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The docking was completed; Arandor surveyed the corridor they had entered after leaving the airlock doors. The pilot had discovered this research vessel when their ship exited hyperspace and found itself in the Alpha Centauri system. The captain, as well as the other crew members, wished to reach their home planet as quickly as possible; the unprecedented cruelty of the humans had shaken them to the depths of their souls. It was worst for the youngest and weakest—Nayra, whose family were her only close people, aside from Arandor—her good friend.
When they first stumbled upon the ship, hanging against the backdrop of endless space, the letters "WAP" were discovered on the hull.
"- Hey, isn't this by any chance that ship they talked about in the news? - Arandor asked, examining the inscription with interest.
- I have no idea which 'ships from the news' you are talking about, but it is blocking our communication system. - the pilot replied.
- I see... it seems that is exactly why it wasn't found earlier. We are very lucky that we exited at this point and stumbled upon it.
- What do you mean by 'lucky'? - Hostor asked.
- As Vegtam said, communications are blocked, which means sending a message anywhere is impossible, while there may be survivors on board who require immediate help.
- What are you getting at?
- We will land on its deck, of course."
Now they stood on the unknown ship, armed and equipped, clad in military armor. Seeing the unlit corridors for the first time, Arandor had already regretted his decision to land here more than once, but there was no way back—that would seem a strange decision, unworthy of a captain—or so he believed.
The squad consisted of twelve people, among whom were Hostor, who did not leave his employer and friend by even a step; Lizard, being the most experienced soldier among them, could not remain on board; nine soldiers, and the captain himself. Arandor was prepared to categorically refuse Nayra's decision to go with them; however, to his surprise, she had no intention of going. She was devastated.
Besides the dark corridor, Arand---dor also discovered that the oxygen supply was still working, which meant the power had not been shut off. "Why, then, did no one send a distress signal?".
- Stay alert - the captain addressed the squad - we should reach the main research laboratory; all the latest data and perhaps camera recordings should be there. What does the map on your handheld say, Lizard?
- Right now we must make our way through the living quarters, then we need to split into two teams, as I am not sure where we should go next: either to the xenology lab or to the communications point.
As they moved toward the living quarters, a sound of an unknown nature suddenly rang out; Hostor accidentally leaned against the wall and felt a strange sensation. He turned around and discovered that there was something like slime on the wall, which he had stepped into. He grimaced, and when he caught its smell, he almost vomited. The lawyer and bodyguard had never encountered anything like it.
- What do you have there, Hostor? - the captain asked - are you okay?
- Yes, perfectly. Let's move on.
Bloody patterns left on the floors and walls of the living quarters spoke of a struggle and the resistance the victims put up against their killers. When the detailed inspection was completed, no one found a single corpse. By one of the beds, Arandor noticed a shiny object; approaching closer, he took it in his hands. It was an interactive pendant with a single function: the item showed a photograph of three people—a Black man and woman, as well as a small boy; apparently, this was the family of one of the scientists. Arandor clenched the pendant in his fist and lowered his head.
After the inspection, he, Hostor, and four others went to examine the xenology lab, while the rest of the team headed for the communications point.
The situation in the laboratory was identical to what they had seen in the living quarters—again, rivers of blood and not a single corpse. On one of the tables, Arandor found a research journal under the name of a xenologist named "Drakkoshka". Picking it up, Arandor shook off the strange slime that the journal was in.
Once again, everyone was frightened by the same unexpected strange sound they had heard earlier. Now, however, it seemed louder, or the source was closer. Hostor hastily checked the grenade loaded into his assault rifle and grew alert. The sound became closer and closer; all six brought their weapons to combat readiness and prepared for battle, but the sound began to fade.
- If my hearing doesn't deceive me, it sounded right above our heads! - one of the soldiers said with a sigh.
The soldier was right, and this made Arandor uneasy; if the sound was moving away from them, it meant it was heading toward the second squad. The captain began to shout loudly over the radio to Lizard. In response came gunfire and human screams, as well as frantic animal cries.
- Forward!
The six of them ran at full speed toward the communications point. The last thing they saw was Lizard smashing the head of a vile monster against the wall with the butt of his heavy rifle, then other creatures dragging him away and him losing his weapon. Hostor examined the monster—two to three meters long, huge claws on its paws, a shattered elongated skull with sharp fangs.
- What is this filth? - Arandor lost control. - What is it? What the hell is that?!

Earth. Hong Kong. Headquarters of Wong Advanced Pharmaceuticals.
Vervolka stood inside a private elevator rising to the highest floor of this building—the tallest in Hong Kong. She was nervous, as she was every time she had to speak with this man. The WAP corporation was founded by entrepreneur Li Wong in the distant past, and since those years, leadership had been passed from heir to heir. Throughout its history, it had been led by people completely different in both character and skills, but Chung Wong was the most successful of all. A cruel and calculating woman whose skills spanned entirely different fields. She was a perfect example of what could be achieved with modern medicine: at 46, she looked like a twenty-year-old girl, but behind the beauty's appearance hid a true Devil.
Vervolka entered the luxurious apartments; the head of the corporation lay on a sofa and slowly ate grapes, which were being held to her lips by a slender, athletic man dressed only in a towel. There were at least three others here; as Vervolka approached, Wong ordered the men to leave the room.
