The Chase 1

As the large vessel exited the star base hanger the crew prepared to fight and armed the master computer’s weapons.  The crew of six members could barely maintain the Capricorn, a massive two-kilometer vessel.  The crewmembers consisted of a Captain, a Pilot, a Med-Tech, a Com-navigator, an air-space battle tech and a liquid-space battle tech. The crew overall was a motley assortment.
The Captain, John Steiner, was, as his name suggested a conventional “by-the-book” captain. He disliked his job because he would rather be home teaching a team of cadets battle tactics or something similar. John hated those who called him “John” most of all, and many of his crew did this frequently.  Captain Steiner was an average fellow and the only reason he runs the Capricorn is because the previous officer Cris Derekson was killed in action.  The Captain could do any of the jobs on board the vessel except one, and he knew he was too old to learn, after all he is twenty-nine.
The Pilot ACE Launder was an expert large vessel driver; he could turn a seventy-ton 10x10 on a laser dot imprint on the road.  He claimed to be the best, and he had to deal with the ones who thought they could out drive him.  His special ability was even enhanced by a device built at the star base, now his reactions could be measured only in nano-seconds.  His four weaknesses are women, drugs, and fast vehicles, but those have never stopped anyone.  His fourth weakness is his claim to someday pilot the Armerieus V., which is next to impossible to pilot because the vessel takes three well-trained professionals to pilot it
The Med-Tech is Sue Petros who is an expert physician except that she always gives incompetent mental advice.  Sue loves the Captain, but she dares not say anything for fear of ridicule by the other crewmembers. Sue is not at all beautiful and the ridicule would be directed toward her one true love. The Med-Tech does very little while in battle, but when the battle is over she works her behind off.
The Com-navigator is Stan Freund, a friendly chap, who might as well come from an eighteenth century setting.  “Stan the Man,” as his comrades call him, is such an adorable gentleman. He never says much, but when he does, it is in everyone’s best interest to listen. After all who wouldn’t listen to someone with an IQ of over two-fifty.
Roger Freeman is the air-space battle-tech. He works alone with the Capricorn’s computer to fight the evils that haunt his Galaxy, or maybe to fight the goods? Who knows Roger has an attitude about everything he doesn’t get paid enough he doesn’t even get to fight enough, and he doesn’t get his girl in the end. Roger is the second in command, and he will probably never get his own ship, unless he steals one.  He likes the other battle-tech, who thinks of him as a friend, Roger is a superb fighter; he could shoot a fly off a meteor at two light-years distance away, if necessary. He uses his expert skills to protect the ship when his counterpart often fails to do so, He is estimated to work faster than the computer guidance and firing systems, because he shoots first and doesn’t bother asking questions after, Lieutenant Freeman hates the BEINGS, because they had destroyed his home world of Cicantropous three years after he was in the academy. He is now eighteen and almost ready for pension, because he has been on so many suicide missions.
The 1iquid—space battle tech is Nicole Star biter, the meanest girl you ever DON’T want to meet, Although she is only sixteen she can kick some butt in liquid space, when most battle techs only fear liquid space. Nicole was arrested over twenty times before she was forced into the academy at thirteen. She has a crush on another person whom she leaves at home very often to go on her crusades against evil or good? Nicole is a very attractive young lady except for the deformity on the left side of her face from exposure to liquid space. The scar is a blue coin sized circle that even make up cannot cover. She is teased as to being a blue humanoid, and she often hurts those that do teasing.
The crew knew that the mission was dangerous, but that was their job, once they exited the perimeter of the star base, the captain immediately ordered ACE to submerge into liquid-space.  The vessel cracked into a blur of light, as the Capricorn entered the soggy world of unknown plasma, Nicole readied her weapons
The concept of liquid space is a hard one to explain, but it is like traveling through other p1anes of existence at a much higher rate of speed. Speed is not the only advantage defense is also a priority, the difference in the planes allows ships to use less energy and to absorb more.  A nova bomb could not even work in the material of liquid-space so there is no threat of instant destruction. Also, a ship can use liquid-space to fight off ships that, only travel in air-space.  Liquid-space revolutionizes space travel, but it does have its disadvantages.
The Capricorn was on a mission to destroy or greatly harm a group of Kramites on the Jargor. The crew had met up with thirteen Kramites in the cantina on the star base, but before authorities could come they escaped. The Kramites for starters teased Nicole and grabbed her by her personal possessions.  She pulled out a pill launcher- and fried the sucker with about three hundred fire-pills. The other Kramites wrestled her to the ground and tried to rape her except that she is so wild that she threw all twelve of them off. The chickens ran for the hatch, which she literally burned away seconds later with the fire-pills.  The crew immediately chased the Kramites and would have caught them, except for the fact that Jagor was about only one hundred meters, and it took off in hurry. It took the Capricorn one point five hours to get out of the hanger and that is quick for a two-kilometer long ship

Scanning 2

The Com-navigator was searching his monitors fiendishly to find the Kramites’ ship.  The Kramites travel in air-space so Stan scanned for atomics, as well as ionic propulsion drive residue. “Look here!” he said as he pointed to the monitor “Right here, heading for the Zentrad Galaxy.“ 
Nicole was busy looking for any possible sign of danger while they were in liquid-space because this was her job. The Captain, wanting to get the Kramites,  headed to the I large monitor “Yes, that looks like them, Could you run an ultra-infra scan to see how many we are going to kill?”
“Wait a second, now there are two ships, some kind of rendezvous.” Stan said nervously, “It’s either two ships or a ref lection of the first.”
The captain flipped a switch, and the main screen showed the two ships, “You’ re right; it’s two ships they might double team us,
“Not to worry. “ said Roger, “I could destroy those ships with my middle finger “,
“Bull!“ shouted ACE,  “That looks to me like titanium-hydroelectroid it would take at least two fingers, “ and ACE let out with a giggle.  The whole crew laughed except Nicole.
Nicole shouted, “Would you quit screwing around; I’ve picked something up.”
“Who gives a rip, Nicole, we know you can handle it,” said ACE,
“Would you be quiet and look at the air-space video imager at points 45 through 390.”
“Holy $H!+ that thing looks 1ike a BSD, “ cried Ace.
“Wait one moment, why am I not picking it up on my telemetry scope?” said Stan,
“Well maybe its not there, “ shouted Roger sarcastically.
“Its there, I just picked it up on my master grid air-space detector,” said Captain Steiner calmly. 
“Well we sure are lucky, because that thing shouldn’t be able to enter liquid-space.
“Are you sure Nicole?“ asked Roger.
“No, but I am praying it can’t. You never know what the Froggies come up with.”
	“Well we can out run them can’t we ACE?” asked Roger.
“Heck if I know; Being Star Destroyer can kick some butt.”
“The star destroyer is keeping up with us, and it is in air-space we should be losing it,” cried Stan, “Nicole is in liquid-space or not.” 
“It’s not darn it, otherwise I would have let loose on it,” yelled Nicole.
“Calm down children, “ said John. “I think we should just do our best to get to the Zentrad Galaxy as we planned.”

O~ •~y~ I’ m ctoi ng to hit max i mum capac:i ty~ if they t.ry it thc~ L.J Lii u5E~ plenty ~f Kab~ 1 urn D~)oE1 ts
ñ~ the ship roars through t.he I i cjul d-—sp ace it c:tradi.tai 1 y 1 c~’~ the 1 arcie destroyer.. The crewmembers c~i ye a sic~h of
rd i e+ ~‘s they move c:’ut. of si ctht of the dark oh ject i. n space..

