"He looked so alien, yet he was handsome. He was diffrent, yet he was almost Cornerian in his sense of duty and honor. So alien, yet that's what made him so attractive."

-Leiutenant Cara Wayland C.D.F.

The cold morning air of Fortuna did not bother the of the two figures standing ankle deep in the powdery snow. She did not mind for, besides the fur coat she was born with, she wore a thermal suit to couteract the frigade climate. The second figure just ignored it. He had no fur coat, only the thermal suit, and a will to finish what he had set out to do.

"Are you cold Derrek?" Cara Wayland asked when the human began to shiver

Derrek shook his head as he planted the next sensor, "Not really. I went to Alaska with my father once back on Terra. It was almost this cold." He touched a key on the sensor unit, and it drilled itself into the tundra land beneath their feet.

"Was Alaska one of those National Parks you told me about?"

Derrek laughed, "No. It was a state. There were fifty in the United States."

"Was that the capital continent of your planet?"

Derrek shook his head as he ran a simulation test on the sensor, "No. It was on another continent. The capital was Berlin. In a country called Germany." Derrek watched as the sensor indicated two life forms near the sensor itself. He turned to grab a small object near him, and paused before he ran it over the unit, "None of them probably exist anymore. Not a capital, or a National Park"

"I'm sorry."

Derrek shook his head again, "It's all right. We'll liberate it someday." He checked the small indicator on the device, "Looks like it works." The human put all of the equipment back on the snowsled and raised his wristcomm to his mouth, "This is Derrek and Cara. We've planted the last main sensor. We're going to put the backup one near the north forest."

"Roger that Derrek." Will's voice responded, "Don't go freezing your tail...end off out there. Sonya says a storm is coming in. You've got about four hours, and you don't have any fur."

Derrek shivered, "Thanks for reminding me Will. We'll be back in long before that."

Derrek heard a muffled voice through the comm, "Drake said we've got a fire going, and it may still be here if you hurry."

Derrek shuddered again, "Roger that. We'll be back soon. Out." He pushed the transmit button. He chuckled as he straped the backpack over his shoulder, "He doesn't hate my guts anymore, but he still likes to annoy me. He may have gotten rid of the hatred, but he's still as untrusting as ever."

"You can't change everything, and I knew we didn't have a fireplace."

Derrek shivered again, "Please Cara. I'm freezing."

"Do you want to borrow my coat?"

"No. You'd be freezing then. Let's just place this last sensor and get back"

They boarded the small snow vehicle, and rode across the frozen wastelands towards one of the forests of Fortuna.

Fortuna was not completely an ice world. The local plant and animal life had been able to adapt to the ice age the planet was going through. At this time of Fortuna's year cycle, the long winter reached its peak. Snow storms were almost unending, and there were few days when the squad could actually acomplish anything outside of the base.

Derrek looked down as he heard an electronic beep from the snow vehicles control panel. By the time he had figured out what the problem was, then engine had stopped, and the snowmobile came to a stop.

Derrek cursed and banged on the console. The machine did not respond, but it continued to flash the warning.

"What happened?" Cara asked as she peeked around Derrek's body

The human stood and opened the vehicle's hood. He reached in, then drew back his hand and waved it in the air before sticking it into the snow, "That's ironic. The coolant froze so the engine overheated in this forzen world." Derrek took his finger out of the snow, "We walk from here."

Cara got off of the vehicle and opened the trunk, she handed Derrek one of the emergancy backpacks, "Can we still make it."

Derrek strapped the backpack over his shoulders, and looked towards the distant base, then towards the north forest which was about a kilometer away, "Probably. We've got time, and I hate to start something and not finish it."

"I know what you mean."

The two figures walked across the frozen terrain, and soon arrived at the forest. The evergreen woodland somehow looked warmer than the open plains behind them. Derrek reached out and touched the bark of one of the large trees, "Almost like the redwoods. So many things like..." He stopped as he noticed Cara's ears straighten. She tilted her head to one side, ears flicking slightly, "Cara?"

