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Fearless

[Feer-lis]

-adjective

Without fear; bold or brave; intrepid

---***************************************---

King Perseus sighed with some frustration, observing the holographic star-map projected in the centre of the Trovian crisis-centre. He hated this, all this planning and standing around. This was for councillors and diplomats, not warriors and fighters. It was the one thing he despised about his Trovian allies. Their king had not earned his title through vote, or honour in combat. But the Spartan had learned to live with it.

King Fourys of the Trovian empire leaned closer to the star-map, pointing out red areas that dominated their galaxy. The greying collie was in expensive silken robes with glittering gold stitched in alien looking patterns. He had a crown perched atop his head as well, which seemed too cliché to the Spartan. The only thing Perseus wore to set him apart from his fellow Spartans was a crimson cloak draped over his armoured shoulder. Where it not for that and the few customisations he had made so his gear hung comfortably from his form, he would have looked identical to his fellow warriors in their signature armour bulkwarking their athletic forms.

"The Perunians are pushing on every line. We are boxed in, King Perseus, and our reserves are running low." The Trovian king now had the nerve to shoot Perseus a dirty glare. "The xenomorphs are hitting these weakened borders, and piracy is rampant 'within' our space." He then pointed down at a yellow highlighted area in a dead, derelict backwater section of the galaxy. "And now we have a sighting of deathbringers in the Hazy Veil. My daughter is missing in that area, and you want to consult your 'oracle' before you mount a rescue for us? My people are spread thin, we are getting destroyed out there, and what do the great Spartans do in our time of need for your help? You cower on Sparta, gathering armies that march nowhere."

"The word of the Oracle is sacred in our culture. Until she give us the word, Sparta does not march into battle." The Spartan said in a warning tone, which outraged the Trovian. "You complain and whimper like a bitch, as if our ways mean nothing to you."

"Watch your language, Spartan!" Fourys spat with venom. "We wouldn't even be in this position were it not for you!"

"Were it not for us your people would have been fallen with your planet ten years ago!" The Spartan king took a step forward, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword, causing the blade to rattle in the sheath. King Fourys' guard armed with energy weapons shifted uncomfortably, unsure whether to fulfil their duty and get in the Spartan's way or to feed into instinct and run away.

A gauntlet grabbed the king's shoulder and he stopped, just staring at Fourys who had taken a surprised step back. Slowly Perseus turned his head and looked at the warrior standing beside him. The lieutenant was in full dark grey Spartan armour with blue-grey highlights. His unit, rank and number, 2, were printed across his chest plate, and a sword was locked on his left hip, pistol on the right. The Spartan's face was hidden behind a grey T-shaped visor.

The king leaned closer to his lieutenant who lowered his voice and muttered something, before pointing out something on the map. Something in the Hazy Veil. Perseus slowly nodded, then turned and left, his crimson cloak swishing after him.

"I will consult the Oracle once more!" he called, dismissing himself from the crisis-centre on board the Trovian flag-ship.

"We are having a crisis, and he goes to consult an old witch!" Fourys exclaimed. "I've never been so offended..." he didn't get to finish as the Spartan lieutenant slammed both hands down on the holographic projector in the centre of the room.

Nearby personnel jolted with surprise and the star-map flickered. Two looked left and right, scanning his visor across their shocked faces, then settled on the map. The Hazy Veil, an uninteresting cluster of stars and solar systems. Lots of space dust, electromagnetic interference and dead planets. An easy area to lose yourself in. A good place to hide from the galaxy. Home to a primitive, yet promising race.

Two pointed it out, speaking shortly and softly. "This place is called Sol. In it is a planet known as Earth. If the deathbringers choose to expose the beings that live there to the rest of the galaxy, then our troubles will be over."

"Why?" King fourys snapped. "What makes these... earth-beings so special."

"Because they fight like us." The Spartan looked up at the Trovian. "And like you, their honour-less culture answers to no-one... that truly is a lethal combination. But while it has the potential to save us, it could well be the end of us all."

---***************************************---

"Uniform one this is Romeo two, give us an update, over." Isaac Addams' voice was alone in the dark forest, only the crackle of the campfire backing him up. "Uniform one, respond." He repeated.

There was no response, only eerie static that echoed through the night. Through the static he heard white noise, a wail that changed in pitch, high to low and reverberated up and down. It could have been Uniform trying to get back to him through all this mess. But Isaac couldn't be sure.

"Anything from the lads, Isaac?" one of the guys called from the campfire.

Turning away from the pitch black forest that surrounded their group of five, Isaac immediately felt the heat of the crackling fire on his face and through his goggles. With a grim look on his face, he walked closer and sat on a nearby rock, shaking his head. "I got Jack and shit. And Jack left town."

The six boys were clad in camouflage, a German woodland pattern known as flecktarn. Their trousers had hip pockets and padding in the knees, and their shirts sported a patch of a blue feathered hawk holding a pair of thunderbolts in its beak on the right arm. They wore identical olive green tac-vests, pouches stuffed with magazines and other tools they needed to survive in the wild. All of them wore different head-dress though, and had little differences in their uniform. The team leader for example, John Stock wore a camouflage bush hat and had a knife sheathed on his shoulder. Mark Cole was wearing a flecktarn bandana over his cropped hair and wore a pair of simple shooting glasses. Isaac was wearing a baseball cap and an olive green fleece over his flecktarn shirt, wearing a team patch on his chest, covered by his tac-vest.

All of them were carrying different weapons though. The designated machine gunner, Bob Horatio cradled an M249 SAW in his lap. Isaac was carrying an MP5A3 submachine gun. The team leader, John had a short barrelled M4 with a SOCOM telescopic across his back.

None of the guns were real though. 1:1 replica firearms, or AEGs as they were called. Electrically operated airsoft guns. These eighteen year olds were glorified paintballers who took war-games to a whole new level of military simulation.

The Thunderhawks team as they were called had done this a million times before. Split into two teams of five, then hunt each other down in the mountains and complete pre-determined assignments, camp overnight, and continue at first light. None of these boys were actually soldiers. They had no intention of becoming soldiers. This was their hobby. They did this for fun.

And nobody could deny, this was really fun.

Except the fact they had lost their opposing team. Their friends were lost out there somewhere and hadn't met them at the rendezvous for the overnight camp. The radios weren't working properly and the mountains were too dark for them to continue searching for their friends. John's team were forced to hunker down and continue the search in the morning.

