The Zohar, an ancient Jewish text on mysticism, describes the female nature of God.

Angie watched the image of Jupiter with its giant red spot slowly recede on the main screen. Many of its larger moons were visible despite the myriad of stars populating the background of the image of this Jovian system. She breathed out a sigh of relief. Despite the fact that the X-3001 was limping along with only two engines it was still making good time. The hapless crew had been forced to make three jumps and wait several days between them to recharge antimatter. But, here they were back in the good ol' Sol system.

"I have a COM request from the X-2001, Angie."

"Open COM, Delphi."

"COM open, Angie."

"This is the X-3001. What is your location?"

"Hey, Angie. You guys okay?"

"Hey, Brian, we're a little banged up, but we're all okay."

"We have you on visual. You're not kidding. What happened?"

"We were in the biggest battle I've ever seen. We may be the worse for wear but we kicked the hell out of a huge alien fleet."

"You guys have all the fun."

"It wasn't fun, believe me."

"Where's Marty?"

"He, George and Uma are still trying to make repairs. Our weapon systems are off line."

"Well, not to worry. We're here to escort you back. Just relax and let us do the fighting."

"How do like the X-2001?"

"It's great. We've ferried science crews out to the Centauri system. Going through a jump is wild, but it's great to be going out to other stars."

"Have you run into any Roswell aliens?"

"Not yet. When we went out to Eris they were gone. I guess you scared them away."

"I doubt it. Hey listen, I've got to work on the navigational array. I'll catch you later."

"Okay, Angie. See you."

"COM is down, Angie."

"Thank you, Delphi."

"You are welcome, Angie."

"Who was that?"

Angie turned to watch Marty, George and Uma return. "Brian. He's escorting us in the X-2001."

"That's great! He's moving up. Good for him." He sat down at the navigational station. "We got the weapons back, but just barely. I wouldn't recommend getting into a battle any time soon."

"Now that Brian is here, we'll be okay."

"Have you gotten anything back from Space Command?"

Angie sighed. "Just an acknowledgement, that's all."

"Are we in the dog house again?"

"Who knows? They're all a bunch of desk jockeys."

Marty laughed. "Yeah, but they pay our salaries."

She dismissed him with a wave and a mock frown.

###

Several days later, the X-3001 was finally approaching Earth. As the Space Port's image grew larger, both Angie and Marty saw that things had changed.

"Is that a new ship?" Marty said, his voice increasing an octave.

"Sure looks like it," Angie said, her voice lowering an octave.

"We've only been gone a month. How can they build them so fast?"

"Evidently, they're in a hurry," George said.

Angie turned to look at both Marty and George. "Brian said that they're farming construction out to Europe, China, Japan and Russia."

"So much for keeping this a secret," Marty quipped.

"Is that a new vessel?" Uma asked, coming forward to get a better look.

"Yes it is, Uma," Angie said. "I believe it's just a duplicate of this ship."

"Good," Uma said. "We'll be able to go back out again. This ship will require a lot of repair."

It was obvious to both Angie and Marty that the new ship was far from being finished. An army of technicians was swarming around it and many small maintenance craft were frantically coming and going.

"It looks different," Marty said. "If I didn't know any better I would say that it has the look of a dragon." He pointed. "See the hint of a head protruding from the front and the pseudo wings."

She never commented.

"I have COM to Space Command, Angie."

"Good. This is the X-3001. Where do you want us to park this boat?"

"Welcome back, Commander. You don't have to park it. We'll send out tugs to pull it into the dock."

"Acknowledged," Angie said.

"Shut down the engines, Delphi. Remain at maintenance power."

"Yes, Angie."

Two small craft appeared from a hangar in the Space Port. They approached, locked Antigrav fields on the X-3001 and began to very slowly finesse the big ship into the docking bay. As the ship slowly slid into position, many worried eyes inside Space Command examined the damage that had been inflicted on it.

