; ; "Jacob! Get off your ass and help me right now! Jacob!"
; ; Sonji's scream cut through Jacob's meditation with the intensity of ; a white-hot knife. The intricate webs of his mind was torn apart, the ; ends flailing around in his mind before he pulled them into a tight ; ball that represented his own spirit. Even with the shattered remains ; of his meditation, he felt the strands of his energy neatly pull back ; into a tight cat's ball of tight focus.
; ; Slowly, his eyes opened and he looked out into the tight confines ; of the spaceship's cockpit. Around him, dented metal covered almost ; every surface, except where tape stretched over the scorched holes and ; melted plastic.
; ; A faint nagging sensation rippled through him as he stretched out ; in the padded chair. He knew something was important for him, but in ; the process of waking up, he forgotten. The need to find out why, he ; called out for his companion.
; ; "Sonji? Where are you, Sonji?"
; ; She didn't answer, so Jacob pushed himself out of the console ; chair. It creaked painfully as metal scraped against metal; as he stood ; up, it rocked back listlessly. Stretching his head above him, he ; accidentally brushed against a tiny plastic button which promptly ; snapped and fell to the ground.
; ; He looked down at it and blinked. When it didn't move, he padded ; out of the tiny confines into the main part of his ship. His bare feet ; slapped against the cold metal, but the discomfort never reached him as ; he peered into the main living area.
; ; It was cramped, two walls filled with tables and cabinets while the ; back wall led into two rooms. One of them was the room that Sonji slept ; in while the other was used for storage. Ignoring the cold air swirling ; around him, he rapped on Sonji's door.
; ; No answer.
; ; He paused and wrapped on the other door, just in case. But, when ; she didn't answer, he opened up both doors and glanced inside. Her room ; was bare, with only a few personal effects. The storage held her rescue ; capsule, half disassembled.
; ; "Sonji?"
; ; When she didn't respond, he wandered back into the cockpit and ; sighed.
; ; "Computer, where is she?"
; ; Relays snapped as the computer whirred to life, "Visiting ; occupant left sensory range three standard hours ago."
; ; Jacob blinked, "Oh. Did she call for me?"
; ; "Yes."
; ; "Oh," he paused for a moment, "Was it important?"
; ; More whirring, "Yes."
; ; He blinked again, "Oh dear."
; ; Moving quickly, he stepped through the storage bay to a sealed door ; at the back. A blinking red light indicated it was opened recently, but ; Jacob just slapped on the open button.
; ; When nothing he happened, he pressed the button again. Still ; nothing. With a sigh, he looked up at the ceiling.
; ; "Is the door broken?"
; ; The computer strained for a moment, "Exit procedure mandates ; proper protection when entering a vacuum."
; ; "P-proper protection?"
; ; "Spacesuit."
; ; Jacob blinked as a cabinet opened up next to the door. Inside it, a ; bulky spacesuit hung on a large hook.
; ; "Oh."
; ; ***
; ; It was a ghost ship, almost seven kilometers in length. Its shields ; were barely functioning, a slither of energy to rippled along the ; entire length. Tiny sparkles of light burst along the surface were the ; shields caught specks of dust. The entire surface was covered in thick ; cables, some of them almost ten meters in width. At one end, three ; powerful rockets were cold and dead. Scattered across the ship were ; gaping holes and torn-apart sections. Massive rents cut almost ; completely through the ship, with fragments of a meteor still buried in ; the hull. Some sections were still lit, the hum of automatic machinery ; lost in the void of space.
; ; Next to the ghost ship was a much smaller, heavily battered ship ; that was even older. One wing was barely attached, with metal plates ; holding it together. The single engine was still glowing faintly from ; the nuclear drives, but otherwise it was quiet.
; ; The smaller ship's airlock opened and a bulky suit pushed out. It ; fumbled for a moment before following a steel cable toward a gaping ; opening leading into the ghost ship.
; ; ***
; ; Sonji was in a great deal of trouble. Her panting fogged up her ; face mask even as the air conditioner inside her suit strained to clear ; it. Digital displays lined her vision, but she was struggling too much ; to breath to pay attention. The only one that mattered was the tiny ; display in the corner, telling her of the lack of pressure and ; breathable air outside her suit.
; ; She passed a mirror and had a brief look of her armored body, a ; high-tech suit designed to take a sizable explosion and still survive. ; It held the impression of something sleek and powerful, which matched ; her own image of herself.
; ; Behind her, something heavy vibrated through the metal floor. Her ; head snapped back, to stare at the dark tunnel behind her. The pounding ; of her heart almost drowned out her vision, but she stepped back as ; something moved in the darkness. Holding up her left wrist, she pointed ; at the darkness. A flare of bright blue light burst out from her ; finger, flooding down the hallway.
; ; The hallway went fifteen meters, according to the readout on her ; faceplate, before it split into a T-intersection. Ragged remains of ; metal and rubble left a wandering path down the hall, to lead where she ; forced her way through a pile of grills and floor tiles.
; ; Sonji was just about to lower her flashlight when one of the tiles ; shook. Gasping, she backed up as the grill violently vibrated again, ; then slid forward. It made no sound in the vacuum, but the vibrations ; of the heavy metal slamming into the ground were easily felt through ; the corroded surface. Her free hand dropped to a gun at her side, but ; halted a few inches away from the blinking warning light. Deciding to ; keep her last few rounds safe, she pulled her hand back.
; ; Gulping hard, she watched as one of her attackers scurried through ; the opening, crawling along the ceiling with tiny vibrations of ; movement. A single crescent of blue light rotated to face her and she ; could feel a horrible sensation crawl up her spine. It moved forward ; slightly, black wires clinging to the metal grill along the ; ceiling.
; ; Sonji could feel the discomfort growing along her spine as she ; pushed the beam of light higher, until it shined against the jet-black ; sphere of the creature's main body. Ten wires, each one smooth and ; flexible, easily curled into the ceiling's surface. The body itself was ; only four or five centimeters in width, with the legs being twice as ; long, but even the tiny form held a sense of menace in the blue ; eyes.
; ; It slid forward slightly, the crescent light dulling slightly as it ; bobbed closer.
; ; ***
; ; His black suit pounding into the heavy metal grill across the ; floor, Jacob continued to penetrate deeper into the ghost ship. His ; faceplate was lit up with readouts, but most of them were cryptic bars ; and colored symbols. On the right of his vision, a small note was ; literally taped to the inside, to remind him that a green tank meant ; it was safe to breath.
; ; Jacob barely saw any of the symbols as he peered into the darkness. ; In his hand, half forgotten was a flashlight, but the light was already ; flickering. Below him, the grill stretched across the hallway shook ; violently from the weight of his outfit. He carefully stepped around a ; hole torn in the floor, then around a larger whole that lead through a ; metal wall.
; ; He barely gave the gaping opening a glance before stepping forward. ; His heavy suit lumbered further down the hallway, toward a large pile ; of pipes and cabinets. His fingers brushed against a heavy metal desk ; when a skittering vibration rippled through the floor. A small fragment ; of metal quivered for a moment, then bounced down to the floor. Jacob ; watched it with his slightly confused expression as it rolled down the ; hall and disappeared into the hole in the grill.