Isaac held up his crackling radio and turned the volume down a bit. "Piece of crap." The boy cursed. Isaac didn't scare... ever. Nothing phased him and he was afraid of nothing. Fear was not in his vocabulary. Regardless, the thought of his friends being separated in such a cold night terrified him. What if someone was hurt? What if the other team were all hurt?

"Don't look too worried." the machine gunner, Bob said, seeing the look on Isaac's face. "Julie and her team are hard-core. They're better at this than we are."

One of the other boys chuckled. Dirk Wall held up the metal cup of tea he'd brewed over their fire in a toast. "Fuckin' A."

"I'm kinda worried about the weird noises I'm hearing on the radio." Isaac tucked his radio away and cradled his MP5 in his lap. "It's like the aliens are landing."

"Oh, that was your hot-ass limey mom I was doing up the ass earlier, Isaac." Dirk joked earning the finger from Isaac.

"Scumbag." Mark chuckled with a hint of his usual impatient tone. He didn't sound like an asshole though, and he was definitely a nice guy, but he was lacking in the patience department. "Is sex all you think about?"

"It's not all I think about!" Dirk shot with an offended tone in his voice. In the same breath he continued on to say: "By the way, did you guys see Sinead from our class? What a slut! I'd be hitting that shit right now if I wasn't busy out here taking care of you retards."

That comment was met by much light-hearted disapproval, and several handfuls of dirt thrown at the boy.

"Keep talking, Dirk." Isaac laughed. "We all know you're going to grow up a lonely virgin who beats himself off while watching Desperate Housewives and singing: I'm an Oscar-Meyer wiener."

"Hey, look who's talking, mister I've never had a girlfriend." Dirk humorously shot back. "How many chicks have you banged?"

"Does your mommy know you talk like that?" Isaac threw back.

The group laughed, before Bob spoke up. "No, but seriously, Isaac. Guy like you must have hot tail coming out the wazoo."

Isaac chuckled and shrugged. He wasn't an ugly guy, then again he was no Nathan Fillion. But in a generation of teen girls who saw that creepy, pale, sparkly douche from the Twilight movies as the embodiment of handsome, Isaac had a damn good chance of making it with the girls. An average height teen, lean and athletic with light skin he had short matte black hair and dark blue eyes you could get lost in. And since Isaac went to a different school to these guys, they knew little to nothing about his love-life.

"Nope, no girls coming out the wazoo. Never had a girlfriend." Without looking Isaac tossed a clump of moss at Dirk. "I'm still a virgin." He said it so confidently, like he didn't care about what others thought of him. The fact of the matter was, he couldn't give a fucking-rat's-ass about what others thought of him. "Sex doesn't seem that great to me."

There was a sudden uproar. Dirk went mad, spouting inarticulate arguments. Bob and Mark laughed and complained at the same time. John immediately tried to calm them down, wanting to hear more.

"Alright, lads. Shut the fuck up!" John called, his voice echoing through the dark forest. "I'm sensing some good shit. Put a sock in it!" as soon as they shut up, John looked sideways at Isaac. "Okay, inspire me."

"Alright." Isaac nodded, explaining himself. "Sex is the act of reproduction. It's not a hobby, or a privilege, it's a duty we as mammals need to perform to further our species. It is us, the spoilt generation who are in awe of its mystery, who make a huge hype about it. This hype feeds into the thought of inadequacy if we do not achieve this by the time we reach the legal age. Then there are the restrictions. Back in the day we knew by instinct when we were ready to reproduce. Now and days we need laws to tell us when to and when not to fuck. Everything sex related is so censored that sex continues to hold a mystery that we become so obsessed with that we want to perform the act before our bodies or minds are even ready for it. I'd hate to conform to that line of thinking, so when I lose my virginity, it has to be with someone special." Isaac shrugged. "But that's just me."

They were all quiet. Not even dirk had anything to say to that.

Eventually Bob smiled and nodded. "The spoilt generation... I like that."

Dirk raised his tea as he had done earlier; toasting his comrade who had made an interesting argument. "Fuckin' A." he repeated.

They were quiet for a whole minute before Mark sat up suddenly.

"Right, so Dirk and I were heading to class on Friday, right?" The boy said in a quick voice. "Biggest, fuck-off guy you could have ever imagined runs us over, then the douche-bag demands an apology..."

What happened next, none of them were expecting to happen.

It fell in their midst, landing with a heavy thump right on top of the fire, causing flames to lick outward and a million sparks shoot into the air before spiralling off into the wind. The chunk of wet meat, covered in blood splattered outward, speckling all five boys with crimson fluid.

They all cried out and leapt up, jumping away. Somebody yelled: "Fucking cow!" but in the commotion it was impossible to tell who. More out of shock than anything else, Mark lifted his Steyr AUG A1 replica and pulled the trigger back all the way. The weapon clicked and whined, sounding like some kind of broken sewing machine as it spat little white pellets into the chunk of glistening cow. There were still tufts of black and white fur and strips of hide hanging from what looked like a bit of rear end. Splintered bone stuck out here and there and deep lacerations cut into the gory flesh. It was gut wrenching to look at, and that didn't even cover the smell.

As Mark emptied his mag, he realised John was yelling at him. "Hold your fire, damn it!" the team leader ordered, frosty professionalism in his voice. "You're firing pellets at a dead bit of meat." He looked sideways at Isaac who had his own AEG shouldered and was sweeping the high ground and dark tree-tops. The torch mounted in his Airsoft gun's front grip cut a powerful white beam of light through the darkness, but there was nothing to see but forest. "Anything?"

"Nothing." Isaac muttered in a steady voice. Whereas the others were shaking from shock and adrenaline, Isaac took it in and used it to channel himself.

"The fuck, man!" Mark snapped as he moved closer and inspected the chunk of cow now roasting on the little remnants of their fire. "How the hell is that normal?"

"Spontaneous combustion cow?" Bob suggest, before analysing that thoroughly for himself. "Err... maybe not."

"A bear could have killed it." Dirk looked around nervously, causing Isaac to snap up his weapon again.

"There are no bears around here." John snapped.

"Well some kind of animal. Y'know, could have escaped from the zoo or something?" Dirk retaliated. That didn't settle anyone's nerves.

But as usual, John knew exactly what to say. "Yeah, well if that is the case Mark's little negligent discharge would have spooked them. Any kind of animal that could have done this is now long gone."

"So," Dirk started saying slowly as he sat down again and wiped the droplets of blood from his sleeve. "Does that kind of negligent discharge happen to you often, Mark?"

Sitting down cautiously, weapon held tight, Mark muttered angrily: "Blow me."

"We'll sleep in shifts, to be sure." John continued. "Isaac, you take first watch?"

