Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 18:33:07 +0000
From: Douglas DD DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Boys of Lady Lex Chapter 36

Welcome back to the Lady Lex. Ben continues his story of Trevor and the
"Orion". Just think what it would be like if Trevor was really in a
dangerous situation. But that could never happen, could it? As you can tell
Ben and I are out of the even/odd chapter rhythm, and will be until the end
of the story. As the Lady Lex heads to her conclusion we both have stories
to tell, and so have changed our pattern. In fact, some the last chapters
may be co-written, which could slow down the writing process. Ben and I both
sometimes think we should have waited to post to avoid the long lapses
between chapters that are occurring. But, on the other hand, what's done is
done, and we know from our e-mail that a lot of you are enjoying the
adventures of our space faring delinquents. You can contact us at
TheHakaanen@hotmail.com <Douglas and Ben>

The Boys of the Lady Lex
Chapter 36
"Sea Mammals and Felines"
Written By Douglas DD and Benjamin TC

	The senior cadet officers sat around the conference table in the ready
room. It wasn't even 0700 yet. Most of them were yawning and a bleary eyed.
Johnny Cooper sat at the head of the table with Mike, his XO, next to him.
Also sitting at the table was Douglas the Operations Officer, Scooter the
Chief Science Officer, TJ the Navigator, Ryan the Chief Engineer, Ian the
Chief Communications Officer, Gary Banks the Chief Weapons Officer, and Ben
the Master helmsman.
	"What's going on Johnny? Why an emergency meeting?" asked Douglas.
	Ben was staring at Ian. Ian looked extremely exhausted and was acting
ashamed. He was wearing his uniform, but his face looked like that it had
some remnants of makeup on it.
	"Last night the Birds of Prey went on a mission to collect Intel data as
well to get the Orion's flag. This morning the Birds of Prey returned to the
ship with the data and the flag."
	Everyone cheered, except for Johnny, Mike and Ian.
	"I'm not through yet. The Intel data and the flag made it to our
ship..."
	Ben had a sinking feeling in his stomach. Something told him he
didn't want to hear what was coming next because something told him that he
already knew what it was.
	"While on board the `Orion'," Johnny continued. "Trevor Collins was
captured."
	The room was filled with muttering and side chatter.
	"Damn it," said Ben. "When are we going in?"
	"Going in?" asked Johnny.
	"Yeah, when are we going in to rescue?"
	"We're not," said Johnny not liking his response. When he first found out
Trevor had been caught, his first reaction was to go in and rescue him. But
Mike talked him out of it, using their past experiences as ammo on why they
shouldn't go in. Johnny could have brushed Mike aside and gone in anyway.
If the rescue team failed then his position he would probably lose his
position as cadet commanding officer. He was slowly coming to the conclusion
this position was where he belonged.
	"What the hell do you mean we're not?" Ben was now standing up. He was
furious.
	"He is captured. There is nothing we can do about it. If we send in another
team, they risk the chance of being captured too. Mike and I best feel its
best if we just wait until the Orion contacts us and return Trevor. We know
they can't keep him and we also know his life isn't in danger. He might be
humiliated a little, but that is it. No harm with come to him."
	"You put him up to this didn't you?" Ben moved towards Johnny. His fists
were clench.
	"Ben, sit down," said Douglas who grabbed onto Ben's arm.
	Ben shook Douglas's hand off and made his way to Johnny. Johnny stood up
and clenched his fist ready to defend him.
	"You put this crazy idea into his head didn't you? Just like you got him
wasted and suspended from the games. I oughta..." Ben raised his fist, but
Mike quickly slid in between Ben and Johnny.
	"Ben, fighting isn't going to help matter any. Now go have a seat," said
Mike calmly and coolly.
	"Maybe not, but it sure would make me feel better if I could kick that
sorry excuse for a CO's ass."
	"I'll show you who's sorry," said Johnny. He reached around and both boys
started to fight with Mike caught in the middle.
	TJ and Ryan quickly pulled Johnny back who was fighting to be set free.
Douglas and Gary dragged Ben back kicking and screaming. Mike pushed and
pried both boys apart.
	"That's enough!!!" yelled Mike. "Now both of you sit down and shut up
before I have to hoof you both. Fighting in here isn't going to make matters
any better."
	Douglas managed to calm Ben and get him into a chair. But Ben was uneasy
and still filled with anger that needed to be released. Douglas held Ben's
hand under the table, hoping it would soothe and calmed him down.
	"Now Ben, we understand Trevor is your brother and you want to help him.
But we have to think the best course of action here. We feel that if we try
to rescue him, it would be more fatal then if we just sat back and wait
until they release him to us."
	"Look let me go. I bailed Trevor's ass out of more trouble then he even
realizes. Let me go in. I will go by myself. That way no one else will risk
the chance of being captured. But I just can't sit back here and let him be
humiliated without us even trying to come up with a rescue plan."
	"I'm sorry Ben, but our decision is made," said Mike.
	"What is it with you guys? When Douglas was missing from that time warp
thingy no one wanted to take action. You all just wanted to sit back and see
what happens. Now my brother is trapped on the `Orion' and again you all
want to sit back and do nothing. Well this is total bullshit and I won't go
for it anymore." Ben got up and stormed out of the conference room.
	Douglas looked at the boys sitting around the table. Ian kept his mouth
shut the entire time. Ian was blaming himself for Trevor being caught. And
he knew that Trevor was going to blame him and not love him anymore.
	"Can't we just come up with a game plan for a rescue?" asked Douglas. "That
way we are trying to do something other then sit around and wait."
	"Douglas, as we already said, if we try to rescue Trevor it could prove to
be more hazardous then if we just stood by and waited this out," said Mike.
	"I didn't say we go in and rescue him, but I do think we owe it to Trevor
to at least come up with a plan to rescue him. I mean you guys all preach to
us that we are a team, a family. That we aren't losers. I might not be a
juvenile delinquent, but where I come from family doesn't sit around and
wait when another family member is in trouble." Douglas then got up and
exited the room.

