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and nudged the engines up to fifty percent power for five seconds before chopping the throttle and then shutting the engines down altogether. He was hoping the heat bloom from the short burn wouldn't be detected. Now they were just an inert piece of space junk floating towards the closer of the two asteroid belts in the Corran System. With any luck, the ships involved in the blockade would think their slip-space jump was completely out of the system and not come ranging out looking for them. It was a gamble, but once in open space the advantage would have shifted to the larger warships as the smaller Phoenix would have been hard pressed to keep their big guns at bay.
     
                  "Captain?" The shaky voice had emanated from the forward part of the bridge.
     
                  "Yes, Senator?"
     
                  "Would it be possible for me to take my family and sit down someplace comfortable? They've been through a lot and it seems everything up here is well in hand," Senator Vongaard asked respectfully, seeming overwhelmed by the events of the previous few hours.
     
                  "Of course. Doc?"
     
                  "Sir, if you'd please follow me I'll show you and your family to our galley and lounge area. It isn't much, but you can get something to drink and sit in a comfortable chair," Doc said as he rose from his seat, indicating towards the bridge exit with a flourish. The four Corranians filed out and Doc turned to follow, giving Jason a sideways smile as he did. Jason smiled as well; it was a rush to cheat certain death yet again. The crew is really coming together.
                  He got up out of the pilot's seat and made his way over to the sensor station Doc had only recently vacated to scan the surrounding space. While the passive sensors weren't great, it was better than nothing at all.
     
                  "I'm going to get something to eat," Crusher announced and stood to leave the bridge.
     
                  "Put your toys away first," Jason said, referring to the weaponry still hanging from various locations on the hulking warrior. Crusher gave him an unfriendly glare before clomping off the bridge towards the armory.
     
                  "You love pushing his buttons," Kage said, shaking his head with a smile.
     
                  "It's good for him," Jason replied. "With other people on board he'll eat in the armory anyway. He's still a little self-conscious about that." Crusher's diet tended to be rather bland; a simple lean protein and some sort of fiber or leafy green vegetable, often the same thing every day for weeks on end. But the shape of his blunted muzzle, coupled with his oversized teeth, made for some interesting noises and the occasional food projectile. He had grown comfortable around the rest of Omega Force, but when others were on board he either ate in his room or in the armory. While it was mildly amusing to see such a ferocious person be shy about something as mundane as eating, it also reminded him that the big guy was actually fairly sensitive under that terrifying exterior. "So... what do we think?"
     
                  "About the mission?" Kage asked.
     
                  "Yep."
     
                  "It went pretty well once we were on the ground. We seem to have gotten away clean. Well... so far at least," the smaller alien said. "Lucky?"
     
                  "It could have gone better, in my opinion," the battlesynth said, still standing by the bridge entrance.
     
                  "Care to elaborate?" Jason asked.
     
                  "It was unnecessarily complicated. The ruse with the CIS vehicle and you dressing as an agent... we could have simply snuck through the forest, infiltrated through the back wall, and been out before the Senator was noticed missing," Lucky said. The longer he