all of them in perfect hibernation. Without specialized training, the stress and shock of spaceflight tends to be a little much on passengers, so it was determined that, for the average traveler, hibernation was the way to go. Also cuts down on the facilities needed on board the ship."

"So no bathroom breaks or seatbelt lights aboard the ship," said Lisa.

"No, Lisa, not at all. Though when we arrive on the moon, I imagine there will be quite a line of folks at the restroom, if you know what I mean."

"So how come you're not in hibernation with Butch?"

There was a directness in the question that put Ken on his heels. "Yes, well, as you know, the space program requires anyone who will be up and about on one of these _Lunastar_ transports to undergo special training - which we did down in Huntsville a month ago."

"I see, a month ago," said Lisa, drumming a pencil on the desk. "Wasn't that when you left to go visit your sick grandma?"

Ken blushed, laughed. "Heh heh, we are live, right, Lisa?"

"Yes we are."

"Can we stick to the story, please?" he pleaded.

"I'd like to get to the real story," said Lisa.

Glen came over the earpiece: "Lisa, what are you doing?"

"Is there something you wanna say to me?" Ken said into the camera.

"Don't do it! Don't—" Lisa didn't hear the end of Glen's plea. She yanked the earpiece out of her ear. She could see Glen throwing his arms up in disgust. She no longer cared.

"Ken, there are many things I need to say to you."

"Ken was sweating. "Glen, what's going on here? Can we continue this with someone else?"

Lisa saw Glen heading into the studio. She stood, defiant. "No, no, no, Glen! Jack, the camera stays with me! We don't cut until I—"

There was a loud rumble on the remote, and the camera image flickered before settling on the floor of the ship. All eyes turned to see the camera view shift from a pair of feet to Ken's face - now ashen with fear.

"Are you okay? Butch, you okay?"

"I'm fine," came the muffled reply.

Lisa was not amused. "Ken? What are you trying to pull?"

"I'm not pulling anything, Lisa! There's—"

A squad of technicians raced between Butch and Ken, pushing both aside. Soon as they were clear, Butch refocused the camera. Ken went on.

"It seems we have some sort of situation. I'm not sure what, but Butch and I will do our best—"

"You guys need to clear the area, now!" a voice boomed over the microphone. Butch swung the camera, catching the scowl of a ship's officer as he raced away.

"That's Lt. Robinson, one of the command crew. It doesn't appear that he has time to tell us anything."

Lisa shouted over the air. "Ken, what the heck?"

"I don't know what the heck!!" Ken screamed back. "Okay? A few moments ago, we heard a boom, then a tremor, and now it seems the whole place is in a state of emergency." His eyes caught something down the hall, and he signaled his cameraman. "Butch, let's follow them."

Lisa began to feel less anger and more concern. This was not fake. "Did the ship hit something?"

Ken's attitude had mellowed as well. "Again, Lisa, I can only speculate as to what's going on. Over there, Butch."

Lisa and the crew saw Captain Minter, barking out orders to a very fast-moving crew.

"Excuse me, Captain Minter? Captain, can we have a word?"

Minter turned, his face red with anger. "Get that camera out of here, now!"

"Sir, your passengers have family and friends back home watching. They know something is going on, so if you don't want a panic—"

The captain walked away. Butch turned the camera to follow as he confronted his Lieutenant. He hit the mute button, cautious about letting certain words float over the air. The Lieutenant raced away. Captain Minter, a little more calm, walked over. Butch released the mute button.

"Captain?" Ken began again. "Can you fill us in on what just happened?"

"We're still sorting out the data ourselves," said the captain. "But here's what we know. An unidentified object moving at a great velocity struck the starboard side of the craft."

Ken lit up. "Did you say a UFO?"

"An unidentified object," said Minter clearly. "Most likely it's some sort of space debris, or a stray space rock."

"So technically, a UFO."

Minter scowled. "You want an up close exclusive? Why don't I push you out of the airlock?"

"I only mean—"

"No, I know what you mean," Minter growled. "It's an unidentified object, but that does not mean alien spacecraft, or any spacecraft for that matter. Most likely we bumped into a comet or some piece of space debris. A broken satellite, some space junk, but nothing serious or out of the ordinary. Okay?"

"What about the damage?" Ken went on. "How serious is it?

The captain relaxed a bit. "Lt. Robinson has taken a crew down to examine the damage. We had some fire warning systems activate right after impact, but there are no indications of fire as of now."

"Will this affect our voyage in any way?"

"Again, too early to tell," said Minter. "Our course was pre-determined based on our launch time and pattern, and it is very likely we're a bit off course. But, that's why we have thruster jets that can set us back on course should we —"

Minter was cut off by the sound of screaming, echoing down the corridor. Everyone in the Earth-bound studio was on edge as Minter swore, racing toward the sound of the chaos. Butch and Ken followed him. Lisa said a silent prayer for Ken; she was terrified now.

There was a collective gasp as a badly wounded technician fell into Minter's arms, bleeding profusely. Blood spurted from a massive head wound as the technician held on for dear life, muttering, "They're dead... They're dead..."

Minter shoved the camera away. Butch caught several more crew members running back toward and around them in panic; one appeared to be missing an arm. Ken pulled the microphone back up.

"Are you getting this back home?"

Lisa couldn't take it much longer. "Ken, get out of there!"

Ken ignored her pleas, running on instinct as he chased the story. "There appears to be some sort of commotion ahead. I can't see anything, but if I can—"

Ken was shoved aside by armed crew members carrying heavy assault rifles, a chorus of shouting all around him and his cameraman.

"Did you hear that?" said Ken. "Did you hear— It sounds as if Lt. Robinson and his group were attacked by an intruder of some kind! I don't know if that means an alien or a—"

The camera moved away quickly again. Ken could be heard arguing with someone as the chaos continued.

Crew members on the floor of the studio turned to Glen. The question on everyone's mind was evident: do we cut away yet?

"Glen, stop this!" Lisa begged.

"We can't!"

"What if something happens to him?"

Glen looked at her. "We stay with the feed until it's resolved!"

"Guys, there's something down there!" said Ken, a look of terror in his eyes. "I just saw the lieutenant's body, and... I've never seen anything so horrible."

"Get out of there, Ken!" shouted Lisa. "Don't be a hero!"

Ken led Butch into a side room. "Let's see if we can't get a look at this thing. They've got some security monitors in here."

Briefly, the camera fell on a bank of video screens, where Butch caught the image of a dark shadow falling on a soldier, cutting him to shreds. Butch swore. The crew men at the video monitors turned.

"Get out of here! This is restricted!"

Ken and Butch were shoved out of the room quickly. Now the camera crew turned on Glen. "We can't stay on this. This is too much!"

"We cut when I say we cut!" Glen shouted. "Do not touch that feed!"

"You're going to get him killed!"

"Ladies and gentlemen," Ken's hand was shaking as he tried to go on. "I can't begin to describe what we saw... Did you get any of it?"

Butch could be heard faintly saying, "Yeah."

"It was some sort of creature, a little larger than a man, and five times as strong. It tore that man apart. I can't..."

Ken ducked out of the shot. The crew in the studio could hear him vomiting. A few seconds later, he recovered enough to go on.

"I know it's too early to speculate, but it seems to this reporter, we've been attacked by some... some sort of creature. Possibly alien... Most likely alien because I've never seen anything so gruesome. I don't know that it's even intelligent, but it's the most aggressive beast I've ever witnessed."

Lisa had tears in her eyes. "Ken, turn off the camera. Get to safety. Please! Ken, do you hear me?"

"I hear you, Lisa. But I can't!"

"You have to," Lisa screamed. "I can't do this alone!"

Ken looked confused. "Do what alone?"

"Ken!" Lisa shouted. "I'm carrying your baby!"

All eyes in the studio turned to Lisa. Ken froze; eyes wide in shock. Hours later, a man would be found dead in his bath tub, having choked on a piece of fried chicken at the exact moment Lisa made her revelation.

Ken stammered a reply. "You're what?"

"You heard me," said Lisa. "I'm pregnant! It's yours!"

Ken cracked a half smile. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"That's why I kept calling!" she said. "Why I got so mad when you never answered. If I had known where you were..."

She broke down. A tiny tear formed at the corner of Ken's eye. "Oh, Lisa, I'm so sorry. I—"

The image cut away with a loud crash, a loud growling sound, and a loud and anguished scream. Over the screaming, the crew heard Ken: "Butch! Butch! Butch!!!"

The image went dark.

Everyone in the studio was frozen.

In the control room, the assistant producer clicked back to the studio camera.

Lisa stood behind the desk, tears streaming down her face.

"Ken, are you there?" She waited; no reply. "Ken, are you there?"

A half minute of silence. Then Lisa looked into the camera. She put her ear piece back in.

"Lisa?" It was Glen. "Lisa, can you go on?"

Stoically, Lisa nodded and turned to the camera. "It seems we've lost our signal. We don't know what happened to Butch or to Ken. But our prayers are with them and the crew of the _Lunastar Four_."

A message came over the ear piece from the control room. Lisa listened, then droned on.

"I understand the network is about to break in, and I'm sure we're going to be learning more. Rest assured, when we know the fate of our crew up there, we'll pass the word along. This is Lisa Donovan. Good night."

The light on the camera went out.

No one said a word. Crew members were speechless, dumbstruck by what they had seen. Lisa got up from her chair. She took off the ear piece and went to her dressing room.

Michelle was waiting.

"Lisa?"

There was no ego, no scolding. Lisa simply broke down, and Michelle held her, no words to say.

### Chapter One

Ten years after the disappearance of _Lunastar Four_ , the galaxy had become a much smaller place.

Actually, the galaxy had become a much larger place due to the continual movement of planets and stars and other heavenly bodies, but in relative terms, mankind had made space into a much smaller, cozier place. In spite of the horrific nature of the live footage from the _Lunastar Four_ , it didn't take long for savvy marketers to sweep the incident under the rug. Within a decade, the _Lunastar Four_ was the stuff of myth, relegated to the conspiracy theorists who dared to defy all logic and reason and believe something dangerous was lurking in space. Everyone else was ready to pack their bags and hop on the next ship leaving Earth.

Colonization of the moon proved so successful that colonies began springing up on space rocks from Mars to Pluto, complete with resorts, casinos, faux beaches, and sub-par public school systems. Soon developers were shooting beyond their home solar system, looking for new worlds to subdue and conquer. Anything was possible, thanks in no small part to companies like Galaxicon.

Galaxicon was a pioneer in the space travel industry, the first business of its kind, setting up space stations that served as interplanetary "gas stations." Galaxicon launched a powerful recruiting campaign, signing young men and women up for the adventure of a lifetime aboard these intergalactic fuel outposts. The promises of adventure and thrills were quickly smashed by the tedious monotony of sitting on a space station alone all the time. The turnover rate was astronomical, and for every gas pumper who quit, there were two who committed suicide.

Life on an interplanetary gas station was a fate reserved for the foolish, the stupid, and in the case of the sole human occupant of Galaxicon Energy Fueling Station 24, the just plain unlucky.

"Hello?" The disembodied voice echoed throughout the metallic satellite as it drifted lazily in an orbit around the fourth moon of Jupiter. The voice bounced from surface to surface down the halls of the structure, rattling off support beams and the metal grating that formed the majority of the walk ways aboard the space station.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Once more, the voice bounced from surface to surface, pausing only to register in the audio receptors of an Ikon-7 mech-bot, Mark 5. In a fraction of a fraction of a millisecond, the sound triggered the motherboard on the sophisticated artificial intelligence tool to end its sleep cycle and boot up. Two round LED eyes lit up, and the robot disconnected from its charger. Moving quickly on two metallic legs, the robot tromped down the hallway, adding the clang of metal on metal to the echoing call of the voice, still crying out for service. The mech-bot looked much like a metal skeleton with a triangular skull. Its two glowing eyes sat at the wide end of the triangle, with a small speaker in the shape of a smile at the narrow end. Beneath the head, a worn and woolly sweater was tied around its neck, an odd adornment for a very odd robot who had taken the liberty of naming itself "Tod."

Tod made its way to the living quarters of the satellite's lone human occupant and opened the sliding door. As it had expected, the human was fast asleep.

"Hey!!!" A human voice shot out of the robot's speaker system like a bullet, jolting the man lying face down on the hard, filthy bed. Grizzled, mangy, and very, very groggy, Cardigan Fox looked up at the robot with a look of venom and hate.

"What do you want?"

"You have a customer."

"Take care of him."

"I believe that's your job."

"And you work for me. I'm delegating—"

"I can't do it alone. You know that."

"Can I just sleep five more minutes?"

"Hello? Can we get some service, please?" demanded the disembodied voice as it interrupted the man vs. robot debate. Cardigan yawned and growled in a stretch, then stood up and pressed the intercom button. "Be right there, pal."

"I'm on a schedule, Mac!" the angry voice barked back.

"He's on a schedule," Cardigan repeated. He pulled his green jumpsuit, worn and full of holes, over his t-shirt and boxers before slipping into his boots. The robot shook its head.

"If you weren't the owner's nephew, you'd have been rightly canned a long time ago."

Cardigan glared at the robot. "Get out there and get ready to do your job."

Cardigan heard the robot muttering something as he walked away. If his job didn't depend on the robot, Cardigan would have jettisoned the machine long ago. He had been told repeatedly that the personality module on the robot was for his own good. He needed human interaction, even if it was only simulated, to keep his sanity out here alone. Cardigan had never cared much for people in general, and he often wondered how long it would take for the jerk of a machine to drive him mad.

But then, that jerk of a robot was partially his creation, wasn't it? It was just another mistake, in a long history of errors that had led Cardigan here, to the outer edges of inhabitable space.

Cardigan reached the airlock and opened the hatch. There, on the other side stood a very irate man with a dark complexion and a bushy, handlebar mustache, waiting in his gray flight suit.

Cardigan greeted the man with all the enthusiasm of a career librarian. "Welcome to Galaxicon Energy Fueling Station 24."

"About freaking time!"

"I'm sorry, sir," he said. "Caught me taking a nap."

"Your signal says you never close!"

"And we never do," said Cardigan. "But that doesn't mean we never sleep."

The man scowled - then laughed. "Take it easy, chum. I know how it goes. I used to work one of these God-forsaken rust buckets myself."

Cardigan relaxed and laughed with him. "What can I do for you?"

"Top her off, if you don't mind," said the man. "Got a long haul ahead of us."

"Fuel and air?"

"Please," said the man. "No sense going to Alpha Centauri for a pay day if we're gonna asphyxiate before we get there, right?"

Cardigan stepped behind a computer bank. On a computer monitor, he saw Tod crawling out on the hull of the freighter, attaching the fuel and air hoses to the intake valves.

"How we coming, Tod?"

Tod's voice came through clearly over the speaker. "Just waiting for you, as usual."

Cardigan activated the pumps, transferring clean air and fresh fuel to the giant freighter. He sat back on his raised chair to wait for the process to finish. His customer stood a short distance away at a kiosk, his personal datacard already inserted in the machine.

"Your e-zines are two months old."

"Sorry about that," said Cardigan. "A meteorite took out my datalink a month ago. I put in a call for a repair, but it takes them forever."

"That's the trouble with big companies," said the man. "If it's not in front of their face, it's not their problem. I had to go six months without a working oven. Six months, man! I had to cook all my frozen rations on top of the reactor core if I wanted a hot meal."

"So how did you get out of that lousy job?" asked Cardigan.

The man removed his datacard. "Pirates."

"Really?" said Cardigan, suddenly filled with intrigue.

"Oh yeah," said the man. "Sucked me dry. Took all my fuel. Left me just enough air to survive about a week."

Cardigan let out a low whistle. "That's rough."

"I don't have to tell you, that's not enough time for a rescue," said the man. "I only saw a supply ship once a month."

"Try every six weeks," said Cardigan.

"No kidding?" the man was aghast. "Man, I am so glad I got out of there. You'd have to be crazy to wanna work a place like this."

"Or a just a disappointing nephew," said Cardigan.

A raised eyebrow from the stranger. "Nephew?"

Cardigan nodded. "My uncle's the CEO of Galaxicon."

"No kidding."

"That's how I ended up here."

The man looked around at the decrepit interior of the station. "Man. Your uncle must really hate you."

Cardigan grinned sheepishly. "He does. But because my aunt loves me, my uncle put me here as my one last chance to make something useful of myself. I screw this one up, he'll probably send me floating home."

"I'm really sorry, man. Truly."

"What for? It's not like you're responsible for where I am."

"You just seem like a decent guy. I hate to be the one who ruins it for you."

The comment woke him up. In a flash Cardigan observed three things. One, Tod was no longer monitoring the pumps. Two space walkers were outside the ship's hull, and Tod was no where in sight. Two, the fuel and air levels on board the station were low - dangerously low. He was nearly out of fuel, and air was down under ten percent. Finally, Cardigan saw the gun holster strapped to the man's leg. It was empty; the gun now in the man's hand, pointed at Cardigan.

Cool, controlled, Cardigan didn't even flinch as the man approached.

"So, pirates, huh?"

The man grinned. "Yeah, pirates. Did I happen to tell you how that story played out?"

"No," said Cardigan. "But you're carrying a rather large story spoiler in your hand."

The man grinned. "I am very sorry. I do like you a lot. That's why I've decided to extend you the same offer the captain gave me."

"To join the crew."

The pirate nodded.

"Interesting."

"Total freedom from the responsible world, living as a member of a crew that operates in a democratic fashion. I imagine a guy like you is pretty good in a fight."

Cardigan shrugged. "I can throw a punch."

"I'm offering you a second chance," said the man. "Take it."

"Suppose I screw it up like I always do."

"Then we kill you."

Cardigan and the man both laughed. Cardigan glanced down at the monitors, now showing an empty fuel tank. Air was now down to 3%. Two weeks worth, if he was lucky, and the next supply ship wasn't due for four.

"Okay, I'm in."

The man grinned. He held his right wrist up to his face and pressed a button. "He's in."

Cardigan heard a commotion coming from the other ship. Four more men, one of then dressed in a very fine coat and hat, stormed onto the ship. The fancy one - obviously the captain - chortled as he cast his eyes on Cardigan.

"So, you wish to be pirate." His accent was thick, Slavic, and his voice booming. He clearly wished he was one of the great pirates of ancient Earth, in the mode of Blackbeard or Calico Jack. Cardigan rose from his seat, flipping a switch on the corner of his control panel with a stray finger, and strolled over to the captain.

"Cardigan Fox," he said. "Just a pleasure, captain."

The captain roared. "Cardigan Fox, eh? Why a name like that, you'd think you were born a pirate!"

The captain laughed. His crew and Cardigan joined in.

"But," the captain went on. "You say your uncle is the CEO of Galaxicon?"

Cardigan nodded. "Oh yes. Good old Uncle Leo."

"Too bad." The captain turned to the first man. "I overrule your offer, Marco. This man is far too valuable to waste."

The smile vanished from Cardigan's face. "What do you mean, valuable?"

"Your uncle is wealthy man," said the pirate. "I'm thinking he'd pay a huge ransom to get you back."

Cardigan shook his head, not believing where his bad luck had taken him this time. "Did you hear the conversation just now? My uncle hates my guts."

The captain clapped a large hand on Cardigan's shoulder. "Because you are screw up. Even at that, you're far more valuable as a hostage. I can't afford any screw ups on my crew. Not in my line of work."

"Look, you can at least give me a chance!" Cardigan begged. "I might be a great pirate! Come on, listen to my name. Cardigan Fox. You just said it was a great name for a pirate!"

One of the other crew members muttered a word Cardigan didn't understand. The others laughed. Cardigan didn't know what was so funny, but he took advantage of the moment of levity by grabbing the captain's gun, inches away, and shooting him in the stomach. Before the others could react he had put a bullet between Marco's eyes and dropped two more men. The last two standing were dumbfounded, hands frozen in mid-air, as the captain rolled and howled in agony on the floor.

"Keep 'em away from your belts, boys," said Cardigan, moving back toward the monitors. He was pleased to see two ripped open space suits, corpses inside, drifting into space. Tod was back on the hull of the pirate ship. Cardigan shut off the pumps.

"Tod?" said Cardigan. "Cut our friends loose so we can send them on their merry way."

"Don't you think we ought to—" Cardigan missed the rest as the captain screamed out in pain.

"Dog... will... pay... for... this..." the captain eked out, rolling around in his own blood.

Cardigan motioned to the two men standing behind their captain. "Throw your guns over here." They did. "Get these bodies off my ship. Take the captain last."

"The captain will murder you for this," said one of the men. "When he recovers—"

"I'm the favorite nephew of the CEO," said Cardigan. "You think my uncle will ever give you another shot at me?"

"But you said—"

"I lied," lied Cardigan. "Now get these bodies out of here, and take off."

Cardigan watched closely as the pirates drug their dead comrades through the airlock. They gingerly reached down to help the captain to his feet. Blood gushed from his stomach. His head lolled as he flirted with unconsciousness.

"And don't even think about coming back," said Cardigan. "Like I said, my uncle loves me!"

Cardigan followed the men out, sealing the door to the station and using the override switch to disconnect the ships. He watched nervously out a porthole as the ship drifted back from the station. He didn't see any external weapons, but he knew they could be hidden. Every passing second, he looked for that surprise gun to emerge from the ship's hull and blast him to oblivion. But after what felt like an eternity, the pirate ship roared to life and set off into the void.

Cardigan let out a long breath, twirling the gun in his hand as he did. A door opened behind him, and Tod entered.

"Not bad, huh?" said Cardigan. "Sometimes I can be pretty smooth."

In a condescending, almost angry tone, Tod scolded his human master. "You just surrendered five million credits in gas and air. Your uncle is going to murder you."

Cardigan's stomach dropped. He completely forgot about the theft. He turned and looked out the porthole. He could barely make out the lights of the ship's engines as they roared away with the station's full load of gas and air.

Tod was right. Uncle Leo was going to murder him.

### Chapter Two

"I am going to murder you!"

Uncle Leo's big, fat head filled most of the monitor. The CEO of Galaxicon Energy was perspiring, as always, with beads of sweat glistening on his bald dome. He lifted another walnut into frame and crushed it with his bare hand. Cardigan winced, remembering just how painful that vice grip was when Leo last shook his hand, warning him that this job would be his last chance.

Leo chomped on the walnut, then spoke, nut fragments falling like shrapnel from his fat mouth. "What are the damages, 'bot?"

"It's Tod, sir," said the uppity robot. "Our fuel supply was completely depleted, seventeen-thousand barrels at 57 credits per. Air supply was nearly depleted, at 3 credits per cube, we lost nearly—"

"Spare me the long form math, scrap iron, and just tell me how much money I lost!"

Tod paused, clearly ruffled by Uncle Leo's lack of manners. "One million, six hundred twenty one thousand, four hundred eight credits."

Uncle Leo's face turned purple as the number caused him to choke on a walnut. "One point six million??"

"Plus another two thousand five hundred and sixty dollars worth of materials on a data card from the media kiosk."

"What?" shouted Cardigan. "He told me he didn't download anything!"

Tod shook his metallic head. "Typical."

"I'm going to get you for this, Cardigan," said Leo. "You're finished in this company. You're finished, period! I'll see to it you die penniless and homeless back on... on Earth!"

"Come on, Uncle Leo, Earth?"

"You did this to yourself, boy," said Leo. "You have no one to blame but yourself. No one! Where's that scrap heap? Is he still there?"

"Present, sir," said Tod.

"You're in charge until I send relief. Expect a ship within five days."

Cardigan sighed. Uncle Leo had faster ships than that, including one that could be to his location in less than two Earth days. Still, he had oxygen enough to last six. Uncle Leo was punishing him, but he was still sparing his life. "Thank you, Uncle Leo. You're a life saver."

"Don't kid yourself, chump," said Leo. "I'm only sparing your life because I'm still in love with your aunt. Plus I can't afford to have a station down for even one day. You cost me big time, and I'm gonna get it out of you, one way or another."

"Uncle Leo?"

"What!!"

He wanted to tell him off. He wanted to tell him what he really thought. He wanted to scream at the fat man and startle him enough to truly choke to death on the walnut he was presently popping into his mouth. Instead, all he said was, "I'm sorry."

"Tell me about it!" Leo screamed.

The screen went dead.

"I wish I could say it was a pleasure serving with you," said Tod. "But my programming forbids me to lie."

Cardigan nodded. "It was equally painful to work with you."

Cardigan rose from his seat and stalked down the hall to his room. Despite his current misfortune and the impending doom that would descend upon him within a matter of days, Cardigan was able to see a silver lining. He had at least five days ahead of him to enjoy doing absolutely nothing. No work, no annoying customers, no dealing with Tod - not if he could help it.

Cardigan kicked off his boots soon as he entered his quarters and quickly collapsed in his bed. Hands behind his head, he began to reflect on the many twists and turns his life had taken. He hated Tod. He hated him for reporting the pirates before Cardigan could get his story straight. True, he had screwed up at a pivotal moment, and he likely could have reversed the damage done, at least with the fuel and air supplies. But with his life in danger and his nerves on edge, he did what he had to do to survive.

Of course he would never have even been banished to an isolated gas station were it not for Alanna. Much as he could blame Tod for his early termination, it was Alanna who had landed him out here in no man's land.

Alanna. Her name could easily have fallen out of the pages of one of the noir detective novels Cardigan devoured as a teen. Never one for fairy tales or fantasy, Cardigan was drawn to mystery novels starring level-headed detectives like Dexter Manley, a man who could use logic and reason to solve any riddle – except for the dame. Cardigan had read countless tales of femme fatales and the heartbreak they brought upon his favorite fictional gumshoe. And his total absorption in the world of Dexter Manley was not enough to keep him from falling prey to a classic fatal beauty himself.

Lying on his less-than-ideal bed, Cardigan's mind drifted back to those last free days at the New Aries Casino, the hottest gambling resort on the surface of Mars. Truth be told, Uncle Leo had never liked his black sheep nephew, and the Galactic Transport Expo was just one of many annual excuses to ship the troublemaker out of the corporate office for a week at a time. It was a win-win situation all around. Uncle Leo got a week of peace. Cardigan got a week of fun and play time. And it looked good for the company to have a family member on the dais during its presentations.

The actual presenting, of course, fell to that pin-head account rep, Marshall Pickering. The tall, gangly guy with the deep voice who never forgot a name or face was always jealous of Cardigan's standing within the company. He made it a point to excel at everything he did and simultaneously bury Cardigan at every opportunity. Yet despite his prowess, he could never break through the glass ceiling that was Cardigan, thanks in no small part to his dear Aunt Tilly.

Unfortunately for Cardigan, the glass ceiling that Marshall longed to breach was cracking beneath his very feet.

It all came crashing down the night before the Galaxicon presentation at the Expo. Marshall was long gone to bed, and the new day was nearly three hours old when she walked into the high stakes area. Her red hair billowed like a flame, cascading over her shoulders, brushing against the shimmering emerald dress that matched her green eyes. She seemed to drift down the spiral staircase into the casino in slow motion. Cardigan knew he wasn't the only guy to notice. Every man in the room took note of the red headed temptress. But as she approached the baccarat table, she only had eyes for one man.

How many nights had Cardigan kicked himself, not realizing that her immediate attraction was a dead giveaway she was up to something? At half past three in the morning, buzzed and on a roll, he was easy prey.

"Feeling lucky tonight?" she asked, a painted finger nail brushing casually across his shoulder.

"I am now," he replied.

"Buy me a drink," the kitten purred.

"A drink for a kiss," he growled back.

Cardigan stood to face her. Her delicate hands wrapped around his neck as he pulled her close, hands gripping her waist. Their lips met, and it was on. Cardigan bought a round for the table, collected his winnings, and then excused himself. They spent an hour in the casino's disco room, followed by a romantic gondola ride in the faux canal that ran through the Martian casino.

Alanna told Cardigan the life story she had carefully prepared in advance. Again, had he been on his guard, he might have smelled a rat. Alanna was everything Cardigan was looking for in a woman: a wealthy heiress with a pretty face and deadly curves. Marry this one, he thought, and I'll never have to take orders from Uncle Leo again. True, his days of wild oats would be over, but he was growing bored with the love 'em and leave 'em lifestyle. Despite his frequent conquests, deep down, Cardigan had always wanted to have a family. More than that, he wanted very much to marry into a family where he would never have to work another day in his life.

It was almost dawn when Cardigan proposed to Alanna. Without hesitation, she accepted, throwing herself passionately into his arms with the greatest kiss he had ever tasted.

They made haste for the wedding chapels on level 37, settling for the Michael Jackson chapel over Elvis and the very popular pregnant hillbilly option. Ten minutes and two choruses of "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" later, Cardigan was a married man.

With the sun rising on the red planet, Cardigan raced to his hotel room with his new bride in tow. Had he gotten his way, they would have gone straight to her suite and consummated the marriage, but for some reason she insisted he get his things first. It never even occurred to him she might have some ulterior motive for going back to his place. He was distracted, far too excited to finally put his true feelings about Uncle Leo on paper before flying the coop.

Cardigan went straight to the corner table as soon as he got to the room, his mind filled with a hundred expletives to unload on his beloved uncle. He never saw his beloved bride move immediately to grab the lamp on the night stand. Nor did he see her lifting it high over her head to bring it crashing down on his head.

Dreams of love, romance, and married bliss flooded through Cardigan's sub-conscious until the late morning hours when Marshall arrived to snap him out of a deep slumber, his long, cold hand smacking Cardigan relentlessly in the face.

"You're late! We're supposed to be in the conference room!"

Dazed, his head pounding from too much drink and the impact of a large lamp at the rear of his cranium, Cardigan tried to explain that he was a married man, and that he was done with Galaxicon. All that would come out was, "Meh."

