"Charlie, wake up," a voice hissed.

I cracked open my eye and sat up slightly.

"Bekah?" I whispered, slowly. "Is it...is it time already?"

"Yeah," she replied. "C'mon, it's time to go."

I pushed myself up and rubbed my eyes, forcing myself to focus. The air on this planet was a little thinner than I was used to, so I found myself taking deeper breaths to compensate. Despite feeling a little better from my nap, I was still very much aware of my dry lips and rumbling stomach. I unconsciously placed a hand over my jacket pocket, feeling to make sure it was still there.

"Right," I said. "I'm up."

With the sun down, everything seemed much darker than before. The thick canopy all but filtered out the moonlight entirely, making it almost impossible to see anything other than dark figures sticking out every which way. I could vaguely hear the chirps of animals in the distance, the buzz of insects, and the wind stirring in the trees. The air was damp, the heavy feeling that you had after a rainfall, and carried with it a hint of floral scents. This might have been serene in a forest back at home, but in an alien jungle, it was enough to make my hairs stand on end.

"Do you remember what to do?" Bekah asked softly.

I nodded, then realized that Bekah probably couldn't see me. Standing up slowly, I put my back to the nearest tree and felt my way around, straightening in the dark. That shadow standing in front of me must have been Bekah. I directed my words at it.

"Yeah, I remember," I muttered nervously.

"Good," she said. "Take Calvin with you."

I felt her press a small hand into my own, and the small hand grasped mine tightly. It was a small comfort to know I wasn't alone in this dark jungle, where even the slightest breeze that shook the leaves seemed as if it were the movement of hidden denizens of the night.

"Where's Tanvir?" I asked.

"Already awake," she answered. "He's moving into his position."

Bekah's shadowy form stepped away from me, walking toward what was probably the center of the clearing.

"I'm headed off to play my part," she called softly. "Will you be alright?"

"I got the easy part," I said, reassuring her as much as myself. In truth, I was more scared than I'd ever been before in my life. "Go ahead. If everything goes right, we'll be flying far away from here tonight."

"Okay. I'm off."

There was a momentary silence. Then, the air started to swirl, a gentle breeze that grew stronger until I could feel the wind blowing at my hair. Moments later, Bekah was gone, leaping off in giant bounds toward the base. For a brief instant, the canopy parted with the force of the gales, allowing silver moonlight from twin moons to illuminate the empty clearing, and then it was dark.

Calvin tugged at my arm.

"What?" I demanded.

Calvin didn't say anything back.

"Okay, okay," I said. "We're going."

I turned around, feeling my way toward the section of the clearing that led in the direction of the way we wanted to go. When my hands found the branch I'd broken to mark the way, I straightened and found myself staring at a pair of eyes of burnished gold.

"What the-"

The golden eyes disappeared. I froze in place, my breath coming out in wheezes. I hadn't been afraid of the dark in years, but that wasn't to say I wasn't afraid right then.

Calvin tugged at my arm again, and I glanced down at him.

"D-did you see that?" I demanded. "That wasn't just my imagination, right?"

The little boy started walking, giving a little snort.

"Calvin!" I hissed, catching up to him. "We have no idea what kind of animals are around here!"

In response, the little boy broke into a jog. Cursing my luck, I ran after him, suddenly entertaining nightmarish visions of being eaten alive. I reached into my pocket, clutching my plasma pistol tightly. At least I was armed.

Suddenly Calvin slid to a stop, throwing out a hand to signal me. Slowing down, I squeezed my pistol in my right hand, moving forward slowly to see what the boy was looking at. Almost a meter and a half down, the Krakoshan base was well lit, something I was surprised to see. No natural critter would come this close to a large dwelling this brightly lit. Besides, the jungle was too dense for larger creatures. There was no way any predators could be here.

Looking down, it seemed the Krakoshans had torn out the jungle from this area and leveled the ground in a pit to make room for their base. This meant that the main gate was only reachable from where we were by sliding down a steep dirt slope. Not really a problem to get down, but there was no cover between us and the Krakoshans guarding the gate.

