Matthew Wade
14th January 2003, 02:22 AM
Here is Chapter 11 of "The Dirty Pair: Heavenly
Grace". Trust me, I only have two more chapters to go
(maybe three)!
Matthew Wade
Chapter 11
Empress Zelandia sat rigid in her command chair, her
eyes sweeping over her crew to monitor their progress.
Those 3WA pests--Carson and Michelle, if she recalled
correctly--had foiled her ultimatum by freeing the
Elenorians. They would pay for their impudence soon
enough. Now, however, she had set her crew upon a
more urgent agenda--the imminent destruction of the
United Galactica Space Force. But not just a squadron...
rather, the entire fleet.
"How far until we reach Shimogu, Ensign Helspont?"
the Empress inquired, coldly.
"Five kilometers, your Excellency," the burly,
bearded man replied. "Shall I hail the enemy fleet?"
Zelandia slowly raised a hand in reproach. "Not yet.
We will wait for them to attack."
Immediately, Lieutenant Pheros rushed to her side,
where he halted and delivered a quick salute. The
Empress nodded in recognition of this courtesy, then
gestured for her chief officer to continue.
"Empress," he said urgently, "is it wise to break
protocol in this manner? Should we not wait until
your ultimatum has expired?"
"Of course not, Lieutenant," she purred. "The enemy
has made clear that they will not abide by my
ultimatum. Consequently, I will not honor its terms.
Fair enough?"
"Yes, Empress," Lieutenant Pheros conceded, then
bowed and walked away.
As was proper. Zelandia would never implement
a man's proposed course of action, so he should not
expect her to do so--even if that course were merely a
suggestion. She did not trust any man, because all
male Rhexenorians had failed her. All whom she had
ever met. That was why she had rebelled against the
patriarchy back on her home planet. Only a woman
could efficiently govern the Empire, without
distractions and without excess.
A loud alarm disrupted her musings. Upon
flashing a hand signal to one of the communications
officers, Zelandia sat up in her chair to watch the
view screen display the approaching planet. A ring of
battleships surrounded its circumference. As the
Pythagorea encroached upon this defense, one of the
craft immediately fired a warning shot across her bow.
Without hesitation, the Empress signaled the comm
officer to hail the aggressor.
A second later, the view screen was filled with a
large image of a gray-haired, hawk-nosed man. "This
is Admiral James Molloy, commander of the UGSF
flagship Excelsior. Surrender quietly and we will
spare your lives."
Empress Zelandia rubbed her chin in contemplation.
"You present me with a generous offer, Molloy," she
replied, dropping her hand to her lap. "However, I do
not recognize your leadership. Attack me at will."
With that challenge, Zelandia signaled the
comm officer to cease her transmission. Then, after a
brief pause, she nodded to Lieutenant Pheros.
"You may ready your squadrons, Lieutenant,"
she calmly commanded, though with a steely glint in
her eyes. "Our final battle has begun."
* * *
For a short moment, Admiral Molloy sat slack-jawed in
front of the Excelsior's blank view screen. Regaining
his composure, he stood up and turned to his command
crew.
"You heard the woman!" he shouted. "All comm
officers, relay attack orders to the docking bays!
Navigations officers, stay alert! Everyone else, man
your stations!"
Immediately, the entire crew rushed to carry out the
admiral's orders. Once he saw that everyone was
properly busy, Molloy turned to Lieutenant Levin.
Beads of sweat had already formed on the young man's
brow as he stood at attention.
"Lieutenant," Molloy quietly uttered, "I need you to
walk to the cargo hold to help our guest 3WA
scientists outfit the Mughi."
Though he stood motionless as he stared straight
ahead, Levin emitted an audible gulp from deep in his
throat. "S-sir, are you sure that I'm fully qualified
for the task? I've heard that Mughies are extremely
dangerous."
"The 3WA exaggerates the creature's ferocity
so that they can intimidate galactic criminals,"
Molloy sharply assured. "You are dismissed,
Lieutenant. I'll notify the Mughi's handlers of your
arrival."
