This is perfect, thought George. The warrior made a thrust with the point of his weapon and George jumped again.
The warrior's alacyte lance pierced the energy cell and enough juice to power the Jessica for several days coursed through the metallic creature's frame. No amount of careful insulation could protect the worm inside. The smoking black warrior fell back into the dirt.
George picked himself up off the ground, quickly repaired the leaks to what remained of his arm and went about setting the charges. 91.9% chance of survival.
……
The BG alacyte production facility number one produced 68.4% of all BG alacyte used for weapons and ship construction. The facility had been in 24/7 operation for the last four months. Ostensibly, to build ships to support and protect the merchant class traders traveling through Federation space. No one in the Fed questioned the massive output. Cargo ships from all over the galaxy, mainly independent long-range haulers looking to score easy money queued up night and day in a long procession, filling their ships to overcapacity then flying off to ship and weapons production facilities in BG space.
That morning there was one extra ship in the queue. Formally of the Federation, the gunboat Jessica squeezed in between two large freighters.
"They'll see us," said Katy.
"No," said Koba. "I’ve made a few modifications. They should see a Class-D Runabout on their scanners. It's not uncommon for the larger freighters to have smaller support ships in the air. They won’t get a visual until its too late."
"I hope it works," said Katy.
"We'll find out soon enough," said Jolo.
The plan was simple. The freighters went into the heart of the facility. All they had to do was get the Jessica inside and let the ion cannons do the rest. The whole operation was lightly defended: two cruisers and the ground force. The trick was getting in and out before the Destroyer up top got wind of their little operation. Jolo figured they had about ten minutes from the time smoke started coming up from the comm tower two kilometers away, and that was two minutes ago. At some point, the big ship would send another cruiser down to check on the broken communications, and the plan was to be half way to anywhere by then.
There were two BG cruisers at the entrance to the facility and they would make a visual ID on the gunboat. But that's where the Greeley brothers came in. Each were manning a fixed position ion cannon, which by themselves couldn't take a Cruiser down, but they could draw both of them away from the entrance. And Jolo was betting they wouldn't stop production if the Cruisers went off. They’d continue loading.
“We’re getting close,” said Katy. The entrance to the facility was large enough for a freighter to enter. Heat waves and smoke issued forth and distorted the view around the mouth of the giant building. As they got nearer, Jolo moved the Jessica closer behind the big freighter, but soon they were close enough to be spotted. Hurley was positioned at the bottom of the ship with his head sticking out of the lower escape hatch. “Yeah, Captain. There’s two of ‘em. One on either side. And they close.” So Jolo got on the comm to the Greeleys. “Light ‘em up, boys. Be safe. Just hit ‘em a few times then run straight for the dense woods to the south, then down into the gulley.”
Soon there were the distinct sounds of two ion cannons firing and both cruisers left their posts near the entrance, each heading toward the ion cannon positions. They just made an attempt to link with the Destroyer up top, too, thought Jolo. And they know the comm is down.
Jolo didn’t waste any time getting inside. He nudged the big freighter ahead of him, then unloaded her rail guns at the giant smelter on the far side of the facility. Robots were flying all over the place, some working the raw plugs at the near end, others loading smooth alacyte bars in various lengths into ships waiting in the cue.
Jolo’s first shot toppled the hot smelter and molten alacyte spilled into the air, and a wave of the red liquid alacyte crashed onto the floor. Several BG warriors got caught in the molten flow: their legs melting. The little worms inside desperately tried to keep their chestplates out of the lava flow, but if there were no handholds then the worms inside were burned alive. One legless warrior held onto a flying droid and nearly made it clear, but the weight was too much and the droid lost lift and they both went down into the river of alacyte. Worker bots and droids splattered with liquid metal crashed into the sides of the waiting ships and fell to the floor below, starting fires as the warning message for all ships to evacuate the building started to repeat.
Half-loaded freighters slammed into ships in front of them and the ones near the entrance fought to get out into the blue sky. Once the big ships were clear, Jolo opened up the Jessica’s ion cannons and tore the place in half. The Jessica did a slow spin from a fixed point in the center and the big cannons set fire to the alacyte and took out most of the guard force, which obviously weren’t expecting a Federation gunboat to hit them from the inside. The final blow came when the fuel cells ignited.
Inside there were no more ships and everything was hot and red. After the cells blew Hurley called on the comm: “Captain, we gotta git out or Jessica’s gonna melt.”
So Jolo aimed the ship at the exit, firing the rail guns the whole time at anything that moved.
The Jessica shot out of BG Production Facility #1 just as the entire structure went up in flames. There was pandemonium on the ground as droids, worker bots and BG warriors tried to escape the molten flow still issuing forth from both ends. One legless warrior was crawling out using his powerful arms to propel himself forward. The bright, blue sky was filled with freighters trying to get enough altitude to jump out, but Jolo wasn’t satisfied. He whirled the Jessica around and blew up the last warrior, and was suddenly nose to nose with a freighter captain. The old captain hailed the Jessica. “You Captain Vargas?” he said, as his ship continued to gain altitude.