"Shhh." She listened intently again, ears twiching. Then looked skyward, "I hear something. Unatural."

Derrek also looked towards the sky. He listened for the sound that Cara was hearing clearly. He then caught it. A faint, high pitched buzzing, "Sounds like some sort of small air craft. High pitched. That means its..."

The squad of Venomian Invader II class fighter screamed over their heads. They were directly on course for the Fortuna base.

"They flew low so they wern't detected." Cara shouted

She watched as the craft opened fire. The base's techs must have been alert because a blue aura sorrunded the base blocking the bolts of energy.

"We've got to keep out of sight," Derrek grabbed Cara's arm and ushered her towards the forest.

* * *

Will Martin shook his head, "I really hate this ice cube. When are we going to leave?"

Commander Rackon took one sip from his mug before looking up, "Is it really that cold for you Martin?"

"I don't have as much fur as you guys. Besides. Fortuna is allways cold."

"You complain too much." Sonya Farrel said. She ran a comb through her tail trying to straighten out the hairs, "Is just a little chilly."

"A little chilly. My tail's almost got frostbite. You're a husky. You wouldn't know what cold was if it froze you stiff."

"You do not hear Derrek complaining this much." Marcus added, "He has no fur whatsoever."

"Hah." Will pointed towards the well spoken canine, "You're a malamute. You can probably take the cold better than even Sonya can."

Marcus selfconsciously ran his paw through his black and white fur.

"I really don't know how Derrek does it anyhow." Will reached down to pick up his own cup of coffee, "Frankly, I'll be glad when..."

The cougar was interupted by the scramble alarms. The team rushed towards the hanger without a second thought. The sound of laser fire outside was muffled by the bases thick walls.

Commander Rackon checked a wall terminal before strapping on his headset, "We've got a small problem people. There are several Venomian Invader II fighters, and their motherships on approach." The commander then paused, "We're evacuating immedietly."

Everyone stared in shock. Marcus was the only one to speak, "Derrek and Cara are still out there sir."

"Where?"

"Near the north forset by now. Sir. We can't..."

"We have to leave them. We have no choice."

Will stepped forward, "Sir. I volunteer to stay behind and find them."

Rackon shook his head, "Absolutely not. I need you to help defend the transports."

Will shook his head, "Sir. I can't..."

The commander stepped closer to the cougar, "You will obey orders Leiutenant Martin. I know what happened to you before, but we have a duty to Corneria as they do. Understood?"

Will paused. He understood, but he did not like it, "Yes sir."

Rackon turned to the rest of the squad, "All right people. We've got only ten minutes before that shield gives out, and only fifteen before a mothership arrives. I want you in here in five. Go."

* * *

"There." Derrek gestured towards the shapes moving out of the hanger, "They finally launched."

Cara raised a pair of macrobinoculars to her eyes, "Shrike squadron, and some transports. They're evacuating."

Derrek looked towards the base in confusion, "Why?" He looked towards the sky, and saw why, "Oh damn."

A huge craft loomed over the horizon. It was a circular Venomian Invasion Mothership. The craft had been informally nicknamed the Basekiller by Cornerian pilots. It's primary weapon could level a square kilometer of terrain, and anything within that square kilometer.

"There must have been things like that all over Terra." Derrek mused

Care followed his gaze towards the mothership, "Damn. Now what."

"We wait. A few hours after they take the base they'll probably get lazy, then we can get in and get our ships. They'll think we had left on a transport. At least I hope they think that."

"Did they train you for anything like this on Terra?"

The human nodded, "Yeah, but a hundred simulations can't prepare you for the real thing." Derrek watched as the transports and Arwings shot skyward, reluctantly leaving two companions behind.

* * *

Cara Wayland raised her standard issue blaster, and rounded the next corner. This side of the base was clear of Venomians as well. She turned to face the figure behind her, "All clear."

Derrek turned from covering the way they had just come, and walked in front. He ben down and puched a few keys on the next door panel on the outside of the base while Cara covered him.

"This one doesn't work either." The human shook his head and stood, "For just a few Venomians they sure disabled this place fast. Where are they?"

