His mind made up, Pu' Chabba pulled back hard on the stick, sending his ship into a steep climb several feet short of the Escort's energy shields. He reached over to deactivate
his weapons' system but felt an fiery brand of sheer agony pierce his brain. "Traitor", the harsh voice of Sky marshal Wincus echoed through his skull so loudly the bounty hunter thought his head might
explode. "How dare you defy me?!?"
Pu' Chabba shook his head trying to purge the voice from his mind, but found the movement only intensified the already unbearable pain.
"You will complete your mission, bounty hunter", the inner voice shouted, "or you will die!"
Pu' Chabba tore his tortured gaze from his frozen limb and turned to Mushi. The large jewel-like eyes sparkled innocently back at him.
"Then I'll die, Wyzenhymer bastard!!", he cried. Using every bit of his energy, he was able to toggle the weapons' switch off, powering down the system.
A primal scream of rage erupted through his mind, his vision exploding in
Technicolor as Wincus unleashed his fury on the bounty hunter's mind. And then...blackness.
"He's turning away, sir!", Number Two relayed excitedly.
Reed stared at the screen, suspicious of their good fortune, yet the ship had pulled up and was moving away from the Escort, although somewhat erratically. "Keep an eye on him, Lieutenant", he instructed,
"it might be a trick."
"Aye-aye, sir."
"Mr. Schultz, scan the outlying areas", he continued, "I don't want any surprises."
"Roger", Schultz acknowledged.
Reed made his way back to his seat, pondering the strangeness of the encounter.
"Sir", the science officer remarked several seconds later, "readings are negative in the outlying quadrants. However, I am getting anomalous fluctuations on the subspace monitors."
A thin humorless smile crept onto the commanders face. "Scramble the fighters, Mr. Schultz", he instructed calmly. "We're under attack."
"Aren't you being a bit reactionary?", the Huckster inquired with a chuckle. "It's just some static, sir. I'll run a diagnostic and..."
"Just do it, Mr. Schultz", Reed replied forcefully.
"Yes, sir", the science officer grumbled. "Attention Spam Squadron", he called into the public address, "you are go for take-off." He thumbed off the communicator and leaned close
to Reed. "I still think you're overreacting, sir."
Reed smiled. "Do you?", he asked sardonically as he pointed back to the main tele-viewer.
Schultz smirked, but looked where Reed had indicated. Blips of light winked into existence not far from where the stray ship had begun its false assault. The Huckster stabbed rapidly at his keyboard,
then looked up even more pale than usual. "Wyzenhymer long ranged fighters", he muttered in disbelief. "Two squadrons of them."
