A junior engineer, Robin, was running diagnostics on the ship’s life support when the klaxons blared: a hull breach in Cargo Bay 4. The young woman grabbed her toolkit and rushed to investigate, her breath hitching as she noticed the lights dimming unnaturally along the way.
The airlock door at the bay was ajar, jagged tears running through its reinforced metal. Something dripped from the ceiling—a viscous, black slime. Then she saw it: a hulking creature crouched among shattered crates. Its massive head was dominated by a single, gaping mouth, rows of razor-sharp teeth glistening. Robin had studied these creatures in xenobiology: Maws, apex predators of deep space, notorious for hunting in packs. Yet this one was alone, a rogue.
