Trip looked around nervously, trying to figure out what to say to Datz. How could he explain why he was wandering around the ship? Then it came to him. He could tell the truth.

"Datz, I’ve never been in a battle before and with my first session of space training today, well, there was just so much going on. I couldn’t sleep."

At least some of the story was true.

Datz’s face shifted from suspicion to sympathy.

"Trip, I hear you. I get nervous before every battle and I’ve been in a bunch of them. I’ve spent many nights cleaning my energy rifle, checking my power packs, trying to make sure I’m ready for the battle, but it also helps get my mind off things."

Trip turned to walk away. "That’s it exactly. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll just get back to my walk."

"Hold on, Trip."

Trip turned back to Datz, who smiled at him enigmatically, his feelings unreadable. Trip thought he’d gotten himself off the hook, but perhaps it wasn’t going to be that simple.

"Trip, what are you doing with the portable computer?"

"Well, since I couldn’t sleep, I decided I’d go exploring around the ship. I started making some notes to myself about where things are. With everyone else asleep, I figured it would be easier to find my way around."

It was the truth—again, not the whole truth—but none of it was a lie, either.

"Well, Trip, you’d best get back to your bunk. It’s my job to look after you, so don’t get any strange ideas. You’re going to need some sleep before the battle. I can get you a relaxer if you need one."

Trip politely refused the relaxer and tried to come up with an excuse to slip away, but Datz wasn’t done.

"Trip, it’s not a good idea to wander around the ship without getting permission from me first. If you want to do anything, you talk to me."

Datz stood there, waiting for an answer. Trip swallowed his pride. He said weakly, "I understand, Datz."

"Good, Trip. You’re still new here and you haven’t earned our respect. Or our trust. If you start acting funny or are caught doing something suspicious, who knows what might happen?"

Datz grinned before whispering, "Click, click, you’re dead!"

Datz chuckled and turned away, walking down the corridor and into the shadows without another word. Trip knew he’d lost his chance to warn Jinx and the Sh’nar convoy. If he was caught wandering the ship again, Datz made it clear he wouldn’t get off with just a warning.

Trip quickly walked back to the darkened barracks and his bunk. Just as he settled in, he felt the gut-wrenching pull of the Diamond Shadow leaping into lightspeed, on its way to the ambush. Sleep did not come easily as Trip choked back tears. Before the night was over, he was going to be forced to capture his best friend.

The alarm klaxon alarm woke Trip from a restless sleep. Rubbing his eyes, still dead tired, he joined the rush of pirates to their battle stations. He and the others felt the Diamond Shadow shudder underneath their feet as the ship dropped from lightspeed into normal space.

Trip choked down an energy bar and some bitter blue juice as he slipped into his armored spacesuit. This time, instead of assembling near the airlock, the Lieutenant directed the troops down a short hallway and into the main landing bay.

Within ten minutes of the initial alarm, Trip and the other spacesuit assault troops—now numbering nearly fifty—were waiting nervously aboard six different assault shuttles, ready for battle.

The Lieutenant quickly briefed them. There were six Sh’nar ships and one pirate assault shuttle to attack each ship. On board each assault shuttle were eight pirates in battlesuits. The battle plan was straightforward. After the Sh’nar ships were forced to drop to normal space, the Diamond Shadow’s guns and space fighters were to keep the Sh’nar ships busy. Under cover of the battle, the spacesuit troops were to leave their assault shuttles and rocket over to the Sh’nar ships, cut their hulls open, then board and capture them. Diamond Black Joe wanted as many Sh’nar captives as possible to sell into slavery, but the important part was capturing the ships. If that meant some of the Sh’nar had to die, so be it, the Lieutenant had said.

Trip and the others listened in on the general transcomm frequencies as the Diamond Shadow’s crews prepared the assault. Tug ships pulled asteroids into the area to block the space lanes. Pirates laughed as the tug crews jokingly cursed and insulted each other while moving the asteroids into place. The joking came to an end when Diamond Black Joe came on the transcomm to order them to hurry up. He promised to personally dump them into space if the asteroids weren’t in place on time.

This was a simple deep space ambush. The asteroids were to be hauled into the most likely path of the oncoming Sh’nar ships. When in lightspeed, a ship’s lightspeed engines create a "jump bubble," a bubble of energy around the ship. Should the engines not be able to maintain the bubble for any reason—or if the lightspeed engines stop working or are turned off—the bubble collapses, instantly dumping the ship back into normal space. The other thing—and, Trip remembered, this is where the asteroids come in—the jump bubble acts as a kind of shield. If the bubble makes contact with any significant masses, such as a planet, star, another starship or even a sizeable asteroid—any mass greater than a pound for a ship the size of the Sh’nar freighters—the ship’s lightspeed engines automatically shut down and dump the ship into normal space so it doesn’t collide with the object.

Trip knew his history. Almost from the earliest days of intersteller travel, safe routes clear of asteroids and other hazards were established so ships could quickly and safely move between star systems. Almost as quickly, space pirates and other raiders followed.

The situation hadn’t changed much over thousands of years. Considering the vast distances between stars, it was virtually impossible for planetary navies and Frontier Ranger ships to patrol all major travel routes. Most lesser routes were barely patrolled at all. Just as Diamond Black Joe’s gang was doing now, pirates typically "blockaded" a space lane with asteroids or other large objects. The oncoming ships—in this case, that would be the Sh’nar convoy—have their jump bubbles collapse when they contacted the asteroids, dumping the ships back into normal space. Then, while the Sh’nar ships try to calculate a new course for a lightspeed jump—and unable to call for help since communications signals only travel at the speed of light—the pirates swoop down and attack, trying to capture the Sh’nar ships before they can escape back into lightspeed.

Trip felt the shuttle drives fire up. The ships were moving into a ready launch position. Trip glanced out the armored viewports and saw a dozen high-speed, heavily-armored fighters slowly taxiing to the front of the launch bay.

The tug ships signaled that the asteroids were in position. All Trip could do was sit and wait.

The shuttle pilot called for the troops to strap into their flight berths. Trip followed the others, sliding into one of the oversize restraints that acted like giant seats to hold the armored battlesuits safely in place during combat maneuvers.

Despite his many years of experience, even the Lieutenant looked around nervously, his eyes tracking the room even though his body was stationary. He said nothing but it was clear he was mentally preparing himself for battle. As two troops trading jokes had their voices rise above the rest of the nervous conversations, he barked, "Quiet!"