Cool and precise, Isaac slowly nodded. "I got it. You guys get some sleep. I'll wake you in two hours, Mark."

The others nodded, found their backpacks and curled up for the night.

---***************************************---

First light. The sun was peeking over the mountainous horizon. The forests and fields were ablaze with autumn colours. The skies were clear and a few banks of humid mist rose from the cold, moist earth.

The Airsofters had packed up and started moving the moment the sun had risen. They had to find Julie and their other friends. Radios were still dead so they had to do it the old fashioned way. Walking and shouting. But soon enough that had come to a halt.

Isaac had made them sit still and quiet as the grave for about five minutes before he called John up to the front of the formation with a set of quiet hand-signals. The team leader jogged up to the front of the line and sat down beside Isaac, both of them looking down into a small valley. At the very bottom of the slope, through the brightly coloured autumn leaves they saw stacks of black crates arranged in a semi-circle, back to a pile of upturned roots where a tree had fallen, forming a back-wall of wood and moist dirt.

"What's that?" John asked in a whisper.

Isaac knew exactly. "Army stash. A mobile outpost or comms relay of some sort." He pointed out the large satellite dish sticking out of the ground beside the armoured crates to the left flank. "That is specialised division grade. And judging by the crates and computers, they got some serious hardware down there. Guns and computers alike."

"Should we go down and introduce ourselves?" John asked softly.

"Normally, considering our current predicament I'd say yes." Isaac nodded. "These guys would gladly help us find the other team so we could clear off quicker and let them do whatever they're doing out here."

"You're sure?"

"It's what I'd do." Isaac said with a firm nod. "But something's off. We've been here five minutes and I haven't seen any signs of life. There should be three sentries... at least. They'd never abandon this kind of gear. Never in a civilian area. They'd either pack up and take it with them or destroy it."

John gave Isaac an odd look. "How do you know so much about this kind of stuff? You're not making it up, are you?"

Isaac smirked and shook his head. "If I told you I'd be boring and you wouldn't want to hang out with me anymore."

John chuckled, then twirled his finger upward in and circular motion, indicating the others to get ready to move. "Let's go check it out, so."

Isaac nodded, then stood and slid down the slick, mucky hill to the outpost below. The others followed a few metres, spread out behind.

They reached the bottom and moved into the semi-circle of crates. Some were lying open, revealing MP5 submachine guns identical to Isaac's replica alongside countless fully loaded magazines. Moving through the outpost he looked but didn't touch anything... not yet at least.

"Whoa!" Bob said loudly standing in front of a large cube shaped crate. The top was open to reveal a built in scree and keyboard. "That's a big fucking radio."

"Don't touch anything." Isaac reminded them.

"Yes, mom." Mark was standing over an M4 carbine that lay abandoned in the dirt beside several other real firearms. Around them were empty shell casings and a few spent magazines.

"So where are the guys that own this shit?" Dirk knelt beside Mark and picked up one of the empty 5.56 shells.

"All over the place." John's voice suddenly said.

The team leader was standing just outside the circle of the crates, looking behind the upturned roots that formed the rear wall. Isaac immediately moved to his side and saw what he saw.

Immediately the boy pulled a face.

Mark walked up behind them and retched, closing a fist over his mouth and holding back the contents of his stomach. "Sausages." He muttered.

Entrails were everywhere, draped over the dead bark of the fallen tree and tangled and knotted all over the forest floor. But there weren't just entrails. There were heads, faces twisted in agony and half torn from bloodied skulls. There were hands, fingers, feet, arms, jagged and splintered bones smeared with blood. Organs were strewn alongside the miles of intestine, stomachs, livers, pancreas. Isaac didn't even know what a pancreas did, never mind what it looked like.

"Our wild animal has a fussy taste." John said, burping up his breakfast. He didn't get sick, but like Isaac, he probably felt the need to vomit. Both boys kept their stomachs under control however.

"An animal didn't do this." Isaac said. "There would be parts missing."

"How can you tell there are no parts missing?"

"Look at this shit!" Mark yelled, pointing at the mess. "There are too many parts!"

They both turned when Bob cried out: "Hey, fellas! Check this out." He removed his ABS helmet and scratched his shorn hair. "I found the rest of the cow."

The rest of the cow that had attacked them in the night was indeed laying slain in a ditch, torn apart and hanging open like a rotting wound.

"What the fuck is going on here, boss?" Dirk muttered to John.

The boy merely shrugged.

Suddenly the ground shook. In the distance was a wail that sounded like a deep trumpet. It was loud, rumbling and shook the leaves on the trees all around them. The Airsofters looked around, startled, wondering what that could be. And as quickly as the noise started, it ended again. It was unlike anything they had ever heard, like it didn't belong on their world.

Isaac had made up his mind. Now was the time for drastic action. Entering the circle of crates, he undid his one-point sling clasp and placed the Classic Army brand MP5 AEG aside. That was probably three hundred euros he'd never see again, but he'd rather lose any amount of money rather than his life. Next he opened up the pouches on his tac-vest and pulled out all the wind-up magazines. The BBs inside rattled noisily as they were tossed to the ground and replaced by the thin, sickle shaped magazines containing 9mm parabellum rounds. The other boys watched him stuff away fifteen mags into his vest, pulling out all sort of other equipment he knew he wouldn't need, from a rubber bayonet to pyrotechnic grenades that scattered plastic pellets, and replaced them with as many MP5 magazines containing live ammunition as he could. He kept his noise and flash grenades though. On detonation, these fireworks acted like a very weak flashbang grenade, which would probably come in handy as a distraction device. Next he picked up one of the heavy plastic and metal MP5A2 submachine guns laying in the crates. Like his AEG, this weapon was proportioned the same and sported a powerful LED torch in the front grip.

He pulled the cocking handle back and up, locking it in place, checked the chamber, then picked up another sickle-mag and slotted it into the weapon's narrow magwell.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Mark asked, watching Isaac operate the weapon with such ease, it was as if he'd done it all before.

"Do you really think whatever tore that cow and these soldiers apart is very friendly?" Isaac asked them. "And do you really think we'll be able to defend ourselves with Airsoft guns?"

The others looked at each other nervously.

"Whatever attacked these guys is deadly and dangerous. It took out a whole squad of experienced soldiers." Isaac said. "Now we obviously don't stand too much of a chance, but if I'm going to die horribly, I'm going to go down kicking and fucking screaming." He slapped the cocking handle of the MP5 with the edge of his hand and let it slide forward, chambering the first round with a satisfying 'clack.' "Whaddaya say?"

