Imminent Danger: And How to Fly Straight Into It Read online

  “You can tell the emperor yourself when I toss your bleeding, broken body at his feet! You have no hope of defeating an entire armada! Once my ships open fire, you’ll just run away, tail between your legs.” Kratis smiled cruelly. “And we both know how good you are at running away, my prince.”

  “She had scaly arms and slime oozing from every pore!” Varrin snapped. “You didn’t seriously expect I would marry her, did you?”

  “That is neither here nor there. Prepare to be boarded, Prince Varrin!”

  Varrin glanced at Miguri. “Activate the Pull, Claktill.”

  “Are you insane?” Eris, Miguri, and Kratis demanded in unison.

  “Why do people keep questioning my sanity?” Varrin sulked. “That was a perfectly reasonable order. Do it, rat, or I’ll knock you out and do it for you.”

  Shaking his head, Miguri hopped up onto the copilot’s chair and pressed several buttons on the console.

  Oh, yeah, Eris thought. This is going to end well.

  “You cannot be serious!” Admiral Kratis spat. “You are too close to Vega. And you haven’t had time to calculate coordinates. Your ship will implode!”

  “Just because you’re a pathetic pilot doesn’t mean we all are,” Varrin said loftily. “How’s that Pull coming, rat?”

  “Still calculating.”

  “Punch it,” Varrin ordered.

  “But without coordinates—”

  Varrin shoved Miguri’s hand aside and pushed a button. “Pull in ten … nine …”

  “What are you doing?” Kratis hissed. “You are going to kill yourself!”

  “… eight … seven …”

  “Disable that ship!” Kratis bellowed, turning toward his own command deck. There was a scurry of activity behind him as his crew rushed to obey the order.

  “… six … five …”

  “Prepare the plasma cannons!”

  “… four … three …”

  “This is folly, Prince Varrin!”

  “… two …”

  “You’re worth nothing to me dead!”

  “… one.”

  Varrin directed a mocking bow at the admiral. “Give my regards to my father.”

  SHWOOP.

  When Eris came to, it felt like hours had passed. She immediately noticed that, against all expectations, she was still alive and not a cloud of molecules drifting in the vacuum of space. “Did we make it?” she asked groggily, sitting up in the pilot’s seat. And why am I in Varrin’s chair?

  “Just barely,” Miguri huffed. He was curled up on the copilot’s chair, his fuzzy tail wrapped around him like a blanket. “That idiotic Rakorsian almost got us killed. Again.”

  “Are we in limbo?” Eris peered out the window of the cockpit. She saw an endless field of darkness with the only light coming from stars shimmering an incalculable distance away. “It certainly looks like limbo.”

  “The rat connected the ship’s lamri to one in the Albali system,” Varrin said as he entered the cockpit, tapping a wrench against his shoulder. He looked displeased.

  “Is that bad?” Eris asked.

  “Albali is about two hundred light-years from our last position. That was a long way to travel without engaging the proper safety measures. I had to pull out halfway or the ship would’ve been torn apart. It nearly was.” He sighed. “It’s going to take me a while to repair the engines.”

  Eris and Miguri exchanged gloomy looks.

  “So we’re stuck here?” she asked.

  “Of course not,” Varrin harrumphed. “Lucky for you, not only am I a brilliant pilot, I’m also an exceptional engineer.”

  “Yeah. And a prince!” Eris exclaimed. “A little something you forgot to mention.”

  “The topic never came up.” He shrugged. “But that’s really not our major problem right now.”

  “You’re right,” she admitted. “So what now?”

  “I’ll have to make some external repairs,” he said, “so we’ll need to find a planet fairly close to our present coordinates and hope Kratis doesn’t track us there before we’re fully mobile again. I think the ship can manage a short Pull, but nothing more than that.”

  “Such a planet may be difficult to locate,” Miguri pointed out. “We will need to avoid the Rakorsians. And the Tetrarchy. And the Ssrisk. Kari, where is there left for us to go?”

