Last Report from the KSS Psychopomp is a 2017 short story written by Jennifer Brozek, published by Titan Books as part of the anthology Predator: If It Bleeds. In it, the crew of the deep space salvage vessel KSS Psychopomp discover the haul of a lifetime, only to find scavengers have beaten them to it. They soon learn that murderous pirates are the least of their concerns.
Plot[]
The KSS Psychopomp and her crew of deep space salvagers follow co-ordinates won in a gamble by Captain Ahmed. To their joy, they discover a field of numerous derelict vessels, including a military battle cruiser, and realize the scale of the find is sufficient to set each of them up with their own ship — or allow them to retire happily for the rest of their lives. However, their elation turns to fear when they discover a small scavenger vessel has beaten them to the find. They immediately prepare to escape before the pirates turn on them, but hesitate when they detect no signs of life from the small scavenger ship, despite it having full power.
The Psychopomp's crew learn from the various ships' emergency beacons that the majority of the derelicts have been adrift for over a year, while the scavenger vessel activated its distress beacon six days previously. Still wary of a trap, Ahmed orders the Psychopomp to approach the pirate vessel. When the small craft fails to react in any way, Ahmed gives the order to dock with the ship, revealed to be called the Oxenham.
The Psychopomp latches onto the Oxenham with its umbilicus and four crewmembers go across in EVA suits to investigate. Once aboard, they immediately discover a dead scavenger impaled to the wall with a ragged piece of metal. They make for the bridge, discovering more evidence of a struggle along the way, and once there, they find that the bridge controls are locked out. They also uncover a frantic video log recorded by one of the scavengers in his final moments — he rants about a "ghost" that has slaughtered his crew, before he too is killed by the wraith-like figure. Trina, the away team's leader, immediately suggests opening all of the Oxenham's hatches and venting the ship to space, but Vito points out that scanners are detecting two living persons elsewhere on the ship, and venting the atmosphere would kill these potentially innocent captives of the pirates.
Before they can debate the issue, Ahmed informs them that the Psychopomp's one paying passenger, a first contact specialist named Gunnar, believes alien life may be involved and demands to come aboard and investigate himself. Ahmed reluctantly elects to accompany Gunnar, leaving the Psychopomp in the hands of pilot Kaida, while the crewmembers on the Oxenham's bridge split into pairs — Trina and Emery make for engineering to try and regain control of the small vessel, while Vito and Zuri go to investigate the lifesigns they have detected on board.
In engineering, Trian and Emery discover evidence of a last stand, but no bodies, while Vito and Zuri come across several traps set on board the ship, noting their location of the group's shared digital schematic. The duo eventually reach the life signs and discover a horrific scene — the two surviving scavengers have been strung up in an abbatoir turned trophy room, the walls of which are adorned with human flesh and bones. They are almost immediately set upon by the "ghost", which kills Zuri and sets off after the fleeing Vito. Hearing his calls for help over the radio, Gunnar rushes to investigate, arriving just in time to see Vito being pinned to the wall by a contracting net. Unperturbed, Gunnar recognizes the creature as a Predator and attempts to communicate, but the hunter cleaves him in two from crotch to sternum.
Ahmed witnesses the Predator finishing off Vito, before the creature turns for him. He flees to one of the previously marked booby traps, ordering Trina and Emery to escape back to the Psychopomp. Using himself as bait, he waits until the Predator is upon him before activating the explosive trap, hoping the blast will kill the creature; it survives and slays him too. With control of the ship restored and now linked to her suit, Trina flees back to the airlock with Emery. Once there, they also encounter the Predator, now grievously wounded from the explosion but still very much alive. Trina deactivates the Oxenham's gravity and Emery launches himself at the Predator, fighting the creature while Trina gets to the airlock.
With the passage back to the Psychopomp open, Trina beckons Emery to follow her, but with his dying breath, Emery orders her to go. Trina flees back across the umbilicus, telling Kaida she is to depart the moment she is back aboard; behind her, the Predator follows her across. As soon as she is inside the Psychopomp's airlock, Trina slams the door, collapses the umbilicus, and activates the Oxenham's self destruct. The Psychopomp barely escapes the resultant explosion, but the Predator does not.
Later, Trina writes up a report on the incident, omitting any mention of the Predator and attributing the loss of her crew to traps set by the scavengers and a "wild animal" loose aboard the Oxenham. Despite her misgivings, Kaida agrees to go along with the cover-up and countersigns the report.
Trivia[]
- Last Report from the KSS Psychopomp is a rarity in that it is one of the few Predator stories set in the future instead of the past. Stories set in the future have usually tended to be the territory of the Alien franchise. Other Predator stories set in the future include the 2006 novels Predator: Forever Midnight, Predator: Flesh and Blood and Marvel's comic book series Predator: Day of the Hunter, followed by Predator, The Preserve.
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