John nodded, dropping his M4 and magazines, replacing it with an MP5 like Isaac's. The others hesitated for a moment until Mark jolted them into action, tossing his Steyr and snatching up the nearest M4 assault rifle.

Together, the boys geared up, using what little knowledge of firearms they had accumulated from using their Airsoft versions and reading on the internet to get ready. They had no idea what was waiting for them out there, but they had unanimously decided to be ready for it, whatever it was.

Ready, shouldering his new weapon, finger on the trigger guard and thumb resting on the cam-shaped safety lever, Isaac moved out of the circle of crates. He was prepared to walk into Hell... but nothing on 'Earth' could have prepared him for what happened next.

The sun seemed to fade, like a thick cloud slid across the sky. The sudden change of light took Isaac by surprise. And then out of nowhere, all light was replaced by an ominous, dark green glow. Beams of lime light danced from above, gliding across the forest floor, piercing right through trees and foliage. One beam cut across Isaac's path and actually made a 'whoosh' noise, forcing the boy back a step. Isaac whirled around and saw his friends looking up at the sky. Isaac followed his friends' gazes and felt his eyes widen behind his goggles.

Isaac had never been properly scared in his life. What he saw terrified the ever-loving shit out of him.

Bright light came down from the sky. Wind parted the trees and canopy, and whipped at Isaac's fatigues. It nearly tore his hat off. Orbs of light flickered in the sky, glowing and dancing. Beyond that he could only just about make out solid material. Like a sleek hull of some sort. What was it? Isaac couldn't tell. But his instinct screamed a single word in the back of his mind.

"Spaceship!"

A green pillar of light connected with each of the Airsofters. Dirk cried out as he was jerked up into the air, flailing his arms and legs wildly. Then he started disappearing. His limbs first, evaporating into green little dots that spiralled up and flew like sparks above a campfire. Soon the boy disappeared in entirety... and the green light started sucking up the others.

Isaac cried out at the top of his lungs, aiming his submachine gun up at the orbs of light and squeezing back the trigger. The weapon coughed and kicked, pissing ammo and empty shells over his shoulder. Bullets flew up into the light, but didn't seem to hit anything. It was as if the bullets evaporated into thin air.

Isaac felt a jerk shudder his bones. The light pulled at his weapon, trying to jerk it out of his hands. He held it tight, the sling wrapped around his torso still. Groaning, he pulled back, his hiking boots sliding across the slick ground as he was pulled forward. Soon enough he couldn't pull anymore as the invisible hand pulling away his weapon lifted Isaac clean off the ground. He kicked and cursed loudly, but it did no good.

Thinking quickly Isaac let go of the MP5A2 and slipped out of the sling around his torso. Immediately he fell to the ground and readied himself to drop to a crouch to absorb the shock of landing... but the ground never came.

Isaac's descent suddenly changed into an ascent, and losing balance he rolled and somersaulted as a million tiny hands pulled him up into the light, tearing his very being apart molecule by molecule. Pain ripped across his entire body. Bits he didn't even know he had were in agony as he fell apart. He watched his hands evaporate into pixels, skin first, then the muscle and tissue underneath, and finally the bones and marrow. It moved up his arms and legs, everything organic and synthetic, including his clothes evaporating into little green fireflies sucked up into the sky.

Isaac screamed in pain, staring out into space. Before long his voice died as everything else evaporated around his eyes. Soon all thought ended. Finally, his eyes went, and all his sentience could register was darkness...

---***************************************---

Steel on his wrists. The cold mist clammy on his skin. An aching that itched his skin, but he was unable to scratch. His eyes were sore and dry, and he had to labour and cry out in pain to keep them open. Blinking hard a few times he found his focus and managed to keep them open without them hurting too bad. But when they opened, he wished he'd kept them shut.

All around him was a blur of motion as he strafed sideways on some kind of automated carriage. His arms were bound above his head, and he was pressed flat against a vertical metal stretcher hanging on rails above his head. He was moving fast, air rushing past his ears doing little to block out the ambient sounds. Voices, human voices, screaming in agony, gargling pleas and praying loudly. It didn't end, and went on and on and on, a million voices all pleading and shouting at once, one over the other.

Tugging at his hands, Isaac looked up. He was thoroughly strapped down in dirty and blood stained shackles that moulded around his hands. He was also naked. He looked down at himself to realise he had been stripped of everything, including his dignity, exposed entirely to the reflective surface that whizzed by a metre directly in front of him.

Isaac looked to his right and saw a stranger on the stretcher beside him, a plump woman with tangled hair that looked like trailer-part trash plucked straight out of bed. She still had a lime green curler tangled in her hair, and the grotesque looking woman was squirming as she screamed incoherently in a foreign language. It sounded like a mixture of French and German.

Isaac looked left and saw a familiar face. John, just as naked as the others, desperately pulling at his binds.

"John!" Isaac shouted over the woman's screaming. "What the fuck is going on?"

John looked sideways with frosty eyes. "Isaac! I don't know. See if you can break the binds, we gotta get the fuck off this thing!"

Isaac pulled again, twisting his arms and hands, but it was no good. They weren't going anywhere.

Suddenly the ride came to a halt, and John was first in line hanging over a dark pit below. There were more noises coming from the pit. Factory noises, hissing hydraulics and the whine of power tools to go with the squelch of wet flesh. Whatever was down there couldn't have been good.

Then there were flashes of light, like camera flashes. They flickered in quick succession, nearly blinding the entire row of people. On the final flash black dots exploded in Isaac's vision. He blinked hard and forced himself to focus as the reflective surface in front of him turned transparent. Beyond the clear pane of what he assumed was glass were walkways, blinking displays and service lights in the organic looking corridors of light pink flesh with thick, pulsating crimson veins running across the smooth, wet walls.

Walking on the metal gantries were aliens. Tall, about six and a half feet, they stood on two legs and had two arms, with two more smaller claspers on their abdomen. Tall and creepy, these insectoids had flat heads with antennae and big green eyes, a black exo-skeleton and wings folded across their backs. Their limbs were spindly with red barbs on the back of the wrists, and three digit claspers. The aliens were walking around on patrol, or were inspecting the newcomers like farmers inspected newborn cattle, eying up every detail.

"What the fuck are you things?" John yelled at the alien directly in front of him. "What do you want from us?"

The alien in front of John was manning a console of some sort, his left hand hovering over a panel. This one was different from the others however. This one had luminescent markings across the face, and a distinct X shape on the forehead. The alien merely inspected John, then palmed the panel.

