"Maybe, but I'm tired of waiting for them to come get us. I'm going out there to them."

Eli thought about it, found it to be a good suggestion. "Good idea, Jonah. I'll wait here. Tell them it's safe and to send my Uncle Mouse."

Jonah nodded and walked to the edge of the platform. The jump down was only a little over a meter, but he hesitated. He finally turned toward Eli.

"What you did in there," he began, looking at the ground. "That was brave, Eli. I don't think I could have done that."

The praise from the older boy made Eli feel good. He had always known Jonah didn't like him very much, but had never really understood why.

"Yeah, you could. I just got to the weapon first, that's all."

"No. You're just saying that to make me feel better, but I know the truth. We're alive because of you. If you hadn't shot that Minith, we'd be just dead just like your mom's friend."

"Her name was Ceeray."

Jonah just nodded. Then he turned away and jumped to the ground. A cloud of black ash surrounded him and he began jogging toward the army vehicles parked in the distance. Eli watched him for a minute, then went back inside the ship.

As expected, Treel was in the command center. The remaining six Minith soldiers on the ship-including the guard who had first captured them-had been rounded up and were busy cleaning up the red and purple pools of blood. The bodies, including Ceeray's, had already been removed from the room.

"They didn't have a problem following your orders," Eli asked.

"No, little one. It's the Minith way-what your people would call a 'law.' Their leader has been defeated, so they follow the one who defeated him."

"So they work for me now?" Eli grinned at the thought.

"Not really, Eli, though they should. They are following my leadership now."

"That's good, because I wouldn't know what to do with a group of big green boogers. You can keep 'em."

"Is your army on its way here?"

"No. For some reason, they're still keeping their distance. But Jonah went out to get my Uncle Mouse. Hopefully he'll be here soon."

"I hope so too. There are three other motherships on the planet and we need to gain control of them before one of them does something stupid."

"But wasn't your brother the boss? Don't the other ships have to listen to us now?"

"I wish it were that simple," Treel replied. He waved toward the six alien warriors working at the pools of blood. "Here on this ship, it is an easy thing to control. Unfortunately, if one or more of the commanders of the other motherships dispute our leadership, there is little we can do about it."

"But it's your law, right?" Eli didn't understand. It was either law or it wasn't.

"Unfortunately, Minith are not very good at following others. We're selfish and are always looking to improve our individual standing. It is difficult to describe, but there are many other... laws... that come into play. Like our games of chess, there are many moves that can be made at any one time."

"Chess has rules. And everyone has to play by the same rules," Eli argued. "If they don't, then there's no reason to play. Anyone can do whatever they want, and no one ever wins."

"I think you're beginning to understand now, little one."

Mouse strode quickly along the corridor to the command center. He was followed by a unit of twenty earthies in full battle gear. Another two hundred had been ordered to search the rest of the mothership. He wanted no more surprises.

The first surprise of the day had been the landing of the motherships directly on top of his forces. Right behind that, and almost as large in its impact, was the appearance of Eli and Jonah on this mothership. However, the story that Jonah had told him, if true, would easily eclipse either of those two events.

Eli had killed the commander of this ship and his crew? That was truly unbelievable.

This was the second Minith mothership he had ever entered, and he was not surprised to find that this one looked just like the first. He reached the entrance to the command center, paused briefly to glance inside, and then entered.

Eli and Treel were in the center of the room. Treel loosely held a Minith rifle in his right hand and-surprisingly-Eli held one of the alien pistols. Six of the tall aliens were standing against a wall to the right. All were unarmed.

Mouse immediately walked to Eli, nodded toward the pistol, and held out his hand.

Eli turned the b.u.t.t end of the weapon out and placed it in his uncle's hand. He did not complain, but the frown on the boy's face indicated he was not happy with pa.s.sing the gun over.

Mouse pa.s.sed the weapon to one of the troopers standing behind him, then held out his hand to Treel. The Minith hesitated and looked like he was going to protest, but ultimately gave the weapon over without comment.

"Now that we've got that out of the way, can either of you tell me what the h.e.l.l is going on here?"

Eli started with how he was just trying to help Treel get back home to his family. Treel ended with how Eli had killed the ship's commander-who happened to be his brother-and the rest of the crew in the room.

"Master Shan, I think I have it." The announcement interrupted Shan's thoughts.

"Have what, Tcho?"

"The video from General Soo's mothership, sir."

Yes! Shan had forgotten about the request almost as soon as it had been made. He had not expected results, but was suddenly pleased that it looked to be turning out for the positive.

"Can you bring it up now?"

"I believe so, sir. Just a moment." The corporal fiddled with the controls and entered a few more commands. Suddenly, the vid-wall, which had previously been focused on the rooftops they controlled, was replaced by a view of Soo's command center.

"This is Master Shan, leader of the Minith forces in Urop. Who is in charge of the human forces occupying General Soo's mothership?"

Activity halted as the words blared from the speakers set into the walls. The unexpected question-delivered in Earth Standard-was accompanied by a flash of light from the view screens to Mouse's left. The flash quickly dissolved into a view of another room just like the one where he stood, and Mouse found himself looking into the command center of another mothership.

No one spoke; they just stared at each other. Mouse felt a tug on his arm and looked down to see Eli pulling his sleeve.

"He means you," Grant's son said.

Right. Me.

"Um. I'm in charge of Earth's armed forces, Shan. General Mouse."

"Ah, a general. Very good. When I was on Earth some years ago, there were no generals. No armed fighters, either."

"Well, things have changed."

"Yes, they certainly have, General Mouse," Shan agreed. "Your forces are very well armed. They need more training, but their superior equipment makes up for the deficiency."

