Chapter Nine

"The Arkadians were once a diverse people. They lived in small communities all over their world. Some of the communities were peaceful while others sought conquest. While exploring a cave system, some members of one of the peaceful communities found what they described as a 'huge, natural power source'. The power source they discovered was also very deadly. All but one of the explorers died. The one that survived reported the discovery to his leaders. He described it as a 'giant glowing crystal at the bottom of an immense shaft'. They were able to devise a way to protect them while they studied it. None of the Arkadian writings ever specified what the power source was actually made of.

"It took many years, but they were able to construct a shield over the power source. This shield protected anyone that went into the caves and allowed them to harness the power. Thus they began to construct their city, which they called the City of Arkadia.

"Being a peaceful group, they invited the other communities to join them in their new home. It took a few hundred years, but, eventually, everyone on Arkadia moved into the city. Being unified now, there were no more wars. All the old settlements fell into ruins and crumbled away into dust.

"For two thousand years, the Arkadians were content in their home. They had no desire to go to the surface. Why should they? They had everything they needed. The Arkadian scientists, however, wanted to explore beyond their city. They knew their history, so they wanted to explore space. And they did.

"About three thousand years after all the Arkadians moved into the city, unrest started brewing. Some citizens wanted to move out of the city and establish their own communities on the surface. Fearing that individual communities would eventually lead to wars, the government forbade it. This, of course, did not settle well with the 'rebels', as the historians called them. No matter how they pleaded, the government would not give in.

"In a desperate and unimaginable act, the rebels gained access to the power source. It wasn't guarded. Why should it be? No one would ever do anything to it. The rebels, however, opened the shield. Their plan was to open the shield just a little and then close it. They wanted to force the government to bow to their demands. However, something went wrong. The shield opened all the way and could not be closed. The radiation that had been pent up for thousands of years was suddenly unleashed like water rushing from a broken dam. Within an hour, everyone in the city was dead. Radiation spilled through the city's ventilation shafts and onto the surface. Arkadia was doomed.

"The only surviving Arkadians were those who had been on exploratory missions. One ship returned to Arkadia shortly after the disaster. A team managed to get into the city and close the shield. It was too late for them, however. Not even their advanced protective gear could shield them. Before the survivors died, they sent word to the other exploratory ships, telling them not to come back to Arkadia and to find a new home. One signaled back that they had found a habitable world. As a last act, they wrote the Testament of Arkadia - the one that we found in the cave where they died.

"We were able to piece the history together from accounts we found in the library and other writings we found from the survivors."

Bergman settled back in his chair, reaching for the cup of coffee on the stand next to him.

"Thank you for the history lesson," said Bellerson. "When this mission is over, we can send teams to Arkadia for study. We, of course, have radiation suits. We also have machines called radiation scrubbers that might be able to clean the entire city. They are big and slow, but we might be able to make the city habitable again."

Setting down his cup, Bergman replied, "I think the Arkadians would like that." He rose to his feet. Bellerson could tell he was tired. "Captain, if you don't mind, I should like to get some sleep."

"Of course," said Bellerson, standing. "I'll show you to your quarters."

Exiting Bellerson's quarters, they proceeded down the corridor.

"Perhaps tomorrow," said Bellerson, "you can tell us about all the things you encountered on Moonbase Alpha."

"How long until our next destination?" asked Bergman.

"Five days."

Bergman smiled. "That may be just enough time."

Over the next four days, Bergman was given a tour of the ship and introduced to the crewmember that shared his last name - Simon Bergman. After during a genealogical search, they discovered that they were indeed related. Also during that time, Bergman was telling about his adventures on Alpha. Bellerson, Mukata, Simon Bergman, and Carter would gather in the conference room and listen a couple hours at a time. Of course, his stories were being recorded so all could enjoy them later.

While all the stories were fascinating, one in particular caught Bellerson's interest.

"A black hole?" he asked. "You went through a black hole?"

Bergman nodded. "Yes, we did. And survived."

"How?"

"I devised a protective screen that used Alpha's eight anti-gravity towers. It was designed to use the force of the black hole to protect us against itself."

"Ingenious," said Mukata. "But how did the moon itself survive?"