The main gate itself sat flush with the electrified fence, wide enough to fit maybe three of their armored vehicles side by side. On either side of the gate, a quad-cannon was mounted on a swiveling turret, high enough and armored enough to make it difficult to take them out. On the ground level, the gate was currently closed, an array of photon beams blocking the entrance. Just beyond the entrance, nearly a dozen guards stood armed with plasma and energy rifles, some of them lounging lazily. There were enough spotlights around the base for me to clearly see these were the shirtless trooper kind, their dark scales glinting.

"Damn," I muttered. "That's going to be pretty difficult to get past."

I eyed the cannons.

"Those are meant to shoot down enemy aircraft from the sky," I noted. "But they're mounted on a swivel, so they can also target us on the ground. We need to take those out. And get them to lower the gate somehow so we can get through."

I leaned back, exhaling.

"Alright, we need to work out a strategy," I muttered. "I'm thinking you distract them and I just sit up here and pick them off. What do you say?"

The bushes rustled noisily beside me, and I glanced sharply over. Suddenly, it occurred to me that Calvin was nowhere near. I spun around in a full circle, but the little boy was nowhere to be found.

"Great," I hissed. "Just great. Where the hell did he-"

A piercing alarm suddenly cut through the relatively silent night, a shriek that sent chills down my spine. As the siren continued to wail, the guards at the front gate suddenly turned tail and dashed away, running toward the far end of the compound. I immediately felt myself break into a cold sweat when I realized what was going on, and I fumbled through my pockets before realizing that the plasma pistol I'd retrieved from the crashed ship was already in my hand. I tightened my grip nervously, my heartbeat racing.

"Calvin?" I called softly, but there was no response. He really was gone.

Somehow, I had to get past those cannons, go through the photon gate, and complete my part of the plan, all without my partner. And then I'd have to find Calvin since I couldn't well abandon him. Grinding my teeth in frustration, I considered making a run for the gate. Maybe, if I was lucky, I could get through without the quad-cannons shooting me to bits. Of course, charging through the active photon gate was possible, but it would probably leave me with third degree burns all over. Maybe I could-

Oh, Zeus. Not all the guards had run away. I squinted at the gate, eyeing the remaining two guards. They slouched at their posts, looking very bored, but I wasn't at all confident that I could take them on by myself.

Right now, Tanvir and his swarm of Nether creatures had cut the fence in multiple areas, mimicking a widespread assault on the base. Bekah was whipping up her own distraction somewhere else in the base, and all this was just to allow me and Calvin a chance to sneak in and steal a ship. Except Calvin had gone missing.

Alright, I decided, squeezing the brass shell in my pocket for good luck. No more waiting. I stood up and brandished my plasma pistol, moving to step out of the cover of the jungle and into my suicide run.

"Hey!" I shouted. "Uh, over here!"

The Krakoshans standing guard suddenly sprang to their feet, snatching up their guns and glancing in my direction. No backing down now. I aimed my pistol at the nearest guard as best as I could and fired off a round. The tiny weapon boomed in my hand, the recoil throwing my aim off by a far margin. Both guards immediately returned fire, plasma rounds crackling into the dirt around me.

"Agh!" I screeched, diving to the ground.

Keeping my head down, I raised my pistol again, steadying my wrist. This time, my second shot came near, barely missing one of the guards. He didn't even flinch, continuing his assault on my position.

Suddenly a figure dropped out of the night sky, landing behind one of the guards. Hoisting a surprised Krakoshan above his head, Calvin hurled the burly guard into his companion, knocking their heavy rifles out of their hands. Before either of them could stand, Calvin leaped on top, pummeling them unconscious with his tiny fists. Crawling off the disabled troopers, the boy flashed me a triumphant grin.

"Ha ha," I said sourly, although I was relieved to see him. "Fantastic, used me as the bait."

Calvin fiddled with the gate controls, turning off the photon barrier to let me in. He smiled back at me, pointing at me, then my pistol.

"You didn't even stay to listen to my plan," I protested, walking into the base.

Stopping by the unconscious Krakoshans, I tried again to pick up their weapons, to no avail. Too unwieldy.

