The Earth Conundrum: Book 1 of the Alliance Conflict (48 page)

Ella stared at Lorano. She was surprised by his almost warm greeting. She said, “I don’t really know yet. I am assigned to this supply depot until further notice.”

Carank said, “Well, good luck.”

“You too,” Ella replied and walked into the interior of the depot.

Lorano looked around the loading bay at what was left. He had prioritized the loading sequence to ensure that the critical components were loaded first. He was satisfied that all of the absolutely necessary equipment had been loaded and that there was no room for anything else. He said, “Carank, it is time to board.”

The walked onto the ship through the hangar bay, edged around a few boxes, and came to a complete and utter stop. Lorano turned to run, but was blocked. He noticed Carank was shaking.

Lorano looked at the two rows of humans. Each row was standing on one side of the door way to the main corridor. They would have to walk between the two rows to get to the bridge. The humans were just standing there, not moving, just waiting for them.

He imagined what had happened. The humans must have killed everyone else aboard and seized control of the ship. He wondered how Ella had gotten off alive. Now, they were just teasing him by waiting. As soon as he started walking down the middle of the line, his life would be over.

One of the humans moved slightly and said, “Lorano, Carank. Welcome back aboard the
Sunflower
. Captain Solear is waiting for you on the bridge.” The human waved his hand in what appeared to be a friendly gesture.”

Carank had finally calmed down enough to regain his wits. He looked over at Lorano and said, “Well, you wanted a welcoming party; here it is.”

……………………..

Victor and Crista were sound asleep when the priority message arrived.

…You have an in-coming emergency message from the Alliance Senate…

Victor briefly considered telling the computer to save it until morning. However, Crista had now woken up so he decided to listen to it. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, sat up, and said, “Computer, play the message.”

…Victor Bullpeep. The Alliance Senate had decided to expand the human experiment. Please proceed immediately to Earth and obtain enough humans to completely staff an Alliance cruiser. Please include engineering, maintenance, and another set of pilots…

Victor groaned and lay back down in bed. The computer reenactment of the
Sunflower
’s battle had been on the news nearly non-stop for the last few hours. The newscasters didn’t mention that the pilots were humans, but Victor knew the truth. He had been expecting this order since he realized the humans had won 12 out of 12 fighter battles.

Crista rolled over and groaned. She said, “Not again” and fell back to sleep.”