Marshall lifted the smaller man to his feet, berating him in disgust. "You smell like you haven't bathed in days. And what on Mars did you do in here last night? That lamp's coming out of your paycheck! I'll see to that."

Cardigan tried to fire back and tell Marshall he wouldn't be paying a dime thanks to his aunt. This time, all that came out was, Murpp."

As Cardigan's memory started to come back, and he sorted through the events of the night before, Marshall did his best to make him look presentable, straightening his worn suit and brushing down his hair with long fingers, prompting a smack from Cardigan.

"Pull yourself together," Marshall screamed in exasperation. "You're the face of this company! Now where's the presentation?"

A queasy, uneasy feeling blew up in Cardigan's stomach as, for the first time, he began to suspect the beautiful Alanna of some form of treachery. The presentation! Could it be that the sexy, sultry temptress had come looking for him? To what end? Perhaps a competitor had sent her to sabotage the Galaxicon presentation by stealing it before they could—

"Ah, here it is."

Cardigan, still seeing double, was relieved to see two copies of the data disc held aloft by the two Marshalls still glaring at him in the center of his room.

"Are you coming or not?"

Cardigan tried once again to tell him he was married, that he quit, and that he could go someplace very unpleasant for all Cardigan cared. Instead, he barfed on the rug.

Swearing and fuming, Marshall ran into the lavatory and grabbed a towel. He began wiping Cardigan on the way out the door, berating him with every step. "You're such a disgrace, you know? You owe me big time for this!"

Cardigan watched his feet on the floor during most of the walk, still trying to sort out what had happened to him. Did he dream Alanna up? Did he really get married? Did she bash him in the head with a lamp? If so, what for? All his stuff appeared to be in place. He felt for his wallet - still there. So was the receipt from the Michael Jackson wedding chapel, the first tangible piece of evidence that he was a married man.

So where was his bride?

Cardigan winced as the bright stage lights hit him and Marshall. He collapsed, forcing Marshall to play off the incident as if he had tripped as he scooped him up and shoved him into a chair.

"Careful, Cardigan," said the unflappable salesman as he stepped to the podium. "Need to watch out for those microphone cords. Now to business."

Marshall went into his presentation, extolling the virtues and triumphs of one of the galaxy's most powerful (and yes, notorious) corporations. Cardigan shook off the cobwebs and concentrated hard on doing his duty: looking alert and confident on the outside, even as he tuned out Marshall's speech. Leo only asked two things of him on these trips: stay awake during the presentation, and smile.

Cardigan took advantage of the time to continue piecing together the last twelve hours of his life. He was lucid enough to recall most of the night's events, and by now he was almost certain it had all been real. One question still remained: where was his wife?

"Hello, Cardigan."

It was her! But where was her voice coming from? And why was she so loud?

"And hello to you all at the Galactic Transport Expo."

Cardigan looked up at Marshall. Marshall's eyes were on the giant screen over Cardigan's head. Then they fell on Cardigan. He motioned for Cardigan to come toward him. Cardigan staggered forward as his newlywed bride went on, amplified by the PA system.

"I know you were expecting a glowing report of high profits, sales, and new innovations from the galaxy's foremost provider of energy resources, Galaxicon Energy. But let me tell you a different story. A story of greed. A story of evil. The true story behind this monstrous corporation."

Cardigan's eyes focused on the image of Alanna glowing on the giant screen. Marshall, venom in his voice, whispered to Cardigan. "Who is that?"

At that moment, Cardigan's ability to form words came back to him. "That's my wife!" He blurted into the microphone.

Marshall heard it. Everyone in attendance heard it. It was all over the galaxy within minutes. Within ten minutes Uncle Leo had heard it and been asked to comment on it. And Cardigan's fate was sealed, done in by a cunning, red headed siren.

Leo wanted nothing more than to have Cardigan dropped off on some remote mining colony of the outer planets, with nothing but what God had given him at birth. But much as Leo hated Cardigan, Aunt Tillie adored the misfit. After several days of stewing, Leo agreed to exile his nephew to one of his remote service stations.

Now, on top of everything else, Cardigan had bungled this.

Many nights, Cardigan had laid out on the bed, re-visiting the events of the past and throwing a pity party over his rotten luck. He likely would have wasted the next few days replaying the Alanna incident and the pirate encounter over and over in his mind until Leo arrived. But fate was about to come crashing down on Cardigan Fox in a very big way.

"I beg your pardon." said the Tod, standing in the door way of his cabin. "But if you're not too busy moping, you might want to brace for impact with the disabled _Lunastar_ -class ship that is now drifting toward us from the starboard side.

### Chapter Three

Cardigan looked up at the ceiling in his cabin. He saw it from far away, lying on his bunk. Then he saw it race toward his face. His forehead slammed into the metal tiles, absorbing most of the impact. His rear end absorbed the impact as his body returned to its normal gravitational direction, crashing on the edge of the bed where he bounced and tumbled down.

The robot held steady, it's magnetic locks activated on the foot and hand appendages holding it fast to the metallic frame of the door. Cardigan had never heard a robot laugh, but he was sure the strange purring sound coming from the metal menace was its own way of expressing amusement.

Cardigan sat up, shaking his head and arms to make sure everything still worked properly. "What was that?"

"A _Lunastar_ -class colonial vessel," said Tod. "A slumber cruiser, used to transport large numbers of passengers across the vast distances of space. I haven't been able to raise its onboard systems for identification, though I am continuing my efforts to do so."

"Did it hit us?"

The robot shook its head. "Times like this, I wish I could lie, because sarcasm would be the most appropriate way to respond to that comment. Of course it hit us!"

"Run a damage report," Cardigan ordered, more or less just wanting the robot to go away. "Let's make sure we're not going to fall out of the sky."

"You don't give the orders any more, sir," said Tod. "But since you are still an occupant here and telling you doesn't breach any company protocols, you'll be relieved to know I've already run a scan and there's no significant damage to life support systems."

Cardigan resisted the urge to punch Tod. He cut his hand pretty bad the one and only time he had let his anger take him that far, so he knew it was a pointless endeavor anyway. Pushing past the robot, he headed up to the bridge to get a better look. He was disappointed to find nothing but static on the starboard video monitors.

"Starboard cameras are out," Cardigan said aloud in annoyance.

Tod stalked into the room after him. "Yes, sir. Both cameras on that side of the craft were taken out in the collision. But if you can exercise that rare human quality known as patience, radar indicates the ship should be coming up on the front view now.

Cardigan stepped away from the monitors and walked to the observation window. Deactivating the solar shield, he gazed out into the vastness of space. He could see a moon not too far off in the distance, a giant globe of grayish-white, deceptively still to the naked eye. Some metallic fragments, including the shattered remains of a camera, drifted and bounced off the exterior of the space station.

"There," said Tod, pointing down and right out the window.

Cardigan saw the front end of a humongous ship slowly move into view. There, on the front, in faded but still legible black letters, he read the name of the ship.

" _Lunastar Four_." The name didn't register with Cardigan, but it drew a huff of doubt from his robot companion. Tod stomped over to get a visual for himself.

"That's impossible," he sneered as only a robot could.

"What is?" asked Cardigan.

"The _Lunastar Four_ was lost a decade ago," said the robot.

"What do you know about it?" asked Tod.

"It was one of the first colonial vessels to leave Earth for the lunar colony. Huge deal at the time, as just about every launch was covered heavily in the media. But shortly after launch, the ship was then involved in some sort of incident."

"What sort of incident?" asked Cardigan.

"Unknown," said Tod. "There was some sort of collision in space, thought to be a meteorite at the time. The ship descended into chaos from that point. The last transmission from _Lunastar Four_ was from the captain himself. According to his report, all aboard had been killed, save for a handful of crew, by an unidentified creature. Rather than continue on course or return home, the captain declared his intention to disable the tracking systems and launch for deep space."

Cardigan heard it all, but he got stuck half way through. "Unidentified creature? What, like an alien?"

"The official report did not rule out such a possibility."

Cardigan sniffed. "You're joking, right?"

Tod looked at Cardigan. "I am incapable of telling jokes. And alien life is far from an improbable scenario. The ship suffered an impact with an object of unknown origin after takeoff."

"You mean a meteor," said Cardigan.

"Perhaps a meteor, perhaps some space junk." As if to jab at his human counterpart's disdain for the fantastic, he added, "Perhaps an alien vessel."

Cardigan shook his head. "I'm disappointed in you, Tod. I never expected you, of all people - not that you're really a people - to believe in aliens."

"My statements do not express belief, as I am incapable of such a human action. Nevertheless, I state the possibility, not because of any certain evidence, but the overwhelming lack of evidence against such a scenario."

Cardigan laughed. "It must suck to be a robot."

"I might say the same of a human with no faith in anything he cannot see or touch," said Tod.

"I'm just a realist," said Cardigan. "Nothing wrong in that."

"You're not interested in the bigger questions of the universe?" said Tod.

"Not really," said Cardigan. "But I would be interested to know if there's a reward for finding this hunk of junk."

"A substantial one," said Tod.

Cardigan's eyebrows lifted in delight. "How substantial?"

"A significant reward for the discovery of the ship," said Tod. "Plus a number of individual offers from next of kin wanting information on their relatives' fate."

Cardigan grinned. "And on top of it all, fame and glory."

"We should report this to the company," said Tod.

"What?" Cardigan turned to the robot. "Why would we do that?"

"The ship is the discovery of Galaxicon Energy," said Tod. "We must report in."

"No," said Cardigan. "The discovery is ours, yours and mine. And me being the human, it really belongs to me, since robots are unable to own property."

Tod was indignant – as indignant as a robot could be. "May I remind you that you are a representative of Galaxicon Energy, and that this fueling station is the property of said corporation. Therefore, the ship was not discovered by you, but by Galaxicon Energy."

"No, no, no," said Cardigan. "This is my discovery."

"And as a representative of—"

"I no longer represent Galaxicon Energy!" said Cardigan. "You heard my uncle. I'm a dead man."

"He did not fire you."

"Then I resign."

"Then as the sole company representative, I must insist you leave this station at once!"

Cardigan smiled a crooked smile at Tod. He looked out the window at the ship. "You say everyone died on board the ship."

"That was the official report," said Tod.

Cardigan grinned. "If everyone died shortly after takeoff, it stands to reason there's breathable air on board, right?"

"It would likely be stale," said the robot. "But so long as there are no system leaks—"

The robot died as Cardigan hit the emergency kill switch. Releasing months of pent up frustration he shoved the droid, knocking it to the metallic floor with a resounding clang. Cardigan raced down the hall and down a set of steps toward the airlocks. He selected an EVA suit and began to dress.

He knew it was an insane risk to take. Even with the jet pack (which would have its own fuel), He stood a less than 50% change of hitting the target. Add to that the fact that he was never very good at maneuvering with a jet pack, this was practically suicide.

But what was the alternative? Wait for Uncle Leo and the cruel fate the old man would bring upon his head?

Before he could stop to think it through, knowing he would talk himself out of it, Cardigan stepped over to the airlock, walking past the doors that once led to the ship's emergency escape pods. (The escape pods had already been used by three of the four previous station attendants; corporate cut backs meant the pods were never replaced, leaving the fourth, Cardigan's immediate predecessor, to kill himself in lieu of any other alternative.) He activated the oxygen pump in the suit, took a deep breath, then stepped into the airlock.

The door to the station shut behind him. Cardigan entered the code into the control panel. Immediately, gravity disappeared around him and the void lifted him off his feet.

### Chapter Four

As soon as he drifted out the door, Cardigan regretted not running back to his bunk for his music player. Space was disturbingly quiet, and Cardigan had never liked the eerie, vacant, complete and utter silence of the void. Even the tiny rockets that helped him maneuver from the station to the ghost ship made no sound at all. It was an eerie sensation every time they fired. He could feel vibration, but he could hear nothing.

Ordinarily, Tod would be on the other end, criticizing him about something or other that he wasn't doing right, but Tod was completely off line for the duration of the excursion, and would remain so until someone switched him back on. Now that he thought about it, turning off the robot was a pretty foolish move. If anything went wrong while he was away from the station, Tod would be his only chance to get out alive. Then again, he never would have made it this far if he hadn't shut Tod down. The robot would never have hurt him, but it was programmed with hundreds of strategies for subduing a human being without causing physical harm.

So Cardigan began humming to himself, determined not to go insane during the silent trip to the ghost ship. It was getting closer now. The scale of the monstrous passenger vessel became more apparent as Cardigan sank into the shadows. There had to be eight, ten decks at minimum. He could probably search for days and find nothing.

But what if he did find something? Or someone? What if something had already detected his presence? What if they were watching him, waiting for him to arrive at the airlock? It could be a gorgeous blonde, so thankful and happy that rescue had finally come in the form of a handsome stranger. Or it could be a flesh-eating space monster. Wouldn't that just make Tod happy, to see Cardigan die at the hands of a deadly alien space monster?

He suddenly wished he had brought along a gun.

Ten minutes - or was it an hour? - later, he reached the airlock. Mercifully, the ship still had power, and the doors opened in compliance. It was odd how ships such as these were so easily accessed from the outside. Not that it was an easy task to hop through space and locate an air lock on a moving ship, but it seemed to Cardigan that someone should have considered it might be a good idea to actually lock the air locks so unwanted intruders wouldn't have such easy access. As the doors closed behind him, trapping him inside the ship, Cardigan made another wish that there would be no eager, human-eating beasts within just waiting for him to trespass.

The hiss of the life support system filling the sealed air lock was music to Cardigan's ears. Soon as the green light went on, he removed his helmet and gulped in the stale but breathable air - choking just a bit on its musty odor. He removed the jet pack and set it aside. He started to remove the flight suit too - but thought better of it. He left the helmet atop the jet pack, but kept the rest in place. Better safe than sorry if he needed to make a hasty exit.

He turned to the main door leading into the ship. Cardigan took a deep breath and hit the button to open the door. There was a creak, a pop, and finally a whirring sound as the two halves of the door roared to life and drifted aside. Cardigan stood his ground, expecting to be attacked and maimed - but to his relief, no attack came.

It was silent outside the airlock. Cardigan stepped through, and an automated system, detecting his movement, brought the lights of the ship to life. He was in the outer airlock control room. The control panel remained at the center of the room, dusty and cobwebbed but undamaged. Only half of the hangers around the room still had suits. Everything looked to be in good order, save again for the dust and cobwebs. Amazing how ships out in the middle of nowhere, absent of human presence, could still be teeming with insect life.

Cardigan found a ship's navigational screen as he stepped out of the control room, illuminating a long, empty hallway. As with the previous room, there was simply no sign of life, save for the cobwebs dangling from the ceiling. He touched the navigation screen and discovered he was on the fourth of eight decks. Ahead of him, at the end of the hall, was a lift straight to the bridge.

_Might as well go straight to the top_ , he thought.

The elevator ride was smooth, quiet, as if it had never been used before. Cardigan felt himself relaxing, the initial nerves beginning to subside. It was a ghost ship. No one on board but ghosts – and as Cardigan did not believe in ghosts, he felt sure there was nothing to be afraid of.

The doors opened. The fear came flooding back.

The bridge was a disaster area, littered with the skeletal remains of what must have once been the ship's crew. Stepping out of the lift, he immediately put his foot into a shattered, broken skull. Few, if any, of the remains were intact. An arm here, a leg here, part of a rib cage, skulls, hips. These people had died a savage and violent death.

Cardigan's heart raced as his mind asked the questions his lips dared not speak: What did this? And is it still here?

A flashing light at the navigator's console caught Cardigan's eye. He gingerly stepped over bones as best as he could, making his way to the front of the bridge. Beside the red light was a small bit of text etched into the touch screen: "Sleep Mode."

Cardigan looked around the bridge. A few of the control stations showed signs of damage, most notably the co-navigator's console and the communication center, but much of the bridge looked to be intact. Was it possible the ghost ship was a sleeping giant, waiting to be revived?

Cardigan touched the red light.

A hum and a whir swirled around him as machines everywhere roared to life. It brought a smile to the disgraced gas pumper's face, as he realized his gravy train had finally come in.

The joy was short-lived, as a shower of sparks erupted from beneath the co-navigator's seat. The seat caught fire. Sirens blared. Cardigan turned around in a circle, panicked, looking for something to put out the fire.

A door opened on the starboard side of the bridge, and a man-sized robot burst into the room on its four all-terrain wheels. Aiming a nozzle at the fire, the robot quickly extinguished the flames. A second nozzle sucked up the smoke hanging in the air. Quick as a shot, the robot was gone, and the sirens were off.

It was impressive enough technology, but then a second robot emerged, this one a spiderbot about a foot tall and a foot and a half in diameter. It quickly disabled the electrical systems leading to the co-navigator's controls to prevent any other fires. Its job accomplished, it scampered back to its own hole in the wall.

"Hey!" The robot stopped and turned in response to Cardigan's shout.

"You mind shutting that one down too?" Cardigan pointed to the communication center. The spider-bot seemed to nod before racing over to do its duty. The electrical connection was cut off as before, and the spider-bot, satisfied with a job well done, raced back to its home.

Cardigan's smile returned. He slid out the high-back seat in the navigator's station and sat down, allowing the auto-comfort system to adjust to his own body and weight. It was the most comfortable chair he had ever had the pleasure of sitting in.

Cardigan began running a check on the navigational systems. A list of twenty checks appeared on the flat screen. Each check in turn - booster rockets, navigational rockets, reactor core, turbines, etc. - began lighting up green in turn. Nineteen out of twenty were soon lit green, with the lone exception being external communications.

Cardigan glanced up at the damaged control station. He knew nothing about electronics. But he did have an electronics wizard on board the fueling station. Maybe he could get Tod to patch it up – and then jettison him into deep space?

As he contemplated his next move, he was stunned to hear the intercom speaker in the cabin crackle and squeak to life. Cardigan covered his ears as the speakers tweeted. A few seconds later came another surprise: a woman's voice coming in loud and clear over the speakers.

"Hello? Is someone there? Hello, please answer!"

Cardigan wasn't sure if he should answer the call. Was it coming from onboard the ship? Could it be that someone had survived whatever incident had taken all these lives? Or was this a trap, perhaps more pirates looking to further destroy what little life he still had.

"Hello, is someone there? Please answer me!"

Deciding to roll the dice one more time on this adventure, Cardigan found the switch to talk back and flipped it.

"Hello," he said.

The woman responded immediately. "Hello, who is this?"

"My name's Cardigan Fox," he said. "Who is this?"

"My name is Tiana," she said. "Are you on the ship?"

"Yes I am," said Cardigan. "I'm on the bridge."

"Are with the company?" she asked.

He wasn't sure how to answer. "I'm with a company. I'm with Galaxicon Energy."

The reply sounded disappointed. "So you're not with the starline?"

"No," he said. "Your ship drifted into one of our fueling stations. I came over to investigate. Were you a passenger on this ship?"

"Yes," she replied.

"How many of you are still alive?"

"None," she said.

"None at all?"

"I've been stranded here for ten years," she said. "There's no one left alive but me."

"I see," said Cardigan. "Just you and the spiders then?"

"And the dogs."

Cardigan paused, looking around. "Dogs?"

"Yes."

"What sort of dogs?"

"Hard to say," she said. "At one time they were probably domesticated. But they've, well, they've changed."

"So these dogs are not good for petting," said Cardigan.

"Not unless you want to lose an arm," she said.

Cardigan sighed. It was always something. Nothing was ever simple. Scanning the room, he spotted a few weapons lying beside the human remains. He walked over and checked a rifle. Power supply was low, but it was still functional.

"I don't suppose you're here to rescue me, are you?" she said.

Cardigan resisted the urge to qualify his answer by first asking if she was pretty. "I can certainly try. Where are you?"

"I'm on deck two, locked in the crew kitchen."

"How do I get there from the bridge," he said.

There was a brief pause on the other end. "You'll have to take the bridge elevator to six," she said. "Then the main elevators on six will take you down here," she said.

"Got it." Cardigan booted up the rifle in preparation for the daring rescue. He started to leave, but turned back, one more question on his mind.

"Tiana," he said, "About those dogs. You wouldn't happen to know where they are, would you?"

"Level Two," she said. "Between here and the elevator."

"Tremendous." Cardigan sighed. He was game, but he was no fool. He searched the room for more guns.

### Chapter Five

Thum!

The thing about motion-sensor light systems, a popular feature in space craft because they provide a significant reduction in energy usage, is they give the individual traveling from place to place a mild case of paranoia. Though the logical mind knows and understands it's an automated, non-intelligent system that simply detects movement and activates the lights so you don't kill yourself, the instinctual side can't help but feel as if you are being watched by some unseen intelligence as each section of light kicks on and off with a loud "Thum!"

Add to that feeling the knowledge that somewhere in the dark, an unknown number of deadly, possibly mutated space dogs is hunting you, and that mild case of paranoia zooms right up the scale to acute.

Stepping off the lift on level five, Cardigan was the picture of cool on the outside. Inside, the debate raged on as to whether he should even be here. It was the right thing to do, rescuing this girl, but what if he died on the way? With Tod deactivated, there was no cavalry, no second chance. She would continue drifting, lost in space, and Cardigan would be dead.

He shook off the fear, determined to stay the course. After all, she might be pretty. Very pretty. She could also be a total dog.

The dogs. Once again, he thought of going back. He shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and made his way to one of the main sleeping chambers.

Thum!

As the lights came on, a shiver went down his spine. Every one of the once pristine sleeping beds, originally polished white with metallic silver trim and tinted glass covers, was shattered, smashed in from the outside and torn to bits. Along each side of the hall were more bones, the flesh long gnawed away. Bloodstains were everywhere, in the glass, on the white frames, and all over what remained of the inner liners. It was a chamber of horrors, one that made Cardigan move with increasingly slower steps.

As he stepped closer to a bunk on his right, examining the shattered glass and mangled metal that something had ripped through to devour its inhabitant, it suddenly occurred to Cardigan that the weapon in his hand was not likely to do him much good against such a creature. This ship had many, many armed men at its disposal, armed exactly as he was. Now this ship was their tomb.

Cardigan wondered what sort of beast could have done this. His thoughts turned back to the dogs. According to Tiana, these were some pretty destructive beasts, but how would they have reached the higher bunks? What kind of dog could have climbed that high, broken through steel and glass, and done so much damage?

Still, if it wasn't the dogs, what could it be? Maybe it was... No, it was too absurd to think it could be an alien. Besides, if such a creature were on board, the girl would have warned him, right?

Maybe the girl's working for the alien. Maybe the girl IS the alien!!!

Thum!

Cardigan shook it off. It was paranoia, brought on by grisly surroundings, the prospect of deadly space dogs, and those darn automatic lights. He would get through this - but only if he kept his wits about him.

Cardigan shut his eyes and imagined himself walking the streets of ancient, early 20th century Chicago, the city the great detective Dexter Manley walked like a tight rope between heaven and hell. He was on a brightly lit spaceship as opposed to the darkened alleys of the south side, and he was packing a laser rifle instead of a partially loaded "stolen" service revolver, but the idea was still the same. Brave the evil that lurks in the shadows and rescue the dame.

Of course, in the pages of the Dexter Manley detective novels, the dames always ended up being nothing but trouble. But that was fiction, and this was reality. Right now, for Cardigan Fox, reality meant he was on a ghost spaceship being hunted by space dogs while he searched for the dame.

At that moment, he would gladly have traded places with Detective Manley, even after the Chinese Dragon Gang put a price on his head.

Cardigan opened his eyes and resumed the long, slow walk down the corridor of death. Breathing slow, scanning in front and behind at regular intervals, his visualization of a 1940's detective on the prowl helped him keep cool, relaxed, focused. At the end of the road was a beautiful woman - no, no, don't go there. Don't get your hopes up. Regardless what she looked like, she was a woman in need of rescue. Even if she wasn't a looker, this kind of heroism would mean never paying for another drink, and never settling for less than the hottest woman in the space bar again.

SCREEEEEE!!!

Cardigan jumped out of his skin and let off a volley of laser fire as an unearthly sound jolted him out of his noir day dream. When the dust cleared and Cardigan peeked out from the debris that had given him temporary cover, he discovered that he had exterminated, with extreme prejudice, a three inch long mouse.

Cardigan exhaled slowly, remorseless for the collateral damage. He never liked rodents on Earth, and the fact they now freely inhabited space craft was just, in a way, wrong. His own fueling station was teeming with mice when he first arrived, and his first week was spent hunting down and killing every last one - only to have a big cargo clunker drop a couple dozen more in his air lock the very next day.

Cardigan found another wall map and checked his progress. He was nearly to the lift that would take him down to find Tiana - and the space dogs. He turned back down the hall. Half the distance he had crossed was dark again. It was still darkness ahead of him. Thum! Another shaft of light behind him clicked off, its time-sensitive motion detectors deciding there was no one within its domain any more.

Cardigan headed down the hallway once more. Two sections down, he was relieved to see the lights come on in the elevator lobby. As he approached the four sets of doors, he spotted another PA system on the wall. He turned it on and called down to the kitchen.

"Tiana?"

There was a pause of about a minute before she replied. "I'm here."

"I'm at the elevator on five, headed your way," he said.

Cardigan heard her sigh in relief. "I honestly thought you wouldn't come."

"Don't you worry," he said, his ego swelling. "I'll have you out of there in no time." He pressed the button for the elevator.

"I think the dogs are asleep," she said. "Be quiet when you get here. You might be able to get the drop on them."

It was a glimmer of hope, though Cardigan wondered if he could really get the better of a pack of animals that had apparently devoured a ship's worth of people.

The elevator opened with a whisper. Like the others, the lift seemed to be in working order and good condition, despite the huge smear of blood about head height on the back wall and a skeleton with a blown out skull on the ground. A suicide, no doubt. The coward's way, some might call it. Given all he had seen so far, Cardigan wondered if the poor devil hadn't chosen the better alternative.

Cardigan found himself fortunate as he discovered the man had died with a fully charged pistol in his hand. Cardigan felt sorry for the dead, but he was grateful for the added fire power.

Level Two. The door slid open, whisper quiet. The lobby lights flickered on. More skeletons. More blood spatter. No signs of life. Gingerly, Cardigan stepped out of the lift, rolling his feet softly as he moved into Level Two. The door closed behind him. Cardigan regretted not hitting the door open button when he was inside.

He touched the map on the wall. The crew kitchen was down at the end of a restricted hall, crew personnel only. The map showed a sealed door off the lobby that led down the hall. Cardigan looked to his right to the gaping hole where the door once stood. As he stepped through, he spotted the door - crumpled and mangled and cast aside like a piece of cardboard. He knelt down for a closer look. The door was covered in scratches, claw marks, deeper than any animal should be able to make.

Cardigan shook his head. He did _not_ want to meet these dogs.

Cardigan peered into the gloomy blackness ahead of him. At the end of the line was a woman - possibly beautiful; she did have a nice voice - and in between, certain death. It was his last change to turn back.

Something inside warned him not to look back. He did it anyway. His shoulder brushed against the dangling skull of a skeleton hanging from the ceiling. He yelped. The skull came loose. It crashed to the deck, echoing down the hall.

Thum!

Cardigan turned to look down the dark hall. He saw a pinpoint of light at the end of the hall.

Thum!

The light seemed to grow brighter, bigger, like a train coming toward him in a dark tunnel.

Thum!

He could hear noises in the distance - scraping sounds, panting sounds. Cardigan shook his head. It wasn't a train advancing, it was worse.

Thum!

The hounds were on the move, illuminating section after section of the long, dormant halls as they raced toward their next meal.

Cardigan raised a rifle in one hand and a pistol in the other. Both hands were unsteady, shaking. Thinking this might be the last moment of his life, he thought back once more with regret on the girl he never asked to prom.

Thum!

No, wait, he asked her. She said no. Not just no, but she called him a creep. It was all the motivation he needed.

Thum!

He could hear the growling, snarling dogs. Another two sections away now. Barely a hundred yards.

Thum!

Another shaft of light closed the gap between predator and prey; and the predator unleashed a fury of laser fire on the unsuspecting dogs. He saw the lead dog torn to pieces by laser bolts. Another went down, losing a leg. Two more, faces blown off, and then another bit the dust losing both front paws.

Only one dog made it through to Cardigan. At it leapt for his throat, he aimed the pistol straight down its mouth, blasting its head into jelly. The dog's body continued on its trajectory, knocking him to the ground. He rolled to his feet, ready to fire again. None remained ready to fight.

Twenty feet away, three dogs were left alive, whimpering from the searing pain of lost limps and other wounds. Cardigan walked to the first, the one with no front legs. She was a mutt; they all were. Probably inbred, definitely feral. But as they lay crying and dying on the ground, they seemed no more deadly than any other dog he had ever encountered. The little boy inside him felt his heart break to see the pooches suffering as they were.

He put down the first with a blast to the head. He took out the other two in similar fashion. Even if one survived, they had tasted human flesh and were unlikely to be redeemable, even under the best conditions.

Cardigan rose to his feet. His path cleared, he walked quickly down the hall, filling with confidence. He thought about the girl, Tiana. He had to be cool. This was a big moment for them both. A happy-ever-after moment? Maybe. Regardless what happened between them, he was about to become a hero.

He never saw the alpha dog coming as it leapt from the shadows and knocked him on his back. Cardigan skidded toward the wall, his hands struggling to keep the snarling jaws from tearing him apart. As the dog flailed its head side to side, Cardigan frantically tried to get his feet curled under him to kick the beast away. He looked left and right for something to give him an advantage - broken metal, glass, anything. The dog bore down on him, jaws snapping, saliva dripping into Cardigan's eyes.

Then suddenly, the dog let out a cry and went limp. Cardigan remained still for a moment, feeling the life drain from the pooch on top of him. He pushed the dog off to his right.

