When I was young?—Ah, woeful when!

Ah! For the change ‘twixt Now and Then!

This breathing house not built with hands,

This body that does me grievous wrong,

            - Samuel Taylor Coleridge -

Lia and Uma stood proud in their new white uniforms—white jackets over short blue skirts—as General Wilson pinned Purple Hearts and Distinguished Service Crosses on them. He also awarded Karl and Anna Distinguished Service Crosses. The rest of the crew and Space Port personnel, including Arthur, clapped but Marty and Angie were the first to greet them with hugs.

Uma was ecstatic. “I’m not even a soldier and I’ve gotten all these medals.”

“You deserve them,” Marty said. “I’ve been in action with a lot of guys, and you are a more courageous warrior than most of them.”

“I am glad that you were with me, Martin. You are my hero.” She kissed him, much to Angie's amusement.

Angie teased him. "I think that Uma likes you."

"Yeah, and what does she think of your little exhibitions?"

Angie grinned. "She doesn't care. She likes you."

"You're crazy."

"Crazy like a fox."

"Amen to that."

She laughed.

"What's so funny?" George asked.

"It's an inside joke, George," Marty said.

When General Wilson approached, everybody snapped to attention.

He smiled. "At ease." He looked at Marty and Angie. "You two have advanced our knowledge of how to fight these aliens beyond our expectations. We want you to train our younger pilots in the art of space combat."

"I never dreamed that I would be engaged in space combat," Marty said. "Angie and I are making it up as we go along. There's no manual, no procedure or protocol for fighting aliens. All we can tell them is what we've found to work."

"That's exactly what we want," Wilson said.

Marty saluted. "Well then, we'll do it."

"Thank you."

After Wilson marched away, Angie looked at Marty. "Let's take a walk."

"Yes, Commander."

They went down to the bio-med labs on Deck 3. There they found Beverly Weiss, a Nobel winning biologist with the Fielding Institute, a prestigious, cutting edge medical research facility.

Beverly was a petite blond with average looks and a friendly smile. She was soft spoken, unusual for someone of her professional stature. "I'm very pleased to meet you two. You've become legends around here."

"I feel old enough to be a legend," Marty said, smiling and shaking her hand. "But, Angie here is too young looking for that."

Angie flashed a teasing smile at him before shaking the woman's hand. "How is the baby?"

"Babies," Beverly said, her eyes radiating drama. "As in seven babies."

Marty and Angie exchanged surprised looks.

"They sent a ship out to that planet with the alien vines and found six more gourds."

"Only six? There were thousands of them," Angie said.

"According to the report, many of the plants had died. The others had been harvested."

Marty developed a scowl. "Harvested? What does that mean?"

"That's what everybody would like to know."

"Do these other babies have different DNA?" Angie asked.

"No. Their DNA is identical to the baby you found."

"Do you mean that they all have Angie's and my DNA?" Marty asked.

"Yes."

Angie's curiosity boiled over. "May we see them?""

"Yes you may. Come with me."

Wearing diapers, the infants were crawling around in large playpens, sticking various toys in their mouths and yammering.

"There are three boys and four girls," Beverly said. "So far they are developing as normal children. They are a bit ahead of the curve, though."

"May I pick one up?" Angie asked.

Beverly smiled. "Sure. If you want, you can help me change diapers."

Angie cracked a sly smile. "I can do that."

Marty watched as Angie picked up an infant and cuddled it. She placed it on a changing table and did her thing like an experienced mother. He could see in her face and the way she moved that she was enjoying herself.

Was it a natural instinct or an innate emotion common to all women?

The maternal interaction with the babies bolstered Angie's spirits. She forgot about the war and the impending battle that she knew was coming and transmuted to a more playful woman. Her effusive joy bubbled over to the other female crew members. For a short time it was good. But, it was not to last.

###

Marty was like a father figure to these new recruits. God, how young they looked, so cocky and full of themselves. They were just like he had been back in the beginning of his military career.

His two trainees were combat pilots in their respective air forces. Andriy Leonenko was at the top of his class in the Ukrainian air force. He had short cropped blond locks, steely eyes and a square jaw, the epitome of a top ace. Kim Ji-Hyun was the top female pilot in the ROK air force. Of average stature, Kim had a perfect figure and an unblemished complexion.

