Gordon Malloy was bored. Four straight hours on the shuttle with nothing but stars to break up the blackness beyond the space shield, and a route that could have been flown by a first-year academy cadet had him feeling like his eyes were about to start moving independently of each other. A first-year cadet majoring in botany could have done it. Auto-pilot could have done a perfectly bang-up job. But when your captain spends the better part of a morning briefing explaining how you have to go help stop a war, you don't go claiming made-up dental appointments to get out of it.

He'd caught the highlights of Ed's broadcast, as he usually did when meetings went extra long: Blah blah blah diplomatic mission, blah blah blah planet on the verge of civil war, something about Commander Grayson and the admiralty, and finally, needing the best helmsman in the fleet for the job.

Of course, Kelly Grayson was the only actual diplomat in this preliminary meeting between the two ruling factions of Okuul. Gordon's only job was to get her there and back, and it had been made abundantly clear to him that he was not to say a word from the time they landed to the time they headed home. He just hadn't expected it to start before they even got there.

Kelly had spent the entire ride so far with her nose in a book and her feet crossed at the ankle on her console. It was the kind of thing you could only get away with when you reached a certain rank, like completely ignoring your pilot on a six-hour flight.

"Passing Degoba Star System, and all's well," he said when he finally couldn't take it anymore. "We should be right on time."

"Great," said Kelly, not looking up from the book. "Keep it up."

"I could probably get us there a few minutes early, if you're up for a shortcut. There's a few asteroids between here and there, but nothing I couldn't handle."

"On time will be fine, Lieutenant."

He nodded. "Aye, sir."

With the course set to cruise for the next forty minutes, he leaned back in his chair and drummed his fingers on the console, puffing air through his lips in an attempt to resist whistling.

"So. What are you reading?" he asked.

Kelly looked up. "Oh, this? It's The Color Purple."

"Oh, yeah." Gordon nodded a little too emphatically. "That's a great one."

Kelly's eyebrows arched. "You've read it?"

"No, but I saw the movie, like, fifty times. Prince, Morris Day… Wait, that was Purple Rain. Still, great movie. Have you seen it?"

With a polite smile, Kelly shook her head, and turned back to her book.

"Did I tell you I'm thinking of getting an aquarium for the bridge?"

Kelly lowered the book again. "What?"

"Yeah. I thought it'd be nice, you know, having a pet up there. Remember how I was thinking about a cat? I'm pretty sure Bortus eats them. Then I though about a ferret, but Isaac said it might get into the wiring. But with an aquarium –"

"Yeah. Sounds nice. I'll run it by Ed."

Gordon smiled. "I knew you'd be on board. Just do me a favor and make it sound like it was your idea? Bortus never lets me have any fun."

"Hm."

Gordon was quiet just long enough for Kelly to find her place in the book again. "Hey, you want to play a game?"

"Actually, I –"

"Come on, it'll be fun. It's the alphabet came, perfect for road trips. We pick a category, and then take turns thinking of something from the category that starts with each letter. First person to get stumped loses. Oh, I've got the perfect first category! Let's do show tunes. Everybody likes show tunes. I'll start. Let's see… A… A… show tune that starts with A… Hm… Ummmmm…"

Kelly sighed. "America' from West Side Story?"

Gordon threw his head back and groaned. "Aw, man! I was just about to say that. Now I've got to think of another one."

"Well, let me know when you do," said Kelly.

"A… A, A, A…" Gordon murumured, drumming his fingers on his chin.

"Aft starboard."

Gordon waggled his finger at her. "You're not going to convince me that that's a show tune. And I don't think you understand the rules, here."

"No, there's something coming up on our aft starboard corner. There shouldn't be anything out here but asteroids." Kelly swung her feet to the floor and frowned at her console. "I don't know what it is, but it's big. And fast. Can you get a signature?"

Gordon switched his own display to show a large green blip approaching them rapidly from behind. He hit the scanner, which quickly showed a result that made his heart seize on itself.

"It's Krill," he said.

In the next moment, the shuttle rocked against an impact that almost threw both of them from their chairs, and the lights temporarily dimmed.

"Direct hit!" Gordon reported. "Aft starboard engine down to sixty percent. They're hailing us."

Kelly's mouth set into a grim line. "Put it through."

The space shield flashed into the image of a male Krill officer's craggy white face.

"Union vessel," he said in a voice like sandpaper. "Identify yourself and your business."

