"It is time to exit hyperspace." Charlie called out abruptly, cutting off Ruo as she was nearly finished telling the crew about the battle over Dottir. She had just got to the part where the Sharlah landing crafts had latched on. Charlie''s tone was off, almost as if she blurted it out spontaneously.


    "Is everything okay Charlie?" Ash asked.


    "Yes. Sorry Mei, I did not mean to interrupt your story."


    There it was again. Ash shared a glance with Jayden and he gave a subtle shrug. "Ok, do we need to suit up or anything? Is it dangerous? Oh crap, Ruo doesn''t have one of the armored ones. She''ll have to use a normal emergency suits."


    "Relax Ash, it will be safe to exit, though I do not know what, if anything, will be on the other side."


    ''Okay, sorry. Jay I need you at your station in case something does happen. Kate, with me in the cockpit. Ruo, umm, can you please strap in just in case?"


    "Of course. Where?" She asked.


    "There''s a harness in my bunk." Ash said and immediately caught a smile from Kate. Ruo picked up on it.


    "You want me to.. tie myself to your bed?"


    "Use Kate''s. Yeah that will be fine. Every bunk has them." Ash could feel his face turning red and he extracted himself quickly to the cockpit.


    <hr>


    Ruo was finishing with the crash harness when she heard a voice coming from the tablet on Kate''s desk.


    "How can you joke and smile with my crew after what you did?"


    "Excuse me?" She answered with ice in her voice.


    "I know what you did when the Bao was destroyed. Remember the message that you received about the Sharlah weapons?"


    "Yes, I do, I nearly forgot about that. That was you? How did you access my console?" Ruo asked with a less defensive tone this time.


    "I am an alien to you, Mei, but not like the Sharlah. I want your people to live, and I will go to great lengths to help you. More than that though, I want this crew to live." The straps on Ruo''s crash harness began to tighten across her chest. She gasped and reached for them. "Do you understand what I am telling you Mei?"


    "Yes, yes I understand, please." She pleaded, but the straps tightened ever so slightly.


    "If your cowardice endangers my crew, I will make sure you never see your little girls again Mei."


    "Yes, I understand, please stop this!" Ruo gasped.


    The straps loosened back to their original setting as tears began to stream down Ruo''s face and onto the sheets of Kate''s bunk.


    <hr>


    "Exiting hyperspace in 3.2.1." Charlie counted down verbally and projected a timer on the pilot''s console.


    The vibrant colors faded away until all that was left was the inky black of space and a bright dot ahead.


    "Charlie what is that?" Kate asked.


    "That is my home. Callidium. The beings that inhabit the world are called Callidus. They resemble the animal on your world called the fox, though they have more in common with you, humans. They are bipedal and communicate with a spoken language. They use their hands in the same way that you do. They are only like the fox in appearance. Ash we are being hailed."This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Ash''s stomach dropped. He was not ready for that.


    "What? What do you mean? By someone on the planet? Aren''t we pretty far away? It looks like a bright dot more than a planet."


    "No, it is a nearby ship. I cannot see it with our sensors. I believe it is cloaked." Charlie said.


    "Ash, we need to answer it. Even if it wasn''t cloaked, there''s nothing we could do to fight it." Kate said


    The red light on the console in front of him flashed, demanding his attention. "Ok, you''re right. Charlie, even if we answer this, how can we talk to them?"


    "Do you remember when Mr. Young brought you to the office on a Sunday to talk about the mission?"


    "Yeah, I remember."


    "That pizza was alien technology."


    "Pardon? How was the pizza alien tech?"


    "Mr. Young inserted a parasite that was given to him by the Callidus. This parasite lives in the brain of it''s host and feeds on emotions. It is able to translate other languages to you, so long as it''s ancestors have encountered that language in the past. Mr. Young made sure that your parasites had learned both English as well as the language of the Callidus and every species that they had ever encountered. Each of you will be able to speak to nearly any alien that we see. The parasite has somewhat of a downside though, when you are sleeping, it wants you to have intense dreams and will take measures to make that happen." Charlie explained. "I have noticed all of you having these dreams based on your vitals as you sleep. I am sorry, there is nothing that I can do to stop them."


    "Ok.. Ok.. That makes as much sense as anything else that has happened. Let''s find out who is out there."


    The screen in front of Ash came to life and displayed a figure in green armor much like his own. It''s visor was tinted but soon cleared, showing yellow canine eyes with red fur around them.


    "This is Captain Artesh of the Callidium Orbital Patrol, enable video on this transmission and state your purpose."


    Charlie''s voice came through the private channel in Ash''s helmet. "I''m sorry Ash, I tried to get away with only audio. Sending video now."


    Ash cleared his throat and tried to sound professional. "Captain Artesh, our vessel is in distress. We made an emergency hyperspace jump to this location."


    "Your ship appears to be unarmed, is that correct? Who are you?"


    "My name is Ash Miller, The Solent is a cargo hauler with a small crew. We mean you no harm."


    "Are you human?" Captain Artesh''s eyes widened.


    "Yes, we are human. How did you know that?"


    "Power down and prepare to be boarded. Do not resist." The transmission abruptly cut off.


    "Oh shit shit shit! Charlie what was that?" Ash jumped out of his chair and ran to the common area but stopped when he realized he had no plan.


    Charlie''s voice came from the ceiling overhead "I do not know. We should do as he says."


    Ash glanced at the door to his cabin where his old earth rifle was stashed. A fight inside the Solent would be extremely dangerous but maybe they could have the upper hand.


    "Ash, this may just be protocol, I do not think you should try to fight. That is a military ship with weapons" Charlie pleaded.


    "I think she''s right. We don''t even know if there''s more than one ship or where they are. Where would we run after? Ash, should I power down?"


    Ash held his hands up to his head and squeezed. It felt good. "I don''t know, shit. This isn''t what I signed up for, I''m a truck driver!"


    "I''m powering down." Kate said and started the sequence.


    "Ash what''s happening, why are we powering down?" Jayden called out through the same speaker in the ceiling.


    "Jay, come up here. We are having company, Charlie will tell you on the way." Kate replied.


    <hr>


    Twenty five minutes later, the crew of the Solent was standing in the common area when the sound of the airlock cycling could be heard. Kate took a step closer to him and Ruo turned as she instinctively shifted her weight to her rear leg. A fighters stance. The door slid open and three armored Callidus stormed in with their weapons raised. Each one went a different direction and cleared the common area within seconds. Behind them was Captain Artesh with the equivalent of a handgun, unholstered but held casually.


    "On your knees." He said dryly


    The crew looked at one another but nervously complied.


    "Listen, we don''t mean you any harm. We need help."


    Captain Artesh motioned forward and his troops began to search the cockpit area. "I have to admit, this is one of your better ships. The others look like a pile of scrap that was welded together by a beginner. Why have you come here? You must have known what would happen."


    "Sir, we don''t even know where we are. We need help, our planet has been invaded." Kate pleaded with him and laughter came from the cockpit area.


    "Yes yes, we know all about Earth. Tell me, How does this give you the right to trespass in occupied space and steal from the innocent?" Captain Artesh said.


    "What are you talking about?" Jayden replied indignantly.


    "I don''t know what your game is here human, but you will lose it. There are many more ships patrolling this space. You have made a terrible mistake and you will likely answer for all of humanity''s mistakes. Arrest them." Artesh said as he pointed at the stunned crew of the Solent.