The hallway seemed longer than David knew it really was.  He knew his mission well... devised it himself, but now, as he followed it through, he became skeptical.  His heart pounded in his chest as he walked towards his destination, the adrenaline causing his knees to shake.  From here, it was just a secured door, unlocked now, he hoped...  No.  It was unlocked.  It had to be.  David had all the confidence in the world in his friend and partner, Kyle.  The door would be unlocked and David would be able to just walk in and fly away with his prize.  Still, his heart thudded dangerously, threatening to explode and leave him lying dead on the floor...

He shook his head vigorously.  Got to stop thinking like that, he thought.  Simply in and out and we’re on our way.  Lost in his thoughts, he almost walked right into the door itself without even realizing he hadn’t tried to open it yet.  He stood straight up and adjusted his stolen uniform while he took one last look around.  This wasn’t a very wise move, he knew, since looking around often showed anyone who cared to notice that you clearly didn’t belong.  Luckily he was alone.  No one would see his mistake.  Anyone who would have had left some two minutes prior in response to the false alarm that Kyle had set.  This was a sign that his friend had been doing a good job at his end.  Now it was up to David.  He forced himself to push on without any more hesitation.  A static electric shock bit at his fingers as his hand wrapped around the door handle making his heart skip.  In that millisecond, he could imagine being discovered and dragged away to some reeducation camp on one of the frozen mining planets on the outer borders.  He saw himself dying an old broken man who failed once a long time ago and paid for it the rest of his shattered life.  It was just a shock generated from the stolen black boots against the bland tightly woven carpet.  David’s adrenal gland pushed another dose through his already pulsing veins.  He rolled his eyes and turned the handle.  A moment of panic engulfed him again as the door handle refused to turn in his grip.  It was locked!  It wasn’t supposed to be.  The door was supposed to unlock during the alarm.  A cold sweat instantly broke out in response but this was quickly sidelined as he realized he had turned it the wrong way.  He sighed as it turned in the opposite direction and the door opened to reveal the starship hanger he almost believed never existed.  Within the hanger awaited his prize, the experimental XT13 - Wayfarer.

Its smoked chrome hull was sleek and sharp.  It’s landing gear silver and delicate.  The bow had two sharp tines, like those on a fork that swept back towards the bridge.  Behind the bridge stretched the stabilizing wings.  They were thick, presumably to support the cannons that were mounted on the sides.  The ship hummed with some internal energy that actually soothed David.  He admired it without slowing his pace as he’d wasted too much time in the hallway.

“I’m sorry, commander, I’m going to have to ask you for your identification,” the uniformed guard seemed to step out of nowhere in front of David.

“Of course.”  David smiled as he reached into his lapel.  He had taken this into consideration when he formulated his plan and made arrangements to include counterfeit ID’s with the blueprints.  He had traded his own ship for them two weeks ago and now was the decisive moment.  He hoped it was worth it.  He pulled out the metal ID card and passed it to the guard who swiped it through a palm-top computer.

The miniature screen flickered to life and began displaying information.  David tried to read its output through the reflection in the guard’s eyes but couldn’t make anything out.  What he did notice, however, was the quick frown that fluttered through his eyebrows.  It was almost indiscernible and David would have missed it if his attention hadn’t been focused in that area.  The guard swiped the card through again and this time David saw a red flashing reflection against the blue iris.  His brow frowned less this time but it was obviously under restraint.

“I’m sorry, sir,” the guard snapped to attention, “I seem to be having trouble with my computer.  Please wait here.”  With that, he spun on his heel and walked back to the guard room.  David looked around to make sure they were alone.  There were no others.  He judged the distance to the ship and made some quick mental calculations.

“Lieutenant,” David called, “I’m afraid I haven’t the time.”  The guards pace slowed and he turned his head towards David.

“I beg your pardon, Sir?”

“I said ‘I haven’t the time’.”

