“Ahoy there, good ship Ace Jaded Seven.” A static smothered voice came over the intercom. The three stared at each other. James covered the microphone with his hand.

“What do we do?” He looked to Sinbad, who raised his eyebrows.

“Let’s pretend we’re not here.” Alan knocked Sinbad in the shoulder.

“We can’t do that! They already know we’re here.”

“Maybe they’ll think it was an intercom glitch.”

“We’ve got to say something,” James said, “They’re probably looking right at us.”

“What I want to know is why it took them so long to contact us.” Alan’s brow furrowed. “If they were Navy, they would’ve responded right away.”

“Unless they thought we were pirates the same way we thought they were.” Sinbad nodded.

“No. What pirate ship asks for fuel? Only dumb kids like us get into situations like this. Besides, even if they thought we were pirates, they’d shoot first and ask questions later.” Sinbad frowned.

“Then they must not think we’re pirates…unless we’re the bait pirates use to capture other ships! I’ve heard of that happening before!”

“Who told you that?” James asked.

“They did.” Alan shrieked.

“You can’t just keep saying “they” are telling you these things! Normal people will think you’re insane.”

“Then why do you think I’m insane?” Alan stopped.

“Wow, that’s a good one.”

“Thanks.” James looked at his hand which he remembered was covering the microphone.

“So, what are we going to do?” Alan rubbed his hair.

“I think we should just talk to them, explain our situation and let them know we need help. They may be neither Navy nor pirates. They could just be a ship like us.” Sinbad’s mouth dropped.

“If they’re a ship like us, they’re not going to be any help either! What if they’re sitting over there having the same conversation we’re having? Can you imagine two of me existing in the same plane of existence? The universe would explode into nothingness!” Alan knocked him in the forehead.

“Stop being so dramatic. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

“You’re the one who always hurts me!”

“That didn’t hurt.”

“It could have!” James stared at his two bickering friends with disgust. With a deep breath, he raised the microphone to his mouth. Alan and Sinbad, who until this point have disagreed on almost everything, both stopped and grabbed James’ hands.

“What are you doing?” Sinbad shrieked.

“We haven’t decided what we are going to say yet.” Alan said.

“Ahoy there. This is the good ship Ace Jaded Seven. Could you please identify yourself?” Sinbad nodded.

“That’s good! That’s really good. Keep going with that.”

“Will you shut up Sinbad!”

“Alan, it’s not like you’re being quiet.” James shushed them both.

“Sorry there Ace Jaded Seven. This is the Clear Blue Easy. Captain Al Kasino at your service. You say you’ve run out of fuel?” The silver ship blinked invitingly.

“Yes! Will you help us, please?

Word Count: 527
Total Word Count: 4060

Notes: Do I really like the name of the ship? Keep on truckin...