"Huh? This isn't home," Tarvalen said, looking at the orb. It was now blinking red and displaying several error messages.
"Did something get installed wrong?" Qelimara asked, sounding nervous.
"All the upgrades were auxiliary. I ensured the core drive was untouched," Tarvalen replied. "Not that anyone who isn't a super expert like me would even know what to mess with."
"Big vote of confidence there," she grumbled, popping open a panel. "External camera shows… walls. We're indoors, or perhaps aboard a space vessel."
"What the…? Were we captured?" Tarvalen quickly got up and opened the hatch.
"Is such a thing possible?" Aria wondered as we exited the Shell.
Sure enough, the walls were nondescript and grey. The room itself was massive, too – almost twenty times larger than our ship.
"There's a door that way," Qelimara pointed. "And… another one over there. And that way too? Is this a riddle or a trap?"
"No way are we splitting up," I stated. "We pick one door, and whatever happens, happens! Got it?"
"I don't think it's that serious," Tarvalen muttered.
"Shut up. We're a small group, in case you forgot," Qelimara told him. "Better trapped together than apart, and all that."
"That's not what I meant. We don't even know if we're in danger."
"We don't know if we're not in danger!"
"Ladies, please," I sighed.
"Huh? I'm male," Tarvalen replied. "I mean, not biologically, but–"
"Figure of speech, Tarv. Let's just take a look." I pointed at the door straight ahead. It was square and metal, the same grey hue as the rest of this space.
"Everyone stay sharp," Qelimara said, pulling out a glowing amulet radiating magical energy.
"You're a mage?" I asked, then suddenly remembered the stuff she did when we first met. "Oh yeah, you are a mage!"
"Don't get too excited, I don't know much combat stuff," she replied.
"Do you at least know fireball?"
"It's always fireball with non-mages, isn't it," she muttered. "My master didn't know fireball, no one I trained with knew fireball. It's not even the best elemental spell, way too much collateral."
"Uh, did I touch a nerve there? Sorry," I apologized.
"Oh! No, it's not your fault, Ken. I just… uh…" She trailed off, then silently stowed her amulet.
"Told you they wouldn't split up," someone said as we entered the corridor. "It's like I said, isn't it? Small groups never split up!"
"Not true! Remember those salvagers?" Someone else said.
"Exception, not prove of rule," a third person stated. "Give pay."
"Blehh."
Qelimara had stopped, motioning for us to stay quiet. "You caught that, right Kendel? It sounded like the tongue of the Bhzanglous."
"They can't leave Bhzang though," Tarvalen whispered. "At least, that's what I was told."
"Then obviously it's the other race that lives there, ya doof," Qelimara hissed. "Ken, what did they say?"
"They were betting whether or not we'd split up," I answered. "I think it was two to one?"
"Are they out yet?" A fourth, more authoritative voice spoke.
"They're creeping down the north corridor, hero-team style," the second voice reported. "And… at least one of them seems pretty strong."
"Hm. Sic the Wall on them," the leader voice decided.
"Guys, they're gonna sic a wall on us," I reported.
"An actual wall? Or, is it like some creature named 'the wall'?" Qelimara asked.
"The latter, I think. Maybe we are in trouble," I replied.
"Allow me," Aria said, raising her hands. "I'll warp us out."
Down the corridor, I could hear a rumbling noise approaching, getting louder by the second. Then,
ZZWORrrr—P.
We appeared in the great cavernous room again, right next to the Shell.
"Great work, Aria," Tarvalen flashed a thumbs up. "Though, uh… we were close enough that we probably could have just walked."
"N-no, that was– something isn't right," Aria replied as the rumbling grew louder.
"Well, let's warp away and figure out the issue," Qelimara said, "Before the Wall arrives, preferably!"
"Too late," a loud, metallic voice called, then the rumbling suddenly stopped.
The door politely opened, revealing a massive machine-looking creature that blocked off the entire corridor. It certainly lived up to its name, that was for sure.
"How rude," it said. "Get back in the halls so I can run you down."
"What if…" I point to another door.
"Meh, the routes are all connected," the Wall replied.
"Shite. Uhm, what if we just sat in here then?"
"How boring. You're boring," the Wall growled. With an annoyed rumble, it receded back into the corridor, calmly shutting the door after it.
"People are watching us, got it. There's a moving obstacle-type machine that can corner us in an instant, got it." Qelimara rubbed her forehead.
"The Shell won't warp," Tarvalen called from inside the ship.
"What!? Why would it malfunction now, of all times?"
"It's not malfunctioning! The error messages are all 'pathing unsuccessful' and 'fold blockage detected' and 'destination already reached', in that order."
"I… think I know what's happening," Aria said. "Qelimara, with me. I'm going to try something."
The two of them ran through the door on the opposite side.
Then, a minute later…
WrrrRP–! They reappeared near us, Aria's warp field fading from view.
"I knew it," Aria said. "The Shell, my warp field, they're both being redirected somehow. And if I try to warp out from here…"
ZZZ–poof!
"Ow! Curses," she hissed, shaking her hands. "It reacts the same as if you tried to warp to your current position."
"A forced antefold rejection," Tarvalen nodded. "Fascinating."
"Oh, that's just great," Qelimara groaned. "We can't warp out of here, is that it? Is there even another exit??"
"Aw, man," I mumbled. "What are the odds we'd get caught in a trap specifically designed to stop our only means of getting around?"
"What indeed…" Aria thought for a moment. "Qelimara, you recall that reading on the homesense unit."
"Yeah, I was thinking that too. Seems like these guys have been studying our movements for a while," she nodded. "This had to be premeditated."
"More stalkers? Sheesh, maybe I should move Poseidons," Tarvalen muttered.
"Not until Lum hatches," I insisted.
"At the very least, we aren't the first spacewarping vehicle they've caught, considering the size of this room," Qelimara pointed out.
"Not the first, huh…" I took Lum's cocoon off my sunhat and hugged it. "Sounds like they know what they're doing, then. How much do you wanna bet we're dealing with pirates?"
"P-p-uh, pirates? Space pirates?" Tarvalen started sweating bullets. "No, nonono, I can't deal with pirates right now! They'll kill us and steal our hard-earned stuff, no way, no way!"
"It's totally pirates, though, isn't it?" Qelimara sighed. "Just our luck."
"Got it in one," one of the observers' voices said. "That's a new record, isn't it?"
"Not bad," the leader's voice said. "Alright, I've decided. Wall, bring them up to the bridge."