Dogfighter Gospel
by Phoebe and Damien Phoenix
Log One: Rock Action

Out at the end of the launch shaft, the star-field turned slowly. To Jacob's 
eyes, it seemed idyllic. A flower-like yellow flash bloomed. It seemed so small, 
so harmless. He realized it was probably one of the larger ships fighting it out 
on the flanks. Gone, now.

"When you get out there, Jake, there's going to be a big asteroid right to your 
north. Don't slam into it, we can't spare the crew to go find your pieces."

Jacob groaned. "Roger that." He paused. "Don't call me Jake."

"Sure thing." He could just hear the launch officer's grin. "Steve'll be right 
on your tail, so move fast. We've got a couple of squadrons of bogies bearing 
down on us, so we're trying to get you guys out aye-ess-aye-pee. Launching in 
three... two... one..."

For a moment, nothing happened, then the catapult thrust Jacob back into the 
depths of his couch. The lights of the launch shaft flashed by him, becoming a 
single line; the black of the star-field grew, as a gaping maw to eat him up...

The XV-31 Mantis fighter was outside the Javier. He hauled back and to the left 
on his stick, and his engines flared to life and vaulted him even faster away 
from the fighter carrier. The path took him wide of the astroid sitting "above" 
the ship, wider than he liked. He wanted to skirt around it, using the rocky 
body as cover before looping back past the ship and into the fray.

A glance over his shoulder showed a fighter leaving the second launch tube. They 
were dumping them out fast. Already three of the four squadrons housed on the 
ship were out. Jacob flicked his look forward as he corrected his flight to run 
up next to a second asteroid slightly further out, then he looked back for his 
wing-mate's launch.

Then the ship blew up. Starting at the helm, a series of explosions ripped along 
the spine of the carrier. He saw a fighter exit the launch shaft just ahead of 
the explosions, then a tongue of flame flicked out after it and brushed over the 
fighter. The smaller explosion was eaten up almost immediately as the carrier 
split in two and expand into an oblong fireball.

"Stevie!" Jacob started to yank his stick around. He had to look, had to make 
sure.

Little pinpricks of light skirted around the edge of the explosion and swooped 
in towards other fighters from the squadrons. Jacob's eyes went wide as four of 
the pinpricks turned towards his position and grew into delta-dart shaped 
fighters.

"Ohshitoshit!" He slammed his hand forward against the throttle, sending it past 
one-hundred percent and full on to the afterburner. Nine Gs of acceleration 
tugged him deep into the couch. He grasped onto the throttle and kept it pressed 
forward. The asteroid was growing fast in his vision, but those delta-darts had 
a tremendous head start on his blocky craft.

Laser stitches flashed across his vision. He twisted his stick to roll the craft 
around. He felt slight impacts as a few of the lasers ripped into the wings of 
the fighter. A quick glance to his damage monitor revealed no lasting damage, 
however. He had at least one lucky break, then.

And he was over the asteroid. Cover at last. He pulled back on the throttle as 
he skirted close to the surface. The asteroid was big, over ten kliks, at least, 
but he didn't want to overshoot it.

He got down to three meters from the surface of the oblong-shaped asteroid. His 
path was along the length of it and he saw the horizon approaching fast. Jacob 
flipped his fighter over; the gray, rocky surface seemed so close. He winced an 
outcropping jutting from the surface caused him to swerve.

The delta-darts shot past, over him, laying down inaccurate ground fire. Still, 
the shots blew up chunks of rock and dust that spattered against his fighter's 
underbody.

He passed the end of the asteroid and pulled back on the stick. The vectored 
thrusters at the back of the fighter went to their full "up" position. The 
fighter flipped end over end. Jacob pushed the thrust up to kill his now-
backwards momentum.

A glance back showed the quad of enemy fighters gaining on him again. And coming 
in low. He drew in a breath. Only a few more seconds.

He looked forward again and jumped in shock. A jerk of the control stick 
attempted to re-orient the fighter, but he was still battered about when the 
wing slammed into an spire sticking out from the asteroid. His fighter began to 
spin cross-ways as it tumbled out away from the space-rock.

Jacob saw his wing flying off in another direction. He ignored the sweat 
breaking out on his brow and focused, killing his thrust and regaining 
orientation. Ah! There!

The four delta-darts slowed as they approached. Two of them swung past him, 
running a perimeter. The second pair shifted slightly as they lined up with him.

He could feel them pulling their beads on his ship.

"Idiots," he spat. "I don't need wings to fly in space!"

He dropped his crosshairs on the first and pulled the trigger. The plasma gun 
barrels aside the nose of his fighter let off a rapid succession of blasts. They 
pounded into the cockpit, body, and wing of one of them. The delta-dart folded 
up on itself for a brief moment, then burst in an ellipsoid explosion.

Jacob had already pressed the throttle forward. He buzzed past the second delta 
dart and dropped one of his bombs from less than two meters away. The rounded 
tube punctured the ship almost dead center and exploded. Flying debris rocked 
Jacob's fighter. On his damage monitor, he saw one of his engines go dead.

A flat, deadly expression crossed his face. "I've still got two more left."

He was also short an engine in an unbalanced fighter that lacked over a third of 
its base armament. Not a scrap of cover for him, either.

After he finished his brief assessment of the situation, Jacob sighed. "For we 
who are about to depart the land of the living," he said. "Goodbye." He shot one 
brief glance at the picture of the couple pasted to his seat arm and nodded 
briefly. Once again, his features assumed their deadly focus.

He hauled the stick around. The Mantis shuddered as its single engine shifted 
and attempted to spin its bulk in the opposite direction.

The controls were too sluggish. The delta-darts were too close. He wouldn't even 
be able to get one of them!

The first delta-dart swooped over him and exploded.

Like an avenging angel, another XV-31 brushed past the ball of fire and stitched 
the second delta-dart with laser blasts. The engines flared out and went dead. 
Jacob watched the enemy fighter float past his fighter. Inside the cockpit, the 
pilot's arms floated limply. Jacob blinked as the person's head bobbed.

"Hey!" A female voice cut in through Jacob's speakers. "You okay down there?"

He looked up at the other Mantis. It had paused five meters off, holding 
position with his movement. The trim pattern on the underbody showed it to be 
from the Javier's 2nd squadron. He had been in the third.

"I think so. Controls are a bit sluggish. I can move, though. That you, Ayako?"

"Jacob? Yeah, it's me." She sighed audibly. "I lost my wingman. Was hoping 
someone else got out alive, but I dunno, in your shape..."

He grimaced. "My wide-band's out. You getting anything over it?"

