Quest: A Starflight Story (standard:science fiction, 0 words)
Author: Brockleigh	Added: Jul 13 2001	Views/Reads: 3566/3053	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
The first in a series of stories that use the game Starflight from Electronic Arts as a backdrop. Even people who haven't played the game have enjoyed this story.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

didn't offer any congratulations, or show that he was impressed in any 
way, shape or form. 

"That'll do. Report to the briefing room at Dayshift Change-over," was
all he said as he dismissed him. Hixon felt...adequate. Not at all like 
the 7th best cadet in his class of 544. It was then that Hixon realized 
he didn't know squat about the man he was about to serve under. He 
logged on to his computer terminal, and accessed the data files on 
Captain (Senior Grade) Mark Gault. What he found was truly astonishing. 


Mark Gault actually came from Earth. Cryogenically frozen in 2052, he
was kind of forgotten about for two and a half millennia. Somehow his 
cryopod was one of the items taken to Arth when it was colonized in 
2649. The pod survived the First and Second Wave wars and was then 
looked upon as something as an idol or sacred monument. When science 
had re-evolved after the New Dark Age, the means came to unfreeze Gault 
(in 4611) for more than just a burial. Gault had the expected trouble 
regaining motor skills and strength, and then needed years of 
psychotherapy to adjust to the radical change in his environment. Most 
crippling for him, emotionally was the loss of his family. He left 
behind a wife and three beautiful children when he passed away, and in 
tracing his "roots" after his freezing, discover that his entire 
progeny was vaporized on Dunvegan 4 in the Second Wave war with the 
Uhlek and Gazurtoid. 

In assimilating himself into Arth society, Gault chose a life in Space,
and joined the exploration outfit, Interstel. He rose up the ranks 
quickly, and got his captaincy faster than anyone in the 125 years that 
space travel had been around on Arth. Once he got his own ship, 
however, his history became somewhat checkered. Depending on the 
review, he was described as anything from a hero, to a joyrider, to a 
pirate. A commendation here, a reprimand there. Here you found a 
joint-award from Interstel and the global Arth government, and right 
beside it was a suspension of navigation privileges. Hixon wasn't sure 
if he should be proud to serve with Mark Gault, or immediately submit 
his transfer request. 

The page from Gault woke him and brought him back to reality. He'd been
going over the captain's files for over two hours, and had passed out. 
"Hixon here, what can I do for you, Cap?" he responded into his com 
link. 

"I'm in B-3, mind if I drop by?" 

Hixon already had a headache, but responded, "Just come on in, I'll set
the protocol on the door lock." Hixon reprogrammed the door to allow 
Gault in and then grabbed a painkiller. He was just exiting the head 
when Gault came in. 

"Hi Craig," Gault started, for the first time calling Hixon by his first
name. Hixon just stood there in the doorway of the head, until Gault 
asked plaintively, "It's okay for me to be here, right?" Hixon just 
nodded and made a motion to the middle of the room, and Gault walked 
in. He took notice of the computer terminal, which was a four-foot by 
six-foot screen in the center of one wall. Making his way over to it, 
Gault found his bio still onscreen. "Reading up on me?" 

"Wanted to get an idea who it is I'd be serving under." Hixon rubbed his
temple, trying to get rid of the pain in his head, and took a seat on 
the couch. Gault was still reading his info on-screen, with a 
self-satisfied smirk on his face. 

"So what's your impression?" Gault turned to face Hixon, with an
expectant look on his face. 

"Well, from what I've read so far, you are either some kind of hero, or
some kind of psychopath." Gault took the appraisal in stride, and 
looked back at the terminal. 

"I suppose that's fair, this isn't a flattering picture that's been
painted of me. Any questions the terminal can't answer back?" 

Hixon rubbed his head, thought for a second, and said, "Yeah. What's the
deal with you?" 

Gault laughed, "Not sure myself. For the most part, I try to keep things
straight, not fall out of favour with Interstel, and run a profitable 
ship. It's just that when trouble catches up to me, it cozies up for a 
while. Anyhow, you'll have plenty of time to get to know the real me on 
board. What I came here for was to give you a brief run down on the 
ship. Now, your interspecies class will have taught you about the rest 
of the crew..." Gault caught the quizzical look on Hixon's face. "What 
is it?" 

"I never took an interspecies class" Hixon replied. 

"Everyone at rookie school has to take an interspecies course, it's main
push of the second semester. Has Interstel Cadet Academy changed that 
much?" 

"Ummm... I didn't go to ICA; I went to the Terrestrial Research Annex." 

Gault gave him a blank stare, paused for a moment, and said: "Night
school? You took Extraterrestrial Science at night school?" 

"My last semester was actually at the ICA, so I could get a crew
assignment, and take the Graduation final," Hixon felt a little 
indignant, and defensive, "and it was hardly night school. It took 
three and a half years, and a hell of a lot of study to get to where I 
made it. Only the top five graduates at the Annex get to study at the 
ICA for the last semester." 

"Oh?" Gault said, "And where did you place in the Annex class?" 

"Where do you think?" 

"Okay," Gault conceded but was far from convinced. He know had a couple
of reservations about his new Science Officer that he no way of getting 
rid of. "Here's the run down of the crew. The navigator is 
Qynzhqylyh..." 

"What the hell was that?" Hixon said, not getting that name at all. 

"Try it with me...Kwinn-zuh-kwil-uh. There you go. Okay he's one of two
Veloxi on the crew. They're an insectoid race, great at physical tasks, 
but not so bright. Tough guys too; don't even think of getting into a 
fight with them without taking an advanced self-defense course first. 
The other Veloxi is Apiphotex, the Engineer. Damn good one too. A bit 
of a sexual deviant as well, but only for the Veloxi queen. Okay the 
communications officer is an Elowan, his name is Kel Dabi, and then 
there's our doctor, Lor E'aye. He's an Elowan too. Really nice folks, 
and very smart too, but don't shake hands with them roughly, they are a 
really fragile race. 

"Elowan and Thrynn, that's a race of reptiles, they don't get along too
well at all. They used to share the same homeworld, but the Thrynn 
drove out the Elowan, and now they live in on a planet not too far away 
from where they were before. There has been a simmering cold war 
between the two, and we kinda keep a low profile in Thrynn space 
because of it. Their ships' sensors are tuned to look for Elowan 
crewmembers, and reports from other scouts say they are none too 
friendly to the ships that have Elowan crews. Questions?" 

"Yeah, how do we know where all these beings are?" 

Gault punched up a couple of buttons on the terminal, and up popped a
starmap. Large circles on the map surrounded large bunches of stars, 
and in the middle of the map was a flashing light. "Okay, here is my 
ship's rutter. You are here," he pointed at the flashing light. There 
was a small circle to the right of it, a large circle above it, a large 
circle to the left of it, and a large circle beneath it. "The flashing 
light is Arth. As you can see, we don't have much territory to call our 
own, just what ever isn't snatched up by the other races. This small 
circle over here is Mechan space. The Mechans are androids, sent from 
Earth two millennia ago to colonize the single star system in the 
center of their space. The planet is called Heaven, and the Mechans 
patrol an eight-sector radius around the planet. We have just recently 
colonized the planet, with Mechan approval. 

