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| The next few days were spent relaxing, and becoming familiar with the ship. I spent time studying the medical equipment, while Connell was working with the piloting and navigational controls. Amanda enjoyed playing with technological devices that were new to her, including the holodeck and the replicator. She especially enjoyed using the replicator to create new clothing. Tartonians have never cared much for technology, so Heather spent most of her time exercising and meditating. On the third day, we took the ship for a test flight. While Connell was flying the ship, I noticed that James was examining the ship's drives. I was surprised to see that he was not carrying any diagnostic devices. He also did not appear to closely look at each engine, and quickly looked at each one as he moved to the next. I asked him about this, and he told me, "It is true that it would be very unusual for most people to do this, but you must remember a few things. First, I designed the engines on this ship, and know them like the back of my hand. In addition to that, my father was Newtonian, and my mother was Marean. This combination has given me the ability to not only be knowledgeable about devices, but to be able to sense them as well." This was interesting. The Newtonians were well known for great intellectual ability, while the Mareans were well known for great psychic ability. I have never seen this combination before, since Newtonians and Mareans will rarely procreate with people from other planets. It would be very intriguing to study this man further. As I was about to ask him another question, an announcement was heard through the intercom. Connell announced, "May I have your attention. I have just been informed that my ship was stolen. We are going after it." James and I rushed to the command deck. As we arrived, I exclaimed, "You can't do this! Let the police handle it!" Connell replied, "They might not catch them, or they might destroy my ship in the process. I must stop them myself." Then James said, "This ship is not ready. It has not been fully tested, and it may need some adjustments. You might damage this ship during the pursuit." To this, Connell replied, "I can't think of a better way to test it." I knew that any further argument would be futile, since Connell's ship was at stake, and his mind was made up. He began his pursuit, accompanied by a small squad of police ships. I think my heart skipped a beat, as the ship entered the asteroid belt. The police ships had enough sense to stop, but Connell was determined as he continued pursuit. My stomach turned, as Connell swerved to avoid an asteroid. I yelled at Connell, "Stop this, you are going to get us killed." Connell replied, "No I won't. They are going to learn that they can't steal and get away from Connell L'Mann." We approached another asteroid. The other ship avoided it, and I was not sure if we would collide. My stomach was now tied in knots, and my heart raced. This situation scared the life out of me. It is true that I have been in scary situations before this, but I was able to take control those times. This time I had no control, and could only rely on faith in Connell's piloting skills, which I had never seen before. Fortunately, Connell avoided that next asteroid, but I did not know how many more times we would survive. I looked at the navigational screen, and realized something worse; the asteroid field was becoming more dense. Connell's ship had the advantage; it was smaller. Soon, the field became so dense that our ship was barely small enough to travel between the asteroids. Connell refused to give up, no matter how much I screamed at him. Finally, the field became so dense, that the other ship decided to halt its evasion. It turned to face us. It was going to attack! As several of us began to panic, Connell calmly said, "Don't worry, it's my ship. I know all the codes. All I need is a comm link, and I can deactivate the weapons." James activated the comm link. As Connell typed the codes into the holo-panel, a look of surprise appeared on his face. He typed the code again, and he looked even more surprised. After his third attempt, his surprise changed to panic, as he exclaimed, "Someone changed the codes! I don't know how we'll survive, unless we have a weapon or a shunt!" James replied, "We don't have either. We need to forget about your ship, and escape." Connell explained, "We can't escape! It is too risky! They will have too much time to fire on us! Even if the shields protect us, the shots could push us into an asteroid!" |
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