Tala only had a few steps of open deck that she could pace along, but she did so, chewing her nails as she walked back and forth in the little office. Angela stood in the doorway with Lulu. Katie and Juanita were behind her, bolt bows in their hands. For now, the Falcon 8 was quiet, but based on the occasional updates from Zakota, Tala knew they were attached to the alien warship and trapped by some kind of energy beam it had wrapped around them.

In the main sickbay, Orion stood directly in front of the door, his bolt bow ready in his arms. The women were being careful to stay out of his way.

The sickbay door was locked, but Tala had a feeling that wouldn’t mean much to a determined boarding party. She knew Sage had left several armed and armored men in the corridor outside, but she wondered if that was a boon. Wouldn’t intruders assume those men had been left to guard something valuable? Wouldn’t the aliens be more likely to trot past without checking sickbay if the corridor were empty? After all, numerous doors lined the passage to either side, all with a similar look. A plaque identified this one as sickbay, but would alien intruders think to look inside here first? Surely, other parts of the ship would be more of a priority. Of course, they might be looking for easy prey to capture… and eat.

Tala accidentally bumped the chair, and it spun. A grunt came from under the desk.

“Sorry,” she said.

She had forgotten Indigo was under there.

“It’s fine,” Indigo said. “And for the record, I’m not hiding cowardly from the alien invaders. I’m staying out of the way.”

“That’s what we’re all doing,” Juanita said—she didn’t look that comfortable holding the bow weapon. Out of all the women, Katie and that Bethany out there were the only ones who looked like they truly wanted to shoot people—or aliens. “It seems smart.”

“That’s me,” Indigo said. “A genius.”

Her head thunked back against the support for the desk.

“I don’t even like hiking,” Indigo said, “because of the rattlesnakes. I prefer the indoors. The outdoors is full of scary things.”

“Technically, I think we are indoors,” Angela said.

At her side, Lulu swished her tail back and forth as she watched the main door, much like Orion was doing. Tala wondered if the svenkar had superior hearing and could detect intruders in the corridors.

“Eridanus,” Tala said, “are there aliens on the ship yet?”

“There are twenty-eight Zi’i warriors aboard the Falcon 8,” Eridanus stated calmly.

“Is that a lot?” Juanita asked.

“The Zi’i are supreme warriors with strength and speed greater than that of a human. In hand-to-hand combat, they usually defeat even combat-hardened humans such as Star Guardians.”

“I saw one almost take down Treyjon,” Angela said, “and he’s a stud.”

“A stud? Are we talking about battles or beds?” Juanita asked.

“He beat up Commander Varro.”

“I’m not sure that answers my question.”

Angela swatted her.

Juanita sighed. “Why is it that aliens are always superior to humans? Even the peace- and logic-loving Vulcans are stronger than we are.”

“The Zi’i are anything but peace-loving,” Orion said from his spot in the main room.

Tala paced. She felt useless. She didn’t want people to get hurt to give her something to do, but she wished she could help somehow.

“Can you show us where they are, Eridanus?” Tala asked.

“Oh, good idea,” Juanita said, turning toward the desk. “Yes, please show us the video feeds. Especially the one of our corridor outside.”

“I may only be able to display such imagery for a short time,” Eridanus said as the holographic display came on over the desk. “One group of Zi’i is heading toward the bridge, and they intend to attempt to access my databases. I can play many tricks to keep them from making progress, but if they have a talented hacker, I could be thwarted. In which case, I would need to destroy myself to keep them from acquiring critical information.”

“Why does everyone here want to commit suicide?” Tala muttered as she studied the four camera feeds that came up.

“What do you mean?” Angela asked her.

“Never mind.”

Tala shuddered at the sight of the dark-furred and fanged Zi’i stalking through the ship’s white corridors in teams of six or eight. The way they moved reminded her of apes, but they looked more like furry versions of the deadly svenkars. But unlike svenkars, they spoke to each other. She couldn’t hear anything over the display, but she saw their mouths moving, alternating in a conversation as they glanced at each other. Those definitely were not random growls.

“They don’t wear combat armor, Eridanus?” Juanita asked.

“No, they consider it cowardly.”

“Are all our people in armor?” Tala asked, the conversation spawning an idea in her mind. “The ones outside of sickbay?”

“Yes. And the Star Guardians in engineering and the environmental control room. Lieutenant Commander Korta is not wearing armor, and Commander Zakota does not have his helmet affixed, but is otherwise wearing a suit. They are both located on the bridge.”

“Do the Zi’i breathe the same air as we do?” Tala asked, figuring they must since she didn’t see any masks.

“They evolved on a planet with a similar ratio of oxygen and nitrogen as humans are accustomed to,” Eridanus said. “There are small differences, and their air feels thin to humans due to less oxygen, but humans are able to subsist in their environment and vice versa.”

