“How long until they’re in weapons range,” called Will.

“Twenty-five minutes.”

He was quiet for a moment, his brow furled in concentration. “Can the people we rescued be moved?”

“I don’t see why not, although the sedative won't wear off for another couple of hours,” answered Debra. “What do you have in mind?”

After activating the ship’s autopilot, Will unstrapped himself and jumped out of his chair. “Hurry, we don’t have much time.”

He quickly started climbing down the ladder with Debra right behind him. However, he didn’t go all the way down to the visitor quarters, but got off the ladder where the escape pods were located two levels above the visitor quarters. It was a circular room with a table in the center and four hatches located on the walls. By each hatch was a control panel and a lever.

With rushed over to one of the control panel and began typing.

Debra looked dubious. “Escape pods? Do you really think the cruiser will stop for them?”

Will nodded as he typed. “I would have preferred a shuttle, but we no longer have one. I could be wrong, but I’d like to think that regardless of what Grandle’s orders are, members of Earth’s military will still look out for one another."

Debra looked down and shook her head. “Well considering the ship following us has threatened to destroy us even knowing we have four of their officers on board doesn’t inspire much confidence in that assumption.”

“True,” admitted Will. “That’s why I’m programming the pod’s navigation to lock in on the cruiser. I’m hoping it will be harder for them to ignore the pods if they’re right in front of them.” As he spoke, Will hurried over to another control panel and began typing.

“I’ll bring them up and you strap them in,” ordered Will as he climbed down to the visitor quarters.

“Got it,” called Debra looking at her scanner. “Eighteen minutes.”

Debra opened the hatch to one of the escape pods. Lights flashed on the small control panel which sat in front of a seat that could fit two people. She undid the straps so everything would be ready when Will started bringing people up.

Grabbing a harness from the cargo hold, Will went to the visitor quarters. Sitting one of the men up, he fitted the harness on him. Then turning him over, he slipped his arms through the shoulder straps located on the back of the harness. With a grunt, he lifted the man up and made his way back to the ladder.

Will slowly made him way up the ladder with the man hanging off his back, his arms and legs straining to carry the weight. As soon as Will was close enough, Debra reached for the harness and helped him lift the man onto the floor.

Will lay on the floor panting, but quickly got up so he and Debra could load the man in the escape pod. As soon as he was in the seat, Will headed back down to get the next person.

“Ten minutes,” called down Debra as Will started back up. Breathing heavily, he pushed himself to get up the ladder as quickly as possible. He was bringing up the woman this time which made the trip up the ladder a little easier. Once he reached Debra, they quickly brought her over to the escape pod and Will helped her strap the woman in.

After closing the hatch and latching it, Will pulled down the lever beside it. The ship shook as the escape pod separated from the ship and fired its engines. The pod swung around the ship and headed towards the cruiser.

“Hopefully, that will buy us some time,” panted Will, his hands on his knees. “So we can get the other pod off.”

“I hope so,” answered Debra looking down at the scanner. “They’ll be in weapons range in five minutes.”

“How long until the pod reaches the cruiser?”

“Three minutes.”

“We’d better get back up the control room,” said Will, discouragement in his voice.

They climbed back up and strapped themselves into their seats. Will brought up the tactical display and saw that the pod had nearly reached the cruiser. “The cruiser’s not slowing down,” reported Debra in a low voice.

Will looked down and closed his eye. So much for trusting that people in Earth’s military still looked out for one another.

“Wait,” cried Debra excitedly. “The cruiser is stopping. It’s moving towards the pod.”

Will exhaustion was suddenly gone. “Then let’s get the other pod off,” he called out as he hurried back down the ladder. He headed down to the visitors quarters and after harnessing one of the remaining men to his back, headed back up to the escape pods. Although the knowledge that the cruiser had stopped has refreshed him, carrying yet another person up the ladder was no easy task. He was panting and sweating as he finally reached Debra.

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As she helped Will up, he muttered. “Next ship we get has an elevator.” However, there was still one man left, so Will once again had to go down and lug him back up.

In the meantime, Debra kept close tabs on the cruiser’s activities. “They’ve gotten the pod aboard,” she called down. “Fifteen minutes until they’re in weapons range.”

There were about eight minutes to spare by the time they got the last man aboard the escape pod. After closing the hatch, Will began typing on the control panel. “Let’s make them chase this one,” he explained, as he adjusted the pod’s navigation controls.

Pulling the lever, the ship shook as the second escape pod was jettisoned. However, instead of this pod flying towards the cruiser, it took a heading forty-five degrees away from it.

Exhausted, Will had Debra collapsed in their chairs in the control room. Debra leaned forward to check the sensors. “The cruiser is changing course,” she called out. “They’re pursuing the escape pod.”

“Excellent,” replied Will as he adjusted the ships heading to move in the opposite direction of the cruiser. “Let me know when they’re out of sensor range.”

“Got it.”