"Well, we try, Shan. Do you have a point in contacting us, or are we going to chat all day?"

The Minith's ears twitched and his eyes squinted. Mouse wondered what the movements meant-thought they probably meant the green guy was a bit irritated. If he had been on Earth before, he had obviously stepped into a situation he hadn't expected. Earth had an army now-and as the alien had noted, it was very well armed.

"Minith warriors don't 'chat,' General. We leave that nonsense to our administrators and politicians."

"Well, perhaps we have a different definition for the word, Shan." Mouse was not about to cower. He was operating from a position of strength. His forces had just kicked some serious a.s.s, and he was the one standing in General Soo's ship. "I a.s.sume you have a point. Perhaps you should get to it."

Again with the ear twitch.

"Yes. I have a point. My warriors have captured your Leadership Council. How is that for a point?"

"Actually, Shan, it's rather dull for a point," Mouse countered. "Allow me to provide you with my points. First-your forces, while they do have our Council under guard, are pinned in place. If they try to leave their current locations, we will shoot them down.

"Second-as you can see, we have taken over one of your motherships. The second ship on this continent is surrounded, and we antic.i.p.ate taking it over within the hour." Mouse looked to Treel, who had been in communication with the commander of the second ship for nearly thirty minutes. The alien gave a curt nod, and Mouse could not suppress a smile. "In fact, I've just received word that the Minith on board that vessel have agreed to our claim of dominance. It's an interesting law you Minith have-defeat the leader to become the leader."

"I a.s.sume Soo is dead?"

"Oh, yeah," Mouse confirmed. He pulled Eli forward so Shan could see him clearly. "Would you like to meet the human who killed him?"

"It was us or them," Eli mumbled.

"But let me continue with our 'chat.' Where was I? Oh yes, point number three. Our forces in Urop now have your two ships surrounded-as you already know.

"The reality of the situation is clear, Master Shan. You thought you could bring a few thousand troops to Earth and beat us back into submission. What you didn't take into account is that we aren't going to be beaten into submission. You don't have the personnel, the equipment, the motivation, or the intelligence to defeat us." Mouse placed his large, dark hands on Eli's shoulders. "h.e.l.l, your general couldn't even defeat a six-year-old boy."

"I'm almost seven."

Shan fumed.

The humans had defeated them. He had known it even before opening up the communication with Soo's ship. The unexpected sight of humans occupying the craft had merely solidified that knowledge into undeniable reality.

The question now was, what to do about it?

He still had the leverage of possessing the human leaders, but how could he use it? The darkly colored male who led the humans was correct in his a.s.sessment. Shan's forces in the city were pinned, two motherships were already captured, and the remaining two-one of which he currently occupied-would soon follow suit. He had no doubt that the weapons the human employed were capable of blasting holes into the motherships. The agsel with which they were built was incredibly strong, but it had its limits.

Having the human leaders did him no good. He could kill them, but what advantage would that offer?

None.

That left three options. Surrender, suicide, or bluff. Self-preservation ran strong in Shan's veins. Taking his own life, through use of the planet-destroying weapon on the ship, was not something he would ever do. Unlike some of his race, he had no desire to die on a distant world to protect Minith honor. He would rather cede position now, so he lived to regroup and fight at a later date.

That left surrender and bluff.

Surrendering to the humans was the most likely option, but he had to avoid it if at all possible, which left... bluff.

"General Mouse, you have summed up the situation quite nicely. Unfortunately, you may not understand all of the factors at play."

"You mean the planet-buster all your motherships carry?"

Shan tried to retain his composure. Apparently, the humans knew of the device.

"Yeah, we know all about it. What you fail to understand is that we are willing to die for our freedom from you and your kind. We've been under your heel before-and we refuse to go back. If that means we go 'boom,' then so be it."

It was a total bluff.

Mouse had neither the authority nor the desire to make such a decision for the entire world. But this green goblin didn't know that. His only hope was to stall long enough for his ground forces to do their jobs and take over the motherships before the Minith could activate the weapon.

"What do you say, Shan? No one else needs to die today."

"What are you suggesting, human?"

"The only thing I'm suggesting is that you follow your own law. We've defeated you. We've shown our dominance over your forces. Have your troops release our leaders and put down their weapons."

"And then what? We become prisoners on your planet?"

"There are worse options. Death, either by our hands or your own, seems like the most likely."

"Many of my warriors would choose death over capture, general."

Mouse picked up on the fact that Shan had said many of his warriors would choose death over capture-not the he would make that choice. It was a small, but important, distinction. The alien had left an opening and Mouse pushed to take advantage of it.

"Capture wouldn't be so bad, Shan. We've treated Treel well since he's been here. I can offer you similar treatment."

"No!" Eli shouted and turned toward Mouse. "Treel needs to get home! Tell him they can all go home, Uncle Mouse."

Mouse growled. He felt the Minith was close to agreeing, and Eli's interruption was a distraction he didn't need right now.

"Quiet, Eli. I don't have the authority for that. That's a decision for the Council." He glared at the boy, tried to send a silent message to not interfere. Unfortunately, Eli was having none of it.

"It's not right! Treel's been away from his family for years and years. I told him he could trust me. He needs to get back to them!"

"You don't understand-"

"Yes, I do! It's the right thing! Anyway, the Council can't decide. They're captured. You have to do it!"

Mouse had had enough. He waved over another of his soldiers. "Take Eli back to Violent's Prison. Now."

The young fighter, a corporal, moved quickly to grab Eli by the upper arm. He tugged slightly, clearly not wanting to hurt the boy.

"You can't keep him here. It's not right!" Eli shouted and struggled against the soldier, who finally had to lift and carry him from the room. Mouse continued to hear the shouts for another minute before they finally diminished.