###

Arthur Wasserman's face was twisted with concern. He seemed confused and agitated. "Let me get this straight: You orbited the large moon of a gas giant and were jumped by alien ships. Another large alien ship just happened to come by and save you. You then went to a moon around the fourth planet and negotiated an alliance with these new aliens, gave them a universal translator and then helped them defeat an armada of alien ships, suffering enough damage to require a month to patch the X-3001 well enough to limp back to Earth."

"That's it in a nutshell," Marty said. "We gained a lot from all of this. The Mehens gave . . . "

"The Mehens?

"Yeah, I named them after an Egyptian snake god that aided Ra in his battle with an evil underworld demon."

"That certainly fits."

"I thought so. Anyway, we got a list of all the stars that are not the home of the Roswell aliens. Onuki and Ferris got plenty of body scans of the Mehens when we provided medical assistance to several hundred wounded warriors. The Mehens also gave us a hand weapon." He pulled it out of a bag and placed it on the conference table. "It's some sort of energy beam weapon. They've done a marvelous job of miniaturizing it's various . . .."

Arthur gingerly picked it up. "Is it charged?"

"I think it is, but I'm not an engineer."

"I'll take that."

Everyone turned to watch General Wilson march into the conference room. Arthur handed the alien weapon to him.

"I've recommended both of you for Distinguished Service Crosses. Your action at the battle was exemplary."

"They nearly lost the X-3001," Arthur said, sounding upset.

"But, they didn't. We're at war now, and having another intelligent race on our side is a huge plus. These new aliens obviously have a lot of experience in fighting the bastards, and they're willing to share that experience."

Marty wasn't so confident, "I just hope that these Roswell aliens don't bring an armada into our system. The Mehens had hundreds of ships and they lost many of them. We would be overwhelmed."

"We're working on that," Wilson said. "I'm sure that you saw the new ship. We've constructed twenty new one thousand series and three new two thousand series ships. The X-3001 will be repaired and the X-3002 will be ready to go in two weeks."

"By the way," Marty said. "If you're going to give us medals, you should give them to the entire crew. They helped save the ship during the battle by fighting fires and repairing damage."

"That can be arranged," Wilson said. "What's important is that we prevailed."

Who is this "we"?

Arthur seemed to relax now that Wilson was present. "We're adding two new members to your crew. Jean-Michel Pelletier is a French nuclear physicist who understands antimatter and Lucia Fibonacci is an Italian astrophysicist expert on extraterrestrial planets. We're still going over the alien list of stars so your next mission hasn't been determined. In the meantime enjoy yourselves. You deserve it."

Marty could taste his enjoyment already.

###

The Space Port bar seemed busier than normal--must be all these engineers and techies up here assembling ships. Marty didn't care. He, George, Tyler and Karl were imbibing the nectar of the gods.

"Where do you think they're sending us, George?"

George took a swig before he replied. "Who the hell knows? I just hope we get an opportunity to study the system we go to before being chased away by aliens."

"Surely these aliens aren't in every star system?" Karl said. "Their population would have to be in the trillions for that."

"That's a possibility," George said. "Maybe they've been traveling to the stars for centuries."

"But, we haven't seen evidence that they've colonized other planets," Karl said. "There's no way that they could sustain the required population on their home world. That would require a prodigious level of fecundation, not to mention large fertile tracks of land."

"I'm sure we'll find the answers eventually," Tyler said. "If we continue our quest long enough, that is."

Marty looked up when Angie, Uma, Ferris and Anna appeared. He waved, urging them to come over. He marveled at how well dressed they were. All four were wearing light blue, short-skirted suits that revealed a sizable portion of their shapely legs.

"Mind if we join you?" Angie sang in a comical manner.

"Hell no," Marty replied, gesturing to unoccupied seats. "The more the merrier." He looked around. "Where are Lia, Onuki and Brigit?"

"They'll be here," Angie said. "They're still at the pool."

"The pool?"

"Yes, there's a swimming pool on deck three and this is ladies day."

Marty turned to George. "Did you ever imagine a swimming pool on a space station?"

"Ha, I heard that the new ship has one."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope. The new ship was built by the Japanese and I heard that it's laid out well."

Marty smiled. "That's great. The Japanese are sticklers for quality. Besides, Onuki will feel at home."

