Her knuckles were bone white from gripping the wheel so hard. A thunderous explosion resounded outside the window of the cockpit as she swerved by the now dissentegrating asteroid. She screamed in her head, but her body was too tense to even move her lips. The fighter wizzed along at their tail, shadowing every move they made; playing cat and mouse with them. She ground her teeth at that thought, she didn’t like anyone toying with her, especially someone who intended to kill her and the rest of the crew.

‘Calm down Jess, the more agitated you get, the worse your flying gets’ Bo’s voice echoed in her head.

She still hadn’t quite gotten used to that, but she tried to calm down, just as another explosion sent them tumbling through the black. Her anger flared again and she punched the accelerator and blasted through two large rocks that were colliding. They scraped through them, but were still sailing, and at the right speed.

‘SEE! Gorramit! You need flying lessons!’ Bo screamed in her head.

She shook her head, trying to knock him out of it so she could concentrate. The fighter was gaining and it looked like it was done playing. Jessica yanked up on the wheel and felt her body get jammed against the chair. The fighter followed their maneuver but made a fatal error. An explosion from behind them made the VALOR lurch forward as flames licked at the back hatches. She heard Smith cuss from the engine room and heard an odd hissing sound that repeated a number of times, changing pitch each time. She relaxed the grip on the wheel as Bo’s boots thudded down the ladder from the gun mount. She rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what was coming.

“And you used to tell me you could fly. Bah!” Bo said, the sarcasm biting.

“I could fly the Voodoo. It’s controls were easier to operate-” She started to argue.

“Because it was a sitting duck. The only reason we ever got anywhere with that thing was because it was loaded down with weaponry and straight-away engines. Kaylee’d have laughed at it.”

“Because I SO care what th