"This large circle above us is Spemin Space. They are just large blobs
of sentient goo, and they are completely two-faced. They pretend to be 
your friends, and make like they will do anything for you, and as soon 
as you trust them, they open fire on you. If you are on a small, weak 
ship, that might be a problem, but the Phoenix is not a small, or a 
weak ship. You have to browbeat them, and make them feel like dirt. 
That is the only way to deal with them, or they will try to attack you 
at some point. I hate dealing with them, but they know a hell of a lot 
about what is going on in this corner of the galaxy, so at some point, 
when we need information, we will have to go to them. We will try to 
avoid it, though. 

"This circle over to the left here is Gazurtoid space. Aquatic squid,
and religious fanatics. They feel it is their divine duty to rid the 
universe of all air breathing species. All the races in the Interstel 
Confederation have made war with the Gazurtoid. We will steer clear of 
this area for obvious reasons. 

"Down here, is Thrynn space, and here," he pointed at one star vaguely
in the middle of the map, "is Thoss, the Thrynn homeworld. The Elowan 
call it Eleran, and one day they hope to return to it. 

"This circle," he pointed to a circle on the other side of Thrynn space,
"is Elowan space. This system here holds their adopted homeworld of 
Elan. The nebula keeps the exact location hidden from the Thrynn. There 
is at least one lizard that has made it his life's ambition to destroy 
Elan. He is Slosss Prrrann. The Elowan have a name for him: 'The 
Harvester'." 

Hixon noticed that several of the circles overlapped, and there was an
overlap between Thrynn and Elowan space. "They share space. Isn't that 
dangerous?" 

"That is the neutral zone. Interstel has sent a number of ships with
android crews to patrol it, and prevent any conflicts. That's the main 
thing keeping the Harvester from getting into Elowan space, but I do 
know Prrrann, and the neutral zone patrol won't hold him forever. 

"Up here," Gault pointed to a very large circle on the other side of
Spemin space, "is Veloxi space, and right here is the home world called 
Votiputox. They are the human race's oldest allies since we became 
spacefaring. We won't be spending too much time there, however..." 

"Why not?" Hixon inquired. 

"Well, I'm sort of... Persona Non Grata in Veloxi territory. It's a long
story." 

"I have time." Hixon settled back on the couch, now very interested in
Gault's experience. 

Gault inhaled deeply. "Okay, on one of my missions I discovered
Harrison's Base..." 

"Harrison... the pirate? You were the one that found his base?!? That's
incredible!" Hixon interjected. 

"Don't interrupt. So, yeah, I found his base. Now, as you know
Harrison's favorite place to raid was Veloxi territory. On one of his 
raids, he took their most sacred artifact, The Great Egg. The Velox 
believe that this stone is proof that they are directly descended from 
the Ancients, which is bull anyway, but that's what they believe. 
Anyhow, when I found Harrison's Base, I found The Great Egg. I sent a 
comm to Interstel, and went on my way. 

"When I got back to Starport, before I met with the Interstel
authorities, I had to do some business with some folks here. To make a 
long story short, I was out of cash, and I needed to cover a couple of 
large debts, so I borrowed some money off a Velox loan shark, Xevi Five 
Legs, and used the Egg as collateral." 

Hixon looked at his captain silently for a long moment, and finally
spoke: 

"You HOCKED it?" 

"Well when you put it that way..." 

"What other way can you put it? You took a culture's most beloved piece
of property, and... put it in hock!" 

Gault didn't want to quibble on the point any further. "Anyway, that's
where the joint-award and the suspension of navigation privileges comes 
from. The award for finding Harrison's base, and the suspension for 
losing the Egg." 

"Losing the egg? But Xevi... whatever his name is, has it." 

"I couldn't tell them I gave their Egg to a loan shark, they'd never let
me fly again! I told them I had to jettison a cargo pod because a 
couple of metals I had in there were reacting and getting toxic, and 
the pod I jettisoned might have contained the Great Egg. I did have to 
do that on the way back to Starport, I just made up the bit about the 
Egg being in there." 

"Alright, what are all these circles on the top edge and left edge?"
Hixon pointed at the circles he had described. 

"That," Gault paused to clear his throat, "is The Uhlek Badlands. You
know something about the Uhlek?" 

"Yeah, they don't like us." 

Gault smirked and said, "That is putting it very mildly. No ship has
been able to open any dialogue with them. Any one who has tried to hail 
them has been fired upon, and most that are fired upon end up dead. 
They depend on a central consciousness to think and respond, and I 
destroyed the Uhlek Brain World by using an old Phlegmak weapon, a 
Black Egg planet bomb. Since then the ships just sit there and wait for 
a consciousness that isn't there anymore. They are relatively harmless, 
except for the odd captain who decided to try to hail them, and then 
the ship wakes up and fires on them." 

"So what is our mission, Cap'n?" Hixon asked. 

Gault looked at his watch and said, "We'll find out at the briefing
tomorrow. 1000 hours. You can meet the rest of the crew. Get some 
sleep, and we will see you tomorrow." 

*** Hixon entered the briefing room to find the crew of the ISS Phoenix
already gathered. Gault was conversing with his navigator, while the 
other Veloxi chatted with the two Elowan. Gault looked up from his 
conversation to beckon Hixon over, and Hixon came right away. 

Gault made the introduction. "Craig, this is Qynzhqylyh. Qyn, this is
Craig Hixon, our new science officer." 

"Happily is the meeting, Craig." 

Hixon was a little surprised by the grammar used by the insectoid, and
looked over at Gault. Gault smiled as if to say 'go with it', and it 
was then that the two man briefing team came in, one human and one 
Velox. 

"Uh oh..." Gault muttered. 

"What's up?" 

"That Velox is Topiphophex. He's the Ambassador for Votiputox, and not a
big fan. He's the one that brought the charges against me for that 
whole egg deal, and since then he's kinda had it in for me. Uhhh, by 
the way, here is Apiphotex, and Kel and Lor." The insect engineer 
wiggled his antenna, and the two Elowan bowed graciously. Gault 
gestured at a chair for Hixon. "Anyhow, have a seat." 

The human spoke up to conduct the briefing. "Good morning gentlemen, I'm
Commander Axelson. I'm sure you have all been very curious as to the 
purpose of the mission, so I won't waste any time. As all but possibly 
Mr. Hixon are aware, Captain Gault was successful in eliminating the 
Uhlek threat, or so we believed. It seems the Uhlek have woken up..." 

Hixon leaned over and whispered to Gault, "I thought you blew the hell
out of the Uhlek home world." 

"I did," Gault replied, "shut up and listen." 

Axelson glared at Hixon, but continued. "Recent reports following our
exploration of Uhlek space indicate that our assertion that the Uhlek 
were dispatched is premature. The ISS Intrepid limped back to Starport 
held together by nothing more than hope following a battle with an 
Uhlek craft and the Newport has not been heard from in 22 days. We fear 
the worst. 

"The Intrepid was able to secure some readings to indicate that a new
Brain World is in the process of being created. Three other Interstel 
ships in Uhlek space reports sighting Uhlek ships in a dormant state, 
just as they have been since Captain Gault destroyed their previous 
Brain World. At this time I would like to introduce Capt. Ihsss T'lara 
from the Intrepid." 