; ; Just as he was turning back, he noticed a ridge of blue light ; behind him. The dark, tiny shape of a space spider clung to the ceiling ; for a moment, before it released its wires and dropped to the ground. ; Dust swirled up from the spider's impact but it already moving toward ; him quickly. The blue crescent of light lit up the hallway as it ; skittered along the floor on its ten wire legs.
; ; He did nothing for a moment, then held out his hand. At the same ; time, his mind was gathering energy and he pushed at it. Halting ; violently, the spider creature lost its footing and rolled forward. One ; wire foot barely halted its movement and it slowly regained his ; feet.
; ; His face was impassive, a blankness that matched the darkness in ; his mind as Jacob pushed even harder with his thoughts. He could feel ; the reaching out for the spider, squeezing around it as he sought the ; mind inside the shell.
; ; The entire body of the creature shivered violently, wire legs ; spasming as his mind wrapped around it. He barely noticed the dust ; around him beginning to swirl up into a vortex, a physical sign of the ; psyche energy he was creating.
; ; But, to Jacob's surprise, he couldn't find a mind. Instead of a ; dull intelligence or the blankness of a robot, there was something ; barely glimmering deep inside the black sphere of the spider. Frowning, ; his eyes began to shine with their own light, his attention finally ; drawn into reality as his hand tightened inside the suit.
; ; His mind's image stretched out, threads of power and force twisting ; and stretching away from him to wrap around the black spider. The tiny ; legs spasmed even more, desperately clutching to the ground as he tried ; to find the glimmer of intelligence deep inside the black shell.
; ; Then he found it.
; ; Instead of a minor mind or conscious, he found just a thread ; stretched out into the darkness. With a faint growl, he snapped it. The ; thread of intelligence exploded, sending the ends snapping away in his ; mind.
; ; In front of him, the black spider almost exploded in a massive ; frenzy of motion. The blue eye fading, he watched as the sphere threw ; itself against the walls and floors, bouncing around violently in its ; death throes. Fear and terror washed over him, intense emotions for ; such a tiny creature. With his mind open, he was almost assaulted by ; the intensity. Tears formed in his eyes as he could only watch.
; ; It took the black spider almost a minute to die. In its frenzy, it ; managed to snap off its legs until only stub thrashed weakly at the ; ground. Jacob's face was soaked in tears, emotions raging through him ; as he struggled to find his own thoughts and mind.
; ; Reaching his center, he managed to calm the terror and fear that ; echoed in his hear. With a shaking effort, he stepped forward and knelt ; down next to the creature. The black sphere was motionless, not even ; twitching. He reached down with a heavily gloved hand and tapped it. No ; sound came through the vacuum, but he already knew there was nothing ; living left inside.
; ; ***
; ; Sonji jumped hard off the shell of a ruined sensory array in the ; center of the ghost ship's primary storage bay. The bay itself was ; huge, almost ten times larger than the tiny scout ship she was forced ; into, but the entire floor was covered in thousands of black spiders. A ; sea of black and glowing blue covered her vision as the tiny jets in ; her armor kicked her higher into the air, turning the jump into a glide ; across the jet-black sea.
; ; Behind her, she could see the spiders swarming across the sensory ; array and soon it feel to the ground from the creature's weight. Sonji ; snapped her head back in front, to find a safe place to land from the ; creatures haunting her.
; ; Spying a small access patch thirty meters off the ground, she ; directed the suit toward it. One of the readouts glowed yellow, she was ; almost out of fuel, but she hoped it was enough to reach the panel.
; ; The readout was blood red as the last of the fuel gave out. With a ; scream, she threw everything she could into reaching the panel as her ; jump started to fall down. To her surprise, one finger caught the very ; edge of the panel. Wincing from the pain, she pulled herself up and ; twisted the handle around. It stuck for a moment, then gave with a ; rush. Clouds of air rushed past her as she found herself clinging to ; the door tightly. Straining her muscles, she forced herself into the ; rushing tunnel and pulled the door shut behind her. Bracing on the door ; frame, Sonji held the heavy metal door tightly as she twisted it back ; into position. It clicked as the automatic seal caught and she forced a ; pair of heavy bolts into place.
; ; A high-pitched whine cut through the noises and Sonji realized she ; could hear again. Slowly turning, she fearfully looked around.
; ; She was in a short hallway which ended in another door. This door ; was opened, hanging almost listlessly from a broken hinge. Dust and ; corrosion filled the room, from the tools on the floor to the spread of ; red and orange across the ceiling grill.
; ; Sonji realized she was panting and forced herself to slow down her ; tortured lungs. Her suit felt confining, but there was too little ; between her and a vacuum to relax. Not to mention the sea of alien ; spiders trying to hunt her down. Being careful, she stepped through the ; hallway and gave the door a glance. It was a total loss, but she forced ; herself to move on.
; ; At the far end of the tool room was another bulkhead, this one ; appearing to be in better shape. A tight grin on her face, she quickly ; stepped around the larger piles and made her way to the door. She was ; panting again by the time she reached it, but at least she didn't fall ; through the floor.
; ; Tracing her blue armor-covered fingers along the edge, she was ; relieved to find it still rust-free and resalable. Using her ; flashlight, she peered into the next room, a storage bay of some ; sort.
; ; She paused at the entrance to the storage room, looking between the ; tool room and the door leading into the spiders and the unknown room ; behind her. A faint, ever-present static of her communicator gave her ; no suggestions as she desperately tried to determine the safest ; place.
; ; The thought of the spiders finally drove her to yank the door shut, ; closing her in the storage room with a heavy groan of metal on metal. ; The bulkhead sealed shut with a crunch and Sonji stepped back. Holding ; the flashing ahead of her, she began to explore the storage room, ; moving around stacks of metal and plastic boxes almost four meters in ; height.
; ; Except for the hum of machinery, she could find no other moving ; creature or device. Her explorations found the hum, an atmosphere ; generator pumping breathable air into the room. Warning signs were ; plastered over the device, in a language at least a hundred years ; old.
; ; Chuckling, she shook her head, "Jacob probably could read ; this."
; ; Her eyes glanced at the readouts on her faceplate, where a green ; light indicated that the air was safe to breath. Biological and viral ; scans were green, as was the chemical analysis. Below that, a yellow ; warning light indicated that her own oxygen supply was running low.
; ; Another circuit of the room verified that she was trapped. Except ; for the door leading into the tool room, this was a dead-end. Snarling, ; she reached up and keyed in the release to her armor. The soft beeping ; grew louder as the front of the outfit split, letting cold air rush in ; against her sweat-soaked skin.
; ; A soft moan of pleasure escaped her lips as she took a cautious ; breath. The air was metallic but not unpleasant. Except for the tiny ; clouds of fog every time she breathed, Sonji would survive.
; ; She glanced around and noticed a smooth sphere of black resting on ; the floor, in a corner and covered in dust. Snarling, she watched the ; blue eye flicker into existence, but she already had her weapon out. ; The barrel of the gun flared for a moment and a jet of superheated ; plasma burst out, exploding the sphere. Half-sealing her suit again, ; she inspected the remains but found nothing larger than a fleck of ; metal.
