The uneasy alliance shattered faster than a space-station window in a meteor shower. Miran, ever the opportunist, double-crossed them, his ship turning, guns blazing, towards the *SS Obselete*. "Betrayal!" Zero yelled, spinning the ship violently. "Veeva, shields!"

  "Already on it, Cap!" Veeva’s voice was tight, her fingers dancing over the console. The shields hummed, but the laser fire from Miran’s ship was relentless. Sparks, ever the optimist (or perhaps just oblivious to danger), was already fiddling with a new contraption. "Almost got it! My 'Asteroid-Dodging-inator 5000' is ready!" He shouted over the explosions.

  “Focus, Sparks!” Luna yelled, her face grim as she navigated the increasingly chaotic space battle. "We need to get out of here, and fast!"

  The *SS Obselete* was no match for Miran’s powerful ship. They were outgunned and outmaneuvered, taking heavy fire. "Engine's failing, Cap!" Veeva cried, her face pale. "We're losing power!"

  “Sparks, anything?” Zero barked, his hands gripping the controls. The ship lurched, nearly flipping.

  Sparks, completely ignoring the emergency, crowed, “Behold! The Asteroid-Dodging-inator 5000!” He activated the device, a chaotic array of rockets and whirring gears attached to the ship’s exterior. The rockets fired erratically, pushing the *SS Obselete* in unpredictable directions, narrowly avoiding Miran’s laser blasts. It was less "dodging" and more "frantically flailing."

  “That’s…certainly something,” Grizzle muttered, clutching his hat.

  The ship careened towards a dense asteroid field. “Into the rocks, huh?” Zero growled. "Luna, plot a course!"

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  "It’s a crazy course, Cap, but it’s the only one," Luna replied, her fingers a blur. "We gotta use the asteroids for cover."

  The *SS Obselete*, buffeted by Sparks's invention and the asteroid field, became a whirling, erratic projectile. They dodged and weaved between massive space rocks, narrowly missing collisions. Blip and Blop, surprisingly calm amidst the chaos, chirped excitedly as they watched the asteroids whiz past.

  "Main engine's critical!" Veeva shouted again. "It’s going to blow!"

  “Give me a sec!” Veeva yelled, hunching over a console that seemed to be sparking dangerously. "Sparks, divert power from the… um...toaster rocket thingamajig to the main engine!"

  Sparks, mid-celebration of narrowly avoiding a collision with a particularly large asteroid, grumbled but complied. He flipped a series of switches, causing the Asteroid-Dodging-inator 5000 to sputter and then die. A few rockets still fired erratically.

  Veeva, with a furious burst of energy, managed to reroute the power, stabilizing the engine just as it threatened to explode. "Got it! But it's only temporary," she panted, wiping sweat from her brow.

  Miran, frustrated by his inability to land a clean hit, finally broke off the chase, apparently deciding the risk wasn't worth the reward. He vanished into hyperspace.

  "We made it!" Blip chirped, jumping up and down. Blop trilled in agreement.

  "Barely," Grizzle said, his voice strained. He looked around the battered ship. "And we're definitely running low on fuel… again."

  Zero slumped back in his chair, exhaustion etched on his face. “Report, Veeva.”

  “We’ve lost considerable shielding, and we’ve used up almost all our emergency power," Veeva reported. "Repairing the engine is going to take time and resources we don't have. And Sparks…well, let’s just say his invention was… unorthodox.”

  Zero looked at Sparks, who was already dismantling the remains of the Asteroid-Dodging-inator 5000, muttering about improvements. Luna was calmly charting a course for the nearest space station, a tiny blue dot on her navigational screen, far, far away. They were battered, bruised, and short on supplies, but they were alive. And that, for now, was enough. The race to the finish was far from over, but they’d survived another impossible situation, proving their resilience and, in some bizarre fashion, their teamwork. The long journey ahead promised more adventures, more near-death experiences, and more reliance on Sparks’s utterly unpredictable inventions. Zero sighed. At least it wouldn't be boring.