  *****

	Ben sat in the pilot's seat of the "Wonder Boy". He was making sure
everything was in order. He didn't care what Johnny or Mike or anyone had to
say. He wasn't going to sit around and do nothing. He had to take the risk
to rescue his brother. He would never be able to forgive himself if he
didn't. Ben turned his head and saw that Andrew and Jesse just entered the
"Wonder Boy".
	"What are you doing here?"
	"You're going to rescue Trev, right?" asked Andrew.
	"Yeah, but you guys can't go."
	"But Trev is my brother too."
	"And he's my cousin," chimed in Jesse.
	"And we want to help."
	Ben wasn't in the mood to argue. Plus he realized that if he told them he
couldn't go help that he was just acting like Johnny and Mike towards him in
the conference room. So he turned his attention back to his controls and
said "Man your stations."
	Andrew and Jesse took their stations. Douglas and Nipper ran onboard the
"Wonder Boy". Both of them were out of breath. Obliviously they ran down to
the shuttle bay afraid that they were too late.
	"Ben going off half cocked like this won't make matters any better," said
Douglas in between breathes.
	"I'm not going in half cock, I have a plan."
	"And what is that?"
	"I go in, get Trevor and come back to the "Lexington"."
	"Oh that is a plan all right. And just how do you think you can get on the
`Orion' without being seen?"
	"Through the front door," said Scottie as he entered the "Wonder Boy".
Standing next to him was Ian. Both of them were holding a black backpack.

