Page 15 of The Alien's Major Dilemma

Marissa was about to retort when his brow creased and he pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was still attached to the alien thing he’d stolen from the base.

“Well, that didn’t take long,” he said.

“Is that your ride?” she asked.

“Nope, it’s yours.”

Chapter 7

Cooper had always known it was risky to steal the device. He’d known he could make it work with his phone, but he didn’t know who controlled the other end. There was always a chance they would use it to track him down and get to him before his people got there.

If it had been his device that was stolen, his people who were being used, he wouldn’t have hesitated to track them down and retrieve it. Any message he’d sent would have been used to strike terror in their hearts and encourage them to make stupid decisions.

It wouldn’t have been a series of cat pictures. The kitten with the crazy hair and his front paws together with the word “awiens” caught him by surprise. As did the one with an older blonde human and the words “Can we talk?” on it.

“What did they say?” Marissa asked.

“I think they want to negotiate,” he said. “But I’m not actually sure.”

He turned his screen so she could see the pictures, and she clapped a hand over her mouth just before she giggled.

“I think you’re right,” she said. “But I don’t think it’s my people who sent that. I didn’t think the Orvax were aware of that meme, either, but they’ve surprised me a few times so what do I know.”

“More than I do,” Cooper muttered. He typed in his reply and sent it. Every time he used the device, it gave them the chance to get closer to his location, but he needed to know what was going on.

Who is this?

Your worst nightmare. A bored teenager with an internet connection.

What?

Kidding! I’m not bored, but I do know who you are, what you’re doing, and what kind of missiles they’re going to shoot at you in the next couple hours. Wanna hear about it?

Why are they shooting missiles at me? I haven’t done anything.

Dude, you snuck onto a top secret base and kidnapped a Marine. If you kicked their dog they’d be less pissed.

Cooper closed the messages and turned off his phone. The last thing he wanted to do was reveal where his ship was. They needed to run, but he wasn’t sure where they could go. There were caves close by they could get to on foot and it wouldn’t take long to steal another vehicle.

He grabbed a bag and started filling it with water and rations for the next couple days. There was already a first aid kit in the bottom and he figured they could manage a change of clothes at the same stop they picked up the vehicle.

“What are you doing?” Marissa asked.

“We’re going to take a little hike through the mountains,” he told her. “Don’t you think that will be fun? It’ll be a team building experience, a bonding exercise.”

“Dang, I didn’t think they’d find you that quickly,” she said, and sat back in her chair.

“I don’t think they have yet but I’m not going to give them the chance to get close to the ship,” he said. “So we need to get moving.”

“You need to get moving,” she said. “I need to go stand outside and wait for them to get here.”

Cooper could feel the mess of emotions rushing through her and they weren't helping his own. She still sounded confident, though, and he knew she didn't really understand what the consequences were likely to be if her people simply marched in and took her back.

Frustration boiled through him and he stalked over to her. “And what do you think happens if they find this ship?”

“I think they hand it over to the friendly aliens who are doing their best to convince the world that they really do come in peace and they take it apart and figure out how all your technology works.”

“And when that doesn’t work?”

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