Drusilla said, "I know what you mean. Jak has one in quarters. He does woodcarving. Of all the silly hobbies—"
"Don't be so helpful," Jak told Drusilla. "Leave that plank alone. It's the only piece of red cedar this side of Oak Ridge."
"You shall walk it," Flim predicted. "It is one of the most famous piratical traditions. In shark infested waters, a plank was extended over the side of the ship and all male prisoners were required to walk out it until they fell to their—death."
Jak shuddered at the pirate's calm use of the ugly archaic word. Flim inclined his head to Drusilla. "You, of course, fair lady, will be spared so awful a fate. When this creature, who, I perceive, has used you most cruelly, is no more, we shall see the stars together."
Drusilla simpered and tittered. Jak belched (the ultimate expression of disgust) for he had never seen a woman behave in such an abnormal manner. He resolved to discuss the matter with the Eugenics Counselor as soon as he reached Earth, if he did. Flim's intention to devitalize him seemed but an impossible threat since Jak had never seen anyone go through the strange process nor reviewed any remains afterward. He said, "I can't walk a plank in space. I would just drift back to the plane, unless you made a sudden change in velocity. Besides, I can last for weeks with the purifier in my suit."
"Who mentioned a spacesuit?" Flim sneered.
"Without it I couldn't walk at all."
Flim frowned ferociously. "True. Too true. Avast, how I wanted to see you walk the plank. We could take you to Earth and land on a Pacific island."
"That would take too long," Jak objected. "Let me speak for a minute." Jak placed a hand over his heart. "Captain Flim, my indoctrination makes your methods repellant, but, in my unconscious, I've a certain admiration for you. There may be some of the old romance in me. I know a way of—uh—of devitalization that you may not. I've always wished that when my time came to—uh—go, this way would be used. It's even more romantic than Walk the Plank. It's called the Firing Squad."
"The Firing Squad," Flim mused. "Never mind, Ger. Return the plank." Ger, carrying a one meter length of red cedar, shrugged and drifted back to the passage. Flim stroked the mess on his upper lip and said, "Interesting. How does the Firing Squad operate? Do I soak you in alcohol and ignite it?"