17 Complications

A hermit spider bite is like a sudden, sharp injection; pain passes quickly. In the initial sensations, it is easy to confuse perhaps with a mosquito bite. It is painless at first, a few hours later, the bite starts to pulse with sharp pain. Gradually the redness and swelling increase and spread. The lesion grows with the effect of the toxin, the head starts to hurt. The feeling of weakness comes, nausea arises and the temperature goes crazy. They are normal symptoms of intoxication.

It was no different when those creatures fed. It didn't take more than six or eight hours. Most of the survivors in Édrin did not survive the process.

They were monstrous creatures. They had long, widely spaced legs. The body was covered with scales. Those who were chosen to serve as food were trapped in their irregular, sticky, whitish webs. Threatened, they leaned on their hind legs, the front ones - they pulled in and took up the bipedal position. In addition to the recognizable pattern, those we called soldiers showed 3 pairs of eyes and didn't look so smart. But the others ... the most feared ... Death came instantly since its poison was one of the most toxic substances we did not yet know.

Some specimens lived up to 6 years and until they reached the mature form they went through metamorphoses. In weak and malnourished hosts, death was almost inevitable.

Sometimes biting left necroses that were serious and ugly wounds, under the influence of the poison the meat rotted. More precisely, the poison caused a secondary infection, multiple inflammations, that disable a body's vital systems. There was nothing to slow the spread of the toxin they brought.

I backed away livid until my shoulders were pressed against the wall, trying not to think. Don't feel. The mind refused any reasoning, no matter how small.

What was going to come out of that damn cocoon?

What had the hybridization process created in the end looking for a female for those creatures?

These were questions I didn't know how to answer. The words from before weighed on my conscience. Why wouldn't she be okay after that, would she? Reluctantly, I leaned against the table, taking a deep breath and completely numb. I now held a laser pistol that was forgotten about the inhibitor.

It was an indirect development. I had already glimpsed some of those in horror. Metamorphosis can be incomplete or complete. In the incomplete metamorphosis, the creatures kept the characteristics similar to those of the adult and become more similar to each seedling.

What was that going to do to the food chain there? This chain was just a sequence of living beings that served as food for others. There was the detail that they were not part of our ecosystem and of any other known by the Confederation.

When a new species was added to a site it could cause imbalances in the environment. They had no known natural predators. Very soon, perhaps, we will be the endangered animals.

-Curse! - I swore and ran my hands through my tense and stiff hair.

It all went through my mind after the initial shock as I considered what to do. My mind screamed with terror at all of it. It was too much information to process. It is impossible for anyone to assimilate.

"You shoot and it's over. Job did. These creatures will miss the chance to evolve."

Shit!

It was Angel there.

In that cocoon covered with a type of fibrous material, did it change shape? The thought could drive me crazy, imagining the girl from before. Remembering the small, handsome body undermine. Our fit was heavenly. Perfect. I couldn't do that. It hadn't come to that. Still.

"I can not!"

-Angel! - I spoke slowly and forced my feet to come closer. I called and I don't even know why expected any kind of response.

Everything about me protested. And it was much worse because I knew what was going to get out of there. It wasn't going to be the Angel I knew at all. I was no longer going to be the girl who made me burn with anger with a hellish desire to control her stubbornness.

That bizarre situation had never crossed my mind. My breathing was too shaky. Heartbeats raced in the chest. Just shoot and it was over.

I raised my hand and barely noticed that was shaking as held the pistol. I tried before to get closer, forcing myself to hide the disgust of the sight before my eyes and I didn't even know what I was doing. It was almost compulsion. My fingers lightly touched that silky thing that had once been my girl.

"Damn! I do not believe this!"

I couldn't think straight. I don't think anyone in such a situation is capable.

Let's go. Just a high-frequency shot. Fast and accurate.

I can't.

That before my eyes throbbed alive. I didn't want to see what Angel was going to become. I couldn't even think. My instincts rebelled.

"High frequency and intensity. Just a goddamn shot, man."

It was cold. She may already be dead.

Not!

I almost screamed. Something from there emerged as grabbed my hand with absurd strength. Something slimy and sticky scales. My horror was complete as I retreated fighting for freedom and my movements caused a rupture in the fibrous tissue followed by a sharp and prolonged hiss.

-Mercy! - I stopped in astonishment.

The sound of a dull thud hit my ears as my eyes registered in slow motion. A groan of pain at first and then the unmistakable noise of a low cry and an undefined shape fell to the floor, wrapped in disgusting goo.

It almost made me shoot. It was a sudden sensation. Fear. I could catch fear. A form of consciousness, thoughts, and emotions ...

-Angel- I called again.

Without me waiting, it was a hand that emerged from that misshapen mass and dropped on the floor. A hand with human skin and not scales as the nightmares haunted me. The gasp of even slower and harder breathing enveloped me when I ran for it.

