She caught Mark's eye; he nodded slightly. The two aliens gazed ahead in silent dignity.

Zan halted, and screamed in such agony that even Mark looked concerned.


Mark had to smother a grin when he realized what Zan was doing. 'She always was good in Drama class' he thought. One of the guards at the back slammed into her. Mark left that one to her and took the other. He hoped the others would take the hint and deal with the third.

Mark tackled his guard, slamming him into the ground with enough force to knock him out immediately. He quickly confiscated the alien's gun, and looked up to see how the others had fared.


Zan's guard brought his weapon up, but Zan kicked his knee out from under him before he could use it. He collapsed with a howl and she kicked him in the face for good measure. He collapsed with a low whine. She glanced around to see Mark bending over his prone alien, removing it's gun.

The other alien was wrapping the gun belt around his waist. The first alien was standing in the middle of the corridor, beak gaping in what was becoming a familiar grin.

Zan removed her guards' gun and extra ammunition, but left the belt. She didn't think it would fit her.

The little group scattered as footsteps sounded further down the corridor. One guard marched down the corridor, a small cart trundling along at the rear.

The alien beside Mark chirped inquiringly. Mark jumped the guard in response, the birdman sailing out past him to clean up.

Mark stole the guards gun and offered it to the orange alien. He shook his head silently. Mark frowned, but tossed the gun to Zan instead. She hooked it onto the back of her belt with the extra ammo she had pilfered.

"How are we going to tell them we need to reach some kind of communications center?" She asked. Mark shrugged in response.

Zan frowned. She looked at the alins for a moment, then pantomimed speaking into her walkie again. She raised empty hand to them. The two aliens whistled amongst themselves for a moment. The darker alien grinned, gestured at his hand, then emmited a series of chirps and whistles.

Zan just nodded, not sure what he was trying to say.

The other alien chirped urgently as two guards rounded the corner and stopped short, startled. He fired at one, and Mark quickly took out the other. The first gaurd slammed back into the wall, breaking a glass panel and setting off alarms all over the building.

The two aliens led the way to the communications building, a low, domed structure near a cliff. Birds swarmed out of the building behind them as they ran across a landing field filled with helicopters.

They blasted their way into the communications building, trying not to damage the equipment too badly.

Mark set the communicator to the correct frequency and quickly hailed Moriah.

"Hey! What's going on here?" she demanded suspiciously. "This signal is much too strong for a walkie that far away!

"Move it Moriah!" Zan ordered without explaining herself. "Ther're guards all over the place and we don't have that much time."

She looked out the window to see guards swarming toward them. "Gotta go, and hurry~" She said, shutting off the machine. The little group raced for the door And hurtled through it just before the guards reached them. Thunder rumbled above them and the wind tore at their hair and clothing.

Zan lead the group towards the helicopters, dodging energy bolts.

The lighter colored alien got there first, and the copter was moving even as the others boarded it. His beaked gaped as the copter rose from the ground. He skillfully manipulated the controls and the helicopter rose swiftly.

The two humans watched in relief as lazer beams were deflected harmlessly off the armored sides of the copter.

Rain fell like water from a bucket and the wind pushed the little copter around like a child's plaything as the storm kicked in full force.

The alien's grin melted as he tried to keep the copter in the air. The rain was a solid wall of grey interfering with visibility, and the wind continued to knock them around. He whistled shrilly, and began stabbing frantically at the controls even as the rain let up suddenly.

The were headed straight for the main building, smoke streaming from the engine compartment of the copter.

The helicopter crashed into the building. Mark tumbled out, stumbling away from it as fast as unsteady legs would carry him. The other's followed suit.

The building exploded behind them, knocking them all off their feet and falt on the ground. It glowed brilliant red with flames and Mark was glad he hadn't been looking at it when it went. He looked ahead at the ledge instead. It was a long way down and they didn't have anywhere else to run.

A dull roar brought their heads around and up to see a ship hovering over them, weapons targeting them. They rose to their feet and raised their hands in surrender, a gesture that seemed common to both species.

The ground began to vibrate beneath them, and a low thrum sounded from behind. Mark turned to see a very welcome ship rising from beneath the ledge.

"Moriah!" Both Mark and Zan cried in perfect, astounded unison. The familiar blue beam of the Black Fire's lasers intercepted the blact from the hostile aliens. Moriah fired a couple more shots and the smaller ship pulled back to wait for reinforcements.

They ran for the ship even as it was landing. Hand held lasers fired continuously on the small group, and Moriah returned fire, frantically trying to defuse anything that came close enough to harm her friends.

One of the aliens fell, a gaping, blackened hole in his side. The other paused, torn between the welcome saftey of the ship and the urge to help his friend.

Closer to the downed alien, Zan could see that it was dead. She continued running, urging the other alien along in front of her. She picked up the pace, knowing she was too far away. Moriah would have to leave before she got there.

