The doorway opened out into a hexagonal intersection with six equally spaced passages leading away from it. There were metal plates mounted on the walls with writing on them, but neither of the two were able to decipher what they said.

"Which way?" Ted asked, peering down each corridor trying to see any clue as to what was there.

"For lack of a logical choice," Groon said slowly, "then randomness is required."

"Let's go that way then," he pointed towards a random passage. 

"Very good," Groon agreed, and off they went, lights automatically flickering to life as they went.

There were two closed doors, one on either side of the hall, before they reached what looked to be a maintenance room. Massive cylinders dominated the chamber, but there were also several lifts that appeared to be designed to go all the way to the ceiling, ten meters above.

Backtracking to the doors, Groon pushed one open to reveal... a storage room.

"It appears you have been correct twice now," Groon said, examining the boxes and barrels, "storage rooms and maintenance."

"This one's storage too," Ted said from across the hall.

"Then it's back to the beginning."

The second passageway they took was identical to the first in every way, including the storage rooms. The third was no different. If they had been blindfolded and dropped into one of them, they wouldn't be able to tell which they were in.

The fourth hallway, however, turned out to be quite different. The passage ended in another enormous chamber, but this one was larger, and the cylinders were smaller. Equipment of unknown use was scattered about the place, as were several terminals similar to the ones upstairs. There was a huge hexagonal indentation dominating the floor that might have been a cradle for the patch of ceiling that was designed to settle down onto the deck.

A teardrop shaped shuttle sat to one side, an open access panel revealing circuitry and complex wiring, as well as conduits. Apparently the Kree had been working on it when they decided to leave.

"This must be the shuttle bay that our security guys found," Ted said.

"You did not predict this."

"True. And we haven't found the computer room yet."

"Then we must keep looking."

One of the doors in this passage opened onto a room that was lined with equipment, blue and yellow lights flashing on and off seemingly at random. Large conduits could be seen extending down from the ceiling with a myriad of wires coming out of each one and attaching to the backs of the equipment.

"Bingo!" Ted said excitedly.

"Bingo? What does this word mean; bingo?"

"It means that we found what we were looking for."

"Ah. Bingo. I will remember this word."

In the center of the room was a hexagonal pillar about two meters tall covered with holographic displays, digital readouts, and a plethora of other instruments that they couldn't even begin to guess the function of. 

"Do we take this whole thing?"

"I do not believe so. I will need to examine the device."

"You go ahead. I'll check the room across the hall."

"Very well."

The room that Ted entered was fill of racks in rows from floor to ceiling. A lot of something was obviously stored in here, though. What those somethings were, he couldn't tell. There were also lockers of some kind at the back of the room, which is where he headed.

The first locker he opened had a few pieces of broken equipment at the bottom, but nothing else. The next few were completely empty. But the last one he got into wasn't empty. There was a five foot long cylindrical device that looked suspiciously like a gun. 

"Uh, Groon," he called, not sure if he should touch it.

"Yes Ted?"

"I think I found a weapon in here."

"Then take it. A Kree weapon would be invaluable to both of our races."

"Okay. If you think it's safe."

"I do not think that they would store something dangerous to the user in an unlocked room."

"Good point," he agreed as he reached out an tentatively touched it. When nothing happened, he took hold of it and lifted. It was too heavy to lift with one hand, and barely with two.

His radio crackled to life; "Come in Doctor Baxter," called the captain.

"Baxter here."

"Get your ass back to the shuttle. We have to get out of here."

"Why? What's up Captain?"

"Our Amook friends tell me that there are hostile ships inbound."

"On our way, sir. We're going to take the computer core, so things might shut down."

"Go ahead. We have to leave anyway."

"Affirmative, Captain."

"Groon, do you have the core yet?"

"I believe that I have located the core, yes. But if we take it now, everything in the base will shut down. Our research will be hindered."

"Take it. Your captain says that there are hostile ships inbound. We have to leave anyway. If we ever come back, we can plug it back in. Can't we?"

"Yes we can. Are you ready?"

"Ready," Ted said as he pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket and turned it on.

Groon yanked on a handle and pulled out a cylinder that was a meter long and half as wide. As soon as he did so, all of the lights shut off, plunging them into pitch darkness except for the cone of light from Ted's flashlight.

"Let's get out of here."

Groon's body shrunk until he was barely three feet tall, but it also widened into a 'platform' on which the core rested. His arms turned into straps to keep it in place, and his legs widened as if putting on muscle.

"Whoa!" Ted jumped back, "I forgot you guys can do that. That's freaky."

"You can tell me what that means when we get back to your ship."

"You're right. We gotta go," he said as he hefted the gun over his shoulder and led the way back up the stairs.

On the way back to the ship, several lights became visible moving across the field of static stars. They were growing brighter as the Wandering Star grew in their windows. The Amook starship, the Broognan, could just be seen turning away and towards the interlopers. 

"Ain't they waitin' for you to git aboard?" Billy-Bob Boorman, the pilot, asked.

"There is no time. We will be able to get back to our own ship after the attackers have been dealt with, one way or another."

Just as the shuttle was entering the bay, they caught a glimpse of large wedge-shaped ships speeding towards them. The ship's thrusters were already firing up to maneuver as the shuttle touched down. They could feel the gees build as the Wandering Star moved to engage in combat for the very first time.