Ten feet away, Cardigan saw a dirty and grimy yet unmistakably sexy blonde woman with piercing, sapphire blue eyes looking down on him with a smoking laser gun in her hands.

She smiled at him and said, "You're welcome."

He smiled back. "Hey."

So much for being the hero.

### Chapter Six

The great thing about space food is that it never goes bad; loaded with preservatives and additives, a can of meat or vegetables or even fruit prepped and packed by one of the major galactic food services could last, by some estimates, almost a century. Health experts and scientists had frequently warned of the long term dangers of living on such a diet, but most space travelers simply ignored them. As anyone who has ever eaten a space burger will tell you, the additives that preserve its life also give it an incredibly savory taste - and as long as it tastes good, who cares if there's a risk of an immediate and fatal heart attack?

Cardigan had been eating space food so long, he was pretty certain fresh, prepared food would never taste as good to him again. Sitting on the counter of the crew kitchen aboard the ghost ship, he devoured a space sloppy sandwich expertly prepared by the damsel he had just saved from certain doom.

"I'm sorry I don't have something better," she said, apologizing for the fifth time.

"Space sloppys are my favorite," said Cardigan between bites. "I haven't had one in forever."

Tiana picked up the now empty food can. "You mean you like this stuff?"

"Love it," said Cardigan. "Unfortunately, my maintenance droid got mad at me and jettisoned the full supply into deep space three months ago."

"Why would he do that?" she asked.

Cardigan winked. "He hates me."

She laughed. "So you work on a gas station?"

"I do," Cardigan replied.

"I don't suppose you have any real food over there."

Cardigan pointed to his half-eaten sandwich. "As good as this? Not at all."

"So nothing fresh?"

Cardigan shook his head. "Just the canned stuff."

Tiana frowned. "It's been so long since I had fresh vegetables. Or fresh anything."

"Can't get that stuff unless you're planet side," said Cardigan. "And even there, it depends on what planet."

"I was beginning to think I'd never see another planet," said Tiana. "I've been stuck here so long. No way to call out. No way really to even leave this room."

Cardigan swallowed a big bite and cleared his throat with a few gulps of water. "So what happened here?"

Tiana shrugged. "You tell me."

Cardigan raised an eyebrow. "You don't know what happened?"

Tiana shook her head. "No a clue. The last thing I remember was being loaded into my bunk. A-365D7, level four. The gas came on, and everything went dark."

"And then?"

Tiana thought for a moment. "I've tried to piece it together so many times. I don't even remember waking in my bunk, to be honest. When I did come to - everyone was dead. There were bodies everywhere. Carcasses just..."

She stopped, overcome with emotion. Cardigan got up and put an arm around her and held her. She had a small frame, petite. She smelled a little funky, but that was to be expected, wearing the same clothes and living in a kitchen for over a decade.

"I'm sorry. I'm just so relieved to see another human being right now."

"It's okay," said Cardigan. "I'm glad when I get to go home after six months. I can't imagine what you've been through."

She looked up at him with those swirling blue eyes. "You know what I want right now?"

"Tell me."

"A shower. A long, hot shower."

Cardigan smiled. "Now that I can arrange for you."

"And some new clothes. Clean clothes."

"I can do that too," said Cardigan. "I mean, if you don't mind a gas pumper's jumpsuit."

She smiled sweetly. "I'm not picky."

After two more space sloppys, Cardigan activated the ship's map on the kitchen wall and located the hangar - two decks up on the starboard side. They made their way down the long hall that had kept Tiana prisoner for ten years to the lift. Deck Four was as dismal and decimated as every other - littered with mangled metal, shattered glass, bones, and blood smears. Tiana gasped as she saw each new section of hallway illuminated.

"Did you know all this was out here?" asked Cardigan.

"I haven't been out of that kitchen since the dogs trapped me inside," she said. "I forgot what anything outside that room looked like. I never imagined anything like this."

"Something tore this ship apart," said Cardigan. "And easily as I dispatched those dogs, I find it hard to believe it was them."

"What are you saying?" asked Tiana. "If it wasn't the dogs, then what?"

Cardigan was stumped. "I wish I knew. And I really wish I knew where it was."

She looked around, fear in her eyes. "Do you think there's something else on this ship?"

Cardigan shrugged.

"What could it be?"

Cardigan turned to Tiana. "I was hoping you might tell me."

Tiana shook her head. "I told you, I don't remember anything. I haven't seen anything else on this ship except the dogs."

"You're certain?"

"Yes!" she said.

Cardigan stepped face to face with her. "It wasn't you, was it?"

Tiana stared back blankly for a moment. Her face curled up in a grimace and she growled at him playfully.

Cardigan smiled. "Yeah, you're a real terror."

They reached the hangar door, only to find the controls had been completely destroyed. Cardigan shook his head in frustration. "You can't get off the ship, you can't radio for help."

"What do we do?" asked Tiana.

Cardigan looked up at the ceiling, twenty feet up. "There's bound to be a way." Cardigan walked back down the wall to the nearest sleeping pods. From his vantage point, the highest pod was in reach of the ceiling. It was worth a shot. He used the butt of his laser rifle to chisel away at the shattered glass in the first pod, took hold, and began to climb.

"What are you doing?" asked Tiana.

"Trying to find a way out of here," he said. He knocked the glass from the edge of the second pod and pulled himself up - where he yelped as he came face to face with the rotting remains of the pod.

"What's wrong?"

"The dogs weren't climbers," he said. Cardigan looked up at the pods above, then scanned the room again. Some of the higher pods still bore the bony remains of their former inhabitants, but just as many were vacant.

Cardigan looked back down. "There's no way the dogs did this," he said. "They couldn't have reached this high."

Tiana looked down the hall nervously. "What if it's still here?"

"Then we need to make ourselves scarce," said Cardigan.

Cardigan resumed his climb. He was up to the third pod now, another one with an occupant still inside, its skull bashed in as if an elephant had stepped on it. He looked down to see Tiana was climbing up after him. "You know," he said, "I can probably open the door for you from the other side."

"If it's all right with you, I'll stay close."

"It's fine," he said. "I'll try not to knock anything on your head."

Cardigan reached the top pod - empty - and climbed inside. As Tiana got close enough, he leaned over to offer her a hand. She climbed up and fell into his lap.

"Cozy spot, huh?" he said.

"A little high, don't you think?"

"You don't like a view?" he said, motioning to their surroundings.

Tiana looked around at the grim sight, a hallway partially lit with sleeping pods turned to caskets stretching off into the darkness. She turned to Cardigan and hid her face in his shoulder.

"Why didn't anyone come for me?"

"I don't know," said Cardigan.

"Did they just give us up?"

He shrugged. "To be honest, I only learned about it when I found your ship drifting into my station."

"Did they know we were lost?"

"According to Tod, they did."

"Who?"

"The robot who hates me," said Cardigan. "He filled me in after he identified your ship."

"What did he say about it?"

"Well," said Cardigan. "At first he said it was impossible. That your ship had been completely lost."

"But why?" she said. "Why would they let us just... vanish?"

"I wish I had an answer for you," he said. "But I don't."

She looked back at the grisly, faces staring up at her from the next bank of sleeping pods. "Did he say anything about what caused this?"

"Not really," said Cardigan. "He said it was some sort of a mystery.

"So no one knows what happened?"

"No, not a clue," said Cardigan. "A few theories, but nothing solid."

"What kind of theories?" she asked.

"Well, it's kind of ridiculous," he said, "But the one he talked most about said that an alien may have crashed into the ship."

"An alien?"

"There was an impact in space," said Cardigan. "Probably a meteor, if you want my opinion. The crew reported it back to Earth, said they were going to investigate, and that's when all the killing started."

"And then?"

"And then," said Cardigan. "That's all there is. Officially anyway."

"They just let us go," said Tiana, sadness in her voice. Cardigan gave her another squeeze. She leaned into him hard. He was beginning to like her.

"Do you think it was an alien?" she asked softly.

Before he could answer, the pod shifted beneath them as the bolts holding it to the wall gave way. Cardigan wrapped one arm tight around Tiana as she clung to him for dear life. Reaching out with his left hand, he grabbed hold of the support rail just above the pod, feeling the full weight of two people as the pod broke away and crashed to the ground below.

"Hold on to me tight," he said. He swung his right arm up beside the left and pulled hard as Tiana squeezed him hard. Feeling with his feet, he found a foothold on the support rail for the pod just below them. He pushed off, reaching up, and smacked the ceiling tile above. The tile didn't budge. He tried one to the left - again no luck. A third blow hit pay dirt, dislodging a ceiling tile and opening a way out for them.

Cardigan put both feet on the lower rail and pushed up. "You've got to go first," he said.

"What if it's up there?" Tiana asked.

Cardigan looked at her. "Would it help if I told you I don't believe in any of it?"

"You don't?" she said, a bit surprised.

The bracket holding the lower support started to creak. Cardigan spoke to her with renewed urgency. "We can discuss it later. Now go!"

Cardigan strained to push Tiana up as high as he could. She grabbed onto the edge of the opening in the ceiling and pulled. Cardigan reached out and gave her a push as she wiggled her way into the ceiling.

As soon as she was clear, Tiana spun around in the darkness and reached down for Cardigan. He grabbed her hand and climbed his way up into the crawlspace beside her.

They lay still for a moment catching their breath. Cardigan looked up at her. He saw fear in her blue eyes.

"See any aliens yet?" he said.

"No," she whispered.

Cardigan decided to have some fun with her. He turned to the black void and shouted, "Aliens! You better not come out here!"

"What are you doing???" she whispered in terror.

Cardigan gave her a smile. "There's no such thing as aliens, hun."

The terror turned to a more severe look. "Hun?"

"I'm sorry, Tiana."

She smiled slightly. "Don't let it happen again."

"Not without your permission," he grinned.

Cardigan turned and crawled toward the outer wall, where he spotted a shaft of light coming from what he hoped would be the hangar. With Tiana on his heels, he crawled through the darkness toward the light. It was indeed a vent, looking out on what appeared to be an untouched hangar.

"I think we're in luck," he said.

Cardigan turned his elbow toward the grate and began to pound on it. The grate finally gave way, and Cardigan could see the hangar clearly - with undamaged two shuttles still in position.

Cardigan slid out the opening, grabbing hold of a ladder bolted to the wall beside the shaft. He turned and helped Tiana out onto the ladder. Together, they walked across the hangar to the shuttle. Within minutes, Tiana was free of the ship that had held her captive for so long. As they broke into the starry void, she smiled, soaking in the moment.

Cardigan smiled too. He had a beautiful girl by his side, and a ghost ship worth billions. No doubt about it. His ship had literally come in.

### Chapter Seven

As the steam built up around her and hot water began to wash away the years of isolation and terror, Tiana couldn't help but shed a few tears. She turned to wet down her long neglected hair, opening her eyes to reaffirm that this was really happening. Cardigan had set her up in his private washroom - a chivalrous gesture, she thought, even if it wasn't the most luxurious of accommodations - laying out a towel and a clean jumpsuit for her to wear. She rubbed the soap in her hands and began to scrub her skin vigorously, watching the dirt and grime of her years in exile slide down through the drain in the floor.

Even as she rejoiced in the end of a decade long ordeal, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling, a voice inside that told her she didn't deserve it. Her time aboard _Lunastar Four_ , alone and isolated, had often felt like purgatory. And even after ten years, she wondered if the sins of her past had been absolved.

Yes, she had left her old life behind. But it was hardly forgotten. The scars of the past remained, internal and external. Tiana glanced down at the hideous scar that marred her wrist. She remembered all too well how it got there. If Cardigan, or anyone, were to find out...

No, he could never know. No one could ever know. That was behind her. In a way, her shower was a baptismal. The old life was gone, and dead. Turning off the water, she stepped out into a new life.

She could escape the past. She had escaped the past. And if it came looking for her, she'd just keep running.

The dining cabin on the station was as neat and orderly as they come, thanks in no part whatsoever to Cardigan. It was Tod, acting as programmed, who kept the place tidy, and not the devil-may-care station attendant. For Cardigan, that meant there was little straightening to do in preparation for Tiana's first meal off the _Lunastar Four_.

Despite the recent loss of space sloppys, the pantry remained well-stocked. Cardigan chose a can of spaghetti and tomato sauce, thinking Italian made for a nice, romantic touch. In lieu of candles, he found a few small reading lights that looked almost entirely unlike candles and set them on the table. He inserted the food canister into the auto-cooker, set it for five minutes, and raced down to the public showers to scrub up.

Cardigan changed into a fresh under shirt, boxers, and jumpsuit, zipped half way up his chest because he thought it looked cooler. He brushed his hair back with his fingers and raced down to the dining cabin to finish up.

He stopped at the cabin door, arrested by the site before him. A cascade of golden, silky hair, still a bit damp from the shower, draped down over the back of a company jumpsuit just a size or two too big for the petite frame of its wearer. Cardigan imagined everything in slow motion as the head turned, tossing the golden hair aside, revealing a soft, delicately featured face with blood red lips and blue eyes that sparkled beneath the station's depressing fluorescent bulbs.

Tiana had already removed the spaghetti from the cooker and prepared two plates, utensils included. She slid them off the counter and shuffled them over to the table, lit with the two tiny work lights.

"Is all this for me?" she asked.

Cardigan smiled sheepishly. "Uh, yeah. Yes it is."

"You went to far too much trouble."

"It's no trouble at all," said Cardigan. "After ten years, I thought you might like something nice. I mean, nice as things can be in a squalid cabin like this."

"It's not bad," said Tiana. "The wash room was clean."

"That's all..." he stopped short of giving Tod the credit on this one. "Thanks, I try to keep things tidy around here."

They sat down at the table together. Cardigan bounced back up out of his seat. "You want a drink?"

"Anything but water," said Tiana.

Cardigan found two of his favorite beers stuffed in the back of the refrigerator. (He had hidden them shortly after the space sloppys incident.) He handed her a drink and offered a toast.

"To those who never made it off - and to freedom." Tiana smiled as she clinked her bottle against his.

They ate in silence the next twenty minutes, like a teenage couple on a first date. Cardigan helped himself to seconds, remembering to offer some to her before he took the last.

"So tell me about yourself," she said. "Who are you? Where are you from? What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Cardigan Fox," he replied. "My uncle's the company president. I'm here because my aunt loves me and refused to let her jerk of a husband toss me out into deep space."

He got a laugh for that one. "So what did you do to make him love you so?"

"It's a long, sad story," he said. "Very sad."

"Was there a woman?"

"Isn't there always?" he said.

She gave him a sly look. "Didn't your mother teach you to be careful of sultry temptresses?"

"She might have," he said. "But I'm pretty sure if she did, I wasn't listening."

"Doesn't surprise me," she said.

He smiled. "Now tell me who you are."

Tiana sat back. "My name is Tiana Renner," she said. "I'm out here because my ship was attacked and then lost in space."

"And you got on the ship, why?"

"Same as most, I guess," she said. "I wanted a new life."

"Fair enough," said Cardigan. "Though that answer leaves more questions than it does give answers."

Tiana looked away, her usual friendly pallor fading. "I needed to get away. From people. From situations. I made some bad choices, and I suffered some tough consequences."

"Bad choices, huh?" he said, fishing for more.

She kept her guard up. "Like you I didn't listen to what my parents taught me."

Cardigan nodded, satisfied for the moment. He lifted his bottle. "To parents - they told us so, but may they never learn enough to have the occasion to say it."

She looked back at him and smiled. She clinked her bottle to his once more. "To parents."

Cardigan downed the last of his beer, then grabbed another round. Tiana accepted her second drink gratefully.

"So what happens now?" she asked.

"I've been giving that some thought," he said. "I don't know if I told you, but there's a huge reward for retrieving your ship."

"Really?" she said. "How huge?"

"Oh, never work another day in your life huge," he replied.

"I assume you intend to collect," she said.

He looked into her eyes. "You want to share with me?"

"I think I've earned at least half," she said.

Cardigan nodded as he took another drink. If everything went according to plan, there would be no need to actually split the reward. True, he had just met the girl, and he barely knew her, but he was already planning their future together. Tiana was gorgeous, and Cardigan had no intention of letting her get away. They would pilot the _Lunastar_ back to civilization, collect their reward, and retire together to a private estate and raise children on the money.

But even if things didn't pan out, half of the figures he had seen would allow him a very comfortable future. Unless he ran into another Alanna.

"Very well, half," said Cardigan.

She frowned, then nodded.

"Something wrong?" he said.

"You caved so easy. I should have asked for two thirds."

He laughed. "Too late now."

"So how do we collect?"

"I'm not sure," said Cardigan. If I call my uncle, he's gonna stake his claim and – oh no!"

"No what?"

"He's already on his way!" Cardigan sat up. Whatever numbing affect the alcohol had had up to this point, it was gone with the sobering reality that his gravy train was about to be taken from him.

"Your uncle is coming here?"

"Long story," he said. "Basically, I'm getting fired."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"But if he gets here," he said, "And we're still here, he's going to claim the ship and the reward himself."

"Maybe he'll share the credit," she said. "I'm sure there's enough money to go around."

"My uncle would never share a thing with me," said Cardigan. He started to pace the room, thinking hard and fast. "I could contact the media. Tell them about the ship. Tell them about you."

"No!!!" Tiana interjected. "I'm sorry - you can't tell them about me."

"Why not?" asked Cardigan. "You know when word of this gets out, you'll be an instant celebrity!"

"I told you, I came out here to get away," she said. "There are people back there that I..."

"You'd rather they never know what happened to you," said Cardigan, filling in the blanks.

She nodded. "I don't want to be famous, Cardigan."

"Understood," he said, taking another swig of beer. "The media jerks probably won't get here before Uncle Leo anyway. If only there were a way to get to them first."

Tiana's eyes lit up. "We have a ship."

"The shuttle would never make it."

"I mean the _Lunastar_ ," she said. "What if we fly it out of here?"

Cardigan sat back and thought a moment. "That's not a bad idea. Imagine the look on their faces when the _Lunastar Four_ all of a sudden pulls into lunar dock ten years too late."

"Or another dock," said Tiana with a stammer. "The moon's kind of distant."

"But that's where you were headed, right?" said Cardigan. "Seems like a fitting end to the journey."

"True," she said, hesitatingly. "But like I said, I don't want to go home. And if we head for the nearest port, that just increases your odds of keeping your uncle from staking any claim."

Cardigan smiled. "It's okay, I get it."

"You get what?" Tiana said defensively.

"You want your feet on solid ground," said Cardigan, "And you don't care where."

She smiled, relaxing a bit. "I guess I am a bit impatient."

"Understandable," said Cardigan. "After ten years." His thoughts turned to the ship. "I ran a systems check when I got to the bridge. It's in good working order. Well, except for a few systems."

"Are they important?" asked Tiana.

"Long range communications," said Cardigan. "Kind of important."

"Do we really need that?"

"Well it would be nice to call ahead let someone know we're coming," said Cardigan. "Would be a shame if they shot us out of the sky. Kind of an ironic end to your journey."

Tiana took a long pull off her bottle. "Can you fix it?"

"I'm not real handy, no," said Cardigan. "Tod does all the mechanical work on the station. In fact, he could probably get communications back up without breaking a sweat."

"I thought the robot hated you," said Tiana.

"He does," said Cardigan. "But he knows what he's doing. And if we're going to fly out of here, we'll need his help. You never know what else might go wrong."

"You're not worried he'll do something to stop us?" she asked.

"Oh, no question he'll try," said Cardigan. "I'll just have to keep an extra close eye on him."

Tiana smiled. "I guess we're all set."

"We'll leave in the morning," he said. "First thing. I'll need your help carrying him down to the shuttle."

"Can't he walk on his own?"

"I'm not switching him back on until I've hidden the space sloppys on the _Lunastar_ ," said Cardigan. Tiana rolled her eyes, but Cardigan stood firm. "You have your priorities, I have mine."

Tiana finished her drink. "Well, I'm going turn in."

Cardigan was a bit disappointed. "Already?"

She nodded. "It's been a long time since I've slept on anything other than a metal slab. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Cardigan lied. "We have a busy day tomorrow."

She stood up. "So, where's my bunk?"

"Well," said Cardigan. "You know where my room is."

"I wouldn't feel right kicking you out."

Cardigan ran the words back a few times in his mind before he got the meaning. "Well, I meant that... I mean..."

"Cardigan," she said, grabbing his hands. "You're sweet. But let's not rush into things, mm-kay?"

He sighed, and gave her a smile. "I mean it. Take my bunk. There's a spare down below I can use."

"You sure?" she said. "I wouldn't mind the spare."

"Take it," he said. "Like you said, you haven't been in a real bed in forever."

Tiana squeezed his hands before rising to her feet. She stopped beside him and bent over to peck him on the forehead. "Good night."

Cardigan watched her go. He was disappointed, and then again, he wasn't. He liked the chase, and he liked that she had turned him down. It was only the first night, and it was still a long journey to the nearest space port.

### Chapter Eight

System boot initialized.

Running diagnostics - check.

Checking for operating systems - check.

Hardware installations - check.

Activating central processing unit.

Activating external sensors.

Online.

Tod's optical sensors took all of a nanosecond to detect that the robot was no longer aboard station 24, its designated work space. Two nanoseconds later, the robot deduced correctly that Cardigan Fox was responsible for its displacement. A nanosecond later, the memory circuits kicked in. Tod recalled everything that had happened right up to the moment Cardigan tripped its kill switch, and it didn't take a great leap of logic for the robot to decide that's what Cardigan had done. The optical circuits locked on to the delinquent gas pumper with all the disdain the machine could muster.

"Good morning, sunshine," said Cardigan. Tod detected the sarcasm and glee in his nemesis's voice.

"You fool," said Tod. "You do realize that by removing me from the station, you have, in effect, stolen the property of Galaxicon Energy. I am logging every moment of this excursion, and believe me, I will be happy to share it in a court of law."

"Bring it on," said Cardigan. "By then I'll be a hero, and I'll have the highest price lawyer in the galaxy on my side."

Tod scanned the room. He was on a ship's bridge, and a quick check of his data circuits led him to the most logical conclusion. "This is _Lunastar Four_."

"That's right," said Cardigan. "And this..." Cardigan motioned to Tiana, standing at a distance. "Is the lone survivor, Tiana Renner."

Tod took note of her clothing. "Your lone survivor is also in possession of stolen property."

"You know, Tod, if I make enough cash, I may buy Uncle Leo out and own Galaxicon," said Cardigan. "And if that happens, I'll not only own you, I'll give you a re-programming with a hatchet you will never forget."

"A foolish gesture," said Tod. "Especially since I have deduced that you obviously need me for something."

"I do," said Cardigan. "I need you to fix the external communication systems."

Tod shifted his visual scanners around the room. The robot had no trouble finding the burned out, destroyed communications station.

"Looks pretty bad," said Tod. "Did the alien do this?"

Cardigan bit his tongue, not taking the bait. "Looks like, yes."

"Hard to believe an alien could do something like this," said Tod. "Must have been an incredibly strong alien. I wonder if he used tools."

"Will you stop with the alien talk already?" said Cardigan, his irritation showing.

"I do hope it's not still on the ship," said Tod. "Did you see any aliens?"

"There are no aliens here," said Cardigan. "Can you fix it?"

"Of course I can," said Tod. "The question is, will I?"

"You will," said Cardigan. "Because you're a robot. It's what you do. The second directive says—"

"Yes, I know my operational directives, thank you," said the robot. "But as you are no longer under the employ of Galaxicon, my responsibility to obey your commands is nullified."

"True," said Cardigan. "But we plan to fly this ship to the nearest star base. And if we don't have long range communications working, they won't know who we are. They might shoot us, which means if you don't fix the radio so we can call ahead—"

"Yes, yes," said the robot. "I will have put you in harm's way." The robot made its way over to the console, muttering as it went. "Typical."

Tod began scanning the damaged area. "Power is shut off?"

"Yes," said Cardigan. "I saw a robot disable it myself."

"Good," said Tod. "Do me a favor and stand watch."

"Watch for what?"

"The alien menace of course."

Cardigan shut his eyes, containing his rage. He turned to Tiana, who was shaking her head.

"I believe you," she said.

"What's that?"

"That robot really does hate you."

"Come on," said Cardigan. "Let's check the crew quarters."

Cardigan cast a glance back at the robot as they headed for the lift. Tod was already engaged, ripping pieces of debris out of the way in preparation of restoring communication. For all his faults - and Cardigan could go on for hours about his faults - Tod was incredibly useful for such applications. Four months prior to their encounter with the pirates, Cardigan had watched the robot patch up a ship with a melted reactor core, restoring just enough functionality to the engines to get the crippled ship home safely. Odds are this would not be the last time they'd need the robot's skills on their voyage back to civilization.

"Have you considered where you'd want to go?" Cardigan asked as they stepped off the lift on level five, a long dark hall ahead of them.

"Not knowing where we are, or how times have changed, I was hoping you would have some ideas," said Tiana.

"Depends on what you like in a settlement, I guess," said Cardigan.

"What are we closest to?"

"Your closest option is the Dutchman colony on Jupiter 6," said Cardigan. "Lots of Amish. Mostly German speaking. But very quiet, if you're into that."

"Sounds a little boring to me," said Tiana.

"There's Jupiter 12," said Cardigan. "It's a small moon they turned into one giant casino and resort. Had some good times there."

"Such as?"

"Oh, you know what they say," said Cardigan. "What happens on Jupiter 12 is illegal on most other colonies and will get you deported."

"So you had a very good time," said Tiana.

Cardigan nodded, the memories floating by. "If you're looking for something middle of the road, the U-3 colony is supposed to be nice. It's a domed city on one of the moons of Uranus, north of the belts. Gorgeous night sky from what I hear."

"Sounds lovely," said Tiana.

"And there's nothing that says we can't stop on Jupiter 12 for a night before we roll on to U-3," said Cardigan.

"Who says we'll be traveling together on our next hop?" she said playfully.

Cardigan said nothing back as they reached the second lift. They climbed aboard and descended to level two and the crew quarters, where they were greeted with the rotting stench of dead dog. Rats and mice scurried away quickly as soon as the doors opened and the humans walked out.

"Maybe crew quarters aren't such a hot idea," said Tiana.

"Let's have a look first," said Cardigan.

Cardigan led Tiana straight to the top, the captain's quarters. Aside from a few spiders that had set up shop and built some webs, the room was untouched. Whatever battles had taken place on board had not spilled over.

"The spiders have to go," said Tiana.

Cardigan nodded and walked to the intercom. "Hello, Tod?"

A moment later, the robot responded. "What do you want?"

"Are there any room service 'bots available? I need a room freshened up on level two.- Unless you want to take a chance on poor Tiana being bitten and killed by a poisonous spider."

Tiana shook her head. Cardigan imagined the robot shaking its head in a similar fashion several floors above. "Just a moment, I'll send one down."

"Thank you, Tod. How's the repair coming?"

"Every minute you tie me up with your chit chat is another minute's delay."

"Then I'll let you get to it."

Tiana bounced on the bed, turning to face Cardigan. He smiled at her.

"Well, I have my room," said Tiana, playful but firm.

Cardigan shook his head. "You're not making this easy on me."

"And what would you think of me if I just let you have your way with me?"

"After ten years in isolation, I wouldn't blame you in the least."

Tiana walked out of the cabin and across the hall to the navigator's suite. It was smaller than the captain's, and a little messier, but it was still a few steps up from what Cardigan had lived with on the station.

"You like?" she said.

Cardigan shrugged. "It's cozy."

"It's totally you," she said, nodding to the uniform that had lain on the floor for ten years.

"How do you know I'm messy?"

"Please," said Tiana. "You think I believed for a moment that you kept that station clean? I may have been lost in space the last ten years, but I know the difference between a house kept by human hands and one kept by a robot."

"All right, you got me," he said.

Tiana spotted a shelf in the wall, covered in with a set of ancient and beautiful items - books. Enchanted, she raced over to check out the collection.

"Look at these!" said Tiana. "I haven't seen books since I was in grammar school. _Treasure Island, A History of the Pirates, Robinson Crusoe, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_."

"I'm noticing a pattern," said Cardigan.

Tiana took down the copy of _A History of the Pirates_. "Look at this. Cardigan, this edition was published over a hundred years ago, and it's still in good condition."

Cardigan took the book as she handed it to him, thumbing through. "Hard to believe this is how people used to read."

"I think it's beautiful," she said. "Have you ever read these?"

"Can't say that I have," said Cardigan. "I'm more of the detective crime novel reader. Dexter Manley, that kind of stuff."

Tiana turned her nose up. "Really? You like those awful movies?"

"The books were better than the movies."

"That's not saying much."

"True," said Cardigan. "But I love them anyway. Books and movies."

"I never liked that kind of thing," she asked. "It's all too real. I mean it's stuff that could actually happen, and that kinda scares me. Monsters and dragons are scary, but at least I know they're just pretend."

Cardigan sat down. "That's exactly why I never liked stories about monsters and dragons."

Tiana looked up at Cardigan. "I figured you for more of a dreamer than that."

"I'm definitely a dreamer," said Cardigan. "I just don't dream about things that aren't real."

"Like killer aliens that can tear apart a space ship."

Cardigan nodded.

"What else could it have been?"

"It wasn't an alien."

"Are you sure?"

"Why does it matter if I think it was an alien or not?"

"You gotta believe in something, right?" she asked.

"I believe in myself," said Cardigan. "I mean I don't have the best track record as far as making good choices or doing the right thing. But at the end of the day, I'm all I have to count on."

"That's so sad," said Tiana.

Cardigan laughed, confused. "Why is that sad?"

"If you don't believe in anything beyond what you can see or touch, what's there to live for?"

