Titan Fleet: The Invictus Part 7

Chapter Thirty-Nine.

The dark blue creature is clutching Megan so tightly now that she can hardly breathe. It has her tucked under his arm like a rag doll. They had exited the lift and now the creature was planning on eating Megan for dinner. She is flung around the room several times before she comes to rest on the floor. She has several cuts and feels like she cant take anymore.

The creature picks her up by her long red hair. She cannot stand being thrown around like this, and she hated having her hair pulled as a child. Something snaps inside her and Megan begins to see red, anger begins to burn inside like an uncontrolled, primal, guttural rage, burning in her gut, eager to free itself. Her heart races and she no longer feels the pain. Her mind begins to go blank as the fury takes over her normal functions; the bio-enhancements were awake once again.

As the blue swings Megan around, unconcerned about anything, Megans hair changes from a gorgeous s.h.i.+ny soft mane to a thundering barbed fury of tentacles of twisting spikes of hardened t.i.tanium. The ma.s.s of sharpness impales the creatures hand and thunders into its veins, shooting along at light speed, growing longer and longer. Megans hair is beginning to fill the room and has engulfed the creature so much all you can see is its head. Megans feet land softly on the floor and her eyes are now fixed on the creatures head, her hair is twisting and turning so fast that just the friction alone must be unbearable.

Chapter Forty.

There are signs of a struggle in the lift, by what Pace can see, but no blood, which is good. The lift moves down a floor and the doors slide open. Pace steps out and cannot believe what he is seeing. What he knew as a delicate, caring woman has now turned into something vicious and unforgiving, but at least she was on his side. Megan lets out a scream just like a banshee, and what was once a large evil monster about to feed, becomes a new colour on the walls of the loading bay. The creatures head tumbles to the floor with a soft mushy squish and it rolls towards Pace, before coming to a stop at his feet.

"Megan, sweetheart, its me, Pace. You ok, babe?" Pace, afraid to move any closer, now has the undivided attention of this woman of thunder. Megan begins to move her hair towards Pace, the waves of menace darkening the light as it gets closer to him, like an impending doom.

"Now sweetheart, if you want my side of the bed all you have to do is ask. We can talk about this." Pace is trying to joke and move at the same time. There is a haziness behind her eyes that only Pace can see and she is not in control at all. Pace backs into a corner and he knows he is in trouble. He did not think it would be his girlfriend that killed him that day. The red sea of hair lifts him up and pins him flat against the wall. Fingers of hair move around, prodding his now infected blue skin. Oh, great she thinks he is a blue now and that will not end well. Megans hair moves in for the kill, and Pace tries to grip the hair that is heading for his face with his powerful metal arm, but the servos and power plant struggle with the force trying to destroy it. The air is slowly being crushed out of his lungs and Pace's head is beginning to feel light.

Suddenly a mans voice is heard, loud and proud. "First Officer Frost, put that man down now and get to your post. What do you think you are doing?" The voice is like an off switch, instant and effective. Megan falls to the floor unconscious, her hair jumps and flicks around the room for a few moments, until it looks normal once again on her head. Pace, now on his hands and knees catching his breath, looks up to thank his rescuer.

Pace smiles with the biggest grin ever. "Rusty, you son of a gun. Its good to see you buddy." Rusty extends his hand and helps Pace to his feet, a large spanner in his other hand.

"Oh this, ahh, this was just for plan b. Now, I think ya owe me a drink, eh?"

Pace laughs. "Yeah, you deserve one my friend." The two friends grab Megan and carry her to medbay, where Padley is waiting to help.

"Sir," says Padley on seeing Pace, "You have an unknown creature attached to you. I must keep you in quarantine." Pace turns and heads for the door, but a swift Padley gets to the door before he can open it. "I said quarantine, Captain. We cant have you walking around like that, potentially infecting the others." A persuasive hand presses against his chest trying to push him back.

"Padley, we are in a war at the moment. See me after, if we survive." Pace pushes Padley out of the way and leaves with Rusty. The two men head for the engine room, just to check things are running smoothly. The engine is working hard and the s.h.i.+p is still being thrown around, but thankfully they are still for the best part in one piece.

"I need status reports everyone, how we doing?" One by one the crew check in and considering the situation, things are not as bad as first thought. After leaving Rusty in the engine room, Pace heads back up to the bridge. The s.h.i.+p seems to be rid of its invaders for the time being.