- Modern technology incredibly eases human life, but it never brings the pleasure derived from living and primitive force.
By the doors stood two latest-generation combat droids, which Vervolka did not notice immediately.
- Mistress Wong...
- Every second person breathing oxygen on this planet is aware of the "missing" ship; I wonder how that could happen? Vervolka Carter... You were the one responsible for this project, and besides allowing its disappearance, you also missed the information leak. - the woman's voice did not change and remained calm - I would like this matter to be resolved as soon as possible; it will be better not only for the company as a whole but for you personally.

Wong Advanced Pharmaceuticals research ship.
Lizard was limping; the leg that... creature had dragged him by across the floor hurt badly, but at least he could walk. A couple of minutes ago, he had shot the beast with his pistol, which was on his belt. As he walked and reflected, he was attacked several times by other aliens, though smaller ones—"Yes Lizard, these aren't spiders from Azylum" - he thought, recalling a similar situation seven years ago; back then he was also alone, but he still managed and survived. Although now the situation was clearly of a different nature.
Coordinated action allowed the second squad to reach the main research laboratory without losses.
The six took up various positions; the large size of the laboratory made them vulnerable to a sudden attack.
- Hostor, try to enter the main computer system, and if you succeed, transmit all stored information to the ship. - Arandor spoke hurriedly.
The bodyguard approached the computer and entered the system—it was not locked; apparently, the session had not been terminated last time. He didn't bother sorting one piece of information from another and simply set it to transmit absolutely everything that was there. - this will take some time!
Lizard slowly approached a small hall which, due to slime and other things, resembled an insect hive more than a room on a human ship. Cocoons were attached to the ceiling and walls. Lizard shot one of the creatures in the head, then a second, and a third. The accuracy developed over years of service made itself known. There were people in the cocoons, as he had thought. The former officer freed them, but all turned out to be dead—all except one. It was one of the soldiers who had been in his squad. He coughed and jerked away toward the wall, far from Lizard; he was incredibly frightened.
- Friend, calm down, you're safe... - Lizard looked around - for a short while. What is your name?
- My name... my name is Tieru.
Arandor and his guys continued to hold the defense while the data was being transmitted. There had not been a single death among them so far, while the monster corpses numbered in the hundreds; this boosted everyone's morale.
- If nothing changes, we'll get out whole, after putting down a good thousand of these beasts! - Hostor shouted.
Arandor smiled, not letting go of the trigger of his assault rifle. - We will have enough information to cover those WAP and put an end to all such experiments and research once and for all!
- "Captain... we have problems." - the pilot said. - "An unknown ship has docked with you"
Lizard was happy that the energy in his pistol recharged itself and had practically no limit, as he had already had to destroy several dozen beasts on the way to the lower decks.
- Where are we going? - his companion inquired.
- To the armory.
Eight people dressed in nano-suits left the airlock together with army backpacks containing explosive material and a mechanism inside. This type of explosive was enough to blow this ship to hell. They split into 4 pairs, each of which was supposed to deliver the backpacks to various sections of the ship. Two were also supposed to save all information from the main computer.
Stealth mode was unlikely to help against these monsters, but plasma rifles, on the other hand, killed the beasts in a matter of seconds. Those who were supposed to copy the data discovered the presence of people in the main research laboratory on their modernized handheld computers, so they prematurely entered stealth mode and prepared knives for combat.
- Almost done!
- Well done, Hostor! Soon we'll get out of this hole. Hear me, guys?! - Arandor laughed, but the laughter turned to horror as one comrade after another died at the hands of an unknown opponent. The captain of the dead squad felt a foreign presence near him, and just as the unknown approached within striking distance, Hostor pushed him away; it cost him his arm up to the elbow. Arandor maintained his composure and fired where the blow had come from, hitting almost point-blank right in the head. The nano-suit didn't help. He lifted the groaning Hostor to his feet and looked around. It was too early to relax; there was another one here.
The fighter in the nano-suit, who was now standing a level higher, hid his knife and re-armed himself with a plasma rifle. In this case, it was more effective and safer. He aimed, and a shot rang out... It wasn't his plasma weapon, but a heavy assault rifle made specifically for heavy military exoskeletons, one of which Lizard was now in, as well as Tieru, who stood behind and shot at the creatures. Now it became clear why their endless stream had stopped.
A plasma charge burned into the same-strength armor of Tieru's exoskeleton, then again and again. He fell to his knees and tried to leave the armor as quickly as possible. It was practically impossible to determine where they were shooting from; it seemed fire was coming from all sides. Lizard, being inside the exoskeleton, picked up Tieru and jumped down to Arandor and Hostor. Together they ran away toward the airlock, helping Hostor run. The doors were already open; Tieru ran in first, followed by Arandor, who tried to turn around and run back when he saw that Hostor had tripped, but Lizard pushed the captain back inside, and the airlock doors closed quickly.
Vegtam tried to bring the ship into a hyperjump as soon as he could, but he ran out of time—a continuous beam of most powerful energy emitted by the enemy ship's main weapon slashed across the hull and engine, making a hyperjump impossible.
Leading them away from enemy fire, the pilot directed the ship toward the nearest planet, being hit by the enemy beam a couple more times. When they were out of reach of the enemy beam, the attackers struck with a volley of torpedoes. Now the ship was no longer landing on the planet, but falling onto it.