“That is unfortunate.”
“What IS that?”
Galyn grunted as he pulled a pair of heavy, thick, rubbery gloves from his utility belt, then summoned a large stick. The gloves were for protection. The stick was to prod at the black, inky mass that was pulsating in the cockpit seat.
After a few moments, Galyn turned to Retvik, an unhappy look on his armoured face.
“Can you raise the temperature in here by 100K please?”
“One hundred.. Kelvin?” Retvik queried.
“Yes.”
“Okay, ser…” Retvik closed his eyes, doing as he had been asked. The room swiftly began to heat up. As it did so, the plastic and rubber buttons lining the cockpit began to melt and drip from the walls. The single light fitting above them fizzled and popped. Slowly but surely, the inky, pulsating sack began to shrink down, sizzling away in the high temperatures.
“Now increase it by another 100K. Particularly on the Corruption.”
Retvik opened one eye and glanced at Galyn. “Will that hurt you?”
“No. Can you do it?”
The Decayling grunted. “I can. Just…” Retvik fell silent, concentrating on the black lump. After a moment of little change, the inky sack suddenly screeched out, steam exploding from bubbles on its body. Within seconds, the black mass ceased to exist.
Retvik opened his eyes, taking a long, deep breath. The heat he created was still wafting around, escaping through small gaps in the cockpit window where the rubber sealant had melted away, alongside some of the weaker bolts. A heavy hand patted Retvik on the back.
“Good work. Now we need to melt the rest of the ship. Can you do that?”
“You want me to… melt the ship?” Retvik gasped. “That… well… I can try?”
With a small smile, Galyn kicked out the windscreen. Air blasted through and out into the cold void. “We shall stand outside. And I shall make this a little easier for you.”
As Galyn helped Retvik out of the ship, Retvik suddenly remembered how large it was. Much, much larger than both him and Galyn.
But with a flick of Galyn’s wrist, the ship began to shrink. No, not shrink. Collapse. Galyn was crushing the ship with gravitational power, until it was a large cube, probably twice the size of Galyn and Retvik.
“That should help.”
Retvik nodded a small thank you. “How hot?”
“As hot as you can manage.”
Again, Retvik closed his eyes, concentrating all his might on the cube. What started off with just a flicker of flames swiftly turned into an inferno, swallowing up the metallic cube. As the heat intensified, layer upon layer of metal and plastic melted off, fizzling into nothingness. While it may have felt like an eternity to Retvik, within seconds, what remained of the ship had sizzled away completely.
As Galyn patted Retvik on the back once more, Retvik decided to open his eyes and see what he had done.
“You have done very well today.”
“Uh, thank you…” Retvik hesitated, suddenly feeling rather weary. “Is this what you normally do?”
“Normally I use a flamethrower. You are far more efficient.”
“That is good to hear… Can we go now? I think I need some rest.”
Galyn inspected the scene, then smiled. “Yes, Retvik, we can.”