Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 02:38:29 +0000
From: Douglas DD DD <thehakaanen@hotmail.com>
Subject: The Boys of the Lady Lex Chapter 64

The boys are heading through the wormhole. Will the find the other end? And
if the find the other end will they find the Kritons. And if they find the
Kritons, what can they do to stop the destruction of Earth? Read on to find
out in this chapter written by Douglas. <Ben and Douglas>

The Boys of the Lady Lex
Chapter 64
"In the Loop"
Written By Douglas DD and Benjamin T. C.

As the "Savoy Special" entered the wormhole all of the crew but Ben, who
was protected by his wraparound sunglasses, got hit by a blinding white
glare. What Ben saw was an amazing array of swirling colors, spinning
around a small black circle. He figured the circle must center the other
end of the wormhole and adjusted his course towards it.

"I think we want to head for that black dot that all the colors are
spinning around," Ben said to no one in particular.

"What black dot? What colors?" Douglas said. "All I see is white."

"The colors outside the windows," Ben said, "the ones flashing by us."

"Nothing is flashing by, all I see is white. I think we're standing still,"
Douglas said. "You must be hallucinating."

"I'm with Douglas," Nipper said. "All I see is white. It's like we're not
moving at all. And it's bright. It's blinding."

In spite of the bright glare, the eyes of Douglas, Andrew, Nipper, and
Scottie were glued to the front view screen, as if they were expecting
something to suddenly appear. Ben looked around cabin and saw that none of
the crew was paying attention to his station.

"Hey guys, it's just colors. Come on!"

Douglas shook his head, startling Ben by shouting out, "Mom!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I was with mom. I saw her. She talked to me."

"I saw her too," Nipper said, fighting back tears.

Ben remembered the time warp that they had encountered when they first saw
the wormholes. He remembered how Douglas had disappeared and gone back in
time. He looked at Douglas, who appeared solid enough, as did the rest of
the crew. They were obviously seeing things he was not. He needed them back
now. He tried to figure out why he wasn't being affected by what they were
seeing.

"I'm not shitting you," Scottie said. "I can get you all the weed you
want."

Ben remembered the time they had been visited by the dead, and how Creevey
wasn't affected by whatever was happening. They all figured it was because
she was the only female. Well, there were no females on this shuttle, so
what was keeping him from being affected?

"Mom, I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!" Nipper cried out.

Shit, Ben thought. I need to get them back, but I don't know how. He yanked
up on his sunglasses to get a better look at them. The sudden white glare
blinded him and he quickly yanked back down on them. It was the dark
glasses that were the difference! That was a problem that was easily
solved.

Ben reached up to a small instrument panel in over the front views screen a
flicked a switch. The windows immediately darkened. He once again lifted up
his sun glasses and saw a marked turnaround in the rest of the crew as they
started to return to the present reality.

"Whoa!" Douglas exclaimed. "That was intense. Did I go back in time again?"

"Not physically," Ben said. "I don't know if being in the wormhole affected
that or not, but physically you all stayed here."

All of the boys started to chat about their experience as Ben tried to keep
the shuttle centered in the wormhole. He was having problems seeing out of
the screen. "It's too dark for me to see."

"Maybe you should take off your glasses," Andrew admonished, with a look
that said I wonder how big brothers ever make it in the world. Nipper
looked at him and gave a nod of agreement.

Red faced, Ben pulled them up and set them on the top of his head.

"I knew that."

"Quiet!" Douglas said. "We need to get focused, and fast."

The stern tone of his voice brought everyone completely back to reality and
the tasks at hand.

"First, Nipper, you need to take over the engineering station. We're going
to miss Jesse. He's the best there is, but you know what to do and you're
good too, bro."

"Jesse better be safe," Scottie said, with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Scottie, for now, get over it! We can do nothing for him and we have to do
everything for ourselves. As much as I dislike David, I'm sure he's a good
commander, and I am even surer Jesse's brother will keep things in
line. Now get your head into your job. I need you to see if you can contact
the other shuttles. We need to know how they handled the wormhole."

