The next day, as they approached the space station, Urkis chirped. “Incoming message, status urgent.”

  “Let’s hear it.” Long John slid into the co-pilot’s seat.

  “Attention unidentified ship. Identify yourself. You have fifteen seconds to respond or be destroyed.” The voice was clipped and business-like, brooking no nonsense.

  Long John tapped a button. “This is the Don Quixote, requesting permission to land. We have an urgent communication for the Council of the Coalition of Planets.”

  “We know who you are, Captain Queeg. What are you trying to pull?”

  Crystal leaned over his shoulder. “This is Crystal Aris, captain of Bragazza security. I’ve been sent by my government on the planet Hejmo with a message for the Council. Captain Queeg has been kind enough to provide me with transport since my ship was hijacked.”

  Silence followed. Long John could picture the flurry of conversations her words would have provoked. He smirked. “At least they’ve stopped threatening to blow us up.”

  She sighed. “Bureaucrats. The same on every planet.”

  The speaker came to life. “Proceed to dock 14 and prepare to exit your ship, minus weapons. Is that understood?”

  “Roger,” said Long John. “Thanks for your hospitality,”

  Crystal nudged him. “Don’t get snarky. We can’t afford to make enemies.”

  “I’m afraid I already have. But maybe you can distance yourself from us.”

  The Don Quixote slid into Dock fourteen, which he noticed was a high security dock, surrounded by towers manned by snipers.

  He stood up and looked at his crew, who stared back at him with anxious expressions. It’s not easy to read the expression on a spider’s face, but he had mastered it after several weeks. He shook his head, uncertain what to say.

  “Listen, guys. I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I’m probably getting arrested. I’d like to tell you to take off on your own, but I don’t want to lose my ship. So can you just hang on a while, till I can get it sorted out?”

  They all nodded. “We wait,” Limpet said. “Come back, we go.”

  “All right. Thanks, guys.”

  Crystal was watching their interaction in amazement. “I’ll go first,” she said. “Don’t want anyone getting shot.”

  With a bow, he let her lead the way. She exited the airlock, and he followed. Outside, a contingent of soldiers waited.

  A colonel stepped forward and saluted. “Ma’am.”

  “It’s Captain Aris, actually.” She returned his salute. “And this is—”

  “Yes. Long John Queeg, you’re under arrest for murder, piracy, kidnapping, extortion, blackmail . . . and several other crimes yet to be determined.” The colonel nodded, and soldiers approached Long John. They manacled his wrists behind him.

  “Fine,” said Long John. “Except I haven’t committed murder. That’s somebody’s invention. And I’d appreciate if you’d leave my ship and crew alone.”

  “Get him out of here.” The soldiers moved him toward the exit.

  The colonel turned to his aide. “Get that ship fumigated. No telling what it’s carrying.”

  “Hey, no!” Long John turned in protest. “My crew’s on board. You can’t—” They manhandled him out of the exit.

  He struggled and cursed as they pushed him down the corridor, but soon realized it was pointless.

  The soldiers shoved him into a room and locked the barred door after releasing him from the handcuffs. He whirled and pounded on the bars. “I need to talk to that colonel! Get him here.”

  “He’s busy,” said one guard. “Have a seat and take it easy. Making a ruckus won’t help you any.” They both left the hallway.

  Long John paced and swore to himself. He had never felt so angry. All he could think of was his crew, their bright, excited little eyes. They didn’t deserve what Attike might do to them.

  He was fuming with rage when another guard appeared, this one tall and thin with a scarred face. Drawing a deep breath, he tried for self-control.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “Take it easy,” said the guard. “You look frazzled.”

  “My crew!” he choked out.

  “Yeah, you can relax. That Captain Aris, she’s a wonder. Told your crew to lock down the ship and not open it to anyone but her or you, for starters. Then Colonel Bliss implied as how he might fumigate it through the ventilation, and she went ballistic. Cold as a glacier. Told him she’d press twenty-five attempted murder charges against him personally if he tried anything like that.

  “I’d say your crew is pretty safe right now.” He tilted his head in curiosity, “What are they, anyway? Must be pretty small to fit twenty-five in that ship.”

  “They’re—aliens,” said Long John. “Yeah, they’re small, but smart.”

  “Dwarves, huh? Must be a tight fit. Anyway, I’m supposed to let you know you’ll be up before the judge tomorrow.”

  “What’s the judge like?” asked Long John.

  “It depends. What do I know? But I’d say it doesn’t look great. You’re pretty notorious, you know. But then again, who knows what that captain will say.” He shook his head in admiration. “She’s quite a gal.”

  “Yes, she is.” Long John backed away and sat on the bed, feeling exhausted. “Quite a gal.”