Instantly, the room fell silent.

The minutes ticked by in silence. Trip sensed more and more apprehension. There was nothing to do but wait for the call to join the battle.

"One, two, three ships—all Sh’nar designs!" an excited voice called over the transcomm.

"Now make that five, no six Sh’nar ships! All right where we want them!"

Diamond Black Joe’s voice calmly ordered, "All fighters and shuttles launch. And move it people! Time is not on our side."

Through the viewport, Trip saw the fighters’ engines come to life. The ships catapulted into space.

He felt the shuttle’s drives power up and he was pushed back into his flight berth as the shuttle launched. Trip saw the landing deck fade away, replaced by endless night. In the distance, Trip saw the pirate fighters whirling around the six Sh’nar freighters. Flashes of energy cannon fire were traded across space.

Trip closed his eyes and tried to relax as he rode into the heart of his first space battle.

Trip kept his eyes on the viewport although most of his fellow troops watched the viewscreen at the front of the compartment. The screen’s battle display showed six green icons, the six Sh’nar ships. They were surrounded by fast-moving red graphics, each one indicating a pirate fighter. The red pirate ships spun around the Sh’nar ships like bugs swarming around a campfire—fast, agile, just barely out of the flames’ reach. Each icon flashed when its ship was hit by enemy fire.

Trip saw that the Sh’nar ships were being hammered time and time again, their icons glowing brighter and brighter with each blast but never fading from the screen. By contrast, the guns on the Sh’nar ships seemed to struggle just to track the pirate fighters. Hits on the pirate fighters were rare, but they almost always destroyed them, causing the icon representing a hit pirate fighter to flash and then disappear.

Trip noticed that the icons for the six assault shuttles steadily moved from the edge of the screen into the middle of the battlefield.

Trip watched out the viewport, both awed and horrified at the sights of battle. In the distance, a pirate fighter, red with bright blue striping across the nose and upper wing, dived in towards one of the Sh’nar freighters. At least it wasn’t Jinx’s ship; this freighter’s design was different, with a much longer cargo area.

The fighter raced along the rear of the ship, opening fire with its energy cannons. Brilliant blue beams of energy flashed against the Sh’nar ship’s shields. One shot seeped through the shields, gouging out chunks of hull plating. Thousands of metal shards glittered and splashed away into open space.

The pirate fighter continued its path straight up the spine of the freighter. The freighter’s lone topside weapon was a bulky, old energy cannon on an elevated turret. The turret, originally facing towards the front of the ship, slowly twisted around to try to catch the pirate fighter but it was too slow. While the cannon was in mid-turn, the pirate fighter fired a volley directly at it. The first pairs of shots harmlessly splashed against the Sh’nar ship’s shields. Then Trip saw a brief flash of light. The shields were about to fail.

The pirate energy blasts pierced the shields, which shimmered softly, then faded to nothing. There were two small red-yellow explosions where the energy blasts slammed into the base of the turret, ripping through the foot-thick armor plating. A much larger flash of light nearly blinded Trip when the energy cannon’s power feeds ruptured and exploded.

The pirate fighter turned left and rolled, tumbling down and under the Sh’nar freighter, still spraying blasts of energy across the freighter. The blasts gouged away pieces of armor plating in a dozen places, sending thousands of fragments of molten metal spraying across space.

The turret, wracked by the explosion, started to lean to the right, crumbling in the slow motion of zero gravity. A final explosion severed the turret completely from the ship. It slowly cartwheeled off into space. Now the energy cannon was just another piece of tumbling battle debris, spraying a stream of red-blue energies and metal shards into space.

One of the pirate fighters, intent on hammering the seemingly helpless freighter, spun to the right to avoid the turret. It careened off on a wild trajectory towards distant space as it dodged the tumbling turret. Trip secretly hoped the pilot was Blaze, remembering the insults and threats the scarred pilot had hurled at Trip during their first meeting.

Trip’s heart pounded in his chest, his throat dry, as the assault shuttle rocked, its shields being hammered by blasts from the Sh’nar freighters.

The shuttle captain called over the intercom, "Troops prepare for launch. One minute."

Trip and the other pirates released themselves from their flight berths and lurched upward, standing unsteadily on the shuttle’s rocking deck. Trip kicked in the magnetic grapples on his boots to steady himself. He heard other troops’ grapple units being powered up.

The assault shuttle was buffeted by another volley of fire from the Sh’nar ships. The floor beneath him rocked back and forth, and the shield generators whined as they tried to absorb the destructive energy blasts. The shuttle seemed to kick sideways to the right several feet, almost as if it was going to spin. Then the shuttle rolled to the left as another blast got through the shields.

Four of the pirates staggered, leaving only Trip and the others with their magnetic grapples activated standing straight. The ship rolled up on its side even higher and it seemed to bounce as it was buffeted by more energy cannon fire. The shuttle straightened itself back to level, turning so quickly that Trip felt dizzy. The off-balance pirates now fell over, catching the flight berths for support or simply toppling onto their faces.

The Lieutenant screamed, "Move it, men! We don’t have time for this. Get ready! Launch in thirty seconds!"

The assault shuttle was designed to deploy the troops as quickly as possible. Instead of forcing all the troops to bunch up around a single airlock, the whole port side of the passenger compartment slid open to space, allowing all of the troops to launch as a group. This design was also effective for planetary assaults: troops could be equipped with anti-grav backpacks or parachutes and drop down to the ground, or the interior seating could be removed to carry small, anti-grav combat vehicles into battle.

Trip glanced out the viewport. He saw fragments of hull plating, glowing cherry red, flickering away from the shuttle. Two of the Sh’nar freighters, now close enough that he could read their hull markings, were turning away, frantically trying to flee the incoming assault shuttles.

One of the nearby ships was Jinx’s freighter. Deep black scars ran along its side where pirate fighter blasts had raked its flank. A pirate fighter raced up behind it and fired at its engines. Blue energy beams reached out and smashed into the engine compartment. There was a small explosion where the blasts hit. Then, a second later, another larger blast sent Jinx’s ship listing off to the left. Trip knew from the way that the ship leaned that the blast must have knocked at least one of the engines off-line.

