Jak Phoenix

  ***

  “Who taught you how to fly?” shouted Dodge Stonewall in his regularly intense manner. His voice was frequently loud, but somehow void of cruelty. “Let me in there!”

  Dodge shouldered his way between his shipmates and rushed up to the flight controls, squeezing his way up to the main drive levers. He cut the speed of the ship the moment he got his hand on the brake.

  “Do you think he saw us?” asked the crewman, Garner.

  “Yes, I think he saw us,” snapped Dodge. “All the man does is sit around watching computer screens and making log reports.”

  “Captain, they’re dropping out of light speed.”

  Dodge reacted quickly. “All stop. Power everything down except the environmental systems. Now.”

  Everyone worked quickly at the process of reversing the thrusters to bring the ship to a halt and all systems were shut off. It left them vulnerable, but Dodge realized it would first prevent them from ramming into the other ship, and secondly it gave them one last opportunity to go undetected.

  “They aren’t stopping, Dodge,” said Garner. “Maybe they didn’t see us after all.”

  Dodge reviewed the other ship’s movements. “Not likely. They’re heading to the G33 moon. Good place for a sneaky fight.”

  “Should we follow?”

  “Bring the ship back online, and move us within a few hundred kilometres of the moon,” said Dodge. “They’re gonna try and hide, but the trick will work both ways. They won’t be able to see us either.”

  Truthfully, Dodge would have preferred to turn and leave. Not because of fear, but because he could be off doing something far more useful and profitable than following this fool Murdock around the galaxy. He was only continuing on because of loyalty. Rusty had personally asked him to keep an eye on Murdock and since it involved Jak Phoenix, he was forced to oblige. Dodge was a little surprised, however, that Jak had not taken out Murdock on that sand planet. He hadn’t yet heard the whole story, but he knew that Jak’s deep hatred for the double-crosser Murdock would have made Jak ruthless in a fight against him. Dodge knew Jak wasn’t a killer, but pent up anger could quickly turn to revenge, which could end up causing him to go too far. Maybe it was what Murdock deserved, but you could only dole that punishment out if you became what you hated, and Dodge never wanted to see Jak in that light.

  “They’ve moved around to the other side of the moon now, captain.”

  “Go in after him,” said Dodge. “But keep your distance. Unfortunately we don’t wanna blow him away yet, just follow him. Garner, start a tap into his system. We need to know where he’s going.”