; ; Sonji made another round of the room, tearing open empty boxes in ; search of more spiders. She did find the air ducts in the room, but ; they were sealed and welding shut. Testing them, she found that they ; refused to move even with her power-assisted suit.
; ; Convinced she was safe, she finally relaxed. Keying in her suit ; again, she opened it to let the cold air flood back inside. The icy air ; prickled her skin, but it felt good against her sweat-soaked shirt. ; Sitting down next to the atmosphere generator, she pulled out her ; communicated and focused on making it work. The next step would be to ; get in touch with Jacob.
; ; If he ever woke up.
; ; ***
; ; Somewhere deep inside the abandoned areas of the ship, something ; heavy forced its way through rubble of metal and plastic. One immense ; leg, almost three meters in length, pushed out of the darkness and set ; down heavily on the pitted surface. Beyond the shifting rubble was ; darkness, the pitch void of open space, but that did nothing for the ; immense spider that slowly pushed aside the rubble to stretch out over ; the hull of the ship. Ten legs, each a thick cable of metal, easily ; held it along the exposed surface of the ghost ship. The black sphere ; of the spider was almost three times the length of even Jacob in his ; bulky, outdated suit. Ten glowing eyes, each one the color of a ; forgotten azure sky, glared out into the darkness before it moved ; heavily toward one end of the ship, toward Sonji.
; ; In the gaping hole of its passing, more glowing eyes flared into ; existence. Another set of immense spider legs reached out from the ; darkness, holding down tightly along the ragged opening before another ; spider, the same size as the first, squeezed out of the darkness and ; stretched out on the hull. It too barely paused before moving heavily ; toward the other end of the ship.
; ; ***
; ; Jacob was still searching for his companion, the heavy boots of his ; suit shaking of metal dust into the air before they slid into the holes ; of the grill along the floor. His eyes were still red from the tears, ; but that did nothing for him as he rumbled along silent, black ; corridors.
; ; It was along one dark hallway when the spiders found him again. ; Jacob leaned against the edge of the walls, panting from the effort to ; move the heavy outfit when he saw blue lights focused on him. Slowly, ; he looked up, past the readouts, toward the black spheres that clung to ; the ceiling, the walls, even the floor. A bead of sweat dripped down ; his face as his eyes scanned from one black sphere to another, staring ; into the hundreds of blue eyes that mutely stared back.
; ; Then he began to cry.
; ; "No, I can't... I can't..."
; ; Jacob's voice trembled with fear and sorrow as the memories of the ; last spider haunted him. His right hand shook with the effort as he ; pushed himself back into a standing position. The spiders shifted ; silently, the vacuum between them preventing any noise, any scent from ; reaching each other.
; ; With a great deal of effort, Jacob slowly turned around and walked ; the other direction, his desire not to fight the creatures stronger ; than the fear of leaving his back exposed to hundreds of the black ; sphere.
; ; The spiders had no fear of him. As one, they marched forward, ; swarming over their bodies as the black carpet slid along every metal ; surface. The grill beneath Jacob's boots vibrated from their movements, ; but he refused to turn around, to fight the creatures who died so ; easily.
; ; Forcing his boots to move faster, Jacob pounded the ground, ; retracing his route. He started to climb over a pile of plastic when he ; realized that he didn't remember the room he was in. Blinking, he ; paused and looked around, glancing at the black cloud of spiders that ; slowly filled the room. In his mind, he could feel their presence ; strongly, a single pounding heartbeat that seemed to match his own.
; ; Frowning, Jacob concentrated on the heartbeat, ignoring the black ; spheres as they reached his feet. Wire-thin legs brushed against the ; heavy metal, then swarmed up it relentlessly. Jacob's mind was ; searching for an intelligence, but even he could feel the spiders ; crawling up the last defense against the painful pressure of the ; vacuum.
; ; His mind pushed out furiously, pushed back against the tiny ; creatures with surprising strength. Even more surprising was their ; resistance, they barely shivered before swarming even faster along his ; body.
; ; Jacob was about to panic when he finally caught a thicker line of ; presence, of a mind. Instead of snapping it, he latched on tightly and ; began to follow it, surprised that it soared back into the dark depths ; of an alien intelligence. In his mind's eye, he could feel the tight ; ball of his own mind following the tenuous line, sliding deeper into an ; intelligence not his own.
; ; It was like crawling along a tight wire, but he could see more thin ; wires of thought stretched around him, like a web of mental energy. ; Each strand ended in one of the black spiders crawling over him, but he ; pushed them aside as he continued to follow the thread. Slowly, the ; strands formed more intricate webs, ones that reached to the very ; horizons of his own perceptions and beyond.
; ; His mind strained to understand what he was seeing, pulling it into ; the patterns of webs that stretched out across the entire sky.
; ; Jacob felt very small.
; ; With careful effort, he reached down with his mind and wrapped his ; fingers around the strands that represented the spiders crawling over ; him. Instead of pushing each one away, he pulled the strands together ; and tugged them.
; ; Even though he could barely feel it, the spiders halted their ; crawling on his body. Each one shivered at the same time, then started ; to slink back down, their metal legs vibrating along the outside of his ; suit. In a matter of moments, his body was fear, but the spiders stood ; there, a meter away and watching.
; ; Along the fiber he was tracing, a powerful bolt of energy crackled ; down the length, from high above in the web. He watched it with growing ; fear and curiosity, but it moved too fast for him to respond. It ; crashed into him, with the force of ten thousand elephants.
; ; A queen!
; ; Stunned at the first experience of any creature speaking to his ; mind and power of the thoughts, Jacob found himself slipping away. The ; thread he was tracking fell away, leaving him to float in the mental ; void beneath the silken sky. Waves of energy crackled down the strands ; as the voice tried to find him again, the echoes of screaming finally ; muted by distance.
; ; Where are you!?
; ; Finally able to formulate his own thoughts, Jacob gathered up a ; response and threw it out. To his surprise, the respond crackled into ; the void until it touched one of the strands. Sliding up, it arced high ; into the web.
; ; I am no queen.
; ; A respond came bolting back down, Only queens may talk. You are ; a queen, but you are young.
; ; Jacob felt brushes of personality vibrating along the response and ; he clung to them, trying to find a source of the strange mental ; communication. As he picked through the thought, his own perceptions ; began to change again. The sky pulled back and into itself, stretching ; far into the black voice of his mind before curling back up. Focusing ; on the thoughts and personality, he found patterns and systems.
; ; Slowly, he understood it even more.
; ; Above him, the sky became less of a sky, then a large web once ; again. Slowly, entire sections of the web folded into itself, forcing ; long legs of a spider. The thickest part of the web tightened into a ; ball, which ten immense spectral legs stretched out over his ; vision.
; ; Looking up, he saw the spider made of pure consciousness and ; understood.
; ; There is only one of you.
; ; A response came back, There is only me... and you. We are ; queens.
; ; Shaking his head, he concentrated again on giving the image before ; him more definition. The spider's form grew hazy for a moment, ; threatening to spread out into the sky again and he stopped.
; ; I am no queen. I am male.
; ; There is no male, only you and me. You are queen and you are ; young. I am queen and I am old.
