Last time, Carmen used the Dragon Slave spell to destroy the Irken power generators. Stella then disabled the Irken soldiers by blinding them. Soon after, the escaped prisoners were rescued. As they fled the planet, the evil Zim ordered the Irken Armada be brought to the planet. And now, on with the show!

Chapter 7: Calm before the Storm

08:17:23

The rescue craft had just landed aboard the Thermopylae. Aiden was already out on the landing bay, shaking hands with Vincent. "Good to have you back with us, 'Big Boy.'" "It feels good to be back, Commander." Said Aiden. Vincent then shook hands with Stella, Carmen, Flora, Morgan, Helia and Riven. "This is some ship you've got here." Said Riven. "More like astounding," said Tecna as she shook Vincent's hand, "I must know how it operates."

"Don't we all." Said Timmy as he, plus Elise, Musa, Layla, Bloom, Sky and Brandon rushed up to meet their separated friends. "Snookums!" exclaimed Stella as she leapt into Brandon's waiting arms. "Ah, to be young and in love," said Corneal Powell. "You've still got time." Said Vincent. "I'm 58," said Powell, "You haven't reached 40, so you've more time than I do."

"Now that we've rescued those trapped on the planet," said Major Samson, "Can we please leave so we can rendezvous with the fleet?" "We can't leave!" exclaimed Elise, "Not for," she checked her watch, "Not for another eight hours and fifteen minutes." "If we leave this system now," said Tecna, "We miss our chance to get home."

"Listen young lady," said Major Samson, "I doubt if you've grasped the serious of the situation. There's an Irken battle group out there, waiting to pounce on us. Our fleet won't be here for another 8.5 hours, that is if they push their engines beyond their limits. Now on one hand, we leave and meet up with the rest of the fleet so our chances of fighting the enemy are greatly improved, or, we stay to help you people, and get slaughtered in the process."

"Do me a favor, Major, " said Powell, "And let Commander Vega decide. It's his ship after all." "Well, Commander?" asked Major Samson. Vincent pondered for a moment before saying, "I've spent over half my life in space. In that time, my instincts have never been wrong about a situation. My instincts are telling me that this is where we have to be."

"If that is your decision," said Major Samson, "Than so be it. However, I intend to lodge a formal complaint when Admiral Cain gets here, for your negligence of the safety of this vessel." He turned around and left the landing bay. "What a frak head." Said Aiden. "You can say that again." Said Corneal Powell.

08:04:21

"If we stay and fight," said Vincent, "How long do you need to get to where you need to be?" "Our ship needs at least 17 minutes to reach the location of the wormhole." Said Sky. They were on the bridge of the Thermopylae, planning out the upcoming battle with the Irken armada. "Here's our situation," said Vincent, "The Thermopylae has 40 anti-fighter flack cannons, 20 on each side; we have four turbo-laser batteries for use on large vessels; we have six torpedo tubes, for in the front, two in the back

"The Thermopyle has 56 Vipers and 10 Heavy Assault Raptors, each capable of carrying 4 ship-to-ship missiles. And as a last resort, we have six thermonuclear missiles in the 40 mega-tone range. We'll save those for last." "What kind of help are you expecting when your fleet arrives?" asked Brandon. "Seven Battlesatars and at least 30 support craft of various size and class." Answered Vincent.

"And what are we expecting the enemy to have?" asked Sky. "From what we've seen," said Vincent, "The standard Irken tack force consists of over 60 vessels of varying capital classes, as well as over 500 one-person fighters." "Five hundred?" exclaimed Riven. "Which is why our weapons were upgraded before we left for this mission," said Corneal Powell "Our new Turbo-lasers and torpedoes can blast through their shields and armor, we hope." "Like I said earlier," said Vincent, "This is the first chance we've had to strike back at the bugs. Basically it all comes down to when the bugs decide to attack, and when our fleet gets here."

"And you're sure they'll attack?" asked Bloom. "Positive." Said Vincent.

04:11:33

"What are they waiting for?" asked Vincent to himself, "Why don't they attack?" "Maybe they're waiting for the rest of the fleet to arrive," said Corneal Powell, "To finish us all in one attack." "I agree," Said Riven. He, Helia and Sky were on the bridge, waiting for the coming attack like everyone else onboard. Brandon was with Stella, while Timmy, Tecna and Elise were touring the ship's engines.

"There's nothing we can do but wait." Said Bloom. "Remember what I said about war," said Vincent, "it's mostly boredom, punctuated by moments of shear terror." "Have I told you already that I hate waiting?" asked Riven. "Yes." Said Bloom, Sky, Helia, Vincent and Powell.

02:36:17

Tecna, Timmy and Elise had just returned from their tour of the ship. "It's amazing!" exclaimed Tecna, "They don't use hyper-drive to travel faster than light." "They don't?" asked Bloom. "No they don't." said Timmy. "Instead they fold space." "Fold space?" asked Stella. "Let me put this in terms even you'll understand. Normally the shortest distance between any two points in space is a straight line. When you fold space, you reduce the distance to almost zero. These people have discovered how to travel without moving!"

"This I've got to see!" exclaimed Brandon. "I'll come with you," said Elise, "I must know how it is done!"

00:42:38

"God! I'm bored!" exclaimed Bloom. "You look bored." Said Sky. With less than an hour before the wormhole opened, the enemy still hadn't attacked. The lack of stuff to do was taking its toll on our explorers. "I just wish something would happen," said Bloom, "That they'd attack already." "You can't mean that." Said Stella. "You're right," said Bloom, "I'm just really bored."

