"What a small universe," I muttered.
"Hunh?" Tatiana looked over at me.
"Never mind. So, do we let them board us or what?"
"Doesn't matter to me," Tatiana replied.
"Okay." Mike, will one of those ships fit through the bay doors?
All of them will, just barely, Steven.
Can we cycle the external bay doors safely?
Of course. I am doing it now.
"Lieutenant Ames, this is Steven Montana, captain of the . . ." Tatiana?
How about the Phoenix since it is where we were reborn and reinvented?
You don't think that's too cliché?
NO I DO NOT!
Uh, you don't have to scream." . . . uh, the Phoenix. We are opening the external bay doors on the lunar-facing side of the vessel. One of your ships should be able to land there and then we can close the bay doors."
"Roger that," Lieutenant Ames replied. "Uh, did you say Steven Montana?" she asked.
"That is correct, Lieutenant. It is good to see you again."
"How in the hell? No, I'm sure this will take a while. We will see you in the bay of your vessel."
You know her? Tatiana's thought sounded a bit jealous.
Not really. I met her in a meeting once about nine months ago. I told you I worked for the Air Force Research Labs. Well, she and her mother, a general and an astronaut, were both involved somehow or other and I never knew how. Now I do.
Hmm.
Think we should be armed or anything?
You know her; why should we be?
Well, think about it. They are soldiers fighting aliens. How do they know we aren't aliens in disguise or being controlled by parasites or something?
Good point. But we don't want to provoke them either.
Well, how about this: We can have Mike or Mikhail build us any firearms we want in a matter of a second or two. Let's just be prepared for that.
Sounds good. Tatiana stood up and all of her clothes vanished and then she was wearing a skintight long-sleeve black bodysuit and I noticed that I was also wearing one.
What's this?
It's armor. I've been thinking about this for a while. Mikhail and I designed it. It should resist damn near anything from fire to bullets.
I looked at her and thought that the material must be amazingly strong because she basically looked naked in the thing. So did I. I made me a pair of loose-fit jeans and hiking boots that fit just right. I topped it off with a light red short-sleeve button up.
You know you look naked. Not that I don't like it but . . .
Prude, ha ha.
She was suddenly wearing multi-pocketed baggy low-rise jeans and a pair of white aerobics cross-trainer shoes. She didn't add anything on top. Images of JackieZZ's computer persona popped in my head. Tatiana also had a three-section chain for a belt and I guessed that there were knives and other various weapons in her pockets, and her hair was pulled into a ponytail with metallic six-inch-long pins—each of which could be a nasty weapon.
I wasn't worried. Anything we needed in a hurry, the nanomachines could provide. And unless the humans had figured out how to prevent the nanomachines like the Grays had, we could just use them to stop any human attackers. My hope was that there would be no need for self-defense. After all, the U.S. Air Force should be on our side.
Tatiana and I reached the external bay of the Phoenix.
Mike, are they in yet?
Yes, Steven. I have closed the doors and the room is at one atmosphere.
Good.
You ready, Tatiana?
Yes. She said something else to Mikhail but I didn't pay close attention.
Okay, Mike. Open the door.
The door dissolved away and Tatiana and I walked up to the impressive little spaceship. Tatiana started to touch it.
"Don't do that!" I tried to stop her but I was too late and her hand freeze-dried and stuck to the ship's skin. It must have been on the dark side of the ship.
"Yiiiikes, goddamnit . . ." She jerked her hand from the ship ripping skin from her hand and continued to curse in Russian. Blood ran profusely down her arm for a split second before Mikhail took over and shut off her pain and healed her hand.
"Are you okay?" I grabbed her arm and looked at the palm of her hand as it went from bloody to fuzzy to healed.
"That was dumb, huh?"
Mike, how long until the ship's hull reaches equilibrium with the room? I noticed moisture collecting and forming ice crystals on the surface of the ship.
About fifteen minutes.
Can we speed that up somehow?
Not any way that I know of.
All right, thanks.
Mike, open me a comm. Link to this ship.
Okay.
"Lieutenant Ames, we are here outside your ship. The air is at one atmosphere and is breathable." I shouted for some odd reason.
"We will be out momentarily. Stand with your backs to the wall and keep your hands where we can see them," Lieutenant Ames's voice boomed in our heads.
Steven, I'm not sure I like this. Tatiana grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
Relax. We will be okay. I assured her as if I knew.
Mike, they can't move this ship without you or Mikhail, right? Mikhail ran the warp system.
Well, they cannot fly it, but they could bump it or drag it or carry it with their own means of propulsion. But they could not access its functions without your permission.
Thanks.
The ramp of the USS Starbuck lowered in front of us. Tatiana and I stood deathly still and didn't make a sound or move a muscle. Then Tatiana started reciting something in her mind.
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that . . .
What are you doing? I thought to her.
Uh, reciting the Bene Gesserit fear litany.
The Bene whatsit?
It's from Dune. You should read it, she said, and went back to reciting the thing.
Mike, download Dune for me.
There are many books in the Dune series, Steven. Which one?
Uh, all of them I guess.
Okay, Steven.
Then I realized what Tatiana was doing. The first was the best I thought, although the Prince Leto transformation really struck home with what had happened to Tatiana and myself. If you don't understand what I mean, go get a copy and download it for yourself. I joined in the litany with Tatiana.
A few seconds passed and four soldiers took flanking positions on each side of the ramp and trained firearms on us. "Don't move!" one of them said.
Lieutenant Ames and another female that I didn't recognize seemed to appear at the top of the ramp. Tatiana and I looked at each other—puzzled.
Did you see that?
Did you see that? We both thought at the same time. We weren't sure if we were seeing things or not. But if we were, we both were. Perhaps it was a trick of the lighting? I thought.
Steven! We have been engulfed in a warp bubble from one of the outside ships! It would appear we are being dragged down into the interior of the lunar crust! Mike warned me. He never sounded alarmed before. He must be experimenting with voice inflections.