  The next morning, Crystal woke in the quarters assigned to her. The Council had agreed to meet with her this morning. She showered quickly, thankful for a more spacious area than the Don Quixote afforded. She dressed in her skin suit and the silver armor over it. She didn’t think she was in any danger on Attike, but thought the armor gave her more authority. Pulling her hair back into a tight knot added to the look.

  At ten minutes to the hour, a knock came at her door. She opened it to see two guards, who saluted. “The Council is ready for you, ma’am.”

  She followed them to the meeting room, an immense circular room with one wall composed of windows that looked out over the docks. Facing her was a large table, half circular, with fifteen people sitting at it. Standing at attention, she looked them over.

  Most of them appeared to be human, but three were aliens: one was a tall leafy haired being with green skin, another was a moth-like creature with gray wings folded on his back, and the third, on the far right, was a creature who appeared to be encased in shell-like armor like an armadillo. In the center of the table sat a gray-haired man she recognized from his vids, General Grandison of the Space Force, well known for his leadership in battle. Beside him sat a handsome man with a sharp pointed nose and a green uniform decorated with many medals.

  Seeing the Council all assembled, her heart sank. In her experience, asking a committee to consider a problem was an exercise in futility. The outcome was likely to be dithering, wasted time, and diluted results. Still, she was determined to impress on them the danger facing her planet.

  The man in the green uniform spoke to her. “Greetings, Captain Aris. I am Winston Madison, Commander in chief of the space station. We understand you have a message for us from your government.”

  “Yes. System Danje sends you greetings. We have communicated with you previously, and I believe you received our messages.”

  “Please, have a seat, Captain.” Madison gestured, and a guard brought a chair and placed it for Crystal to sit.

  “Yes, we received your messages. It’s a shame you felt you had to travel all this way to speak to us in person. It really shouldn’t have been necessary.”

  Crystal folded her arms. “Your replies to us were vague. We didn’t feel you understood the full gravity of the situation. So I’ve come to convey it in person. And since I left, a colony ship has fled the system near us in fear of the encroaching creature, or force. We really need you to take action.”

  Madison glanced at General Grandison, who said, “What can you tell us about this force?”

  “We don’t know much,” said Crystal. “All we know is that systems in its path are vanishing. There are few inhabitants between the Soaring Dragon Nebula and our system, but what few there were, have disappeared. And now this fleeing colony ship has confirmed our fears. You have the starfleet capability and the manpower to intervene. We are asking you to do so. By the time we understand more about this threat, we fear it will be too late to counter it.”

  Grandison said, “But your planet has resources, scientists and starships. Why not take care of it yourselves?”

  She shook her head. “Our system is primitive compared to yours. Our science is based on what our ancestors left behind, and we haven’t gotten much beyond it. We are an agricultural society. We’re not equipped to confront whatever this danger is.”

  The armadillo-like creature on the far right spoke up. “As a scientist, I’m fascinated by this problem. I’d very much appreciate the opportunity to study it at close hand.”

  “This is Doctor Perthonogis, a glyptodont,” said Madison. “He’s an expert in extra-galactic life forms and systems.”

  The doctor leaned forward and stared keenly at Crystal. He had a pointed snout and intense sparkling eyes. “If we should send an expedition to assess this situation, I’d love to be included, Captain Aris. Would that meet with your approval?”

  “Yes, of course.” She felt herself stammering. “But I’m hoping for more than an assessment. We need warships.”

  Madison and Grandison exchanged another glance. Madison frowned. “We would like to be able to accede to your request. But we are stretched thin as it is, and sending a fleet is out of the question. We would be able to send an explorer class ship with some scientists aboard, to figure out what the situation is and how likely it is to impact civilized areas. I’m afraid that’s the best we can do at this time.”

  She clenched her fists but worked on remaining calm. “I see. We appreciate whatever you can do.”

  After the meeting, General Grandison came up to Crystal, and she looked up at his imposing height. “I’m sorry, Captain.” He shook his head. “I don’t mind saying I don’t agree with the Council. I think we should be taking your concerns much more seriously, but I can’t operate unilaterally. I will, however, put my best officer in charge of your ship, and you can take Dr. Perthonogis as well.”

  “Thank you.” She hesitated, and added, “I’d also like to request that you release Captain Queeg under my supervision. I think he would prove helpful.”

  “We can’t do that, I’m afraid. He’s about to stand trial, and will likely end up doing jail time on-planet afterwards. Attike is not fond of pirates.”

  “He’s not your average pirate, sir. He rescued me and transported me here, knowing all along what would happen to him. I suspect that he’s not guilty of a lot of the crimes he’s accused of.”

  “Only some of them? I’m sorry, Captain. No can do. I’ll get started on the ship that will take you back to your planet. I hope the expedition comes up with good news.”

  “Thank you, General.”