Fanged mouths screeched horribly. Gigantic space dragons fluttered about the large opening of the fighter dock doors. With their amazing holographic projections, the Dragonslayers of Romar attacked the scintillating dragons out in space. The Romar warriors appeared to be obsessed with chasing down and destroying the dragons. Eric Hart dressed in his powerful cosmic spacesuit stared out of the large dock doors of the space station called Atrell. His strong face was grim, as clear blue eyes stared through the mirror faceplate to his chrome helmet at the battle. The dragons had attacked Atrell and took his guardsman Doomon by surprise. It was a senseless attack. Doomon looked to be injured. Eric was furious for he knew that the Dragonslayers had provoked the dragons into a fight. With the mirror faceplate down he had the look of some mysterious armored knight. The silver knight took off running. He gritted his teeth. He ran harder and faster. With great speed, he leapt out of the gigantic dock door. His bootjets fired. He soared straight at a golden fighter. The huge Romar fighter overshadowed his small form. With a sparkle from his thrusters, he swooped down underneath the fighter. Beams from his wrist-mounted vayers blasted open an access hatch under a wing. Vayer was a word that the Teon wizards used for their powerful energy weapons. The silver knight streaked quickly through the hatch just before the emergency energy systems whirled over and sealed the opening. He soared down and landed quickly within the shadows of some nameless hallway on the Romar fighter. It was a very narrow but strangely tall corridor. The lights were bright overhead, but not down below near the floor. Eric walked quietly down the hallway. He stopped, listened for a weapons blast that was very far away and then walked on. A dazzling beam of power struck his shoulder. The silver knight went flying into the shadows. He hit a chair and then flipped over a control console. Leaping to his feet, he stared at the dazzling figure near a doorway. It was a very beautiful and full-figured human female. Bright tubes of color were whirling all about her shiny black spacesuit. The dark tresses of her hair swirled about her shoulders as if caught up in the wind ?Why have you attacked us in such a cowardly manner?? The strong woman asked. He tapped some symbols on the screen on his forearm alerting his friends on the starship Voyan about his new position. He watched the curvaceous figure carefully. She was a wizard from the home world of Teon that had plastic surgery so that her facial features looked almost human. Large dark blue eyes opened wide on the slender female face. ?Don?t play games with me.? He said quickly. ?I already know that you are Mystra. And, that you?ve joined up with these nut jobs in an attempt to sneak past Teon Command. My guess is that the dragons are more powerful than you thought.? She hesitated. That was good. Eric smiled. ?I see we understand each other.? ?I am the Neon Queen. You cannot defy me.? He stared at the greenish blue medallion she had around her neck on a golden chain. He knew it was a powerful crystal. The military force of Teon Command had called that crystal the Kell Medallion. They had sent the Voyan to capture Mystra and return the medallion. ?You?ve turned against your home world. You?re a renegade and the leaders of Teon Command want you stopped.? ?And, who is going to accomplish that. A weakling in a maintenance spacesuit.? Mystra laughed out loud. Eric?s eyes narrowed. ?I said you?re through. And, that?s it!? Eric yelled. Dazzling neon-colored energy tubes of her powerful weapons twirled all about her shapely figure. The bright yellow tubes swirled up above her head. Eric felt her power sizzling through the air. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a dark green Teonar fighter behind her in the shadows of the dock. Mystra?s energy tubes grew brighter. He checked the screen on his forearm. His spacesuit systems were still up at full power. ?You?re a fool!? The Neon Queen yelled. A strong yellow tube wrapped around his neck and slammed him onto the metal floor. An orange tube slapped his chest, holding him down. Another pinkish beam slapped against his faceplate. The silver knight fired a full power blast from his wrist vayers. They both went flying backward toward the fighter in the shadows. A red tube whipped at him. It struck his shoulder and sent him flying over another console. Her tubes of energy disappeared. She got to her feet, flinging the dark tresses from her face. An explosion rocked the dock area. The hull wall behind her buckled from a powerful blast. Suddenly, the huge head of some stellar beast appeared in the hole. Mystra screamed. She fired a dazzling tube of color at the space beast. It struck the head of the dragon violently. The beast screeched in pain. Fire flared from its fanged jaws. Another brilliant tube punched the dragon?s face. The monster fell