Here goes Part two of Four...  
As always, C&C is requested, expected and greatly appreciated.

Please Enjoy!

Coutuva.
++++

Unlikely Hero - Part 2
The Mission
---------------------------------------------------------------

        Laura stood quietly, arms folded across her chest, idly watching
the
lights of the city below her.  It was a peaceful night in the small
Canadian
town, not much different from all those that preceded it.  Laura sighed
slowly, thinking to herself that things were taking far too long.
	Turning, she began anew the seemingly endless course of pacing that
helped kill the time.
	Just as she completed her first lap, however, her Comm finally went
off.  Snatching the device from it's holder, she flipped it open and
regarded
the small screen intently.
        At first, the screen was illuminated with the Guild Logo, only to
be
replaced a second later by the face of her unrequited love, Mike Redmond.
Her heart skipped a beat as she cast eyes over his chiseled features, and
she
swallowed hard to avoid her voice cracking.
	"Flight to Laura... Sorry we're late, but Command called a last-minute
meeting, and as usual, it ran long."  Mike stated in his dreamy English
accent, his tone apologetic but matter-of-fact.
	"Yeah, I know.  Always happens when I get here early.  So, is
everything ready?" she asked, trying very hard to sound professional.
	"Right.  Ready for pickup?"  Mike continued, still very matter-of-fact.
	"Anytime, Flight."  she responded, bracing herself for the event to
come.
	"Stand by;  Shift in ten seconds at my mark... Mark!  Flight out."
Mike announced, and the Comm went blank.
	Closing the device and returning it to it's holder, Laura closed her
eyes and took a deep breath.  She loved the experience of the Shift, and
smiled slightly as the air began to crackle quietly around her.  She could
feel, or thought she could feel, her body being pulled through the barrier
between reality and subspace, and then thrust back into reality again
aboard
the Guild Raider.  She was never sure why, but the act of Shifting gave her
an almost erotic thrill, even though her training told her it was a
sensationless experience.
	"Ohaio Gozaimasu, Laura-chan... It's been a while."  the voice of
Mikati, Laura's best friend in the Guild, greeted warmly.
	"Ti!  Wow... it has been a while.  How long have you been assigned
here?  I thought you were still Section Chief!"  Laura exclaimed, running
up
and hugging Mikati happily.
	"Hai! I was, until a few days ago.  I put in a transfer because I
knew you had been assigned to this Raider.  Sneaky, ne?"  Mikati winked,
mischievously.  "C'mon, Laur... I'll get you bunked in, and brief you about
the operation."
	"Good.  I hope this is more exciting than the last one... I almost
woke up by the time it was over."  Laura smirked, hands on her hips.
	"You haven't changed a bit.  Still like the action, ne?"  Mikati
responded, feigning disapproval.
	"Hey... What else is there?"  Laura replied, laughing with her friend.
	As the two of them enjoyed the joke, they headed off toward
Outfitting to get equipped for the upcoming operation.
	"So... tell me.  Is this one going to be at least a *little* bit
interesting?"  Laura asked, unable to contain her curiosity any longer.
	"Hai, this one is definitely more your style, Laura…  According to
the briefing notes I saw, we have a target of some serious clout."  Mikati
replied, holding the door open to the Outfitting room.  Laura walked
straight
to her bin and locker, and immediately started digging out her favorite
'toys'.
        "Good!  I hope it's not  another sleeper; Gad, I hate getting all
worked up for it, then when the time comes, it goes off in two minutes."
She responded, zipping up her skin-tight Opto-Cam suit.
	"Right.  It's those "two-minute" ones that made your reputation, girl.
Don't knock it."  Mikati shot back, winking.
        Laura simply flashed her a cheesy grin.  "So, tell me again... Why
are you here? "
	"I just got tired of flying a desk.  I wanted to get back into the
exciting stuff again, and when I found out what Raider you were on, I just
'arranged' it."
	"When you make up your mind one day, you'll be dangerous.  You told
me you wanted a nice normal day, after which you could go home and relax.
As I recall, that was only two years ago."
	"So I smartened up.  How would you feel, trapped like that all day?
I grew up in Raiders and Scouts... The desk just doesn't cut it."
	"Hey, Laura!  Mikati!  The full briefing is about to begin!  Better
get yourselves up to the ready room fast!"  a male voice bellowed from the
hallway.
	"Yeah, Blake.. got it!"  Laura responded, unimpressed.  "Damn.. I
never get to finish dressing."