John's stretcher de-coupled from the rails and sank several feet into the pit below before jerking to a halt. Isaac could only watch in silence as the sounds of power tools below grew louder and louder.

John squirmed... and then suddenly a long black tube shot out of the darkness. The thick tube slammed into the boy's bare stomach and made a wet, wailing sound. It pierced the skin in one blow, forcing all the air out of John's lungs, causing waves of blood to spill out of his mouth. The whining and screeching went on, and pinned to the metal stretcher, John's handholds let go. The boy immediately gripped the tube, screaming in pain. Two more thinner spikes shot out of the darkness, both slamming deep into John's chest, piercing the skin and splattering blood everywhere. There was the noise of suction, and then Isaac realised the spikes were hollow and transparent, as he saw thick blood and tissue work its way down through them.

"Aaaargh, c'mon you fucking pussy!" John managed to scream between agony. "Is that all you fucking got, faggot! Get on with it, asshole! Do your worst you cock-sucking piece of murdering shit! You'd best finish me off or I'll fucking have you! You hear me! I'll fucking kill you!"

John screamed again as the alien merely stared at him, and the boy was dragged down into the darkness.

"JOHN!" Isaac had been yelling all the time through the sick display, yanking at his restraints and rocking his stretcher. "NOOOO!"

Next, Isaac could only hear John's dying screams through the gruesome noises of tearing flesh. The blood smeared platform rose again and rolled further down the track empty. Isaac rolled into position next, and the alien inspected him.

Isaac didn't say anything. He just stared deep into the alien's eyes, not showing any emotion. There wasn't a hint of fear perspiring from the boy. Just stone cold defiance. He wouldn't give this creature the satisfaction of his fear.

The alien stared for a long time, hand hovering over the panel, watching Isaac hang there quietly. Isaac was biding his time, hoping for an opportunity to get loose. And when that opportunity came, Isaac would kill this alien. If let loose, Isaac would tear this whole god-damn place apart just to find this murdering piece of shit.

And perhaps that is what amused the alien. It had never seen a human gaze so calmly into certain death before... so the alien never touched the panel. It merely shifted its hand to another button and touched down.

Isaac's stretcher jolted into motion, continuing down the track and sliding off into a dark corridor.

"I'll find you, asshole!" Isaac cried as he disappeared down the next tunnel. "If I have to tear this whole fucking place apart bit by fucking bit I'll find you! Do you hear me?"

Isaac travelled in darkness for a while, before the stretcher twisted ninety degrees and he saw light at the end of the tunnel. White light washed over him, and the human boy had to blink hard again. Next he found himself in a massive chamber. Above him was a network of tram-rails with the core covered stretchers moving all over. There were other people, old and young hanging by their wrists speeding all around, crisscrossing over each other. And below him were open topped cells, high walled cubicles made out of some kind of mixture of metal, wire and flesh. The walls all over were a fusion of organic material and metal with tubes and wires sticking out here and there. It all pulsed, like this whole place was alive.

Isaac suddenly stopped and the binds holding his wrist let go. Isaac slipped from his cold metal stretcher and fell five metres into the cubicle directly below him. The soft, fleshy floor absorbed the impact and the boy grunted, landing on his side. The stretcher took off again as Isaac backed his way into a corner, avoiding the shadows in the opposite corner of the cell. God only knew what waited for him there.

On the far end of his new prison was an archway blocked off by a faint bleu force-field. Outside in the hall he could see an alien patrolling the corridors. He was definitely in a holding cell now. Why, he didn't know. How to get out... he had no idea.

Isaac trembled in the cold air, burying his face in his hands. He started reviewing what he knew, and quietly pooled what resources he had at his disposal. He went off into a soft mumble that not even the extremely sensitive hearing of his cell-mate could understand.

Soft footsteps on the wet, fleshy floor caught Isaac's attention and he quickly snapped up his gaze, fists clenched and muscles tensed, ready to fight. He found himself looking directly at another alien. But at the same time, her appearance was more familiar to the human than that of the other aliens.

She was female, he could tell so much from the anatomy. Slender figure, wide hips, a pair of breasts, and thanks to her nakedness, he could very clearly see just by looking between her legs she was definitely a woman. As for her appearance, she may have been bipedal, but she was definitely not human. She was an anthropomorphic canine. Covered in silky, orange-brownish fur with white on her chest, between her breasts and on the insides of her legs, the tall, slim vixen was a little taller than Isaac and had bottle green eyes with long wavy crimson hair that went down past her shoulders. Her fur was matted here and there, un-groomed, and her hair was a little tangled. She'd obviously been here a while, a day at the very least.

"Please," the vixen said in clear English, holding out her hands as she carefully stepped closer. "I mean you no harm. Do not be alarmed."

"And what the fuck are you?" Isaac yelled a little louder and angrier than he intended. She was in a cell, which obviously meant she was a captive too. He shouldn't have been angry at her.

"My name is Tia Fourys." The vixen said gently in a soothing voice, kneeling in front of the human. "I am an ambassador of the Trovian Empire. I am a captive, just as you are."

Isaac lowered his hands, but didn't quite let his guard down. With a sigh, he nodded and calmed himself down. It was no easy task, but he managed it before uttering a soft apology. "I'm sorry."

"It is alright." The Trovian, Tia reached out and placed a warm hand on Isaac's thigh. He recoiled slightly under her touch, but had nowhere to go. He also figured it impolite to brush her away. "What is your name?"

"Isaac." The boy said. "Isaac Addams... err... a human nobody."

"Human?" Tia gave a small smile. "From what I've seen, no human is ever a nobody."

"You know what a human is?" Isaac asked.

Tia nodded. "My people do a survey on the human race annually to see if you are ready for first contact... I guess this means you are ready."

"I don't think anybody could be ready for this." Isaac looked around. "How long have you been here?"

"A day." Tia sighed. "They threw me in here, fed me, but that is all I have seen so far."

"Great." Isaac suddenly rose to his feet and walked past the Trovian, much to her surprise. She must have figured he'd be embarrassed because they were both naked, but this human didn't seem to care. "Well there has to be a way out of here." He looked up at the three metre high walls. Not exactly high, but they were slick and smooth, impossible to scale on one's own. But even if he made it over the wall, then what? He was naked and unarmed.

"Tia." Isaac turned on the spot as the Trovian stood to her full height. He inspected her for a moment, and wasn't particularly discreet about it. As the vixen nervously rubbed her arm, Isaac noted she was quite athletic. "Do you think you could give me a boost over this wall?"

Tia slowly nodded. "I could. You do not look very heavy."

"Neither do you." Isaac noted. "Once on top I can lift you up and over. How much of the layout of this place do you know?"

