~Mysterious Cave, Planet Carass, Sigma Universe~
Tentacles flailed through the damp darkness of the cave as the beholder floated through the blackness. It's one large eye glared into the gloom. It had already feasted on a family of elves that had wandered in to evade the raging storm outside. It felt a mental tug from one of the psionic webs it had set in one of the many caves it called home. A focus of mental energy opened a portal to the other cave where it could meet it's two siblings. Or at least it should have....
~Experimental Technology Development Facility, Ki Sorona, Beta Universe~
Jamet clapped excitedly, "Rogan! From what the simulation shows, this drive should work on both small and large scales. Do you realize what that means?! We could be rich! Or at least famous."
Rogan walked slowly over to the console to look at the plans for the tenth time. Sure enough, the schematics on this prototype showed it should give them propulsion through rips in space time far safer and quicker than any before it. She nodded to Jamet to proceed. He began calculating the figures for kicking the engine into full speed. Jamet moved to the control console and began punching in the algorithm while glancing at the projection from the other console. Within thirty minutes he had everything entered in. The prototype Dark Matter Vehicular Drive 56 hummed to life.
"Accelerating to twenty-five percent," Jamet told Rogan.
Rogan nodded to him and spoke into her earpiece. Three military officers entered the room with five scientists in tow. They had been discussing the efficiency of the drive in the meeting room next door. If this project failed to meet requirements next cycle, it would have to be scrapped and designs for the next prototype would begin. Jamet's hands began to shake as he keyed in the command to accelerate to fifty percent. As the drive's power level rose, a slight vibration was felt through the control console. He looked to Rogan.
"Pushing power to seventy-five percent"
He nodded and keyed in the commands. His screen showed all areas to be green but one. The vortex vacuum levels dipped into the upper levels of yellow. Not unexpected. Jamet glanced up from his screen to look at the drive itself. A shimmer began to appear. At one hundred percent the drive should open a gateway to another test facility on the other side of the planet.
He spoke into his microphone, "power levels steady and all readings within acceptable levels. Proceeding to one-hundred percent."
His hands shook as he took the test to its last stage. The drive shook on it's stands as it whined to full power. A rift opened several feet in front of it. His three chambered heart pounded in his head. A purple mist swirled before them beckoning to be fed one of the testing drones. A technician at the receiving facility confirmed a rift at their site as well. Jamet looked to Rogan and saw her keying in commands for the drone to begin approach to the portal. The drone steadily approached the barrier. Slowly it entered the breach followed seconds later by an affirmative from the second facility. The assembled observers clapped at their success. Two more years of research had paid off it seemed. A small pop accompanied by sparks emitted from the side of the drive. A screech sounded like it was inside of Jamet's head.
"Vortex vacuum levels are bottoming out! We lost connection to the other facility. Something is coming back through the portal," Jamet looked at Rogan who was just as panicked.
A large round shape emerged from the portal. One of the officers was calling into a wrist device for security. Another one-eyed blob emerged behind the first. A single blob was moving through the second facilities receiver room on his screen. The portals wobbled shut. Jamet was hit by a force he couldn't see and slung across the room. Glass scattered all around him. Rogan turned to run. Well, running was a bit of an overstatement. Her walk had taken him some getting used to. Her species were large sloth-like creatures and moved painfully slow. They had evolved eighty thousand years ago and it had taken them almost as long two achieve space travel. Sadly, it was not from intellect but because of their movement. The intellect of her people was even greater than the Falk.
One of the floating creatures moved towards Rogan. He yelled for the officers to do something. Two of them stepped forward only to be thrown back in a flash of purple light that shot out of the second creature. One of them caught the edge of the doorway, his neck snapping with a very audible crack. The first creature began to wave it's many tentacles faster and faster as it neared Rogan. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. One of the creature's tentacles arced towards her. A sharp claw slid from its tip. Suddenly the claw protruded from her mouth. The floating blob wrapped two more tentacles around her husky form and pulled her towards it.
A deep bass voice reverberated in his mind, "come to your beholder furry one. Fill me."
Rogan let out a soft gurgle as the beholder opened it's maw and bit into her back. The second beholder moved around the first. Jamet scurried across the floor to the door. The scientists had already fled through and could be seen entering another lab three doors down. The officer who had stayed back was helping the other injured officer to his feet. A tentacle grabbed the injured officer's leg and pulled him away. Jamet and the lone remaining officer rushed down the hall together. The second beholder squeezed through the entryway.