	Mikati laughed happily at her friend's plight, tossing her the two
weapon belts laying on the seat.  "Ano... I think they do it on purpose...
Blake can't drool over a body covered in Armor."  She jabbed, smirking.
	"Like that's my problem.  Okay, Ti.. let's head."  she replied,
running out the door.

	Their briefing session lasted over an hour, somewhat longer than most,
mainly due to the heavy resistance they were anticipating.  Laura's target
was a kingpin of the illegal weapons trade, and they fully anticipated a
heavy firefight getting in and out.  The entire mission had to be carefully
timed and laid out, and it was no easy task given the dense asteroid belt
surrounding the location.
	Once the briefing was wrapped, Laura returned to Outfitting to get a
few extra toys.  She was a firm believer in the theory that you can never
have too many weapons.  Returning to the bridge, she sat in her jump seat
and reviewed the image files on her intended target.
	As she carefully studied the images, she thought to herself that he
seemed a bit young to be so heavily involved in such things, but he had
more
murders on his stat sheet than she did, and that made him a prime target.
	A few moments later, Harjit, the ship's engineer, wandered up
alongside her, curious to see who would be the recipient of Laura's deadly
touch this time out.  Shaking her head, she tsked sadly for the young man
in
the images.
	"Ever wonder if CID made a mistake with one of these marks?"  She
asked quietly, still regarding the images.
	"If they did, I imagine I'd end up dead somewhere."  Laura replied,
thoughtfully.  "Nobody would want to take the responsibility for a mistake
like that, especially if it was a total innocent.  I just have to trust
them,
I guess, and hope that never happens."
	"Glad it's not me.  I couldn't handle the stress."
        "No worse that keeping this old tub together... We should have had
a
new one a year ago."  Laura quipped, knowing how Harjit felt about her
'baby'.
        "Hah.  This Raider will run circles around the DFB2 Series... They
don't even have Warp Cell 4 capability.  And we have better armor, too."
She shot back, indignantly.  "I'd like to see them try to decommission this
old girl... they know damn well she's the best they've got."
        "Well, I hope so... Once I'm done, we're gonna need to get the hell
out of there in a big hurry."
	"Bet on it."  Harjit replied, patting the adjacent panel.  "My girl
will get you home.  She always does."  She continued, smiling proudly.
	"Action Stations - Two minutes to drop range!  Action Stations - Two
minutes to drop range!"  Mike Redmond's cool voice echoed through the decks
of the Raider.
	Laura, Mikati, Mike and Harjit assembled in the Shift tunnel,
awaiting the start of their new mission.  Laura cast a quick glance at
Mike,
wishing he would return the favor.  Mike, as usual, stood oblivious to her,
preparing for the job at hand.
        Blake's voice now came over the pager, a tone of excitement
threaded
throughout it.
        "Got some traffic.. hang on, everyone.. it's going to be a bit
bumpy."
He advised, then the Raider shook from the detonation of a near miss,
almost
to emphasize the point.  As if acting on cue, everyone activated their
weapons and stood ready.
        "Stand by to shift;  Ten seconds at my mark... Mark!  Good luck,
everyone.. and especially you, Laura!"  Blake announced, then shut down the
pager.
        Laura closed her eyes, raised her weapon, and took a deep breath.
This was the kind of mission she lived for.
        The Shift began right on cue, and the away team appeared on the
predetermined planet, just outside the quarters of the intended target. 
They
immediately dove for cover as the platoon of thugs guarding the structure
opened fire on them.  The advance members of Laura's team laid into the
resistance with a heavy barrage of cover fire, augmented with a few
well-placed presents from Blake in the Raider above.  Shortly, the
resistance
was sufficiently thinned to allow Laura to begin her operation.
        Activating her Opto-Cam, she faded from sight and began her
advance.
Within a few moments, she had penetrated the building, and was headed for
her
target.  The latest intelligence had him holed up in a bunker under the
main
building, which had only one exit point.  All she had to do was be on the
lookout for guards around any door, and she would likely find that point.
        A few hallways and a set of stairs later, she found her door.
Tossing a concussion grenade, she watched as the four guards became stains
on
the hallway walls, and the bunker door warped out of shape.  Moving in
quickly, she wedged a gas injector into a gap in the door, and fired it's
painful load of Dexcon.  That was her favorite method of forcing targets
out
of cover, since it penetrated almost all gas masks and suits, resulting in
painful burning to the skin and interfering with one's breathing.
