“Leader Martox, the other two Bounty Hunter ships have turned around!”

 “I could have guessed as much, those cowards! No matter full speed ahead!”

 “But, what about those other ships?”

 “Forget them! Ratmire is pulling one of his old tricks. This is why I have succeeded, where others have failed! The Captains of those other ships are fools.”

 Martox paused a moment, then laughed to himself.

 “It is better this way. I never intended on splitting the bounty with them anyway. This just saves me the time and ammunition necessary to blow up their ships. Increase speed and ready the Stun Lock.” Martox ordered.

Commander Ratmire had his eyes glued to the screen.

 “Alright crew, here he comes. Skylar, keep all communication channels open. Lars, is that program on line?”

 “Yes Commander.”

 “Ready Adaria?”

 “Yes Commander,”

 “Good! Milton, bring us about, and let’s implement phase two.” Commander Ratmire said with a glimmer in his eye.

“Private, will you hurry up? I cannot leave the signal down long, or we will lose all the progress we have made!” The Sargent said in an excited tone.

 “I don’t need a reminder Sargent. However, as you are aware this is a delicate operation, and if I don’t match these components up correctly…”

 The private stopped his rant because he could tell the Sargent was not paying attention anyway. Ten minutes later he yelled to the Sargent,

 “There, it is done, power it up!”

 He and Sara went over to the Sargent’s station.

 “Well?” Private asked.

 “Your turn to be patient,” the Sargent barked.

 A few moments later, the Captain had joined the others at the Sargent’s station.

 “Outgoing signal has now increased by 35%. Incoming reception has increased by 40%,” the Sargent reported.

 Their joy quickly faded when they received the message that the rescue ship was under attack.

 “That is crazy! Who would want to destroy a rescue ship?” Sara asked.

 “We have been away for a long time. It could be that the reason we got left behind was due to a conflict.” The Captain reasoned.

 “So now what?” Private asked.

 We stay the course. We cannot control what happens up there, but we can continue to do our upmost to help them find us, when the time comes.” The Captain stated in a firm commanding tone.

“Leader Vixen, Martox’s ship has continued at full speed.”

 “He is a fool…or maybe not! Turn us back around and get me a sensor reading on Ratmire’s ship.”

 “I get no readings of his ship anywhere.”

 “What? Martox must be jamming our signal! That double crossing…” Move us ahead toward the last known location of his ship.”

“Leader Martox, Vixen’s ship has turned around and is following us.”

 “Forget her for now. How long before we are in range to capture our prize?”

 “Sir…We have lost all sensor readings on Ratmire’s ship.

 “That’s impossible, unless…Vixen’s ship must be jamming our sensors. Clear it up immediately.” Martox ordered.

 “That little glory seeker, will have to suffer my wrath after all. As soon as you locate Ratmire, snag his ship, then empty our weapon tubes on Vixen’s ship. I will show all who dare challenge me in collecting my bounties.” Martox stated in a growl.

“We now begin our last and most important phase. Timing is of upmost importance. Every one of you know what you need to do, so let’s proceed. Milton, it is time to split the seam.” Commander Ratmire ordered.

 Milton was a skilled pilot. He had been a part of several of Commander Ratmire’s ships and was well trusted by him. Milton took manual control of the ship and carefully guided their ship directly between the two that were pursuing them. He had to wait until both of them were side by side, and he had barely enough room to squeeze between them. Carrier ships were designed to transport more than one hundred research ships, not for making complicated intricate maneuvers. Yet, Commander Ratmire knew that if anyone could pull off what he was asking, Pilot Milton could.

 As soon as their ship was in position, the other officers, went in action. No less than fifteen things had to happen in quick succession. Executed perfectly, both Martox, and Vixen’s ships were dead in space, a complete loss of all power. Thus, having both Leaders blaming each other. Once Milton cleared both ships, Adaria activated a massive set of Clings. They acted as giant magnets and turned both ships around and began “pulling” them back away from earth. Once they were moving at a good pace, Adaria released them, and Milton again brought their ship about flying under the two powerless ships. When Commander Ratmire’s ship was far enough away, Adaria set off a dozen concussion explosives that sent both of the Bounty Hunter ships hurling back towards their launch ports.

 “Commander, there is a very good chance that will have restored power to their ships, before they reach their home base,” Lars pointed out.

 “That is no problem. Knowing Martox like I do he will be too busy fighting with the other Bounty Hunter ship to worry about coming after us anymore.” Commander Ratmire said with a smile.

 “Great Job everyone, now it is time to focus on getting our lost comrades.” He added.

 When they got back in position, they got the last message sent from the Exon.

 “Ten years? The jumped forward ten years?” Lars repeated several times.

 “I know that changes a lot of things, but we didn’t come all this way to give up now. Start your recalculations based on the variables that the computer main frame will have on time travel.” The Commander orde“Yes Commander,” Lars replied, then added,

 “I am sure they did what they did for a good reason, but the more they change timelines…”

 “Lars, I am sure they are aware of the risks,”

 “Yes Commander.”