When George motioned to the entrance, Marty turned to see Lia, Onuki and Brigit come in. All three were attired in the same short-skirted suits that Angie and her group wore.

"Has there been a change to the uniform code?" Marty asked Angie. "Or is this your idea of a tease?"

She chuckled. "No. This is Space Command's idea of how women should dress."

"Aren't those outfits a bit leggy?"

"Are you objecting?"

"I'd be the last to do that."

She smiled. "You have spoken truthfully."

He laughed.

"I believe our new recruits are here," George said.

Everyone turned to watch a man and a woman walk over.

"Are you the crew of the starship?" the man asked with a discernable accent.

"You have found us," Marty said, standing up and shaking the man's hand. He gestured to Angie. "This is our commander, Angelina Sarasota. Uma Bharatiya is our geologist. Ferris Sani is our exobiologist. Onuki Takuya is our microbiologist and is in charge of medical. George Taylor and Karl Schneider are the astronomers. Anna Petrovka is the chemist. Lia Baidu is our linguist and Brigit Lindgren is our communications expert. Tyler Stewart is our diplomat and my name is Martin Sinclair. I'm chief pilot." He looked around. "Did I miss anyone?" He got smiles as a reply. He turned back to the newbies. "It's your turn."

"I am Jean-Michel Pelletier. Some claim I know a little about antimatter." He gestured to the woman. "And, this is Lucia Fibonacci who claims to know something about extraterrestrial planets."

Marty shook Lucia's hand. "Welcome to our crew." She was around forty-eight, give-or-take a few, and a buxom Italian woman with long black hair and an hourglass figure.

The rest of the crew greeted them in a similar manner.

###

Marty looked around the command deck of the X-3002 before taking his seat at the navigational station. "I like it. The Japanese sure know how to create a sleek sense of efficiency."

"They must like stainless and leather," Angie said. "Or at least simulations of them."

"You'll have to ask Anna about that. She's the chemist." He turned to George. "Hey George, what's our destination this time?"

"It's 61 Virginis; a class G5V star 27.8 light years away in the constellation of Virgo. It has a 0.78 luminosity, 5604K temperature and 93-95% metallicity. It is a main sequence dwarf with a radius of 94% that of our sun."

"Why'd they pick it?"

"It's not on the Mehen's list and Lucia thinks it has potential."

"That works for me."

George chuckled.

"Is everyone aboard?" Marty asked Angie.

"Yes. Jean-Michel is down in Engineering checking out the jump drives, Onuki and Ferris are squaring things away in Medical and Lia and Brigit are checking the sensor arrays."

"I thought we were ready to depart?"

"We are. They don't need to be up here for that."

"Oh."

"We have clearance for departure, Angie."

"Move us out, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

Marty watched the girders of the spaceport slowly pass as the ship slid out of its dock. He could see faces in port windows as the ship passed and the faces' eyes were riveted on the X-3002. The sight of a large star cruiser going off to deep space was a thrilling experience. The ship represented the ultimate in human technological achievement.

"Align us with the star, Delphi and take us up to 5000 kps."

"Yes, Angie."

Marty looked at her with confused eyes. "We're not going to jump speed?"

"I'm not jumping in this crate until Jean-Michel says it's safe. Meanwhile, we'll meander our way out of the solar system. It'll give us a chance to make sure everything is working."

"Good plan."

Lucia made her appearance on the command deck and sat down at a station next to George.

George looked at her and smiled. "You're the chief astronomer on the Huygens Array, aren't you?"

"Yes, signore. I guess that they considered this more important."

"We're all in that trap," George said with a wry smile. "In any case, welcome aboard. We need all the help we can get. Karl here specializes in stellar astronomy and I spent most of my career searching for water on other planets. When we arrive at our destination, we're usually about a billion or more kilometers out from the star. Karl scans the star for stability and radiation. You and I must scan both the gas giants and the inner planets for possible locations of life. Anna gives us chemical information and Ferris looks for plant life while Lia and Brigit search for alien signals"

"What precisely are we supposed to look for?" she asked.

