Leanne had spent more time in Malinowska's quarters than she had intended. The promise of a safe haven, away from Phaethon, away from Valkyrie, was too tempting, and the longer she lingered, the less strength she had to rise and face the world again. But as time turned and Day One of the mission turned to Day Two, she knew she could not be weak anymore. The countdown ticked ever on, the moment of the Chimera's oblivion under the Martian guns creeping closer. She had been sent here to discover the truth. So far, she had not even made an audio log to register her progress, even for posterity's sake. Despite the comms blackout, the eyes of the world – of all the United Worlds: Earth, Helios, Colchis, Mars – would be upon her.

With renewed clarity, she schemed to return to the control centre and access the camera systems. Valkyrie had been able to see her somehow; there must have been visual points throughout the ship, CCTV or internal lines to watch over the crew. This was a BASE ship, according to Valkyrie. The company did not scrimp on surveillance.

Wrench attached to her belt, trying to stop the shivering of her legs, Leanne descended from Malinowska's room and left the refuge of the crew quarters. Back through the vents she clambered, listening at every junction for the sound of metallic limbs. No red light passed the access hatches, no antennae tapped and searched the walls like an animal hunting for vulnerability. She reached the command centre quicker than expected and suddenly, beyond the vent, the wide chamber opened before her. It looked every bit as terrifying and daunting as before, blue consoles glowing like beacons wishing to trap her in their apparent safety.

She eased herself to the edge of the shaft and, laying low, peered outside. Empty corridors stretched to starboard and to port, disappearing into the vastness of the Chimera. Perhaps, she thought vainly, Phaethon had given up and exited the ship again. Perhaps Nerio had managed to break through the blackout and de-activate it. Perhaps Valkyrie had isolated it and destroyed it.

She had not heard from the imperious AI for hours. Leanne did not know if that was a good or a bad sign. She would have to talk to it in order to be directed to the right system. Get the cameras online, Leanne told herself, and then return to Malinowska's quarters, try to access her intranet, and scope out Phaethon's location. There was no way forward but the destruction of the probe.

Releasing a long, shivering breath, Leanne clawed herself out of the shaft. She slowly rose, straightening her back and shoulders, trying to ignore how they wanted to seize up in fear. She needed to be in control of her body, needed to consider every step and every movement. No sudden jerks, no loud noises, nothing but calm, considered motions, the way she had always worked and been taught. This was like an EVA. Two points of contact at all times with the vessel, slow and steady, one by one...

Heart thundering, she reached the middle of the command centre. The room gaped around her, left to right consumed with open space and nowhere to hide. Forcibly releasing one hand from her trusty wrench, she grabbed the edge of a console. God, she thought, her bones were so tense, her organs tied so tightly that she felt dizzy. She hoped that was just her fear and not something Valkyrie had poisoned the recycled air with...

No. She could not think like that.

She stared down at one of the panels. Sweat dripped into her eyes so she hastily swiped it away.

"Val...Valkyrie," she whispered. "I need to know...where the cameras are. How can I...access them?"

Valkyrie remained silent. Leanne closed her eyes, willing down her anger. Now was not the time for Valkyrie to ignore her.

"Valkyrie," she rasped, a little louder now. "Please. I don't know... I don't know what is going on here, but I need your help. Where are the cameras?"

"Good morning, Miss Ziegler," Valkyrie's voice suddenly boomed. Leanne's heart ricocheted into her throat. "What can I aid you with?"

"Ssh!" Leanne hissed. "I need you to be quiet. Please. Just...tell me where the cameras are."

"I cannot do both, Miss Ziegler. Please state your request in a clearer manner."

"Help me!" Leanne urged. "Help—"

The fight died in her voice. A swarming of metallic limbs echoed through the chamber at Valkyrie's loud tone. All she needed to see was red light approaching. Panicked, Leanne could only think to duck, pressing herself against the console. Every drop of blood within her turned to ice, her bones locking. It was here, Phaethon was here, and it must know she was here too...

