* * * * * * * * *

CHAPTER 7:

"Hunted"

"…and this controls your maneuvering thrusters," Xianea said, indicating a small device with a handgrip on the ship’s console. Blossom nodded, putting her hand on the control and getting a feel for it. Xianea continued, "You can slide it in any of the four directions to propel the ship that way, or lift it higher or lower for up and down thrust. Twisting the control in a direction will start a turn."

"Okay, I think I’ve got it it," Blossom said. She was a little nervous about this, but didn’t want to show it. This was, after all, her first time flying a spaceship. Xianea had brought the ship to a stop out in the middle of deep space so that she could give her this lesson. Blossom noticed a few buttons on the thruster controls and asked, "What do these do?"

"Those are for special functions," Xianea explained. "The green button is for fine thruster control, for when precision is needed, like in docking operations. The red one is for emergency maneuvers, and allows for much faster turns."

"All right…" Blossom said. "What now?"

Xianea pointed to a lever on the left, "This controls your main engines. Sliding it forward or backward changes the amount of power they’re outputting." She glanced out of the cockpit window and said, "Go ahead and try it. Don’t worry; we won’t crash into anything out here."

Blossom took a deep breath, and put her hand on the engine control. She slid it forward carefully, just a little bit, and the ship began moving forward. Blossom moved the thruster controls a little bit, and the ship made a few small turns. She smiled and exclaimed, "Hey, I’m doing it!"

"Keep it up, you’re doing great," Xianea said, smiling as well. She watched Blossom work the flight controls and said, "You’re catching on very quickly…it must be all of your previous ‘flight’ experience."

Blossom rolled the control to the right, and the stars outside rotated clockwise as the ship rolled. "You’re right, it is kinda like our flying," she remarked. "A little more sluggish, but it’s similar. This is great!"

"Once you get the hang of moving around, I can show you some of the other functions of the ship," Xianea said. "That was a good enough lesson for today." She took a glance out of the cockpit and saw that Monitor 682’s ship was still nearby, observing them. It was a small ship…it looked barely large enough to hold the Monitor itself, but they were still quite powerful. Hopefully, 682 understood that this was just a flying lesson and not any other suspicious activity.

"Okay!" Blossom said, climbing out of the seat and letting Xianea take the controls again. "Thanks again for teaching me…the more skills I know to get by out here, the more helpful I can be."

"I’m glad you’re taking such an interest," Xianea told her. "At the rate you’re going, you’ll probably be quite familiar with the controls by the time we reach Hkratth space. We’re still several days away and…" She trailed off, as she noticed Blossom was staring out of the cockpit, with a contemplative look on her face. "What’s the matter?"

"I was just thinking," Blossom said. "Today makes a whole week since we first met you…since the Earth was destroyed. It still seems like only yesterday…but at the same time, so much has happened since then."

"But you still miss your world…" Xianea said.

Blossom nodded, "It’s strange. Part of me knows that we’ll see the Earth again, but another part is wondering if we really will or not. What if this Omega Particle is just a legend? What if it doesn’t really exist? What if the Earth is gone for good?"

Xianea stayed quiet for a moment, then said, "You must be ready to accept that possibility if it comes to it. But you can’t lose hope, either. I know how you really feel about it…if there’s even the smallest possibility that this Omega Particle exists, you’d look for it, wouldn’t you?"

"Yes, I…I would…" Blossom agreed.

Xianea smiled, "I can tell that your friends on Earth mean a lot to you, Blossom. Have courage, and we can see this through."

Blossom smiled back…but only for a moment, because in the next, the ship shook, like something had struck it. She exclaimed, "What was that?"

Xianea’s hands were already flying over the controls. She said, "Another ship just dropped in, and it’s opening fire on us…"

"What? Who is it?" Blossom asked.

"I don’t’ know…" Xianea was worried. "We’re going to have to evade them; Centraxian ships aren’t equipped with weapons like most other ships, only protective shields."

The ship shook again from another blast. Bubbles and Buttercup came through the door at that moment, and Buttercup shouted, "What’s going on? Are we under attack?"

The alien vessel that was attacking them flew by the front of the ship. Unlike Xianea’s ship, this one was obviously equipped for battle. It was slightly smaller than theirs, and had a set of wings on the sides that were swept forward, and lined with weapon ports. It looped around once and flew back directly towards them, a hail of bright gold energy blasts firing at them. Xianea immediately dove the ship forward, flying under the blasts.

A small communications screen on the instrument panel lit up. A vaguely humanoid figure appeared on it. His skin was a golden tan color…his head was bald, and his eyes looked like they were solid black. That was all they could see of him, though, because a metal mask covered the lower half of his face, and they could see that it was part of a larger suit of armor he was wearing.

His voice hissed, "Yes…I knew you would be here. The Centraxian and the three Earthlings."

"What is the meaning of this attack?" Xianea asked. "We have done nothing to provoke it…"

"Oh, but you have," he answered. "Those that dare to act against the Gyahembu must face the consequences!"