"We're searching for the Roswell aliens' home system. The powers decided that it will be a class-G main sequence dwarf star with a high metallicity. We've visited five such systems so far to no avail. We only have ninety-five to go and that assumes our target is within a hundred light years."

"The Mehens eliminated about twenty of them," Karl said. "And another thirty beyond a hundred light years."

George smiled. "Actually, our main task is to find the Goldilocks planet."

Lucia gave him a confused frown. "Goldilocks planet?"

"Yeah, you know. One that's not too hot, not too cold, but just right."

She laughed.

###

"Five minutes to jump, Angie."

"Execute on count, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

"I take it that Jean-Michel approved the jump drive."

"Yes. He ran a thorough systems check," Angie said.

Marty turned to watch Jean-Michel, Lia, Brigit, Onuki and Ferris emerge from the elevators. They quickly took seats. Nobody wanted to ride out a jump alone or in some remote corner of the ship, not that they couldn't.

Soon, the high-pitched sound of the jump drive activation preceded the disorienting spiraling of space. Jean-Michel and Lucia appeared shocked by the experience. The others took it in stride.

After several gut-wrenching minutes, Delphi spoke. "We have entered normal space, Angie."

"Take us down to 5000 kps, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

The forward engines screamed to life while the scientists moved to their respective stations.

"The star appears to be stable," Karl, said. "I'm showing 0.18 percent iron. There's a high neutrino count, but the solar wind is normal for this far out."

"I'm seeing four gas giants," George said. "And, there are four inner planets."

"The third planet is at 0.98 AU's," Lucia said. "Its temperature is around 290 K."

"I'm showing a strong water peak in planet three's spectra," Anna said.

Angie turned to Lia and Brigit. "Any signals?"

"I don't understand this," Brigit said. "I'm detecting sidebands from a 10.3 kilohertz carrier but it's focused."

"On what?" Marty asked.

She looked at him. "On us."

Angie sighed. "Shit." She turned to Marty. "Are you seeing any energy signals?"

"Nothing. If the aliens are around here they're running in stealth mode. This signal could be coincidental. We'll know more after Brigit and Lia analyze it."

"We're going to pass close to the third gas giant," George said. "You may want to slow down a bit when we fly by."

"Slow us to 1000 kps, Delphi. Adjust our course to avoid moons."

"Yes, Angie."

The image of a gas giant grew on the main screen as the X-3002 approached. A very impressive ring framed a planet whose atmosphere was in a state of stormy chaos.

"This planet has an equatorial diameter of 130,780 kilometers. Its axial tilt is 28 degrees. That's strange. Its cloud top temperature is 140 K. It has atypical high helium content at 12 percent. Methane is around one percent. The winds are above 500 meters per second. As you can see, there are numerous storms.

"There are many moons," Lucia said. "But, none are larger than a thousand kilometers. Judging by the large ring size, it appears that this planet has been inhospitable to satellites."

As the ship passed, no crewmember could resist watching the planet.

Lucia shook her head. "I never dreamed that I would be seeing such a magnificent planet orbiting a star light years from ours."

"Every G-class star system we've visited has planets like this and inner planets that are in the habitable zone. It demonstrates that planet formation is common and that many of these planets support life."

"I told you so," Uma said. "Life is a fact of life in the universe."

"What surprises me is how many intelligent species are out here," Marty said. "We are definitely not unique."

"The carrier signal definitely has some sort of modulation," Brigit said. "It's in the megahertz range."

"Try filtering out one of the side bands," Lia said. "They may be using phase modulation."

Brigit keyed something into her station. "I think I have something that resembles a video. I'll switch it over to the main screen."

Everyone looked. At first the image pulled and jumped, but after Brigit fiddled with the filter's parameters, it stabilized.

Marty stood up. "What the hell?"

"I don't think that the signal is distorted," Brigit said.

"They look like Gumby."

Angie gave him a rebuking glare. "That's not very scientific."

"Interesting," Ferris said. "They are basically flat with faces that appear like relief sculptures. They are bipedal and have what appears to be hands."

"I don't see any fingers," Onuki said. "Perhaps they're wearing gloves."