        Hanging back to her previous vantage, she waited for the Dexcon to
do
it's work.  Within a few moments, she was rewarded by a group of ten
gasping,
screaming men piling out of the doorway.  Raising her weapon, she waited
patiently for the right face to appear, and when it finally did, a quick
squeeze of the trigger launched a delayed-detonation round right into his
forehead.  Two seconds after the impact, his head exploded like a dropped
melon.
        Smiling, Laura turned her back on the hail of wildly fired handgun
rounds and made her way back out to rejoin the rest of her team.  Shutting
down the Opto-Cam, she reappeared right beside Mikati.
        "I'm back!  Didja miss me?"  She jibed, ducking to avoid incoming
fire.
        "Hai!"  Mikati replied, squeezing off a few quick bursts.  "Is
he...?"
        "Done like dinner!  Let's get outta here.. it's a bit too hot for
me."
        Mikati reached for her Comm, and hit the retrieve beacon quickly.
It beeped in response, and Mikati resumed her return fire.
        "Kuso, this is thick!  We haven't been able to move from here at
all!  And they keep bringing in fresh replacements, so it's going to get
worse!"  Mikati shouted over the din of the battle.
        Laura poked her head up and made a quick assessment.  Reaching for
her gun again, she leveled it on the struts at the base of an overhanging
walkway, and let several shots go.  Each in turn took out a strut, sending
the walkway crashing down on a nest of resistance that had been holed up
beneath it.
        "Wow!  Jeese, Laur.. I wish they'd let us have toys like that!"
Mikati remarked as Laura hunkered down again.
        "That's why they give me the tough ones!"  Laura winked, patting
her
weapon.  As she did, she could feel the Shift begin around her.
        When she next looked around, she was surrounded by the rest of the
team in the Shift tunnel, and they were all scrambling to get back to their
flight positions.  She also ran for her jump seat, knowing that they still
had a rough ride ahead of them.
        "Strap in!  It's pretty heavy out there, and it'll be worse when we
hit open space!"  Blake indicated, heeling the Raider into a steep ascent.
        "What's up?"  Mike asked, looking over the instruments.
        "We have an entire flank of fighters out there, and two big support
ships... If we don't lose them, they'll chase us halfway across the damn
system!"
        "Where the hell did they get that kind of equipment?  I thought
these
ones were only into small arms."
        "Looks like someone was misinformed, or these guys made some
powerful
friends... and I can't tell who yet because their signatures are
scrambled."
        "Okay.. prepare for Warp Cell 2 as soon as we clear the
atmosphere...
and get the repellers up now!"  Mike ordered, punching up his station.
"Okay.. I've got her... Get back to Weapons!"
        "You got it!"  Blake replied, enthusiastically.  This was his
favorite part of the missions, trying to take out as many enemy craft as he
could while they made good their escape.
        No sooner did the Raider clear the atmosphere than it came under
heavy fire from more than fifty fighters.  The Raider jumped to speed, but
the fighters followed suit, staying right with them.  A deadly game of duck
and run ensued, the Raider weaving an evasive track through a never-ending
hail of energy beams.  Blake was in his glory, picking off a steady number
of fighters, but as hard as he tried, he couldn't seem to make a dent in
them.
        "Mike.. we have to try something else.. I can't get ahead...
there's
just too damn many of them!"  Blake commented, exasperation edging his
voice.
        Mike's brow furrowed as he thought Blake's assessment over. 
Getting
shot down would not look good on his immaculate service record, and neither
would losing a top-notch team.  Looking at the system they were racing
through, he had an idea.  Punching up a star chart,  he asked it to locate
a
field of natural debris or meteors, hoping to pull off a bit of a gamble.
Within a heartbeat,  the system indicated a large, dense belt about two
minutes away.  He smiled smugly, congratulating himself on a job well done.
        "Blake.. hold them off for two more minutes.. we're going mining!"
Mike ordered, winging into a steep bank.
        "You bet!  That I can do"  Blake replied, smiling.
        Mike headed the Raider straight at the belt, still maintaining full
speed.  In civilian life, he was a champion stunt pilot, and was about to
put
that expertise to the test.
        As they entered the fringe of the meteors, Mike dipped, dodged and
slipped around the maze of suspended rock, watching with satisfaction as
the
hapless fighters began to collide with the space flotsam, or even each
other.