  *****

	Carson sat in the operations station on the bridge to the "Lexington".
There were some other Cadets on the bridge just milling around waiting for
their relief to come to take the "Lexington" out of Orbit. Even though
Phosphorous Prime was now their home port, they were leaving at noon to do
some more shaking down. They would return to the planet every now and then
so the sporting teams could practice and prepare for the Olympics. Carson
turned his head as the doors to the bridge swooshed opened.
	Johnny and Mike entered the bridge. They were obliviously concerned about
something. "Carson, did any shuttles leave this morning?"
	"How many times do I have to tell you? I want to be called by my call sign.
I am Bobcat."
	"Whatever," said a disgruntled Johnny. "Did any shuttles leave?"
	"No, I been here since the `Raptor' returned and that was the last shuttle
that done anything," lied Carson.
	"No shuttle leaves without my permission. Especially the `Wonder Boy'."
	"Roger Dodger," said Carson. He then looked at his monitor. He could see a
blip that represented the "Wonder Boy" travel farther and farther away from
the "Lexington". He knew both of his brothers were on it. It was only
moments before that Scottie told Carson to cover for them while they go
rescue Trevor. Carson was very loyal to his brothers and he would do
anything asked of him by Scottie. Now he just had to make sure that no one
finds out that they are gone. It won't be too difficult to do, Carson said
to himself. Just as long as nobody does an on site check and find the
"Wonder Boy" was missing.  But Carson blew that worry off his shoulder like
it was a feather and continued on with his cover up.

  *****

	Ben, Andrew, Jesse, Douglas, Nipper, Jesse and Ian made their way to the
planet below them on the "Wonder Boy". Scottie had derived a plan after Ian
told him what had happened. No one knew until Scottie revealed that Ian had
told him that Trevor was only captured because he rescued Ian. That is why
Scottie and Carson were so willing to help. They wanted to rescue the boy
who rescued their brother. No one had ever put Ian before themselves before,
and that act told Scottie a lot. It was time to repay the debt.
	The boys decided to use their call signs on their secret mission. Ben was
known as Dolphin. It was a nickname he was given a few years back when he
went swimming with some dolphins and got his picture taken with a dolphin
giving him a kiss. Andrew was Otter. This was a nickname that Andrew has
been going by ever since Ben received his. Andrew wanted a sea mammal
nickname too to be like his big brother. So he picked Sea Otter. But over
the course of time, the word "sea" was dropped and Andrew became just Otter.
Jesse was known as Beluga. No one really knew why, but suspicions had it
that Ben and Jesse loved to put on shows when they were together. And since
Ben was Dolphin they would call Jesse Whale. So it was like the Dolphin and
Whale show at Sea World. But rumor had it that Jesse didn't like the name
whale because it sounded like he was being called fat, which the slender boy
most certainly wasn't. So it eventually got turned into Beluga. Douglas was
called Tigger. When Ben asked him once why Tigger was his nickname, all
Douglas said was "Because I like to bounce around a lot." Ben never quite
understood what he met by that. Nipper was the actual the nickname for
Nathan Daniels. But when call signs were being given out during shuttle
class, Nipper wanted a different name for his call sign. So he chose Quat.
Andrew was puzzled over this. But Nipper later explained that ever since he
was old enough to speak, he would call cats, quats. Evidently Nipper had his
own vocabulary when he was around two years old. He used to call candy
ummms, and potato chips, pretzels and other salty snacks, bowl ummms.
Douglas even remembered how Nipper used to call their pet guinea pig, a
bunny pig. Although most of Nipper's own vocabulary was replaced with the
proper names, quat stayed. And since quats were Nipper's favorite animal he
wanted to be called Quat. Scottie had found out that Ian was being called
Eagle. So he decided to go with a feline's name just to tease his little
brother, saying that he can hunt him down. So Scottie chose Saber Tooth
Tiger, or Saber for short.
	Ben landed the shuttle with a tiny bump. They were in the middle of a field
near the town where the cadets of the "Orion" were having their breakfast
banquet. Ben, Andrew and Douglas exited the "Wonder Boy". They were carrying
the backpacks that Scottie and Ian had brought on board.
	"Be careful with her Saber," said Ben.
	"Don't worry Dolphin. `Wonder Boy' will be in safe hands."
	The door to the shuttle closed. Ben, Andrew and Douglas got a safe distance
from it and they watched the "Wonder Boy" take off and disappear into the
sky.
	"I hope this plans of Scottie's works," said Ben.
	"Me too, otherwise we're all in deep shit," replied Douglas. "Come on let's
go."
	Ben, Andrew, and Douglas made their way towards town. They finally made it
to the shuttle craft dock. While the cadets were all having breakfast, their
luggage was brought to the shuttle landing area for them to pick up and take
with them. There were several piles of sea bags, suitcases, and other forms
of luggage carriers.
	The three boys looked around and made sure no one was watching. They
quickly ran to the bags and started opening them up. Within  five minutes,
the three boys found what they were looking for. They then headed off to a
private place.

