“Not the first time he’s glowed?” Tyler asked. “Or not the first time he’s keeled over?”

  “Can you please shut up?” Matt growled at him. “You aren’t helping.”

  Tyler’s mouth closed tight, his face red, his expression clearly one of frenzied terror. I didn’t really blame him. This whole episode had been scary as hell. The only excuse I had for not losing it was that I had already drained my emotional pool. Still, Ally and Matt were right. Panicking wouldn’t accomplish anything but create a state of chaos, and it wouldn’t help Ben any.

  Glancing at Ally, she seemed none the worse for wear. She was obviously as fearful as Ty, but unlike T-Bone, she also had it completely under control. So did I.

  “What can I do?” I asked Matt.

  “I need you to take command of the ship,” he replied. “Stay on the stick, make sure we don’t fly toward the center of a star and be ready in case that other ship shows up again. It shouldn’t be able to transit through spacetime like we can, but it shouldn’t have been in Earth’s orbit either, so I don’t know what to expect from it.”

  “Who was it?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Matt replied, shaking his head. “Maybe Ben does. We’ll find out later. For now, just take the stick and keep us out of trouble.”

  “I’ll do my best,” I said, returning to my seat.

  I grabbed the controls with renewed focus, definitely intent on not flying Head Case into the center of a star and also resolved to remain ready should the UFO that attacked us make another appearance. I couldn’t understand how two ships could break reality and come out in the same place, but I figured Matt knew better than me what could happen. I only had sci-fi movies and novels to go off. He had real-life experience.

  A glance over my shoulder a few seconds later revealed Matt carrying Ben over one shoulder, Shaq on his opposite shoulder as he rushed off the flight deck, leaving me alone with Ally and Tyler.

  “Well, that was fun.” Tyler’s thick sarcasm only served as fuel to my fire.

  “What is your problem?” I ground out, head whipping back around to glare at him.

  “Are you serious? We just got into a real dogfight with a real enemy starship. And news flash, it kicked our ass. We almost died, Noah.”

  “But we didn’t,” I countered. “Ben put himself on the line to save our lives. He’s in sickbay and all you can do is bitch and moan instead of showing an ounce of gratitude and concern.”

  “Ben put us in this position in the first place. He’s responsible. I’m sorry he’s hurt, but it’s his own damn fault.”

  “He didn’t know we would be attacked. He thought Head Case was the only ship that could reach Earth.”

  “And obviously, unless the ship came from Earth, he was wrong.”

  “Can we stop arguing?” Alyssa interjected. “It’s not going to help or change anything. This is where we are now. Get a grip on it, Tyler.”

  “This is where we are because of Ben,” Tyler repeated, refusing to back down. “We deserve an apology and some answers.”

  “Maybe so,” I agreed. “But I think it can wait until, I don’t know, the person who can give us those answers is conscious again? That might be a good start.”

  “Of course you’re backing him instead of me,” Tyler whined. “He came to Des Moines for you. He let you pilot the ship. He stuck us in the nosebleeds while he gave you the VIP treatment.”

  “So that’s what this is about? Jealousy? Did your parents both die in a car crash today, asshole?” I had reached the end of my rope, and the last outburst left me raw. Tears sprang free as easily as my anger, and I turned away from him, doing my best to focus on the surround, to keep from falling apart, and in that, stay out of trouble.

  “What?”

  I ignored Tyler’s indignant tone of voice, figuring Ally was still oozing disapproval at him. “You are being an asshole,” she said. “For a while, I thought your creepy online stalker persona wasn’t the real you. Now, I’m beginning to think I was right about you in the first place.” I heard her get up and glanced at her as she came forward and threw herself into the pilot’s seat beside me.

  I didn’t say anything. Neither did she, choosing instead to look over Matt’s controls as a tense silence overcame the flight deck, all three of us spent in different ways.

  A few ticks later, Tyler shoved his head between our two stations, turning to me and then to Ally. “You’re both right,” he calmly admitted. “I’m sorry. I got totally freaked out by this whole thing. We almost died. Can either of you deny that?”

