The Lost Gunboat Captain

by J. D. Oppenheim

  “Refuse ship 8725, disengage your drives immediately and land your ship. Repeat, disengage and land that tank.”

  “Listen boys, I'm carrying a pile of shit headed to Qualus, and I'm late as it is. So what gives?”

  “Refuse ship 8725, this scheduled run requires one pilot, authorization code 579-alpha-bravo. Our scans register two human life forms on board. Land that flying toilet or I'll have to take action.”

  She turned off the comm and looked at Jolo. “There's a hatch right here,” she said, reaching behind her seat. “It'll take you right into the refuse pile. Here's oxygen.” She handed him a small oxygen tank and a breather. “If you jump in there and bury yourself deep down they won't be able to see you on a scan. And I’ll ask them to rescan and tell him their scanners suck and I will get us out of here. It's the best plan we got.”

  But Jolo wasn't listening to her. He was staring at the gunboat. He knew the lines, knew where the metal plates ran up underneath to form an almost invisible seam, but it was there if you know where to look. He knew the subtle cowling on the left side housed the ion cannons. And he knew exactly where the man was on the boat that would control them. He knew the Marine team was standing by, there’d be a standard team of four. He knew the captain was green because he’d flown in too low to the ground. Gunboats were made for interstellar warfare and he wondered why this boat was sent here now. They should've sent one of the smaller ships designed to fly in atmosphere.”

  Jolo knew the captain was just bluffing. He’d never shoot down the trash ship. It be against Federation protocol. And by all means, above all else, there had to be protocol.

  He knew that the ship had a captain, a first officer, navigation, engineers, a few low-level ensigns that were there just to learn, and a four-man Marine team.

  And he knew one other thing. The big gunboat--hovering too low, straining to stay level because the stabilizers never worked well so close to the earth--was his. This ship was the Jessica. And that memory came on and filled him up. And then he remembered his crew just like he’d remembered Jaylen and Barthelme.

  He unstrapped his harness and got out of his chair.

  “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “I'm gonna take that ship,” Jolo said.

  Jessica

  Federation Home Word: Sol.

  The jump point 3km north of the Federation docks.

  Jolo told Katy to land the ship, and then he jumped down onto the soft grass and walked towards the gunboat. The memory of the Jessica, his gunboat, flooded into his mind like cool water, like food for a man who had never eaten, like seeing color for the first time. He was happy, even though they had come to take him away. He remembered the bridge, where his chair was. He remembered the feel of the ship breaking out of the atmosphere, finally free. Not everything had come back. But this was the first true memory, since the girl, that was truly his.

  He stood in front of the big ship with a smile on his face.

  “Stand down,” said the captain through the speaker. Jolo could see the skinny, young captain standing there next to the bridge view port near the captain’s chair. His chair.

  Jolo took out his gun and shot it right at the captain. Jessica's force field was designed mainly for energy weapons so his tiny bullet passed right through and bounced off the porthole. The captain fell to the ground as if he was shot, and scrambled up again quickly when he realized he was okay. The bullet had made a small chip in the the main deck forward view port.

  Now, land the ship and send the Marines, Jolo thought. Sure enough, the young captain did as he was trained and soon the big ship eased down, the large landing pads swung out and the ship settled down onto the earth. Jolo knew four Marines we're headed down to the exit room at the bottom of the ship. They’d be cussing about having to get all geared up but they'd also be happy because they'd be out in the open, free to fire their weapons. They were always itching for an excuse to pull the trigger, but Jolo wasn't going to let them fire at him. They'd be in full battle gear and on the ground in three minutes.

  Once the ship landed Jolo took one last look at the main deck. Everyone was scrambling around like a BG cruiser had just jumped in. Meanwhile Jolo casually walked under the ship back towards engineering. He reached out with his hand and touched the hull. He closed his eyes, felt the smooth alacyte metal, then started tapping with his knuckle.