  *****

	Rich, Todd, and a few other cadets walked up the walkway leading to the
shuttle. The luggage had already been loaded just a few moments before. It
was time for the "Orion" Cadets to head back to their ship. The time for
breakfast and celebration was over. Now it was time to get back to work.
	"Did Windhammer say why this boy was on the `Orion'?" asked Todd.
	"The kid isn't cooperating. The only thing he has given out is a couple of
black eyes and bloody noses."
	"Did they find any more on board?" asked Todd as they entered the shuttle.
They went towards the front of the cabin and sat down.
	Three cadets entered the shuttle. They were fidgeting in their uniforms
that didn't appear to fit properly. They were wearing dark sunglasses and
the color of their skin wasn't quite the same color purple as the rest of
the "Orion's" cadets.  They were also carrying some black backpacks with
them.
	"Windhammer did a complete scan on the interior of the ship. The results
came up negative. Besides she saw their ship escape. So they all probably
flew the coop when she declared intruder alert."
	Soon the first of many shuttles were filled. The doors were closed and it
launched heading for the "Orion". Todd and Rich continued to talk about
their intruder who waited for their arrival.
	The three cadets who had boarded earlier, sat quietly as they listen to the
other cadets around them joking about the "Lexington" boys. They were pretty
much slamming the "Lexington" boys behind their backs, talking about how
they were losers and they couldn't hold their own to save their lives.
	"Tim, you had it the easiest of all in the broadsword match," said Parker.
"That kid was no match to you. He was a coward and huddled to the ground."
Parker laughed. Parker turned his attention to one of the quiet boys sitting
next to him. "Could you imagine being one of the Triple L's? I'd kill myself
before becoming a Lady Lex Loser."
	Ben clenched his fist. He wanted throw off his shades and give each boy
sitting near him a good old fashioned can of whoop ass. Douglas grabbed
Ben's fist and squeezed it three times to help calm his love down. If Ben
lost his temper, the chances of rescuing Trevor would be over.
	The shuttle finally docked on the "Orion". The boys filed out and headed
for their quarters. Ben, Douglas, and Andrew waited until everyone was off.
Andrew kept scratching at the purple makeup on his face and hands, smearing
it some. But everyone was too engrossed in making fun of the boys of Lady
Lex that no one seemed to notice it.
	Ben, Douglas and Andrew stopped right before the entrance. Rich and Todd
were just outside of the entrance talking to a female cadet. Ben heard Rich
call her Windhammer. Douglas was pretty sure she was his counterpart. They
hid the best they could so they could listen to what was being said.
	"Where's he at now?" asked Rich.
	"He's in the brig," said Windhammer.
	"Any idea what he was doing on board?" asked Todd.
	"Yes, they took our ship's flag. While patrolling the ship looking for
signs of other intruders, Cadet Van Noort went into the ceremonial room and
found a pair of skid mark briefs hanging from our flag post. And taped to
the post was a note that said `Eat my shorts."
	"So they wanted our flag. That doesn't surprise me for being nothing but a
bunch of thieves. But they didn't get it did they," smirked Rich.
	"Actually Rich, I believe they did. We didn't find it in the vent system
that the kid fell through. So there had to be a second person who took it
and fled the ship on board that Raptor shuttle."
	"Let's go see this kid and see what he has to say," said Todd.
	"No, not just yet Todd. Let's wait a bit. Let him sweat this out some. Let
the loneliness and emptiness of the brig speak at him before we do.
According to the rules, we can hold onto intruders who try to capture our
flag for six hours before notifying the intruder's command. So we have until
noon. That is two hours away. We will go speak to him after we contact the
`Lexington' and tell them that they are shit and can't even do something as
simple as not getting caught. I'm going to my cabin. I'll see you at the
brig in two hours." Rich then headed down the corridor. Windhammer went
about her business leaving Todd standing alone. He didn't like the plan Rich
had come up with. He wanted to talk to the boy now. Something just didn't
feel right. Something was telling him there was more then just trying to get
a flag. Todd then headed to the bridge to do some investigation on his own.

