On the ship, Dienna met Tom again. It turned out that Tom, who was slightly shorter than Ray, blond and freckled, was two years younger than Ray. Ray was thirteen, dark-haired and two inches taller than Dienna. Ray’s parents, Caitlin and Jerry Moss, were about the same height and both dark-haired. Caitlin had green eyes and Jerry had blue eyes.

     “Who are you traveling with?” Jerry asked.

     “Twilight Wisher.” Dienna said.

     “Twilight’s here!” Jerry exclaimed.

     “Yeah, about five ships down.” Dienna replied. “Tyler’s working at a café in town and Steven runs this dock.”

     “That just leaves Matt.” Caitlin remarked.

     “Actually, Matt went back to Earth.” Jerry explained.

     “Matt’s on Earth?” Dienna asked.

     “When last I heard, yes. Why?” Jerry asked.

     “Nothing, except that Earth was taken over by the Bandaa.” Dienna replied.

     “It’s WHAT?” Jerry yelled.

     “The reason that we’re out here in the first place,” Dienna said. “Is because Twilight came to warn that the Bandaa were coming, but Corazon was the only one who believed him and she beamed us on his ship when the Bandaa did arrive and demand our immediate surrender.” She watched Jerry shove his hand through his hair in frustration. “So, now we’re going to Drenk in order to help the resistance and crush the Bandaa there, before crushing them on Earth. That way, we’ll have a bigger army to use against the King and Queen, who are currently on Earth.”

     “We’re coming with you.” Jerry promptly said. When Caitlin tried to protest he hushed her. “If Matt’s in trouble, I’ve got to help. He’s one of my best friends; the brother I never had.”

     “I just wish we could do something with the children.” Caitlin huffed.

     “Let us come!” Ray suggested. “Dienna’s helping Twilight out, and, the whole reason we came here was to work on my shooting skills. She rocks behind a gun, Mom! Please!”

     “If you think for one minute,” Caitlin said slowly. “That I am going to allow you and Tom to risk your necks, you’ve got another thing coming.”

     “Mom,” Ray whined. “PLEASE! What would you do with me, anyway?”

     “I would stay with you while your father went.” Caitlin replied. “That is final.”

     Ray tried to protest, but his mother shushed him. So, Ray took Dienna to where the training module was while Jerry went to talk to Twilight.

     “Is this situation fair to you?” Ray asked as he put his helmet on.

     “No.” Dienna bluntly replied. “But what do you expect me to do?”

     “Say something!” Ray replied. “You could at least give your opinion to my mom. Maybe she’d believe an outsider.”

     “I’m starting the game.” Dienna warned.

     Then about fifty first-class drones barraged Ray. He performed well enough on that, so Dienna added some second class drones. It wasn’t long before they had worked their way up to Dienna’s skill level.

     “You’re doing much better.” Dienna remarked when he had finally won over a bunch of drones in the way that she expected of herself.

     “Thanks.” He took off his helmet. “I think I’ll take a break now. What time is it? I’m hungry.”

     “Lunch time.” Dienna replied, standing up. “Do you have anything that’s easy to make on this ship?”

     “Soup?” Ray suggested.

     “What kind?” Dienna asked.

     “What kind do you want?” The two had gone to the kitchen and Ray was holding two doors open. About twenty different kinds of soup lay before Dienna.

     “Does your family live off soup, or something?” Dienna asked.

     “No,” Ray replied. “These cans have stocked up over the years.”

     “Oh.” Dienna looked over the cans and the pictures. Nothing was written in English. “How about tomato soup? Do you have any of that?”
     “Yeah.” Ray reached up and pulled down a red can.

     After lunch, the two were having trouble deciding what to do next. Ray didn’t want to get back on the training module and Dienna didn’t feel like going back into the port.

     “Let’s go over to your ship.” Ray suggested. “There’s nothing else to do. You can introduce me to your friends.”

     “If that’s what you want.” Dienna said, sighing as she stood up. “I can’t guarantee any excitement, though.”

     “That’s okay.” Ray replied.

     The two friends found Twilight deep in discussion with Jerry. They were talking about a plan of action and what to do about Matt, who was still on Earth. What if the Bandaa already had Matt? What if Matt was dead? They wouldn’t even think about that possibility.

     “Hey Dienna.” Tia met them in the main control room. She had been working at one of the computers. “It’s Ray, right?”

     “Yeah, and you’re Tia.” Ray said.

     “It’s good to see you again. Are you giving him a tour?” Tia asked Dienna.

     “I guess I am.” Dienna replied. “Come on, Ray. I’ll show you my gun set.”

     “Wow!” Ray marveled at the controls. “You have control over every gun on the ship?”

     “You bet.” Dienna answered. “And one set of combat arms.”

     “Excellent.” Ray sat down in the seat. “Two gunmen at once. Who pilots with you?”

     “Corazon.” Dienna said. “She’s almost as good as me, but she prefers to look on the bright side, while I look on the dull side.”

     “Why do you look on the dull side?” Ray asked.

     “Someone has to bring that girl down to Earth.” Dienna replied. “Excuse the expression.”

     “Sure.” Ray smiled. “What else do you have on this ship?”

     “An engine room, bedrooms, storage, a kitchen.” Dienna listed. “What next?”
     “Whatever’s closer.” Ray replied.

     “The engine room.” Dienna said. “Felicia and Giselle work in there.” She said as she opened the door to the gun cockpits and let Ray out.

     They met Felicia in the engine room. She was working on the engine that had been hit.

     “Hey, Felicia.” Dienna said. “This is Ray. Ray, this is Felicia.”

     “Is he human?” Felicia asked, standing up.