Clanmother Son’knex must be terribly worried, Trip realized. The Sh’nar techs, possibly even Jinx, were probably scrambling to get the engine operating. With that kind of damage, there would be no way for them to plot a jump to lightspeed. For Jinx and her ship, there would be no escape from this battle.

Trip felt a sudden rumbling and he saw a crack appear in the port side. In just five seconds, the wall split in half, opening out into space. The pirates nearest the opening stepped off into space and activated their rocket packs.

Trip and the three others on the starboard side of the shuttle followed the first group into space. Trip fired his rocket pack as soon as he stepped away from the shuttle. He heard the Lieutenant’s voice echo over his speakers, "Check your visors. Your target is highlighted on your heads up display. We’re going after that Sh’nar freighter that’s listing off to the side. Move out, team!"

Trip rocketed straight toward the "listing freighter," Jinx’s ship. As he raced across space, Trip had to dodge several large, tumbling pieces of metal. Trip instinctively winced as he heard small pieces of shrapnel and other battle debris bounce off his armored spacesuit. Trip thought it was like trying to fly through a tornado!

Trip worked to tune out the distractions—the pirate fighters, the explosions, the elaborate battle maneuvers of the Sh’nar freighters. Instead, he focused solely on Jinx’s freighter as he raced across space and bore down on the ship at full speed.

In moments, he and the other pirates reached the vessel. Trip flinched as a ripple of blue-green energies—the Sh’nar ship’s shields—flashed as they tried to stop the armored battlesuits. But the shields were designed to deflect energy blasts and protect the ship during collisions with obstacles. The pirate battlesuits easily absorbed the electrical discharge of the shields as the attackers landed on the hull.

Trip drifted in, firing his maneuvering rockets to slow down. He reached out to the hull to steady himself, powering his magnetic gloves for a moment to anchor himself to the ship. Trip used the spacesuit’s maneuvering rockets to bring his legs down towards the hull as he twisted his body. Finally, he felt the powerful pull of the foot magnetic grapples as they clamped onto the metal hull plating.

The Lieutenant divided them into two groups of four. The Lieutenant’s group moved over to the ship’s airlock for boarding, while Trip’s group was on the opposite side of the ship. Trip was told to activate his fusion cutter. One of the pirates pulled an explosive charge from a pack on his suit. Trip realized his mission was to cut the ship open and expose it to space.

Trip knew it would be impossible for the Sh’nar to fight off two separate boarding parties, especially while trying to fix the damaged engines.

The Lieutenant called out, "Begin cutting on my signal."

There was a pause and Trip heard several clicks over his speakers as the Lieutenant opened his transcomm to a general communications frequency.

"Attention Sh’nar ship. Surrender now. Surrender or we will cut through the hull, depressurize the ship—and all of you will die."

Surrender or have the ship cut open.

The Sh’nar had few options. That was especially true knowing what was going to happen to the prisoners. They faced slavery even if they surrendered.

Trip still hoped Clanmother Son’knex would see that there was no escape, no hope for safety right here and right now, but there was always the chance of escape later on. There was always hope.

Trip and the others stood on the ship’s outer hull, their fusion cutter beams glowing a brilliant blue in the darkness of space. They waited for the order to slice open the ship while the battle swirled around them. Pirate fighters spun round and fired on the other Sh’nar freighters. Exchanges of energy blasts lit up space, while large and small pieces of metal tumbled around them in all directions. A shower of metal fragments bounced off Trip’s visor and armor, tink, tink, tink. He heard a dozen, two dozen impacts. Then it seemed like hundreds of pieces of metal, none larger than a coin, each moving at tremendous speed, like bullets descended upon them. The fragments showered Trip and the pirate troops, bouncing harmlessly off their armored suits. Most careened into the Sh’nar ship’s hull before ricocheting off into space, still moving at tremendous speed but now going in dozens of different directions. Trip tried to tune it all out. He wanted to hear whether the Sh’nar would surrender.

The wait seemed to take forever. Then Clanmother Son’knex opened up her own transcomm channel. Her voice was strangely distorted on this transceiver system, but Trip could tell it was her.

"We surrender. Board our ship peacefully and we will offer no further resistance."

The Lieutenant called, "You heard her, boys. Join us at the airlock. Remember that we came for the ship. I don’t care about the crew. If they try anything funny, scrag ‘em."

Trip knew the Lieutenant had kept his general transcomm frequency open so the Sh’nar had heard what he’d just said. He wanted them to know that any trickery or resistance would result in their deaths.

Trip and the other three pirates carefully made their way to the airlock on the opposite side of the ship. Trip noticed that the battle seemed to be nearly over. He counted at least three Sh’nar ships that weren’t being attacked at all and there were no pirate assault troops visible on their outer hulls. That meant the ships had already fallen to Diamond Black Joe’s men.

That left just two free Sh’nar ships. They were being hammered by the pirate fighters.

One of the free Sh’nar freighters was being pummeled by at least four fighters. It was now listing badly to one side, slowly starting to drift and spin. That meant the drive units were down and there was no hope of escape, but the ship’s twin energy cannon turrets spun round and round, filling space with energy beams.

One of the blasts caught a pirate fighter’s lower wing, shearing it off in a brilliant explosion. The fighter started to roll, tumbling through space. The loss of the wing was virtually cosmetic since it was mostly for atmospheric flight, but the blast could have caused any number of any other problems, such as causing a power surge that disabled the weapons or drive units.

The fighter went spinning out of control. Trip pictured the pilot frantically working the controls to save the ship. A second later those worries ended. The fighter careened into one of the large asteroids. With a flash of light, the fighter was gone, leaving only a large, black scar on the asteroid to mark its passing.

Trip spotted pirate assault troops—tiny, gray, ant-like specks—crawling over the hull of the listing Sh’nar freighter. He saw a flash of light and then a plume of dust rushing away from the ship, like a newly pricked balloon pushing out all of its air.

The pirates had blown the hull open with explosive charges. Trip saw one Sh’nar crewmember get pulled out into open space and go spinning away. The poor creature was soon lost from sight.

One of the pirates fired his rocket pack thrusters to maneuver over the new opening. He let loose a volley of energy rifle blasts, then moved inside the ship.

Three other pirates followed. Trip knew it would be only moments before that Sh’nar ship was under the control of the pirates. At least, Trip thought, Clanmother Son’knex had the good sense to surrender rather than have her crew injured in a brutal hand-to-hand shipboard battle.