  Varrin activated the view screen and pulled up a star chart. He and Miguri scanned it intently. “What about Cygni?” Miguri proposed. “The last I heard, they were still engaged in that civil war. Did the Tetrarchy not pull out in protest several decades ago?”

  “Take this one to a war-torn planet?” Varrin scoffed, tilting his head toward Eris. “She’d get herself killed in seconds. Either that,” he added with a smirk, “or start going around telling the soldiers it’s not ethical to kill people.”

  Eris glared at him. “Ha ha.”

  “Procyon is also close, as is Sirius,” Miguri said, still focused on the star chart.

  “Yeah, but they’re both seats of Tetrarchy control.” Varrin rubbed his temples.

  “We cannot go into Tetrarchy territory. We cannot go near the Ssrisk,” Miguri said. “We obviously cannot go to the Rakorsian quadrant, although that is not within our current range anyway. Where can we go?”

  “Earth!” Eris exclaimed suddenly.

  Miguri and Varrin gave her puzzled looks.

  “Earth!” she repeated, leaping to her feet. “It’s a terrestrial planet, which means the Tetrarchy guards it or something, right? But they won’t know we’re there, because you said this ship can only be detected by Rakorsian technology.”

  “That’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard,” Varrin snapped. “It’s a terrestrial planet, for Kari’s sake! What are your little Earthling friends going to do when an alien spaceship lands? There’ll be such an uproar that the Tetrarchy’s bound to notice.”

  “Then we’ll just have to land somewhere they won’t see us. You can do that, right?”

  “Of course I can. But how are we going to Pull to your system? Earth doesn’t have a lamri.”

  “That is true,” Miguri said, “but the Tetrarchy ship patrolling the system will have one. That is standard protocol in case they need to call for reinforcements.”

  Varrin was silent for a moment. “Okay, assuming we try this ill-advised scheme of yours, I could fit in on Earth, but the rat here wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  “He is right,” the Claktill agreed. “I would stick out like a sore tail.”

  “Well, you don’t have to leave the ship,” Eris reasoned. “I can bring food and stuff while you make repairs.”

  “That could take anywhere from a few hours to a few years,” Varrin argued. “What if I need materials to fix the engines? I doubt your planet stocks many spare spaceship parts.”

  “Do you have a better plan?” Eris demanded.

  “I do not,” Miguri said.

  Varrin grimaced, obviously trying to come up with more arguments. “How do we know you won’t abandon us the moment you set foot on your planet?”

  “Because I’m not you,” Eris responded primly. “So what do you say?”

  Sighing, Varrin turned to the ship’s controls. “Get ready for the Pull.”

  27

  As they soared past the coppery orb of Mars, Eris sat in the Nonconformity’s rec room with Miguri, watching him play a game called X-disc against the ship’s computer. She wasn’t really focusing on the game—she was thinking about Varrin. Something I’m doing a lot more than I should be of late.

  “Miguri …”

  The Claktill swiveled in his chair and stared at her sternly. “You are thinking about the Rakorsian again. Do not deny it.”

  Eris looked down at her hands clasped in her lap. “You know, I really do think he’s changed since we met him. I think we’re having a positive influence on him.”

  Miguri paused his game, expression solemn. “Eris,” he chirped quietly, “although I do not understand why you have suc
h faith in the Rakorsian, I can see you certainly have feelings for him.”

  Feelings for Varrin? Eris burst out laughing at the preposterous notion. “Come on, Miguri! I’m trying to be serious here.”

  “So am I,” Miguri retorted. “It has been readily apparent to me for some time now.”

  “Then you need to get your brain examined,” Eris said. “Maybe we should give Doctor T a call.”

  Miguri’s hair frizzed in annoyance. “If you are not attracted to the Rakorsian, then answer me this: Do you think he is physically desirable?”

  “Well, that’s hardly a fair question,” Eris grumbled.

  “Yes or no.”

  “Of course I’m going to say yes! I’d have to be blind to say otherwise.”

  Miguri nodded. “Right then. And tell me—purely hypothetically—if you were describing the Rakorsian to a friend, what would you say?”

