They found the eggs three levels down.
The descent had been harrowing—ladders designed for limbs with different proportions, corridors that narrowed and widened unpredictably, and always that sense of being watched, of moving through a space that was never meant for human eyes. Varga had mapped their route on his tablet, creating a rough schematic that showed the alien ship's twisted geometry.
The egg chamber was vast—a cavernous space that must have occupied a significant portion of the vessel's interior. The walls were lined with what looked like organic pillars, each one supporting a single object: a leathery, oblong shape about a meter tall, with a cross-shaped opening at the top.
"How many?" Chen breathed.
Varga swept his light across the chamber. "Hundreds. Maybe thousands."
They stepped forward cautiously, their footsteps echoing in the immense space. The eggs seemed to react to their presence—not moving, but somehow attending, as if aware that something had entered their domain.
"Don't touch anything," Webb ordered. "We're just observing. We'll take samples—"
One of the eggs opened.
It happened without warning—the cross-shaped top peeling back like flower petals, revealing something pulsing and organic within. A smell wafted out, so thick and foul that Chen could detect it even through her suit's filters.
"Back away," Webb said. "Slowly. Everyone back away."
But Dmitri was transfixed. He moved closer, his light illuminating the egg's interior. "There's something in there. Looks like... I don't know. A heart? A—"
The thing inside moved.
It uncurled with shocking speed—a mass of pale flesh and glistening limbs that seemed to have no definite form. Before anyone could react, it launched itself from the egg, straight at Dmitri's face.
He screamed—a horrible, gurgling sound that cut off abruptly as the creature attached itself to his helmet. They could see it through the visor, a spider-like thing with too many legs and a tail that whipped back and forth, trying to find purchase.
"Dmitri!" Webb drew his sidearm, but there was nothing to shoot—the creature was pressed against Dmitri's helmet, its limbs wrapped around the polycarbonate sphere.
Then they heard the crack.
A hairline fracture appeared in the helmet's visor. Then another. Then the thing's tail came around and punched through, and Dmitri's screams started again, louder this time, and wetter.
Chen ran.
She didn't make a conscious decision—her body simply turned and fled, carrying her back the way they'd come. Behind her, she heard Webb shouting, Varga yelling, and Dmitri screaming, always screaming, until the screams became gurgles and then stopped entirely.
She ran through corridors that twisted and turned, past chambers she didn't recognize, down ladders that seemed to go on forever. She ran until her legs gave out and she collapsed against a wall, gasping for breath, her heart hammering against her ribs.
When she finally looked up, she was alone.
And the signal was still pulsing, somewhere far above.
BEEP... pause... BEEP BEEP... pause... BEEP... pause... BEEP BEEP BEEP...