; ; Along with the response came the hint of memories stretching out ; centuries. Jacob tried to catch the images, but he was only left with ; the impression of age and of time. Thoughts of his own past were ; interrupted with the remembrance of the present.
; ; Where is my companion?
; ; He sent an image of Sonji along with the response. The spider's ; form grew fuzzy for a moment, but he found that he could bring it back ; into definition, to a sharp image of a spider made of webs. The ; spider's response quivered along the strands.
; ; There is only me and you. We are queens. You speak of yourself, ; of your other bodies.
; ; Impressions of being one with Sonji, sharing one mind, crashed into ; Jacob and he fought back.
; ; She is not me, she is different.
; ; A faint pause stretched out through the mental plane, as the spider ; stared at him with ten eyes of azure depths. It responded with a flick ; of one leg.
; ; Then I will use this body, an image of Sonji flashed against ; him, to replace my own children.
; ; ***
; ; Cooled down, Sonji stood up and stretched. Her armored suit hung ; around her waist, exposing the thin top to the ice-cold air. Hard ; nipples peaked out from the shirt and she looked down at them with a ; grin.
; ; "Wish Jacob was here."
; ; Letting the emotions drift away, she pulled the armored suit back ; on and keyed in the seal code. A soft sucking noise prickled along her ; skin as the seams welded together, leaving her once again safe inside ; her armor.
; ; "Of course, he's probably go back to meditating."
; ; She checked the charge on her weapon, depressed at the single ; charge remaining. Snarling, she jammed it back into the holster and ; checked the readouts along her faceplate. Almost all of them were ; green, including the suit's oxygen and internal power supply. The noise ; sensors were dim, only registering her own movements as she strode to ; the bulkhead. Pressing her hand against it, she keyed the external ; microphone to listen through the heavy metal.
; ; There no sounds beyond the heavy metal door. Being cautious, she ; listened until the silence stretched out and her own breath began to ; annoy her. Clicking off the microphone, she wrapped both hands around ; the heavy metal lever and forced the door open.
; ; Beyond the door, the tool room was untouched. Piles of rust and ; metal and plastic were everywhere, scattered around with a carelessness ; that even she could understand. Her eyes scanned the room, looking for ; another exit. To her surprise, she almost missed it as she started ; forward. But, a faint hint of light underneath a heavy-looking pile of ; plastic caught her eye. Carefully padding forward, she carefully ; avoiding the rusted places as she headed toward the hidden door.
; ; As she placed her foot down on a solid-looking table, the sound of ; metal tearing away completely surprised her. The grill beneath her feet ; dissolved into rust almost instantly, leaving her a brief sensation of ; floating over a pitch-black hole before she plunged into the ; darkness.
; ; Below, the void pressed against her as she felt pipes and metal ; walls rushing past her. Something caught her left leg painfully, right ; at the ankle, pinching it painfully through the armor while whipping ; her body hard around; the suit's internal safeties triggered, squeezing ; around her legs and arms to prevent damage. A pipe, solid and ; unresisting, slammed against her right shoulder. A burst of agony ; exploded in her vision, white stars that crawled around with horrible ; slowness. Just as her fall started, it ended with a crash, with her ; pinned leg holding her as firmly as the pipe along her shoulder. ; Another heavy object was ground along the entire length of her lower ; back, preventing her from falling further.
; ; Sonji tried to blink away the white stars of the crash, but they ; refused to move away from her vision. More fragments of metal crashed ; into her arm, weighing her down heavily. Her free arm reached up, to ; push away the metal, but it skittered away. Horror began to creep up ; her spine as she blindly pushed at the metal. Wire legs crawled over ; the limb as they swarmed toward her lower leg and her shoulder.
; ; Screaming, Sonji bucked hard against her confines, trying to yank ; her leg free. Pressure on both sides of her ankle increased as she felt ; more of the spiders landing on it. Her armor's servos whined with her ; efforts, but even the increased strength of the suit was inefficient as ; escape.
; ; White stars slowly faded from her vision and she was able to see ; her predicament. Her leg was caught in a vertical piece of floor grill, ; but there was a long V-cut in the middle of it where her ankle was ; impaled in the middle. Spiders swarmed over the captured limb as she ; watched them weave their wire-like legs into the grill and pull tight. ; Still screaming, she yanked at her leg, but the spider's net was even ; stronger than her suit at full strength.
; ; More movement caught her attention along her shoulder. It was more ; spiders, each one weaving their legs into each other as they formed a ; sheath along her entire right arm, pinning it to the immense steel pipe ; she was caught on. Sonji's yanked hard on her shoulder, trying to free ; it, but it barely moved. One of the black spiders landed on her hand ; and pulled it tightly and painfully against the steel pipe. Two more ; wove their legs together and she felt the suit bend slightly from the ; force of being bound. It only took a matter of seconds before the ; spider force had tightly captured her.
; ; Her scream took on a shrill quality as she lashed out with her free ; arm and leg. Panicked, she grabbed at one of the spiders and threw its ; surprisingly heavy body away. The solid metal sound of it hitting the ; ground below her gave her a brief feeling of satisfaction and she ; reached for another. As her fingers wrapped around it, the wire legs ; suddenly wrapped around her palm. At the same time, three other spiders ; snapped forward and wrapped their own legs around her wrists and ; fingers. Their movements surprised her with the synchronization, as if ; they were planning on her, but she was already too panicked to do ; anything but flail her hand.
; ; While one spider was heavy, four were almost impossible to move. ; Instead of flinging them off, Sonji's hand slid off her chest and she ; felt her shoulder strain as her arm was snapped straight down, pinned ; by gravity and the weight of the clinging spiders. A fifth spider ; slithered down her arm, weaving its legs into the others and increasing ; the weight. Servos screamed from her effort to pull her hand back up, ; but after a few seconds there was an electrical pop and the full weight ; of the spiders was placed on her already screaming shoulder.
; ; The shrill scream of agony burst from her throat as she felt the ; intense sharp pain of her shoulder being dislocated from the weight. A ; wet pop and she felt it start to disconnect with tearing sensations ; that spiked up her spine. To her surprise, two of the spiders released ; their grip and fell away. Lightened, the pressure on her shoulder ; decreased immensely and she found it only a painful throbbing as the ; suit held her together. But, there was no chance she was using that arm ; until it was relocated.
; ; Panting heavily, Sonji tried to gather her thoughts, testing her ; bounds with tiny jerks. The sheaths of black spiders refused to move, ; but they left her free leg to kick helplessly out into the void around ; her. Above her was the circle of light leading into the tool room; only ; five meters away, it feel like a light year from her captured ; position.
; ; "Jacob! Jacob! Help me!"
; ; Sonji screamed out, hoping her communicator finally words, but only ; a faint hiss of static tore that hope apart. Instead, she was forced to ; watch as spiders began to crawl over her body, moving on wire legs in ; an endless march of her doom. They crawled across her armored chest, ; then halted, weighing her down with their dense bodies but making no ; effort to enter the suit.
; ; Then one of them reached out, one wire leg brushing against the ; control for her suit. Sonji's voice whispered out in horror as she ; shook her head.
; ; "No... no, you can't know how."