"Behind you human. Put your armsss in the air."

Derrek cursed and did as he was told. He nodded towards Cara, who could not see the Venomian behind Derrek, "He's probably got a blaster pointed at my back Cara."

Cara lowered her weapon and tossed it behind Derrek. It clattered to the floor, and she heard a set of boots move forward to pick the weapon up.

"You. Take the human'sss weapon out, and toss it to me."

Cara took Derrek's antique firearm from its holster, and tossed it in the same direction as her blaster.

"Turn around ssslowly Terran. The Cornerian will step to the left. Alssso sslowly."

Derrek turned slowly as instructed, "Where are all your buddies?"

The Venomian lizard made a gesture with one claw, "You managed to elude them for a short time." The lizard turned to Cara and looked her over, "It seems I've found two interesssting prisssonersss. The human that Commander Kssslath has been sssearch for, and this creature." The lizard stepped closer to Cara.

Derrek stepped between the advancing Venomian and Cara, "Hands off her Venomian."

The lizard chuckled, "You ssseem to forget, human, that I hold the blaster. I get what I want."

Derrek looked past the Venomian, "Your commander will probably disagree."

The lizard whirled, expecting to see his commanding officer. Ksslath was not there, and he felt the impact of the humans hands on the back of his neck a second later. He was stunned, but was able to lash out with his tail, and trip the human. Derrek fell on his face, and the Venomian turrned to fire, but Cara rammed into him with her shoulder. Derrek rose and crashed into the lizard. He grabbed at his enemie's gunarm with one hand. The Venomian grabbed the human's throat with his free hand. The two rolled over the ferrocrete, struggling for control of the blaster. Derrek felt the claws sinking into his flesh. The world became black around the edges. The Venomian kept them moving, knowing that Cara, who had just picked up her blaster, could get a good shot in if they were still. Derrek noticed his pistol in one of these movements. He reached out for it when they had come to a stop. He strained his arm, and grabbed the weapon. In the same motion he stuck it under the Venomian's chin and fired.

Derrek screamed as he felt an intense burning pain in his right leg. He discovered that the Venomian had brought his blaster towards his leg, and had squeesed the trigger in reflex. He tossed the lizard's body aside and rushed for the snow. He fell into it and began to cover the blaster burn with the snow. Cara ran to his side.

"Go. They'll have heard the shot, and my scream." Derrek ordered, his voice filled with the pain he was feeling.

Cara grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet, "I'm not leaving you." She supported his right side, and the two began to run across the forzen plains back towards the north forest. The snow that had began around nightfall had become harder. They heard the sound of the bases klaxons behind them. Derrek stumbled as the pain in his leg began to increase. He let go of Cara and fell to the ground, "You're being slowed down. They'll be out here soon. Run. You have a chance."

Cara grabbed his arm and forced him to move again, "It would be a waste to have you die. The team wouldn't be the same."

"It would be a waste if we both die!" Derrek began to loosen his grip again.

"If you let go I'll drag you." Cara threatened.

Derrek cursed, and tried to move as fast as he could, "Damn you Cara. You had a chance."

"We both still do. Keep moving."

They soon were at the outskirts of the large forest. Behind them the heard the hissing shouts of their Venomian pursuers. The trees loomed far over their heads, and the entrance was much darker than the dark, snow covered wastelands behind them. They entered the forest and began to search for a possible hiding spot. Cara spotted a cave near a cliff edge, and they entered it.

Cara propped Derrek up against the Cave wall, "I knew we'd make it."

Derrek winced as the adrenalin left him, and he felt the pain set in once again, "Barely. Cara. Don't take risks like that."

Cara did not answer, but she put one finger up to her mouth for silence.

They waited near the entrance for a few seconds, and soon they heard the footsteps of Venomian soldiers as they stood directly over the cave entrance. Derrek guessed that from their perspective they could not see the cave at all.

"We detect no life formss around this area ssir." One said

"What do you mean?" The group leader asked, "They didn't jusst disssapear."

