"It knocked out two of her larboard tubes. Twelve crewmen are missing. Either vaporized or possibly sucked out the hole made by the torpedo." "Damn," Commodore Blosset said. He had already lost mental count of the number of dead and wounded. The casualties were mounting too quickly. There were just too many damn Raider ships. "Perhaps it's time to consider another option, Commodore," Commander Schwann said weakly from his chair next to the Commodore, "while our temporal field generator is still intact." Commodore Blosset saw the desperation in his eyes, and heard the hint of fear in his voice. "You mean run away?" "We're as good as dead if we remain here, sir. Either the Raiders will kill us, or they'll enslave us, which means we might as well be dead. We still have a chance to get away if we go now. We have no chance of surviving if we remain here. They're killing us, bit by bit." "We took an oath to protect our client's property, even if it means we have to die trying." "We're supposed to die for a load of refuse that most people wouldn't hesitate to toss down the nearest waste disposal chute?