; ; The leg pressed the first button to her code and a shiver of ; movement rippled through the spiders on her chest. It pressed the ; second code and Sonji was already screaming, tears running down her ; face. With disgusting clarity, she could hear the beeps of the controls ; as the spider entered the sixteen digits quickly.
; ; At the sound of the suit's seals releasing, and cold air flooding ; into her suit, Sonji let loose a long wail of terror.
; ; "No!"
; ; The seams of the suit bulged out and the wire legs grabbed them, ; pulling them in a long yank that pulled open her suit clear down to her ; crotch. Ice cold air surrounded her exposed body as she felt fear ; prickling down her spine. The tank top and underwear felt horribly ; fragile against the combined force of the spiders pulling her suit even ; further apart.
; ; Sonji started to pull her legs free from the suit, but wire legs ; snapped
; ; There was a pause, then one spider began to shake. The azure eyes ; flickered for a moment, then faded. Sonji stared at them in shock as ; the wires slowly retracted into the body, leaving the sphere held ; against its fellow spiders. A seam appeared along the center, which ; slow grew as a puff of greenish gas flooded out of the body. The top ; half of the sphere parted even more along the seam and a flood of ; greenish juices suddenly burst out from the body. It splashed against ; her stomach, hot and slick, but Sonji's attention was focused on the ; sphere itself. A leg pushed out of the seam, white and fragile, then ; another. Three more curled out of the opening and pushed it open, ; giving Sonji the first look at her attacker's. It was a white sphere ; barely a centimeter across, with ten white tendrils radiating from the ; body. Each tendrils was almost two centimeters in length, miniature ; compared to the black spiders around it.
; ; Ten azure eyes dully looked back at her before it reached out and ; pulled itself from its own black suit. Sonji's body began to shake as ; it crawled along the seam of her suit, then slid inside. It was hot and ; slick, a light weight that slid along her body. She could do nothing as ; it flopped against her bared stomach, sliding along as it reached out ; and grabbed her belly button. With a ripple of force, it pulled itself ; up and curled into the niche of her stomach.
; ; Around her, more of the suits were opening up, splashing hot slime ; into her suit as white tendrils pulled themselves into the pools ; forming. Her body shook even harder as more of them poured in, crawling ; over her skin as the slime easily soaked her clothes. Faint tendrils ; pushed underneath the fabric, as the alien spiders started to crawl ; underneath.
; ; She screamed and yanked at her arms and legs, trying to escape the ; safeties pressure, but she couldn't move. Her jerking halted the ; spiders for a moment, but they resumed their crawling as one after a ; second of her panic. Each alien was hot, hotter than her own body, and ; very slick. The elastic of her clothes did nothing to prevent them for ; pressing up against her breasts and inner thighs, exploring with ; tendrils.
; ; A faint beeping indicated the safeties were about to release and ; Sonji prepared herself to yank away from the slithering creatures that ; slid over her. A faint hiss started to relax and she yanked hard on her ; legs. The metal grill shook violently, but an electrical popping arced ; through her suit. The smell of ozone and burnt slime flooded through ; the air and she felt her hope torn apart in an instance. The safeties ; refused to release her limbs as the alien spiders slid across her ; helpless body.
; ; "Jacob!"
; ; There was no response, but that didn't stop her from calling out. ; She strained to focused on her screaming, not to feel the hot slickness ; spreading out over her body, pooling at the entrance to the legs and ; arms as more of the delicate tendrils pushed themselves underneath her ; shirt. Every movement sent a slick tendril across her breasts. Their ; explorations found her nipples easily, hard from the cold air, but her ; squirming only eased their efforts to wrap their tendrils around the ; hard nubs and pull themselves up. The fabric of her top bulged out as ; the alien creatures swarm across her breasts, coating them in hot ; slickness.
; ; Below, more tendrils were teasing at her inner thighs and labia. ; Sonji could feel them prying apart her nether lips, but her legs ; refused to close enough to stop the slickness. More heat stroked ; against her ass, worming their way between her tightly squeezed ; buttocks.
; ; "No!"
; ; Sonji thrashed in her confines, but the hundreds of aliens that now ; crawled over her body ignored her movements. They soaked her entire ; body in their efforts to explore it. To her horror, one of the ; creatures started to worm its body up between her buttocks. She could ; feel the tiny tendrils easily pushing into her tightly clenching ; asshole, slurping in three or four before pulling the body further in. ; She screamed at the feelings of violation as the hot slickness pushed ; against the opening, forcing it open as more tendrils pushed in. Every ; twitch of the small creature was enough o send a bolt of discomfort ; along her spine.
; ; It took very little time for her lower opening to give way to the ; slick, wiggling intruder. With a disgusting pop, she felt it slide into ; her colon and stretch out its tendrils, pushing and crawling in heated ; slickness. The invader barley paused for a second before it started to ; crawl up further into her; a second alien spider pressed itself against ; her slicked entrance and easily slid inside.
; ; Her entire body was shaking from the sensations and Sonji's panting ; barely drowned out the slurping sensations from across her entire body. ; The creatures were avoiding her mouth, as if they knew she would bite ; them if she could, but the rest of her skin was defenseless against ; their probing.
; ; One of the spiders finally pushed up against her labia, shoving all ; ten tendrils deep into her sex and pulling itself in. Sonji screamed in ; violation, tears rolling down her face, as she felt it worm its way ; against the opening to her most private of spaces. The tendrils were ; already buried deep inside, caressing the flare of her inside before ; pulling itself in. Her lack of excitement was nothing to the tiny ; rapist as it used its own slime to force its way deeper, burrowing ; deeply into her sex as a second, then a third, began to crawl inside ; her.
; ; Sonji's body thrashed violently in her confine, trying to force the ; creatures out by squeezing as tightly as possible, But, the soft bodies ; of the tiny spiders barely felt her inner walls as they flooded it with ; hot slime that dribbled out of her opens and splashed down onto the ; ground below. Sonji could feel her suit almost half full of hot slime ; and hundreds of tiny creatures swimming around and grabbing her. Around ; her, tiny spheres laid open like broken clams, mute reminders of the ; violation now burrowing deeper inside.
; ; It felt like forever, being invaded by the aliens as more crawl ; into her opening, until it felt like they were swimming with life. More ; of the aliens clung to her breasts, piling over her slicked mounds ; until the fabric ripped. When she looked down, she could only see the ; white bodies throbbing over every centimeter of skin, except occasional ; flashes of slime-covered flesh.
; ; Her tears were flowing strongly now, sobs ripping from her throat ; as she was forced to suffer from the creatures crawling over and inside ; her body. Every twitch, every slurp, every movement created fresh tears ; to pour down her cheeks.
; ; A dreadful pounding vibrated the metal she was bound too. With fear ; in her eyes, she looked up so see something immense cover the hole ; above her. The sight of legs, each one as thick as her leg, pushing ; through the hole, then the huge spider pushed against the opening, was ; enough to send fresh screams boiling out of her mouth. She thrashed ; violently, her slick body sliding around in her suit uselessly and ; agitating the creatures buried inside her.
; ; "No!"
