The inside of the ship was unique in two ways. It was huge, more spacious than anything Jasmine had ever seen, and unbearably humid, so much so that it felt like breathing water.

"It stinks," Arman said as the stench that reminded Jasmine of rotting fish hit them.

"Now, now," Asher chastised firmly. "Remember what we said about visiting those we don't know. We mustn't be rude."

Suddenly, all the conversation stopped as the ray that had pulled them off the face of the earth deposited them unceremoniously on the ground, their ascent finally complete.

Their fate felt sealed. Yet, Jasmine didn't want to accept that. She thought there was always a way, a possibility of escape, a way to survive.

As she looked around, she noticed that the living conditions on the ship seemed more in tune with the sea creatures (or at least partial sea creatures) than they did with the humans. The conditions were the same as that desolate planet she had dreamed about. Only she was pretty sure that wasn't a dream. It was the sad reality of what those creatures left behind.

Desolate planets.

Lost lives.

There were also many strange tube-shaped attachments to the ship that Jasmine didn't want to know the purpose of because they reminded her too much of the Matrix movie setup, even though she couldn't see any humans attached to those devices.

Yet.

What they could see were four bald men approaching at a fast pace.

"What do we do?" Jasmine asked without moving her lips.

"I guess we see what they want, chat. We might be able to postpone whatever is to come," Asher answered, his voice quiet and shaky and his eyes wide as they looked at his children.

A hint of desperation clung to him as he hugged his kids tightly, hoping to protect them when the time came.

"The parasite marked the three of them," one of the bald men said, pointing out Jasmine, Ariyana, and Arman. "We might have some use of them."

"No!" Asher exclaimed, putting his precious children behind him in an act of bravery and foolishness.

"Ash-" Jasmine was about to warn him but it was already too late.

A loud thump rang through the empty vastness of the ship as one of the aliens punched Asher out of the way, clearing the way towards the children.

In his fear for his children, Asher had forgotten that the important thing was to survive, and if he talked back to their captors, the chances of them doing that were slim.

"There is no need for that," Jasmine said, hurrying towards the children, taking their hands in each of her own. "That's such a human thing to do. Don't you feel embarrassed by stooping to such uncivilized methods?"

Jasmine's sudden inspiration was caused by a memory that resurfaced for unfathomable reasons when she most needed it.

"How dare that loser tell my girlfriend that I am cheating on her!" Steve shouted even though they were still in class.

"But dude, you were cheating on her," his buddy said, none of them paying attention to the teacher as he was known for letting the students do whatever they wanted.

"Yes, but that's not the point. It's none of his business. He shouldn't have interfered," Steve said, fire coming out of his eyes. "Pete is going to get it today after school."

"Excuse me," Jasmine said with a shaky yet determined voice. "Are you talking about Pete O'Conor?"

"Yes, what's that got to do with you?" Steve asked grumpily but not too rudely because, even angry, he was aware that he might need Jasmine's help in the future.

"Nothing much. I just didn't take you for that kind of guy," Jasmine said, a strange inspiration taking over her.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked, knitting his eyebrows as his voice went down an octave or two.

"I never thought you were the type of guy to hit a girl," Jasmine said, feeling like anything was justified if it meant saving her former friend. "Because Pete is so gentle and fragile that hitting him would be like hitting a girl."

That gave Steve pause. He didn't say anything but turned away from Jasmine in a hurry.

She later learned that nothing happened to Pete, and she was pretty sure it was because she questioned Steve's masculinity, as many other guys were beaten up by Steve in the past for far smaller things. The only logical conclusion was that her words made him reconsider his actions. After all, nothing was more important to the guys in her country than their image and one of the things that stood out was their male pride and the avoidance of anything that might make them look weak or unmanly, which hitting a girl was.

Males of different species weren't that different, or at least that was what Jasmine hoped. After all, it was the only thing she could think of doing because, unlike Asher, she knew that fighting against the aliens now wasn't the way. They were much stronger, and they were on their territory, in a place where they knew every nook and cranny. It was time to be clever, not strong, but fear made that so much harder to be.

"The human has a point you know," the burlier and older-looking bald man said to the younger one. "We have all this technology. We are so much more intelligent than them. Then why would you do something as primitive as hitting someone? There are always better ways to handle a situation."

The younger guy lowered his bald head, the vessel's strong lights reflecting brightly off his shining head. Jasmine noticed and noted down the hierarchy of the alien leadership carefully in her mind as she tried to calm down Arman and Ariyana who were crying buckets of tears after seeing their father almost fly across the room from the hit he had received.

"I'm sorry, Nal Dy, " the young bald man said, his voice merely a whisper. "I might have stayed in the human form for far too long. The camouflage is too good. It helps blend in, but it makes me forget who I am at times."

"You are giving me an idea, Ner Ma," Nal Dy said, looking at the humans with a speculative look that hid a hint of amusement.

Whether it was caused by children crying, Asher scrambling to his feet to stand by his kids, or Isaac standing hesitantly away from the group was uncertain but horrible that there was some malice there, an unnecessary enjoyment of others' suffering.

"Disengage the camouflage," Nal Dy said to the other three authoritatively.

Their immediate obedience marked him clearly as the group's leader, confirming Jasmine's assumption which felt important. She wasn't sure why but she put it to memory nonetheless, trying her best to turn off her emotions and look at their situation like one huge puzzle that she needed to solve while ignoring the fact that not solving it could lead to their death or worse.

Curiosity, one of the strongest human emotions, made all five humans look up at the bald men as their camouflage fell off to reveal their true selves with long faces and the horn-like protrusions that Jasmine had convinced herself she hadn't seen that one time when she came a bit too close to the aliens in their true form. The light blue skin glistened even more than Jasmine remembered, but then again, she hadn't seen the true alien form for long enough at that time, and the one Asher had killed was still wearing its human camouflage. Furthermore, these aliens didn't have arms and legs but tentacles, their body shape was no longer as humanoid as it appeared at first, more like an octopus.

The children, seeing the odd beings for the first time weren't as prepared for the sight before them, so Arman and Ariyana fell as one, fainting from the fright of it all, making Asher run over to them only to be stopped by one huge tentacle wrapping itself around his leg.

"Not so fast," Nal Dy said. "You are too hostile to be useful here. We'll need you at the colony. And that one."

Nal Dy pointed at Isaac, who looked at Jasmine pleadingly, unsure what to do as his legs shook visibly and his lips trembled. But still putting on a brave face, at least as brave as one could when terror had the person in its grip.

"No need for that," Jasmine said again her voice flat, while her hands curled up in tight fists. "Isaac, go with Asher and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. I'll take care of the others."

Soon enough, one of the aliens led Asher and Isaac away, and while Asher continued to struggle Isaac hung onto him trying to calm him down as much as possible. Tears streamed down Jasmine's face that she completely ignored, focusing on the two children who needed her, gently wiping their brows.

"It might be easier to hook you up this way," Nal Dy said, stretching his tentacle towards Arman.

"No, tell me what to do, and I'll do it," Jasmine said sternly. "You shouldn't carry them. They might wake up and die of fright, and you need them alive, don't you?"

She was grasping for straws, and she knew it, but the alien pointed at a pod-like structure in one of the smaller enclosures of the ship with three reclining chairs and, as she feared, the Matrix-like tubes.

"Hook in and let's get started," Nal Dy said emotionlessly, not showing one ounce of care.

Jasmine obeyed.

Obeying and then escaping with the children when the opportunity presented itself was all she could do for the time being.