Bergman shrugged. "Quite frankly, I don't know. I don't know how any of us survived that. It shouldn't have worked. But, even more striking, was the fact that we sent a survival ship in the opposite direction before entering the black hole. Somehow, shortly after we exited it, the Eagle showed up. The only explanation I have is that the being in the black hole made it possible."

"Being?" asked Bellerson.

"Yes. As we went through, John and I spoke with someone. If it was a delusion, then we shared the same one."

"Captain," began Mukata, "with your permission, I'd like to learn more about this shield the professor created."

"Do you have any objections, Professor?" asked Bellerson.

"None at all," replied Bergman. "And when are you going to call me Victor?!"

They were nearly there. Would they find the Alphans now or would it be just another clue? The door chime rang.

"Come," said Bellerson, setting down the book he was reading.

The door of his quarters opened to reveal Mukata and Bergman.

"Mr. Mukata. Prof - uh -Victor." he asked.

Bergman noticed the book. "I'm glad to see you still have books in your time, Captain."

Glancing down at the book, Bellerson replied. "It's called Colony by Ben Bova."

"Ah, yes, Ben Bova," said Bergman. "He had some interesting ideas about the future."

"So, what can I do for you, gentlemen?" Bellerson asked.

"Sir, we've been going over Victor's force field..." began Mukata.

"From the best of my fleeting memory," interrupted Bergman.

Mukata nodded and continued. "And I believe that Moonbase Alpha was the only place in the universe that the shield could work on."

Bellerson sat straighter. "Explain."

Mukata and Bergman sat down.

"It was a combination of the type of power used, the construction of the towers, and the lunar surface," said Mukata.

"How did the lunar surface play a role?" asked Bellerson.

"It seems the moon is impervious to the crushing effect of intense gravity," replied Mukata.

"What?" asked a disbelieving Bellerson. "How is that possible?"

Mukata shrugged. "I'm not sure at this point. All I know is that the sample we were able to collect from the moon isn't affected by extreme gravity. Of course, I can't replicate the intense gravity of a black hole, but, preliminary tests show they moon, as is, could survive going through a black hole."

Bellerson mulled it over for a moment. Then, leaning forward, he said, "Okay, this is what we know. The Arkadians built a device that will repel the aliens, but they have no way of delivering it. We just learned that the moon is capable of surviving passage through a black hole and that anyone inside Victor's force field would be safe. Do you suppose the device needs to be delivered into a black hole?"

"It's possible," said Mukata. "But why not just send the device into the black hole by itself?"

"Because it would most likely be crushed before it could do whatever it is it needs to do," offered Bergman.

"Sounds reasonable," said Bellerson. "Gentlemen, I believe we will find the Alphans at our next stop." He glanced over at the digital clock set into the wall. "And we should be there shortly."

The Yorktown disengaged her star drive as she entered the solar system. The coordinates would take them to the fourth planet.

"Captain," said Mukata. "I'm reading a vessel in orbit."

"Is it the aliens?" asked Bellerson.

"No, sir," replied Mukata. "It is of a different configuration."

"On screen."

The main view screen changed to show the alien ship. It was sleek and elegant. The design of the ship reminded Bellerson of a wasp. I wonder if it has a stinger? he thought.

"Victor, have you ever seen a ship like that?" asked Bellerson.

Bergman, who was seated next to Mukata at the science station, shook his head. "No, I haven't."

"What kind of readings are you getting, Mr. Mukata?" asked Bellerson.

"None," he replied. "Our scans are bouncing off some sort of shield."

"Mr. Benson. Tactical analysis?"

"If they're blocking our scans, then they have something to hide," replied Benson. "I'd considered them a threat."

"Good enough," said Bellerson. "Raise shields. Battle stations."

Alert klaxons sounded throughout the ship as crewmembers rushed to their assigned posts.

"What kind of readings are you getting from the surface?" asked Bellerson, swinging his chair around to look at Mukata.

"I am picking up ninety eight human life forms," replied Mukata.

Turning his chair back to the main screen, Bellerson ordered, "Navigator, plot an intercept course. Helmsman, take us in."

The two men's "Aye, sir" was nearly in unison as they worked the controls.