"I'm Commander Kelly Grayson of the starship Orville," said Kelly. "Who are you? And what business of yours is our business?"

"Colonel Herzic of the hundred and third regiment. You are trespassing in Krill space."

"Krill space?" said Kelly. "This is a neutral zone."

Herzic's mouth twisted cruelly. "Not anymore. The Krill now lay claim here."

"Since when? Twenty minutes ago, when you saw we were here? Be reasonable, Colonel. In case you hadn't heard, Krill and the Union just won a major battle against the Kaylon, fighting on the same side. Firing on a Union vessel is an act of war."

"It's a little late for that," Gordon muttered.

"Ssh!"

Herzic slapped the armrests of his command chair and leaned forward. "I do not have to explain myself to heretics like you! Surrender and prepare to be taken into custody, or you will be destr-"

The screen filled with starry night again as Kelly cut the link.

"Get us out of here, Lieutenant."

"Aye, sir!"

Gordon punched the thrusters just in time to avoid another shot, which whizzed past the bow. The jolt slammed both of them against their seatbacks.

"Can we outrun them with half an engine missing?" Kelly asked, eyes on her fingers as the danced across her console.

"No," said Gordon, "but we can outfly them. You might want to strap in, Commander."

Kelly reached for her seatbelt. "You fly, I'll shoot."

The shuttle rocked and swayed with Gordon's maneuvers, and the heavy cruiser flashed in and out of view. The up-down-zigzag-loop-the-looping made it almost impossible for the Krill to hit them, and multiple shots flashed by the shuttle's sides harmlessly, like a cow trying to swat a wasp with its tail. Unfortunately, it was also impossible for Kelly to get a lock on the bigger ship's weapons banks. Gordon didn't seem to notice.

"That's right, Colonel Hertz or whatever your name is! You picked the wrong helmsman on the wrong day!"

"Gordon! Stop teasing them and get us around to their portside before our engine goes completely."

"Aye, sir. Hang on!"

He swung the shuttle in a wide arc, coming at the Krill's port side from below. With the locking system still thrown off by the dizzying flight, Kelly held her breath, used her eyes, and fired.

The beam of their shot carved a gash across the Krill cruiser until finally, it burned across the bank of weapons in a burst of fire and sparks.

Gordon pounded his fist on his thigh. "Yeah! How does that taste, you bug-eating motherf-"

The shuttle rocked again, harder this time, and the interior darkened to a flashing red light as the alarms began to wail.

"Direct hit!" said Kelly. "Starboard engine's toast."

"Well, that's not good…" Another hit, and Gordon was sure his seatbelt would leave a mark. "Hull integrity's at forty. They're hailing us again."

"Another chance to surrender. Then they want us alive." Kelly tapped a command into her console. "There's a planet with breathable atmosphere on heading four-eight-three mark nine. Can you get us there?"

"Not without getting caught in the atmosphere. I'm not sure we can survive the gravity with just one engine."

Kelly allowed a glance at him. "I'll take my chances with gravity over the Krill, wouldn't you?"

Gordon nodded, set his jaw, and flew. With the cruiser hot on their tail the whole time, they sped, dodged, and shot their way through the following five or six minutes, each just waiting for the next hit to vaporize them. Despite the volley of shots from the Krill, the hit never came, and the stars in shuttle's view were soon replaced by the glowing blue and green marble of the planet, then clouds, then the treetops and hills of a vast forest, all whizzing by as Gordon fought to maintain control.

By now, the whole shuttle was shaking with the force of an earthquake, the hull ready to buckle under the blistering speed.

"I can't hold it, Commander!" Gordon yelled, his voice vibrating with the turbulence. "We need more power to the reverse thrusters, or we're going to be mosquitoes on a windshield when we hit the ground!"

"Diverting life support! Hold on!"

The thrusters roared, but were almost drowned out by the cracking of the treetops on the shuttle's underbelly. The viewing field filled with branches, leaves, vines. The shuttle slammed against a rock face and went spinning into another, yanking the officers about in their chairs so hard that their breath left them.

The last thing Gordon saw before the final impact was Kelly with her head ducked into the crash position. He had just enough time to think that maybe that was a good idea.

Thanks for reading, everyone! If you like my writing, check out my pirate novel, available on Kindle! Guin-Sea-Turtle-Anna-Lee-ebook/dp/B01CM4XBB6