Part One: The Big Heist (Story Of Mi“cio) The story began， not in a dusty western town as many original stories claim. No， but in all actuality， it took place on a planet base known as Mi“cio. Mi“cio was the largest base， with the meanest， toughest scum in all the galaxy. Nobody ever spoke of it， let alone think of it without shuddering. Planet base Mi“cio， in all of its history (which went back well over years) never was in a battle or war of any kind. Mi“cio kept itself hidden very carefully from all parts of the galaxy. Moving frequently， one was never sure where it might be at any given time. So how is it that this planet base， whom has never been involved in any questionable behavior， become an object of fear to all living beings? One word answer: unknown. In general， living beings fear what they do not know. The unknown. Mi“cio was classified as such. Nothing was really known of it， therefore it was considered dangerous to the greatest degree. All the stories they had concerning Mi“cio was indeed as titled: a story. People， over time， invented such tales to keep the fear in people strong. To prevent them from investigating. A very dangerous task indeed. You may wonder what all of this has to do with the story. If you truly wish to know the story， then you must be patient and allow me to tell it. First of all-well， let me take you back. Place: Mi“cio Time: Many years ago The Captain of Mi“cio lay in his personal quarters. His face was ghastly white， eyes closed， he lay very still. ‘Perhaps I am too late.’ His commanding officer thought， stress and pain colored his emotions. “No， not yet， Dem.” White lips gasped. ‘Dem’ looked down to find the Captain gazing up at him， making a very serious effort to smile. The words drained him of his already limited supply of energy. “Captain， everything has been done per your orders.” He reported. He pursed his lips， “Sir， please， nobody aboard wants you to die. Please reconsider having the treatment. You have been with us-“ Captain was already shaking his head slowly. With great effort he spoke， “No， Dem. My time…is now，” he gasped， “You have been…a great crew. Please…ease，” he coughed， “your mind.” “But sir， this needn’t happen! You can’t-“ Captain cut him off. “Dem， don’t. I must. You will be… the new Captain…now…” his voice faded away. His body made harsh jerking movements. Then he fell back relaxed， his expression cleared， his face peaceful. “No. Please God no.” Dem whispered. Emotion was too strong to allow him any volume. “No.” his eyes burned with tears unshed. Tears that never would fall. Dignity and pride demanded they didn’t. Tears may not fall， but that didn’t excuse the deep pain he felt in his heart. It felt like a jagged knife had been thrust into his heart and twisted. He felt sick to his stomach. A throat cleared behind him. He didn’t move. “Sir?” Dem closed his eyes for a moment， willing all emotion to disappear. When he was in better control he turned. “Report.” The man cleared his throat again， “Sir， members of the crew are awaiting orders. No one is sure what they are to be doing.” Dem took a few deep breathes before he answered. “Tell the crew that all are released from duties for the rest of the day. In respect and commemoration of the Captain’s death.” He spoke in a low， clear voice. Surprise registered on the other’s face. “Death， Sir?” Dem nodded， “Yes， he dies 6 minutes ago. We will have a dinner in his honor this evening. Dismissed. May you have peace.” He bowed his head. The man saluted， “Yes， sir.” He turned and went back to his post. They had the dinner that evening， of course. Every member of the crew was heartbroken over the Captain’s passing. Dem assumed position as the new Captain. Everything went on quietly for a long time. All were in a state of mourning.

Fourteen Months Passed Captain Dem lay in his personal quarters. He was alone， his face wrinkled in distress. He sighed， racking his brains to come up with a way， any way， to get Mi“cio and its crew out of this mess. Hundreds of lives were relying on him. Without a plan， those hundreds of lives would be cut off. Playmates， friends， workmates， and enemies. All gone. It was a heavy weight to bare. It was a difficult thing now， to believe that this was just a dry spell， that all would clear up soon. Because this time was different. It wouldn’t clear up. Not without a plan. A plan he didn’t have. He sighed again. They were broke. No money at all. But it was worse then that. They had no provisions left. His complaining stomach would attest to that. He knew they were dangerously low， had known it for several days. He had forewent his meals to enable somebody else to eat. No provisions， no money to buy more， and they were getting low on fuel. Soon， they would be stranded in cold， dark space， penniless， left to starve to death. A dire situation indeed. And every being aboard Mi“cio knew it. He had to find a way! Blast it! Those were people he loved! He had to save them! “If only I had known the financial problems of the Captain. I had no idea such problems existed.” He murmured to himself. But what could he have done if he had known? Nothing most likely. Nobody aboard had any personal cash， and even if he had， it wouldn’t have been nearly enough to save Mi“cio. Plans. He needed a plan. Frustrated and depressed， he switched on the radio.. The soothing melodies did nothing to sooth him. Now. Annoyed， he was about to flick it off when a voice on the radio caught his attention. It was distinctly female. Queen Maelynne. Most royal person this galaxy had. “I’ll bet she’s got plenty of food， fuel and money.” He muttered. He shook his head. Through all of this， stealing had never once considered as an option. Never. It was wrong. Period. Now， as he lay listening to the caressing tones of the Queen’s voice， a plan took root and began to grow. A plan to save Mi“cio. The next morning， plan completed， Captain Dem called an emergency meeting with all aboard the planet base. All sat very quietly， waiting for the Captain to speak. “Thank you all for coming，” he spoke softly. “As all of you are undoubtedly aware， Mi“cio is in extreme danger. What you have heard is true. We have no provisions， no money， and little fuel. If left this way， we will all die in space alone within very little time. I did not， however， summon you here to share only the bad news. Rather， I found that I can offer you a ray of hope. It is our only chance of surviving.” He paused to allow this to sink in. All was silent. “It is a fairly simple goal， the details are a bit more complicated. We kidnap Queen Maelynne and demand a ransom.” This caused some murmuring. When it started to get loud， Captain Dem cleared his throat， everyone quieted. “I bring this case before you. You must consider both sides and decide how you wish me to proceed. I would never make such a serious action without first consulting with all of you. Take a few hours to converse between yourselves. We will join together again in two hours. Dismissed. May you all have peace.” He bowed his head and went out to the command room to wait. During the following two hours the base was very quiet. This was due to the fact that all， excluding the Captain， were in the assembly room， discussing and arguing the Captain’s suggestion. It was a long two hours. Finally， they were over. The Captain was called back and the meeting began again. This time to announce the decided choice. “You have decided?” the Captain asked. His commanding officer stepped forward. “Yes， Sir!” Captain Dem nodded， “Report.” “We have reached the conclusion that we have no other option if we are to survive. Dire times call for dire actions. However， all have agreed that this is only to be done if nobody gets hurt in the process.” Captain Dem nodded， “Yes， may no one be injured. Very well. We shall begin planning tonight.” He smiled， trying to reassure them. A reassurance that he himself didn’t feel. “May you all have peace.” He bowed his head to them， then watched as the assembly faded away. He stood alone for sometime pondering on the deed they were soon to do.

