Chapter 295: Beep

Words : 1207 Updated : Oct 3rd, 2025

Chapter 295: Beep Veeka didn’t want to dilly-dally. Her reasoning was simple. Ramir was many things—a traitor, a coward, an opportunist—and precisely because of that, there was a very real chance that someone had been left behind to wait for their return. If so, that meant that those comrades loyal to Captain Zahkar were in danger. And she wasn’t going to sit around to risk that. The decision to allow her to go wasn’t made lightly. But it was something they knew they’d have to do unless they wanted to continue destabilizing the area with that open wormhole. Still, she was patched up—just enough to look more pirate than patient. And while it was not enough to return her to peak condition, it was more than enough to allow her to survive. Well, hopefully. More importantly, she was given what seemed to be a pack of something called banana chips and a pill meant to prolong their Captain’s life if the issue was really just contamination. "Here, it should slow it down." Veeka looked at him a moment longer than necessary, then nodded. The wormhole shimmered like a wound in space—twisting, volatile, and occasionally pulsing. It loomed at the edge of the ship’s outer chamber, anchored with alarming precision, yet unstable enough to make anyone near it sweat. "Readings are unstable, Host." D-29 offered as it continued to monitor the wormhole. "Wormhole is degrading at a steady rate," chimed the little system. "Return not advised unless anchor points are re-established." In other words, this was a one-way trip. Xavier approached her last, watching the shimmer of the wormhole. "If you survive," he said plainly, "Stay quiet. Stay smart." "And don’t do anything that’ll make me regret letting you walk away." Veeka only snorted. There was no need to remind her. She’s long hit her quota on regrets. With that, she turned and used the same capsule crafts they used to get into the commuter. They watched her get swallowed by the wormhole just as the communication systems turned operational. Without the jammers that were probably installed on those capsule crafts, they could finally contact Steward Han, who had been waiting for the signal to annex the ship for evacuation. "Signal acquired, Your Grace. Beginning annex protocol. We’ll start evac within the hour." Announced Butler Gary. Evacuation procedures were initiated across all secure sectors. Civilians were processed first—transported in staggered pods toward awaiting shuttles dispatched from the Duchy’s fleet stationed on Planet Nova. Luca and the other members of DG were the last to leave, as he felt like he needed to be there to see this through to the end. Killian, though deeply reluctant, had to return via the legal route—or risk giving the authorities a heart attack. He grumbled something about paperwork and "kids these days" before giving Kyle a patented older-brother squint. He looked directly at Kyle, who offered a cheeky salute. "You better not run, you little brat," he threatened before leaving. "Just come to our guild base, we’ll wait for you there." Hollered Kyle, who knew better than to anger his older brother. The diligent father, however, had different priorities. As the last civilian groups were moved off the craft, he was already prepping his next mission. The Baron’s name had come up too many times to ignore—and now that the jammers were offline, so was his patience. Duke Leander, after kissing his son’s forehead far too quickly to be seen, declared that he was off to go "have a word" with the Baron responsible for this mess. This likely meant presenting whatever dust would remain of the Baron to the courts. Back on the commuter ship, only a few remained. Luca insisted on staying. After all, D-29 could only monitor the wormhole’s activity and closure if the host stayed within its vicinity. Xavier, naturally, stayed with him. The rest were there because, technically, they couldn’t return together with the evacuees as they were people who didn’t legally leave planet Nova. But at the same time, Kyle had unfinished scans to collect while Butler Gary refused to leave the Young Lord unsupervised. And Ollie, who had valiantly made it through an entire hijacking and hostage ordeal, was currently fast asleep, curled under a blanket near the wall—his hair an unholy mess and a half-eaten fruit strip still clutched in one hand. It was almost peaceful. Almost. It was during this calm—the thin silence between two crises—that D-29 prompted again, this time with poppers and confetti. "Host. Wormhole status: stabilizing decay. Signature shrink detected. No fluctuation in contract seal. Subject Veeka has succeeded. Woot! Woot!" Luca exhaled slowly, a hand drifting to his chest. The wormhole was closing. All was well. Except...it wasn’t. Not far below—deep in the ship’s forgotten underbelly—a proximity sensor blinked to life. It had no link to the main systems, no voice, no access, and not even a broadcast function. It was old, detached, and decommissioned years ago. And it was screaming. Frantic, yet unheard. A series of red lights strobed faintly, similarly unseen by anyone. And as it continued beeping for no one, a few people in the lobby were preparing to leave. Kyle, for one, had just scooped Ollie into his arms, careful not to wake him as they prepared to head back. "He’s likely going to want triple rations for dinner," Kyle muttered, half to himself, half to Luca. "Maybe for today, I can give some of mine," Jax said as he teleported back into the space, considering thoughts of giving Ollie a few of his extremely great-grandchildren. "I’ll make some more for him! I think brother deserves it! And I’ll even add a dessert," Said Luca, who was considering sneaking in a few more for his good brother, who suffered. "Careful, Young Lord, or that would be his baseline next time!" Butler Gary chuckled. They were still trading jokes when the floor trembled. Then tilted. It was not a bump or a slight shake but a sudden gravitational shift that sent the chair sliding across the floor and the sleeping Ollie almost slipping from Kyle’s arms. "What the—" Kyle’s eyes widened as his feet slipped. The bench Ollie had been napping on skidded across the floor. Kyle clutched him tighter, stumbling back against a wall. D-29 shrieked a string of emergency prompts. "OH NO, HOST! UNIDENTIFIED GRAVITY ANOMALY DETECTED. BRACE FOR COLLISION—" "What?!" Xavier grabbed Luca’s shoulder, his senses already flaring, itching to return to the space before anything worse happened. But nothing. "???" Everyone was of the same mind and attempted to teleport out the moment it happened, but they were all left staring at each other in horror as their world tilted. "!!!" "I can’t—" Luca’s eyes widened. Then, for one horrifying second, the view outside the spacecraft shifted. The ship was practically tumbling, or so they thought, as it tilted so hard into a descent arc that no one thought was possible. Outside, the stars didn’t shift. The horizon did. "We’re crashing?!" Kyle screamed over the sudden wailing of emergency systems. "How the hell do you crash in space?!" "Apparently like this!" Butler Gary barked, gripping a handrail as the walls blurred around them. There was no time for more questions. Only impact.

Chapter 295: Beep

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