by P R Glazier
~
The Gatekeeper shouted orders at the crew of the battle cruiser, the stupid weak T’Iea and the Pnook had deliberately rammed their craft from below. What did they think they were doing? In her frustration she threw the navigator from his seat and started to punch buttons frantically trying to keep the craft level and to try and disengage it from the giant bulk of the other craft below them. Red warning lights were flashing on the desk that controlled the metal army access doors in the underside of the vessel. She felt hate for the enemy as she became aware that half the doors were now powerless and inoperative because of the damage caused by the other craft ramming the underside of theirs. Obviously the stupid designers of these machines did not think to protect the bellies of the beasts as well as the upper hull. Well a lucky blow for her enemy, but that would soon change. The craft shifted sideways and started to tilt at an alarming angle. Crew members fell from their seats, and slid down the angled deck hitting the sides, there was at least two sickening sounds of crunching bones and screams of pain and alarm. Suddenly the front end of the vessel rose up and the angle increased dramatically before there was a lurch and the craft righted itself once more. At last the Gatekeeper had managed to disengage their craft from the other rising below them. The Gatekeeper set a course away from the other craft; they accelerated forward into the mist.