With the two ships moving in opposite directions, it only took about twenty minutes for the cruiser to disappear from sensors. “They’re out of range,” reported Debra. Will nodded and adjusted the ship’s heading.

“Hopefully, that’s the last we’ve seen of them,” declared Will.

Suddenly a light on the control panel began flashing and there was a beeping sound. “What’s that?” asked Debra, concern in her voice.

Will flipped a switch and the beeping stopped. “We’re receiving a transmission, but it’s not on a standard channel.” He turned a knob. “No sound, only an image.” He pressed a button. For a moment the viewscreen was filled with static but the image finally cleared up. It was a single word, “Thanks.”

Will broke into a wide smile and looked over at Debra. “Maybe we’re not as alone as we thought.”

Over the next few hours they changed course several more times, but there were no further signs of pursuit. As they flew, Debra began transferring the files she’d downloaded from the damaged cruiser to the ship’s computer. “It’s going to take a while to go through all these,” she said. “I think it’s best if we get a fresh start in the morning.”

“Good idea,” agreed Will. “Why don’t you go get some sleep?”

Debra shook her head. “No, I’m fine. You must be exhausted after carrying those four people up to the escape pods. You go get some sleep.”

The look on Debra’s face told him he wasn’t going to win this debate, so he unstrapped himself and got up. “Thanks. Let me know if anything comes up.”

“Always do,” answered Debra with a smile as she settled herself in front of the ship’s controls.

Will climbed down to his cabin and within minutes of lying on his bed, he was asleep.

“Will,” came Debra’s voice over the intercom which woke him immediately.

“Yes.” Looking over at the clock, he saw he’d been asleep for nearly six hours.

“Time for you to take over,” she answered with a yawn. “Everything’s quiet.”

“I’ll be right there.”

After splashing water on his face and brushing his hair, Will headed up to the control room. As he came up the ladder, Debra began unstrapping herself. “I kept us on the same course. Where are we going anyway?”

“Don’t know,” answered Will with a shrug. “I guess it will depend on what we find in the data we got from the cruiser.”

“Wake me in four hours and we’ll start going through it,” said Debra as she started down the ladder.

She stopped mid-step as the radio sprung to life. “This is the Santrum freighter Ilid,” said a voice on a signal filled with static. “We are under attack, engines are down, and life support is failing. Our coordinates are …” and the signal faded.

Debra got back in her seat and Will immediately began flipping switches to try and bring the signal back, but had no luck. “Can you trace back the signal?”

“It appeared to come from the Actrun sector, but that’s the best I can do,” said Debra. She looked over at Will. “You know it’s probably a trap. Grandle knows you can’t resist coming to the rescue. Plus, they know we’re in this region of space.”

“I know,” replied Will, “but what if it isn’t.” He shook his head. “I know, I know. But if it were a trap, wouldn’t they have given us the coordinates.”

As Will finished speaking, a beep came from the control panel. Debra checked the readout. “How convenient,” she said sarcastically, “a location beacon from the Ilid.”

Will brought up the star chart and superimposed the position of the Ilid on it. It appeared to be in an open region of space, but there were several nebula nearby in which ships could potentially hide. “Does look like the perfect location for a trap.” Although as he looked at it, he realized it would also be the ideal location for pirates to prey on merchant ships.

Will knew that if he were on his own, he’d already be on course for the Ilid. And yet, he couldn’t discount the points Debra had made. And she was definitely right about Grandle knowing he couldn’t resist being the hero. Perhaps he’d been right about him being idealistically naive. Will took a deep breath. “We’ll stay on our current course.”

Debra reached over and patted his shoulder. “You know it’s the right decision.”

Will nodded. “I know, but I can’t help wondering if people are going to die because of it.”

“You can’t save everyone, Will.”

They sat there in silence for a while. Finally, Debra got up. “I’m going to go get some sleep.” Bending down she kissed him on the cheek. “Good night, she said, then headed down the ladder.

For a while Will busied himself verifying the ship’s heading and checking out the ship’s systems. However, that didn’t take long and he was soon alone with his thoughts and they weren’t pleasant. He and Debra hadn’t made any progress in stopping whatever Grandle was trying to do. Maybe there’d be something in the data they took from the cruiser or maybe there’d be nothing. If there wasn’t, there’d be only one course of action left, taking the fight to Grandle himself. His mind began going over all the obstacles involved and for the first time in his life, he didn’t see a way to win.

Leaning back he closed his eyes and his thoughts turned to Debra’s father. He’d sacrificed himself to save his squadron. Captain Corlander couldn’t be certain he’d succeed, but he did it anyways. Based on what he and Debra had already seen, entire worlds could be a risk if Grandle wasn’t stopped. Will knew he might not be able to save everyone, but just as Debra’s father had done, he had to try.

A beep from the console interrupted his thoughts. It was another transmission using the non-standard channel. Will brought it up on the screen and saw “Trap.” Will smiled. It would seem he and Debra weren’t fighting Grandle alone after all.