Date : 6/24/2673

TCS Manchester,
Ship's Bridge,
Under the pirates attack

"Let's see what our new toy is capable of" the Clown said, "Take us to THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT, Stem" he said to one of the pilots.

Little Intermission: Stem, Tim "The Traveller" McGuinness, a long time Heepster, a traveller in time and a brave fighting pilot from TCS Gypsy crew. The second shuttle pilot is Pete "The Judge" Wharton, also an old mate from the same "infamous" crew.
As our story develops, and in order not to make it too boring for the reader with descriptions of the emotional meetings of old friends, we ommited the description of the meeting between the Wizard and the two shuttle pilots. But their TALES will be told as we go on.

As the pilot reached for some controls on the panel in front of him, Boris said to Dave "You know that a shuttle can not prorect itself against a Razor fighter, but we're not TOO SCARED TO RUN , we have an improved LJ73-SBDM engine, so we have a chance AGAINST THE ODDS. It's an improved Long Jump 73 light Seconds Broad Distance Motor...".

"HOLD YOUR HEAD UP ", they heard Stem's voice, and Dave felt a strange force applied on him, like he was moving through time. In a moment the feeling disappeared. Dave looked at the radar screen and couldn't see the pirate fighters anymore.

"FIRES OF HELL , this thing works!!!" he said, "who built it!?"

"Castle Space Technologies," Boris replied, "they were chosen by the Confed over the Bronze Corporation, to improve all existing UH systems. Their chief executive is Rob Corich, you remember Rob, don't you Dave?"

"I do, I do !!!, Don't they say that this technology was used by the mythological Byron and Thain?" was Dave's reaction.

"You know your mythology, Wizard" said Pete, hugging Dave.

"But not as good as you, I reckon". Dave hugged Pete back, "it's you that comes from that part of the universe, the English nebula".

"Who where those pirates, Clown?"

"For some time we have suspected that the Mutant Terran Vineyards was working with the Kilrathi, and it were they that stole the SD74 CD data disk. I would say that they probably found out about me, so they sent those mercenaries to stop us from reaching TCS Pilgrim. But now they are CHASING SHADOWS in the RAIN..." Boris replied, "Ahh..., I must be more careful next time. There's no EASY ROAD, but WE GOT WE "

"...Because you like to SELD YOU SOUL to the RAINBOW DEMON for a several of those BLIND EYE beers you like so much..." Stem teased him. "...anyway, we have an incoming message".

Boris looked at the screen, 'TEN YEARS TROUBLE' it said.

For a second, Dave thought that he saw the smile disappeared from the Clown's face, but then it came back.

"Oh well, after what we went through today" the Clown said, "we deserve a couple of drinks. Take us to the FIREFLY station, Traveller "

"You still haven't learned how to navigate, have you Clown?..." laught Dave, "...What an inteligence officer we have!!!"

"I navigate perfectly well after several BLIND EYE 's, you know that, Wizard ". Boris smiled, reached for the cigarette pack in his pocket and handed one to Dave...

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Date : 6/27/2673

The Firefly Space Station,
Somewhere at the rim of the known universe,
The Hanging Tree Bar

Wizard and Cannibal entered the station's bar. As usual Dave headed to the bar, but Boris pulled him away and took him to a corner table. The bar was dark, but Dave could see a small stage at the other edge, on which some band was singing a long forgoten song.

Dave wanted to say something, but suddenly he took note of the new song the band started singing.

"He was the WIZARD of the a thousand kings,
and I chanced to meet him one night wandering
He told me tales and he drank my wine..."

The voice was so familiar. 'Could it be Thommie...' the Wizard wondered, 'is that why Boris brought me here? '

"...And a million silver stars that guide me with their light " the song faded away.

A guy left the stage and slowly approached their table. "Cosmic Bandido!!!", Dave almost overturned the table, trying to reach his old mate. "Wizard!!!" shouted Thommie. The two grown man fell into each others arms.

"Well, I'll leave you two old friends to chat, and fetch us some drinks from the bar" Boris said and went away.

'What's goin' on here... ' a thought crossed Dave's mind, '...why are those two acting like they never drank red wine from the same bottle...Ohh..., that Clown and his spooky bussineses! ' Dave was a fighter pilot, and all those dark secret games were not to his liking.

Boris approched the bar. "Hey, barkeep! Fix us some drinks."

The long haired, bearded bartender turned around. "Richard is the name, sir " he said, and started fixing the drinks.

To an untrained eye it wouldn't look strange, but to the guy that sat at the other edge of the bar, it was obvious that the bartender knew the man that just now called him "barkeep ". The bartender started to pour the drinks even before that man told him which one to fix. ' You have to pay for your mistakes ' the guy at the edge of the bar noticed to himself.

While waiting for the drinks to be ready, Boris listened to the song which played on the bar's music system.

"What is this song, Rich?" he asked the bartender.

"It's DOUBLE TROUBLE, sir, you like it?..." the bartender replied, "...I have a spare copy, I might as well sell it to you".

Boris nodded. The bartender reached under the bar and handed out a jewell box to Boris. It said " TEN YEARS TROUBLE " on it's cover. Some credits changed hands, Boris picked up the drinks and the box and walked away from the bar.

A strange noise sounded, like a gun shot. Boris droped the drinks. Thommie and Dave stood up. A guy, wearing a Mutant Terran Vineyards T-shirt was lying near the bar, with a faser still in his hands. Richard was standing not far away from him.

"No one is allowed to hunt for walruses in my bar " he smiled. Boris did look like a walrus after a long day at the beach. ' Oh, I'm getting too old for all that... ' he thought for himself.

One more intermission: As the reader might have guessed, Thommie "The Cosmic Bandido" Mueller and Richard "Double Trouble" Wagner are as well long time Heepsters. We will meet them again.