"I can not exssplain it ssir. It cannot even detect uss."

There was a brief pause, "Forget them then. We shall let them freeze. Thiss planet shall take care of them for uss."

The two sighed as the footsteps began to receed. Soon they became to quiet to be heard over the storm that was beginning to grow stronger.

Derrek produced a flashlight from his coat and began to sweep it across the cave. Before he had made a complete circut of the walls, he heard a low growl. He had initally mistaken it for rolling thunder, but then he realized that it was a snow storm outside, not a thunder storm. He focused the light on its source, and saw a grey wolf staring back at him menicingly with teeth bared.

"Ancestors of yours?" Derrek said as he leveled his weapon.

"Maybe distant cousins." Cara put a hand on his weapon, then stepped towards the wolf with one paw extended. The animal sniffed it, then gave Cara a quizical look before retreating towards the back of the cave. Derrek followed it with the light. He now saw another wolf, and several cubs lying next to it.

"I see. A protective father..ah!" Derrek winced and collapsed against the cave wall.

Cara ran to his side and helped him towards the back of the cave. She sat him down against a rock, "Let me see it."

Derrek nodded and braced himself. He pulled at his pantleg up, peeling away the burnt fibers near the wound.

Cara examinded it, "That's pretty bad. I'm afraid we don't have any anesthetics." She rose and began to gather rocks. After laying them in a circle near the injured human, she reset her blasters power and fired. She hit each rock sequentually until they all glowed a dull red, "The best thing to do is to keep you warm."

Derrek gestured towards the outside of the cave where the storm was still gaining strenght, "That may be a little difficult. And don't waste power on those rocks. We've got to try again tomorrow. If we survive the night." He looked towards the wolves, "So why didn't he attack? I would have thought you'd be considered an intruder as well."

Cara shruged, "I guess there is still a tie between us and our ancestors. Maybe something that lets them accept us as friends instead of enemies."

Derrek reached into one pocket and removed an emergancy ration. He pealed away the foil wrapping, and bit off one end of the nutrient bar. He looked at it for a bit, then over at the wolf family. He unwrapped the rest of the bar, and tossed it over towards the male wolf. The wolf jumped back, but then inspected the bar. He finally decided it was food, and picked it up with his jaws and brought it over to his mate.

"Why did you do that?" Cara asked

The human shruged, "We've got to try to get back there tomorrow. These rations will be useless. We've got only one more try. There's a good chance we'll get shot trying to get our ships. He and his family, however, will continue living in this place. I'm just giving them a better chance."

Cara began to search throught the emergancy supplies, "We've only got my pack. You lost yours when you fought with that Venomian." She looked up at the human, "Why did you attack then? Why not wait till later?"

Derrek shruged, "It was the best time. I didn't want him to do anything to you."

"Oh." Cara looked back through her supplies, "Well. There's only one thermal sheet, and two of us."

Derrek gestured towards the Cornerian, "You use it. I'm warm enough with this fire, and at the moment my leg is very warm."

Cara shook his head, "You'd freeze. You're allways passing these things up. Remember? The fur thing."

Derrek chuckled, "Or the lack thereof. You wouldn't last long without that either Cara. Those wolves have evolved to withstand these freezing nights. You haven't."

Cara looked over the blanket. She measured it's size, then looked back up at Derrek, "There is another option." She walked over to the injured human, and sat down beside him. She activated the thermal blanket, and threw it over the both of them. Derrek winced as Cara's leg bumped his.

"Sorry." She apologized, "But the body heat, blanket, and our coats should keep us warm enough."

Derrek nodded. He raised his right arm so Cara could rest her back against the rock. He kept it up, not knowing where to put it. Finally, he let it fall around Cara's shoulder.

Cara did not move. She lay back against his arm and closed her eyes, "What were those National Parks like?"

"What?" Derrek asked

"The parks your father took you to on Terra. You told the squad basically what they were, but what were they like?"

Derrek chuckled, "There's a lot to tell."

"We've got a lot of time." She reminded him.

