In the long, dim tunnel, a rapid patter of light taps gradually rose from the floor: tap-tap-tap-tap. It was the sound of a many-legged creature, like a rhinoceros beetle scurrying across glass.
It couldn't be a spider. Spiders were light on their feet, an essential trait for ambush predators.
That was good news. At least Aphra wouldn't scream at the sight of a spider in the narrow corridor, and Su Ming's ears would be spared. The doctor might be a woman who liked women, but she was afraid of spiders too.
So what was it?
The answer appeared a second later. Rounding a bend in the esophagus came a huge, snow-white hand, with nothing attached above the wrist.
The thing was revolting. Its wrinkled white skin was covered in filth of unknown origin. Seven fingers sprouted from its palm, each tipped with a cracked, curved yellow nail like the claws of an old witch in a fairy tale.
Several fingers wore ornaments: rings as thick as an ordinary person's waist. Around its wrist was a strange bracelet that looked like coils of golden wire mesh, thick and stained with dried reddish-brown blood.
It moved palm-down on its "fingers." No, it was racing toward them. The moment it emerged from the darkness, the rapid tapping of its nails against the floor stopped.
"Aah!"
Well, this ghastly thing was worse than a spider. Sure enough, Aphra screamed when she saw it.
Its very existence was too bizarre. For a young woman from a naturally formed universe, a grotesque crawling appendage like this probably wouldn't have appeared even in her nightmares.
"Who sent you?" Strangle's tentacle covered Aphra's mouth, cutting off the noise. Su Ming twirled the Lightsaber in his hand and tried to speak to the monster a hundred meters away. "You