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The Wolf Hunters

Episode

8

Confrontation!

By

Lutrian

ver. 3.00

"Ah," he stuttered. "....I, my name is Daryl...Daryl Kasemsarn."

"I'm Arthur Harrison, helmsman and navigator to the ship, Sabre of Justice."

"Ah, your ship's name sounds a bit like....an anglicized Zephenidian ship name." observed Daryl.

"Yeah, and you'll love her..."

"....My parents," Daryl sighed. "They kept pushing me. I know I wouldn't cut it in the military, but I thought I needed the life experiences. Signing up for the Wolf Hunters, instead? Maybe that was a bad idea."

"Daryl," I tried to make eye contact, but Daryl always flinched, and looked away. "I'm going to be taking the Blade of Truth out for a couple of days, to K'narys III. I'd love to teach you how to fly her. There's a small but sizable Lutrian presence in the main settlement, who love showing Humans a good time. I think participating in a t'chema would do you a lot of good."

"Ah...." Daryl stammered. "I, ah, I don't know. I don't think that would be my thing."

"Daryl, you're gonna shit neutronium pellets if you don't loosen up. You can't spend all your free time couped up in your quarters all day. You're just plain difficult. Come on. This would be good for you...."

"....Art, Daryl is dead, or soon will be." Captain Benson's face looked grave. "This isn't going to be a rescue, this is going to be a corpse retrieval...."

....For a moment, I wasn't sure of this creature's species. It looked like a Zephenidian, though it had a thick mane of flowing hair fur, half way down its back, and a tail, which made the creature look particularly striking. It brandished the pistol, as the stood in the corridor of the Blade of Truth. The fact that the creature wore a translator headband around its head struck me as very strange.

I held my hands up, palms out. "Please state your demands!"

Carl sat in the other seat, frantically trying to raise the _Sabre of Justice. "_We have a hostage situation here! I repeat, we have a hostage situation!"

The creature whimpered, then softly spoke, "Bring me aboard your vessel." He lowered his gun, slightly. "My mate. My mate is on your ship. Let me..." he trailed off.

"Mate?" I was confused. "We have no other Zephenidians aboard...."

"....You reminded me of him." Daryl said, softly. "You both have that same little, ah, I don't know, ah, longish face, like, ah, weaselly, ah, ish."

I laughed. "Ah, Weaselly, huh?"

"Ah, ah," he seemed a bit defensive. "Ah, not in a bad way, per se...."

Oh Daryl. So awkward. So timid. So shy. You have friends, friends who love you. Just don't forget that...

* * * *

Stretching under the sheets, I listened to the rustle of bodies in the other bed, as Daryl and Jurrukush were obviously having a fun morning. The room was dim, with the occasional flicker and flash of green and violet light from the viewport. Jurrulush's feral features were very evident, his large pointed ears, his muzzle, his mottled gray fur, with his thick head-mane, and his large fluffy tail. He was like the werewolf of the old movies, and even older legends. However, none of those old films came close to the feral majesty of Jurrukush, as he held Daryl close, and shared a long passionate open-mouthed kiss with him.

The door chime beeped. Knowing it was Carl, I struggled to my feet, and pressed the button, to unlock the door. It slid open. Standing as to block the direct view of Daryl and Jurrukush's play session, I said, "Good morning. Hope you slept well."

"As well as can be expected." Carl was dressed in his uniform. "I've already checked the scanners. The cats are still traveling at 5000c. Everything is still green on our end, no microfractures in the hyperdrive, and we're maintaining velocity and heading."

"Good." I nodded. "I guess we keep monitoring, maybe check in with the_Sabre_. I'm just going to relax on the bed for a little while and watch the show."

Carl slowly backed away from the doorway. "Ah, okay, not my thing." He waved. "Ah, carry on, guys." Carl walked towards the cockpit, and the door slid closed.

I returned to the bed, and watched Daryl squirm under Jurrukush's attention. Daryl was whining like a puppy, quivering uncontrollably, as Jurrukush frantically licked his nipples. It was refreshing to see Daryl enjoying himself despite the stress of the past day.

* * * *

"Where's Jurrukush?" asked Carl. Carl sat at the right seat while Daryl monitored the Motrician vessel from the other chair. I stood behind Daryl, glancing over his shoulder as he worked.

"I guess he's still abusing the shower," I chuckled.

Daryl appeared to be trying to hide his face by focusing on his work.

Carl sighed. "Ah, okay, I don't want to know. I dread the poor guy who's going to have to clean the filters of the water recyc. Probably be enough in there to make a couple of sweaters."

The day wore on. There was the occasional joke, but the mood remained mostly somber and serious. Tomorrow was definitely not going to be a fun day. But we had to prepare.

"Starflare type 4 torpedoes," Daryl was checking a screen on his console, which displayed the Blade's weapon loadout. "Our stock is twelve. Would these really do anything?"

"Not really," I shook my head. "Maybe if one of their shields are down, or otherwise compromised, maybe."

"Twin forward light plasma cannons?"

"The_Blade of Truth_ was not meant to be taken into combat," I explained. "I've fought pirates in her--pirates that fly junk armed with the equivalent of pea shooters. I've mostly used this ship for evac, and search and rescue type operations, maybe the occasional short-range pleasure trip. She wasn't made for combat." I sighed. "We need a sound plan. One advantage that we do have, some of their crew are poorly trained, and they lost a lot of them from being stupid."