“I’m Martin Sinclair, but everybody calls me Marty,” he said before shaking hands. “We’ll be training in the Class-400 ship, a new fighter with jump capability. It has maximum weaponry and maneuverability for its class. You’ll like it because you can control it manually.”\

Before his recruits could respond, Angie led her two students to the staging area where the two fighters sat.

Marty saluted. "Commander."

Angie gestured to her students. "This is Lieutenant Naguib Husini of the EAF and Lieutenant Nicole Jameson of the RAAF."

Marty shook hands. The Egyptian was dark skinned and had a trimmed mustache. The Australian woman was a top fighter pilot and had short blond locks and dark blue eyes.

He introduced his two students, and everyone shook hands.

"Which one's mine?" Marty asked.

Angie pointed. "You get the X-402, and you'll be on point. We'll rendezvous around Neptune."

He saluted. "Yes, Commander."

His two eager students followed him to the ship. They rode the elevator to the command deck and stood before the command station.

"You can pilot, Kim. Andriy, you'll be the gunner."

They took their seats, with Marty directly behind them in a special elevated seat.

"The X-403 reports that they are ready, Martin."

"Open the hangar, Delphi, and take us out."

"Yes, Martin."

The ship levitated and slowly moved toward the hangar entrance. The X-403 followed. When his ship was clear, Marty issued orders. "Set course for Neptune, Delphi. Maximum safe velocity."

"Yes, Martin."

The image of Earth on the main screen shrunk rapidly. Marty felt obliged to lecture as the engines worked to bring the ship’s velocity up.

“This is only a simulation of the real thing. Commander Sarasota and I have had to make up our strategies as we went into combat, so there is no established procedure for combat in space.”

"How will we train for these encounters?" Andriy asked.

"We'll launch drones," Marty said. "I realize that it's a poor substitute for the real thing, but it's the best that they could come up with."

"What tactics work best with the enemy?" Kim asked.

"The same as with air to air combat: out turn and get behind your adversary. When up against a superior number, you must stay focused on trying to out maneuver them, but the best defense is a good offense. That has never changed."

"Why do these aliens want to destroy us?" Andriy asked.

"That's a good question. I believe that they're afraid of us. If they've been observing us since 1947, they know that we are a violent species, capable of great evil. I can easily see why they would want to exterminate us."

"But, they have done great violence themselves. How can they judge us?"

"We've done some perfunctory judging ourselves. Hopefully, we can convince them that we're not going to go without one hell of a fight."

Neither could argue with that.

###

The huge blue ball of hydrogen and helium, known as Neptune, filled the main screen of the X-402 with an eerie pastel blue glow. The planet’s minor ring system was visible in the faint light of a sun over thirty AU away. Swirls of darker gases blemished the pristine upper atmosphere of this far flung gas giant. Some of these storms had supersonic winds that could tear to pieces anything dumb enough to enter its inviting maw.

"Place us in orbit a thousand kilometers outside the outer ring, Delphi."

"Yes, Martin."

"Well, it appears that we beat the X-403 here," Marty said, gleefully rubbing his hands.

His gleefulness was short lived.

”I have detected a large number of craft approaching, Martin. I have counted 924."

Marty’s heart rate increased. "What is their location and heading, Delphi?"

“The craft are one million kilometers from Triton, Martin. They are moving at 500 kps.”

“Open a COM to the X-403, Delphi.”

“COM is open, Martin.”

“Hey, Angie, do you see them?”

“Yes, damn it! Hold your horses; we’re five minutes away from you.”

“Gee, it looks like this training exercise is going to be the real thing.”

“Smart ass! We’re the only ships out here and we only have rookies.”

“Yeah, but they’re the very best rookies.”

“I sent a message back to Space Command, but it’ll take over four hours to get there. We’re on our own.”

“That assumes that Space Command didn’t detect them on the long range sensors or that there’s another ship out here.”

“You always were the optimist.”

Marty smiled. “As I always say: always look on the bright side.”

“Okay, Mr. Bright Side, what are we going to do?”

“I think that we should come up from behind them and try to make them think that we’re a larger force.”

“Okay. Let’s each fire a spread of torpedoes before we do.”

“Good idea. We’ll sneak out from behind Neptune when they pass.”

"You're on point."

"Thanks." He rubbed his jaw. "Inform me when you calculate the enemy craft's passing, Delphi."

"Yes, Martin."

"How can two ships take on hundreds?" Kim asked with no evidence of panic in her voice.

"We will use the element of surprise. Robin Olds, a World War Two ace, and his wingman used similar tactics to attack a superior number of Messerschmitt fighters over Germany."

