We watched as the Reflominan ran down the street. Just as he came to an intersection, he pulled a smaller stun gun out that had been strapped to his lower leg and began to shoot at us. I fired back and he disintegrated into a fiery pile on the sidewalk.

"That was probably for the best. The fewer creatures that know about our presence here the better," Jessie pointed out.

"Now, we've got to find that human at the landing port that tipped him off and see who else he's told," I said. We made our way back to the landing port and found the man polishing an older model space cruiser. I pulled out my laser cannon and came up behind him. Jessie pulled hers out as well.

“Hold it right there. Turn around so we can see you!” I commanded. The man turned and looked at us.

“Don’t shoot. I mean you no harm!” he pleaded.

“Really? If that’s the case, then why did you tell that Reflominan that we were here? Did you not hear that we were known fugitives and killers? Tell me why I shouldn’t blast you to bits right here and now?” I asked. The man began to sweat and shiver with fear.

“I only told Feron, the Reflominan you spoke of. He offered me part of the reward. I am very poor and needed the money.”

“Well he is now dead and you will soon be as well if you tell anyone else. Come on, Jessie, we have to hold this one prisoner until we’re ready to leave.” I took some rope that I found in the human’s office and tied up his hands. Then, we used a cleaning cloth to gag him. We took him back to the hotel and locked him in the closet.

"I would say that we leave right now, but the refueling station is closed. We will leave this place first thing in the morning as soon as the ship is ready. It's far too dangerous for us here. I had no idea that the news of our escape from Earth had traveled this far!" I mused.

“I’m not surprised. The virtual reality viewers and intergalactic light energy networks have made the universe a much smaller place,” Jessie stated. “Let’s try and get some rest.”

We lay together on the bed holding one another, trying to relax. Suddenly, the man in the closet began to make much noise trying to beat on the walls. I got up, opened the closet door and pointed my laser cannon at him.

“If you don’t’ stop making noise, I won’t hesitate to shoot you!” I said. He kept trying to talk through the gag. I removed it to see what he was trying to tell me.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I am thirsty. I haven’t had any water for hours. When are you going to release me?”

"As soon as we are ready to leave we will let you go, but not one minute before that. Hold on." I went and got a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water. It had a brown tint to it, so I wasn't sure how drinkable it was. I handed it to the man. He was so thirsty that he drank it all down. Then, I put the gag back on him and closed the closet door. He struggled a bit more and made some noise, but finally, he calmed down. I got back in bed and took Jessie's hand. We fell asleep, but deep in the night, Jessie woke me up. She climbed on top of me.

"Make sweet love to me," she whispered. I gazed up at her beautiful naked body as she writhed on top of my lap. She leaned down and gave me a long, passionate kiss as we worked our way up to a massive orgasm. We had perfected the art of reaching climax at the exact same moment and did so almost every time we made love. Then, we stared at one another and mind-melded. Our connection had grown so strong, that we could see what the other person was thinking at the point of orgasm. As the waves of pleasure washed over my body, I had a vision of a sunny, beautiful landscape with a small house on a grassy hill. Beside me there was Jessie, smiling and holding my hand.

“We’re home,” she told me. Then, I gasped with pleasure and opened my eyes.

“One day, we will make that vision a reality!” I said. Jessie smiled and kissed me and we fell into a very deep sleep.

The next morning, I woke up to find Jessie giving the man another glass of water and some food from the rations that we had. We had no choice but to eat the rations as well, having no other food. It was far too risky to try and return to the bar that we had gone to, the night before. Despite the fact that the rooms were quite old, each one was equipped with an older model of virtual reality player. The newer models didn't require viewing glasses, but these did.

“Let’s see if we can get some news about the outside world,” Jessie suggested. She handed me the glasses and switched on the virtual reality player. She began to move through the thousands of channels until she found a news program. The reporter looked as if she was standing right in front of us. We felt like we were right in the middle of the action.

Good afternoon from CNN Universal news, I’m Shelley Camden reporting from New York, USA, on planet Earth. Military sources tell CNN that enemy Sarceastian ships have been spotted near the vicinity of Mars in our very own Milky Way galaxy. Their trajectory seems to be the planet Earth. The ships are attack vessels, so we are certain that this isn’t an exploration mission. I talked to General Watkins a moment ago to get his opinion on the situation, here’s what he told me.