"None. But I can read their language." Tia added, impressed at how level headed and calm this boy was remaining. It was an incredible sight, to see such bravery in the face of such horrors.

"Can you navigate us to some clothes and weapons once we get out?" Isaac asked.

Tia nodded quickly.

"Great. If you come over here I'll show you a great way of..." Isaac was about to teach her a good way of giving him a boost that would be quick and spare her spending all her energy when the force-field, suddenly evaporated and flickered out of existence.

A single alien walked in. An insectoid identical to all the others.

Isaac cried out, leaping forward and catching the alien by surprise.

He landed on top of the creature and pinned it down, screeching and flailing. Avoiding the sharp claws, Isaac straightened up, lifted a hand and brought it down in a fist. The blow hit the insect in the face, snapping its head back into the ground with a sickening smack. The alien went limp, completely unconscious and still breathing softly. He straightened up to take a shuddering breath before he looked up at the Trovian who watched in a mixture of shock and awe.

"Are..." Tia moved a little closer. "Are you a soldier?"

Isaac shook his head.

"Are you going to kill it?" Tia asked inspecting the unconscious alien

"Not unless we're going to eat it. C'mon." he waved her over as he stepped out of the cell and looked both ways before crossing the corridor.

Tia followed him out as they inspected alien glyphs painted in luminescent green paint on the opposite wall. They were swirly and irregular, and Isaac couldn't hope to understand any kind of word out of it.

"Which way out of here?" Isaac asked.

"This word loosely means storage." Tia pointed at one of the middle glyphs. "The chamber where they store the things they took from us... that way." She pointed down the corridor and Isaac took the lead.

They followed the grid layout of the interconnecting corridors between the cell blocks of four. They passed empty cells, cells holding a single unidentifiable being, cells crammed with humans, cells holding the gory remnants of some sort of feast, cells containing what looked like a cross breed of a wolf and a dinosaur. The combinations went on.

As they walked cautiously onward, keeping an eye out for the sparse patrol, Isaac asked a question itching his brain.

"What are these things?"

"My people call them 'Deathbringers.' They have plagued the galaxy since the beginning of time." Tia explained. "My people have fought them, banished them from the worlds under our protection, but there is only so much we can do. We fight a losing battle against these monsters and the other horrors that plague our galaxy. From what we have learned, they need living beings to turn into slaves or food to feed their hive, this ship."

"Jesus." Isaac muttered, looking up at the high ceiling of the prison chamber. "How come they haven't ravaged Earth before?"

"They have... they do." Tia sighed with regret. "Don't tell me you haven't heard stories of alien abductions on Earth. People disappearing?"

"I thought that was crazy-talk. I don't believe in aliens."

Tia chuckled. "No offence taken."

"Sorry." The human apologised. "So how did you end up here?"

"I was part of the crew surveying your planet." Tia said. "We were conducting the annual survey. On the way we were attacked and abducted. I'm not sure what became of my crew but no doubt they were processed into food to feed the ship and the queen. I imagine they intended to experiment on me, or turn me into a slave. Thank the worlds you landed in my lap." She smiled and reached out, taking Isaac's hand. "That deathbringer was probably coming to collect me."

"Err... don't mention it." Isaac took back his hand as he briskly led the way onward.

"What about you? How did you end up here?" Tia asked.

"Me and my friends were minding our own damn business when they came out of nowhere and teleported us up into this hell." Isaac sighed. "I watched one of them die."

"I'm sorry." Tia said sincerely as they reached the edge of the prison chamber. "But there is nothing you could have done. The deathbringers are monsters." She reached out and touched the human's bare shoulder, moving closer as they halted in front of a pair of metal doors.

Isaac gave an odd glance as he felt her soft fur brush his side as she stepped uncomfortably close. He smelled the sweet fragrance on her breath as she moved closer still, pushing her body to his. She felt good, soft and firm... when her breasts pressed against him, her erect nipple poking into his skin, Isaac snapped out of his daze and stepped aside.

"This way?" he asked with a frog in his throat before clearing it.

Tia nodded and led the way as the human made sure he didn't have an erection. The doors parted to allow them access, and they stepped into a long warehouse of sorts. In front of them was a partition or desk of some kind, which curved around blocking their pat to the left. To their right was a single metal door. The duo stepped up to the deck and looked deeper into the chamber. There were metal shelves that stretched on seemingly forever. The shelves were high and stacked with grey crates with red lids.

From behind the partition to their right a single insectoid stepped into view and lazily lifted its head to look at the two escapees. Suddenly alarmed the deathbringer chirped and went to run, but Isaac was faster. He reached out, grabbed a handful of antennae and pulled forward, smashing the alien's face into the metal desktop. With a deafening clang and a sickening crunch the deathbringer went limp and slumped down out of view.

"Okay, I'm not sure how I pulled that one off," Isaac admitted with surprise in his own strength and ability to knock these suckers out so easily. "But you gotta admit, that was kinda badass."

"Perhaps you are a secret agent of some sort?" Tia suggested.

Isaac snorted, vaulting smoothly over the desktop and landing beside the unconscious insect. "Nope. Not a chance in hell."

Tia shrugged, then elegantly sat up on the desk and swung her long, slim legs over. Landing beside the human, who tried hard not to notice the jiggle of her breasts she noted a computer console behind the higher part of the partition the deathbringer had initially been hiding behind. She moved to it and read down the list of alien characters scrolling through the convex screen.

"Alright, here we go. I have the category numbers for humans abducted today, and my number, Trovians abducted yesterday." Tia turned and led Isaac into the maze of shelving units. "Your things should be... here." She walked to one of the lower shelves, took a crate and pulled it out, popping open the lid.

Isaac knelt beside it and inspected the contents. The MP5A2 was lying on top of the backpack, tac-vest and his flecktarn clothes. "Groovy." He muttered, pulling out the submachine gun and putting it to one side for the moment.

He let Tia go off and pull her crate from the shelf. Luckily for them the deathbringers were organised. There were thousands, millions of these crates lying around. It could have taken them weeks to find anything useful to them at all, never mind their own stuff.

Isaac threw on his fatigues, feeling whole again with his flecktarn KSK trousers and green Norwegian fleece back on. He pulled on his brown hiking boots and green tac-vest, which was still full of MP5 magazines, then shouldered his backpack. Finally he scraped up the MP5A2 and yanked the magazine out. It was empty, probably from when he was still at earth, trying to shoot down the deathbringer ship. He stuffed away the empty mag and produced a full one, slotting it in place and yanking the action back.

