An ominous scarlet glow illuminated the ship’s interior. At first, there was only the beeping of the alarm, then came the hissing of cold sleep being undone, and finally the sounds of the five crew members emerging from their pods.

“What’s going on?” asked the tall blonde with DD cups, stretching out her back. She wore, or perhaps strained, a shirt with the word “Engineer” across the front, her tits nearly spilling out the front. She stumbled a bit as she stepped out, falling onto another woman, a brunette who was wearing a shirt that said “Navigator.”

“Whoa, easy there Clara,” the taller, muscular woman said, catching the Engineer. “That cold sleep takes a bit to wear off. But, this feels weird, like we’ve been asleep a lot longer than we should have.” She turned her attention over to the busty redhead in charge. “Captain, what’s happening?”

“I’m not sure,” the Captain said, her slender body staggering her way over to the monitor. She grabbed a hold of a screen nearby and looked it over. “This can’t be right. Minerva, double check these readings for me.”

“Yes Captain!” A medium-height black-haired Asian woman, wearing a shirt that said “Analyzer,” saluted and slowly walked her way over to a monitor, adjusting her glasses to look. Slowly, she turned her head towards the Captain. “There’s nothing wrong with these. They’re accurate.”

“What is it? Space debris lodged somewhere? Fluxgate malfunction?” Clara asked as she made her way over, still holding onto the Navigator for support.

“No,” the Captain said as she turned to the rest of her crew, “We’ve been in cold sleep for 600 years.”

“WHAT!?” Clara and the Navigator shouted at once.

“That’s crazy talk!” Clara said, rubbing the back of her head in confusion. “There’s no way we could be alive. We only had enough power to survive maybe 150 years. We all should be dead.”

As soon as she said that, the Navigator poked Clara in the boob. “Well, you still feel alive to me.”

“Hey, just cause I’m holding onto you doesn’t mean you can get handsy with me, Iva,” Clara said, trying her best to stand on her own, but quickly fell back onto Iva.

“Well, whatever the case, our first priority is to investigate and assess the situation,” the Captain said. “Begin Isol-3 protocol! Captain Melody Thorton of the Earthian Hathor presiding! ID: 15-205-E!”

“Engineer Clara Blanche of the Earthian Hathor presiding! ID: 48-685-D!” Clara saluted, despite still leaning onto the Navigator.

“Navigator Iva Abbott of the Earthian Hathor presiding! ID: 99-168-C!” Iva saluted, still keeping an arm around Clara.

“Analyzer Minvera McClure of the Earthian Hathor presiding! ID: 11-101-Z!” Minerva saluted, and the four women waited in silence for a few seconds.

“That’s only four of us,” Captain Melody said, looking around. “Report! Doctor!” She called out, but the only response was an echo and the beeping alarms. “Captain Melody Thorton, asking for the Doctor of the Earthian Hathor to report!” Again, there was only silence. The four women looked at each other, then rushed over to where the doctor’s pod was.

Empty.

The glass had been cracked open and the faint imprint of where the doctor had previously been lying was the only thing in the pod. Her monitoring screen had been smashed to pieces and laid on the floor near her pod. Minerva fell to her knees and weep.

“No! NO!” she cried out in anguish as she slammed her fist down on the ground. “She’s gone.”

Clara and Iva both tipped their heads down, but Captain Melody kept her focus. She reached down to her side, pulling out her trusty laser pistol. “Alright ladies! Protocol Dran-Q!” 

The Captain scanned the ceiling for anything unusual while the rest of them pulled out their weaponry. Clara brought out a saber, the blade made of plasmic energy, and began to walk around the room. Iva put on her cuffs, surrounding her hands in gauntlets, keeping watch over the entryway. And Minerva drew out a blade that at a moment’s notice could turn into a whip or be electrified, and searched with Clara.

“Stay on your guard,” Captain Melody said, finishing her check of the ceiling as Clara and Minerva finished theirs with nothing to report. “We’ll make our way to the helm. We don’t know what to expect, so be ready.” The four of them nodded and began to make their way out.

It was quiet. Too quiet. Only the sounds of the alarm and their footsteps echoed through the darkened halls. Captain Melody lead the way, Clara and Minerva keeping close side by side, and Iva keeping watch from the back. Dim lights illuminated their path as they reached the third floor.

“None of this makes any sense,” Iva said as searched around. “We should be dead, drifting alone in space. There shouldn’t be any sort of power or anything.”

“All the more reason that we must be cautious,” Captain Melody said, checking around a nearby corner.

“If we were raided, then there should be a lot more destruction, right?” Minerva asked as her eyes shifted around.

“Depends on who and what we’re dealing with,” Clara said, scowling a little as she looked at all the scrap and debris that was on the ground. “Ugh, I swear, whoever disrespected my baby is going to meet the raw end of my blade!”

“I think I hear something,” Captain Melody said, hugging against the wall. The other women followed in suit, waiting for their Captain’s commands. Slowly, they made their way towards the kitchen room where the other three now heard the sounds of something munching on something else. The door was open and the lights were on.

“Something’s… eating?” Iva asked in a hushed tone, preparing her gauntlets.

“You don’t think that’s something’s eating-”

“No way!” Clara said, quickly cutting Minerva off.

“Alright, on my command,” Captain Melody said as she held up her hand, laser pistol at the ready. After a few seconds, she gave the signal and the four women burst into the room, weapons ready. “Freeze! Don’t move!”

