The elevator shook with a metallic grind. Rhonda stepped sideways to compensate and keep her balance. The cabin stopped for a few seconds then resumed its downward course. Rhonda’s heart raced as she looked up at Riggeur. "Tremor?"

"Probably an aftershock of the big one earlier." The captain looked worried.

Although she knew the facility to be indestructible, Rhonda started to worry as well. This last two tremors had felt stronger and more dangerous than any of the previous ones.

The elevator door opened on Level Sixteen, the Yellow Zone. Any trace of friendliness in the captain’s expression disappeared as he tensed up like a leopard ready to pounce. He glanced right and left before stepping into the corridor.

Nothing looked amiss as Rhonda ventured after him on the yellow floor. Then she remembered to breathe and regretted it. "What’s that smell?"

The captain drew his phaser out of his thigh holster. "You’re the medic, you of all people should recognize it."

Then Rhonda identified the sweet coppery stench. "Blood!" And not just human blood. The smell reminded her of a wartime emergency ward. She drew her phaser with a trembling hand, trying to remember her training. So, that’s what it felt like to face real danger?

The captain pointed to her phaser. "Set it on kill."

"Kill?" Rhonda had never killed anyone and doubted she ever could. As a medic, she’d sworn the Hippocratic oath.

"Stun doesn’t affect the Monacks or the Juzzaar. Whoever spilled that blood, by whatever means found a way out of his cell and could probably eat you alive. Let’s not take any chances." He patted his boot under the uniform pants as if to check his dagger.

Rhonda swallowed hard. She’d seen a few Juzzaar, hulking humanoids with pale gold skin. They had sensitive retinas from having evolved on a shadowed planet and thrived in dim places, wearing dark glasses against any kind of light. "How could one prisoner spill so much blood?" The stench was overpowering.

"There must be more than one on the loose."

A chill of dread traveled from Rhonda’s head to her toes at the thought of meeting a Monack, these shape-shifters who could grow razor-sharp claws, attacking with stealth and great speed. She gladly set her phaser on kill. "What now?"