"If they handled the wormhole," Scottie said glumly.

Ben no longer had his shades on. With the view screen darkened the shades
would prevent him from seeing out. They rested on the top of his head as he
worked to keep the "Savoy Special" centered.

"I can't raise anybody," Scottie said. "I get nothing but static."

"That means radio communication doesn't work inside the wormhole, or they
never found out how to deal with the time warp issue."

Ben noticed the dark dot starting to become bigger as the shuttle raced
through the wormhole.  It was taking up more space on the screen than the
colors. Then it changed and became smaller as the colors started to close
in on the shuttle.

"The wormhole must be collapsing," Douglas said. "We have to get out of
here quickly."

"I have us at full power," Nipper said.

"And I have no idea how far the end of it is. All we can do is speed
through here as fast as we can and hope we make it in time.

Suddenly, without warning the colors disappeared and the "Savoy Special"
was in empty space. Andrew checked the back view screen just in time to see
the wormhole collapse. They had made it through by mere seconds.

"About time you guys showed up," came Trevor's voice over the shuttle's
speakers. "We thought maybe you stopped for party or something."

"Did everybody make it through," Douglas asked.

"Yes. But it was interesting."

"You mean because of the time thingy? You all figured out what to do?"

Mike's voice broke in. "What time thingy?"

"The bright light and the flashbacks in time," Douglas said.

"The light through the view screen was intense and the first reaction of
all of us was to darken the screen."

It became apparent to the crew of the "Savoy Special" that they had had the
time warp problem because of Ben's sun shades. He went through the wormhole
thinking there wasn't a problem, so the sun screen remained off long enough
for whatever time field the wormhole generated to affect the rest of the
crew. The other crew pilots had reacted immediately to the bright light,
darkening the view screens before anybody could be affected.

"Have any of you figured out where we are?" Douglas asked.

"Somewhere between the orbits of Mars and Earth," Brian McDowell answered
from the "Raptor".

"The Kritons already have a head start toward Earth. We can't waste any
time. We need to get there at full power," Douglas said. Then he caught
himself. "Sorry, Mike. I guess you're the senior officer here."

"In name only," Mike said. "We're going to do this just like the capture
the flag games," Mike said. "You're the one in charge of the fleet. You've
been there and done that. Now let's go kick some Kriton ass."

No one took time to argue or think about Mike's decision. They had an
operation to perform. Douglas was in charge, as he had been so often in the
drills and the games. The months of training under Kalon Masters made their
reactions almost automatic. This time, however, it wasn't a drill or a
game. It was the real thing.

Douglas got the eight shuttles into formation and heading to Earth at full
power. The "Savoy Special" and the "Raptor" were both faster than the six
other shuttles, but Douglas decided to keep the small fleet together. Two
shuttles weren't going to be a match for the Kriton warships. Even at full
force they were in trouble, but Douglas had a plan formulating in his
head. For it to succeed, he needed all the force he could muster. And it
had to succeed, because if it didn't there would be no Earth left to save.

*****

Other ships had left their stations in the asteroid belt. They worked to
stay hidden. Even though they weren't happy about what they had agreed to
do, they were like vultures waiting for the battle to take place, hoping
they wouldn't need to be a part of it, and that all they would need to do
was scavenge off the leftovers.

*****

"Well, what are you going to do, Douglas?" Scottie said with a touch of
malice in his voice. Every time he looked at Jesse's empty seat, he felt a
touch of anger at Douglas for leaving his boyfriend behind. Deep down, he
hoped Douglas would fail. He didn't want the mission to fail; he wanted
Douglas to fail miserably and to have Mike, or Scooter, or anybody who
wasn't responsible for leaving Jesse behind take over the operation and
lead it to success.

"Yeah, that's what I was afraid you'd say." Douglas sat quietly in the
command chair, staring out the view screen. He had no idea where to go from
here. I'm just fifteen, he thought. How can they expect me to make
decisions to save the world?  I have enough trouble getting my homework
done on time. I can't do this.

