The food court was shut down. The human workers were rounded up and taken down to the killing floor. Under the control of the obedience chain, the food court workers lined up neatly, and were then stripped and hung upside down and butchered, one by one.

The meat was cut from the bone of the food court workers, and Salvatore made a huge pot of human stew - with potatoes, onions, and dumplings and a rich gravy made from the human’s boiled bones.

The lord-chamberlain invited a group of the elderly Maankaari to the hangar, and the elderly were served the stew.

‘Oh, it's so lovely’ - said a Maankaari - ‘So tender!’

‘Where did this come from - is this a new kind of beast?’ -said another Maankaari

‘So juicy, compliments to the chef’ - said another Maankaari

‘I like it - salty!’ - said a Maankaari

The elderly Maankaari were licking their plates, and demanding more.

‘If you like this meat, I think you will be very happy in the future!’ - said the lord-chamberlain - ‘His majesty has secured our future, and this salty and tender meat will be on your plates everyday!’

The eldery Maankaari cheered and clapped - banging their plates on the table chanting “MORE! MORE! MORE!”

In the king’s chamber the wall was lifted to the hangar beyond. A barbecue was set up in the hangar, and Salvatore was lighting the coals. The menu was grilled corn on the cob, potatoes wrapped in silver foil and cooked in the coals, pasta salad, jumbo shrimp, and Eddie Murphy - cut into steaks and grilled.

In the chamber a stand was set-up with chains and a winch, and a large bucket under the chains. A burly alien wearing a dinosaur skin apron was sharpening a long blade.

A table was set-up in the chamber, with beer on ice, wine, and cognac. There was a pile of meth, and pipes for any who wanted to partake.

The lord-chamberlain had returned from the feast for the elderly Maankaari.

‘How was the feast, my lord’ - said the vice-chamberlain.

‘Oh, it was wonderful. The old-timers loved the stew. They were banging their plates on the table demanding more!’ - said the lord-chamberlain.

‘Do you think this will work, my lord?’ - said the vice-chamberlain

‘Oh yes - his grace is most prepared. And today, vice-chamberlain, we will be exercising the demon of the dreaded Eddie Murphy. The animal Murphy will be butchered, and eaten and will be no more! Except for perhaps some indigestion it might cause. His grace can take us to the future, and the Maankaari can begin a new harvest of these human animals’ - said the lord-chamberlain

‘Yes, I am indeed excited about the butchering of the animal Eddie Murphy. I wonder what it tastes like?’ - said the vice-chamberlain.

‘We shall soon find out, my dear vice-chamberlain’ - said the lord-chamberlain.

‘And then that terrible beast David Sterling’ - said the vice-chamberlain

‘Oh yes - David Sterling’ - said the lord-chamberlain

‘Is it true, my lord, that the animal David Sterling argued with his grace?’ - said the vice-chamberlain.

‘It was most distasteful, and the animal David Sterling embarrassed itself. The beast Sterling claimed that his grace had most likely overlooked something obvious that would doom our travel to the human animal future’ - said the lord-chamberlain.

‘Most distasteful’ - said the vice-chamberlain

‘His grace will butcher the beast David Sterling, and then eat it’ - said the lord-chamberlain - ‘And then all of the human animals will be gone from this ship’

‘And any new ones will be for the killing floor!’ - said the vice-chamberlain, giggling.

‘Quite true!’ - said the lord-chamberlain

The guests began arriving. The senior personnel from the Maankaari. Heads of department, scientists, planners, military, engineers, the major who had captured David Sterling and the other humans, and other members of the royal family.

Everyone was drinking beer, and smoking meth, and chugging cognac.

A Maankaari band was playing music.

Young Maankaaris were teasing the king’s tyrannosaurs - and the dinosaurs snapped at them as they played a game where they tried to get as close as possible without getting bit.

The colonel and his elite royal commandos arrived, wearing their medals. The Maankaari’s clapped as they marched in with the ceremonial outfits.