"Heh, good job with these guys though," I admitted. "A few more seconds and I might have been punched full of holes."

Together, we ran for the hangar, sticking to the shadows as best as we could despite the general lack of Krakoshans. There were very little guards around here, not after Tanvir and Bekah's distraction drew them away. With a lesser need for caution and stealth, it wasn't long until we reached the hangar.

The hangar itself was a wide building, wide enough to look squat even though it towered over all the other buildings around it. One entire side was occupied by a large doorway that led straight out onto a short runway, and a powerful spotlight shone downwards on either side of the door. At the moment, the doors to the hangar were closed so I slowed our pace, thinking furiously.

Then, my eyes caught a side door, one that looked like it was flimsy enough to kick open.

"There!" I said, pointing toward it.

We ran over and Calvin stepped aside. I took three steps back, then charged forward, throwing my shoulder against the door with my full weight.

I bounced off.

"Uh," I said sheepishly, glancing at Calvin. "You don't think you could-"

The boy threw himself at the door, smashing through it with a loud crash. I quickly scrambled in after him, holding my plasma pistol aloft as I charged through. The inside was just as large as I'd expected and held a grand total of four ships, each identical to the one that Tanvir had crashed the day before. From what I could tell, the hangar looked devoid of technicians and crew members, and the lighting in the hangar was barely enough to see by. Pallets loaded with stacks of munitions and supply crates sat in the corners, mostly covered in tarps. Odd. I really thought we'd run into trouble, but it looked like Tanvir's distraction worked.

Since all the ships looked the same, I took the initiative and led us over to the nearest ship. Unfortunately, there was also a guard.

"Freeze!" I shouted, firing away as soon as I spotted him.

The Krakoshan shouted something back at me, returning fire with his energy rifle. I dropped into a slide, skinning my knee as I slid behind the nearest pallet of crates. The second I was safely behind cover, I glanced around, but I'd lost Calvin again.

"Calvin!" I shouted. "Calvin! Where are-"

The guard screamed and stopped firing.

I peeked out from behind the crates, then stood up, walking over. Calvin was standing triumphantly over the unconscious Krakoshan, waiting for me.

"How-" I began, but remembered what happened at the gate and decided against pressing the boy.

"Never mind. Just help me hide this guy in case someone walks in."

Grabbing a leg each, we hauled the unconscious Krakoshan behind the nearest stack of crates, dumping his body unceremoniously. I eyed his energy rifle for a moment, then shook my head.

"We're taking the nearest ship," I said aloud. "But we also need to make sure that no one can follow us."

Calvin looked at me questioningly, so I strode over to the first ship, standing under the ramp.

"This one is ours," I declared. "Not those."

As soon as I finished talking, the boy jumped up and dashed on all fours into the next nearest ship. Almost immediately, I heard a series of crashes and metal screeching as Calvin set to work sabotaging the other ships. I shook my head. What a weird kid.

Putting Calvin out of my mind, I climbed the ramp into the chosen ship, the raw skin on my knee stinging with every step. At the top of the ramp, I emerged in the ship's outer chamber, glancing around as my eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Dim red lights lit up the interior, revealing bare benches draped with tarps of ghillie netting. Up ahead, a narrow doorway led into the cockpit, equipped with what looked like a locker built straight into the doorframe. The locker was stocked with several plasma rifles, all too large to be easily wielded, and extra plasma cores. I looked them over appreciatively, then opened the door to the cockpit, entering the second and last room in the small ship.

The interior of the cockpit was pretty similar to how I'd imagined it to be, filled with panel upon panel of readouts, switches, screens, and knobs. In fact, it really wasn't all that dissimilar from my simulators...except the view was a lot better. Standing behind the pilot's seat, I had an excellent view of the hangar in front of me, allowing me to look around in almost a hundred eighty degrees. This was something you just couldn't get from a simulator.

