did you think it was going to be easy? - @iobartach
“A little bit, yeah--!”
It probably wasn’t wise to goad since—really, where the hell did he come from?? Chroma didn’t bleed from his existence, and Verso was pretty sure everyone who could enter the canvas were all accounted for on one hand.
So then what the hell was this? Didn’t matter at the moment, seeing as he was back to trying to speed his way between his very blue assailer and lusters that wanted to see what all the commotion was. A very loud swear, the chroma building enough to let him burst with his sword cutting deep into the nevron’s red mane.
“I don’t know what else you need for me to prove that I’m on your side! I want this place gone, too!”
Red lights flash in the dimly lit cockpit. "Anomaly detected. Anomaly detected," the computer said, an alarm sounding between repeats.
Shamus looked over the radar screen for the anomaly. "Well that can't be right," he said, scratching his head. "Sally, reboot the systems real quick, pretty sure you're getting a false reading."
Sally rebooted the radar systems instantly. "Anomaly still detected, Captain" Sally responded.
"Well that just don't make no sense!" Shamus said.
"That's why it's an anomaly" Sally replied.
"I don't need none of your 'lectronic lip, Sally. Can we get a visual?"
"Displaying visual."
The screen showed a black field, speckled with stars, save for a long, ominous band of pure black.
"Overlay the radar readings in white." Shamus commanded.
Sally did so, coloring in a long tube where the stars had been blotted out. Something about the image gave Shamus the creeps.
"How far away is it, Sally?"
"Approximately 1,548 kilometers." Sally said.
"Well if it's that far away" Shamus furrowed his brow, "and it still looks that big, and it has no albedo. Sally, there's no record of any asteroids like this, are there."
"There are records of large, low albedo asteroids that are comparable in size, however never so close to a gas giant. Also, none of them move like this." Sally said.
"Wait, move like what?"
Sally played the overlaid radar in real time, shading it red and blue to differentiate distances. Shamus once more furrowed his brow.
"Is that? Naw, couldn't be. But it is. But that can't be. Is that thing, is that thing swimming? Though space?"
"It appears to be the case, Captain." Sally said.
"Uh Sally? Does blue mean it's moving towards or away from us?"
"Towards, of course."
"That ain't good. How fast is it moving towards us?"
"Approximately 400 kilometers per minute."
The moving image had turned from a rippling tube into a circle that stretched out into an oval then back into a circle as it swam towards the ship.
"Sally get us out of here now!" Shamus yelled, terror filling his eyes.
The engines could be heard revving up as the ship picked up momentum; the colossal mass moving towards them turned to follow them, speeding up to try and catch them.
"IT'S GAINING ON US, SALLY!" Shamus griped his seat, knuckles turning white.
"We are still accelerating."
"Well accelerate faster if you can, please!"
The creature was now only a hundred or so kilometers from the ship, its mass blocking out any star light from the cameras pointing in its general direction.
"Sweet Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and God in heaven, please save us from this terror." Shamus said solemnly, making the sign of the cross as he did so.
The black mass split open revealing row upon row of teeth, some reaching twenty meters in length, lighting up with bioluminescent blue speckles along the inside of its maw
.
"Engaging evasive maneuvers." Sally said, tightening Shamus' harness. The ship made tight turns, trying to escape the creature. Shamus held on for dear life, barely able to maintain consciousness. Doing his best to control his breath Shamus tightened his core to force more oxygenated blood to his brain to avoid passing out, thankful that the ship could fly itself, not needing his inputs. Maintaining the erratic movements Sally took the ship towards Iapetus, the neatest Saturnian moon. Shamus, unable to handle the sustained g-forces for so long finally succumbed to the forces and passed out.
"Ah bien, está recuperando la conciencia." A woman's voice.
"Señor, señor. ¿Sé habla español?" A man's voice.
Shamus opened his eyes, his head hurt something fierce.
"What? Huh?" Shamus muttered.
"Sé habla español o uh do you speak English?" The man asked in a heavy Colombian accent.
"English." Shamus replied.
"You fly- flew here. Automátic pilot says something chase you. Yes?"
"Yeah. Wait that had to. Oh ow! My head! I thought that was a dream?" Shamus grabbed at his forehead.
"Señor, what was that thing?"
"I- I don't even know. Dang thing was massive! Dwarfed my ship. Must of had fifty foot long teeth! It was black as space but when it opened its mouth it was full of blue lights like ya see on those critters from the Marinara's Trench back on Earth. Ol' Sally got us out of there in one piece I guess. Must've g-locked when she got crazy with the maneuvers," Shamus began shaking, fighting back the tears as he realized how easily he could have died without anyone ever knowing what happened. "Oh thank ya Lord Jesus for savin' my skin! Thank ya for not lettin' me go that way!" Shamus had dropped to his knees, praying out loud while signing the cross. The crew thought it for the best to wait until Shamus calmed down before telling him how his ship had fared.