Blake picked off several more, and finally, they were left with only a few
lucky stragglers.  Reaching the edge of the belt,  Mike jumped the Raider
up
to the next Cell, leaving the fighters playing catch-up.  Smiling, he
glanced
over his shoulder and winked at the rest of the crew.
        "All in a day's work."  He announced, smugly.
        "We still have a few back there, but they'll be a while catching
up...
maybe we'll get lucky and they'll run out of fuel before they can."  Blake
observed, optimistically.
        "What do you mean, 'maybe'? "  Mike asserted, tossing Blake a look.
"I made sure of it, gun jockey.  There's no 'maybe' involved."  He
continued,
snarkily.
        "Take it easy, Mike.. you know what he means.  We made it, and
that's
what counts."  inserted Harjit, walking over beside Blake's seat.
        "Made it?  I want the head of the guy who reconned the defenses of
that place... and I want it right here in my sights.  Someone's stupidity
almost got us killed."   Mike added, angrily.
        "No shit.  I like a challenge, but that was a suicide run."  Laura
chimed in, walking up to join the group.  Harjit nodded her agreement
silently while Blake looked levelly back at Mike.
        "I want a report written up about this fiasco, and sent to Command
directly.  Someone's butt is going to fry for this."  Mike ordered,
glancing
at Blake again.  "And I want input from all of you.  I expect it on my Comm
in 30 minutes."  He concluded, striding off to his ready room.
        "I expect it on my Comm in 30 minutes..."  Blake repeated nasally,
mocking Mike's expression.  Harjit chuckled at him, while Laura simply
rolled
her eyes.
        "I hate reports..."  Laura muttered, turning and walking back to
her
station.
        "What's up with fearless leader?"  Mikati asked as Laura landed
heavily in her seat.
        "He's all cranked up about how much fire we took... he figures it
should have been a cruise or something.  Now we have to write up a report
to
send to Command."  she sighed unhappily as she punched up her screen.
        "All of us?"
        "Yep... nobody gets a break this time."
        "Chikusho.  Like it will do us any good.  Okay, I guess I better
add
my two cents... and here I thought I'd left this stuff behind."
        "Yeah, right... we can outrun fighters but end up drowning in
paperwork."  Laura lamented, starting to punch pads idly with her index
finger.  "Typical bureaucratic crap."
        Mikati smiled to herself at her friend's grumblings, and turned her
attention to writing her own report.
        Silence fell over the bridge of the Raider as everyone worked, none
of them particularly enamored with the job at hand.  It was this same
silence
that greeted Susan, the ship's medical officer, as she stepped from the
lift
tube and on to the bridge.
        Noticing the atmosphere immediately, she quietly walked up behind
Blake and touched his shoulder.
        "Blake... what's going on up here?  The air's so thick you could
walk
on it."  She asked, quietly.
        "Huh... I suppose it is.  The old man wants a report on our
mission,
and he wants it yesterday.  And on top of that, we took a lot of flak
trying
to get out of there.  Everyone's a bit edgy."  He replied, also quietly.
        "I see... everyone's okay, I take it?"
        "Yep.  Laura got her mark, and we all made it out without a
scratch.
It was a good mission... exciting, but good."
        "I'm glad."  Susan replied, breathing a sigh of relief.  "I was
worried for a minute."
        "Hey, will you two stop chattering over there?  I have enough
trouble
with these things without having to listen to you!"  Laura snapped,
indignantly.
        "Laura...!"  Mikati scolded, shooting her friend a condescending
look.  Susan and Blake simply stared back at her.
        Laura was about to respond when an alarm punctured the tension in
the air.  Blake spun in his chair to consult his panel, and his face
darkened
as he discovered the problem.  "We got a fleet carrier out there.. he must
have been hiding behind a planet nearby.  Looks like he's already launched
an
entire wing!"  he announced, punching the Comm panel.  "Mike, you better
get
out here... we've got big trouble!"
        "On my way."  came the response, followed by the beep of the
connection closing.
        As Blake locked his chair for battle stations, Laura switched her
display from the report to an external view, and despite being a hardened
veteran, still gasped out loud at the scene.  The starfield behind them was
thick with fighters and pursuit interceptors, and following them was a huge
carrier, easily large enough to hold several hundred of their Raider.
        "Who the hell are these guys?"  Laura asked, glancing quickly over
at Mikati,  who could only shrug in response.
        "I don't know..."  Blake answered, levelly. "Their signatures are
scrambled... just like the ones back at the planet."
