In the story so far, the captured ship, Stardiver Four, is drifting in space as pirates try to control the ship to lead an invasion of Earth. The mercenary, Whitey, struggles to keep order and gain control over the inept pirate leader, Captain Stone. Tom and his dog, Ollie, are unwilling participants who seek an opportunity to frustrate the pirate's plans when a junior pirate announces the arrival of a fleet of Starfighters to the gathered leadership of pirates and mercenaries.

     “Star-Fighters” The word sent panic through the room.  To the pirates, star-fighters mean death or capture. They were small, quick and powerful, with the most advanced weapons, and armor; and nothing can stop them. Never has a squadron of Starfighters been defeated. To the Captain and his crew the name Star-fighter meant the end.

     “Battle stations!” The Captain bellowed as he ran back and forth. “We are not ready. Whitey, have the weapons crew fire at will. Do something! Ratts, Get us moving- now! Security, you should have known about this before now. Find out their location and angles of attack.”

     Ollie could smell fear like a foul sweat on the men, it excited him. He was ready for a fight.

     The young pirate was laughing.  He leaned against the wall next to the door and laughed so hard that he shook.

     “What’s so funny?  Have you gone crazy?  Is this some kind of stupid joke?”  Captain Stone sputtered in fury and spittle covered his beard as he stomped toward the young man.

     “No sir. We are not under attack.  We are carrying them.  They are in cargo hold two.”

     Everybody stood still, with mouths open, staring in stunned silence.

     “What?”  The Captain spoke slowly. “We are not under attack?”

     “Yes sir, I mean no sir.  We were searching the cargo holds.  The first one is like a zoo it is full of farm animals.  Number two is full of huge crates labeled farm machinery, but when we opened them we found inside each one is a starfighter; there are fourteen of them not to mention enough ammo for a major war.

     The men began to cheer and jump.

     “So that was the treasure.”  The Captain said to no one.  “Let's us have a look and see what we have.  Show us the way young man.”  He put his arm around the young pirate like a father.

     They crowded down the hundreds of yards of passageways, Captain Stone leading the way.

    Tom and Ollie were pushed along with the crowd of men. “Hey Ollie,” Tom whispered, “If they have starfighters they’ll win whatever battle they fight.  They can conquer the Earth. Earth would fall into the hands of bullies like Captain Stone, and Whitey.  We have to do something but what?”

     Ahead Tom saw two doors with a large number two in light blue painted on it.  The doors slid into the wall exposing the cargo hold.  It was huge, dark and shadowy; filled with metal boxes of every size stacked from floor to ceiling with small boxes on top of big ones.  The boxes made rows which formed a maze. In the middle were crates the size of a house. Beside one stood a silver robot standing still as if he was on guard, he held cutting tools in his hands.

     The young pirate walked up to the robot. “Open the Crate.”

     “Yes, master.”

     The robot peeled open the end of the crate, tearing the metal like paper.  Inside was a black spacecraft.  It looked deadly; it was long, low and flat, but pointed at the front like a rocket. At the rear were four short wings that spread with a graceful sweep into “V” shapes and above were two smaller vertical wings parallel to each other. It was not ready to fly, four engines were packed inside at the far end. More parts, ready to install were packed into the crate with it.  Even sitting it looked like it was moving fast. Its black surface was hard to look at, like a slippery blackness you couldn’t focus on.

     It was a monster of destruction and made for attack.  Below the nose was a cannon barrel. Beneath the short wings were rocket launchers. Torpedo tubes were open on both sides of the main body.  A laser cannon was mounted on the very front.

     The men crammed inside to touch it.  They ran their hands along its black smooth skin, seeing it as a thing of beauty.  They admired a weapon for what it could do. To them the starfighter as a part of themselves.  Each one imagined himself in the cockpit racing toward an awful battle as they brought irresistible destruction to their foes while they themselves were invincible.  Every heart and imagination swelled with the possibilities.