After a quick salute, Levin strode past his
admiral and exited the command deck. Molloy turned
back to his crew, who were busy shouting commands and
observations into headsets and across the room. But
his mind was still on Levin. While he had truthfully
informed his junior officer that the 3WA's attack
beasts-slash-pilots were not violent (in fact, their
handlers had nearly domesticated them), he did not
warn him of the creatures' stubbornness toward
strangers. Unfortunately, they still possessed some
of their natural instincts. But, Molloy thought, best
not worry the lieutenant any further. He needs to
maintain the utmost composure in order to help me win
this war. And I strongly hope he does.
* * *
The Mughi was growling as Levin entered the cargo
hold. One of its handlers was stroking its fur and
shushing it to calm it down, while the other injected
a tranquilizing fluid into its flank. If the creature
wasn't ferocious, Levin decided, it sure was about to
be.
"Do you have the equipment ready?" Levin asked, his
voice slightly quavering.
"In that container," the blond handler answered,
pointing to a titanium crate with his left hand while
his right hand continued to pet the Mughi.
As the other handler--a raven-haired woman wearing
streamlined spectacles--removed her syringe and
bandaged the injection point, Levin removed a set of
wires and patches from the crate. Upon turning back
to the Mughi, he saw that it looked half asleep.
"Is the animal sedated?" Levin asked worriedly.
"It's sedated enough for you to put that equipment on
it," the raven-haired woman answered, smiling as she
stood up to offer a helping hand. As she did so,
Levin spotted a nametag that read "Tina Joves, DVS".
"If you say so, Ms. Joves," he said, then moved
closer to the Mughi and draped several wires over its
back before handing some to Dr. Joves. "Now, I'll
need you to tightly press each of these sensors to the
Mughi's major pulse points--chest, neck, ears and so
on. As its heart rate increases, the sensors will
transmit that data through the wires and into the
Ethernet jack of its ship's computer. If the animal's
pulse rate gets too high, a tiny microchip at the
wires' intersection will tell the computer to inject a
mild sedative into its bloodstream. Just enough to
calm it down, of course, since we don't want its limbs
to relax in the middle of battle."
"Understood," Ms. Joves replied, then began attaching
sensors behind the Mughi's ears and at the top of its
throat.
"That's good," Levin praised, then scanned the rest
of the animal's body. "However, I think we'll need to
start shaving the Mughi in order to effectively attach
the rest of the sensors."
"I'll get the razor," the blond handler chimed in,
then reached into a plastic case and withdrew a
hexagonal tube.
After flipping a hidden switch, the handler aimed the
razor at the Mughi's body and directed a shimmering
beam of radiation toward several points. At each
point, the beam shaved off a large patch of fur.
"Will that suffice?" the man asked cheerfully.
"Yes, thank you," Levin politely replied, then picked
up a sensor and placed it on the Mughi's upper flank.
After pressing the sensor tight against the animal's
bare skin, reached down and picked up two more
sensors.
But as he tightly secured the second sensor against
its lower neck, a low growl rumbled throughout the
Mughi's body. Levin paused for a second to let the
growl subside, then picked up another sensor and
placed it at the center of the animal's chest. Yet as
he did so, the Mughi growled again--this time, much
louder.
"Ms. Joves, are you certain that this Mughi is well
subdued?" Levin asked nervously.
"Yes, quite certain," the doctor replied, a tinge of
confusion in her voice. "We've injected the animal
with two 20 cc doses of dopamine. That volume of
sedative should be enough to subdue any animal."
"Should be, huh?" the lieutenant half-heartedly
snapped, feeling more nervous than confrontational as
he began to place a sensor at the base of the Mughi's
skull.
But just as the sensor touched its bare skin, the
Mughi roared. As it reared its head back, small
electric currents ran over its ears--then traveled
down to its skull and straight up Levin's arm. As the
lieutenant cried out in pain from the intense shock,
two tentacles sprung out from the creature's back and
wrapped around Levin's neck and chest. As Levin
struggled to free himself from the Mughi's grasp, Dr.