"Valkyrie, don't speak," she begged quietly, forcing her body to move, to drag itself to the nearest gap in the consoles and peer through. Phaethon's spidery mass sat mere metres away, beam searching, drawing over the tiles and panels. It rotated over the aisle of computers and Leanne jerked away, watching the ray touch inches away from her hand. Not breathing, she waited, could do no more but listen and pray Phaethon would move on. Its heavy limbs struck the floor, approaching closer, inch by inch.

Leanne looked towards the door she had entered through. It was too far away. She would never make it. She had to stay and fight. But fight with what? This stupid wrench? Phaethon was a Martian probe. For years, Nerio had been at the edge of technology; who knew what it was capable of?

Terrified, embarrassed of herself, Leanne could only sit still, hugging her arms about herself. She listened to Phaethon getting ever nearer, so close she could almost smell the blood on its barbs. That was Cliff. She was going to end the same way. Perhaps she deserved it, perhaps she was not meant for this career, for space...

A noise echoed in the bowels of the Chimera. Leanne opened her eyes. Phaethon stopped, drawn by the sound. The disturbance happened again, something rumbling and shattering the dreadful quietude. Leanne did not know what it was – but to her relief, nor did Phaethon. It withdrew, limbs skittering away. The red light vanished.

Leanne breathed out. She relaxed the grip on her wrench. That had been too close – and she was instantly ashamed at the thoughts she had gone to near-death with. She had not been bold or courageous. She had crumbled.

Swallowing, she moved and tried to pull herself back to her feet.

The blow came from nowhere. Leanne found herself falling, clattering to the floor with an agonising thud. She rolled, eyes flooded with a red beam. Phaethon, from its silent position atop the consoles, crushed her, entire weight bearing on her chest. She had no time to think. She jammed forward with her wrench but Phaethon broke it in half with one sweep of its claws. Leanne watched in despair as it flew to the other side of the chamber.

Yelling, she slammed her hands out just in time, pressing them hard into Phaethon's cold underbelly when it struck with its barbs. They shimmered, arcing centrimetres away from her nose. The horrible corona twisted, glancing the fabric of her suit and making her cry aloud. Terror clouded her pain, flooding her with strength. Drawing from desperate wells, she shoved the probe into the air, just a few inches, but enough to roll around and claw at the panelled floor.

She crawled, dragging herself along. Phaethon's arm flew out, closed around her ankle. She screamed, torn backwards and winding herself on the hard ground. Her teeth slammed into her bottom lip and blood soaked her mouth. Spitting it out, she kicked backwards and felt the blow connect with a satisfying crunch. But the heat of Phaethon's searchlight burned along her back and now the barbs were striking again, ripping down the back of her jumpsuit.

"Valkyrie!" Leanne heard herself cry. The AI was silent.

For a moment, she got away, but then Phaethon returned, launching its heavy body into her legs. She writhed again, turning to her back and kneeing with all her power. Her last hit had done nothing; Phaethon's shell was intact, every one of its barbs still shining with deadly fury.

"You bastard!" Leanne sobbed. If Nerio could still hear her, let them know what she thought of their damn probe. "You bastard, you killed him!"

With all her power, she gripped the edge of Phaethon's leg. The razor sharpness of it bit into her palm. Blood dribbled down. It still struck and thrust, trying to get into her face. She cried aloud again, the adrenaline no longer dulling the blazing pain. Soon, everything would turn black and she wouldn't be able to fight anymore and Phaethon, the same thing that had killed her friend, would take her too and—

A pulse reverberated through the hall. Phaethon suddenly froze. Its barbs stopped, inches from Leanne's blinking, streaming eyes. She did not dare to move. Her throbbing heart consumed her ears.

The probe was hauled off her front. A figure stood over her, still in their exosuit, a strange, bulky weapon in their hands. As Leanne stared, they upended it and slammed the butt into Phaethon's stricken body. Its metal shell crunched and flew apart, wires and circuits springing out. For good measure, the stranger smacked the gun again into Phaethon, completely taking off its antennae.

Leanne stayed absolutely still. Her hands were still raised, bloody rivulets trickling from her palms. She could feel where Phaethon had bruised her chest and back. She did not think she could form any words.

