Jak, maddened with indignation, snapped, "I told you I'm Jak
SP345O926O. Who are you, and how may we help? In about an hour and a
half--"
"Silence!" shouted the visitor.
This brutal direction shocked Jak into acquiescence. An even greater
shock stunned him when the other man who had remained in the cabin
removed his helmet. This one, Jak decided, must be mentally deficient,
or else he would have had a plastidoc treat the red scar tissue
covering the left side of his face. Jak could not understand the
semicircle of black cloth over the man's left eye.
The leader bent his torso toward Drusilla as much as the spacesuit
allowed, and said, "My true name and serial number, you shall never
know, fair lady; but for practical purposes, I have adopted the name of
the most famous pirate of the early Twentieth Century, Earl Flim. You
may call me Captain Flim."
The third man came back through the passage. He looked ordinary enough,
although he had let his hair grow. He reported, "No one else aboard,
captain."