“Release the map,” the pirate said it again. He was still using the voice com but didn’t want her to see him. This unnerved her.

“Start looking for a map everyone.”

Frantically Sammie, Charles, and Ruby searched through every cabinet and nook in the ship.

After two frantic minutes, Sammie said, “I think I found it.”

She handed Ruby a rolled up piece of paper she’d pulled from under the bed pad she’d been lying on. Ruby unrolled it and took pictures with the ship’s holopad.

“Oh, no.” She whispered as she saw the pictures of the bright stones painted on it. They looked like they had galaxies swirling inside them.

“What is it?” Charles asked, as the pirate they'd been talking to beamed on board. With him, he had a Hallaw with a chain around its neck and two guards wearing the same clothing as him. They had guns pointed at Ruby and she handed over the map.

“Is this it? The pirate asked the Hallaw, who just nodded.

“Finally,” the pirate said. “Don't follow us or I will kill you.”

With that, all four teleported back to their ship. Ruby had never seen someone actually teleport before. She was too concerned with what they were after to stop and marvel at it.

“Oh, no,” Ruby said again.

“What is it? You looked like you recognized that map,” Sammie said.

Ruby nodded sadly. “The map is to the same place we’re going. It’s going to lead them to a very special place on my planet people like that shouldn't know about.”

“What are they after?” Charles asked.

“When my parents first came to Adna, they were running. They’d been taken prisoner by another race who enjoyed imprisoning humans and humanoid species to work for them. They came across a group of natives on Adna, led by a man named Ation. Ation showed my father the secret Adna keeps beneath it.”

“Is it a dragon?” Charles asked, catching her off guard.

Sammie hit him in the arm. “He’s obsessed with dragons. Go on.”

“No. It’s a very rare gem. It’s called Astro Fox and it gleams with the light of a thousand galaxies. My parents have had to fight people off the planet. Aliens of all sorts have tried to find it.”

“We need to find a way to stop them,” Sammie said, nodding.

Ruby was glad they understood the severity of the situation. The pirates would be no match for her fathers, but Ation and his people were not fighters. They wouldn’t stand a chance.

“We’ve got to get closer to Adna so I can warn my family. If they know, they can anticipate the attack and fight. The pirates probably think the planet is still inhabited by the natives who created that map. It’s not obvious we are there.”

Ruby had to set a course to go the long way around. They could no longer waste time waiting for a shuttle ship at Manta Ray. They needed to get to Adna as soon as possible. She wasn’t sure the old ship would make the trip, but they had to try.

They were on edge the whole time. Sammie put Mawri in the back cot and found her a book to look at. It wasn’t a children’s book, but there were pictures. It mostly talked about the Hallaw’s planet and the things that were on it. Soon the child was sleeping again and the adults could go back to being nervous wrecks.

Ruby wasn’t sure how close to Adna they had to be for her instruments to start working. They were taking a completely uncharted route she’d never seen and she could only rely on the navigator that she was going the right way.

When they’d made it to a point she thought looked familiar she started paying attention to the radar. It would be good if they could spot the pirates before they were spotted. As fast as they had found the ship though, there was a good chance they had some type of tracking on them.

“Dad, come in. It’s Ruby.” She started talking into the communicator every twenty minutes when they were less than a few hours away. So far she’d gotten nothing back.

“Ruby?” A voice came through. It was crackling, but she recognized her mom.

“Oh, thank God. Hi. I’m okay but I need to talk to Dad right away.”

“Baston. It’s Ruby. She’s on the com. I can’t believe it.” She was crying and Ruby felt bad she hadn’t tried harder to communicate with her parents.

“Honey, you okay?” It was good to hear Baston’s voice.

“Yes, but there are pirates coming to the planet. They know where the Astro Fox is. There was a map. It’s too much for me to explain. You just have to trust me, Ation and his people are in trouble.”

“Okay, we’ll go to them. Do you know how far out they are?”

“Couple hours, maybe less. I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to get a signal to you for hours now.

“We’ll take care of it baby. Just get here safe. Your mothers have been beside themselves.”

Ruby felt at ease. If her dad told her he would take care of it, then he would take care of it. They just had to make it to Adna in case he needed help. She wasn’t sure how many pirates were actually making their way towards them. There would be another hour before they actually made it to them and by then the battle would probably be underway.

They made it into Adna’s atmosphere and she aimed the ship towards Ation’s tribe. She wasn’t sure exactly where the Astro Fox was, but she knew it was close to the tribe. As they came down to the planet, she could see the pirates’ ship parked.

She flew over the tribe and no one appeared to be there. She continued forward until they had made it up over the mountains. That’s when she saw the battle going on. Her fathers were out in front of a group of men. The evil tribe was fighting with them. There were about a dozen pirates she could see. A couple lay on the ground and a couple of the men lay on the ground. It seemed like the fight was pretty even. Ruby considered shooting at the pirates but they were fighting too closely with the others.

She set the plane down behind one of the mountains and raced out. Charles was right behind her, while Sammie stayed on the ship with Mawri.

When they arrived at the battle Sca was fighting with one of the pirates in hand-to-hand combat. Ruby wondered where his gun was. Some of the natives were fighting using spears against the pirate’s large knives. There were a lot of people injured.

Baston seemed to be the only one with a gun but she could see the charge was almost gone. The group of men were backing into the woods slowly and the pirates were following.

Ruby knew of the dangers in the woods and assumed the plan was to lead the pirates to it and avoid it themselves.

She shot a pirate who'd gained the upper hand on one of the men.

She ran up to her dad, who'd just knocked the man he was fighting unconscious.

“How did you get them to help?” Ruby gestured to the men led by their community's leader, Ham. She shot another pirate who was coming at them.

“Common ground.” They backed further into the woods. “They don't want the planet destroyed any more than we do.”

She heard the first worm before she saw it. If rumbled the ground beneath them. Sca and Ruby grinned at each other before climbing the trees. Charles who'd been fighting with the pirate Ruby had been speaking to earlier ran towards them.

“Is he behind you?” Ruby yelled down.

“Yes, he knocked my gun this way.”

“Get in a tree now!”

For a minute he hesitated, not sure what she meant when the ground moved again and he leapt up into the closest tree.

The pirate ran in with his large knife raised. The worm broke the ground right when the pirate ran over him and opened its mouth. He screamed as he was devoured and a couple of his men turned and ran when they saw what happened.

The worms had been an obstacle her parents had faced when they first arrived on the planet. Back then the worms stayed in their tunnels and only surfaced through holes they made. They'd evolved and could now give chase wherever you ran.

One by one the men ran the pirates into the woods and jumped into the trees.

Those lucky enough to avoid getting eaten returned to the ship. Their leader was gone and it seemed none of them wanted to die for his treasure quest.