"Standard chatter. I think we're losing."

"Damn, how'd they get in the thick of us so fast? Delta darts like this 
shouldn't take out large ships so quickly, or easily. The Javier hadn't even 
been shot at, yet."

"Jacob, we can't sit around here."

He sighed. "Yeah, we've got to fight, now." He glanced down at his IFF 
(Identify: Friend or Foe) screen. "Looks like there's a friendly close by. Small 
fighter-carrier, the Gospel."

"I've been over there a few times. A few good friends, there. They got a new 
captain who's pretty cool." Ayako fired up her engines and began to accelerate 
away. It took a couple of false starts, but Jacob got his fighter running and 
followed her.

She snickered. "Can you limp all the way there?"

"I think so, yeah."

After a couple minutes of acceleration, they shut off their engines and coasted 
easily towards the Gospel. Jacob suffered himself to gaze at the flashing lights 
of the battle in the distance. He almost had to stop asking Ayako what the radio 
chatter was, again.

"Quiet out here," Ayako said after a few minutes of silence.

"Mmm." Jacob blinked. "Y'know, if you want to go on ahead, get into the thick of 
things, it won't be a problem. I can get there fine by myself."

"And if another flight of those 'darts comes after you...?" Ayako left the 
question hanging.

"Good point. Sorry for keeping you here. I know I want to be out there."

Ayako did not reply, but Jacob thought he heard her cut off something as it left 
her mouth. But it might have been a non-committal grunt.

They passed through a tight cluster of asteroids. Jacob spied a glinting sliver 
down and to their left that he assumed was the Gospel. He twisted the fighter 
around - slowly, because a shuddering had started back in the engine section and 
he didn't want to push it too hard - and headed for the ship.

"The fighting's coming this way," Ayako announced.

Jacob looked in the directions of the explosions. Sure enough, ships were 
approaching, and fast. A large, long battleship was at the head of the pack, 
small explosions blossoming across it as invisible fighters pecked and prodded 
at its hull.

"That's the Agamemnon!" Ayako exclaimed.

"Fleet command's on the run? Oh, this is worse than we thought." Jacob 
reoriented his Mantis towards the retreating battleship and upped the thrusters 
a notch. The shuddering increased.

"'Yako, radio the Gospel and tell them to get their asses over there to help 
out."

After a moment she responded, "They're having mobility troubles. Took a few hits 
and lost some key crew." She paused. "Trying to get in there, though."

Jacob gritted his teeth as he watched the attacks against the Agamemnon. He 
couldn't get there any quicker. If he pushed the engines to the max, his 
velocity would be too high when he passed the battleship to do any good. If only 
he had more maneuverability.

"I'm flying a rocket-powered brick," he muttered. "What can I do?"

"I can get up there." Ayako's engines flared, and she sped on ahead of him.

"Careful, 'Yako, it'll be at least a minute before the Gospel gets there."

"I know. We have to try and fight them off, though."

As her fighter pulled away from his, Jacob switched his display to his zoom 
camera. The picture of the Agamemnon was fuzzy and dark, but he still saw 
extensive pitting and scarring of the normally gleaming hull. He grimaced as the 
delta-darts and a pair of larger gunships looped around and blasted at the hull 
again. A few small remnants of the battleship's fighter screen attempted to push 
the numerically superior enemy away, but each and every one met an inevitable, 
fiery doom.

Still, despite the damage and the number of attackers, the Agamemnon should have 
been able to take the punishment and deliver a equal or greater response. Jacob 
looked beyond the battleship to find another reason for the hasty retreat. If 
the rest of the Fleet forces had been destroyed and there were enemy line-ships 
chasing the Agamemnon, he could understand.

But there wasn't anything out there. The flashing explosions of the far-off 
battle continued. Other than the command ship and the deadly flies swarming 
around it, not a single ship was moving away from the conflagration.

He returned the camera to the battleship. It was strange and slightly scary. A 
feeling nagged him that there was more here than readily apparent. 

Something caught his eye. "Ayako, tell me what you see on lower, front starboard 
of the Agamemnon," he said. Her fighter was almost upon the battleship and she 
had to have a better view than he did.

"So*** **at wa* tha*?" she responded, static eating up her words.

"Can you tell me what you see on the lower front starboard side." He spoke 
slowly, enunciating each word. 

Her response was completely garbled by the static. Jacob damned the faulty 
equipment, giving it a slam with the heel of his palm.

He wasn't sure about what he saw down on that portion of the Agamemnon, but it 
looked like a pair of individuals, working on a section of the ship via an open 
panel. That was really strange, because the ship was in the middle of a battle. 
Unless the repairs were absolutely necessary for continued operation, they 
should have waited until things cooled down, if only to for the safety of the 
repair crews.

That brought Jacob up short. If there was something that was so vital to 
continued operation that needed to be repaired in the middle of a battle, why 
weren't the spacers fixing the thing being blasted by the delta-darts?

A cold shiver rose up his back. Jacob watched as Ayako's fighter streaked by the 
battleship, pinfire speckles of lasers tearing apart a delta-dart on the flyby. 
Her fighter came around in a wide loop after the attack, streaking back for 
another run. In the back of his mind, Jacob thought about lecturing her on how 
her fighter didn't need to point in the direction of travel.

But the larger thought for him was one of the danger Ayako was now in. She had 
to get away, and he didn't have any way of telling her.

He looked over at the Gospel as it approached. It was actually closer to him 
than the Agamemnon and Ayako's fighter. He pointed his tightbeam radio at the 
ship and prayed.

"Gospel, this is Javier three-foxtrot. Respond please, over."

A static heavy response came back to him. Jacob grimaced and tried again.

"Respond, Gospel. It is urgent, over."

"I hear you, Javier three-foxtrot. What's the problem?"

"My radio is about to die. You need to radio Javier two-juliet and tell her to 
get away from the Agamemnon, now. Over."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it. Something's wrong over there. I'm coming in to dock with you now. 
Over and out."

Jacob turned his fighter towards the Gospel while keeping a wary eye on Ayako's 
fighter. She finished her loop and sped back towards him, taking out another 
delta-dart on the pass, but a gunship popped up behind her and blasted away. Her 
fighter shuddered and started a slow sideways curve in its course.

"Ayako!" he cried.

"I got through to her, Javier three-foxtrot," said the voice from the Gospel. 
"She'll get back here. One of my gunships is incoming, too."

Behind Ayako's Mantis the delta-darts and gunships suddenly peeled off of the 
Agamemnon and gave chase. Jacob glanced at the lower-front starboard, and caught 
a glimpse of the two individuals jumping away from it.