Derrek nodded, "All right, but you have to tell me about similar places on Corneria."

"Agreed."

Derrek sighed, rested against the rock, and began to conjure up memories of his homeworld.

* * *

Sevron Ksslath turned to face the search party commander. The leiutenant and his men saluted,

"Ssir. We were unable to locate the Cornerian or the Terran."

Ksslath walked closer, "Do you know why?"

The lizard nodded, "One of them changed thier own ssenssor unit near the foresst to jam ourss."

"Incorrect." Ksslath pulled his blaster from its holster and fired. The leiutenant fell grabbing at his leg, "You are inept. That iss why you did not find them." Ksslath shot at the other leg at a slightly higher power setting, "Ineptitude iss unaccseptable in the Venomian Empire." Ksslath fired again at an even higher setting. The lizard grabbed at his arm, "Ineptitude is unaccseptable to me. You did not try, and sso you failed." The next shot severed the lizards other hand from his arm, "And there iss a heavy pricsse for ssuch failure." The final shot, at the wepon's maximum power setting disintegrated the doomed Venomian, slowly. After a few seconds, there was little remaining of the leiutenant.

Ksslath then adressed the other two Venomians, "Forget about the human and the Cornerian. They shall be delt with. Make preparationss, and remove that." He gestured towards the smoldering remains.

The Venomians saluted, and began to remove the remains as fast as they possibly could.

"Was that really necessary?"

Ksslath turned towards the voices source, "Iss your sstomach becoming weak Commander O'donnel?"

Wolf O'donnel shook his head, "Not really, but its a waste to throw away a good soldier."

Ksslath gestured towards the point where the leiutenant had been, "That wass not a good ssoldier. Therefore it wass not a wasste. I shall disscipline my ssoldierss my own way. You may disscipline yourss ass you ssee fit."

O'donnel only nodded. He turned to look out the window, and at Solar as it began it's climb across Fortuna's sky, "What about the human and this Cornerian?"

Ksslath also gazed out at the snowy plains, "Derrek Maxsswell and Cara Wayland shall either have died from the cold, or will ssoon..."

Wolf whirled towards the lizard, "Cara Wayland. She's here?"

Ksslath turned slowly to face the wolf, "Yess. Did you know her?"

The Cornerian traitor nodded, "I met her in the academy. She and I were together for a while, but she decided to split up."

"How sseriouss were your feelingss towardss her?"

Wolf gave the lizard an angry stare with his only good eye, "Do you expect me to answer that?"

The Venomian became ten times more formidable than Wolf expected as he looked back, "Yesss I do."

O'donnel paused, "We were just going out every now and then. Nothing really serious."

"Yet you loved her?"

O'donnel sighed, "Yes, yes. I loved her. Why the hell are you asking me this?"

The Venomian turned away and began to stare out the window again, "I need to know where your loyaltiess lie Commander O'donnel. With Venom, or a female that left you, fightss for Corneria, our enemy," Ksslath turned back to face the wolf, "And for all we know, now caress for the human."

O'donnel was filled with a black rage, "Are your sure of that."

"No. Yet my ssoldierss sspotted her dragging the human towardsss the north forest. They barely esscaped my ssoldierss asss it is. I'm sure the human would not have wanted a comrade to worry about him and to ssave him or herself. I have sseen this first hand in thiss race. Very much like Cornerianss."

Wolf clinched his paws into fists. Ksslath saw this. Good, he though, He's anger can be used in battle. "We have all been hurt by thiss war Commander, and we are given the duty to sseek revenge against those that have wronged us. Come. Let us make our preparationss."

* * *

Derrek awoke. He felt disoriented and thought, for a brief second, that he was on the hiking trip in Alaska with his father. Everything soon came back to him however. He felt a pressure against his chest, and he looked down. Cara had fallen asleap with her head and arm resting across his chest. He thought of waking her, then decided to wait. He thought of the many things they had shared about both their homeworlds. The similarities, and diffrences. This alien, yet almost human culture facinated Derrek. He knew they would probably accept his presance in time. He only hoped his world would do the same when it was liberated.