The Thrynn captain emerged from the side of the room, and began her
report. "We were exploring this area, one hundred sssectorsss outward 
from Arth. Assss we approached this blue giant here, my ssscience 
officer reported readingsss consssissstent with thossse around the 
original Brain World. No sssooner had he sssaid that, than an Uhlek 
Warship entered our ssshort range sssensssor range. We did manage to 
essscape, with casssualtiesss. We did obviousssly make it back to 
Ssstarport, and made our report to the authoritiesss." 

"You couldn't see them on long range sensors prior to encountering
them?" Hixon asked. Gault was impressed that he spoke up. 

"My ssscience officer ssspeculated before hand that the sssize of the
ssstarsss in the clussster around the blue giant may play havoc with 
the effectivenesssss of the long range sssensssorsss. It fact, it 
rendered them ussslesssss. My sssensssor data will be made available to 
you for ssstudy." 

Axelson stepped up after her answer. "No further questions for Capt.
T'lara? No? Thank you, Ihsss, you are excused. Captain Gault, here is 
your mission. You and your crew are to take the ISS Phoenix into Uhlek 
Space. You are to secure another Black Egg Bomb, by whatever means 
necessary, to enter the star system Captain T'lara mentioned, and 
destroy the new Brain World. We have begun an extensive search in The 
Uhlek Badlands and beyond, looking for new planets to colonize, and we 
cannot have our existing assets endangered by the Uhlek. Questions?" 

"Just one," Gault spoke up, "Why me? This kind of Mission would be
perfect for the Binary. As Interstel's flagship, I'm sure the Binary 
would be the first choice for another 'save Arth from the bad guys' 
campaign." 

Axelson bristled at the choice of words from Gault. The ISS Binary was
indeed Interstel's best and favorite ship. The ISS Excelsior had 
destroyed the Crystal Planet and saved the New Empire from an early 
demise, but two years ago she was decommissioned. Since the Excelsior 
had been mothballed, the ISS Binary was made the flagship and had taken 
care of all important missions for Interstel. Captain T.C. Lee and his 
crew were given all the plum assignments. Killing off the Uhlek once 
and for all would be one such assignment. Axelson spoke: "The Binary is 
right now on a diplomatic mission with the Thrynn, and cannot be pulled 
away. You are the only other Interstel Captain with experience in using 
a Black Egg device, and you have more than enough combat experience 
with Uhlek ships. This is your mission, Captain Gault, and should you 
complete the mission, we will restore full flight privileges to you, 
take you off probation, and expunge the suspension from your record. Is 
that satisfactory?" 

Hixon was astonished at the free ride Gault was receiving from
Interstel. A few Captains had been sanctioned by the agency, and none 
ever had their record cleared, much less any restrictions on their 
license lifted. Gault showed no outward emotion, in fact, he did not 
even blink. At long last he finally spoke: 

"When do we leave?" *** Gault and Hixon left the briefing room together.
Hixon was perplexed, "So now all we have to do is find a Black Egg. 
Wonderful. Where the hell do we get one of those?" 

"Not far. Let's go get one." Gault said, heading towards one of the
doors in the central hub of the Starport. 

"Uhhh, Cap'n, the docks are that way," Hixon said pointing in a whole
other direction than Gault was walking to. Gault turned. 

"First of all... Craig... when it's just you and me, and there are no
other Interstel people around, or we aren't on the bridge, it's Mark, 
all right? It's okay to call me by my first name most times. Second, 
Black Egg's are easier to find than you might think. I sold one to the 
trading post not long ago, and told them to keep it off their inventory 
lists, in case I needed it again. Qhlava is the head trader, and he and 
I go way back..." Gault stopped when he entered the trading post, and 
saw that the being behind the counter wasn't Veloxi, but Human. 

"Ivan, where's Qhlava?" Gault asked immediately. 

The human behind the counter looked up with a very bored expression on
his face. "He's gone back to Votiputox for a while. Gone for a week 
now. Should be back in a week or two." Ivan was a man of few words. 

"Fine. Ummm... there was this black ovoid thing, about yea big, looked
ceramic... you don't know where Qhlava kept it do you?" 

"Oh, yeah. I sold that thing. It wasn't even on the inventory list I
figured I'd get what I could for it. Shoulda been here two days ago." 

"You what... you sold...???" Gault stuttered as his hands made their way
to Ivan's throat. Hixon stepped in and calmed his captain down. 

"Who bought it from you? Do you remember?" Hixon asked, trying to keep
Gault from getting his privileges suspended again. 

"Yeah. Some other Veloxi, Xevi something or the other," Ivan said
backing away from the counter, putting space between himself and Gault, 
"said he could use something like that gizmo." 

"XEVI??? You sold a Black Egg to XEVI FIVE LEGS???" Gault's hands went
back towards Ivan's neck. Hixon stepped back in and separated the 
captain from the none-too-swift trader. 

"Black Egg, what the hell is a Black Egg?" Ivan could be heard to say as
Hixon hustled a furious Captain Mark Gault from the trading post. Gault 
was seething and muttering under his breath until Hixon acquired his 
attention. 

"Cap...Mark! Wake up. Do you know where this Xevi guy is?" 

Gault took a second to get his wits back, and thought for a moment. "No,
but I know a guy who would. Get in your flight suit, we depart in 90 
minutes." 

*** The science console on the bridge of the ISS Phoenix was identical
to the one Craig Hixon had practiced on in the simulator, and after his 
extensive audition for Captain Gault he was very familiar with every 
aspect of his station on the ship. The bridge was diamond shaped, with 
the viewscreen at the front point of the diamond. Gault's captain's 
chair was at the back of the diamond, with Hixon's science console on 
his immediate left, stretching from the Captain's chair to the left 
point of the diamond. Between the left point of the diamond and the 
viewscreen was the comm centre, and Kel Dabi's odd shaped 'chair'. To 
the right of the view screen was Qynzhqylyh's navigation station (no 
chair, Veloxi prefer to stand), and on the right point of the diamond 
was the hatch leading to the crews quarters, the cargo corridor the 
mess deck, Medical centre and engineering. 

"Gentlemen, are we prepared for departure?" Gault inquired. 

"Engines is the working. No trouble, Cap." Gault heard over the squawk
box from Engineering. 

"The communications equipment is in perfect functioning order, Captain
Gault." Kel Dabi answered. Even through the translator box, the 
description sounded melodious. The Elowan language of motion was a 
beautiful thing to behold. 

"Nav gear being the okey-dokey." Qyn called from his station. Hixon
quietly smiled at the pigeon English the Veloxi used. 

"Scientific sensors are functioning normally, Captain Gault" Hixon
reported as calmly as he could. He was about to enter outer space for 
the first time, and he was more than a little excited. 

"Very well. Qyn, take us out." Gault ordered, not looking at the
viewscreen. He was busy with his own console, to the right of his 
chair, entering the security protocols for the Phoenix to leave 
Starport. Just as he finished, the starship lurched gently towards the 
airlock. The ship continued towards the doors as they opened, and the 
starfield came into view, taking Hixon's breath away. Gault watched his 
rookie science officer and second in command, enjoying the look on the 
young man's face as he realized he would now be wandering the stars for 
real, and not just in his dreams anymore. 

After the Phoenix cleared Starport's massive airlock, Gault gave his
next order. "Qyn, set course for sector 117,114." 