"Hey, Cap, we have heard from Sam, he is doing fine. The s.h.i.+p he is on has lost a lot of its crew and it is almost out of power. They have thrusters, but are requesting to attempt to attach to the top of the Invictus. This will slow us, but do you think we should chance it? We dont know these aliens." Nova is sweating from the amount of flying she has been doing to keep the s.h.i.+p in one piece.

"True, they are aliens and we dont know what they are like, but they have been kind to Sam and kept him alive and I am not going to turn my back on a creature that has good will behind it. My Granfer always said, a stranger is just a friend you have not met yet, so the answer is a strong yes, without delay." On Paces reply, Nova signals the small alien vessel to approach.

The s.h.i.+p is so battered it does not even resemble a s.h.i.+p, but nonetheless, it hobbles closer and closer until it ploughs a gouge out of the side of the Invictus with a horrendous clang, not breaching the hull, thankfully, but it is way off course from the top. Anc jumps onto the giant mech arm control and grips the rear rudder of the s.h.i.+p, holding it close to the Invictus. The s.h.i.+p looks like it will explode any minute, so the order is given to salvage what they can and get it onto the Invictus. Out of a crew of 100 Gulmeds, only 11 are left alive. The captain was one of them and he does not want to leave his s.h.i.+p, and along with some of the others, he decides to leave Sam and two Gulmeds behind on the Invictus. He wants to try to get even by ramming the blues s.h.i.+p and blowing his energy core, which was so unstable now it was sheer luck it had not exploded before.

Anc lets go of the Gulmed s.h.i.+p and Pace wishes the Gulmed captain luck on his journey, but also hoping that he will destroy one of these monster s.h.i.+ps. The Gulmed s.h.i.+p limps towards the closest blue s.h.i.+p and manages to withstand a tremendous attack. With the intense amount of fire power concentrated on the Gulmed s.h.i.+p, Pace wonders how on Foloss it could survive the attack. Large pieces of Gulmed s.h.i.+p are breaking off and floating in s.p.a.ce like confetti, but the s.h.i.+p still holds its course true. With a blinding light like an exploding star, the small s.h.i.+p finds its mark and cras.h.i.+ng into the blue s.h.i.+p, its core explodes. The s.h.i.+p is split in half, with millions of blues spilling out into s.p.a.ce. A cheer goes up amongst the crew.

The Robur has done well also in the fight, but now the second s.h.i.+p is baring its guns down on her.

"Captain Pace. I am about to fire PD1. Hang on to something. It may get rough out there. Miles out."

A few moments later a line of red is seen from the Robur to the second s.h.i.+p. A ma.s.sive shock wave and billions of metal shards and chunks of s.h.i.+p disintegrate in an instant. The Robur and the Invictus are spun around like a big wheel, and everyone is thrown around inside the s.h.i.+ps. The lights flicker on and off in the Invictus. The emergency power has been activated, as the main power core overheats trying to power the engines against the blast. The same can be seen on the Robur, but something good has come out of it. The s.h.i.+ps were gone, or were they.

"Oh c.r.a.p! We need to get out of here, Cap, and fast!" shouts Nova.

"Calm down, kid. Whats up?"

Nova points to the map screen, at a ma.s.sive object heading their way. "A t.i.tan s.h.i.+p, maybe. Lets hope they are good guys."

"Rusty, we will need that power back on soon, buddy." Sweat is starting to bead on Paces forehead, like hundreds of diamonds reflecting light. He is feeling unwell, but soldiers on. He slumps in his command chair; the belt swiftly secures him to the seat with a jolt. "Open all channels, Nova, and try to contact it."

Nova gets to work, glad of the moments break from flying like an angry bee. Despite her best efforts she cannot contact the approaching s.h.i.+p, which they can now see out of the bridge window. The Roburs lights come back on and it looks like their power has been restored. For the moment the Invictus feels like a tomb, only basic power is running the s.h.i.+p. They can breathe and move around inside the s.h.i.+p but that is about it, no engines, no lights as such and no weapons. They are sitting ducks.

Chapter Forty-One.