Rising to his feet, Isaac looked up to see Tia approach. Now he'd be lying if he didn't admit Tia wasn't beautiful, maybe even 'perfect,' when she was naked. But Tia was a very rare gem, because she looked even more stunning clothed.

Clad from her neck down to her high heeled boots, she was dressed in a shining gold suit that reminded Isaac of a wetsuit. She had a belt of dull coloured pouches around her waist, and around her neck was a polo v-neck that fell open slightly at the front, revealing her cleavage. In all, her suit was high-profile and provocative. She had to be a diplomat. But a diplomat specialising in what, Isaac had to wonder.

"You look... erm... nice." Isaac commented, scanning her from head to toe as he jammed his baseball cap over his short hair.

"Thank you..." the Trovian frowned as she looked at him. "So you're not a soldier, yet you dress like one?"

Isaac shrugged looking down at his own attire. "Long story. Let's get moving."

The human led the way back to the door. This time they exited using the single metal door, which slid aside to reveal narrow, low organic corridors. Thick veins of what looked like blood pulsed along the walls, and from the ceiling Isaac was seeing what looked like glowing larvae, hanging curled up providing the light.

"This sign points to the hangar." Tia noted, pointing at a nearby sign clad with deathbringer text. "My ship could still be there. We could escape on it." She sounded overjoyed, and it killed Isaac to disappoint her.

"Escape?" the human asked slowly. "No way! My friends are still out there. I have to find them! I'm tearing this whole fucking ship apart to find them." Isaac turned to move out the opposite direction, shouldering his weapon when Tia grabbed him by the arm.

"Isaac, wait." She sounded desperate, and turning to look at her, Isaac saw her pleading eyes. "I want you to find your friends, I really do, but I can't fight like you do. And to pursue revenge now, so unprepared would be suicide. I've seen it happen among my people before. You may be able to kill the average deathbringer with ease, but they have other tricks. Slaves, evil monsters under their command who could kill you with just a glance. Right now we are not safe. We are not prepared. We have to escape. I still need you. Please, don't leave me."

Isaac gritted his teeth. He was torn in two. On the one hand, yes, Tia would probably need help the rest of the way. But Bob, Mark and Dirk were still out there. God knows what was happening to them and thousands of other humans. He couldn't just run away and leave them! He had to do something... but on the other hand the kindest thing he could do was escape, then return another time in force, more prepared and actually stand a higher chance of saving them all.

Isaac slowly sighed and nodded. With a heavy heart he said: "Okay. Let's get off this thing."

Together they moved towards the hangar, but Isaac cast one more glance over his shoulder. This wasn't right... but what else could he do?

The hangar wasn't far. The next door they passed through took them into the colossal chamber on the hull of the ship. Ahead of them was empty space, and a massive screen of what he assumed to be glass. They were obviously not in the Sol System any more. Isaac found himself looking at deep space, nothing but a vast inky blackness with stars twinkling lightyears away. The sheer vastness of it all made Isaac's head hurt just by thinking about it. And then earth slowly slid into view, a glowing orb of green blue and white. She looked like she was lit from the inside, half lit, half submerged in darkness, the sun burning a milling miles away glinting just out of view. The sight was magnificent... beautiful even... it would have been better if Isaac wasn't still in the clutches of a murderous race of aliens.

Directly in front of them, lonely in all the empty space around them was a ship. It reminded Isaac of a Hercules plate, one of those big things the military used to move heavy equipment and battalions of troops long distances. Only much sleeker, with a lower profile and shorter, almost stubby wings. It was missing jet-engines, sporting only a pair of nacelles on the broad tail.

"That is my ship." Tia pointed, moving forward to the rear hatch which hung open forming a ramp to the deck.

Isaac approached, lagging behind with more caution. This was a very empty hangar, and there were no guards. Something didn't feel right...

He was wise to be cautious...

The ground shuddered, and Tia screamed, looking at something behind Isaac. The boy whirled around just in time to see a massive fist swing his way.

Isaac jumped back and the blow just about missed him, the slipstream of the random swing wavering at his clothes. Isaac landed with a stumble, and weapon pressed against his shoulder he looked up at the monster standing over him.

It was a humanoid, about eight feet tall entirely encased in sleek, organic looking armour plating that reminded Isaac of hockey pads. The plates were brownish yellow, and the head was encased in a solid grey faceplate with six yellow eye-like portholes dotted along the curved surface. Around the waist was a belt of pouches, and the creature held a massive, blocky bulpup weapon in one hand.

"What the fuck is this?" Isaac cried as he backpedalled, weapon ready to fire.

Tia couldn't even tell Isaac to run. The hulk darted forward and snatched low, gripping Isaac's ankle and yanking back. The human was swept off his feet and landed hard on his backpack, dragged forward as the deathbringer hulk started retreating out of the hangar.

As he was being dragged, Isaac aimed his weapon. He wasn't going to just lie down and take this shit. The submachine gun roared. Sparks exploded across the deathbringer soldier's body, causing the creature to stumble back a step with surprise and let go of the human. The moment he was free, Isaac started kicking, pushing himself further away, but didn't stop firing once.

The SMG clicked loudly and stopped firing. Moving quickly, his hands a blur of motion, Isaac tugged loose the sickle-mag and tossed it aside, produced a new one and slotted it in place before sharply working the cocking handle. The reload took about two seconds, and the boy was firing again before the hulk managed to take another step forward.

But now the deathbringer warrior realised Isaac's bullets did nothing. Shading the faceplate, the hulk forced itself closer.

"Shit, shit, shit..." Isaac cursed as his next clip ran dry. He didn't bother reloading this time.

The human rolled onto his front and he scrambled to his feet, running full sprint to where Tia was mounting her ship. He kept his weapon clutched in one hand, muzzle pointed down as he swung his left arm for balance, pounding the deck as he sprinted as fast as he could. Behind him he heard the rumble of the hulk giving chase.

Time seemed to slow as he looked over his shoulder to see the hulk leap forward, inching ever closer with each crawling second... but the deathbringer fell short, crashing to the deck, fingers only grabbing the air where Isaac had been seconds ago. The deathbringer hulk slid to a halt with a thunderous rumble as the human slipped from its grip.

Several dozen strides later his boots were rattling up the rear ramp of the Trovian ship.

"Tia, lets go!" Isaac yelled.

The ramp rose up and the ship's cargo bay sealed with a hiss. In seconds they were pressurised and he felt the gentle acceleration pull him towards the rear of the Trovian ship. After that, there was no change of inertia, no feeling that they were going anywhere. Isaac assumed this ship must have had inertial dampers... or they had stalled and come to a grinding halt. He hoped it wasn't the latter.