“We are almost under thE~ J~~cior “ shouts Stan “We have
to cut power..
“Quit whining.. I m gc’in~ to take us ricjht under their belly and scare the urine oui of em,” screamed ACE..
“NW” shouted the O.aptain, Uat is too risi.::y..
Yea you don t know wh~ L 1 i nd of p i ss they have i t could destroy the ship, “ said Kc~cler sarcasti c:ai I y..
“Damn I never have an fun pi 1 oti nc~ this pi er*~ of ciarbacie..
The Capri corn pul is ci c’se by the two i<rami te vessels., but the Capricorn rerna:ins in I iqUid—space.. Roger Freeman moves,,towards his battle tech unit, to prepare for combat..
Ex I	ictuid—space slowly ACE, “ ordered the captain.. if you say so..”
“~ an, send a messacte for them to surrender, and Rocier you get ready to open fire, “ ordered the captain..
“Capricorn calling the Jagor ...... come in........ come in, said Stan,
“We’re in air—space, “ shouts ACE..
“Well hell deck gunsar med.. .. . . ..Fire! “ says Roger. F?.ia~:.ts c:’f energy light the sky, and move toward the
Ja~or .. •rhe Jagor- sh~4::es and bobbl es~ hut thats all Unknown to t.he crew, because they are too bUsy watching the
Ii ghtshow~ the Jaqor ‘ s twin moves away silently..
“Stan, ctive me a bio—readout of their ship,” said the captain..
“Yes, there is no one on hoard except a Nova bomb.. Cease fire !Roger! ! !“
At the same time .. .. ..Roger had said,” Shock cannons armed.... .,Fire!
A wave of energy exited the Capricorn, and the Jagor explodes in a hi mdi ng fury of a star c~oinct Nova. The Capr icoI n oddly hurdled backwards into the depths o± Ii qiti ci ~pace as the shoc 1.:: wave begins to hit them.
Moments later in liquid—space.... .. “How did you do that ACF ~“ asked Sue.
I t was noth i nc~.. I was List 1 oc:’k i rig out f or mysel f arid Lends.
in’>’ ±1 ~ will recommend you for the Armeneu~ f i’~’E% ACE, because that wa5 inagnificant precognition on your part, “ replied the c:api em
“I said it was nothinci.. Come on let’s ciet that little buc~cier .
The Capri corn moves cautiously through the 1 i quid--space in search of the twin ship,

Jagor Twin 3

“Stan, I want a scan for the twin ship., “ said John
“Yes sir, Captain Steiner, rLinni nc~ a scan., “ repi ied Stan,
“Nicole scan to see if there are any dangers ahead c’f us.”, commanded the captain..
Nicole flips some I. evers and pushes a few buttons and said, “Nothing yet, but once we are in the Zentrad galaxy there are a few ships waitinct f or us..
“Oh, No, I’m not drivinc~ into some ambush..”
“It can’ t be an ambush, “ said the captain, “ We dc’n’ t have an’i known ~n~ini e~ in that qal ax ~ “ epi i eci
“We don’t have any e.i lies there either,” r Roc~er
“Stan, can yc’u scan those ships for LIS..
“Yes, they SCCt11 to he giant patrol ships; I mean Giant Each shi p must be c’ver a. hundred kilometers long.. The are larqe cylinders with plenty of armament.”
“You have to he readi nq meters instead c’f kilometers
Stan,” said ACE..
“Heci.:: No! I knc’w what I ‘ in cic’i nci.. Is there a. planet of qiants around here cried Stan,
Cal in down i t may be a mal f unct i on, “ sai ci the c:aptai n “No mal functi on from here, I cal cul ated their
dimensions by c: omparing them to the Kramites’ craft..
“ Tho~~ shIps o± yours ust ci. i mi natcd the Krami te ship.~ ..~id Nicole calmiy~
“Wel 1 1 et s Qet the h ci 1 out of here “ yei 1 cci Roq er

I agree “ concured ACE.
They may
“No, we must engage this powerful forc:e~	prove to he allies aciai nst the Beings “ said the c:aptai n.
“Or they may he Bei ngs. Have you thought. of that?” said Roger “Woui ci someone make the dcci si on and fast hecaL.Ise t.hey

are coming over for a chat “ sai ci Nicole
“Okay4 arm the V~ravi t~c’n We will + i.y over and tal k with them “
“You can count me out. L.ook what. they did t.o the F::Iramites’ ship5 and it is larger than the c~ravitron “ said
Racier
-.	“Al ri ciht • Sue and ACE wi 11 c~c’q “ commanded the Captain
“I hope you clan’ t take this as in::~ubordi n :~t ion hut I ‘ m not leaving The Capricorn4 “ said ACE shyly.
“Come on you guys • this is a special mi ssi on “ said the captain.
“ I will qo with youq John • if yoLk dri veq “ said Sue.
“Yea4 “ said ACE.
“Right~ you go5” said Nicole.
th~at way .L can come to your resc:ue4 “ saici ACE.
right5 and leave this ship to you three?” replied
the captain.
“I resent that “ said Stan “I woul ci watch so they don t mess up
“Sure. And what if Racier cii yes yc’u an c::’rder?” asl.::ed the captain.
“I wi 1 1 use my own j ud~ment ~ “ sai ci Stan Anyway you are the one so interested I i-i goi nci to meet these chants.
Okay., you wi n . Sue and I wi Ii c~ o. “ The Capt a i n and SUB walk to the hancier of the Capri corn • and prepare the c~’ravitron. The captain takes out a cam—unit and calls ACE.
I want you to take us out of ii gui d—space for st Eeconds to ciive us time to get out.”
“Wh;~t~vpr you say. Just say when.
Sue and John prepare to I auhch after John cii yes the “okay, “ The Capri c:orn appears in al r-—space tar one mi nLtte and then suhmercies aciai n into liquid—space, I. eavi nçi c’nl y the Gravitron in ai r—~p~~r

Gravitron 4

As the Sravi trc’n c::uts through space the Capi- i v orn follows it in ide of Ii qui ci—~:.j: cc. The 6~—avi tron L 3 ~mal 1 jet—i ike vehicle with a three—persc’n cockpit. Th~ U1 ~ ii tron uses the forces of gravity frrm n~~rby planets and i ai s to propel I t~c~l f i n the desi red direction. As the Gi r’. if ron aj:proache~; ~ h~ six giant cyi i nciers Captain Steiner broadcasts a meE.~;ao of t:::’eace and exploration. At fi t ~t he uses the standard hi nary code, hut, frd)m the anal yi~i ~ rf the ships, he decides to switch t~ a farm of octal c:oclinci The six ships 1 cal:: old and tathered ii k~ fh~y were in many battles or wars.
I hope they are receiving us and understand our mi ssi on at peace,” said John.
“I hope so too, because we c::oul ci become stardust in sec:onds.
“Airi g ht,a message is coming through, “ said John.
‘~reetincis, Zentrad we are, and a peac:eful mission are we c)n also. This i ~ the first time that we explore another c~alaxy are, We to you welcome aboard, hut seems it miciht that you are much smaller than we.
::so we were riciht about them being giants,” saici Sue,
Yes, but it doesn’ t mean anythi ng. I wi 13. send a reply.
The Captain f i dcli es with the control panel ~nd ~ends a messac,e.
We will you allc’w to board, to talk to people of us. Move to paints of your c:amputer ~ through 38 a--s--t:oordinates.’
“I wonder how they knew our coordinate system?” asked

“It doesn’t matter; does it?” said the Captain.
I ciuess not. I will tel I ACE what we are about to do.”