  *****

	Andrew, Douglas and Ben made their way down the corridors of the "Orion".
They tried to act as if they new where they were going, but in fact lost.
They stopped on occasion to look at maps on the bulkheads and continued on.
They finally found the door that lead to the brig.
	"No one is guarding it," said Andrew.
	"They probably have guards inside," replied Douglas.
	"What time you got?" asked Ben.
	"10:37"
	"Andrew, right there is a head. Go in there and do what you have to do.
Douglas, stand guard here to make sure no one enters the head. I am going to
make sure Trev is in there."
	"Be careful Ben."
	"I will."
	Andrew went into the head with a backpack. He stripped completely naked and
washed his face and arms, getting rid of the purple makeup that was on him.
He pulled out a black T-shirt and slipped it on. He then took some makeup
out and smeared it on his face a little. He did it the best he could do
according to what Ian had told him. He couldn't figure out why on Earth
Trevor would want to wear makeup. He thought it itched too much.
	When Andrew came out of the head, Ben had already returned from his
surveillance. Douglas and Ben thought Andrew looked sexy the way he was
dressed. Andrew felt it was a bit drafty.
	"Okay, Otter, here's the scoop. There are two boys in there sitting around.
In the back of the room is a door that I believe leads to the cell holding
Trevor. I don't know if anyone is watching Trevor, but we can cross that
bridge when we get there. You know what to do, Otter?"
	"Yeah, let's do it. Let's save Trev."
	Douglas and Ben pulled out a phaser pistol and made sure it was set for
stun. They then took their positions outside the door. Andrew ran into the
room where the two cadets were sitting around.
	"EAT MY SHORTS LOSERS!!! YOU CAN'T KEEP THE HAWKE CAGED UP!!!" Andrew then
turned around and let out a screech and bent over and mooned the two
surprised cadets. Then Andrew took off into the corridor.
	"Shit!! How did he escape?" asked the first cadet.
	"I don't know, but let's get him before Rich finds out he escaped under our
watch." The two cadets ran into the corridor, only to find themselves being
rendered unconscious as the phasers struck each of them.
	"Let's get them back in the room before someone walks by," said Ben.
Andrew, Douglas and Ben then moved the cadets into the brig.

  *****

	Todd walked onto the bridge. He looked around as some cadets had manned
some stations. He walked over to his XO station and began fiddling around
with the controls.
	"You looked puzzled," said Cadet Byron T. Strome, a 16 year old boy.
	"Something doesn't feel right," said Todd. "I find it hard to believe that
a bunch of criminals just came on board to steal a flag. There has to be
more." Todd continued to run diagnostics on all systems and looking at the
morning reports to see if anything else came up missing. But Falcon's virus
worked like a charm and wasn't detected.
	"Byron, if Rich asks for me, tell him I went down to the brig. I want to
talk to this intruder."
	"Aye Sir."

