"The snowmen are indomitable and harsh foes," Absjorn said as he headed the group downt he hallway. Cerebus brought up the rear. "For centuries they have soiled our domain. They must be.... removed."
Icarus itched with nervousness. "Thanks for using removed instead of disemboweled. It gives it more of a PG feel."
"Do not disrespect them," Lykopis grunted towards the young pilot. "They have served the dieties of this realm since time immemorial."
"Do they get paid by the maul, or is it a group rate?" he whispered back the the Amazon.
"I wish you would learn to hold your tongue like Adem," she spat back at him. "He at least has the respect not to question the servents of the gods."
Icarus and Lykopis stopped in mid-step and looked at each other. A very obvious fact had just come to their attention. Adem wasn't there. The two hellhounds noticed as well. Cerebus's three heads growled in unison.
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Adem Different moved slowly across the engine room. Once he had a an opportunity, he had detatched himself from the group when the conversation had become intense. The thing about nanites, they eliminated perspiration and phermones that one's body may produce. He was no back in the engine room searching to the frequency that his nanites had detected earlier. Call him paranoid, but he felt no need to place his faith on the words of honor on a creature involved in the massacre of an entire crew and his own teammates.
In one corner, he found a fine powder. His fingers traced through it and examined it closer to his eyes. After a few moments of running his thumb and forefingers through it. The detective brought the powder up to his nose and sniffed. Then, the alien stuck out his tongue and licked it. The nanaites went to work breaking down the structure. It was crystallian but contained many elements not found on Earth.
"Jym," Adem ordered into his arm, "get me Drake and Gaunt."
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The hellhounds were becoming angered. "What trickery is this?" Absjorn asked. His lip lifted up in a snarl. The creature's teeth stuck out like daggers.
"Did we go up?" Icarus asked Lykopis whose hand was inching down to her sword's hilt.
"I believe so," she responded.
"How far?"
"Very far, I should say."
"All the way up?"
"I cannot say."
"Let's hope so," he said as he pushed a button on his pack. A tiny rocket shot out from the top and ripped through the steel. The pilot grabbed the Amazon and engaged his pack. The two soared out of the ship and into the cold. Ice and snow wafted down and through the hole he had made. "I knew you'd end up in my arms before too long, babe."
"Do not anger me, boy."