"So, we are going to f-fight them?" stammered Daryl

I turned back towards Daryl and tried to reassure him. "Your and Jurrukush's safety is more important than my own. I will do whatever it takes to get you and Jurr out of harms way. I'll drop you two off at the planet, or on the Sabre. God fucking dammit, this shit is getting personal."

"Helping that scumbag was a huge fucking mistake. We should have brought the_Sabre_ to Oubliette, against his wishes, and told Jerrard to fuck himself."

"I know." Thinking of the mission, it did provide many clues as to what had set up the Motricians, but other than that, it was just a dangerous diversion. "It can't be helped now. I'm sorry."

Daryl turned away, to stare at his screen for a moment. "Ah, the cats are going to either blow up the Sabre, or blow up the planetary defense platform with their last BSM, ah, BSM..." He paused for a moment. "Ah, I looked over, researched. They're using the BSM type One or Two, from what readings we got, nothing too special with regards to-"

I countered, "They're fucking borderspatial missiles, for fuck sakes. Borderspatial kinetic nukes."

"Yeah." Daryl pulled up some schematics. "But they're using the typical black market shit. To be most effective, the missiles have to exit borderspace inside the target, but these missiles lack an on-board timing fuse. They have to be dropped to realspace by remote. Computer and relativistic lag, means that if you give it a shallow target, the missile may just go through one side and out the other. Still would do a lot of damage, likely crippling the ship, but casualties would be minimal... I hope."

"Daryl, I, ah, I've been two busy the past couple of weeks to think straight. But, let's see. If the captain orients the Sabre so that the dorsal or ventral side faces the cats, the cats would likely just punch a hole in the ship, rather than exploding it. Hell, the cats might simply opt not to use the BSM, or target something else, instead." I glanced over at a display on Daryl's console, and watched a wireframe schematic of two ships, one firing a line at another, which was oriented so its dorsal side, was facing the attacking ship. The missile passed perpendicularly through the target, flowering into a red circle some distance below the vessel. "Daryl, send that to the Captain. Send it with Bosch Tazi datastream encryption. I hope the cats haven't cracked that, yet."

"Aye," nodded Daryl, as he began working the console.

"You might have saved our ship. Thank you for taking the initiative in this."

Daryl turned towards me, and cracked a slight smile. "Ah, you're welcome, but I know we're not out of the woods yet. I won't feel completely safe until I'm on Laeness IV, sipping a girlie drink while watching the waves, and wondering if I should have joined you in some big otter orgy." He chuckled nervously.

"But you have Jurrukush." I reminded him.

"I'd tell Jurrukush to join you guys, and be too scared to ah." Daryl lowered his head.

I definitely wanted to have a talk with Jurrukush. If we survived, I wasn't going to let Daryl deny himself a good time, like he had always done in the past. "Daryl, I'm not going to let you get away with that shit. If we survive this, I want you to trust me, trust Jurrukush, and trust an entire room-sized bed full of writhing, chortling otter-aliens who want nothing more than to lick every inch of your body, until your nuts explode."

"Ah...." Daryl stammered again, as his face turned a bright red. He looked back down at the console, apparently to hide his blush. "I, I turn 23 in a couple of days. Will I make it to my birthday? On my birthday, we'll either be dead, or on our way home." He gave a forced giggle.

"You're going to have your birthday, I promise." I tried to assure him. "One way or another."

* * * *

Reassuring everyone that they're going to survive this, was easier said, then done. The mood did feel like we were heading to our own funerals, which made Daryl very sullen, and quiet. Eventually, Carl suggested that we gather in the tiny galley just past my quarters.

There was barely room for a small table, with four chairs bolted to the deck. A freezer and a stove, with a slot, rather than a door, occupied the far wall. I sat at the table, with the door behind me, with Jurrukush seated to my right, and Daryl to my left. On the table in front of me, was a ten inch rectangular touchscreen pad, with a schematic of the bridge console. The device was similar to a MoPad, but was designed to be interfaced to a ship's systems as a remote console. I glanced at the device, zooming in at one of the displays to check our current navigation data, before sliding the device to the left corner of the table.

Carl sat across from me. He was slowly turning a small metal disk in his hand, before removing a tiny glass thimble from the bottom, filled with a fine grayish-green powder.

"What strain?" I asked, as I watched Carl feed the small glass thimble into a black tube, which was slightly longer and about the same thickness as a thumb. A red light began to flash on its side.

Carl held the device in his hand, as the red light blinked faster. "Ak'tae Lemon, I think. It's a Sativa variant. Should help elevate the mood around here." The blinking stopped, as the light turned green. "It's ready."

I reached over, and took the small, device. It was slightly heavy for its size, and warn to the touch, with a clear tube on one end. I placed the tube in my mouth, and inhaled the rich lemon-pine flavored vapor. The device began beeping rapidly."

"You're pulling too hard, slow down a bit."

I relaxed and continued a slow draw as the beeping subsided. I handed it to Carl, and held the vapor in for a few moments, than let it out with a sigh, as I watched Carl take a slow hit off of it, before handing it to Daryl.

Daryl held the vaporizer like he feared that it might jump out and bite him. "Ah, I've not done weed before."

"Just relax." I encouraged. I was beginning to feel a light fuzzy feeling in my arms. "Just try it. If you're afraid of it, just take a little, like half a hit, and see how you feel."