The Agamemnon turned to follow the enemy craft. Jacob saw the Gospel in front of 
him, itself starting to turn and present him with the open doors of the fighter 
bay. The two large ships seemed like a hammer and anvil - or perhaps two jaws of 
a clamp - coming together to smash Ayako's small fighter between them. His teeth 
clenched together in anticipation.

Perhaps feeling the same way, the enemy ships scattered suddenly. The Agamemnon 
didn't turn to follow any, however, but continued on its ponderous yet wonderful 
drive towards the Gospel.

The fighter bay was right in front of him, and Jacob braces for the landing. He 
hit the deck at a skew angle, which ripped his landing gear off entirely. 
Undaunted by the lack of friction, the fighter skipped once, then skidded along, 
raising a trail of sparks behind him. He slowed enough that when the fighter hit 
the back wall, it only jarred him slightly more than the rest of the landing.

Which still meant he was quite rattled by the ordeal. For a moment, he just sat 
there, letting his head swim and vision blur. But he shut his eyes and shook 
away the dizziness. He needed to move.

He reached up and grabbed his EVA helmet from its alcove above his head and 
settled it into place. The seal around his neck tightened, and he blew the 
canopy. The remaining air in the cockpit puffed away in an attempt to fill the 
vacuum.

After he released the harness, his body started to float free of the cockpit. 
His throat caught up slightly as he looked down at the damage to his Mantis, but 
he shrugged the feeling away and pushed towards the airlock. 

The float took him five seconds. Cycling through the lock took another thirty. 
Jacob's internal clock noted that almost two minutes had passed since he had 
first entered the Gospel's bay. He needed to get up to the bridge to find out 
what was happening.

But even so, he stopped when he left the airlock. Apparently, the com officer 
had not been entirely up front with Ayako. Bodies floated listlessly in the 
corridor, obviously battered about by previous hits and explosions.

Jacob swallowed scrambled along the side towards the bridge. The next corridor 
had working gravity, so he sprinted along. More dead bodies lay in the rooms he 
passed. He steeled himself and ignored them; he couldn't help the dead, but 
Ayako was still out there.

He had been inside the ship just short of five minutes when he burst into the 
bridge. The image on the main screen drew him up short. The Agamemnon was huge 
in front of them, and getting slowly larger.

"Shouldn't you, um, move out of the way?" He asked.

The captain's chair moved and a man looked at him. "You didn't happen to find 
anyone alive on your way up here did you?"

"Not a one."

"Damn." The chair turned again. "I'm trying to move, but it's not easy to 
maneuver this thing alone. I'm the captain, Kenji Aino."

"Jacob Heath. Where's your pilot?"

"Dead."

"That's a lot of dead." Jacob pulled off his helmet and stepped past Kenji. He 
sat down in the pilot's position. "I'll take over, then." He started the ship in 
a slow "dive" away from the Agamemnon. "Where's Ayako?"

"Your pilot friend? She's off to the side of the Agamemnon."

"Been almost seven minutes since they pulled away," Jacob said. "Something's 
going to happen soon." He upped the power to the ship's engines to full and 
urged the Gospel away from the command ship. "Has the Agamemnon responded to any 
calls?"

"Com unit's on the fritz, but no. What do you think is going on?"

"I don't know, but it's really bad."

As the two ships got further and further apart, Jacob saw Ayako's fighter. It 
hovered sedately a fair distance away from the command ship. A textbook safe 
distance.

Jacob didn't think it would be enough. "Can you talk to Ayako?"

"With difficulty, but yes."

"Tell her to move, and make sure that your gunship stays away, too."

"I think I am in charge here."

Jacob turned and glared at Kenji. Despite everything that had happened, the man 
still looked good. Not immaculate, but certainly close. "Trust me on this."

Ayako's fighter pulled away and upped the thrust to get out of range of the 
Agamemnon. The Gospel got further and further away, too. For a couple of 
minutes, nothing else happened.

"You seem to be jumping at shadows," Kenji said. "Turn us around so we can find 
out what's really happening with the Agamemnon."

Jacob opened his mouth to respond, but couldn't think of a proper denial.

The Agamemnon responded for him. One moment, it flew along; in the next it's 
hull was peeling back like a banana, explosions tearing along the side. The 
bridge exploded, then the engines. In quick succession, each section of the 
Agamemnon was eaten up by an orange-red blast.

Kenji stared at the screen. "What happened?"

"What do we do next?" Jacob asked, not venturing to guess at what had transpired 
inside the Agamemnon.

The realization that he was in charge and needed to decide a course of action 
brought a look of concentration to Kenji's eyes.

"First we need to pick up your pilot friend and Nadia."

"Nadia?" Jacob asked.

"My gunship pilot."

The pilot looked around. "And then...?"

The captain looked around at the damaged bridge. "We're out of this battle. Then 
we try and repair the Gospel."

* * * * *

"Com unit?" Kenji asked, leaning over the exposed wiring of the Gospel's 
navigation station.

Ayako eyed the posterior so neatly presented to her and smiled to herself before 
answering. "Nothing yet, Captain," she replied, making a show of looking at the 
screens in front of her as the commander straightened.

Kenji grinned. He had a fair idea as to the origin of the faint stain of red on 
the fighter's cheeks. "There's no need for such formality," he said smoothly. 
"With so few of us here..." his voice trailed off.

"You're right, Kenji," Ayako said softly, unable to stop herself from glancing 
around the almost empty bridge. The Gospel was designed to carry over 400 
service and support personnel. At any one time, at least twenty of them should 
be manning the bridge. Now... just two of them on the bridge - and four in the 
entire ship. She shivered.

Jacob came in with an armful of components from Stores. "Bad news," he frowned.

Ayako turned quickly to him. Any news was better than the silence. "What's up?" 
she asked. "I thought Stores was undamaged?"

"It is," Jacob scowled. "But we're still missing almost everything we need to 
re-establish communications."

Kenji spun on his hell. "*What*?" he demanded.

Jacob shrugged. "It's weird, Captain. The inventory clearly states that there 
are three back-up systems in Stores for emergencies like this. But they're not 
there, sir."

"Kenji will be fine," the commander said tensely, striding forward to take a 
slip of paper from Jacob's hand. "This is what we *do* have in Stores, I take 
it?"

Jacob motioned Ayako away from the com unit and knelt down beside it, stacking 
the components in a messy pile. "Yup," he grunted, taking a panel from the com 
unit and peering inside. He handed Ayako a flashlight. "Shine this in there, 
'yako," he instructed.