; ; Her screams dissolved into incoherent noise, a denial of anything ; so large poised above her. The terror of the immense spider was only ; relieved in part by the face it was too large to fit into the opening. ; It tried, however, pounding against the metal in slow, rhythmic ; strokes. Part of Sonji begged for it tear through, to fall down at ; crush her, but the spider appeared to be unwilling to kill her.
; ; Instead, it did something far worse.
; ; The ten azure eyes, each one the size of her fist, slowly flickered ; out. Sonji screamed even more violently as a seam appeared on the ; bottom edge of the spider's suit, a line that started to drip hot slime ; over her body. As the seam widened, it began to flood out, pouring onto ; her until it overfilled her suit. The tiny spider suits were washed ; away, but the tiny creatures continued to crawl across her body, ; squeezing tightly against her nipples, her clitoris, and even her air ; as they fought against the river of slime pouring over her.
; ; Sonji caught a taste of the foul liquid, sputtering for breath as ; she fought against her confines. Spreading wide open, she saw the alien ; spider slowly push out of the immense sphere. It was identical to the ; tiny creatures, except the main body was almost three meters across and ; each leg was six. It pushed easily into the hole, six of the legs ; stretched out to grab the pipes and metal. Slowly, it lowered itself ; toward her, azure eyes blinking slowly.
; ; She screamed, then screamed again as she felt the creatures inside ; her sex start to boil out. The tiny wiggling spiders deep insider her ; ass, however, refused to move as they continued to slick violation ; deeper into her body, cramping her insides in their efforts to move up. ; Hips jerked violently as the spiders came slurping out of her sex, ; sending more slime into her overfilling suit and onto the ground.
; ; Above her, the larger spider came within a meter of her body and ; stopped. She could see the soft, pulsating skin of the main body as ; each of the eyes blinked in slow patterns. Gasping, she shook her head, ; trying to deny the image of the gigantic creature looming over her.
; ; "No... no... no!"
; ; It was deaf to her screams as it stretched even further out, ; pulling itself taut against the metal. The center of the creature began ; to bulge, slowly pulling apart to reveal a blood-red tendrils that ; slowly slithered out. Sonji's mind was threatening to black out as the ; last of the tiny creatures finally slurped out of her sex in time for ; the blood-red tendril to stretch down. The tip brushed against her ; breasts; it felt incredibly hot and dripped with heated slime.
; ; The tip slowly moved up her cleavage, then down toward her sex. ; Sonji thrashed weakly, her body finally giving up after the constant ; struggle. The blood-red tendril easily passed over the pools of ; swarming white spiders and pressed down against her opening.
; ; Sonji blinked back the tears, "No, please don't."
; ; With terrifying slowness, the blood-red tendril lowered itself ; between her legs and curled up until the heated tip was rubbing against ; her opening. She tried to pull her legs together, but one large tendril ; wrapped around it and pulled it apart; to her surprise, the strength in ; the tendril was even more than her almost dead suit could handle. When ; the servos began to whine, she forced herself to let her legs be pulled ; spread-eagle.
; ; The heated tendril easily found the gaping, slime-slicked opening ; of her sex. With the same powerful force, it slowly began to penetrate ; her. Sonji tried to squeeze it out, but the irresistible force was too ; much as it pushed aside muscles and forced its way into her tight sex. ; Her labia and opening were stretched painfully apart as the thick ; member pushed, not wormed, deeply into her. Waves of heat rolled off ; the thick member as the tip pushed into her inner depths, shoving aside ; her inner walls almost painfully.
; ; Then it froze.
; ; Just as Sonji's body was adjusting to the thick tendril of the ; rapist, she caught movement above her. Something was pushing through ; the blood-red tendril, a thick rounded object slowly traveling down its ; length. Her body began to shake in terror again as she realized that it ; was egg of some sort. The roundish object was thicker than her fist, ; which did nothing to relieve the terror that burst inside her.
; ; Sonji let loose a scream of terror as she was forced to watch the ; egg slowly moving down the length of the blood-red tendrils, then ; between her legs. It pressed against her labia, an thickness that would ; never penetrate the tiny opening. She could feel her body spasming in ; resistance, but the pressure built from the inside the tendril, forcing ; her lips and opening apart painfully. Slowly, it was forced inside, ; filling up the vaginal tunnel with screaming agony.
; ; She could the tendril pushes even deeper into her body, the heated ; tip moving further up toward her womb. It barely brushed her cervix ; with the hardness of the egg finally popped into her sex, leaving ; behind the tortured relief of her abused opening.
; ; The egg remained inside the hot tendril as it pushed against her ; innermost gate, her cervix. Burning hot slime was pouring out of her ; sex as she could feel it trying to worm its way deeper into her body. ; It pressed further in, pushing up against her inner walls until, to her ; horror, she felt a wet ripping deep inside her body. Sonji barely had a ; second to register the sensation when sharp pain slashed through her ; body, radiating from the violated opening. The blood-red tendril forced ; the egg deeper, past the torn cervix and into her womb.
; ; Just as the egg was ejected from the slime-covered tendrils, Sonji ; saw another egg started the slow movement down the blood-red tendril. ; She whimpered in fear, her body unable to do anything in her confines. ; The pain radiated painfully from her sex, stretching to fill every part ; of her body in constant pain.
; ; ***
; ; Your own children? How? You can't make her one of your own. ; Jacob could feel his confusion sliding along with his thoughts as he ; projected them outward. Faint power coursed through the mind spider's ; body before it responded with a complicated sensation.
; ; I will place my eggs in the body, fill it with my young who will ; grow inside.
; ; Jacob stood there in surprise for a moment then threw back his ; thoughts.
; ; You can't kill her! I need her!
; ; I won't kill the body, it must be alive for my children to ; eat.
; ; What!?
; ; A faint response, almost paternal and amused, You are young. You ; will understand when you grow up as a queen.
; ; Along with the response came the mental image of Sonji's rape. ; Intense rage and anger flared up inside Jacob. His mental self started ; to glow with the force of the emotions and he reflexively threw them at ; the spider, You let Sonji free!
; ; Even as he realized what he was doing, he could do nothing to stop ; the reddish burst of energy that exploded from his hands, forming an ; immense spike that pierced into the spider's mind. A scream of anger ; and pain vibrated through his mind, tearing at his defenses. There were ; no words needed for the anger and emotion that boiled back toward him ; as strands of webs were thrown toward him. Each one glowed with black ; force.
; ; Throwing up his mental shields, Jacob still managed to take the ; brunt of the powerful emotions that cut into his mind itself. The pain ; was searing, slashing through his thoughts and tearing at the tight ; ball of his very core. He managed to pull the shield even tighter ; around it, a wet sphere that surrounded his core with glimmering power. ; When the second emotional blow slammed into him, this one even strong ; than the first, he managed to avoid the brunt of it and only felt a ; dull pain growing in the back of his head.
; ; Focusing, he gathered up his anger at the creature who would kill ; his companion... his friend and he threw it. It formed another red ; spike, this one blood red and streaming black mist as it pierced deep ; into the spider's mind. Jacob could feel it cutting into the creature's ; mind, but there was too much for his attack to damage. The strands that ; came back, wrapping around his sphere-protected core were much stronger ; as the squeezed him with the force of ten thousand emotions.