Douglas wanted to shuck off all of the responsibility. He had no plan. He
had no inkling of a plan. He sat paralyzed with fear. He shook his head and
finally made a decision. He decided to radio Mike and tell him to take
charge of the operation.

Ben looked at his lover with sympathy, but he knew better than to break
into Douglas's thoughts. Douglas would have to win this battle on his
own. He could offer his advice later, but at this moment, this decision had
to come from deep within the soul of the boy he loved so much.

The quiet of the interior of the "Savoy Special" was interrupted only by
the whispering sounds of the ship's instruments and environmental control
system. It was a tableau of five young boys, each feeling the pressure and
responsibility, four of them waiting with anticipation on the boy, who was
supposedly their leader, to act. Andrew and Nipper were looking at each
other, the two twelve year olds each frightened and eager. Even Scottie, as
his rational mind battled his emotions, knew this was a key moment-the
moment that would probably make or break their mission.

It was Nipper who finally broke the silence. Nipper had always looked up to
his big brother, but had never deferred to him. The two brothers got along
as well as any two brothers could, but Nipper was never afraid to speak his
mind, to prod Douglas, to be his younger conscience. He knew his brother
well, and he knew the silence didn't mean Douglas was working on a plan. It
meant Douglas was busy feeling sorry for himself. "Douglas, what's your
favorite book?"

Douglas turned his head and looked at Nipper "Huh? What the fuck are you
talking about, Nipper? This isn't the time for dumb questions."

Nipper ignored the outburst and went on. "Answer me," he said with all the
force his high pitched, prepubescent, voice could muster.

"Ender's Game," Douglas said with little enthusiasm, upset that his
thoughts had been interrupted.

"Uh huh. And what did Ender do in one of their battle games?"

"Nipper, shut up. I don't have time for this now."

Ben, Scottie, and Andrew all wondered where Nipper was heading with
this. They knew Nipper wasn't one to just ask dumb questions out of the
blue, but they wondered if the fear and tension was getting to him.

"Think about when Ender froze his legs to give him more force. Think about
how it surprised his opponent, about how it was something they never
expected.  Think of what Wolfe taught the Hawke and The Birds of Prey."

Douglas looked at his brother, the mask of indecision on his face slowly
being replaced by a glimmer in his eyes. The silence was still there, but
different. Instead of waiting to see if a decision was going to be made,
the boys were waiting to see what the decision was going to be.

Nipper smiled inwardly. Even at twelve he had an instinct for touching a
person's psyche. Ender's Game had been about children at war, children
charged with saving the Earth, just like them. Douglas loved Ender's
Game. He needed to see that just because he was a boy, it didn't mean he
couldn't lead, couldn't make a decision, or couldn't do what he knew he had
to do.

A slight smile crossed Douglas's lips. "I think you're on to something
little bro. I really do think you're on to something."

*****

"That's your plan?" Mike asked.

"What do you think?" Douglas replied.

"Well, it's a plan. It's more than anybody else has."

"I think my dad calls that damning with faint praise."

"You're right that everything has to be geared to taking out the science
ship. It's the one with the bomb. The question I have is, how close to
Earth does the ship have to be in order to launch the bomb. Maybe it has
been launched already."

"I can answer that," Scooter broke in from the "Buford".

"You can?" came a chorus of voices from the various shuttles.

"Um...Sergeant Murdock told me a few things he heard, with the promise I
not tell anybody. I don't think that promise means anything now."

"I thought you and Murdock were enemies," Douglas said.

"Let's not talk about it now," Scooter said. He seamlessly went from there
to the topic at hand. "I don't know the details; I just know the bomb has
to be in a special environment and will lose its force if it is out of it
too long. They have to be within fifty thousand kilometers of the target."

"Thanks, Scooter.  Looks like we hope we catch up to the Kritons on time
and go with the plan. `Savoy Special' out."