Ayako obeyed. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"I think I can probably jimmy something up," the fighter replied, poring over a 
selection of wires before choosing one. "Maybe not a full com, but I should be 
able to get us reception at least.

"You got top marks in Engineering," Ayako remembered. 

Jacob grinned up at her. "Yup. The boffos offered me a full scholarship, no 
conditions. But I wanted to fight." His jaw set and his eyes suddenly trained on 
something distant. "I had to fight," he said quietly.

Ayako looked sharply at him. She'd seen this expression before, and it always 
shocked her. She knew what it meant. She'd been with him the first time she'd 
seen it. They'd been in his room, she remembered, every detail stamped into her 
brain. She'd been working through a mathematics problem under his guidance when 
the wall screen had beeped, signifying a message had been received. She'd waved 
a hand as Jacob excused himself to read it, absorbed in the difficulties of 
imaginary numbers. The scream had hit her like a jagged shard of glass scraped 
across her mind. It was the scream of a naked, wounded, 
clawing beast, the pain and anger and grief contained in it terribly inhuman. 
She'd leapt to her feet, horrified, whirling to meet Jacob staring at her with 
unseeing eyes, an expression of blank intent stamped on his face. Surely... 
Surely Jake couldn't have screamed like that... 

But he had, and no wonder, Ayako mused, returning to the present with a sharp 
shake of her head. She loved her own parents dearly. If they'd been killed in an 
enemy attack, she could have reacted the same way he had. Afterwards, he'd 
thrown himself into his studies - his way of coping with the grief, she'd 
supposed. It had paid off. He was one of the best. She glanced down at her 
friend, now absorbed in the bowels of the com unit and shuddered involuntarily. 
Jake was a good guy. A nice guy. That deadly cold expression didn't belong on 
his usually genial features. 

A sudden movement to her left caught her eye, and she shifted her attention from 
her friend to her commander, who was pacing up and down, frowning in thought. A 
slip of paper was clenched in his fist.

"Is something wrong, Captain?" she called, keeping the flashlight steady.

"Kenji, Ayako," the man murmured, still lost in his thoughts. He whirled to face 
her. "Where's Nadia?"

"Still down in Stores, " Jacob replied, alerted by the man's tone. "Want me to 
go get her?"

Kenji shook his head decisively. "No. You two are doing just fine there."

Ayako refrained from dryly pointing out that the only thing *she* was doing was 
acting as a sentient lightbulb. She felt instinctively that this wasn't the 
time.

Kenji paced a few more steps, then came to a decision. "I need to talk to her 
for a minute," he said abruptly. "How long before we can get the com unit going, 
Jacob?"

Jacob grunted. "Could be tricky... I just don't have the parts to establish and 
stabilize an outgoing call. We likely won't be able to get some of the military 
bands... wide-band is *possible*, I guess... Even so, reception is going to be 
fairly hit and miss..."

"Just do what you can," Kenji told him, striding out the door.

Ayako watched him go.

"Nice butt, huh?" Jacob grinned.

"Yeah," Ayako agreed absent-mindedly. Then she blinked and bapped him lightly 
with the flashlight. "Hey!"

"Well, it's true," Jacob said, protecting his head from further blows by burying 
it in the com unit again. "Even if it *has* been seen by half the female 
officers in all its naked glory, as it were..."

"Warning me?" Ayako laughed.

"Maybe," Jacob's voice replied affably, muffled by machinery. "Then again, you 
can look after yourself."
  
Ayako laughed again. "That particular butt is way out of my league, boyo," she 
told him. "No need to worry."

"Good," Jacob nodded. "Hand me the blue wire with the yellow connectors, would 
you?"

* * * * *

Kenji stalked down eerily empty passageways, a hardcopy of the Gospel's 
inventory in one hand, glancing into every storeroom in turn as he passed by. 
His lips thinned. Even to the naked eye, the rooms were a lot barer than they 
should have been.

Nadia was in the last storeroom on the right, standing on a stool and rummaging 
through a cupboard with her back to the door. Kenji stood in the doorway for a 
minute, enjoying the sight. She truly was a beautiful woman, he mused. That long 
dark hair, those hooded gray eyes, the perfectly proportioned body, all hard 
muscles and soft curves, all just where they should be. True, the hair was 
pulled back in a severe bun, the eyes hidden behind glasses and the body covered 
in a perfectly pressed gray uniform, but he could use his imagination. Besides, 
the severity of her hairstyle and complete lack of any adornment only served to 
emphasize her classical features and wonderful cheekbones. She was absolutely 
gorgeous. 

"Captain?" a voice questioned, cutting into his reverie, and he snapped back 
into focus.

She also had a stare that resembled a borer twisting into his brain, the 
reputation of a complete ice queen, and she could and would break his arm in 
less than two seconds if she thought he'd been leering, Kenji reminded himself 
hurriedly, and coughed.

"The inventory-" he began.

"-is inaccurate," she completed. "Too much so." They stared at each other.

"You've come to the same conclusion as I, sir?" she asked.

"It would seem so," he nodded. "Oh, and call me Kenji. We've decided to drop 
formality with just the four of us."

Nadia's eyebrows rose almost imperceptibly. "Of course, sir," she agreed, taking 
the sheaf of papers from his hand. She flicked through it quickly.

"It isn't a clerical error, sir" she stated. "There's just too much gone. And 
the missing stocks are in very specific areas. Almost all of the Bridge back-up 
units have vanished, for example, along with most of the engineering components 
needed for the Drive Room. But all the food and clothing supplies that should be 
here are still here."

"Armaments?" he asked. "And please, just Kenji."

"It's impossible to tell, sir," she replied. "We have no way of accurately 
gauging exactly what was used in that last fight." She hesitated for a moment. 
"But the stock of hand-held weaponry seems significantly lower than usual after 
a battle," she added. "There is nothing in the records to back that observation 
up, sir, only my own personal experience."

"I trust your observations, Nadia," he grunted. "With a record like yours, I'd 
be a fool not to. And it's Kenji."

"Thank you, sir," she nodded, acknowledging his compliment. "I will of course 
write a more complete report, but my conclusion can be stated in four words - 
too much is gone."

"And you've deduced the same thing I have from that conclusion," he said. His 
mouth twisted. "Traitors."

The word hung in the air for a moment. Nadia bowed her head slightly. "Yes sir," 
she agreed softly. "Or at the very least, illegal private profiteering of a 
hitherto unprecedented level."

"It's Kenji!" he barked irritably. "And that's an order, Pilot!"

A small smile crossed the woman's lips, so fast that Kenji almost missed it. "If 
it's an order, Kenji," she acknowledged.