 “Listen, I know the Captain of the Exon very well. If they need to do any more jumps, it will only be because the crew was in danger. He also is resourceful enough that they will do everything they can to help us trace their moves.”

 “Yes Sir, I hope so Sir. At this point we are going to need all the help they can give us.” Lars said and left the room.

“Captain, I have a new message coming in from the courier ship. The first part says they have managed to care for those that were trying to capture them, but the last half of the message is in a code that I have never seen before,” the Sargent explained.

 The Captain came over and finally ask the Sargent to move so he could sit and get a better look at what he was talking about.

 The Captain studied the code for a while, then he began to laugh.

 All in the group stared at him.

 “It appears that Captain Ratmire is taking no chances on anyone else tapping into our communications. The code he is using is a very old training code that he invented. Anyway, the rest of the message states that the ones in pursuit of them were Bounty Hunters.”

 “Bounty Hunters?” The two officers asked in shock.

 “Yes, that can only mean that our current leadership did not authorize this rescue attempt. It also could mean that we may not be able to return right away to our home world,” the Captain said with a sigh.

 “However, first things first. The message also includes that unless the ship or crew is in extreme danger, we are to do our best to stay put, both in location and time period.”

 The Captain could tell that everyone was still trying to regain their focus, so he began giving out orders.

 “Sargent, I have a few other side projects that I think will aid Commanders ship in locating us. However, your main focus will still be communications between our ships.”

 “Private, Because we do not have as much on record about this time period in earth’s history, gather what you can. It may assist us now and would be helpful for our people in the future.

 Captain, What can I do?” Sara asked.

 The Captain thought for a few moments.

“Did your career training include inventory?”

 “Yes, I did that before I moved into sales.”

 “Good, Depending how long it takes for the Commander to locate us, we need to evaluate our supply levels, we may need you and Private to place a few more orders.” The Captain said with a wink.

 The Captain took her over to a small work station.

 “I will call up our inventory on this computer. You however will have to do a physical count to verify. Count everything item you know. When you are done with that, I will have Private assist you with the ones you don’t know.”

 As the Captain started to leave, sara asked,

 “Captain, if the rescue ship can send and receive messages with us, why can they not locate us?”

 The Captain was taken back on two counts, First he did not expect that kind of question, and second, he was concerned over Sara’s use of the word us. He decided to answer her question first.

 “I understand that everything you have seen us do so far is way beyond anything you have ever seen done before.” The Captain paused a moment.

 “The truth is that there is still we have to learn. When we made that ten-year jump in earth time, that changed a lot of … Well, let me put it to you this way. I once read that many humans use landmarks to remember how to get to a destination.”

 “That’s right. I do that all the time.” Sara remarked.

“When we made that time jump, we symbolically erased all the land marks that the rescue ship could have used to find us. We now have to try to lay out new ones and let them know what they are. Does that make sense?” The Captain asked.

 “Yes, yes it does, and thank you.”

 “For what?”

“For taking the time to explain things to me. I am so glad to be a part of this crew.” Sara went and gave the Captain a hug, then stated and busily went about starting her inventory.

 Captain Majors was a lot of things, a hugger was not one of them,

 “Steady their soldier,” the Captain barely got out.

 Still with a big smile on her face, Sara backed off, stood straight, and saluted.

 “Yes, sir, sorry sir, I guess I got carried away.” Sara replied

The Captain shook his head and walked back to his station.

“Commander Ratmire we have a new problem.” Adaria called over the communication system.

 “On my way,” the commander replied.

 When he arrived at her station, she showed him her screen. Lars was also standing next to her.

 “It appears that the time/space conduit is beginning to collapse.”

 “Yes sir, I have been monitoring the Q.S.R. factors for the last several hours. What officer Adaria has picked up on her defense scans, is just the beginning.” Lars stated.

 “Possible cause?” The Commander asked.

 “Most likely, the Exon’s last jump was done in haste, and destabilized the portal,” Lars responded.

 “Possible solutions?”

 “I will need more time to sort things out, but as of right now our opinion are extremely limited.” Lars told him.

 “Not acceptable! We did not risk our lives and careers to give up hope now.”

 “I understand Sir. I will start on this right away!”

 Lars left and went back to his station.

 “Adaria, I want you to figure out a way to add a xcron layer to our outer hull plating.”

 “Sir?”

 “It will be a last resort decision, but I want that option.”

“Yes Sir.”

 He then walked over to the pilot’s station.

 “Milton, Your piloting skills have saved our skins on more than on occasion. Your last efforts were beyond what anyone else would ever dream of attempting. What we are coming up on may challenge you ever further. Of all areas, yours is the one I have the least experience in. I will be sending you all the information that I can gather on what you may be up against. Study it well and let me know what plan of action you think will work and what you will need from anyone of the rest of us in order for you to be successful.”

 “Yes Sir, thank you Sir for your confidence in me.” Milton replied.