"But, we have only flown simulators," Andriy said.

"I'll guide you through the combat. Just stay focused."

"The enemy craft are passing Triton, Martin."

"Take us out of orbit, Delphi. Put us ten thousand kilometers behind the enemy and match their speed."

"Yes, Martin."

The nearly flat terminator of Neptune passed swiftly beneath the X-402. After swinging out around Neptune, the X-402 approached Triton, which appeared like a giant cantaloupe in space. The enemy fleet was conveniently grouped in three bunches just beyond the large moon.

"Please prepare to fire a spread of torpedoes on my command, Delphi."

"Yes, Martin."

After a period of tense silence, Delphi spoke. "COM open to the X-403, Martin."

"You take the left, and I'll do the right. Launch torpedoes in five minutes. Mark. Move into attack immediately after detonations."

"Yes, Commander." He paused. "Please transfer helm control to Kim, Delphi. Transfer particle canon weapons to Andriy. Prepare to fire energy beams at full power."

"Yes, Martin."

"Please fire a torpedo spread on the mark, Delphi."

"Yes, Martin."

"Get ready you two. Things are going to go crazy."

On the X-403 a similar scenario was unfolding. Torpedoes were launched with the usual swishing noise and after a tense twenty seconds exploded with blinding flashes that rocked the ship when propagation waves of energy from the explosions reached it.

"Move into the enemy fleet," Angie said. "Fire at will."

"I have detected five missiles on our bearing, Angie."

"Please lock on to them and fire plasma balls, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"Turn hard to the right, Nicole. Increase velocity to overtake the main enemy group."

The plasma balls intercepted the enemy missiles, but the resulting explosions rocked the ship violently. Delphi began firing energy beams.

"Turn hard left at maximum power. Get ready to fire, Naguib."

The pursuing enemy saucers flew by, providing Delphi and Naguib with inviting targets. Exploding enemy ships pelted the X-403 with debris.

"Flick your stick to the right, Nicole."

The ship flipped on its side, presenting enemy pursuers with a reduced profile. Nicole turned hard to avoid enemy craft, but their weapon blasts bombarded the X-403’s shields with thunderous report. Both Nicole and Naguib got the hang of it in short order and they began to effectively destroy enemy craft while avoiding the worst hits. It was obvious to Angie that her students’ natural combat abilities and instincts were working. Nevertheless, there was no way that two ships were going to defeat a vastly superior enemy. The damage being inflicted on the X-403 would soon result in a major breakdown and inevitable destruction. Overloaded circuits showering sparks and flames attested to this conclusion. Worse yet, she had no idea if the X-402 was still in the fight. For all she knew it had already been destroyed.

Suddenly, the alien fleet turned away. Something was happening.

"COM opened to the X-3002, Angie."

"What is your status?"

Angie smiled. "Is that you, Honey?"

"It is I, Commander. I am here with Uma and George."

The sight of a fleet of Space Command ships sent shivers up Angie's spine. She had to bite her lip to avoid crying out in joy when she saw the X-402 still in one piece.

On the X-402, joy was in the form of a quip. "Hey, Angie, I think we just got rescued by the cavalry."

"They must have detected them on long range scanners," Angie said. "The good news is that we've been ordered to return to earth."

"Thank goodness." Marty smiled at his two students. "Congratulations. You two have passed the school of impossible space combat. You're now certified space cadets."

They laughed.

###

After taking a sip of beer, Angie lounged back in a stuffed chair in the common room between Marty and her quarters. Her beautiful eyes focused on her partner's handsome face.

"I've heard that they're going to send us out to Alpha Mensae to see why Brian hasn't returned."

"How long has it been?"

"Six weeks."

"That doesn't sound good. Maybe he found the Roswell home world."

“It could be that he got into a battle and suffered enough damage to prevent his return.”

“Yeah,” Marty said. “He doesn’t have Honey to get him back up and running.”

Angie acquired an ornery look. “Did you hear that Ferris figured out how to make Honey give birth to pupae? She’s just about ready to pop.”

“Why in the hell did she do that?”

“I guess Space Command wants to see if Honey can be duplicated. I would imagine that they’ll install them on every ship.”

“That sounds unethical. These beings are not our property.”

“Neither Honey nor Ferris has a problem with it.”

Marty shook his head. “That’s wild.”