Kenji found it hard to stop an answering smile sneaking across his own face. The 
woman was infuriating! And intelligent and competent. No, more than merely 
competent... There was a strength to her, an iron in her soul echoed by that 
stiff spine and perceptive gray stare. No wonder she'd earned the reputation she 
had so fast.

"Someone has stripped the ship," he said grimly, returning to the present 
crisis. "Judging from the speed at which they worked and the extent of the 
theft, it was a well-organized and fairly large gang." He gritted his teeth, 
finding it difficult to say the next words. "They had to be Fleet," he said at 
last, "Because no one could hide that many non-service personnel for that long. 
And they'd have been noticed."

"Your people," Nadia said softly. Kenji flinched just slightly, hearing a silent 
accusation after the spoken words. She looked levelly at him. "No part of the 
blame lies with you, Kenji," she said firmly. "I shall mention that in my 
report."

Kenji met her eyes with equal firmness. "That's very nice of you, Nadia, but the 
fact remains that these people, whoever they were, were under my command and 
therefore my responsibility."

"I am not nice, Kenji," Nadia replied calmly. "You have just assumed command of 
this ship. You cannot be expected to unearth conspiracy of this level in a mere 
three weeks." She frowned slightly. "You have made an educated guess as to the 
recipients of their booty?"

"Yes," Kenji nodded, blinking slightly. Apparently the matter of his 
responsibility was already dismissed from his companion's mind. "The enemy. 
Engine components... communication systems... weapons. Who else could it be?"

"Criminal merchants," Nadia began, listing off options on her elegant fingers. 
"Terrorists. The Mafia. Many Earth governments, who would relish an opportunity 
to get the jump on their neighbors. Militia groups. The Sou-"

"Okay, so it could be lots of people," Kenji interrupted, holding up a hand. "I 
see I shouldn't jump to any conclusions." He stared round at the empty room. 
"Let's go inform the others," he said briefly.

"Are you sure that is the best course of action, Captain?" Nadia asked. Kenji 
thought he could detect a faint hint of disapproval in her otherwise neutral 
tones. "This is obviously going to be need-to-know basis once we tell Fleet HQ. 
The scandal-"

"They have a right to know," Kenji interrupted, holding up his hand again. "We 
need to make a few decisions. They should be involved in that process." He 
turned to go, then flashed a boyish grin at her. "And Nadia... it's Kenji."
 
* * * * *

"Traitors," Jacob said, his voice flat and cold even to himself. Ayako looked 
sharply at his face and seemed to shrink back a little, and he cocked his head 
at her questioningly. She shook her head and shrugged at him, but the faint 
stain spreading across her cheeks belied the casualness of her gesture. Jacob 
blinked.

"It appears so," Kenji said smoothly, leaning on the nav unit. Nadia stood 
stiffly behind him. "Which leaves us with an interesting situation. Obviously, 
Fleet HQ must be informed of this as soon as possible. But our communications 
are down, possibly indefinitely. We can wait for the Fleet to find us in the 
battle clean-up. That is, if we won, which seems unlikely. We can't fly directly 
back to Earth, because we don't have enough fuel."

"A supply station?" Ayako asked. She blinked. "But the nearest supply station is 
a good couple of days flight from here, at Phobos. Not only would we be exposed 
to possible attack, but this information has to get to Fleet HQ fast." She 
shuddered slightly and wrapped her arms around her stomach. "Traitors... I can't 
really believe it."

"Believe it," Nadia said bluntly. "The evidence is conclusive."

Ayako looked up at her, faint animosity in her eyes. "But I knew most of the 
people here," she argued. "They were my friends!" 

"Then, most likely, some of those you befriended were traitors, Ayako," Nadia 
replied coldly, ignoring the younger woman's flinch. "That is immaterial now. As 
you said, this information must get to Fleet HQ as soon as possible. Therefore, 
I propose we visit this asteroid belt supply station to restock." She called up 
a map on a nav unit screen and beckoned them towards it. "Here," she pointed. "A 
mere three hours travel."

Ayako looked at the small neat lettering on the screen and gasped audibly, then 
blushed faintly when the others all looked at her. "That's not Fleet," she said 
weakly, trying to explain her reaction. "And you hear stories about that 
station. I mean... it's not even really legal, is it?"

Nadia raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting I would endorse an illegal station, 
Lieutenant?"

"No, she isn't," Jacob said quickly, as Ayako's jaw dropped. He liked the girl a 
lot, but her tendency of never thinking before she opened her mouth had gotten 
them both in hot water from their school days. He turned to his friend, both to 
explain and to avoid Nadia's stare, now directed at him. "Yes, Hard Rock Station 
is owned by Aosora Mining Ltd, a consolidation not renowned for its fair play 
awards. And yeah, it's rumored that Aosora owns a lot of small, illegal stations 
set aside to support criminal activity, but no one's ever proved it. Hard Rock 
itself is legal."

"Although the lieutenant raises a valuable point," Kenji added thoughtfully. 
"Hard Rock does attract a large number of unsavory characters. Furthermore, it's 
under no obligation to supply fuel to Fleet ships. If they realize that the ship 
is crippled and almost completely unmanned, I don't think they'd hesitate to 
attack." He grinned wolfishly. "Once we're floating in space and the Gospel has 
been sliced into components and scrap metal, who's to say we ever visited the 
station?"

Nadia nodded. "Obviously three of the four of us must stay on the ship and make 
it appear as if the ship is full. I will arrange the refueling."

Kenji blinked. "Actually, Nadia, I was thinking that I should be the one to 
arrange the fuel. I am the cap-"

He cut off as Nadia moved towards him, her hands so fast they blurred. He felt 
rather than saw a blunt jab to his abdominals, followed by a chop at his neck as 
he reflexively curled around his stomach. The impact sent him sprawling to the 
floor. His instinctive attempt to rise resulted in a thrust at his right 
shoulder, turning him onto his back. He froze. Nadia had somehow straddled him 
and was poised above him, the heel of her hand mere inches away from his nose. 
She could drive it into his brain with one blow, he realized dimly. The worst 
part was that her face was still perfectly calm.

"I apologize for the suddenness of my attack, Kenji," she said as she stood and 
moved away. "But I felt a demonstration was the best way to illustrate my point.

Kenji got to his feet, massaging his neck. "Point taken, Nadia. You're obviously 
well able to look after yourself." He glanced at the two fighter pilots. Their 
jaws were open and their eyes wide. Ayako seemed to be rooted to the spot, but 
Jacob had managed to take a few steps forward in the split-second attack. Kenji 
shivered slightly. He would have been dead before either of them could 
intervene. "Obviously," he repeated. He coughed sharply, trying to reassume 
control of the situation. Damn the woman! He could swear that slight smile had 
snaked its way across her face again. "Mark the flight path to Hard Rock 
Station, Pilot," he requested gruffly. "We depart at..." he checked his watch. 
"1900 hours."

