“Hurley, we got enough juice to defend ourselves?”
“The little kicker’ll give you good shields or maybe two good cannon rounds, but not both,” said Hurley. Jolo thought for a moment.
“Okay, if the BG boat comes we’ll wait naked, pretend we’re dead, then hit it with everything we’ve got.”
“Yes, Captain.”
“Greeley!” yelled Jolo. “Take Koba and Katy and y’all get suited up and get out of here. If the BG are coming to kill us, no sense in all of us going down. There’s three suits left and that’ll give y’all a few hours. Keep the Fortinbras in your sights. I’ll call Marco and have him come for you.”
“What about you?” said Katy. “You have to come, too!”
“If the BG boat comes, I’m going to give it hell. It’s our best chance to survive this. If it doesn’t come, I’ll pick you up. Please go.” Katy was crying. Jolo gave her a hug, and then grabbed Greeley. “Keep her safe. The BG boat probably won’t pick you up on a scan and probably doesn’t care. The Fortinbras may have some compartments with air. Go there if you have to. Oh, and find George.”
Greeley looked into Jolo’s eyes. “I’ll take care of her. Be smart.”
“If that black bastard comes it’s in for a surprise. I’ll kill it and you guys can make it out of here. Now go!”
Mama Loves Mambo
Deep space, near the Arcon 7 jump point
Jolo fired a quick message off to his father:
Marco. Come to the Arcon 7 jump point and rescue my crew. I hope to be there. If not, thank you for everything. Take care of Katy.
He typed Jolo to end the message and wondered if he should put something else. Then he checked the screen again as the BG boat hauled in the black box, debris from the cargo ship all around, bouncing off their ship. Some were large, whole containers that survived the blast, others had torn open, spilling their contents into space. Once the box was secure and the warriors were back onboard Jolo watched as the ship turned, and pointed the bow straight at the Argossy. Jolo took a deep breath.
Then he typed: Your son, Jolo. And hit send.
Jolo shut off the last vid screen on the bridge then lay down on the floor and wedged himself in under one of the heater cores, the residual heat masking his presence. He knew Hurley was up under one of the engines for the same reason.
He figured the BG would scan the ship first at a distance, then move in if they wanted to investigate. With the Argossy’s guns tucked in, the BG thought she was just an old disabled transport, and certainly didn’t think Jolo Vargas was on board. So Jolo gave it a few minutes, then crawled out and checked the screen again. The BG boat was right on top of the them, but moving slow and deliberate.
He contemplated taking a shot right then, but his instincts said no. The Argossy had taken three blasts from a huge ion cannon, a gun so large that only a freighter could carry it, and the ship was still in one piece. Still had a kicker. Could keep them alive. The BG figured the Argossy was dead. No ship could withstand that.
The black ship glided straight over the Argossy exposing her poorly shielded underside. They wouldn’t do that unless they were convinced the old boat was truly gone. After a few more seconds the BG boat turned and jumped out of the system. Jolo lay there for a moment in the utter silence, just breathing. His mistake put everyone in danger. Maybe it was time to retire from a life of piracy, he thought. But what could he do?
“Hurley,” he yelled, listening to his voice bouncing off the metal hull. He enjoyed the sound. A smile broke out on his face. The old man didn’t respond but Jolo knew he’d gotten the message because he heard the little kicker come on again and soon the lights were on in the ship. He brought the Argossy around slowly and picked up his crew, who’d been hiding in a pile of Fortinbras debris. They’d found George, who was shaken, but in one piece.
Once everyone was back on board Jolo sent another message to Marco: Sorry for the alarm. Don’t come. We’re okay now. —JV
“Hurley, can we make it back down to Duval? We need to make a delivery to Jaxxon.” said Jolo.
“Yeah, we can make it, but she ain’t gone handle too well in atmo with the kicker,” said Hurley.
Katy gave a thumbs up. “I can bring us home,” she said quietly.
Jolo looked over his crew. Hurley had a bandage on his face and there was blood on his neck. Katy was still shaking. Koba was gripping the console and taking deep breaths. George was being tended to by the med bots. Only wild-eyed Greeley, clutching his sawed-off shotgun, Betsy, looked ready.
“I’m gonna leave this one up to y’all. We need those Fed rations, but if y’all ain’t up to it, then we tuck tail and run,” said Jolo.
“Let’s suit up and git the grub,” said Greeley. Jolo looked at Katy and the rest.
“I don’t wanna steal nothing from the dead,” said Katy. “It ain’t right. You all know how we do it. We take it fair and square and no one dies. That’s the rule,” she said.
“Yeah, but we didn’t kill nobody,” said Greeley. “BG done that.”
“The question is why did the BG attack UFP?” said George, back from the med