Mike turned to Ryan and said, "No wonder they snookered Whitaker into
moving the home defense fleet away from Earth."

"What if he wasn't snookered?" Ryan asked innocently.

Mike looked at him, knowing exactly what Ryan meant and hoping he wasn't
right.

*****

"I have the Kritons on our sensors," Scottie said.

"How long until we catch up?" Douglas asked.

"Ten minutes," Scottie answered.

"And how long do we have until the bomb is within launching range?"

"Fifteen minutes after that."

"Not much time to save the Earth," Ben said with a humorless laugh.

"Hey, when in history has the fate of mankind been in the hands of a bunch
of middle and high school students?" Douglas asked.

"Well, since you ask, the answer is never."

"Pretty scary stuff, huh?"

"Yeah. I keep hoping the cavalry will come riding to the rescue."

"The cavalry is a long way off. It ain't gonna happen. So it looks like
it's up to us."

*****

Douglas looked at the sensors. He figured the Kritons had to have seen them
by now. The two escorts looked like they had changed course to give the
science vessel more coverage. It was time to put the plan into effect. He
had no idea if it would work. He was a high school sophomore to be, not a
military strategist. But the plan had worked in the capture the flag games;
split everybody up and see what shakes loose. Part one was about to be
initiated.

The Kritons had detected the incoming shuttles. The acting commanding
officer of the flotilla immediately dismissed them as some kind of
ineffective police force; mere gnats against the beasts of the Kriton
Empire. Nevertheless, he readied his weapons. They would never get close to
his ships.

Suddenly there was a bright flash and one of the incoming ships made a
ninety degree change in course and shot straight up from its plane of
flight. The flame continued to pour out of the back and it twisted and
turned and started moving away from his fleet.

"Flame out!" came a voice over the radio. Just as he suspected, it was a
flame out, one more indication of the inferior equipment of the Earthers.
They had gotten lucky; being in the right place at the right time when they
had created the second wormhole. There would now be no luck involved. Their
little ships would be swatted away as one would swat away an irritating
insect.

The commander's smile got even broader as he saw the formation of the other
seven ships break into disarray. This would be easier than he anticipated.

Mike's voice was the next one he heard. "It looks like the `Savoy Special'
has flamed out. I guess they didn't give it a close enough
inspection. Looks like it's up to us guys. I'm taking charge now. We can't
panic now guys. We need to keep formation and stick to the plan.  `Raptor'
you will need to take over the role of the `SS' in the plan now, since you
have the fastest shuttle."

"Roger that," came Trevor's voice. He broke away from the disintegrating
formation. The Kriton commander, who had a decent knowledge of English,
could tell that despite the orders of the Earth commander and his talk of a
plan, the attacking ships were obviously disorganized.

The "Raptor" broke away from the disorganized formation, its target
obviously being the science ship. The commander ordered his two escort
ships to shift position some, giving the science ship maximum coverage. He
wished one more escort could have made it through the worm hole.

The "Raptor" looped over the plane of the Kritons and came in at angle,
alone and exposed. Kyle moved the shuttle expertly through evasive
maneuvers, barely outrunning the weapons pattern of the Kritons.

Dylan locked the shuttle's weapons on the center of the science ship and
fired.

"Eat my shorts!" Trevor yelled.

The shot glanced off the shields of the science ship. The other six
shuttles wove their way around the Kritons, dodging the fire of the two
escort ships, trying to sting some with their much less powerful weapons.

The Kriton commander could see that he needed to get rid of this annoyance
quickly before they got a lucky hit in on the science vessel, whose shields
were more to protect against space debris than against weapons. It was only
the low power of the shuttles' weapons that kept the first hit from being
fatal. He quickly ordered six fighters to be launched and to go on the
attack.