"Anc, pa.s.s me that polaronic inverter, will you. It is a little bit heavy for me, and can you hold it here, while I bolt it to this ruddy, ah blast it. I need more light here too." Rusty is working on the core of the engine, trying to cool it down and power it up again at the same time, but it is hard in the dark to do anything, but Anc sheds light on the area with his powerful work lights. "This should do it I hope, throw that switch, Anc." Anc pulls down the switch and a buzz and a large pop is heard as more fuses and components blow, but for a brief moment there was light and power, and then back to the cold darkness of s.p.a.ce. "Blast, blast, and I should have known better." Rusty is getting uptight now. He has been trying so hard to fix things that he is forgetting to see the big picture, and that is to cool the core down. He stops what he is doing and sits for a moment with his head in his hands.

The door to the engine room opens and in walks Sam with a smile. "Hey, Rusty, need a hand? I have brought a couple of friends with me. Hear them out; they may be able to help in some way."

Rusty raises his head, nodding in hope of a solution. In walk two slender alien creatures, purple in colour with orange eyes. They both stand around six feet tall, slightly taller than Rusty.

"Steganthian and this Draxeounous. What problem be?" The two alien helpers move in closer to the engine and core and start to look over them. They seem to see well in the dark, which Rusty considers to be a great skill.

"So Steg and Drax then. Ok, well, no, don't touch that, because that will make us all go boom. Do you have a degree in core tech? No, probably not." Rusty begins to follow the two aliens around the room and tries to explain the workings to them, while the two creatures talk to each other in their tongue.

"Ok, whats that and what are you planning to do with it?" Rusty is concerned when Steg pulls out of his metal pouch, on what looks like a strange backpack, a large glowing blue device that looks like it has some sort of fluid inside it.

"That hot. This cold. Will fix problem, Rust Tree." Steg places the device into the open port on the core tower and closes the small door and smiles, and then nods to Rusty to throw the switch again.

"Ok, ok, we will try it your way, but I cant see it working." Rusty pulls down on the switch and instantly the temperature drops to normal. The cores fluid and the devices fluid merge as one, creating an amazing colour similar to that of a rainbow. The lights spring into life and the engine starts and begins to purr like a cat that got the cream.

"Wow, you boys are good. So are you planning on staying long on the s.h.i.+p, because its customary for you to buy me a drink? Its a human thing, you see." Rusty winks at Sam and begins to listen to the ramblings of the two creatures as he tidies the room and throws away the numerous spent parts on the floor.

"Well done, Rusty, I knew you could do it." sings a happy voice through Rustys speaker on his gauntlet.

"Power initialised, Cap. Burn on all engines in five, four, three, two, one."

Before Nova could press the b.u.t.ton, Pace shouts, "No, stop Nova, look." A mighty s.h.i.+p, almost the size of a small planet has begun to attack the Robur and has not noticed the darkened Invictus just off its aft. A large blue green pulse hits the Robur with devastating effect, tearing a hole in the side of the s.h.i.+p, its contents and crew spilling out in s.p.a.ce like geyser. The Robur begins to list to the left, but she is firing frantically back.

"Cap, what shall we do, we cant just leave them." Nova says, turning her head around to look at Pace.

"They were planning to kill us, Nova, all of us, with no remorse, so why should I help them eh?" Pace pauses a moment to think, but Nova is quick to answer him.

"Because, Cap, we are better than they are and you never know, one person on that s.h.i.+p might just care and be fighting to survive, and that one person could change the future for someone else, but its up to you, if you are scared, then ..." Nova turns away and looks at her panel.

"Youre right, kid. Ok, here is what we do ..." Pace orders Sam to take some oxygen tanks up into the sc.r.a.p bay where he meets with Anc, who welds them inside the ball s.h.i.+p he had stored earlier. They weld various pieces of sc.r.a.p together and place small proximity mines amongst them, for a punch if something gets close.

"We are all set, sir." Sam is ready for action and Nova is raring to go too. The Robur is. .h.i.t a second time. Unable to withstand this sort of power, her lights flicker and the engines turn to a dull red. But she is still firing, so someone is still alive, thinks Nova.

The Invictus creeps up on the giant doom s.h.i.+p. Pretending to be a chunk of s.p.a.ce debris, she bounces off the hull of the t.i.tan s.h.i.+p before steadying for the attack.