Hixon scanned his equipment. "Captain that is the Corlak system, a class
M red dwarf star in Spemin space, with two planets, neither of which 
can support life..." 

Gault quelled his impatience, understanding Hixon's excitement. He knew
where they were going, and what was waiting for them when they arrived. 
"Thank you, Mr. Hixon. That'll do." *** The Phoenix dropped out of 
hyperspace upon entering the Corlak system, and proceeded on full 
cruising power. Gault re-entered the bridge following a short nap. 
"Report, Mr. Hixon." 

"Captain, we have entered the Corlak system. Nothing to report on long
or short range sensors yet. No incidents to report en route." Hixon 
said, now wondering what they were doing here, now that they had 
arrived. 

Gault nodded. "Very well, Mr. Hixon. Configure your sensors to look for
tachyon emissions. I want to know anything you find." 

"Aye, captain." Hixon was a little surprised at the order but did so
anyway. Gault answered the unasked question. 

"Spemin ships are absolute garbage. They bleed tachyons unlike any other
ship you will encounter. We can track them all over the universe just 
on their tachyon emissions alone." 

Hixon's eyebrows went up after making the appropriate changes on his
console. The tachyon traces were evident immediately. "I show a trail 
of tachyons heading to Corlak 1. Low decay on the trail. It's a fresh 
one." 

"Good, give me a sensor reading on whatever is in orbit around Corlak
1." 

Hixon keyed in his order, and again, the response on his console was
immediate. "Captain, Spemin scout ship, Fnir class, in geosynchronous 
orbit around Corlak 1. Undamaged condition, class 1 armor, class 1 
shields, not raised, no weapons evident." 

"Very well, " Gault said, "Qyn, set course ¾ speed to intercept the
Spemin ship. Kel, open a hailing channel, I'll handle the greeting." 
Kel Dabi keyed his console, and nodded to Gault. Gault stood up and 
walked to the center of the bridge. "Spemin ship, this is Captain Mark 
Gault of the ISS Phoenix. Gleb, don't bother raising your shields or 
I'll just have to knock them out." 

"The Spemin have responded, Captain Gault" Kel reported and put the
audio on speaker, and a visual came up on the viewscreen. Gault wasn't 
kidding when he said that the Spemin were sentient slime. The Spemin 
captain looked like a gelatin mould gone horribly wrong, with two oddly 
set eyes the only distinguishing features on its navy blue 'body'. 

"Oh good, it's my old friend Gault. Someone that I know is wise enough
not to kill a poor old defenseless Spemin like myself. I grovel in your 
presence, oh wise one..." 

"It's Captain Gault to you, snotball, and shut up, already. Don't call
me a friend, either. I need you for something." 

"How may I serve one as strong and as powerful as yourself, O Captain my
Captain?" Hixon had seen the Spemin for all of 45 seconds, and already 
disliked them greatly. Something else was bothering Hixon. The Spemin 
captain was acting more than a little peculiar, and seemed to be 
communicating silently with a member of his bridge crew. Hixon kept an 
eye on his console for anything odd. 

"Where's Xevi Five Legs? That's all I want. Tell me quickly and I won't
destroy you today." Gault was enjoying the act he was putting on. He 
had no intention to open fire on Gleb, but when Spemin cowered, it was 
fun to watch. 

Hixon was more uneasy now; there seemed to be more bridge activity, but
he still wasn't getting any readings on his console. 

"Xevi? Now why would I know anything about him? He is so inferior to a
captain of your stature, I wouldn't even consider consorting with a bug 
such as he," Gleb was laying it on thick and Qynzhqylyh had just about 
had enough. The Veloxi navigator reached slowly towards the fire 
control, wanting to arm the lasers and blow the globs into oblivion. 
The Phoenix wanted to make a show of fearlessness, and hadn't armed any 
weapons or even bothered to raise shields. Gault saw Qynzhqylyh's 
movements, and spoke quietly to stop him. Gleb saw this as his 
opportunity; "NOW!!!" 

Gault was confused as to Gleb's shout and then felt the ship rock
lightly with the impact of a laser bolt from the Spemin scoutcraft. His 
response was a conditioned one: "Condition Yellow, shields up, damage 
report!" Gault followed that up with a furious accusing look to Hixon, 
and then Gleb spoke: 

"That's it, bow and kneel before the might of the Spemin Armada! That is
only a taste of the might that we possess! Declare your subservience to 
Spemin everywhere, Arthean scum, or face the consequences!" 

Then the report came over the squawk box from Apiphotex. "Bang on engine
well, starboard. Icky blobs denting the armor, most certainly. Engine 
not damaged. Hull not damaged. You killing the icky blobs, I think so." 
Apiphotex was very agitated by the damage to 'his' ship, minor and 
superficial as it was. 

Gault looked back at the viewscreen with a bemused look on his face,
"Gleb, you gotta be kidding me, right? Qyn, arm the missile launchers. 
Now, Gleb, you know what happens if I tell Qynzhqylyh 'Fox one', right. 
He fires a class 5 missile, and you go boom. I don't care about you 
wife and little blobbies back home. Now for the last time, WHERE IS 
XEVI FIVE LEGS!?!" 

Gleb's two eyes went as wide as his body, "PLEEEEASE, Don't kill us!!!
We won't do it again!!! Yes you are right, it was a joke... hahaha. 
Very funny! See?" 

Gault shook his head, "Mister..." 

Gleb was terrified, "You are a reasonable man, Admiral Gault. Hey that
has a nice ring to it..." 

"...Qynzhqylyh..." 

"Noooooo...I'll be good!!! Take my science officer, please!" 

"...Fox..." 

"Upspin, headed for Telmar 3. Course heading 351, mark 14, He left 1
Arth hour ago. Don't say One. Pretty please!!!" 

"Qynzhqylyh, disarm missile launchers. Make a course for 114, 138,
maximum speed. Goodbye Gleb. I'll forget about this incident. For now." 


The viewscreen blinked off the Spemin ship and back to the starfield,
the engines shuddered back to life, and Gault turned angrily back to 
Hixon. 

"This is going to be a very short career in space for you, Mr. Hixon, if
you can't tell if a ship is armed or not! You do know how to read a 
ship analysis, don't you?" 

Hixon was shaken at the rebuke, "Captain there was no evidence at all of
weapons until AFTER we were hit. Look for yourself." Gault leaned in 
beside Hixon and watched the log of the encounter. They went back over 
it three times. Hixon was right. Up until the laser bolt hit the 
Phoenix, the sensors did not show any laser array even aboard the 
Spemin ship. When the laser impacted the ship, then the sensors 
reported a barely class 1 laser array on Gleb's scout. They went over 
the log again, looking for any tip off of weapons on board, and then 
performed a diagnostic on the sensors. Nothing out of the ordinary was 
found. 

"Okay. The Spemin appear to have found some way to cloak their weapons
status from our sensors. We'll make a record of that to give to 
Interstel's Comm centre and Technology department. Mr. Hixon, I 
apologize for snapping. It was unwarranted. We are back under Condition 
Green. Lower shields. 