Mike smiled as he saw the hangar doors open. Unlike the SFA ships, the
Kritons kept their fighters in hangars rather than docked on the outside of
their ships. The fighters were exactly what they wanted. He knew they could
easily outfight and out dodge the Kriton fighters. Even if these had the
Kriton cloaking technology, they had learned quickly how to track their
attack routes during the war games. The Kritons may have made a big mistake
there, by overplaying their hand. He gave a quick numeric order and the
JFSA shuttles burst into various directions, looking even more disorganized
than ever.

The one shuttle that seemed to be persistent in its attack on the science
vessel was the "Raptor". It kept darting and dodging, getting in quick
hits, keeping at least two Kriton shuttles chasing it, making the two
starships stay in a tight formation. The other shuttles looked as if they
were trying to organize an attack, but they failed to do much more than be
nuisances flying across the view screens and putting blips on the
sensors. The Kriton commander saw them as kids playing at war, amazed at
their piloting ability, but knowing their total lack of organization kept
them from being a serious threat. He did realize that the science vessel
was still subject to a lucky hit, especially from the persistent attacker,
and he kept his attention focused. The thirteen shuttles flying past and
filling the sensors with their images created tracking chaos, but in ten
minutes they would be within launching range. As soon as the bomb was
launched it would be surrounded by the six fighters still in their hangars
plus the fighters already launched. It would be next to impossible to
penetrate that shield and hit the bomb with a weapon. The bomb would
quickly accelerate faster than their fighters, but the same would be true
for the Earth shuttles. The cocoon would protect the bomb until it was
safely out of range. Then nothing could stop it. Ten more minutes, and for
all intents and purposes his mission would be accomplished.

*****

"He can launch the bomb in ten minutes," Scottie said.

"Plenty of time," Douglas replied.

"Are you sure we can't just shoot the bomb after it's launched?" Andrew
asked, confident in his ability to hit the small target.

"No," Douglas said. "And you know the reasons. The bomb will probably be
traveling faster than our top speed, and we can't warp this close to a
gravity well. They probably will use their fighters as a cocoon for it, and
we won't be able to get through that. And, lastly, the target is too
small. We miss it; we can't catch it and do it again. We have to get the
science ship, and that's what this plan is all about."

Andrew felt crushed by the comment on the target size. He knew he could hit
anything. "But we will still, probably, only have one chance at the science
ship," he said. "So what's the difference?"

"The difference is the science ship is bigger and the shuttles are taking
hits, even if they are too far away to do any real damage," Douglas
answered. "But each hit weakens the shield and makes it easier for us. One
thing about Jake Masters, he didn't scrimp when he built this thing. It's
fast, maneuverable, and has some real kick ass weapons."

"Are you sure they won't be expecting us?" Nipper asked.

"I'm not sure of that at all. But they have a lot of distractions going on
right now. I figure after our `flame out' they figure we're off dead in
space somewhere. From what Kalon and Wolfe said the Kritons aren't the best
at keeping track of what goes on around them. They value fire power over
stealth and figure everybody else does too." Douglas hoped with every fiber
of his being that he was right.

*****

The beam hit the "Buford" hard, jerking it off course, its shield barely
holding.

"One more hit like that and we're toast," Scooter said.

"One more hit of any kind and we're toast," Jeff retorted.

TJ was silent, his face grim.

"TJ, we need you involved in this," Jeff said. "We've pretty much been
doing this without a CO." Jeff was struggling to get the "Buford" back into
the fray.

TJ remained silent. His thoughts were on the Fagin, on watching it burst
into a ball of flame, of knowing his brother had been a member of the crew.

"TJ, we know you're hurting about RJ," Scooter said gently. "He was your
brother. We all knew RJ and we all knew he was a fighter, no matter
what. Right now, he would want you to be fighting for the things he died
for. We need you TJ. Your brother needs you."

TJ kept the grim look locked on his face, but he knew what Scooter was
saying was right. The time to mourn would have to be later. If RJ were
alive, he would be busy firing his weapons and kicking Kriton ass. TJ took
a deep breath. His face was still grim, but the crew could see a spark come
back to his eyes. Up until now Jeff had maneuvered the "Buford" pretty much
on his own while hoping TJ would take up his command responsibilities.