Angie got up and sat on a couch. She patted the position next to her. “Why don’t you come over here?”

He frowned. “Is this an order?”

“Yes it is.”

He got up and sat next to her. She gave him a satisfied smile. “Put your arm around me.”

“Is this another order?”

“Quit acting stubborn and do as I tell you.”

When he put his arm around her, his face came in close proximity to hers. After a long period of staring into each other’s eyes, he kissed her. She immediately grabbed hold of his face and locked her lips to his. In the process they fell over on the couch.

A voice from above declared: “Commander Sarasota and Lieutenant Commander Sinclair, please report to the command section.”

They unclenched and Angie looked up. “I hope they aren’t watching us.”

“I doubt it. They probably want to discuss the mission to find Brian.”

They hurried up to the command deck and reported in with the officer of the day. She directed them to a conference room where Arthur and General Wilson were waiting.

“I’m sure that you’ve heard that the X-3001 has not returned from Alpha Mensae,” Wilson said.

Both nodded.

“We need to find out what happened. We want you two to go out there and investigate.”

“We really should have Honey with us,” Angie said. “She knows how to get the ship up and running if it has been damaged.”

“Unfortunately, Honey cannot go. She’s near her term. However, she has provided us with a complete manual on how to reactivate a damaged ship. It has been uploaded to your computer on the X-402.

“I thought that the X-3001 had a fighter like the X-3002,” Marty said.

“Unfortunately, they do not,” Wilson said. “They went out too soon to be fitted. If their ship cannot be repaired, you are instructed to destroy it and transport any members of the crew who have survived back to Earth.”

“What if they found the Roswell home world?” Marty asked.

“In that case, your orders are to turn around and get back here with that information. You are not to engage the enemy.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Arthur can give you information on the star system.”

Arthur glanced at his viewer. “Alpha Mensae is in the Mensa constellation at 33.1 light years from Earth. The star has a 0.87 mass, 0.83 luminosity, and is 2.7 billion years old. We know very little other than that. No signals have been detected and we have no planetary information.”

Translation: we're on our own. I wonder if they would send someone to see what had happened to us. Not.

On the way back to their quarters, Angie and Marty said nothing.

###

"We have entered normal space, Angie."

"Reduce velocity to 200 kps, Delphi. Maintain high alert."

"Yes, Angie."

Marty had already begun his scans. "I'm not detecting any signals. If the X-3001 is still in one piece it's not broadcasting—not even an emergency signal."

"How about planets?"

"There are three inner and four outer bodies. Number three is at 0.9 AU and is 1.7 times Earth's mass, with a 16.1-Celsius surface temp. It's mostly water and has a radius 1.2 that of Earth or 7685.4 kilometers. There is something orbiting the planet but we're too far out to see what it is."

"Adjust our course to orbit the third planet, Delphi. Increase velocity to 1000 kps"

"Yes, Angie."

Marty looked at Angie with concerned eyes. “Do you get the notion that they think that we’re expendable?”

She looked back at him with shocked eyes. “No way! Why do you think that? If we were expendable, we would be dead long ago.”

“We should be dead. We are not so because of our own tenacity and skill.”

“Maybe God has something to do with it.”

“The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”

“That’s from Psalm 27, isn’t it?”

He smiled. “Very good!”

"I did read the Bible," she said, sounding defensive. "I realize that a lot of people think that all Catholics are bible ignorant."

"I never said that."

She gave him an apologetic smile. "I know you didn't."

He returned to his long range scans. After a half hour of concentration, he looked up. "The X-3001 is orbiting the planet and it appears intact."

"Good. Delphi, try to raise a COM to the X-3001."

"Yes, Angie."

Marty continued. "I'm not detecting any energy signals from the X-3001. I think that they're shut down."

"I cannot establish a COM with the X-3001, Angie."

"Stop any further attempts, Delphi. Continue passive scans."

"Yes, Angie."

"I don't want to give our location away," Angie said.

"I'm not detecting any energy signals," Marty said. "If the Roswell aliens are in this system, they're laying low."

"It doesn't make any sense. If the Roswell aliens had disabled the X-3001, why didn't they finish it off?"

"That's a good question. Maybe the X-3001 suffered a breakdown."

"Well, we'll soon find out. We're only a half hour away."

###

The X-3001 appeared in perfect shape. There were no signs of blaster damage, holes or missing sections, but the ship appeared dead in space.

"Punch up Honey's manual," Angie said. "Find out how we can get inside a ship with no power."

