Free phil jones2 by J. R. Karlsson Page B

out of the ship at a greater speed than Phil had expected, impacting upon the star's surface and playing havoc with the view screen's glare reduction.
    'Hanniman, I'm going to need everything you can give me to get us out of here!' Phil yelled, hoping the intercom would deliver the message loud and clear.
    'Aye Captain, I shall try and put us into hyperwarp now.'
    'Hyperwarp? This close to a star? Have you taken leave of your senses Engineer?' Smith said.
    'I'm either crazy or very talented. I was working on a new equation that should theoretically allow us to jump much closer to the gravitation pull of...'
    'Can you do it, Hanniman?' Phil asked, ignoring Smith.
    Hanniman puffed out his cheeks and blew. 'We're about to find out sir.'
    RJ angled the ship out of orbit and away from the explosions starting to mount beneath them on the view screen.
    'Get us out of here, RJ.' Phil said, sounding more confident than he felt. Perhaps it was because he knew now that he was banking on other people's ingenuity rather than his own.
    The purple and blue surrounded them as they prepared to be launched into hyperwarp and clear of imminent disaster. Phil even dared to lean back in his seat somewhat, surely they had escaped now?
    A stuttering noise caused the purple to flicker and then disappear altogether, then the blue slowly faded out into black. Phil was no hyperwarp specialist but he could tell immediately that something had gone horribly wrong.
    The frantic face of Professor Hanniman appeared on the view screen for all to see. 'I don't understand!' he spluttered. 'It should have worked!'
    A solitary slow clapping filled the cockpit, to a man the crew turned to Agent Smith.
    'Bravo Professor, here I had expected Captain Jones to doom us all but it seems that you have beaten him to the proverbial punch.'
    Hanniman scowled at him but was silent.
    'Professor can you get us out of here on impulse?' Phil asked, already knowing the answer.
    The man looked crestfallen, Smith's words had rang true and cut him deeply. 'I'm afraid we are doomed, Captain. I have failed you, I am sorry.'
    Then it dawned on Phil what they needed to do. 'Professor, can you give us maximum impulse regardless? I have an idea.'
    Smith groaned but unlike before nobody paid him any heed.
    'RJ, as soon as those impulse engines kick in I want you to get us to a safe distance, then continue in a wider orbiting pattern around the star.'
    'Captain I don't see how that could help any...'
    'That's an order, pilot.' Phil said, cutting him off in the hopes that if they didn't think about it long enough then everything would be okay.
    He could see the look in RJ's eyes, the trust was beginning to ebb away from them now. The crew really did believe that they were about to die and that Phil wasn't going to magically save them as the glove-wearer should.
    The ship's engines roared into life, possibly coaxed into giving their last out of desperation from Hanniman down in Engineering. Phil hoped it would be enough, he'd know sooner rather than later. The view screen had been switched back to the pursuing Voravian vessel now that their attempts to hyperwarp out of the area had failed. It was closing in at a great speed with weapons primed and ready yet still Phil's plan had yet to come to fruition.
    For the second time in their struggles it was as if Phil's thought triggered the event. A huge eruption from the surface of the star shot upward and engulfed the Voravian ship, sending large chunks of debris flying everywhere. He slammed his fist down on the arm of his chair and yelled in triumph, then pain, then horror.
    A huge chunk of the Battle Cruiser was spinning directly toward them away from the wreckage, faster than they could possibly hope to move. Meanwhile the eruption from the surface of the star seemed to be spreading to a position directly underneath them.
    'It was a good effort, Phil. We wouldn't have survived this long without you.' Annika said consolingly.
    'Yeah Captain, you