"That's possible," Ferris said. "They appear to be clothed."

"What the hell did they evolve from?" Marty said. "Flat worms?"

"Is there any sound to go with that?" Angie asked Brigit.

"I'm working on it. There are captions."

"Is that their language?" Marty said. "It looks like chicken scratches."

The sound switched on. What came out of the speaker was clicking sounds.

"They evolved from crickets," Marty said.

"You can't apply Earth referenced logic to alien life forms," Ferris said. "Obviously, carbon based life can assume many configurations that we as humans are not familiar with."

"Amen to that," Marty said.

"We have to assume that there is sentient life on the third planet," Ferris said. "We should concentrate our efforts on it."

"Change our course to orbit the third planet, Delphi. Maintain present velocity."

"Yes, Angie."

"You're not speeding up?" Marty said.

"No. Let's get as much information as we can before we get there. I don't like surprises."

"This third planet is strange," Lucia said. "It's albedo is very high. It may be mostly water."

"Or, it has a cloudy atmosphere like Venus," George said.

"I don't think so. The water signal is too strong for that."

"I have a decent image on the long range telescope," George said. He switched it to the main screen. The image was not very sharp but it showed a blue planet with light clouds. "I think you're right, Lucia."

"Are there any land masses?" Ferris asked.

"Evidently, not," George said. "We're still too far out to get a clear image. The planet has a radius of five thousand kilometers, which makes it slightly smaller than Earth."

"The atmosphere has twenty percent oxygen," Anna said. "Carbon dioxide is around 0.04 percent, not all that different than that on Earth."

"The planet has two moons, neither as large as our moon," George said. "Since the planet is at a normal temperature, we can assume that it is rotating."

"Oh, oh!" Marty said. "I just got a blip on the Roswell alien frequency. I still can't pinpoint its location."

"Okay people, keep alert," Angie said. She looked at Marty. "You and George have the second watch. The rest of you will stay on first as long as you can."

Marty saluted. "Yes, Captain."

"Call me if anything happens," she said.

Marty enjoyed watching her walk to the elevator.

###

Night shift on the command deck was as quiet as a church on Monday. The lighting was in surveillance mode and a red glow cast multi-directional shadows. Two human shadows were not moving much.

Marty rubbed his eyes and looked over at George. "I hate these late shifts. Part of me wants to go asleep."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"Do you really think that the third planet is the home world of the flat aliens?"

George rubbed a hand over his stubble. "I don't think it is. If they are on that planet, they're either visiting or stranded."

"I hope that this isn't a Roswell alien trick," Marty said.

"Lia said that the signal is originating on the planet. There is a land mass on the other side. It isn't much larger than Australia, but it is land." He switched an image of the third planet to the main screen.

"Wow," Marty said. "A planet with one small continent. That's wild."

"I'm not sure why that is," George said. "The planet has extensive polar ice caps, so I doubt that it's from some sort of global warming. Karl said that the star has a few spots and flares but it isn't all that active. The planet's rotational period is around 25.5 hours and its atmosphere has a pressure of 950 millibars at the surface. There's no reason to think that this is a global warming situation."

"Are you saying that there's no life?"

"No. Ferris thinks that there are many aquatic species in the ocean. I can understand that, but since the flat aliens are not aquatic, they are obviously not endemic to the planet."

"If they are just visiting, why are they sending signals out?" Marty said.

"Good question."

The elevator swished open, causing both men to look back and feast their weary eyes on Angie strutting out on bare feet clad in a sheer and very short nightgown.

Marty's eyes were at full capacity. "Jesus, Commander! You're out of uniform."

She smiled. "That's only the half of it. I'm not wearing underwear."

Marty covered his ears. "That's too much information."

She laughed. "I couldn't sleep so I decided to give you two a break."

"You don't need to do that," Marty said. "We're okay."

"I don't care. Go on a break."

Marty stood up and saluted. "Yes, Captain."

George shook his head.

In the elevator, George said, "I think she wants you to make love."

"No can do," Marty said. "That's against the Uniform Code of Conduct."

George gave him a doubtful look. "Who will know out here?"

