Alfreda closed her eyes and concentrated on the pressure in her limbs that told her she was flying up and away. She slipped her breathing device into her mouth and leaned back. It was going to be quite the trip. Her pod was opened, and she blinked at the light. Gentle hands pulled her mask from her face and wiped her forehead. “That didn’t look like a comfortable one.” “It wasn’t. Someone was shooting at me. Help me out of here; I want to see the damage.” Alfreda reached up for her friend Sobi, and the moment she made contact, her body shifted into something that more closely resembled her tall, lavender associate. She was pulled out of the pod that had suddenly grown too small, and with grunts, flips and a thud, she landed on the decking next to her personal conveyance. “Damn. That is nasty.” The impacts had been hard enough to burn through the outer hull and expose the first layer of wiring.