"Make another pass at the science ship, starboard side. Evasive attack
pattern B."

Jeff looked at Scooter and smiled as he put the "Buford" back into action.

*****

Ben looked at the battle raging off in the distance. For a moment he
thought the "Buford" had been knocked out of the fight, but she had come
back to life and had made a pass over the science ship, getting off as
close a hit as anybody. She then headed out, a Kriton fighter hot on her
tail.

Jeff ran evasive maneuvers trying to shake the Kriton fighter off his tail,
but the hit they had taken made the shuttle sluggish and he knew the Kriton
would be on them for a direct hit all too soon.

The crew of the "Raptor" could see the trouble the "Buford" was in. Trevor
and Spencer quickly formulated a plan. Trevor broke in on the "Buford's"
radio, telling them their idea.

"It sounds tricky and our controls aren't responding well. If they don't
react instantly there is no second chance," TJ said.

"We'll take that chance," Trevor responded. "If we don't do something now,
the Kriton is gonna roast you."

"Then let's do it," TJ said.

Kyle shot the "Raptor" in front of an oncoming Kriton fighter. The
fighter's pilot was surprised since the "Raptor" had been the shuttle
creating the most havoc and had been impossible to touch. But the shuttle's
pilot had obviously made a youthful mistake, and the Kriton pilot was ready
to take advantage of it.

Jeff changed the heading of the "Buford" and suddenly the two shuttles were
heading on a collision course, directly at each other.

On the "Savoy Special" Scottie looked at his instruments. "Holy shit!
They're heading right for each other."

"That's Trevor!" Ben exclaimed. "What is he doing?"

They watched helplessly as the two shuttles headed towards each other while
working to evade the fire of the Kriton fighters behind them.

Trevor looked at his instruments. He knew the margin for error here was
close to zero. Sweat was dripping down his face as he stared at his
instruments. He was going to be the one to make the decision when to end
this space going game of chicken. The collision alarms started blaring but
he ignored them.  The "Raptor" careened straight towards the oncoming
"Buford", both of them with Kriton fighters behind, trying to shoot off a
piece of their asses. The klaxons were blaring, red lights were flashing,
and Ian found himself screaming when Trevor yelled, "NOW!"

Kyle hit the touch screen in front of him and the "Raptor" shot up at a
relative up position. On the "Buford" Jeff did the same, and the "Buford",
though a bit sluggishly, dipped to a relative down position. Both Kriton
pilots, with their proximity alarms off and totally intent on their
targets, realized too late what had happened and collided head on in a
spectacular explosion.

"Nice piloting," Trevor said to both pilots.

"Piece of cake," Kyle said confidently, although he was still trying to
find a way to breathe. On the "Buford" Jeff was breathing with more
difficulty when he realized that both the main and back-up directional
controls were blown out again by the evasive maneuver. They had come within
a touch on the screen to a head-on collision with one of the Kriton
fighters.

*****

The Kriton commander had released six more fighters, leaving two in
reserve. The collision left him no choice but to release his reserves as
well, and he cursed the young Earth pilots. The fighters were now forming a
tight barrier around the science ship, ready to become a cocoon as soon as
the bomb was launched. They were now four minutes from the launch point. He
considered launching the bomb early, but knew the weapon was quite
temperamental and fragile, so he elected to follow his orders and not
launch early. Of course, his orders hadn't anticipated anything but a token
police force resistance either.

One of the Earth shuttles was obviously disabled. He would deal with it
later. The quick one was circling back but would now find the science ship
a much more difficult target than his hit and run tactics could handle. One
other shuttle had flamed out and had not been a factor in the fighting at
all. The other five shuttles were slow and weak and had been little more
than nuisances that now stood no chance of breaking his new defensive
barrier.

The crew of the "Savoy Special" had watched it all, from the space age game
of chicken to the strengthening of the defenses around the science
ship. "Four minutes until launch," Scottie said.

