Now there were three left. Jolo was standing 20 yards away, and he knew that the stun guns were close range only. 20 yards wasn't gonna do much. They instantly ran towards Jolo just like the prison guard had done. Jolo took down the leader with two more shots, but then the closest Marine fired his weapon and Jolo was knocked to the ground. The gun flew out of his hand into the grass near the walkway.
At this point Jolo knew that he was done for. He stood up, weak kneed, stunned by the blast, and looked at the two Marines. “Do you know who I am?” he said. “I am Jolo Vargas. This is a mistake.”
The two Marines lowered their guns ever so slightly. Then the one on the right raised his again. “I'm sorry Captain Vargas, but we have to take you in,” he said.
“If you do that they're going to kill me,” Jolo said. “I'll die on a on a BG prison planet.” The Marine kept his weapon pointed at Jolo, then told the other one to call in a med drone and to tell HQ that they had Vargas.
Suddenly the second Marine raised his weapon and fired it at the other Marine. The other Marine fell to the ground and was knocked out. Then the man took off his helmet. “Now you're gonna have to shoot me,” he said. “Just to make it look good.”
“Why?” said Jolo.
“You saved my father in Carnassus five years ago. Is there anything else you need?” he said.
“No,” said Jolo. “Just get a med bot out here for these boys. Oh, one more thing. Tell them I was headed west right before you got shot.”
Jolo waited for the man to call headquarters and say that his men were down and he was chasing Jolo west. Then he put his helmet back on and nodded. Jolo shot him in the chestplate and the man fell to the ground.
Jolo ran across the bridge, accessed the map in his head, and headed straight for the docks. They were almost 1 km away off to the east. The sun was starting to come up and he could hear the sound of men's voices and the drones buzzing ahead. He hoped they were heading west.
After about five minutes he saw the ships at the edge of the docks. There were smaller, interstellar traders, dealing mainly in Federation goods, Federation medicine, and the like. But out towards the edge of the dock there were larger frigate class ships, carrying supplies to the outer worlds.
Soon he saw an old man pushing a hover cart full of tools and engine parts. Jolo stopped and asked him where dock seven was.
“What's all the fuss about?” he said. “There's more drones in the air than usual. And I heard some odd sounds coming out of the Plaza.”
“Nothing to worry about,” said Jolo. They’re testing new defense hover bots.”
The man shrugged and pointed. “Head that way out towards those larger boats, and you'll run right into number seven. Fed boys usually don't run out there to seven. That’s the trash detail.”
Jolo said thanks and headed off towards the larger boats. Soon he was at dock number seven. Sitting in bay 12 was a massive hulk of a ship. It was brown and covered with some kind of slime or coating that he had never seen before. It smelled horrible and was ancient, maybe even made from old world metal. He wasn't sure but he thought he was probably at the wrong place. He stood there looking at it, the energy weapon at his side. Drones were flying overhead so he crawled up underneath and wondered what to do next.
Jolo stayed under the ship for a few moments but soon someone jumped down off the big ship onto the platform. All he could see was a thin pair of legs. “You gonna stay there all day? We got to go,” said a girl’s voice.
Jolo crawled out from under the ship, and stood in front of a skinny girl. She had long brown hair and wore tight pants and high boots like the old star pilots used to wear.
“Are you here for me?” said Jolo.
“Are you him?”
And they just stared at each other for a moment. And then Jolo remembered he was wearing Fed blues.
“My name is Jolo. I borrowed these,” he said, pointing to his uniform.
“Katy,” she said, hands on her hips, eyeing Jolo. “Well, I must admit, you ain't what I was expecting. You supposed to be some big hero, save the planet and all that stuff. I just ain't seeing it.”
“They tell me the stories of how I saved a battalion on Carnassus V, years ago, and all the other things I've done. But I don’t know if I believe it either,” said Jolo.
“Huh?”
“I don't remember anything from more than a few weeks back.”
“All I got to say is, you better be worth it. Because my ass is on the line.”
She turned and headed to the front of the ship, placed her hand over the interlock and the hatchway opened leading to stairs directly to the cockpit. They both climbed inside and Jolo sat down next to her as she started the launch sequence.
“What smells?” said Jolo.
“This is a trash run,” she said. “43.8 tons of Federation refuse. All manner of slimy, grimy.” Just then two drones flew past high overhead.
“They’re watching,” she said. “But this old bucket leaves every day same time. It's just another trash run,” she said. And then she grabbed a rag doll and kissed it, then put it back on the console. “That's for luck. You ready?” And then the old trash boat slowly lifted off the ground. “Once we break through atmo, we're home free,” she said. “Prior to that, let's hope things go smoothly.”
The trash boat lifted up heavy and clumsy.
“How did you get through the patrols?” she asked.
“I had my gun,” Jolo said, showing her the