backward into the starry sky. The emergency energy screens sealed the hull breech. Quickly, the Neon Queen ran over to a bay window. The purple space creature was struck by another weapons blast, sending it twirling out into the starry sky. Mystra grinned. ?I?m sick of you weaklings. I have my own fighter and my own weapons. And, I don?t need the idiots of Romar anymore. I am out of here!? She ran over and jumped into the hatch of her dark green Teonar fighter. The silver knight leapt into the air with his bootjets flaring. A dazzling laser beam slapped him down onto the metal floor. The fighter leapt out of the dock doors on a shimmering wave of color. The silver knight stood up quickly in front of the control console. Eric stared after the fighter. He shook his head, reset the systems of his suit and then leapt out of the dock doors. Flying up into the starry darkness, the silver figure became a blur as he accelerated with amazing speed. He soared out into the starry sky. The white teardrop shape of the Voyan swooped down over him. Eric soared up quickly into the cargo hatch. With amazing speed the starship turned into a streak of color. "All stations prepare to attack Mystra!" Eric Hart yelled from the doorway to the control room. He straightened the collar of his dark blue suit, and then pushed closed the door to the storage bin that housed his silvery cosmic spacesuit. Mystra?s fighter had the look of a dark green arrow, as it swerved across the large window at the front of the control room called the viewplate. Images scrolled across the screens of his command console. He sat down quickly and pulled the straps down tightly. Bright colors highlighted his strong shaven face and broad shoulders. Grabbing the control grips, he leaned forward in his recliner. He brushed back a wave of brown hair from his clear blue eyes and looked across the control room to the curly-haired figure of his helmsman, Josh. "The scanners are still locked onto that fighter." Josh said. "We?re following her straight into the Krunos star system. But, we?ve got more trouble. There is a Krillan transport coming into range. Maybe Mystra hasn?t scanned us yet." Josh snapped. ?Damn.? Suddenly, a loud blast hit them. ?Uh - I hate when that happens.? "Battle alert!" Eric yelled. "Here she comes." A dazzling yellow beam streaked across the viewplate. The sound of a powerful explosion roared through the starship. "Mystra?s firing at us. She?s got some very powerful laser weapons." David said from his image on the command screen. The thin scientist pushed on his round gold-rimmed glasses, and then tapped the colorful symbols on the mirror surface of his console with long thin fingers. "The Krillan Rangers from the planet of Krunos are in the area. They may not take kindly to us being here either.? ?Yeah, we?re in some deep trouble now. But, Mystra has the Kell Medallion. And, with a gem of that power she could destroy the entire star system.? Eric yelled. ?She?s corrupted Teon?s crystalline technology. Now, she calls herself the Neon Queen, probably because of those neon tubes of power." "The Neon Queen, eh?" David said. ?That sounds about right. Probably, the Kell Medallion powers those dazzling power tubes.? ?Look out!? Josh yelled. ?Here comes another blast!" Violent vibrations hammered their controls. A brilliant flash of weapons fire lit up the control room. "Are the lasers ready?" Eric screamed. He looked over at his console. Diane?s beautiful face at weapons control came up on his screen. She pushed a long dark wave of hair up past her soft cheek. Shimmering lips grinned slightly. "I've got full power to the weapons and the external lasers. Everybody strap down. I?m going to blast her!" She snapped. Eric smiled at the lovely face. Her large green eyes sparkled in the subtle lighting, as they opened wider. "Okay, do it!" Eric yelled. He grabbed his control grips with strong fists. A spark of color flashed across the viewplate. A violent explosion hit the dark green fighter. It turned and soared straight at them. Eric screamed. He pushed on his grips very hard. Another laser blast struck Mystra?s fighter. The dark green arrow hit them. The gigantic Krillan transport filled the sky before them. Huge dock doors opened, as both ships took a wild dive into the transport?s fighter bay. Get your special Signature Preview of the latest novel by S J C Willems titled The Starbeam War. This limited edition collectible preview is available from Voyan Books all for the low cost of $4.50 + $0.50 postage and handling. That?s just 5 bucks! Pay via PayPal. Respond to this ad and be sure to put ?Signature Preview? in the subject. FREE info is always available. All of these fantastic episodes are chronicled in the full-length paperback titled WAR OF CRYSTALS available at your favorite online bookstore or simply cut and paste this link /3481614. Take a look. Views are FREE! Thank you! Christopher ? Customer Service Copyright 2009 Stephen Willems