        At that moment, Mike appeared and took his seat at con.  Glancing
at
the display before him, he growled to himself.  "Laura… join Blake on
Weapons.
Mikati, get on the repellers, and Harjit, rig for damage control.  It's
going
to get hot real fast."  He ordered, strapping in.
        "Damn!"  Blake spat, turning to Mike in a panic.
        "What?"  Mike asked, not taking his eyes off his display.
        "There's another one in front of us!  And it's surrounded by
fighters,
too!"  Blake reported, his voice anxious.
        "Shit!  Buckle up everybody!  We're making a run for it!"  Mike
exclaimed, veering the ship hard to avoid the wall of fighters looming
before it.
        "No good!  They're coming after us!  Looks like they've got Cell 3
capability... they're staying with us!"
        "Okay, open fire!  Let's take a bunch of them with us!"  Mike
ordered,
smiling evilly.
        As the fire fight began in earnest, the Raider was buffeted by the
concussions of the exploding armament being lobbed at them, making it
difficult to control.  Mike fought as hard as he knew how to keep them out
of
the line of fire, but the blanket laid down by the enemy was getting
heavier.
        Laura was having a good time plucking off fighters in a steady
stream, but began to notice that no matter how many they took out, there
seemed to be no decrease in their overall number.  Blake, meantime, was
making the same observation.
        "Mike... we can't get ahead of this!  They just keep coming!"
        "Keep at it... I'm going to try to thin them out a bit!"  Mike
responded, punching a panel open beside him.  "Laura… activate the viewer
filters!"  he called out, urgently.
        Seeing the viewer screen before him go dark, he pushed down the
large button that was covered by the panel.  "Hang on tight, everyone!  I'm
dropping concussion mines!"
        Within a heartbeat, the Raider was rocked by the shockwave from the
first mine, and as Blake and Laura watched, almost half the fighters in the
vicinity simply disappeared.  A second later the next mine went off, again
reducing the number of pursuers by half.
        "All right!"  Blake exclaimed, resuming his assault.  Mike smiled
smugly at his successful ploy as he settled back to flying the Raider.  The
mines had helped, but they were far from safe.
        The pursuit continued unabated over several sectors, and it was
beginning to take it's toll on the embattled Raider.  The repellers were
gradually losing efficiency, and the sustained Cell 3 run was endangering
the old Raider's well-used engines.  Mike could feel his tense shoulders
aching from the effort of trying to evade the tenacious fighters, and began
to worry about getting through this engagement alive.  Abruptly, his
thoughts
were interrupted by the soft beep of the Comm.
        "Yes?"  he responded, tersely.
        "Harjit here.  Mike, we've got to cut the engines back soon...
we're
going to lose number one if we don't.  It's containment vessel is
weakening."
she advised, worriedly.
        "Understood.  Slap a bandage on it for a few more minutes... I've
got
an idea.  How are the repellers doing?"
        "Not good, but holding.  We're down to 65 percent."
        "Give them whatever you need to get them back to at least 75.  Take
the auxiliary power if you have to.  We need as much shielding as possible,
and in about ten minutes!"
        "Done!"  Harjit replied, closing the Comm.
        "Listen up, everyone!"  Mike yelled to the crew.  "We're
outnumbered
and the ship is starting to weaken, so I'm going to attempt something
dangerous.  We're approaching the Sun, and I'm going to try skipping off
it's
radiation belt to fry a few of those bastards on our tail."
        "You are crazy!"  Blake exclaimed, smiling.  "I like it!"
        "Go for it.. what have we got to lose?"  Laura added, grinning
herself.
        Mikati only looked at Laura, smiling nervously.  "I hope it
works..."
she said, meekly.
        "Okay... if we do this right, the ripple caused by our skipping off
the belt should wipe most of them out, and while they're messed up, we can
make a run for the Sector One perimeter.  They won't follow us there!" 
Mike
elaborated, excitedly.  "Okay… keep us covered!"  He continued, preparing
himself for the events to come.
        Banking hard, Mike began his approach to the Sun, calculating the
angle of attack on his station as he went.  One mistake now, and he'd cook
the entire crew.
        Blake and Laura continued to fend off the fighters, but the enemy
stayed right with them, not relenting for a moment, even when it became
obvious where they were heading.  Abruptly, Laura's console lit up with red
warning lights.
        "I got a weapon malfunction!  Our stern is open!" she yelled,
trying
desperately to get the guns back on line.  It was a futile effort, however,
as the Raider recoiled sharply from several direct hits.
