Three weeks. Twenty-one days of waiting, of watching the alien ship through their viewports, of jumping at every creak and groan of their own vessel.
Chen couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the creature leaping, saw Dmitri's face through the cracked visor, saw the thing's tail punch through. She'd taken to spending her off-watch hours in the mess, drinking coffee that had long since gone cold, staring at nothing.
Webb found her there on the fifth night.
"Can't sleep either?"
She shook her head.
He sat across from her, nursing his own mug. "I keep thinking about what we saw. Those eggs. That thing. What do you think it was?"
"I don't know. Some kind of parasite? A weapon?" She wrapped her hands around her mug, drawing warmth from it. "Does it matter?"
"Maybe not." He was quiet for a moment. "Dmitri had a family. Wife and daughter on Titan. I'll have to write the letter."
"Don't." Chen's voice was sharp. "Don't make it real. Not yet."
Webb nodded slowly. "You're right. Sorry."
They sat in silence, the ship humming around them, the alien ship floating just beyond the hull.
On the bridge, Amira was monitoring the long-range comms, waiting for word from the Prometheus. The signal from the alien ship continued its endless pattern, but she'd long since stopped really hearing it. It was just background noise now, like the hum of the reactor or the whisper of air recyclers.
That's why it took her so long to notice the change.
When she finally looked at her readouts, her blood ran cold.
The signal had stopped.
She checked the logs. It had ceased three hours ago—just stopped in the middle of its cycle, as if someone had thrown a switch. And now...
"Captain to the bridge," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Something's happening."
Saito arrived minutes later, still pulling on his jacket. "What is it?"
"The signal. It's gone." She pointed at her display. "But that's not the worst part. I'm reading movement on the alien ship. Internal temperature fluctuations. Something is moving around in there."
They stared at the viewscreen, at the derelict vessel that hung against the stars like a monument to death.
And then they saw it—a flicker of movement near the gash in the ship's belly. Something emerging from the darkness within.
Something that moved on too many legs.