General Panic

You are winding up a long, uneventful tour of duty as Guardsman First Class for the National Space Guard. You have had plenty of time to talk with friends from past tours. And you have certainly had your fill of 3-D crossword puzzles! There have been numerous distress calls, of course. But none has been for anything more serious than intersteller mischief - like those pranksters altering the field values in their ship's Gravitational Pull Accelerators. You have only four days left on this two-year tour, and you are counting the minutes. But, just as you settle in for a leisurely Sunday-afternoon nap, the alarm sounds.

As you and your fellow Guardsmen amble into the tactical preparation chambers, you are suprised to find the Fleet Admiral in charge of the briefing. You quickly rub the sleep out of your eyes as the Admiral begins to speak. "Gentlemen, at 1327 hours we received a distress signal from the c-rniser-class U.S. S. Techna." You glance at your watch to find it is

now 1402 hours. "The distress signal ended just seconds ago. This concerns us because, as you know, once the distress signal from a ship has been started, transmission will continue until the transponder has received three secret codes. In addition, no 'stand-down' transmissions have been received. This leads us to believe the spaceship Techna has been commandeered by terrorists.

"You see, the Techna was carrying a specially magnetized container filled with antimatter, which Earth needs for its power. It is of utmost importance that we stop the responsible party before they cause serious damage to civilian or government property. The misuse of this sample of antimatter could result in the destruction of nearly 50 percent of our space-based orbiting stations. I don't need to point out the gravity of these circumstances."

While listening intently to the Admiral, you notice a space fly has landed on your ear. The itching is driving you nuts! As fate would have it, you reach up to brush the fly away just as the CO asks for a volunteer to enter the Techna and secure the antimatter. The next thing you know, you are being jettisoned from your ship in a super-speed pod. It has been programmed with the necessary coordinates; a quick glance at the master clock shows you will arrive at the Techna in just under four hours and 26 minutes. Your only option is to accept the mission. You are not sure how much violence will be involved, but you have plenty of time to wonder if your life insurance premiums are up-to-date.