Chapter eleven

     The ship shook slightly now and then but the facts and figures displayed on the screen showed that the stress levels were well within acceptable parameters.

     "You are one crazy son of a bitch Captain but I have to admit that this plan was rather clever."

     I couldn't help but smirk when I heard Sandy's compliment, I was rather pleased with my plan too. We were passing through the minefield covered by what was essentially an almost impenetrable turtle shell made out of the hardest material in the known universe. The mines exploded when we came into contact with them but none of the shrapnel or concentrated energy beams could get past the asteroid. Sure, the power they released was still devastating but with the professor's new shields , the ship was safe.

     Basically, the asteroid complemented the professor's new shields perfectly and made up for their rather obvious weaknesses so we were perfectly safe inside of it.

     The ship shook now and then as another mine detonated but other than that, we were sailing smoothly through one of the most dangerous regions without the need to use a fleet of decoy ships to clear the area ahead of us, a feat that was thought to be impossible.

     I sat there soaking up my crew memner's admiration and awe, gloating like I always did after one of my plans inevitably succeeded, when Sandy frowned and started to type on her workstation before she looked back at me with annoyance,

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     "I just did the calculations, this plan would have worked with any decently sized asteroid."

     "I know."

     "Then why did we just take the risk of stealing the most heavily guarded one available?"

     "Because the professor said that he needed some Telerium."

     "Couldn't we have bought some?"

     "Hell no! We are pirates, remember? We take what we want! Plus, this way we can modify the Vishnu to our hearts content and make a pretty penny from selling the Telerium to the highest bidder."

     Sandy looked furious for some reason. Her face turned red and her eyes started to flash dangerously,

     "You idiot! We are going to the compendium to get unimaginable riches and all you can think of is getting even more money? What is wrong with you? How much money would be enough to satisfy you?"

     "What do you mean Sandy? How can one have enough money?"

     The respect in my crew's eyes that were there a second ago vanished without a trace. The bridge was suddenly filled with people grumbling under their breath, 

     "Money grubbing bastard..."

     "How can he be so greedy?"

     "Why did we let him become our captain again?"

     "Is there anything he wouldn't do to get more loot?"

     I pretended I didn't hear anything and instead I pretended to be busy working on my workstation while wondering if I really was too greedy.