The Laz-E-Boy recliners and the huge TV had been removed. The king’s throne was back where it had been. The king arrived. Gone was the red leather outfit, and the Fila leisure suit. The king was wearing his purple robes.

All of the guests bowed as the king arrived.

‘Please, continue with your merriment’ - said the king - ‘Today we celebrate!’

The king sat on the throne, and smoked a cigar and swigged cognac from the bottle.

‘Shall we bring the beasts Eddie Murphy and David Sterling?’ - said the lord-chamberlain

‘Yes’ - said the king

Eddie Murphy and David Sterling were led into the king’s chamber, both wearing obedience chains. They stood beside the king, and stared blankly into space.

The king turned to Eddie Murphy, and puffed his cigar and swigged the cognac.

‘When I said I love you, Eddie Murphy. What I really meant was I would love to eat you. Today we are having a feast. You see that stand over there?’ - said the king

Eddie Murphy looked at the stand with the chains and the burly alien sharpening a blade next to it.

‘You will be strung up on that stand, and then butchered. And then you will be skinned and gutted, and then you will be barbecued, and then we will eat you. Since the first time I watched you on a DVD, I imagined how good you would taste. How good would this animal that made me laugh so much would taste. Today, I will find out Eddie Murphy’ - said the king.

The king turned back to the guests, and puffed on his cigar and swigged cognac.

Down in the bowels of the Maankaari ship, a supervisor was checking its workers. The supervisor had checked a number of store rooms, and maintenance lockers. Everything was as it should be. The supervisor had been told that the Maankaari were on the move. The ship would be leaving where they were, and that they would be going somewhere new.

There wouldn’t be a crossing, the supervisor was told. But the Maankaari were on the move.

The supervisor opened the door marked “STORAGE”. The supervisor stepped into the room and the fat alien who was supposed to be guarding the hundreds of thousands of white cubes was asleep at the desk.

The supervisor banged its fist on the desk, and the worker jumped up.

‘What’s going on…?’ - said the sleeping alien

‘I have warned you about this maybe a thousand times Graanzo, no sleeping on the job!’ - said the supervisor

‘Sorry sir, I was just resting my eyelids’ - said Graanzo

‘You know Graanzo, your job is one of the most important jobs on this ship’ - said the supervisor

‘Yes sir, you told me that before’ - said Graanzo

‘What would happen if whatever is in one of those cubes managed to break out and you were sleeping?’ - said the supervisor

‘You said last time that there could be a disaster’ - said Graanzo

‘Yes Graanzo, there could be a disaster’ - said the supervisor - ‘We are relying on you, Graanzo to be our…’

‘Early warning system’ - said Graanzo

‘Yes Graanzo’ - said the supervisor - ‘But how are you going to give anyone early warning if you are asleep?’

‘You said that last time as well sir’ - said Graanzo

‘Well…” - said the supervisor

‘Well sir, it's just. Whatever is in those cubes is probably dead. Most of them have been here for thousands of years’ - said Graanzo

‘You know they are dead, do you Graanzo?’ - said the supervisor

‘Well, no’ - said Graanzo

‘And that is why you are here, so that if something manages to break out - you press that red button there, and we know we have a problem to deal with’ - said the supervisor

Graanzo and the supervisor turned. Standing amongst the thousands of white cubes was Arnie.

‘See, here is a perfect example’ - said the supervisor - ‘Something has broken…’

The supervisor turned back to Arnie.

‘So should I press the red button?’ - said Graanzo

Arnie fired two bursts from the pulse cannon. The first burst blew the supervisor’s head off. The second burst ripped through Graanzo’s torso. Both of the aliens were dead, their green blood splashed over the bulkhead behind them.

Arnie had broken out of the alien prison. It took 14,516,997 failed attempts before Arnie found the one way to break out.

Arnie’s sensors fired up. He could detect David Sterling’s bracelet. There was no signal from Dr. Hall’s or Dr. Zoft’s bracelets. One human was alive, and one human needed Arnie’s help.