The room was of tremendous length and housed what seemed to be at least a hundred or more large cylinders, with glass on one side and dark metal on the backs. Inside were people. Women, in fact.

A fear unlike anything Casina had ever felt before came crashing down upon her. She trembled as she gaped at the women who appeared frozen in time. Clothed in similar short, blue dresses, it was as if they were all asleep standing up.

“No,” she whispered, her fingers moving to her lips, as she realized now the danger she was in. This sort of technology was foreign and frightening to her, troubling. She inched away, every cell in her body now springing to life.

With adrenaline pumping through her, she tore through the doors and blindly down the corridor. Too many sci-fi movies, too many pictures in her brain of what aliens could and probably would do to her, washed over her in droves. All she knew was that she had to get away. Turning any way Casinailable, she continued until the sound of male voices halted her. She whipped around and ran frantically, hoping to outrun and hide from the men, the aliens, who were obviously seeking her. Never before had such terror overwhelmed her as it did now. Faith, what would the aliens do to her once they found her?

It was quite by accident that she stumbled upon the bay of shuttle crafts she had been seeking earlier. Since the aliens were searching for her in other places aboard the ship, there was no one present in the bay just then. Relieved, she made a quick visual for confirmation, then hastily trotted across the wide expanse and jumped into the shuttle closest to the outer bay doors, thankful the door on it was open.

Strapping herself into the captain’s seat, she quickly examined the panel before her. Everything was in alien, she noticed, frowning. Drat.

“Just need to use the poke-and-hope method, I guess.” Immediately, she began hunt-pecking the buttons that held the most promise, fear making her fingers fumble as she sought the right ones.

The whirring sound of the shuttle door being secured immediately bolstered her confidence. A few more buttons and the shuttle was soon turning around to face the outer bay doors for launching. When positioned, those doors slowly opened, as if of their own accord. Shaking, she nervously dashed away the hair hanging in her face, then put her hand to the large lever beside her. To her amazement, the engines of the small craft sprang to life, rumbling with excitement.

She gave a squeal of impatience as she made ready to launch the vessel into space. It didn’t matter how much fuel or how many provisions were aboard, to see her safely home. All she knew was that she would worry about all of the details once she was free of the spaceship and her captors.

* * * *

It was a stun gun or a ray gun that had done it, Casina was certain. She’d read about them in science fiction books. She had all but hit the engagement button of the small vessel she was in when a powerful blast from some invisible force outside it caused the entire craft to shut down. The engine quit, the lights went out, and she soon found herself sitting in semi-darkness until she realized what the problem was.

“Great. Wouldn’t you know it.”

She unstrapped her safety harness and removed herself from the piloting seat to peer out the port hole beside her. There came another loud explosion at the door of the small craft, and the impact of it literally knocked her off her feet.

Thrust backward, she was unable to prevent herself from landing flat on her backside between the two seats, with her legs spread wide and her bare feet sticking up in the air.

The destruction of the door had surprised and frightened her, but not as much as the sight of the stern-faced alien making his way toward her through the wreckage. Her heart literally bottomed out at sight of him. A dark-skinned behemoth in her eyes, he peered down at her, making no attempt to hide his initial amusement at sight of her bared appendages. Masking that, he scowled at her briefly then reached out a hand to yank her to her feet. He allowed her but a moment to pull her gown to a more modest level.

“Are you hurt?” he demanded in English, in a gruff, thickly-accented voice.

“I don’t...think so,” she admitted, still terrified, yet feeling a bit foolish as she rubbed her sore posterior.

“Then come,” he said, clamping a firm hand on her shoulder as he directed her from the craft and down the short ladder. Two more powerful-looking aliens awaited them, and each sided her as soon as her foot hit the floor of the shuttle area. They were quick to take her away, a strong hand on each arm.

“You gotta admit. It was a nice try,” she tossed back at the man trailing, daring him to deny her statement.

She heard him snort as they led her away.