He finally reached down and nudged the Cornerian, "Cara. Wake up."

Cara groaned and opened her eyes, "What?"

"We're still stuck on this ice cube, and there's a bunch of lizards standing between us and freedom."

Cara chuckled, "Oh. Is that all?" She then discovered where she was, "I'm sorry." She began to get up.

"About what?"

Cara stopped.

"We've got a few minutes before the warmest time of day. We can get going then."

Cara nodded, and layed back against the human. She chuckled again, "I'd never thought anything like this would happen."

Derrek nodded, "That goes for the both of us. Me, a human, from a planet twenty thousand light years away..." He trailed off as if stunned with what he almost said. He looked down at Cara.

Cara looked right back at him, "And me, a Cornerian canine, from a world twenty thousand light years away from your homeworld, in love with a shy, but couragous and determined human."

Derrek smiled, "That's what I ment, but visa versa. You sure are expressive of your feelings."

Cara reached up with one paw and carresed his face, "Your're a lot like O'donnel before he changed."

Derrek gave the Cornerian a quizical look, "O'donnel? Was he that Wolf guy you mentioned last night?"

Cara nodded, "He was a nice guy, but he got into a lot of fights, and became a mercinary for Venom. Not the kind of person I wanted to be around. Were you ever close to anyone?"

Derrek sighed, "Once. Her name was Mellisa. I think I told you about her, or you had fallen asleep allready. She was a lot like you. Tough, yet caring. She died when the Venomians attacked the Ragnarok. That of course was three years ago." He bent closer to Cara, "I love you too Cara Wayland." He kissed her on her short muzzle. When he pulled away, Cara looked at him a little oddly.

"Is that what Terran's do?"

Derrek nodded and smiled, "How do you Cornerian's do it?"

Cara smiled and bent towards him, "Not to diffrent." She rubbed the front left side of her mussle slightly against his cheek, and kissed him. It was slightly diffrent, but the meaning was there.

"I see. Maybe we can both learn together. Let's go and get our ships first though."

Cara nodded and stood. Derrek winced as Cara helped him to his feet. He stedied himself against a rock, and checked his weapon. He cocked it, and put it in his holster, "Let's go."

Derrek looked one last time at the wolf family, then limped out of the cave.

Their trek throught the forest was short. Derrek's leg, although it still hurt, was not as bad as the night before. As they made their way to the forest's edge, Cara's ears twitched, "I heard something. A high pitched engine."

"Venomians." Derrek grunted, "Probably a patrol. I guess we'll have to wait a little longer."

Cara shook her head, "No. It's too high pitched for a Invader II. It has to be something else. And there's a few lower pitched engines."

They reached the forests edge, and now saw the source of the noise. There, flying around the base, were eight ships. Four Venomian ships, and four Arwing II class fighters.

"Arwing II's." Derrek said, "It's not our group then."

Cara pulled on his arm, "They'll provide a diversion at any rate. Come on."

The two figures made their way across the frozen plains.

* * *

Wolf fired again. His shots struck the Arwing's right wing, but the craft's shields protected it from damage. The Arwing suddenly accelerated, and sumersaulted. Wolf looked around, but could not spot the craft. Then a warning light went off just before his ship was rocked by his enemies lasers.

Leon Pawalski, his lizard wingman, cursed over the comm, "Wolf. They are too strong. I think it best we retreat. They only have five minutes left at any rate. Let them try to stop the bomb."

Wolf knew Leon was probably right, but he wanted to beat Fox himslef. He wanted to kill him in battle, not just have him die from some bomb, but either way Fox would be the loser today, "Right. Break contact and head back to base." He switched the comm, "Look's like we win today, Fox."

* * *

Fox watched as the Wolfen class starfighters began their climb through the atmosphere of Fortuna.

"Rob. How long till that bomb goes off."

"Four minutes till explosion." The robot announced in his cliped mechanical tone.

Fox considered the risk for only a brief second, "Falco, Slippy, Peppy. Break off and head back for the Great Fox. I'll take care of the bomb now."

