Free Aliens in the Sky by Christopher Pike Page A

Cindy asked Ek, feeling desperate.
    â€œI would have said no. My people cherish life. I do not understand why they are being so stubborn.” Ek glanced at his instruments. “We have jumped to Level 72.”
    â€œSo quickly?” Cindy asked, shocked.
    â€œThe reaction accelerates as it reaches critical mass.”
    â€œHow much time do we have?” Sally asked.
    â€œTo stop the reaction, maybe three of your minutes. To the explosion, five minutes.”
    â€œWe have to back down,” Cindy said.
    â€œWe’re not backing down!” Sally said. “A bluff doesn’t work unless you push it to the limit!”
    â€œAt the reservoir you were bluffing with rocks!” Cindy said. “That was not gambling. This is gambling. You’re risking our lives.”
    â€œNo guts, no glory,” Sally said. Yet she seemed uncertain. She paused in midstride, thoughtful. “Ek, you haven’t recently checked your computer map of where everyone is supposed to be. Try locating Adam and Watch now.”
    â€œWhat are you thinking?” Cindy asked.
    â€œMaybe the aliens don’t know where Adam and Watch are. So they can’t hand them over to us.”
    â€œThat’s impossible,” Cindy said.
    â€œNot if they’ve escaped,” Sally said.
    Once again Ek failed to locate Adam and Watch on his computer map. But it didn’t matter. Glancing again out the viewing ports right then, Cindy almost had a heart attack.
    â€œThere they are!” Cindy screamed. “It’s Adam and Watch!”
    Sally pounded her fist in the air. “I knew the bluff would work!”
    â€œNo!” Cindy said quickly. “The aliens are not handing them over willingly. Adam has a gun. He’s pointing it at the crowd. They must have broken free.”
    â€œJust as I suspected,” Sally said. She turned to Ek. “Open hailing frequencies.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œShe wants to talk to the outside,” Cindy explained. “Is there a way?”
    â€œYes. Of course.” Ek pushed a button. “Speak and they will hear you.”
    â€œHow close are we now?” Sally asked Ek.
    â€œLevel 75. We have less than two minutes to stop the chain reaction.”
    Sally cleared her throat and spoke loudly and formally. “Adam, Watch—this is Captain SaraWilcox of the Starship UFO . I am pleased to see you’ve escaped, and I approve of your resorting to blatant force to fight your way to freedom. But I feel an obligation to inform you that my starship is going to explode in two minutes and that everything for a radius of one thousand miles will be completely destroyed. Over?”
    Outside, near the dock, Adam and Watch looked at each other. “I think the power has gone to her brain,” Watch said.
    â€œIs she bluffing?” Adam asked.
    â€œI hope so,” Watch said. He gestured to the crowd of aliens that separated them from the ship. “I think she’s trying to scare these guys into letting all of us go.”
    Zhekeel91 shifted uneasily beside them.
    â€œShe is scaring me. I would be happy to let you go.”
    Adam sighed, the gun still in his hand. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t really fire this thing. I might hurt somebody.”
    â€œSomebody has to back down,” Watch said darkly. “Or soon none of us will be feeling any pain.”
    Inside the ship Ek informed Sally that they had jumped to Level 78.
    â€œWe have less than a minute.”
    â€œWhy don’t they let us go?” Sally demanded, getting exasperated. “Can’t they see that I’m serious? Do they want to die?”
    â€œI do not understand them. I do not understand why they kidnapped you in the first place.”
    â€œWe must stop the chain reaction!” Cindy cried. “The bluff has failed!”
    â€œWe can’t stop!” Sally shouted back. “If we do we’ll never get out of