Joves and her assistant stabbed syringes in the
animal's shoulders and quickly pushed down on the
plungers. At that, the Mughi let out a haunting moan
and collapsed, releasing Lieutenant Levin with a
shudder before its body became still.
Upon release, Levin gasped for air in order to
regain his breath. With his hands tightly pressed
against his aching chest, the lieutenant rasped, "Why
the hell didn't you warn me about that?"
"I-I didn't know, I swear I didn't," Ms. Joves
stammered, her face gone pale. "Most Trouble
Consultants opt to sever their Mughi's tentacles and
implant it with nanocomputers to dampen its electric
charge. No one told me ..."
"Well," Levin interrupted, sharply inhaling to regain
his breath, "they should have. Now, help me lift this
bastard into a fighter craft so we can strap it in."
The doctor trembled with fear as she looked up at
Levin--and rightly so, given his authority--but
quickly maintained her composure and slid her steady
hands underneath the Mughi's belly. Then again, maybe
she was afraid that the animal might wake up again and
attack her as well. But Levin finally doubted that.
Ms. Joves and her partner had probably shot the animal
with enough drugs to fell a rhinoceros. So, as the
blond handler--Levin never did catch the guy's
name--lifted the Mughi from under its chest, the
lieutenant picked up the animal's hindquarters and the
three of them slowly carried into the cockpit of the
nearest WASP.
* * *
By the time the Mughi entered the battle, the first
wave of WASPs had destroyed many Rhexenorian
fighters--and vice versa. However, the Empire's
flagship remained intact. Zelandia's navy sure knew
how to protect its commander, Molloy could sure of
that. The Empress had tripled her number of fighter
squadrons, and she had equipped the Pythagorea with a
thicker armor. Or perhaps a shield protected the
flagship? No matter. The United Galactica Space
Force knew the vessel's weakness. And the Mughi was
about to help exploit it.
Turning to his second-in-command, Molloy asked,
"Lieutenant, have you equipped the Mughi with our
monitoring system?"
"Yes, Admiral," Lieutenant Levin replied. "I wish
someone would have informed me of the creature's
deadly appendages, but, fortunately, its handlers
injected it with enough sedatives."
"Well, let's hope that most of the medicines' effects
have worn off by now. We need the animal to be as
alert and focused as possible."
With that, Molloy turned to a row of monitors and
flipped a switch. The far left screen blinked on and
displayed approaching Rhexenorian fighters, about
twenty meters distant. Immediately, Levin snatched a
headset from a nearby comm officer and placed it over
his head.
After turning a knob by his right ear, Levin shouted,
"Fire the main guns!"
On the monitor, a black, furry paw quickly grabbed
the weapon control's handle and pulled back. As the
enemy fighters rocketed toward the ship's view screen,
a hail of laser fire burst out from under it and
connected with all of the approaching craft. The
Mughi let out a triumphant roar as the
swordfish-shaped craft exploded in a mass cluster, and
a large cloud of flame enveloped the animal's WASP.
Deafened by the Mughi's war cry, Levin quickly tore
off his headset. "Damn, this is impossible! I can't
think clearly with all that noise."
Molloy placed a comforting hand on the Lieutenant's
shoulder. "Yes, but it can't be helped. We need to
hear the Mughi in order to judge its mental stability.
We can't train a camera on it because we need to see
the WASP approach the Pythagorea."
"In that case," Levin asked, "how far is the
creature's ship from the target?"
"Fifty meters."
No sooner had those words escaped Molloy's lips, then
the head of the flagship rapidly approached. But as
soon as the craft's bow had nearly filled the WASP's
view screen, a swarm of enemy fighters appeared to
hurtle toward the Excelsior's onboard monitor.
After rapidly replacing his headset over his ears,
Levin shouted, "Dive, you bastard, dive! And fire all
torpedoes!"
With an angry growl that even Admiral Molloy could
hear, the Mughi obeyed the Lieutenant's request. As
the WASP's torpedoes struck their targets, the
exploding ships formed a tunnel of fire that stretched
over the craft's view screen and outward for several
meters. Soon, though, the tunnel evaporated--and was
replaced by the bottom of the Pythagorea's hull.