  Finally he found the hollow spot. He knocked once with the butt of his gun, then three short knocks, a short pause, then repeated. Soon he heard the sound of an engineer above him spinning the escape hatch wheel. Jolo stepped back so the hatch didn't hit him on the head, and sure enough, out popped a Federation engineer’s head, upside down. Jolo put the gun right to his face and said, “If you shout I'll kill you. Where's the chief?”

  “Captain Vargas? Is it really you? You ain’t a synth are you?”

  The captain pulled the gun away and grabbed the man's head and turned it to face him.

  “You are Johnny Tanaka. It's good to see you,” said Jolo.

  Johnny swung the ladder down, then jumped onto the grass, saluted the captain with a smile on his face. “I thought you were dead.”

  “Yeah, me too. Are there any more of you from the old crew?”

  “No, just me and a bunch of super greenies. The captain’s a supreme a-hole, hand picked by the president.”

  “How many of the old crew are left?”

  “You don't know?”

  Jolo just looked at him. The young engineer took a deep breath. “We lost a lot of the crew. We thought you were gone too,” he said. “Only a few of us escaped. We barely got Jessica out.”

  “Jaylen Voss? Was she there?”

  “Who?” said the young engineer.

  Jolo thought to question him further, but then stopped. There wasn't time.

  “Okay, you run that way,” said Jolo. “Tell everyone I was gonna shoot you.”

  “The Marines are coming.”

  “Yeah I know. You want to be clear when they get here.”

  And then Jolo climbed up into the engineering hatch, closed the door and sealed it.

  He waited there for about a minute, just listening. Soon enough he heard a commotion on the ground as the Marines filed out. They were yelling at the engineer who was running in the opposite direction. Then Jolo quietly made his way to the main exit hatch where the Marines left and closed the door, then sealed it, then he put a bullet in the emergency override box so they couldn't get in from the outside. Jolo knew that he couldn't protect the door so he'd have to round everybody up just to make sure no one tried to let them in.

  Typical Federation gunboats ran a fairly small crew, so he figured there were about 10 to 15 people total on board depending on what mission they were running. He started in the lower levels rounding up engineering first. He walked the halls quietly like he was back in another Jaylen dream. But this time he was awake, and the memories flooded into his mind. He kept thinking of Jaylen and wondered if he should go down to where her quarters used to be but then thought better of it.

  He ran into three engineers, all dressed in black, skinny and pale and looking like they hadn’t been in the sun in awhile. He pulled out the gun and said, “Hi, I am Captain Vargas. This is my ship. I'm inviting you to leave right now unless you’d like to go with me and lead a life of crime in the black beyond Fed space.”

  No one took him up on his offer so he dropped them out of the emergency hatch. When the marines saw the engineers coming out they started cussing and ran over. They couldn't fire a weapon for risk of hurting their own men and in full battle gear were too big to squeeze through the hatch. The engineers fell in a little pile underneath the big boat. Then Jolo resealed it and made his way to the mess hall.

  Jolo figured the green captain wouldn't call it in just yet. A captain proved himself by being valuable to the Federation. Having a ship taken by one man in a trash boat was something that no one wanted advertised. He’d try to settle this thing here and now before
he called for reinforcements. But then it’d be too late.

  Jolo stepped into the mess hall and more memories came in. He remembered playing cards there. He remembered where he used to sit, in the corner with a clear view of the entrance, so he sat down right there. The mess hall drone came immediately as it always had, and said, “Welcome Captain Vargas, what can I get for you?” Just like it did before. At least it didn't think he was a synth. Jolo ordered a coffee and pondered his next move.

  Only away teams carried guns, so he figured he had the upper hand there. But he didn't want to shoot anyone. His coffee came just the way he liked it, black with a little milk. He took a sip, figured there were five or so remaining: the captain, the chief, and the main deck officers. By now the pissed-off marines had called back to the captain, and the captain would try to reopen the hatch, unsuccessfully, so the chief would call down to engineering to have the wrench heads open the hatch manually, but they weren't there anymore. Which means the chief would be walking right past the mess hall.