  Not going to work, Eris thought, amused by his attempts to trick her into admitting her undying love for Varrin. I’ll just say things that are true—he can hardly get anything out of that. “Well, we’ve covered the handsome thing. He’s fairly quick and strong, as well as a good fighter. Oh, and a great pilot. I suppose he’s not entirely stupid. He’s got issues with the whole morality thing, but he does seem to be improving.” Eris was warming to the exercise now. “He knows a surprising amount about the Vega Minor parliamentary system, he’s got this massive tattoo on his back, and he likes to flip his knife in the air when he’s bored or threatening someone. He …”

  “Yes?” Miguri prompted, smiling beatifically.

  Eris buried her head in her arms. “I like him, don’t I?”

  “That is my understanding of the situation, yes,” her friend agreed. He reached out a small brown hand and patted her head sympathetically.

  “You might have warned me earlier,” Eris mumbled, “so I could have tried to stop myself from doing something this stupid.”

  “It is possible that the root of the problem is simply unresolved physical attraction,” Miguri suggested. “Perhaps if you relieve the sexual frustration, you will be able to move on.”

  Eris lifted her head and peered at him. “What are you talking about?” Then she realized what he was proposing. “I am not going to sleep with Varrin! I’ve never even had a boyfriend before—I’m certainly not going to do something like that!”

  Miguri raised his hands in a pacifying gesture. “I apologize. I would be the first to admit my lack of knowledge concerning such aspects of your culture.”

  They sat silently for a long moment.

  “Is it love?” Miguri asked.

  “W-what?” Eris spluttered. If she had been drinking something at that moment, it would now have been sprayed all over Miguri’s wrinkled little face. And it would serve him right too, she thought.

  “Do you love him?” the Claktill repeated. “It is a simple question.”

  How does he expect me to answer that? Eris thought crossly. I’ve never been in love before. I don’t know the first thing about it. Varrin’s face flashed across her mind, and she felt her heart skip a beat. Maybe it’s really just physical attraction like Miguri said, nothing more. But at the same time … Varrin’s certainly no saint, but he can be very sweet, can’t he? Not to mention he’s saved my life twice now.

  “Eris?” Miguri prompted.

  “No, I don’t love him,” she said, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. “How could I? I mean, if he somehow proved he was truly capable of caring about someone other than himself—all the time, not just at random moments when he feels like it—then maybe I could love him. But I really don’t see that happening.”

  Miguri sighed. “Well, that is certainly a relief. You are so young, my friend. I cannot help but worry about you.”

  Touched by his words, Eris hugged the Claktill close. When they parted, Miguri held up a cautionary hand. “Far be it from me to tell you who to be with, Eris, but promise me this one thing—you will think before you act on your feelings. You and the Rakorsian are of entirely different species, for Kari’s sake.”

  “It’s all moot anyway,” Eris said. “Regardless of how I feel, he would have to feel the same way before anything could happen between us. And Varrin doesn’t strike me as the fall-in-love, settle-down, and get-married type. He doesn’t take things seriously enough.”

  “He certainly does not,” Miguri chortled.

  At that moment, the subject of their conversation came strolling into the rec room, bringing an abrupt end to their conversation. He was carrying the wrench again and had a satisfied smirk on his face.

  “We reach Earth in three hours,” Varrin said. “The engines are looking good enough to handle the entry into the atmosphere. And, having resigned myself to this ill-fated idea,” he continued with a dramatic sigh, “I have found a suitable place for us to land without being spotted.”

  Eris was barely listening to him. Her mind was in full panic mode, because she had just realized that Varrin, with his super hearing, must have overheard her entire conversation with Miguri. He isn’t looking at me any differently, though. Why isn’t he looking at me differently? Did he not hear? Did he hear but just not care? Or is he pretending he didn’t hear so he can go and laugh about it later? Then she remembered the wrench in his hand and nearly collapsed with relief. He must have been in the engine room. Thank God! Even Varrin can’t hear anything around those clunking machines.

  “Some appreciation for my excellent navigational skills? Anyone?” Varrin said.