"Ah?" Daryl was still very reluctant, as he looked down the mouthpiece, before cautiously placing the end into his mouth. He inhaled slowly, then withdrew the mouthpiece. Daryl held it in for a moment, then released it in a sputtering cough. "Ah, actually tasted kinda nice." Daryl handed the vape to Jurrukush.

Carl winced, noticeably. "Ah, I'm not sure, ah--"

"I know Lutrians use this stuff, hell they have some of their own strains, nowadays." I explained. "I'm sure it's just as safe for Zephs."

"It's not that," Carl explained. "It's.... It's, I don't know if I want his ah, slobber all over my vape."

I laughed. "His mouth is cleaner than yours, and I know that for a fact. You and your chronic halitosis."

Carl still seemed a bit squeamish, as Jurrukush held the device. "Ah, Zephenidian, try not to bite the glass, just put it in your mouth and inhale slowly, and please don't get it slimy."

Jurrukish sniffed at the mouthpiece, then he put the tube in his mouth, and slowly inhaled. Once he finished, he handed it back to Carl, and held it for a moment, than released the breath. "It's a lot like something my old crew would obtain from time to time. We called it 'herb stash.' We'd find it on some of the chuthnu vessels we raided. We'd burn it in a pipe, but it seems similar." Suddenly his ears drew back, then he lowered his head. "It is the same stuff, isn't it?"

The subject was getting rather uncomfortable. "Jur, that's all in the past. Let's relax, and let the marijuana do its job.

"So many manes," Jurrukush mused aloud, the translator he wore around his head was apparently picking up on a lot of the subtle nuances of the conversation. "I wish I had joined some of these _chuthnu_over a pipe of herb stash. Instead, we looted it as a valuable, after we..." He growled, then whined.

"Calm down, friend," I said, as I put a hand on the Zephenidian's muscular shoulder. "It's all right. Just relax. Everything will be fine."

* * * *

Though we all went to bed fairly early, it was obvious that no one was sleeping very well. I watched as Daryl squirmed, while Jurrukush held him tightly in his arms, trying to reassure him. Sleep would not come easily for me, either. I focused on the play of lights and shadows from the viewport, as we continued to our destiny. The night continued to stretch on. I needed to sleep, everyone needed to sleep, for tomorrow promised to be the most harrowing day of my life. It would likely be the most harrowing day of all of our lives.

A furred hand grasped my arm, and another hand rested on my chest. Jurrukush's mane brushed against my face, as he brought his mouth to my ear. This was unnecessary due to his Mindlink translator, but old habits still stuck. "Art." he said my name as well as he could with his lupine muzzle. "I remember when Arr-Al was on my transfer pad, trying to brandish a wrecked gun. It haunts me. It haunts me that I could have killed him."

I sighed. "Jurr, you didn't know better. It's all in the past."

"I know, but it still hurts me." The Zephenidian licked my cheek. "I want you to make me a promise."

I turned my head to face him, and our gazes locked. "What do you need me to promise?"

"If you had to make the hard choice. If you had to choose one of us to save. Save Arr-Al. Do you promise. Will you make that promise to me?"

I realized I had a tear rolling down the bridge of my nose. "I will save you both, I promise."

"But, if you had to save only one of us," Jurrukush insisted. "If you had to save just one. Please, don't let anything happen to Arr-Al. Promise me, this? Promise me?"

I sighed again, than sniffled at more tears. This was really tough. I had to give Jurrukush the answer that he wanted, but I never wanted to be in such a predicament. I didn't want to think about such a scenario, but Jurrukush was being insistent. "Okay, I promise. I will save Daryl, if I'm forced to choose." I still didn't want to think of such a scenario, but maybe this was necessary.

"And Art," Jurrukush nibbled my earlobe. "If that did happen, please take care of him."

"I will." I laid back on my pillow, as Jurrukush reached down and nibbled my lips.

"Thank you." said the Zephenidian. "Thank you."

The rest of the night was me laying awake, hoping for sleep to come, and listening to Daryl tossing in the other bed. Jurrukush spent the night moving back and forth between me and Daryl, comforting and pleasuring us both.

* * * *

The next day, the mood was very tense, and the silence seemed almost deafening at times. Carl eventually offered another session with his vaporizer, but I didn't feel it was a good idea. We'd be rendezvousing with the Sabre of Justice in the late afternoon, or early evening, and I knew we needed to be focused more than ever.

With less than an hour to go, we were all crammed into the cockpit. I sat in the left seat to handle navigation, while Carl sat to my right. Daryl stood behind me, with Jurrukush at his side. The atmosphere was growing even more tense, as I checked the long range sensors. "They got a good half-hour on us. They'll be entering the system in about twenty-five to thirty minutes." I turned to Carl. "Open a secure channel to the Sabre of Justice. Bosch Tazi Comstream encryption."

"Aye." Carl worked the console.

Within a moment, Captain Benson's gravelly voice burst from the comm. "Sabre of Justice here."

I turned towards the comm and spoke, "Art here." I checked my display again, plotting the Motrician vessel's course. As the vessel drew closer, its destination became more clear. The ship was heading towards the moon that the Sabre was currently orbiting. "They're heading straight for you. By the time they engage you, we may still be 20 minutes out. Remember, orient the ship to present its dorsal surface to them."

"Aye," said the captain. "I still don't like this. If they hit us with a BSM, even if your plan works, there still won't be much left of us. I'm going to bring us closer to the defense platform, which I hope, will dissuade them."