Cardigan thought about the question for a moment. "What are any of us living for?"

Tiana rose from her seat. She walked to the nightstand, where a family photo was on proud display. The navigator, whomever he was, had just graduated from the naval academy. His siblings, parents, some kids - nieces and nephews, perhaps - were all gathered around him.

"What are you living for?" asked Cardigan. "Something kept you alive all those years."

"Hope," she said. "That's what kept me going."

"Hope for rescue?"

"For a better life," she said. "Better than the one I had back home."

She picked up the photo of the family for a better look. "This could have been my family. My parents did all right. They gave us all a pretty good life growing up."

"And robots," said Cardigan. "Don't forget the robots."

She smiled. "I had an athletic scholarship. Volleyball. I went off to school, a thousand miles from home, in more ways than one. They paired me with this girl in the dorm, Tricia. We couldn't have been more different. I mean we both came from large families, but Tricia's family..."

She sat down beside Cardigan, her arm brushing his. "There was a darkness in them. I mean really, really dark. My parents had always taken us to church. I never really paid much attention to all that talk about darkness and cults, but when I walked in the dorm, I could feel there was something off.

"Tricia was sweet as she could be, though. And she talked about her own family and faith like, well, like it was normal. Made me wonder what the big deal was and why so many people had a problem with it."

"Religion," said Cardigan. "Doesn't matter what kind it is, it always leads to trouble."

"I wish I'd stuck with mine," said Tiana. "I wouldn't have seen some of the things I did. Blood rituals, séances, and then..."

"Go on," said Cardigan, more intrigued than he cared to admit.

She shook her head. "Well, it's like what you said about Jupiter 12. Stuff happened and... and after that, I had to get away. Away from Tricia, away from school."

"Why didn't you go home?"

"I couldn't," she said. "After all that happened, that was the last place I could have gone."

"Whatever you did," said Cardigan, pausing to rephrase. "Whatever happened, I'm sure they would have loved you anyway."

Tiana shook her head. "Sometimes, there is no going back. You just have to cut bait and run."

Cardigan nodded, amazed how much they had in common in this regard. Not that he was much of a runner, but it was convenient having a doting aunt to cover your tracks when needed. "So you headed for the moon."

"And never made it," she said. "I spent ten years in isolation, thinking about what I had done. That's a lot of time to live with your regrets."

Tiana brushed a few tears out of her eyes. Cardigan noticed the scars on the inside of her wrist. He took her hand; she resisted, but she let him pull it closer so he could get a look. The scars were faded by the years, but it wasn't hard for Cardigan to guess she had tried to end her life more than once.

He let go of her wrist and put an arm around her. Her tear-streaked face turned up, the piercing blue eyes locking onto his. In his best sultry voice he assured her, "You don't have to run anymore."

They remained frozen, locked in suspended animation for a long time. Cardigan finally leaned in.

"Excuse me, housekeeping, just here to tidy up!"

The noise made by the room service robot startled both humans. Tiana jumped up and pulled away. Cardigan could almost feel her closing him out again, shutting up whatever part of her had just opened ever so briefly to him.

"I should get back to my room," she said. "I'm exhausted, and that captain's bed is calling my name. You mind if I..."

"Sure," said Cardigan. "Go ahead, take a rest. I'll probably do the same."

Tiana smiled as she departed the room. Cardigan turned to the housekeeping robot. "Let's make it snappy, okay?"

The robot ignored his comment but went about its work quickly. Cardigan availed himself of the facilities in the wash room, changed into a robe, and laid out on the bed just as the robot was finishing its chores. He shut his eyes, finding it hard to believe that, for the first time in his miserable life, everything seemed to be going just right. He was sitting on a goldmine with this ship. He had a beautiful woman who seemed to be the real deal and just might be into him. Even Tod was cooperative for the moment – not that he trusted Tod fully, but he trusted him enough to follow orders and make the ship travel-worthy.

"Hello?" Cardigan opened his eyes, sitting up and looking at the intercom on the wall. "Yoo hoo, Cardigan?"

He pushed the speak button. "Hey there."

"I just had a thought," said Tiana. "When we get where we're going, people are going to ask about us."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," she said, "If I'm not a refugee from the _Lunastar_ , then who am I? And why are we together?"

Cardigan grinned and said, "Maybe you're my girlfriend."

A few long second passed before Cardigan heard a reply. "Girlfriend?"

"Sure, why not?" he said. "It's as good a cover as any."

"If I'm your girlfriend," she said, "Where did we meet?"

"Vacation."

"Vacation where?" she asked. "And when?"

"I dunno," said Cardigan. "I haven't had a vacation in quite a while."

"Then the story won't fly," she said. "It has to be believable."

"Who's gonna ask us this stuff?"

"When you're rich and famous? Everyone!"

"All right then," he said. "You stopped in for gas, and it was love at first sight."

"Where's my ship?"

"We're in it."

"No, dummy," she said. "In your story. What happened to the ship I gassed up?"

"It got stolen," said Cardigan.

"By whom?"

"Space pirates," said Cardigan.

"Space pirates? Come on!"

"Why not? I was hit by some pirates just before I found your ship."

She paused. "You're lying."

"That's why Uncle Leo is flying out," he said. "They robbed us blind, and he put all the blame on me."

"So the pirates stole my ship," she said.

"Sure," he said.

She shook her head. "It still seems ridiculous."

"It's as good a story as any."

"Why stop there, though?" she said facetiously. "Why don't you say you saved me from some pirates?"

Cardigan nodded, liking the idea. "That could work."

"I was joking."

"Think about it," said Cardigan. "We say you had your ship stolen, that still leads to questions. What kind of ship was it? What were you doing out in that part of space anyway? But, if pirates kidnap you, say on a vacation or something..."

She giggled. "You just want to be the hero."

"Isn't that who I am?" Cardigan.

"Yes," she said. "I believe you are."

Cardigan settled back into his bed and shut his eyes. Tiana went on over the intercom. "You think we can pull it off?"

"The pirate story?"

"No," she said. "The boyfriend-girlfriend act."

He thought about it a moment before he responded. "Well, you know, if you really want to convince people we're together..."

He heard her giggle. "Good night, Cardigan."

"Sleep well," he said, hating and loving the way she played hard to get. "Once Tod gets us back online, I'll get us under way."

As he said the words, he became convinced that Tod had timed the entrance of the service robot just to mess with him. Probably kept tabs on them through some secret security cameras and timed it out just right. Much as he wanted to jettison the robot into space, he knew he needed him. He hated how much he was dependent on the robot almost as much as he hated the machine itself.

For his part, Tod had no feelings of hatred – though he had, in fact, used the encrypted security channels to monitor them on video (timing the entrance of the housekeeper perfectly to annoy Cardigan) and listen in on their pillow talk. Robots don't have feelings, but they come off that way at times because their actions often follow the whims of their masters. Tod didn't answer to Cardigan near as much as he answered to Uncle Leo. As soon as the communications systems were back online, Tod tested the connection by calling Galaxicon.

"Hello?"

"Sir, this is Tod, from station 24."

"You're who?"

"I'm the service robot on station 24. I worked with your good-for-nothing nephew."

"Oh, right." Leo squinted, looking closely at his monitor. "You're not calling from the station. Is something wrong?"

"As a matter of fact, several things are wrong," said Tod, "Your nephew has in effect stolen me and taken me off company property."

"Figures," said Leo. "So where exactly are you calling from?"

"Sir, do you recall a ship named _Lunastar Four_?"

"I remember the _Lunastar_ ships," said Leo. "We had the fueling contract with them. Wait, wasn't four the one that went missing?"

"It has been found," said Tod. "Along with one survivor, a woman."

Uncle Leo sat up in his chair. "By whom?"

"By your nephew; and as it was discovered by an employee of Galaxicon Energy while working on Galaxicon private property, the discovery belongs to the company," said Tod. "That is my understanding of the law anyway."

Leo grinned. "I agree completely."

"Cardigan Fox has instructed me to ready the ship for transport," said Tod. "He intends to fly to a nearby colony and claim the discovery as his own."

Leo chortled. "So, he wants to play hero, does he?"

"Affirmative," said Tod. "If you would like me to stall him until you get here, I have no problem doing so."

Leo thought about it for a moment. "No. Go ahead and prepare the ship for travel. Go where he tells you."

"Are you sure?" said Tod.

"Yes," said Uncle Leo. "Let's have a little fun with him."

### Chapter Nine

The hall was empty, quiet. Dressed in her old clothes, Tiana walked Deck Three slowly, sensitive to every noise and creak inside the ship. Hall Two, Section M, Bunk 21. Second column, first bunk on her right. Like all the others, the canopy of the sleep chamber had been smashed to bits. But unlike most, there were no bones or blood stains to be found.

Tiana peered inside at the bed she had once called home. She had been here many times since the incident, trying to piece things together. How did she get out? Why was she the only one left alive? What had happened to the others?

Thum!

A light kicked on, several sections away. She looked out, trying to see who was coming. Cardigan, perhaps? He was still asleep when she had woken up. Maybe he was looking for her. Or maybe...

Thum!

She could hear the thing as it approached her, its breath heavy and raspy, claws clacking on the metal floor. Tiana started to back away, back the way she came.

Thum!

The clacking claws grew faster, then louder. Tiana's walk turned into a run. She spun around and raced into the darkness, desperate to get away.

Thum!

She could hear the creature snarling, breathing harder. Her own breathing was becoming labored, heavy. Her feet felt like lead. She felt her steps slowing, even as she willed herself to run harder.

Thum!

No darkness between them now, though she dared not look back. She had to reach the lift. She stumbled, fell forward on her hands. She tried to crawl away, but the creature was already upon her.

Tiana rolled to her back as it leapt on top of her, its face obscured by the overhead lights shining down on her. She felt the fur on its strong, sinewy arms as she put out her hands to defend herself. The creature reared back its head and snapped at her wrist, biting into her soft flesh.

Tiana shot up in bed, panting, soaked with sweat. She was in the captain's cabin, the door shut, completely safe. Tiana clicked on the lights and scanned the room. There was no one there, no one but her. She got out of bed and raced into the wash room.

Tiana stripped out of her wet pajamas and climbed into the shower, her limbs still trembling as she let the warm water pour over her. It was not the first time she had had the nightmare, but before Cardigan's arrival, she hadn't had such a dream in years. It felt different than a normal dream. Less of a dream, and more like a distant memory.

Was it a product of her sub-conscious? Or was it a memory long forgotten, an image buried in her mind?

The scar on her wrist burned beneath the hot water. She stared down at the red, swollen flesh on her arm. There were a great many things she longed to forget. Right now, she wished she could remember anything of what had happened on this ship.

Dressed and refreshed, Tiana headed out of the cabin. They were three days into their journey, and the nightmares were growing worse. It was getting harder and harder to hide the fear growing inside her behind her smiles. Something terrible was trying to reach her from the distant past. With each passing day, she felt helpless to stop the faceless terror from intruding on her present, riding from her sub-consciousness.

She knocked on Cardigan's door and waited a moment before deciding he wasn't in. She was still a bit creeped out by the dream. Tiana did not want to make the long trip back to the bridge alone, but the only thing worse in her mind was staying down here alone, so close to the prison she had known for over a decade.

She hurried along as quickly as she could, taking the lift to five then crossing the hall to the lift leading to the bridge, watching the lights flick on in front of her and off behind her. As she slipped into the final lift, she breathed a huge sigh of relief.

Cardigan was on the bridge standing beside Tod at the patched up communications station, speaking into a videolink.

"Hello, Uncle Leo," he said. "Listen, I'm so sorry I won't be there to let you fire me in person, but something rather extraordinary came up. I'm on my way back to civilization with the _Lunastar Four_. That's right, I found the _Lunastar Four_. And once I collect the reward, I won't ever have to work again. I wish I could say I was sad to see my association with Galaxicon Energy end this way, but we both know that's a lie. And who knows? Maybe one day, I'll buy you out? You never know, right? Well, goodbye, Leo, and best of luck to you. Send my love to Aunt Tillie, will you?"

Cardigan pressed a button, stopping the recording.

"You think he'll explode?"

"He will find it utterly infuriating," said Tod.

"Good," he said. "Go ahead and upload it to the station log."

"As you wish," said Tod.

Cardigan turned to Tiana. "Are we being nice?" she asked.

"Just a going away present for Uncle Leo," said Cardigan. "I realized I hadn't left one behind when we abandoned his station."

"How thoughtful," said Tiana.

"I wanted to wait until I knew we were going to make it," he said. "Two days left to U-3, I think we're pretty safe."

Her face brightened. "Two more days?"

"At best," said Tod. "We have been forced to run on thirty percent power, or we would have arrived this morning."

"Thirty percent?" she said. "Why thirty percent?"

"You can thank the mice for that," said Cardigan. "Tod found them chewing on some of the power cables leading to the main thrusters. We'll get there, just not as fast."

"As long as we get there," she said.

"I trust you slept well, Miss," said the robot, pouring on the charm.

"Fine, thank you," she lied. "Could you have a service 'bot change the sheets, though?"

"Of course," said Tod. "Is there anything else I can do to make the journey more pleasant?"

"You couldn't fix the lights, could you?" she asked. "I mean, so they all go on and stay on?"

"If it were possible, I would," said Tod. "Unfortunately, this being a hibernation transport, the light systems do not work that way. When we pull into port and dock, then all lights will come on, but during space travel, it's just not possible."

"Oh come on, Tod," said Cardigan, walking over to join them. "Surely a brilliant mech like you could work around it."

"Of course I can," said Tod. "It would bleed all systems of remaining fuel reserves in a day and you'd be limping into port in about three weeks - provided you adjust course for the delay in schedule."

"Okay," said Cardigan.

"Because the time lag will mean you'll miss your window to arrive at U-3 and end up drifting in space indefinitely."

"Okay, thank you, Tod," said Cardigan. "Go change her sheets, will you?"

"A robot is already en route," said Tod.

"Then do something with yourself, will ya?" said Cardigan. "And let me know when we're in range to contact port authority."

The robot muttered as it headed for the lift, vanishing behind the sliding doors.

"He seems nice to me," said Tiana, smiling as she saw Cardigan's face turn sour. "So U-3?"

"Yeah," he said. "Nice place to live, clean. And the old _Lunastar_ cruise line has an office there."

"That's convenient," she said.

"Yeah, that worked out nice," said Cardigan. "That was the closest one I could find, besides Mars."

"Why didn't you pick Mars?" she asked. "I always heard that was a fun place."

Visions of Alanna danced through Cardigan's head. "It's kind of over-rated."

Cardigan walked to the command console. He hit a few buttons and the view screen went to black. A second later, a lush, orchestral score kicked in as the planet Uranus came into view.

"Uranus," a confident voice actor proclaimed, "Long a planet of mystery, is now home to your new home. Welcome to U-3, the colony of the future!"

The orchestra picked up the pace as a travelogue unfolded on screen. Beneath the dome of U-3 were open air markets, pedways, high speed rail trains, glimmering office spaces, and comfortable dwellings located conveniently near schools. The camera settled on a man, the commercial announcer, as he walked one of U-3's many market places.

"U-3 isn't just like home. It's better. With open air spaces, strategically planned living zones, and the cleanest public areas in the system. And the air?" He took a deep, dramatic breath. "That's the best part. The U-3 dome uses the latest WhisperZone technology for air filtration. No stale smell of old dog here."

The orchestra picked up the volume again as another series of images, filled with happy colonists, flashed by.

"U-3," said the announcer as the planet Uranus came back into focus. "Some call it the future. We think you'll call it home."

"Wow," said Tiana. "It's better than I hoped."

The tone in her voice was less enthusiastic than he expected. He stepped back and examined her closely. "Something bothering you?"

Tiana turned away, sensing his eyes looking deep inside her. "It's nothing. Just a little tired."

"You've been a bit glum the last day or so," he said. "After what you went through, I expected you'd be happier."

"I am happy," she said.

"But something's bothering you."

"It's nothing," she lied.

"Come on, tell me," he said. "I've heard it all. I can take it."

Tiana looked back at him. She had spent two days debating whether to say anything to Cardigan. Unable to keep it inside any longer, she broke her silence.

"I think I saw it."

"Seen what?"

"The creature," she said. "The thing that slaughtered everyone. I've seen it."

Cardigan was noticeably nervous. "On this ship?"

"Yes," she said. "I mean not now, but in my dream."

"You don't think it was just a nightmare?" he asked.

She shook her head. "It was too real to be just a nightmare," she said. "Cardigan, what if there was a monster on this ship? What if... what if there still is?"

He stood silent a moment, not sure what to say.

"What do you think we should do?" he said. "Should we search the ship?"

"The ship has video logs, right?" she said. "Security tapes, or something?"

"They record on a loop," said Cardigan. "Unless you back them up, and there's been no one to do that, they start over and record over themselves every six months."

Tiana looked down, frustrated. "There must be something from before the incident. Maybe a captain's log?"

Cardigan nodded, hesitant to do what he had to do next. Pressing a button on the captain's chair, he spoke: "Oh Tod."

"Oh Cardigan," came the flat reply.

"Is there a chance the captain of the ship left behind a log of some kind?"

"As a matter of fact," said Tod. "He did."

Tiana rolled her eyes as she saw the battle of wills playing out once more. Cardigan was waiting for Tod to tell him how to access the log. Tod was waiting to be asked. Impatience got the better of her, and she took initiative. "Tod, may I please see the captain's log?"

"I'm afraid I need a direct order from the ship's captain," said Tod.

"I told you he's a jerk," said Cardigan.

"What was that?" Tod boomed over the speaker.

"Just show us the captain's log, Tod! That's an order!"

"Very well, since you are the captain - for the moment," came the polite reply. "It will be on screen in moments."

"Thank you," said Cardigan. "Oh, and hey, Tod?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Could you send a robot down to the kitchen to fetch us some popcorn?"

### Chapter Ten

"Is that it?"

"That's it, sir."

"And I'm recording now?"

"Yes, sir."

"I don't want to record this. This is just a test."

"It's a permanent log, sir."

"So all this that I'm doing now, I can't erase it?"

"No, sir. This is meant to be a permanent record of ship activities, so the system is only set up to allow you to record. You can't go back and erase."

"I see."

The captain, dressed in a white shirt with his captain's bars displayed on the shoulder, turned back to the camera. He had a face that could have commanded a mighty clipper ship in the 1900's, with a full, neatly trimmed beard, a sharp nose, and two small, piercing blue eyes. "Well, I suppose I should say something, huh?"

"You're the captain. Say whatever you like," said the robot standing off his right shoulder.

The captain looked into the camera and cleared his throat. "This is Captain Roy Minter," he began, "And I am the inaugural captain of the space cruiser _Lunastar Four_." He turned back to the robot. "Do I need to give the date or time?"

"The system will automatically log those for you," said the machine.

"Good," said Captain Minter.

"Poor guy." Tiana looked over at Cardigan, seated comfortable in Captain Minter's former seat on the bridge with a bowl of popcorn in his lap. Tiana had chosen a nearby seat, one intended for the captain's aide. Cardigan nodded at the captain, still talking on screen. "You can tell he's totally uncomfortable with robots."

"I was referring to his fate as the ship's captain," said Tiana.

Cardigan blushed a bit. "Oh yeah."

"We should be under way in a few days," said the captain. "I'll be making regular reports, so, to anyone who might be watching in the future - welcome aboard. And, thanks for watching. Okay, how do I turn this off?"

"I think you're right though," said Tiana as she watched the captain fumble for the off switch. "Seems to me he's uncomfortable with any sort of machine."

The frame flickered, and then the captain appeared again, this time in full dress uniform.

"Good evening. This is Captain Roy Minter, _Lunastar Four_. We have just concluded the dedication ceremonies for the vessel. Final construction continues in the third and fourth decks, including the installation of the final slumber beds, but I am told all will be completed and in working order by the time we board on Saturday..."

The captain went on about the various dignitaries and media personalities in attendance for the event, prompting a yawn from Cardigan. Tiana was much more intense, focused on the screen. Cardigan could tell she was searching for something.

"We can't fast forward through this, can we?" he asked.

"I'm afraid to," said Tiana. "I'm afraid of missing something."

"He might not have had time to post anything after things went bad," said Cardigan.

Tiana turned to him. "I have to know."

Cardigan nodded. The screen flickered again, and the captain began anew.

"Construction is now complete, and the ship is ready to sail. We will be taxied to the launch pad tomorrow, as soon as fueling is complete. By tomorrow evening, we'll begin boarding, a process scheduled to take a little more than a day."

A tear rolled down Tiana's cheek. Cardigan saw it. Tiana wiped it away. "Sorry. I don't know why this is making me so sad."

"Did you meet him?"

She shook her head. "I never even saw him. But I've slept in his room, in his bed. You're sitting in his chair. He's not just some unidentifiable remains now. He was a real person who didn't have to die."

"Why do you say that?" said Cardigan. "It's not like anyone knew they were being sent to their deaths."

She turned to the screen. "No. I guess you're right. But even so, it makes me sad."

As the captain continued on with his pre-boarding message, Cardigan glanced around the bridge. Odds are the captain was still among them, one of the many sets of remains lying about the bridge - remains he had thoughtlessly stepped over and around and even kicked aside as necessary, all in pursuit of a little fortune and glory.

He looked back up on the screen. The captain was not a man looking to become famous, or achieve any glory. He was a man with a career, a job to do. He sounded like he even cared. Who did Cardigan think he was to profit off the tragedy that befell a man who was just doing his job?

Cardigan hated these morally ambiguous thoughts. Dexter Manley never bothered with moral ambiguities. He did his job, and collected a paycheck when he could and left the moralizing to others. His was a world of black and white, and not just because the movies were made in a time that pre-dated color film. So why did Cardigan have such struggled with them? Why couldn't life be as simple as it appeared in the pages of a detective novel?

"Boarding is nearly complete." The captain was still in his coat, but he was now in the cabin that Tiana had come to call her own. "I had a chance to speak with my wife and kids earlier. They left two weeks ago on _Lunastar Three_ for our new home in the lunar colony. I'm excited to see them again when we reach the moon. Flight Control assures us that we're on target for our launch window, and the navigator is telling me we're looking good for a smooth, safe trip. Hope to be under way soon."

The screen flickered. The captain was back on the bridge, his crew in the background hard at work preparing for blast off.

"Captain Minter here. Boarding is now complete, and all passengers are in deep slumber. Hibernation control reports all passengers are sleeping, stable, and ready for launch. Pre-flight checks now in progress, all hands at their stations. This is a proud moment for me. My first ship, my first command. I served with many men and women who make up the remainder of the _Lunastar_ crews, and I can say unequivocally, this is the finest unit of them all."

The screen flickered again. The captain was still on the bridge, and the activity level around him was heightened.

"Captain's log. _Lunastar Four_ is now en route to the moon, and we have just suffered a significant impact on our hull."

Cardigan and Tiana both sat up. This is what they'd been waiting for.

"Maintenance and engineering crews are headed to the impact site now to ascertain the damage. Systems seem to be operating at normal. Fuel and air supplies are unchanged by the impact. Passengers also remain unaffected."

"We never did check that," said Cardigan. "The impact site. I wonder if anything is out there."

"Hush!" said Tiana, pointing to the screen. The image had changed dramatically. They were no longer looking at the bridge, but what looked like a mini-bridge, or control room. There were dozens of frightened crew members in the background, all holding weapons tightly. In place of Captain Minter was a woman with dark skin, her face partially covered in blood.

"This is Lieutenant Wilma Denning," said the woman. "Captain Minter is dead, along with the majority of our crew and a number of passengers. Those alive are barricaded in the emergency bridge with me or running for their lives. As senior ranking officer, it falls to me to make a record what has happened aboard this ship.

"At T-plus one hour and seven minutes, the ship suffered an impact in outer space with an unidentified object. The exact nature of this object remains unknown, although the size of the object is estimated as that of a small meteor, no greater than four meters in diameter.

"Shortly after impact, a creature of origins unknown was discovered to be on board. It is extremely aggressive, and it kills at will. Since its appearance, it has slain both passengers and crew without mercy and without hesitation. Those who have seen it, and I'm afraid I have not yet, describe it as a furry creature, approximately one and a half to two meters in height, perhaps two hundred pounds at the most. It walks upright and on all fours, and it is extremely fast in either position. The best description, the one floating around among those left alive, is that of a half human, half dog."

Cardigan let out a short, disbelieving, "Huh!" Tiana remained transfixed on the lieutenant as she told her tale.

"All communication with the outside has been cut off. We are alone out here. Even if our situation was picked up on the media broadcast, we're certain that help will not arrive in time. By vote of the crew, we have modified our course and cast off for deep space. We have failed in our mission to carry our passengers to safety on the lunar colony, and we have chosen to go down with the ship. This is not merely a matter of honor, but a decision based on doing the right thing for humankind. Simply put, we will not let this thing get loose among the human population on the moon.

"If anyone gets this message, the crew of the _Lunastar Four_ wishes it to be known we did not go out without a fight. We will fight to the last man or woman standing. God save the _Lunastar Four_."

Her speech ended there, as a terrible sound was heard off camera. There were shouts and screams. Lieutenant Denning stood up, reached down, and the log ended abruptly.

Cardigan and Tiana sat in silence a long moment. She had a look of terror on her face, as if she had seen a ghost. "What do you think?" he asked her.

She turned to him. "You tell me."

He looked at the blank screen, then back at Tiana. "It sounds to me like it probably was the dogs."

"You really believe that?" she asked.

"It had to be them," said Cardigan.

"You said yourself, when you first got here, the dogs couldn't have reached the top bunks."

Cardigan nodded. "It didn't seem possible. But it's the only explanation that makes any sense."

"None of this makes sense, Cardigan," she said, frustrated.

"The only things I found alive on this ship, besides you, were the dogs."

"And why was I alive?" she said. "Isn't it obvious that whatever did this wasn't hindered by doors or barriers? It hunted them all down. Everyone. If it were the dogs, I'd be dead too, but here I am."

She looked back at the screen, fighting back tears. "I should be dead."

"Don't talk that way," he said. "You should be thankful you survived, after what you've been through."

"You have no idea what I've been through." She got up and stormed off the bridge leaving Cardigan alone and confused.

A few moments later, Tod returned to the bridge.

"Well," said Tod. "Did you enjoy your movie?"

"Can you run it back?"

"Of course," came the reply. Tod activated the view screen and restarted the log.

"Tod," Cardigan said, "Is there any way to do a bio-scan? Like scan the whole ship for life forms?"

"I did one as soon as I came aboard," said Tod.

"You did?"

"Much as I disapprove of you and your behavior," said Tod, "My first directive is to keep you alive. As I was confident you had not bothered to do a scan yourself—"

"Just tell me how many life forms you found."

"Do you wish me to include the rats and spiders?"

"Just the big stuff, please," said Cardigan.

"Only two," said Tod. "Yourself and Miss Renner."

"You're certain?"

"Very certain."

Cardigan turned his attention back to the video. He skipped ahead to the final clip with Lieutenant Denning.

"Those who have seen it, and I'm afraid I have not yet, describe it as a furry creature, approximately one and a half to two meters in length. It walks upright and on all fours, and it is extremely fast in either position. The best description, the one floating around among those left alive, is that of a half human, half dog."

"What's that sound like to you?" Cardigan asked Tod.

"Nothing known to man," said Tod.

"Humor me," he said. "Was it the dogs?"

"I don't believe it was," said Tod. "The lieutenant only describes one creature. Having seen the carcasses you carelessly left for the rats, I do not believe any single one of them capable of such destruction."

"But working together—"

"Again, she only describes one creature."

"That looked like a dog."

"A half dog, half human," said Tod. "She noted it could move with equal speed on two legs as well as four."

"Why do you all insist on looking for monsters when there are none?" said Cardigan in frustration.

"Why do you insist on searching for a known explanation?" said Tod.

"There are two of us on the ship. If there was a monster, where is it now?"

"I do not know," said Tod. "But I am confident it was not a dog that brought about this destruction."

Cardigan sat back. "I'll be so glad to leave this ship behind. And you."

Tod did not answer the insult. He stood silent for a moment while Cardigan ate his popcorn. The robot finally broke the silence.

"Miss Renner is rather upset," said Tod.

"I know," said Cardigan.

"She is crying."

Cardigan turned to Tod. "You spying on her?"

"I am patched in to the ship's surveillance system, which means I have the ability to—"

"Just tell me where she is."

"She is on deck five," said Tod. "You should go to her."

The suggestion made Cardigan suspicious. "Why?"

"People need people," said Tod. "Much as I disapprove of her judgment in the matter, she seems to like you."

Cardigan nodded. "Well, if it would make you unhappy."

"I am incapable of feeling happiness or unhappiness," said Tod. "Though if I were, nothing would make me unhappier than to see her in your arms."

Cardigan rapped Tod on the shoulder, the most friendly gesture he had ever given to Tod, and headed to the lift.

He found Tiana on deck five near the elevators, sitting outside the auxiliary bridge where Lieutenant Denning and the remainder of the _Lunastar Four_ had made their last stand. Cardigan looked inside the room. Everything was destroyed. Human skeletons were everywhere, shattered and broken. Like it or not, Cardigan could not deny this was the work of something large and terrible, and not the dogs that he had gunned down on the lower deck.

He turned to find Tiana standing behind him, tears in her eyes. There were no words to be said. He grabbed her and he kissed her. It was a powerful kiss, more intense and more real than the misfit had ever known in his life. It was not powerful enough to knock him off his feet, but that is exactly what happened. The young lovers fell in a heap on top of one another as the entire ship shook.

"What was that?" said Tiana.

"Feels like something hit us," said Cardigan.

He raced to the elevators and hit the intercom button. "Talk to me, Tod."

