The Twenty-Five Percent

Prologue

The ship darts out of its hiding place as the Predator ship approaches. It dodges and rolls, trying to simultaneously avoid the large asteroids and the Predator's lasers. At such high speeds of travel, dodging is always hard to do. Only the most experienced of pilots can pull off this tricky maneuver without crashing and killing everyone on board. It gets dangerously close to a large asteroid a few times, only to pull up at the last second. The pilot is hoping the much larger Predator ship won't be able to dodge as quickly, but unfortunately for the small ship, the Predator is every bit as agile as it is. The Predator gracefully dodges in, out, and around the asteroids and other debris firing its lasers as it goes. The lasers burst open asteroids, and space junk alike, barely missing the smaller ship.

The small ship had left a planet called Earth, a few days before and had successfully hidden amongst the flying debris not far away from the planet. The pilot and the passengers had thought they were safe. He had taken every precaution; life systems were turned down to the bare minimum needed to keep everyone conscious. All other systems, besides the navigation and life support, were turned off to prevent as much of an exhaust trail as possible. The small ship moved very slowly, sometimes staying in one place for several hours. They watched several Predator ships pass, dangerously close by their hiding spots, but pass they did. Eventually, their hiding spot was revealed, a mere twelve minutes from the safety offered in Condolian Space. They were almost safe, but now the chances of survival are slim to none.

But he had done his part and warned his passengers about the chances of survival. He made sure they understood that he made no guarantees that anyone would survive. Had he helped others to leave? Sure, but that didn't mean they would. He would not scare his fifteen passengers, by telling them they were all about to die. Instead, he would focus on the positive. He would give them some hope to cling to. Besides, their chances of survival, on the planet, were non-existent. If they were found fleeing, they would have been killed, instantly. No one is allowed to escape the clutches of the Ghemin and their laboratories.

The pilot would be well compensated if he survives this trip. And should he not survive, his family would get a large portion of credits, enough to take care of them for the rest of their lives. His wife knew the dangers, he warned her there was a chance he wouldn't come back. But he was passionate about helping those poor unfortunate souls on the strange planet called Earth. Unlike the Galatic Court System, he refused to leave them to their fates. Someone needs to try and save them.

In the distance, they could see the Condolian Fleet waiting to whisk them away to safety. But the brief window of safety slams shut as one of the Predator's lasers finds its mark. The small ship explodes in a ball of fire, small pieces of it hit the lead Condolian ship and disintegrates on impact with its shield. The Predator ship stops, inches from the Condolian line, almost as if it were considering an attack. It flies straight toward the lead Condolian ship but turns off at the last second. And then another ten Condolian ships show up. The Predator ship turns around and disappears back into its own territory. It has more important things to do, like hunting for more runaways.