"Just stay far enough away, in case they nuke the platform. We'll rendezvous with you there," I said.

"If," the captain seemed to be fighting for his composure. "If, if they take out the platform, we're. Shit, we should get out of here. I'm going to take her into the Ashara Tarr to pick you up. We'll--"

"Bad idea!" I countered. "You don't have me at the helm, and the way the ship's hyperdrive has been working, shit! And if the cats pursue, their wake might throw either of our ships too deep into the anomaly and poof!"

"Okay, ah, okay," said the Captain. "If they take out the platform, I'm going to take the Sabre to the planet. I'm willing to take her in, maybe shake them off in the clouds, at least buy some time."

"I don't like this." I sighed. "I'm hoping, if they detect Jurrukush on board, they may pursue us, instead. The Blade is far more capable in an atmosphere."

Daryl gasped. "You're going to use Jurrukush as bait?"

I turned around in my seat. "We may be fucked. I'll try to get you both to safety. I just need a plan, a way to stop them."

Daryl sniffled slightly. "You talk like you don't intend to survive."

"Trust me, I won't let myself die, but you and Jurrukush are top priority. Carl as well. I'll get you guys home, then I plan to keep the cats distracted, until we can all get out of the system."

Carl turned to me. "You're not planning on fighting the cats, yourself, in this crate?"

"I'm not." The very idea of somehow destroying them with this ship had a certain appeal to me, though. Looking back at my display, I watched as the felines' wake was bearing on the star system. They were now minutes from the system, with the Blade of Truth a good twenty-five minutes or so behind. "The captain needs to buy time, or needs some kind of distraction, or diversion. Dammit!"

Captain Benson shouted, "They're entering the system, now. Borderspatial streak at point nine c, point eight, point seven. They're closing fast."

I gripped the sides of my seat, since there were no proper armrests, and felt the tension in my hands. "We might not have a ship by the-" I tried to put this thought out of my mind.

The minutes ticked on. Soon, the captain shouted, "They've dropped into realspace. Beginning maneuver. Bringing our topside to bear against them. Raising shields. Arming weapons, but will not attempt to lock weapons, unless they display hostile intent."

"Are they closing on you?" I said urgently. "Have they armed their BSM?"

"They're arming it now! Oh fuck!" After a moment of silence, the captain yelled, "They've gone past us! They're targeting the platform! The platform is firing heavy plasma cannons at the Motrician vessel. The cats fired! The cats have fired! Oh my god!"

"How many?" I cried out. "How many were on the platform?"

The com was silent for several moments. The captain's voice returned, softly and somewhat shaken. "We're taking her to the planet."

"How many people!" I shouted.

"At least fifteen on the platform itself. The dockyard facilities, maybe thirty more. Two freighters, five to ten crew apiece. Two tugs, 2 apiece, ah."

"I get the message! They need to die. The fuckers need to fucking die!" I was shaking. Glancing at my screen, I noticed the Sabre of justice was now in borderspace, heading to the gas giant. The Motrician vessel flashed on my display, as it also entered borderspace, in pursuit. Turning to Carl, I yelled, "If the coms is still open, Benson, jump to hyperspace. You're not going to win against them. Jump to hyperspace."

There was a burst of static. "We, we can't. That hyperspatial disruption weapon they used on us earlier, they're--" There was a burst of noise, like some kind of crash or collision. "-They're using it on us. We're not going to be able to jump. Hyperdrive is losing power. Low orbit around the gas giant. We have to engage them as best as we can."

I adjusted the course to rendezvous with the Sabre, and checked the current ETA. "Nine or ten minutes. Captain, hold on for about ten, fifteen minutes. We're coming in. Be defensive. Try to tell them that we have Jurrukush. They may think Nakhara is Jurrukush on their scanners."

There was another burst of noise from the com. "We're dropping out of borderspace about two-hundred miles above the planet's cloud deck." Another burst of noise, much quieter this time. "We're out, bringing us down towards the planet. They just exited borderspace. They are engaging! They are engaging! Benson out!"

Daryl was screaming. "Fuck no!! No!! Do something!"

I turned to Daryl, who was shaking where he stood. Jurrukush was holding him close to his body, trying to comfort him. "I'm going to do what I can. We're going to save them."

Carl turned to me, and nodded. "You do know, Daryl is a bit better than me when it comes to the weapons."

"But you're more familiar with the console." I countered. "Daryl has only really trained on the Sabre. Dammit!"

Daryl glanced at me, then Carl. "Ah, I want to do it. Let me?"

"Okay. Carl will help you if needed."

Carl rose from his seat, and Daryl slipped past, and sat down. "Ah, light plasma cannons, twelve crappy torpedoes, ah, one shield that has to be kept in position. We can't afford to get hit, even once." Daryl sighed.