Four Hours Passed The Captain went into the control room to issue orders. The engines were started， the base preparing to travel. In another area of Mi“cio， hostage quarters were readied for the kidnapping of the Queen. “Status?” The Captain asked softly. “If the radio and research is correct， then we have enough fuel to get to the Queen and away without any trouble.” His commanding officer reported. Another officer spoke up， “What if we need fuel for a battle?” The room became very quiet as all listened for the Captains response. “We are going to avoid that， remember?” The question was rhetorical. A few heads nodded as all attention was turned back to the task at hand. Captain Dem pursed his lips， wary about what they were about to do. He wished there was another way. Wished it very badly- Finally， it was time. Captain Dem stood in the control room for the process. Very quietly his people slipped past all the security systems， guard animals， and security guards. It was no easy task， her being a Queen and all. But it wasn’t impossible. His trained people were well up to the challenge. They had the job completed in under twenty minutes. Captain Dem was impressed and proud of his people. They had done a fine job， considering it was the only kidnapping mission they had ever done. ‘It just goes to show what careful planning can accomplish.’ Captain Dem thought as they flew away unfollowed. With any success， nobody would discover the missing Queen until morning. They had very carefully covered there trail. There would be no trace of the Queen’s kidnappers. As Captain Dem lay in his personal quarters that night， a thought occurred to him. Perhaps， the fear the stories instilled would work to there advantage. Mi“cio. A fearful name indeed. Later that evening， Captain Dem went to see Queen Maelynne. She was on the bed. When he entered she stood. He bowed to her in respect， “Good day Queen Maelynne.” The Queen nodded. She was of average height， lightly built. Still in her nightclothes from the night before， her brown hair fell to her waist. Her serious blue eyes studied him. She couldn’t have been more then twenty-three. “My name is Captain Demetri. I regret to inform you that we have no food or drink to offer you during your stay.” She spoke then， in the same caressing tones he remembered from the radio. “What kind of kidnapping is this?” Sarcasm edged her voice. The question surprised Captain Dem. “Excuse me?” “Well， you obviously planned to kidnap me. Your plan worked flawlessly. But you didn’t plan to care for me once you got me? No food， or drink.” She reminded him， “Or did you just forget to plan a shopping trip?” Captain Dem nodded in understanding， “Ahh， well your Highness， with all due respect， we did not plan to kidnap you so we could starve you. We have no provisions， not even for ourselves. And no money. We have almost no fuel. The only way the hundreds of people aboard could survive-“ “Is to kidnap the me and demand a ransom， which you use to buy the provisions you need.” She finished for him. “Yes， exactly.” “I must say， I am very impressed.” Again her words surprised him. “Excuse me?” he repeated. She smiled， “You would go to the extent of kidnapping the Queen， just to obtain what you need to keep your people alive. I admire that， Captain Demetri.” “Thank you， Highness.” Her smile faded slightly. “So， what is the plan now?” He was quickly set back on course with this question. “They will notice your absence， then they will of course carry out investigations. Of which they will find nothing useful. Word of course will circulate， causing people to fear. Then we release the name of your kidnappers. Allow them to digest that for and hour or so then we drop the ransom note.” He explained. His stomach gurgled unhappily， he ignored it. The Queen nodded， “Your correct about the procedure.” She informed him. “Who are my kidnappers.” He smiled sardonically， “The Mi“cio.” Her expression broke， fear finally showing through. She obviously had heard the stories too. “Oh.” Was all she whispered as the reality of her situation sank in. He turned to leave. ‘Good.’ He thought. ‘She needs a healthy dose of fear. That Queen is too lion-hearted for her own good.’ “Wait.” Her voice stopped him. He turned， amazed. She had recovered faster then he’d expected. “Why didn’t you-. Well， you could have…” she paused， gathering her thoughts. “Why did you go to all the trouble of kidnapping me to get the money， when you could have just stolen it?” Captain Dem smiled. “Ma’am， that would have been wrong.” “Oh.” Was all she said again. He was out the door before the thought occurred to her， ‘Stealing is wrong but kidnapping isn’t?’ She shook her head. Eventually， she came to the conclusion that they probably figured it was the lesser of the two evils.