[LazyScot]

<Cut to a long shot outside of Fred, where various craft perform the slow ballet of gentle course adjustments. Against this, the silence of space is replaced with the sounds of the Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestration of Mussorsky's A Night on the Bare Mountain.>

With a crescent of the earth visible, the two capsules can be seen detaching and moving slowly away from the station, drifting like feathers in still air. But here, they are set against the inky, unforgiving blackness of space. One capsule can be seen arcing back towards the earth, and moving gently out of shot. As this capsule glides away, departing from sight and into the safety of the earth's embrace, the camera pans across and concentrates on Fred and the remaining capsule. Adjusting to the darkness, another, dark craft becomes visible, as do a few stars. Then more stars, and then just as the camera stops panning, at the very edges of the shot, just visible and holding its position is a large, white sphere carrying a small flag, and the letters "USSM".

It becomes clear that the strange, dark craft is slowly moving towards the capsule, intent on docking with the capsule or perhaps capturing it. Then the craft fires what looks like a cable towards the capsule, just as the capsule changes direction causing the cable to miss. This slow course adjustment starts the capsule looping back towards Fred, as if, maybe, to hide behind it.

The dark craft accelerates after the capsule, reeling in the cable; whilst clearly faster than the capsule it, too, seems limited to simple movements. But this time it is less subtle towards the capsule, and fires a more deadly weapon. But again the capsule performs an unexpected turn moving now towards the docking ports at one end of the bedecked giant white cylinder that is Fred. This time the capsule is not quite so lucky; the weapon just touches the edge of the capsule for the briefest of instants, apparently causing almost no damage.

A third time the dark craft fires at the capsule. But the capsule course remains unchanged, and the dark craft's aim is true—this time hitting the capsule. Now punctured, the capsule starts spinning. Jets of vented atmosphere are clearly visible as white fountains glittering in the reflect sunlight and impart unplanned vectors onto the track of the capsule. Almost instantly, the capsules own jets add to the gases gathering around Fred, and attempt to correct the spinning and tumbling of the capsule.

Again the dark craft fires at the capsule, but using the cable, and once again the dark craft is on target. Suddenly the capsule's spin and tumble fight with the cable, and the strange dark craft is thrown, unexpectedly, as the cable strains against the two dancing craft, each seeking its own direction and rhythm. But the spin and tumble and jets are too much and rebuff the cable, just as the atmosphere of the capsule is exhausted and the white fountains fade. The brief dance ends and with energies expended, and the spin and tumble of the capsule slow.

The gently spinning capsule moves round past the docking ports on Fred, as if still trying to hide, its jets fighting the remaining spin and tumble while struggling to reach some unknown goal. As the capsule drifts behind Fred, the dark craft slows and corrects its dance-confused trajectory as it tries to follow the capsule. It comes to a brief stop, a bare meter from Fred.

All the thrusters on Fred fire.

And Fred lurches forward.

The dark craft notices this almost instantly, and starts moving. Bare seconds afterwards numbers of pin-points of light start cutting their way out of Fred, like some evil maggot infestation vacating a carcass. But Newton and his Laws not easily cheated, and Fred moves onwards.

The dark craft accelerates. And with a painful slowness Fred heads blindly onwards. The meter separating them becomes half a meter—the dark craft needs to move but three. Then the separation is 25 centimetres, and accelerating, dark craft needs move but another two. Then the light beams, one by one, start to finish their work, start to finish dissecting Fred. No longer is Fred one body, but two, then three, and then more. And now the dark craft needs move barely a half meter to safety.

But the first parts of Fred collide with the dark craft, and then others, and storage containers, and fuel cells. And amongst this chaos, some light-beams continue cutting as collapsing tanks that hit the dark craft. Then reagents mix, and a silent explosion throws debris out.