Marty typed in a search request and waited. "There's a port next to the hangar. We'll have to take an engineering pod. It has a hatch opening device."

"We had better get into armored space suits," Angie said. "We'll also take the energy weapons."

"Good idea."

Angie and Marty completed a half hour of pre-breathing before pressurizing their suits. The engineering pod barely accommodated two people in space suits. The small egg-shaped craft used chemical rockets for propulsion and relied on robotic arms to do maintenance in space.

After he guided the pod out of the X-402 and over to the X-3001, Marty used the robotic arms to pull the pod's hatch up against the hatch on the X-3001 and activate the opening routine. Fortunately, the hatch on the larger ship led into a compressed chamber. They both had expected a vacuum.

"The air is a bit low in oxygen, but it's still breathable," Angie said after consulting a handheld scanner. "The temperature is only 40 F."

"Obviously, environmental is down, probably for quite some time. The strange thing is that the Antigrav is working."

When they exited the small chamber that led to the hatch, Marty and Angie found themselves in the main hangar.

Marty played his flashlight around. "I thought they said that the X-3001 wasn't fitted with a fighter."

"That's not a fighter," Angie said, shining her light on a ship sitting on a massive tripod.

"Yeah, you're right. That's not one of ours. It's too bulbous and rounded. It looks like a big ugly black mushroom."

"It's not a Roswell ship," Angie said. "At least not like any we've fought."

"If not Roswell, whose?"

Angie unhooked her energy rifle. "We have to assume they're hostile."

Marty did the same. "Agreed."

They cautiously made their way to the hangar access door. Opening it, they quickly entered a corridor, which led to the engineering section where most of the main power units were situated. Their flashlights illuminated completely dead modules and monitoring stations.

When Marty's light caught a swiftly moving object, both Angie and Marty took cover behind a large cabinet.

"What the hell was that?" Marty whispered in an excited breath.

"I don't know, but it had more than two arms and legs."

A flash of brilliant white light zipped past. Marty fired back at where he thought the discharge had originated, but he had obviously missed because energy beams flashed back, crashing into the floor with sharp snapping and sizzling sounds.

“I think it’s trying to go above us,” Marty said. “When I catch it with my light, fire at full power.”

His light illuminated a scary looking creature with a tail that resembled a dragon more than any alien species he had ever seen. Its eyes glowed blood red, like those of an imagined devil. Both Marty and Angie opened fire, pumping beams of energy into the creature as quickly as they could.

Marty yelled, “What the hell? We both hit it with several shots and it still ran off.”

“Maybe it’s wearing shielding,” Angie said.

Marty pulled out a 9mm semiautomatic. "I wonder if it can shield against old fashion bullets."

When his light caught the creature again, he opened fire, hitting it in the chest several times.

"It went down," Angie yelled.

Marty snapped a new clip into his weapon and advanced on the downed alien. His and Angie's lights illuminated a green-scaly creature with four arms, two legs, a tail and one ugly head with a mouth full of sharp teeth. The alien was lying in dark, almost black, blood.

"I guess it wasn't shielded against bullets," Marty quipped.

"Is it dead?"

"We need Ferris to determine that," Marty said. "It doesn't appear to be breathing. Why don't you check its pulse?"

Angie made a disgusted face. "Ain't no way I'm touching that thing!"

Marty picked up its weapon, a triangular shaped metallic object with three buttons. "We'll take this back to the weapons guys.

"We probably should take the alien back too."

"Yeah, but let's get the ship up and running and see if anyone is still alive first."

Angie looked around. "Where do we start?"

"We'll start by removing our helmets."

Marty removed his first and smelled. "It smells like a tomb in here."

"Damn it! Don't say that! Think about how we can get the ship back up."

“Okay. If we assume that this alien invaded the ship, it more than likely did something to the power couplings." He walked over to a large cabinet. "It looks like relays have been tripped." He began switching them back on, resulting in lights flickering back to life. "Help me get these back on line."

They activated several systems, including environmental, but it was obvious that Delphi was off line."

"We'll have to go up to the command deck to fix Delphi," Marty said.

Everything appeared normal on the command deck, except that no crewmembers were there. Marty immediately removed the hidden panel over the manual controls and began to press buttons as directed by Honey's instructions.

After several tries, the computer lamp flashed. “Decentralized Electronic Logical Personalized Heuristic Intelligence is now on line.”

