Elodie wanted to laugh, loudly and clearly. The first day at her new work and she was taken hostage – it was ridiculous. Rolling her head on her shoulders, the redhead tried to remember how it all happened. She was on a small ship, one that had just come from Earth and was preparing to latch onto the mother ship, a Hydra-blah-blah Important Commander Ship or something to that effect – Elodie wasn’t great with all these fancy ship names and preferred to just go by size. So, she was gathering her stuff and slinging her pack up on her shoulder when a sudden jolt shuddered through the metallic carrier. Cursing, loud enough to be heard over the sounds of explosions, she glanced out the window. It had only been an hour or so since she left Earth and clearly wasn’t that far away. That meant the Xien were attacking Earth. 

“Shit…” Elodie struggled against the bindings on her hand and mentally cursed New Age technology. The stupid aliens just [i]had[/i] to have fancy electric handcuffs. What happened to the classic metal ones? Bending a finger back, the young soldier could feel a hole in the shape of a key. While technology was advanced, there were always simple mistakes that were repeated. Slouching over from where she was against the wall, hoping the guard dogs – or lizards, whatever – wouldn’t see her reach under her shirt and snap off the paperclip she kept hooked to her bra. Her arm had bent at an odd angle and Elodie took a moment to thank God for doubled joints. She then inserted the paperclip into the small keyhole in hopes that it would unlock. “Please, please, please, please.”