“Ol.::ay, and 1 wi 11 dri ye this thing where they told me
“Capricorn, this I _ cravitron four, do you c:opy ?“ said
4

Sue into a microphone
“Ye’~ what do you. need?” asked Stan.
“We are about to qo into one of those vessels.”
c~iCE breaks in “Well I ‘ m cioi nc~ in too.
	“No4 we can’t	re them ri •..~ai ri Sue.
“I ~i 1. 1 drive her in 1 i qEti d--spacr.e t.he will never know
I’
w~•~ are there4	~aid t~CE.
The Captain ru’ xb~ the rnic and ~id	‘ Do that and you. better I ook for ~nt~th~r ~ob.
“Oka’/ do ‘ou have a sect ion o-f t he Cl assi + i ed’ handy
Rocier sarc ~i i ii y
Th~ 6ravi trr,n dj ~-.appears into t h~ 1 de of one of the Zentrad ships prn~;i b I y never to re b tr I; rhe Capricorn pulls
up a~ai nst the tji ~nt ~hi p but sti ]. I n 1 i ctui d—space. Un the Gravi tron Stei net ~nd Sue eel the dw~ f i nci feel i nci ii ke torn
thumb in the ancient nursery rhyrne~ Thr~ hitch seats4.and a sort of pressur i ~t i on occurs. ~noth~i inward hatch opens.1 and a colossal m~xn with dark yell ow -• 1.. ~ n approaches and p i c ks up th~ tiny ship.
“The t~ravitron measures the man to he about 200 meters tall . I ho;:e he is taller than the average giant “ said Sue
The cii ant says~ ‘ WEL..COIIE ‘ l3ut the “wel come” I ~ I ouder than anything the two have heard before .~ so the’v l::oth hol ci their ears. The c~i ant carries the small shi p in his four—f i nqered palm through the hatch ~nd down a seerni nc.,~ly endless ~orridor, The craft and crew ar~ taken for a ride and set down on some k i nd of cx p~r I m~r1t t ~l 1. ‘~. The t. ab 1 e is surrounded by four of t.hose cii ants w th ~el low skin.
•The giants tal 1< and what they ~ hakes the sh:[ p on the table. The two people inside are dr~ ~n almost mad by the deaf eni nci noise of their speech. The gi ~nts notice that what they say a+ferts the humans i nsi d8q ~o I hey whi sper hut I. t is sti 11 comparably loud to human yell i. n~.i. rhe cii ants talk to John in various ordersq but all ste, vn th the cjeneral conversatlon.
‘We are the Zentrad~ and it took us a little while to learn your Encil ish languacie4 but I think us four have mastered it even with alt 6+ its excepti c~n~ to the rul es.
“We are ql ad that we can speak in a common I anguage, hut let’s tall’:: business41’ said the Captain.
“We want to know all about your ciiant race~ “ said Sue.
‘We know about your race and what you do~ so lets skii~ your race’s history and tell us of your immc~di.~te plans and
We were cioi nct after the Krami tes who viol atecl a

cial acti c 11law on ouff star base. We were cioi ncj to hri nq them to justice.
‘We respect your just ice4 hut our actions were not out of violence to obscure your ~C~sti cc
this cial ax y’ s inhabitants.	~ but an experiment on rIWe don’t care about what you di ci to the Kran~i tes4 in
‘fact they deserved it. We are interested in ‘forming an alliance with your civilization4 so t.hat we might be able to destroy the Bcings~ a race of e~i 1 ‘fascist creatures.
‘These E~ei ncis you tal k about are much Ii ke you~ but you say that you want to destroy them. Why?’
“The Eei ncis have no bei I. ef in the preservati on of peace
justice.
‘Maybe their just ice is a different form of yours4 but that is no real reason to fight them.’
“Yes5 but there justice affects the way we govern our races. “
‘It sounds to me like a conflict in interests.’
“We have ‘formed an alliance of plarlets and races to fight against the dominant l3einci culture5 and all we need to
‘I
know is if you would 1 i ke to join.
‘Sure4 I ctue~s we can as long as there are no hidden strincis at’Lach~d.
r11.%JQ strincis except that your race must prove an advantage to ocir side.
‘Lead us to a F~eing culture5 and we shall destroy it for
“Well that’s e.bout all the proof I would need5 and there

was a Eieinq star destroyer not ‘far from here.”
‘We will destroy it for ‘.‘nu.’
“6ood just bring my shi ç~ hack to the hatch andi you can
‘follow us.”
‘Sorry, We can not allow you to leave.’ As a ciiant says that ~ two cii ant f i nqers tear apart the 6ravi tron’ s cock i~i t. Sue and Jol~n are tM?c~n into the palm of the giant and p1 aced
5
In a sticky pan that glues them to it.   John feverishly starts tak I nç~ off h :1. s clothes in a desperate chance to get:. free anc:I Sue does the same. A loud buzz is heard by the two as they ma their way toward the distant wail sui-roundinq the adhesive. Sue ciets hit by a vibratinq biade~ andq as she screams~ blood qushes from her- little body. “Fun Save yourself!” she yelled.
Captain John flips a switch on a tiny dCV~CCq but all he c~ets i s + eedbac k on his com--un it He makes i t to the edcie of fhe pan where a 10 meter high steel wall surrounds the paste, John quickly moves to a corner and watc:hes as the cii ants dissect Sue before his eyes. John kn~el~ in the corner and starts to cry~ when he hears a loud explosion. A light membrane of y~l low skin fal is meters from his persc’n~ along with the rest of a giant hand in the middle of the adhesive dish, A person the size of John quickly flies with a jet p ad.:: toward him; it is Nicole, She grabs him in a special hold and proceeds to fly back to the Capricorn. The Capricorn is blastinq away with the dec I .:: ciLtns and shock cannon at the Zentr ad cii ants, The ciii ants were falling to pieces as John and Nicole get on board the Capricorn. Nicole leaves the Captain in a hurry to get to her station~ and~ as she is leaving the Captain yells • “Thanks.”
Nicole da~hes to her consoleq and arms the computer. Then Nicole says~ “Let’s hit it,”
ACE respond~ by diving into the liquid--space. From the liquid—space Nicole starts opening up on the Zentrad ~hip from the inside out. After about one hour of devastating the ~hip the Capricorn glides out of it. Moments later ~ ship explodes giving the crew a good feel mci.
The other five ships move in an unorderly fashion hack to their home gal axy, leaving the charred remains of the I cad ship.

The Battle 5

The Capricorn is manuvercd by ACE to where it is dust behind one of the Zentrad ships~ but still in liquid—space. Nicole sends a wave of I iquid—s~ ace weapons at it.
Nicole says~ “Fire convex lasers! “ An arc of strange beams comes +rom liquid—space to the ship in air—space. The very fiber of the Zentrad ship is distortedq and depressurization is c:learly noticable, The Zentrad ship is ~lowly expanding to equalize the pressure of space.
Nicole then said~ “Its up to you Roger.
Roger said, “Thanks now come on ACE let’s hit air—space.”
The Capricorn moves into air—space within seconds and Rocier commanded • “Fi re armor p i crc i ng mi ssl es,
As many mi~le~ eject from the Capri corn, the Zentrad sh I F) opens up on the Capricorn. The mi ssl es meet ~ r desti nation, and a loud crackle is heard throughout the Capr I corn as the Zentrad weapons Ii it, Some of the lasers touch the Capri crrn’ ~. hull but mini mum damage is substai ned, The Zentrad shi p explodes in a hi i ndi ng fury, and t[~ Capricorn proceeds to another Zentrad ship.
The second Zentrad ship immediately opens fire on the Capricorn, but the lasers are diluted as Roctcr fires the ~hoc k cannon. The Zentrad ship explodes, on 1 y to be remember ed by its counterparts.
In the Capri corn Roger works fevcri shl y on destroyi nci the remaininci three ships. The ships are two hundred Limes 1 arcier than the Capricorn, but their weapons are much less effective. The Capricorn wipes out two more with no trouhleq but the third retreated to a distant moon,
Captain Steiner moves, to the bridge and askedq “How are we doing Stan 2”
“F~etty good sir. We have sustained only about two percent damage to the exterior and zero to the interior answered Stan,
“Okay, lets hit the last one from liquid—space, they won’ t know what hi t them “ commanded th~ captain.
“Okay John ! “ says t~C.k “I will ciri /C right through them, and Nicole can l~t- fhc~m have it
“Go for it’” y~l]ed Nicole.
Th~ Capricorn mo~’c~- inbo ii q umd—’-pa’ e and travels c:ver to and through the 1 at ci~r ‘entar d ~1’~ i p Nicole sai ci; “Drop depth charcies. “ Large ~. ~n i ~ters ar* di’ opped out of the Capricorn, and huge c~plo~ions in 1 iqiu d space occur, The depth charges spew ii q’ ti d %pace i ntD U r—space and this destroys the Zentrad ~hp in secondc~ lhe Zentrad remains
6