Sitting there, eyes wide, was a white-haired slender lady in a lab coat; the missing doctor, Julie. She was sitting down in a chair, feet resting on the table, and half a bagel in her mouth. She stared at the four women and slowly raised her hands.

“You’re ali-!”

Just as Minerva was about to rush in and hug the woman, Captain Melody stopped her, raising her hand in Minerva’s face. “Isol-3 protocol! Report!” She kept her pistol trained on the woman, who slowly put down the rest of her bagel.

“Uh, the Isol-3 protocol, right!” the woman said, standing up and brushing the crumbs off of her D cups. “Yes, I know what that is.”

“Then report,” Captain Melody said, keeping her finger on the trigger for whatever might happen.

“Well, there’s nothing to report. This bagel is delicious and we’re not in danger,” the woman chuckled, but Captain Melody wasn’t amused.

She took a step forward, keeping the pistol aimed at the woman. “That’s not the report. Isol-3 protocol. Report!”

The white haired woman took a step back, chuckling to herself. “Ah, you know, I kinda forgot what it was. I had, you know, hit my head and I forgot what the protocol was.” She rubbed the back of her head nervously, but the Captain still wasn’t budging in her stance.

“You aren’t Julie,” the Captain said, and the rest of the women prepare their weapons.

“Who are you and what did you do with her?” Minerva asked, clutching her weapon tightly. Her face was starting to turn red from anger and she turned the electricity on in her whip.

“Whoa whoa whoa! Easy easy easy!” the woman said, holding her hands out to try and keep the women at bay. “Okay, I’m not this Julie whoever that you’re referring to.”

“Answer the question,” Clara asked, slicing through the air with her plasma blade, “Who are you and what did you do with her?”

The white haired woman sighed and transformed before their eyes. She grew a second pair of limbs, jointed in three places. Her skin went from pale to dark green and her hair turned to purple tendrils. She opened up three more eyes from her face and her jaw unhinged in the middle, allowing her incredibly long tongue to droop. She now had three breasts and stood much taller than all the other women, more muscular than her previous physique would let on.

“Look, my name is Yohrih, and I’m a Taaktax,” Yohrih said, holding her hands up to show she wasn’t trying to be a threat. “I don’t know what happened to your companion.”

“Then why did you look like her?” Iva asked. “And how are you speaking English?”

“I told you, I’m a Taaktax,” Yohrih said. Upon seeing the confused look on the women’s faces, she sighed. “My species eats and copies DNA, and it lets us transform into copies of them, as well as gaining some idea of their memories. That’s how I can speak English and why I looked like this Julie, whoever that is.” She once again looked at the faces of the humans. “Would it make it easier for you if I went back into that human form?”

“Don’t. You. DARE. Wear her face like it’s some kind of cheap costume!” Minerva shouted and Yohrih shrugged.

“You said your species eats DNA, right?” Iva said, still keeping her gauntlets ready. Yohrih nodded. “So, where did you get her DNA?”

“That room where you all were asleep,” Yohrih said, crossing her arms. “I found blood, hair, and skin that I used to get that human form.”

“Blood?” Minerva’s eyes went wide upon hearing that and she slumped against Iva.

“Yeah, sure. I guess I’m just everyone’s support column,” Iva said, rolling her eyes a little, but she gave Minerva a smile and put her arm around her.

“I didn’t do it. It was there when I found it,” Yohrih said, reaching for the rest of her bagel.

“How long ago did you find her blood?” Captain Melody asked, still keeping her weapon trained onto Yohrih’s body.

“According to your language, it would be about 50 years ago,” Yohrih said, eating the rest of the bagel. Minerva’s eyes went even wider and she fell to her knees again, speechless.

“Wait, if that was 50 years ago, have you been the one keeping this ship running?” Clara asked, looking around at the trash that hadn’t been properly disposed of.

“Well, you all were in cold sleep. I figured you wouldn’t mind someone keeping you all alive in exchange for getting to live here,” Yohrih said.

Iva was still consoling Minerva, gently rubbing her back. “Captain, what do you think of all of this?”

Captain Melody closed one eye and thought. “I don’t nearly know enough about what is going on to discern whether or not they are telling the truth. I’d have to check out the helm myself and assess the information.” She nodded to Iva, who picked up Minerva. “You’re coming with us,” Captain Melody said, gesturing to Yohrih.

“What? Why?” Yohrih said, gesturing to herself.

“I don’t trust you yet, and I don’t know if you’re a threat. Minerva, I’m going to entrust you with watching Yohrih,” Captain Melody said as she began to lead the way again to the helm.

“What?” Minerva finally said after finding her voice again and wiping away her tears. “Why me?”

“Simple,” Captain Melody said, giving Minerva a gentle pat on the shoulder. “You probably trust Yohrih the least out of all of us. So, you’ll be the most on watch for anything suspicious.” 

Minerva nodded and got out of Iva’s arms.She flicked her wrist and wrapped the whip around Yohrih’s neck. “Hey! What gives?” Yohrih asked.

“You’re coming with us so we can get answers about what happened to Julie,” Minerva said, a fiery passion behind her words. Yohrih just gave a gentle nod and followed the rest of them.

After a few more hallways, they came across a sealed metal door. “There must not be enough power to open the doors,” Clara said as she looked at it. “Two of us will go down to the generator room and try to turn the power back on.”

“Yeah, I could never figure out how to get that working,” Yohrih said.

“Captain, we still don’t know what danger is down there,” Iva said, adjusting her gauntlet. “Who should go down there?”

Captain Melody closed one eye, thinking carefully about the crew before giving her answer.