The man saw Jolo and raised his weapon. Jolo stood frozen, the gun dangling loosely from his hand, almost like he didn't want to be holding it in the first place. Almost like he was ashamed to have it. A little part of him just wanted to go back into his cell and say he was sorry.
But then a funny thing happened. The young man charged, pointed his gun at Jolo, his full intention to bring Jolo down. But he wasn't close enough yet for a good shot and Jolo knew it. And suddenly Jolo's instincts took over. The young officer tried to get a shot off, but it was too late, Jolo jumped to the left and fired. His bullet hit the man's weapon and it exploded. The young officer fell backwards, and then, still somewhat stunned, got to his feet and looked at Jolo.
Jolo raised the gun to the man's head. “Now take off your clothes. Quickly,” he said. Jolo changed into the young man’s Federation blues and then told him to wear the orange jumpsuit. Jolo grabbed the man and pushed him into the elevator, the gun still held close to him. They went to the ground level and when they busted out of the elevator there were two guards waiting at the front door.
Instantly the guard wearing the orange jumpsuit started to run off to the side screaming he was Federation but the two guards at the door stunned him with their energy weapons and he fell in an orange clump in the corner. In the commotion Jolo ran out the door and into the plaza.
Jolo stepped out onto the grass of the plaza and looked to his left and he could see the tree line that Barthelme had spoken about. He still had the gun in his hand. It wasn't Fed issue so he he hid it inside his jacket.
Computer, pull up a map of the Plaza of the Planets, he thought. Instantly a map appeared in his mind. Computer, where are the docks closest to the Federation Plaza?
The map in his mind zoomed in to an area to the northeast of his current location.
Changing out of the orange jumpsuit may have bought him a little bit of time but now he had to move. He started at a full sprint right for the tree line across the Plaza but then thought better of it and went to the sidewalk and started walking. His uniform had prison guard insignia so he'd have to improvise if he ran into trouble.
The Plaza was empty and he walked as quickly as he could without arousing suspicion. The sun was coming up. It was morning and the grass was wet with dew. The large trees above offered a little cover for when the drones came.
He made it to the treeline with no problems, then he checked the map again in his mind. By now, though, the whole area was buzzing. He could hear the drones in the air, he could hear men yelling. The warning klaxon half a kilometer away was still blaring.
He knew he had to head in an easterly direction to make it to the docks. He’d have to cross a large park there with a small bridge. A service tram ran under the bridge that carried trash from one end of the city to the other. Jolo stepped into the park outside of the tree line cover. Now he was in the open again. A few steps into the park and suddenly a drone buzzed past his head and stopped.
“State your name and serial number, Soldier,” said a voice through the round ball, hovering a few meters off the ground. Jolo answered with the gun. He put one bullet into the drone and it spun off wildly. He could still hear the drone repeating, “state your name and serial number.”
Jolo headed quickly for the bridge, but soon saw four armed Marines heading in his direction. They had full battle armor and one had a long range weapon. The others carried short range stun guns. They were about 100 yards away but we're heading towards him quickly. Jolo didn't know if they knew who he was. So instead of running full out he just jogged, waving to them as he ran towards the bridge.
The Marines made it to the bridge first and blocked his path. Jolo stopped just far enough so the short range weapons couldn’t reach him, put his hands on his knees breathing hard. “I just came from the prison ward,” Jolo said. “There's been an escape, and we must locate him immediately. He's wearing an orange jumpsuit, though he may have changed.”
The leader stepped forward. “Come forward and state your name and serial number,” he said. “And why are you not at your post?”
“As I said, I'm chasing down an escaped prisoner. Now you boys can get out of my way, or you can help me.” The four Marines stopped just for a moment, and Jolo thought he had them fooled, but then suddenly the Marine in the back, the one with the long-range weapon, said, “look at his pants. They’re too short.” Suddenly all the Marines were on alert.
Jolo knew he had to do something soon. The man with a long-range weapon had it pointed right at his head. Just then the drone that Jolo had shot earlier came buzzing in at an angle, and for a split second the Marines took their eyes off Jolo, giving him just enough time to reach into his jacket and pull out the gun. He dove to the right and fired twice, taking out the man with a long-range weapon. He knew that his bullet couldn't penetrate the battle armor, but he could take out the weapon and the bullet would stun the man