"Captain," said Mukata, urgency in his voice, "The alien vessel is firing on the surface."

On the main screen, they watched a ball of light appear under the ship and move towards the surface. Within a few moments, they saw a tiny explosion on the surface.

"The life form count is now ninety three," said Mukata.

"Five people killed," muttered a seething Bellerson. "Mr. Benson, target that alien ship and prepare to fire."

"Aye, sir," was the reply.

"Captain, we are being hailed," said Mukata. "Audio only."

"Let's hear it,"

The speakers crackled and a female voice said, "Attention alien vessel. Stop your approach. You have no business here."

"Who is this?" demanded Bellerson.

"I am Consul Vedre, assistant to Archon, the supreme ruler of the Federated Worlds of Dorca."

From the way she said it, she obviously expected it to mean something. It didn't. Bellerson learned towards Bergman and motioned from him to come closer.

"Do you know who these people are?" he whispered.

Bergman shook his head.

Sitting upright, Bellerson said, "I am John Bellerson, captain of the Yorktown. Why are you firing on the planet?"

"We have been looking for these people for a long time. They owe us a great debt."

"And what kind of debt is that?"

There was a pause as if Vedre was deciding whether or not to answer the question. "They have a Psychon and they killed our previous leader."

Bellerson looked over at Bergman and mouthed "Psychon?". Bergman shrugged and shook his head.

"Well, whatever your grievance is with them, it is settled. These are our people and we are here to get them."

"So, you are from Earth?"

Bellerson paused. "Yes."

"Then we shall destroy you, take what is ours, and find your world and subjugate it into the Dorcon Federation."

"Not on my watch, Consul", replied Bellerson. He gave the cut-throat gesture and Mukata severed the connection.

On the main screen, the Dorcon ship was turning to face them.

Stan Benson looked puzzled. "Only one gun port? Not a very good design."

"Let's take advantage of it," said Bellerson. "Fire tubes one through ten. Full spread."

Benson touched a control and ten missiles sped towards the Dorcon ship. The alien ship rocked violently as the missiles struck. Whatever protective shield they had collapsed and the ship began to break apart. When the explosions ceased, the Dorcon ship was in two large pieces.

"Mr. Mukata, scan for survivors," said Bellerson.

After a moment, Mukata said, "I am reading no bio signs."

"So, they're all dead," said Bellerson.

"No, sir, that's not what I mean. I don't think there was ever anything alive on it."

"A robot ship?" asked Bellerson.

"Very likely," replied Mukata.

"So, its mother ship could be near by," said Bellerson.

"And I'd wager it's a lot tougher than that one was," offered Benson.

Bellerson nodded. "Then we need to move quick. Mr. Johnson, how many trips will it take to evacuate the planet?"

Johnson looked down at the panel in the arm of his chair and tapped the screen. "Three," he replied.

"Three?" asked Bellerson.

"We aren't equipped for large rescue operations," Johnson replied.

"And if we include the Eagle?" asked Bellerson.

"Still the same," replied Johnson.

Bellerson rose. "We take it anyway. Mr. Johnson, get the shuttles ready. Have a medical team board the Eagle. Victor, you're with me."

Bellerson and Bergman headed towards the exit. Before they reached it, Bellerson turned around and said, "And, Mr. Benson, destroy the rest of that ship. I don't it to come crashing down on top of us." He knew it would most likely burn up in the atmosphere, but he didn't want to take the chance.

"Aye, sir," replied Benson.

With the Eagle in the lead, the four Yorktown shuttles headed towards the planet. Bellerson was finally getting his chance to fly the Eagle.

"This is surprisingly easy to fly," he said to Bergman who sat in the copilot's seat.

Bergman nodded. "When I went to Arkadia, I found my Eagle easy to fly as well. It'll practically fly itself if you will let it." He then touched a control on the console and called, "Eagle Six to John Koenig. Eagle Six to John Koenig. This is Victor Bergman."

He waited, but there was no reply. He tried again and, still, no reply.

"They may not have working radios," he said.

As the ship entered the atmosphere, Bergman touched a button on the panel and one of the view screens came to life showing the surface. He worked controls changing the camera's angle and zoom until he found what he was looking for - a settlement.