  “That depends,” Eris replied, trying to take deep, calming breaths without him noticing. “Where are you planning to land?”

  “I found a large uninhabited area in the northern hemisphere. You Earthlings call it the Gobi Desert.”

  “The Gobi Desert?” Eris blinked. “You do realize that’s on the other side of the world from where I live, right?”

  “So? Grab an air taxi and you’ll be there in an hour. What’s the problem?”

  “Aliens,” Eris sighed.

  “I believe humans are not technologically advanced enough to have air taxis,” Miguri said, snickering. “It would be better if you could land us closer to Eris’s place of residence.”

  “The ship is invisible to radar, not plain sight,” their pilot reminded them.

  “Well, conceal us in clouds or something,” Eris said. “You can do that, right?”

  “Of course,” Varrin replied indignantly. “Have I ever let you down?”

  Eris forced herself not to respond.

  Three hours later, almost two months since her abduction, Eris watched the approach of her home world through the cockpit window. As they rounded the curve of the far side of the moon, the Earth appeared before them, a blue-white marble suspended in the endless black of space. The sunlight glittered off the serene oceans and white icecaps, and Eris was so overwhelmed to finally be home that she nearly burst into tears.

  Miguri was also staring down at the Earth with fascination. “You have a beautiful planet, my friend,” he said.

  Their pilot, on the other hand, was ignoring both her and her planet. He seemed distracted and was flipping his knife up and down in the air. Eris guessed he was concerned about the plan they’d worked out but didn’t want to admit it.

  “So, girl,” Varrin said as he returned the knife to its sheath, “have you figured out what you’re going to do once we deliver you to your planet?”

  “I’m going to go back to school,” Eris said. “I’ll call my mother, tell her I’m alive, and try to explain what happened to me without coming across as a complete nut case.”

  The ship sped closer and closer to Earth. Varrin reached forward and adjusted the controls to take back the helm from the autopilot. When they skimmed past an orbiting satellite, Eris felt a strange sense of alienation. “I wonder how NASA would react if I told them I’d been to Alpha Centauri,” she mused.

  “It is my understanding that terrestrials generally disbelieve claims like that,” Miguri sai
d. “I fear that these NASA people might question your sanity and lock you up.”

  Varrin grinned at Eris. “I think you should tell them. If you were locked up, there’d be less chance of you getting abducted again.”

  “Haha. Because that worked so well on the Ssrisk ship,” Eris retorted. “And besides, who would bring you supplies?”

  “I’d manage.”

  Eris had no doubts he would.

  “We are getting very close to the atmosphere,” Miguri said in a worried tone. “Should you not activate the heat shield?”

  Flipping a switch on the control console, Varrin drawled, “Everything’s under control, rat. No need to get your tail in a knot.”

  As the ship broke through the highest layers of the thermosphere, it was buffeted from side to side by the air roaring past. “You two may want to hold on to something,” Varrin suggested. “This planet of yours has a killer atmosphere, girl.”

  After an uncomfortable amount of shaking and shuddering, they broke through the cloud layer. Varrin pulled the flight controls back, and the ship leveled out, soaring over the blue and green tapestry of Earth.

  “North America,” Varrin announced a few minutes later, dropping the ship lower in the sky as Newfoundland sped by underneath them.

  Eris did a double take at the map displayed on the monitor, which was a perfect representation of Earth but with alien writing instead of English. “Where did you get that?”

  “I had the ship tap into your planet’s global network—the Inter-something? It pulled up the map from there and translated the place names. You said we were going to Blythewood, right?”

  “Right.”

  They flew past the northeastern seaboard and approached the valley in which Blythewood, home to the Barlow Collegiate Institute, was nestled. Eris pointed it out to Varrin, who smoothly guided the ship into the embrace of the storm clouds that were beginning to gather over the area. The cockpit grew dark as the ship was completely concealed by the clouds.

  “Thunderclouds,” Eris said. “That’s lucky—maybe things are finally starting to go my way. Varrin,” she added, “please don’t park too far from campus. I don’t want to walk for hours.”