        "Come on... just a few more seconds..."  Mike breathed through
clenched teeth.
        Another hit lurched the ship hard, and Mike saw the fire indicators
light for Nacelle One.  Punching the Comm, he yelled for Harjit.
"Engineering!  How bad is it?"   He was greeted with nothing but static.
Punching it again, he yelled for Medical.  "Susan!  Get to Engineering!  I
think Harjit's been hurt!"
        "Right!"  came the anxious response.
        The ship began to vibrate violently as it closed on it's target
trajectory, and Mike could feel it fighting him harder every second.  To
add
to his troubles, the asynchronous warp phase warning began to sound,
chilling
his blood in it's veins.
        "Christ!  Prepare for separation, people… the engines are out of
phase!  If it gets any worse, we'll go up like a nuke!"  He yelled out,
trying to be heard over the alarms.
        A heartbeat later, Mike's instruments indicated they were in the
outer corona of the Sun, and that the Raider's hull temperature had climbed
dramatically.  Pulling up hard, he tried to 'skip' the wounded Raider off
the
denser radiation belt beneath the corona layer.  Just as he made contact
with
the inner layer and tried to accelerate out, the engines went into full
phase inversion, ripping their warp cell apart.  The entire Raider
disappeared
in a brilliant flash, the warp shock destroying almost all of the pursuing
fighters.
        When the flash finally died away, only silence remained, decorated
by scraps of wreckage.

**********

        Laura moaned painfully as she opened her eyes slowly, pleased to
note
that she was still alive.  Her entire body ached from the beating it had
taken, and she noticed fresh blood on the console near her face.  A sudden
sharp pain on her forehead told her where it came from.
        Carefully raising her head, she looked around for the rest of the
crew.  Susan was at Blake's station splinting his arm,  Mike was
unconscious
in his chair, and Mikati was sprawled on the floor, also unconscious. 
Laura
gasped when she noticed the gash in Mikati's arm, but breathed a bit easier
when she noticed the tourniquet just above it.
        "Susan?  How's Harjit? "  Laura asked weakly, slowly siting up in
her
chair.
        "She's in pretty rough shape... she was working on the engine when
it caught fire, and ended up with some nasty burns.  She'll be okay,
though...
I left her sleeping in sick bay."
        "Good... I was worried about her.  How about these two?"
        "Mike's just out cold, and Mikati broke her arm and wrist,  and cut
her arm up pretty badly.  I left her unconscious so it wouldn't hurt."
        "Damn.  Why did it have to be her?  She's too nice a kid to have
that
shit happening to her."
        "She'll be fine.  It'll take a couple weeks, but she'll recover
nicely."  Susan assured, smiling.
        "I noticed you didn't ask about me."  Blake pointed out, pouting.
        "I can see how you're doing.  How's the Raider?"
        "Hmmm... We have atmosphere, about 60 percent power, and all
engines
are off line.  The fire is out, but we took a lot of structural damage.
We're lucky to be alive."  He replied, flipping through status screens on
his console display.
        "So I gathered.  Well, where are we?  It seems awfully quiet
considering the battle we were in the middle of."  Laura commented, wiping
the blood from her wound.
        "Be careful... that needs to be suture-stripped."  Susan cautioned,
gathering her supplies.
        "I don't know yet... let me get a few readings... that is, provided
the sensors are still operational."  Blake replied, turning toward his
console again.  "Okay, they're... Uh-oh..."
        "What?  Something out there?"
        "Yeah.. us.  We're leaking NegaMatter... Not a problem for us yet,
but it could be if we contact any atmosphere."  He stated, his brow
furrowing.
        "Lovely.  So what do we do?  Can we even maneuver this tub if we
have
to?"
        "Not right now... we have no engines at all... the entire
propulsion
subsystem is off-line, and that includes even the docking thrusters.  We're
dead in the water for the time being."
        "Great." she muttered, rising to her feet.  For a second, the ache
in
her head made her a bit dizzy, but it passed quickly.  She slowly walked
over
to Mike's unconscious form, very worried about him.  She didn't want to let
Blake know how she felt, so she played it off as if she was checking his
instruments.
        "This thing isn't working, Blake.. see what you can do about
finding
our position."  she remarked, casting a quick glance at Mike.  He was
breathing normally, but the bruise on his forehead looked awful.  Inwardly,
she wanted to nurse him back to health, but instead she turned and headed
back to her seat.
