Leif meditated for a moment on the hum of the force shield separating him from his hovering warp ship as well as the mass of writhing, angry six-foot-long worm creatures. Hard work will get you where you’re going. He had always been comforted by the mantra but was less sure about it today.
Feeling the satisfying click of a fresh power pack snapping into his pulse rifle, he checked that his concussion grenades were in place and took a deep breath. A legendary Rothmar crystal was settled firmly in his pack. Only six had ever been recovered, but he still needed to survive the run to his ship before it would truly be his.
Outside the glasteel window lay the wreckage of four robots. Leif had learned the hard way that worm creatures ate metal.
The grizzled warrior shook his head; nothing left but to make the run. He flicked off the force shield and moved to the right side of the small station, positioning himself in front of the locked exit. Taking a deep breath, he flipped the latch and slammed his shoulder against the door. Screee! The rusted hinges complained as the stone-coated door moved about an inch before stopping. The worms turned as one at the sound and rushed his position.
Several grey tongues began licking the now-exposed metal frame of the door. Their spit caused the steel to sizzle. Leif shuddered. Not this way. Don’t want to die like this.
He thought hard. This was an Old Federation outpost. Isn’t there supposed to be a second exit? Looking across the room, he saw the mass of rusted chairs and tables piled in the far corner. As the worms dissolved the door behind him, he dug frantically at the pile of furniture.
The mission had gone flawlessly up until the worms had shown. The crystal had been right where it should be. But now, with these worms appearing unexpectedly, Leif had some serious anxiety going on.
Finally, his frantic tossing of furniture bore fruit: a second door, this one slightly more preserved than the other one. Leif drew a concussion grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and tossed it directly in front of the other door. Covering his head and turning away, he waited three seconds until- bam- the thing went off. The explosion was powerful enough to push the door most of the way open. The gap was immediately filled with worms pushing into the base, and the others outside streamed in that direction upon hearing the noise. This cleared the way outside but put a hungry mob of worms behind him.
This had better work, Leif thought as he slammed his shoulder into the newly revealed door. Unlike the other, this one came open startlingly easily, and Leif stumbled into the newly revealed space. He was hoping this, like the other door, would empty out into the valley in front of the station. Instead, he was in a dark tunnel cut into stone. Clicking on his headlamp, he sprinted down the narrow passage, hoping the worms thought all of the nice gleaming metal in the station was a tastier treat than a human. Ten steps in, and his hopes were dashed. The worms streamed into the tunnel. He immediately pulled a second grenade from his belt, dropping it as he ran. There was a satisfyingly wet splat accompanying the explosion. The bobbing spot of his lamp illuminated another door twenty yards ahead.
Leif suddenly wondered if this was a path to the backup power generation plant. Hard work will get you where you’re going. Sure, but where are you going? Fear spread across his mind, imagining himself trapped in a room with a bi-nuclear reactor while hundreds of hungry worms swarmed outside.
Shaking off the rising shudder of terror, Leif’s shoulder hit the door. Bam! Screeeee! The door slammed open to blinding light. As he exited, he summoned his ship. He made sure to keep his knees high as he stumbled forward, praying he would not trip or run into a worm. He had dropped a grenade in the hallway just as he exited, and it went off with a muffled bang.
As his eyes cleared, he noticed he was on a path. Looking behind him, he saw a real mess at the doorway, but four worm creatures had made it through and were rapidly gaining ground. He fired his rifle behind him blindly as he ran. Maybe just a waste of power, but who knows?
Suddenly, he felt something lunge between his feet and curl around his foot. The worm was strong enough to stop him from lifting his foot off the ground. That was never a good thing, especially at full sprint. He slammed face-first into the dirt, dazing himself. A second later, he felt the weight of four of his enemies. Their mouths, filled with needle-like teeth, reached for him. Their saliva was easily dissolving his suit and burning his skin. Two clamped onto his legs, another on his right arm. Leif screamed. The final one was trying for his face. He held it back with his left arm, which was quickly weakening.
Leif stared down the gullet of the worm and thought, Hard work will get you where you’re going. Well, I never thought it would end like this. He offered up a prayer but without much faith. Worm saliva dripped directly into his mouth and sizzled when it hit his tongue. He screamed again.
A moment later, he was surrounded by a purple light. He sent the mental commands to his ship: Focus, transport in.
Suddenly the worms’ mouths turned slack; only half of them had been inside the transport circle. He dragged them one at a time over to the incinerator, depositing their bodies with satisfaction.
As he angled his warp ship to ascend off this nasty planet, he thought, Hard work will get you where you’re going, but a little grace can sometimes help too.