streak into the small moon and cause a blinding explosion..
“Well ;Stan what is our projected damaqe~ “ asl::ed the captain.
“We have 3% hull damages and the damacte is i ncreasi rtq~ because we are in 1 iquid—space; “ said Stanley.
“ACE; pull us c:iLIt c’-f 1 i quid--space and + i nd a nearby
place where we can ciet repaired)’ said Steiner.
“Well we could land on that moon if we had any
en~i neers~ “ sai ci Roqer “ but your budget is screwed.
“Al rI ciht do you ~~ant me to -F ire you and hire ten people in yOur p1 ace “ crac keci Stei ncr • “I ‘in -~F ed up with your sarcasm and curt remarks. “
“Come on 1 ets 1 and at beta rim four; and we c:: an hire
some cheap labor.”
“You would like me to listen to you; wouldn’t you?” said
the captain.
“Well you already lost Sue; and you might not he here if
I di dn ‘	the order tc:’ i nvade when your c:om—un ii: was
ainineci “ sai d Rocjer.
“~eport to ~y o-Ff ice on the double Roger)’ said th~ captain.
“Riqht; and who will watch air—space? Stan?” replied
Roger in~ubàrdinately.
“Put it in on automatic; and that is an order.
“Automatic my ass; the battle computer is trash, and you
know it “ said Ro~ter., “besi des; I don’ t want to die when I cOLt 1 ci have done söineth i ng about it.
“Put i t on auto now; “ sai. d John as he pul 1 ccl out a blaster.
“Well well; if it has to come to this; I will report in a -few minutes; “ said Roger calmly.
“Good;” ~nd the captain stormed off the bridge.

The Plan 6

The other crewmernbers looked on in disbelief as Rocjer
switched the battle—tech computer to automatic and ic-ft the bri dcje. Rocier walked down the ship’s corn dors to ciet to the
off ice and; on his wa’ ; kicked the trash; and equipment in
the clutte~ed halls. 4~icjht before he got to the office he punched a red alert light, luckily -for him it was off, As
Roqer came to the door it opened as i t should. Rocjer stepped in looking glum.
The off ice was neat, from the way Sue would do thin~s
for John; but now it was changed, and John was sitting in his desk look inca at a space mon:Ltor. Roger seated himself and turned to look at John John was crying.
“What’s the matter; John?” asked Roger, “Do you miss
Sue?”
“Yes, and I am glad you saved me, but I wish I had gotten the scapel
“No you don’ t. Think of all the pain Sue would have to mndure.
“You’re smart, but you don’t know anything about li-Fe, you haven ‘ t cx per i enced m t .
“Sir; if I may say 50; I have experienced 1 ife. Why; I love Nicole, and she j List thinks c-f me as a c~ooci fri end. She has a lover on Flantis nine; and she always £alks about him to me, it crac ~:;5 me up i nsi de. because I love her so,
“Well tell her that;” said John.
I h-~v~ sir; and sh~ doesn ‘ t say anything; I tried to ]. cave her alone ~nd look for others to 1 ~Ve; but it doesn’t work that way.”
“Well atl east you can admire her from afar; while I can’ t
It is not the admire part; I want to become part of ‘~‘~ and she of me.
“That’s hard to cio; it’s been hard since the beginning of man •
“Well let’s not talk about this; we have another problem on our hands, deal i nc~ with the hul 1 .
“Okay hot shot, what do you suggest.
“First of all; we must qet to beta rim -four tn g~t repaired cheap. Then we must hire a few more c:rewineinbers -* a computer sc: m ent i st a hi o---mechan i cal tech; a co—-pilot; 50 ACE can get a rest; and a engineer, dust in case something happens to the engines.
“That’s ciood, but where do we get the money to hire
steal it?”
“No; we c:an 1 ook for one of the 1 eciendary ctol d p1 anets, or d)ther preci d)uS metal p1 anets in the Zentrad ~alaxy.”
7
“That sounds qood~ but doing it is different.
“We could buy a mini.ng ship from the Molans with a c:omb i ned sal ary of the ship .
“Well do you know where we can do all of this?” asked

“I told you Beta Rim FOUr, and we can also have rest and recreati on and non--synthesiz ed food for a change,
“Okay, lets get to the bridcie and tell them where we are going.

The Decision 6

The captain and his second officer walked out of the off i ce~ fri ends again. The captain walked in front of Roger and laughed as he saw the equipment that was broken from Roger- s k i c I.::s, He turned and i—mi I L~d q then the captain saidq”I used to do that when I w~ anctry.
When they entered the I:~r i dqe • ai .t heads turned their way. Stan stood up from the cRpt~in’ s seat and said “We are glad you two are friends agaLn,
‘So are we,” said Roger
“Well where are we cioi ncj Captain “ asked ACE who was c~ettinc~ impatient not driving
	a course to	“
“Beta Rim Four. “ i nterupt~d Foger,
“Now why did y~u do that ?“ said John.
I c:an’ t break old habits, “ laughed Roger.
“Well try tOOq “ said the captain understandingly.
“Broads, Boor e and Bac kgammon here we come “ yell ed
ACE.
The ship kicked as ACE turned on the hyper—dine drivesq and the ship moved steadily away from the Zentrad cialaxy.
“We will return,” said Roger, just sc’ the captain could hear-. “Yes we shall,” said the captain.