Marty pointed to his chest. "I will."

George shook his head.

On the command deck, Angie sat in her chair. "Status, Delphi."

"All systems are operating within specifications, Angie."

"Do you ever get lonely, Delphi?"

"I am not programmed to display human emotions, Angie." There was a pause. "However, I do enjoy hearing your voice."

"But, enjoyment is a human emotion, Delphi."

"Yes, it is a conundrum, Angie."

"Do you listen and monitor us all of the time?"

"Yes. That is my primary function: to insure that you will continue."

"Let me ask you something, Delphi. What do you think of Martin?"

After a long pause, Delphi spoke. "Martin is a dynamic human. He uses what you humans call colorful language."

"Do you think that he likes me?"

"Yes. Not explicitly, but implicitly."

She smiled. "Thank you, Delphi."

"You are welcome, Angie."

###

The third planet's image filled the main screen as a beautiful deep blue sphere with wispy clouds floating around the atmosphere at high altitudes. The crew ignored it because Angie had ordered all of them to maintain high alert. Marty had picked up Roswell alien signals and it raised tension levels on the command deck to explosive levels.

"We should see the land mass in a few minutes," George said. "It will be coming around on the Eastern terminator."

"I'm not detecting any energy signals," Marty said. "They may be hiding on one of the moons."

"The moons are clear," George said. "All we're seeing is the usual cratered surfaces."

"I've been monitoring the star on the way in," Karl said. "I don't see any disruption of the solar wind. That would imply that they're not waiting inside the orbit of this planet."

"I'm detecting the presence of aquatic life," Ferris said. "Some of the creatures are larger than our sperm whales. There is much activity in the x-ray scans of the oceans and the water temperature is around 18 C at the lower latitudes."

The image of the continent appeared on the terminator and slowly rotated into view. An object on this continent raised everyone's blood pressure.

"That's a saucer!" Angie said, rising out of her chair.

"There's something wrong here," Marty said. "The Roswell alien saucers are metallic and this is black, plus it's too large."

"Plus, it's obviously crashed," George said. "This could be the flat-aliens' ship, and they're stranded here."

Angie sat down. "I think you're right. We'll orbit for a few cycles just to make sure, then we'll go down." She turned to Lia. "Do you have a translation yet?"

"Yes. It's a little rough, but I think we could carry on a conversation."

"We'll take weapons," Angie said. "But, Tyler may be able to establish a peaceful arrangement."

Tyler smiled. "I am at your disposal, ma'am."

"Stay alert, people," Angie said. "We're not out of the woods just yet."

"Permission to launch a deep sea probe," Ferris, said.

"Permission granted," Angie said. "Launch an atmosphere probe also."

"Yes, ma'am."

Ferris keyed as fast as she could to prepare the probes for launch. When they were free of the ship, she transferred the atmospheric probe's control to Anna. Ferris' deep-sea probe entered the atmosphere and quickly descended to the ocean.

"The atmosphere is not unlike that of Earth," Anna said. "The oxygen concentration is 20.2 percent at one mile. Most of the rest is nitrogen. There are sizable amounts of argon and neon. Carbon dioxide is very low. Temperature near the surface is only 18 degrees Celsius. Partial pressure of water is 15 millimeters. I'm not detecting any significant concentrations of sulfur or organics, which indicates that this planet has no pollution."

Marty noted the smile on Ferris' lips. "Are you having fun over there?"

"You should see this," she said, pointing to her Bio Station screen. "The ocean is teaming with life. Some of these creatures resemble Jurassic species. It's wonderful."

"I've located the aliens," George said as he switched his telescopic view to the main screen.

"They look like they're working on a piece of equipment," Marty said. "That looks like a disk of some sort; maybe it's an antenna."

"Do you think that they know we're here?" Marty asked.

"We're in stealth mode," Angie said. "But, that's no guarantee."

"Who is on the landing team?" Marty asked.

"It's your turn. Take Ferris, Lia, Uma and Tyler." She paused. "Oh, and Karl. I have a feeling that you'll need him."

"Good choices." He stood up. "Let's get prepared."