; ; The spider's form blurred under the attack and Jacob felt a glimmer ; of hope. Instead of sending another bolt of emotion, he focused on ; giving the spider more shape. Blurred edges grew sharper as he pictured ; the spider's form, as a web-filled spider. Waves of raw emotions ; crashed into him, as the spider drew him closer while squeezing with ; incredible force.
; ; Using his skill at concentration, Jacob focused even harder, giving ; the spider a form that was almost real. Even the shadows and emotions ; rippled across its form as he forced the form into sharpness. With ; supreme effort, he resisted the emotional attacks as he started to give ; the body even more form, more definition. It grew sharper as it moved, ; the legs slowly pulling back into the core as the central stretched ; out. Surprise and shock rippled through the spider's mind as Jacob felt ; it trying to assert its own form.
; ; What... what are you doing?
; ; Anger rippled through his response, You will not kill ; her!
; ; He redoubled his efforts to change the shape of the spider. Six of ; the legs pulled into the central form, leaving the final four to swell ; out into human-like legs and arms. The central body changed also, ; slowly gaining the form of a woman.
; ; Emotional pressure increased on his shields as the spider attacked ; again. Black and red emotions swirled around him, squeezing and tearing ; at the shields as he focused on forcing the form on the creature. Azure ; eyes merged into two that glared at him from a very human face.
; ; Jacob could feel his shields beginning to crack under the pressure. ; Delving deep into his personal core, he found a source of energy he ; only touched in deep meditation and pulled on it. Gold burst out from ; him, filling his core with power and dulling the pain. His shields ; glowed with the power as he drove his will even harder against the ; spider's mind, forcing it into the form of a naked woman.
; ; He had no clue where the image came from, but it was no human he ; ever saw. Small breasts the color of the finest silk stood out from a ; svelte body. Her arms and legs were long, in faint memory of the spider ; legs, but they were also the same color of silk. Azure eyes, filled ; with hatred and pain, were set in the smooth face of a woman ten years ; his junior. The anger in the eyes faded with the emotional onslaught as ; the woman stared at herself in shock.
; ; What did you do?
; ; Anger still boiled in Jacob as he lashed out with his mind, You ; hurt my Sonji!
; ; Shocked with her body, it did nothing to prevent her from throwing ; back a sharp emotion that exploded against his shields.
; ; It is a body, to be used to grow young! Why are you protecting ; something that is not you?
; ; She is my friend!
; ; They were both screaming with their minds and the astral void ; between them shook with the power. She threw a tight emotion against ; his golden shields and shook them violently. With a growl, Jacob dipped ; deep into his personal energy and pulled out an attack glowing with ; golden fire. Throwing it against her, she screamed as the flames seared ; her flesh, turning it briefly black before it faded back into the ; silken white.
; ; You will not hurt her!
; ; He attacked her again, throwing golden flame after golden flame at ; the body until she screamed in a long wail that shook the void around ; them. Her thoughts grew briefly ragged, then a she threw back an ; emotion begging for mercy.
; ; Please stop, you are hurting me. I will let your 'Sonji' ; go.
; ; Jacob halted his attack for a moment, looking at the woman in front ; of him. There were tears on her face, blue trails that dripped off her ; cheek. In their attacking, they managed to move closer until he could ; reach out and touch her.
; ; You will free her?
; ; She nodded, Yes, you may both go.
; ; Jacob started to smile, then a thought drifted through his mind, ; And what of the others? What about the others you encounter after ; us? Will you use those bodies like you are using hers?
; ; I will leave them alone.
; ; Even as the words came across, Jacob could feel the falsehood ; simmering underneath. Images of her taking more to grow her children ; were faint ghosts hidden underneath images of being sincere. With a ; growl, he snapped out his arm, wrapping his fingers around her ; throat.
; ; You lie!
; ; Surprised at the intensity of his emotions, Jacob felt himself ; squeezing against the spider's delicate throat. The feel of her skin ; was soft as if it was made of the finest silk. She threw back her own ; thoughts.
; ; That is what those animals are for! Breeding!
; ; A solid wall of stubbornness started to form between them, but ; Jacob slashed it away with claws of golden fire.
; ; They are not for you! They are living creatures with souls of ; their own!
; ; She refused to listen, her mind fighting him as he felt the fear ; and terror building up inside her. Jacob fought against her, his hand ; around her throat as he fending off the flailing of her hands. The ; emotional waves burst around them, cutting into their minds even as ; their astral bodies fought.
; ; With a burst of force and energy, Jacob managed to pin her with the ; very power of his mind.
; ; You violated her, spider. You are hurting her in ways that you ; can't understand.
; ; Confusion battered at him, confusion of why Jacob cared, of the ; significance of the living creature being violated on the physical ; world.
; ; They are meat, nothing more. They have no mind, no purpose, they ; are only there to be eaten and to create young. Those creatures have ; nothing, nothing at all.
; ; No, they are alive and you are hurting them.
; ; Why do you care?
; ; The response was smug and confused at the same time, the spider ; woman had nothing to frame any of his arguments again. Jacob thought ; furiously, realizing that she would never be able to understand ; anything he said and the next group she encountered would suffer the ; same fate as Sonji was right now. The memory of Sonji's rape flared up ; inside him and he briefly considered trying to kill the spider ; creature, but the image of the spider who died before cut it away. ; Centering himself, Jacob realized he would have to find a way without ; killing the spider creature, a way of teaching her why it was ; wrong.
; ; He decided to do the same.
; ; Before she could resist, he threw out a pinning force at the same ; time as he grabbed one leg with his free hand. The other hand squeezed ; tightly around the delicate throat, as his mind forced her to believe ; she was being strangled. Surprised by the force of his emotions and ; manipulations, the spider woman started to choke, fear filling her face ; as she thrashed to escape. Jacob's mind easily held her down as he ; released her throat to grab her other leg. The force of his mind ; replaced the pressure on the throat, choking it to an inch of her ; breath as he yanked apart her legs to expose the dusky opening to her ; sex. Her labia was tightly pressed, a virgin's opening.
; ; She realized what he was doing, as she started to gather her ; emotions to attack. Jacob lunged forward, his body shaping itself to ; form a throbbing cock already dripping with excitement. Part of him, ; the dark violent part that he struggled constantly against, latched ; onto the sensations and magnified them, forcing his cock even harder ; and hotter until it felt like it would burst.
; ; The hands around the spider's legs tightened even more, grinding ; the bones tightly as he pulled them apart as far as his arms would go. ; The bands of force from his mind wrapped around her throat, squeezing ; off the breath as he lunged forward, his cock aimed for her sex.
; ; At the first feeling of thrusting into the burning hot depths of ; her sex, both Jacob and the spider woman screamed. A burst of red, of ; violated emotions and mental blood, splattered against them both as he ; rammed his entire length into her sex. His base slammed hard against ; her silken skin and he ground it hard against it.
; ; Terror washed over him, as the spider was violated for the first ; time. Her mental body spasmed as he felt her control over the spiders ; start to dissolve. Unable to stop, he drew back his cock and slammed ; hard back into her, slapping his hips against her inner thighs with a ; blow that sent waves of emotions ripping into her.