But at last, she managed, "Who – who the hell are you?"

The astronaut unhitched their helmet, tucking it beneath their arm. Leanne saw they were a woman, perhaps around her own age but with the duskier skin tone of Mars. Her short hair was cropped, a mass of dark curls that had been flattened by her cap. The woman's rough beauty shocked Leanne and she didn't know what to say as the stranger reached out a gloved hand and said, "My name is Ryan. Nerio sent me."

Not only did she have the appearance of Mars, she had the accent as well, tinged with the medley of tones from the colonial settlers: Norwegians, Poles, Brits and Nigerians had been amongst the first to Mars and each Martian had a unique, cosmopolitan blend. Leanne looked at her outstretched hand and hesitantly took it. Ryan tugged her to her feet.

"Why hasn't a BASE back-up team been sent?" Leanne asked. "I have been here for twenty-four hours, nearly, with no support, no comms, no idea of what is going on. I have been hunted and—"

"There's no back-up team," Ryan interrupted. "Or... well, I'm it, I guess."

The shock at such an admission tightened the angry coil building in Leanne's chest. No back-up team? Perhaps she did not deserve one. Perhaps she and Cliff had always been expendable. "The probe," she spat, jabbing a finger at Phaethon, "killed my commander. It has hunted me through this ship. Nerio could have – should have – de-commissioned it. It was meant to be under Imperium's control."

Ryan was unmoved by Leanne's sudden ire. "My condolences. The little bastard wasn't listening to us. A brief glitch."

"A brief glitch?"

"Yeah. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Nerio probes always follow their directives and he was working fine until you arrived. Now, he's been hit with an EMP and a five-kg gun, he's not getting up from that."

Leanne opened her mouth to argue, but Ryan continued, "Want to brief me on what's happened since entering the ship?"

"Brief you?" Words tangled on Leanne's tongue. She had heard stories of the Martians and their fierce spirit, the difficulty in working with them, but had not imagined someone so...callous. "I'll brief you," she hissed. "Cliff is dead! I have been assaulted and attacked by your probe. I have found no answers and apparently, no one has lifted a finger to help me. I've been here, alone, trying to do a mission which should have been done by a team of ten, while your colony aims its guns at me! And that AI is not talking to me!"

"Hello, Ryan," Valkyrie suddenly said. Leanne jumped. "It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Valkyrie."

Ryan smiled. "How are you doing, Valkyrie? Care to help me assess this probe?"

"Of course, Ryan."

"You've got to be kidding me," Leanne managed, shaking her head.

"Which way's the bridge?" Ryan asked. Leanne waved her hand towards the forward end of the ship and Ryan gave a little salute. "Thanks. Oh, and by the way, you're bleeding. You might want to look at that. Come on, Valkyrie, let's get to work."

Almost quivering with rage and adrenaline, Leanne watched Ryan saunter off, Phaethon casually under her arm. She could not believe it. Twenty-four hours of hell, of suffering under Valkyrie's uncaring gaze and trying to carve up the secrets of the Chimera, and the woman simply came in and decimated everything with one blow, then loosened the AI's lips. It made her feel as though she had invented the whole ordeal, that it did not matter. As if Cliff did not matter.

She gripped the edge of a console deck, trying to force down her emotion. The pain of Phaethon's attacks suddenly swept over her, her legs and chest and back aching. A burning itch made itself known on her cheek. She reached up and wiped away a sheen of blood. Staring at the red stain, she could only see the globules of life fluid spouting from Cliff's throat, floating in the airless void. What the hell was she doing here?

Knowing she would regret it, she slammed a fist on the console and shouted after Ryan's retreating figure.

"And they send up a fucking Martian to help me!"

Her stupid fury echoed off the walls. Ryan did not turn. Valkyrie did not comment. Leanne, despite one more companion, was alone.

Word count: 2378
Overall: 11,761

My ONC shoutout for this next instalment goes to evacharya with Stone 2 Stone, a fantastic retelling of the Medusa myth meets crime scene investigation!