(Welcome back. In our last installment One-Eye struggled to repair Assault Pod One while Sergeant Riker fought off Cantrellan foes. If you're new to our tale you'll want to start here.)      Captain Arcolier forced herself to sit still and kept her face impassive as she reviewed the situation. The engine pod had struck a fierce blow and the Beauteous Revenge had closed the gap while the Cantrellans focused on damage control. She could grapple the destroyer at this range and force a boarding action but the question at hand was whether it was worth the risk. There wasn't going to be much of value on a Naval ship and it would be a hard battle for little enough reward. The Cantrellans had been hit hard but the Revenge wasn't in top form right now either. Of course, she couldn't leave until she had rescued the First Marines and if they couldn't repair their Assault Pod she would have no choice but to attempt to take the destroyer. She studied the still glowing crater where the engine pod had exploded against the Cantrellan hull. "What do you think Stinky Pete? Can they take another hit without coming apart?"      "It doesn't look good," replied Stinky Pete. He nudged a control and a smaller screen pulsed brighter. A schematic rotated there, showing the Cantrellan's hull in translucent panels and interior structure picked out in blue wireframes. "The second powerplant looks to be dead center of the ship. It will take a pretty good bash to hit it, and I just can't say for certain whether the ship would break apart."      Captain Arcolier glanced at One-Eye's viewport, only recently back online. The shock waves from the antimatter explosion were dissipating and the reduced range had meant the control signals were able to punch through the interference. One-Eye was still a few minutes away from finishing the weld that would hopefully make the craft spaceworthy again. She nodded decisively. "We'll let them bring power back online then. If they do have a second tractor beam we should be able to slag the gunport before they do much to the pod." She clicked One-Eye's viewport as she continued speaking. "You hear that One-Eye? If they pull some other superweapon on us, I will personally hound you through all the planes of hell for not getting out quicker. I want to see that pod in the deep black soonest."      One-Eye nodded even as he paused the welding and spread sealant over another leg of the seam. "Aye, Captain. Believe me we're not staying because of the free drinks and willing women. As soon I think this bucket of bolts will only leak slowly I'll take her out for a spin."      "Energy readings are spiking, Cap'n," said Stinky Pete. "Looks like the backup plant is online." Even as he spoke the dim emergency lighting in One-Eye's viewport flickered and was replaced by a full-spectrum fluorescent glare.      "We'll soon find out how much fight the Cantrellans have left in them." Captain Arcolier drawled. "Port Battery, make sure you have a firing solution trained on that hole in the hull and be ready to fire on my mark. I'm hoping they aren't going to fight, but if they seem likely I want to hit them where it hurts." She clicked on Stinky Pete's schematic simulation which slid to the center of the screen, and studied the rotating wireframe. "Stinky Pete, give PB a best-estimate on what energy levels would cause a catastrophic loss of integrity. PB - be ready to fire either a full strength shot or a crippling shot that would stop just short of total breakup."      Stinky Pete saluted and then his hands flew over the console. Simulated fire from the Revenge began to stab at the spinning computer model, incrementally stronger until the hull shattered under the blow. "Mind you Cap'n, this is just a best guess simulation. I advise adding a safety margin for the weaker shot." He paused briefly, only to resume calculations at Jaimie's curt nod.      A communications icon blipped on the screen just as Stinky Pete finished his calculations. "Incoming message from the destroyer Cap'n. Shall I acknowledge?"      Captain Arcolier shook her head. "Not quite yet. We're trying to buy One-Eye as much time as possible." Wait two minutes and then put the call through. She clicked One-Eye's screen again. "Hear that? We're running out of time here One-Eye."      One-Eye shook his head, flinging zero-g droplets of sweat away from his forehead. "I know it Captain, almost done here." He turned to scan the rest of the crew. "Wilson, get everyone except for the combatants with Riker inside the Pod and strapped in. Once I finish we're going to leave in a hurry!" He turned to his final seam, his welder flashing closer to the incandescent line Michaels drew from the other side. "Michaels, as soon as we finish here I'll power the bird up. I need to you grab a couple of grenades and a satchel charge and take them to Sergeant Riker. We're going to need to close off that access for a moment while the last of us get aboard. Tell Riker I said to do whatever he feels necessary to keep them off our backs, and I don't really care if he ruins their decor in the process."      "Aye aye, sir." Michaels grinned triumphantly as the two plasma beams from their welders met. They held the fire for a second longer and then shut off the torches. One-Eye quickly scanned the weld and decided it would pass for spaceworthy under the circumstances. Around him the remaing Marines pounded into the lock. Williams passed by, carrying a wounded unconscious Marine and nodded at One-Eye.      "This is the last except for you, Michaels, Rodriguez, and Sergeant Riker. I'll have all the casualties strapped down by the time you have the engines hot, sir."      "Excellent." One-Eye straightened up and surveyed the bay. Michaels lumbered out of the pod's hatchway, encumbered by enough explosives to destroy a small continent. One-Eye bellowed in a loud command voice. "Grab whatever you can, because Marines - WE ARE LEAVING!" He quickly made his way inside the pod and began to power up the major systems. It took a couple of minutes to get everything online and just as the last of the engine sequence lights went green there was the loud CRUMP of major explosives from the mouth of the bay. Riker, Rodriguez, and Michaels all ran inside the pod, Riker slamming the door close signal with his palm as he moved past.      "First Marines, ready for departure sir!" barked Riker as he strapped his still-bloody sword to the wall. One-Eye throttled up and as Assault Pod One hovered he fired the small shipboard laser at the irised-shut portal that cut the pod off from the vacuum and the Beauteous Revenge.

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(Tune in next week to see if One-Eye can burn through the hatch and if the Cantrellans have any fight left in them!)

