Part 2 of Chapter 2

	The Bridge had sixteen computers, and several
command chairs. In the middle sat a leather com- fort
chair from the most luxurious manufacturer on Miaka.
Peers sat in it. 
	"Could sleep in this chair," he said. Rieekann
looked at his watch.
	"It's almost noon, sir," he said," cafe's probably
open."
	"So," said Peers, rising," who's hungry?"

	"So, Peers, are you pleased with my overall
performance of the ship?," asked Rieekann.
	"Yes, I am," said Peers, taking a  bite of his
Tryusa, a kind of vegetable that only grew on Miaka,
which could be compared to eggplant on Earth. "I am
worried though at how much fire output it is capable of."
	"Capable of firing each turret manually, or by
computer lock. Naturally the computer lock is better, but
it rapidly fires. Manually is a pain- staking task, but
it is effective."
	"I presume there will be shifts with the guns?"
Rieekann nodded.
	"Sir," said Zlockly," what about the Grand
Destroyer?"
	"What about it? Rieekann will handle it." Rieekann
looked at him.
	"Me?," he gasped. Peers nodded. "But I haven't been
on a Dreadnought Destroyer for years! Not one in
operation, anyways."
	"Well, today is your chance. You will come aboard
the ship today, and get a feel for it."
	"Yes, sir." Rieekann felt a knot in his stomach
tighten.

	"Denton," Rieekann said, after being welcomed into
his office," as a friend, and comrade, I have to ask you
something."
	"Sure," said Denton, sitting down." What seems to be
the matter?" Denton leaned way back in his chair.
	"Peers put me in charge of the Grand Destroyer.
How..."
	"Do you command a ship," Denton finished, laughing.
	"I'm serious," replied Rieekann. Denton looked at
him. He shook his head, still laughing, and then got up,
and walked over to a cabinet.
	"I don't want you to lose this, now," he said, "if I
can find the frigging thing. Ahh.. here it is." He pulled
out a small manual. Rieekann tried to peer through Denton
to see what it was.
	"Well, here's all I got when I was assigned to the
Argo."
	"But the Argo is second class."
	"Makes no difference what class, all the manuevers
and rules are the same."
	"I'm jealous of Zlockly. He's the second- in command
of a 'floating hotel'. Jesus, I don't think I'm cut out
for this." he snickered to himself. Denton looked at him.
	"You can do it. I have more faith in you, than
Zlockly himself." Rieekann looked at him.
	"Well, it's going to be interesting."
	"Now get to your bunk, relax, and study the manual."
he gave him the manual, and helped him up.
	"You'll do fine. Just take it one day at a time, and
you'll be up where Peers is someday." Rieekann smiled,
and then walked with Denton to the door.
	"Thank you, Denton." Denton smiled. 
	"It's the least I can do for a lifelong friend."
They both smiled, and Rieekann left. Denton smiled.
	"I have an idea, my friend. You'll be with me on the
Argo."
	
	The President sent for Peers at half past three that
afternoon.
	"Sir?," Peers said. "You sent for me?" The President
turned slowly in his chair.
	"There are Frigates from Earth in the area," he said
calmly.
	"But I wasn't notified," Peers insisted, rising. The
President pounded his hand on the desk, and stood, making
Peers abandon all hopes of rising. He relaxed, and sat
back in the chair.
	"That's because the man you put in charge of the
Kvoyak fleet was sleeping on duty," he replied.
	"That's impossible. I would never put in charge of
one of the most feared fleets in the galaxy a incompetent
fool!," Peers defended. Peers was starting to get a
little concerned. His hate for the President was
backfiring.
	"Really," the President said, in a semi- high
pitched, carefree voice that spelled trouble, with an
almost Australian- like accent, "observe." The President
sat down and pressed a button on his desk. A large
projection lowered itself from the ceiling. He picked up
a joystick, and pressed the top button. The Bridge of the
Destroyer appeared. The President maneuvered the joystick
over to the right, and there was a man sitting at a
computer, catching 'Z's. Peers' eyes widened in horror.

	The President put the joystick down. He smiled with
what was left of his yellow teeth. Peers was scared.
there was no telling weather the President would take out
a gun from his collection, or simply beat Peers right
there. Either way, it was a no- win situation.
	"If you are going to do to that man what I hope
you're going to do, do it in front of other people. Show
them what the punishment is. Now go, and destroy the
Frigates before they destroy any more ships than they
have now." Peers nodded, and got up. Bowing to the
President, he walked out the door, growing angry with
every thought of the commander that was sleeping.