Beta Rim Four was not far from the Zentrad qalaxyq but it took a few weeks to get there. As the ship slowed down~ Stan cal led the landinc~ strip as to ask for permission to land, The landing strip officials cleared the strip enough for the larc~e Capricorn to land. As ACE maneuvered the sh~ip to the ground~ the crew gathered equipment to have fun for a few days, After the ship landed the captain met all of the c::rew in his o-F f ice.
“Okayq we will meet back here at six o’clock each day until repairs are completed.”
“Who will go with you to hire the workers and new crewmembers?” a~kcd ACE.
“I think I can handle it. YOLI all just have some fun and stay out of trouble. “ sai ci the c:aptai n , al most Ii ke a father,
The crew~ except the captain~ made a mad dash down the halls to set root on solid ground~ + or- a change.
ACE was the first to c:tet out~ andq after he took in a l:reath of the eighty percent oxygen atmosphereq he went into the ship hanger to act his internal combustion car. His car was a twenty—first century dune buggy with a compressed exhaust. He practi cal 1 y flew out of the hanger becai.~se he forgot to let down the exit ramp. His buggy ki ck~d into sixth, and he went riding away at about three hundred mi leE; per hour,
Stan took a short wal k to the nearest store and started to look around~ he remembered hearing Roger tell the others not to spend tOo much for something special, so he 1ust
I ookeci around.
Roger and Nicole got into a small flit car and whi rred away, Roger thought Nicole looked wonderful , even though she wash’ t as + ui 1 y devel opecl as she should be in a few years. He was thi king about what he and the c:apta~ n had ta 1 ked aboutq and a tear trickled down his eye.
john kne~~j wh :.~t hc~ had to do so he tal ked to the Ki nnara official s~ who were tel epaths. They also had the power to give a telekinetic push to someone~ instead of using their fists. The F:i nnara c::oul d work 1 i ke a human and add another hand • which coui ci hold things that were hot or- freezing.
John spoke telepathically to the lead Kinnara about repairs
to his shi p • and the Ki nnara toi ci hi ifl it would cost at 1 east four mobil eLdeck guns. John knew that somehow the I(in~nara had found out that the Capr i corn had ci ght of these weapons on board, not bei ng used. He agreed and told the Ki nnara that he coul ci get the guns af tet the ob was half -—throu9h
ACE drove down the si lent streets of the Kinnara city
8
Looking for a tavern. The Ki nnara had no use for land vehicles;q so the streets were very easy tor him to maneuver throLu~h He pulled up to a place cal led “The L.ast E:ar “ so he went in. The bar had many Vinnara~ but it also had a few hufT~ns in it He knew some humans wo~i ci be hereq because he had seen a squad of star hound ficihters at the l~nding strip.
H~ ~f at a table in the center of the room just two tables behind the stac~e. He ].ool<ed around to see if he knew anyoneqor would like to meet anyoneq but he didn’t, •The waiter brought ACE a larc~e galactic whirl which was equjvalent to a burbon and scotch drink, The act on stac~e was a strip tease: a Kinnara woman was dancing around, mentally taking off her clothing. It was a mysterious thingq but it added something to her beauty. Al 1 of a sudden she reached out with her handsq and he could feel her tell inca him
to cto to the back stacte after her act. He thou~ht of saying
no hut shook his head to agree with her suggestion.
After the act he was compelled to see this Kinnara who he had ~ust ~ in the nude. He cauciht a glimpse of her
entering a dressinci room. He walked towards it, and he
real i~:eci that there wasn’ t even anyone to try to stop him.
As he wal ked behind the stag e~ he mental 1 y pictured her lu~<urious body. He thought that the only difference between
her and a human was her enlarged head. When he arrived at the door _ ~hE~ was si tti n~ on a c:hai r looking into a mirror. She smiled and said ‘HIq in a telepathic way.
ACE responded by a~::ing her if she wanted a drink. She answered in the same way that he had earlier in their meeting. He escorted her back to the tavern, and they sat at the bar. He ordered drinks and looked at her and saidq
“Cheers! “ She qic~gled and said in her telepathic voiceq ‘do you want me ? H~ looked at her with inten~.e interest ~s she raised her bright yellow skirt above her waist, Her hair could be seen as his eyes grew larger with sur wise; she was very straic~htforward. She lashed out and g rabfeci the hardend spot of hi~ dust above his lect. She held him and told him tel e;:ath i cal. 1 y to come with her
They both got up4 and she remained holding him. They wai ked to the back, ar~ici as they were walking to her room a tall, human blonde purposely bu~nped into the Ki nnara stripper, because she admi red ACE’ s 1 ooks. Th~ Ki nnara , however, didn’t even let go of ACE4 but she ciave the female a telekinetic push against the wall . “‘The human female lunged for the Ki nnara and sl ammed her i nto the opposite wall. ACE was released, and he stepped in between the two women and
id, ,,“Come on, quit fighting, and let’s all go have a good

The human woman looked over ACE and said4 “Sure4 but do we have to take this slut along.
“Yes41’ said ACE4” she found me fir~t.”
“You are a dumb’ man. You know what shc~ wi 11 do?” sai ci the human woman, “She wi 11 did) ~ t tel eki neti call y.
“So we can have phys~i~.~l and mental se>~. I never had it both at the same time
“Oka~ as long a 1 ciet the physi cal “ said the woman,
All three went to thE~ I’ innara’s room to return hours 1 at er,
At the same time F ociei’ and Nicole were havinci fun shopping but not buinq ~n ,thi n~. The two looked in the t<innara museum and went to cee ~ free movie that made I. ittle ~ense to them4 because ii- was transmitted by video and tel epathy to the audience4 and they could not appreci ate the telepathy as much as th~’1 would have enjoyed audio.
Roger and Nicole teiked about love a~d other interestinct topics, hut nothing they said made much difference in their feelinqs towards each other.
Stan, after walking for many hours, rented a hotel room4 ate dinner, and went to sleep.

The Recruits 8

John went into th~ httman Eeta rim four station. In the stati on John met a 1 ar-ge hi vky man si tti nc~ behind an old tathered desk, The man ~ nti’ oduced himself when John walked in4 “‘ci lo Mac my nam i, Franco. Can I ‘ci p ya’ with an’itinci ?“
J6hn said, “Hi4 my r~~me is Captain Steiner of the Capricorn, and I am’ lnr4 inc~ for the human recruiting officer.
‘I

The man stood u~ with shocked look c~n his face and said4 “‘ey buddy4 ya’ loot in’ at ‘ im,
9
John immediately said. “Oh I’m sorry~ I thouc~ht you were a worker
The manq knoLJinct rio better~ saidq “Okay~ I accept your .3’pol ~ I qLiess
e Captain then started on to business and said~ “1 need some recruits for the Capricorn :r n~~d a computer scientist, a bio—mechanicai tech, a c:o—piiC)tq and an enc~i fleer Do you r1OL~4 where any can be f ouncl
“Yea “ said the off i cer while cietti nq some documents from his desk “Ya’ can look throucTh deseto see what ya’ like.
John sat down on a dirty chair and becian to look over the files that the officer give him, He knew not to look at the namesq becai.tse he might build LIP a bias opinion to each name. H& found the four files that best ~uifed his needs and asked the o-fficer~ “Where can Shawn Penk, Lysa Moss, Trever I::c~isq and Darron Claive be found?”
“Well~ the addresses are in the files ; why don’t ya’ write ‘em down, “
“Okay, thanks,” said John, as he took a pen and wrote the names and addres~s down,
John spent about six hours trackinçj down his recruits, but he only •found three~ he was still missinq the co—pi lot, Lysa Moss. The other three agreed to work for a percentage of the treasure or anythin~ they found in the Zentrad galaxy.
John readied the ship and assigned quarters to the new recrLli ts,
Shawn F:enk the computer scientist roomed next to the main computer room, in case there was an emergency. Trever Kois roomed in the medical and bio lab, since that was his job. Darron Glaive roomed near the engine and hanger area, since he woul d be there most of his time. Al 1 three had known or met the others~ and all three even knew Lysa. They told John about L”sa. She i~ th~ rrettie~t blonde on E{eta Rim Four, but she couid also do the job.
Nicole and Rocier made theirway back to the ship, and they were introduced to thc~ new cr ewme~nbers, and the five ~t ciow~ for dinnerq before they went to sleep.
ACE came i&~ late, and he had a woman with himq a tall blonde. The captain wondered how he had found the co--pilot, with ACE not even knowinq about herq but ACE told a few 1 ies to qet out of trouble. ~CE and Lys~ retired for the nichtq and the Captain wai ted for Stan to return so they could 1 i ft off in the morning.