* * * * * 

Nadia smiled sardonically as she strode confidently down Hard Rock's one shabby 
'street'. The station wasn't big, but it was big enough to warrant its own 
gravity field, which in turn meant it could have 'normal' streets and dwellings. 
Apart from the retailers, she couldn't think of many people who would want to 
stay long. The place was revolting. Unshaved miners in stained jumpsuits lounged 
in the doorways of the station's many bars and brothels. Many of them leered at 
the tall, slim woman in the Fleet uniform striding past them. All she had to do 
was look them in the eyes for a moment and the smiles disappeared. Nadia was 
well aware of the affect her stare had on people. The blaster at her waist, set 
casually to 'KILL' had always been decoration-only. She had never used it, even 
in battle, preferring the near instantaneous response of her own body to attack. 
Of course, she practiced with the blaster, as recommended to all Fleet 
personnel, and clocked up reasonable scores in her six-monthly Service check. 
The point, she reflected as she came to a stop outside an office signposted 
'HARD ROCK FUEL', was that she was good and she knew it. And everyone else knew 
it too, from the way she carried herself, and her aura of calm competency. No 
one would attack anyone who so obviously knew what they were doing.

She adjusted the blaster slightly, then opened the door boldly, so that she 
stood outlined in light in the frame. 

The unkempt man behind the counter swept one of those long leering staress up 
her body and froze when he met her eyes. Perfect.

"Pilot Nadia Kournikova, of the Gospel," she said calmly. "We require fuel. 
Now."

The sweating official broke into a trembling smile, rubbing one hand down his 
stained shirt. "Certainly, ma'am," he said nervously. "Always happy to help 
Fleet. Um... you intend to stay long?"

"No," Nadia replied, letting her gaze sweep disapprovingly over the office. A 
dead potted plant stood in one corner, dust piled on its withered leaves.

The official, whose name badge pronounced him 'Harold', sighed in noticeable 
relief. "Um, would you like to get in touch with your ship and make the 
arrangements?" he asked, proffering her a hand-held com unit.

Nadia was thankful she'd remembered to tell Kenji to open the fuel ports before 
she'd left the Gospel. Attempting to communicate would certainly have given the 
game away, leaving them open to attack. "We have already done so," she said 
coolly. "The ports are open. All we require is the fuel."

Harold nodded meekly. "Of course, of course." He tapped out a few keys on his 
computer, then proffered the screen towards her. Nadia read through it. "This 
seems satisfactory," she nodded. "Begin, please."

"Certainly, ma'am," Harold agreed, picking up the com unit. "Sam, Will, attach 
fuse hoses to the Gospel in docking bay F-43 and load 'er up." He turned an oily 
smile on her. "Done as we speak, ma'am. The refueling should be finished by the 
time you return to your ship."

"Good," Nadia nodded, and turned to walk out.

"Ahem," the official coughed pointedly, no longer so genial. "How will madam be 
paying?"

Nadia blinked. Luckily, her back was to the odious man, so he couldn't possibly 
have picked up what she was fairly sure was her sole reaction.

"We are Fleet," she replied frostily, turning back to face him, her mind racing. 
She hadn't thought of this! "Our word is enough." She glared at him, the full 
weight of the Fleet behind her steel-grey eyes. The man actually recoiled.

"Of course, of course," he spluttered. "Madam, I didn't mean to impeach the 
Fleet's honesty, I assure you!" 

Nadia let him squirm for a few more seconds, pinned to the wall like a butterfly 
to an album by her stare. An extremely ugly butterfly, Nadia thought briefly, as 
that small smile flashed onto her face again. She frowned internally. Always 
that smile coming unbidden to betray her. "Good," she said finally. She swiveled 
on her heel and left, head held imperiously high.
 
Harold collapsed into his chair, wiping his face. "Just as well I didn't add to 
the price any..." he muttered.

* * * * *

"A-ha!" Jacob pulled his head from the com unit triumphantly. "I think I've 
finally got something." Ayako pulled back from him. He looked up at her and 
smiled victoriously. 

Kenji looked over from the captain's chair. The man had a bored look on his face 
that Ayako couldn't quite place. "Is it working?"

"It should, but reception only. And not very good range" Jacob grinned. "We 
could catch the latest sports, I think."

"How far?" Kenji frowned.

Jacob pointed towards the station. "Right now, all we'll get is whatever junk 
they're popping out. News, I suppose, maybe some useless chatter."

"Turn it on?" Ayako asked. Their discussion earlier had made her uneasy, and she 
wanted to find out something from the outside. "News can be better than 
nothing."

"Go for it," Kenji replied, gesturing towards the main screen.

Jacob flipped a switch and the bridge's speakers crackled. "Let me find a 
channel," he explained as he shuffled through various signals. The front screen 
wavered and cycled through a rainbow of colors. After he fiddled for a while, it 
set itself on an image that only jumped occasionally. The sound was slightly 
garbled, but understandable.

"See?" he said, "The news. If I get some time, I can probably make the reception 
better but it should work fine for now."

Ayako waved at him to quiet down. "There's a story about the battle!" she 
exclaimed.

"Indeed," Kenji agreed, sounding surprised. "That's the Agamemnon."

"For unknown reasons, the fleet command ship Agamemnon retreated from a battle 
against a band of asteroid pirates," the disembodied newsman said. The screen 
showed a different perspective of the battle than they had seen, one much closer 
to the center of action.

"A number of smaller pirate ships pursued the Agamemnon as it moved away from 
battle, but did not do any significant damage from what was determined." The 
camera angle shifted, showing the aft of the battleship as the delta-darts and 
gunships had swarmed around it.

"However, when a friendly ship was seen approaching the Agamemnon, the pirates 
fled. It is here that the story takes a disturbing turn. After the two ships had 
passed close to each other, the Agamemnon was ripped apart by explosions." The 
camera shot, obviously from a far distance by the lack of detail showed the 
Agamemnon as the explosion tore the ship to pieces.

"It has been determined that foul play was at work. The captain of the Gospel 
and two fighter pilots seen in the vicinity are thought to be at the heart of 
this crime."

Ayako's blood went cold. "What are they saying?" she squeaked.

"The captain of the Gospel is one Kenji Aino." A picture of Kenji popped up on 
screen. It was a stoic, military picture; one that didn't show off the sardonic 
grin of the starship captain. Ayako looked from the screen to the man and saw 
his face turn white. Sweat beaded on the man's brow.