Trip was the last of the pirates to board Jinx’s ship. Trip followed the others through the airlock cautiously, weapons armed and held at the ready. Trip hoped there would be no combat. He was relieved when one of the pirates called over, "We’ve secured the bridge. There’s been no resistance."

"The lights are flickering," Trip said aloud to his team members. "The blast that blew out the engines must have also sent a power surge into the ship’s main power core. This ship isn’t going anywhere for a while."

Trip followed the others into the lower cargo hold, where six Sh’nar—including Jinx and Clanmother Son’knex—were sitting in the center of the floor. There were two pirates on guard duty, their energy rifled arms held casually to the side but ready to open fire with the slightest provocation.

The flickering lights and thick clouds of smoke from an onboard fire created an eerie, nightmare scene. Trip saw the Lieutenant on the far side of the cargo bay, looking up the ladder and into the heart of the ship. He turned toward Clanmother Son’knex and asked, "Captain?"

The Clanmother seemed to bow, showing her submission, but she corrected him.

"It’s Clanmother Son’knex of the Sh’nar Clan Knex’slii."

"Clanmother, captain, whatever. Are all your crewmembers here?"

Clanmother Son’knex nodded. "Yes. I promised a peaceful surrender."

"Good. Gentlemen, the ship should be secure, but keep your eyes open. Bridge crew, what’s the condition of the ship?"

A pirate’s voiced called in, "Hull’s intact, no major structural damage. But the engines—"

Another voice jumped in. "That last shot blew out some surge dampeners and the main drive coupling on the port side engines. It’ll take several hours to repair."

The Lieutenant, still looking around as if appraising the ship, added, "But the ship is ours and that’s what we came for. Good. What’s the status of the other Sh’nar ships?"

"Four of the other Sh’nar ships are under our control. The last one has been boarded but isn’t secure yet. It shouldn’t take much longer than a few minutes."

The Lieutenant paused and called back to the bridge crew.

"When things calm down out there, notify the Diamond Shadow that we’ll be moving into tractor beam range and docking for repairs. For now, move out of the battle zone and give our fighters some room while they’re mopping things up."

The Lieutenant turned to face Trip.

"Kid, you know your way around starship drives, don’t you?"

"Yes, sir. Been working on starships since I was a little kid."

"Good. Head down to the power core and drive areas. Give the crew a hand. Strip down out of your battlesuit here."

Trip knew he couldn’t refuse a direct order. He glanced over at Clanmother Son’knex and Jinx and realized they hadn’t recognized him inside the intimidating battlesuit.

Trip moved to a corner and turned his back to the prisoners. He commanded the suit’s computers to release the main magnetic seals. Trip heard the clank! clank! clank! of the shoulder, waist, hip and helmet seals releasing.

First Trip pulled the arms off, then the helmet. The smell of burning circuitry filled his lungs. It was stiflingly hot on board and his skin was soaked with sweat in just seconds. With his hands free, the rest of the suit was easy to pull off, like peeling the shell off an egg.

With the suit on the floor, Trip wiped the sweat from his forehead and stood up straight. As the adrenaline drained from his body, he realized how much his muscles ached. He’d pushed his body to its limits in just those few minutes of battle.

Trip turned around and, glancing at the other battlesuites, he felt helpless. The pirates stood seven feet tall in their armored suits, with energy cannons and fusion cutters in place of hands. In normal light they would be intimidating; in the haze and flickering light here, they were nothing short of terrifying.

Then, knowing he could put it off no longer, he looked at the helpless Sh’nar prisoners. His eyes found Jinx. She stared at him, not saying a word, but her face showing terror, then recognition and finally, betrayal. Trip felt his heart ache.

Datz waited for an answer. Jinx was silent. Trip tried to talk his way out of this, but he just stumbled over the words.

"Just finished up, Datz. Everyone’s fed. I’ve got everything under control. You can just go back to sleep now if you want."

Datz shrugged.

"No thanks. I slept enough. So, you getting to know the prisoners, huh? Not a good move. Don’t let them get to be pets. Never get attached to your products."

It seemed like Datz hadn’t heard any of their escape plan. Thank goodness for small favors, at least.

Datz glanced from Trip to Jinx, his mind slowly turning as it tried to figure out what was going on. Trip saw a glimmer of recognition creep across Datz’s face. Datz looked right at Jinx.

"I know you. From the restaurant at the starport. So that’s it! Trip here has a little friend. Well, Whistler is going to love this."

Datz pulled his energy pistol from its holster and pointed it at Trip. Never taking his eyes off Trip, his finger tight around the trigger, Datz pulled his transcomm off his belt with his left hand. He laughed evilly, chuckling to himself.

"Trip, I felt all along there was something wrong here and now I know. Click, click, you’re dead! Whistler is really gonna love this!"

He slowly raised the transcomm.

Then there was a flash of light reflecting off something metallic. It came from the prisoner cells and bounced off the floor right in front of Datz before skittering into the shadows.

Datz looked down for just a split-second, glancing at the foil-wrapped food packet Jinx had thrown across the room. But a split-second was all that Trip needed.

Trip leaped at Datz, diving under the arm holding the energy pistol, and tackling him. Even though Datz was older, taller and heavier, he wasn’t ready for Trip’s charge. Trip knew that surprise is what counts in a fight.

Datz and Trip tumbled to the floor, Datz flat on his back, the wind knocked out of him. Trip scrambled to keep the energy pistol pointed away from him.

Trip saw the confusion on Datz’s face, a what’s-going-on-here? expression replacing the evil joy that was there only a second ago. Datz’s left hand was empty, the transcomm now sliding across the floor and into the shadows. Datz couldn’t call for help but he still had his energy pistol, a weapon that could kill Trip with just one blast.

Realizing that Datz was going to try to use the pistol, Trip reached frantically with all of his weight to pin Datz’s right arm to the floor. By shifting his weight, Trip managed to pin the arm, but now the rest of Datz’s body was free. Datz wriggled and twisted, trying to get out from underneath Trip.

Trip heard Jinx and a couple of the other Sh’nar prisoners cheering him on, but then he felt Datz’s left fist smash into his jaw. Trip felt liquid and tasted salt in his mouth. Startled and dizzy, he almost let go of Datz.

Trip heard Datz mutter, "I’m gonna kill you."