  “But we didn’t die. That’s the whole point,” I reiterated.

  “Thanks to you, Matt, and Ben,” he answered, “while I did nothing to help. That’s what this is about. Feeling helpless. Useless. Out of the game. I don’t like it.”

  “You aren’t the only one on the bench,” Alyssa reminded him.

  “Yeah, but…” he trailed off with a long frustrated release of breath.

  “If you were going to say, yeah but you’re a girl, I might have to punch you.”

  “It wouldn’t hurt,” Tyler said with a smile.

  “You wanna bet?” Alyssa laughed. Her slightly nasal chortle broke the tension and restored sanity. All three of us cracked up.

  “I have to admit,” Tyler said. “Even though it was terrifying and we almost died, there’s a part of me that kind of enjoyed it.”

  “Me, too,” Alyssa added. “It’s like Star Squadron came to life.”

  “I’d rather see that movie though than live it,” I said.

  “Truth,” Tyler agreed.

  “Right now, the sensors are clear and there doesn’t appear to be any major celestial bodies nearby,” I said, looking from the grid to the surround. “So hopefully once Matt comes back, he can give us his side of the story, and later we can get more from Ben.”

  “Yeah, I guess that’s our only move right now,” Tyler agreed.

  “So, what do you think of Ben?” Alyssa asked.

  “Gandalf,” I replied.

  “What?” Tyler snapped. “No way he’s Gandalf.”

  “Why not? He was glowing. He’s clearly a wizard. And he gives sick and traumatized people joy rides in his starship, which means he’s altruistic. A good guy. And he just saved us from a Balrog.”

  “That’s a stretch,” Alyssa commented.

  “He’s too young,” Tyler countered. “He can’t be more than twenty-five. He’s more like…I don’t know. Newt Scamander?”

  “No way.”

  “He has a blue squirrel for a pet.”

  “Companion,” Alyssa corrected.

  “Same diff. The analogy fits.”

  “Tell Shaq that and see how he reacts.”

  “Fine, companion. It still works.”

  “Young Gandalf then,” I said.

  “Gandalf was never young. He came to Middle-Earth in that form.”

  “That doesn’t mean Ben can’t be an analog of a young Gandalf.”

  “Of course it means that.”

  “No, it doesn’t.”

  “Sorry, man. It does. Sad for you, really.”

  “Ally, what do you think?” I asked.

  “I think⁠—“

  “She doesn’t get a vote,” Tyler interrupted.

  “Why not?” She and I both asked in unison.

  “Because she’s a girl,” he answered. “Duh.”

  Alyssa feigned socking him while we laughed again. We quieted when the door to the flight deck slid open. Tyler extracted himself from between the stations, turning to see who was there.

  “Uh, that’s weird,” he said.

  “What is?” I asked.

  “Nobody came in.”

  “What do you mean? I heard the doors.”

  “So did I, but there’s no one there.”

  “Glitch maybe,” Alyssa suggested.

  Tyler shrugged and turned back around, one hand on the back of each pilot station seat. “Where do you think we are?”

  “Space,” I answered.

  “You’re very funny,” Tyler answered dryly. “I imagine a rift in spacetime can get us anywhere in the universe. So where do you think we are? Not Mars or Venus, that’s for sure.”

  “Another good question for Ben,” I said. “We can ask him once we⁠—“

  Alyssa let out an ear-curdling scream.

  Tyler jumped back.

  And I froze in shocked horror as a giant spider lowered itself from the overhead just outside the open door, hanging from a disgustingly thick strand of webbing.

  Its menacing eyes stared directly at us.

  CHAPTER 15

  “Hellossss,” the spider clacked, its mouthparts shifting and vibrating to produce the English-sounding word.

  We stared at the creature in silent shock. Tyler recovered first. “Uh. Hi. You…uh…aren’t going to eat us, are you?”

  The spider made a sound that had to be laughter. “Nossss. Not hungryssss.”

  “You’re a friend of Ben’s, I take it,” I said.

  “Yesss.”

  “See,” Tyler said. “Newt Scamander. I was right.”