“Oh,” Juanita blurted, perhaps guessing Tala’s thoughts. “Could we suck all the air off the ship, except what’s in sickbay and on the bridge, and deprive them of oxygen, so they’d have to run back to their ship? Or, uh, not make it back to their ship? Our people’s combat armor provides them with an independent air supply, doesn’t it?”

“The Zi’i are a hardy species and can survive for thirty minutes without oxygen,” Eridanus informed them. “That may be a sufficient time for them to finish their mission. Group One has reached engineering.” He made one of the feeds flash. The Zi’i in it were stopping in front of the door to engineering. Tala recognized the temporarily patched spot on the wall where the ensigns had tried to break in. “Group Two is approaching the bridge.”

“Zakota better put his helmet on,” Tala said.

“He has donned it, and he, Korta, and Lieutenant Coric are prepared to defend themselves. They have lowered the blast door in the corridor outside and placed explosives on the deck inside to slow down the enemy. Chief Hierax also placed booby traps in engineering before he left.”

“Left?”

“He is among the boarding party that is attempting to defeat the enemies on the Zi’i ship even as many of their warriors are distracted by invading our ship. Captain Sagitta told his Star Guardians to delay these Zi’i so they would not easily be able to return to defend their own ship.”

“So Sage is with the boarding party?” Tala asked. “Captain Sagitta, I mean.”

“He was captured by the Zi’i and taken prisoner aboard their ship seven minutes ago.”

“Captured?” Tala breathed, thinking of Sage pulling that capsule of poison out of the cabinet. “Why the hell isn’t he here so I can tell him what a shitty plan this is?”

Juanita gave her a sympathetic look.

“Combat has engaged in engineering,” Eridanus reported, ignoring her other question. “You may wish to prepare yourself for casualties soon, Doctor.”

“Great. Is there anything else we could do to them, when they’re breathing the air and our people aren’t?” Tala paused her pacing and gripped the edge of the desk. “What about that sedative we were prepared to pump through the vents to put everyone to sleep?”

“Zi’i physiology is different from that of humans,” Eridanus said, being about as helpful as a piece of gum on the bottom of a shoe. “They are immune to our stun weapons, and our sedatives have unpredictable effects on them.”

“What does work on them?” Tala demanded. “These are your long-time mortal enemies, right? You—humans—must have a big database of information gathered on what kills them.”

“Database?” Indigo said from under the desk. “Now, you’re talking my language.”

“This is true, Doctor,” Eridanus said. “Combat has been engaged on the bridge.”

“I don’t care,” Tala growled. “Display all the information you have on their physiology and what kills—or incapacitates—them.”

“Yes, Doctor.” Eridanus almost sounded contrite. Maybe Sage didn’t growl at him that often.

“Indi, want to help me sort through this?” Tala asked, as columns and charts and graphs and organization methods she couldn’t even name appeared in a holographic display next to the first one. She promptly felt daunted by the amount of raw data before her eyes.

“Yes.” Indigo squirmed out from under the desk, eyed the data, then swiped her finger through the floating display. Something similar to a search box appeared.

“Let’s look for,” Tala started, but broke off. Movement on one of the camera feeds caught her eye.

Zi’i charged down a familiar corridor, the one outside sickbay. The armored men waiting in front of the door leaned out of alcoves set into the bulkheads and opened fire. Roars, shouts, and even a boom emanated from the corridor.

“They’re almost here, Orion,” Juanita called to him.

“I hear it,” he said grimly. “I’m ready.”

“I’m not,” Angela whispered.

Tala wasn’t either.

“Let’s look for sedatives, Indi,” she said, doing her best to focus, despite the ominous noises coming from the corridor.

“What about poisons, things to kill them?”

“I… am a doctor. I don’t kill.”

“Hell, if we find something, I’ll push the button. Look at those things.” Indigo waved toward a feed that showed one of the hulking beasts pinning a Star Guardian to the deck in engineering. Smoke shrouded the air all around them, but that didn’t keep the camera from catching the thing’s massive fang-filled snout as it came down and bit into the man’s shoulder. The Star Guardian wore armor, but could it withstand that much abuse?

“Fine,” Tala said, “but we’ll have to cross-reference it to the drugs I actually have available in sickbay. There’s a cabinet of chemicals too.” She imagined filling a spray bottle with ammonia and squirting it in the aliens’ eyes. “I can make compounds if necessary, but I need the raw ingredients.”

“Get me the list,” Indigo said.

“On it.”

A thump came from sickbay.

“Better hurry,” Katie said, fingering the trigger of her weapon. “They’re right outside.”

“This is way worse than rattlesnakes,” Indigo whispered.

Tala couldn’t disagree.