  We address the velocity fluctuations of fastly moving cracks in stressed
materials. One possible mechanism for such fluctuations is the interaction of
the main crack with micro cracks (irrespective whether these are existing
material defects or they form during the crack evolution). We analyze carefully
the dynamics (in 2 space dimensions) of one macro and one micro crack, and
demonstrate that their interaction results in a {\em large} and {\em rapid}
velocity fluctuation, in qualitative correspondence with typical velocity
fluctuations observed in experiments. In developing the theory of the dynamical
interaction we invoke an approximation that affords a reduction in mathematical
complexity to a simple set of ordinary differential equations for the positions
of the cracks tips; we propose that this kind of approximation has a range of
usefulness that exceeds the present context.
