“No way!” you say. “I hate horror stories. They’re so cliché.”

“But they’re what people want to read,” the author says.

“Not all of them. Don’t you have something a little science-fictiony?”

The author scratches his (or her) head. “Well, I suppose…what about interstellar travel? Heading for Alpha Centauri to see what’s up?”

“I suppose I could deal with that,” you admit grudgingly.

“Great! Let’s begin.”

—

You are on a starship, heading for Alpha Centauri to see what’s up. Suddenly your comm panel flashes a distress beacon!

You know that this area of space is rife with space pirates, so it could be someone under pirate attack. But on the other hand, it could also be a space pirate trick to lead you right into an ambush!

What do you do?