“He needs a little more to be believable,” said Katy, looking over at the red spot where the dead engineer had been.
So Crowely began manually opening and closing doors so that George, the wounded waiter, could make it up a level and begin his search.
“What are you doing?” said Katy.
“If we can’t get the Feds out, we’ll just take them with us. Most of the civilians have been escorted off the ship anyway, so all we have to do is jump out,” said Jolo.
“How do we do that?” said Katy.
Just then the comm light lit up. “It’s from the bridge,” she said. Jolo nodded.
“Engineering, this is Commander Falkowski. What’s going on down there? The President’s ship just arrived and the Emperor is already sending crews for pre-inspection.”
Jolo motioned McCarty over. “Buy us some time.”
“This is McCarty in engineering, Sir. We are having some difficulty getting the new filtration system online. But we should be good to go soon.”
“Son, don’t yank my chain, the readings from this end are fine. I’m sending a security detail down there. And why is the jump drive offline? I can’t have any issues with the President coming. Enough trouble just getting everyone off this monstrosity on short notice. One more thing, be advised, there was a report of an attack on a service staff who claims it was Jolo Vargas.”
“Roger that, Sir. We’ll be done soon. The jump drive is offline as a precaution while we reset the filtration system.”
“That don’t sound like protocol.” There was a long pause. “Okay, you have ten minutes. Get it done, Son, or I’m sending down the sec detail.”
McCarty took a deep breath.
“Okay, we got engineering for another ten minutes. George is doing his job.”
“One little problem,” said Katy. “Can’t fly this thing unless you got the access codes and Falkowski ain’t gonna give them up.”
“Bring him down and I’ll start winging him until he squeals,” yelled Greeley from his spot near the door.
“No, he’s gotta want to give them to us,” said Jolo. He took a deep breath and assessed the situation. He looked at Katy, always there at his side. He held her hand and looked her in the eye. “I could give myself up and you could go hide.” He watched her face for any hesitation.
“No. I’m no Fed. And I couldn’t live with myself. I want to be here with you and the team.”
“Okay. But it’s about to get a little dark. We can’t go back from here.”
“I’m in,” she said.
“Okay, here goes,” said Jolo. “I need you on the comm.”
Then he turned to Greeley. “Greeley,” he yelled across the floor of the engineering wing and pointed at the dead BG on the first ring of the heat riser, “cut the worm out of the chestplate.”
Greeley’s eyes lit up. “Ahh, yes. A little biological experimentation!”
Then Jolo turned towards the engine compartment, “Crowely,” he yelled, “seal the doors to the bridge, and any marine teams that George found.”
“Roger that. It’ll be a few minutes,” came a muffled reply from behind the engine.
“You got two minutes,” said Jolo.
Then he got on George’s comm. “Come home, George,” he said.
“McCarty, when I get the codes, can you jump us out from here?”
“Uh, yes sir, but the calculations won’t be perfect.”
“That’s fine. I need three random jumps that’ll put us closer to Vellosian space, then we’ll head straight for the BG home worlds. Make sure the first three are random, so they’ll have difficulty following. I want to be clear of any BG or Fed ships by the third jump. Also, the third jump point needs to have a human habitable atmosphere. We’ll need to offload some guests.” Then he turned to Katy, “get me the bridge on the horn.”
Soon Commander Falkowski was there on the screen. “What’s this about? Who are you?”
“I’m Jolo Vargas.”
The gray haired commander took a deep breath. “So the rumors were true. I know you. You fought well. And for what it’s worth I did not agree with their treatment of you.” He signaled to one of his crew, then turned back to the camera. Jolo looked over at Crowely and the engineer nodded, the doors were sealed. “So you are the thorn in my side that’s got everyone in a stir? You picked a bad time what with the President and the BG here.”
“I want you to see what they’ve done. And then I want you to give me this ship.”
The commander laughed. “Captain Vargas, the Corsair is a little rich, don’t you think? They wronged you, but why don’t you just come with me and we’ll demand due process.”
“Due process? You mean a work planet. They don’t want me or what I represent. The BG are not your friends. Here’s what they do.” He had Katy replay the video of the BG warrior killing the engineer. “This is what they think of you,” Jolo said.
The commander’s face went cold. “It was a random event. A rogue soldier. We’ll take care of it.”
“We already did,” said Jolo, the camera focusing on the dead BG on the floor.
“Give me the codes,” said Jolo.
“You’re crazy. I’m sending a team down there now.” And then one of his officers whispered in his ear and he shook his head in anger. “They’ll be down momentarily. Closing the doors won’t hold them out.”
“Give me the codes, Commander, or the BG are going to attack this ship.”
“They wouldn’t dare. The war is over, and you are nothing more than a pirate,” said the commander.
Jolo had Katy turn off the commander’s mic but kept his video and audio on.
Then he got Katy to open a channel to the Emperor’s ship.
“Who are you?” said a BG warrior on screen.
“Jolo Vargas. Tell the Emperor I have a present for him.”
“The Emperor does not speak to pirates and enemies of the Alliance.”
Jolo held up the dead worm. It was
