“What do you expect me to be able to do?” His hands flayed around.

“Get me and her off this habitat and fast.” Ciaran could feel his muscles tense.

“And why would I do that? Do I look crazy to you?”

Ciaran looked at his angry friend and realized that relying on the bond of friendship just wasn’t going to cut it.

“There’ll be an award obviously.”

He could see his erstwhile friend’s imagination blossoming.

“How much?”

They both briefly went silent.

“More than you would ever need. She’s with a rich and powerful organization.”

“Well, you are a good friend I guess. And she needs help. There’s a back alleyway out of this place. Not many know about it. My car is right beside. I’ll take you to a safehouse. Now how did you get here?”

“On my flyer.”

“I’ll get someone to get of it and any cameras that may have seen you.”

“I’ll go get her.”

Ciaran went and got Tabitha. She had a big smile when she saw him. He took her hand and they followed Gerard through a series of narrow and twisting small laneways. There were multiple doorways to go in. A wrong turn and you’d end up in someone’s dwelling.

After a hundred or so meters, they reached Gerard’s red Cadillac, an archaic vehicle from a bygone area.

“Right, into the boot,” Gerard instructed.

The taxi was right there waiting for me. I looked around at the countryside setting and then up at the town above me. There was no sign of any serious damage having been done to the habitat. Thank God for that.

I get into the taxi and quickly input my projected coordinates of the crash site. It immediately hovers into action. Off the ground, I now see smoke in the distance and I’m heading straight towards it over large green fields, broken up by unkempt hedges. The taxi lands beside a white spaceship protruding from the ground.

Leaving my taxi I sprint towards it. The stench of smoke pervades my nostrils. The top of the ship starts to peel back in a large screeching sound revealing a woman still strapped into her seat. Then she struggles to press a button and pulls herself out of the ship, falling down beside me.

Barely audible, she says “Help me! Don’t let them catch me”

She is speaking English. I have never heard someone actually speak it before but fortunately, I know the language from broadcasts on Earth that technically I shouldn’t be listening to. Also, she looks very different from the previous women I’ve met. She’s black with short hair whereas all the women in the habitat are white and have long hair. I pick up her bruised and bloody body and manage to rest her on my knees as we are both just about fit into the taxi before giving it instructions to return me home. I feel her face against mine. Her skin is soft. This is the closest I’ve ever been to a woman.