A squad of security guards rushed past the retreating pair towards the beholder. They opened fire with their stun guns. Tentacles shot out tipped with squawking beaks. More crunching as the throats of all five men were torn out. The beholder blasted the door to the lab where the scientists hid and entered. Screams of terror filled the hall. Jamet and the officer turned the corner, almost knocking each-other to the ground. Together they stumbled into a room full of soldiers gearing up for combat.
The officer looked the captain of the group, "you might need personal shields. I don't know if they'll work after what I just saw those things do, but if your men are gonna stand a chance, then that is about the only we have that will help."
The captain exchanged glances with one of her men. The soldier opened a cabinet and began handing out small wrist devices. Jamet and the officer strapped on their own devices. The first soldier out of the room was surrounded by a purple glow, lifted from his feet, and slammed into the opposite wall repeatedly until his body went limp. The remaining soldiers ran into the hall and formed up into two rows. The first row knelt and both rows raised their rifles. The second row didn't get a chance to fire a round as another pulse went through the group. Those kneeling slid back but were able to maintain their balance. They opened fire on the beholder. Light filled the hall as fusion rifles unloaded shot after shot at the creature. Green blood began to drip from it to coat the floor. The beholder screeched as a beam hit its eye. Jamet's skull felt like it was going to tear apart from the high-pitched noise. Another shot struck a tentacle and the creature began to deflate.
As the captain stood and turned to Jamet, one of the beholder's tentacles jammed into the unprotected part of her neck. Her skin grew taught as the meat was sucked out from the inside. Her soft skull caved in on itself and her chest caved in. Jamet turned away and retched. The first beholder rounded the corner and bore down on them. One of the soldiers tossed a grenade at it and they all dove back into the armory. The blast sent a tentacle skittering into the room.
"Is it dead," Jamet asked.
The officer looked out and nodded. He ordered more soldiers and a few scientists be sent to retrieve and examine the bodies. Jamet followed the bodies as they entered an exam room. One of the scientists approached the mostly deflated beholder with a scanning device.
"Helium readings are quite high with this thing. What did it call itself? A beholder? With the amount of helium here, that is more than likely how it maintains it's buoyancy. There seem to be small nodules all over it's skin."
Jamet watched as the scientist made his first incision into the side of the beholder. He removed a large sack with several limbs contained within. Obviously, that was a stomach of some sort. The scientist then removed a pair of balloon-like organs that began to float. When he cut one of them open it released helium into air. His hypothesis had apparently been right.
The scientist turned to Jamet, "where did these magnificent creatures come from?"
Jamet looked from the creature to the scientist, "I don't know. We were testing a new dark matter drive and had just finished testing the portal connectivity when three of them came through."
"Where is the third one?"
Again, Jamet provided him with the answer to his question, "apparently the portals we opened were like a fork in the road. Two appeared here and one appeared at the receiving facility on the other side of Ki Sorona. After that the portals closed so we don't know where these things came from. Our tests went perfect and then the drive had a short. I can only think that is what allowed these things in. Maybe they crossed paths with ours..."
The scientist sighed, "be that as it may, our receiving facility doesn't have but a handful of security and they certainly aren't equipped with an armory like the ones here."
The officer jerked to attention and left the room calling our orders. Soldiers ran past as the scientist continued his dissection. Jamet watched intently as each of the organs was carefully examined. The talon-tipped tentacles were nothing but muscle wound tightly around itself throughout the entire length. Perhaps that was why they could stretch out so far. The other two kinds of tentacles seemed to be separate mouths with lines straight to the stomach. Hours ticked by as the scientist did his work. A soldier rapped on the glass door and informed them that the beholder in the other facility had been captured alive.
A gurgling sound emanated from behind Jamet. He turned to see a tentacle wrapped around the scientist's throat. The first beholder that had come through was staring straight at him. It looked to the scientist and a beam of red light issued from its eye, burning through the man's chest. It wrapped its tentacles around his arms and pulled him closer as it raised itself from the table. Its gaze bore straight into his eyes.
The voice in his head returned, "you will be mine. Should you serve me well, you will be rewarded beyond your dreams. Should you fail... you will not fail me."
It took a moment for Jamet to gather his thoughts, "who are you? What do you want me to do for you?"
"You will do my bidding. I am Master. For now, bring me food or be my food."
Jamet gulped and nodded. Unsure, he bowed and backed away from the beholder. Guess it was time to find dinner. He stuck his head out of the door and investigated the hallway. Since securing the facilities again, routine had returned to normal. He flagged down an orderly passing by. Glancing over his shoulder, the beholder was nowhere to be seen.
"I need assistance really quick please."
The orderly smiled at him and followed him into the room...