Reg stared at the female in the silvery jumpsuit floating facedown in the barbaric craft and wondered why she'd reacted so strangely.
He spoke aloud, switching back to his mother tongue instead of the crude language earthlings used. "Ralph, is the Earthling ill?"
Alpha 400, the newest AI model for his spacecraft-intelligent and imbued of enough personality to demand a name-replied via ear transmitter. "I believe you frightened her."
"But I heard her request to be saved. Why would she be scared when I have arrived to grant her wish?"
"My records indicate that females of all species tend to react in unexpected ways, even when given what they've demanded. Now, if I might suggest, you should gather her that we might teleport off her vessel. The asteroid is due to impact in less than five hundred lunar millicycles."