        Blake worked quietly for several minutes, occasionally having to
walk to the wall consoles to check their readings against his.  His face
bore a concerned look, which got worse as time went on.
        Laura wondered what was bugging him, but for some reason opted to
wait until he was finished before asking about it.
        Susan soon had everyone patched up, and both Mikati and Mike
finally
awoke, each still a little groggy and sore.  Laura now sported a big pink
bandage on her forehead, a parting gift from Susan who had since left to
check on Harjit.
        Mikati was the first to spot it, and laughed at her friend despite
her very painful arm.  Laura pulled a gun on her and mimed taking a shot
right between her eyes, which just made her laugh harder.
        Mike, his head still ringing from the thump he took off the
console,
slowly walked over to Blake for an update.  Everyone listened intently as
he
announced his findings.
        "Well, it looks like we're safely inside the Sector One perimeter,
but something's wrong even so.  Either our instruments are totally out of
whack, or the planets and constellations are in the wrong places."
        "It's probably the instruments... the old girl took a hell of a
beating out there.  Get Harjit on the Comm... I want a report on the
engines."
Mike stated, still holding his head.
        "Sorry, Mike... she's in sick bay.  The engine fire burned her, and
she's with Susan, recovering."  Laura mentioned, gently.  "And the engines
are completely off-line.  Even the docking thrusters."  she continued,
Blake
nodding his agreement.
        "Damn.  We're sitting ducks out here... How's our external
communications?  Can we raise anyone?"
        "Nope.  All I get is static.  The internal system is fine, but
nothing is going out or coming in."  Blake replied, disappointedly.
        "So... nothing to do but wait, eh?  Well, run a system wide
diagnostic on the NavCom, and see what can be done about the engines.
Without them, we're just floating around out here waiting to get tagged.
And get me a damage report of some kind... I'll be in my ready room."  Mike
directed, slowly walking away.
        "Mike..." Laura piped up, insistantly.
        "Yes, Laura?" he answered, turning to face her.
        "Thanks... for saving our butts out there."  she stated, smiling
weakly.
        "You're Welcome."  he responded, and headed for his room.  Laura
thought she could see a slight smile on his lips.
        Mikati leaned over and slapped Laura's butt weakly.  "Baka ne...!
What did you do that for?  His ego is big enough already!"  she admonished,
regarding her friend crossly.
        "Sorry... I thought he could use a little moral support.  So sue
me."
Laura taunted, sticking her tongue out at Mikati.
        "Well, let's get to it, gang.  We might as well find out what kind
of
shape the old girl is in, so we can start thinking about getting home."
Blake mentioned, punching up the NavCom diagnostic routines.
        "I'll go to engineering and have a look around... Mikati, you start
on the damage report, and I'll fill you in from below."  Laura instructed,
heading for the lift tube.
        "Kuso... Why do I always end up doing reports??"  Mikati whined,
pulling a big pout.
        "Hey... you're the only desk jockey in the crowd!"  Laura jibed,
ducking a wildly thrown shoe.  Grinning widely, she stepped into the tube
and slid from sight.

        In Engineering, the damage was pretty extensive.  One of the three
engines was beyond repair, and the fire damaged a lot of associated control
equipment.  The air was contaminated with smoke and NegaMatter from the
damaged unit, forcing Laura to get into an EnviroSkel suit to investigate
further.
        After sealing the outer blast doors, she released the inner ones
and stepped onto the maintenance catwalk.  It was distorted from the heat
and covered with soot from the smoke, making movement treacherous, but she
managed to assess the extent of the damage without incident.  Luckily for
all of them, there was no damage to the local control systems for the two
remaining engines, but the common controls and junction systems were in
rough shape.
        Groping about for the Master Environmental System controls, she
managed to locate the ventilator for the catwalk area, and upon latching
her
tether line to the railing, blew the regulators open.
        The resulting explosive decompression cleared the smoke instantly,
and she locked the regulators back down immediately.
        After waiting for the oxygen level warning light to go green again
and making sure that the NegaMatter level was safe, she lifted her face
shield off and looked around.  In the clearer air, she could see the common
controls more easily, and made careful note of their condition.
        After a last look around the bays, she stepped through the
decontamination cell, then re-sealed the inner blast doors.  Releasing the
outer ones again, she shed the suit and headed over to the master console.
        There, she ran a structural analysis on the engineering section,
mainly to see if the fire had caused any damage to the superstructure.
