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schooled his thoughts back to the task at hand. He had work to do after all, and though she was a gorgeous distraction, her safety and the safety of her people depended on him. That thought in mind, he settled down to formulate his next moves.
    "I think we can fly this ship over closer to the entrance to your settlement."
    "Is that safe?" Angela's voice echoed her hesitation.
    "Well, I wouldn't trust the seals to hard vacuum, but it should be sound enough for a short atmospheric hop."
    "No," she shook her head softly, setting her lovely hair to swaying, distracting him momentarily. "I mean won't the Jits see your ship faster if it's out in the open near our entrance rather than among these rocks?"
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    "Actually, they've already pinged it twice with their mapping gear, but the camo unit is still online and sending out false readings. The Jits wouldn't be able to tell if we're a ship or just another large rock formation unless they do a visual inspection. We'll see them long before that, if they head downplanet."
    "How?" Her beautiful eyes scrunched up in concern. "We don't have any scanners to detect incoming ships, or we would have seen you long before I went searching after your smoke trail on the horizon."
    He thought about that a moment. This young woman had set out in the middle of the blindingly bright day after an unknown smoke trail, all on her own. Her courage amazed him. She had saved his life, without a doubt. Now he would protect her and her people to the best of his ability. He'd be damned if he let the Jits bring their deadly virus to these peaceful folk.
    "This ship has scanners capable of alerting me to any movement within three hundred and sixty degrees. Luckily they're still working. I can rig them to signal my handcomp when I'm not aboard if something comes near enough to be a problem and I can always fire up the engines and evade if necessary. The weapons systems are also still online, so we have some offensive as well as defensive capabilities."
    "Sounds like you have all the angles covered." Her smile was complimentary and it warmed him.
    "Honey, it's in my nature to take risks, but I also know and examine all the probabilities before I choose a course of action. Dr. Waithe designed it that way so our risk taking tendencies wouldn't get us killed too easily. My mind works a little differently than most humans. I can calculate probabilities almost like a computer, but with the emotional component that even the best Artificial Intelligence units can't duplicate." He stood and ushered her over to a secondary co-pilot position that was tucked up into the bulkhead. He hadn't needed the extra seat, flying solo before he crashed, but it came in handy now. "Trust me when I say I've examined all our options and come up with the best available plan of action."
    She seemed to consider his words carefully before she spoke. "Okay, Ezekiel." Her eyes brightened as she turned to look up at him. "I think I'd enjoy taking a little ride in your ship. I've never been in a space worthy vessel before."
    He chuckled. "Well, this one isn't space worthy at the moment, but I get your meaning. We'll just hop over to the settlement and park it among the small hills that hide the entrance. I have a map of where the Jits have already pinged this side of the planet since I crashed so we can set down somewhere they haven't already mapped."
    "Good idea." She settled into the small seat he drew out from the bulkhead for her.
    "Strap in and we'll fire up the engines."
     
     
    * * *
     
     
    Angela was a little frightened at first when the ship lurched off the ground. "Sorry for the bumpy ride. This thing isn't space worthy, but she's just fine for an atmospheric run. Don't worry."
    "If you say so." She rolled her eyes and they both chuckled.
    After a few minutes of smooth movement through the atmosphere, Angela began to relax. Ezekiel brought up a viewscreen so she could observe the ground from above.
    According to him they were