"Fox." Falco objected, "You can't be serious. Get your ass back here."

"I'm ordering you off Falco. Get moving."

"Fox!" Falco began, but another voice interupted him.

"Get back up to the Great Fox now Falco. Your boss just gave you an order."

"Yeah. Sure Peppy."

The hare adressed his leader, "Be careful Fox."

The three other Arwings pointed themselves skywards, and shot off through the clouds. Fox slowed his ship down, and he entered the base's hanger.

When he set down, he noticed two figures near one end of the hanger. One whirled to face the incoming craft. He began to raise an archaic weapon, but he recognized the craft, and Fox himself.

Fox opened his cockpit canopy, and he jumped over his craft's side.

"Fox?"

"Derrek? Is that you?" Fox asked.

Derrek limped over to greet his old friend. Despite the pain, and the immediate danger, he allowed himself a small smile, "I'm the only human in C.D.F. Fox. Of course it's me."

Fox looked the human up and down, "You look terrible."

"I feel terrible, but we've got a bigger problem." Derrek lead him over to the bomb. "Cara here was able to get a good enough guess as to how to disarm the thing."

"Glad to meet you Cara."

Cara only glanced his way briefly, "Glad to meet you too Commander McCloud. Sorry. I'm a little busy."

Fox and Derrek bent over the cylindrical device. Cara pointed towards the open panel, and the mess of wires inside, "There are three wires that need to be cut, simultaniously." She pointed to two other panels, "Unfortunately they're in those panels."

"What do you mean unfortunately?" Fox asked

"There can be no more than a tenth second delay. I can't reach the other two. We three have to cut them, and if one of us is off by that much.."

Derrek bent down at one end, and opened the panel. Cara handed him and Fox a pair of wire cutters. Derrek looked through the mess of wires, "Which one do I cut?"

Cara pointed at Fox, "Fox. You cut the blue wire connecting to that small silver box." she pointed to Derrek, "And Derrek, you cut the green wire next to the black cylindar."

Derrek nodded.

Cara moved a few wires aside and selected one wire from the fray, "I'll cut this white one."

"Blue, white, and green." Derrek mused, "The colors of the U.S.E.F." He put the wire between the blades of the cutter. His heart began to pound in his chest, "How do we do this? One...two...three, and cut on three, or one...two...three, and cut the second after."

Fox thought for only a second, "One...two...three, then cut a second later. Timing is a big thing here."

Derrek turned to Cara, "Ready?"

Cara swallowed and nodded.

Derrek wiped the sweat from his brow, then began to say a Cornerian prayer, "D'gresta nasta morath narn..."

Cara joined in. Fox tried to remember the words. Then he remembered the time his father had taught him those very words to say in a time of trouble, "N'asnath shtara K'lanth medem shtah."

Derrek breathed deeply, and began, "One...two...three..."

They cut the wires.

Derrek realized, after a few seconds, that they were still there. He sighed and released his tight grip on the wire cutters. Cara and fox also dropped theirs.

Cara rushed into Derrek's arms. Derrek enfolded her in a warm embrace. Fox grinned.

"It seems your becoming less alien to us all the time Derrek."

Derrek looked at Cara, then released her, "Yeah. A few more months and I'll be a full fledged Cornerian." He winced as the pain in his leg returned. He collapsed to the deck. Fox ran over and, with Cara's help, hauled the injured human to his feet.

"Can you fly?" Fox asked

Derrek nodded, "I think so. You have a ship up there?"

"The Great Fox. You'll see a few friends up there too."

The three walked, or limped over to their vessels.

***********************************************************************

Author's notes:

And that is chapter four. One more to go.

Where did I get that title name? It's from Carl Orff's opera Carmina Burana. O Fortuna is latin for O Fortune. Since some of this chapter took place on Fortuna, I decided to name it that.

I apologize again for yet another grevious error on my part, I spelled Corneria, Cornaria. I can't believe I did that. Oh well. I have fixed the problem, and I am getting out of the habit of spelling it that way.

Da Svidonia

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