"Just keep in mind, all of you. I will get you guys to the _Sabre_before doing anything rash." Glancing at my display, I watched the minutes tick down. Everyone grew quiet as I waited. "Dropping from hyperspace, now!" I pressed a button near the throttle. The ship shuddered as the screen flashed. Stars, along with a huge yellowish blue-gray sphere, loomed into view. Though the planet was a gas giant, it lacked the typical cloud bands, due to it being tidally locked with the star. The clouds mostly swept out from an immense hurricane-like storm on the middle of the daylit side of the planet, and swept in a chaotic broil towards the planet's night side. The planet continued to grow on the viewport, as wisps of green and blue, swept by. Within moments, a faint ring system could be seen, surrounding the planet's equator, glinting intermittently in the pale sunlight. "Beginning orbital insertion and approach, now." The limb of the planet began to slowly straighten, as I gently rolled the ship so that the planet was underneath us. Gray-yellow clouds loomed below us. Far in the distance, I knew that two ships would be locked in desperate combat. The minutes ticked on, as we closed in on the battle. "Exiting borderspace on 5, 4, 3, 2, and one!" I pressed a button, and the ship lurched one final time.

Ahead, was a pair of bright specks flaring and flashing, as they moved in their deadly dance. Daryl glanced at some of his displays, and cried, "No! No!"

"They're not destroyed," I tried to assure Daryl, as I fired up the ship's sublight engines.

"The_Sabre_ is heavily damaged. The bridge! I think they lost the bridge. No!"

The specks began to resolve themselves into two vessels, both somewhat similar in appearance, though the Sabre was slightly smaller. I adjusted course to bring the Blade of Truth past the Sabre, as another flare-like plasma torpedo tore into the Sabre's aft compartment.

"Trans Con is destroyed!" yelled Daryl. "What do we do, what do we do!"

"Plasma cannons," I urged. "Save torpedoes for non-shield hits, or for a desperate salvo. Dammit! Try to hail the Sabre, and shit, try to hail the cats as well."

Daryl frantically worked the console. "Blade of Truth to Sabre of Justice! Blade of Truth to Sabre of Justice! They're fucking dead."

"Calm down!" I urged. "Try the cats. Try to let them know that we have Jurrukush. Request a visual."

"What the fuck, then we'll be next!" cried Daryl.

"We go to the Planet. We'll do a lot better in the clouds than they will. Do it!"

"Blade of Truth to Motrician vessel. We request--"

A loud snarling hiss burst from the speaker, as a small window appeared on the viewport, displaying the heavily adorned feline. "I am Captain Izsharrr of the Kyrrrandarr's Claw. Do you wish to discuss the terms of your surrender and, shall we say, liquidation,chuthnu apes!"

Daryl screamed while flipping her his middle finger. "We have your fucking wolf, cunt! Come and get him!"

"So you disrespect me, apes!" she snarled. "But you have what I want. Surrender, or you'll die a lot harder. Comply you Ikhnar Charlg ****."

I gunned the engine and dropped the ship's nose straight down towards the gas giant. The limb of the planet disappeared off the top of the screen. Blue-gray, highlighted by rich yellow sunlight, filled the viewport with a stormy sky scape, like something out of an oil painting. Peering at my scanner display, what I dreaded, as well as hoped for, was evident. They were disengaging from the Sabre of Justice. "Daryl, cut coms to the Animalkind wannabes, and try to hail the Sabre. Hopefully they got to the emergency bridge, down on the engineering deck."

"Aye!!" Daryl went to work, attempting to raise the Sabre of Justice.

I turned to Carl, who stood behind me, as I thought about a horrible idea. "Ah, do you know how to cause a hyperspatial inversion?"

Carl gasped. "What the fuck? Why would you want to--"

"To kill the cats, to kill the fucking cunts," I said, as I was beginning to shake.

"That would kill us all, that's insan--"

"I'd get you guys to the Sabre, first, somehow." I thought the plan was stupid, but I had to do this. "Look, I would only do this, once everyone else is safe. I'd get you guys to the Sabre, then detonate the hyperdrive. I'm gonna blow the universe a new temporary asshole, and hopefully shove the cats up it."

"You'd die!" yelled Carl. "It's not worth--"

"I'd try to get myself transported, either before or after the drive blows. I plan to eject it, if possible, turn it into a missile."

"I, ah, I don't know. Sam might be able to tell you. But I must remind you, from what I know about that kind of stuff, once it goes off, transporters will become useless, until the inversion collapses. That would complicate any rescue."

"I know, but this shit has to end. Our ship is crippled. We got--"

A burst of static, then a female's voice burst from the Comm. "This is Karen. I think we're on a secured channel. We're losing her."

"What's going on!" I yelled at Daryl's console.

"We've got a cascade system failure. We're losing everything, here. Computer is offline, the hyperdrive is venting, we're a mess. Captain Benson is in the infirmary, severely injured. Nakhara got loose. Nakhara, ah she.... she got us out of the bridge, when it was breached. I don't know if she's still alive. She was trapped, but she got us all out. I owe her, several of us owe her our lives."

Nakhara taking matters into her own hands, becoming the hero? I almost wanted to cry, but there was no time. "Is Sam available. I need you to patch me through, if you can."

Karen said, "I'll try."

After a few moments, Sam's slight Irish accent burst from the speaker. "If you hadn't drawn those fuckers away, we'd be more than fucked. I don't know if I can put her back together, though."

"Transporters," I asked.

"I don't know. I'm still picking up the pieces. We've lost engineering. The hyperdrive is venting through the bulkheads. I might be able to keep her together, if I can stop this bloody cascade."

"How do I make the hyperdrive on the Blade go into full inversion?" I asked.

"Bloody to fuck, why!" Sam asked, appearing baffled.

"To kill the fucking cats, why else," I said, urgently.

