Permission To Engage

"Let's go now, we don't have much time." Djuma urged.

Christina's hand instinctively reached into her pocket to retrieve her phone. "I should definitely inform Rachael and Stefan about this," she said, her fingers closing around the device. Just as she was about to make the call, a loud, piercing beep filled the air, startling both her and Djuma.

"I've located him!" a young man clad in an NPS uniform exclaimed into his walkie-talkie, standing a short distance away from Djuma and Christina.

After speaking, he began to advance cautiously toward the duo, his gun trained on them with an unsteady hand. "Don't move, or… I'll shoot!" he shouted.

Perhaps due to prior instructions to maintain a safe distance from the suspect, who was deemed extremely dangerous, the young agent continued to approach with caution. Christina slowly turned from the approaching agent to Djuma.

"How did he recognize you?" she whispered.

"Raymond told me earlier that I was caught on the news. I suppose everyone in your world has already seen my face," Djuma said, his response equally hushed. "I should have waited until nightfall before coming to your planet. Perhaps that would have been wiser."

"Wait a minute! You've already met Raymond?" Christina asked, surprised. "Then everyone in the world would have seen his face by now. It might not end with him losing his job; he might also face imprisonment for collaborating with the enemy!"

"Shut up and put your hands up!" The NPS agent's voice cut through their conversation.

Quickly, Christina threw up her hands in obedience, her palms facing outward in a gesture of surrender.

As she stood frozen, she glanced at Djuma through the corner of her eyes. "What are we going to do now? He's pointing his gun at us," she thought to herself, hoping that Djuma would somehow pick up on her thoughts.

To her surprise, Djuma glanced at her and flashed a reassuring grin. The grin was a bit awkward, but it was a clear confirmation that he had heard her thoughts loud and clear.

"I'm going to distract him now, and when I do, all you need to do is run," Djuma replied through telepathy. 

Christina slowly glanced at the NPS agent through the corner of her eyes before returning to Djuma, tutting. "What about you?" she asked through her mental voice. "What are you thinking in that alien mind of yours?"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be right behind you before you know it," Djuma replied confidently and reassuringly. With a calm and calculated movement, he took a step closer to the agent, his eyes fixed intently on the gun.

The distance between them narrowed to about one and a half meters, and the man's eyes grew wide with suspicion.

"Raise your hands up and get on your knees!" he shouted, his voice trembling. "I'll really shoot you if you move!"

Just as he finished speaking, a mysterious voice pierced his ears.

"Put the gun down, he can manipulate you with it!" 

The voice was low and urgent, and it seemed to come from all directions at once. The man's eyes widened in panic as he threw his gun to the ground, whirling around to look for the source of the voice. 

"What the hell was that?" he muttered under his breath when he saw no one. He might as well be insane. As he turned forward again, he was shocked to discover that those he was trying to capture had vanished.

John finally arrived, scanning the vicinity for Djuma. "Where is he?" he demanded. His breathing was heavy and labored, as he had just arrived on the scene after a long and arduous run.

The agent's face contorted in a mixture of frustration and confusion as he struggled to provide a coherent response.

"He was here with a girl just a few seconds ago," he replied. "I don't know how they vanished into thin air, but I'm telling you, they were here!" His eyes darted wildly around the alleyway, as if hoping to catch a glimpse of the elusive duo.

John's gaze snapped upward, his eyes locking onto the road that led out of the alleyway. He swiftly grabbed his walkie-talkie and began to issue urgent instructions to his team.

"Team B, he's heading your way. You must not lose him," he muttered. When he finished speaking, he turned to his men, who were behind him. "Follow me, guys!" he barked, before setting off in hot pursuit of the fugitive duo.

Six NPS agents, clad in heavy armor, ran after him.

Meanwhile, Djuma and Christina strode toward the end of the alleyway. "What did you do to him?" Christina asked curiously.

"Telepathy," Djuma replied. "I just shouted, 'Put the gun down, he can manipulate you with it!' and the rest, as they say, was history. He was scared of me, I could feel it."

Christina giggled at Djuma's response. However, her amusement was short-lived as she suddenly stopped in her tracks to catch her breath.

"We should leave now, Christy," Djuma urged, his face now serious again. "They'll catch us if we don't leave as soon as possible."

Christina shook her head adamantly. "Not without informing Rachael and Stefan," she replied. "If I leave now, they'll be worried about me."

"As you wish," Djuma muttered, forcing a smile to conceal his true feelings. However, his discomfort was palpable, and Christina couldn't help but notice it.

Just as it seemed like the atmosphere couldn't grow any more strained, a masculine voice boomed down toward them through a megaphone.

"Get on your knees and raise your hands above your head! And don't even think of running, because you're surrounded!"

Christina's heart jumped as she glanced ahead and saw an army of NPS agents, each clothed in heavy armor and carrying guns. The agents were positioned behind heavily armored vehicles, which seemed to be blocking off any potential escape routes. Christina's gaze then shifted to the rear, where she saw even more NPS agents standing guard, effectively surrounding them.

"We're really surrounded," Christina whispered. "I think we're in soup."

"Soup?" Djuma echoed. "What do you mean by...?"

"Do you think this is a time to joke around?" Christina snapped. "Soup means trouble!" 

Her heart was racing with worst-case scenarios, and she couldn't believe that instead of finding a solution, Djuma was wasting time trying to decipher her colloquialism.

The voice in the megaphone cut through the air once more, its tone even more serious and threatening than before. "Get down on your knees and put your hands above your head!" it bellowed.

Christina hastily raised her hands in a gesture of surrender, her eyes now on the NPS agents as they trained their guns at them. "So what's your plan now?" she muttered to herself.

Djuma, however, remained silent, his eyes scanning the surrounding area as he complied with the agents' demands. It seemed as though he was contemplating their next move, searching for a way to extricate them from this precarious situation.

"Don't tell me you don't have a plan," Christina said anxiously, glancing at Djuma to gauge his reaction.

"I had a plan, but you ruined it," Djuma replied. "You should've complied when I asked us to leave earlier." He looked frustrated, but he managed to remain calm.

Meanwhile, the NPS captain was conferring with his superiors via walkie-talkie.

"They don't look like they're going to surrender easily; it seems they're planning something," he muttered. "Permission to engage?"

"Permission granted," a familiar yet ominous voice crackled through the walkie-talkie. "Do everything in your capability to bring him under suppression."

The captain hung his walkie-talkie back on his belt and turned to his men, his face darkening.

"Engage fire," he commanded.