  *****

	Ben opened the door to the cell room. He walked in as if he been there
before. He wasn't sure if any of Orion's cadets were in there or not, so he
wanted to act like he knew where he was going. Ben walked in and there
sitting in a chair reading a biology book was a cadet. He had tuned out
Trevor who was pacing back and forth in his cell yelling and screaming to be
let out and that they won't get away with this.
	"Is this the Triple L?" asked Ben, remembering the nickname that was given
to the "Lexington" Boys.
	"Yeah, he's a loud one."
	Trev walked over to the bars and saw Ben standing there in an "Orion"
uniform with purple makeup on. A dash of hope ran through him, but then it
was overtaken by remorse. He didn't like the idea of being helped to escape.
He wanted to escape on his own. And if Ben was here, that means others knew
that he was captured. His image as the Hawke was now tarnished.
	"I haven't seen you around before. Are you new onboard?" asked the cadet.
	"You can say that. I only have been onboard for about an hour."
	"An hour?"
	"And hopefully not much longer." Ben pulled out his phaser pistol. "Now
open that cell and let him out."
	"You can't do that," insisted the cadet.
	"Oh yeah? Well, I'm doing it. Now open the fucken door."
	"What are you gonna do? Shoot me?"
	Ben fired his pistol. The cadet fell to the floor unconscious. "Yeah," said
Ben. He quickly grabbed the keys and unlocked the cell freeing Trevor.
	"Why did you come for me?" asked Trevor, who was quite annoyed.
	"You needed help and I came to help you. Now come on. Let's get out of
here."
	"I could've escaped on my own."
	"Yeah, I can see that. Now come on."
	As Trevor exited his cell, phaser fire could be heard in the next room.
Then some screaming from Douglas. "Ben!! Hurry up, we got company!!"
	Ben and Trevor ran out into the room. Douglas lowered his gun. Ben and
Trevor looked to see who he shot, but no one was lying on the floor.
	"What happened?"
	"The cadet XO for the `Orion' saw us. He knew we weren't `Orion' cadets.
When he started to run out I tried shooting him and missed. We need to get
out of here."
	Red lights started flashing. A voice over the intercom started yelling
"Intruder alert!! Intruder alert." Ben, Douglas, Trev and Andrew quickly ran
out of the brig. Their cover was blown. There was no way they could hop on a
shuttle that would go back down to the planet to pick up more of the "Orion"
cadets. They even had a uniform and purple makeup for Trevor to put on. Now
they had to go to plan B. The only thing is, they had no idea what Plan B
was.

  *****

	Todd entered the bridge out of breath. He saw the cadets manning their
stations during the intruder alert. Rich was already on the bridge, not
looking too happy.
	"Where have you been?" snapped Rich.
	"I went down to the brig to see the detainee and that is when I saw the
jail break happening."
	"I told you not to go down there. You ignored a direct order."
	Todd was getting pissed. Mainly at Rich for yelling at in front of junior
cadets. He thought to himself that if it hadn't been for him going down
there, the intruders might have escaped the "Orion". At least now they could
capture them. Todd didn't say a word. He didn't want to set a bad example in
front of the junior cadets. But he knew once he was alone with Rich, he
would give him a piece of his mind.
	"Sir, I'm talking to one of our security teams. The intruders are no longer
in the brig where they were first seen by our XO," said the cadet security
chief.
	"They can't get far. Just make sure all entrances are secured. None of them
will escape this time around." Rich was pissed this was happening on his
ship.

  *****

	Ben, Douglas, Trevor and Andrew ran into an abandoned class room. They
needed a place to hide out for a few minutes so they could gather their
thoughts and come up with a plan of escape. They locked the door and went to
the part of the room that would give them the best protection just in case
someone would come in the room.
	"Who eve thought the rescuers would need rescuing?" Joked Douglas.
	"This is no joking manner," said Ben.
	"Ease up Ben. We'll make it out in one way or another."
	"I like to make it out under my own power."
	"So do I. But we can't take the shuttles back to the planet like we
originally planned. I am sure the shuttles stopped running once the alert
was called away. And even if they are still shuttling cadets, they will be
on the look out for us."
	"Can we take an escape pod?" asked Andrew.
	"That's a stupid idea," said Trevor.
	"No, it's not!" said Andrew.
	"Yeah it is. As soon as we launch they would send out a regular shuttle
after us. Regular shuttles are much faster then the escape pods and we
wouldn't be able to out run them. They would capture us and there is no
escaping from an escape pod." Ben and Douglas were impressed that Trevor
knew that. Even hadn't thought of that. "Hey!! That's it," said Trevor. "We
will use the escape pod to help us escape."
	"But you just said..." Ben was cut off by Trevor.
	"Never mind what I said. Let's go."

