"We'll make room." He shoved it down deep in the hold and helped her up. "I'll climb in, and you lay on top of me."
She glanced at him and inside the ship. "You really do just lay on your back in there, don't you?"
"It is effective. The least amount of movement allows us to twist and flex easier with the ship."
He laid down. The safety harnesses wrapped around him.
She stood there.
"Please, Ambassador." He held out his hand.
Why was she hesitating?
He wasn't sure. Was she uncomfortable? Did she not think that it was safe?
"I promise you, it is safe."
"Oh, I believe you," she said. "I just--the intimacy."
Jedriek barked out a laugh.
"Why is that funny?"
"This is not intimate. Intimate involves nudity. This is only close proximity." In the sky, the roar of fighter engines could be heard in the distance. "Please, we must hurry."
"How do I know you're not going to kill me or something?"
"If I wanted you dead, I would have let you crash."
"Fair enough."
The ships were getting closer. "Get in the ship."
She turned and looked in the direction of the noise. Sure enough, three fighters were bearing down on them.
One started firing.
She screamed and climbed into the ship.
"I didn't think they could shoot from that far away." She laid on him, her head in the middle of his chest.
The ship sealed around them, squeezing them tightly together.
Maybe she had been right. This seemed a lot more intimate than he expected. Perhaps the pleasure women were wrong, and one did not have to be naked for intimacy.
He shifted, poking some of her red fabric out of the way so he could hit the controls. "You are a bright target in the sand."
"I guess."
He lifted off. She gasped as the ship moved.
"Do you have a plan?"
He had part of a plan in his mind. "Scanning."
"Okay, let me know what you see."
"There are more Terran ships in the sky."
