Alvarez was an able and determined commander. Using another squadron to take the place of Jackoes, the maneuver he had described was rehearsed again and again until they felt themselves ready to try it in earnest.

Five days later the maneuver went off without a hitch. Behind a screen of rock Jason saw a Jacko ship pounced on by those two ancient and skillful killers, Alvarez and MacDonald, and destroyed in an instant. Immediately, he fired his jets and slid out into the open. The Jacko Squadron had been scattered by the engagement, but as it began to reform he moved in and took position in it.

The Jacko ships accepted him without question. They turned and headed—outwards.

Alvarez sent off a signal which in due course reached Dickenson and Hayes at Moon Base.

“Well,” the old warrior sighed, “the boy’s on his way. Good hick to him. Now let’s make sure they’re getting a screen of ships out to pick up his television broadcast when he sends it, and I think we’ll have some patrols well forward in case he comes back with a hoard of Jackoes swarming on his heels.”

“D’you really think he’ll get back?”

“There are times when I think his chances are good. He hasn’t been spotted at the start, so why should he be spotted later? He need only keep along with them, spend ten or fifteen minutes filming, then blast for home, and his ship’s faster than theirs. Nevertheless, playing war is not like playing chess. Unknown factors invariably crop up—plans begin to go wrong and get out of hand.”

The Jacko squadron decelerated hard for half an hour, then cut its jets. The ships lay about half a mile apart. Though their actual speed relative to the sun was now several thousands of miles an hour they appeared to be quite motionless. Jason’s ship had a radio receiver and for a little while he was able to hear his strange companions communicating with each other in their rattling, chattering tongue. No doubt they made attempts to call him, but to any fighter pilot his silence would be immediately explained by the sight of the long groove in his hull and the ruined aerial. No move was made to investigate him closely.