Of Men and Spiders

Cleo trained her gun on Scott as a somewhat intimidating squad, fully kitted out in battlesuits that looked like clear professionals, approached with their own weapons drawn and aimed, though more than a few were aimed at Charlotte's remains rather than herself. The man in charge spoke sternly. "Lower your weapon, now!"

Cleo complied as she answered. "Fine, but I want credit where credit is due. I brought the target in after months of captivity. I deserve my cut!"

The leader didn't lower his aim as he approached Charlotte's carcass, clearly wary that it might still pose a threat, while he responded. "Relax, we'll report exactly what happened here, no more, no less. You'll get whatever the captain decides you deserve."

Once he was far enough forward, the guy in charge also swung about to examine and cover the remains of the hauler Cleo had blown up. Noticing the carnage inside, he finally broke his professional facade a little. "Oh, what the hell? That's not a ship! It's a meat grinder!"

With Scott fully covered by some of the other squad members, Cleo looked back at her handiwork and smiled. "Yeah, there was pretty much a literal army in there. It was the bug's most advanced drones too, bigger and scarier than anything you might've seen before! Nothing a few well-placed and well-timed explosives couldn't handle, though. Not gonna lie, after a few months of captivity by those monsters, it was kinda satisfying to take 'em out!"

The boss looked back at two others with him, one of whom was a relatively impressively sized and muscled woman. "Thane, Rigges, go in there and make sure nothing's still moving. I don't want a cockroach getting out of there alive!"

The smaller guy complained. "In there? You can't be serious! Nothing's alive in there!"

The boss wasn't taking any lip. "And I want you to make sure of that! If a single bug gets off that ship, I'll have Drake give you a private contract to clean every toilet in his fleet! Am I clear?"

Finally, the guy nodded, though Cleo couldn't help but notice a tint of annoyance in his voice. "Yes, sir!" He followed the woman up the ramp and started stomping on anything that looked still capable of movement, not that there was much of that.

Turning back to the guy in charge, Cleo jerked her head toward the bay exit. "So, when do I get to see the boss?"

The guy in charge didn't seem fazed. "Well, if by 'the boss' you mean Captain Drake, I'm pretty sure he'll want to see the kid is alive and well first. After that, you can do what you want."

Cleo shrugged as some soldiers got Scott, who was glaring daggers at Cleo, to his feet while she responded. "Fair enough. Lead the way."

-

Drake, accompanied by an aide, walked into the room containing his grandson expectantly. Several of the Hell Hounds were in attendance. The only sign of relaxation was the removal of their helmets now that Drake's guest had been thoroughly searched. There was also one very spunky girl who couldn't be more than twenty and looked more than a little out of place beside them. That must be Cleo. However, most of Drake's attention was reserved for his grandson, who looked a little worse for wear with a nasty-looking bruise forming on his face.

Turning to Dax, the new commander of the Hell Hounds, Drake indicated his grandson's face. "I heard there was a bit of a commotion, but was that really necessary?"

Surprisingly, it was the spunky-looking girl who responded. "Well, Scott brought a literal army with him that could have easily wiped out half your ship. I figured a few bruises and a minor concussion were a small price to pay to have him otherwise safely extracted from that mess."

Drake favored the girl with an appraising look before responding. "If your claim is true, I suppose you're right." Then, turning to his aid, he added, "Set aside double the bounty to be paid in full upon my authorization."

The girl, Cleo Drake reminded himself, didn't look too pleased. "And when will that be authorized?"

Drake looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. "Why? Do you have someplace to be?"

Cleo nodded. "Yeah. I've been captive of Scott and his bug army for several months now, and I'm pretty sure they'll be sending in a rescue crew soon. I wanna be paid and gone before they get here. I've earned it!"

Drake nodded. "I suppose you have. However, I will have to make sure of a few things, such as this being my grandson, and that everything you're saying is accurate. In addition, you'll need to be debriefed. After that, if everything holds up, you'll be paid promptly. You have my word."

Cleo seemed to pout a little. "Fine. But make sure it doesn't take too long. Like I said, I wanna be gone before the shit hits the fan!"

Dake, who was quickly growing tired of the girl's lackadaisical attitude toward his authority, nodded. "Charming, but understood. I'll see what I can do to... expedite the situation. Now, if you'll leave us be, I must speak with my grandson."

Cleo nodded, then stopped and held out a recording device. "Oh, and can you make sure this gets to Lucy? I promised Alice I'd get it to her, and I'm not so much of a monster not to at least do that much."

Scott, who'd been silent till now, spit on the ground near her feet. "Oh, so that's where you draw the line?"

Dax looked like he was about to cuff the boy, but Drake held up a hand to forestall him. He then activated the recording device, which lit up, showing a hologram of a little girl who was all smiles. "Hi momma! Charlotte and I are having a great time, but I can't wait to see you again! Come home safe!" Then, the recording ended.

Drake smiled briefly and handed the device over to his aide. "See to it, this gets to my daughter." The aid took the device and nodded.

Having said all she apparently had to say, Cleo finally left the room, leaving Drake to speak with his grandson.

-

Cleo stepped outside and started flipping through a tablet she had as though checking up on things while she'd been gone. So she was still present when the aide finally left the room, called someone over, and handed off the recording device she'd given Captain Drake. She let the errand boy get a good head start before she started casually following after him, just barely keeping him in sight.

They didn't go too far before ending up in another hallway. The man entered a room. Cleo fell back and made herself seem busy, waiting for the man to exit. Once he left, she looked around. Spotting some unattended food, Cleo snatched it up and started walking toward the room in question as though making a delivery. Glancing around as though bored, she made sure no one was keeping an evident eye on her before slipping into the room.

-

Lucy was still near the door, inspecting the recording device her father had sent to her, when the door opened again, which was odd because her father's people always rang the chime first. What was far more surprising was seeing Cleo backing in as though keeping an eye out for anyone who might be watching.

Immediately, a series of doomsday scenarios involving Scott and Alice ran through Lucy's mind. Filled with the sudden rage born of the possibility of her kids being in danger, Lucy grabbed Cleo as she was turning around to face the room and pinned the pirate girl to the wall while also reaching back and drawing the gun she had at her back, and shoving the barrel under the girl's chin. "Cleo, I don't know what you're doing here, but you've got thirty seconds to explain where my kids are and what's going on before I start filling you with holes!"

Cleo held up her hands in surrender while answering. "Sure, sure! Alice is fine, and Scott's here with me, and I'll show you what we're doing here if you'll just back off and let me!"

Scott was here? What in the hell was he thinking? Did Cleo betray them and bring him here? Lucy thought about putting a hole in Cleo's leg but got her rage in control enough to back off enough for the girl to show her whatever it was she had while giving the girl a glare that let her know in no uncertain terms that she wasn't strictly out of the woods yet. However, the girl surprised Lucy when she reached up to her neck instead of going for a pocket and started undoing the zipper on her flight suit, then pulled it down to her waist, revealing what looked like very flat spiders wrapped around her waist and arms.

As the spiders started moving and extracting themselves from the girl, Cleo shivered and almost seemed to gag while muttering, "Oh god, finally! Get off me! Get off me! I need a shower or something! Oh god! We're never doing this again!"

As one of the larger spiders, obviously one of Charlotte's limbs, looked up at Lucy, it spoke. "Greetings, Lucy. I am happy to see you in good health."

That was when John finally wheeled himself out of the restroom, in full view of Lucy, who had a gun pointed at a young woman who was stripped down to her underwear while a talking spider addressed her. He started and stopped talking a few times as his mind tried to catch up with what was happening, finally getting out a very understandable "What the HELL is going on?!?"