The darkness of space was broken only by the stars and the running lights of the Nordic Troll. The ship sailed soundlessly through the darkness, bound for a point somewhere among the stars.

In the glow of the ship’s large cockpit, pilot Loomie Gavigan finished setting the course in the ships navigational computer, pushed the control stick back and stood up from the pilot’s chair. “Well, we’re set”, she said. “We’ll be at the asteroid belt in twelve hours.”

Nick Gerrin, the ship’s captain, rose from the co-pilot’s seat and said “Good work. Now let’s go eat.”

“What’s the hurry?” Loomie sighed. “It’s just protein packs.”

“Now, now, be grateful for what you’ve got. We’d all like some real food” Gerrin consoled her. “But first we have to get this job done, then we can re-stock the supplies.”

“Anna’s kind of hoping for some kind of table in those supplies.”

Gerrin looked at his pilot. “What’s wrong with the tables we’ve got?”

Loomie shrugged “She just thinks we’d all be more comfortable eating at a real table.”

“Well, I make no promises, but we’ll see what we can do.”

They both climbed down the ladder that led from the cockpit and walked back toward the mess area. Loomie asked “Why are we taking a bunch of bodies back to their home world anyway?”

Gerrin answered “These guys fought in the war. They died in battle and got lost for years. Now someone’s found what’s left of them and their families want to put them to rest. I’m fine with that. Anyone who steps up for their home deserves a decent funeral”.

“Even guys from the other side?” she asked him pointedly.

Gerrin nodded “Even guys from the other side”.

“I guess I get that” Loomie concluded.

Gerrin added “And it doesn’t hurt that their next-of-kin are paying our expenses, either”.

“Not by much” She reminded him.

“It’s enough to get us something more than protein packs.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

“You know”, Gerrin remarked, “my mother used to give me a sad tale every time I complained, something about being my age and having to walk to and from school, five miles in three feet of snow, every day of the year, and having nothing to eat but that same snow, and how she was grateful to have that…”

“I said okay” Loomie laughed.

“…and how my ancestors on Earth-That-Was once went through an entire war on nothing but flour and sawdust…”

Gerrin lurched forward as Loomie shoved him from behind. “Ewwww, stop!” They both laughed as they entered Troll’s mess area. Had they been in the cockpit, they would have heard the beeping alarm and noticed a proximity alert warning on the radar screen indicating an object behind them on the same course and speed. The blip was a second ship, smaller and engineered for a different purpose. This ship bristled with weapons mountings. It was a predator, designed for hunting other ships. Inside the ship, two men sat behind the pilot’s console, one pilot and one passenger. The only lights were the lights from the consoles.

The pilot, a man named Pearsoll, commented “We’re locked in behind them. They won’t see us.”

The passenger, Maddox, gave a satisfied smirk. “Stay behind him until we get to the asteroid belt. We’ll take him there”.

Pearsoll looked at Maddox. “We have a clear shot now.”

“I want it to last and I want him to know why” Maddox observed. Gazing at the screen, he added "Judgment is upon you, major.”

To Be Continued