“Do we really have to go in?,” asked Gadget. “We can just leave them in there and cordon the ship off.”

“We can't let them stay in there,” said Jonah. “Hexing can be fixed with enough time and thought. They might be trying to get the guns online. If they can do that, they'll be able to shoot the nearby buildings and at moving targets in the air. So we need to dig them out.”

“So we force one of the doors and get inside,” said Gadget. “I don't know how long that will take.”

“None of us do,” said Punch. He frowned down at his McWeeny shirt. “I don't think I can force the doors with just strength.”

“I can't get in unless I can see the space I have to aim at,” said Shade. She wished she had changed into her fighting clothes now.

“Anything, Sighter?,” asked Jonah.

“The material is too thick for X-ray and heat vision,” said Sighter. “I can't see what they are doing inside.”

“Let's assume they are doing one of two things,” said Jonah. “They're either getting ready to come out here to keep us from going in there, or they are trying to fix their boat to fly again. Which would be better for us?”

“I think they're trying to get their ship ready to fly again,” said Gadget. “They certainly aren't going to want to come out here against superior forces when they can bunker down and try to get their ship ready to go.”

“So we think they are either trying to leave after taking a beating, or getting back in the game,” said Jonah. “Which is more likely?”

“Getting back in the game,” said Shade. “They have to know the five of us are the only things standing in their way. They could probably shoot down anything trying to get at them.”

“And they might inflict property damage just trying to fly out of here,” said Punch.

“Do you think you can lift it out of here?,” asked Jonah.

“Not a chance,” said Punch. “It's just too big to lift in one piece. We would have to take it apart.”

“So until we know what they are doing, we have to go in,” said Jonah. “I don't like that at all.”

“It's better than letting them fix everything and start shooting up the neighborhood,” said Punch.

“Especially if they do that when there are a bunch of civilians just trying to work in these buildings,” said Shade.

“All right,” said Jonah. “I guess we need to let the police know we're going in to make sure these guys can't get the machinery to start working again. Hopefully we can wrap this up and go back to stand by mode.”

“No,” said Shade. “Before this alien thing started, I spotted a group of bad guys heading for the local bar. I was going to ask for help rounding them up.”

“That seems more our speed,” said Jonah. “Everybody ready?”

“Let's do this before I get scared again,” said Sighter. “Plus I have to get back to keep an eye on my statue for the concert later tonight.”

“If they have it,” said Shade.

“I hadn't thought they wouldn't,” said Sighter. “I'll check on it when we're done with this. We can go and watch them burn the thing down.”

“Sounds like a party,” said Jonah. “I would never miss a party.”

“That's for later,” said Gadget. “Let me see if I can open the door.”

“Let me try first,” said Jonah. “They might have traps on the doors to stop us from getting inside now that they are waiting for arrest from our government.”

“You're hexing powers haven't worked like you wanted til now,” said Gadget.

“We'll see about that,” said Jonah. He headed down to the ship. He pointed a finger at one of the doors marked on the side of the ship. He hexed it. The door opened. Greenish water flowed out of the opening.

“Is it water?,” asked George.

“It looks like water,” said Stan. “I suppose you can take a sample and test it in a lab before you go inside the ship.”

“I'll put some in a vial for testing later,” said Nick.

Stolen novel; please report.

“The important question is it acting like anything but water?,” asked Marv.

“Nope,” said Stan. “It looks like anything you can scoop out of the East River.”

“All right,” said George. “As long as we don't drink any of it, we're good.”

“Is there an inner door?,” asked Marv.

“Yep,” said Stan. “It looks like a bog standard airlock situation to you.”

“Let me see if I can hex the inner door open,” said Marv. “Then we can get inside and hope the crew come along peacefully.”

“You know better than that,” said Gail. “This has a fight to the last man feel to it.”

“We should give them the chance to give up first,” said Marv. “Then we should start punching.”

“Okay,” said Gail. “We can make an intimidation roll along with our demand they surrender.”

“Let's see if I can get the door open,” said Marv.

Jonah pointed his finger at the lock mechanism of the airlock. He hexed it. The door started to open, but it ground to a halt after a few inches of movement. Water poured out of the opening, slopping out of the airlock and dropping to the ground.