After getting the results back, she ran a top-level diagnostic on the
remaining engines and their subsystems, hoping to find a way to reactivate
them.

        On the bridge, the news was not good.  The ship had taken an
immense
amount of abuse, and suffered several complete subsystem failures. The
entire
weapons system was off-line, the radiation shielding and repeller system
was
down, and the NavCom was still under diagnostic.  Communications with the
outside world were still inoperative, and Mike's blow drier was broken.
        Mikati had completed the structural integrity report, and was
pleased
to be able to give them some good news.  The hull had survived perfectly,
showing no stress fractures or heat damage, which made everyone breathe a
little easier.  Blake's discovery that the life support systems were
unaffected made that news even better, and Mike managed to find a brush.
        As everyone worked as best they could to restore services and
systems, nobody noticed the lift tube open, and Harjit and Susan stepping
out of it.  Blake finally saw them when he turned to get out of his seat,
and
smiled happily.
        "Harjit!  You're okay!"  He gushed, and ran up to hug her.  She
smiled widely at his hug, it being a poorly-kept secret that she was...
'interested' in him.
        Mikati, hearing the exclamation, wandered over to greet her as
well,
having been very concerned about her burns.  Mike, head buried in his
opened
console, simply sat up and looked at her sadly.
        "You okay, Harjit?" he asked, levelly.
        "I will be... the hands are a bit rough, but the rest isn't bad."
She replied, knowing what he was asking.  "I can tell someone what to do
for
the first while."  she continued, optimistically.  "How's my baby?"  she
asked, looking about the mess of the bridge.
        "Blake... fill her in.  Glad to see you're up and around at least."
Mike stated, returning to his work.
        Harjit looked at Mikati with a questioning expression, but all
Mikati
could do was shrug.  Harjit shook her head and walked slowly over to
Blake's
station for her 'briefing'.
        Mikati, seeing her chance, grabbed Susan and dragged her back to
the
jump seat area.
        "So... tell me!  Is she going to be all right?  She looks really
pale."  Mikati hissed, quickly.
        "She will, but she should have stayed in sick bay for at least
another 24 hours.  Her burns have to be treated constantly."  Susan
replied,
watching Harjit with Blake.  "She was too worried about getting the ship
back
together though..."
        "Yeah... she's always been like that.  Arigato, Susan."  Mikati
stated, sitting back in her seat.
        "How about you?  How's the arm?"
        "Oh... Hurts like hell, but okay, I guess."
        "Here."  Susan offered, jabbing a dermaspray into her shoulder.
"That should help."
        "Domo... I think."  Mikati replied, rubbing the spot.

        Laura sat queitly before the console, watching the status displays
of the diagnostic routine as it ran through.  Abruptly, her solitude was
disturbed by the beeping of the console Comm.
        "Laura here." she answered, leaning forward.
        "Laura.. this is Blake.  I think you'd better get up here."  he
advised, his voice carrying a distinct no-nonsense tone.  Laura knew that
when he talked like that to her, it was serious.
        "I'm on my way."  she replied, heading for the lift tube.

        Blake, Mike, Mikati, Susan and Harjit all stood near Blake's
console,
each looking like they had seen a ghost.  Laura stepped from the tube and
felt her heart sink as Mikati walked up to her, tears brimming in her
shimmering brown eyes.
        Mike looked up at her as well, his face hard with suppressed
emotion.
        "What the hell...?  What's wrong?"  Laura asked, her chest
tightening
in anticipation of the news.
        Blake cleared his throat, and slowly turned to face her.
        "Laura... We made it back to Sector One all right, but there's a...
slight problem."
        "What's that?" she asked, wondering what he was leading to.
        "Well, based on our calculations of the positions of the
constellations... we've been thrown a hundred years into the past;  all
the way back to the year 1997."  he stated, flatly.
        "My god... are you sure?"
        "Absolutely.  I discovered it an hour ago, but was blaming it on
the
instruments being damaged..."  he began, sighing sadly.  "Or so I hoped.
But, it's for real.  We've actually traveled time."  he continued, lowering
his head.
        Laura stared at him for several seconds while she absorbed the
gravity of the situation.  Finally, she found her voice again.  "C... Can
we
get back?"  she stammered, still stunned.
        Blake sighed heavily. "I don't know..." 




===================================================================
END - Unlikely Hero - Part 2      An Original Fiction by V.Coutu


Comments Welcome, Flames Extingushed!
coutuva@vecdev.com





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