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“Are you okay?” The lab technician on the other end sounded very concerned, but his question actually made me laugh a little.
Was I okay? Of course not. How could I be okay? Before I could lay into him for asking such a stupid question, I settled my nerves and gathered my thoughts.
“I’m fine,” I answered pleasantly enough. “Listen, I need you to do me a favor.”
“I’m listening.”
“I need you to go into my office and pull up a set of files. There’s data in there that I don’t have access to from here.”
“Hang on, let me write all this down.”
I waited, giving the alien an apologetic smile and hoping he wouldn’t rush me. I was just starting to formulate a plan.
“Okay, I’m ready. Go ahead.”
With the technician’s approval, I began issuing a complex set of orders. Most of the files he would be tracking down were of little use to me or anyone else. Mostly, they were strings of data sets with no context, but that wasn’t important. I just needed to keep him on the line.
“Got it. Anything else, Doctor?”
“Yes. While I have you here, I would also like you to go to the control panel and give me some readings from your end. Without my instruments, I’m afraid I’m flying a little blind over here.”
“Hurry it up,” the alien commanded from behind me, and I nodded my agreement, whispering that I was wrapping it up.
“What readings do you need?”
“Well, the atmosphere over here is a little weak. What are the temperature and humidity at currently?”
I waited while the technician ran to the remote instrument panel and came back with answers. I paused, considering what I was about to do and hoping it would be enough.
“I see the problem now,” I said carefully. “The temperature should be lower, and the humidity needs to be brought up quite a bit. There is not an ounce of free-flowing water anywhere on this planet as it stands.”
There was a long pause, and I could almost see the question on the technician’s face all the way across the solar system.
“Are you sure? I thought you wanted several weeks of stable atmospheric pressure before we introduced new variables.”
“Very sure. Just go ahead and make those adjustments for me and send over that data.”
I reached for my headset, noticing how antsy the alien was getting, but I thought better of it.
“In fact, if you could make those adjustments right now, that would be great.”
Satisfied, I slipped the headset off my head and rose from the desk.
“Now, are you ready to uphold your end of the deal?” the alien asked, wrapping his arm around my waist and leading me away from the radios.
I was not much of an actor, but in this case, I pulled out all the stops.
“Yes. I am ready. But please, tell me your name at least. I don’t even know what to call you.”
I forced myself to lean into him, resting my head on his chest lightly as we walked further into the depths of the ship and away from the room full of women. All I had to do was remember the path we took, so I could find my way back when the time was right.
Above my head, I heard the first sounds of rain striking the roof of the ship, and my breath came a little easier. It was working. More raindrops pattered down on the metallic body, creating a clatter inside that made it hard to hear.
“What is that?” the alien asked, and I felt his fingers digging into my side.
“Just a little rain,” I assured him. “It will pass as the planet stabilizes itself again.”
He gave me a distrustful look, but I smiled sweetly and nuzzled into his chest again, warding off the chill that had swept over us suddenly.
“Come. I will find a way to keep you warm while we wait for this weather to pass.”
He continued to press his fingers into my side, and I could tell he was irritated with me. If he didn’t blame me for the sudden change in conditions directly, he definitely understood that this would make things more complicated for his guards.
