Zak crept away after dinner and returned to his cabin. To escape his troubles for a while, he took Herbet’s advice and spent the evening playing the latest jet-car racer – Skytrack. He became so absorbed in it that by the time he lifted his head off the Mind Mat, he found the lights out and Skye asleep in bed.
As he settled into bed, his troubles returned to occupy his mind. Krushkov’s gang were planning something. But if Security were not willing to investigate them, what could he do about it? He would have to gather more evidence, and this time confront Geremi with it!
He imagined a hijack taking place. A confrontation. Then a gun battle between the gang and Security. He would be confident in taking on the hijackers in a gunfight. One of the security men had been armed when he was escorted, so there was at least one gun on board.
The thought intrigued him. He had never considered what it would be like in a real-life situation. When he played a game, he acted as though it was his real life to lose. But was that really true? He did take risks, because he always knew that if he failed he could have another go. He took pride in his achievement that no matter how badly his team-mates played, he always completed a mission by the third attempt. That statistic rattled him now. In real life, he would only get one attempt. In real life, one mistake and it would be all over.
His confidence disintegrated within a matter of moments. It occurred to him that maybe he was in over his head.
*
9am SST Geoday 12 January 2085
After a restless night, Zak woke late. He found that Skye had already left the room, which suited him, as he felt sorry for himself and didn’t want to talk to anyone. He returned the room’s colour scheme to blue, scoffed the complimentary biscuits, and stayed in to play Skytrack.
