"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
~Oscar Wilde

Lilly

I landed on solid ground with Shane in front of a window. Gazing out, I could see the Skywalker floating towards us, and the realization dawned on me.

I whirled on Shane. "What the hell?!"

"This is a surprising turn of events," he said casually, glancing down the empty hallway. "I guess I should've had a concrete plan."

"You don't have a plan?"

"Not one for two people, but I'm good at improvising. Follow me and be ready for anything."

"That is not comforting," I hissed quietly, peering over my shoulder to ensure no one was following us.

"Don't worry. I had a lot of time on my hands in prison, and I read up on all of the current Malkans ships and memorized them. This one is the top of the line destroyer," Shane explained. "It's slow-moving, which means they need to be able to defend themselves for extended periods of time."

"But I thought you said it could catch up to any ship in hyperspace?"

"In hyperspace, yes. In regular travel, no. Its hyperdrive is much more powerful than anything Vasileia has created, and by the time we do, the Malkans will have already outdone us." We made a sharp right, leaving us with no view of the outside. "As I was saying, almost ninety-nine-percent of their destroyers have their cores in the center of the ship. It balances it out while also protecting it from any enemy attacks. The ventilators to it, while there are many, have no straight lines to the outside, meaning any missiles we shoot from the outside into them will only crash into a wall inside the ventilators."

"If we crash into one and seal it off, won't that cause the core to overheat?" I inquired, yanking Shane into an empty closet when I heard commotion around the corner. We held our breath as footsteps marched past us, accompanied by the unmistakable sound of weapons clanging against each other. Only when I could no longer hear them did I risk to exhale the breath I'd been holding. "Is the coast clear?"

Shane poked his out of the closet. "It's clear. Onwards we go."

We slipped out of the closet, and as we made our way through the maze of the Malkan destroyer, I said, "You never answered my question about the ventilators."

"Your idea is great, and it would be feasible if they weren't so well-hidden and disguised. It'd take us weeks to find and hit them all, and we don't have weeks. If my calculations are correct, we should be reaching a door right about-"

"Hold it right there!" A deep voice hissed. Shane and I froze, slowly turning around. Five alien creatures towered over us, their weapons drawn and pointed at us. I always imagined the Malkans looking like us, like the guy who attacked me the day I discovered my power.

But these... these were literal monsters. Grotesque, smelly, gigantic monsters.

Standing at least nine feet tall with lanky bodies meant to disguise their muscles, eight beady eyes set into a slightly bulbous head, and a severe case of knee hyperextension, they appeared to be the offspring of a spider and a flamingo. Unfortunately, they took on more of the spider's creepy characteristics and less of the flamingos pink, fluffy ones.

"What are these predator-looking things?" I whispered to Shane, not taking my eyes off the monsters.

"These would be Malkans," he replied. "Young ones, by the looks of it."

"Uh, how big do the adults get?"

"Roughly fifteen to twenty feet. Nasty little boogers. Ready to have some fun?"

"You need a dictionary to discover the meaning of little and fun, but yes."

"Just let it go, all right?" Shane winked at me.

"Stop talking!" A Malkan hissed. He (she?) appeared to be the leader of the group. "State your name and purpose."

"My name is Fuck," Shane said, motioning to himself. Then, pointing at me, he said, "This is You. We're here to destroy your core and escape safely back to our ship. Would you mind showing us where that is?"

The leader snarled. "Stupid Vasileians."

"Mastrella, isn't this Lilly Snow? The target?" One of the shorter ones asked.

Mastrella cocked her ugly head. "Yes, yes, you're right. Then who's the horrid comrade?"

"Ah, I'm horrid to the Malkans too. I'll have to consider your insult a compliment and an achievement. I'm also a devilishly handsome distraction."

"Distraction?"

"Her power flurries through the air into the ground," Shane said, a slight tune in his voice. "One thought crystallizes like an icy blast."

"You're as bad as Dylan," I chastised, sending ice stalagmites through the ground, impaling the five Malkans, and killing them instantly. The weapons clattered to the floor, landing in the pool of green blood.

"We should grab these and use them just in case they're able to block us from using our powers."

"Is that possible?!"

"Yes, but they need to find the specific weapon to do it, and they also need to find us, which they won't if we keep moving. Allons y!"

"You're way too chipper for a guy who's essentially trapped on a Malkan ship in the middle of space," I said, taking a blood-covered weapon from him. I gagged at the sight and smell, wiping the green gunk on my jeans and praying it'd come out in the wash.

"Okay, I have a question," I said, following Shane.

"Shocking."

"Shut up. So, the guy who attacked me the day my powers manifested, was he Malkan?"

"No. He was one of us. His name was Julius Ranch. He was captured a few years ago and was presumed dead. Turns out, the Malkans tortured him so much that they were able to brainwash him into working for them instead. Julius is currently undergoing rehab to get his marbles back." Shane stopped in front of a door and remarked, "This looks like a security door. Would you be so kind as to guard my six while I unlock it for us?"

"No, but hurry," I insisted, nervously scanning the hallway. "I don't like being on this ship."

Shane fiddled with some wires. "Are you nervous?"

"Yes, and you're a freak if you're not."

"Guess I'm a freak. Give me two more seconds... got it!" I turned around at Shane's exclamation to see a green light flashing. I handed him his gun back, and he pressed the button. Two sets of doors retracted into the walls, revealing a cafeteria-like place.

Filled to the brim with Malkans.