"The Telmar system is in Veloxi space. We need to catch Xevi before he
makes it across the border. That is just over three hours from now. 
Full speed right to the border, Qyn. I'm going to my quarters to make 
my report on our encounter with Gleb. Mr. Hixon you have the bridge." 
*** Hixon was going over the data from the Intrepid's encounter from 
with the Uhlek when the proximity sensor lit up on his console. The 
light immediately went from white to yellow. Hixon hit the intercom and 
gave his orders calmly, without taking his eyes off the yellow light. 
"Condition Yellow, shields up. Captain Gault, report to the bridge, 
please." 

Gault was mildly irritated by the page as he entered the bridge. Gault's
quarters were right beside the bridge, so Hixon hadn't had a chance to 
fully analyze the data when Gault gave his order: "Report." 

"Proximity alert. We have a previously identified vessel at 341, mark
3." Hixon studied the data further. "Veloxi craft, cargo ship, Xrta 
class... It's the Grzba, Xevi's ship." 

"It's only been 45 minutes," Gault said, "there's no way we should have
caught up with him already. As soon as he gets within range, scan him 
for irregularities. Oh and go back to Condition Green. Lower shields" 

Three minutes later, the Phoenix was within hailing distance, and Gault
had Kel open a channel, "This is the ISS Phoenix hailing the HMS Grzba. 
Please respond." After a couple of seconds the viewscreen changed and a 
Veloxi face appeared. It actually was a shot of most of Xevi's body, 
and Hixon could see that the bug was missing the left leg of his middle 
set of legs. 

"Happy is the meeting, Phoenix. You is paying the tribute to the most
Grand Lovely Veloxi Queen, I think so, four litres the synthenium. Now 
the paying, please." Xevi tried to be as authoritative as he could. 

"Nice try, Xevi. You're still eight sectors from Veloxi space. I don't
have to pay you anything. Of course that doesn't mean we can't do 
business..." 

Xevi's antennae twitched upon hearing the word 'business'. "Commerce is
good. Me like. So, what the getting for you, I wondering." 

"Oh, that Black Egg you picked up from Qhlava would be a nice start." 

Xevi laughed, or at least that's what it looked like to Hixon, "You
taking a smack to the head, I think so. I can selling the Big Boom to 
Votiputox. Much the paying, get new leg, could be." "Really? Then why 
are you heading this way? There's a flux ten sectors coreward of here 
that would shave almost a day off your trip." 

"Ahhhh, Xevi not the knowing of this flux. Much the gratitude." Xevi
didn't bluff very well, and Gault knew it. 

"No, you knew about that flux, Xevi, you use it all the time to get to
Arth. No I think you are heading for Telmar 3. Probably a Spemin buyer 
waiting for you there. What do you think, Craig?" 

Hixon played along, "That's how it looks to me." 

Xevi paused, and then gave up. "Spemin rat fink, I think so. I eating
the icky blob Gleb next the meeting. Most certainly. Okey-dokey. You 
wanting the egg, I the selling. Four litres synthenium. Agreed?" 

"Hell, no. Mr. Hixon, scan the Grzba for damage please." 

"Already done, sir," Hixon had the information on screen. Xevi's
antennae twitched nervously at the sound of that, "Considerable damage 
to the Grzba's port engine well. Engines at ¼ efficiency. It would have 
taken him another two days to get to Telmar 3. Looks like he took 
repeated blasts from a Spemin class 1 laser." 

Gault looked surprised, "Gleb did that to you? Hey if they hear about
that on Votiputox, they'll finish the job for Gleb. What did you not 
bother to put up your shields around him? Still too cheap to get armor 
for that barge of yours too, I see." 

Xevi was angry now, "What you the offering. I not the laughing,
smarty-pants." 

"Here's the offer. You give me the Black Egg AND the Great Egg, and I
give you the materials to patch up your junk carrier. Four cubic metres 
of molybdenum, and six cubic metres of aluminum." 

"None the taking. One egg or the other, not both. You choosing." Xevi
was adamant. He needed the materials to fix his ship, but he would 
never be robbed. 

Gault was not happy. He wanted both. He really wanted to get back into
Veloxi space with out getting chased right back out, and the only way 
that he could do so was by getting the Great Egg back from Xevi. Xevi 
was an outlaw in his own space, and couldn't return, with or without 
the Egg. Gault never learned what Xevi did to upset Veloxi authorities 
so much, but it had to be bad. He knew he'd be able to get the Great 
Egg off of him some day. Unfortunately, it would not be this day. 

"Black Egg it is. Put it on you drone shuttle, I'll put the materials on
mine." Gault flopped down on his command chair. The two shuttles were 
sent out, and in exactly 12 minutes the exchange was complete. "Thanks 
Xevi. We'll be in touch." 

"I the leaving, Gault. See you later, crocodile." Xevi winked off the
viewscreen, replaced by the damaged Grzba, which Xevi already had 
already put people on fixing. Gault had his Veloxi navigator plot a 
course away from the encounter, and excused himself from the bridge. 

On his way out, Qyn asked him, "Where to now?" 

Gault thought for a second, and then moved back towards the nav station
to consult the charts. Gault now had a crucial decision to make.  A 
direct route to the cluster would be a one hundred sector steam through 
Spemin and Uhlek space, and would require flying through two nebulas, 
during which time the shields would be inoperative. There was, however, 
a flux, or a wormhole in space that would place them close to another 
flux that would take them within 15 sectors of their target system. The 
problem was that the sprint to the second flux was for twenty- five 
sectors straight through the heart of Gazurtoid space. It didn't take 
long to make up his mind. The risk was worth it. The Gazurtoid he could 
handle. "Set a course for 118, 108. Avoid the Corlak system. Mr. Hixon 
has the bridge." 

*** Gault was awakened 1 hour later as the ship approached the target
flux. He yawned as he entered the bridge. 

"The flux is straight ahead, Captain." Hixon reported without looking up
from his terminal. 

"Very well," Gault responded, "before we enter, Condition Red, shields
up, arm lasers and missiles," Qyn followed his orders, and then nodded 
at the Captain. "Okay, take us in." 

Going through the flux was mildly unsettling for Hixon, like an icy
chill going down his spine. He shook his head as the Phoenix came out 
the other side. 

"Don't worry, you get used to it. Qyn, come about and make a course for
71, 84. Api, all the juice you can give us. Hixon, you see anything, 
you hear anything, you feel anything, let me know. These are not 
friendly waters." All crew members acknowledged their orders. The ship 
all of a sudden became very quiet, but for the quiet vibration and 
rumble of the Phoenix's superphotonic engines. 

Qyn made the calculations and estimated a 5-hour sprint at full speed to
the second flux. At 3½ hours, Hixon reported, a little louder than he 
wanted to: "Captain, motion reported. Coreward and downspin, 5 sectors 
away." 

"Very well, Mr. Hixon. Apiphotex, can you give us any more power?" 

Api came back over the squawk box, "Too much power the systems drawing,
most certainly. Lose something, I think so." 

"Okay, Qynzhqylyh, power down the missile launchers. The Gazurtoid
shields deflect the missiles anyway." Qyn keyed in the order, and while 
it couldn't be felt, the readouts indicated the ship was moving faster. 
"Mr. Hixon, can we out run them?" 

"Not sure, Cap'n. It'll be close. 87 minutes to the flux, and the
Gazurtoid ship will intercept in..." Hixon did the math, and frowned, 
"...84 minutes." 

