Chapter Sixty-Nine
Even during this quiet time, North managed on
more than one occasion, to get hurt. Taking out a group of Officers on
a routine training mission in a scout, the scout's navigational
computer caught fire just as they were leaving the bay, and before they
could shut it down, the computer ignited the ship's system engine,
jamming the scout into the bay.
2 North and his companions were badly hurt, and trapped with the
malfunctioning engine that was building to an overload. Only the heroic
actions of a young Engineer who crawled into the wreck and disconnected
the fuel line, and Quantros' great strength, which he used
to pull open a hatch so they could cut through the hull to them,
managed to save the injured party.
3 Another time, North was attacked by a madman, mad at North because
his wife had borne North's child years before. This time, it was
North's Peepian Third Officer who saved him.
4 The Republic was in an uproar over the incident, and wanted the man
tried and executed, but to everyone's astonishment North refused to
allow charges, instead, had the man sent to a psychological hospital
where he spent the rest of his life as an out patient in the local
community.
5 It was one-hundred years before The Goddens finally made their move.
They began to complain that The Republic was cheating them on
everything and that on several occasions they had broken the treaty.
Morn denied this vehemently. The Goddens began to claim a system which
they had no right to, and suddenly sent in ships. The war was on again,
but The Republic was more than ready!
6 North had set up a sector defense. The Republic was split into ten
units that could react swiftly and independently, not having to wait
for orders from