11
Talia stormed back into command and said nothing. Just "Captain, hurry up I am on a schedule"
"We are going as fast as we can. We are still 4 jumps away from Tarazed."
"I just want to get off this ship." Talia said.
"That'd be great, would you like me to chuck you out the airlock?" Beka muttered.
"What was that?" Talia asked sharply.
"Nothing you'd like." Beka muttered.
"speak so I can hear you!"
"I said, I'll use you as a hockey puck and shoot you to a screaming crock."
"What?" Talia asked.
"Nevermind"
"Beka, concentrate." Dylan muttered, not wanting a fight to break out in the middle of the slipstream.
"I am Dylan but it is a bit hard when I have her breathing down my neck and talking all the time. Could you shut her up please?"
"Maybe it would be best if you went back to your quarters." Dylan suggested.
"No, I will stay here thank you." Talia said simply.
Dylan threw his hands in the air hopelessly.
"Dylan! We have a problem. We exited slipstream right into an asteroid field." Rhade said
"What? Beka…"
"Hey, I cant be perfect all the time."
"And, there are 4 unidentified ships, the same hull configuration as the ones that were trying to intercept us on the way to Odekyrke."
"Marheagans." Talia said.
"Bless you." Harper said.
"No, Marheagans are a race that are blood enemies of the Odekyrke people. They have had many disagreements that some with planets so close to each other. We have different philosophies on life. And, they have excellent technology." Talia said.
"Marheagans, never heard of them." Dylan muttered.
"They strive to keep out of contact with other worlds. Their planet is very small, technically it is a moon, orbiting the abandoned planet Miron." Talia said.
"And how did you find them?" Dylan asked.
Talia looked at him thoughtfully. "You don't need to know that."
"Sorry to interrupt but the Marph-e-gans and shooting!" Harper shouted. Just as the ship rocked.
"Beka evasive maneuvers!" Dylan shouted.
"I'm going!" Beka yelled.
Three of the ships tried to chase the Andromeda through the asteroids while the other went to slipstream.
"Beka, two've hit asteroids, just one more." Rhade called.
Ok Beka you can do this, this is easy, they're wusses anyways.
WHAM , the last ship crashed into an asteroid Beka had just looped around.
Suddenly, propulsion slowed. Beka looked around. "What'd I do?" She asked.
"Before that last ship was destroyed, it managed to get another volley of missiles on us. They knocked out our slipstream drive." Rommie said.
"Harper, "
"I'm going" Harper said annoyed.
Beka and Dylan looked in the command conduits for anything wrong.
"Nothing." Dylan said.
"Same." Beka said.
"Boss?" Harper's voice came over the comm..
"Yes Mr. Harper?" Dylan asked.
"Well, it'll take me at least 6 hours." Harper said.
Dylan sighed. "I was afraid of that. Talia, how long does it take to get to the Marheagan's planet?"
"From Tarazed, about two days. From here, 10 hours tops."
"So we should be fixed and gone by the time they get to their panet to tell them where we are."
"What if their fleet wasn't at their planet? They could be systematically searching the area around Tarazed and Odekyrke." Rhade said.
"True. Either way, Mr. Harper, hurry up!" Dylan said.