It was instinct. My fingers started to tear and pierce the fibrous tissue, ignoring the yellowish goo and my disgust. It was like a child leaving the safety of his mother's womb. That cocoon looked just like that. With increased urgency, my hands sank into the unknown material until they found something solid and I screamed with genuine satisfaction, struggling to remove it all.

My fingers moved over the cold body as if peeling off the covering that covered the inert shape, pulling scales that were still fragile and gelatinous.

Under the slimy layer, I saw the impossible. Was her.

Still human? And she didn't breathe.

My world stopped right then.

I was a bloody alien burning in hell and the girl I was supposed to hate was or would be my worst enemy.

---------------------------

A conversation between Catty and kalael.

Headquarters of the Galactic Confederation.

The lunar year 2435

-Did you want to tell me? - kalael was a red and furious alien.

Knowing that they hid important facts from their knowledge greatly increased their fury.

Brunzac's words still echoed in his ears. The K'Aldriants tests on Catty's body. His fury was such that he could break into Zorack's house arrest and hang him with his bare hands. It might not do even worse.

-Please, Kalael. Stop. I'm begging you. The cold races in the Zairon quadrant will support Zorack. Let's face Ravenack and ...

- Was it that damn hybrid Edriana that convinced you? It's a suicide, Catty. There is a little damn bastard to answer before the Court of Gaia. It is not enough? The lives he destroyed? Lied to me. You lied when you said it was okay. You can die in childbirth and my puppies ...

Catty sighed tiredly.

-I'll tell the truth, just the truth. Someone must unite the races for an army to face these things. We'll be fine. I'll be fine. I can do that, love.

Kalael swore violently.

-Just listen to my words. If something happens to you or our puppies ... I will not kill Zorack. I want him alive. I intend to kill before his eyes the damn and hellish hybrid he seems to enjoy so much.

--------

Earth year: undetermined.

Somewhere in the past. Imperius ship.

By Catty

"I probably died. That! And the damn bright white light at the end of the tunnel? That forced me to come back to reality and slowly open my eyes. It was the cold of the hard floor that had awakened me. I felt cold.

"Great. Did you really have to slap him? Did it cost so much to control the explosive genius?"

I sat up slowly, making a face. Well, maybe he was really angry and that was some kind of cell. I came to the conclusion looking astonished at blue energy bars that delimited the space where I was.

"Did you really need the theater scene, Catty?"

Kalael was a sucker and he definitely deserved that and more. I took a deep breath and tried not to panic. It's all right. He had achieved his moment of glory after my affront. Only I wasn't going to stay, was I?

-HI? Is anyone there? I shouted, trying not to lose my cool.

Ah, I was never calm. I managed to be a little paranoid. I liked being ready and cautious about almost everything. Except for the madness of an abduction. That was not on my priority list.

-Yes, pet. - The low and somewhat artificial voice answered and I blinked my eyes when the lights turned on.

It was a cell.

Damn it! It wasn't Kalael. I saw the alien that accompanied Kalael with a bad face.

-You? - I answered petulantly with another question. - Open the damn door or whatever.

Was there any limit to my sudden insanity?

- It won't work. - The other commented, shrugging his shoulders with little regard. "After you fled the command room, there was a little argument that left me long enough to capture you. Seriously, I have never seen anyone so stupid to face Kalael and not die. You seem to have done his head.

I widened my eyes for a moment, taking in the information. I wasn't going to panic. I had run away and given a chance to capture me. Again.

"Brilliant, Catty! Really brilliant!"

-And how long do you intend to keep me here? - he asked arrogantly. A part of me said that Kalael was the type of man, oh I don't even know what he was, that he never lost a prisoner.

I got up slowly, testing my balance after the uneasiness I had been worried about. At least it hadn't been a heart attack.

-At that moment Kalael is furious enough to realize that you have not returned to the cabin. That thing shook its head in disbelief. - You know, nobody tends to touch what belongs to Kalael and stay alive. Not long.

"Curse. I was free. It didn't belong to Kalael."

I crossed my arms provocatively and approached carefully not to touch the bars.

-So you're in trouble, mate. - I continued with absolute certainty that I had really gone mad. Only it didn't feel safe to be there and in that creature's hands. Kalael was safer. Something inside me said that even in anger he wouldn't be able to hurt me.

-Zogart for sure. - He spoke with disdain. - Two years chasing the Gargoyles and you ruin everything. That fret should be giving us the location of informants of the traffic and not be defending itself from Kalael's anger. You're still going to give my friend damn horns.

Horns ?! Ah, the idea was not bad. I could get out of the reserve bank and provide a nice and healed alien to pass the time and show Kalael that he was not the center of the Universe. Never, never trust an angry woman.

-Of course, I can gladly give your friend horns. - I decided triumphantly. - But that is beside the point. What makes sure you don't have to be explaining about touching Kalael's property? Open the damn door! Now!

