Twenty minutes later the Argossy had four of the huge twenty-by crates in her hold and half another. Early on they would just grab the four and bolt. But then Jolo and Greeley had started blowing a fifth box open and filling the ship to capacity. Greeley had gotten especially good at blasting crates open without doing too much damage. So the last bit of storage capacity was filled with half a crate of Federation Seafood Deluxe #3 Mealpacks, the remaining packs floated away, each on their own slow trajectory out into space.
That was the best thing about Fed rations: they lasted, even in deep space. There were never contamination issues, so you didn’t have to worry about people getting sick from eating them.
Bertha, down on Jaxxon, had recently lost her crops. Most of the work crew Jolo rescued six months back depended on the kale, collard greens and potatoes that Bertha and her crew worked. But most of the crop was destroyed when a BG boat decided to build a listening station on top of the plants. All of the time spent hauling good dirt and irrigating that dry rock was wasted.
“Anything in the sector I need to worry about?” said Jolo on the comm.
“Still clear, Captain.”
They were making excellent time, so Jolo decided to take a risk. He wanted to know why a BG would attack a Fed ship, a ship it was supposed to protect, and steal a black box. What was in the black box? he wondered. “Okay, against my better judgment, me and Greeley are gonna check out your heat sig in the forward compartment.”
“Roger that, Captain,” said Katy. “George says he votes NO on you guys going to the forward compartment.”
“Good thing this ain’t a democracy,” said Jolo.
So he waited for Greeley to come back through the airlock, and then they both floated through the long, dark hallway down the center of the freighter past the storage area and into quarters. There were handholds along the way and they pulled themselves through what was essentially a long, black hole. They used just enough light to see the next handhold.
They started to hear something a few minutes down.
“You hear that?” Greeley whispered, pitch black behind and more darkness ahead.
“Yep. Keep going.”
Pretty soon the sound became a little clearer, echoing off the metal walls of the long hallway. It wasn’t a constant mechanical drone like an air mover slowly winding down because the power had shut off. This sound had rhythm.
Five minutes later the they could make out singing. It was a man’s voice: “…goes left. She goes right. Papa is looking for mama but mama is nowhere in sight.” And then the horns kicked in and, “Papa loves mambo. Mama loves mambo.”
Computer, Jolo thought, who sang Papa Loves Mambo?
“Papa Loves Mambo” was a popular song on old Earth, first sung and recorded by Perry Como on August 31, 1954. Later covered by Dean Martin.
Then Katy came through on the comm: “You’re close.”
“Yeah, they’ve got music playing and there’s light ahead,” said Jolo, pulling out the Colt.
They made it to a door with a round window, light streaming out into the hallway. Jolo went under the window and eased closer for a look.
“Are they closest to the hallway or the hull?” whispered Jolo into the comm. Meanwhile Perry sang: “They’re having a fling again, younger than spring again…”
“The hull,” said Katy. “About ten meters from your position.”
So Jolo popped his head up and took a nice long peek into the cabin. There were two people dancing: a crewman with a energy rifle slung over his shoulder and a woman wearing a blue dress. They twirled around the gravitized room on a raised dance floor. All around were chairs and tables that might actually be made of wood, not the typical bolted-down metal crap, and a sofa with some kind of covering that might pass for leather. The lady had long hair and jewelry. Typical Fed extravagance, thought Jolo. He put his head down and he and Greeley huddled under the window.
“Let’s say Hi,” said Jolo. Then he got on the comm. “Katy, who looks more friendly and trustworthy, me or Greeley?”
“I’d say you, Captain. Just remember to smile and not be so serious. Greeley’s a bit roguish and he smells.”
“You know I can hear that,” said Greeley, lip starting to poke out again.
“George votes Yes for the captain. Koba votes Yes for let’s get the hell out of here and Hurley is eating a seafood pack that he claims ain’t half bad.”
“Well thank you for the update. We’re going in,” said Jolo.
“Y’all please be careful,” said Katy.
Jolo tapped on the window with the butt of the Colt and stared into the room intently. At first the dancers didn’t hear so Jolo tapped again louder and then they both stopped dancing and spun around to face the door as if they’d heard a gun go off.
There was a brief pause as the three people considered each other, and then the man snapped out of it and suddenly pushed the girl aside and tried to swing the energy rifle up into firing position but the strap got caught and the gun started to fall, but