"I'm here, Cardigan," the robot responded promptly.

"What hit us?"

"You mean the tremor?" said Tod. "Nothing for you to be concerned about."

"Nothing?" said Cardigan. "We both just fell on our butts down here!"

"I assure you, all is well," said Tod. "With the ship."

"What do you mean, with the ship?"

Thum!"

"Cardigan!" Tiana shouted.

He turned and looked down the hall. There was a pinpoint of light. Thum! The light grew brighter. Thum! Brighter still. They could hear a rumble coming from down the hall.

Cardigan raced over to Tiana, pulling her close to him.

"What is it?" whispered Tiana.

Cardigan strained his eyes, looking into the darkness.

Thum!

"You wanted a monster?" Cardigan scowled. "You got one."

Thum!

Flanked by a small brigade of commandos and a smaller brigade of bureaucratic types, the portly, rotund figure of Uncle Leo marched down the hallway.

"Hello, Cardigan," he said. "Nice ship."

### Chapter Eleven

As he lay on a lumpy cot in what, until a few hours ago, was just a storage closet, Cardigan Fox came to the sobering reality that he should have seen this coming.

The entire time Cardigan was working and plotting to run off with Tiana and the _Lunastar Four_ and claiming the reward for himself, he had turned a blind eye to the robot who betrayed him. Actually, betrayal wasn't even a suitable word for it. The robot had never been on his side to begin with. He was following orders from Cardigan only because he had been ordered to do so by Uncle Leo, stalling and buying time to allow Cardigan's fat uncle to race into space with his personal cruiser and snatch his prize out from under him.

"Help him ready the ship," Uncle Leo had instructed the robot. "Help him get her underway, and by all means, set a course for whatever point he tells you to. He'll know if you try to deceive him. Meanwhile, keep me abreast of your course and any changes in plans. I'll be there directly." The slow trek to U-3, the story about preserving power, all of it was a ruse concocted to string Cardigan along like a cat toying with a mouse.

The ship was now moving faster, pulled along by the ship that had brought Leo and his goons aboard. The tow-ship was now cruising along at a brisk pace while a skeleton crew of Galaxicon pilots kept an eye on the bridge of the _Lunastar._ An elite squad of commandos for hire - Leo wasn't willing to trust that the ship was safe – was now on board, searching every corner of the ship for signs of the fabled creature that had doomed the ship on her maiden voyage.

Once he had fully established command, Leo evicted Cardigan from his comfortable room across the hall from Tiana. Tod had already been working behind the scenes to prepare his new bedroom in the storage closet. In a way, Cardigan was surprised that Uncle Leo had even given him a "room," thinking Leo might try to stuff him in one of the empty sleep chambers on a bed of broken glass. But then again, the sleep chambers were all broken, and Leo liked having the option of locking his naughty nephew away when he pleased.

In a rare sign of humanity, Leo let Tiana keep the captain's quarters for herself. Leo took Cardigan's room for himself, of course, and the remainder of his entourage filled in the remaining crew quarters by seniority, including Uncle Leo's golden boy, Marshall Pickering - who came to pick up Cardigan when it was time for dinner.

"Did you really think you'd get away with it?" Marshall asked Cardigan on the way to the crew mess hall.

"The ship was mine," said Cardigan. "I was no longer an employee of Galaxicon at the time I set foot on board. I claimed it out right as a private citizen."

Marshall laughed. "Good luck selling that story after Leo gets done with you."

The mess hall was not quite a mess, but not the finest dining room in which Cardigan had ever set foot. Leo was already seated at the end of the table, with a pair of suits seated down his right side. Tiana sat in the seat closest to Leo on his left.

"There he is," said Leo. "The man of the hour. Come, join us. Your lady fair insisted we save you a seat."

"Thanks," said Cardigan, sitting down beside Tiana. He did a double take when he saw the shimmering blue gown she wore. "A gift from your aunt and me," said Leo, taking note of Cardigan's interest. "Tod was kind enough to send me her measurements."

"That's very sweet," said Cardigan. "And not the least bit creepy or weird." He leaned over to Tiana. "But you look terrific."

"The least we could do for the sole survivor of _Lunastar Four_ ," said Leo.

Tiana and Cardigan exchanged a worried look.

"Actually, Leo, Tiana here is my girlfriend."

Leo chuckled. "Save it. Tod told me everything long before I arrived, as I was telling your lady friend."

"Girlfriend," said Tiana. She gave Cardigan a smile as the two clasped hands beneath the table. Cardigan gave her hand a light squeeze, thrilled to hear her use the word girlfriend but at the same time annoyed and angered by the circumstances.

"I know all about your back story," said Leo. "A nice tie in with your real life pirate adventure. I have to admit, I considered letting it ride, but I'm afraid this is too good not to share with the galaxy. Every human on every world will want to know all about the girl who lived."

"You have this ship," said Tiana. "Let me go in peace. I left Earth for a reason, and I just want to get on with my life."

"Life doesn't always give us that choice, my dear," said Leo. "When I was a young man, my father told me what my future would be. Myself, I wanted none of it. I wanted to be a cowboy, silly as that sounds."

Cardigan stifled a giggle, brought on by the mental picture of his uncle sitting on a horse's back - and breaking it in two.

"But as time went on, I realized I had a greater destiny. I embraced it. And now, look at me."

"You're hard to miss," said Cardigan just as a pair of serving robots entered the room.

Leo pointed a stubby finger at his nephew. "Take his back to the kitchen. When it's cold, then you may serve him."

The robots complied, serving everyone save Cardigan. Marshall, seated opposite Cardigan, made a big show of how delicious the meat was.

"Grain fed Kobe, from Jupiter 2," said Leo. "An occasion like this calls for something special, don't you think?"

"So what's the plan, Leo?"

Leo was too busy chewing his steak to answer. He nudged the man closest to him, a man Cardigan recognized as Andrew Liggins, Leo's current chief of marketing.

"Well, this evening, we have planned a teleconference on the control bridge," said Andrew, wiping his mouth. "Your uncle will reveal to the world the discovery of the _Lunastar_ to the world, and introduce them to Tiana here."

"What?" said Tiana. "You're not going to put me on the air, are you?"

"Well, we can't tell them about you and not show them a photo," said Andrew with a laugh. "Don't worry, you're a beautiful girl. People will love you."

Tiana glared at Andrew as he went on. "The network is sending their senior anchor, Lisa Donovan. She's the one who was on the air when the disaster happened. Watched her lover die on camera aboard the ship. Isn't that sad?"

"Sad," said Marshall. "But what a great tie-in to the story."

Tiana was not amused. "A lot of people lost their loved ones on this ship."

"And they will be duly memorialized," said the other man beside Andrew.

"Are you the funeral director?" said Cardigan.

"My name is Cullen Martin Jr. My father, Cullen Sr. was the designer of the _Lunastar_ ships."

"Really?" said Cardigan, "Let me ask you something. Who decided to call this the _Lunastar_? Did they realize what a dumb name it was? I mean Luna means moon. The moon is not a star. What the heck, right?"

"My father was a genius and a visionary," said Cullen.

"Was he too cheap to hire a focus group?"

"He did hire focus groups!" said Cullen. "Eight out of ten people picked _Lunastar_."

"Eight out of ten people were idiots."

Leo stifled a laugh. "The boy's right, Cullen. It's a stupid name."

Cullen ignored the slight. "I'm here as a representative of the cruise line to pay tribute to those who were lost and honor to the one who survived."

"And to hand off a big, fat check to Uncle Leo?" said Cardigan.

"Indeed," said Cullen. "I was also the one who hired the services of the Elite Special Forces Investigation Unit now pouring over the ship."

"So these guys are here to hunt monsters?" said Cardigan.

"They're here to find the truth about what happened to this ship," said Cullen.

"So they are here to find the alien," said Cardigan.

Leo chuckled. "There was no alien. And no UFO. There's a meteorite wedged into the hull of the ship. Just an ordinary rock, nothing more."

"Really?" said Cardigan. "Just a rock?"

"Just a rock," Leo repeated.

"So what was it then?" asked Cardigan. "The thing that killed everybody. Any ideas?"

"Not yet," said Leo. "To be honest, we may never know. It's gone, and that's the most important thing. It means we're safe to return this ship and its remaining passenger to civilization."

Cardigan felt Tiana squeeze his hand once again.

"Tiana, Cullen's family has offered to provide for you personally," said Leo, pausing between portions. "Any place in the galaxy you want, you can have a home. Never pay another bill of any kind. Never pay for a meal."

"In exchange for certain promises," said Cullen.

"Meaning, if you are found at fault, she can't sue you for taking ten years of her life," said Cardigan.

"Are you an attorney now, Cardigan?" sneered Marshall.

"Just looking out for my girlfriend," said Cardigan, squeezing Tiana's hand again.

"You do realize you could be in a lot of trouble, don't you?" said Andrew, threatening Cardigan. "Not only did you jump Galaxicon's claim on the ship, you stole company property to aid you in escapade, and then you abandoned the station."

"Go ahead, sue me!" said Cardigan. "You can take all I have - which is nothing! Leo will vouch for me on that."

"Pipe down, Cardigan," said Leo. "Much as I'd love to see you die penniless on the streets of Venus, your aunt would kill me. So I've agreed to let bygones be bygones and simply terminate you as an employee, without penalty or compensation."

It was as good a deal as Cardigan could have hoped for. Cardigan smiled, certain that Aunt Tillie had saved his neck once again. Still, he decided to push for a little more. "Can I at least sleep in a room without brooms and mops?"

Leo laughed and nodded. "Of course," he said. "When you retire for the night, feel free to set them outside the door, provided you return them to their proper place in the morning."

### Chapter Twelve

Lisa Donovan was her usual reserved, cool self as she stepped aboard the _Lunastar Four_ , walking past the remains of passengers and crew as if such a sight were commonplace. To someone who had been around and witnessed atrocities from Earth to the outer rim of the solar system, it was almost commonplace. She was there for the bloody mining rebellion on Mars four years ago, when hundreds of men died instantly in an atomic blast and thousands more died a slow, agonizing death from radiation sickness – a mere hundred miles from the glitz and glamour of the red planet's casino district.

Death was no longer an atrocity to a woman who had seen so many die. Yet being on the ship where her long lost lover, the father of her daughter Olivia, had met his end, Lisa could not help but feel something. She had chosen to take on this assignment. It wasn't that she needed the big story; her reputation as one of the top journalists was well established. Yet something deep within drew her to the ship. She wasn't seeking another award; it was something else, something intangible. Closure perhaps? Yes, she was searching for something like that. As she followed behind Marshall Pickering, her eyes locked on to every bone, every fragment that used to be a human being, searching in vain for something.

Any one of these poor devils could have been Ken. Did she really expect she would find him out of so many?

She heard hardly a word that her genial guide Marshall spoke as he led her and her cam-bot up to the bridge. It was corporate drivel, praise for his employer Galaxicon and the typical honorariums for the dead. When they arrived on the bridge, she was surprised to find it completely cleared of bodies and buffed to a like new shine - save for the fire-damaged co-pilot's station and the jerry-rigged communications station. The ship's robot staff had labored for hours to make the ship presentable, working side by side with the commandos who grudgingly accepted their duties as impromptu housekeepers. To a man, they'd rather be killing something, and the creature they'd heard spoken of on the captain's log was a prey every one of them would have loved to get in their sights.

A chair was already in place near the captain's chair, which Leo had chosen for himself for the interview. As she shook hands and greeted the man behind Galaxicon, Lisa couldn't help but notice the strain the chair was under trying to support his massive weight.

"Ma'am," said the cam-bot, "The network is ready when you are."

Lisa took her seat beside Leo. "We have about ten minutes of live time," Lisa told Leo. "After that, we'll tour the ship and tape a longer interview for the special."

"Very good," said Leo.

The face of the cam-bot lit up with the number five and counted down to one. A soft glow came from the face, and Lisa went into her flawless media persona."

"And good evening, or good morning, depending on your corner of the galaxy. This is Lisa Donovan, reporting live from the bridge of the _Lunastar Four_. Seems like it was only yesterday I was in a studio speaking to my colleague Ken Dickens as he broadcast from this ship. Now here we are, ten years later, a long lost mystery finally solved. I'm sitting here with a man most people should already know - though I believe this discovery will make him even better known in the days ahead."

Leo chortled at the comment as the cam-bot turned to include him in the shot.

"Leo Duros is the chairman and CEO of Galaxicon Energy, and the man who found the ship lost in space."

"Thank you, Lisa," said Leo. "But I cannot take all the credit. The ship was discovered by one of our mech-bots working on one of the more than three thousand refueling stations we have scattered through the galaxy. I get the credit, but our machine did the work."

Cardigan seethed, watching the transmission from the crew kitchen on deck two, far away from the live broadcast. Two iron-jawed commandos glared down on him, a deterrent to keep him from trying anything that might ruin his big moment. Seated beside him, Tiana patted him on the hand. "It's okay, hun," she assured him.

"Still," said Lisa, "It is a remarkable discovery, and one people hope will unlock a lot of answers, not the least of which is, what really happened on board this ship?"

"Lisa, that's a question we are working 'round the clock to answer," said Leo. "A specialized forensics team is pouring over this ship for any clues that might tell us what it was that killed all our people."

"All but one, is that correct?"

Cardigan turned to Tiana. Her face was stoic, but he could see the nervousness in her eyes as a photo of her flashed on the screen.

"Indeed," said Leo. "When we came aboard, we discovered one passenger had miraculously survived."

"What's her name?"

"Her name is Tiana," said Leo. "Like everyone else who boarded this ship, she was looking for a new life on the lunar colony. And that's as much as I can tell you now."

Tiana tensed as a photo of her appeared on screen. It was Cardigan's turn to soothe her nerves.

"Can we see her?" Lisa asked.

"In due time" said Leo, grinning like an old fashioned circus show man attempting to lure in the crowd. "She's still undergoing some medical evaluations and such, and she's asked for privacy." It wasn't a total lie, but the main reason they had kept her in the dark was because Leo feared her speaking out on Cardigan's behalf.

"I understand that the Martin family has offered her accommodations for life?"

"Indeed they have," said Leo. "And they are not alone. Galaxicon is going to see to it her children, should she have any, are provided a good education on up through college. She's going to be well cared for. Her and her... loved ones." Cardigan smiled, hearing the disdain in Leo's voice as he said those final two words.

"Well we're certainly eager to meet her, and to see the rest of this amazing piece of history."

"We're excited to share it," said Leo. "Right now the ship is still on lock down, pending our investigation of the ship and the incident everyone's dying to hear about. Meantime we've already set a new course for the _Lunastar's_ permanent home."

"And where will that be?" asked Lisa.

"The place she belongs," said Leo. "The moon."

"NO!!!" Tiana leapt to her feet, shouting. "He can't take us there!"

She turned to Cardigan. "Did you know this?"

Cardigan stood, "Settle down, hun."

"DID YOU KNOW THIS??"

Cardigan shook his head, puzzled. "Of course not. Unce Leo doesn't tell me anything."

"You have to talk to him," said Tiana, tears welling up in her eyes. "We can't go back to the moon."

"Okay, okay," said Cardigan. "Once we get there, you and I—"

"No!" she screamed. "We cannot go there! Period!"

The two armed men in the room moved closer to the couple, ready to act. Tiana glared at them. Cardigan gave them an apologetic smile.

"Look," he said, "Let's not do anything rash. We'll talk to Leo. You're their little darling right now, so I'm sure—"

Before he knew what had happened, Tiana had grabbed one of the two guards, crouched low, and tossed him over her shoulder. Cardigan gasped as the second commando grabbed her from behind, putting her in a vice grip.

"That's enough," he said firmly. The other man rose quickly, grabbing something from his utility belt.

"You're all dead!!" screamed Tiana. "You have to listen to me or you're all going to die!"

The man Tiana had thrown like a rag doll plunged a hypodermic needle into her leg. She screamed, but the scream quickly faded as she fainted. The second man lifted her onto his shoulder. Cardigan could see her eyes, dazed and glassy, looking at him.

"Captain," said the first man. "We've had a little incident with the girl."

"Is she okay?" came the response on the radios perched on both men's shoulders.

"She's alive," said the guard.

"What happened?" the captain replied.

"Not sure," said the foot soldier. "The fat guy mentioned the moon, and she freaked. We've sedated her for now, but I think someone should have a look at her when she comes to."

"Take her back to her room," the Captain ordered. "I'll send the medic down immediately."

The captain turned back to the bridge, where Lisa was just wrapping up.

"We'll have an hour special on the _Lunastar Four_ for you tomorrow evening. I'll be taking a personal tour of the ship with Mr. Duros, and we hope to bring you the first words from the sole survivor, Tiana. I'm Lisa Donovan."

The glow on the face of the cam-bot dimmed. "We are clear."

Lisa smiled at Leo as she rose from her chair.

"That went well," he said.

She nodded. "When can I see the ship?"

"As soon as you are ready," said Leo, pushing himself out of the tiny chair. "Our investigation continues, but we have clearance to view every area of the ship, right, Captain?"

Captain Baldus Tyler nodded. "Miss Donovan is free to explore with and without escort, as agreed."

"I'd like to change first, if you don't mind," said Lisa. "I could use a snack too."

"I'll have something sent to your room," said Leo. His fat hand shook her small one, and she took her leave, cam-bot in tow, from the bridge.

Captain Tyler stepped down toward the captain's deck. "How did she take it?" asked Leo.

"Just as we expected," said Tyler. "Though it sounds like she was much stronger than even you anticipated. My men had to subdue her."

Leo nodded. "Has your contact come back with the information you requested?"

"Not everything," said the Captain. "But he did send this."

Captain Tyler pulled a datapad from his belt. The screen glowed to life, and Captain Tyler pulled up the report he had received just before Leo went on the air. Leo read it and nodded.

"So who is she?"

"Still waiting on that answer," said Captain Tyler.

"But we know she's not Tiana Renner?" said Leo.

"She can't be," said Captain Tyler. "Tiana Renner is dead."

### Chapter Thirteen

Thum!

Lisa hated the automatic lights. It wasn't so much the tendency toward paranoia, though she certainly could understand how that happens. Lisa hated them because they made it extremely hard to sneak about on a ship this size.

From the moment she set foot on the ship, her every movement had been tracked. Leo Duros had carefully planned and orchestrated her visit to make sure she only got the story he and the cruise line wanted her to have. Leo was interested in publicity and fame. The cruise line was interested in covering their butts. Lisa could have gone along and given the galaxy the story they wanted to tell, but that wasn't journalism.

Lisa wanted to get to the truth, and no one was going to keep her from finding it. Twice she had already been caught sneaking off to do her own detective work. Twice Captain Tyler's goons had found her and escorted her back to her room, for her own safety and protection.

This was her third sortie into the ship. She had covered more ground that on her previous two excursions, but she was finding very few clues left to examine. Between the maintenance robots and the commandos turned housekeepers, the ship had been thoroughly cleared of bones, cobwebs, broken glass, and even blood stains. If there was evidence of an other-worldly creature, it was long swept away, wiped up, or incinerated with the countless remains that once populated the ship.

The journalist in her was offended at their recklessness, destroying any chance she had of solving the mystery of _Lunastar Four_. The woman inside mourned anew for her long lost love. There was little to no chance she would find any trace of Ken.

Thum!

In the distance, Lisa saw a light come on. She could hear footsteps - two, maybe three men coming. Did they know she was down here?

Thum!

They were moving quickly. She was determined not to get caught again, but the ship offered precious little cover. She turned and climbed up the nearest stack of beds, slipping inside the second one from the bottom.

Thum!

She lay silent, listening to the approaching footsteps.

Thum!

"You see her?"

"No."

The radio on the men's shoulders crackled. "Check the beds. I saw her hop in one."

Lisa rolled her eyes. It was that blasted robot.

"We know you're in here," said one of the two men. "You know you're not supposed to be down here."

Lisa looked down, carefully placing her hands to lift herself out. It was then she noticed something different about the bed she was in.

"Miss Donovan? Don't make us search all these beds!"

Lisa kept her head low, looking for other telltale signs. It was a million to one find, the needle in the haystack. She had found the one thing Tyler's crew had missed - perhaps the one they would most want to keep hidden.

"In here, boys!"

Lisa sat up. The men – Lopez and Jax, she remembered – were peering into beds on the opposite side of the hall. They turned.

"Okay, let's go," said Jax.

Gentlemen soldiers that they were, the boys helped her down from the bed. Jax, the senior man who seemed to have a crush on her, grinned as he lowered her down, hands on her waist.

"Are we going to go through this every night?"

She patted him on the cheek. "Sweetie, it's my job."

He grinned. "Come on. Back to bed with you."

Lisa gave him a sweet grin as they started down the hall. She quickly scanned the area for markers to help her identify the bunk and its location. She ran the numbers in her head, over and over, burning them like a tattoo on her memory. A quick check of the ship's records, easily accessed from the computer terminal in her room, would tell her if her instinct was correct.

He was back at the casino, stooped over the craps table, on a hot streak. Beside him was Marshall, betting his life away that at any moment, the golden boy would choke. Cardigan lifted the dice to his mouth, almost in slow motion, blew on them, then let them roll. The table erupted in cheers once more. Slaps on the back all around. Marshall pounding on the edge of the table as the dice were slid back over to Cardigan.

Cheers stop. Time slows even more. Heads turn. Cardigan looks up. There she is, descending the steps into the casino as before, her hair flying as if driven by a windstorm five-foot-three-inches off the ground.

Marshall walked around Cardigan, a fist full of dollars held where Alanna could see them. She brushed him aside, setting her sights on the man she had come for. Her arm slid through Cardigan's left. She smiled. He took her hand and pushed her away.

Her mouth dropped as another woman slid into view on Cardigan's right, piercing blue eyes sparking like sapphires in the casino lights. Cardigan lifted the dice. Tiana blew on them, a steady, icy chill brushing over Cardigan's finger tips. He let them roll.

Snake eyes.

Uncle Leo's eyes.

"Good morning, sunshine."

Cardigan let out a yelp, prompting a hearty laugh from his uncle, who towered over him as he lay on his tiny cot. "I hope I'm interrupting pleasant dreams."

"What do you want?" asked Cardigan.

"I need you to come with me," said Leo. "There's a little matter we need to discuss in regards to your girlfriend."

Leo pushed himself back to the upright position, allowing Cardigan room to slide off the cot. All the stooges were in place - Andrew, Marshall, and Cullen - flanking their lord and master.

"Where are we going?" Cardigan asked.

"Just down the hall," said Leo, motioning toward the crew mess hall. Cardigan took his place beside Leo as the group moved toward their destination. The hall looked good, spotless. Cardigan had noticed the commando unit doing clean up duty - removing corpses and cobwebs - and honestly begun to wonder if they were just a military-themed cleaning company.

"What's this about?" said Cardigan.

"Oh, I won't spoil the surprise," said Leo. "I'll let your girl tell you."

"Tell me what?"

Leo said nothing more in the hall. Marshall dutifully scooted ahead of the pack and pressed the button opening the door for Leo and company. "After you," said Marshall to Cardigan with a sadistic glee.

Cardigan saw Tiana sitting at the dining table beside Captain Tyler, who was busy working on his datapad as the entourage entered. "Are we ready then?" said Captain Tyler.

Leo waited until he had squeezed his over-sized rear end into a chair opposite Tiana to answer. "Soon as my nephew takes his seat."

Cardigan sat, looking about the room. "No reporter?"

"No reporter," said Leo. "I feel this is something we need to get straight among friends before we let her in."

Cardigan frowned. He didn't like where this was going.

"Let's cut right to the chase," said Leo. "The world is eager to meet the lone survivor of _Lunastar Four_ , and Miss Donovan is chomping at the bit to meet this lovely young lady. But my friend Captain Tyler here has uncovered a little matter that needs to be handled first."

Cardigan looked at Tiana, who looked back at him with the eyes of a woman about to walk to the gallows. Stoic and serious, Captain Tyler stood to address the group.

"Thanks to the assistance of Cullen Martin and his family, we were able to gain access to a log of ship's passengers from the _Lunastar Four_. Their records do indicate that a young woman by the name of Tiana Renner was aboard at time of blast off."

Cardigan looked at the girl, then at the soldier. "And?"

"And isn't the word," said Leo. "Try however."

"However," said Captain Tyler, taking his cue, "A cross check with personal data files on Earth have led us to conclude that the girl who checked in as Tiana is not, in fact, Tiana."

Cardigan looked at Tiana once again. Her eyes were down, away. He shook his head. "What do you mean, she's not Tiana?"

"Tiana Renner is dead," said Captain Tyler. He slid the data pad across to Cardigan. "Her body was found two days after the _Lunastar_ disappeared - on Earth."

Cardigan read the news article on the data pad. "Police have confirmed that remains found outside the university campus are those of Tiana Leigh Renner, 19, missing since Monday. Her body was found buried in a wooded area near the campus physical plant."

"Miss Renner's body was mutilated and torn to bits," said the captain. "The coroner's best guess was that she stumbled on a bear, a creature indigenous to the area. A thorough of the woods uncovered a few tracks, but authorities were unable to track down the creature that killed her. Nor were they able to identify who it was that had buried her."

"But they have a suspect," said Leo. "Isn't that so?"

"Indeed," said the captain. He clicked a button on the touch screen, and a photo of a much younger woman, identifiable as the woman Cardigan knew as Tiana, appeared on screen.

"Patricia Bloodgood, known to her friends simply as Tricia, also age 19. A fellow freshman at the university, and Tiana Renner's roommate. Patricia vanished the same day as her roommate. Though she was never found, police did find a security camera video that put her at the local rail depot near the university, two days before _Lunastar Four_ launched. Authorities suspected she did, in fact, board the _Lunastar_ , but they never released the report because they were never able to find any hard evidence." He glanced down at Tiana, a bit of drama in his voice as he said, "Until now."

Silence fell over the room. Leo and his flunkies turned their eyes to Cardigan. He looked at each one of them in turn, then he looked back at Tiana/Tricia. Try as he might, he just couldn't shake the pain in his chest, the same one he felt when Alanna appeared on screen in that conference room. Betrayed again? Really?

Tiana/Tricia finally looked up. "Tricia," he said.

She looked down and nodded.

He sighed deeply. He would have given anything for a moment alone with the girl. He knew she wasn't relishing the scrutiny any more than he was.

"So what happened to Tiana?" said Cardigan.

"You heard what he said," she said softly. "I found her... I buried her."

"If you had nothing to do with her death, why didn't you tell someone?" he asked.

She looked up at him, her face a wall of stone. "I had my reasons."

Leo chuckled, enjoying the moment. "I gotta be honest, Tiana - by the way, I like that name way better than Tricia. I gotta tell you, I don't care why you buried the girl. And lucky for you, neither does anyone else. What happened on Earth stays there."

"What?" Tiana couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You're nothing to me as Patricia Bloodgood," said Leo. "But as Tiana, you're a gold mine."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Patricia Bloodgood is a fugitive," said Leo. "There's a reward for you, but as you're not wanted for actually killing the girl, it's not worth it. Chump change. But a real survivor—"

"She is a real survivor," said Cardigan. "No matter what her name."

"She is indeed," said Leo, slapping Cardigan on the back with a blow that nearly knocked the wind out of his lungs. "And in that, she's worth millions."

"You're not concerned that she shares the same name as a dead girl?" Cardigan wheezed.

"My people have already altered the ship's records," said Cullen. "This is Tiana Renquist. The unfortunate similarity between her name and that of a long-deceased young woman was a clerical error made over a decade ago. Miss Renquist has no connections whatsoever to that incident or even the university. She was a nanny to a wealthy couple who, on a whim, decided to chase the stars and start a new life."

Cardigan snorted. "You have it all figured out, don't you?"

"My company stands to make a lot of money off this story," said Cullen. "As does yours."

"He no longer works for me," said Leo. "Any benefit he gets will be at the grace of this lovely young woman. That is, if they'll still have each other."

"Why not?" said Marshall with his erudite air. "They deserve each other, if you ask me."

"Yes," said Leo. "I'm beginning to agree."

"So you're going to make me your puppet," said Tiana. "Trot me out for the cameras as long as there are dollars to be made?"

"More or less," said Leo. "That's the agreement. Considering your alternative, I would choose to cooperate when the time comes."

"And that time is?" said Cardigan.

"Tomorrow," said Leo. "When we arrive at the lunar colony."

Cardigan caught the heavy breath, as if Tiana were carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Leo began the slow process of standing up, pushing hard on the arm rests. Andrew and Marshall raced to lend Leo a hand with the process. Coming to his feet, he caught his breath and said, "Be ready to go by eleven tomorrow, my dear. You're going to have the most famous face in the galaxy."

Marshall opened the door once more. Leo left, followed by Andrew, Cullen, and Captain Tyler. Marshall dropped one more look of satisfaction on Cardigan before leaving, the door slamming shut behind him.

Cardigan looked at Tiana. She looked back. He smiled.

"Well, it seems I know all about Tiana Renner," said Cardigan. "So what can you tell me about Tricia Bloodgood?"

"Tricia is dead," said Tiana.

"Sounds to me like Tiana's the dead one."

"They're both dead," said Tiana. "In case you didn't hear, the name is Tiana Renquist."

"Why didn't you tell me?" said Cardigan, letting his heart out in a melodramatic fashion. "Don't you trust me?"

"It's not a question of trust," she said.

"Would you honestly rather bottle it up?" he said. "Keep it inside?"

"I'd rather take it to the grave," she said darkly.

He waited a moment, then rapped his hands on the table. "Okay then," said Cardigan. "You want to keep it inside, you do that. You get tired of running from your problems, you let me know."

He stood and turned for the door. She looked up. "You ever get tired of running from yours?"

He turned back to her. "I do what I have to do."