"Steady, Nova, steady. Wait." There is a large s.h.i.+mmer on the side of the s.h.i.+p, like before when the ball s.h.i.+ps attacked from the other vessels. Seeing this chance, Pace changes his plan at this instant, from attacking outside to pa.s.sing into the s.h.i.+p through the s.h.i.+mmer. A crazy plan that might just work, he thinks in a flash.

"Nova, there! Go through the s.h.i.+mmer. Lets see if we can give this s.h.i.+p a belly ache." Nova complies and steers the Invictus towards the s.h.i.+p. The Invictus looks tiny in comparison to this giant metal monstrosity.

"20 metres and closing, Cap. You sure about this?" Nova says in a worried voice, cringing a little.

"Go for it! When we are in, try to set her down somewhere, if you can." The s.h.i.+p pa.s.ses through the s.h.i.+mmer with ease and before them float hundreds of metal ball s.h.i.+ps. Lucky for them, they are yet to be manned, and are just floating, waiting to deliver death. The inside of the s.h.i.+p is quite dark, apart from the normal working lights you would expect on a s.h.i.+p, and as the Invictus sails further in for a covert landing, Pace calls on Padley to see how Megan is doing in the medbay.

"Sir, she is awake and normal once more. She is requesting to return to the bridge. Should I keep her under observation for longer?" Pace replies to Padley, telling her to keep Megan busy until he gets to medbay. First he must land the s.h.i.+p somewhere that is easy to get back to and won't be noticed.

"Nova, there looks good to me. What do you think?" Pace puts his hand on his chin with a hopeful rub.

"A bit tight, Cap, but she will squeeze in nicely. Great spot." Nova flies between two large generator devices that must be a source of power to the s.h.i.+p. There are many, but she sets the s.h.i.+p down with ease on the edge of a large drop. Below them, they can see transport s.h.i.+ps and cargo s.h.i.+ps, busy buzzing around like horse flies. It is amazing that they dont crash into each other but amongst the mayhem, things seem to be getting done.

"What now, sir? We are ready up here to release our little stomach upset, when you are." Sam is waiting with Anc in the sc.r.a.p bay to deliver the surprise.

"Sam, you stay up there and be ready. I need Anc down in the loading bay. We are going to take a look around while we have a chance, see what we can learn about the blues." replies Pace, getting out of his chair and rubbing Nova on her shoulder on his way out the door. "You take it easy, ok, and keep a watchful eye on things. You know the drill. Power down."

Interrupting Pace with a smile, "Come on, Cap, you know me." Nova responds with a cheeky cheer to her voice. Pace laughs and hops in the lift, wondering how Megan will be towards him, but no matter what, he still has love for her in his heart and that is the main thing that will see past all the bad.

The lift stops and the doors open. A flash back in Paces mind tears at his brain, like a hungry tiger before his eyes. He remembers nothing but a red horror, and then it is gone and the lift doors close behind him, but this time he does not fear for his life, because this time it is a set of loving eyes he can see looking at him as he enters medbay. Getting up off the bed, Megan runs into the arms of her lover, as if she had not seen him in years, and with a long pa.s.sionate kiss Pace feels all the fear and anguish disappear, like early morning mist on a mountain top.

"You ok sweet?" Pace poses the question in the hope that things are as good as he has just felt on his lips.

"I guess I have some explaining to do, don't I, darling." Pace looks at Megan, waiting to hear her explanation as to why she almost killed him. The room begins to sway a little to Pace but he thinks nothing of it, forgetting about the parasite digging deep in to his flesh.

"You almost killed me, sweet, that is all, but wow, what a temper you have." Trying to make light of the situation, Pace tries to make a joke of things, but it is not received well by Megan.

"A temper! Do you know how hard it is for me to speak about this, and why I have this hair, and how I have lived my life in fear? No, you dont. You could not even begin to see where I have been or what I have done or what has happened to me, and why is that? Because you stand there and make jokes, just like all the others and instead of listening to someone who was about to open up to you, you would rather make fun and it makes my blood boil." Megans cheeks are red with fury as she steps back from Pace and pushes him away from her with a small shove.

"Sweetheart, I did not mean anything by it. I was trying to make you feel better thats all. I am interested, so why dont we calm down and get a cup of tea and you can tell me all about your troubles." Pace moves in, trying to get closer again to Megan, but is stopped by a strong stubborn hand.