Blossom exclaimed, "The Gyahembu?! You’re working with them?"

"That’s right," the man declared, "and I plan to collect the bounty they’ve put upon you. Don’t think you can escape me…I, Sorvat, am the greatest pilot in this sector of the galaxy!"

The image on the screen suddenly moved over as another image came on, that of Monitor 682. It said, "This is an unsanctioned use of weaponry. You will cease firing immediately, or be destroyed."

"Hahaha!" Sorvat laughed. "Your little custodian there won’t be able to protect you!" With that, the image disappeared from the screen, and Sorvat’s ship began another attack run on them. Xianea immediately switched to full speed, and flew out of the way of the next volley of blasts.

"This is not good," Xianea shouted, gritting her teeth. "Sorvat has us outgunned, and his ship is faster and more maneuverable than ours. I can only evade him for so long…"

"At least that Monitor guy is on our side," Bubbles said. Sure enough, outside the ship, they could see Monitor 682’s tiny vessel move to intercept Sorvat, taking shots at him with a very powerful-looking beam cannon. Sorvat was indeed skilled, though, and easily wove between the beams, untouched.

"Can’t we just get outta here?" Buttercup asked. "Make with the singularity jump!"

Xianea frowned at the status panel, "I can’t. The first hit damaged the singularity generator. The self-repair systems are working on fixing it, but it’ll take time. Until then, we’re stuck here."

In the meantime, Monitor 682’s ship was being struck repeatedly by blasts from Sorvat. A normal ship would probably have been crushed, but the heavily armored Monitor ship was holding out. Large scorch marks were covering its surface, however.

After a few more such passes, the communication screen lit up again with 682’s image, and he spoke, "This unit requires your assistance in apprehending the criminal Sorvat."

"We can’t…we don’t have any weapons on board," Xianea replied.

Blossom smiled slightly and said, "Yes we do…c’mon, girls!" She flew out from the cockpit. Bubbles and Buttercup looked at each other, confused, but followed her anyway. After going down the length of the ship, they found her in the airlock, putting on her spacesuit.

Buttercup grinned, "Now I get it! Good thinking!" She and Bubbles got into their own spacesuits, and the three of them quickly got into position. Blossom hit a few buttons on the airlock controls, opening the outer door of the ship. The girls quickly flew out into space…

* * *

Sorvat grinned from behind his metal mask. So far, the Galactic Monitor’s ship hadn’t even come close to hitting him yet. It may be powerful and highly advanced, but it was no match for his superior piloting skills. He could see that the other ship was just floating there…after he finished the Monitor, he would take care of them. "A few more passes," he said aloud, "and they’ll have no one left to protect them."

As he approached into another firing run at the Monitor, his radar picked up three incoming objects, launched from the Centraxian ship. They were small…perhaps missiles. This surprised him; he thought that Centraxian ships were unarmed…

He was about to take an evasive maneuver when the ‘missiles’ came into view in front of his ship. They weren’t missiles after all, but the three Earthlings, wearing spacesuits. He smirked…what did they think they were trying to do? Now they were easy targets. He declared, "Time to die, Earthlings!" and opened fire on them.

He was shocked when the three of them sped off in separate directions, much faster than they had flown out here. His energy blasts went off harmlessly into space. Gritting his teeth, he started to turn the ship around, to get on their tail, but all three of them were already behind him, on his tail.

"But…how do they move so fast?" he shouted. Narrowing his eyes, he quickly pulled an emergency turn. His ship swung around almost in an instant, now facing the girls once again. Hoping he got the surprise on him, he launched one of his missiles.

The two on the end—Blossom and Bubbles—ducked out of the way, but the third one, Buttercup, stayed where she was. The missile sped towards her, and at the last instant, she ducked underneath it, grabbing hold of the side and stopping it in place.

"Huh? Impossible!" Sorvat exclaimed. As he watched in disbelief, Buttercup swiveled the missile around so that it was facing towards him, and released it. The missile shot directly at him, and he quickly rolled the ship to one side, narrowly avoiding a collision with it.

"So," he said, "the rumors of their great power were true. No matter…I will still be able to finish them!" With that, he kicked in the ship’s boosters and flew after them again. He still had a trick or two left in him…

* * *

"Good move, Buttercup!" Blossom shouted. "Keep you’re eyes open, though…he’s on his way back!"

Buttercup nodded and went into a battle-ready pose. She’d be prepared if he tried to launch any more of those missiles. "Allright, let’s see what you’ve got," she said.

Sorvat’s vessel looped around and came at her again. This time, it was weaving back and forth in a strange pattern. As it did so, it started firing its weapons…the golden energy blasts fanned outwards, none of them heading directly towards Buttercup, but all of them moving noticeably slower than his previous shots. This confused her for a moment, but then Blossom yelled, "Look out, Buttercup, it’s a trap!"