“Yes,” said Jolo.
“You got a Cruiser coming in fast from the South. The other one’s down.” And then there was a pause. ”Is this the beginning?”
“Or maybe the end, I’m not sure,” said Jolo.
“I got the Cruiser on screen,” said Katy. It’s running at half-cell capacity and smoking.”
“The Greeley boys did their job,” said Jolo. He positioned the Jessica behind two freighters and waited. When the cruiser got within range, he dropped down and hit him head on with the ion cannon. The black cruiser clipped the freighter and nearly winged the Jessica, but hit the dirt near the entrance just in time to be swallowed up by the alacyte flow, still oozing out of the entrance.
Jolo got on the comm and had Katy open up a channel so all of the freighters in range could hear.
“This is Jolo Vargas, captain of the gunboat Jessica. I want all of you to know that Jolo Vargas destroyed this facility here today. And any ship in the galaxy I catch hauling BG alacyte will be shot down with no questions asked.” Instantly, the big ships started gaining altitude to make the jump out of Duval. “Jolo Vargas is not dead. And he is not a synth.”
The Jessica hid among the big ships, still jockeying for position to make the burn and get the hell out. “Jolo, it’s been twelve minutes since George took out the comm tower. We’ve got to go,” said Katy. Jolo held up his hand for her to wait and stared at the burning, smoking destruction below, a few worker bots wandering around in the sand like lost children.
And for the first time in as long as he could remember, he felt a tinge of satisfaction. Though he wasn’t stupid. Hell was coming. But Hell had always been coming. He’d never known anything else.
Run
Duval
The Jessica slowly gained altitude with the rest of the ships. And one by one the large freighters made the burn into space. Jolo remained staring out the portal window at the smoldering black ruins, that was once the BG Alacyte Production Facility #1.
"Jolo, we have to go," said Katy. She touched his arm and he nodded to her. She ran back to her console. "They're coming!" she yelled. Small red dots began poppi
ng up on the screen all around their current position.
Jolo could see the first wave of scout bots, little black dots buzzing around the surface. And then three cruisers popped in, and one large troop carrier.
A message came over the comm. "All cargo ships stand down. Disengage your engines and set down or your ship and crew will be made forfeit to the BG." By then the scout bots had made it to the cluster of large ships. And Katy was in a panic.
"Keep easing back then drop us into the gully and headed south. Stay behind the big, green freighter. Go down with him and then duck into the trench." So Katy did what Jolo said, and as soon as they were 20 meters off the ground she turned and ran straight for gully a few hundred meters off. Two scout bots immediately followed and Koba asked if they should hit them with the railgun, but Jolo said wait.
Katy did not ask if the ship would fit. She ran for the long, black sliver on the orange surface at full speed, then turned and dove down and headed south. By then the two scout bots were only 50 meters back.
Jolo ordered Katy to slow down. "Koba, get a lock on the bots." The ship slowed and the bots came within 30 meters or so. They were so small it was difficult to target, but once they got close enough Jolo gave the word, and one small burst from the railguns and they were nothing more than a million pieces of glittering, smoking metal sprinkling down on the river at the bottom of the ravine.
Pretty soon they came to the rendezvous point. Jolo worried about the hover bike being able to carry three large men, but it was able to carry explosives, so they should be okay. They made it to the point, which was a little over 100 km away from the alacyte facility, in a dense forest, one of the few bits of green left on Duval.
Jolo lowered the rear hatch and slowly walked down onto the ground. He had his gun out just in case. The scanners had picked up nothing within 50 kilometers, but he wasn't taking any chances. He spotted the hover bike first, and then heard a voice. "Captain. Here," George said in almost a whisper.
"Glad you guys made it out," said Jolo. But 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 right up 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, working on his tan. He’s been retired, you know.”
Computer, Jolo thought. What is Sotec?
A BG prison planet creating armor plating for war ships. Most pr
isoners don’t last more than a few months. Survival rate for a year long sentence is 9.24%.
“I’m gonna kill that bastard,” Jolo muttered to himself.
“Captain, be careful of the man in black. Like us, I believe there is more to him than is readily apparent.”
“Do you know Fed gunboat protocol?”
“I am quite familiar with the operation of most ships in the known galaxy.”
“Alright, then. You wanna be captain?”
The synth smiled, “Will you call me Captain George?”
“Of course. Captain. I think I’m gonna to take a walk.” And then Jolo turned to face George. “We got two more incoming. And the plan is flimsy.”
“I am prepared,” said George. And then he added, “Do you know why our fa— Marco, sent me along?” He paused for a second, but Jolo did not reply. “He sent me to give my life for yours, should it come to that.”
“Thank you. But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
……
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading part 3 of the Jolo Vargas Space Opera series. I hope you enjoyed it. I’m hard at work on part 4, which should be out soon.
Please give this book a review if you enjoyed it. That’d be a big help!
And please email me at [email protected] to be notified when the next part is out!
Thanks,
Hostility (Jolo Vargas Space Opera Series Book 3) Page 4