"Would kill yourself and anyone else on the--"

A loud screeching whine, and a wail of surprise from Jurrukush, sounded from behind me. Turning, I saw the familiar orange spindles of energy trying to form around Jurrukush. I thrust my hand against the manual control, and sent the Blade hard to port. Jurrukush was puled against the starboard wall, as the spindles dissipated, leaving Jurrukush slightly shaken, but apparently unharmed. "Goddammit, the cats are trying to overpower our transport dampers. Carl, go to the port cargo hold, and grab a portable T-Field suppressor, and a portable communicator, while you're at it." At first I didn't know why I asked for the communicator, other than I felt it seemed to be a good idea, at the time.

"Aye," said Carl, as he hurried down the corridor.

Jurrukush whined. "That was close. I think they want me alive, or at least as a recognizable corpse, so they can get paid." He growled in apparent disgust.

"You'll be safe in a minute," I assured Jurrukush, before checking my scanner display. "Where are they? Where are--"

The screen flashed, and the ship shuddered with a shock wave, as a greenish-pink column of plasma cut straight down, across the view. Daryl yelled, "What did they shoot, just now. What the fuck was that?"

Glancing at my screen, I was practically in shock. "It wasn't a weapon, it was them, in borderspace."

"You mean a ship can borderspace in a planet's atmosphere?" asked a bewildered Daryl.

"Yeah," I responded. "It's not recommended, probably would void your ship's warranty. Also, the exit can be a bit rough, like hitting a brick wall. I'm sure they damaged themselves with that stunt. Shit, they're maneuvering below us, and locking weapons." I heard a commotion behind me. Carl was running up the corridor, carrying a long, thick, white pole which looked vaguely like a picnic umbrella. "Jurrukush, grab it, and just hold onto it. Carl, turn this thing on, widest possible field."

As Jurrukush held the pole, which extended almost to the ceiling, Carl knelt down, and slid out a small panel. He pressed a couple of buttons. The top of the device opened, like the skeleton of a small umbrella, and the device began whirring quietly. Carl got back to his feet, and handed me a small white portable communicator. "So what's happening?"

I clipped the communicator to my belt, on my hip. "The cats are now pursuing us. Weapons are locked!" A bright flare-like object shot past us. "I don't know if that was a warning shot, though that looked like a torpedo. Going to try to out-maneuver them. There's a lot of turbulence, using it to our advantage. We're a small target. You might not want to watch the viewport, or you may get sick." I spun the ship around, and took us into a dive. The artificial gravity system made the motion, even when the ship was in a barrel roll, nearly imperceptible. The winds were increasing, buffeting the ship, though I still had control. I turned to Daryl. See if Sam has the Sabre's transporter working, and any answers on how I can blow up this ship's hyperdrive."

After a moment, Sam's voice burst from the speaker. "I'm still having trouble. I'm trying to use the transporter station in the starboard cargo hold. Trans Con is gone. We've stabilized things for the time being. Just, we've got people hurt, and some are missing."

"How do I blow up the hyperdrive!" I asked, as I took the ship hard to starboard to avoid a barrage of plasma cannon fire, which streaked past us.

"You're really going to do this," he sighed. "The drive in the _Blade_is the 887T. It's under recall because it's prone to going into an inversion condition, in tests. But as far as I know, none have blown up on their own. Over-charge it, flood it with fuel, and push it to near critical. Then you get it to hit something hard. I've heard one person using a shaped charge to set such a drive off. But a sharp blow on the 887T should cause it to go up. Just remember, once it starts, we can't rescue you, till the inversion collapses, which for that drive, is about ten to fifteen seconds or so."

"Thanks." Suddenly, there was a strange whine, and a pinkish-orange glow from the airlock's window. "Carl, take over!" I said, as I stormed from my seat, and raced down the corridor. Columns of orange glow appeared from the airlock's window, as a green shimmering shape formed, with a feline face, with ears drawn back. It drew a large pistol to the window, as it materialized. I dove for the floor, as the window exploded over me, showering me with glass. "Jurrukush, duck!" I screamed, as a blue-white bolt flashed through the corridor, and exploded against the ceiling. "Carl, we're boarded! I'm blowing the outer door. At my mark, shut down the artificial gravity, and go into a steep climb. Jurrukush, hold on."

"It's over one point five gees, here." yelled Carl, "And with the busted window, one spark in this hydrogen-rich atmosphere, could incinerate us."

I rapidly pressed a few buttons, while keeping my head below the window. Glancing up, I saw the creature attempting to lean through the window with its weapon, seemingly undecided whether to kill me, or Jurrukush, who huddled against the starboard wall of the cockpit. As I jabbed at the airlock controls, I shouted, "Jurrukush, hold on! Carl, turn off gravity and climb."

Everything began to feel heavy, a bit like I was on the planet, Oubliette, sans the heavy environment suit. The deck began tilting upward, as well as heaving from the turbulence, causing me to roll onto the airlock door. I pressed the final button. There was a loud hiss, and my ears popped as the ship equalized with the slightly lower pressure outside. Glancing towards the window, I saw a clawed orange-brown fist gripping a section of broken glass, as another hand, without the gun, clawed at the air, trying to get a second handhold. The air was beginning to smell strongly of ammonia and sulfur.

