The ship pitched, and for one wild, vertiginous moment we fought to keep our seats as the artificial gravity and the planet’s gravity battled for supremacy.

One of the pilots half-turned to call back. Fear and desperation twisted his features, and it was obvious he was trying not to panic. “Captain, we’re tumbling! The planet’s pulling us in, and there’s not much we can do about it, not with the beating our engines have taken!”

Harrigan looked around the bridge. His fingers held the arms of his chair in a death-grip.

“Options, people! Quickly!”

Silence.

That was when the overseer pinged my console. What I saw caused my eyes to go wide.

“Sir! I have jump code!” Jumping out of a gravity well was every bit as dangerous as jumping into one, and doing so while in an uncontrolled tumble was unheard of — but it was all we had. Harrigan didn’t even bat an eye.

“Do it!” came his reply.

I injected the code, and we jumped. Light flared, the world exploded, and then everything was quiet.