“Major. I’m sorry I snapped back there. It’s just that I see what she sees and...”

“It’s all right. You can explain everything over a nice martini once we get off this scrap-heap.”

“Look Major. They’ve even got friggin’ pirate hats! You know like sailing the seven seas...”

I never thought I’d see the day when a 7-foot tall, green-haired ape would be wearing an honest-to-god pirate hat. I can’t help it, I laugh. Amelie even cracks a smile through her dazed expression. Of course, humor doesn’t last long around here. As soon as the smile is there, it’s gone like a wife’s panties when a soldier's home on leave. Instead, Amelie looks alarmed, then looks around frantically for something. Her roving eyes fixate on a pile of crates and she motions for us to hide behind them. We get there just in time to hear voices. Then, who walks in? None other than Arion, the most notorious pirate in this galaxy.

“Hey, isn’t that...”
“Shhh...”
“But that’s Arion! I can take him out right now.”
“No."

Kliim looks at me with a confused look and I shake my head. There’s nothing I’d like better than to take this guy down now, but I want to hear what he has to say first.

Continue...