"Time to do it," Douglas said. "Let's hope Trevor's last hit did the job on
their shields...and that Jake's weapons are as powerful as we were told."
The entire crew knew they would only get one chance. He looked at Ben. "And
let's hope that you can pull it off this time."

Ben gave Douglas a wild grin, clicked on his music, reached up and pulled
down his sunglasses and said, "Nothing to hope for. It's a done deal."

He hit the touch screen, issued an order to Scottie, and the "Savoy
Special" started into a tight spiral. For a quick instant he wished it was
Jesse in the engineering seat and not Scottie, but he shook the thought
from his mind. Scottie wasn't in Jesse's class as an engineer, but he knew
what he was doing.

All five pairs of eyes looked intently on the instruments. The Kritons were
still not close enough to eyeball out of the view screen, but that would
change quickly. Ben maintained the spiral, but the inertial dampeners and
the gravity generator functioning smoothly to maintain equilibrium. The
Kriton ships were coming within visual distance. It was now time for the
real show to begin.

Ben put the spiraling shuttle into a Quinlan loop and the dampeners and
generators groaned.  Even so, he was well within their tolerances.

The Kritons picked up the incoming shuttle. At first they thought it was
yet another intruder, but quickly realized it was the shuttle that had
supposedly flamed out. They had forgotten about it and their defense, as
tight as it was, didn't anticipate an attack from that direction. Part of
the plan had been for the "disorganized" JFSA shuttles to stay totally out
of that sector of space after the ten minute mark and the Kritons had taken
the bait. They now had to shift their fighter defense to handle the new
attacker.

"He is in one of those loops the Earthers love so much," the XO of the
Kriton flagship said.

"And we know those loops to the meter," the commander said. He pointed to a
spot on the map filling the screen in front of him. "They will come out of
it right here in precisely ten seconds. Fire on my command."

The XO counted down the time and at zero the commander shouted, "Fire!" A
blaze of light and energy shot out of the ship and dissipated into empty
space. The "Savoy Special" hadn't pulled out of the loop. Instead it was
doubling it, tightening it, doing the nearly impossible Double Quinlan
loop.

"It has to come out here!" the Kriton science officer said, pointing to the
map. Once again the order to fire came, and once again nothing was touched
but vacuum.

Ben had tightened the loop yet again and was tripling it, a maneuver Kalon
Masters had told him was impossible because no shuttle could ever stand the
strain. But Ben had convinced Douglas that the "Savoy Special" was no
ordinary shuttle, that Kalon Masters himself said it was capable of much
more than even the finest SFA shuttle. He kept his fingers pressed to the
touch screen as the inertial dampener, the gravity generator, and the frame
and fuselage of the shuttle screamed for mercy. Ben felt the increasing g
forces as the loop tightened. Sweat flowed from his face as his fingers
worked across the touch screen like those of a concert pianist running
along the keys of a grand piano.

The science officer now had no idea where the shuttle would end up and the
weapons officer could get no kind of a computer lock on it. The fighters
were working to close the defensive gap around the science ship as Ben hit
the pad with three fingers, bringing a groan from the shuttle that made the
frightened, perspiring crew think the shuttle was breaking up.

Andrew could feel his head and body throbbing as he looked out the view
screen. The twelve year old knew that the weight of this whole mission was
on him now. He knew that his twin brother had been the hero, the Bird of
Prey, the one everybody looked up to, but now he was on the sideline,
watching like every one else to see if the "Savoy Special" could finish off
the attack with a kill. He had told Ben and Douglas he was the best, he
could to it, but a streak of doubt hit his mind. Trevor was the best, not
him. Trevor should be in this seat, not him. Trevor was the alpha twin and
always had been, not him. As the "Savoy Special" pulled out of the loop his
thoughts started to overwhelm him.

A voice came at him. It was his own voice, but it was not his voice. It was
both a whisper and a scream. "You can do it, Andrew," Trevor said. "You can
do it because you're the best."