Datz meant it.

Trip, still holding the energy pistol down, tried to pry the weapon from Datz’s hand. He felt Datz slide and shift his weight. Trip knew that another punch was headed for his head, so he blindly kicked out. He made contact with Datz’s chest or stomach, he wasn’t sure which, but Datz let out his breath in a grunt and the punch faded without connecting.

Datz still had a death grip on the energy pistol and was trying to turn it so he could fire at Trip. Trip heard Datz mutter, "That one hurt, shrimp. Now, I’m really gonna get you."

Trip felt Datz pulling out from under him. Before Trip could react, Datz was free except for the arm clutching the deadly energy pistol. It was a fight for Trip’s life. If Datz got free, with his height and weight advantage, Trip would never be able to get him down again. Trip had to stop him now or he’d be dead in seconds.

Rather than fight Datz, Trip let him roll away. And then, while Datz struggled to gain his balance, Trip leapt at him, pushing at him with all his strength and grabbed Datz by his vest. With Trip’s resistance suddenly released and Trip’s weight now coming at him, Datz lost his balance and fell to his knees. Datz tried to steady himself and brought the energy pistol around to point at Trip.

But Trip wasn’t done yet. Holding onto Datz’s vest, Trip kicked his legs into the air and spun, twisting around. The sudden change in direction worked. Trip spun towards the prisoner cells. Datz, carried along like a rock tied to the end of a long string, spun around, gaining momentum as he was pulled along the smooth, polished floor.

Trip heard a blast from the energy pistol and saw a flash of green light. He closed his eyes, praying he wouldn’t be shot. There was an explosion at the ceiling.

Trip felt Datz still sliding along behind him until he felt a hard thump. Then, the struggle stopped. Trip opened his eyes and saw Datz slumped over, knocked out after hitting his head on the cell bars.

Jinx cheered, "Trip, you did it! He’s out!"

Trip sat back and took a deep breath, relieved and still not believing he’d succeeded. He crawled over to Datz, made sure he was out cold, and grabbed his energy pistol. He changed the pistol’s setting to "stun"—Datz had it set for "kill"—and then he fired it into Datz’s still form.

Jinx said, "You know, that probably won’t keep him out any longer."

Trip smiled and tucked the pistol into his belt.

"I know. But it’ll give him one heck of a headache when he wakes up. I owed him that one. I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time."

Trip found Datz’s transcomm and grabbed the food packet, returning it to Jinx.

Jinx grinned and said, "Tasty, nutritious—and useful for jail breaks. Who’d have thought?"

Trip found the cardkey that unlocked Jinx’s cell. The two of them pulled Datz’s body down the hall and crammed it inside a supply closet. Jinx found an emergency medkit and administered a surgical anaesthetic to Datz.

"That should keep him out for several hours," she explained as she slipped the kit’s carrying strap around her neck.

They closed and locked the closet, both of them hoping it would be the last they’d ever see of Datz.

The Sh’nar prisoners demanded to be released. They said they were ready to take over the ship or were willing to die trying. Jinx calmed them down and explained her and Trip’s plan. While they disliked the idea of staying in the holding cells, they were quick to realize that one missing Sh’nar prisoner was a whole lot less noticeable than two dozen of them swarming throughout the ship.

Reluctantly they agreed to Trip and Jinx’s plan.

Trip was ready to get moving, but Jinx stopped him before they entered the main hallway.

"Trip, what are we going to do about the poison capsule inside you? When they realize that you’re missing, you’re dead. You won’t even have a fighting chance."

"Jinx, there’s not a lot we can do now. There’s no turning back and no way for me to talk my way out of this. I’ve got to take the chance."

Jinx thought for a second and then said, "Give me Datz’s transcomm."

She grabbed the transcomm and cracked open the hardened plastic case.

She explained, "Even with that surgical kit, there’s no way to safely remove the poison capsule. But, if the activation signal is blocked by interference—"

She grinned, holding the transcomm up in front of her. "If the signal is blocked, then you’ll be safe because Diamond Black Joe won’t be able to activate the capsule and release the poison."

"That’s a great idea, Jinx. Now, how are you going to do it?"

Jinx looked closely at the transcomm. "Well, this transcomm is designed to send a signal on a couple of specific frequencies. Well, all I have to do is make a couple of changes so it broadcasts static on all frequencies at once. The static should create just enough interference to scramble Diamond Black Joe’s activation signal. I think."

Trip looked doubtful. "Jinx, you really think that will work? I mean, if it doesn’t, it’s not like I’ll get a second chance to try something else."

"Trip, I think it will work. I really do. Let’s just try to stay away from Diamond Black Joe. At close range, his transmitter’s signal will get through."

She handed him the transcomm.

She explained, "When you press ‘transmit,’ the transcomm should flood the whole area with static interference. Two things, though. First, with that kind of energy drain, the transcomm’s power cell only has enough energy to last a couple of minutes before it burns out."

"And? What’s the second thing?" Trip asked impatiently.

"Second, you have to careful when you use this thing. The interference is going to be very easy to track down. It’ll be kind of like screaming out, ‘Here I am. Come get me.’ Only use it when you have no other choice."

Jinx looked over at the closet where Datz’s unconscious body was hidden.

"Trip, how long do we have before they notice he’s missing?"

"Jinx, it’s going to be close. Our work shift is over in three hours. After that, someone else will show up to guard the prisoners. So we have three hours—if we’re lucky. We haven’t got much time. Let’s go blow up some engines."

Trip opened the door to the hallway. The hall was clear.

He whispered back to Jinx, "Come on, let’s go!"

As he and Jinx took off down the hall, Trip reflected on what an odd combination they were. A human boy and an insectoid Sh’nar. Their races had fought three wars in the last century. They were supposed to be enemies, yet here they were, the best of friends. And here they were again, in the middle of an adventure. But this time, if things didn’t go well, there would be a terrible price to pay.

Trip felt that scared feeling creeping back into him. He thought of Johnnie O.’s advice back at the sand pits. ‘You can’t grow until you take a few risks. You can’t beat your fears until you face them!’

Trip reached to his neck and the alyaman Jinx had given him just two days ago. The small globe hummed as he moved. He hoped his ancestors really were looking out for him right now.