Shaking off my giddiness, I looked down at the controls, unsure what the displays were saying. I felt the pit in my stomach sinking as I glanced at each new panel, realizing that there was very little I could actually recognize in this cockpit aside from the basics. For this specific craft, there were two seats, one for the pilot and one for the copilot, both with a higher seat and back than I was used to. I sat down in the pilot's seat and adjusted the height, familiarizing myself with the controls. The ship seemed to have automated hover systems, which meant the ship was controlled by a wheel rather than a traditional joystick. The altitude console was a lever to the side, similar to a gear shift.

"Okay, Charlie," I told myself. "You know this. You can do this. Just like your models back at home. Except a lot more complicated and in a foreign language."

I glanced up, searching for the panel that held the controls for the negative drive. All interstellar ships were equipped with some version of a negative drive, allowing them to ride the space highways and travel to places that would normally take too long to reach by light speed. I didn't see it, so I searched the nearby panels, scouring all of them.

"Uh oh," I muttered. Maybe I'd missed it. After all, they were all labeled in Krakoshan.

I dove to the floor, working the mechanism to open the maintenance hatch there. When I opened it, I poked my head into the dark room beneath, flipping the light switch to examine the parts. I saw the engines, the generators, and a locker that contained the hardware for the ship's computers...but no negative drive.

"Uh oh," I repeated, slamming the hatch shut.

A noise on the ship's ramp alerted me and I quickly ducked behind my chair, drawing my plasma pistol again. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Calvin's small face poke into the cockpit curiously, followed quickly by the rest of the little boy. He hopped into the copilot's seat, spinning around and staring at all the panels with the kind of awed look only someone his age could have.

"We got a problem, Calvin," I said, strapping myself in. Seeing me adjust the straps, Calvin reached around and began to strap himself in too, watching me carefully.

"This ship doesn't have a negative drive. You know what that means?"

The boy stared back. I reached over and toggled one of the knobs, hoping it was the one that started the engine. The ship didn't respond, so I whacked the console, flipping every other switch in the same panel that seemed like the ignition. There was no way of being sure since everything was labeled in Krakoshan, but it looked like the right panel and I'd seen enough pictures and played enough flight simulators to make an educated guess. To my relief, I was able to get the engine running on the fourth try, earning me a wide grin from Calvin.

"We're still in trouble," I told him. "This ship won't get us home."

I waved a hand, gesturing at the panels around us.

"If there isn't a negative drive, that means we can't go very far in space. If we can't take a space highway, we're going to have to travel at sublight speed, and while that may be fast, it could take us millions of years to reach home."

Calvin gave me a sharp look at those words and I nodded.

"Yeah, we're in trouble," I sighed. "Tanvir and Bekah aren't going to like this."

Suddenly, the shadows around the hangar doors began to writhe, swirling and twisting as if they were alive. I felt a moment of panic, my heartbeat racing, and then the doors were sliding open, Tanvir dashing inside amidst flying plasma rounds. Bekah followed close behind, narrowly avoiding being struck herself.

I immediately punched the altitude lever, revving the ship's engine in place.

"Oops, my bad," I muttered, pawing around for the throttle.

A second later, I had the ship lurching unsteadily forward, dragging the landing stabilizers along the ground.

"Calvin!" I shouted. "Make sure they get on safely!"

The boy slapped the release on his harness, obediently dashing toward the back. By now, we were clear of the hangar doors, far enough into the open that I felt we could take off. I felt sweat beading on my palms and forehead from both anxiety and fear. Just as the rear cleared the hangar, I reached back for the altitude lever, increasing the power to the wing turbines. Immediately, the ship kicked up, taking off and flying high into the sky. I pushed the ship harder, forcing it to gain altitude as fast as it could allow. The distraction should have damaged the anti-aircraft guns, but if they missed even one, this plan of ours could be over quickly. Whatever I did, we needed as much altitude as possible to give us a chance.

"Punch it!" Tanvir shouted from behind me.

I ignored him, flipping several switches on the dash until I heard the familiar whir of the ground stabilizers retracting into the hull. While doing so, I risked a glance backwards, almost sighing in relief to see all three of my friends climbing into the cockpit with me. Assured that my teammates were safe, I jerked the wheel, banking the ship around to head in a random direction.