Andrew's mind went blank, the groans of the equipment and the hull stopped,
and there was nothing but him and the view screen and his keypad as the
"Savoy Special" came out of her loop. Ironically she was shielded from the
Kriton warships by the science ship and two of the fighters assigned to
protect her. But Andrew didn't know it nor did he care. All he saw was the
hull of the science ship a few thousand meters from him and the weapons
keypad under his fingers. His orders had been simple. Fire when
ready. Well, he was ready. He hit the three, four, and seven buttons on the
keypad and the full force of the former smuggler's shuttle shot out of the
weapons ports, scoring a direct hit on the center of the science ship's
hull, hitting the volatile engineering section of the ship.

Like any explosion in space, it was circular, throwing flame and debris in
every direction, including the path of the attacking shuttle. The shuttle's
shields were on minimal power to preserve all the energy needed for her
triple loop as well as for her weapons, but they were strong enough to
deflect the shooting debris. The "Savoy Special" shot through the flames in
the spot that, moments before, had been occupied by a space ship. As the
shuttle came out the other side, a spinning piece of debris hit the same
antenna that Jesse had risked his life to free, knocking it clean off the
shuttle's hull. The impact knocked the shuttle off its course, putting it
into a spin.  The loss of the antenna created a short that knocked out the
shuttle's power. The shuttle's momentum kept it moving of course, since
there is no friction in space to slow a moving body, but it would be
obvious to any observer that the shuttle was powerless.

"I can get the power back up in two minutes," Scottie said, knowing that
Jesse would take half as long. "By the way, great shot Andrew. Awesome
shot."

Andrew grinned. "Did you guys hear Trevor?"

"Trevor?" Ben asked. "On the radio you mean?"

"No, I mean here on the shuttle."

"Sorry, Andrew, all I heard was you saying you were the best. And you were
the best Andrew. That was a perfectly placed and timed shot."

Nipper gave Andrew a quick kiss on his lips. "I agree."

"Add me to the Andrew admiration society," Douglas said. "But right now I
think we better worry about those two Kriton warships and the fighters. I
figure we have more like thirty seconds to get ready because we will be
dead long before two minutes have passed."

They could see the fighters turning and coming in for the kill on the
crippled shuttle. The only thing keeping them from coming in quicker was
the worry that the shuttle might be playing dead one more time and they
weren't about to be fooled again. Douglas guessed at why they were slow to
close, but he knew their stay of execution wouldn't last long.

*****

The Kriton commander's face was clenched in anger as he watched the debris
of the science ship fly off into space.  He simply couldn't believe that a
group of mere children could have killed his mission. He knew that he would
have a very difficult time explaining it to the high command. He knew that
General Elihu's plan was now doomed to failure, because it had required the
detonation of the xanthium bomb. As much as he hated to admit it2 the
Earthers had a larger, more powerful fleet than Kriton and Elihu had relied
completely on his sneak attack.

The commander was not about to leave without exacting revenge. There were
eight Earth shuttles. Two of them were currently powerless and they would
eliminate them first, although he knew he would have to be careful in case
the Earth children elected to fight without honor again and were actually
faking. He was especially leery of the shuttle that had just destroyed the
mission. Five of the shuttles had showed themselves to be slow, with
inferior weaponry. He would go after them next, and then chase down the
last shuttle, the quick one with the sting that had created all the early
havoc. That shuttle was quicker than his fighters, but it could not outrun
his star ship.

He looked at "Savoy Special." They would be the first to go, the children
without honor, who had destroyed not only his mission but his career. He
told his pilot to move in closer to the shuttle, and then ordered his
weapons officer to lock weapons on it. He told his fighter pilots that the
first shot would be his, and then they could come in and finish the kill,
acting like scavengers, making sure there was no flesh left.

A smile creased the angry face of the commander as the starship moved into
weapons range and he prepared to give the order to fire.

To be continued.