There was no turning back. Trip tried to picture how Uncle Craz would react to all of this. He saw his old Uncle, sitting on his favorite chair in the workshop, puffing away on his pipe. Trip thought Craz would say, "Trip, sometimes you have to get over your fears and be brave."

In Trip’s imagination, Uncle Craz then paused, took a couple of puffs on the pipe and chuckled. "And sometimes, be brave and then run like the demons of Mas’na-treton are after you."

Trip and Jinx started running towards the Diamond Shadow’s engine room.

It took ten minutes to reach the engine room. The Diamond Shadow’s corridors were almost deserted. Some of the pirates were away delivering the Sh’nar freighters to the black market merchants, but most of them were celebrating their great "victory" over the Sh’nar convoy and the imminent wealth they expected to receive from the sale of the ships, cargoes and slaves. And, perhaps most fortunate of all, it was the middle of the night by ship’s reckoning, so those who weren’t celebrating were in bed, recovering from the grueling day.

Now Trip and Jinx stood before the engine room doors.

Trip said, "This seems like old times. You ready for this?"

Jinx slapped him on the shoulder. "Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Now, let’s get to work."

Jinx reached for the door, but Trip grabbed her hand, urging caution.

"Jinx, we can’t just go blow up the engines. That would leave us stranded in space for at least four hours with no help. That means we’d have to capture over two-hundred pirates and take over the ship, which I don’t think we’re really up to, do you?"

Jinx shook her head no, but she added impatiently, "Well, what else can we do?"

"It’s simple. We make the engine failure look like a malfunction and hide! What would you rather do?"

"Hiding is good, Trip. Hiding is good."

Trip pulled his energy pistol. He turned to Jinx. "Now, when I burst in there, stay out of the way until the pirates are all stunned."

Trip reached out and pressed the activation stud to open the door. He blindly jumped into the room and before they knew what hit them, two of the Diamond Shadow’s mechanics were slumped on the floor, unconscious, taken down by green blasts of stun energy from Trip’s pistol.

Trip heard a clatter behind him. He turned around and saw a flicker of movement as one of the mechanics dropped the tool he was using and ducked around a corner. This was a race against time. Trip had to find and stun the mechanic before he could call the bridge and sound the alarm.

Trip crept to the corner and carefully peered around, ready to pull back if the mechanic was waiting for him with a drawn weapon. Instead, he saw the engine bay. There was no sign of the mechanic.

The bay itself was a darkened cavern, a maze of catwalks and ladders wrapping around huge tubes of reinforced plating that shielded the engines. Emergency lighting illuminated some of the walkways, while glowing readouts from computer interfaces were scattered about. Occasionally, flashes of light, almost like lightning blasts, filled the bay, but they left Trip virtually blinded, with spots flashing in front of his eyes. The catwalks extended at least three levels above him and an equal amount below. There were no safety railings.

Thousands of cables and power conduits, some as thick as Trip was tall, others barely the width of his finger, snaked around the catwalks and engines. Coolant pipes, circuitry packs and emergency venting machinery cluttered the bay, making for darkened alcoves and blind corners. There were hundreds of hiding spots. Somewhere in this maze of machinery, the pirate mechanic was hiding.

The roar of the engines was deafening. Trip wanted to cover his ears. Here, standing so close to this much power, the floor vibrated so strongly that it felt like being in an earthquake. Trip knew how easy it would be to lose his balance and fall while scaling the ladders and catwalks.

Jinx came towards Trip and picked up the power wrench the crewman had dropped. She hefted it like a club.

Trip immediately waved her back, shouting, "No, no, you’re not getting into this. He might be armed. What good would that do against a pirate with an energy pistol?"

Jinx wasn’t ready to back down. "Trip, you know better than to tell me what to do. You’re doing this to save me and my people. I’m not going to let you take all the risks alone."

Rather than argue with her—and he certainly wasn’t going to just give in—Trip was quiet and he looked back into the darkened labyrinth.

"Jinx, just keep your eyes open and make sure he doesn’t sneak out of here on us. He can’t have a transcomm or else he already would have called for help. We can still pull this off."

Trip tried to study the layout of the engine bay. It was like a giant, multi-level maze. Trip carefully headed into the darkness, alert for any movement. Trip felt like his teeth were going to be shaken loose as the catwalk vibrated with the Diamond Shadow’s motors. He wanted to grab his light crystal but he realized that it would make him an easy target if the mechanic had an energy pistol.

Trip heard a clanging above him. He looked up just as a handheld fusion cutter slipped off a catwalk three levels above him. Someone had turned it on. Had the mechanic dropped it or just lost his grip? The cutter and its brilliant blue blade flashed through the darkness, tumbling end over end down towards Trip.

The blade cut through the catwalk, missing Trip by less than a foot. There was a short screech and a flash of light where the fusion cutter’s beam vaporized the metal, and then a puff of smoke. The fusion cutter tumbled farther down. The walkway had a six-inch-long scar where the energy beam had neatly and effortlessly sliced through the metal. Trip shuddered when he thought about what would have happened if the fusion cutter had fallen into him.

The cutter made three more cutting sounds as it snapped through the catwalks, and then it clanged on the floor, nearly thirty feet below. Trip felt a blast of hot mist and steam. The cutter had severed some cooling lines. He had to move quickly. Sometimes coolants were poisonous; the mist filling the air might be deadly. And now he knew his target was up above him, somewhere.

Trip holstered the energy pistol, reached for the access ladder and started to climb. With both his hands occupied, he was vulnerable to attack. He searched the darkness, but his eyes hurt and had trouble adjusting to the sudden flashes of light coming from a dozen directions. He thought he saw the shape of a man up at the top of the ladder, but he realized his eyes were playing tricks on him as a flash of light showed it was just a bundle of conduits and power cables wrapped around a venting unit.

Trip reached one level and continued to the next above him. He swung up on the catwalk. There was just one other level above him.

Then Trip saw a blur of movement, up one level and about thirty feet down the catwalk. A flash of light revealed a white uniform. It was the mechanic. Trip headed for the nearest ladder and raced for the top level.

As Trip reached the catwalk, he called out, "I’m not going to hurt you. Just surrender now."

There was no response, but perhaps he couldn’t have heard if there was one. The catwalk literally rocked from side to side as if buffeted in a windstorm, shaken by the rumble of the powerful engines above, below and on both sides of him.