“No.  I mean, I’m not a lieutenant.  I’m a major.”  His hand slowly began to reach for his holster.”

“Not anymore,” David was quicker.  His hand flashed outward and a spit of electricity flashed into the guards chest and knocked him unconscious to the floor.  “You’ve just been demoted.”  He turned and ran towards the Wayfarer.

“STOP!”  A voice shouted from the upper levels of the hanger followed by a flash of laser fire.  It burned a hole in the ground by David’s feet.  He blindly fired over his shoulder and dove under the ship.  He had studied the crude blueprints of the ship and searched for the panel that would allow him entry.  Luckily, it was there and he punched in one of the codes.  It gave a static buzzing sound and reported, “Access denied.”

Another blast struck the tarmac near David showering him with plastiment.  He fired a few more shots and punched in an alternate code.  “Access denied.”  He entered another code and this time the welcoming hiss sounded and the ramp descended.  He dove inside taking a grazing shot to his right calf.  The ramp closed behind him and he raced to the bridge.

Shields up, engines ignited, secured COM channel, weapons powering up.  “Kyle, phase two complete!  Begin phase three!”

“I’m on it!”  Kyle’s voice crackled back.

Though David would have preferred a quick take off and just screamed out of the hanger the ship lifted gracefully.  He aimed it towards the hanger door and moved to the weapons station where he punched in a few commands.

“Weapons ready,” the computer reported.  He grabbed the joystick and a three dimensional display of the hanger materialized in front of him.  “Proton Cannon” was written in the upper left hand corner and a simulated area of effect covered the virtual hanger door.  Without hesitating he pulled the trigger and instantly the hanger door was gone in an implosion that made a loud CRACK when the air around it rushed in to fill the void.  He ran to the pilot console, punched the “Engage Engine” button and pushed the impulse throttle up to full.

The ship took off like a shot and the clouds raced towards him becoming a blur on the front view screen.  He hadn’t expected the acceleration tried to compensate by shoving the controls forward.  Now he was racing towards the ground.  Trying not to overcompensate, in direct conflict with his adrenal gland, he fought to regain his composure and clumsily leveled the ship out.  Banking hard to starboard, he clipped a small radio tower and aimed the ship between some hangers.  Once past those, the ship slowed and dropped quickly, settling uneasily on the ground beside a small guard tower.  The hatch opened and Kyle and Torrid emerged from the tower.

”GO!  GO!”  Kyle yelled as they threw themselves headlong into the ship.  David complied and the ship took off like a shot throwing the two against the rear bulkhead winding them.

It would not be an easy escape.  They had just stolen one of the most classified ships the Tharn Foundation had and they would not get away without a fight.

The Tharn Foundation had been extending its boundaries across the western arm of the galaxy for the last century.  Most of the worlds that now fell under the Tharn’s rule were powerless to resist until they encountered Earth.  This revolution soon grew enough to pose a threat to the Tharn.  In short time, the Tharn’s power in that sector began to drop.  The loss was minimal to the Foundation but its effect on the people was immense.  It gave each man the hope for freedom and convinced a great many of them to sacrifice what they could for the Revolution.  For some, their sacrifice was their lives.  For others, it may have been only a loaf of bread; but bread feeds armies and armies fight for the people who feed them, so a loaf of bread was a lot.  In fact, it was a loaf of bread that helped to feed the people that got David to the compound they were now placing far behind them.

The Wayfarer accelerated towards the stars but the Tharn were not far behind.

“We have three interceptors closing fast.  Four, six and seven o'clock.  We'll be in their weapons range in six seconds."

"Kyle, man the cannon.”  David ordered.

“On my way.”  Kyle moved into position. 

"Were closing on the upper atmosphere.”

“Get us through it.  The faster we get into space the better our chances are.”

“Working on it...”

"Interceptor number two just fired a missile!"

"Hold on!  I’m hitting the brakes...  NOW!"  David braced himself.

