The two ships continued the chase through the asteroid belt. Whenever the pursuing ship came within line of sight, she would fire ballistic projectiles at the Troll, which Loomie was able to avoid. Every few moments, Loomie would whisper to herself “I am an eagle and the wind is mine.”

The noise in the engineroom was deafening. Aldous, covered in sweat, continued to monitor the engines, making adjustments as necessary. His hearing protection blocked out most of the noise, with the exception of his own voice, which occasionally broke into Chinese epithets.

Doc and Lewis maintained watch in med bay, holding onto the cabinets, with a still-unconscious Anna strapped to the bed to keep her from rolling off.

Gerrin struggled slowly up the passageway toward the cockpit, swaying and squatting as the ship pitched and rolled. He finally arrived in the cockpit to find Loomie flying desperately and Reilly sitting directly behind her, turning toward Gerrin. “If you’ve come up with a day-saving plan, now’s the time!” he shouted.

“I’m open to suggestions!”

“Go HWONG-TONG (Enough of this nonsense).” Reilly rose from his chair and pushed past Gerrin to the ladder from the cockpit. Gerrin followed Reilly into the passageway, through the mess area and down the ladder beyond to the cargo bay. At the door to the cargo bay Reilly stopped, grabbed the door and swung it closed, cranking the latch that sealed the door. Reaching for the intercom, he said “Loomie, get ready to dump the aft fuel tanks.”

“What the hell are you doing?” Gerrin shouted.

“If you won’t save your ship, I will.” Reilly growled. “I’m going to dump half of the fuel, whatever parts are in the cargo bay, and the bodies. With any luck at all, they’ll think they destroyed us.”

“No.”

“What?”

“I said no!” Gerrin snapped. “The bodies