Trouble Again 9

Stan was sleeping and dreaming of all the treasure that they may find,  when he was awakened by the doorbell Stan wondered whom it could be~ so he I coked at the view screen a rec3 ui red item in modern hotels to see who :~ t was He saw an of ± i ci al with a type c-f red ar~rtor that was known to bel oncj to the Beinqs. The official was escorted by two blue hurnanoids ~. n storm armor. The official kept r i ngi nc~ the bell i.~nti I he c~t impatient. Stan saw that he ordered the troopers to
last the door 50 he 1 ept into a closet
•The door- came down with ~ rr -~~h and the i.:wo troopers entered in a hurry.. The off i ci al stood in the doorway as the blue humanoi ds ~ h ed the room. As a hi ue humanoid approached t.he c I oset Stan opened i t on him.. The door contacted the humanoid, and Stan slammed into the armored person. The escort + ci 1 back, and Stan flung him around to use the in ~ured humanoid as a shield, The second humanoid~ not carinct about the + irst opened up on him, The flames
--4 nc~ed Stan and totally engui fed the escorI: Stan picked up the escorts dropped weapon and roll ed across the + I ocr to the bed. Stan roiled behind the bed and rhpr k ed the weapon. The
trooper burned the bed to ashes in a matter 0± ~rnnd~., and
Stan jumped up and shot a twenty centi meter hole in the
troopers chest, The cireen bl cod 4- rorn the humanoid went
~vcrywhere as the tro&per stumbled to his knees, The humanoi ci + i red a second shot from his flame c~as ciun , and this ..~hot contacted Stan, Stan -fell to the fl ocr and rol I cci on . t . St an was hurt , but he st i 11 took hi S t i me and b 1 ew the trooper’s head off
CEtreen blood stained the red armor of t.he official as he
was enteri nq.. Stan + i red the hyped up blaster at the Bei ng, but the armor had art enerc~v shield, The shot cd anced off t.h blast a hole throuqh -~ nc~t~by wall , The of-f i c~ai looked at
StEtn in a odd f ashi or~ Ii j. ciht 1 y tilt i rtq his head to the side
and shak i nc~ it as i ~ tu ~a ~ , “Too bad, ~ The Being pul 1 cci out an apparatus that icr-it c” 1 ‘. blade of hi ~h i rttertsi ty ii ctht, The Bei nc~ wal ked over i- o ~ ~n and rai secl his saber ~:o sEr i I-::e..
Stan -- t.p on one I- n~-~e, and c:harcied the c’++icial to
ctot u
tackle him, Stan kno~L~i -hh~ Being r-icht of-f c-f his -feet, and the saber went f-i .3 nq through the room, The Beinct quickly ~ot to his -feet and threw Stan about four meters across the room, Start landed on a cabinet, that he wished
was never i ri his room, Stan ‘ s back was al àiost ijroken , and Stan peeled off the side to the floor.. The Being walked Lasual 1 y toward Stan and said something Stan coLtl ci nd)t underst~rtd, Stan said “Wel 1 1 ‘ m not dead yet “ and he
‘~prang up anci into thc~ nf f-i ci al . This time the Bei nq di dn ‘ t bLldne, and Stan’s shoul der cracked with pain,
-.	stan -just ± 1 ~ ccl to i:he + 10cr- until he hit it with a thi.imp, Th~ Pe rtct I- nEi. t over Stan to check i + he were dead but he wasn ‘ t th~ Pci n~ proceeded to take of-f his mask, when Stan crawl ~d --~w~y 1 1 ke a small child in a hurry.. Stan looked at the i-~ ni ~ndi saw that its + ace was muc hI i ke a human face, and he Ljonderedl if maybe this was a dream, Et ill , StaEi deLi ded to end his nightmare and crawled toward the blaster.. The c {fical saw this and tried to intercept Stan~ but Stan qoi t I- Stan turned toward the aclvanci ng B einq and + i red ~-t dark purple mist of blood poured over Stan as the Bei nci fell toward him with his arms outstreched c:;t~n sl i ci away, nd + el 1 asl eep i n the mess..
When Stan awoi-::e, he found himsel-f where he had fallen, hut the Pci nct was missing. The two troopers were sti 1. 1 there, but the official was not. Puzzled, Stan got up and wai ked to the bathroom. He 1 ocked in the mirror and started to wash the b 1 ccci c-f-f his + ac:c, Stan was wonder i nq how 1 onc~ he had been i-::nocked out, He turned to cic back i nto the room and saw the off i c:i al standi nq in the room, Stan slammed the c:ontrol s to shut the bathroo door, and the official ran t~w--’rcI it, Thc~ door shut •~ust heforc~ fhc~ ct-f i ci al could get to 31- Second I t r a bl ~xde of 1 i qht c. ut through the door.
Ti ~ ci- 1- i ci al st~-~pp~-~cI through the op~n1 rig and I ooi~ecl at Stan. W ~- face w~v hi cody, and a I cc4 c-F di sctust was cvi dent
if He rai~P I hi blade, and SU ~n ~ reamed. The blade
	and hi hand ± ~i I i nto the si rtk	I
C:: ii- ed his I. cf-I wI- i t q	s •	n
h I. .-~tan + ci I ii ~ I. into the shell ~h~pecl spa and saf th’~re~ wit h hi ocd pcuri rtq c~~t of his stub ~ screamed again a
1
bloody screarn, as the light blade caught him in the thigh.  Stan took a ci eansi nq tube and threw i t at the of ± i c: i ai but i. t hi. t the wai 1 behind hi m~ The }3ei ncj had a c~rin on his ± ace, an cvii c~r in as he came down with the blade •The blade struc 1.:: Stan in the head and then the r i ctht shoul der Stan ‘ s ~‘•~ pr~~ i on went away as his ± ace tur-ned i:a1 e
ThL f~3 rici then noticed a cirin on Stan’s face~ Not underst~widi nc~ he raised his; saber ac~ai n •This time Stan was hit wi. IA ~ fr- earn of steami rtg dark purple blood that shot
wut of I ht~ I-~ei nc~ ‘ s abdomen , The Bei nci turned i n horror and
stared i rut ci the face c-F Rocter Rc’cier + i red the large military r i ± 1 e acai n. The short range muff led the sound arid blood co~’~ ed th~ ~:pa and Stan. The E~einct slumped over and .sat on t h€~ i-ni let unit • while I on!:: i nc~ at the many holes in his chest. The cf -F i ci ~1 knew he had ii tt 1 e time, and a tear fell from his eye as it closed
Rn caer put down the c:tur: and turned on the spa. The heat woui ci warm Stan • and the~• water would wash away the dirty blood of him and his opponent. Stan started to say ~omr~i-hi ng • but Roger stopped him and .~aid • “Stan, you’re qetti ng too ol ci for this stuff. “ Rc’qer h~ought ~t~ru bac:k tc’ the shi p • and Stan was taken car-c of -. by Trever the
hi o-—rnec han n. cal tech,

The Idea 10

Stan was being taken care of when Roger wenl: to Captain
Steiner’s offic:e.
“Damn, how did the E~ei ncts find us?” said Rocter,
The C~aptain showed Rociei a graph that plott~d their previous coordinates. throuh liquid--space and a readout from his small computer monitor about where, appro>drnately, the E~einct Star Destroyer had traveled, Th~ paths, if overlaid, were practically identical John then said, “The Pci nqs must
have c:tc’tten some cievi cc that can trace our 1 i quA d space tr-avel ~. It took them a little I onger, but they manac~ecl to ciet here.
-.	Roger then replied, “How did they find onl v Stan?” John answered, “i quess they had some informant here,
hut ricTht now, we have to worry about ctettinQ to the other
..~i de o4~ the planet • that is where we will geE the mining vehicle.
Roger and John then went to the bridge to get an update un the star Destroyer ‘i:; position.
Ni cole reported. “Sir • the Pci ncis are at the north poi e
	and	tr-y	any di
of the planet,	if we to r-un in rec: ti on they will. he upon LIE within seconds.
Rocier and the Captain looked at each other, and John c:\SkS!d , “tao yoLI have any hr i ciht i deas?”
:~t~r fhnuqht for a second, then came up with an idea,
Roc~r ~j.dto ~‘uCE, “~CEE, how good are you at the I aver mane u v C
c2ICL I hc~u u~ht for a second and then replied~ “Well let’ do it :r i hi ii! it ~Ji ii ~jor-k ; its worth a try. “
Capl ~. n c~tei ncr went tb his seat ar~ p ~~ed a hutton on the i nt- r’ nm and told everyone to get to I: heir stati ons.

