“What’s with all the screaming?”
“Those are cheers.”
“Oh, so you told them we were safe,” said Jolo.
“Naw, they knew that. They’re cheering because the younger Greeley brother found a box of synth ale and I think we’ve got the makings of a party.”
The bots gently picked up Katy and Koba to take them down to medical. “I’m fine,” said Katy. “I can stay here.”
“Go rest,” said Jolo.
Koba held up his right hand, wrapped in white gauze. His eyes were unfocused and his lips moved erratically. “Pain killers,” he said, grinning like a drunk man. “Somebody shot me, Captain,” his face suddenly serious.
“I’m not even going to ask,” said Katy. “Are we in the clear?”
“For now, yes,” said Jolo.
“I’m sorry I doubted you before.”
“We ain’t out of the woods yet,” said Jolo.
Jolo sat in his chair alone, the bridge quiet except for the muffled sounds of singing coming from below. He checked the console again for any signs of Fed activity, but the screen was still blank. They had no idea where he’d jumped to. He imagined them sending out scouts to all reaches within the Jessica’s jump range. They were safe for now, but it wouldn’t last.
Even so, he allowed himself a moment to rest. For the first time in the last 24 hours he could relax. But the moment he let go just a little, when he closed his eyes and stopped worrying about the hounds of hell that Barthelme had warned about--Jaylen popped into his mind clear as day. Like a waking dream, he could see her face, the soft curve of her chin, her long hair against her shoulders. He wanted to touch her again, to feel her against him. I am coming for you, he thought. But he knew if he was to find Jaylen he needed a better hiding place and then a solid rescue plan.
I’ll let the party below go on for a little while longer, he thought, but then we have to move. They are hunting us.
Duval, Revisited
In the gas clouds of Marvis.
Jolo sat in the captain’s chair eyeing the console. The Jessica had been hiding in the nebula for three days. Small local traders, big freighters and just about every boat in the Fed navy fleet had popped on screen in that time. The traders would jump out as soon as they made calculations, but Fed ships would pause to scan the sector in search of a rogue synth in a stolen gunboat.
But Jolo wasn’t taking any chances. He’d shut the power down to the bare minimum, just essential life support. The Jessica had gone dark and quiet, just another rock in space, no heat signature could be detected from her fuel cells or thrusters. A Fed ship would have to be right on top of her to be seen.
He imagined the Federation in a buzz trying to find him. But it was like finding one tiny light in a galaxy of stars. They really had no idea where he could go, but they did know his range. And that's what worried him. He knew he had to move sooner than later. But where?
He slumped back into his chair and thought about the people down below that were starting to get restless. Fights had broken out in the last day or so. They were not used to being in a ship, trapped in a storage bay with nothing to do. Especially when the lights were nearly off and orders were to be quiet.
Katy walked in with a plate of food. "Here eat this," she said. "What do you do all day up here?" She put the tray down next to him and he eyed the white gauze wrapped around her forehead—small brown hints of blood showing through.
"How are you doing?" he said.
"I was a little dizzy for a day or so, but now I'm much better.” She straightened up, then bowed. “Ready for duty sir." She smiled at him and he reached out for her hand.
"Thank you for being here."
"I'm glad to be here."
Jolo looked down at the tray and started to laugh. Fed greens. He thought about Barthelme. Wondered if he was okay. He had risked himself for Jolo, just like Katy and the rest. And now Jolo had 84 people in the storage bay to take care of. He was starting to feel the weight of it. If he killed himself alone in a capsule then so be it. But if one of his decisions killed someone else, he didn’t know if he could take it.
When Jolo wasn't sitting in the captain’s chair eyeing the console, worried that some large BG cruiser was going to pop in unexpectedly, he walked the corridors of the Jessica. He'd often stand in Jaylen's room, which was now half-empty, and wonder where she was. He sat in what used to be his quarters, pictures of the former captain’s young wife and their small boy on the wall. There just weren't enough answers.
Jolo took a few bites of the fed green, thought about what Barthelme had said, about how he wasn't supposed to like this. "This stuff ain’t too bad, is it?" Katy just rolled her eyes at him and shook her head.
"It'll keep you alive, but that's about it," she said.
Just then the younger Greeley's voice came through the comm. "Captain, we got a situation down the storage bay. They're fighting again."
Jolo sat the tray down. "Okay, both of y'all suit up and meet me at the entrance to the bay."
"Can I bring the heat? I’ll set it to stun."
"No guns." They had been through this previously.
Jolo met the Greeley brothers at the entrance and they followed him in. There was a big commotion in the center of the large room. Berg was there between two other men who had been fighting.
