Petty finished munching on an apple as he watched Johnson load the last crate of food. "Captain, how are we going to kill Kelman? I've heard that he's taken over an old battlestation and fitted it out as a fortress. How are we going to get in there without getting shot to pieces?"
"Petty, what's the first thing you learned in boot camp?"
"Uh, to keep out of Sargeant Heft's sight?"
"Exactly."
"But how can we get into the base without being seen?"
"Bio-magnetic shields, powered by special colonies of algae, designed to diffuse and absorb nearly all frequencies of radio waves, thus rendering our craft nearly invisible to both the Rodai system and the conventional Radar."
"And how do we get inside the base?"
"We don't."
"What?"
"We don't need to. We've got enough explosives here to blast a huge hole in the side of the base. The decompression itself will tear the base to pieces."
Johnson interrupted, "Captain, we're ready to go."
William nodded, and gave the signal. They quickly buckled down, and soon the agricultural station dissappeared behind them.

Kelman leaned back in his chair, glaring at the small man sitting across from him.
"Epham, you promised me that Carthagon would not leave Delmos." Epham started to speak, but Kelman threw up his hand in a halting gesture. "No excuses! I ordered you to keep Carthagon from leaving, and you failed. You're no longer any use to me, Epham." Epham nervously wiped his forehead, "Can I go now, Kelman?"
"Go! And don't let me ever see your face again!" Epham quickly sidled out of the room, failing to notice as a guard fell in step behind him. Kelman grinned as a frightened scream echoed down the hallway, followed by a hollow thump. He quickly sobered, and beckoned to an aide.
"Where is Carthagon now?"
"He just left the agricultural station three minutes ago. Our agent there didn't get an oppurtunity to plant a tracking bug, but he did manage to overhear a conversation between Carthagon and Petty." The aide recounted Carthagon's explanation of his plan to Petty.
Kelman stroked his mustache gently, "Sneak in and blow a hole in the side of my base? At least you have to admit Carthagon has brains." He stroked his mustache again before asking, "Are you sure the shields have been disabled?"
"Yes. The mechanic also rigged up the control board so that it will appear as if the shields are working."
"Good. Now we just sit and wait. Shouldn't be too long before Carthagon finds out he's not so smart as he thought." The aide laughed nervously, before stopping when he saw Kelman staring seriously at him. Kelman smiled, "It's ok, you can laugh. But I'm not laughing until Carthagon is dead."

"Captain, we're being followed." Petty glanced down at the control board again, "It's a Tornado class fighter, and it's closing fast."
"Confirm, does it appear to be a friendly?"
"Negative, Captain, he's just opened his missile bay doors."
"Activate the shields now! Johnson, activate electronic countermeasures!"
"Shields active."
"ECM active."
William gritted his teeth as he quickly turned the craft to the right, pulling away perpendicular to the attacking ship.
"Petty, confirm, does he follow?"
"No... YES! Captain, he's turned, and is following us again!"
William resisted the urge to swear, "So much for the shields, there's something wrong with them. Johnson, what do we have in the way of weaponry?"
"Nothing, Captain."
"Alright, hang on!"
William quickly pulled the craft through a complicated series of loops and curves, finally ending by pulling his craft in behind the other ship.
"Johnson, suit up, get a rocket out of the weapon's locker, and go into the airlock."
Within a minute, Johnson was ready.
"Ok, Johnson," William spoke into the ship's intercom, which also connected with Johnson's suit. "Hook your line to the anchor in the airlock. When I open that outer door, I want you to push yourself outside the craft, shoot the rocket at that ship in front of us, and then pull yourself back into the airlock."
"Got it, sir."
There was a hiss of air as the airlock emptied. A heady whine, followed by a gentle thump indicated that the outer airlock door had opened.
Johnson's voice came over the intercom. "Rocket lock, and FIRE!" There was a short pause, "Right on sir! Better change course so you don't collide wi- Watch out!" The ship shuddered, and a high-pitched alarm sounded.