Intergallactic Witness Protection

Scene Thirty-Nine

I sound a gentle alarm to awaken my crew and guests as we approach the earth. Not because I need their help to land, but because I know their sentimental nature will want to be awake for this part of our journey.

Orion, Killa, and Reverend Shipping jump up suddenly. Nicholas keeps snoozing.

A likely scenario, really. Nicholas could sleep through the alarms blaring that we were about to fly into the sun.

"Home so soon?" Orion mutters, wiping his eyes- clearing the sleep out of them, as the humans say.

"So soon?" Reverend Shipping grunts. "It feels like it's been millenia."

"Have you ever been on earth?" Orion asks, taking the ship off autopilot for his favorite part- entering orbit. "Or has Ganymede been your only taste of civilization? If it can even be called that."

"I was born on earth. My parents moved us to Ganymede when I was little to be missionaries to the moon."

"Well, it will feel like day to the night of the moon." Orion falls in line behind one of the landing satellites.

"It will feel like so, but it will not truly be so. People are still themselves inside, no matter how much they hide it behind civilization."

Orion snorts. "That's why Alicia Ivy is my favorite."

My hologram smiles at that in order to keep up the pretense that I am somewhat human and not stray too close to the uncanny valley.

Until I notice what appears to be a missile honed on our coordinates. It's not close enough to be visible by human eyes yet, as evident by everyone else's calm banter.

I reach out to the missile to see if I can gain access and learn its true path and not just the one I've calculated.

But I just hit military firewalls.

And continues the path I've calculated will take it straight to us.

Since I can't seem to take control of the missile, I take control of the ship instead.

"Alicia Ivy?" Orion says.

"I estimate that we are under an attack." I turn on the emergency seat belt notifications so that Rose will know to buckle the younger Shipping down.

Killa buckles immediately, and then reaches to pull the strap over the sleeping Nicholas. Reverend Shipping returns to his posture of prayer. And Orion moves to the controls for the gun. "Where is the enemy?"

"It is a missile projected to hit us head-on." I turn the nose of the ship downward, and the entire ship follows suit.

Everyone collectively moans and then cries out as we plummet. But I am not subject to vertigo like they are, so I hold our course, even as the missile skims us.

Killa gasps. Nicholas chokes on a snore before going back to his steady rhythm.

And the missile makes a 380 behind us.

Orion mutters something more appropriate for a moon on Jupiter than for earth. "It's a smart missile."

"Then shoot it!" Reverend Shipping yells.

"I'm trying-"

He cuts off when I make another extreme tilt to avoid the missile's wrath.

"Who would lock a missile onto us?" Killa asks.

"Now is not the time to investigate!" Orion yells. "That's for after we get out of this alive."

Killa crosses her arms and huffs. "At least I'm not napping."