"I thought you came up here to see how I am, not belittle me, Pace. I just want to get back to my duties, ok?" Pace picks up Padleys litepad to look at Megans medical records and reads a few lines, before seeing 'unrecognised bio-enhancements written into the notes. He does not need to read more and turns to Megan.

"You did not mention you had unrecognised bio-enhancements when you came aboard my s.h.i.+p. Why?"

Megan with anger in her voice replies, "That was personal to me and me alone, and none of your business, Captain, thats why. It was 'need to know and you dont need to know."

Pace is now also looking angry and raises his voice in retaliation. "I thought unrecognised bio-enhancements were illegal and the punishment was death or life in the rancid mines. I laid down with you and did not know this." Pace shakes his head in disbelief, thinking he has won the argument, until Megan hits him with a blow that hurts him mentally.

"Darling," she returns, sarcastically, "You loved me and you are the same as me and if it was not for me, you would be a blob on a cart in the street begging. I built you. I gave you illegal enhancements, alien genetics, just like mine. Only thing is, I know what my enhancements do, Im still learning about yours, and I was sent here by Eve to study you and make more like you, to fight against the blues."

Pace slams his metal hand against the wall in temper. "What! I thought my arm was legal. I was in hospital and you were sent to spy on me! So loving me was just part of that plan then, eh? I cant believe that."

Letting out a shrill laugh that Pace hasnt heard from her before, Megan replies once more. "It was a medbay made out to look like a hospital, and did you not notice how fast we were all sent out into s.p.a.ce, to avoid the laws. It was all planned to work this way, but you cant plan who you fall in love with Pace, that just happened." Megan turns her back on Pace and walks out the door to avoid more conflict. Pace pauses for a few moments, pondering on what has just happened. He thinks to himself, why do people walk all over him and try to deceive him all the time? In fact, his whole life he has been treated this way. Was it because he was too soft and did not stand up for himself much and just went along with others. If he did stand up to others, people would have hated him for his temper instead. A no win situation that was not worth worrying about now.

Standing opposite the door to the medbay stood Sam, who had heard the whole thing. He was trying not to listen in, but that was hard to do. As Pace looked at him, he just pretended to turn a blind eye to it all, as if nothing had happened. Anc had already gone down to the loading bay and Pace just nods his head to Sam before joining Anc in the loading bay.

"This is the Captain. Myself and Anc are going to take a look around the enemy vessel and see what we can find. First Officer Frost is in charge, and any repairs you can do while we are gone, the better. Lets get the s.h.i.+p tip top again. Pace out." Megan sits down in Paces chair. She runs her hands along the arms of the chair and she likes the way it feels, and now she is in control, this was meant to be, she thinks to herself, but she cant help but feel worried for Pace. Even though they had argued, she wants him to return in one piece to her soon. She thinks she should have said she loved him before he leaves, but is still a little angry too, so keeps silent, sat poised in his chair.

Chapter Forty-Two.

Pace puts on his s.p.a.cesuit, which is mechanised, to help him move easier in a hostile environment. The suit has large working lights and a few different upgrades to the normal suit, and was designed by Pace and built for salvage work, mainly underground, but stepping out, it begins to work fantastically. Pace whispers to Anc to move down the drop-off side of the platform on the winch wires from the s.h.i.+p, and once they both have travelled a few hundred metres they come to a platform that looks like a bridge across to a tunnel and a giant door. The platform is covered in plant life, as is the rest of what they can see of the s.h.i.+p. From the little that Pace knows about botany, it looks like the plant life could be toxic to humans, but that is just a guess. Some of the plants give off light, and some of the plants give off a green gas similar to the alien they encountered. They both continue up to the door, all the time under watchful eye of the s.h.i.+p via the cameras on Paces suit and Ancs body armour cameras.

There is a small panel on the left hand side of the door, which Anc examines before touching and nothing happens.

"Let me take a look at that, Anc." Pace puts his metal hand on the panel and to his surprise the door begins to open. It must have sensed my alien skin, he thinks. Pace pokes his head around the corner of the door. He can see it is a corridor with doors off it. The two explorers carry on. There is plant life all over the walls, floor and ceiling here too. The plants seem to sway in the direction of Pace, as if they too can sense him. A door suddenly opens to their right and a large blue creature is stood before them. It has dark blue skin with black stripes. It has four legs and two arms and is shocked to see them there. It screeches out loud in a way that Pace knows is to call others to help. Anc replies immediately by firing his two grapples straight into the creatures mouth, stopping the sound with metal. He then winches the blue towards him, blasting it with his burst plasma cannon. Anc is not stupid. He has learned how to fight these things and as the alien draws close he uses his incinerator on the alien. A second and third creature appear into the fray, one launching an attack at Anc and one at Pace.