His gaze turned yellow. I needed to remember that he was so angry in the future. Crazy creatures! Worse than that were my threats. So empty and was he so possessed? Why?

- It definitely won't happen if it depends on me. As soon as Zogart returns to the ship, he will find top quality merchandise for trade in the citadel. Perhaps some exotic creature enjoys the taste of meat as dry and bony as you.

"Great, Catty! You did it!"

-Like? - My voice failed for a moment. - What are you going to do with me?

"No panic now, girl!"

I froze inside. I was in space, alone, and screwed. That guy over there didn't have any friendly looks. Even so, I struggled to hide his fear. Disgusting or not that creature had stuck me there. It was one thing for Kalael to be able to read my thoughts, it was another for him to do the same thing. I took a deep, slow breath. If he was going to play a woman or a female as they called a type of alien policeman, he was also going to play tough.

It grunted invoked when I realized that my hands were handcuffed by a type of material I didn't know. I gasped with the same feeling in my chest as before.

-You are doing the biometric reading of your organism. - He explained with satisfaction. Setting up your DNA matrix and I imagine it is not very pleasant. They are organic and very practical handcuffs. Invisible. It takes an appropriate sensor to detect even for someone with Kalael, pet.

Damn it! Where the hell was Kalael?

Brunzac looked at me with a little case. Damn, had I forgotten about the unfortunate telepathy? I returned to concentrate to relax my mind.

-Grec is a comrade who owes me some favors. A scholar like Kalael can smell your stink and smell easily. - The explanation was a terror.

Keep the damn control Catty !, I started to speak to myself like a mantra.

If Kalael could smell me so easily and I had made that scene, by now he would be behind me. Even an argument with him was going to be welcome.

-I took care that the clothes you wore when you arrived were left in a place of difficult access that will keep someone a little busy. The ship's computer may have recognition of its genetics and cell pattern, but it has been programmed to accept your command. Kalael believed it was safer with the arrival of visitors.

I kept my gaze on the inexplicable anger of Kalael's best friend without understanding why. Great! Was my biogenetics recognized by computers?

Damn, that doesn't look good with that freak staring at me!

-All the computer screens will show is you willingly leaving this ship and leaving with the pirates.

I looked at him with a mocking smile spreading. Not even dead!

His satisfaction was enormous for me to ignore.

-And why would I do that? - I provoked not so confident.

-Why organic handcuffs are the best invention I've ever known. You will just do my will no matter how much you don't want to. It is not for nothing that they were prohibited within the limits of the Federation, but here is the neutral zone. Anything goes.

"Like? Holy shit! So easy?"

Did I say I was screwed? Kalael wouldn't come after me after that slap. Damn my irritation.

-You will be very calm to pass through the side corridors of the ship and reach the exit of the south sector exactly where the Zogart ship is attached to us by the traction radius. After the entire crew has witnessed the miserable alien profiteer and his trail of anger that let Kalael be disappointed, my friend will get back to what he should.

Ah, what had Kalael even said? Delay in waking up the crew? Control thoughts ?!

Very, soooo screwed and fucked.

He wasn't going to look for me after that. Anesthetized and unable to think of anything else, I held my executioner's eyes with hatred.

-The Citadel market negotiates everything. Slaves, organs for experiments, blood and fluids and food. The Ravenack species expect much progress with the chemical weapon under clinical research after the Edryans gained support and protection from the Federation. Planet Earth is very special. The Collector knows that.

Edrians? It's a joke? What was an Edrian? And what biological weapon? Nothing seemed to make much sense.

- What do you mean by that? - I asked knowing that the answer was not going to be good.

He laughed openly, seriously considering for a moment, and laughed more.

-What difference can it really make? It's a dead creature and you don't even know it yet. Your planet is home to a hybrid, the first of a predatory and deadly species. The Federation believed it could hide it from the Citadel. Kal'driant are a breed of great adaptability. Even Édrin's monarchy fell before Ravencak. The heir to the great and powerful Igneous House of Édrin is a slave to the future emperor of the Galaxy. Zorack is our prisoner. Soon my master will be the absolute master of all the planets and the neutral zone will support him. Nothing more than the guidelines of the Confederation.

"Shit! I could understand that."

Hybridization. My planet was home to something like that and the government hadn't done anything? Not at all?

Emperor? Would a fanatic lunatic be the next to control power? Was what? Space dictatorship? It smelled like a political coup. God!

I tried to step back and stopped without being able to impose my will. The muscles did not obey.

What the fuck!

-You understood now, didn't you? The Collector has selected viable species like you to create a biological weapon. Imagine! The Federation cannot resist! And not you! The perfect and changeable biological weapon.

This time I said nothing. Even refusing all my will it was as if my legs were out of control. I was walking towards my destination. "

God, how come this Zorack guy was a slave to them?