Alpha Rising by G.L. Douglas

the
space station.
    G.R. yelled at their backs, “Don’t go in
there. The space station’s laboratory may have sustained damage.
You’ll risk contamination.” When the men continued, he yelled
louder, “Don’t go in there! There are biohazards from research and
experiments.”
    One replied without looking back. “We have
safeguards. We must know what’s aboard before leaving the ships
unattended.”
    Lynch turned on his authority. “There’s no
one else aboard. The space station and Wizard are unoccupied.”
    The men opened the airlock hatch and crawled
through, shining a light ahead.
    Deni didn’t blink, not wanting to miss a
second of being in the company of astral beings that looked and
spoke like earthlings. But although they appeared friendly, nothing
could be taken for granted. To spark a kinship with the black man
she asked, “‘Leaving the ships unattended’? Where are you taking
us?”
    “ We are agents from Ulwor,”
he replied. “You will be welcome there.”
    She tried to piece tidbits together. “But
when you came aboard, you said this was Jenesis.”
    The black agent walked to the flight deck
and snooped around as he spoke. “Our planet is Jenesis. You’ve
crashed in the neutral sector. We are from the continent of
Ulwor.”
    The two dark-haired agents rifled around and
picked through the wreckage, then the tall one lifted the blanket
covering Faith’s body. “I’m sorry to see that you lost one of your
crew.”
    Kaz moved to his side and searched his face
with tense eyes. “We don’t know how she died. Nothing seems wrong
and there’s no blood or anything. What could’ve happened to
her?”
    He parted Faith’s left eyelid with his
gloved fingers and looked at her eye. “No time to examine her now,”
he said. “Someone will come back later.”
    “ She’s our crewmate. We
can’t leave her here.”
    “ Her death will be handled
properly,” the tall man said, “at a later time.”
    The two blond-haired agents returned from
the space station. Both carried transparent sacks filled with vials
and research materials.
    G.R. watched in alarm as the men walked by
with the old experiments. “Please don’t expose those!” he begged.
“Please handle them carefully!”
    “ You have nothing to worry
about,” one replied as they headed out the door. The heart-shaped
frame holding Kaz’s photo showed from the side of his
bag.
    The black agent announced, “Time to depart
your ship. No time to search for personal effects.”
    Lynch asked, “Will we get medical help?”
    “ Your injuries will be
taken care of.”
    The three remaining agents gathered around
the four AstroLab crewmates and escorted them from their ship.
Lynch and a dark-haired agent were first down the ramp, followed by
G.R. steadied by Kaz on one side and the black agent on the other.
Noting Deni’s splinted ankle and the makeshift cane, the tall,
dark-haired alien held her arm to assist. She stared without
letting it show—the man stood a foot taller than she. Beyond the
doorway, the luminous red, boomerang-shaped craft idled near the
lake. Like something from a scary sci-fi movie, the water’s surface
churned with hissing bubbles in reaction to the ship’s engines.
Hobbling down the ramp in the agent’s grip, Deni secretly looked
for Bach. He wasn’t in the AstroLab when the aliens arrived, and
was nowhere in sight.
    The agent pulled her to a stop at the end of
the ramp. “Wait here.” He rushed back inside, headed straight to
Faith’s body, and lifted the blanket. Her head was turned to one
side with eyes closed. Wisps of blond hair framed her angelic face
and the gold cross pendant lay on her chest. He grasped the chain
and examined the cross. Muttering something under his breath he
pulled off his glove, unclasped the necklace, and stuck it under a
flap on his utility belt as he darted down the ramp.
    Once in his ship, the tall agent seated Deni
with Lynch, Kaz, and G.R. on a semicircular padded bench