"The first thing I'm going to do when we get home is take a long hot bath," said Stella, "Then I'm going to order a large thin-crust pizza." "I'm going to order a 16", thick crust, meat-lovers pizza." Said Riven. "Sound's delicious," said Carmen, "But I prefer mine with extra cheese and black olives." "I like mine with pepperoni and green peppers." Said Musa. "I'd love a pizza with anchovies and mushrooms." Said Morgan. "What's pizza?" asked Aiden. "You don't have pizza in The Colonies?" asked a shocked Stella. "Apparently we don't." said Aiden. "Well if you ever visit our part of the universe," said Bloom, "I'll buy you one with everything on it."

Just then, Elise, Tecna and Timmy entered the room. "You won't believe how they've managed to travel faster than light!" exclaimed Tecna. "How?" asked Layla. "They don't," said Timmy, "They fold space." "'Fold space'?" asked Stella. "Let me put it in terms even you can understand," said Elise, "Normally the shortest distance between any two points in space is a straight line. Now what they've done here is to reduce the distance between point A and point B to zero."

"Traveling with out moving!" said Timmy. "What they do," said Tecna, "Is they use the energy created by a matter/anti-matter reaction to generate a huge gravity field to, in effect, fold space." "How is that different than our method of F.T.L. travel?" asked Sky.

(For those of you at home reading, F.T.L. stands for Faster Than Light,

We thank you for your patience in this explanation and return you to your regularly scheduled fan-fiction)

"The difference," said Elise, "Is that we use the matter/anti-matter reaction to power a hyper-space generator. In hyper-space, you can cover great distances in a fraction of the time it would take using slower methods of travel."

"I still don't get it." Said Stella. But before Elise could explain again, there was a loud klaxon sound from the intercom, followed by a loud announcement:

"THIS IS NOT A DRILL! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! GENERAL QUARTERS! ALL HANDS MAN YOUR BATTLESTATIONS!"

"This is it!" said Aiden. He headed for the door. "I need to get down to the launch bay." "Aiden!" shouted Riven. Aiden paused, and turned around to shake Riven's hand. "If I don't see you again," said Aiden, "It's been an honor to meet you people." He turned and left the room.

00:38:45

Bloom and the others had arrived on the bridge. "Is it them?" asked Bloom. "Oh yes," said Vincent, "They've come at last." "How many are there?" asked Powell. "Scanners have detected 12 large vessels approaching," said one technician, "With 20 medium sized attack craft and 25 smaller craft." "I'm reading at least 200 enemy fighters already launched," said a second technician, "With more launched every minute."

"Polarize the armor!" ordered Vincent, "Charge the turbo-lasers! Load forward torpedo tubes! Standby on all flack cannons! Launch all Vipers!" "Commander!" exclaimed a third technician, "The enemy is trying to communicate with us!" "That's new for them," said Powell, "Normally with the bugs it's shoot first, shoot second, shoot some more, and when everyone's dead ask a question or two."

"Let's hear what they have to say." Said Vincent. There was a few second's static on the radio before the enemy spoke, "Attention Colonial vessel!" "Zim!" exclaimed Riven. "You know Zim?" asked Vincent. "He's the psycho who held us prisoner." Said Carmen. "I feel for you," said Powell, "The bugs are all crazy, but Zim is the craziest one of them all."

"What do you want, Zim?" asked Vincent. "You have in your possession seven human teenagers and one pilot," said Zim, "I want them back, especially the one who attempted to blind me." "That would be my part." Said Stella. "Fortunately," continued Zim, "Irken visual organs have a high rate of recovery. Now, surrender the teenagers and I shall spare your lives." "And if I refuse?" asked Vincent." "Then you shall all die like the bags of filth you are!" said Zim vindictively. "If you want them so badly, bug," said Vincent, "Then come and get them, see where it gets you."

"You stupid human!" exclaimed Zim, "You're hopelessly outnumbered! Your fleet has abandoned you! So save yourselves and hand over what is rightfully mine!" "Know this you fraking sack of pig vomit!" snapped Vincent, "No citizen of The Twelve Colonies shall ever give in to the demands of alien barbarians! Especially ones who murder innocent women and children!"

"Then die you filthy humans!" exclaimed Zim as the transmission ended. Vincent then turned to Bloom and the others. "How long until your wormhole opens?" he asked. Tecna checked her watch, "Just under 35 minutes." "You'd better get back to your ship. We'll hold them off until you're safe." "How can I ever thank you for this?" asked Bloom. "Just live a long, free and peaceful life," said Vincent, "You and your friends."

At this, Bloom and the other left the bridge and hurried for the hanger bay where their ship was. "What's the plan?" asked Musa. "We need 17 minutes to reach the Wormhole," said Timmy, "It'll open in 34 minutes." "Then we leave in 15 minutes," said Elise, "That should give us just over 18 minutes to reach the coordinates." "I feel like we're abandoning them," said Brandon, "I know that if we don't leave when we have to leave, we'll be stuck here. But I hate the idea of just leaving them without helping."

"If we stay," said Elise, "Not only will we be stuck here, we'll probably be killed by the bugs." "Would it kill you to show some compassion?" asked Musa. "I'm just being logical," said Elise, "To stay would mean certain death." "Can I say something?" asked Flora, "Does anyone here really want to stay and fight? Knowing that if we do stay, and if we survive, it'll be over two years before we get home?"

There was a moment of silence, before Brandon spoke to Stella, "Would you think me a coward if I said no?" "Not at all my love." Said Stella. "Then let's get our ship ready so we can get the hell out of here!" exclaimed Morgan.

The end of chapter 7. Will our brave explorers make it to the wormhole in time? Stay tuned to find out. See you next time!