| �Well?� Lieutenant Commander Serena demanded. �Out with it, man.� Brungess ignored her latest outburst. �When I was down on the planet, they told me that Marauder, or �Maradine� as they called him, had been in control of Earth for less than a day. Meaning he might have finished the first stage of his conquest at the same time we got here.� �And with those resistance pockets sprouting up,� Mansel finished, �his plans to take Earth as not going as quickly or smoothly as Marauder planned. �Then that�s it!� exclaimed Lieutenant Ingle. �If we stop Marauder from taking Earth totally, then we can get back home.� �It�s worth a shot,� said Commander Vaughn, pleased with the deductive skills of his peers. �If that�s it, we�ll be on our way home. If not, we�ll be doing some good and we�ll have to get used to staying here for a while.� �Which brings up another question,� piped up Lieutenant Commander Broadaway, �if this is an alternate universe with an alternate Marauder and Anarcha, is there an alternate Explorer with an alternate us commanding it?� �In theory,� said Lieutenant Commander Talaj, �yes.� �Which means,� the helmsman continued, �that there might be an alternate Stealthlon around here somewhere too, correct Talaj?� �Yes, Jason.� �And if the mentalities of the people here are similar to the mentalities of the people back home, then that means all we have to do is find the alternate Stealthlon and get them to help us, right?� Captain Mansel looked at his normally shy helmsman in wonder. �Good thinking, Jason,� he said, realizing that those had been Broadaway�s first words all meeting long. �So,� Mansel continued from there, �our best bet would be to find this alternate Stealthlon and join forces.� �It�d be wise for us to stay clear of our alternate selves as well,� Fleury suggested. �Who knows what could come of us meeting.� �Can�t remember the LOAC (Laws Of Armed Conflict) covering anything like this,� said Lieutenant Ingle from his chair near the end of the table. �Are we the first to travel into another universe?� Mansel nodded. �As far as I know, yes. It seems that the LOAC will need some revising.� �I�m always game for creating headaches in the upper echelons of rank,� Commander Vaughn commented from beside Mansel. He was laid back a little more now that a plan had been laid out. �First of all, let�s get home,� said General Brungess. �Then we can worry about revising the LOAC.� �Quite right,� said Mansel, getting back to the task at hand. �The hunt begins for the members of the Stealthlon.� �How do we find them, though?� asked Lieutenant Hardy. �They could be anywhere in the universe.� �We could pass as our alternate selves and snoop around,� suggested Serena. �We could find some that way.� Mansel nodded. �That�s what I�d been thinking. Jim, you�ve seen the clothing style of these people. Do you think you could get the ship�s replicator to throw you together a few decent wardrobes?� �Sure.� �Then get to it. We�re going to get to do a little bit of Intelligence work.� |
 |
 |
| To Chapter 4 |