The next words sent a shiver of fear though Ayako. "The two pilots are believed 
to be from the carrier Javier. They have not been identified, but it is believed 
that they are one male and female."

Ayako looked back at the screen as the image of Kenji was replaced by a calm-
faced announcer. "These individuals are to be considered dangerous. Any 
information as to their whereabouts should be reported to Fleet authorities." 
The man paused and looked directly at the camera. "However, due to the nature of 
their current location, a bounty has been placed on their heads. If taken alive, 
Fleet Command is willing to pay for them."

"Shit," Jacob cursed. A commercial came on, and he stabbed a finger down, 
killing the connection.

"What do we do?" Ayako asked. She couldn't keep a waver out of her voice. "How 
can they believe that?"

Kenji just stared at the screen. 

Jacob's lips were pressed together in a thin line of determination. "We can't 
stay here," he said standing up. "We have to leave, now. I'll go get Nadia."

"Wait," Kenji said. Jacob and Ayako looked at him. The white pallor had faded 
from his face. He swallowed. "I should get her. It's my duty." He looked at 
them, then reinforced, "I'll get her."

A flat look crossed Jacob's face. "No, you won't. You're the captain, and you'll 
stay here." He looked at Ayako. "Make sure he doesn't leave, 'Yako. I'll be back 
ay-sap."

Ayako looked over at him, her face questioning and concerned. Kenji raised an 
eyebrow at her and she shook her head, her face still worried.

* * * * *

Jacob tried to keep to an even, normal stride as he walked down the main street, 
but somehow he could not stop his shoulders from hunching defensively and his 
eyes from darting into every shadowy corner. His right hand crept to his blaster 
before he consciously forced it back to his side. A few of the miners lounging 
in doorways stood as he passed, hands shifting casually 
towards their belts. Jacob tried not to notice. He also tried to ignore the fact 
that he was moving faster than a calm, collected, nothing-is-going-on-here 
person really should be. A jolt of relief shot through him as he spotted another 
gray figure ahead of him. She was coming towards him at her usual controlled 
pace, and he found himself speeding up even more so he could get to her faster.

"We have to get back to the ship," he muttered as soon as they were close 
enough.

Nadia nodded. "The fuel should be in the tanks by now," she said crisply and 
fell in beside him as they began to make their way back to the ship.

Jacob was forced to keep to her pace. "Can't go a little faster?" he muttered, 
keeping a watchful eye on a bar that pronounced itself 'BEER FOR BOUNTY!'

"No," Nadia said briefly. That seemed to be it. If he told her what was wrong 
she'd move fast enough, Jacob through resentfully. But he wasn't fool enough to 
tell her in a public street, where anyone in the surrounding buildings with a 
halfway decent amplifier/radar on their com unit could pick up their 
conversation clearly. 

He breathed a sigh of relief as they passed the last of the run-down buildings 
and turned off into the corridor leading to the docking bay and Nadia speeded up 
a bit at last, lengthening her stride so that she was moving a lot faster than 
appeared to be the case. Jacob itched to break into a run.

"Report," she said under her breath.

"We were watch-" Jacob began, but cut off abruptly as two men stepped out of an 
alcove in front of them, blasters already trained at the two. Jacob felt his 
heart sink. The two were obviously professionals - probably bounty hunters.

"That was almost too easy," one of them whistled, an eye-patch strapped around 
his face. "Sure they don't have friends backing them up, Kaz?"

The taller, bearded man shrugged. "You know as much as I do, Sep," he said 
evenly. "Three of them. This must be the two fighter pilots. One of them's a 
chick, right?"

Sep chuckled, his eyes moving up and down Nadia in appreciation. "She sure is," 
he grinned. "Sure we can't play around a little?"

Kaz shot him an annoyed look, blaster still perfectly level. "We got no time for 
games," he grunted. "Okay, here's what's gonna happen. You two are going to 
unhook your blasters, one at a time, and throw them over to us, and then we're 
going to have a little talk to your friend in the ship and you're going to 
convince him to let us in." He gestured at his blaster with his free hand. "No 
playing around," he warned them. "You're wanted alive, but I reckon I only need 
one of you, in a pinch. Just make sure it's you, right?" He smiled sardonically 
at Jacob. "Gentlemen first," he said mockingly. "And keep your hands where I can 
see 'em."

Jacob glanced at Nadia, who nodded silently. He noticed how oddly relaxed she 
was. Ready to fight, he realized, and quickly smoothed out his face, attempting 
to settle his heartbeat. Nadia's skills were legendary, and he was of more than 
average use in a fair fight, but what chance did they have against two armed 
mercenaries? He cautiously unbuckled his blaster holster and held it out to the 
men, moving as slowly as he could.

"Throw it down there," Kaz nodded, motioning to the floor with his free hand. 
Jacob did as he was told, wincing at the sharp clank as it hit the ground. "Now 
you, miss," the black-bearded man added, his eyes still on Jacob.

To Jacob, it seemed Nadia was moving at glacial speeds as she unbuckled the 
holster, but Sep nodded approvingly. "Good girl," he leered, and took a step 
forward, blaster pointed firmly at her. "Now you just give that to Uncle Sep..."

As with her attack on Kenji, Nadia moved in a blur as she kicked high, the heel 
of her foot knocking Sep's blaster out of his hand and well down the corridor. 
Jacob had no time to marvel at her speed though. Kaz had already recovered from 
the surprise attack and was bringing his own blaster to bear on the woman, who 
dispatched Sep with a sharp blow to the temple. Jacob desperately lunged across 
the intervening space and crashed into the heavier man, pulling them both to the 
floor. He stubbornly wrapped his hands around the blaster barrel and pushed it 
up -- a burst of laser fire scorched the corridor ceiling --and brought his knee 
up into the man's stomach. Kaz barely even flinched at the impact and took a 
swipe at the back of Jacob's head with his free hand. Lacking in leverage as it 
was, the blow was enough to make Jacob see stars, and he reflexively loosened 
his grip on the blaster. Kaz grinned fiercely and shoved hard, sending Jacob 
backwards. The mercenary brought his blaster to bear on the downed fighter - and 
was abruptly pinned to the floor by what appeared to Jacob's dazed eyes to be a 
large gray cat. Nadia brought the heel of her hand back sharply, hissing 
slightly in concentration and Jacob blinked as he realized her intention.

"No!" he shouted, putting as much volume into his voice as he could. "Nadia, 
no!"