After a moment, the ship suddenly burst forward, stopping its weaving motion and firing its weapons directly at Buttercup. A quick glance suddenly made her realize that the blasts he had fired earlier were just now passing her on the sides, leaving no place to dodge the ones coming at her…

She made a snap decision, and flew away from the blasts. She didn’t have a hope of outrunning them, since they were moving faster than she was, but it gave her a few extra seconds to gain some distance. The slower blasts couldn’t keep up, and she had just enough of a lead on them to throw herself to one side before the faster ones could hit her. With only a moment to spare, she continued in that direction and dashed quickly out of the path of the slower blasts before they caught up.

"That was close!" Bubbles said, watching this whole display.

Blossom nodded, "Yes, too close…we have to make sure we don’t slip up around this guy." She looked around for anything they could use to help them in the fight. The Monitor’s ship was nearby, but it was barely able to keep flying, let alone fight. Xianea’s ship was nearby, also motionless. There wasn’t anything else in range, not even any asteroids, because of the area Xianea chose for her piloting lessons.

She wished silently that they could use their eyebeams in this fight, but the professor had made the visors on their suits only strong enough to allow a weak blast to pass through them, about the same power as a welding torch. Anything stronger would probably melt the visor off, which would have some unpleasant consequences.

No, she thought, if we’re going to do this, we’re going to have to get in close enough for a physical attack. "Girls!" she said quickly. "Plan Beta-Sigma-4, now! It should still work in zero gravity!" Bubbles and Buttercup nodded, and the three of them flew back towards each other, regrouping.

Sorvat’s ship circled around for another attack run on them. As he approached, the girls flew towards him, circling around in a spiral pattern. Just before they reached him, they split off into three directions outward, and came to a complete stop. Sorvat’s ship continued moving forward, and before he could react, it passed directly between them. Blossom and Buttercup each grabbed hold of one of its wings, slamming the ship to a halt.

This gave Bubbles enough time to fly down from above, slamming both feet into the top of the ship. The impact knocked the ship downwards, ripping the wings clear off of it since the other girls were still holding on to them. The remainder of the ship could do nothing but float there, disabled.

The hatch popped open, and Sorvat emerged…he was wearing heavy, spiked armor and carrying a large laser rifle. A transparent helmet was now fixed over his head. He growled, "I’m not through yet!"

"Wanna bet?" Buttercup smirked, pointing off to one side. Monitor 682’s ship had made it over, and its weapons were trained on Sorvat. The tiny vessel may not have been combat-ready anymore, but it was still dangerous enough to a single person floating in space. Sorvat blinked a few times, and released his rifle, holding his hands up in surrender.

Over everyone’s communications, Monitor 682 spoke, "Sorvat, you are under arrest for unsanctioned use of weaponry within controlled galactic space, and assault on a Galactic Monitor." A small, greenish beam of energy shone out at him from the ship, surrounding him with a protective field and taking him into tow.

"Thanks, 682!" Bubbles called out.

"Your assistance in the criminal Sorvat’s apprehension is appreciated by this unit," Monitor 682 told them. "You have displayed adequate proof of your alignment with galactic law. The decision has been made to release you from observation."

"Great! Thanks again!" Blossom exclaimed. "C’mon, let’s get back to the ship…" As Monitor 682’s vessel began to fly away, towing Sorvat behind him, they returned to Xianea’s ship and entered the airlock. The door sealed behind them, and the airlock filled with air once again.

Buttercup took her helmet off and said, "That was great! I needed a good workout…"

"Yeah, but this is still bad news," Blossom said, removing her own helmet. "If the Gyahembu put a bounty on us, then we probably haven’t seen the last of these guys."

"Bring ‘em on," Buttercup said. "I ain’t afraid!"

They removed their spacesuits, and went back into the ship. Xianea was waiting for them, and asked, "Are you three all right?"

"We’re okay," Bubbles said. "That wasn’t too bad."

"He was pretty skilled, but we’ve had worse than him," Blossom told her.

Xianea looked relieved, "That’s good. I think we got lucky though…Sorvat is known as one of the deadliest pilots in this area. I guess he’s never fought anything as small and maneuverable as you before, though."

"How long ‘till the singularity thing is fixed?" Buttercup asked.

"Not much longer," Xianea replied. "We should be underway within the hour. You know...I think it might be a good idea if we keep a low profile from here on in. If the Gyahembu are looking for us, we should make it as hard as possible for them to find us."

"Right," Blossom agreed. "They know they're looking for a Centraxian traveling with three Earthlings. We each should get a disguise, or at the very least, an alias."

"That's a good idea," Xianea said. "Centraxians are fairly rare in these inhabited sections of space, so I'll wear the disguise. Not many people know Earthlings, so you can just go by different names. We should sort this all out right now, since we have the time..."

All three girls said, "Okay!" and followed Xianea back towards the front of the ship. Blossom thought, At least the Galactic Monitors trust us now...but if we have to fight off the Gyahembu along the way, this'll be a lot tougher than I thought...and we still have the Hkratth to deal with. I wish the professor was here; he'd know what to do...