"It won't be much longer," Molloy told Levin.
"Three minutes, at most. Yes, the Mughi's ship still
needs to travel a bit more than two-hundred meters,
but the WASP is a fast ship."
Three minutes later, as Molloy had predicted, the
Mughi reached its target--a narrow, concave opening
just in front of the Pythagorea's aft engines. A
bluish light marked the bullseye.
With one meter to spare, Levin spoke into his
headset, "Launch the thermonuclear warhead--now!"
A split second later, a large missile shot up past
the Mughi's view screen. Then, after a momentary
stillness, the WASP's cockpit shook violently. No
doubt the shockwave from the thermo-nuke's impact,
Molloy assumed. The Mughi cried frightfully, as he
had expected, so Levin pressed a button on his remote
to order the WASP's computer to inject the animal with
more sedatives.
"Okay," Levin sighed. "Turn the ship around."
The star field quickly whipped across the Excelsior's
onboard monitor as the WASP reversed course. But once
the Pythagorea had returned into view, Molloy saw
something he didn't expect to see--the enemy flagship
was fully intact.
"H-holy ... ," Levin gasped, his lip quivering as his
voice trailed off.
"Damn!" Molloy shouted. "That flagship projects a
stronger shield than I expected. Wait ... look!"
As the admiral fiercely pointed at the monitor, and
the entire bridge crew turned to look, Levin adjusted
his headset and commanded, "Zoom in on the aft
engines."
Rapidly, the WASP's outside camera magnified its view
of the engines and beamed the image back to the
Excelsior. There, in plain view, they all saw what
Admiral Molloy had spotted with his keen eye--an
unfamiliar, green gas leaking from the bottom of the
hull.
"What do you think that means, Admiral?" Levin
asked.
"I don't know," Molloy admitted. "But let's hope
that the Pythagorea is incapacitated. After all, it
has stopped moving, and I don't see any more enemy
fighters."
"Your orders?"
"As planned. Send in the Dirty Pair."
Grace". Trust me, I only have two more chapters to go
(maybe three)!
Matthew Wade
Chapter 11
Empress Zelandia sat rigid in her command chair, her
eyes sweeping over her crew to monitor their progress.
Those 3WA pests--Carson and Michelle, if she recalled
correctly--had foiled her ultimatum by freeing the
Elenorians. They would pay for their impudence soon
enough. Now, however, she had set her crew upon a
more urgent agenda--the imminent destruction of the
United Galactica Space Force. But not just a squadron...
rather, the entire fleet.
"How far until we reach Shimogu, Ensign Helspont?"
the Empress inquired, coldly.
"Five kilometers, your Excellency," the burly,
bearded man replied. "Shall I hail the enemy fleet?"
Zelandia slowly raised a hand in reproach. "Not yet.
We will wait for them to attack."
Immediately, Lieutenant Pheros rushed to her side,
where he halted and delivered a quick salute. The
Empress nodded in recognition of this courtesy, then
gestured for her chief officer to continue.
"Empress," he said urgently, "is it wise to break
protocol in this manner? Should we not wait until
your ultimatum has expired?"
"Of course not, Lieutenant," she purred. "The enemy
has made clear that they will not abide by my
ultimatum. Consequently, I will not honor its terms.
Fair enough?"
"Yes, Empress," Lieutenant Pheros conceded, then
bowed and walked away.
As was proper. Zelandia would never implement
a man's proposed course of action, so he should not
expect her to do so--even if that course were merely a
suggestion. She did not trust any man, because all
male Rhexenorians had failed her. All whom she had
ever met. That was why she had rebelled against the
patriarchy back on her home planet. Only a woman
could efficiently govern the Empire, without
distractions and without excess.
A loud alarm disrupted her musings. Upon
flashing a hand signal to one of the communications
officers, Zelandia sat up in her chair to watch the
view screen display the approaching planet. A ring of
battleships surrounded its circumference. As the
Pythagorea encroached upon this defense, one of the
craft immediately fired a warning shot across her bow.
