Jak Phoenix

by Matt D. Williams

Chapter Eight - Take-Off

  Jak woke up in the bed in his quarters aboard the Tempest. He had originally gone back to his room on the station, but after being unable to fall asleep for two hours, he decided to head back to the ship. He played with his computer for a while and checked a few reports. The familiarity relaxed him and he eventually went back to his own bed and drifted into a hearty sleep.

  “Jak!” A voice shouted in the silence of the ship and it nearly gave him heart failure.

  He threw the sheets off, put on some clothes and ran toward the loading ramp where Kingsley had called from.

  Jak rubbed his eyes. “What is it?”

  “Rusty wants you in his shop.”

  “Is it something important?” asked Jak. He had mentioned he was coming down, but why would Rusty wake him up for it?

  “Yes, he’s got some info about Murdock that he needs you to hear.”

  “Alright.”

  While Jak did up a few last buttons on his shirt, he and Kingsley walked at a brisk pace back through the connecting tube and into the station, around the ring, and into Rusty’s shop.

  “Ah, Jak,” said Rusty, as soon he made eye contact with Jak from behind his work bench. “I wouldn’t have woken you up so early, but I have some very important news to tell you.”

  “Shoot.”

  “I already told you that Dodge has been following Murdock since he caught up with him after your little incident. He’s been secretly monitoring his communications and today he got caught. Murdock would never deal with Dodge face to face, so he attacked his ship.”

  “Is Dodge alright?”

  “I’m not sure. The nearest help is days away.”

  Jak had known Dodge Stonewall for a long time. He was a good guy, who mainly made his living doing jobs that called on the skills he had acquired as former chief of security for several upper members of royalty on a variety of planets. He was not a person to be crossed, be it in a double or single manner.

  Jak smiled at the thought of how Dodge’s hot temper and lack of patience would have made for an explosive atmosphere aboard that ship right now. That was, if he was indeed alright and the ship was still in one piece.

  “I’m leaving right away,” said Jak firmly.

  “Before his power went down he managed to send you this ...” Rusty picked up a storage card from the top of his computer terminal and handed it to Jak. “Murdock’s flight plans for the next few days. Dodge downloaded it right before he was shot up.”

  Jak put the card in his pocket. “Unbelievable. When you guys put your minds together, really good stuff gets done.”

  “Don’t get too excited Jak. That was the good news. It’s gonna take you a couple of days to get to where Murdock’s gonna be. The bad news is that if he sticks to his plans he’ll be leaving around the time that you get there.”

  “Then we’ll have to move quick. Especially now, since we’re running a rescue mission too.” Jak knew Murdock’s ship was a lot faster than his.

  Rusty motioned to a side room and said, “Come on back here first. I’ve got some stuff for you.”

  Jak and Rusty walked through the sliding doors and into the room. Kingsley followed. The lights came on automatically, highlighting the junk covered tables that Jak had seen so many times in the past. Some of the tables were covered in gadgets and parts which Jak noticed had never been moved. Each time he visited, more trinkets accumulated on and under these tables, the shelves, the cupboards, in the chests and on the floor. Jak had based his ship’s organization system on this layout.

  Rusty was specifically interested in showing Jak the weapons table.

  “Now, I haven’t had a lot of new stuff come through here lately,” said Rusty. It was an understatement. Most of the weapons he had on the table were nearly fifty years old. Jak didn’t care. He figured it meant they were more durable and reliable.

  “Baxter told me you lost the Z8,” said Rusty as he picked up a pair of Z8 pistols which were surprisingly in better condition than the one he lost in the desert. He handed Jak the curvy old-fashioned pistols. “I’ve replaced the power packs in them with the newest I could find, so they should charge quickly off the Tempest’s power outlets.”

  “Here is a box of homing beacons,” said Rusty. He handed Jak a small beaten box full of black circular metallic objects, with a miniature antenna protruding from the top of each. “Hit the button on the side and they’ll magnetically attach to most metals. Then they’ll let you track something even as far as a couple of light years away. Manufacturer’s specifications of course — no guarantees.”

  Rusty tore through the table excitedly and continued to add guns and gadgets and accessories to the pile forming in Jak’s outstretched arms. Jak lost track of what he was getting, but identified a few small explosive charges, a water bottle, a rock, and even a new belt.

  Jak looked over to Kingsley, who was standing empty handed. “Did you want to help me with something kid?”

  “Sure—” He had to move quickly to catch the pile of stuff Jak dumped into his arms.

  “I’m going back to get the ship ready,” said Jak.

  “I just have a couple of things to finish up and I’ll be right there,” said Rusty.

  “See you in a bit. Follow me kid.”

  Jak made his way quickly through the crowds of the station toward the landing platform, with Kingsley struggling to keep up while carrying Jak’s precious haul. He used his chin to stabilize the top of the pile, terrified to drop anything explosive.

  When they reached the ship, Baxter was just arriving at the same time.

  Jak was glad to see him. “Hey, buddy.”

  “Judging by the fact that you’re already awake, I’d assume we’re leaving soon.”

  “You bet. A problem’s come up.”

  “Of course it has.”

  Baxter couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction as he saw Kingsley drudging along behind Jak with the pile of junk. At least it wasn’t Baxter for once.

  “Hey, Jak,” said Baxter, with a clear air of cockiness, “maybe we should bring him along for the ride. He seems to be doing a great job.”

  “Oh yeah.” That reminded Jak. “Give that stuff to Baxter.”

  Kingsley dumped the load on Baxter, who also had to move quickly to catch everything as he spotted detonators on the top of the mound.