As the ship lurched, Torrid shouted, " Interceptor two closing at extreme velocity.  Prepare for missile impact."

The ship lurched again.  Lights flickered.

"Torrid.  Damage report!"

"Exploded off the port side.  No damage.  It was some kind of percussion missile, I think.  Interceptor two is swerving around us,"

“Cannon is online, David,” Kyle shouted.  “Zeroing in on interceptor two...  Firing!!”  A blinding flash of light flooded the front view screen and interceptor two imploded.

“Wow!  Got him.”  Kyle was genuinely stunned.  Not because he hit his target, but because there was no trace of his target afterwards.”

Interceptor one closing fast.  Number three is on his wing.”

“Closing on the lead,” Kyle swung the cannon around.  “Firing!”

“Interceptor one firing and taking evasive action,” reported Torrid.  The blinding flash came again.  “Interceptor three destroyed.  Interceptor one’s weapons are disabled but he got a shot off!”  The ship rocked and a shower of sparks tore at Kyle’s face.  He screamed in surprise and dove from the seat.

“Our weapons are destroyed,” Torrid reported.  “He’s latched onto us.  We’re in some kind of... gravity lock.”

David was stunned.  “What?”

“It’s an energy envelope.  We’re stuck to him.  Wherever we go, he goes.  And neither of is armed.”  Torrid looked back at his control panel.  "We're dead, sir.  All engines and weapons are inoperable.  His are too."

"David . . ." Kyle turned slowly towards him, "He’s hailing us."

"What?"

"It's the interceptor pilot...  He wants to have a word with you."

"Uh," David looked around the bridge, indecisive.  "Put him through."

The forward screen changed from the computer image to the image of a Tharn Captain in battle gear.  He spoke.

"I am Seth, Captain in the Tharn Foundation," he began, "Identify yourself."

"My name is David.  It seems that we are in quite a unique predicament.  We..."

"You are in a possession of Foundation property.  Surrender this vessel immediately."

"Look Seth," David shrugged, "I don't think you understand our situation . . ."

"I understand it perfectly.  This energy field is radioactive.  Its levels have disabled our weapons and engines.  Your ship is lightly armed.  Its power core is smaller than mine which makes it more vulnerable to the radiation.  The radiation has a short half-life.  Soon, the decay will drop to the point where my weapons will come on line while yours are still non operational.  You will surrender your ship or be destroyed."  With that, Seth switched off and empty space filled the screen.

David turned to Torrid.  "Is that true?"

Torrid turned to his instruments and after punching in some figures, reported: "Yes, sir."

"But our engines run on the same principal," Kyle smiled.  "He is in a short range fighter with a large engine and this ship is a long range scout with two smaller engines.  The Wayfarer.”

"Which means that our engines will come online before his and about the same time as his weapons.  So if we prepare to accelerate as soon as is possible, we can try to put some distance between us while he is firing but before he can move!"  Torrid finished.

"And once our ship is out of the radioactive field our weapons should come on line almost immediately!" Kyle finished.

"This is the Wayfarer.  We stole this ship on the premise of its traveling abilities," David began.  "By its design, we can escape long before any other course of action occurs.”

"Kyle, find out how to program this thing.  Let’s just work on getting us out of here.”

"Radiation levels are dropping rapidly," Torrid reported.  "Half-life decay is twenty seconds.  At the decay rate, levels should fall below the red in sixty seconds.  His weapons in about sixty-five, his engines about five seconds after that."

"As soon as the engines are able, I want maximum power and acceleration.  Torrid, open a channel to our friend."

The screen flashed and the image of Seth appeared.  He smiled, "Have you decided to save your crew’s lives and surrender now, David?"

David smiled back.  "I've decided to save my crews lives, but I will not surrender..."

Kyle, making sure he was out of Seth’s line of sight, gave a thumbs up to indicate that he had got the ship set to jump properly.

"You see," David continued, "This ship was built for a purpose and I intend to use it for such.”