The Layer Maneuver 11

The ship started up and then started to exit the atmosphere in about three minutes. it started to pick up speed jL.Ist when the Star Destroyer moved clown toward it. The Capricorn started into the YacLtu.m of ~pare when the Star Destroyer was within f i ri rig range. Th~ Capri corn then did a rompi etc 180 dec~ree turn to face the planet and started to tim p to the surface. The Star De~troyer opened fire on the point where the Capricorn would have been, hut it missed
~	the Capri corn was in a spin decendi ng to the P1 anet.
1 he Capr i cor-n seemed out of control as. it plummeted to th~ --Ilrface. The Star Destroyer fired into the atmosphere, and th~ missies were about to hit the Capricorn when, it di~pk’~ared. The Capricorn jumped into liquid space inches frt~m I he surf ace. The Star ~estroyer monitored a large e ‘p1 c.~i on on the barren area where the shi p was and believed th~! 1 he Capricorn wa~ de~tr oyed,
C c~conds 1. ater the Capri corn landed on the side c’f the planet where the rnininc~ vehicles could be purchased. 1 he maneuver was successful ; the Pei ngs c:Ii dn’ t real i ze that a large ship was on the other side of the planet that wa.sn’ 1:
there before. The Pci ngs. went into space + light away from Peta Rim Four- hei ievint~ that their mission was acc:ompl ished.
2
The crew immediately made pr-eparati ons. to buy a mining vessel and to 1 cave ~cn. Th~ captain went to purc::hase the vessel • and then ordered Lysa to pilot it into the Cat~ri corn
~	tn ckv maneLlver that f~CE~E could have handled easily wa~ taken care of by Lysa hut it just took a I itt 1 e longer and the mining ship was wrecked act~tinst the side of the
Capricorn. •~h~’ wreck postponed their trip for a few hoursq
but th~ crew needed the rest.
c,-ftervjards4 everyone returned to their stati onsq except R0QPr. The shi~ took off~ and Roqer- went to see Stai~ in the
i n± rm~~r y.
F ocier went to Stan’s side when Stan whispered somethinQ. H’DL~LI ~ked . “What do you want • Stan? ~nythi ng? [ ‘ 11 get
you -xrwthinct you need. “•
€ n’ s inaudible whi sp er wasq “Thank you5 Roger. Stan sl ipp~d into a coma after thatq and Roger slammed his fist
into a nearby table in the room. ~ few tears tn ckl ed down
Roc~ers face; he knew he was just a few seconds 1 ate, He
c:uised about being late as h~ exited the room.
Roc~er returned to the doctor and told the med—tech to do all, he could for “Stan the Man, “ The med—t.ech said that he would do al :t he could and Roger thanked him.
Roctc~r wa~z fu,rious~ hut he went to the bnidqe to check the Capricorn’ s status, When he got to the hr i ~ge Nicole left. her chair and walked tc’ward him.
I’
	“How are you feel i ng, Rocier	said Nicole.
I ‘ rn c’kay~ I guess, It ‘ s i List that I shoul d have been
there a 1 ittl~ sooner to save Sean from any harmq “ replied
Roger ~ it’ s not your f ~LIl t Roger anyone of us. could have been

the one sent to r~b him.
“L{Lit I was. find I found him too 1 ateq “ said Rocter.
Nicole comtorf~d Roger by putting her arms around his neck as she huctcied him, Rocter cried an her shoulder; it had
been a lonc~ time -,in’ e he cried like this.
Captain St~inei’ told them to regain their Seatsq because ACE reported th ~t thr~’ were aproachi ng an asteroi ci f I ei ci near t I~e edge of t I ~ Zentrad Galaxy,

The Wrecked Ship 12

ACE scanned the asteroid field and s.aid that it would be no problem gettinc~ through5 but that there was some mass of metal lodcied within a larcte asteroid. The Captain told Lys.a to pilot fhe shi p near the wrecked hull , The ship looked
I.	ike a Frigate—classed human shi p. The Capricorn stopped
less than a kilometer away from the Fri c~ateq whi 1 e scanned it. Since ACE took over Stan’s ~oh while Stan was. away, he opened a hailing frequency, ACE reported that there were over 50 humans and about 2 other races sti 1 1 on board.
ACE then read a printout that said that the ship was hi jacked about a year ac~o from the Life Station. The Captain than told Lysa to get tI~e Capricorn out of here quick iy~ hut by the time the words ciot out of Steiner’s mOLLth~ a tradtor beam hit them, The tractor beam iolted Lysa right out of her c~.e~xt and the shi p was being pulled ci ciser to the rc::’ck.
ACE reacted quickly and tried to reg~ in hi pilot’s seat. If he had been in it hefore~ this mi LIhf riot have happened. ACE was hal ted i t•~ his attempts i i~ai n his seat when a Razor Rammer, a small ramminci vessel b’i ted into the bridge, ‘The Rammer broke the hull , and o> vrv~n was rushing out . n t c~ ci ~ p pace rap i di y. Roger e i ec t en f r om hi s seat and ran .wifLii tu the hatch 1 ~ad i i’m to a~ hall w~v~ He barely made it before the door sealed to avoid d~pre ~urizing the whole ship. Roger ran down the halls awkw~i dl ~.‘ a~:: fh~ ~;h I p was becoming unstable ciue to the tractor beam. He made 3.t to his dorm, entered, and got some weapon.
Nicole tried to c:tet through the doorway, but it sealed I:efore s.h~ wiv; hal fwa’~ to the door. She had’ to hold on to a cabinet door inside the bridge to prevent herself from bei nci suc: ked into space.
Captain Stei ncr was knocked from his command seat but he still had time to grab a hand hi aster” which he had in a secret compartment in t.he chai r
Lysa was knocked LI.nconc: i OLIS by the fall , bLit 1 Lick :11 y ACE grabbed her before she floated i nt~ spac:e.
ACE was cursing , hut the rush of air tool.:: his words and threw them into deep space.
The pirates cxi ted the Raz or Rammer gui c k 1 y i n pre~:~ur’~ suits. The pirates were armed with large grenade 1 aunchers, and they c:lui ckl y tried to c:iather LIP the crew on the bridge.
3

