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survivor’s guilt that seem to plague everyone else never bother him. He is just Nix, uncomplicated and untroubled in an almost child-like way.
    It does annoy her at times. “Nix. Wake up.”
    He opens one eye. “Are we there yet?”
    “No, we’re not there yet.”
    “What’s goin’ on?”
    “I had that dream again.”
    “Oh yeah, which one was that?”
    “You know the one I always have.”
    He hesitates. “Umm, I don’t…”
    “You know.” She looks at him as if to say, c ome on, this is an easy one .
    “Well…”
    “You know,” she continues after a frustrated sigh, “the one where I’m running naked along the beach.” He perks right up. “And you’re trying to catch up to me, and then a huge wave comes in and sucks you out to sea.”
    Nix thinks for a moment. “Really?”
    She chuckles and gives him a friendly smile. “No.”
    Tivis is staring at her again.
    “What?” She glares back.
    “Hold on,” Gordon pipes up, getting everyone’s immediate attention. “I think we found our ship.”
    Sephora slows as it approaches the smooth, tube-shaped Alien Grey supply ship, now spinning slowly.
    Nix and Chloe release their straps to get a closer look out the ship’s forward ports, while Tivis glances over his shoulder at Chloe’s abandoned station. He deciphers the alien symbols flashing across her computer screen. “They’re not transmitting anything,” he says, “and her engines are cold. I’ll send them an automated greeting.”
    There’s a long silence as they wait for a response. Jane asks the question on everyone’s mind. “So…are we going aboard?”
    “We should have guns,” Nix says, wringing his hands.
    “Yes,” Tivis sneers, “you with a gun, Nix, would give me great comfort.”
    “Swellhead.”
    “Knock it off,” Gordon shushes them. He knows they’re all waiting for a definite answer from him and maybe a comforting word or two, but he says nothing.
    Chloe is suddenly aware of her l oud , nervous breathing and holds it in for a few seconds. “Why would we need guns?” she asks with a crack in her voice.

Chapter Fourteen
    Sephora is docked with the larger alien vessel, and both spin slowly in an ocean of stars .
    Gordon, Nix, Jane, and Chloe, in space suits, creep cautiously down a dimly lit corridor of the massive supply vessel. The younger three bunch together a few paces behind their captain. They’re able to communicate through wireless headsets in their helmets.
    “Maybe they had some bad space chicken,” Nix clicks on, “and they’re all dead of food poisoning.”
    Chloe can’t help but laugh. “Bad space chicken…Nix.”
    “Or maybe some horrible virus turned their brains to mush.”
    The suggestion makes Jane stop walking. “Gordon, we haven’t considered something like that.”
    “Everyone, shut it,” Gordon demands as he rounds a corner. He’s soon on top of Earl’s first two victims. “Oh, bloody hell. They’ve been shot.”
    “Oh, my God.” Chloe puts a hand over her heart.
    After kneeling to examine the bodies, a feeling of dread comes over Gordon—the sick feeling that he knows who is responsible. “Jane, Chloe, back to the ship.”
    Gordon and Nix press on. After several twists and turns and a couple of dead ends, they find the craft’s flight deck. Her helm is alive with flashing lights and buttons that Earl’s laser blasts didn’t shatter.
    Nix hovers near the open door while his captain ventures inside and discovers more dead aliens. “Careful, Gordon, there’s someone else.”
    Before the Brit can react, the ship’s altered human translator surrenders to him. “I’m alone,” he says, putting his hands up. “The rest are dead.”

Chapter Fifteen
    Back on Sephora ’s flight deck, the supply ship’s hull is visible through her forward ports as is New Earth’s sun, perceptibly quite distant now. Gordon and his crew have gathered around the translator, but Chloe can’t believe what he’s saying.
    “Amon did not do