(See the next installment!)

(Welcome back. In our last installment Captain Arcolier had used a desperate gambit and launched an engine pod as an impromptu animatter missile. She succeeded in hitting the enemy ship, but had she struck so hard to destroy the ship and kill One-Eye and the First Marines? If you're new to our tale you'll want to start here.)      One-Eye dropped another Cantrellan soldier and took advantage of the brief respite to survey the combat. A unit of Marines was ten able bodies, counting the Sergeant. Eleven men would have been sufficient to take possession of a civilian freighter, but they were badly outnumbered aboard a Navy vessel. Two Marines had been wounded already and one looked like it might be fatal. Luckily access to the small bay was limited and their initial attack had seized the space around Assault Pod One. Sergeant Riker and his men could likely hold the access hatchway for a time, unless the Cantrellans quit playing chivalrously and gassed the bay. Hell they could simply shut the blast doors and vent the bay to space, if they wanted to simply murder the First Marines. One-Eye's only real hope was that Captain Arcolier could rescue them. And that likely meant getting Assault Pod One spaceworthy again. He shot a quick glance over at Sergeant Riker whose bulk nearly filled the access hatchway completely. "Sergeant, can you hold the access while I attempt some quick repairs? I'll need one man to assist."      Riker snapped off a crisp military nod while never taking his eyes from the hatchway. "Yessir! Michaels! Help the XO patch up the boat. Rodriguez! Step up to the plate and help me gut any Cantrellan fool enough to peek around that corner. Wilson, see what you can do for the wounded."      One-Eye nodded companionably at Michaels as the burly Marine saluted and looked over at the patch of hull that hovered to the side of the pod. Trailers of retardant foam clung to it, wavering in the gentle airflow. "Reckon we can weld that back in place, sir?"      "That's my hope," One-Eye said and broke off as Stinky Pete cried "Away!" in his earpiece. "Oh shit, they didn't . . . everyone grab some deck!" One-Eye suited action to words and dove to the deck, grabbing a pair of handles and dialing his boots up to maximal magnetic grip. He studied the floating hunk of hull closely, nervous about being so close to a large unrestrained mass. Around him the Marines all hit the deck and just in time as a massive explosion rocked the Cantrellan ship. The lighting flickered out and the air fans shut off briefly, leaving a deep silence in the darkness. The silence spoke of death in a shipboard environment, in a place where mechanical hums always lurked under conscious notice. These noises and hums were a womb to seasoned spacers; a subliminal promise of oxygen, of life, and of keeping the void at bay. A long moment passed before the fans restarted and red emergency lights flickered back on.      One-Eye exhaled in a long relieved breath as the ship's systems spun back into life. His earpiece still crackled static, telling him that communications with the Revenge were still offline. He carefully stood back up and surveyed the bay. The hull piece had struck Assault Pod One instead of any of the Marines and most of the Marines had successfully battened down before the impact. One of the casualties had been unconscious, and One-Eye groaned as he saw the broken ragdoll body stuck in the V joint of a girder above him. There had been several Cantrellan bodies left from the intense fight and the resultant gore smeared many of the walls and bulkheads. He nodded at Michaels again as he carefully walked over to the hull piece. "Let's get this patched back on, double-time. If the Cantrellans are still on emergency power we should be able to escape without getting tractored in."      The trick to zero-g repairs was to respect mass. That missing hull segment was weightless in zero-g and relatively easy to move, but it still had mass and it still had inertia. If it built up velocity it could easily crush a person. And they had to guide it back into place where the Cantrellans had cut it aside, and stop it at precisely the right moment - while under battle conditions and working fast. It was far from an ideal situation, but it was the best chance One-Eye figured they were likely to get and he dove in without hesitation.      Michaels and One-Eye got the piece in motion, creeping along with glacial speed. One-Eye longed to move it faster but he knew this was a matter for slow and steady, not for a sprint. It took several agonizing minutes to get it to the gash in the hull, and then they had to slow it to a stop and carefully rotate it until it fit the gap. A metal clash rang out from the hatchway where Sergeant Riker engaged a fresh group of Cantrellans, but One-Eye had attention only for the ponderous task at hand. He heaved a huge sigh of relief as the piece slid into place with a satisfying deep thump. Before One-Eye could speak Michaels opened the proper airlock and was retrieving the field repair kits. These kits contained small patches, some goop that could be used to seal minor punctures, and a small welding torch with self-contained oxygen reservoir.      One-Eye's earpiece crackled back into life with a burst of static. ". . . calling First Marines. Repeat, this is the Beauteous Revenge calling First Marines" came the welcome drone from Stinky Pete.      "Aye, laddie it's good to hear you," replied One-Eye with a relieved chuckle. "We're seeing if we can patch up the Pod here, what's your status?"      "We're into electro-grapple range now and the Captain wants to know if she should board?" Stinky Pete said. "One tick and we'll have the video feed back online."      Michaels slapped a repair kit into One-Eye's hands and began slathering sealant goop on one side of the cut. One-Eye cracked open his kit and mimicked the repairs on the far side. "I'd advise waiting. They seem to be on emergency power here. If we can reseal the pod, we should be able to escape in ten minutes or so. Can you see the status of their main powerplants?"      "Aye XO," Stinky Pete said with concern. "The engine must have caused a feedback surge when it hit the tractor unit. It looks like their primary plant exploded. But we see signs of a secondary plant coming online now. If they have a second tractor unit you may not have ten minutes."      "Acknowledged. Give us what you can and we'll be out of the potty as soon as we're able." One-Eye bent to his welding with a vengeance, ignoring the combat raging a few feet behind him.

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(Tune in next week to see if One-Eye can get launched before the Cantrellans get their powerplant online!)

(See the next installment!)