The Quarry

[Rage Menelas]

[font=Lucida Sans Unicode]“The Ca'elipbar System is through that vortex. You will find a gas giant nearby, according to my star charts. Deploy the hydrogen scoop and fill up our fuel tanks. I must rest. I will relieve you in six hours.” With that the starflyer turned and left.

They had traversed three systems en route to an unknown destination (unknown to Ryan anyway). But if he could read these star charts – and he could! – they were not heading toward Faerdiste'a, the home world of the mysterious agent they were after, at all. So naturally Ryan had asked where they were headed and thus was given the aforementioned instructions.

Oh well... he had performed the particular maneuver needed to refuel several times before. There was nothing especially hazardous about it, just skim down into the thermosphere of the planet with the scoop activated. Saar'floe would do the rest.

Ryan traversed the vortex without mishap, found the planet in question and set the ship system to compute the course. Soon they were on their way. He kicked back and gazed out the window at this fantastic new star system. He had already seen a dozen or so by this time, was still amazed at how different each was, how unique from any other.

At the gravitational center of the Ca'elipbar System was a large blue star with a massive undulating corona, almost pulsar-like. It dominated the system in a way old Sol back home never could have, for it was huge! Yet, it was somehow not near as bright.

Now his attention went to Coerndite, their destination. Having gradually grown from a distant point of light, its face was finally discernible and totally dissimilar from any planet he had ever before seen. Iridescent hues alternately blended and separated across it, forming a mesmerizing kaleidescope.

Now he could make out its family of satellites, a veritable cloud of moons, some – Ryan speculated – many times larger than Earth. They began to claim his total fascination as the planetary system came closer and closer. How many moons were there? He stopped counting at eighty-eight... and those were just the larger ones! Jupiter had nothing on Coerndite!

Suddenly a flashing light on the bridge console caught his eye. Let's see... what was that symbol...? Hostile contact! Right! Ryan sat up straight and gripped the sides of the console in either fist, began maneuvering the ship. He put it in a series of sweeping turns, trying to allow the sensors the opportunity to divine who it was that was zeroing in on Saar'floe. Suddenly crimson beams began tracing paths through the velvety aether before him and he knew what that meant. They were being shot at! Mystery solved and the rules be damned! If he was being shot at, he was shooting back!

Ryan threw the ship into a tight turn then suddenly flipped her over and reversed directions – his version of an Immelmann. The enemy ship tried to copy the maneuver but overshot his adversary. This, of course, was what Ryan had intended. He quickly pulled up over the target, loosing his deadly barrage of plasma beams as he did so. They fell across the stern of his foe, kicking up blue current where they made contact with their target. The enemy ship faltered a split-second, slipped sideways through space then twisted the opposite direction, apparently attempting to outmaneuver him. But his jousting with space rocks was paying off. He followed the other ship around, careful not to lose it in the turn, and fired off another salvo. This time his beams burned several holes in its aft section. It stopped maneuvering and, tilted at an odd angle, continued at a high velocity toward the gas giant looming nearby.

Ryan activated the tractor beam, played it across the dead vessel and took it in tow. It was at that moment that Charlie came on the bridge...