"Captain," he said excitedly. "There they are!"

Bellerson looked over at Bergman. There was a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. He then looked down at the monitor and saw the settlement. He could make out a few structures that resembled those that had been constructed on Arkadia. He also counted ten Eagles. One, however, was totally ripped apart, its remains resting in a small crater. The area around it was charred. Bellerson surmised that was where the Dorcon attack had struck.

"Looks like most of their Eagles are intact," he said.

"They're probably stripped," said Bergman. "That's what we did and used the passenger modules as living quarters."

Bellerson touched his wrist communicator. "This is Captain Bellerson. We will touch down one hundred meters west of the settlement. Remember, they were just attacked and, since we can't contact them, they don't know who we are. Hopefully, seeing an Eagle will alleviate any fears, but we can't count on that. After we land, stay on board your ship. I will assess the situation first and then give the all. Bellerson out." He looked over at Bergman. "Well, here we go."

The five ships touched down, the Eagle being the closest to the settlement. Bellerson and Bergman unstrapped themselves and walked into the passenger module. Dr. Feldman was there with four members of her medical staff. They were fully equipped to treat several patients. They knew that five had perished in the Dorcon attack. They didn't know how many were injured.

"Dr. Feldman, you and your team stay here until we can assess the situation," ordered Bellerson.

"Yes, sir," she replied.

"Perhaps I should go out first," said Bergman. "If they recognize..."

"No," interrupted Bellerson. "You can come out with me, but stay behind me. I don't want some trigger happy person shooting you."

"But, why would they?" asked Bergman.

"They've been through a lot, Victor. Who knows what kind of state they're in now." He glanced over at Feldman and then to Bergman. "Let's go."

The door of the Eagle slid open and bright sunlit spilled in. Bellerson had to squint his eyes until his pupils adjusted. He couldn't see anyone in the settlement. They were most likely hidden. The Eagles he had spotted were haphazardly placed roughly one hundred meters away. Behind them was a forest. Closer was a short barricade made of timber. Bellerson was sure that some of the Alphas were hiding behind it.

"You can't have Maya!" shouted a voice. It indeed came from the barricade.

"The Psychon?" Bellerson shouted back.

"Yes! You can't have her!"

"We aren't here for her," Bellerson replied. "We are not the people who attacked you. We destroyed that ship."

"Then who are you?"

Bergman tugged on Bellerson sleeve. "That's John Koenig," he said.

Without turning around, Bellerson replied, "Call to him, Victor."

"John! It's me, Victor!" he called.

There was a pause. Then, "That's not possible!"

"These people are from Earth, John. They found me on Arkadia with Luke and Anna."

From behind the barricade, a man rose to his feet, as did another. Bellerson recognized the first as being Commander John Koenig. Though he looked much older than what he had seen in either the log message or in his vision.

Victor pushed passed him and rushed towards Koenig.

"John!" he exclaimed hurrying to him.

A smile came upon Koenig's face as he saw Bergman. Moving around the barricade, he exclaimed, "Victor!"

The old friends hungrily embraced each other.

"I thought I would never see you again," said Koenig.

"I was sure of it," replied Bergman.

Breaking the embrace, Bergman took the hand of the man standing next to Koenig.

"Alan," he said, shaking his hand.

"Professor," replied Alan Carter, pulling Bergman in for a hug.

Bellerson touched his communicator. "All clear," he said.

The shuttle doors opened and the remaining Yorktown landing party emerged, as did Dr. Feldman and her team.

People began coming from behind and around the Eagles, heading towards the reunion.

"Commander," said Bellerson. "Are any of your people hurt?"

Koenig shook his head. "No. The Dorcon attack only took out the one Eagle and the five that were inside it. Thank you for destroying them." He extended his hand.

Bellerson took it. "Captain John Bellerson of the Yorktown. It is an honor to meet you, sir."

Koenig smiled. "Please, don't call me that. I haven't been called sir in a very long time. But, thank you just the same."

As the other Alphans approached, Bergman became quite busy embracing many of them. While the reunion was going on, Bellerson said to Koenig, "I know these events must be extraordinary to you. I know they are to me. But time is of the essence. That Dorcon shipped we destroyed was just a robot. Its mother ship is most likely near by and on its way."