Torrid held up his hands, spread his fingers and dropped them one by one.  Ten.  Nine.  Eight. . . .

"I wish you well.  No Hard feelings..."

Torrid was holding up two closed fists.

"Punch it," said David.  The ship shuddered and shot out into space.

The look on Seth's face was not as satisfying to David as he had hoped it would be.  Seth frowned slightly and switched off communications.

"Kyle, where are we going?"

"I’ve set the ship to find the first inhabited planet on bearing three one five that doesn’t emit Foundation transmission frequencies.”

David simply looked at him.  “So where does that put us?”

“That puts us about twenty parsecs beyond the Tharn's boarders and we’re approaching a star system near its second planet”

“Seth is still with us.  That gravity lock dragged him along,” Torrid reported.  “Tharn missiles approaching!”

Taking evasive action!”  David shouted.

The ship trembled violently and Torrid’s screen spewed flames.  He screamed out.  The lights faded, flashed and stabilized.

"Damage re..."  David began but was drowned out by another flashing jolt.  The control panels exploded with sparks and smoke.  Torrid rocked back and then forward collapsing finally on his radar screen, the smell of burned flesh wafting across the bridge.

Kyle jumped back to the cannon forced it into manual override.  With any luck it would be good for one more shot.

 David leaned on the controls.

"The planet," Kyle shouted.  "Head for the planet!  We’ll lose him in a mountain range or a canyon.”

“I’m on it.  Just take this guy out.”

"Missile approaching!"  Prepare for impact!"  David grabbed the console with both hands and braced himself.  Kyle spun the cannon around and fired wildly.  The ship rocked violently as Seth’s missile landed home.  It showered the bridge with sparks.  The main screen flashed and the missile turrets were cut cleanly from the hull of the small ship and it spun out of control towards the planet.  The ship shuddered, softly this time and went black for a second or two before the red emergency lights shone like blood on the walls.

"That's it," David turned to Kyle.  "The ship's dead.  Game over.  Is Torrid okay?"

Kyle shook his head and gazed out of the portal.

"We've just entered the planet’s atmosphere," he stated.  “The ship’s breaking up.”

“Get to the escape pods!”

The ship rocked violently as the atmosphere tore away pieces of the hull.  The two had to climb the instrument panels to make their way to the pods.  They had already opened during the battle and David shoved Kyle into the first one.  He dove into another as the ship pitched and he slammed against the bulkhead.  He would worry about his shoulder later.  The harness was simple enough, but as the ship tumbled through the air its difficulty was greater.  Finally he was strapped in and he hit the red "Eject" button on the console in front of him.  With a harsh Pssssshhhhtt sound and a flash of sparks the hatch closed and David was shoved deep in the seat.  He was separated from his ship, his friends and the war.

Kyle was not so lucky.  His harness buckled fine but as he hit the "Eject" button and heard the same hissing David had, the sparks that normally signal the separation from the ship was absent.  He hit the button again...  Nothing.  He hit it a couple more times but it still failed to respond.  Having to think quickly, Kyle unfastened his harness and dove for the manual override.  He tugged fiercely at the lever and the pod began to pull away but was still hung up on the ship.  He pushed the "Open Hatch" button and it struggled but opened.  A gust of violent wind rushed in the tiny capsule and shoved Kyle.  He stood his ground and examined the catches that held the pod to the ship.  There were two of eight still holding.  Bracing himself on the floor, Kyle kicked at the catches and they began to give.  Hope and fear welled up in the young revolutionary and he kicked harder again and again.  Finally, after an eternity of free fall, the catches gave and Kyle watched the ship shoot away from him.  The wind grew to an intensity so great, Kyle was sure he would be sucked out into the sky.  He held on with unnatural strength.  His fingers threatened to take leave of his hands.  And just as he lost his grip and began sliding through the portal, the emergency chutes deployed and the sudden change in speed threw Kyle back inside and against the control console of the tiny pod knocking him unconscious.