Zan cried out in pain as something gripped her shoulders and.... lifted her straight off the ground! Heavy wingbeats drew her closer to the Black Fire faster than she ever could have gotten there running. The two scrambled into the hatch just before another laser riccocheted off the hull. Moriah slammed the hatch shut and took off, the sudden acceleration pressing Zan against the floor.

Zan levered herself up on her elbow, looking around in disgust. "What happened in here?" She asked of no one in particular. Mud oozed down the walls, and occasionally dripped from the ceiling. It smelled awful.

"Environmental controls are malfunctioning on deck one," Moriah replied.

Zan attempted to breath shallowly. "No kidding," she replied, headed for the lift. Mark followed, gesturing for the alien to accompany them.

They emerged onto the bridge, Moriah's voice following them out of the lift. "I sank," she said, sounding very displeased.

The Black Fire shot like a bullet through the atmosphere as squad of ships attacked them. The ships fell back, either unable or unwilling to follow them out of the atmosphere. Blue sky dissapeared and black space enveloped them. Moriah veered wildly, trying to avoid the same ship that had shot them down in the first place.

The hostile vessel fired several times in their general direction, sensors still confused by the planet's ore deposits. Most of the shots whizzed harmlessly by.

The ship fired again, with more success this time. Two beams hit the Black Fire almost simultaneously, causing the already weakened shields to buckle threateningly.

Zan fired at the enemy while Moriah tried unsuccessfully to get around them. Mark at Navigations and the birdman poking curiously at engineering.

The ship fired again, striking the little ship square on her blunt nose. The Black Fire abruptly ceased accelerating.

Inside, the lights dimmed steadily and static crackled ominously over the viewscreen. The consoles shut down one by one and the three occupants floated in the sudden lack of gravity as life support kicked out again.

Power surged back through the ship, dropping the two humans and one alien to the floor. The background hum of the ship returned, although muted. The Black Fire hung Motionless in space, the larger ship sailing slowly toward them, sure now of their capture.

Mark and Zan hauled themselves up off the floor, regaining their seats quickly. The birdman prudently stayed down, wedging himself into a corner where he would be out of the way.

"Moriah, what's going on?" Zan asked. There was no reply. on the viewscreen the ship was slowly completing it's turn.

Mark looked worriedly at the screen set between his two consoles. It blinked steadily amber. The answer, when it came, came not from the overhead speakers as expected, but from the smaller ones attatched to the original computer system.

"Oh, no...no, no, no,..." Moriah muttered. Mark was sure he heard a note of desperation in her voice "I can't pilot! I have no control!" Moriah said frantically.

Mark immediatly moved into the pilots seat, directing Zan toward Navigations.

All the buttons and knobs confused her. She knew how to use them, but she was paralysed by fear; the certainty that she was going to die.

Mark shoved the ship hart to one side as the other ship fired on them one more time.

The blast grazed the smaller ship, knocking Zan out of her paralysis and sending them into a spin. "One of out lazers is disabled," Mark informed her.

She began plotting a corse that would get them out fo the other ship's firing range. It was almost easy now that they were so close together, trusting Mark to keep them alive until they got there. Mark righted the ship, his heart pounding. He slaved the weapons and sensors to his console, and a screen just to the left of Zan lit up, displaying the damage to the Black Fire in graphic detail.

Another shot grazed their belly, and the display lit up with new information. "Minor damage to the landing gear," she said quietly.

"We need to get out of here. If we keep this up, we'll tear the ship apart," Mark said, voice taut. He aimed a cannon at a small bump in the center of the larger ship and fired. A part of the ship exploded silently and a mass of crystalized air rushed out to form a glittering cloud in space.

"What did we hit?" Zan asked, staring at her sensors. The enrgy output of the other ship had dropped considerably in most areas, but was gaining near the engines. At an alraming rate.

"Um... we hit something important," Mark replied, looking over her shoulder. "I don't like that energy build-up. We should leave now."

Zan agreed. She fed her plotted course into his console, and he implemented it quickly. The Black Fire limped agonizingly out of the solar system. The ship exploded silently behind them, shockwaves reaching hungrily for their ship. The Black Fire rocked gently before the explosion died silently in the velvety cold of space.

Zan let her breath out in a relieved sigh, and Mark swallowed nervously, glancing at his readouts to see how close they had come to being vaporized.

"Do you think we overdid it?" He asked shakily.

"At least we survived," a voice said solomly from between them.

"Moriah!" Zan leapt up and bent to check the computer.

"Do you know what's preventing you from accessing ship's systems?" Mark asked her seriously.

"The circuits are fried," Moriah replied mournfully.

"Are you allright?" Zan asked quietly.

"Of course i'm alright!" Moriah answered indignantly.

Zan looked surprised, and Mark grinned as he began severing circuits. He pulled Moriah out of her little cavity gently.

The birdman watched, fascinated as Mark set Moriah on his chair and set about closing her cavity for future use. He hoped. "We'll get it fixed," he promised her. "We have to dock somewhere and get everything fixed," he added ruefully.

"We'll stop at the first space station we come to," Zan said, and that was also a promise.