A/N: Well here is the second chapter of the exciting tale that I have begun telling. It's short and sweet with a little bit of action to keep things interesting. So read on everyone, and enjoy the chapter.
Chapter Two
Vacations Canceled
January 17th 2161
Great Fox III
Fox and Krystal materialized in sickbay onboard the Great Fox III, Miyu immediately ran over to them with a medical scanner in hand. She got to Fox and said "How do you feel?"
Fox looked at her like she was crazy and said "How do I feel? I just got shot in the fucking leg. How do you think I feel?"
"Like a cocky bastard who always gets in over his head. Now how the hell did this happen?"
Fox sighed and said "Two idiots stole a Spell Stone and I tried to get it back, one of them must have pulled a blaster when I wasn't looking. How bad is it?"
Miyu looked at it and then took a scan. She shrugged and said "Nothing a little growth gel can't handle. I'll have you running marathons like you're still an academy cadet in about a day. In the meantime you are not to leave that bio-bed," she pointed to one right next to her office, "Until I tell you that you can. Otherwise I sedate you and we have a shortage of growth gel and you get to have a scar there for the rest of your life. We clear?"
Fox nodded "Anyone ever tell you have a wonderful bedside manner Miyu?"
She just smiled and helped him over to the bed. When he laid down Krystal gave him a quick kiss and said "I'm going to go and change, then I'll be on the bridge if you need me."
Fox nodded and kissed her then said "Oh I'll be needing you as soon as my leg is healed, if you catch my drift."
Krystal smiled and headed for their quarters.
Fiora was sweating. In fact she was sweating so much that she could barely see anything. She was only just able to see the old master swordsman that she had programmed into the Great Fox IIIs holographic database that she was now fighting. But despite this she was still holding her own, after all, she didn't really need to see, she could sense. She had been at this for hours on end, fighting against an enemy she knew that she couldn't simply tire out, so she had set the match to end when she got three touches, she had gotten two thus far, but the third eluded her.
Once again she artfully dodged an attack on her left arm and countered by jumping in the air while spinning and landing a blow that she hoped would end the game in her favor. Instead her swing was blocked and countered with a swift upper cut that she only just barely managed to avoid. Just then a voice rang out of the comm system in the holo-deck saying "Will Fiora please come to the bridge, we have a problem."
She tapped her comm badge and said "On my way. Computer, end program." The holographic environment, as well as her opponent dissolved and she was in the middle of a large square room with a grid pattern of yellow lines arrayed throughout it. She sniffed and thought Jeez don't I smell pretty? She shrugged and walked out of the room and made her way to a turbo lift. Just as the door opened she sensed the occupant. Smiling she said "Hey sis."
Krystal smiled back and said "What's up?"
Fiora got in and said "Bridge." Then looking at her sister she said "I just fought a damn computer opponent for three hours straight, and I only landed two touches on the bastard."
Krystal laughed and said "Three hours? No wonder I was going to ask if you were trying some new perfume."
Fiora rolled her eyes and looked down at herself, her blood red fur was disheveled from all of the movement, and she felt damp. "Sorry, but apparently I don't have time to shower. Am I that bad?"
Krystal sniffed and said "Yep, that bad."
Fiora grinned and asked "Is Decius on the bridge?"Krystal shook her head. "Damn I thought I might be able to turn him off enough to get some sleep tonight."
Krystal laughed and said "Knowing Decius it would probably do the exact opposite. Besides I thought you were the one who came on to him every night."
"Oh shut up, you do the same to Fox."
"Correction, we come on to each other at the same time. But it doesn't matter; I would still come on to him even if he didn't want me to."
Before Fiora could respond the doors to the bridge opened and Fiora and Krystal moved to their respective posts. Krystal sat down the left of the command chair which was now occupied by Fay, a white collie about her age who was in the habit of wearing a red bow in her hair. Fiora sat down at the left hand side of the bridge in front of a large set of consoles marked science. Keying herself into the system she said "Ok so what's the problem?"
Fay walked over and said "Someone stole a Spell Stone from the Ocean Force Point Temple, and I need you to scan for it."
Fiora raised an eyebrow and said "Do you know what they're made out of?"
Fay shrugged "No idea, but they're magical, shouldn't that narrow down the search?"
Fiora sighed and said "Fay I hate to break this to you, but my sensors cannot scan for magic. I mean there is not a button marked 'Magicalness' that I can simply hit and find out where something magical is. Now I can scan for the material that it's made out of, but since I don't know that I can't actually do that. So I really have nothing to go off of here, unless there's some other thing that I could scan for, like the ship that the robbers are going to have to use to get off the surface."
Fay smiled "Well, how many spaceships could be on Sauria, go ahead and…" She didn't finish her sentence, instead the ship lurched and suddenly and threw her off of her feet. She jumped up and said "Report!"
The ensign at the tactical console looked at her and said "A small ship is coming up from the surface, she's firing on us."
"Shields up, tactical alert, I want that thing in a tractor beam now." The ship rocked again, Fay swore. "I want that thing on visual, now!"
The ship popped up on the view-screen, it was a small angular vessel with a single ion engine. Compared to the Great Fox III the ship was the size of an atom. Fiora looked up from her console and said "The ship is on a vector outbound from the system and is powering its warp drive."
The ship vibrated a little as a second blast impacted on the shields. The ensign at tactical said "Shields holding at ninety-seven percent, but the ship is going to quickly for a tractor beam lock."
Fay looked at him and said "Then give me a firing solution from the plasma batteries to disable its engines."
The ensign nodded, then Fiora said "Too late, they've gone to warp."
Fay looked at the screen just as the small vessel elongated briefly before quite literally jumping to faster than light speeds. Fay growled and said darkly "I hate it when people get away with shooting at us. Tell me you know where they went Fiora."
Fiora nodded and said "Yes, but you won't like where they're going."
Krystal walked over and asked "Where?"
Fiora sighed and said "The Aparoid System."
Everyone on the bridge looked at each other; the thought of anyone going to that system was ominous indeed.