"I understand," said Koenig. He glanced over to his people then to Bellerson. "How did you find us?"

"Arra," was Bellerson's reply.

A look of utter shock and surprise came upon Koenig's face. "Arra?" he asked.

Bellerson nodded. "Perhaps if I could address all of your people, I can explain."

Koenig looked over towards his people. They were all gathered around Bergman, laughing and getting reacquainted with their old friend.

"May I have your attention?" he shouted. The laughter quieted and everyone look towards him. "This is Captain John Bellerson of the Yorktown. He has something important he needs to tell all of us. Go ahead, Captain."

"Thank you, Commander," said Bellerson. "A few weeks ago, we found Moonbase Alpha." There were a few murmurs in the crowd. Bellerson raised his hand the murmurs ceased. "While we were there, we were given a mission by a woman you knew as Arra." Once again, murmurs, but they quieted quickly. "Our mission was to find you and Professor Bergman for, according to Arra, you have a great destiny to fulfill.

"Our galaxy has been invaded by a terrible enemy. This enemy has destroyed galaxies and is here to destroy our own. We believe that the Arkadians constructed a device that can stop them. However, we don't know where the device is."

"Do you know what it looks like?" asked Koenig.

Bellerson shook his head. "No, we do not."

"What about the ruins we found?" asked a woman stepping forward.

"This is Helena Russell," said Koenig in way of an introduction.

Bellerson shook her hand. "Ruins?" he asked.

"Yes," replied Helena. "Not far from here. In one of the ruined buildings there's an object that we couldn't identify."

"Take me there," said Bellerson. To Koenig he said, "We need to get your people off this planet."

Koenig nodded. "Everyone, we need to evacuate." This time, there weren't murmurs - there were a lot of "whats" and "whys".

"Quiet, please," said Koenig. "The Dorcon ship they destroyed was just a robot. They believe its mother ship it on its way here."

"Will it never end?" exclaimed a woman from the crowd.

Bellerson looked to see a strikingly beautiful woman. She had long, dark hair and dark markings that ran down either side of her face. She seemed much too young to be part of this group.

Koenig held out his hand and the woman, clearly frightened, came forward.

"This is Maya," said Koenig. "She is the person the Dorcons were after. You see, the Dorcons hunt the Psychons for their brain stems."

"Brain stems?" asked Bellerson.

"Yes," replied Koenig. "By grafting a Psychon brain stem on to a Dorcon's brain stem, it grants the Dorcon immortality."

"That's barbaric!" exclaimed Bellerson.

"Yes," agreed Koenig. "And since Maya is the last Psychon..."

"She is highly sought after," finished Bellerson.

Koenig nodded. "Yes."

Bellerson turned to face his men. "Let's start getting these people to the Yorktown." He turned back to the Alphans. "Please follow my officers' instructions. Don't take anything with you. If it's important, we will hopefully be able to come back for it later." To Koenig, he said, "Let's go see this object you found."

Koenig nodded. "Victor, Helena, Maya, come with us." Noticing that the rest of his people were hesitant, he said. "The rest of you, please do what Captain Bellerson has asked."

The Alphans began moving past them. One, however, stopped and looked up at Koenig. She was a small, dark haired woman.

"You, too, Sandra," said Koenig.

"But, John," she protested.

Koenig put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll be on board the Yorktown soon."

Nodding, Sandra Benes walked away.

"What about me, John?" asked Carter.

"I need you here to help coordinate the evacuation," said Koenig. Carter started to protest, but Koenig said, "Please, Alan."

Nodding, Carter walked towards the shuttles.

The trek back to the ruins was fairly short. As they walked, Bergman was asking some questions.

"So, a lot of our people were killed by the alien attack?" he asked.

"Several, yes," replied Koenig. "But we lost so many throughout the years due to accidents and other encounters."

Bergman paused, as if trying to think of something. Then, "What about that security officer you were going to promote to chief - Tony Verdeschi?"

Koenig shook his head. "He was killed during the attack."

Bellerson noticed that a look of sadness came over Maya's face. He decided not to pursue it.

The ruins were ruined in every sense of the word. A few walls remained. The rest was just rubble on the forest floor. The forest itself had reclaimed the land.