  So Jolo took another sip and waited. He put his gun up on the table. Sure enough the chief walked right past the mess hall. He was a tall man, and Jolo recognized him.

  “Hey Chief,” Jolo said. “Why don't you come and sit down?”

  The chief turned with a wild look in his eyes, like Jolo had just threatened to kill him.

  “Relax,” said Jolo. “I'm just here to take my ship.”

  The tall man settled down. “I can't let you do that, Captain Vargas,” he said.

  This is a good man, Vargas thought. “Well, I'm holding the gun. And didn't they tell you? I'm a synth.”

  “I don't believe it.”

  The man stepped in to the mess hall close enough so that Jolo could read his name on the jacket of his Federation uniform: Belcher. And then Jolo remembered, his name is Travis Belcher.

  Computer, he thought, give me what you got on Travis Belcher, Federation engineer.

  Travis Belcher, 48 years old, married, two children, lives on the Federation core world of Virgil, came the reply.

  “Listen, Travis,” Jolo said. “I want you off the ship now, or I'll head straight to Virgil. Are you gonna bet everything that I'm not a synth, or you gonna do what I say?”

  “What do you want?” he said.

  “How many more on board?”

  “The captain and two fresh recruits: a navigator and comm officer.”

  So Jolo dumped the chief out the escape hatch just as he'd done with the engineers and then headed to the main deck. The green captain and the two recruits went quickly. They had not armed themselves. There was nothing in the Fed protocol manual about a Federation gunboat being taken by one man from a refuse ship.

  Qualus

  Sol

  Jolo sat in the captain’s chair of the Jessica and looked around at the empty main deck. He could fly the Jessica with the help of the on-board computer, but it wasn't ideal by any stretch. He wondered about the engineer, Tanaka. Wondered if he would come. Then thought better of it. He didn't want to put his career straight into the trash, like his own.

  He stood up and looked out the main deck view port. And there sat the massive hulk of the refuse ship. Jolo grabbed the comm. “Refuse ship 7258. This is the Federation gunboat Jessica.”

  “Do I still get my reward?” Katy said.

  “I don't know. Who is paying you?”

  “Someone is supposed to meet me in Qualus at the trash run.”

  “I need a pilot,” said Jolo. “How about I pick you up and take you to Qualus, and we’ll get your money there?”

  “Come get me,” she said. “I'll be on top. Send down a ladder and don't get too close. And you might want to scatter that pissed off group of Marines down there. I don't want to die being shot off the top of a pile of shit.”

  Jolo engaged the drives and slowly lifted off. The previous crew scattered, making sure to stay out of the thruster burn. It was difficult for Jolo to get the ship positioned, but he managed to hover 20 meters over the top of the refuse ship. Soon Katy was inside the Jessica, cursing. The Marines had come right as she made it in, their guns fully charged.

  “Are we gonna go?” said Katy.

  “Yes,” said Jolo.

  “Well, lets head to the black. You got pissed off Fed boys down there and more ships will be here soon.”

  “Yep.” Jolo squeezed the arm rests of the captains chair, but didn’t move. Katy stood, hands on hips, and stared at Jolo.

  “Well? Get us out of here, Captain. I’m only rated for single-seat trash haulers.” Jolo just stared at the nav seat, still clutching the arm rests.

  “Oh, no. You’ve screwed us,” said Katy.

  Jolo just looked at her blankly.

  “You don’t remember this part, do you?”

  “It’ll come,” said Jolo.

  Suddenly the ship rocked a little to one side and a red warning light came on at the engineer’s chair. Katy ran over and looked at the screen. “The plasma gun monkeys are trying to take out the right rear thruster,” she said. “All four of them are concentrating their weapons on that engine. We've got to get out of here now.”

  Meanwhile the audible warning message looped.

  “How about the force field?” Katy said.

  “No,” Jolo said. “They are too close. They’re inside the field.”

  Jolo looked down. Took a deep breath. Closed his eyes for a moment.

  “Let's go,” Katy yelled.

  “Yes, yes,” said Jolo. “I know, I know.”

