Aud waved her hand at Ig's condolences, but kept one half of the board with her, holding it by the truck so that the jagged edge faced outward.  It would make a half decent weapon if she needed it.  

When they found the creature at the center, she wasn't sure if she would need a weapon.  It had a wicked looking blade on the end of its tail, but it was also weak, and when she saw it, she realized that the fluid spread along the corridor must be its blood.  

<Controllers?>

"Controllers of what?" she asked aloud.  Even as she spoke, she realized that the voice had been in her head, she covered her mouth with her free hand as the thought struck her.  Was the creature in her mind right now?  

<Controllers of what?> she repeated, but only in her mind, in case the creature only spoke through telepathy.