Without hesitation, the Empress signaled the comm
officer to hail the aggressor.
A second later, the view screen was filled with a
large image of a gray-haired, hawk-nosed man. "This
is Admiral James Molloy, commander of the UGSF
flagship Excelsior. Surrender quietly and we will
spare your lives."
Empress Zelandia rubbed her chin in contemplation.
"You present me with a generous offer, Molloy," she
replied, dropping her hand to her lap. "However, I do
not recognize your leadership. Attack me at will."
With that challenge, Zelandia signaled the
comm officer to cease her transmission. Then, after a
brief pause, she nodded to Lieutenant Pheros.
"You may ready your squadrons, Lieutenant,"
she calmly commanded, though with a steely glint in
her eyes. "Our final battle has begun."
* * *
For a short moment, Admiral Molloy sat slack-jawed in
front of the Excelsior's blank view screen. Regaining
his composure, he stood up and turned to his command
crew.
"You heard the woman!" he shouted. "All comm
officers, relay attack orders to the docking bays!
Navigations officers, stay alert! Everyone else, man
your stations!"
Immediately, the entire crew rushed to carry out the
admiral's orders. Once he saw that everyone was
properly busy, Molloy turned to Lieutenant Levin.
Beads of sweat had already formed on the young man's
brow as he stood at attention.
"Lieutenant," Molloy quietly uttered, "I need you to
walk to the cargo hold to help our guest 3WA
scientists outfit the Mughi."
Though he stood motionless as he stared straight
ahead, Levin emitted an audible gulp from deep in his
throat. "S-sir, are you sure that I'm fully qualified
for the task? I've heard that Mughies are extremely
dangerous."
"The 3WA exaggerates the creature's ferocity
so that they can intimidate galactic criminals,"
Molloy sharply assured. "You are dismissed,
Lieutenant. I'll notify the Mughi's handlers of your
arrival."
After a quick salute, Levin strode past his
admiral and exited the command deck. Molloy turned
back to his crew, who were busy shouting commands and
observations into headsets and across the room. But
his mind was still on Levin. While he had truthfully
informed his junior officer that the 3WA's attack
beasts-slash-pilots were not violent (in fact, their
handlers had nearly domesticated them), he did not
warn him of the creatures' stubbornness toward
strangers. Unfortunately, they still possessed some
of their natural instincts. But, Molloy thought, best
not worry the lieutenant any further. He needs to
maintain the utmost composure in order to help me win
this war. And I strongly hope he does.
* * *
The Mughi was growling as Levin entered the cargo
hold. One of its handlers was stroking its fur and
shushing it to calm it down, while the other injected
a tranquilizing fluid into its flank. If the creature
wasn't ferocious, Levin decided, it sure was about to
be.
"Do you have the equipment ready?" Levin asked, his
voice slightly quavering.
"In that container," the blond handler answered,
pointing to a titanium crate with his left hand while
his right hand continued to pet the Mughi.
As the other handler--a raven-haired woman wearing
streamlined spectacles--removed her syringe and
bandaged the injection point, Levin removed a set of
wires and patches from the crate. Upon turning back
to the Mughi, he saw that it looked half asleep.
"Is the animal sedated?" Levin asked worriedly.
"It's sedated enough for you to put that equipment on
it," the raven-haired woman answered, smiling as she
stood up to offer a helping hand. As she did so,
Levin spotted a nametag that read "Tina Joves, DVS".
"If you say so, Ms. Joves," he said, then moved
closer to the Mughi and draped several wires over its
back before handing some to Dr. Joves. "Now, I'll
need you to tightly press each of these sensors to the
Mughi's major pulse points--chest, neck, ears and so
on. As its heart rate increases, the sensors will
transmit that data through the wires and into the
Ethernet jack of its ship's computer. If the animal's
pulse rate gets too high, a tiny microchip at the
wires' intersection will tell the computer to inject a
mild sedative into its bloodstream. Just enough to
calm it down, of course, since we don't want its limbs
to relax in the middle of battle."
