What came before....

  Loud clanking causes Aurelia to halt speaking. She dives behind a pile of rusted carapaces to her immediate left. Someone is coming. More than one someone.

  For several moments, Aurelia simply hides behind her chosen mound. She desperately works to slow her breathing down, fearful that even the slightest sound will give away her position. After what seems like forever, four beings make their way into the arachnoid robot graveyard. Captain Hilyard peeks out from behind her hiding place as the heavy footsteps grow closer. Once again, Aurelia's mouth falls open in shock. The leader of the group is the same being who was stationed at the entryway of the alien ship's cargo hold. But it is not who she'd believed it to be. It is not Mr. Yoth. Then, who? Who is this Cthulhu cousin. She has never seen this particular person before.

  Shift in POV

  "The other creatures fled back to their ships," Uiowky says in his usual barking voice. "At least one of the intruders was severely wounded. The others managed to take one of the smaller girgoghs with them when they fled. Mamith is attempting to track them through their cloaking technology. Either way, they won't get far. There is nowhere for them to go."

  "Hmmm," Zifawid Lilchta says without much outward enthusiasm. "And you are certain the female ended up down here?"

  "Yes," Uiowky says. "I witnessed her fall through the ground, myself. From my lookout position on the opposite ledge. She should be down her somewhere. She may even be injured. That was quite a fall."

  "Hmmm," Lilchta says again. "I sense no movement now. She may have wandered off into another portion of the complex. Take the others and look for her. Leave no stone and carapace unturned. Find her. And bring her to me."

  "But, Zifawid? That will leave you--"

  "Go. Now! Do not waste time questioning my orders, Uiowky! We can ill afford to have a strange alien wandering through our facility and discovering our most hidden secrets. I will search here. Find her!"

  "Yes, Sir!" Uiowky begrudgingly says, using his bulging yellow eyes to look Lilchta over from head to toe.

  The Zifawid's behavior has been odd since the arrival of the strange intruders. Not that his behavior could ever be considered normal. What the girgoghs see in this spineless being is beyond all comprehension. Without his spell book, the Zifawid is weak. Not like a true Zifawid at all. There will come a day when he must challenge this weakling. A day very soon. Only then, will the strength of the Girgogh colony finally be restored.

  Motioning to his companions, Uiowky reluctantly strolls away. Leaving Zifawid Lilchta to search for the invader female alone.

  -

  -

  After nearly half an hour of fruitless searching, Uiowky and his two companions meet up at a fork in the cavern's winding path. Uiowky glances from one to the other. Agitation causes his three amphibious eyes to roll around in his skull.

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  "Where is Zifawid Lilchta?" Uiowky inquires of his two companions. "Have you seen him?"

  "Not since the Zifawid demanded we seek the whereabouts of the female," Dudra replies, flexing her long insectile talons and rubbing her back legs against each other.

  "I have not seen him either," a third alien with glowing purple eyes says. "Do you think there were other intruders upon the planet, Uiowky? Others that we missed? Do you think the other intruders have taken Zifawid Lilchta?"

  "That would be most unfortunate, Lud," Uiowky says. "We should report the Zifawid's disappearance to the girgoghs. Assemble the search party, Dudra. I will speak with the girgoghs. Maybe they have seen something."

  -

  -

  Meeting with the Girgogh Leader- Wispyri

  Uiowky lumbers awkwardly into the darkened antechamber which is the girgogh breeding grounds. Wispyri, the queen of all girgoghs, is in repair mode again. Several thin cables suspend down from the robot queen's curled body, and she rests stationary upon a small pillar of stones. The network of cables roping away from her body lead down into a large pit, contained within are the elements needed to reconstitute her metallic shell.

  Of all the girgoghs, Wispyri is the only one to receive such treatment. All others have been allowed to fall to rust and ruin. The reasoning is simple: of all the girgoghs, Wispyri's programming is central to everything. Without the extensive knowledge stored within the ancient queen's memory core; the girgoghs would cease to exist. Thus, keeping Wispyri alive has become the primary function upon Yuktovy Planet.

  Uiowky quietly approaches the uploading girgogh queen. He studies her still form with slitted eyes. With a single chirp or motion of her pinchers, the metal queen could order him torn to shreds. He has seen others suffer such a fate on at least three different occasions. Wispyri's lack of patience is matched only by her diminutive size--in comparison to the largest of her kind. She especially hates being awakened during reprogramming and repair. Perhaps, he should wait for another time.

  Uiowky turns to leave just as a mechanical whirring sound fills the antechamber. He swivels his head to look behind him. Wispyri's blood red eyes are now open. She stares at him with the coldness of a being forged in metal rather than warm flesh--a look of pure intellect-- without the virtues of care or emotion.

  "What brings you to my chamber, Uiowky?" Wispyri says, unfurling her legs and standing to her full height.

  The thin cables attached to the spider queen's metal body shudder before dropping off one by one. Wispyri walks unsteadily across the stones which make up her throne. Gradually, she regains control of her wobbling appendages. She continues to stare red daggers into Uiowky's uncertain eyes.

  "Have you apprehended the intruders, Uiowky? And what of their technology? What do you have to report?" Wispyri inquires in her droning mechanical voice.

  Uiowky falters, taking a step backwards as Wispyri straightens and bends the joints of her metallic appendages. Although the leader of the girgoghs is only testing the limberness of her renewed joints, the move makes Uiowky think back to other times. It is also the move the queen makes before launching herself for an attack.

  "I...I'm afraid I don't have very good news, Wispyri. The Zifawid...Has also gone missing. No one has been able to find him. We fear he..."

  Wispyri completely straightens her legs, making herself appear taller. Her multiple red eyes glow brighter and the mechanical whirring which is her heartbeat increases. The queen of the robot spiders glowers down at Uiowky from her place atop the pile of large stones.

  "The...Zifawid...Is...Missing?!?" Wispyri takes great pains to enunciate, anger rippling through her metal body.

  "Yes, Wispyri," Uiowky reiterates, his wart covered knees quaking. "I thought...We thought he had sought an audience with you, Wispyri. I can see he has not."

  Wispyri tilts her upper body as if studying Uiowky very closely.

  "Find the female! And find the Zifawid. It has been many years since a human was taken. And their technology has advanced quite far since our last encounter. We must have their technology to merge with our own. Bring me what I ask, Uiowky. Or there will be a new shift in leadership. Go!"

  Uiowky nods respectfully. Without bothering with platitudes, he rushes from the dark antechamber.