KABLOOIE!
“Captain! We’ve just been fired on! I think we’re under attack!”
“Damage report!”
“We’re listing about three degrees to the south, and there’s a hull breach on decks fourteen through twenty. It’s where we keep Black Rock Station, sir.”
“Oh Christ! Clear those decks until we can get to it! Helmsman. What’s our heading?”
“We took a bit of a tumble, sir, but our vision quest stabilizers kicked in and put us right back on course. The USS-LLC will still be arriving at the Black Rock City ’03 space dock on time, sir. She’s a well built ship!”
“That it is, helmsman! So what in the blazes is going on here?! This area is not supposed to hostile territory! Where the hell did the firing come from? Mr. Spock, can you shed some light here?”
“Well, sir, it was an isolated missile that seemed to come from the north. If I’m not mistaken, sir, it was directed right at the Black Rock Station decks! the Black Rock City Space Port is not reporting any hostility.”
“Deploy our experimental secret cloaking device. That should give us a chance to look into this hull breach.”
“But, Captain!”
“Just do it!! Mr. Scottie, are you near the hull breach? Can you give us a report?”
“Aye, Captain. I dinna get a good look from engineering, but we’ve got our DPW boys in there working on it right now. and, you know those lads can fix just about anything! We may have to relocate the station, but it’s way too soon to tell. What shall we do Captain?”
“Steady as she goes! The cloaking device should buy us some time. What I’d like to know is why? Spock, Can you tell me about this area?”
“Well sir, we are still fairly new to this region, so logically there are going to be advisories. I think this attack was staged by a small locally entrenched group that happens to have powerfully advanced weapon technology. We’re temporarily out-gunned sir.”
“We’ll see about that! What we have is the power of a community that’s full of masters of invention! We’ve been through bigger scrapes that this! You remember that battle on Planet Hualapai back in ’97!”
“Very well, sir.”
“Don’t they realize that advisory only binds us together stronger? Red alert and battle stations, everyone! But think sharp, and keep you phasors on stun – we don’t want to start a war.”
To be continued
* * *
A strong plant grows slowly and under very harsh conditions.
Coyote Nose
To be continued