"Must be nice having an aunt to cover for you every time you screw up."

Cardigan nodded. He started to leave again, but decided to try once more. "Whatever it is you're hiding, you can tell me."

Tiana gave him a stern look. "By eleven o'clock tomorrow, you'll know more than you ever wanted to know about me."

### Chapter Fourteen

Tiana woke up in a cold sweat, shivering, chills running through her body. She had had a restless night as it was, the nightmares more intense than before. She wrapped her arms around herself in a vain attempt to stay warm, to stave off the inevitable.

The clock on the bed side table said it was after seven standard time. Less than four hours from the moon.

Part of her felt no sorrow for the greedy men now in control of the ship. She had tried to warn them. She had tried to save their miserable lives. They would pay dearly for their greed.

And Cardigan...

A tear forced its way onto her cheek as she thought about the man she had come to love. Yes, she was in love with him. She had come to believe they would make it through this. They would go away some place new, start over, and be happy. Maybe they would even have a family together.

With each passing moment, the door to that happy future closed a little more. The change was coming, and she was powerless to stop it.

She shut her eyes, hoping that Cardigan might survive. She stopped there, knowing it was too much to hope he would ever forgive her if he did.

When the great detective Dexter Manley needed to sort things out, be it clues to a big case or another round of woman troubles, he'd take a walk in the naked city. Too worked up to sleep, Cardigan took to the halls of the _Lunastar Four_ in hopes of finding some way to reconcile the thoughts and doubts rattling around his head. All he got for his trouble was a headache as he listened to the lights "thum" to life each time he left one section for another and "thum" again when he had passed, creating a black void in his wake.

How easy life would be if one could truly turn the lights out on the past. Tiana's accusation had cut him to the core. They were kindred spirits, troubled people who would cut and run at the first sign of trouble. The only difference between the two was Cardigan's guardian angel, Aunt Tillie. No wonder they felt such a connection.

Try as they did to run from trouble, the past had a way of finding you, haunting you, never letting go. Be it bad luck or bad choices, the past had clearly come back to haunt Tiana here aboard the _Lunastar Four_.

He reminded himself that she was not, in fact, Tiana, no matter what Leo said. She was Tricia. She was the dangerous girl who led the innocent, the real Tiana, into... into what exactly? Was it money troubles? Was it a bad crowd, a gang, or some other malicious circle of friends that pulled two innocent lambs into their clutches? Or perhaps it was something darker? Something to do with the occult? She had mentioned darkness in Tricia's past. Dark beliefs, dark practices... not that Cardigan put any stock in such things, though he did believe those who dabbled in darkness had a way of bringing misfortune upon themselves. It wasn't the supernatural, but psychology, self-fulfilling prophecies that caused people who sought dark things to come to a foul end.

Cardigan looked around for a clock, something to give him an idea how far they were from port. Leo and Tiana would be all over the news by then. Cardigan expected Leo to have a few goons standing by to whisk him away, a little extra insurance against his ruining Leo's big moment. Cardigan would go, knowing he had pushed his luck past its limit with this escapade and not willing to fully test the bounds of Aunt Tillie's good graces.

Maybe when things blew over, he'd have another chance with Tiana. After their last conversation, he wasn't so sure he wanted another chance. As perfect as she first appeared, Tiana now felt more dangerous than even Alanna. Just when he thought everything was going his way, too.

"Going somewhere, stranger?"

Cardigan smiled at the sound of the female voice – until he realized it wasn't _her_ voice. He turned and blinked, surprised to see a dolled up, very beautiful woman standing before him. She smiled, playfully, as she stepped forward.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she said. "Bad form on a ghost ship, right?"

Cardigan shook his head, not sure if he was dreaming. "Yeah. Guess so."

She extended her hand. "Lisa Donovan."

A wave of relief washed through Cardigan as he recognized the journalist's name. He took her hand. "Cardigan Fox."

"I know who you are," said Lisa. "And I know what you did."

Cardigan stood, mouth agape, for a second as he groped for the appropriate reply. "Okay, can we be more specific on the 'what I did' part, because frankly, in my life, I've done a lot of dumb things."

"You discovered the ship, right?" she asked. "I know you're the one who was on duty at the station where _Lunastar Four_ was discovered. I know how you got there. I know your aunt's the only reason you're even still around."

Cardigan smiled, intrigued at her knowledge. "You know a lot of things."

"I'm a journalist," said Lisa. "It's my job to know."

Cardigan nodded. "You're a good one."

"I have to be," she said. "It's still a man's world, centuries after women broke the glass ceiling. If I didn't know how to hack computers, read a liar, and snoop, I'd be covering cat shows on Venus."

Cardigan shook his head. "So you know the truth. What are you going to do about it?"

She stepped closer. "I want to tell the whole truth, about this ship, and about that girl. But something in my gut tells me I haven't even begun to scratch the surface, and neither have the men working for your uncle. There's a big story here, and no one on board seems really interested in learning what it is, much less telling it. I was hoping maybe you might want to help."

"In exchange for telling the truth?" said Cardigan.

"Among other things." Her tone was playful, seductive. Cardigan sensed it immediately. He almost felt guilty smiling back, but then again, his faith in Tiana was broken at this point. He had no doubt Lisa intended to his him for her own means, but knowing that going in made it seem okay somehow.

"Well," said Cardigan. "I will do what I can."

"You were on the ship before the others," she said. "Your uncle and his flunkies."

"Yes, I was."

"Did you check the video logs?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Did you see anything unusual?"

"No. Nothing more than what was on the captain's personal log," said Cardigan. "Tod – that's the uppity robot you probably saw on the bridge – he said the security video was erased long ago. The ship didn't have the memory or something, so it kept re-recording."

Lisa sighed, disappointed.

"Not the answer you wanted?" he said.

"No," she said.

"Have Captain Tyler's men told you anything," said Cardigan. "They've given this ship a pretty thorough look since they boarded."

Lisa rolled her eyes. "They're erasing whatever clues are still left on board. They want a pretty, shiny ship for the cameras. Take away the corpses, the broken glass, you erase any chance of finding out what really happened here."

"What do you think happened here?" he asked.

She looked up at him. "You really want to know?"

"Of course," he said.

"There was something on this ship," she said in a hushed tone.

"I think that's well-established," said Cardigan.

"No," she said. "I mean it was here when the ship left Earth."

He cocked an eyebrow. "So you don't buy the alien theory?"

"Come with me," she said, taking hold of his wrist and leading him down the hall.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"To show you something our friends in uniform missed," she said.

Leo opened his eyes and looked at the clock. Nearly eight o'clock. He pressed the button on the night stand and answered the call that had roused him from sleep. "What is it, Tod?"

"I just thought you should know the moon will be coming into view soon," the robot replied.

"Thank you," said Leo. He sat up in his bed and stretched.

"Shall I have the serving 'bots deliver breakfast to your room?"

"Tell them I'll take breakfast on the bridge," he said. "How long until the moon is in view?"

"Within the hour," said Leo.

"Very good," said Leo. "I'll be right up."

The fat man rolled off the bed and stretched some more. Scratching his wide belly, he walked to the mirror to get a look at the man he admired most in the galaxy. Soon they would be on the moon. He would present the ship and the girl to the galaxy. He would be made for life.

No one had to tell Tiana they were getting close. In the room across the hall, the chills were growing more intense. She could feel that old feeling, that twisting, churning, agonizing pain welling up in her gut. Tears began to flow from her eyes. She balled her fists, fighting as hard as she could against the inevitable. She grabbed a fist full of blankets, holding them close. She bit the top sheet - and ripped it like tissue paper in her teeth.

"Dear God," she cried out in agony, "Please don't do this to me again!"

It looked like every other sleep chamber on the ship. Cardigan looked inside the bunk, one up from the bottom, closely. The glass was broken, the controls along the side were damaged. Same story as the others.

"I don't see any difference."

"Look at the others again," she said. "Then take another look."

Cardigan stepped down and looked at the bunk below. Broken glass. Damaged console. Blood stains. He walked down a ways, looking inside the beds. Glass, blood, damage, some more severe than others. He walked back to the bunk Tiana had led him to. He climbed up and looked through the broken glass once more.

"There's no glass inside," he said.

She nodded. "Yes."

"And there's no blood."

"Yes."

He looked down at her. "Something didn't break in. Something broke out."

"Someone," she said.

His eyes widened as the pieces of the puzzle started to come together. "This is Tiana's bunk, isn't it?"

At Leo's request, Captain Tyler dispatched two men to retrieve Tiana from her room so she could watch the moon come into view. The men stopped at the door to the captain's room and pressed the intercom.

"Miss Renquist," said the senior man, using the name given to him by the commander. "Mr. Duros would like you to come to the bridge, please."

There was no answer over the intercom. The men looked at one another, then the senior tried again. "Miss Renquist, are you all right?"

The answer was faint, heard through the door and not the intercom. It was an agonizing scream. The men of action readied their weapons as the senior radioed to the bridge.

"This is Watts. I need an over-ride on the captain's quarters door."

Alerted to the situation, Captain Tyler ordered the video link of the captain's room brought up on the view screen. As Tod opened the door to the captain's room, the men on the bridge looked on in horror. Tiana was still on the bed, writhing and rolling around in agony, half her clothes torn to shreds.

"What's wrong with her?" Leo barked.

"Watts, what's going on?" shouted Tyler as he watched his men race into the shot.

"She seems to be having some sort of seizure," came the reply on the radio.

"Take her down," said Tyler. "Tranq her, now!!"

Tyler and Leo both jumped as Cullen screamed out behind them: "Look!!!"

Everyone watched in horror as the beautiful young woman began to sprout a coarse, thick coat of hair. Her human features became distorted, grotesque. Arms and legs twisted into powerful, muscular animal-like limbs. Her mouth stretched into a snout full of sharp, deadly teeth. Blue eyes narrowed to slits, and ears sharpened to points on top of her head.

As the transformation completed, Lisa and Cardigan raced onto the bridge. "Uncle Leo, we need to talk about Tiana."

"You got that right," said Leo. Cardigan looked up. Lisa gasped. The creature that had been Tiana leapt at the younger soldier, its rear claws shredding open the man's stomach a split second before the powerful jaw snapped on his windpipe, crushing it in the process. Before the senior man could run, the creature took a swipe at the older man, gashing his belly and spilling his guts on the floor. He crumpled, screaming, to the floor, firing wildly about the room. The creature descended on him and tore open his chest cavity with its mighty fangs.

Behind Uncle Leo, Cullen doubled over and vomited all over the floor.

"What the devil is that?" screamed Cardigan.

"That," said Captain Tyler. "Is your girlfriend."

"What, that creature?" said Cardigan.

Tod, sounding smug as ever despite the wave of terror gripping the room, spoke up. "I believe the term you are all frantically searching for is werewolf."

### Chapter Fifteen

With the civilians paralyzed in fear, Captain Tyler went into action, ordering two squads of men to form up on deck five with a third forming up on the other ship, ready to move if necessary. Amid the chaos stood Leo, Cullen, Marshall, Cardigan, and Lisa, frozen solid, staring at the creature on screen as it devour the remains of two well-trained, heavily armed men lying in the captain's quarters.

"Sir!" shouted the captain. "Mr. Duros?"

Leo turned to Captain Tyler.

"Do you want it alive or dead?"

"Is there a choice?" said Cullen.

Leo nodded. "Alive," he said. "Take it alive."

"Are you mad?" screamed Cullen.

"I said take it alive!" Leo bellowed, staring down the smaller man.

Tyler pressed a button on his radio as he walked to the elevator. "Orders are to take the creature alive. McGinley, I want you and your squad on five. We'll use the cargo bay to hold the creature once we have it captive."

The elevator door closed. Cardigan turned to Tod. "Did you say werewolf?"

"I did," answered the robot. Tod froze the image on screen, then rewound. In speeded up motion, they saw the men's bodies reassemble and the creature return to the bed. It began to writhe and twist and flop on the bed as the transformation reversed. The image finally froze again, moments before the soldiers entered, with Tiana lying on the bed, frozen in a look of terror.

"That thing is Tiana?" said Cardigan.

"I don't believe it," said Marshall.

"I think we're all with you there," said Leo.

"But how?" said Cardigan. "How is that even possible?"

Tod once again went into action, bringing up a live image of the moon, growing steadily larger in the view screen.

"Werewolves, according to tradition, are brought on by the appearance of the full moon. As you can clearly see, we are now within sight of the moon. Hence, the logical conclusion is that Miss Renquist, or whatever you all are calling her these days, is a werewolf."

"That's insane," said Cardigan. "Werewolves are not real."

"What do you call what just happened?" said Lisa. "Roll it back again."

"Please don't," said Cullen.

"You don't want to watch, turn your head," said Leo. "Play it again. And for Pete's sake, get a robot with a mop up here to clean up Cullen's mess."

The tape played again. "Slow it down," said Leo. It was painful to watch. Everyone could see Tiana was in agony, fighting with every ounce of energy in her body. Yet her resistance was not strong enough to stop the transformation, the young woman turning into a grotesque, ravenous creature.

"How do we know this was the moon?" asked Leo.

"The time mark on the video indicates the transformation went into full effect just as the moon came into view," said Tod.

Standing beside the green-faced Cullen, Marshall nodded. "If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I'd have never believed it."

"She's a werewolf," said Leo, still a bit dumbfounded.

"She is not a werewolf!" said Cardigan.

"Why do you refuse to believe what's right in front of you?" said Lisa.

"It doesn't make any sense," said Cardigan. "A human changing to a wolf in the full moon? Even on Earth, it's just ridiculous. But... but in space???"

"Mr. Duros, my team is assembled," said Captain Tyler over the radio.

Leo pressed the call button. "Proceed, Captain. Keep your men safe. We've seen what this creature can do."

"Will do." Several decks below the bridge, Captain Tyler turned off the radio. He turned to his men and cocked his weapon.

"Gentlemen, the creature we are hunting took out the entire crew of this ship on its maiden voyage. They didn't have our fire power, but they were armed, and there were more of them. I have no doubt this creature is capable of killing every single one of us just as easily."

The captain cocked his weapon. "I don't care what that fat head upstairs said. You get this creature in your sights, terminate it. Understood?"

Ten men responded in the affirmative" "Yes sir!"

With their captain in the lead they began the long walk down the hall toward the elevators that led to the lower levels.

Thum!

The men stepped in unison, left then right, each with weapons at the ready. If there was fear, it wasn't evident on their faces. Each man kept his breathing steady, his steps even. Eyes scanned every wall, every ceiling, every shadow.

Thum!

Half way there the captain held up a hand, halting the group.

"Something's up ahead," he said.

Eleven weapons were raised, aimed at the tiny spot of light down the hall.

Thum!

The light grew brighter.

Thum!

It was closer now.

"Steady," said the captain, his eagle eye peering through a long range sight.

Thum!

"Hold your fire!" His hand went up. Weapons were lowered. Captain Tyler lowered his gun as the final bank of lights kicked on with a final—

Thum!

Andrew Liggins gave a slight "Yelp!" as he stepped out of the darkness and discovered a squad of commandos staring at him.

"What's going on here?" he asked nervously.

"You shouldn't be here, Liggins," growled the captain.

A bead of sweat dribbled down from Andrew's widow's peak. "Sorry, did I miss something?"

Thum!

The last bank of lights behind Captain Tyler and his men kicked off. Tyler looked back, then looked at Andrew. "We have a monster on the loose."

Andrew laughed nervously. "I'm sorry, monster?"

"It's contained on deck two," said the Captain. "Nothing to worry about."

"You did say monster, right?" said Andrew.

"Get to the bridge, you'll be safe," ordered the Captain.

"Of course." Andrew was sweating as he walked past the men, eyeing the guns in their hands. Captain Tyler signaled his men on with a nod.

Thum!

Andrew continued his walk to the bridge, a bit more timid than before as his mind filled with horrid fantasies about what sort of monster might be lurking aboard the ship. Why wasn't he told about this? He would have to ask Leo.

Thum!

Andrew was midway through the next section when he saw a light turn on, not directly in front as he expected, but far in the distance ahead.

Thum!

The light grew larger. Andrew looked back, horrified to see that the men with the big guns were now at least a hundred yards away.

Thum!

The light grew stronger.

Thum!

Stronger still.

Thum!

He heard something low, guttural, like a growling beast.

Thum!

"Captain!!!" Andrew turned back, peering into the blackness that had separated him from Captain Tyler and his men. He never saw the creature as it leapt out and slashed his throat, spraying fresh blood in the hall that had seen the death of hundreds more.

Tyler and his crew instinctively turned and raced back in the direction of Andrew's cries, tearing headlong into the darkness.

Thum! Thum! Thum!

Like Andrew, they never saw the creature coming.

Two men went down on the left flank, blindsided by the creature as it leapt down on them from above, slashing claws tearing through their body armor like a wet tissue.

Guns roared to life, and one man in the middle of the pack was cut down by friendly fire - the only man to die so quickly. The shooters were on target, and they hit the creature repeatedly, but the bullets sinking into its flesh only enraged the beast.

The werewolf's mighty head lashed out and chomped down on a nearby soldier's leg, lifting the doomed man in the air, and snapping the leg in half. It slashed its forelegs left and right, splitting two more men wide open at the waist and severing an arm from one.

The creature turned its back on the wounded and bore down on the five still standing. As the soldiers opened fire once again, the creature leapt over their heads, dragging razor-sharp rear claws through the scalp of Captain Tyler. The grizzled old marine screamed as his brain began to seep out through his shattered skull.

Two men turned tail and ran for the elevators. The creature let them go, turning to the two men standing their ground. The steel blue eyes of the beast bore down on its prey. One man whipped out his side arm and fired into the creature's chest. The beast sliced his hands off with its claws. Before the other man could grab his secondary weapon, the creature slit his throat open, nearly decapitating him. The creature turned and bit the other man in the neck, silencing his screams and severing his jugular vein.

Satisfied to let the deserters go for the moment, the creature turned and saw the man with the broken leg crawling across the floor a desperate attempt to grab his captain's gun. The creature walked slowly up behind the man and pressed its front claws through his back, puncturing both lungs. The man was forced to watch in silence as the creature devoured him from the inside out.

### Chapter Sixteen

"Tyler!" Leo screamed over the radio for the tenth time since the mercenary cut him off. "Tyler, can you hear me? What's going on down there? Tyler!!"

The lift doors opened, and the two soldiers spilled out onto the bridge.

"What happened down there?" Leo screamed. "Where's Tyler?"

"He's dead!" shouted one of the men. "They're all dead! All of them!"

"That's impossible," said Leo.

"Not at all," said Tod. "When you consider the creature wiped out the original crew of this ship, it is very probable that same creature would have no trouble dispatching a small squadron of mercenaries, despite their—"

"Shut up!!" screamed Leo. He turned to the soldiers, both now back on their feet. "Captain Tyler? Captain Tyler are you there?"

"I'm telling you, he's dead!" said the first soldier. "One of your men too. Liggins, I think."

"Andrew," said Marshall.

"Poor devil," said Leo. He sized the two men up, neither of whom wore name badges. "What are your names?"

"Jax," said the first man. "This is Lopez."

"You all have more men on the other ship, right, Jax?"

"We've got another squad," said Jax. "But I don't think it'll be enough."

"Call them," said Leo. "Tell them to get over here on the double."

"You can't seriously be thinking of sending more men to their deaths, Leo!" said Marshall.

"You have a better suggestion?" said the fat man.

"We abandon ship," said Marshall. "We all get back to your ship and we leave this thing in empty space!"

"We can't give it up now!" said Cullen.

"I agree," said Leo. "We're not ditching the ship."

"You want to die today, Leo?" screamed Marshall.

"Mr. Jax," said Leo, "I'm ordering you to take your men back down below and subdue that creature."

"All due respect," said Jax. "I don't think we have enough man power. That thing is fast and strong, and our bullets had no effect on them."

"Perhaps if they were made of silver," Tod suggested.

Cardigan rolled his eyes. "Oh here we go."

"The robot has a good idea," said Lisa. "Silver is the only way to stop a werewolf. At least, that's what tradition says."

"Have we lost our minds here?" said Cardigan. "Now we want silver bullets?"

"We don't have silver bullets," said Lopez.

"No one does!" said Cardigan. "Because this whole werewolf thing is a joke!"

"Call your men," said Leo to Jax. "Tell them to bring everything they've got, and take that thing out." Leo turned to the Galaxicon pilot crew manning the bridge. There were six of them, four men and two women, each looking in with a look of terror in their eyes. "And tell them to bring some extra guns. I've got volunteers."

Marshall grinned nervously. "I, uh, I hope you're not counting me as one of those."

"Why not?" said Cardigan. "You can hold a gun, right?"

"If I go, you go!" Marshall snapped back.

"I don't work for you jerks anymore!" Cardigan screamed back.

"The more guns we send, the better the odds we have of stopping that thing," said Leo. "I say you all go, the screw up too. Jax, get your men down here now."

"I'm afraid that's no longer possible," said Tod.

Leo snorted. "What? Why not?"

"We are no longer connected to the other ship," said Tod.

"Are you joking?" Lopez screamed.

Leo tromped over to Tod as Cullen teetered and collapsed to his knees muttering, "We're dead. We're all dead."

"Okay, Tod," said Leo. "How did we get separated from the other ship?"

"By mutual consent," said Tod. "When Jax and Lopez gave their report, I felt it was the best way to reduce the possibility of casualties. The captain of the other ship agreed with my judgment."

"You couldn't wait until we were on the other ship too?" Marshall interjected.

"As quickly as the creature was able to move from deck two to five, I did not believe there was sufficient time to abandon ship," said Tod.

"So you let them strand us?" said Marshall.

"Impossible," said Lisa. "The first directive of the laws of robotics forbids you to put humans in danger!"

"If you'll let me finish, Miss Donovan," said the robot. "The moment we disconnected, I took control of the _Lunastar Four's_ navigation system. We are now moving back out toward deep space at fifteen percent power, moving towards thirty."

"You did all that without my authorization?" shouted Leo. "You stupid robot!"

Cardigan shrugged, enjoying this in a sadistic way. "I've been complaining about him for years, but would anyone listen to me? No."

"If the werewolf theory is correct, Mr. Duros," said Tod, "This is our best chance to capture and contain the creature alive. Once we are out of sight of the moon, the creature should resume human form. I believe you will find Miss Renquist far easier prey than the creature she has become."

Leo grinned. "Now that's what I call thinking."

"So what do we do?" said Marshall. "We just wait and hope that thing turns back into a woman?"

"You want to play charades?" said Cardigan.

"Thats not funny!" said Marshall.

"Depends on how you play."

"Both of you knock it off," said Leo.

"How long until we're out of range of the moon?"

"I have calculated the approximate distance we were at when the transformation took place," said Tod. "We should be at the safe point in twenty eight minutes, seven seconds."

Cardigan looked around. "Well, everybody get comfortable." He walked casually over to the captain's chair.

"Uh uh!" snorted Leo. "That's still my chair."

Cardigan bowed and motioned to the chair, inviting Leo to take it. He wedged his girth into the chair with great effort; Cardigan made a great effort of his own in not laughing. Leo looked over at Cardigan and Lisa as the two took a seat on the captain's platform. "So how did you all know?"

"Her sleep compartment," said Cardigan. "Lisa's the one who found it."

"It was the only one not broken into," said Lisa. "Whoever – whatever – was inside, had broken out."

Leo nodded. "You're very good."

"Thank you," said Lisa.

All eyes turned back to the view screen. They could see Leo's ship drifting into view as the moon continued to grow smaller. Marshall spoke for everyone when he asked, "So what happens now?"

Leo wiped the sweat from his brow. "Now, we wait."

### Chapter Seventeen

On the right side of the view screen, the moon continued to shrink into the distance. On the left, a very tense, very nervous Captain Parminter, skipper of Leo's private vessel, appeared to be sweating as the link was established between ships.

"Mr. Duros," said the captain, "I want to sincerely apologize for what happened. The ship's computer acted completely on its own."

"No need to explain," said Leo. "We've already established who was responsible on our end."

"We can over-ride the ship's intelligence systems and re-connect if you like."

"Don't bother," said Leo. "We've got a situation here we need to deal with first."

"As you wish," said Captain Parminter.

"Stand by, and stay close, if you don't mind," said Leo. "We may need your assistance before this is over."

"Of course." The captain still seemed nervous, but relieved as the connection ended. It always amused Cardigan to see how other people cared so much what his uncle thought.

"Tod," said Leo, "How much longer?"

"Four minutes until the point where the transformation began," said Tod.

"We could all be dead in four minutes," said Cullen. "What if that thing finds us before then?"

"It can't operate the lift," said Marshall. "Can it?"

"I took the liberty of shutting down the lift after our military friends arrived," said Tod. "It is currently locked in place, and will remain so until I release it."

"So we're trapped here?" said Marshall.

"And the creature is trapped below," said Tod.

"When we get past the point, I want a squad to go down and find the girl," said Leo. "Assuming she will be a girl when we find her."

"All due respect," said Jax. "I'd like assurances she is just going to be a girl before we go back down there."

Leo glared at him with disdain. "You afraid of something?"

"You would be too, you saw what we did down there!" Jax snarled back.

Leo turned and pointed to the flight crew. "Each of you grab a gun. You are now duly appointed security officers. This gentlemen," Leo pointed to Jax, "Is your new commander."

"Sir, the ship," said one of the navigators.

"The robot's got the ship," said Leo. "You grab a gun; get ready to go get the girl. And Jax, I want her locked down and secured."

"Not dead?"

"Certainly not!" Leo barked.

Cardigan could read the fear on the faces of the pilots turned draftees as they rose from their seats. Jax reluctantly handed out guns to the new recruits as they gathered in front of the lift.

"Tod, any chance you can locate the creature for us?" asked Leo.

"I am having difficulty pinpointing her location. The last confirmed location I had was on level five, near the lifts."

"I thought it was down on two," said Marshall. "You said you shut down the lifts!"

"The lift to the bridge is closed," said Tod. "As are all the other lifts on the ship. I shut them down as soon as Captain Tyler and his men reached level five."

"So how did it get up to five?" asked Lisa.

The robot turned to her. "I believe the creature is traveling another way."

"What other way?" said Lisa.

"Hard to say, Miss Donovan," said Tod. "There are stairwells between the lower levels. She may have taken those. Or one of the alternate passageways through the ship."

"When you say alternate passages," said Cardigan, his eyes looking over Marshall's head, "Are we talking duct work?"

"Yes," said Tod. "That is entirely possible.

"I was afraid of that." All eyes turned in the same direction as Cardigan's, centering on a vent large enough for a small human to pass through directly over Marshall's head. There was a sticky liquid dripping through the vent like saliva, and something was breathing heavily on the other side.

The crew emptied their seats and ran for the farthest corner. Lisa screamed as the werewolf burst through the vent, claws extended toward Marshall. Its teeth scraped across his neck, tearing flesh as he tried to run from the beast.

Cardigan grabbed Lisa and pulled her away. Leo wiggled free of the captain's chair to run for it. The werewolf turned her hungry eyes toward the fat man who screamed, "Shoot! Shoot! For heaven's sake, shoot!"

As the werewolf crouched to pounce on the fat man, Tod made a daring move of his own, sliding between the werewolf and Leo and absorbing the impact of her leap, saving the man's life but sustaining critical damage in the process. The impact severed the head of the robot from the body, sending it crashing to the deck. The werewolf shook its head, got its bearings, and turned this time toward Lisa and Cardigan.

Cardigan positioned himself in front of the girl. He was in no mood to die, but if they were all going out, at least he could be a hero. The werewolf moved slowly toward him. The creature crouched, then leaped with a roar.

Cardigan shut his eyes. He felt the beast slam into him, gyrating and writhing in agony as it collapsed on top of him. Lisa ran, leaving Cardigan alone on the ground with the pitiful creature. Cardigan remain frozen, watching as, before his eyes, the hairy, hideous beast mutated into the shapely, naked form of the woman he had come to love.

With terror and fear in her blue eyes, Tiana looked up at Cardigan. She clung onto him and burst into tears, wailing. Cardigan wrapped his arms around her.

"Someone get a blanket," he said. "Or something. Please!"

Cullen removed his coat and brought it over, covering Tiana's nakedness. She curled up into Cardigan's arms, burying her face, ashamed to look into the eyes that were staring right through her.

Leo turned to Jax and Lopez, who were busy attending to Marshall's wound. The hot shot executive cried like a baby as the two soldiers worked to bandage him up.

Leo was unmoved by his associate's suffering. "Will he live?"

"Yes," said Lopez. "He's fine. Just a bit cut."

"Then leave him be and do your duty." Leo pointed in Tiana's direction.

Jax glared up at him. "Respectfully, sir, where do you expect us to take her? Your robot shut down the lift."

Leo looked back at the sealed lift doors and snorted. He looked down at the shattered remains of the mech-bot.

One of the conscripted soldiers, a former tanker pilot named Scruggs, raised his hand. "Sir? I believe I can make a work around in the computer system and get the doors open. Unless you need me to, you know, play soldier some more."

Leo turned to Tiana. "I suppose that's no longer necessary. Get to it."

Scruggs eagerly tossed his weapon aside and raced back to his station. Leo barked at the woman by the communications station. "Get Parminter back on screen too."

"Yes, sir," came the quick reply.

Cardigan could feel Tiana shivering in his arms. As he stroked her hair, he struggled to wrap his mind around all that had just happened. In a matter of days he had gone from hero to lover to... what were they now? And what was she? Inside, he was still madly in love with the girl he had come to know. But was the woman he had wooed and won the same woman he now held in his arms?

