Elaine Marley sat in the far corner of the tiny storage room, her blaster resting on the floor beside her. The only noise in here came from a small radio on her belt - the whistle and crack of laser fire against Chora Luna's surface, the emotionless professionalism of the computer-controlled defense, giving orders to the ten fighter pilots already out there.
So far, there were no reports of any enemy breakthroughs. But Elaine didn't trust this, nor did she trust the attack plan these pirates were showing. Surely the goal in any attack on Chora Luna would be the main ore reserves. But there were no freighters amongst that fleet.
A lump of reddish rock sat on the floor in front of her, about ten feet in diameter. Elaine didn't know exactly what this was, or what it did, but her intuition told her it was the most valuable material in the galaxy. Just as she now knew it was under threat.
Grim faced, Elaine picked up the blaster, her eyes set like stone on the door.
Marko looked left and right. Nothing was coming. He didn't expect any
traffic - this was one of the least used corners of Chora Luna.
With a slight hiss of reluctance, Marko turned off the cloaking device. Aiming his hovering fighter with precision, Marko shot a continuous beam of laser fire at the door. It punched a hole through the thick metal almost instantly. Marko brought the laser around in a wide circle, cutting a pathway through the door.
The thick metal circle tumbled to the floor. Marko edged his fighter through the gap.
The informer hadn't been wrong. Down on the floor was a lump of reddish rock - and nothing to stop him taking it. Marko inched right above it, and opened the cargo doors.
Elaine Marley dropped from the roof, landing on the nose of Marko's fighter. She scrambled to her feet and aimed a shot at Marko from point blank range. The laser bolt went straight through the unshielded windscreen and punched a flaming hole in the seat, right beside Mario's neck. Stunned, Marko dived for the floor. The next shot went right through the seat where his chest had been.
Marko cursed his impatience in not checking every corner of the room. Now a red-headed woman was taking potshots at him, while his only blaster was sitting two rooms away in the back cupboard. There was only one thing he could do. From the floor, Marko seized the flight yoke and shoved it upward.
The fighter suddenly tilted forward. Elaine lost her footing and slipped to her knees. She flung her arms out and grasped the nose of the fighter.
The tail end of the fighter ploughed into the ceiling. The shudder nearly shook Elaine off. One arm came free, and she was left clinging by one hand to a slender hook. She could see Marko through the windscreen, now standing up, and aimed a shot at him with her free hand. It went wide.
The fighter suddenly began spinning rapidly. Marko was grinning now, enjoying her plight. The revolutions came faster and faster, then Marko brought his hand down and stopped them instantly.
Elaine lost her grip and crashed flat into the wall. She fell three metres and hit the floor, her body slumped and bruised.
Marko dismissed her, and brought his fighter above the rock for a second time. Now he engaged the tractor beams, and in a matter of seconds brought the find up into his cargo bay. It was time to be going...
Marko flew out, and ran the throttle. The turns and twists of the underground passage rocketed past. He burst through the hangar, out the vent, and into space.