The Spaces in Between Read Online Free PDF Page B

one. Instead they are sustained on the psychic build-up in an area right before a disaster strikes. They occasionally accost ships after a meal, and it’s a common misconception that they are of solid matter. They are actually Astral dwellers that swell into the Physical while feeding. It’s where HP Lovecraft spotted them, because they live in dreams.
    The question Cameron and Ryoma asked themselves as they entered the flock - were they too busy eating to notice them?
    Cameron slowly weaved his way in and out of the monsters while they siphoned psychic turmoil in the ship. He was careful not to breathe all the while. While the Byakhee only needed psychic suffering to feed on they will shred a human being for fun. Or a ghost for that matter. They aren’t picky, but assholes regardless.
     
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    One of the Byakhee around Cameron snapped at him. His heart stopped a second. If it hadn’t hit one of his insert shin guards his suit would have been compromised. He squeezed the trigger as fast he could – a railgun bolt split the winged horror down the middle. Spirits are tangible in the Astral, and as a side effect a physical being in the Astral is a lot stronger than in the Physical. They seem denser in the Astral, and weigh more since their souls are solid here.
    Ryoma did not have this advantage. It took two rounds to the face of an attacking Byakhee to force it back. Now all of the Byakhee noticed. While Cameron’s gun made absolutely no noise at all since the rounds were magnetically propelled, Ryoma’s antiques were loud as hell.
    “Hurry!” Cameron shouted. Ryoma grabbed Cameron and sped through space like a rocket. Ryoma concentrated on flying as fast as possible with the unnerving sound of a thousand beating wings right behind them. The Byakhee snapped their jaws as they zipped through the cloud that was closing in on them. Cameron fired more railgun bolts at the Byakhee that got close enough, but he could barely hit something in a target range much less while moving.
    Another Byakhee dove into their flight path. Cameron delivered a quick kick to where he thought its junk might be. He was wrong, but the creature was knocked aside. Another grabbed the end of Cameron’s coat, and he quickly drew his sword to sever the hand. With another wide sword arc he severed more hands and mandibles as they lashed out for him.
    Two grabbed Cameron’s wrist, and five put Ryoma in a headlock to finally stop them. The cloud enclosed them. Ryoma gritted his teeth.
    The top of the cloud exploded in flailing bat wings following Cameron and Ryoma’s escape at blinding speeds. Ryoma had suddenly become unconcerned about possibly crushing Cameron with their velocity. He was concerned about finding the bare patch of hull, and he dove through. Cameron re-entered the Physical just in time to land spread eagle in a pile of boxes. The whole cargo bay rang with the sound of a thousand heads smashing into the hull.
    “Dumb kusotares were so full they forgot they’d swollen into the Physical,” Ryoma said.
    “For some reason that doesn’t make me fell better.” Cameron surveyed his surroundings. “Something bad has to be going down to feed so many of those buggers. The lights are still on so the crew has to be here. Certainly after five decades of missed maintenance checks the ship would break down.” He focused his inner eye on the boxes stacked haphazardly around the room. This was obviously a cargo bay since the room was white and featureless outside of the boxes. He didn’t know what the tablets looked like, but he’d know them when he saw them and they weren’t there.
    “Well they made things easier by opening all the boxes for us,” Ryoma said.
    Cameron kicked over a packet of freeze dried corn and Salisbury steak suppositories. “This is the crew’s food, and it’s been ransacked. I hope no one found those tablets before us.”
    “It doesn’t look like they were looking for the tablets.” Ryoma bent over to get a