  “I’ll be on the ship,” said Jak. By the time they turned to see him he was already aboard.

  “Thanks,” said Baxter with obvious sarcasm.

  “No problem,” answered Kingsley.

  Baxter wanted to continue the conversation past the initial three words but decided he’d be further ahead by moving on and dumping the heavy load of junk he was straining to carry.

  “Have a good time here on the station,” Baxter shot back as he walked up the ramp. He couldn’t think of anything better to say.

  Baxter dumped everything into a chair in the common room and headed to the cockpit, where Jak was already flicking switches and checking stats. Jak pulled the storage card out of his pocket and inserted it in a slot in the dash panel. A textual log displayed itself on a screen between the two stations.

  “What’s this?” asked Baxter. He sat down to get a better view of the screen.

  “Dodge ripped off Murdock’s flight plans,” said Jak.

  “Not bad. I see he was in Nossus. Then he’s going over to the Sofful system. Uh oh ...” Baxter pondered the read-out for a moment. “If he follows these coordinates exactly, like we know he will, he’s headed right through the Devil’s Horn Nebula.” Baxter did a few silent mental calculations. “At first glance it looks like we’ll be meeting up with him at exactly that point. And of course the rest of the log looks like gibberish, so that will be our last chance to grab him before he’s long gone.”

  “Would it be any other way for us?”

  “I’ll start working on some plans to save our asses.”

  “Murdock also took out Dodge’s ship.”
/>   “Is he okay?”

  “Not sure.”

  “That’s his new ship too,” remembered Baxter. “If he’s not dead he’s gonna be mighty pissed off.”

  “I know.”

  “I guess I’ll work on a few additional ass-saving plans.”

  “Sounds good,” said Jak. “Because we’re leaving right now.”

  Jak ran back down the loading ramps and checked to see if some of the things he remembered he had to check looked alright. The doors in the opening of the linking tunnel opened and Rusty, Kent and Kingsley emerged and rushed over to Jak under the ship.

  Rusty handed Jak a warm plastic container. “Here you go.”

  Jak pealed the bendable plastic top back and the smell of the freshly cooked bacon, eggs and toast reminded him that he hadn’t had the opportunity to sit down and eat.

  “You’re an amazing fellow,” said Jak.

  He put the container down on the loading ramp and reached his hand out to Rusty for a farewell handshake. Rusty took it and pulled him in for a crushing bear hug.

  “Keep in contact when you can, my boy. I’m looking forward to hearing from you. Let me know if Dodge is okay.”

  Baxter came down the ramp and said goodbye to Rusty in the same manner.

  Jak reached in and shook Kent’s hand. “Go easy on the engines for the first couple of hours or so. They need to work themselves in a bit after the overhaul.”

  Jak replied with a nod. He was more than a little disappointed that Cyan had not taken the time to come down and at least say goodbye to them. Why did he care anyway? They had only just met and she obviously hated him. This was another problem with beautiful women. They would get engrained into your mind and bother you even when they weren’t around.

  Kent looked over to Baxter and continued. “Baxter, make sure Jak actually does try to take it easy on the engines for the first couple of hours, because I think he ignored what I said and just nodded.”

  “Will do,” said Baxter, realizing Jak had tuned out.

  Jak and Baxter said their final farewells and boarded the ship. Their three friends outside made their way into the protective control booth to begin the procedure to open the domed roof of the landing bay.

  They had the ship ready to go in just a few minutes. Jak started the engines and was relieved to feel the jolt and powerful rumble that came along with their activation. Jak looked out the top of the window in the cockpit and could see the dome above them slowly opening to reveal the black backdrop of space. Freedom is what it was. Jak had been trying to think of the reason why he chose to live in that near nothingness.

  “Ready?”

  “Let’s go,” said Baxter.

  Jak activated the repulsors with success and the ship began to rise.

  “Bring in the landing pads.”

  “Done,” replied Baxter. “In and closed.”

  The ship rose past the thick steel lip of the roof as they passed from light to dark. They were still facing toward the center of the station, which gave them the opportunity for a visual farewell, before Jak grabbed the stick and wrapped the ship into a turn, ending with a powerful thrust. They were off and heading away from the asteroid where the citizens had been so gracious to feed them and in turn send them out on a harebrained mission.

  It was a thrill ride for Jak at even a tame speed. The longer you were locked down on the ground, the more you appreciated it when you were finally able to float and dive and roll and stretch your legs in the open field of the cosmos.

  He remembered the food Rusty had given them and plopped the open plastic container on the console. Jak and Baxter took turns finishing off the hearty breakfast food.

  For the next couple of hours, Baxter made Jak go over every system in the ship and tediously perform nearly every basic manoeuvre in order to test and retest all of the ship’s systems and functions and abilities. While he did enjoy the piloting, it was never as much fun if someone was making you do it.

  “Computer, how does that engine overhaul feel?” asked Jak.

  “Systems operating exceptionally,” the Tempest answered. “Far superior results than previous repair attempts.”

  “And less fire too,” added Baxter.

  “Either of you two can feel free to try and unseize an engine while you’re also trying to fly and battle drone ships at the same time,” said Jak. “Then we’ll see who has the last laugh.”

  Both the ship and Baxter had no comeback.

  “Alright, kick the engines in all the way. We’ve worked them in enough.”

  Baxter clicked a few buttons and turned a couple of knobs. “Done. Faster-than-light systems are ready.”

  “Your course is set in?”

  “Yep, go for it.”

  Jak forced the thruster control to its maximum position and it felt as if the ship took off from under them. They were on their way.