Another little nod from Alyssa, the truck driver not taking his eyes off the road, oblivious to the silent conversation happening only inches away from him.


    *Ok then, yes or no answer questions only.* he mused.


    Alyssa nodded slightly, amazed at how well John was adapting to this situation and using it to their tactical advantage.


    *Are they going to attack us on the way back?* he thought. A little head shake from Alyssa.


    *Are they going to attack us back at the Invictus?* he wondered. A little nod from the teenager.


    *Immediately?* John asked. Alyssa shook her head slightly.


    *Ah, so probably after we finish loading. He’s hoping to ambush us when we think the cargo is safe and our guard is down and he’s bringing along his “extra boys” to help him carry out the n?* John mused to himself.


    Alyssa nodded her head animatedly before coughing to cover it up. She was very impressed, John managed to put together the whole n based only on a couple of yes or no answers. The girl desperately wished this mind reading ability worked both ways. She had loads of questions she wanted to ask him, but she had to stay mute, it was so frustrating!


    *If he’s waiting till we’re back at the ship, he’s probably after the Invictus too?* John’s question was met by another tiny nod from the apprehensive young woman at his side.


    John’s mind started racing as he began to formte a n *Ok when we get there, you excuse yourself and go and warn Cra, she’ll know what she has to do. I’ll distract Seb if needs be* he nced at Alyssa to make sure she had heard his orders. She nodded firmly, a steely determination in her eyes.


    *Good girl. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.* he thought to her reassuringly, reaching out to take her hand in his and squeezing it gently.


    The rest of the journey felt tortuous as they wove their way past dirty dpidated slums and crawled along through dark, roughly cut tunnels. John was worrying about keeping the girls safe and Alyssa was worrying that he would forget to take care of himself.


    All too soon the truck convoy arrived at the spaceport and John spoke briefly to the deck officer and port guards who waved them through. The chunky trucks rolled in to the docking bay and then parked against the left hand wall under the overhanging cargo loading equipment. John and Alyssa stepped out of the cab, just as Seb rolled up, riding in the first of two sturdy looking hover trucks. Alyssa spotted tarpaulins covering some strange lumpy shapes at the top of the hover trucks and wondered what they could be. Over a dozen stern looking men climbed out of the vehicles, but didn’t seem to be making any effort to help the miners with the unloading and just loitered around.


    “We’ll go and open the cargo bay for you, you guys can start unloading the trucks.” John suggested to the mine owner, who nodded curtly in response.


    John and Alyssa walked over to the ship, the hairs on the back of John’s neck standing up as though he could feel eyes watching his every move. They approached the airlock of the Invictus and he pressed his palm against the DNA reader. The airlock spiralled open invitingly and they stepped through the oval portal.


    *Ok time to move!* John ordered Alyssa, as the airlock started to spiral close behind them. He went through the side door to enter the Cargo bay and the worried teen darted over to the elevator and hit the call button, tapping her foot impatiently until it arrived. She took the elevator up to the bridge, hoping to find Cra there and was relieved when she found the lovely brte sitting at her tactical station.


    “We’re in trouble!” Alyssa shouted from across the bridge, as she dashed over to speak to her friend.


    Cra’s eyes widened as Alyssa quickly briefed her on the current situation.


    “Ok I know what to do.” the brte said reassuringly, activating controls on the tactical station.


    Alyssa felt confidence and determination from the tiny emotive presence that had reappeared in her mind. Feeling reassured, she spun on her feet and sprinted back to the elevator, determined to help protect John now she had carried out his orders.


    Meanwhile John had opened up the cargo bay doors in the hull of the Invictus and was waiting patiently, as the miners ferried the Tyrenium into the cargo bay using Anti-grav loading sleds. He pretended to be intent on the loading operation, but out of the corner of his eye he could see Seb’s mercenaries fanning out to take cover. They furtively unshouldered rifles or unholstered pistols whilst ducking behind the storage crates that were scattered around the loading dock.


    Finally thest of the Tyrenium was brought into the cargo bay and John turned to face Seb and his men. All pretences were thrown aside as he saw over a dozen gun barrels aimed in his direction, Seb standing at the back with a heavy pistol in his hand.


    “It’s over John!” He called out. “Hands in the air and walk out of the ship” he said, his voicing sounding smug.


    John raised his hands above his head and tried to look surprised and defeated as he walked forward slowly.


    “You shouldn’t have ripped me off you little shit.” Seb gloated. “Yeah, I eventually got word of how much Tyrenium is selling for… fifty times how much you paid me for it!!” he said, his voice quivering with rage.


    “I got over one hundred times the buying price actually.” he said helpfully to Seb, causing the man to growl furiously through clenched teeth.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content.


    Just at that moment, several things happened at once.


    Firstly, the tarpaulins on the backs of the hover trucks were thrown aside, revealing Heavy machine guns on pintle mounts that were both trained on John by grinning mercenaries.


    At the same time, the door to the elevator in the Invictus swished opened quietly and Alyssa darted down the corridor to stand on the other side of the sealed airlock, her assault rifle held ready.


    Unnoticed by all, armoured panels on the hull of the Invictus began to peel aside and an ominous low pitched whirr began to echo around the cargo bay.


    Finally, a ghostly white girl with spiky red hair came sprinting into the Cargo bay, her face showing some relief when she saw John. “The Diablo’s are after me!” Sparks cried out in rm, before suddenly realising the tense situation she had burst into and screeched to a halt.


    Seb lunged to the side grabbing Sparks in a tight grip while she stood in shock and he ced the blunt nose of his heavy pistol at her temple. “Give it up John, or this bitch gets it!” he yelled.