"Understood," Ms. Joves replied, then began attaching
sensors behind the Mughi's ears and at the top of its
throat.
"That's good," Levin praised, then scanned the rest
of the animal's body. "However, I think we'll need to
start shaving the Mughi in order to effectively attach
the rest of the sensors."
"I'll get the razor," the blond handler chimed in,
then reached into a plastic case and withdrew a
hexagonal tube.
After flipping a hidden switch, the handler aimed the
razor at the Mughi's body and directed a shimmering
beam of radiation toward several points. At each
point, the beam shaved off a large patch of fur.
"Will that suffice?" the man asked cheerfully.
"Yes, thank you," Levin politely replied, then picked
up a sensor and placed it on the Mughi's upper flank.
After pressing the sensor tight against the animal's
bare skin, reached down and picked up two more
sensors.
But as he tightly secured the second sensor against
its lower neck, a low growl rumbled throughout the
Mughi's body. Levin paused for a second to let the
growl subside, then picked up another sensor and
placed it at the center of the animal's chest. Yet as
he did so, the Mughi growled again--this time, much
louder.
"Ms. Joves, are you certain that this Mughi is well
subdued?" Levin asked nervously.
"Yes, quite certain," the doctor replied, a tinge of
confusion in her voice. "We've injected the animal
with two 20 cc doses of dopamine. That volume of
sedative should be enough to subdue any animal."
"Should be, huh?" the lieutenant half-heartedly
snapped, feeling more nervous than confrontational as
he began to place a sensor at the base of the Mughi's
skull.
But just as the sensor touched its bare skin, the
Mughi roared. As it reared its head back, small
electric currents ran over its ears--then traveled
down to its skull and straight up Levin's arm. As the
lieutenant cried out in pain from the intense shock,
two tentacles sprung out from the creature's back and
wrapped around Levin's neck and chest. As Levin
struggled to free himself from the Mughi's grasp, Dr.
Joves and her assistant stabbed syringes in the
animal's shoulders and quickly pushed down on the
plungers. At that, the Mughi let out a haunting moan
and collapsed, releasing Lieutenant Levin with a
shudder before its body became still.
Upon release, Levin gasped for air in order to
regain his breath. With his hands tightly pressed
against his aching chest, the lieutenant rasped, "Why
the hell didn't you warn me about that?"
"I-I didn't know, I swear I didn't," Ms. Joves
stammered, her face gone pale. "Most Trouble
Consultants opt to sever their Mughi's tentacles and
implant it with nanocomputers to dampen its electric
charge. No one told me ..."
"Well," Levin interrupted, sharply inhaling to regain
his breath, "they should have. Now, help me lift this
bastard into a fighter craft so we can strap it in."
The doctor trembled with fear as she looked up at
Levin--and rightly so, given his authority--but
quickly maintained her composure and slid her steady
hands underneath the Mughi's belly. Then again, maybe
she was afraid that the animal might wake up again and
attack her as well. But Levin finally doubted that.
Ms. Joves and her partner had probably shot the animal
with enough drugs to fell a rhinoceros. So, as the
blond handler--Levin never did catch the guy's
name--lifted the Mughi from under its chest, the
lieutenant picked up the animal's hindquarters and the
three of them slowly carried into the cockpit of the
nearest WASP.
* * *
By the time the Mughi entered the battle, the first
wave of WASPs had destroyed many Rhexenorian
fighters--and vice versa. However, the Empire's
flagship remained intact. Zelandia's navy sure knew
how to protect its commander, Molloy could sure of
that. The Empress had tripled her number of fighter
squadrons, and she had equipped the Pythagorea with a
thicker armor. Or perhaps a shield protected the
flagship? No matter. The United Galactica Space
Force knew the vessel's weakness. And the Mughi was
about to help exploit it.
Turning to his second-in-command, Molloy asked,
"Lieutenant, have you equipped the Mughi with our
monitoring system?"
"Yes, Admiral," Lieutenant Levin replied. "I wish
someone would have informed me of the creature's
deadly appendages, but, fortunately, its handlers
injected it with enough sedatives."
