Jolo sat in the captain’s chair and considered his crew. He had the mathematician and Katy helping on the bridge, and the old man, Hurley, down in the engine room, and the two former hired guns getting geared up just in case. Berg had agreed to stay behind and lead the group.
Jolo didn't know if any of them could help. And he didn't know if he could trust the two brothers named Greeley, who he’d turned over the full ground assault arsenal to. But he had no choice.
Jolo kept the ship low and out of sight, running as fast as he could without being seen. He needed time to think and come up with something. If it was a smaller BG ship he could go toe to toe, but that was in space. In the atmosphere the BG ship may have an advantage. So for now running was the best option.
And then there was the matter of the Federation. If what Katy said was true then there was a cruiser and at least four gunboats waiting for him in orbit. He imagined Silas Filcher himself standing on the deck of a large destroyer, eyeing a large screen for the missing Fed gunboat. He wondered if Filcher had any sympathy at all, or was he fully on the president's side? He wondered if Barthelme got away.
When it came down to it he couldn't trust anyone. He was going to have to get past the Federation ships and he couldn't fight the BG on the surface of Qualus, so his options were limited.
What he needed to do was jump. He just needed time to jump. But if they broke atmosphere, the moment they got there the Federation ships would lock on and that would be that. What if somehow he could make the calculations early? There was just no way that he could break through the atmosphere without them knowing, without them being there.
“Koba,” he said, “can you decrease the calculation time for a jump?”
“There are some things we could do,” he said. “But if you're asking can we make the calculation before the Federation boats lock on, the answer is no. They’ll know when we pop up.”
Jolo had the ship heading into a generally southern direction, following a mountain chain and trying to stay undetected. For a moment they broke out into an open area when the mountain chain ended. They were no more than 50 meters off the ground and came upon a large group of people walking in a long line on the dusty surface. Jolo adjusted course slightly to go around but he was still seen. It was difficult to hide a large ship when you're running full out close to the ground. At first Jolo thought the line of red robed people were military.
“Who are they?” said Jolo.
“The Kubara,” said Katy. “They are the local religious leaders. They rarely pop their heads out of the caves in the mountains because of the BG patrols searching for workers, but there's going to be a partial eclipse in a few hours. It's a holy day for them and they'll lead their believers in prayer.”
“I hope they say a prayer for us,” said Jolo. “What we need to do is jump from here.”
“That's impossible,” said Katy. “Too much atmosphere, too much gravity to generate a warp field.”
Jolo sat in his chair leaning to one side, the last of the red religious leaders now out of sight. Computer, he thought, what happens to gravity during a solar eclipse?
At the beginning and end of an eclipse gravity is decreased as there is less atmosphere.
Computer, where is the least amount of gravity on the planet Qualus.
The southern pole, came the reply.
Computer, has anyone ever made a warp jump from the surface of a planet?
There is one recorded instance of a small freighter making a warp jump from the surface of the planet Darst.
Under what conditions?
It was during a solar eclipse in the year 2432.
“Katy,” Jolo said. “Take us to the southernmost pole.”
“Koba,” he said, “is it possible to make a jump from the surface of the planet?”
“From the atmosphere? No,” he said.
“What if we got less atmosphere?” said Jolo.
“Oh,” the mathematician said. “Are you gonna try what I think you’re gonna try? Because more ships have failed than have succeeded. As a matter fact, I don't think anyone has succeeded.”
“Yes, they have,” said Jolo. “A ship made it off the planet Darst during a solar eclipse.”
“You remembered that?” said Katy.
“Uh, yeah. Weird stuff just pops into my head,” said Jolo.
“Well, this little idea don't sound too good.”
The mathematician turned in his chair and adjusted his glasses. “The captain’s gonna try to make a jump from the atmosphere.”
“No,” said Jolo. “Not from the atmosphere. From a very thin atmosphere.”
“If we’re in the southern pole, which has the least amount of gravity on this rock, and in the middle of the solar eclipse, can we do it?” said Jolo.
“It is theoretically possible,” said the mathematician. “But success rate is low.”
“Katy,” Jolo said, “take us to the South Pole and keep us low and out of trouble. I’d like to stay off the BG scanners if possible. Koba, you find out exactly when the optimal time will be to jump during the eclipse.”
“What about the Fed boats?” said Katy.
“They won't come down.”
“How do you know?” said Koba.
“Their boats are made to fight in space. Just like this one. They'll wait for us. And hopefully we’re gonna fly right past them.”
“One more thing,” Jolo said. “I need to know if you guys are in. This might not work.”
“Better here, than down there,” said Koba.
“Those bastards took my money,” said Katy. “And I guess I'm out of a job hauling trash. So yeah, I'm in.”
Jolo went down to the armory and
