“Uh, wait a minute there. I just thought o’ sumthin’ that don’t check out,” said Greeley. “How’s me and wonderboy here supposed to hide in the trash hauler if it’s full o’ shite?”
“Don’t worry,” said Katy. “I didn’t connect the exit hose to the ship. The container is clean.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call it clean,” said Greeley.
"Okay, lets do this," said Jolo.
George and Greeley eased out into the corridor first, wearing their Fed issue waiter uniforms. Jolo and Katy headed down to engineering soon after.
Jolo pulled up the Corsair’s floor schematic on his computer and took them straight to the closest elevator under the engineering wing. They walked the white halls of the big ship and for the first few moments didn’t see anyone. Katy walked quietly, her eyes darting from one corner to the next. “Remember, you belong here,” whispered Jolo. “You are an engineer aboard the Corsair.” She took a deep breath and tried to loosen up. Jolo wondered if bringing her was a mistake. He didn’t want her to get hurt. Greeley had the thrill of combat and BG bloodlust on his mind to keep him calm. George was strangely too calm all the time. And Jolo, what was he? he wondered. This is what he did well, he thought. This made him feel alive. This would get him closer to Jaylen. Get the drive and get Jaylen.
The doors to the elevator opened and there was an officer standing inside. Katy froze, but Jolo just smiled. The officer scowled. “Well, are you going to get out of my way?” he said in a huff.
“Excuse me, sir,” said Jolo in a calm, measured voice.
The officer brushed past both of them then barked a sharp command over his shoulder: “Follow me, there’s an issue on the level IV light array system in the ballroom which can be accessed by--” The officer’s back was to them and Jolo pulled out his gun and yelled, “Stop!”
The officer spun around sharply. “Do not speak to your superior in that—!” But his words were cut off because Jolo’s gun was aimed at his face.
A few moments later Jolo and Katy entered the elevator, the officer safely tucked into a bathroom stall near the ops room. “You look dashing, Commander Swisher,” said Katy.
“Thank you,” said Jolo, straightening his jacket.
They entered the engineering room and three black-suited mechanics jumped to attention when they saw the Commander’s uniform enter. Jolo pulled up the Fed inspection protocol on his computer. “This is an emergency Code 5 inspection. Report to the head immediately!” Jolo yelled in a loud, commanding voice. They train them well, thought Jolo, as all three engineers squeezed into the tiny one-man head. Jolo stood in the doorway of the tiny bathroom, shaking his head side to side. This is why we got our asses handed to us by the BG, he thought.
Then one engineer thought to speak. “Sir, begging your pardon, sir. But why are we in the head?”
“Inspection!” yelled Commander Jolo.
“Yessir.”
“Where’s the chief?” said Jolo.
“He was called away.” That’s odd, thought Jolo. Fed regulations clearly stated a chief be in engineering at all times.
“Is there a comm in the head?” Jolo asked. “You better answer correctly or you’ll fail the inspection and get duty servicing refuse haulers.”
“No comm in the head,” the brave engineer said.
“Does this door lock from the outside?” asked Jolo.
“Yessir, top right.”
“One more inspection question,” said Jolo. “Give me an example of hazmat emergency that would lock down the engineering wing but not have the Marines busting down our door.”
“Sir, are you really a commander?”
“No, son, I’m actually a captain. I’m Jolo Vargas.”
They all pushed further back into the head, each of them fighting for position, as if Jolo was going to eat one of them.
Jolo pulled out his gun. “Now I need to shut down engineering, but it has to be done quietly.” One said containment leak, but then the others shot that down because they’d have to evacuate the entire ship. Finally, they decided on air filters. They’d have to lock down the engineering wing if they were cleaning the filtration system. So Jolo had the brave engineer call command and report a dead rat was discovered in the main engineering vent shaft and they’d have to clean the filters out.
Once that was done, Jolo locked them back in the head and had the room to himself. Then he and Katy located the drive. Even though he already knew the dimensions, the thing was big. He pulled up the drive extraction protocol and got to work.
Ten minutes later George reported in. Marco had given Jolo a tiny comm that linked straight into George’s internal computer. “Captain, something’s not right. They’re evacuating the ship. The ball has been canceled. We barely got by a marine team clearing the upper levels.”
“Who’s coming?”
“I don’t know.” Jolo could hear Greeley yelling in the background. “Captain, Greeley just saw three Cruisers and the Emperor’s ship jump in. We got some Fed Defenders also. I think the Emperor and the President are meeting here today. That’s why they’re clearing the ship.”
“Roger that.”
“Are we still on?”
“Yeah, hang tight near the trash chute and stay out of trouble.”
Jolo took a deep breath. Less passengers. Marine teams. The BG. I’m not giving up, he thought. Get the drive. Get Jaylen.
“Katy, how’s it coming?” he yelled over to Katy, who was beating on a large spanner with a dead blow hammer.
“It ain’t!” she yelled. “This thing ain’t made to come out.”
Just then the unmistakable electronic hiss of a BG voice synthesizer came over comm. “Engineering, report in immediately!”
Katy stood up,