Marty grinned. "Bingo!"

"What is ship's status, Delphi?" Angie asked.

"Environmental and Antigrav are operational, Angie. Engines and weapons will require two hours to re-activate."

Marty looked at Angie. "We may as well go and find the crew."

"Where are the crew members, Delphi?

"They are in their respective quarters, Angie."

"Are they alive, Delphi?"

"I cannot determine that, Angie."

"Unlock all crew quarters, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

After going down one deck, they started by going into Brian's quarters. He was lying on his bed but he was not responsive. When Marty felt his carotid for a pulse, he detected a weak and slow throb.

"He's in some sort of coma," Marty said. "The alien may have induced it."

"Let's check more of the rooms," Angie said. "Maybe we'll find someone in better condition."

What they found was more of the same.

"My guess is that the alien introduced something into the ventilation system," Marty said. "When the crew breathed it they got sleepy and went to their quarters to take a nap."

Angie looked up at a ceiling vent. "I hope it's still not around."

"Delphi, check the air for chemical agents."

"Yes, Angie."

After several minutes, Delphi reported. "I found no appreciable quantities of any foreign substance, Angie."

"Activate the robotic doctor, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Angie gestured to the elevators. "Let's get one of the crew and see if we can find out what that idiot used."

"Speaking of that idiot, we should get it in a stasis box."

She grunted, and Marty took that as a reluctant affirmation. When they reached the engineering deck, they found the alien lying where it had fallen. Marty went to the equipment locker and obtained a large stasis container. With much effort they got the alien inside and secured.

"We'll let Ferris worry about this," Marty said.

"I wonder where this alien came from," Angie said.

"It looks like it came from hell."

She gave him a wise guy smirk. Marty obtained a gurney and they both went back up to Deck 2. They chose a room at random and found a woman in her early thirties lying calmly on her bed.

Angie looked at her badge. “According to her tag, this is Mary O’Brian, the ship’s botanist.”

Marty gave her a quizzical look. “How come we don’t have a botanist?”

“I don’t know. What difference does it make?”

“Yeah, you’re right. Well, let’s get her on the gurney.”

“We have to strip her first,” Angie said.

Marty frowned. “Ah, you can have that honor, Commander.”

“Bullshit! You’re going to help me.”

He gave her a mock salute. “Yes, master.”

She gave him a major frown. “Help me get her pants off.”

Marty removed her shoes and socks while Angie unbuckled her pants. While he pulled her pants off, Angie removed her pullover shirt.

“Here, you unsnap her bra,” Angie told him. “I’m sure you’ve had a lot of experience doing that.”

“What’s that supposed to infer?” Marty said with a mock look of offense.

She gave him an ornery grin. “Just do it.”

He did and Angie finished the job by pulling her panties off. When she saw Marty trying to get a grip on the woman’s arms, she stopped him.

“I have a better way. We used to do this when I worked as a nurse’s aide. Pull the sheet out.”

When they got the sheet pulled out, Angie gripped the end near the woman’s feet. “Get a hold like me and we’ll transfer her in the sheet.”

After they did, Marty smiled. “That’s a good way of doing it.”

Angie folded the sheet over the woman. “Let’s get her down to the medical station.”

The medical station on Deck 3 was already lit and ready. They had to transfer the woman onto the automatic doctor station and then pull the sheet out from under her. Marty pushed buttons to activate the automatic doctor unit’s programming. He typed in the symptoms as induced coma from a foreign agent. The program started by making several scans and probes of the woman’s vital signs as well as taking a blood sample.

The diagnosis was cryptic and meant for a specialist.

“It says that she has a small amount of a benzodiazepine derivative in her system. What the hell is that?”

“I have no idea,” Angie said. “What’s the prognosis?”

“Her vitals indicate that she’s stable but still comatose.”

“That’s just great! We could have come to that conclusion by just looking at her.”

“What did you expect from a machine.

“Let’s get back up to the command deck and get this boat moving.”

Marty nodded.

“Contact the X-402, Delphi and tell her to move close to this ship so that it can dock it in the hangar.”

“Yes, Angie.”

Marty and Angie watched the X-402 approach and then get moved into the hangar. When the hangar was compressed, Angie issued her orders.

“Take us out of orbit, Delphi and set a course for Earth at safest maximum velocity.”

“Yes, Angie.”

She turned to Marty. “We’ll let Space Command figure out what to do with the crew.”

He nodded. What else could he say?