  “Are you a spider? Or?”

  “Xixitl,” it answered. “ILFsss.”

  “Gotcha,” I replied, my initial surprise and fear fading. Positive I couldn’t take another attempt on my life, jump scare, or anything else that elicited a strong emotion, I slumped back in my seat, returning some of my attention to the surround. We remained free and clear of external contacts of any kind.

  “What’s your name?” Alyssa asked, her voice meek while she struggled to overcome an obvious bout of arachnophobia.

  “Ixysss,” the spider replied.

  “I’m Alyssa. That’s Noah, and Tyler.”

  “Nice to meets yousss.”

  “Are you male or female?” Tyler asked. “Or both? Or none?”

  “Femalesss. Lays eggsss.”

  “Is there a male Xixitl on this ship we should know about? So he doesn’t scare the hell out of us, too?”

  Ixy laughed again. “Nosss. Xixitl stays on Xixitl planetsss.”

  “So what are you doing out here?” Tyler asked.

  “Was slavesss. Ben freesss. Likes shipsss.”

  “See,” I said, turning to Tyler and using the same tone he had just used to prove his point. “Ben’s a good guy.”

  “Yesss,” Ixy agreed.

  “Well, maybe he’s just a little reckless then,” Tyler argued.

  “Ixy, do you know what happened to Ben?” I asked.

  “Not yetsss. Matts says, keeps eyes on yousss. Keeps out of troublesss.” She lowered herself from the overhead the rest of the way to the deck, standing up on her four hind legs between the pilot station and the forward transparency. Her body was easily six feet long, but with her legs extended, she probably doubled that. Seeing her more clearly, I could tell she had some minor differences to Earth-bound spiders, mostly in the thickness of her limbs and the shape of her head. “Enjoying the ridesss?”

  “Not really,” Tyler said.

  “Someone was chasing us,” I said. “And firing missiles at us.”

  “Torpedoes,” Tyler said.

  “What?” I looked back at him again. “They were missiles.”

  “They’re torpedoes. Like Star Trek. Besides, we’re in space. That makes them torpedoes.”

  “How do you come to that conclusion?”

  “Because space uses nautical nomenclature. Navies, frigates, battleships, etcetera. Torpedoes. I didn’t think this was up for debate.”

  “It’s absolutely up for debate,” I replied. “Torpedoes are slow. Those missiles were fast and highly maneuverable.”

  “And torpedoes are fired in water,” Alyssa added. “Missiles in air.”

  “Space is a vacuum,” Tyler interjected.

  “Starships fly,” I countered. “Fly, as in like air. Air equals missiles. I can draw you a diagram, if you want.”

  “Starships float,” Tyler said.

  “On what?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You can’t float on nothing. But you can fly through nothing. We just did. We also flew through the air on the way out of the atmosphere. We didn’t float through it.”

  “Well, I’m calling them torpedoes.”

  I shrugged. “If you want to be wrong, you can be wrong.”

  Ixy clattered the entire time, cracking up at our stupid argument. But I needed the stupid argument for my sanity.

  “What do you think?” I asked her.

  “Missilesss.”

  “Whatever,” Tyler said.

  “The ship was damaged. I don’t know how badly.”

  “Not too badsss. Megs and Leos will fixssss.”

  “You’ve done this sort of thing before, I take it.”

  “Yesss. Not in a whilesss.”

  “Do you know who attacked us? Or why?”

  “No ideassss.”

  “We’ll have to wait on Ben for that,” Alyssa said. “I suppose there’s nothing for us to do right now but wait.”

  “I hope we don’t have to wait too long,” Tyler said. “Mom knows I might not come home tonight, but if I’m not back in the morning, she’ll worry.”

  “I don’t want to miss my shift at the arcade,” Alyssa said. “I still have rent to pay.”

  I opened my mouth, ready to explain why I needed to get back home. To meet with Child Protective Services? To plan my parent’s funeral or talk to lawyers? To help the police sketch artist make a composite of the man who killed my folks?

  None of it sounded very appealing. “I’m sure we’ll get a timeline soon,” I added instead.