He felt a great many things in the silent moments on the bridge. He felt compassion. He felt betrayal. He felt closer than ever to his hero, Dexter Manley, for whom dames were never anything but trouble. It was Alanna all over again - except this time, the dame was a deadly monster who had slaughtered an entire ship's worth of people and not just a simple spy.

He wanted to erase it all, to make Tiana and her situation go away. And yet he never wanted that moment on the bridge to end. His arms tightened around Tiana, feeling the natural instinct to try and protect her.

"On screen now," said the communications tech. Captain Parminter, a bit more relaxed, appeared on screen.

"Mr. Duros?"

"Captain," said Leo. "You have a detachment of commandos on board with you. I'd like them to come over here on the shuttle."

"Of course, sir," said the captain.

"And if you have anyone handy with a robot, we could use them as well," said Leo. "Our mech-bot had a little accident."

"Of course," said Parminter. "I can spare an engineer. If you don't mind my asking, is everyone okay?"

"We are now, captain," said Leo.

"Forgive my probing," said the captain, "But our ship's computer said you had an incident with a... a werewolf?"

"As a matter of fact, we did," said Leo. Cardigan looked up and was surprised to see what appeared to be a grin on his face.

"Are you sure, sir?" said Captain Parminter.

"If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't claim it. But it's true."

"But that's not possible," said Captain Parminter. "Werewolves are not real."

"This one is."

"But how does that work?" said Captain Parminter.

"Soon as the full moon came into view, boom," said Leo. "Werewolf."

The captain shook his head. "But that defies all sense and logic."

"Tell me about it, Cardigan muttered. Tiana looked up at him, pleading with tear-filled eyes to stop doubting and believe what was right in front of him.

"I'll let science sort all that out," said Leo. "All I know is, the girl who survived is a werewolf, and I'll bet my entire fortune she's the one responsible for what happened to this ship in the first place."

Leo looked over at Tiana. "You can tell us everything, sweetheart," said Leo. "There are no more secrets to be kept."

Tiana looked up. She nodded.

"Captain Parminter, I want that shuttle here within the hour," said Leo. "Stand by for further instructions."

"As you wish," said the captain.

The transmission ended, and Scruggs turned toward Leo. "The lift is back in operation."

"Good," said Leo. "Cullen, if you had a deadly, dangerous creature in your possession, what's the safest place to stow her?"

"The kitchen locker," said Cullen. "But you better turn off the thermostat if you don't want her to freeze to death."

"Very good," said Leo. "Jax, please escort Miss Renquist to the locker."

Jax nodded. With his lone remaining partner by his side, he walked over to the girl and lifted her out of Cardigan's arms, careful to help her keep covered and retain some sense of modesty. Tiana looked back at Cardigan.

"I'm sorry," she said.

He shrugged. "I'm sorry too."

"Come on, Jax," said Leo. "We have work to do."

Lisa walked to Leo as the commandos loaded Tiana into the lift. "You don't mind if I walk down with them, do you?"

"Not at all," said Leo.

"I may have something in my cabin she can wear," said Lisa. "If that's all right with her."

Tiana looked up. She nodded and muttered, "Thank you."

Lisa turned back to Leo. "And when you're ready, I'd like to have access to the video feeds on what just happened."

Leo grinned. "Ready when you are."

Lisa gave him a smile before racing to the lift. Cardigan watched as the doors closed on Lisa and Tiana, feeling sorry for himself and the rotten luck that continued to curse him.

### Chapter Eighteen

Ten men were stationed in the kitchen on one side of a locked and sealed metal door that contained one small, frightened young woman. Tiana, dressed in one of Lisa's nicer outfits and bundled in two blankets, continued to shiver. The thermostat had been turned off, but the locker remained below fifty degrees for the moment.

Lisa watched through the shatterproof port hole on the door. Lopez walked over to take a peek for himself.

"Story of the century," he said.

"No, no," she said. "This is way bigger than that."

"You must be lucky, huh? A story this big?"

She shook her head. "That thing in there killed the father of my child. I wouldn't call that lucky."

"We'll be lucky to get off this boat alive," said Jax. "That thing gets loose again, these weapons ain't gonna take it down."

"So how do you kill a werewolf?" asked Harris, one of the new arrivals.

"Silver bullet," said McBride, the youngest of the group. "That's what they do in the movies."

"This ain't the movies," said Lopez.

"That's a real werewolf in there," said McBride. "If that's real, why not the silver bullet thing?"

"You know where we can find silver bullets?" said Jax, evoking laughter from the rest of his men.

Down the hall from the kitchen where his estranged lover was being held captive, Cardigan decided to relieve his boredom by attempting to find something to watch on the television in the officer's lounge. It took half an hour of tinkering, but Cardigan got it up and working just in time to regret he ever bothered. There, in living color, he saw himself getting jumped by the beast just before it morphed back into the naked form of Tiana.

"You can see here again the images that have rocked mankind," said the strong, firm anchorman's voice over the video footage, which seemed to be on a loop. "From the dawn of man, we have feared the unknown, the supernatural, monsters. Now, living proof that those fears were not merely irrational manifestations of our subconscious imaginations. With us now is Dr. Hanz Karzoff, chairman of mythological studies at New Boston University, Saturn. Dr. Karzoff, what will be the long term impact of this discovery on academia?"

"Vell, Steve," said the man with the thick Slavic accent, "Zis cannot help but shake academia to its foundations. Not only zience, but literature, hiztory, everyzing. It vould force us not only to akzept werewolves as real, but to re-eggzamine all zee old myths. Vampires, for instanz."

"It would almost seem, Dr. Karzoff, that you have, overnight, become a scholar not of fiction and fantasy, but of history and science yourself."

"Heh heh heh," chuckled the academic. "Yes, it vould seem zat vay. If it is proven zis is not, how you say? Hokey pokey?"

"Dr. Karzoff, am I understanding you to say you don't believe this to be legitimate, actual footage of a werewolf?" said the anchor.

"Steve, all I am zaying is zat ve have zeen zis kind of sheznaniganz before," said Dr. Karzoff. "Vether it is menz in costumez, or camera trickz, or some uzzer kind of poppycock, az long az men haff vunted to believe in monsterz, zere haff been men villing to fake zese monsterz in order to fool zere fellow man."

"So despite the sources and the eyewitnesses, including our own Lisa Donovan, you believe this could be just another hoax?"

"Yes," said Dr. Karzoff. "You have zummarized my conclushunz perfectly."

Cardigan shut off the television, annoyed at the arrogance and stubbornness of the old college professor. You'd think a man who spent his life studying monsters and mythology would be willing to embrace living proof of the fantastic. How could he possibly argue with such proof?

Was he really in denial? Had he seen so many false claims in the past to believe so easily? Or was it fear, not simply of the creature, but of having to face the fact that everything he had ever believed in his life might be completely and utterly wrong?

The existence of werewolves was a Pandora's box. Believe, and you would have to accept many other creatures, as the professor had said, might also be real. These were creatures that could not be quantified, categorized, and explained with the same scientific theories as the rest of nature. They were, for lack of a better word, supernatural beings, inconvenient truths to those who liked their worldview neat, tidy, and without loose ends. Pull the string and you were likely to unravel the fabric of all science, history - everything.

Who was Cardigan to judge the old scholar in this regard? He was just as unwilling to accept the existence of a werewolf - a creature he had seen, felt, touched, and smelled up close and personal.

Of course in his instance, it was more than a shifting of worldview that was at stake. The woman he had come to truly love, the one he honestly thought he could live a long and happy life with, was the living proof that the whole of existence he and just about everyone else had taken for granted was wrong, wrong, wrong.

It would be one thing if she were an alien, or maybe a heavenly angel. But why, why did she have to be a lousy werewolf?

Cardigan left the room in search of food. He found it no surprise at all when he wandered into the dining hall and discovered Marshall sitting beside his uncle, the latter in mid-feast at the mid-point of the afternoon.

"Cardigan," said Uncle Leo cheerfully. "Pull up a chair, my boy."

Cardigan slid into the seat to Leo's right. The big man tossed a few pieces of some meat at his nephew.

"Try 'em," he said. "Neptune Wings. Well, chicken wings, but in a special Neptune sauce. Try it. It's unbelievable."

Cardigan picked up a piece of the thickly slathered meat and examined it closely. He took a bite and nodded his approval. "Not bad."

"Met a guy last time I was up there," said Leo. "Runs a greasy spoon diner. He came up with the sauce. We talked, and I agreed to invest in his business. We'll have it in stores across the solar system in about two years."

"It's good stuff." Cardigan finished the first piece and attacked a second.

"Slow down there, hot shot," said Marshall. "You don't want to choke."

"You'd love to see that wouldn't you?" said Cardigan. He looked up at the bandage strapped to Marshall's neck. "How's that love bite my girlfriend gave you? Healing any?"

"You jealous?" said Marshall.

"Why would I be jealous?" said Cardigan.

"I know you never got to first with her," said Marshall.

"How would you know that?" said Cardigan.

The answer came to him before Marshall said could say it. "Your old buddy, Tod. Gave us all the scoop. You couldn't even come close to closing the deal."

Cardigan responded in the most mature manner he could – by jabbing his finger into the bandage. Marshall yelped and pulled back to punch his rival.

"Marshall!" Leo barked. "Much as I'd love to see Cardigan get pummeled, I can't allow it. Do me a favor and go see if Cullen had any luck with that investment group yet."

Marshall lowered his hand. "You got it, Leo." He shot Cardigan a dirty look as he rose to leave the room.

"So, Cardigan, you catch the news?" said Leo.

Cardigan nodded. "You're throwing the academic world into a fit."

Leo chuckled, almost choking on a piece of chicken. "I heard that. Half the world thinks I'm a charlatan. Even after seeing the video."

"Videos can be faked."

"You and I know," said Leo, "she's the real deal."

Cardigan admitted aloud for the first time. "She is."

"Which means we're going to make an even bigger mint off her than we thought."

Cardigan didn't like the sound of that. "What do you mean?"

"Would you have ever believed she was a werewolf without seeing it with your own eyes?"

Cardigan shook his head no.

"Imagine what people will pay," said Leo, "to see it for themselves."

Cardigan felt a sick, queasy feeling rising up from his stomach. "You're going to put her on display, aren't you? Like some zoo animal?"

Leo shook his head. "Cullen and I have discussed this. We put her in a cage some place where all people see is the wolf, and we're still just a side show. But, give people the chance to see a beautiful woman become the beast - ha ha! Then you have something."

"So every full moon, people come out to the freak show and watch the poor girl transform, is that it?" said Cardigan.

"Why wait for the full moon?" said Leo. "And why have to settle for living on Earth? We keep her out here in space, people ferry out in a cruiser, then we bring them on board the ghost ship itself and let them watch her transform as we bring the ship closer to the moon."

"It's inhuman," said Cardigan. "Even for you."

"She's inhuman," said Leo.

"She's as human as you or me," said Cardigan. "How can you deny that?"

"She's a werewolf," said Leo. "That's how I can deny that."

Cardigan slid back from the table, his appetite gone. Leo continued to chow down on wings. "This is gonna be huge, Cardigan," he said. "We're gonna completely re-do the interior of the ship. State of the art, luxury cabins, restaurants, bars, maybe a casino. Cullen's got an investor's group on the way now. If they like what they see, we can be up and running in a year."

Leo looked up at his nephew and gave him a hearty slap on the arm. "Come on, buck up. I was actually going to cut you in on this. You are like the Fay Wray to her King Kong. We'll make you part of the show. Give you a better salary. And you get to live on the moon instead of some remote satellite."

"How generous," said Cardigan somberly.

"Thank your aunt," said Leo. "I don't know what the woman sees in you, but she still believes you can make something of yourself."

Cardigan sniffed. Hard to believe anyone could still believe in him at this point.

"Have you told her?"

"Tiana? She's already on board," said Leo. Cardigan looked up in surprise. "I know, I was surprised too. But she gets a good salary of her own, a nice place to stay. It works out for everybody."

"Until the beast gets loose," said Cardigan.

"Not going to happen," Leo said firmly. "By the time we open for business, that thing will be in a proper enclosure. Secure, but fitted with thirteen inch thick transparisteel so people will be able to see her with their own eyes, not just on a monitor. Perfectly safe, I assure you."

"How can you say that?" said Cardigan. "Have you seen the empty bed in this ship? Did you see the bodies of your own men? Huh? How do you expect to succeed in containing the beast where everyone else failed?"

"Because I know what we're dealing with," said Leo.

"You have no more clue than anyone else," said Cardigan, standing. He walked to the door, but he stopped short of leaving.

"Can I see her?"

Cardigan turned to Leo, who looked surprised. He wiped some Neptune sauce from his face and nodded. "Sure, sure. Tell Jax I said it's okay. Maybe she'll talk you into it the way I did her."

"I doubt that very much."

"Do me a favor," said Leo. "Before you go see your girl, call your aunt. She's worried sick about you. Goodness knows why she's worried. You have the resilience of a cockroach."

He thought about saying something smart in response, but Cardigan stopped himself, realizing this was about closest Leo had ever come to complimenting him.

"Thanks, Leo."

"Thank your aunt," Leo shouted. "You owe her for this one."

### Chapter Nineteen

"Aunt Tillie?"

"Cardy! Oh, my sweet boy, how are you?"

Cardigan smiled into the camera for his aunt. If there was one person in all the galaxy fatter and wider than Uncle Leo, it was Aunt Tillie. Her fat face filled the image on the video screen from side to side, though Cardigan could make out where she was: under the hair dryer at her favorite salon.

"Girls, this is my nephew," she said to some women Cardigan couldn't see. "The one I was telling you about."

"Oh!" exclaimed one of the unseen onlookers. "He is adorable."

"Wouldn't he and Heather just make the most perfect pair?"

"I told you," said Tillie. "I'm so glad you called, honey. I was so worried about you."

"You were?"

"Leo told me all about that wolf girl," she said. "He assured me you were okay, but I had to see for myself."

"Yeah," said Cardigan. "I'm just fine."

"Did he tell you about the job?"

"Yes, he told me," said Tillie.

"I'm so thrilled for you. I've been nagging him to get you off that rust bucket ever since you got back from Mars."

Cardigan nodded. "I appreciate that."

"It's the least I can do for my favorite nephew," she said.

"Aunt Tillie," he said, "Why do you always look out for me?"

"Because you're my angel," she said. "Because I love you. And because I believe in you."

"You do?"

"I always have, honey."

"Huh."

Tillie's fat cheeks rippled as she frowned. "Honey, is something the matter?"

"No, nothing," said Cardigan. "It's just... if you believe in me, why do you always come to my rescue?"

"Would you rather I let Leo toss you out?" she said. "Someone's got to look out for you. I mean, it's not like it's your fault these bad things have happened. Right?"

Cardigan hesitated. He wasn't so sure any more. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to sound ungrateful."

"It's okay, honey," said Tillie. "You're going through some rough stuff. I know you liked that girl."

"I love her."

"You'll find someone else," Tillie assured him.

"Tell him about Heather!" said one of the eavesdroppers.

"Be still," said the other. "He's got a broken heart."

"Listen, Cardy, I have to go," said Tillie. "But thank you for calling. And do take care of yourself."

"I will," said Cardigan.

"I love you, baby!"

"Love you too."

The screen went blank. He felt guilty for feeling so ungrateful. Tillie had done so much for him over the years, and she truly did love him. But Tiana was right. Cardigan was a runner, and Tillie had been enabling him for years.

Where would he be, if it wasn't for Aunt Tillie? To hear Leo tell it, he'd be lying face down in the gutter on some back water planet, a miserable wretch just waiting to die an anonymous death. But what if Tillie in all her goodness had kept him from making something of himself?

As he headed out the door to see Tiana, he wondered if he had the courage to say no to Aunt Tillie – and Leo. He knew darn well if he ever did say no, there would be no second chances. It was a terrifying but exhilarating prospect.

System boot initialized.

Running diagnostics - check.

Checking for operating systems - check.

Hardware installations - check.

Activating central processing unit.

Activating external sensors.

Online.

Tod's head was still wobbly, only one bolt holding it in place as the engineer continued to work on him. One of his mechanical arms remained severed on the floor, but the main intelligence circuits had been repaired and the mech-bot was, for all intents and purposes, ready for action by the time Leo returned to the bridge.

"Hello, Mr. Duros. What did I miss?"

"You recall our guest being a werewolf?" asked Leo, squeezing himself once again in the captain's chair.

"Indeed I do," said Tod. "She must have been the one who took me off line."

"After you so bravely saved my life," said Leo.

"Just part of my programming," said Tod. "Dr. Asimov, you know."

"Right, whatever," said Leo. "The girl's in the old meat locker."

"Dead or alive?"

"Alive, of course."

"Pity."

"Pity?" Leo snorted. "What happened to the preservation of human life?"

"Given Miss Renner Renquist Whatever's delicate condition, it is within my programming faculties to declassify her as human."

"Well she's not going anywhere," said Leo. "Cullen and I have decided to keep her here, turn her into a tourist attraction."

"You don't say," said Tod.

"The whole ship will be a destination, really," said Leo. "First class rooms, dining, tours, and to top it off, we show them a beautiful woman turning into a werewolf."

"Madness," said the robot.

"Not at all," said Leo. "We'll put her in an enclosure she can't possibly escape. The investment group is on its way now to check out the plans, the ship, and of course, to see a werewolf for themselves."

"You mean we're going to take them on a little back and forth trip through the moon light," said Tod.

"That's right," said Leo.

"Let her wolf out for the cameras, and hope and pray that refrigerator holds her in place."

"You got it."

Tod shook his head, nearly wiggling it off its foundation again. "You'll all be dead before we make it back to the marker."

It didn't start out the way he had envisioned, but then again, it was probably asking too much to hope that Tiana would throw off her blankets and wrap her arms around her hero. When Jax opened the door to the locker, Tiana looked up - then looked away. Jax sealed the door behind him.

Cardigan waited a moment to speak, trying to come up with something witty. Best he could manage was, "They've really got you on lock down, huh?"

"I told them to," said Tiana. "For their own protection."

Cardigan walked closer. He sat on a box close, but not too close. She clearly was not in the mood to be touched.

"If you don't mind my asking," said Cardigan. "How did you become a..." His voice trailed off. Tiana looked up at him.

"Say it," she said, challenging him. "Or would saying it make it too real for you?"

Cardigan swallowed hard. "How did you become a werewolf?"

"Same way anyone does," she said. "I was bitten."

Cardigan thought back to the story of the real Tiana, the girl found slaughtered in the woods. "The real Tiana. She was killed by a wolf too?"

"You could say that," said Tiana. "She was my first kill."

"Why?"

"That's just what werewolves do," said Tiana. "We kill. Or we create more."

"How did you get bit?"

Tiana looked away. "It was my birth right. My family has passed down the curse for generations. On my nineteenth birthday, it was passed on to me."

"Your family did this to you?"

Tiana rolled her eyes, annoyed with the questions. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"It just seems an odd thing to hand down," said Cardigan.

"When a member of my family reaches adulthood, they are taken to the woods for the ceremony of blood the night before the next full moon. The transformation doesn't take place, but those who have the wolf in them can pass it to another." She held up her scarred wrist. "My family passed the curse to me. The following night, I made my first kill."

"Why did you kill her?" asked Cardigan.

Tiana sighed, the memories she had long repressed coming back. "The real Tiana was a sweet girl, but incredibly naive. She knew I had some dark influences in my life, and she wanted nothing more than to save me. She cared about me. I cared about her too. I never would have done a thing to hurt her. Ever."

Cardigan saw the tears in her eyes as she went on. "The night I changed for the first time, I had warned her to stay away. Not to follow me. She just couldn't stay away. She thought I was headed to a party, and she was determined to take care of me." Tears formed in Tiana's eyes. "The look of horror in her face when I started to change. When I attacked her."

"You remember?"

She looked at him. "I remember everything. Every single kill."

Cardigan let out a low whistle. "Whoa."

"The truth is, I didn't want the curse," she said. "I ran away from home. I had changed my name once already before college. A week before my birthday, I got a note. They were coming for me. I used Tiana's name to buy my ticket on _Lunastar Four_ , just days before my birthday. Launch was scheduled for a day after the full moon, and I knew if I could get to the ship, I'd be free forever. Then the night before the full moon, they grabbed me as I left my last class of the day." She shook her head, recalling the dark ceremony that had destroyed her life. "They let me go. But they never let out of their sight. Not for a minute. I never had a chance."

She looked at Cardigan. "Believe me, if I knew the beast was going to do all this, I never would have come. I didn't want this. I just wanted to be my own person."

Cardigan nodded. "I can understand that." He glanced around the room. It was still chilly, and he could see Tiana shivering under the blankets. Was this really the way she wanted to live the rest of her life?

"Leo said you've agreed to his little scheme," he said.

"I don't seem to have much choice," she said.

"You always have a choice."

She shot him a dirty look. "What's the alternative, Cardigan? You tell me what the alternative was for me in this case!"

"You could have said no."

"And get turned over to some university?" she said. "Become a science project? At least this way, I have some freedom."

"They're keeping you locked away on this space ship."

"I lived here ten years already," she said. "At least now, I won't be alone."

"You won't be free."

"Look who's talking," she said. "Aren't you going to be the host? Introduce the star attraction? Leo told me he had offered you the job."

"What makes you think I took the job?" Cardigan said defensively.

"You will," she said.

"I haven't said yes."

"You haven't said no either."

Cardigan became defensive. "I'm not going to be a part of exploiting your situation for money."

"What else will you do?" she said.

"I don't know," he said. "Maybe it's time I set out on my own."

"And where will you go when you fall on your face," she said. "Right back to Leo and Tillie."

"I don't need them," he said.

"No you don't," she said. "But you'll run to them anyway, just like you always do. You get in way over your head, and rather than dealing with the consequences, hide behind your aunt."

"Why are you making this about me?" said Cardigan. "You ran from your problems. If anything, you're the one whose bad choices led us here. The only think I've had is bad luck."

"You never stepped in any mess that wasn't your own making," she said. "Nobody told you to run off with that con woman on Mars. And nobody asked you to play hero and rescue me. If you did the right thing, you'd still have a job thousands of miles from here and I'd be your uncle's problem alone. You don't have bad luck. You made bad choices."

"Bad choices?" He turned to her. "Do you think it was my choice to get snowed by a con woman in some casino? Was it my choice to end up on some dead end gas station in space? Was that my choice?"

"You chose dependence on your family long before you got stuck working that gas pump," she said. "If you were any kind of a real man, you'd have ditched your aunt and uncle and gone out on your own."

Cardigan turned back to Tiana. "And where would you be if I did that? Where would you be if I'd followed protocol and let Uncle Leo grab you?"

"Right here," Tiana said somberly, "Where I belong."

Cardigan's eyes met hers for a moment. He turned away, ashamed, and took a few steps to the door. Jax spied him from the other side and opened the door. Cardigan turned back.

"I'm sorry this happened," he said. "For what it's worth, I think you deserve better."

Tiana said nothing, staring into the wall across from her. Cardigan turned and walked away as Jax shut the door behind him.

### Chapter Twenty

Cardigan was in a much happier state of mind by this point, having snuck a bottle of Uncle Leo's favorite whiskey out of his cabin. He was back in the officer's lounge, feet up, slightly buzzed and enjoying an old Dexter Manley movie, _Kiss of the Scorpion_. It was the first film after the original Dexter, Clark Mulaney, had relinquished the role to C.J. Nixon, a controversial casting choice, as many fans objected to the Canadian-born Nixon playing the all American noir detective. Nevertheless, Nixon quickly won audiences over by the way he fully embodied the brooding yet quick-witted detective of the original novels.

As usual, Dexter was up to his eyeballs in beautiful dames with big problems. Having been hired to act as a bodyguard to Adrienne Vance, the voluptuous but untamed raven-haired daughter of the wealthy Illinois Senator Montgomery Vance, Dexter had been seduced by the wiles of a mysterious Middle Eastern widow, Isla Patel. Like so many women before her, Isla tricked Dexter into letting his guard down so that her followers - a secret organization known as the Order of the Scorpion - could nab the Senator's daughter.

Ultimately, it was Adrienne's own father who was behind the master plot. By sacrificing his virgin daughter in a ceremony known as the Feast of the Dead, he would raise the spirit of an ancient emperor known as The Scorpion from the underworld, merging his spirit with the ancient tyrant in anticipation of not only becoming president, but ruler of the whole world.

Dexter, like Cardigan, was not a man to put stock in such occult beliefs. He believed in what he could see and touch, including a good revolver and a hard slap in the face. Nevertheless, Dexter was not one to see an innocent girl gutted by her father in the name of immortality and omnipotent power.

"Now listen you," the wily detective said, "I may not subscribe to your mumbo jumbo, but I'm not gonna sit idly by and let her get gutted by her father in the name of immortality and omnipotent power."

"Really, Mr. Manley," Isla purred, her single shot pistol aimed squarely at his heart, "In time, you will come to see this is a good thing. For when the Lord Emperor Scorpion ascends, he will bring order to this world. There will be no more world wars, no more strife, no more bickering, for there will be only one law."

"Never cared much for law school," said Dexter Manley. "I was too busy reading _Superman_."

"Please, Mr. Manley. Don't make me kill you. Walk away. Walk away like you always do. You know as well as I she is not worth dying for, a selfish, vain creature. What if you do save her? She will only break your heart."

"You never know," said Dexter. "Maybe I'm the one to break hers."

"You are a gentleman, Mr. Manley." Isla lowered her gun. "See? See how unafraid I am of you? Go ahead. Strike me, if you dare." Isla leaned her face toward Dexter. "You are stronger than me. Strong enough to overpower me, save your woman. And yet, you will not hit me."

"You're right, Isla," said Dexter. "I never hit a lady in my life, and I don't intend to start with you."

POW!

"However, I don't have no objections to shooting one."

Isla, eyes wide open in horror, looked down at the gaping hole in her stomach gushing blood. She fainted away to the floor, dropping her gun, eyes glazing over as the life left her body.

"What are we watching?"

Cardigan turned to see Lisa Donovan standing in the door way.

"Kiss of the Scorpion," said Cardigan Fox. "C.J. Nixon as Dexter Manley."

Lisa groaned. "I didn't figure you for an old movie buff."

"Love Dexter Manley," said Cardigan. "Doesn't everybody?"

"Never cared for melodrama," she said. "Give me a good rom-com any day, you know?"

Cardigan shrugged. "You don't like it, you don't have to watch."

Lisa walked into the room. "You hear what they're planning to do with her?"

"Tiana?" said Cardigan. He nodded. "Yeah, I heard."

"I can't imagine it," she said. "Living trapped on a space ship the rest of my life as a side show freak. Could you do it?"

"No," said Cardigan. "I don't think I could."

Cardigan took another drink.

"Where are you headed after this?" he asked.

"Back to the anchor desk, probably," she said. "Unless a war breaks out or something."

"Boring."

She shrugged. "It'll be good to get home. I haven't seen my kid in a while."

"That stinks."

"Tell me about it," she said. "When she was a baby, my mom looked after her so much she called her Mommy."

"Ouch."

"It'll be good to get home. It's been too long."

"I hear you."

Lisa sat down, facing Cardigan. "How long has it been since you were home?"

He shrugged. "Don't really have a place to call home," he said. "Not anymore."

She smiled. "So the universe is wide open."

"Leo offered me a job," he said. "Here on the ship, with Tiana."

"You're not going to take it, are you?"

He shook his head. "You know, I don't think I can."

"Well, that being the case, what are you going to do next?"

His eyes were glued to the television, where Dexter Manley was bare-knuckle fighting a horde of ninjas. It was only a movie. They were actors, not real ninjas; certainly not real commandos. And yet, Cardigan saw himself in Dexter's shoes. This was the end. This was the finale. No more running. Time to save the girl.

"I think I'm gonna bust her out."

"Tiana?"

"Yeah," said Cardigan. "I'm going to bust her out and leave this ship behind."

"Where are you going to take her?"

He shrugged. "As far as I can."

"You got a plan?"

It was forming in his mind as they spoke. "There's a shuttle in the cargo bay. That should get us to Mars, or a little past that. It'll outrun this bucket at any rate."

"I've got a better idea for you," she said. "Your uncle's investors arrive in a few hours. You hijack that ship, and you can go just about anywhere you want."

Cardigan nodded. "That's a good idea."

"Now here's the bigger question," she said, sitting down beside him. "How are you gonna get past the guards?"

Cardigan looked back at the screen. "Yeah, that's the tricky part, isn't it? There's gotta be another way in there that doesn't go through ten armed men."

"Don't forget the surveillance cameras, either," she said. "We're going to need to find a way to keep your uncle from catching us too."

Cardigan looked over at her. "We? Are we conspiring here?"

"I don't want to see that woman locked in a cage all her life," she said. "And you can't do this alone."

"No," he said. "I guess not."

"I can secure the ship, if you can get her out of there," she said. "But you'll have to find the way in, and a way around surveillance. Do you know much about computers?"

"No," he said. "But I know someone who can help us."

It was unpleasant. It was downright awful. And it might very well doom their conspiracy, not to mention destroy what little pride he had left, to ask. But it was their only chance.

If robots were capable of dirty looks, Cardigan was certain Tod would have been giving him one at that very moment.

Standing in Lisa's room, facing the journalist and his human nemesis, Tod was still a wreck of his former self, thanks to the damage inflicted by the werewolf attack. But he remained proud, aloof, and not the least bit eager to do any favors for Cardigan.

"Well," said the robot with as much indignation as it could simulate, "It seems I am not here for a television interview, am I?"

"We're sorry to deceive you," said Cardigan. "Okay, actually, we're not. But we need to talk."

"About what?"

"About Tiana," said Cardigan.

"The werewolf," said the robot.

"The woman," said Cardigan. "Who is also a werewolf."

