Disclaimer: Schlock Mercenary and all related material is the property of Howard Taylor. Star Trek and all related material is the property of Paramount Pictures Inc. The plot, however, is mine. I will not make any material profit from this endeavor.

The mercenary company Tagon's Toughs, aboard the warship Touch-and-Go, was fleeing after a successful operation. The problem was that, for mercenaries, successful operations often incurred the wrath of local authorities. Such was the case in this instance. These chases were never pleasant, but there was always a chance of escape. All the fleeing ship had to do was evade capture and destruction until it reached the edge of the system's teraport interdiction zone, at which point a rapid series of random teraports rendered tracking impossible. From there it was just a matter of avoiding the system until things died down. Unfortunately, up to the point of exiting the interdicted area, the ship was open game.

Captain Tagon, leader of the company, was worried. They had had the element of surprise, but the cops had been quick to mobilize, and were now shooting at his ship. The ship shuddered, but before he could speak, Ennesby, the maraca-shaped AI floating nearby, reported.

"Sorry, Captain, but part of that last shot got through the shields. We've sustained moderate damage but the engines are fine."

"What's our ETA?" demanded Tagon.

"Just a couple minutes," replied Ennesby, "but TAG is damaged. He went offline to prevent data corruption."

"WHAT!?" Tagon exclaimed, and with good reason, for TAG was the AI that took care of ship operations like flight and weapons "How are we still moving?"

"I've linked my systems remotely with the ship's. I'm flying us now. We'll repair TAG when we fix everything else."

He paused, but before he could speak again, Kevyn Andreyasn, the Munitions Commander and resident mad scientist, burst onto the bridge.

"Captain, they're moving too fast!" he cried, referring to the pursuing vessels.

"I assume you have a plan." replied Tagon. It was not a question.

"Well, yes, but you won't like it." Kevyn answered, then proceeded to outline his plan.

"You were right. I don't like it, but I don't see any other choice. Do it." was the response.

Kevyn activated the code he had written before coming onto the bridge, and several things happened simultaneously. Half the ship's terapedos came online to provide additional acceleration. Another third activated and used their gravitic fields to act as inertial dampening fields, shielding the crew from getting crushed. The remainder of the terapedos launched. Silent commands went out to the powered armor worn by the crew, ordering each suit to power up, seal into an airtight, bulletproof space-capable suit, and activate inertial shields. Uninhabited sections of the ship decreased the acceleration shielding present there, shunting the energy into engines and additional counter-inertia fields.

From the perspective of the pursuing police, the ship's acceleration suddenly increased drastically. Their surprise was compounded when terapedos shot out of the shields and detonated. These missiles, however, were not intended to kill, but rather to propel. Following Newtonian physics, the expanding cloud of plasma and light slammed into the shields of the Touch-and-Go, adding to its velocity. Milliseconds later, the energy struck the incoming police vessels, momentarily slowing them.

The Touch-and-Go began vibrating rapidly, the tremendous inertial differences straining the ship to the limit. Just before it seemed to Tagon that the ship would rattle itself apart, it shot out of the interdiction zone and teraported away.

The Touch-and-Go began vibrating rapidly, the tremendous inertial differences straining the ship to the limit. Just before it seemed to Tagon that the ship would rattle itself apart, it shot out of the interdiction zone and teraported away.