I instinctively pounded my fist on the creature's hand, over and over again, but the creature held fast. The creature attempted to get a second grip with its other hand. Realizing that the creature had dropped its weapon, and was holding onto sharp glass, or a close facsimile of glass, I reached forward, and punched down, driving the creature's hand against the sharp edge of the window. With a snarl and screech, along with a spray of crimson blood, the creature's hand opened, and fell away. I crawled to the window, and watched, as the red-gold furred creature tumbled out through the airlock door into the stormy depths below, spinning as it was tossed in the wind. The orange-pink spindles of the Motrician teleporter began to swirl around the creature's body. The creature's head, which was apparently outside of the field, flew off in a random direction, and was lost in the deep gray tempest. As I stabbed at the controls to close the outer door, I yelled, "Carl, restore gravity, and resume level flight. The fuckers will think twice about boarding us, again."

The gravity returned to the more comfortable earth-normal range, and the deck immediately leveled out, again. Glancing back at the cockpit, I was surprised that Jurrukush was able to hold on, or at the very least, managed to have used the back wall of the cockpit as a kind of shelf. I got to my feet and hurried to the cockpit. Sam's voice came over the comm. "I think I got the transporter working, but don't know how safe it is. I really need to take everything offline so we can fix the hull breach and patch up the drive. What about using your own drive to transport?"

"Can't." I yelled. "I need the hyperdrive to be fully charged for this insanity."

"I'll see what I can do." There was a few moments, before Sam's voice returned. "I'm heading to the cargo hold."

"Daryl, Carl, and Jurrukush, head to the airlock. It's going to be a tight fit. Jurrukush, leave the T-field suppressor in the cockpit."

Carl waved everyone down the corridor, then turned to me. "You do know, once Jurrukush is on the Sabre, the cats will likely break off from their pursuit of the Blade."

I pushed past everyone to the airlock door console. "They're trying to wear us down. They need his body as proof for their bounty, so they're trying not to totally pulverize us. Once Jurrukush is on the_Sabre_, they will destroy this ship first, before moving to the_Sabre._" I pressed a button, and the airlock door hissed open. "Everyone, in!" I turned back to Carl. "Twelve torpedoes, and an exploding hyperdrive. I'm getting those fuckers." Daryl, Jurrukush, and Carl entered the airlock, and although it was somewhat crowded, I was relieved that everyone fit on the pad. "Okay, group hug!"

The Zephenidian pulled both Carl and Daryl into a group embrace, that made Carl appear to wince. "Guys, this is not my thing."

I grabbed the communicator off my belt, and switched it on, selecting the appropriate pre-set to contact the Sabre's comlink. "Sam, bring them up, now."

The familiar hum, sounded, slightly unsteadily. A bright band of blue-white formed at the mid-point, spread out, with each ring sweeping towards the floor and ceiling, as the three shimmered and dissolved. The rings reversed, and converged, before disappearing, leaving the airlock empty.

I knew that it would take mere seconds for the Motricians to realize that the Zephenidian was no longer on this ship. It would not be long before the cats focused their attention on destroying the Blade of Truth. Of course, I was going to make sure I kept them engaged. After clipping the communicator back on my belt, I rushed to the console and sat down in the left seat. Checking the displays, I saw that they were directly behind us, with weapons locked.

Taking the Blade hard to starboard, I dodged a blazing barrage of flaming bolts. I sighed. "Okay, pulsed plasma weapons, this is not good." I held my hand to the control surface, and dropped the ship into a steep dive. Reaching across to the other console, I activated the plasma torpedoes launcher, and began the target-lock sequence. The launcher supported twin-firing, six salvos in all. Selecting all twelve torpedoes in the loadout screen, I prepared an automated firring sequence, and keyed in the parameters. Full spread, autonomous, once the Motricians were within the forward firing arc. Continuing the dive, I swore I could hear some minor creaking in the ship/s hull, as the atmospheric pressure increased. Looking out the viewport, the sky was a deep brownish-gray haze of cloud-bank. Gunning the throttle, I put the ship into a roll, and then a steep climb. The creaking grew worse, before the console began rapidly beeping. A diagram of a winged vessel with red warnings flashing around it, made it clear that the airframe of this vessel was being tortured by my maneuvers. The right console beeped, as the weapon lock indicator acquired the target. A whir sounded, followed by a loud thunk, as a pair of flare-like torpedoes sailed into the dark mist. Another whirr sounded, followed by another pair of plasma torpedoes. Reaching under the console, I grabbed the tablet, tucked it under my arm, and rushed to the far end of the corridor. Taking the starboard doorway down the short stairs to the bowls of the ship, I glanced at the tablet, realized it was off, and pressed the button to boot it up. My heart was pounding in my ears, as the gravity of the situation was now fully realized. I was going to die.

A loud crash sounded, as a shower of sparks spat from a cylindrical object, between the two sublight engines, just beneath the airlock. Acrid smoke began to fill the air. I knew that this was the shield generator failing from a single devestating hit. Now there was nothing between me and any weapon fire, except the rather thin fragile skin of this vessel. I had to work fast.

Next to the doorway, leading into the corridor, was a small red emergency locker, which I pulled open. Inside was a mask, with an aerosol-can sized tank, mounted beneath it. I strapped the mask to my face, and took a few breaths. The mask had a tiny computer, which was smart enough to not only detect its use, but to detect atmospheric conditions so that the tank can be switched on, when needed. Checking the tablet to see that it had booted, I tapped an icon to bring up the control console. There, I made some adjustments to maintain course. I didn't bother to check if the torpedoes had damaged the Motrician vessel, for there was not enough time. The situation was far too critical.