Koenig lead them to a small, ruined building. There, sitting on a stone block, was the object. It was roughly a meter across. The base was hexagonal in shape and gray in color. Coming up out of the base was a yellowish colored sphere approximately a meter in height. There were no discernable markings or controls on it. Bellerson and Bergman began walking around it.

"We don't know what it is," said Koenig.

"I've studied it and studied it, but haven't been able to determine its function," said Maya. For Maya not to be able to deduce something was rare indeed. "The only thing that we have found on it, " she continued, " is a rectangle on the base that seems to be an access panel. We can't get it open."

"Ah, I see," said Bergman as he found the rectangle Maya was referring to. He ran his fore finger along the lines of the rectangle and the panel popped open. "Well..." he began, stepping back.

"What is it?" asked Koenig.

"Seems I have the magic touch," replied Bergman.

All joined him to look at the open panel. Inside was a small, dark screen. Suddenly, it came to life and symbols starting scrolling across it.

Bergman looked at Bellerson.

"Sanskrit," they said in unison.

"This is it," said Bellerson. "We need to get it back to the Yorktown."

"It's extremely heavy," said Koenig. "We haven't been able to move it."

"John threw out his back trying to move it," offered Helena.

Koenig gave her a sour look. She just smiled.

Bellerson touched his communicator. "Dr. Feldman."

"Feldman here," came the reply.

"Are you still on the surface?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," she said.

"Did you bring the medical anti-grav units?"

"Yes, we did."

"Good. Lock onto my signal and bring..." - he looked at the device, trying to deduce how many it would take - " three."

"On my way."

"So, where do we have to take this?" asked Koenig.

"Back to Alpha," replied Bellerson.

Koenig turned to look at him, wrinkling his brow. "But Alpha is destroyed."

Bellerson nodded. "But somehow, someway, we need to get Victor's force field back up and running."

"Force field?" asked Koenig.

"The black hole," said Bergman.

Koenig looked at Bergman and then back to Bellerson. There was confusion on his face. "I don't understand."

Bellerson sighed. He wasn't sure if Koenig would believe, or even like, what he thought had to be done. "We believe we have to take the device into a black hole. The moon has survived going through one before."

"Yes," said Koenig, "but that was by shear luck. We don't understand how we made it through. There's no guarantee the moon could survive again."

"No, there isn't," replied Bellerson. "But I believe this is the mission set down to us by Arra."

Koenig began pacing, a hand on his chin. "Let's say that is what Arra wants us to do," he said, holding up that hand to emphasis his point, "how do we find a black hole and steer the moon towards it?" He stopped in front of Bellerson.

"There are a lot of things that need answers, I'll grant you that," said Bellerson. "But can you honestly say that, with everything you've seen, that this isn't already laid out and the moon is already heading towards a black hole?"

Koenig smiled. "Everything we've seen that defies scientific explanation, it would be foolish for me to try and apply it now."

There was a rustling in the bushes and Feldman emerged with the anti-grav units.

By the time they had gotten back to the landing site, most of the Alphans had been evacuated. They were on their last trip. Alan Carter was still there.

"I see you were able to move it," he said, pointing towards the floating Arkadian device.

"Uh, yes," said Bergman. "Reduced gravity makes it easy to move heavy objects."

Carter chuckled.

"Let's get it on board the Eagle," said Bellerson.

Bellerson watched as Feldman and Koenig guided the device onto the Eagle.

"One of my crewmembers is a relative of yours," Bellerson said to Carter.

Carter smiled. "Yes, I met him. Delightful lad. He said he got a chance to fly the Eagle."

"Yes, he did," replied Bellerson. Nodding towards the Eagle, he said, "Would you like to fly her?"

Carter grinned. "I was hoping you'd ask me that!"

Alan Carter enjoyed every minute of the flight back. He hadn't flown an Eagle in a long time. But, it was just like riding a bicycle. He even landed it smoothly in the Yorktown's shuttle bay though it was more of a horizontal landing than the vertical ones he was used to.

This time, at least, all were safely on board the Yorktown before an alien ship appeared. It wasn't the ship of the galactic destroyers - it was a Dorcon ship. Although it looked similar to the robot ship, it was much large and much more menacing in appearance.

