On the ladder, Cross has reached<strong>A Deck</strong>, the hibernation chamber level.  Ahead of him, the hatch is ready to pop its hydraulic locks and slide aside.  Below, Ducar and Bren were making good progress, only a deck below him.<br/><br/>Further below, Bren hears<strong> doors on E Deck</strong>slide aside.  A cargo bay is opening.<br/><br/>Just beyond the hatch, in the hibernation chamber area, Alex's struggle with the pinned worm reaches its climax.  The worm shivers ferociously, trying to wrench itself free.  Glutinous slick drizzles from its shape.  It yanks in blurring hysteria.  And with a tremendous tug, it tears loose of the pinned segment of its body.<br/><br/>Inside Kat, the last two feet of the worm ripples up into her body.  Her gored anus is licked with terrific waves of the meaty tentacle, as it slides through that tormented hole.  In deeper places, she feels the worm has coiled up - laced through her bowels in a warm mass and questing into new chambers that it seems to be painlessly carving out for itself.  It is all inside her.  All of it.  She is stuffed to bulging, her interior buzzing with startled nerves as the hot flesh shifts about and begins to settle.