"The Device, humans!"
The voice came from behind me and to my left. I winced; if the word human being used to describe Jeni and I hadn't been enough to indicate who was there, I also recognized the voice. At that moment, I felt the irrational logic of a child who feared the monster under the bed or in the closet. So long as I didn't look at the nightmare, it wasn't there and couldn't harm me. The problem was that I wasn't a child and I wasn't having a nightmare. This was real and I was almost certainly about to die.
"Jeni," I whispered with my last shreds of hope. "Please, tell me that you've picked that lock."
"No," she replied.
"The Device!" the alien – the Aegypian demanded.
Very slowly I turned around. The Aegypian was alone and standing about seven feet away. For the first time, whatever alien technology that had disguised it either was not in use or no longer worked on us. It had mottled grey skin the texture of crinkled paper. Its eyes had mercury colored irises and red pupils.
If the fact that it was alone had raised any hopes of Jeni and I being able to overpower it, the Aegypian ended them as it raised its repaired gun and pointed it at my head.
The situation was hopeless.
Right then, though, I was tired, scared out of my wits and really didn't care what the consequences would be for what I was going to do: "We don't have it. And the Doctor's destroyed your Pician ship. You have no further reason to be here."
The Aegypian didn't buy my lie and said as much: "You are lying, human. But my bothers and I have been observing you and your friend. You are a cowardly example of your species. You will not risk your own life. As for your friend: she is an opportunist and will also preserve her life at whatever cost."
The alien smiled, showing crooked, yellowed teeth: "I will ask again: where is the Device?"
I narrowed my eyes. My patience, something I was renowned for at the school, had finally run out and my temper was starting to get the better of me. All my life I had been smart and cautious. I didn't take stupid, unnecessary risks. I wouldn't deny that I could be easily frightened. But there was one thing I absolutely refused to be, if it was going to be the last thing I ever would be: and that was a coward.
Even with my temper at its boiling point, I forced myself to look at the options. On the one hand, I could refuse to tell the Aegypian where the Superhacker was, but I knew that it would kill us if we did so. On the other hand, I could hand it over and hope that it would leave us alive. I knew that it was a long shot…
"I have it in my pocket," I admitted. I shoved my hand in my pocket and rummaged around a bit. I slowly pulled out the device and watched as the alien's eyes locked onto my hand.
"Hand it over, now! Human," the alien ordered taking a step forward with one hand extended to take the device from me.
I didn't want the Aegypian any closer to me than it already was. Panicking, I held the device up and over my head: "No closer, you hear me! Or I'll smash it!"
The Aegypian froze, not willing to antagonize what I imagined it saw as a frightened, cornered and therefore unpredictable animal.
Realizing that it wouldn't allow the device to be damaged, I tried to sound confident as I demanded: "I'm not going to hand this thing over, not until I know that I'm not going get shot." I failed miserably because even I could hear my voice crack and shake.
The Aegypian didn't lower its gun. "Perhaps I will shoot you and retrieve the Device from your corpse."
My eyes widened at that threat. I threw the device in the direction of the Aegypian.
The Aegypian lowered the gun as it spun to snatch the device from the air. Jeni saw the opportunity as it presented itself. She ran forward the moment the gun was no longer pointed at me and grabbed hold of it, twisting it out of the alien's grip.
The alien was so busy trying to keep the device from striking the ground that it didn't even try to fight back and stop Jeni from taking its gun. By the time it had finally gotten a grip on the device, Jeni had pointed the alien weapon at its previous owner. Surprisingly, the alien didn't seem upset with this. It smiled and said: "Too bad. You've lost."
I was puzzled up until the moment it slapped a button on what I would have thought was a wristwatch and disappeared.
Jeni lowered the weapon and looked at me. Her face was a mask of shock and surprise.
I sank to the ground in front of the TARDIS. I was shaking something awful as I thought about what I had just done.
Author's Note: Okay. I'm managing to update on schedule, that's amazing. I'm not sure if there's anything I want to comment on in this chapter. I know there are a few lines in here that might be a bit confusing and if they are... I take the fault there. I like reading in third person and writing in first; sometimes I think that this might negatively affect my writing.
Anyway, any guesses on what's going to happen in the next chapter(s)? I love to read what you think. Or how about this: Is there any lines in this or any other chapter that you find particularly funny? I'd like to know if any of them are the same as the ones I meant to be funny.
The next update should be on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010.