"Well, let's hope that most of the medicines' effects
have worn off by now. We need the animal to be as
alert and focused as possible."
With that, Molloy turned to a row of monitors and
flipped a switch. The far left screen blinked on and
displayed approaching Rhexenorian fighters, about
twenty meters distant. Immediately, Levin snatched a
headset from a nearby comm officer and placed it over
his head.
After turning a knob by his right ear, Levin shouted,
"Fire the main guns!"
On the monitor, a black, furry paw quickly grabbed
the weapon control's handle and pulled back. As the
enemy fighters rocketed toward the ship's view screen,
a hail of laser fire burst out from under it and
connected with all of the approaching craft. The
Mughi let out a triumphant roar as the
swordfish-shaped craft exploded in a mass cluster, and
a large cloud of flame enveloped the animal's WASP.
Deafened by the Mughi's war cry, Levin quickly tore
off his headset. "Damn, this is impossible! I can't
think clearly with all that noise."
Molloy placed a comforting hand on the Lieutenant's
shoulder. "Yes, but it can't be helped. We need to
hear the Mughi in order to judge its mental stability.
We can't train a camera on it because we need to see
the WASP approach the Pythagorea."
"In that case," Levin asked, "how far is the
creature's ship from the target?"
"Fifty meters."
No sooner had those words escaped Molloy's lips, then
the head of the flagship rapidly approached. But as
soon as the craft's bow had nearly filled the WASP's
view screen, a swarm of enemy fighters appeared to
hurtle toward the Excelsior's onboard monitor.
After rapidly replacing his headset over his ears,
Levin shouted, "Dive, you bastard, dive! And fire all
torpedoes!"
With an angry growl that even Admiral Molloy could
hear, the Mughi obeyed the Lieutenant's request. As
the WASP's torpedoes struck their targets, the
exploding ships formed a tunnel of fire that stretched
over the craft's view screen and outward for several
meters. Soon, though, the tunnel evaporated--and was
replaced by the bottom of the Pythagorea's hull.
"It won't be much longer," Molloy told Levin.
"Three minutes, at most. Yes, the Mughi's ship still
needs to travel a bit more than two-hundred meters,
but the WASP is a fast ship."
Three minutes later, as Molloy had predicted, the
Mughi reached its target--a narrow, concave opening
just in front of the Pythagorea's aft engines. A
bluish light marked the bullseye.
With one meter to spare, Levin spoke into his
headset, "Launch the thermonuclear warhead--now!"
A split second later, a large missile shot up past
the Mughi's view screen. Then, after a momentary
stillness, the WASP's cockpit shook violently. No
doubt the shockwave from the thermo-nuke's impact,
Molloy assumed. The Mughi cried frightfully, as he
had expected, so Levin pressed a button on his remote
to order the WASP's computer to inject the animal with
more sedatives.
"Okay," Levin sighed. "Turn the ship around."
The star field quickly whipped across the Excelsior's
onboard monitor as the WASP reversed course. But once
the Pythagorea had returned into view, Molloy saw
something he didn't expect to see--the enemy flagship
was fully intact.
"H-holy ... ," Levin gasped, his lip quivering as his
voice trailed off.
"Damn!" Molloy shouted. "That flagship projects a
stronger shield than I expected. Wait ... look!"
As the admiral fiercely pointed at the monitor, and
the entire bridge crew turned to look, Levin adjusted
his headset and commanded, "Zoom in on the aft
engines."
Rapidly, the WASP's outside camera magnified its view
of the engines and beamed the image back to the
Excelsior. There, in plain view, they all saw what
Admiral Molloy had spotted with his keen eye--an
unfamiliar, green gas leaking from the bottom of the
hull.
"What do you think that means, Admiral?" Levin
asked.
"I don't know," Molloy admitted. "But let's hope
that the Pythagorea is incapacitated. After all, it
has stopped moving, and I don't see any more enemy
fighters."
"Your orders?"
"As planned. Send in the Dirty Pair."