“I think the hex did something to the door,” said Jonah. “Looks like we're going to have to use force.”

“I got it,” said Gadget. He climbed up to the airlock. He pulled some sensors with plug ins, a knife, and small drill with sockets. He worked on the door until he was able to find a hose and sliding mechanism. He put some pressure in the hose. The door slid slowly out of the way.

Punch stepped through the door first. He looked both ways, trying to decide which way to go. He turned right and headed down the corridor. The captain had to be somewhere, and walking back to the tail would at least let them get to engineering. Ruining that would keep the ship grounded until repairs could be made.

Those repairs would be made by other people than invaders from outer space.

Punch already thought of the ship as Salvage One in his mind.

Maybe they would come up with a snappier name after they had cleared the Imperial Suite out.

“I still can't see through this material,” said Sighter. “I'm going to say some kind of armoring to keep energy from going through.”

“I doubted they decided to line everything in lead just in case they ran into someone who could see across the visual spectrum,” said Gadget. “Now that I think about it, I should copy this for my labs.”

“I wonder how many of the aliens were supposed to use this,” said Shade. “Shouldn't we be seeing some of them trying to stop us from advancing.”

“I don't know,” said Gadget. “We dodn't know what they look like.”

“They look like octopi,” said Punch.

“How do you know that?,” asked Gadget.

“Because I punched one of their littler ships and that was what was driving it,” said Punch.

“I don't like the sound of that,” said Shade. “Everyone knows what tentacled monsters do to young lady prisoners.”

“I'm more afraid of what they will do to me,” said Gadget.

“I think I hear motion up ahead,” said Punch. “They might be trying to ambush us.”

“See if you can draw them out, Punch,” said Jonah. “We'll take them out while they are trying to take you out.”

“There is so much that could go wrong with a plan like that,” said Punch.

“You're the only one who can jump those hurtles,” said Jonah.

“We need to get another tough, flying guy to set off ambushes for the rest of us,” said Punch.

“Until then, you're the only one we have,” said Jonah. “Get in there, Tiger.”

“Thanks a lot,” said Punch.

He plunged forward, using his flight to charge at the barricade in the middle of the corridor around the corner from where the heroes were. He rammed into it, sending the pieces flying.

The aliens, wearing armor to give them a more humanoid appearance, opened fire on the missile in their midst.

Punch picked the biggest guy and punched him in the middle of the shooting scene. They didn't have anything that could stop him from punching them as they shot at him.

It was a good thing they couldn't bring a ship killer to fire at him while he was going about his business.

The heavy cannon they were using were bad enough.

“Can we all get surprise attacks since they seem to be concentrating on Punch?,” asked Marv.

“I will allow that,” said Stan. “There are five of them in exoskeletons. They are armed with energy weapons.”

“Concentrated fire,” said Marv.

The three heroes attacked with their projection powers. Sighter unleashed a lightning bolt. Gadget fired a beam from an ice gun. Jonah hexed one of the armors in the hopes of shutting it down.

The lightning bolt rocked the target slightly. The ice beam rolled its target up and dropped it to the floor so it could struggle against its sudden bonds. The hex didn't shut the suit down like it was wanted. Instead, it caused the face mask bolted to the helmet to open to the air, causing the alien to start choking.

Shade did a flying kick to the choking alien. She had aimed for the head and face, but landed on his chest. The armor took a hit that caused it to fall over and out of the way.

“Roll initiative,” said Stan.

The group rolled their die, and he wrote down the rolls.

“You're up first, Nick,” said Stan.

Gadget pulled the trigger of his ice cannon to freeze the one alien who hadn't been engaged. Nothing happened.

Jonah shot off a hex at that one too, since the others seemed to be taking care of things. The alien's left leg locked up so he couldn't move effectively.

The aliens fired their weapons at the heroes except for the one that was wrapped up. He struggled to get out of the ice, but he couldn't quite manage it.

Punch took a blast in the chest, but the others were able to duck from the blasts coming their way. Punch swung at the alien he was engaged with, but his blow was blocked.