"There they are!" exclaimed Gaz, pointing at a newly formed crater with a clearly damaged ship wedged in the end.

Joel nodded, and steered their craft in the direction Gaz was pointing. It seemed like an age before they reached the planet's surface, but they settled a few hundred metres from the wrecked ship and opened the hatch so that they could approach.

Gaz led the way, striding out in his usual fearless way. Joel was more watchful, but still excited. He knew nothing about Halda, the planet they had landed on, and didn't know what they might come across.

Unseen to either Joel or Gaz, the Grand Zombie Master stood, sniggering just inside the door, watching them leave. He was about to be reunited with his Crawk-King Leader of War.

"Jaundice!" Gaz shouted. "We're here!"

"Be nice," warned Joel. "We're relying on him for the prize money."

"Fine. Jake, where are you?" Gaz called, slightly less enthusiastically. It felt weird to Gaz the pretence of being nice after all those years of terrorising Jake back in their hometown. Things must be seriously bad if Jake was taking an offer of help from a Tereson.

As they made their way over the edge of the crater, which was really more of a bank of sand and dust caused by Jake's crash-landing than an actual crater, they saw something moving by the stricken ship.

"Jake!" shouted Joel. "It's him!" he cried as he rushed towards the ship. He failed to notice the exaggerated and urgent mannerism associated with Jake's waving until an unseen force smashed into his side, throwing him across the dusty floor. He grappled and scratched and bit his attacker, spitting out sand and blood as he gasped for air. Trying, and failing to connect with a weakly thrown left hook, Joel finally submitted to his stronger opponent and his skull crashed against the floor. Everything went black.