"Glad you guys made it out," said Jolo. But then he realized there were only two. The younger Greeley brother was sitting on the ground slumped over with his head down. His armored suit was charred and there was a nasty gash along the back, but it hadn't penetrated. George was missing an arm.
"What happened?" said Jolo. By then Katy had arrived. The younger Greeley tried to explain, but his words were garbled and incoherent and punctuated by little fits of sobbing.
"The older Greeley took down a cruiser by himself with the ion cannon. He knew the soft spot and exploited it," said George.
"But then he got hit," said the younger Greeley.
"We gotta bolt," said Koba, running up to them. "I'm starting to pick up scouts. They’re widening the net. We gotta go."
And so everyone quietly got on board and Katy pointed Jessica towards home.
……
So they made their way quietly through the night to the other side of Duval. Jolo insisted they travel at a slower speed so they were throwing a smaller heat signature. Katy kept a sharp eye on the screen while the med bots below worked on Greeley and George.
When the Jessica made it into the final run to Marco's house, deep inside the safety of the ravine, Jolo almost allowed himself a moment to breathe. But the moment was short-lived. Not 20 kilometers from Marco’s hole in the cliff a large red dot showed up on Katy’s scanners.
"So what's waiting for us?" said Jolo.
"Federation, recon class. Smaller than us. Probably the Valhalla," she said.
Jolo was tired. He’d lost a man, and George was injured, and once again he’d put everybody in danger. But still, he wasn't going to run. And if it was the Valhalla, then he'd be happy to talk to his old friend, Barthelme.
"Shields up," said Jolo. "Katy, take us right up to their nose. I want to look inside and see who's there."
Pretty soon the Valhalla hailed the Jessica. But Jolo did not reply. And just as he had instructed, Katy brought the Jessica close to the Valhalla.
Jolo stood staring out the portal window. He needed confirmation. The Valhalla continued to hail them but Jolo remained silent, slowly inching forward until the proximity warning started to go off in the bridge. But he kept telling Katy to bring them closer. And sure enough, once they were 30 meters away, Jolo could see clearly onto the bridge of the Valhalla. And there, standing in front of the captain’s chair, was a thin man in a black suit. The large, round Barthelme was nowhere to be found.
Jolo had Katy ease the Jessica back and he called down to Hurley. “We got enough juice to take out this tin can in front of us.”
“I don’t know, Captain, we’re low on juice and they know it. If I had fresh cells I’d say blow her up.”
“Captain. It’s not a normal recon ship, either. It’s got modified rail guns that can do some damage,” said Koba.
Jolo got on the comm. “Get out of my way or I’m going to give you everything I’ve got.”
“Ahh, the rash Captain Vargas,” the man in black said. “We both know you don’t have much left to fight with. Don’t be hasty. You’ve already lost one crew member today.”
Just then Katy picked up two large vessels converging on their position.
“What do we got?” said Jolo.
“They’re throwing a perfect BG Cruiser class sign, but there’s a wave in the energy output that don’t look right,” said Koba.
“Because we’re in a ravine and they’re up top,” said Katy.
Jolo called down to medical. “George, you good to go?”
“Yes, Captain,” said George, calm as ever, almost bored, as if he still had two arms and they were all sitting in the Atrium.
Soon George came to the bridge, a bandage over the stump of his arm.
“Can you drive the hover bike?”
George went dead still and consider for a split-second.
“Yes.”
“Can the hover bike take a drop from this altitude with four aboard?”
“Yes, but we’ll burn a ton of juice, so we won’t go as far.”
“Okay, Katy, Koba and Hurley go with George on the hover bike. Get out of here.”
“Captain, if it’s okay with you I’d like to stay,” said George. “In my current state,” he said, looking at his stump, “I don’t think I can safely land the hover bike with one arm.”
Just then Greeley walked in.
“Greeley, take Katy, Koba and Hurley out of here on the hover bike. Get as clear as you can.”
“Ain’t runnin’!” he yelled. He was still wearing his armor suit, the green plate along his back marred by a long black streak from a BG energy rod.
“Ain’t asking you to run,” snarled Jolo. “I’m asking you to save Katy and the rest.” Katy stood up to protest, but Jolo looked her in the eye, pleading. And she stayed quiet. Koba was up and ready to go.
“Ok,” Greeley said.
“Go now,” said Jolo.
Then Jolo decreased altitude a little more to give the hover bike a better chance of making the drop.
Before they left Katy hugged Jolo. “Come back to us. Okay? Don’t be stupid.” She kissed him on the cheek and he watched her go. And then he stood next to George and eyed the Federation ship Valhalla, captained by the man in black.
“Computer, ETA on the two Cruisers?”
“Three minutes, forty-seven seconds at current speed,” came the reply.
Jolo was glad the crew was moving further away from all of this with every second that passed. He was free to do what he did best: railguns and destruction.
Jolo got on the comm to the Valhalla. “Where’s Barthelme?”
“He’s on vacation with his family. Having a great time, I’m sure.” Jolo could hear his laughter before his comm transmission cut off.
“Where is he?” Jolo yelled.
“Sotec, in the Scina system, ice skating. He’s been retired, you know.”
Computer, Jolo thought. What is Sotec?
A BG prison planet mainly used for ice mining. Most prisoners don’t last more than a few months. Survival