Pace swiftly bashes the flying alien to the ground and reaches for his newly made knife of doom. The knife pops out of a panel on his leg and he grabs it and stabs the now p.r.o.ne creature in the face. The knife ejects a dose of serum into the head of the aggravated alien and the creature begins to screech and roll about the floor in agony, its blood pouring out every pore of its skin, until its head just explodes under the pressure. Pace jumps back, blasting with his gauntlet and stabbing at the second creature on Ancs back. Large lumps within the creatures back appear. It too cries in pain, before two large chunks of flesh and bone explode, killing the creature outright. There is still some fight left in the larger alien, who now kicks Anc with two of his legs, while stood on the other two. Anc is sent flying back into Pace and the two fall to the floor with a crash. The creature pulls the grapples out of his face and appearing behind it are a dozen or more, all wanting blood and gore in revenge of their friend it seems. Pace gets to his feet and punches open another door that he sees to his left, and Anc and Pace slam the door shut to the room they are stood in. Anc positions himself and holds the door shut while a thousand fists try to open it.

Pace catches his breath and calls in to the Invictus. "Pace to Invictus. They know we are here, umm ... We may be some time, there are a lot of them. If you need to leave, then Ill understand." Megans ears burn with pain. She knows her love is trapped and this could be a tomb for them all, if they are not careful, but what does she do.

"Pace, hang on." The connection is lost on Paces end and Megan is left with a decision. They could stay quiet on their perch, or make a move and try to rescue Pace but that would draw a lot of attention. Nova is looking at Megan, waiting to fly in and get them out, but no order is given and they wait in silence in the hope that Pace will contact them again.

The room seems to be a large room full of large capsules. There are lights on them and a small observation window in each one. There must be a hundred or so and as Pace scans the room with his work lights, his curiosity gets the better of him and he stands on his tip toes and peers into one. A shock is awaiting him. A hideous alien face stares back up at him. It has been frozen for some time, but it is enough to give Pace nightmares for years to come. He takes a look in at a few more, before giving up and heading towards a door at the other end of the room. He had never seen other aliens until the blue and was frightened for humanitys future.

The door seems to open out into a hanger of some sort, maybe a cargo hanger. He opened the door easily. There are containers in front of him and no sign of blues, so Pace grabs hold of a couple of the metal containers and pulls them back to Anc, and they weld them to barricade the door, stopping any aliens from entering, and they then walk further into the hanger, where they begin to look around for something of use. There are many crates and what looks like a human cargo s.h.i.+p. Maybe that would be a good way out, thinks Pace. Once again Pace contacts the Invictus, using a booster cable on the cargo s.h.i.+p for added power.

"Pace to the Invictus, if you can hear me, I have found a cargo s.h.i.+p. Its small but will get us out of here, you need to go and get out of the system, but first you need to ..." Crackle, crackle goes the viewer on Megans screen and she loses sight of Pace, but she can still hear him faintly.

"Pace! Pace, you there? We can hear you. Please ..." Megans terror is being felt by the whole crew, and what was once a secret is now apparent, she loved Pace and he her. She moves closer to the screen touching it gently, hoping to see him just one more time.

"Give them gut ache. When you are far enough away, launch PD1. Thats an order, and dont worry ..." Crackle, crackle and the link is lost again.

Chapter Forty-Three.

"Nova, get him back." Nova tries for a few moments but with no luck.

"Sorry ma'am, cant get them. You heard, he has a s.h.i.+p, he will get off." Nova tries to convince Megan and turns to ready the s.h.i.+p. Megan knows that Nova is right and opens comms to Rusty in the engine room.

"Rusty, ready the PD1. We will give them something to remember us by." Megan taps the b.u.t.tons on her control panel, trying not to worry about Pace, but a tear rolls down her cheek like a racing star trying to find the end of the universe. If only they had more time together, she would have told him how she really felt and how she could imagine spending the rest of time with him, but all was not lost, there was a chance.