The woman's hand shot through the air, bringing certain death with it. Jacob 
winced, waiting for the unpleasant crunch of bone being sharply introduced to 
brain. It didn't come. Instead Nadia tapped two spots under the man's chin, 
sending him into a deep sleep. She rolled to her feet.

"Why should I not have killed him?" she asked. "They intended to murder us."

"I'll explain later," Jacob said desperately, climbing awkwardly to his feet. 
"Let's just get back, before the word gets out."

"We should notify the authorities," Nadia stated, settling into an easy jog 
beside him.

"Oh God, no," Jacob groaned, running even faster. "I'll explain that too."

Nadia raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" she asked. There was a slight pause, punctuated 
only by Jacob's pants. "Good work, Jacob," she added.

Jacob blinked, his stride thrown off for a second. "Uh, thank you... Nadia. You 
did all the work though."

Nadia shook her head as they entered the docking bay. "If you had not acted as 
you did, we would both be dead. I shall report it."

Jacob opened the station airlock and led her into the tube to the Gospel's lock. 
"Um, thank you," he said again. Nadia followed close behind him, her hand-over-
hand movements on the handholds an almost perfect match for his own. A flash of 
movement outside caught his eye.

A person in a space-suit pushed away from the station and floated towards the 
tube. "Move, Nadia," he urged, speeding up his pace. "Unfriendly people 
outside."

She paused a brief moment to look, but entered the airlock just behind him. A 
couple of harmless-sounding taps rang out as he cycled the lock closed behind 
them. Just as the aperture was sliding shut, a dull whump sounded and the air 
began to rush away as the tube exploded from the shots.

Jacob grabbed Nadia to hold her in place as the lock finished closing. He forced 
himself to stay calm and ignore the rapidly decreasing atmospheric pressure. It 
was only a few seconds, but to him it felt like forever.

It finished however, and the inner door opened, granting access to the ship. For 
a few moments the pair waited to catch their breaths, then they headed up to the 
bridge.

"What's going on?" Nadia asked.

"Bad things, let's get to the bridge first," Jacob narrowed his eyes in 
determination, waiting for the familiar shudder of the engines to signify 
movement.

They burst onto the bridge. Jacob had been expecting a flurry of movement on it, 
so seeing Kenji sitting calmly in the captain's chair, and Ayako at the helm but 
not doing anything was slightly surprising.

"Why haven't we moved?" Jacob asked.

"Waiting for them to finish the refuel. Are those supplies coming in?"

"I do not think so, Captain," Nadia answered. "Jacob and I were attacked. He 
prevented me from killing the criminals, however."

"They're onto us already," Jacob added. "We've got to go. Now."

Kenji blinked slowly. "They can hardly get inside, and don't have any ships in 
the area which could truly harm the Gospel."

Jacob stared at the man, wondering how he could stay so calm and low key about 
their predicament. "I'm not comfortable with that, you know."

"Captain, what is happened?"

"Jacob, Ayako, and myself have been accused of destroying the Agamemnon. You 
haven't been, but if someone identified you..." Kenji trailed off.

For a moment, Nadia did not say anything. She merely stared at Kenji. Jacob 
assumed that she was digesting some thoughts beneath that mask of non-emotion.

"I see why you stopped me from killing them. We should report to Fleet command, 
so you can turn yourselves in" she said finally. "My report will remove all 
accusations from you."

Ayako nodded. "The fleet is just. They'll go with what's best."  She nodded 
confidently. "We can trust them to do what's right and punish the real 
criminals." She looked around. "Right?"

"No, I don't think so," Kenji answered. His jaw tightened. "It's my name and 
neck up there."

"But it's Fleet!" Ayako insisted. "They have to see what's right."

Jacob's jaw dropped. He looked at the two women and then at Kenji to see the 
other man's expression matched his own. "Are you crazy?" he asked. "We've just 
been framed or something, and you want us to just walk in there and give 
ourselves up?"

"We should, perhaps, find out more if we can, then decide if going to Fleet is a 
good idea," Kenchi agreed. "Especially if you've now been blamed with us, 
Nadia."

"My report has always been regarded as fair and accurate. It will absolve any 
guilt."

"I'm not willing to trust that report. And I'm the Captain, so it's my call, 
right?"

Nadia regarded Kenji coolly. "I am able to force the issue, if need be."

"Hold it!" Jacob stepped between the pair. "We can't sit here and argue it out. 
Nadia, if we all decide it's the best course of action, we can go to Fleet then. 
For now, let's just consider the whole situation as best we can."

"I see," she replied. "Very well, then. I will accept your course of action... 
Jacob. I will extend my report to cover these circumstances, and ask that it be 
handed in at what seems to be the first safe opportunity." Jacob noticed her 
eyes were on him, not Kenji, and he shifted uncomfortably.

"Good," Kenji looked at the other woman. "Ayako?"

"What?" A startled expression crossed her face.

"What do you think?"

The young fighter pilot faltered. "Um, me?" She looked at Nadia uncertainly, 
then turned to Jacob "Well, if you think it's a good idea.... I guess that's 
what we should do."

"We're cool then." Jacob let out a breath he forgot he had held in.

Kenji looked down at his chair's displays. "Fuel's done. Now we just have to 
wait for them to detach."

Jacob went over to the sensor station. "Can you leave even if they don't?"

"Yes. Why? We might take some damage from their holding brackets."

"Fighters are scrambling from the station, and we should get out of here, soon."

"They probably will not detach the hoses, if they wish to keep us here." Nadia 
sat down at the weapons station.

"Very well. Ayako, get us out of here."

In response, Ayako powered up the engines and pushed the Gospel away from the 
asteroid station. The ship shuddered as holding brackets tried to keep its mass 
in place and snapped under the strain.

As it slowly pulled away from the station, a rag-tag bunch of fighters swarmed 
around the Gospel. Their shots were sporadic and inaccurate. Jacob judged them 
to be produced mostly by enthusiasm and bloodlust than actual skill.

With calm efficiency, Nadia targeted and destroyed the fighters.  Three of them 
burst into fireballs before the rest backed off and let the carrier make its 
escape.

Jacob looked at the other three. His partners in innocence, he supposed. They 
just needed to prove it.

-End Log One-

Notes:
We'd like to thank our Pre-readers: Kristen Smirnov, Ravi and Lady Brick, for 
reading through this and offering much needed comments as it came down to the 
wire.

We'd also like to thank each other, for keeping at it and surviving when outside 
problems distracted us. This surely wouldn't have worked had we been working 
alone.

Phoebe (keh@student.canterbury.ac.nz)
Damien Phoenix (damienroc@sandwich.net)