^_^

	Rieekann took of the headphones, and ran his hand
through his hair. He let out a deep breath, and relaxed.
Peers walked up to him. Rieekann feared the worst.
	"It's been a pleasure working with you, Rieekann.
Good work." Rieekann nearly fell out of his seat.

	It was night on the dirt planet of Miaka when Peers
arrived at the Military Academy. It was raining hard, and
the roads were a mess. Peers took out his key, and
inserted it into the keyhole of his house, and then
turned the knob. He was nearly broadsided by a broom,
only to discover that it was the janitor.
	"Sorry, John," Peers apologized, and he departed.

	Peers walked down the dim hall to the central
computer. He keyed in his access code and sat down on a
chair. He told the computer to search for anyone that had
been looking for designs to the HyperDrive. The computer
shot back one name. Rita TJaden.

	Rita herself was in the building, her long, thick
black hair blended into the shadows of the walls. She
peered around the corner, and saw Peers on the computer.
Her first instinct was to shoot the man, but that would
wake every person in the whole building. So she just
lurked in the shadows, keeping her mouth shut, and her
eyes open.

	Peers glanced at his watch. It read eleven thirty.
He still had some time left, so he searched for the
password used by Rita to get into the computer. It just
shot back, 'Access Denied'. Disgruntled, Peers shut the
computer down, and left. He went out the door, and locked
it. He then could have sworn that he heard a footstep as
he shut it.

	Rita turned the computer back on. Three of the six
disks she had been issued by the Headquarters for
Maintaining Peace on Earth  were full of data, and she
couldn't leave until she had the schematics of the
HyperDrive, or something else that would be of good use
to her. She keyed in her password, and quickly inserted
her disk. Fortunately for her, she was right in the same
place she was the night before, so there was no searching
for any kind of data. She quickly downloaded the data
onto her disk. Turning off the monitor, and slinking back
into the dark to avoid being seen, she waited for the
computer to finish downloading the information.

	Peers suddenly realized that he had forgotten his
disk at the computer. Unlocking the door, he walked back
in, and shut it behind him. Pocketing his keys, he walked
down to the computer, cursing himself for being so
careless. He got his disk, only to realize that the
computer was still on! There was a disk in the drive, but
he considered the facts. Either he must have forgotten to
turn it off, or the girl, Rita TJaden was lurking
somewhere nearby. He pulled his gun from his holster. He
began to walk down the corridor, searching each room.

	Rita hid in an old, dusty closet, covered by
blankets, lying still. She heard Peers walk into the
room, and open the door. She held her breath as time
seemed to stand still. She heard the door close, and the
one leading to the corridor. Only then did she let her
breath out. Her heart was beating two thousand beats per
second. She slicked out of the closet, got her disk and
clawled back into her place. She relaxed, and fell asleep
for an hour.

	Peers was baffled. Maybe the person whom I'm looking
for left the building, he thought, as he sighed. He left
the building, and locked the door behind him. In the
closet, Rita smiled. She had the disks, the data. Now all
she had to do was wait for the transport the next
morning, while being as inconspicuous as possible. 

	The more Peers thought about it, the more he was
convinced that the person who was doing the data stealing
was a mastermind at it, and wouldn't be likely to make
any mistakes. Although he knew that the girl might be
gone before the sun came up, or could be driving home, he
knew that she was part of Earth's spy network. I'm
convinced of that, I think, he thought.

	Rita got up off the dirty floor, and crawled into
her little hideaway, which kept her hidden from most
people, except the janitor. She opened her knapsack, and
quietly ate some of the disgusting food that she had
brought along. Morning was coming, and she was happy to
be going home.

	It was morning on Miaka, and there were quite a few
people on the roads helping clear the mud from last
night's rainstorm. That was the downside of the dirt
planet: when it rained, it poured. Most people, however,
had their big tank vehicles stuck in the mud. One person
even forgot to put his top up on his speeder, and
therefore had it full of water.

	Peers drove the Bonaparte, an armoured tank that was
capable of driving through the worst conditions. Fully
armed and loaded, he took the massive ten ton thing into
a parking space near the Military Headquarters, and got
out. scratching his head about how to get to the other
side of the mud lake that separated the Bonaparte from
the rest of the cars parked near him. He walked around
the lake, but by the time he had gotten inside, his feet
were not only soaked, but covered by a thick layer of
mud. It was unfortunate for Peers, because he was going
to show off his new shoes.