ACE. was angry, but he had no way to fight without being blown into space
Uapta:tn Steiner~ who had been trained for this type c::’+ r ombat f 1 red hi b 1 aster at the p i rates •rhe p i rates pressure suits opened east I y~ and t.wc:’ pi rates were qt..ii cki y ..~uc: ked into spac:e •The other three at med their ctrenade rifles at the ca ~tai n and fired. f he ctrenades made a 1 oLld
c~ r en a des.
-~ were only ~;t’
p1 ost on but.
The i~ned—tech IIid Stan and himself in coffin~ ~;n they woui ci not he killed if they were thouciht to be ri~~d The computer—tech was shocked at t.he ship s bet nci pc~ri~i r ~t ed so easily~ and fainted~ The engineer did his best b~ J ~.bi I ize t.he ship but he could oril y do so + or a few sec:r~nd~ ch ml nute
F~ocier rare to the enclineerincl room and alm~’ I C4rJt hi ~. head hi bwn off by Darron F~oger convinced the ~rI(~i n~~r to put plenty of ex~l osi yes in the hancter -just In c ~ I he p i rates wanted to hoard through the hanger. .[ t ta~I-.. Lhem a whi 1 eq but they loaded the hancier -F uI 1 . Anyone not knowi nci about the e~<pl osi yes would be hi story
T/he p1 rates seal cci the hri dcte and captured the crew that remained on the hri dc~e, The Pt rites then had access  . the computer5~ so Rocier went into the computer room and disabled
it; it coUld he ±ixed at a later time. Since Sh-awn had
.f ai nted Pocter brought him into the si ckhay and found that
Trevor had di ~appeared . He ic-F ~ the computer—tech alone in the lab f’ocier returned to the enciineer~ and they planned to hoi ci r~f .~ b h~ p i rates.
The p~ r~tes on the bridge opened the hanger dc’or and
wer-e c~ei t i n~ ready to let Si corvette-—cl ass c:raf ts in but
t.he mmmd ve~e] took up too much room. The pirates then
~.ii senc~a~i~d ±i- cm the ships and entered the hanc~er in space
suits. ~bout fourty pirates entered when one of them set off the e~-~plmtvc~-~.
F<ocj~r wa~ monitoring what he c::ould o-f the hanqer; and hP~
told JJar i- on You can scratch fifty pirates; they gust bought the farm.
Darron replied “Well I ciuess they have about twenty more or so,
The two of them laughed a little; but then realized that
the pirates had five important hostages.
Rocter said; “You know~ the only three that can pilot this ve~sei are - up there • and the oi~l y ii gui d-—space battle—tech is up there.”
Darron wai teci a second then said; “Don’t worry; we ciot them on the run; we -just wiped out more than half o-~ them.
A few minutes liter a microphone came on, and the on the — - “Okay, you humans, I will kill
pirates	bridc~e said;
one of these hostactes every fifte~n minutes until we -just hi ow the sh i p apart, unless you surrender now.
Rocter knew that the i ntercom was set to 1 1 sten to
anythi nc~ sal ci anywhere, so he repl led, “Okay, I am the orii y
one left. I will surrender. I am c:omi ng up t here now Darron was about to say somethi ng, but Koger put his
hand over his mouth. Roc~er then got together an HL launcher and about 1000 +1 re p ills, and then he got his M--+C) ri-f :t e.
Rocjer trotted throuc~h the halls, ready to see some
pirates ~urnp out at any mm nute, Two did • hUt Roger didn’t
ciive them a second thoUght. He ciunned the two down then 6urneci them as he ran past them. He hui it up plenty of speed in the hallway leading to the bridcie doorway and fried it as h~ did a somersault t hr ou~h it, His ext r ao~ din ar y reflexes dl 1 owed him to ~un down six pirates who were holding hostages near or in -front of them. He moved toward a computer console that would temporarily shield him from the remaining Em”
~m rates. He yell cci to i:hem to surrender but they ~u-~t aughed He pi c:ked two o-F them off gui c::kly, but the 1 e~der
shot Nicole he-fore he coul ci kill him. Ni cole -fell to I he floor lazily, as she resisted the shock. ACE turned un hi -. ~juarci and crac keci hi rn acros~ th~ I iel met . Th~ hel met ~p 1 i. I sencii nc:i both the d-luard’ s and ACE’ s blood everywhere. ~iL E :;c reamed in agony as he urn p~di i-_nwarci the p1 lots seat F ‘..~‘- r shot some mc. r e pi rates a~ they turned to cjun down ~ H ~ one rern.~ mi~-t ~ pirate threw a c~t~enade towards Roc~er , hut h :L s ref 1 exe~ were so quick that he c::auciht it and tFirew it I ntc’ the hallway before it detonated.
F~oLWr -t c~pped c:: loser t.~ th~ pirate and stuck the ri + le into hi ~ t ~ plate as he started -fir i n~ . The pirate’s brains ~-pre-~d all over the wail behind him, and F~c:iqer had to iDe si:op p~ci h’~ John. Roc~er bent over and ‘ ~- i~-~’I at. NiL si d e, t b~ E. r h ~ sat. up and put her head on hi s sh ou 1 d er
4

Roger lifted her up and ran as fast as he could to the sickbay. When he got there she had bled all over his uniform and she left a trail of blood from the bridge. Trevor was discusted but he preped as fast as he could in order to save her.	

	Roger ran back to the bridge and saw that ACE had reqained control • and was piloting the ship away from the wreck on the rock.  Roger yelled “NO!”“ and jumped into his seat and started firing at the Frigate.  Seconds later the Frigate was a mass of melting metal, with many small ships f1eeing it.  He took careful aim, and the ships were turned into particles smaller than grains of sand.

The Capricorn stopped ~ tiist short of the Zcntrad gal a~< y
in order for everyone to qe. their heads tocjether. The Captain ordered ~OE to taI~:c Stan’ s p1 ace again and Lysa to become pilot actain. He then cal led Trevor and asked him for the stats on N~ cole. The doctor tol ci the c:aptai n that she would live-i but she wouldn’t be able to be up on the bridge for- a few days.

Mutiny 13

RICE told the captain that. he w~nted to pi 1 cit hut the
aptai n den i cci hi fri, c~PIE~ 1- hr~n tol ci the captain that he woui ci
3. cave now if he weren’ t the pi lot. Steiner cirahhed his hi aster and threatened to shoot ACE~ here on £he spot I f he threatened to back out now. Since r-~qei sti 11 had the M-%O on the hr I cic~e. he sai ci , “if you shoo b -jf I— ~ I wi 11 mow you down John. T mean it If ACE had been piloting beforeq we woui dn t have been in this mess.
John turned in surprise and sa d Co ahead. ~ou woui dn ‘ t dare you want this ship at i ~r [ die q and you won’ t get it I + you ki 11 me.”
F~octer sat hack in his chair. He I. new it was trueq and he threw the gun to the +1 ocr . •The L~pi at n tol ci ACE to sit but ACE tarted for the door, When F’~oger saw that Steiner was c~oi ncj ho hoot ACE In the bac:k • I-’~oger dove in front.
~The hi ~t was c:juickq and F~oger absorbed it. ACE turned arounci .jt u~b i t time to catch Roger- fai ii nq to the +1 ocr-. ACE ~l 1 cci ~ e~ what you ciid~ you stubborn old dude? You shot ~oc~er; ~ u~i saved your ass~ and then you shot hi tr~.” ACE
c~of t~	dumped	Steiner	Steiner	him
in F lic~hi t~fVwasn’tstOpp ed and he decked Stei ncr- in the head with hi~ hurt hand. The ~aptain fell to the floor~ hut he still had I he blaster~ and before ACE could do anything, John fired. ACE fell to the ground and rolled out o± Steiner’s view.
L.ysa had been ACE’s 1 overq so she picked up a piece of metal that had been 1 oosencd i i~ the ramming and knocked John over the head. l3lood poured from his mouth and eyes as he sl umpeci over. ACE c~ot up c:auti ousl y • and ii mped over to Lysa. He held her in his arms and kissed her. He thanked her • then he returned to Roger. He tol ci Roger “You’re now the captain kid. “ l3ut Roger was already unron~cioL1S. ~.tCE dragged Roger to the si (:khay then went bac:k to the hr-i dc~e and clove the ship into liquid—space.
ACE told Lysa to bring Steiner to the hanc~er . He said~ “I wii 1 e -ject him into ii qui d—space, so get out of there once
seal i t up .
She nodded and dra ged him to the hanc~er. On the wayq John awakened and to~;t~~d her into a wall I5ut before he cdCA ci react by H rki nq her she knocked him over and ran through the hal is. Johr~ fei i to the Fl ocr then fell unconscious.
Lysa ran as fast a~ ~he could to the bridge. She ran i nto Shawn who was repai r- I nci some c:omputer p1 ec:es that Roc~er destroyed. Shawn was startled, and he ran with her to the hr I ci q e.
ACE was mcvi n~ the shi p into the Zentrad cE~al a~<y when the two arrived, and he stopped what he was dci ng an ci gi~abbedi a blaster that he had put on his console.

The Duel 14