  *****

	"Why haven't your security teams found them yet?" yelled Rich to the chief
security officer.
	"This is a big ship. It will take time. But don't worry sir, they won't
escape from us."
	Cadet Windhammer was sitting at her operations station. She was monitoring
her station, making sure that no unauthorized access was being made to the
ship's computer systems. Then a message came up on her screen. "I found
them," she said.
	"Where?" asked Todd.
	"An escape pod just launched. It is heading towards the `Lexington'."
	"Now we got them," said Rich. "An escape pod can't out run one of our
shuttles. Get a crew and tell them to retrieve that pod."
	"Sir, `Ramses' is asking permission to retrieve the pod," said Windhammer.
	"Permission granted. Put the recovery on screen."
	In the front of the bridge, an image appeared on the bulkhead. It showed
the escape pod hurling through space, trying to make its way to the
"Lexington". Soon the "Ramses" appeared on the screen speeding its way
towards the escape pod. Rich's large shit eating grin turned into a frown
when he saw the "Ramses" speed past the escape pod.
	"What the hell is he doing?" he yelled.
	"I don't know sir," said Windhammer. "They're not responding."
	"Todd, you're with me. We are going out ourselves."
	Todd stood up and followed Rich to the shuttle bay.

  *****

	Todd sat in the pilot's seat of the "Charles Remington". He carefully
pulled up along the escape pod, matching its speed. He sent out the
mechanical claws and grabbed on to it. He pulled the pod to the hatch of the
"Remington". Rich helped secure the pod. From his station he managed to tap
into the pod's system and bring the pod to a stop. Sometimes the passengers
in escape pods were injured to control it, so a system was developed to
allow outside control of a pod. Todd and Rich took out their phaser pistols
and opened the hatch to the shuttle and then the hatch to the pod. Once
again Rich's shit eaten grin was replaced by an angry frown as he eyes fell
upon the purple letters smeared on the bulkhead to the empty pod. "EAT MY
SHORTS!!!"

  *****

	David, Mark, and a few other cadets made their way to the field nearby
their hotel. They were notified by the "Orion" that the "Ramses" had been
stolen and had been tracked to the planet's surface. David and Mark were
still on the planet waiting until the last minute before going back to the
"Orion".
	They made it to the clearing just in time to see the "Wonder Boy" take off
and disappear into the sky. David forgot all safety protocol and ran to his
shuttle. The hatch was open. He ran inside and sitting on his seat was a
note written in purple makeup.

	David, thanks for the use of the Ramses. Love Douglas

	David screamed and kicked his commander's seat. He couldn't believe Douglas
had stolen HIS shuttle. He hated Douglas and this time he had gone too far.
Come Olympic time he would make sure that Douglas wished he had never been
born.

  *****

	Douglas, Ben, Andrew, Scottie, Jesse, Ian and Nipper all laughed as the
"Wonder Boy" entered space. Trevor had come up with a brilliant plan. They
had used the escape pod as a decoy and used the "Ramses" as their escape
shuttle. But what made the plan was Douglas's capability of imitating
David's voice on the radio asking permission to go recover the escape pod.
Douglas has known David for so long, that disguising his voice as David's
voice was no big undertaking. The only thing Douglas wished was that he
could see the look on David's face when David read the little note he had
left behind.
	Trevor sat in the back of the shuttle by himself. A big part of him didn't
want to go back to the "Lexington", because he would be returning as a
failure. He had been captured on the "Orion" and he blamed no one but
himself.

To Be Continued...