"By definition sir, a werewolf is—"

"Okay, you know what? For once in my miserable life, I don't feel like debating semantics with you. She's a werewolf."

"Agreed."

"I need you to help me break her out."

"No. May I go now?"

Tod started to turn, but Cardigan jumped in his way.

"Look, just hear me out."

"You are asking me to defy direct orders from your uncle, my master, by helping you release the girl. I cannot do that."

"Yes you can."

"I cannot and you know that."

"You can, and I'll tell you why."

Tod sat silent a moment. "You have one minute."

"I know we've never gotten along. You don't like me, and I don't like you."

"I am incapable of like or dislike."

"But if you could feel like or dislike..."

"As your great poet said, I would hate you with the fire of a thousand suns."

Cardigan heard Lisa chuckle. "Wow, you two were on that station together way too long."

He ignored the comment and stayed focused on the robot. "But you would never harm me, or any other human being because why?"

"Because it is against my programming to allow a human being come to harm."

"You saved my uncle's butt up there on the bridge," said Cardigan. "Now you need to do him and everyone else on this ship a favor by helping me rescue her."

"Why?" said Tod.

"Because you know as well as anyone what this ship's weak points are."

"Better."

"Fine you, know them better than anyone. And my guess is, if you took the time to analyze the layout of the ship, you'll find that locker isn't going to hold her."

Once again, Tod took a moment to mull it over. "Yes, it is as you say. There are three weak points in that locker, that would give her access to the rest of the ship."

"How difficult would it be for her to get out?"

"Not very," said the robot. "Judging by the amount of damage she inflicted during her previous rampage, I estimate she would be out and on the prowl too quickly for anyone to survive another trip to and from the moon. You uncle, his investors, everyone on board would be dead before they were safely out of the moon's reach."

"So you see my point," said Cardigan.

"Yes, Cardigan, I do. Much as it pains me to admit, the only way to properly fulfill my first directive is to assist you."

Cardigan smiled. "This is a first for us, buddy. For once in our lives, we're in accord."

"I doubt if it will ever happen again."

"So do I."

Tod looked at Lisa, then back at Cardigan. "Well, fellow conspirators, what is your plan?"

### Chapter Twenty-One

"Marshall! Marshall, open up."

Cullen knocked on the cabin door again, growing more and more impatient by the minute. The investment group had just pulled alongside the _Lunastar Four_ and would be disembarking in the hangar within the hour – making Marshall Pickering a half hour late for his scheduled report time.

"Marshall, come on! It's show time!"

The door opened. Cullen flinched at the site of his colleague. His skin was ashen, his eyes sunken. His hair was a complete mess. Even his suit, fresh and neatly pressed, looked odd hanging on his lanky frame.

"You feeling okay?" said Cullen.

Marshall sniffed. "No."

"What's the matter?"

"You got me," said Marshall. "Cold bug, I guess."

"Do you need some medicine?"

Marshall shook his head. "I took something about an hour ago. So far, nothing."

"You want me to tell Leo you're sitting this one out?"

"No way," said Marshall. "Leo needs me, I'm there."

Cullen pat Marshall on the arm. "Let's go then."

Marshall stepped out in the hall. The door shut behind him as the two men started down the hall. Marshall reached up and rubbed the scar on his neck. The bandage was no longer needed, but he still wore it. There was something odd about the mark, the way it healed. He'd have to get it checked out as soon as he got home.

Lisa was waiting in the hangar bay as the large Delta-class cruiser made its entrance. It was a new model, polished to a shine, covered in seamless white metal with chrome trim. Leo wasn't kidding. This was big money.

The main entry doors opened. Lisa ducked out of site, finding a secure place in the shadows to hide and watch. Leo was the first through the door, followed by Cullen and Marshall, still sporting the bandage from his close encounter with the werewolf, she noted. Cullen took the lead in making introductions, presenting Leo to the visitors. The fat man was glistening in the light from his nervous sweating. Marshall made sure to get his own hand in the mix as well.

"Cardigan, are you on?" she whispered.

"Are they here?" Cardigan replied, his voice loud and clear over the tiny communicator in her ear. Tod had provided a set of functional ear pieces for use on their covert operation, remnants from the ship's past life. A bit primitive compared to the modern tech they were used to, but effective enough for the moment.

"Yes, they're here," she said. "Your uncle looks like he's about to pop, he's so nervous."

"You don't see that often," Cardigan laughed.

"You should see this ship," said Lisa. "You could understand his nerves."

"I can imagine," said Cardigan.

Cullen gestured towards the doors, and the group began to migrate toward the interior of the ship.

"They're moving," said Lisa.

"Copy that," said Cardigan. "Tod, are you ready?"

"Ready when you are. I have a video loop in place."

"Run it. I'm going in."

From his post on the bridge of _Lunastar Four_ , Tod changed the live video feed from the locker to a recording of Tiana. Had anyone actually been watching (no one was), they might have noticed a slight flicker on the monitors as the tape began to roll. It was only two minutes of footage, but Tod set it to run on a loop. If all went well, Tiana would be gone in twenty minutes and it wouldn't matter if anyone noticed that she hadn't moved in a very long time.

"Okay, Cardigan," said Tod. "You're good to go."

Cardigan inched his way forward on his elbows, moving through the duct work that connected all the rooms on the second level. In retrospect he should have left Lisa to do the duct work, considering she was smaller and would probably have moved much more quickly through the vents. She had offered to take the job, but Cardigan insisted on being the hero. Another bad choice? Time would tell. He was more concerned about proving a point and seeing this situation through to the end.

"How you doing, Cardigan?" asked Lisa.

"Fine so far," said Cardigan. "I see some light up ahead. I think I'm almost there."

"No you're not."

"What was that, Tod?"

"I said you're not almost there," the robot replied. "You're headed the opposite way, in fact."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well you only just now went down a dead end route," said Tod. "There was no need to correct you when you were still on a circular path that would lead back to the locker."

Cardigan groaned. "Okay, how do I get back there?"

"You'll need to back up first. Then at the first opportunity, make a left."

"Right."

"No, left."

"Tod!!"

"You may want to keep your voice down," said the robot in the way that always rubbed Cardigan the wrong way. "These ducts are not sound proof, you know."

Cardigan wiggled his way backwards, passing back through the crossing Tod had mentioned, and started towards his right.

"I said left, Cardigan."

Cardigan groaned, backed up, and obeyed the robot's directions.

"Just to let you all know," said Tod. "The pilots have engaged the engines for our trip toward the moon. We have twenty-two minutes to get the girl off the ship."

Cardigan paused to catch his breath. "No pressure, right?"

Lisa looked up and saw the investors filing out of the hangar with Leo and his entourage.

"Cardigan, you've got to hurry. They're on their way."

"How close am I, Tod?"

"Almost there," said Tod. "You should see some light ahead."

"Yes," said Cardigan. "I can see it."

"When you reach that grate, you'll be directly over her head," said Tod. "I'd give her fair warning before bursting through that hatch, unless you want to drag and carry her out unconscious."

Cardigan urged his aching arms to cross the last twenty feet faster. By the time he got there, he was out of breath, exhausted – and making enough noise to alert Tiana that someone was over head.

Already feverish, Tiana thought she was just hearing things at first. Then she looked up and saw a face on the other side of the grate.

"Hello?" she said. "Is someone up there?"

"Hey," he gasped. "It's me."

Tiana blinked. "Cardigan?"

"You might want to step aside."

Tiana stepped away as Cardigan loosened the bolts on the hatch. The door gave way and Cardigan scooted up enough to stick his head inside.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself," she said. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a rescue," he said. "And we've got to get started because we only have about twenty minutes to get you out of here."

"Cardigan, it's too late," she said. "The change is already starting. I can feel it."

"Tiana, trust me," he said, "I can get you out of here, but you have to come now."

"Why do you care?" she said. "Why would you want to help me?"

"Because I don't believe you really want to spend the rest of your life as a tourist attraction," he said. "And if I don't get you out to safety, the werewolf in you will bust out through the same passage I just used and kill everyone on board this ship."

"Is that all?" she asked.

"No," he said. "I'm completely and madly in love with you."

Tiana smiled. "You're crazy."

"Completely," he said. "And in a lot of pain."

"You know they have cameras in here," she said.

"I took care of the camera."

"How?"

"A little help from Tod."

"That idiot robot you always fight with?"

"It's a long story," he said. "I can tell you on the way to Mars, but right now, we have to move. They've already started the trip toward the moon."

Tiana shook her head. "Cardigan, you should go. You could really get hurt."

"By the time they're in range," he said. "We'll be long gone. But we have got to move."

He lowered his hand into the room. Tiana looked at the door.

"Tiana, Leo and his goons will be down here any minute," he said. "And that moon's getting closer every second."

Tiana could feel the rumbling inside her. There was no time to lose. She pushed a box over toward the grate. She stepped up on the box, reached up, and took her lover's hand. Cardigan pulled her up to safety.

The automatic lights in the restroom kicked on as Marshall stumbled into the room. His breathing was becoming labored, as if a large weight were pressing down on his chest. He was sweating heavily.

Marshall looked into the mirror. He ran some water in the sink and splashed it in his face.

Keep it together, he thought. You have to keep it together.

Marshall reached up to touch his bandage again. He peeled it back. It was red, throbbing, almost pulsing. It itched like crazy.

He scratched the scar quickly, then covered it back up. He splashed another handful of water in his face. He dried his face with a towel and headed back out the door, racing to catch up to the tour group.

Five minutes later, Cardigan popped open an overhead grate and pulled himself out of the floor onto the third level, activating the lights overhead. He turned to help Tiana out.

"There's an express elevator to the hangar just down the way. If we hurry—"

Thum!

Down the hall, the two fugitives saw a shaft of light appear.

"Tod, who's on three?" Cardigan whispered.

"Your uncle," came the cool reply.

"You led us into a trap!"

"On the contrary, I had no idea your uncle planned to take them on level three, especially with transformation in T-minus fifteen minutes."

Cardigan looked left and right. If they ran, more lights would come on. They would be seen. "Tod, can you shut off the lights in our section?"

Thum!

Almost immediately, Cardigan and Tiana found themselves in the dark. The two climbed up the nearest column of beds to the third level. Cardigan climbed in the bed and pulled Tiana after him. They lay face to face, almost side by side, in the cramped, one occupant only sleep tube, and waited.

Thum! Thum! Thum!

"Strange," said Leo. "I could have sworn I saw a light on down this way."

"One of the security team, perhaps," said Cullen.

"About these lights," said Mr. Dimitov, a sharp but skeptical member of the investors delegation. "Are you going to do something with them?"

"You mean the creepy on/off effect?" said Cullen. "Of course. This ship was not designed for luxury passengers, but for sleep compartments. There was no need to keep all the lights on at all times, so we set them all on motion detectors. It's all obsolete technology now, naturally. We're going to completely re-wire the ship."

"And the sleep pods will be gone too," said Leo. We're going to put in state of the art luxury suites. All amenities included."

Cardigan could feel Tiana shivering, the monster starting to take hold from within. He held her close. She clung to him desperately, praying the tour group would pass by quickly.

"What you propose is going to cost a fortune," said Mr. Hong. "You will need to convince us we will make our money back."

Leo chuckled. "When you see what's in store for our passengers on level two, you'll see this endeavor is going to net you trillions."

Cardigan gazed into Tiana's eyes, sensing the relief she now felt at being freed from the Hell his greedy uncle had planned for her. Gingerly he reached out to stroke her cheek. She closed he eyes. He leaned in and kissed her as the voices trailed into the distance.

She whispered, "We're never going to make it."

Thum!

The lights overhead went dark. Cardigan kissed her. "We already have made it."

Cardigan heard Tod on the communicator once again. "If you are done with your tender moment, it is now safe to proceed to the hangar bay and your ship. You have six minutes to be on your way before it's rampage time again."

"We better go," he said.

"To be continued," she said in a haunting tone.

The two climbed back down to the floor. They took a short jog down the hall to an express elevator that led straight to the hangar. Two minutes later they emerged in the hangar, where the luxury cruiser was waiting as planned.

Cardigan grinned at Tiana. "My lady, your chariot awaits."

Tiana managed a smile, her body shaking all over. Cardigan lifted her into his arms and ran for the open door of the shop, waiting for them like an engraved invitation.

"I don't believe it," said Tiana. "We're really going to get out of here."

Cardigan stopped at the foot of the ramp, set Tiana back down, and called Lisa on the communicator. "Lisa, do we have a ship?"

There was no reply.

"Lisa, do you copy? Do we have a ship?"

A click that sounded exactly like a gun being cocked made the two fugitives jump. They turned to find Lisa, gun in hand, standing ten feet behind them.

"Sorry, Cardigan," said Lisa. "There's been a change of plans."

### Chapter Twenty-Two

Uncle Leo led the investors into the dining area, the last stop before the tour climaxed in the kitchen. "This is where we found her, living like off the food left behind by the crew she slaughtered. She was in human form, and you will soon see on our monitors. An innocent but suspicious looking little waif of a woman. Attractive, yes. But highly suspicious.

Jax and his men stood to attention as the men in suits approached. Leo greeted him as they entered. "Jax, how's our favorite passenger?"

"Waiting for you, sir," said the soldier.

"Let's have a look at her."

Jaxk flipped on the video monitor brought down for this very purpose. There, on a box, sat Tiana as she had been thirty minutes earlier, her head down in a contemplative pose. There were murmurs and nods of approval from all around.

"She's beautiful," said Mr. Dimitov.

"She's a beauty, and she's a beast," said Cullen, performing the line he had rehearsed for days in preparation for this moment.

"Looks like an ordinary young woman, right?" Leo grinned. "Give it another four minutes, you'll see her true colors."

Jax and Lopez exchanged a look. The ruse would be up shortly. They wondered how long it would take for Leo and the others to realize they had been duped. The men turned their eyes to the video monitors, each making a silent wish that the journalist would do her part quickly, putting the beast down before it could change.

Had either man bothered to keep their eyes on the crowd, they might have detected the early warning signs that Marshall Pickering was trying to hide. The young executive was sweating profusely, burning up with fever, his hands beginning to tremble.

The same fever was beginning to affect Tiana up in the hangar. Cardigan did his best to support her, holding her up and shielding her from the gun in Lisa's hands.

"It's no use, Cardigan," said Lisa. "If I have to shoot through you to kill her, I will, and I won't think twice about it."

"Lisa, what are you doing?" he said.

"Something your uncle doesn't have the courage to do," said Lisa.

She leaned over, trying to catch Tiana's eyes. "I don't know if you're aware of this, but ten years ago, you killed the man I loved. The man who fathered my child. If you think I'm going to let you ride off into the sunset and live happy ever after, you're dead wrong!"

"Lisa, be reasonable," said Cardigan. "You can't shoot her in cold blood!"

"I don't intend to," said Lisa. "We're going to wait here for the wolf, and as soon as she appears, I'm going to put a silver bullet through her heart."

Cardigan raise an eyebrow; things were once again getting a little ridiculous for his liking. "Silver bullet?" said Cardigan. "Lisa, where did you get a silver bullet?"

"It wasn't hard," she said. "The cargo hold was full of personal effects that belonged to the people she killed. Very fitting that the silver jewelry so many left behind was available to be melted down and turned into the bullets that will shortly end her reign of terror."

"You made silver bullets with the passengers' jewelry?"

"And a little help from Jax and Lopez," she said. "Jax is pretty handy with metals. He and his men were more than happy to work with me. You think you would have gotten past them, even hiding in the walls, if I didn't tell them to let you?"

"So you set us up," said Cardigan. "For your own revenge."

"You made it so easy," said Lisa. "I thought I was going to have to build you up to bring out your hero instinct. But you were ready to go."

Tiana was sweating profusely now, the wolf beginning to make its move through her veins. "Cardigan," she muttered. "Leave me. Let her do it."

"Just a few minutes more," said Lisa, tightening her grip on the gun. "It will all be over."

"Don't do this, Lisa," said Cardigan. "This isn't going to bring your loved one back."

She looked at him with disdain. "What are you going to do, Cardigan? You gonna play hero? I know you better than that. That's why I chose to use you and not one of your uncle's flunkies."

Cardigan grinned. He laughed. He channeled his hero, Dexter Manley.

"You're right. I never hit a lady in my life."

Lisa smiled. "I know yo—"

Cardigan hit her, full-force, in the face. Stunned and wounded, Lisa staggered back, her nose bloodied, and dropped the floor.

Cardigan smirked at Lisa. "There's a first time for everything."

Cardigan kicked the gun away from Lisa, who was disoriented but still conscious. He scooped Tiana up and carried her up into the cruiser, hitting the button to close the door.

Tiana was starting to shake and convulse. Cardigan laid her down gingerly in a passenger seat and raced up to the cockpit, where a grinning, happy-go-lucky pilot was waiting.

"Hey, partner," he said. "What's the word out there?"

"Hey there," said Cardigan. "Listen, do you believe in werewolves?"

"Leo!!" Cullen screamed as Marshall stumbled into him, his eyes glazed over, his veins bulging. The investors and soldiers scattered, moving away from the man as he fell into seizures. Jax and Lopez traded a nervous look.

"What the devil!!" screamed Leo. "Marshall? What's the matter?"

Marshall collapsed to the desk, groaning in pain and agony beyond anything he had ever experienced.

"Isn't it obvious?" said Cullen. "She bit him! Up on the bridge, he was bitten! He's one of them now!"

"There are two of them?" roared Leo.

Alone among the investors, Hong nodded in approval. "Very impressive display, Leo."

Jax cocked his gun and raised it to put down the would-be monster before it could change. Leo pushed the barrel of the gun down. "You fool! Put him in there with her!"

"Sir, I don't think this is a good idea."

"Do it!!"

Jax nodded to Lopez. Lopez and two other men scooped Marshall off the floor as Jax unlatched the locker door. Jax cast a glance at the still unchanged image of Tiana as he opened the door. The men tossed Marshall inside. Jax shut and sealed the door quickly.

"I'm sorry, Marshall," Leo said, leaning against the door. He stepped back and looked up at the video monitor. He frowned, confused as everyone else watching at that moment.

"Leo?" said Cullen, "Where is he?"

Marshall was nowhere to be seen, and Tiana continued to sit in her same, sad posture.

"And if he's already changing," said Mr. Hong. "Why isn't she?"

Tiana was shaking, grunting aloud as the engines of the cruiser roared to life. The captain paused in his pre-flight checks to look back at her.

"Is she okay?"

"She will be," said Cardigan. "Soon as you get us out of this ship and away from the moon."

"How far away?" said the captain.

"As far as you can," said Cardigan. "And as fast as you can!!"

"This is not going to sit well with my clients," said the captain. "Leaving them like this."

"If you don't get us out into space soon, they'll all be dead too," said Cardigan.

PING!

"Criminy! Somebody's shooting at us!"

Cardigan looked out the front window of the ship. Lisa was on her feet, gun aimed at the glass visor on the front of the ship. Her mouth was moving, but Cardigan couldn't hear her over the engines. She fired again, two more bullets pinging off the visor.

"She a friend of yours?" said the captain.

"Long story," said Cardigan. He looked around the console. "You got an external radio or something?"

The captain grabbed the microphone and handed it to Cardigan. "You might want to tell her to get out of the way before I cook her."

Cardigan flipped on the microphone. "Lisa, get out of the way! Now!"

Lisa held the gun up, playing chicken with the ship.

Tiana let out a shriek.

Cardigan screamed: "Just go!!"

"But I—"

"I said go, now!!

The captain hit the button. Lisa ran hard for cover, just barely escaping the blast from the exhaust jets as the cruiser screamed out of the hangar. The captain made a wicked turn as soon as the ship came free, launching them toward deep space.

Cardigan staggered back to the cabin. Tiana was still shaking, her skin rippling, the beast within struggling to come free.

"Too... late..." she whispered.

Cardigan crouched down and held her tight. In a matter of minutes, her body became still. The convulsions stopped, and Tiana's breathing returned to normal.

"How we doing back there?" shouted the captain.

Tiana looked up at Cardigan, her face drenched with sweat but beaming with joy.

"We made it?"

Cardigan smiled. "Yeah, baby. We made it."

"Tod!!" Leo barked into the intercom. "Tod, talk to me!"

The cool, calm voice of the robot responded over the speakers. "You called, sir?"

"Something's wrong with the video monitor here in the kitchen!" said Leo.

"Are you sure?"

"Just take a look and don't give me any trouble!"

"One moment and I'll take a look." Tod checked the live feed from the kitchen. Tiana was gone, as planned, but there was someone – or something – else inside. The person or creature was half-dressed, its clothes strewn about the room. Tod scanned the room and analyzed the results.

"Excuse me, sir," said Tod. "But did you happen to toss Mr. Pickering in the locker?"

"Yes we did," said Leo.

"May I inquire as to why?"

"He was starting to turn," said Leo. "Just like the girl did. He's a werewolf."

Tod ran the information through his systems. He had noticed the bandage being worn by Pickering after the first werewolf attack, but the damage he himself had sustained, it never dawned on him that Pickering might have been bitten.

This was not good, the robot concluded. Not good at all.

"Tod!" snapped Leo.

"Yes, sir?"

"How come Pickering's not on the video monitor?"

"Because you are looking at a loop," said Tod.

"A loop?"

"A video loop, intended to fool you and your men into thinking Tiana was still inside while your nephew smuggled her off ship."

"Cardigan!" barked Leo. "How did he manage that?"

"I helped him."

"You helped him?"

"We were attempting to save your life."

"You let her out to save my life?"

"The locker is not as secure as you led yourselves to believe," said Tod. "Cardigan knew this, and I agreed with him the best course of action was to let him get her off the ship and out into deep space."

"She's gone?"

Tod checked the hangar bay cameras. He could see Lisa climbing aboard one of the shuttles. The cruiser that the investors had arrived in was gone.

"Yes, sir. She is gone."

Leo looked back at the monitor. "Tod, I want to see in that room?"

"You want the live feed?"

"Yes, I want one, and I want it now!"

Tod checked the feed. Had he been human, he would have been paralyzed with fear. He was not human, and he felt nothing. But he knew the image he was about to relay to the kitchen would paralyze the on-lookers with mortal fear.

The screen flickered. Tiana disappeared. The boxes that were stacked on the floor were now tossed about, destroyed. Something was dangling from the ceiling.

"Is this a game, Duros?" said Mr. Hong.

"I assure you it's not," said Leo.

"Then where is the creature?"

Cullen stepped closer to the screen. "What's that hanging from the ceiling?"

Tod answered: "The grate that Cardigan dislodged to rescue Tiana. It leads to the duct work over your heads."

"You mean, he left it open?"

"No," said Tod. "Cardigan closed it behind him when he left with the girl."

Leo swallowed hard. "Who opened the grate?"

As if on cue, the ceiling above was torn apart, and death descended on Leo Duros and his investors.

### Epilogue

"Aunt Tillie? It's me."

"Cardy?" The woman on the other end lit up, lighting up the entire video screen on the shuttle in the process. "Oh, Cardigan, you're alive! When I got the news about Leo, I just knew that monster got you too."

"Monster?" said Cardigan. "What monster?"

"The werewolf, of course," said Tillie. "You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?" said Cardigan. "Did something happen to Uncle Leo?"

"Oh, Cardigan, I am so sorry," she said. "I know you loved Leo as much as I did. But poor Leo is gone. That awful werewolf got him."

"Werewolf?" said Cardigan. He looked over at Tiana, who was sitting out of range of the camera. "What werewolf?"

"Didn't you know? It was that no good Marshall," said Tillie. "He was a werewolf too!"

"Marshall?"

"Yes!" said Tillie. "Leo was about to show the werewolf girl to the investors, when Marshall transformed right in front of them. Killed Leo, the bankers, and nearly everyone else."

"I can't believe it," said Cardigan. "Marshall?"

"Yes, it was definitely him," said Tillie. "One of the soldiers made silver bullets and took him down. He changed back after he died, so they know it was him and not that girl. Apparently, they never found her."

"That's because she's with me."

Tillie's eyes lit up. "She is?" Tillie looked closer into the camera, as if doing so would allow her a better view on the other end. "I don't see her."

Cardigan adjusted the camera as Tiana stepped over to him. "She's right here. I got her off the ship before they could turn her back."

"I see," said Tillie. "Hello there."

"Hello," said Tiana. "I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Oh, honey, don't you pity me," she said. "I'm the wealthiest woman in town. I have handsome men practically beating my door down."

"Already?" said Cardigan.

"Well, one can't mourn forever, right?" Tillie giggled.

"Aunt Tillie, I'm not coming home. It's not safe for Tiana because of her condition, so we're headed out."

Tillie looked sad. "Where will you go?"

"We'll let you know when we get there," said Cardigan. "We're going to find some quiet place to settle down and have a family."

"Are you sure it's safe?" she said. "I mean, given her condition?"

Cardigan looked at Tiana, who smiled nervously. "I'm willing to take that chance."

Tillie's eyes welled up with joyful tears. "Oh, Cardy, I am truly happy for you. You have my blessing."

"Thanks, Aunt Tillie," said Cardigan. He had resolved to marry Tiana regardless, but it was still nice to have his aunt's best wishes.

"Oh, it's my pleasure, honey. You send me pictures of those babies when you have them!"

"One step at a time, Aunt Tillie," said Cardigan.

An ending is a very delicate thing. When one tells the story of another person's life, it's never truly the end unless that person is deceased by the last page. And even then, the tales of some people carry on through the people they met, knew, touched, gave rise to, inspired, or turned to the dark side. So to say that this is the end of the story for Cardigan Fox and the survivors of _Lunastar Four_ would be very misleading, for there were a great many ups and downs ahead of him before he met his demise.

This certainly wasn't the end for Lisa Donovan. More like a new beginning. The death of Leo Duros, Cullen Martin, and a wealthy group of investors was huge news, and a broken, bloodied Lisa Donovan was the first to break it, reporting from the small shuttle she took to escape the _Lunastar Four_. An investigation into the original _Lunastar Four_ disaster and the more recent one drug out for months, with Tod and Jax – the soldier who took down werewolf Marshall Pickering – becoming overnight media stars thanks to their testimony. Jax would go on to host a series of reality shows as well as several military-themed exercise programs. Tod parlayed his fifteen minutes of fame into a twenty year run as the scowling, condescending host of a quiz show. The show remained atop the ratings up until the bitter end, when an unbalanced contestant went after the robot with a crowbar.

Once the investigations were concluded, serious consideration was given to docking the ship and turning it into a tourist attraction. The plan was strongly opposed by the victims' families, who accused Galaxicon and the cruise line of exploiting the deaths of their relatives. In the end, the _Lunastar Four_ was towed to the asteroid belt beyond Mars and destroyed in a much publicized broadcast special hosted by Jax.

Cardigan Fox got a new beginning as well when he and Tiana were married by Captain Garfield J. Pepper, the skipper of Uncle Leo's luxury cruiser. Captain Pepper took the newlyweds to Mars, and here is where our story comes to an end. For it was on Mars that Cardigan came face to face with his first wife, Alanna.

He was alone, waiting outside the five star restaurant in the Red Horizon Casino when he caught sight of her entering the hotel lobby. A jade green gown floated about her as she strolled across the room, looking straight toward him. Cardigan instinctively adjusted the tie on his tuxedo - something he hadn't worn since that fateful encounter all those years ago. He cleared his throat and silently wished that this moment would pass quickly before Tiana arrived.

"Hello, darling," she said.

He made a feeble attempt at playing dumb. "Do I know you?"

"You know who I am," said Alanna. "By the laws of the planet Mars, I am your wife."

"You are not."

Alanna laughed. "You fool. Did you think I wouldn't find out about your food fortune? Your great treasure? I almost threw those marriage documents away years ago, but something inside me told me to hang on to them."

"Is that a fact?"

"How much did you get?"

Cardigan shrugged. "That's the thing, Alanna. I didn't get anything. My uncle stole it out from under me. All I got was the girl."

"A girl?

"My wife, in fact," said Cardigan.

"My my, this does put us in an awkward situation. I wonder what she would say, knowing you had been married once before."

Cardigan never saw Tiana approach. He would never ask how long she had been there or how much she had heard. But it was at that moment that he saw his new bride open her mouth wide and take a ghastly bite out of his first bride's shoulder.

Alanna shrieked in pain, screaming as blood poured from her shoulder. Tiana's teeth sank deep enough into her flesh for blood and saliva to mix. She relaxed her jaw and stepped away, wiping blood from her mouth as if it were nothing.

Alanna looked around. The lobby was so noisy, so full of music and laughter and mindless chatter, that it seemed no one had even noticed the assault. By the time she turned back to scream at her husband, he and his new bride were gone. Within twenty four Earth hours they would be on a slumber cruiser, bound for the edge of the solar system and a new beginning of their own.

Alanna retreated to her room to tend to the sickening gash in her flesh. She dared not report the incident given her own criminal record and spotty past, but she refused to give up her dream of cashing in on her marital relations.

A quick search of the news told her everything she wanted to know. _Lunastar Four_ was still on the moon at that time. That's where Cardigan's family would be. That's where she would make her next move.

The following evening, Alanna boarded a cruiser for the moon with five hundred and sixty passengers and ten crew. Within hours all 570 would die in a way they never imagined - slaughtered by a werewolf in space.

### About the Author

John Cosper is the creator of the Fluffy film trilogy and the Clive the Zombie film series. He's the founder of Righteous Insanity, a drama, film, and writing company providing resources to ministries and churches around the world. Film credits include the award-winning shorts _Bots_ and _Tolerance_. Previous works include the novels _Martian Queen_ and _Cave World_ and the short story collection _This Would Make a Really Great Movie_. He lives in Southern Indiana with his wife and two kids.

www.johncosper.com
