Mendoza Ramirez, captain of the pirate ship Conscious Consumer, sometime blackmailer and frequent murderer, was impressed with the speed displayed by his prey as it whirled to escape. But no one is fast enough to dodge bullets, let alone blaster bolts.

A gout of sparks sprayed from the life support package on Jordan’s space suit. A muffled whump! of exploding vacuoles in the pack spoke rudely of internal damage and Jordan was flung bodily to the deck by the violent expansion of breathing gasses. Fragments of metal and plastic caromed around the curved walls.

Ramirez hoped the tumble had broken Jordan’s nose, and that he wasn’t quite dead enough not to feel it. Smoke clouded the air faster than scrubbers could remove it. A friendly chirp from the computer preceded a benign reminder to evacuate.

Rage only partly sated, Ramirez succumbed to a desire to peer into his antagonist’s lifeless eyes. He approached, spurned Jordan with his toe.

This decision earned him a knife through the top of his other foot.