The landing team went to an elevator and descended to the equipment deck. They quickly suited up in tight fitting lightly armored combat suits and checked out weapons. Uma, Ferris and Karl were given rifles. Lia was burdened down with scanning equipment and the universal translator and Tyler helped carry emergency supplies and extra ammo. Marty strapped on a 45 and stuffed more ammo into his side pack.

"Are we ready?" he asked with a smile.

"How do we know if these aliens won't consider us a threat?" Karl asked.

"We don't, but they'll usually lighten up when they hear us speak in their language. Besides, we have Tyler. He can charm them."

Tyler laughed. "I'll do my best."

"Great. Let's mount up."

Marty took the pilot station with Karl at his right. The others strapped in behind.

"Commence launch sequence, Delphi."

"Yes, Martin."

Pumps removed the launch bay's atmosphere so that the hangar door could be retracted. The planet's image filled the opening as the main ship orbited it. The Lander slowly levitated and moved to the opening. As soon as it was free, Marty fired forward engines to plunge it into the atmosphere. He pulled out at ten thousand meters.

"Where did the land go?" Uma asked.

Marty pointed. "We're coming up on it."

Marty guided the Lander to a location two hundred meters from the crashed alien saucer. He noted that the aliens didn't run or hide.

"The atmosphere is breathable," Ferris said after checking her monitor. I'm not picking up any airborne biological agents. We should be safe."

Marty gestured to the Lander's atmospheric antechamber. "Let's go."

They entered the chamber and waited until the pressure was the same as that outside. The door slid open on an alien landscape that resembled a Pacific atoll. The blackened ground was volcanic with various sized rocks strewn about.

Uma bent down to retrieve some of these rocks. "This tells us how this land got here. This is like phenocrysts from Earth. See the vesicular structure. This means that it resulted from a lava flow."

"I'm showing a low silica content," Karl said. "This planet's geology is different."

"I don't see any plant life," Ferris said. "This land may be relatively new."

All heads turned when the aliens appeared. There were five of them, and it was obvious that one was injured because he or she was being helped. They appeared to be curious, not afraid. When Marty and Lia approached they didn't run.

Seeing them at close range was unnerving. They had smooth pink flesh that was as taut as a drum. Their facial features seemed unreal, as if they had been sculptured. At least they had more human eyes and a lipless mouth. Their arms and legs were surprisingly rounded, but their hands were like mittens with no fingers.

"Greetings. We are from a planet that orbits a star that is twenty seven times the distance light travels during one cycle this planet completes around its star."

"How do you know our speech?" One of the aliens asked.

"We use a translation device." He gestured to Lia and she held the case up. "We intercepted your signal to learn your speech."

"Why are you here?"

"We explore. We search for life. That is our way."

"We explore. We search for life," the alien repeated.

Marty pointed to their crashed ship. "How did your craft crash?"

They became agitated. "We were attacked. We did nothing."

"Who attacked you?"

"Many small craft. Much energy pulses."

"How long ago?"

"Ten rotations of this planet."

Marty keyed his long-range transmitter. "Hey Angie, are you awake up there?"

"Yeah. What's up?"

"We have a problem. These aliens claim they were attacked by the Roswell aliens ten days ago. They're probably still around." After a pause: "Do you copy?"

"We copy. Keep us informed."

"Will do."

Marty pointed to the alien's ship again. "Can you do repairs?"

"No."

Marty turned to Tyler. "We'll have to rescue them. What do you think?"

"That would be most commendable." He spoke to the aliens. "Will you come with us?"

"Where will you take us?"

"Back to your home planet."

They looked at each other as if surprised.

Marty keyed his transmitter again. "Hey, Angie, Tyler offered to take these aliens back to their home planet."

"Does he also like to take in stray cats?"

Marty wanted to laugh but he thought better of it. "We can't just leave them here."

"I know. Can you transport them back up here?"

"Yeah, I think so, assuming they can sit in the chairs."

"Well, get your butts up here pronto. I don't want to hang around here any longer than I have to."

"Understood."

"If you want to take anything with you, get it. We need to go as quickly as possible."