“Shelley, we have been keeping an eye out for a Sarceastian invasion for quite some time now and it looks as if they have finally gotten up the nerve to challenge us. The Sarceastians have conquered many areas of the known universe, but so far have gained very little ground in the Milky Way. Our allies on Mars have alerted us to the presence of the Sarceastian ships. There look to be about twenty of them, a fleet that is definitely large enough to cause major damage once they launch their attack. We are preparing and mounting a defense, but we are in need of aid if we are to conquer an attacking force of this kind. At this moment in time, many of our fighting forces are stationed elsewhere, ironically to guard against the presence of Sarceastians in other parts of the universe. We have called these troops back to Earth, but we aren’t certain that they will have time to get back to home base before the Sarceastians reach us.”

General, in your opinion, what is their likely strategy once they reach the planet?

"Shelley, it's likely that they will attack major population centers and military outposts. They have enough ships to attack both types of targets at once, so no one is safe from this threat. We advise everyone to take cover in bomb shelters within the next twenty-four hours. The Sarceastians are likely to reach us within forty-eight hours. We are mounting as large a defense as we can and will be calling on civilian groups to help us take up arms against this enemy."

Thank you, General. Well, as you can see, this is indeed a threat that we must take seriously. As more information becomes available, we will be here to share it with you. In the meantime, as the general said, it would be a good idea to take shelter if you have one with all of the necessary provisions. If you are a member of the civilian volunteer task force, you are asked to report to your nearest military base for duty. At this time, the military needs all the help that it can possibly get. This is Shelley Camden reporting from New York for CNN Universal news.

"Oh no, I can't believe this," Jessie said as she took off her virtual reality glasses and switched off the player. I took off my glasses and went over to her, putting my hands on her shoulders.

“Jessie, I am so sorry to hear about this news. I can’t really say that I’m totally surprised. To be honest, I can’t believe that it has taken this long for the Sarceastians to attack Earth. They have tried to take over just about every other planet in the universe.”

“Yahn, I can’t let this happen. My parents and everyone else I’ve ever known could be in danger. Those that aren’t killed by the initial attack will be enslaved. I don’t have to tell you how brutal they can be. No one knows better than you.”

“They will be lucky if any of them live to be enslaved. There’s nothing we can do to help your loved ones, I’m afraid. If we return to Earth, we will be captured ourselves. I don’t need to remind you that we are fugitives of justice, do I?” I knew how Jessie felt at that moment, but I knew that her emotions were getting in the way of her rational thoughts.

“I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try my best to save them. There have to be some beings here that would be willing to help. We could generate an army that could deal the Sarceastians a real blow that would assist the Earthlings.”

“Jessie, the only creatures around here that would be willing to help are those that are getting paid handsomely. We only have a handful of Banis left, not even enough to recruit one soldier.”

“I’m telling you that we have to try. Just think how you would feel if this was your planet that was in danger. You would be trying everything you could to mount up a counter attack against the Sarceastians. You know I’m right,” Jessie insisted.

“I understand how you feel, certainly; but there is no way that we could help out. Even if we could gather together a sizeable army, we would have to leave this place within twenty-four hours to reach Earth on time.”

“You can argue against it all you want, but I’m not leaving today. I am going to do some recruiting,” She said as she gathered her things and began to head to the door.

“Wait!” she turned and looked at me with her arms folded.

“If you are determined to try and help your fellow Earthlings, I will assist you even though I think it’s a foolhardy thing to try. I can’t allow you to go out there on your own. You know how dangerous this space colony is. We need to seek out a bar where there is a little more diversity so we can increase our odds of finding worthy recruits. It would be best to avoid the bar we were in last night.” Just as I went to gather my things, I heard a noise in the closet and realized that we had almost forgotten our prisoner. I opened the closet, pulled the human out and untied him.

“You are free to go, but if you tell anyone else that we are fugitives, we won’t hesitate to find you and kill you. Do you understand?” I asked.

“Yes, sir. Please let me go, I swear I won’t tell anyone!” he begged. I let him go and we headed out.