Twenty-seven minutes...it seemed like an eternity, and just when Katherine didn’t think things could get any worse, Dr. Rahimi shouted there were two more ships coming into view.  The room fell silent as they waited for a response from the alien vessels now flanking them on all sides, and then without warning, they were hit with blast so powerful that everyone pitched forward.  As she struggled to keep her balance, Captain Hunter collided into her, but before she could fall, he managed to reach out and hold her steady.  She grasped his arm and whispered, “Thanks,” releasing him just as a panicked Dr. Rahimi belted out the shields were damaged and losing power.<br/><br/>Another two minutes passed while Dr. Heath appeared to be weighing her options, and Katherine held her breath, anticipating they would return fire.  She felt completely out of her depth, and seeing the Captain tense and worried, but shackled by the authority of Dr. Heath, questions about the wisdom of placing the enigmatic scientist solely in charge crept into Katherine’s mind.  Then, another hit blasted the shields, this time causing her to hurtle backwards into Captain Hunter, but thankfully, he held strong and kept her from falling once again, helping her stand as the lights flickered and sparks began flying from the wall across from them.  “Shields are now at 72%!” Dr. Rahimi cried out as he braced himself against the console, turning to look at Dr. Heath. “If you’re going to fire back, you’ll have to do it now.  Another couple of hits like that and there might not be enough power left for the weapons.” He said urgently.<br/><br/>Katherine’s heart pounded, and she watched Dr. Heath carefully, but the older woman’s face betrayed nothing, remaining unbelievably calm.  It was impossible to know what she was thinking, and when she finally did speak, it was with a loud voice. “No, we aren’t going to return fire.  I have a better idea.”  Glancing at the jump clock, she said, “We have less than twenty minutes left, and I think we can hold them off.”  Nodding, her decision made, she said, “Yes...Dr. Rahimi, send another hail.  This time tell them we surrender, again in both English and Ancient.”<br/><br/>Shock didn’t begin to describe what Katherine felt, and she looked up at Captain Hunter in disbelief. “Did she just say we surrender?” Her voice was barely a whisper.<br/><br/>In fact, everyone else looked equally horrified at what Dr. Heath just said, but the woman smiled impatiently, and then addressed the room. “I have no intention of surrendering; it’s merely a stall tactic.  If they accept, we will agree to meet them down on the surface, but tell them we need twenty minutes. That should stop their attack and hold them off until the ship jumps to FTL.  Trust me.”  She said with a broad grin, and then with a haughty voice, “Now,” inclining her head forward, “the hail Dr. Rahimi, if you please.”<br/><br/>The younger man hesitated for a second, before exhaling loudly and doing what Dr. Heath asked.  Everyone fell silent; the raw tension in the room palpable, until one word flashed on the HUD in red. “Terms.”  The alien attackers had apparently understood and accepted the surrender.<br/><br/>Smiling wider now, Dr. Heath nodded and said, “Go ahead…send the rest.  Let’s see what they do.” She seemed overconfident.<br/><br/>He typed it in quickly, while wiping the sweat beading on his brow, and then pulled his shaking hands away. “OK, it’s done.” He looked around the room nervously.<br/><br/>This time, there was a longer gap in the alien’s response, and Katherine braced herself for another blast, but it didn’t come.  Several seconds later, the reply flashed on the screen. “Accepted.”<br/><br/>“Excellent!” Dr. Heath beamed.  “Now, all we have to do is wait for the countdown to complete and we’ll be safely on our way.”<br/><br/>People remained tense; doubtful that such a simple deception would work…it seemed too easy. The remaining minutes crawled by like hours, but without incident, until something flashed on the HUD. “Whoa!” Rahimi said, “Hey guys look at this!”  His eyes grew wide as he pointed to the screen, where dozens of tiny red dots scattered from the larger vessels, smaller ships heading towards the planet’s surface, and a cold shiver ran down Katherine’s spine.  She was frightened but not for herself or the crew, it was for the people stranded below whose faces were forever etched in her memory.  Watching the impending swarm headed towards the planet, she leaned against Captain Hunter, feeling defeated, wanting desperately to help them but knowing they were powerless to do anything.  Though she barely knew Scott Hunter, she sensed he of all people would understand how she felt at that moment. Ever since their shared experience with Alianne and the others, she glimpsed a different side to him, an emotional depth and compassion she didn’t expect, and she was certain he felt the same strong connection with Alianne, if not stronger.  Taking a deep breath, she said. “I know Alianne told us not to worry, and I truly believe everything she said in a way that’s difficult to explain,” her voice was soft and just loud enough for him to hear, “but look how many of those things there are; how can they possibly withstand an invasion like that?”  She shook her head.  “Still…do you know what the strangest part is? In a way, despite all that I envy them, and now, everything else I thought was important, suddenly seems so superficial.”<br/>