  I heard the doors slide open again and looked over my shoulder as Matt stepped onto the flight deck. He didn’t look overly concerned, which I took as a good sign.

  “How’s Ben?” I asked when he reached us.

  “I think he’ll be okay,” he replied. “Pretty sure anyway.”

  The lack of definitive positivity wasn’t the prognosis I expected. “What’s wrong with him?”

  “It’s complicated, and better if you hear about it directly from his mouth. I see you’ve met Ixy.”

  “She scared the crap out of us,” Tyler said.

  “Yeah, she likes to sneak up on people. I’d say she’s harmless, but that wouldn’t be true. But she’s an intelligent life form. She doesn’t randomly grab people with her pedipalps and rip their heads off.”

  “Good to know.”

  Ixy laughed.

  “I don’t know how long Ben will be down. I’m sure that’s not what you want to hear, but considering the alternative was being blown to bits, I hope you’re okay with the delay.” He pointedly looked at Tyler when he said it.

  “Yeah, man. I’m good now,” Tyler replied. “Sorry I came on a little too strong before. No hard feelings?”

  “Believe me, I understand. We’re good.”

  “Cool.”

  “In any case, since I’m the acting captain right now, I figured I would pick up where Ben should have started. I’ll give you a quick tour, and then we can go over the rental agreement.”

  “You still want us to sign something?” Alyssa asked. “Doesn’t that seem superfluous at this point?”

  “Probably. And there’s no way any of it will hold up in an Earth-based court since we technically don’t exist, but should you ever find yourself in the Manticore Spiral, you could sue our pants off without it.”

  “The Manticore Spiral,” I said. “That’s where you’re from?”

  “We’re from Earth, originally. The Spiral is where we live now. It’s a galaxy a few billion light years away.”

  “Did you say billion?” Tyler asked. “With a B?”

  Matt nodded.

  “And when you said you could reach Earth because Ben is special, you meant his ability to open rifts in spacetime.”

  “Exactamundo.”

  “Are you sure Ben’s the only one who can do that?”

  “I used to be,” Matt admitted. “We never would have brought you on board if we thought there was any risk. Especially this kind of risk. I don’t know who attacked us. I don’t know where they came from. I doubt Ben does either. This is a bad situation for all of us.”

  “We just want to help in any way we can,” I answered. A moment of silence passed while Matt and I both waited for Tyler to counter the statement. Thankfully, he remained silent.

  “You already helped,” Matt answered. “I’m sure you have lives on Earth you want to get back to. Once Ben wakes up, he’ll be able to reverse the transit and get you home in no time.”

  “I don’t really have anything to go back to,” I said. “If there’s any chance I can stay on board⁠—“

  “I get it, Noah,” Matt said. “My mom skipped town when I was young, and my dad never gave much of a damn about me. So I’ve been there, to some extent. But it’s just not possible right now.”

  I nodded. The answer didn’t upset me. He’d given me the bottom line I expected. “Just let me know if you guys change your minds. I won’t bring it up again.”

  “Come on, I’ll show you around.”

  “What about monitoring our flight path? Or watching for enemy ships?”

  “Levi, set AP protocol one,” Matt said.

  “AP protocol one engaged,” the computer replied through hidden speakers.

  “AP?” Tyler asked. “Is that autopilot?”

  “Yep. I wouldn’t trust it in a scrape, but it’s enough to keep us adrift without worry. If anything shows up on sensors, Levi will let us know in time to deal with it.”

  I wanted to ask him if he meant like she did before the first missile hit us, but it felt too obnoxious. Maybe the busyness of Earth had made detecting the incoming projectile more difficult. That wouldn’t be the case out here. There was nothing for thousands of miles around.

  “Did you say adrift? Similar to a sailing ship on the ocean?” Tyler asked.

  “Yeah, why?”

  He looked over at me with his normal mischievous expression. “Just wondering.”

  I rolled my eyes as I got to my feet, the excitement of seeing the rest of Head Case helping me overcome my lingering apprehension. “I’m ready to see the rest of this ship if you’re ready to show us.”