	The door opened on the Grand Destroyer, and Peers
walked through as quickly as possible. He grabbed the
commander who had been sleeping a short time earlier by
the collar, and lifted him out of his chair, to slam him
into a wall, still grabbing his collar. 
	"Sir?," he protested, baffled. He looked into Peers'
angry black eyes, and knew he knew everything.
	"You little bastard!," Peers yelled, knowing that
other people were in his presence. "I had to sit and
listen to shit from the President. Your little cat- nap
could have cost me my job!" Peers lifted the man by the
throat. The commander gasped for air.  He saw hazy spots
in front of his eyes as his brain was denied oxygen.
Still, he defended himself, with words.
	"I'm sorry, sir," he said, choking.
	"Sorry isn't good enough, you little maggot. You
hear me?" Peers pulled out his blaster, put it to the
man's throat, and pulled the trigger. The man's eyes
bulged, and then rolled back into his head. Peers threw
the body to the other side of the room. 
	"Positions available for commanding officer," Peers
announced. "No experience necessary." Everyone went about
their business, as if nothing happened. 
	"Sir?," asked a very nervous Zlockly. "Everyone is
in battle positions now, sir. We are ready for combat."
Rieekann added, "all guns are armed and ready." A little
nervous about being on a Dreadnought Destroyer in combat,
his voice cracked a little.
	"Go ahead and engage," Peers replied. His attitude
was making him less apt to show any mercy. Peers' heart
was still racing from his previous actions. It made him
feel good. "Take us within range of Frigates, and give
them as much firepower in one blow that we can give
them."
	"Yes, sir," Piett replied, bowing before he left.
Rieekann stepped forward.
	"Sir, I know I'll be taking a risk, but I'd like to
be the replacement," he said, gesturing toward the
commander that was being taken away by the guards.
	"Granted. Now let's see about those Frigates, now,
shall we?" Peers turned around, and looked at the grim
situation, warming his hands. The three Frigates had
destroyed many of the old- fashioned Dreadnoughts that
had survived for so many years, but the Dreadnought
Destroyers were still holding out, although they were
badly damaged.
	"Move us in closer," Peers ordered.
	"We're within range of their shots, sir," Rieekann
replied.
	"Bring us in closer!"
	"How much closer before we open fire?," Rieekann
commented.
	"We'll last," Peers informed, as yet another
Dreadnought exploded into debris. The Grand Destroyer
moved in closer, maximizing it's front main deflector
shields. Firing round after round, the Frigates came to
the conclusion that either the man aboard the ship was
either very, very stupid, or very, very smart, because as
the Grand Destroyer was taking damage, the Frigates were
helpless.

	"Maximum firepower," Peers said to Rieekann.
	"But sir, they're maximized now. We'll lose shield
power with any more," Rieekann said, worried. Peers just
shook his head.
	"Take the power out of life- support," he replied.
Rieekann gasped, but followed his order. The normal laser
beams from the Grand Destroyer were replaced with much
bigger bolts that caused explosions all over the Frigates
when they hit. But they couldn't move, they were caught
in a trap; the Grand Destroyer was in front of them,
blocking, and the back was taking missiles into the
engines, which were overloading. Peers smiled.
	"Use the super- missiles," he replied, sneering of
using such a malicious weapon. One missile from the Grand
Destroyer struck one of the Frigates in the middle. For
an instant, nothing happened, and then a white plume of
oxygen spewed out. Then, a tremendous explosion, heard as
far down as Miaka, rocked the insides of the ship. Then
it exploded outward, tearing the middle apart, and
leaving the front end blazing. The rear, hindered by it's
overloaded engines, collapsed, causing one of the
brightest novas the galaxy had ever seen.

	"Fire another missile," Peers screamed, impressed at
what had previously happened.
	"Sir, that was the only one we had," Rieekann
explained.
	"What do we have, a baseball?," Peers screamed.
	"No. We have Heavy Space Bombs."
	"How many?"
	"Four," Rieekann said.
	"Fire immediately." The Space Bomb hurled out of the
Grand Destroyer's launcher, and struck the Frigate in the
nose, taking out much of the shields. The Frigate was
doomed, for another Bomb took out the Bridge. The third
one struck the same place as the first, and instead of
exploding on impact, it went inside the ship. 

	A series of slow, delayed explosions marked the end
of the receding Frigate, it's bow blown away, it's
engines losing their glow. The whole thing then erupted
in a ball of orange flame, and all the debris shot
outward, weakening some of the Dreadnought Destroyer's
shields. Some of them took too much, and backed off,
while one took a large piece of metal into it's engines,
and was stuck helpless, ionized, until more debris caused
the engines to implode.

	"Sir, we have one more Frigate left, no shields, and
taking heavy damage. We must withdraw," Rieekann said to
Peers, watching individual hits smash into the Grand
Destroyer. Peers felt each hit, and they struck him, as
hard as they struck the ship.
	"How many Heavy Space Bombs do we have?," Peers
asked, sullen, watching the Frigate.
	"One, sir." Peers smiled.
	"Rev up the engines, and when I say 'fire', fire the
Bomb. We're going to slam it into them at a speed of over
seventy space miles."
	"Sir!," Rieekann protested, "there won't be anything
left of the Destroyer if we do not move immediately."
	"That's an order, Rieekann," Peers said, his hand
reaching for his blaster.
	"Yes, sir," Rieekann said, defeated.  The ship moved
closer, and closer to the Frigate. Tension grew as the
seconds passed. Rieekann, watching the Frigate, ignored
the sweat on his face. Peers studied the Frigate
carefully, and then slammed his hand onto the arm of the
chair.
	"FIRE!," he yelled. The Bomb glowed as it shot out
of the launcher. The Frigate took it, full speed. The
Bomb shot into the ship, and went out the other side.
Depressurization quickly succumbed the ship, and it
imploded due to the pressure.