"Shiiiiit!" Timmy leaped off the edge of a shallow crater and dropped to the ground before turning to aim his helmet cameras back toward the retreating team and the pissed-off alien chasing them.

Cora sent a message to the rest of her team, ordering them to continue on, before turning to face the alien and holding her hands up again.

Come on, I'm clearly unarmed and trying to surrender!

Kim stood beside her with her rifle held ready. "You, too, Cora. Get back to the shuttle. I'll cover you."

"We can't let our first contact with an alien species end with us killing one of them." Cora motioned for Kim to lower the gun as their pursuer charged into sight, holding two of the weapons she'd scooped up from the chamber floor, one in her upper hands and the other in her lower. "For all we know, she could be the last survivor."

The alien aimed and fired. Cora detected a flash that looked almost like a lightning bolt searing past the corner of her optics. She turned and found Zed tumbling to the crater floor, his right arm spinning away from him and scraping across the ground. He picked himself up and continued running.

"Let me try something." Kim gripped her rifle by the barrel in her left hand, held it out to the side, and lowered it slowly to the ground. She held her hands up and backed away from the rifle. "Well, I don't know how to make it any clearer than that."

The alien sprinted toward them and continued firing. Cora grabbed Kim, pushed her ahead, and ran, thankful that shooting while in motion had thrown off the alien's aim.

"I have an idea. Kim, let's see if we can lead her into the Peacemaker chamber while the rest of the team gets to the shuttle and takes off." Cora flinched from a near miss and changed course.

"You thinking of using it?"

"It's worth a try. Whatever it takes to get my team to safety. Sooner or later, she'll get a lucky shot or she'll take the time to stop and aim properly."

"We don't know if it'll work on you. My brain is human, so …"

"I'll do it," Timmy blurted. "I can't believe I just said that!"

Cora spotted him a few meters ahead, almost at the shuttle, then darting to the left and bolting toward the first hatch they'd found.

"Get on the shuttle, Timmy."

"Maybe we can pressurize the chamber and show the alien that I'm organic. And if that doesn't work … well, at least we know that gadget will work on me."

"That's not your job," Kim snapped. "We can bring someone down from the Sagan if it comes to that."

"There's no time!"

Kim grumbled under her breath. "I hate to say it, Cora, but I don't see many options. We can't get her to stand still long enough for Ludmila to pick someone and send him down here, and we can't let her kill our team."

"Believe me, the last thing I want is to end up married to an alien who's evolved from a spider, but I'm not gonna just stand by while the rest of you are killed." Timmy reached the hatch and pulled it open. "I'm the only one you've got handy who we know this thing will affect."

Damn it! "Fine. Kim, find someplace to hide and wait for us to lure her in. Close the hatch behind us." She turned and found the alien heading for the shuttle, glanced around and picked up a fist-sized rock, and chucked it at their pursuer. The rock bounced off the alien's upper shoulder and made her stagger. She whipped back around to glare at Cora and pointed both weapons at her.

Cora charged through the hatch and joined Timmy at the far end of the tunnel. She faced the outer hatch just as the alien stormed through and marched toward them. Behind her, Kim darted through and closed it. The alien whipped around, glanced back and forth from her to Cora and Timmy, then back again.

She pointed one weapon at Kim and the other at Cora. Both of them raised their hands again and sank to their knees for good measure. Cora detected air flowing across her surfaces and turned to Timmy when it finished.

"We've got air."

He pulled his helmet off and stepped in front of Cora. The alien froze and just stared at him for several seconds.

Come on, figure it out so we won't have to screw your minds over with that device.

The alien moved as if taking deep, angry breaths.

"Shake my hand." Cora moved her arm slowly toward him. "Let's try whatever we can to show her we're not enemies."

He clasped her hand and smiled at the alien, making a point of not showing any teeth. The alien just stared at them. Behind her, Kim remained on her knees and kept her hands behind her head.

"Put your arm around my shoulders like we're buddies." Cora stood slowly and slipped her arm around him. He did the same and nodded at the alien.

"See? Friends. We want to be friends. We sure as hell don't want you to murder us over something we had nothing to do with."

The alien glared back at them and her arms trembled.

"Looks like it's not working," Kim sent over their internal comms.

"Yeah. I guess it's last-resort time." Cora turned around and opened the inner hatch, keeping her movements slow. She pointed at the pyramid. "Let's hope she knows what that thing is."

The alien stared at the device and all four shoulders sagged. She turned as if to glance behind her, hesitated, and lowered her gaze to the floor.

"I hope that's a good sign," Timmy whispered.

"She might be thinking about the people she lost. She looked in the other chamber's general direction, at least. If nothing else, she might go through with this just so she won't feel alone anymore."

"And on that joyful note …" Timmy stepped into the chamber and waited in front of the Peacemaker. "I was watching when Drew activated it, so I know which button to push."

Cora walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You sure you want to do this?"

"We've already gone over it. I know I was only supposed to observe and record, but this is better than letting her kill us all. Besides, I guess this is as good a way as any to overcome my arachnophobia."

Kim laughed softly. "That's the spirit."

The alien and Kim entered the chamber. Kim stood in the doorway and motioned for Cora to back away from the Peacemaker. She moved over to the wall, keeping the same distance as before, and contacted Zed.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll live. One of the up sides of being a robot is that our limbs are easy to replace."

"I'm relieved you're okay. How about everyone else?"

"Intact. We're on the shuttle and waiting for you guys."

"We're keeping the alien occupied. Tell Ludmila what happened and reassure her that we're handling it."

"Will do. See you soon."

The alien's helmet retracted and she trudged over to the device. She faced one of its sides, all four eyes brimming with tears, and placed her weapons on the floor. She flicked a distrustful look at Cora as she wiped her palms over her eyes. She let out a slow breath, removed her armor, and piled it beside the weapons. When finished, she sat on the floor in a meditative pose.

Timmy glanced between the alien's legs. "Yep, looks female, alright. Though that's probably where the eggs come out."

"We don't know that. We shouldn't assume everything about her biology correlates to terrestrial organisms."

"Fair enough." Timmy shrugged and removed his spacesuit, then sat and mimicked the alien's pose. "Well, here goes nothing."

He pushed the button.