  Meanwhile the engineer’s display was reporting 30 seconds until right thruster damage would be too much for a jump.

  “Computer,” Jolo commanded. “Take us out of here and make jump calculations for Qualus.”

  “Unauthorized use of Federation property is prohibited,” came the reply from the Jessica's computer.

  “We should’a stayed in the trash hauler!” yelled Katy.

  “Computer, this is Captain Vargas. I do have authorization.”

  “Captain Vargas, is currently deceased, and therefore restricted to atmospheric flight commands only,” came the reply from the computer.

  “If he’s dead, how can—?” Katy started to yell, then stopped, shaking her head.

  Jolo just sat there in the chair, brows furrowed, staring off to the side, but he wasn't really looking at anything. Meanwhile the boom, boom, boom continued outside as the Marines kept pounding the thruster with energy blasts.

  And then he remembered, he had his own computer. Computer, he thought, what is Federation protocol to engage gunboat engines without use of the ship’s computer?

  Enter destination on the navigation screen, came the reply.

  “Enter destination on the nav,” yelled Jolo to Katy.

  Press auto calculate on the lower right navigation screen.

  “Hit auto calc,” Jolo said.

  Engage thrusters manually in engineering panel, lower-level.

  Jolo jumped out of the chair and started running to engineering. He made it down to the lower level found the engineering panel and engaged the drives. He could hear the Marines still firing, but soon he heard something else, something wonderful: the sound of the Jessica's thrusters engaging. The ship turned, gained altitude, and made it out of atmo. Then, using his embedded computer again, Jolo manually entered the commands to make the jump to Qualus.

  They would be in Qualus in an hour, which gave him time to head down to quarters and find number four. On the way, Jolo reviewed Fed gunboat landing protocol on his computer. He wondered why he could remember Jaylen’s quarters but not how to manually make a burn. He knew he had to make a landing without the help of Jessica's on-board computer. So he'd have the landing checklist ready to go. He also pulled up the weapons systems protocol, just in case.

  He made it right to Jaylen’s quarters with no problem. It was just like in his dream. He remembered the chief coming, the door opening, and the girl standing there. How beautiful she was. Even though she wasn't dressed u
p, she was only wearing shorts and a T-shirt, she was beautiful, and no amount of Federation grease could hide that simple fact.

  But this time when the door slid open, the room was filled with boxes of food and some white containers marked with the Federation medical seal. He could barely step into the room it was so full. He stepped back into the corridor and looked up, it said Storage Bay #4 above her door.

  He knew that she had been here. So he started pulling boxes out and throwing them into the hall. He remembered where her bunk was on the far wall, and he wanted to make it there. Just to see that it was there. Just to see that little space where she had slept. So he kept pulling down heavy boxes. Some were food rations designed for long trips in space, some looked to be engine parts. They all had the Federation seal on them. Ten minutes later he was sweating and the corridor was filled.

  Katy walked in. “What you doing?” she said.

  “Moving boxes,” he said.

  “Yeah, I see that. What for?”

  “Are you gonna help?”

  So she helped him. And after another ten minutes or so they made it to the back wall. Jolo pulled the last large box away expecting there to be a bunk. A blanket. The book that he'd given her. Something.

  But there was nothing except a smooth metal wall.

  “This was her living quarters,” he said. “I remember that.” And so he worked his way towards the bathroom which was on the adjacent wall. He climbed on top of the boxes, moved the upper ones out of the way and then began pushing like a madman. By this time Katy had stopped and just watched him.

  He got to where the bathroom used to be, but it, too, was nothing more than a smooth wall. He ran his hands along it thinking there must be a welded seam. But nothing. He cried out, “Jaylen!” And then started punching a Fed ration box until dehydrated brown bits started spilling out, making a little mountain on the floor.

  Jolo sat down on a box in her room for a while, all alone, trying not to think. Once his breathing slowed and the urge to break something had subsided, he made his way to the mess hall and ordered a coffee and a slice of pie from the droid.