Gault didn't react to the news. He was tempted to take the lasers off
line, but if they stumbled into some sort of Gazurtoid trap, the time 
it took to power the lasers back up could be critical. He punched some 
figures into his own computer. He grimaced, and then gave his order: 
"Stay the course. May be we'll catch a break." 

The bridge became quiet again, but now the engines seemed louder as they
strained to move the ship as fast as they could. Hixon kept his eyes 
riveted to display on his console, hoping upon hope that something 
would happen in their favour, a power failure on the Gazurtoid ship, an 
energy surge on the Phoenix, anything. 

The minutes ticked by quickly until they got 15 minutes away from the
flux, and then each minute took an eternity to elapse. Gault looked 
over at the science officer. 

"Craig?"  Nothing more needed to be asked. 

"No change, Cap'n. The Gazurtoid ship will get to us before we get to
the flux." 

"How long?" 

"We are six minutes from the flux, and three minutes from interception
by the Gazurtoid." 

"Is that all that's on the screen? No other motion, no ships?" 

"No sir." 

"Fine. All stop. Battle stations. We take 'em on from here, not risk
having them follow us through the flux." The ship could be felt coming 
to a stop, and with that, the Gazurtoid ship did not take 3 minutes to 
catch them, but just 15 seconds. Hixon did not need to be told to scan 
the alien craft. 

"Gazurtoid ship... scout class. Class 3 lasers armed, class 5 shields
raised." 

"Captain Gault," Kel reported, his eyes now a dark violet colour, "The
Gazurtoid are hailing us." 

Gault expected this. "Bring 'em up." The Gazurtoid captain appeared on
screen, an ugly squid type of being, and he did not look, from all 
appearances, very happy. 

"Repent, vile air-breathers, and thou shalt find salvation in death, for
lo it is written that whosoever dost not breath water shall perish in 
divine and righteous fire." 

Gault was furious, "Respond, Kel." Kel opened a channel to the Gazurtoid
ship, and Gault gave them what-for. "This is the ISS Phoenix. You want 
fire? I'll show you fire...Qyn, open fire, full salvo. Evasive 
maneuvers" The viewscreen immediately blinked off the Gazurtoid captain 
and to the battle that had just begun. 

The Phoenix fired first, and the bridge was illuminated briefly by the
light from the laser cannon. Hixon resisted the urge to watch the 
battle on screen, and kept his eyes on his terminal. Gault was standing 
at the center of the bridge, keeping his eyes on the screen. The 
Phoenix got off another shot before the Squid ship returned fire. The 
ship was jolted unpleasantly, but Hixon got the feeling it wasn't a bad 
hit. His console confirmed that fact. "Captain, shields at 87 percent 
and holding. Gazurtoid ship shields at approximately 18 percent and 
crumbling. They have structural damage." 

"Again, Qyn! End this!" Gault's eyes blazed a cold fire as he watched
the damaged Gazurtoid ship drift under the assault. Qyn continued to 
move the ship around in a seemingly random pattern, but actually Qyn 
had worked out from data from other encounters with Squids. For some 
reason, Gazurtoids had trouble fixing target locks when their quarry 
did two lefts and a right, or two rights and a left. Consequently, the 
Gazurtoid ship only got off one more shot before the Phoenix destroyed 
it with three more salvos. 

A misconception on Arth is that when a ship dies, it goes up in a huge
fireball. Not true. Without any air in space, there can't be any 
spectacular explosions. Most ships will have a bunch of tiny explosions 
as the air inside the ship's individual compartments combusts before 
being exposed to space and then immediately go out. Gazurtoid ships 
were even less spectacular but morbidly beautiful. Being filled with 
water, not air, it was extremely difficult for them to explode at all. 
Most times, as was the case here, the ship simply broke open, and the 
water spilled out as far as it could before the cold void of space 
would flash freeze it. The ice crystals would glitter in the starlight, 
the beauty of it not at all indicative of the death that had to occur 
to create such a sight. The second of the final volley of three shots 
broke open the engineering section of the Gazurtoid ship, which carried 
the largest volume of water. Hixon was too busy watching the 
flash-freeze effect to see the third shot; a direct hit on the bridge, 
which literally shattered the bow extension of the scout. Hixon checked 
his console, and reported, "The Gazurtoid ship has been destroyed, 
Cap'n. Negative energy signature, negative life signs. It's dead." 

Gault relaxed visibly at the report, put his head down and inhaled
deeply. "Damage Report." 

Apiphotex came over the squawk box, "None the damage, Cap." 

Thoroughly surprised, Gault looked over at Hixon, and his science
officer confirmed the damage report. "The shields held, sir. Shields at 
64 percent and regenerating. No damage to any ship's systems or the 
hull." 

Gault sat back down in his command chair, a look of mild surprise on his
face. "Resume course for the flux at 71, 84. Maintain Condition Red. 
Qyn, search the wreckage for any salvageable materials. Good work, 
people." The Captain knew he had only three minutes to relax and enjoy 
this victory before the real test would start: Crossing into the 
Badlands. 

*** The Phoenix waited until the shields had regenerated before heading
through the flux. Gault ordered the all stop, and asked for a sensor 
reading. 

"No motion detected, Cap'n. We're clear." 

Gault waited a moment before making his next order. He punched a few
buttons into his console and consulted the starmap. "Okay, Qyn, make a 
course for 15, 108 and then vector into the system at 13, 112. We will 
avoid the solar radiation for as long as possible. We don't wanna steam 
right into any trouble, so make your speed at ½ power, and sound 
General Quarters if the motion alarm trips at all. Mr. Hixon, come with 
me, and Qyn, you have the bridge." 

Hixon followed Gault off the bridge and all of twelve feet down the
corridor outside to the Captain's Quarters. Once inside he was struck 
by how well decorated the room was. It was obvious that the captain 
lived on the ship full time, and not just roomed there on ship's 
journeys. There was a meeting table against the wall with the viewport 
outside, and Gault pointed to a seat for him to sit at. 

"Want a beverage, Craig?" 

"Uh, sure. Whatever you are having." 

"Beer it is." Gault responded and raided the refrigerator.  Hixon was a
little puzzled, and not exactly approving. 

"Alcohol before heading into a combat area. You sure this is a good
idea?" 

Gault looked sideways at Hixon as he cracked the caps off two Brown
Ales. "First of all, we are only having one each. Secondly, Mister 
Science Officer, alcohol is a depressant, which means it will relax 
your system. You seemed a little jumpy after the Gazurtoid showed up, 
and I'd like you not to be on edge at this point. So, what of the 
Intrepid's sensor data?" 

Hixon took a sip of the dark beer in front of him, grimaced, and said,
"I don't know yet, Mark. There's definitely something I can work with, 
but I'm not sure yet. The sensor log of the encounter didn't go back 
far enough for me to make a decent analysis of the data. When we get 
closer to the actual area of the encounter I should be able to make 
something of it." 

Again, Gault looked sideways at Hixon. "We are counting on it, Craig.
Okay, what's going to happen is, if you see anything, holler. Give an 
order or let me know right away. Don't wait for a second. Got it? 
Good." 