Trip saw more movement ahead. It was just a shadow reflected on a computer console, but someone was moving just around the next corner. Trip pulled his energy pistol and crept low, crawling, hugging the swinging catwalk and desperately wishing there was a safety railing to hold onto.

Trip approached the corner, growing more apprehensive with every step. Surely the mechanic had prepared some kind of attack.

Trip made his move. He leapt to his feet and dashed around the corner, leveling his energy pistol, ready to fire off a quick volley of shots. He looked and saw a form standing in front of him. There was something familiar that made him pause.

Then the darkness parted for a second as another flash of light filled the engine bay. For a split-second, before the darkness again rushed in, Trip saw that the form was Jinx, standing and smiling over the unconscious body of the mechanic.

Jinx looked up and waved at Trip. "You can put the gun down, Trip. I got him!"

Trip holstered his weapon, asking, "You didn’t club him over the head with that wrench, did you?"

Jinx just held up the medical kit’s spray hypo.

"No, no, it wasn’t nearly as messy as that. He was so busy watching out for you that he didn’t even notice me sneaking up behind him. Just a little surgical anaesthetic and in five seconds he’s in dreamland. Nighty-night."

Trip and Jinx pulled the mechanic all the way back down to the main entrance. Then they tied up and gagged the three mechanics and stuffed them into storage closets. Finally, they got down to some serious work.

Trip reset the engine computers so there would be a gradual build-up of excess power.

"It’s kind of like taking a river and diverting some of the water into a pond," Trip explained. "You don’t really notice it at first, but all the while there’s more and more water flowing into the pond. That’s kind of what I’m doing. I’m building up more and more energy in these reserve power cells. It’s not a lot now, but in ten minutes there’ll be a lot of energy stored there."

Jinx wondered, "What are you going to do with it?"

Trip grinned. It was the grin of somebody who was ready to cause some trouble and couldn’t hide his glee.

"That’s where you come in. Get on that console over there and disable the power surge failsafes. That way the engines won’t have any protection if there’s a big power surge."

While Jinx got to work, Trip tapped away at the control computers, muttering to himself, "Now, all I have to do is program the engine computers to do exactly what they’re not supposed to do. Let’s set it for ten—no, fifteen minutes. And all we have to do—there we go. Good computer, that’s right—just dump all the energy from the reserve power cells into the main engine power feed at once."

Trip laid out the plan for her. "Jinx, have you ever eaten so much that it made you sick, that you didn’t want to even burp because you were afraid it would all come back up? Well, we’re about to feed the engines too much power and they don’t even know how to burp! It’s not going to be pretty."

Trip entered a few more instructions. "Just a couple more things to make this look like an accident."

Trip grabbed his light crystal from his pocket and it instantly lit up. He grinned at Jinx. "Your gifts are coming in handy, Jinx."

Trip wandered into the engine area, with Jinx close behind. Trip had to scream to be heard above the roar of the engines.

"Now, all we have to do is just loosen up the power converters on each engine. Don’t pull them off! Just move the couplings a fraction of an inch out of alignment."

Jinx nodded that she understood. Trip continued.

"Good. When the power surge comes, the power will blow the converters apart."

Jinx watched as Trip loosened the first converter. At a casual glance, everything looked fine. Only by studying the converters very closely was it possible to tell they weren’t perfectly centered.

Jinx said, "Let’s see four—no, eight converters on each engine with these types of drives. When the converters blow, it’ll look like an accident, like the result of a power surge!"

Trip grinned. "Exactly! When they blow, they’ll scrag a lot of the machinery inside the engines. It’ll take them hours and hours to tear these engines apart to get them fixed. And the whole time, the Diamond Shadow will be stranded in normal space, unable to move."

Jinx grinned back at him. "The Frontier Rangers will have plenty of time to get here!"

"See, Jinx, not just good looks, but brains too! We’ve got to get moving. I don’t want to waste too much time on this."

Trip and Jinx split up. Despite working in poor lighting, the humid mist from the ruptured coolant tubes, and the deafening roar and sickening vibration of the engines at full power, within minutes the couplers were all knocked out of alignment, ready to blow apart when the time came.

As they met in the main entry area, Trip held his ears. "My ears are still ringing. I can’t hear a thing!"

Trip checked his chrono. "Now, one last thing. I have to erase the log documenting the commands I programmed in. And add a couple of surprises."

Jinx took Trip’s energy pistol and guarded the entrance to the engine room, nervously hoping that no pirates would come along while they were here. Finally, Trip joined her and said, "Let’s go."

Jinx’s curiosity was driving her crazy. "Trip, what did you do?"

"Oh, not much. I just programmed the computer logs to erase the last twenty minutes before the explosion. The engine control programs are going to be erased four seconds before the power surge."

Jinx laughed out loud. "You mean, even after they get the engines fixed, they’ll still have to reload all the engine control programs? They can’t run the engines without them. Trip, that’s brilliant!"

"No, that’s not the brilliant part. The whole thing will look like just a really bad power overload. They’ll assume that the strain of the battle caused the blowout!"

Jinx opened the door and stepped out into the hall. "We’ve managed to rig one pretty catastrophic blowup! This should keep them busy for hours. Not bad for a future slave and a kid they kidnapped off the street."

"You’re right. Not bad at all," Trip said. He checked his chrono.

"We’ve got eight minutes and fifty seconds until the fireworks begin. We’d better get going to the communications bay. We’ve got a message drone to launch."

Trip and Jinx were nearly all the way to the communications bay and the precious message drones when they heard voices up ahead in the hall.

"I can’t wait to get these prisoners off the ship. Then we can get to a safe port and have some real entertainment," one very loud, slurred voice spat out.

"Easy, Greemes," another voice answered. "It’ll be a couple of days. Until then, you can just gamble away your share of the bounty with us!"

There was a roar of laughter and Trip was able to pick out three or four other voices in the conversation.

Trip whispered to Jinx, "There are a bunch of pirates in the hallway up ahead. I don’t think we can stun them all without someone sounding the alarm."

Jinx agreed. "An attack won’t work. And let’s not even think about trying to fool them with an, ‘I was just taking the prisoner for a walk so she doesn’t get flabby,’ excuse."

"Now that you mention it Jinx, I have noticed you’ve been putting on a little weight."

Jinx cuffed Trip on the back of the head and muttered, "Watch it, little human."