     Whitey stood next to Tom.  “So this it. The treasure was a secret weapons cargo.  That farm stuff and passengers were just to mislead us.  This is not a cargo freighter going to the colonies; it is a secret attack craft carrier.  That is why they fought so hard. This ship is the most powerful combat unit in all the known worlds.  You didn’t know about that did you Snowman?”

     “No sir, I am only a passenger.”

     “Passenger nothing! You’re on the winning side now, Snowman.”  Whitey gave him a friendly pat on the back.  “Yes, you are on the winning side now."

     "Let's see what it is made of shall we?” Stone said.

     “Stand back!” Somebody yelled.

     Captain Stone drew his laser gun.  “Let’s see if it really deflects laser.”  Everyone ran and sought shelter; all knew that a weapon in the Captain’s hand was a very dangerous and unpredictable thing.  The captain raised the laser, holding it only a few feet away from the nose of the starfighter.  No one thought he could miss but no one was really sure either.  They watched him from safe hiding places behind large crates and boxes.

     “Zap!” A flash streaked out from the silver end of the laser.  The beam touched the star-fighter and rolled over it like a ribbon of electric water.  The other side of the crate exploded.  The captain ran inside. ”Not a scratch. Give me a launcher. You, Fatso, give me your blaster. it's no use in your stubby hands now anyway.”  He snatched a weapon from the man’s side and raised the gun.  It had five small rockets. Though each was only as thick as a finger and barely twice as long, they could blow a hole in almost anything.  The men again scattered for cover. Some began to roll out emergency space hoods from the collars of their suits and snapped on their gloves.

Tom was crouched behind a crate with Whitey,  He was astonished how quick Whitey put on the gloves and hood.

“What are you doing that for sir?”

     “O’l Stonebutt is as likely to blow out a hole in the side of the ship as anything else.” Whitey's hood had a clear plastic face piece, even though it covered his head and was air tight Tom could hear him speak, “Put on your hood and gloves if you have any.  You don’t want to get sucked into space without them.  You’ll be dead in moments from decompression and freezing.”

    “This suit doesn’t have a hood. But I trust God will take care of me.”

     Whitey stared at Tom for a long moment. He didn’t know that to make of this kid.

     Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The noise was deafening. Explosions threw everybody on the floor. Boxes and crates shook as smoke and stink filled the Cargo bay.  Fine pieces of red glowing metal fell like rain and lay like sand everywhere.  The Captain stepped back in the crate rubbing his hand over the smooth finish of the starfighter.  “I hit it right here. It didn’t even dull the shine.  It’s just as cool as it was before.  This beast is all they say it is.”

     “Men, we have two goals now.  Met the fleet and get as many of these starfighters ready as possible.  Ratts you are in charge of getting ‘em ready.”

     Whitey was not about to miss his chance.  He was an opportunist, this was an opportunity that must be taken. “You know, Captain, We do not need to tell the Supreme Commander about this yet.”  Whitey was looking very aloft and thoughtful as he spoke.  “With these we can command our own squadron, an elite squadron.  One that by itself is equal to if not better than the rest of the fleet combined.  We can make out own terms.  The supreme commander has too much power.  The two of us should share power with her Supreme Lordship.  It sounds pretty good to me.  How’s it sound to you?”

     “Whitey that is the best idea that ever rolled around in your empty skull.  That just might work out.  Yes. After all, you don’t trust me one bit and I trust you less than that.  We could keep an eye on each other.”

     Whitey smiled. ”That’s what I call a balance of power.”

     Tom felt small inside.  The ultimate weapon was in the hand of pirates.

     “Ollie.” He whispered, “These bullies are ready to end civilization.  To rob it and rule what’s left.  I have to do something, but what?”  Tom looked at Ollie, his only friend on a ship of madmen.  Ollie’s computer collar began to give him an idea.  He began to form a plan.


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