The two men chatted for a few minutes before they finished their drinks
and headed back for the bridge. Hixon took his place at his station and 
glued his eyes to the display on his console, looking for anything out 
of the ordinary. As they approached the star cluster, Hixon's display 
recorded noise and distortions across the vastness of space. He changed 
the settings on his console, and the stars several sectors away became 
visible, but the distortion in the void between them remained. 
Something stuck in Hixon's mind from the Intrepid's data logs, tugging 
at him, but not making itself clear. The Phoenix approached the vector 
point, and Hixon had the feeling that something was on the tip of his 
tongue, getting clearer and clearer. 

Qynzhqylyh finally broke the silence, "Arriving at the vector point, now
turning the ship on course for 13,112." At that point, Hixon changed 
his display to short range sensors, looking for that thing that he 
couldn't put his finger on, scanning over the statistical data and 
sensor readings for something he couldn't quite describe, but knew was 
there. And then, fifteen minutes later, and less than a sector away 
from the system, he found it. His voice rang out over the Phoenix's 
bridge. 

"ALL STOP!!!" 

"Do it," Gault confirmed the order to Qynzhqylyh, and came over to
Hixon's science station. "What have you got?" 

"It's what I don't have, Cap'n. This, right here," Hixon pointed to a
gap in the noise distortion on the screen. "I have been scanning on 
long and short range since the flux. This mess on the screen has been 
pretty much constant for the past eight sectors. Every now and then 
there's a little eddy in all this noise, but it goes away pretty 
quickly. Not only has this gap here stayed here since the vector point, 
it's held it's shape perfectly!" 

Gault looked at the gap. It looked a little half-moonish, and from this
distance, could very well be the crescent shape of an Uhlek 
Starkiller-class warship. Like they had any other kind of ship. Without 
taking his eyes off Hixon's screen, he asked Qynzhqylyh a couple of 
questions: 

"Qyn, don't let them know we know they are there. Without any sensor
scans, can you tell, is it moving?" 

Qyn took a second, and responded, "Yes, Skipper. Uhlek-nasty is the
moving to us." 

"Are the missile launchers warm?" 

"Aye, sir. Smoking." 

"Can you plot a firing solution from here?" 

That took another second or two, "Aye, Cap'n. Uhlek-nasty in the range
for going boom." 

Gault waited a half of a moment, and then shouted, "FOX ONE, FOX TWO!
Evasive attack maneuvers; if they fire, hold course and boost speed." 
To Hixon the firing of the missile launchers sounded like something 
whooshing past his ear. The viewscreen tracked the missiles, and the 
impact against the hull of... something... was unmistakable. 

"Reloaded," Qynzhqylyh announced. 

"Fox one, fox two. Fire at will, Qyn. Hixon, scan it." 

Hixon's response was almost immediate, "Uhlek Starkiller, Plasma Bolt
missiles, armed, Class 7 shields... inoperative." Hixon's voice could 
not mask his surprise, and he did a detail scan of the enemy ship, 
"Cap'n the missiles took out the shield generator. They are exposed." 

Gault's eyebrows shot up at the last report, "No shields? Then lasers
can finally hurt them. Qyn fire missiles, fire lasers. Hit 'em with 
everything we got." 

Hixon quickly spoiled the mood, "Cap', they're firing." 

"Boost speed, Qyn," Gault watched the Plasma bolt head for his ship. The
increase of speed wasn't enough, and the Uhlek missile crashed into the 
starboard aft shielding. The Phoenix rocked with the impact, harder 
than during the Gazurtoid encounter, and Hixon knew this was a bad 
situation. 

"Shields at 52 percent Cap'n, and they're firing again. Two bolts." 

Qynzhqylyh kept up his evasive maneuvers, and continued firing on the
enemy vessel. The Veloxi navigator was well trained and had much combat 
experience. Even the Uhlek ship could not stand the constant pounding, 
and finally succumbed. There was an explosion as a direct hit from a 
missile hit the weapons store on the Starkiller, and superheated plasma 
engulfed the port wing, causing a cascade structural failure. The 
Phoenix crew watched as compartment by compartment the Starkiller 
imploded. Apiphotex watched on his screen, but he was concentrating on 
the two plasma bolts approaching the ship. 

"This be the hurting, most certainly." 

The first bolt hit the Phoenix full on the starboard beam, reducing the
ship's shields to eleven percent. That level of shielding might stop a 
class two laser shot, but not a plasma bolt. The second bolt caught the 
underside of the ship. The remnants of the shielding took away some of 
the damaging effect of the missile, but not all of it. The ship rocked 
violently, and Gault picked himself up off of the floor and keyed the 
squawk box, "Damage report!" 

"Communications array, critically damaged, inoperative. Shields...
heavily damaged, also inoperative. I can doing the repairs, but some 
time the taking." Api did not sound optimistic, and Gault knew that 
time was short. 

"How's the hull? Can we make planetfall?" 

"Hull not so good, but it the holding, I think so." 

"Fine, Qyn, head for the system, and drop the hammer." We can't afford
another encounter until Api is finished with the repairs to the 
shields, at least." 

The Phoenix slashed through the cold vacuum of space to the unnamed star
system, and upon entering the system, automatically dropped out of 
hyperspace. Hixon calculated the ecosphere of the system to be the 
seventh and eighth orbit, and as luck would have it, there was a rock 
planet in the seventh orbit. "Surface is predominately frozen, the air 
isn't breathable. There does seem to be a temperate region in the 
equatorial band. Indeterminate life readings, negligible mineral 
values. You sure this is it?" 

"That indeterminate life reading is a baby Uhl. That's what we are
after," Gault turned from talking to Hixon and got on the squawk box, 
"Api, hold the repairs and load the Black Egg into the terrain vehicle, 
we don't seem to have any company around for the time being." The 
captain then consulted his console for the lowest point of elevation 
above sea level, and found an area actually below the planet's sea 
level that wasn't covered by water or ice. "That's where we land, 
prepare for planetfall." 

The Phoenix entered the planet's atmosphere and descended upon the
prescribed point. The ship landed safely, and as soon as it settled on 
the alien soil, the crew scrambled to the terrain vehicle, but Gault 
had one more order before disembarking. 

"Api, you stay on board. We need those repairs tended to immediately.
Kel and Lor, there's no need to get you two involved in this either. 
Just me, Craig and Qyn." 

The three spacefarers climbed into pressure suits for the toxic
atmosphere, and then climbed into the terrain vehicle. The rover rolled 
off the Phoenix and drove only 250 metres before coming to the spot 
where Gault wanted to place the Black Egg. 

"Keep your eye on the radar, Craig. Tell me if anything is coming. An
Uhl on land is just as dangerous as the Uhlek are in space." 

"Well why can't we just shoot the damn thing?" Hixon asked. 

"The Uhl is more like a large energy being," Gault said to Hixon, as the
Captain and Veloxi carried the Black Egg off the terrain vehicle and 
set it down on the soil, "There's nothing solid or for a laser to hit. 
It also attacks telepathically and melts your brain, so by the time it 
gets in laser range, you're already dead. You see anything coming at 
us?" 

"Not ye... wait a minute," Hixon did some calculations. "Something that
looks like a large cloud is approaching us from the southeast. Twenty 
kilometres away, moving at around sixty kilometres an hour. You have 
around twenty minutes before it's here." 