"Ow!" Trip whispered. "Alright, I earned that. Let me look up the deckplans and see how we can get around these guys."

After a few seconds scrolling through the Diamond Shadow’s deckplans on his portable computer, Trip said, "We can do this. Up three levels. There’s an access ladder back a ways. I don’t want to use the lifts since there’s no escape if we run into some of the pirates. It’s not the most direct path but that deck is mostly maintenance stations and the corridors are a lot less likely to have anyone there."

"That’s what we need. Lead the way."

Trip carefully crept towards the access ladder. He could explain just his presence in the hallways if he encountered any pirates, hopefully giving Jinx a few seconds to hide. Of course, there were precious few places where an insectoid Sh’nar could hide on a ship like the Diamond Shadow, but that was besides the point.

Up the ladders they went, moving swiftly. They carefully crept through the darkened corridors, always listening for pirates, hoping against hope that Datz or the stunned crewmen in the engine room wouldn’t be discovered and their plan ruined.

Trip felt his spirits lift as he turned into the final corridor and saw the access ladder that led back down to the deck with the communications bay.

Trip wished Jinx luck.

"Here goes nothing," he said and then he scrambled down the ladder, disappearing from sight.

Half a minute later he called up an all-clear signal to Jinx and she too scrambled down the three decks and dropped onto the corridor floor, looking around to get her bearings. Trip pointed to an unmarked door and pulled his energy pistol.

"Same as before, Jinx. Pop the door open, fire at any crewmen and get to work."

Trip glanced at his wrist chrono and a sour look crossed his face.

"What’s wrong?" Jinx whispered.

"We’re almost out of time. That detour wiped out our cushion. We only have two minutes until the engines blow."

Jinx shrugged. "Well, it’s too late to turn back now."

Trip opened the door and jumped into the room. The lone pirate on duty turned in his chair and had just enough time to ask, "You’re one of the new ones, right? What are you doing—" before a green flash of light slammed into his chest. The pirate never finished his question, instead slumping over and falling to the floor. Jinx rushed in behind Trip, closed and locked the door.

Trip was already at the communications console when Jinx went to grab the pirate. She asked, "Same routine? Pirate in the storage closet?"

"No time. Just help me with this," Trip barked as he studied the communications system, trying to figure out how to program the message drone. Trip forced his way into the central control program that ran the whole communications system.

"Diamond Black Joe must be pretty confident. I haven’t found any decent security programs on any of these systems. Now, first, we have to make it look like the launching of the message drone is an accident."

"How are you going to do that?" Jinx asked.

She moved up beside Trip and marveled at how easily he raced through the communications programs.

"It’s simple," Trip said. "When those engines blow ninety seconds from now it’ll create a huge power surge. Those things can destroy a ship’s electronics. They can damage just about any system—weapons, navigation, life-support, communications, even message drones."

Jinx nodded. "I get it. We program the done to launch right after the engines blow. It looks like an accident, just one of any of dozens of possible failures. And while the Diamond Shadow’s crew is busy trying to assess the damage to the ship, the drone activates, jumps to lightspeed and flies to Capessia to notify the Frontier Rangers."

"Exactly. Plus, that gives us time to hide. When they finally figure out this was sabotage, we’ll be so well hidden they won’t be able to find us." Trip grinned. "It’s perfect. Have to admit, I’m kind of proud of myself for thinking this all up."

Jinx poked him in the ribs. "Yeah, you thought of it all by yourself. You know Trip, sometimes you are such a boy."

Trip continued typing at the computer screen. Finally, he ordered the computer to execute the program, explaining, "Good. Now, the communications program will pump out some false data to make it look like a power surge activated the message drone. It’ll be days before they find my program codes that triggered this launch. By then, we’ll be home free."

Jinx walked over to the main computer terminal and logged on. She chuckled. Trip asked, "What’s so funny?"

Jinx said, "Well, I need to get the lightspeed coordinates for Capessia, so I logged onto the network as Datz. Now they’ll blame him for most of this mess."

"Good thinking," Trip said. "I hope he gets in big trouble with Diamond Black Joe. Now, call up the lightspeed course they plotted for this jump. And tie the controls for the navigation sensors into your terminal. When we drop back to normal space, use the sensors to figure out where we are."

Jinx nodded, saying, "No problem. We need those coordinates so we can tell the Frontier Rangers where to find us. It won’t be much of a rescue if they can’t track us down."

After a few seconds, Jinx announced, "Okay, Trip. I have the navigation sensors patched into my computer console. As soon as we drop out of lightspeed, I’ll take a navigational reading and figure out where we are."

Trip couldn’t believe how well this was going!

"Jinx, this is almost too good to be true."

Jinx smirked. "Don’t talk too soon."

Trip shot back, "You should talk! There’s a reason we call you ‘Jinx.’ It’s not just because you’re real name is Jinshia’Knex."

Trip turned back to the computer and muttered, "Now, all we have left is to program the message drone."

Trip got up and checked his chrono. Less than one minute to go. His heart leapt and he felt his stomach tighten. This was all going to happen! The ship dropping to normal space, the lightspeed engines blowing apart, someone was going to find Datz and the stunned mechanics—there was no way to stop any of it now. It was like jumping off a diving board and into a pool. Halfway down you can’t change your mind and go back. The best thing to do is swallow your fear and stick to the plan because trying to change in mid-air just makes it hurt more when you smack the water!

Trip asked, "Jinx, have you got the coordinates for Capessia?"

He reached the access panel for the first message drone by the time Jinx answered, "Just sent them to the drone. Should I start the pre-flight?"

"Not yet. There might be an alarm system. See if you can find and override it. I’ve got to record the distress message now."

Jinx tapped a few keys as Trip reached out and grabbed the panel’s handle. His hand tightened, ready to twist the handle and open the panel.

Then Jinx screamed, "Wait! Don’t open it!"

Trip stopped.

"Sorry about that, Trip. There’s an alert that sounds on the bridge if any of the message drones are activated. There’s an alarm on that access panel. Turn the handle and the bridge knows that someone has tried to get to the message drones."

Trip sighed. "That was close."

"I warned you about jinxing this," Jinx muttered as she tapped at the computer screen. "There, Trip. The alarm is disabled and you can open the panel. I’ll start preflight."

Trip offered a quick, "Thanks." He reached out and twisted the handle. He swung the door open.

Then th