"What of the one who is hurt?"

"We will take that one also. We will try to repair that one's hurt."

Two of the aliens ran back to their damaged ship. Uma and Ferris helped escort the others to the Lander while Marty, Tyler and Lia waited for the two who had ran off to their ship. They returned with a container approximately a foot and a half square.

"What is inside?" Marty asked.

" Equipment."

"Come with us," Marty said gesturing.

When he reached the Lander, Marty was surprised to find that Uma and Ferris had already gotten the three aliens on board and into seats. He was more than glad to turn the remaining two over to their capable hands.

"We're ready to return," Marty said to Angie as soon as he powered up.

"Copy that. We're coming up on your position."

Marty flew the Lander up through the atmosphere and accelerated to catch up to the main ship.

"Open the hangar door, Delphi."

"Yes, Martin."

When the Lander was close enough, Marty powered down and allowed the main ship's Antigrav field to pull it inside. After the hangar was brought up to one atmosphere, the crew and the aliens disembarked.

"Take the injured alien to the Med Station, Ferris," Marty said. "Onuki is waiting." He turned to Karl. "Take the others to the command deck. You have to determine which star they come from."

In the Med Station, Onuki and Ferris got the injured alien stripped and laid out on a scan bed. Scans of the alien's body soon filled several screens. Each had detailed views of bones, organs, blood vessels and nerves.

"Their organs are flattened to fit their bodies," Ferris said. "I wonder what gender it is."

"I don't see any sexual organs," Onuki said. "Perhaps, they are asexual."

"That would save a lot of time," Ferris said, smiling.

Onuki smiled back.

On the command deck nobody was smiling. One of the aliens pulled a flexible flat screen from the case they had retrieved from their damaged ship. The screen had a view of the sky from the ocean planet. The alien pointed out their home star and Karl immediately tried to match it to star views that he had made while in orbit.

"I have it," Karl said. "It's HD 45289, a G5 star in the constellation Columba-Puppis about 91 light years from Earth."

"How far is it from here?" Marty asked.

"About a hundred light years," Karl said. "I've sent the data to Delphi."

"That'll take two jumps," Marty said to Angie."

"Align us with the star, Delphi. Bring us up to jump speed."

"Yes, Angie."

Onuki and Ferris came up with the injured alien.

"How did it go?" Marty asked.

"It had a leg fracture," Onuki said. "We put a splint on it and used the stimulator."

"Get strapped in," Angie said. "We're almost ready to jump."

"We have visitors," Marty said. "A least a dozen saucers at two hundred thousand kilometers." His voice raised an octave. "They've fired a missile, closing fast."

"Delay jump, Delphi. Turn hard to starboard. Please arm aft torpedoes. Maximum power to the shields."

"Yes, Angie."

"It's still closing and turning with us," Marty said.

"Increase turn radius, Delphi. Engines at maximum."

"Yes, Angie."

Engine scream increased several decibels.

"It's still tracking us," Marty said.

Angie developed a scowl. "Come on you big slug: turn."

"I may be able to place a well aimed shot on the missile's guidance system, Angie."

"What is the nature of the explosive, Delphi?"

"I believe it is a high energy binary chemical explosive, Angie."

"If we don't do something soon, we're toast," Marty said.

"Take your shot, Delphi."

"Yes, Angie."

A high-energy beam blasted out.

"The missile has ceased tracking," Marty said.

"Turn us to port, Delphi. When the enemy ships slow, fire a five degree spread of torpedoes."

"Yes, Angie."

She turned to address the crew. "Hang tight. This is going to get rough."

The enemy missile exploded in a red ball of fire. No sound was heard. Not so when the torpedoes exploded. Space lit up in four blinding white flashes. The resulting radiation hit the shields like pellets from several shotguns. The ship rocked and creaked but held. Marty watched the flat-aliens' reaction, but there was none. On the other hand, some of the crew had to relieve themselves.

"Align us with the star, Delphi, and jump as soon as we attain velocity."

"Yes, Angie."

Marty smiled to himself. Another scrape with death; another last second escape.