The narrow passageway along the starboard side of the hyperdrive, stretched before me. As I made my way to the front of the drive, I accessed the status console. "Okay," I muttered. "Deuterium levels, ah, fuel tank at 35 percent. Drive charge at one hundred percent. Okay, how do I do this?" The override control was half hidden, but I found it, and adjusted the deuterium flow into the hyperdrive. A klaxon blared, as red text on the screen flashed, "Drive overcharge in progress. Warning, drive failure imminent!"

I crawled to the forward wall, where the drive narrowed into a metal pipe, little wider than an arm, where it attacked to the hull. On either side, was a small hatch, which I pulled open. Inside each one, was a handle which I flipped out, than pulled, drawing out a short metal column. Twisting the handle, I pushed it back into the hatch. The handle on the far side of the pipe was more difficult for me to pull, but I didn't have the time to crawl around the drive to the other passage, but I did manage. Both handles now had a red blinking light underneath.

Crawling back towards the aft of the drive compartment, I checked the tablet, trying to make sure that the ship was staying ahead of the Motrician vessel. They were further behind, then I thought, possibly having been spooked by the torpedo barrage I had laid on them. However, they were now accelerating, possibly closing in for the kill. I reached the wall under the airlock, behind the hyperdrive, and crouched to my knees. There were three hatches here, one on either side, and the other, badly warped, just under the blown shield generator. I decided to stand, and try the top hatch, first, hoping that the shield generator didn't damage the firing mechanism, when it blew. The warped wall plate pulled open with only slight difficulty, and I grabbed the handle, pulling it out, turning it, then pushing it back in.

The emergency lights began to flash red, and the hyperdrive began to rumble and whine, accompanied by the sound of cracking glass. This was not good. Cracks would make the drive would be less likely to detonate in an inversion, causing it to vent, instead. I had to work fast, though hope was beginning to slip. I fumbled with the hatch to my left, removing the plate, pulling the handle, twisting it, then pushing it back in. One more to go.

Pulling the last hatch open, I quickly pulled the handle out, twisted it, then pushed it back in. A voice called from the hyperdrive's status console "Drive ejection system armed. Ten second countdown. Ten, nine..."

I fumbled with the tablet. I had to aim the rear of the ship, to try to get the drive to hit the Motrician vessel, like an unguided missile. It was easier said then done, as I adjusted my course, and decelerated the ship, to draw them in close. An explosion rocked the ship, causing most of the emergency lights to sputter out. The ship was now out of control, as I saw on the status screen, the port stabilizer was gone, and the ship was in an uncontrollable spin. The ship rocked again, as sparks and smoke began pouring out of the door, leading into the main corridor. The ship was gone, and there was not much I could do. I struggled to correct the ship's course as the countdown continued. "...thee, two, one, ejecting system engaged."

The wall beside me vanished in a blast of howling wind, as the drive groaned and ground along the floor as it slid, like a sick train towards the open wall. I heard a hiss from my mask, as the respiration system engaged. An explosion erupted from around the hyperdrive, and the entire unit was shoved straight through the opening, like a strange green-glowing glass freight train. Another blast rocked the ship, as it began to split apart. As the artificial gravity died, the ship's tumble threw me hard against the ceiling, knocking the breath out of me, and causing me to lose my grip on the tablet. Another tumble and I was thrown clear.

Buffeted by winds, I was now at the mercy of the howling winds. Visibility was limited in the grayish-brown murk of the deep clouds. The air was hot and wet, like the inside of a sauna. There was a blue-green glow in the distance, which expanded and brightened. Trying to glance in that direction, as my body tumbled in freefall was a challenge, as I tried to see if the inversion had done the job. It was impossible to see due to the thick clouds. Reaching for my belt, I grabbed the communicator and brought it to my mask. "Sam, anyone, I need rescue!"

Sam's voice came over the communicator, barely audible from the wind. "The inversion is still in progress. It should collapse any second."

"Hurry!" I screamed. "I don't know how long I can hold out." I was disoriented as the wind spun and tumbled my body like a leaf. The glow began to rapidly fade. "It should be gone, get me out of here!"

"Trying to get a lock. You're moving too fast and erratically. I can't, I'd probably end up killing you."

Carl shouted in the background, "Let me try."

"You're going to kill him."

"Try a wide angle field!" I called out. "I'm gonna die out here!"

Sam's voice seemed desperate. "I...the option is not there, not supported on the cargo console!"

"Fuck!" I screamed, as I felt my breathing becoming labored. Holding my breath, I pulled the mask off, and noticed that the empty tank indicator light was flashing. "Fuck! I'm fucking dead!" I yelled. Tossing the mask away into the clouds, I gasped, choked on gas giant atmosphere. With the smell and taste of a child's chemistry set having been poured into a billion service station urinals, I knew that it was over. As I tumbled through the hot dense clouds, I watched as a shape glided through the murk, looming in my view, as it glided past. It was a tapered vessel, with a section of hull near the port engine, missing, exposing the wreckage of a cargo hold. A frozen human corpse slid along the deck, and fell out into the broiling clouds, below. It was as if the Motrician vessel was mocking me. It was over, and I had failed. The Motrician vessel was not destroyed. I've failed my friends, I've failed everyone. With darkness closing around me, I cried out with my last bit of breath, "Daryl, Jurrukush, forgive me."