"Shields up," commanded Bellerson, taking his seat. "Battle stations."

He had no sooner entered the bridge, along with Koenig, Bergman, Helena, Maya, and Carter, than the Dorcon ship appeared.

"We are being hailed," said Mukata. "We have video this time."

"On screen," said Bellerson.

A beautiful, dark haired woman replaced the image of the Dorcon ship. She wore hair up. Her eyes were dark and held authority.

"I am Consul Vedre," she said. "You didn't head our warning and you destroyed our drone."

"We couldn't let you harm our people," replied Bellerson.

"Captain, unless you hand over the Psychon, we will destroy you," she said matter-of-factly.

"Not again," said a small, quiet voice behind Bellerson. He turned around to see Maya looking at him. "Give me to them, Captain. I can't let innocent people be killed again on my behalf." She was almost in tears.

"Heed the Psychon, Captain," said Vedre.

Without turning to face the screen, Bellerson said to Benson, "Tactical analysis?"

Benson looked down at his console and shook his head. "I can't get a reading, but I'd say it's safe to assume that ship will pack a big wallop."

"He's right, Captain," said Vedre. "Don't let your crew die needlessly. Give us the Psychon and you can go in peace."

Bellerson thought for a moment and then said, "This is what I believe, Consul. You threatened to subjugate Earth and you plan on doing just that. This I cannot allow."

Vedre spread her hands. "That was an empty threat, Captain."

"They're liars," whispered Koenig. "They have a ..."

"Captain, I need your decision," interrupted Vedre. If she had heard Koenig, she made no indication of it.

"No deal, Consul," said Bellerson.

"Very well, then," replied Vedre. Looking to her right, she said, "Destroy them" And the screen switched back to the Dorcon ship.

"Fire tubes one through twenty, full spread," ordered Bellerson.

Benson touched some controls. "Missiles away," he said.

On the screen they watched the missiles speed towards the Dorcon ship. Unlike the robot ship, the missiles had no effect. They exploded harmlessly off the ship's shielding. In response, several balls of light sprung forth from the Dorcon ship, heading towards the Yorktown.

"Analysis?" asked Bellerson.

"Plasma of some sort," was all Mukata could get out before the weapons impacted.

The ship rocked violently. Anyone who was standing was thrown to the deck. Several consoles exploded in a shower of sparks. Warning klaxons began sounding throughout the ship.

"Damage report!" shouted Bellerson over the alarms.

"Shields are down," said Mukata. "Several systems have overloaded."

"Casualties?" asked Maya as she rose to her feat.

A little surprised she had asked that question instead of Bellerson, Mukata replied, "No word as of yet."

"Captain, missile tubes one through ten have been damaged," said Benson. "And bridge missile control is off line."

"We can't survive another hit like that," said Johnson.

Bellerson nodded. "Mr. Benson, get down to missile control."

"Aye, sir," replied Benson and he exited the bridge.

Bellerson was about to give another order, when Koenig said, "They have a meson converter."

Bellerson turned to face him, seeing that he, too, had gotten to his feet. "A what?"

"A matter transmitter," replied Koenig. "They can beam over here, take Maya, and finish us off."

A look of realization appeared on Bellerson's face. Touching a button on the arm of his chair, he said, "Security teams to the bridge immediately."

Just then, he saw two shimmering beams of light appear on either side of Maya. Materializing in them were two Dorcon soldiers. One of them immediately put something up to Maya's neck and she slumped into unconsciousness. Mukata, who had been near Maya, grabbed the arm of one of the Dorcons. Nearly everyone on the bridge rushed towards her. And then... the Yorktown was rocked by what felt like another attack. Everyone struggled to stay on his or her feet - most failed.

Bellerson, who did manager to stay standing, turned to the main screen. What he saw astonished and horrified him. The Dorcon ship was gone. In its place was a dissipating ball of fire and debris. Behind it, however, was the alien ship.

"Get us out of here!" shouted Bellerson.

Their would-be saviors were also their would-be destroyers.

The helmsman touched a control and the Yorktown's star drive engaged, sending them away from the alien ship once again.