	Peers walked to the President's office, and rapped
sharply on the door. 
	"Come in," came a raspy voice. Peers entered. The
President's chair was turned, so that Peers couldn't see
his recipricant.
	"Morning, Peers," the President said, in a voice
that told him that he knew everything.
	"Sir," Peers said. "I was here last night. I have
found the name of the person who is taking the data."
	"Oh, please do go on," the President beckoned,
swiveling his chair around.
	"The girl's name is Rita TJaden," Peers relied.
	"Doesn't sound like a Earthen name," the President
cautioned.
	"What does it sound like?" The President's eyes bore
into Peers as he spoke.
	"Kraakatorann." Peers was baffled.
	"But the Kraakatoranns are a primitive group, except
for the old remnants of The Southern Quadrant Military,"
Peers defended.
	"Yes, but there are that few that support the
pitiful Earthlings, and are sympathizers for them. I want
this girl found immediately."
	"Yes, Mr. President," Peers replied, walking out the
door.

	Peers yelled to the officer in post of the Military
Academy, "we have a girl named Rita TJaden who has
escaped with plans vital to our secrecy with the
HyperDrive!"
	"Sir, what should I do?," the officer asked. "Should
I put a grand scale party in charge to find her?"
	"Do just that. Have them scour every part of the
Military Building, down to the square inch. Understood?"
	"Yes, sir. I'll get on that immediately." He punched
in an authorization code, and called the fifteenth
division to find the girl. Peers debriefed them.

	"I want half of this team to stay at the airfield
and check for all ID on every girl that walks by. Even
old women," Peers said.
	"What will the other half do?," one eager trooper
asked.
	"I'll get to that. For the half that will be
stationed at the air field, all unauthorized craft
entering and leaving must be checked, along with the
regular patrols. We cannot let this girl escape."
	"What's so special about this girl whom we must
capture?," another trooper asked.
	"We believe that she has plans to the HyperDrive.
That is all we can say," Peers replied.
	"How do we know this is not a drill?," asked the
eager trooper, who was clearly looking for adventure.
	"I was in the Academy last night," Peers stated,
"and I found the girl's name. Rita TJaden, and she has
almost all the information, if not all of it."
	"So we check for ID, and if we see someone named
Rita TJaden, then we bring her in."
	"Correct."
	"What if she gives any resistance?," asked another
trooper in the back.
	"Shoot her in the heart with the low blast. She'll
die slowly, and that will buy us enough time to
interrogate her. She'll weaken fast at first when you hit
her, but bring her in anyway. Understood?"
	"Yes, but one thing doesn't make sense. She'll
probably fight us with her own blaster."
	"Correct. Make everything seem normal. Put the gun
in her back, around the heart area, and tell her to give
you her ID. If she starts to grab her blaster, pull the
trigger. Fire only once, that will be enough to shatter
her heart."
	"All right."
	"Now, for the other half, I will be assigning you to
the Military academy. No one goes in, no one goes out
without ID. Simple. Then there will be a few of you that
will be on patrol for each room. Search everywhere.
Understood?"
	"Yes," came the reply. 
	"All right, then move out. Those in the back three
rows, go to the Military academy. Those in the front
rows, the Airport. Move em' out," Peers yelled, over the
commotion.

	Rita knew that she would be flagged down. All the
patrols were stopping every lady, old woman, and small
girl in the street. So, she thought, they have taken into
consideration that a fourteen- year- old could be held
responsible for this. Peers is better than I thought. She
decided to hide in the shadows until her ship, the TJaden
Starfighter appeared, with her Father flying it.  She
glanced at her watch. She had almost fifteen minutes.

	The troopers walked down the hall to the rooms. When
they opened it, there was a bunch of girls there. The
trooper in charge stepped forward.
	"All right, I need ID," he said.  After each one
showed their ID, one of them caught his eye. The ID card
read, 'Ria Jaden' 
	"I'm sorry, you will have to come with me," the
trooper said.
	"Like hell," she said, pulling her blaster out of
her holster. The trooper fired a shot which struck her in
the chest. She was thrown back against the wall. She
glanced down at the place where she was shot, and stuck
her finger there to prevent all of her blood from pouring
out. She started to cry, for she was only twelve and she
was already dying. 
	"Good shot," commented one of the troopers.
	Unfortunately for Ria, blood was pumping out a hole
in her back in a steady waterfall of the crimson fluid,
and one of the girls tried to help her. However, they
knew the situation was pretty much helpless.
	"Let her go," the trooper said. The girls helping
Ria didn't move.
	"Inform Peers we have her," the trooper said. The
girl, Ria, was still alive thanks to her friends, but she
was very weak. With the last strength she had, she took
the gun in her hand, and took the guard that had shot her
by surprise by firing seven shots straight into him. The
guard buckled, fell on his knees, and then fell to the
floor, dead. As he fell, the blaster triggered, firing
several shots. The guard behind him glanced down only to
realize that blood was pouring out of him, too. As the
girls watched, the guard put the gun to his heart, and
pulled the trigger. He was dead before he hit the floor.
The girls were sprayed with a shower of blood, not that
they really cared, they were already covered with Ria's
blood, which they had managed to stop flowing out of her.
Changing her clothes, Ria felt a little better, but she
was weak, and felt cold.