When last we left our heroes, they had successfully thwarted certain death, but were now faced with a more certain death than had previously been faced...

As his crew stood gaping open mouthed at their doom, Reed sprung into action.  He grabbed and bodily threw Lt. Scott through the hold and into the flight deck.  Mr. Jeffy,  likewise, pushed the still dazed Sgt. Stauch through the portal, and Proteau followed, scooping up the damaged Spunky as he went.

Once his troops were safely inside the docking bay, Reed slammed his meaty fist against the door control pad, sealing off the bulkhead, and separating them from the spreading void.  Knowing the hull's integrity had been breached, Reed ordered his crew to their pods.

As Reed secured himself into his vessel, the hull began to collapse.  He waited until his fellow crewmen had cleared the ship, then set his thrusters for full power launching himself into the dark abyss, narrowly escaping as the frigate folded in upon itself.  Once safely in the vast ocean of stars, Reed opened the com-link to the other pods.  "Landing pods check in!", he ordered.

"Red five checking in", replied Mr. Jeffy.

"Your call sign is 'Pod Four', Mr. Jeffy", corrected Reed.

"Roger, Rogue Leader...Over and out."

Reed sighed.  "Mr. Jeffy,  your radio privileges are hereby revoked."

After the other pods had checked in, Reed activated the retrieval beacon and settled in for the wait.  He must have fallen asleep, as the next thing he knew his ship was caught up in the USS Escort's powerful "Suck Beam", and was drawing near the docking hangar.  Suddenly laser fire began to lash out from beyond the now collapsed frigate and caught Lt. Scott's ship with a glancing blow sending it hurtling into space.

"Number Two...Come in Number Two...", Reed tried desperately to contact his young protege', but was unable to reach him.

"I am tracking his course, Commander", came the disturbingly calm voice of Mr. Schultz.  "We will retrieve him."

As the remnants of his party settled into the docking bay, Reed glimpsed the Wyzenhymer long range destroyer that had sent Lt. Scott plummeting through the dark abyss.  Unbuckling himself he began to make his way toward the conn,  ordering Mr. Schultz to return fire on the advancing destroyer.

Though the Wyzenhymer technology was quite advanced, their knowledge of tactics was far inferior to those of Space Fleet's highly trained officers.  Thus, the battle was short and relatively uneventful once the thrust of the surprise attack had been parried.  Reed witnessed the Wyzenhymer destroyers demise as he entered the bridge.

"All stations, report damage", Reed barked.

When none was reported, Reed turned to Schultz, "Do you still have a lock on Number Two's position?"

Schultz hesitated, "Affirmative sir, however..."

"However...what?"