Something started to beep at me on the dashboard, one of the panels flashing. I glanced at it, cursing my lack of knowledge of Krakoshan, but I couldn't figure out what it was right away. Was it a stress meter? Or maybe a warning for the ramp? Did I turn the ship too fast and break something? Maybe it was an altitude meter, and we'd gone too high. Or maybe-

Something slammed into our ship, throwing me sideways and jarring me in my harness. I couldn't see the explosion, but I heard the shrapnel flying around the cockpit. The others weren't strapped in so they toppled against the wall on my right, screaming. A new panel started beeping, and an alarm on the ship began to blare.

"We're hit!" I shouted. "We've been hit!"

The ship lurched and started to spin, causing a weightless feeling to take over. The world outside the windshield spun wildly, and I was vaguely aware of the others flying around the room, trying to grab hold of something. Smoke obscured the windshield, but I didn't bother to glance outside. My grip on the wheel was so tight, my knuckles looked pale, but I knew the ship was already lost.

Fumbling along the dashboard, I jammed at the throttle, pushing the ship to put as much distance between us and the airfield while we were still in the air. As our velocity began to pick up, the ship's gyroscope kicked in, forcing the ship back onto our previous course. While the others were crumpling to the floor, I pushed the altitude lever up some more, demanding more power from the turbines. There was no way to be sure, but the ship's speed immediately increased, telling me I was on the right track.

Now that we were moving, I allowed myself a moment of relief. We were now flying dead in the air, and the only reason we hadn't crashed yet was because the ship was aerodynamic enough to glide. But we hadn't crashed.

"Brace yourselves!" I shouted, unsure if the others could hear me over the blaring. "We're gonna go down!"

"What?" Bekah shouted back, but I didn't bother answering.

I reached over to the controls I'd used to control the ground stabilizers, throwing open all the flaps and hatches to slow our descent as I leveled out the wings manually with the wheel, creating as much air resistance as I could between our ship and the ground. The same treetops which had seemed so soft before now appeared as a thorny runway, and my memory quickly flashed back toward the ship Tanvir had taken down earlier. The pilots hadn't made it, and they had crashed going much slower and from a lower altitude than us. We weren't going to make it.

I closed my eyes just before we impacted with the treetops, barely noticing as the shadows in the cockpit stirred to life. Strings of shadow whipping around the cockpit's windshield suddenly drew taut, protecting us in a tight shield. Behind me, I heard Tanvir scream in pain, then we made contact with the trees, ploughing straight through the upper canopy. Through the blanket of darkness, I could hear the wind howling, as branches and trunks alike splintered under the sheer weight of our vessel. Something snagged our wings, tearing them off with a terrible screeching sound.

As the wings came off, so did our speed, throwing me forward into my straps. My chest tightened painfully, forcing out any breath I had in my lungs before the ship lurched forward again, this time smashing into the ground. An oddly satisfying rumble drowned out the blaring alarms and I was again thrown against my straps, testing them to their limit. Before I could recover, the rear thrusters gave out, slamming me back in my seat as the ship came to an abrupt stop.

"Ow," I groaned, dragging out the sounds.

Undoing my straps, I fell out of my seat onto the cold floor of the cockpit, barely supporting myself on sore elbows. Looking around the cockpit, I noticed Calvin was clinging tightly to the back of the copilot's chair, looking shaken but otherwise unharmed. Bekah and Tanvir lay on the floor barely moving.

"No..." I gasped, dragging myself up.

I stumbled over to my friends, flipping Bekah over. She groaned, brushing my hand away as she pushed herself onto her knees, her arms shaking.

"The kid," she protested, waving away my attempts to help her.

Calvin's grip on the chair was tight enough to turn his knuckles white, and it took a little gentle prodding for me to finally pry his fingers off the chair, leaving behind imprints on the upholstery. The boy clung tightly around my neck as I lowered him to the floor. Thankfully, he seemed alright, shaking his head slowly when I asked if he was hurt. It only took a few seconds, but by the time I'd finished, Bekka was already calling to me. 

"Charlie," she said. "We've got a problem."

"What?" I asked, crawling over.

That's when I saw the blood.

"Tanvir's down," Bekah said. "We gotta get him out of here. Now."

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