A board Starship UFO—the ship’s title as well as their respective ranks had been Sally’s idea—Cindy wondered if Sally had pushed it too far. Behind them, against the far wall, the two aliens huddled together as if afraid. Cindy worried that they knew something their human enemies did not.
“Maybe we should negotiate a trade of prisoners,” Cindy said.
“This is interstellar war,” Sally said, her finger on the firing button. “I don’t negotiate.”
“But if you blow up their ship, you’ll kill Adam and Watch,” Cindy pointed out.
Sally removed her finger from the firing button. They had figured out how to work the weapons—and navigate the vessel—on the journey out from the sun. Of course the aliens had given them a few practical hints when Sally held the guns to their heads. Sally was showing the aliens no mercy. She was constantly yelling at them and threatening to boot them out into space, where they would surely die. Cindy did not approve of the cruelty, even though the aliens would probably have killed them if given the chance.
“I know that,” Sally said. “But I have to bluff with conviction. If I don’t, Adam and Watch will never escape.”
“You don’t know that for sure. A gentle approach might be better.”
Sally shook her head. “Look who we’re dealing with. These aliens land on our planet and immediately whip out their guns and kidnap our friends. We have to meet force with force. It’s the only way.”
“Did it ever occur to you that the aliens in the other ship have a thousand times more experience in interstellar combat than we do? What if they blow us out of the sky?”
Sally nodded. “I thought of that. That’s why I hit them hard first. I’m hoping we’ve already disabled their weapons system.”
Cindy pointed to the large viewing screen above. “You better pray as well as hope. They’re coming around. And from the green glow around their perimeter, it looks like they’re getting their weapons ready.”
Sally spun on the aliens with a gun in her hand. “How do we raise our shields?” she demanded.
The aliens looked at each other with their huge insect eyes. They shook their heads slightly. They trembled as they did so, and hugged each other close. They had earlier communicated telepathically, but now they seemed too scared to send a clear thought.
“I think they’re saying we don’t have any shields,” Cindy said.
“We have to have shields!” Sally shouted. “This is a spaceship. They always have shields in the movies.”
A hard blast, thick as a fist, struck their ship. Sally and Cindy went flying and hit the floor. For a moment their lights failed and they were plunged into total darkness. It was terrifying; they could have been floating in empty space without a ship around them. Fortunately an emergency system came on, flooding the interior with a sober red light. Sally and Cindy crawled to their knees. Cindy felt a twinge in her right ankle. In all the excitement she had almost forgotten she was still injured.
“They’ll pay for that,” Sally said bitterly. She reached for the control panel, the firing button. “We’re taking no prisoners.”
Cindy stopped her. “Wait a second. I hear something.”
“What?” Sally demanded.
“A telepathic message. Listen, here it comes again.”
“Push the green button. Then the purple one.”
“Did you hear that?” Cindy asked.
“Yeah. So what?” Sally pointed to the two quivering aliens, whose big black eyes seemed to be ready to burst from their heads. “They’re just giving us instructions to blow ourselves up.”
Cindy got to her feet. “They’re more afraid of dying than we are. The thought’s not coming from them. It must be coming from the other ship.”
Sally was disgusted. “Like we’re going to listen to an order from them? Are you out of your mind? I say we return fire. If we lose Adam and Watch then at least they died in a good cause.” Once again she reached for the firing button. “I’m locking on all our weapons. I’m going to maintain fire until one of us explodes.”
Cindy stopped her again. “That’s insane. We’re not killing Watch and Adam, and you know it. You’re just raving.” She suddenly paused and went still. “This thought feels different from the others. The person sending it seems to want to help us.”
Sally threw her arms in the air. “The person sending the message is an alien! We can’t trust it!”
Cindy spoke firmly. “And we can’t just keep blasting away. I say we give this message a chance. I know that sounds insane but I trust it somehow.”
Sally turned away in disgust. She glanced up at the ceiling. The other ship was coming around again. Sally could see them energizing their weapons.
“If you’re going to respond to it, then you better do it now,” Sally grumbled.
Cindy stepped over to the control panel and pushed a green button, then a purple one. There was only one button of each color on the panel. At first nothing seemed to happen. The other ship continued to bear down on them, its powerful weapons batteries glowing with a deadly green light. Then behind Cindy, Sally let out a gasp. Cindy whirled around to see a little alien standing in the center of their ship.
“Where did you come from?” Cindy exclaimed.
“You just teleported me from the other ship. I am here to help you, and your friends, Adam and Watch. May I use the control panel, please?”
“No!” Sally shouted, pointing her gun at the little alien. “We’re not turning over our ship to a runt like you.”
The alien stared at her calmly.
“I understand your lack of trust. I apologize for what my teachers have done so far to you and your friends. It is against our laws to infringe the free will of other intelligent creatures. I am here to help set the situation right. To do so, you must let me send a signal to the other ship. They will think I have taken control of this vessel and they won’t fire upon it again. But if you don’t let me take control, this ship will be destroyed in the next ten of your seconds.”
“Let him do it!” Cindy cried.
“No!” Sally argued. “It could be a trap!”
“We’re already trapped!” Cindy shouted back. She glanced overhead. The other ship was at the same distance as when it last fired. “We have no choice, Sally. Can’t you see that? Lower your gun.”
Sally hesitated, then turned angrily away. “This is your call, Cindy. If you’re wrong, I’m never going to let you live it down.”
“If I’m wrong, you and I won’t be alive to live anything down.” Cindy nodded to the little alien, who waited patiently in the center of the floor. “Do what you have to do. Hurry!”
The alien stepped up to the control panel. He pressed a series of buttons. Outside, above them, the other ship suddenly veered off. Cindy let out a cry of relief, but Sally was far from happy. She pointed a finger at the little alien.
“I want our friends released right now,” she said. “Then I want you to take us back to Earth.”
The little alien stared at them as he spoke in their minds.
“That is not possible right now. I have no control over what my teachers on the other ship may do. In a few of your minutes they plan to jump through hyperspace and return to our home world. It is my suggestion that you allow me to follow them.”
“What?” Sally cried, raising her weapon once more. “Do you think we’re that primitive that we’ll fall for such a trick? If we go through hyperspace—whatever that is—we’ll never get home. You turn this ship around right now. We’re returning to Earth.”
“Sally, you have to control your temper,” Cindy said. “It clouds your reasoning. We can’t go home yet. We have to go where Adam and Watch go. You know that. You would be the last person to desert them. And I trust this little guy.” She spoke directly to the alien. “When we reach your home world, do you think we can get our friends released?”
The alien hesitated.
“It is possible. I have a plan. But it is a dangerous plan.”
Sally shook her head. She continued to point her gun at the alien. “Why should we trust you?” she demanded. “Why would you betray your own kind to help us?”
“I do not betray my own kind by doing what is right. If my teachers are breaking our laws, then I am helping them by calling the criminal act to their attention. Also, I have studied your kind since I was very young. I have always admired you. I wish only to be of service.”
“A likely story,” Sally muttered. She glanced at Cindy. “How can you trust a runt with such a fat head?”
Cindy reached over and patted the little alien on the head. The guy seemed to enjoy the attention. He moved a step closer to her, and touched her leg with his funny four-fingered hand.
“I don’t know, I think he’s kind of cute,” Cindy said. “In a strange way, he reminds me of Adam.”
Sally snorted. “If we get out of this, I’m going to tell Adam you said that.”
The alien looked at both of them.
“I think Adam would be happy to be compared to me.”
The situation was desperate. They were lost in space with aliens from another planet, and their friends were being held captive. But both Sally and Cindy suddenly burst out laughing. They could just imagine what Adam would say to that.