"We're clear of the deathbringer hangar." Tia said in a relieved voice, disregarding that theory. "Engaging stealth buffers. We're hidden on the far end of the planet."

With a sigh, Isaac climbed the metal stairs leading out of the cargo bay and moved to the very front of the craft. They may have escaped, but this wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot. In fact, they were only just getting started.

He followed the long hall running along the spine of the ship until he reached a sliding door at the far end. He slid it open and stepped into a spacious bridge. All around him were computers and winking displays, and in front of the human were two seats at the cockpit. Tia was seated in one, turning in her chair to face her saviour as he closed the door behind him.

Outside, through the viewing screen all Isaac could see was inky darkness. He assumed they were in faster than light travel, rendering the light of the stars invisible. It seemed to make sense all they could see outside was darkness, but he didn't want to be in FTL flight. He had to get to Earth, warn proper authorities...

"Isaac," the Trovian greeted human as he moved closer and took the co-pilot seat beside her, dropping his backpack at his feet. "I'm taking us out of range. Once we're safely in Trovian military space we'll be able to rest easily."

"What?" Isaac gave her a strange look. "Trovian space? Let that hive ship get away? Screw that! We need to get to Earth, gather our forces then hit that bitch again. You go and bring your people. Bring armies! Humans and Trovians forming a strike force to take that thing out from the inside. Hit them on their home turf!"

Tia cocked an eyebrow at the silly boy. "And what do you think we will do in Trovian Military space? Eat biscuits and drink tea all day long? Five armies are better than one, Isaac. We have allies who will help.

Isaac slowly reclined into the seat beside Tia's, burying his face in his hands. How could he be so stupid to think she'd just leave a planet to burn. "I'm sorry... it's just... I..." he missed his friends. he hated leaving them. It felt wrong.

Tia scratched behind one of her pointed ears gazing into his sad features. Her heart fluttered as her ears drooped. She truly felt for him... but felt what? She wasn't entirely sure. While she felt sorry for him, the sight of her saviour caused a fire to burn in her heart. Her stomach was filled with butterflies... she grew wetter with each passing moment she spent so close to him. Was she getting horny just looking at him? Was she infatuated? She had to admit, Isaac was brilliant. "I know Isaac." She gently reached out and touched his arm. "When we get to my people you will get an audience with my father, King Fourys."

Isaac suddenly looked at her with surprise. "King... wait. Does that make you a..."

"Princess?" Tia smiled as she punched in the autopilot command on her flight console. "Yes. However, I'm one of seventy-seven. I'm near the bottom on the list of favourites."

Isaac scratched his head. "Heh. Princess number seventy-seven is as good as princess number one in my book... milady." He quickly added with a polite smile.

Milady. Tia liked that.

The boy blinked and looked at the Trovian, taken slightly aback as he suddenly realised how close to him she was leaning in. She was on the edge of her seat, her face only an inch or so from his until he quickly leaned back in his chair. That didn't deter the princess. Rising from her own chair, she closed the distance again, sliding onto the human's lap, pressing her front against his as she straddled his hips.

"Err... milady?" Isaac stammered, looking up at Tia's half-closed eyes.

She batted her eyelashes at him as she slowly lowered herself onto him, her front rubbing against his tac-vest. She noticed the human's nervous eyes as he gulped loudly.

"You can call me Tia, silly." The vixen smiled, moving her face close to his. "Unless of course calling me milady turns you on." She added in a husky whisper.

"Wha..." Isaac started, but he didn't get to finish as the princess locked her lips against his.

Isaac felt his head spin. His eyes glazed over as he found himself staring at the ceiling. There was a faint ringing in his ears as he felt his lips part, Tia's locked against his. She tasted sweet and felt soft as her tongue massaged his. His heart was fluttering and wouldn't stop... but that was nothing compared to what Tia was feeling.

Her eyes were clenched shut. She was breathing heavily through her nostrils, trying to catch her breath. Her heart hammered against her ribs as a rush took over her system. Excitement, happiness and pleasure all hit her at once, coursing through her veins at a million miles per hour. The sense of euphoria caused her to smile broadly into the kiss. She was the first of her species to do this with a human. That thought alone drenched her.

She didn't let up. Not once in the five minutes the kiss lasted. To both of them if felt like hours, firmly holding each other, feeling each others' hands explore their bodies, massaging their tongues together. Tia's hands roamed lower down his body, inching closer and closer to his...

It would have lasted longer if Isaac hadn't snapped out of his trance.

The human suddenly grabbed the princess' shoulders and pushed her back, breaking the kiss. He gasped for breath, shaking his head.

"What's wrong?" Tia whispered to her human. She smiled at the thought. 'Her' human. That sounded nice to her.

"I... I'm sorry... I... I can't..." Isaac panted between breaths.

Tia stroked his face with one hand, raking her nails down the front of his tac-vest with the other. "You can't?" she asked a little teasingly as her hand went lower and lower... until she finally rested on his fly, feeling something hard in his trousers. "Are you sure?" she added with a giggle.

Isaac quickly brushed away her hand, blushing slightly. "I'm sure... it's just that... this just doesn't seem right."

Tia's ears dropped again as she touched her chest. "Is it because I'm a..."

"No!" Isaac quickly exclaimed worried. "No, God no. Tia, you're beautiful... gorgeous. You're nice, pleasant to be around, and..." Isaac wasn't sure if he could even find the words to describe what she was like. 'Magnificent' along would have been an understatement. "Any other time I would've just... err..." Isaac stopped his big mouth there. What was he saying? What was he thinking? Had he really thrown everything he thought and believed into the wind? Was he actually considering having sex with this woman? She certainly was considering doing him right now. But did he want to lose his virginity to an alien? Did she really feel that special to him? He had to admit though, making out with her felt amazing. "Look, it's just that I'm worrying about my friends and my home. That's why this doesn't seem right." Isaac finished looking away partially ashamed.

Tia smiled. "I understand Isaac. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so forward. I should have asked you first." Slowly the princess slid out of the human's lap and eased back into her own chair. "There are cabins on board with shower units. Feel free to use one if you want to clean up... I will admit I need a cold shower now." The princess added in a chuckle.

Isaac smiled as he rose to his feet, leaving his weapon and backpack on the bridge. "You and me both."

Still smiling the human moved to the rear of the bridge and paused by the door to look back. Tia was gazing out into space, her legs crossed, her fingers fidgeting with her nails. With a sigh, Isaac moved out of the bridge to find a cabin.