The three of them were still taking in the fact that they had been pulled into hyperspace, when the proximity sensors gave them the next surprise. Twitch had just started a sentence with „Well, we really shouldn’t be surprised by that“ when the ding-ding of the sensors interrupted him. He glanced over to the screen and froze.

„You’ve got to be… seriously?“, he exclaimed and pointed towards the image on the screen that the computer had constructed from the sensor data. It showed the Grimalkin and not far away the outline of the Xylar ship that had pursued them.

It also showed three dots moving from the Xylar ship towards them. They were blinking in and out of existence as they did so. Twitch turned and entered commands into the console.

„Some kind of weapon?“, Grubs wondered, looking at the same screen.

„Don’t know.“, Twitch stated, „We have limited sensor capabilities in hyperspace. I’m trying to narrow it down.“

Red leaned over and tilted her head. She studied the image for a few seconds and then, with surprising calm, said: „My bet is on a boarding team.“

„Nonsense.“, Twitch said, still working on the data analysis, „Hyperspace would kill anyone, human or alien, in seconds. Even autonomous drones would be ripped to shreds.“

„Unless“, Red added, „they are inside a warp bubble. And these aliens seem to have extended their ship’s warp bubble to include us. Aren’t they following the channel between the ships that we saw for a second before they force-jumped us?“

Twitch emphatically shook his head: „Even inside a warp bubble, leaving the ship is suicide.“

Grubs had been studying the display. Now he intervened: „Red is right, Twitch. The Xylars are seven-dim creatures. Hyperspace for them is like jumping into a lake for us. Not our natural environment, but with a bit of swim training it’s no big deal.“

They all stared at the screen. Twitch’s voice broke and he had to start again, telling the others the data analysis results: „Movement speed and size are in line with what we would expect if this were a boarding party.“

„Right“, Red said after a long moment of silence, „Impossible acceleration, hyperspace capability in a tiny ship, hyperspace dragging, nothing should surprise us anymore. Humans rarely had contact with the Xylars after they brought us faster-than-light technology. It’s not like we had any idea what they are or aren’t capable of.“

„Very reassuring.“, Twitch said flatly.

„I guess“, Grubs remarked, „repelling boarders is not a sensible move?“

Nobody answered the rhetorical question.

The seconds ticked away as the dots closed the distance. Just shy of a minute was the total estimated time, half of that remained. Silently, the three armed themselves. Not that they expected it to make a difference, but there was nothing else to do and it made them feel better.

The dots reached the Grimalkin. The sensors lost track of them. Twitch pressed a button to open the outer airlock. He shrugged: „Better than them burning a hole into the hull, right?“

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The Xylars had the courtesy of taking the airlock, one at a time. A few moments later, they reached the bridge. None of the crew had seen a Xylar before, though there were sketches in school books. They were surprisingly humanoid. Tall and slender, with smooth, iridescent skin that shimmered with an otherworldly sheen. Their eyes, however, were large and multifaceted. According to the books they could see a much wider spectrum of light than the human eye. But the most striking feature was a pair of additional arm-like limbs on their backs, behind the shoulder-blades, pulsing with faint bioluminescence and twitching in and out of 3D space.

According to the old school books, what they were looking at was a 3D slice of the true Xylars. Like a face as the visible part of a person during a video call.

„Humans“, the Xylar closest to them said. Actually, he was speaking in waves in the fifth dimension, with properties of both light and sound, closer in nature to telepathy than talking. But a translator held in his hands converted it into human speech. And of course ‚he‘ was an assumption. The school books said nothing about genders in the Xylars race.

„You have stolen from us. We come to take back what is ours.“

Red realized the translation was an approximation. The true words were most likely not translatable to human language. She stepped forward: „I’m the captain of this ship. Yes, we have what is yours. We will not resist if you…“ a sudden jerk threw her off balance and interrupted her. There was also a sudden change that dazed her and made her feel more than understand what just happened.

The signal tone and the change in the ship machinery’s audible background confirmed it. They had suddenly and violently returned to normal space.

Red grabbed a railing and held herself steady, trying not to fall while she was getting back her senses. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Twitch frantically typing on the console, while simultaneously shaking off the transition effect. She looked over towards the Xylars. They seemed to be less affected by the dimension jump, and were just standing there, unmoving.

„Someone“, Twitch started, his voice all over the place, „grabbed us with dimensional shears.“

The holographic map of nearby space flickered to life. It showed the Grimalkin in the center, and a larger ship nearby.

„Military“, Twitch interpreted the sensor data.

Red smiled faintly. They had run into an Erulas interceptor, apparently. Even if the Xylars realized within seconds what had happened, they would be millions of klicks away. Hundreds of millions if they had to think before making a decision.

Then she remembered that they were still deep within the Junkstorm. The Xylars were suffering its ill effects every moment they were there. Coming to Erulas in the first place must have put them through hell already.

Her smile broadened. They might not be as outclassed as she had thought.

She looked over to the map. Then she turned to the Xylars: „I reckon we have less than five minutes before combat bots or soldiers join us. None of us here wants that. How about we come to an agreement beneficial for all of us?“

The Xylars did not immediately respond. Red was unsure if they had not understood, the translation took time, or if they were discussing with each other.

„Look“, she continued, „I know both we and the military out there would take heavy losses trying to fight you. But given the size of your craft, there are at most what, two more of you? And if it comes to that, we just might take you down with us. Again, none of us want to test that, right?“

The answer came almost instantly: „Your argument is logical. A peaceful solution is preferable. We have stated our objective. State yours.“

„Wow“, Red thought, „aren’t we all warm and fuzzy.“ She was confused by the dissonance between the words the Xylars had spoken, which if she had read them somewhere her inner voice would have taken on a robotic tone, and the friendly, warm and almost melodic voice the translation device had used.

Out loud she said something different: „Information. One, What is so special about this hyper core? You lot don’t usually care much when, er, pirates steal one of them. And two, what is the deal with you and the Felindar?“