CHAPTER 4: WHEN IT RAINS . . .

(Author's note: So glad to see all the great reviews! I make a point of personally replying to all signed reviews. To piegirl, TheEclipse, and Devilbunny: Thanks for reviewing!)

"Incoming!"

The huge craft was headed straight for the substitute Legionnaires' ship, and there was no stopping it. There wasn't even any slowing it down. All they could do was try to get out of the way before they were crushed or blown up.

"We're gonna die! We're gonna die!"

"We're doomed!"

"Somebody call the Legion for help!"

"Oh, for plarg's sake!" Infectious Lass rolled her eyes. "We are the Legion! Stop panicking and do something!"

"Do what?" Color Kid was crouched under his seat with his arms over his head, waiting for the end to come.

In the end, it was Stone Boy who saved the day. He got out of his seat and pushed the button that activated the shielding (after first pushing the button that activated the viewscreen wipers). He then took hold of the control stick and wrenched it to the left as hard as he could. The ship pivoted like a spinning top and just barely missed being slammed by the intruder.

Porcupine Pete poked his head up. "Are they gone?"

"Uh, no."

"Can we fire the phasers?"

"Let's see . . . we have enough power to fire off one shot," said Color Kid, "but if we do, we'll have to drop the shields to do it."

"We'll have to make it count, then."

The substitute Legionnaires tried to steer into position to fire their one phaser blast at the intruder, but it wasn't easy when the pilot was hyperventilating and most of the rest of the crew were in a state of panic, convinced that they were about to get clobbered by the enemy before help could arrive.

But to their surprise, the ship scored a direct hit on the intruder and actually did some damage to it, enough to knock out its shields and part of its sensor array. "Whoa."

"What do we do now?" asked Color Kid.

Pete checked the readouts. "We have enough power to restore the shields, but not fire another shot."

"Well, put the shields up, then! Just in case they take another shot at us."

"Sure thing!" With that, he went to the control panel, only to stare down at it in confusion. "Uh, which button is it again?"

Stone Boy sighed and pressed it for him.

Just then the viewscreen crackled to life. "Message coming through," said Chlorophyll Kid.

"This is Farz Reepek of the Intergalactic Mechalon Patrol. You have invaded our air space and initiated hostilities, and you must die."

"WHAT?" Pete exclaimed. "We're not even in your air space!"

"All air space is ours. We own the universe, and you are not welcome. Prepare to be destroyed."

LLLLLLLLLL

The SOS came into Legion HQ right about the time that Bouncing Boy was waking up, on a makeshift cot in the only available space in the infirmary.

"What happened?" he asked. He started to get up, but Triplicate Girl rushed over and helped him back into bed.

"Don't try to get up yet. You just lie there and rest, okay? I'm here to help you."

"I . . . I'm . . . what's happening to me?"

"You're sick, Chuck."

"I'm sick? But I *can't* be sick! I've got too much to do here to just lie around . . ." That was as far as he got before he flopped back onto the bed and collapsed again. Triplicate Girl covered him up and went to see what was happening with Saturn Girl.

It wasn't pretty. The worst of the symptoms were flaring up, and on top of hat, she was discovering the joys of morning sickness—at four o'clock in the afternoon.

"Urgh," she groaned. "When does this go away?"

"In two or three months, usually," Trip said. "Sometimes longer."

"Lovely. So not only can't I take any pain medication, but I'm losing every meal I eat? Wonderful." She sat up and looked at Trip. "What's happening out there?"

"Don't worry about it right now, Imra. We're taking care of it."

"We? Who's we? Who's in charge right now?"

"Um . . . right now, I think it's Phantom Girl. There's not too many of us left—"

The speaker system embedded in the wall suddenly crackled to life. "If anyone's still there, we're in trouble! Send whoever's able to these coordinates."

"Who's that?" Saturn Girl asked.

Triplicate Girl looked a bit embarrassed. "We've had to send the Subs out on patrol. I guess they ran into something they couldn't handle."

"Do we have anyone to help them?"

"I think there's one reserve team in the hangar. I'll call them right now."

She sat down at the monitor and opened a comm channel to the team standing by in the hangar. "You guys read that last message?"

"Receiving coordinates now," Sun Boy said. "We're on our way."

"Keep us informed."

"Will do. Reserve Team One out."

"That sounds promising," Saturn Girl said. "Unless there's a major interstellar war or something, we're covered. Oh, grife, my head . . ."

"You'd better lie down for now," Triplicate Girl said. "There's a very good chance we may be calling the UP Medical Forces any time now, and if we do, I'll make sure someone finds something safe to give you."

"Thanks. How's Garth doing?"

"He's being a pain, as usual."

"I wish I could at least talk to him."

"Maybe when things aren't quite so busy, we could set up a room-to-room connection so the two of you can talk. But right now, we're running in six directions at once. Do you think you can hang on for a few hours?"

"You think it might be that long?"

"You don't want to know the level of crazy we've got going on out there. Let me go check on a few things, and I'll come back and see if I can do that for you."

"That would be great. Thanks so much." Saturn Girl lay back with a beatific smile on her face, thinking only of her husband-to-be and the father of her child. Maybe she wouldn't wait till they were face to face to tell him. The sooner, the better.

LLLLLLLLLL

Aboard th UP Cruiser Atlantis, Engineering Supervisor James W. Rigby was thinking about his friend Salu, and wondering what kind of trouble she'd gotten herself into now. He'd known her for years, and she was always the type to, without meaning to, find herself in the middle of a catastrophe. But she was smart enough to always know how to get herself out.

He wished he could just zap himself across the solar system and check on her personally, but the Atlantis was too far away to reach Earth in less than two days, even at maximum speed, and besides which he doubted the captain would agree to make such a massive diversion from course based solely on the hunches of a junior officer who wasn't even allowed to use the Officers' Head.

He should call her, though, once his shift was done. He hoped those friends of hers were able to get their ship up and running on his instructions. Maybe what he should do was run a scan to see if any disabled ships were in the area . . .

Just as he was about to sneak off to a terminal to perform the scan, he saw Chief Engineer Mbatu coming towards him.

"Where do you think you're going, Rigby?"

"Um . . . nowhere, sir." Mbatu was an intimidating man, who resembled the ancient African chiefs from whom he claimed to be directly descended. Rigby always had the feeling the chief engineer was about to order him thrown to the crocodiles.

"Good. We've just received an emergency call from inside the orbit of Neptune. We'll need maximum warp to get there in time. You know what to do."

"Yes, sir." Rigby took his place by the massive generator, wondering what this big emergency could be. Probably nothing.

On the other hand, Neptune was closer to Earth than they were right now, so maybe he could manage to get that signal through . . .

LLLLLLLLLL

For all its size and power, the mighty starship nevertheless arrived several minutes after the relatively tiny Legion Reserve ship.

Both of them were in for a nasty surprise.

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" the captain of the Atlantis asked the Legion.

"What is that thing?" Dawnstar gaped at the huge, hulking, and somehow nasty-looking craft that confronted them.

The viewscreen came to life. "This is Farz Reepek of the Intergalactic Mechalon Patrol. You have been warned. Now you will be destroyed."