; ; ***
; ; In the ghost ship, a third egg was lodged inside her tortured ; opening when a violent shiver rippled through every spider violating ; her. Even the giant alien shook as it froze deep inside her. The first ; two eggs were firmly buried deep inside her womb.
; ; She continued to scream for a moment, then paused as she realized ; nothing was moving against her.
; ; "Jacob?"
; ; ***
; ; Jacob was pounding inside the spider womb, thrusting his cock as ; hard as he could into the gaping opening with hard, fast strokes. His ; darkness, the violent part of his mind, forced him pound harder, to ; throw his own mind into the effort of truly violating the spider woman. ; He did so, lost in the sea of boiling emotions he fought so hard ; again.
; ; As he thrust inside her, he felt his own conscious pushing inside ; her. When he drew out, he also pulled out part of her own mind, pulling ; it into his own. The flashes of memory, terror, and pain filled him and ; drove him even harder. As he rammed forward, he used the memories to ; find other places in the spider mind's shields, to penetrate even ; deeper.
; ; Both the mind and the mental body were screaming now, the feeling ; of being raped almost exploding around them. In the saner part of his ; mind, he could feel her rape go even deeper, as she pulled into her ; memories and slashed at the threads that connected her to the spider ; drones.
; ; The image of the dying spider from before crashed into Jacob. The ; sorrow cut through his darkness, blasting it aside and back into the ; depths of his mind. He pulled out of her, his cock dripping with her ; virgin's blood, and reached out for the tattered remains of the ; spiders. As he grabbed them, he felt the various drones screaming, a ; childlike cry for their mother.
; ; She was curled up in a ball, sobbing even as she learned what it ; meant to be violated. Jacob felt the sorrow throbbing deep inside his ; heart, but the terror sparkling off the strands of webbing was enough ; for him to drive it down. Pulling on his quickly depleting energy, he ; attached himself to the spiders, giving them the control the drones ; needed to survive.
; ; Sensory input from thousands of spiders, from the ones buried deep ; inside Sonji's intestines to the one shoving eggs inside her, flood ; through Jacob's mind. He screamed from the intensity of images, senses, ; and even the basic need to breath, to move, to survive that each that ; every drone, from the largest to the smallest, required.
; ; ***
; ; Sonji was still trapped, but now she was surrounded by hundreds of ; spasming spiders. They fell off her body, landing on the ground in wet ; slaps of crushed flesh. Above her, the giant spider began to spasm ; itself, the azure eyes turning dark. The blood-red tendril was still ; caught inside her, however, and it spasmed violently inside her, ; crushing her insides with the violent snapping of the heated tip.
; ; ***
; ; Jacob could feel the aliens hurting Sonji and he willed them to ; calm down. Thousands of voices, each one barely a child's, call out to ; him as one.
; ; Father.
; ; It took all of his effort to keep the aliens alive, much less ; moving. Every little thought was duplicated thousandfold by the ; creatures attempting to perform the action. He was forced to draw more ; and more of his energy and attention into moving them, to crawl off ; Sonji and back into their shells. The largest of the creatures was just ; as easy to move as the other, and he guided it back into its shell and ; closed it. The sensations of the suits filling back up with slime was ; almost a pleasure.
; ; He realized that he was no longer paying attention to the spider ; mind. Part of him drew his attention back to her, but she was only ; lying there, standing at him with a mixture of hate, fear, and ; hesitation. Even directing a small part of his attention away left the ; spiders in a blind panic and he realized he could never leave as long ; as he controlled the spiders.
; ; With a supreme effort, he held out some of the strands to the ; spider mind. She looked at them, her body trembled with the memory of ; rape and the lack of energy in her drawn face.
; ; Why?
; ; Jacob strained to respond, feeling hundreds of spiders start to die ; with every word, Because you are their mother, and... I think you ; understand now.
; ; She shook her head, Why are you saving them?
; ; He couldn't answer for a moment, as he strained to keep all of the ; aliens alive. A few of them were crushed to death and he could feel the ; sorrow rippling through the rest of the spiders as the last of suits ; sealed shut. Even as he struggled, he couldn't find enough energy to ; guide the spiders to release Sonji. Instead, he risked more dying to ; respond to her.
; ; Because if you love them as much as I love Sonji, you wouldn't ; be able to bear their loss.
; ; Looking at the offered strands, she hesitated for a moment, then ; gently took up the tattered remains. They fused with her skin again, ; sinking in with a grateful cry of pleasure vibrating through the silk. ; Jacob handed more to her, a handful at a time, until he could finally ; think without risking the spiders.
; ; There was strange emotions in her voice, I could kill ; you.
; ; Jacob felt the strain of keeping the aliens alive and nodded, ; Yes, you could.
; ; Do you hate me?
; ; No, I don't.
; ; Do I hate you? There was confusion in her voice and Jacob ; shook his head.
; ; Right now, you don't. But, later you will.
; ; Why?
; ; Because I hurt you in a way that will probably never ; heal.
; ; And this feeling for... Sonji, is it what I feel for the... ; spiders?
; ; She was using images and words from his own memories. With a start, ; he realized that he took some of her with him and left some of his own ; memories with the woman in front of him. He smiled.
; ; I hope so.
; ; Silence stretched across them and Jacob let her form blur slightly. ; Her own mind didn't attempt to reform it, leaving it as the naked woman ; before him.
; ; I won't do this again.
; ; Jacob shook his head, There is a time and place for everything, ; you need to find it yourself.
; ; How will I know?
; ; He grinned, Look inside yourself, I have a feeling that the ; answers are there now.
; ; ***
; ; It was almost a standard hour later when Sonji keyed open the inner ; door to the airlock and stepped inside. A soft squishing noise filled ; the communicator and Jacob stood up from the cockpit chair. By the time ; he reached the storage room, she was already stripping out of her suit ; in a puddle of slime.
; ; Sonji looked at him with relief, "It was you?"
; ; Jacob wiped at the drying tears on his face and nodded slowly, ; "I'm sorry."
; ; ***
; ; She let loose a shuddering sigh, "I'll survive."
; ; Pausing for a moment, she continued, "They took the... eggs out ; of me, did you make them do that?"
; ; He shook his head, "No, she did."
; ; "It hurt."
; ; More silence and he struggled for words. Nothing came, but Sonji ; dropped the suit on the ground.
; ; "I'm going to sleep."
; ; She left for her room without another word and Jacob watched her. ; Another tear trailed down his cheek.
; ; "I'm sorry."
; ; As the ship pulled away from the ghost ship, a group of five small ; and black spheres huddled tightly in a protected section underneath the ; right wing. Wire legs were intertwined together, holding them firmly ; against the hull as the rocket flared and the ship began to move ; forward.
; ; From the five tiny minds, five silken strands stretched into the ; hull, to where Jacob was standing. He smiled briefly and wondered why ; the alien mind refused to let him return the five. His eyes glanced at ; the shut door leading into Sonji's room, where the sounds of sobbing ; and a shower were faintly heard. Tears still on his face, he turned ; back and entered commands into the computer.
; ; Behind the ship, the ghost ship's drives started to flicker to ; life. Tiny rockets slowly turned the ship away from the tiny ship, ; toward the inky void of space. ; ;