"Less than that. We'd be dead before we'd see it. Good thing it won't
take that long. Okay it'll take a minute to get this done." Gault 
fiddled with the alien controls on the Phlegmak planet bomb, and was 
about to set the timer, "Qyn how much time will it take to get out of 
range of the explosion?" 

"9 minutes, most certainly." The Veloxi was positive. 

"Alright," Gault said, setting the timer. "12 minutes until this rock
comes apart. Get us back to the ship, now!" Gault and Qynzhqylyh ran 
back to the rover and once inside, Qyn made the terrain vehicle all but 
fly on the short sprint back to the Phoenix. The crew scrambled back 
inside the Phoenix and back to their stations onboard. 

The pre-flight check to get them back up into space was rushed through,
and the Phoenix's engines were humming in no time. Lift-off was 
uneventful, as the crew looked skyward to the relative safety of space. 
Hixon watched the viewscreen and saw what looked to be a black cloud 
rolling across the surface of the planet towards the Black Egg, and 
then stop around a kilometre away. The display on the Captain's chair 
displayed the time left until the Black Egg would explode, and take the 
new Uhlek threat with it. The vertical acceleration looked, from 
Gault's mental calculations, to put them well out of reach of the 
soon-to-be exploded planet's danger zone, and when Hixon informed the 
crew that they had exited the planet's atmosphere, everyone breathed a 
sigh of relief. Then Hixon's interstellar sensors came back online. 

"Captain, Uhlek Starkiller approaching on the starboard bow, their
shields are up, and they are fully armed!" Hixon turned to look at 
Gault, just in time to see all the blood drain out of his captain's 
face. 

"Raise shields, what we have of the anyhow," an ashen faced Gault
ordered, and looked at his readouts on his display. Apiphotex hadn't 
had time to fix the shields completely, and his screen showed shields 
at only 41 percent. He shook his head, and then asked, "Are we out of 
the blast radius?" 

"No, sir," came Hixon's reply, "We are at the outer edge, but not quite
out of it. Sir, the Starkiller is firing!" 

"Full speed ahead, Fox one and two, and full laser spread! Hit 'em with
everything we got!" The ship again shuddered as the missile cannons 
loosed two warheads at the alien vessel. The increase of speed pushed 
them past the first plasma bolt, but the second crashed into the 
Phoenix, wiping out the shields and overloading the shield generator. 
All that protected them now was the Class 5 armor around the ship, and 
Gault knew that wouldn't offer much protection against the Uhlek 
weapon. 

Qynzhqylyh's battle expertise showed through again. He knew about a
weakness in the Uhlek shield technology, and used it to his advantage. 
The first missile crashed into the Starkiller's shielding, and 
Qynzhqylyh carefully aimed a laser shot at the point where the missile 
hit the Uhlek ship, creating a weak spot in the shielding. The second 
missile cruised through the hole in the shielding, and hit the 
Starkiller just aft of the bridge. 

"That's a direct hit, Cap'n" Hixon exclaimed, "We may have disabled some
of their systems, I show fluctuating power readings... they are firing 
again!" 

The missile did indeed interfere with some of the Uhlek ship's systems,
including fire control. The Starkiller fired a volley of three plasma 
bolts, one of which was wildly off course, the other two homed in on 
the Phoenix's starboard side. The initial impact ripped off the armor 
like so much tinfoil, and the second missile devastated the starboard 
engine well. Apiphotex did not wait for Captain Gault to order a damage 
report, and his voice crackled over the squawk box. 

"Hull breach, starboard well. Emergency bulkheads are the closing,
starboard engine off line. This very bad, I think so." 

"No kidding," Gault muttered, and then made his next order, "Return
fire, fox one and two, come about, fox three and four." Gault ordered 
the ship to turn after the first two missiles were fired to bring the 
aft missile launchers into play, to fire four missiles in total. The 
downside of this was that Qynzhqylyh did not have the time to make his 
carefully aimed laser shot. The laser hit another part of the 
shielding, and the four missiles impacted the shielding in different 
places, reducing the Starkiller's shields to almost nil, but not doing 
any damage, or buying any time. 

"Cap'n, another Starkiller is warping in," The terror was evident in the
rookie lieutenant's voice, " The first one is squaring up to us... 
they're f..." 

Salvation came before Hixon could finish the sentence, or the Starkiller
could fire. Forgotten in the panic of combat was the Black Egg, and the 
reason why they came out to this solar system. The Black Egg's timer 
expired and, in an explosion that for its magnitude was eerily quiet in 
the vacuum of space, the planet that was home to the new Uhlek threat 
blew apart. The blast sent giant chunks of the planet hurtling through 
space in all directions, including the combat area of the three ships. 
Qynzhqylyh turned his attention from the blast to the meteors now 
flying at the Phoenix and the two Uhlek ships, maneuvering as best he 
could with only one engine. He avoided one large chunk, which then 
careened into the battling Starkiller, doing what the Phoenix could 
not. The Uhlek ship was instantly flattened by the collision, unable to 
maneuver without the telepathic connection to the Uhl. 

As quickly as the meteor shower started, it was over, only dust and
relatively small rocks flying out from where the planet once was. The 
Phoenix's shield generator, overtaxed as it was and only able to 
sustain shields at nine percent, would protect the ship from the 
remaining debris. 

The bridge remained quiet for a few anxious moments, and then Gault
asked, "What about the other Uhlek ship?" 

Hixon looked over his readings, "Not damaged, Cap'n... It's drifting, no
energy signature from it's engines. I think they're back asleep." 

"Let's hope it's for good this time," replied Gault, collapsing in his
command chair. He closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. He then 
keyed the squawk box, "Api, how bad is it?" 

"Me or the ship, you talking?" Apiphotex coughed into the box, "Hull
repairs taking one day, maybe one and a half, could be. Engine repairs 
another half. Shield generators needing the rebuild, but we being the 
okay back through Gazurtoid space, I think so. Me, I having the 
boo-boo, most certainly. Ow." 

Gault stood up and breathed deeply, and then resumed commanding, "Okay,
Qyn get us to a quiet spot, then get back there and help with the hull 
repairs. Craig, you and me will work on the shield generator. Lor 
E'aye, we need a house call at engineering, Kel Dabi will assist you in 
treating Apiphotex. Everybody's got a job, let get to it." 

*** The damage was as bad as Apiphotex had said, and each repair had
easily met his estimated time to complete. The crew repaired the 
Phoenix well enough to get it back to Starport, and so they steamed 
home. Apiphotex's injuries were mainly superficial, certainly nothing 
Lor E'aye couldn't handle, and Qynzhqylyh couldn't stop teasing the 
engineer over needing treatment from the Elowan doctor. The dash 
through Gazurtoid space was completely uneventful, which unsettled the 
Captain even further, wondering if the peaceful journey was more like 
the calm before a storm. Things were never peaceful in space; they 
weren't supposed to be. 

As the Phoenix approached Starport, Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Craig
Joseph Hixon looked back over his initial starflight, and shook his 
head. At no point did he ever expect such an eventful mission, 
something his classmates at the two colleges would be so envious of. An 
important mission from Interstel, close encounters with alien races, 
and combat. He was awestruck that all of this could happen to a rookie 
on his first flight. He disembarked the ship, headed straight for his 
quarters in B-3, and settled down for some much-needed sleep. 

Next, Part 2: Old Friends. 


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