Six battlepods had surrounded Starrider by the time Peter ran into the control room.

“We can’t let them onboard!” he shouted.

Val grunted. “You think I don’t know that?”

“What have you told them?”

“Nothing yet.”

Peter frowned. “What? How are they not shooting at us if you’re not responding?”

“I am, just not with words. They asked us to stop moving, so we did. I’m hoping they’ll think our coms are dead.”

“How does that help?”

“Buys us time.”

Peter dropped into the chair next to her and drummed his fingers against the dashboard, staring at the battlepods on the main screen.

“Ovkan is a medical world, isn’t it?”

She glanced at him. “Yeah. What did you have in mind?”

“Tell them we’re sick. Try to make it sound like you mean it, too. Something highly contagious. We come seeking help.”

“All the doctors are likely dead, Peter.”

“I know that. Gives us a way out, though. They won’t want to come onboard anymore and should be only too happy to let us go.”

“But I need to go down there!”

“Do you have a better idea, Val?”

She grumbled as she shook her head. “Fine. But once I’ve dropped you off, I’ll come back and try again.”

“That might not be safe if they think a virus is still rampant on the ship.”

“I’ll figure something out.” Before he could respond, she stabbed at the controls to open a channel. “Imperial ships, this is...” She coughed and made strange gurgling sounds before resuming. “This is Diin Arwen of Santorash, captain of the Intrepid. My crew and I...” Another fake bout of coughing. “We were contaminated by an unknown virus while exploring...” Her voice broke off. She shot a glare at her brother as she coughed some more into the microphone. “An uninhabited planet beyond the rim. Highly contagious. Two of my men are dead. We come for treatment.” She ended with even more coughing.

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There was silence for a moment, then a man’s voice boomed into the control room.

“Captain Arwen. You must not have heard, but Ovkan was savaged by aliens. All local healing staff was slaughtered. We have, however, brought in medical help from Elphine. They should be able to treat you. We will escort you to the surface. Once landed, please do not attempt to exit your ship and wait for healers to contact you.”

Val’s expression brightened, while Peter let out a string of curses.

“We are going straight into the lion’s den!”

“Don’t worry, they’ll never come onboard.”

“But those healers will. And this won’t help you if you can’t get off the ship. We’re worse off now than we were before.”

“I’ll figure something out.”

“Stop saying that.”

“But I will! Just you watch and see. Look, they’re turning and heading toward the surface.”

Her hands ran across the dashboard and Starrider started moving again, following in the wake of the battlepods.

“We’re in way over our heads,” said a man’s voice.

As she glanced back, Val noticed a dozen of the rebels stood behind them, staring at the screen. It was Kesh who had spoken.

“Look, healers are less likely to realize who any of you are. Besides, Peter is the only one famous enough to be recognized. So it’s just a matter of keeping him out of sight.”

“You’re forgetting one thing,” said Lartha. She pointed at the planet. “Those healers will know at first glance that we’re not sick. I doubt they’ll be happy about us wasting their time.”

Val looked down at her dashboard. Frowned.

“It’s just another cliff to climb,” she muttered.

“What?” asked Kesh.

She looked back at the rebels and noticed a small smile on Lartha’s lips.

“Nothing. Let’s just do this one step at a time. I suggest you all figure out how you’re going to act and what you’re going to say when we land. There are plenty of places to hide on this ship, so those of you who don’t feel you can pretend to be sick, make yourself scarce.” She looked at Peter. “And that goes for you too, naturally.”

“Why don’t we all hide, then?” asked Kesh.

“Because I told them I had a crew. It’d be weird if they came aboard and found only me.”

Kesh grumbled. “You should have told them you were alone.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t. Whoops. Now, can we stop pointing fingers and start acting like we know what we’re doing? Okay, I’ll make it easier on you guys. I don’t need a big crew. I never mentioned how many I had with me. Has to be more than one, but two should be enough. So pick the best actors among you, and everyone else scram!”

After some debate, Evor and a woman named Galdin decided they would play along. Val sent them to the infirmary while the others found places to hide. Soldiers would have searched the ship, but healers were more likely to just go where they were told. Which would make things easier... until things got complicated.

“Well,” Val muttered to herself, “I’ll just have to figure something out, won’t I?”