The Jolo Vargas Space Opera Series Box Set

by J. D. Oppenheim

  “You too. We ain’t out of the woods yet. Hurley okay?”

  “He’s fine. Are they gonna help us out?”

  By then, Greeley and Barth had come aboard. “Naw, they ain’t, the worm lovin’ fools,” said Greeley. Koba shoulders dropped and turned back to his console.

  “We ain’t out of the woods yet,” said Jolo. “Barth, you and Hurley get her ready to go. Koba, make the calculations. Plot a straight path to Duval. We’ll need to jump out as quick as we can. They’ll spot us pretty soon, I imagine.”

  A few minutes later Kess met Jolo at the rear hatch. “Go now. You got a short window.”

  “Thank you,” said Jolo. He shook the marine’s hand. “You can come with us.”

  Kess paused for a moment and stared down at his boots. “Naw. I got some more work here to do I imagine. Y’all watch out for the gunboats. They’ll know you’re no merchant vessel.”

  “Will do. Thanks again.”

  Soon the Argossy eased through the bay door into space. The sector was still littered with Fed ships, all in formation, awaiting coordinates for some training exercise, a lie Filcher had cooked up to get his fleet as far away as possible.

  The Argossy, Jolo thought, was going to head right into the fire.

  “Koba,” said Jolo, “take us away from the gunboats, down behind the container ships. As soon as we have enough distance, jump us the hell out.”

  “Roger that, Captain,” said Koba. Jolo had to force Koba to go slow and easy. Merchant ships don’t run. So they took their time, Jolo eyeing the gunboats patrolling the area. They didn’t move at first, but half way to the jump point, the first of several gunboats altered course and headed straight for the Argossy.

  “We’re gonna have company,” said Jolo. “It took them a minute to figure out we didn’t authorization. Koba, increase speed.”

  Koba picked up speed and headed for a point beyond the large cargo ships just far enough away to jump out. They hit their mark and waited. It usually took around ten seconds for the engines to wind up even if they’d already made the calculations. Jolo watched the little dots heading his way on the screen. He got on the comm to Trant. “We going to fight the BG, Trant. You yellow worm lovers stay here where its nice and safe.”

  “You’re going nowhere, Synth,” Trant said.

  “How we doing, Koba?” said Jolo, off comm.

  “Few more seconds, but provoking the gunboats probably ain’t the best thing right about now.”

  Trant’s gunboat came on screen just as the Argossy started to jump. Jolo felt the Argossy lurch from a cannon shot but then they started the jump and left the Fed fleet behind.

  Three jumps later and they were above Duval. Jolo brought the sector scan up on the main display. “Where’s the patrol?” Usually there were a sprinkling of pirate boats in orbit, but they were gone.

  There was a long pause as Koba tapped on his screen. “Can’t find ‘em, Captain. But that ain’t the worst of it.”

  “Two red dots.” Jolo said, pointing at the big screen.

  “BG,” said Koba.

  Jolo took a deep breath. “They haven’t moved at us. Take us down.”

  “Well, that’s good, huh?” said Koba.

  “No. That ain’t,” said Jolo. Then he got on the comm shipwide. “We may have company on the deck, boys. Shields up and guns hot. Greeley, might want to suit up.”

  Soon the Argossy was hurtling down into Duval’s atmosphere, the old ship bucking and rocking. Jolo eyed the screen waiting to get a glimpse of the surface, anxious to know what was waiting for them. Blue sky and white clouds flashed for a few moments, then the familiar orange landscape unfolded before them as the old ship continued down.

  “We over Marco’s?” said Jolo.

  “Right on top,” said Koba.

  Surface details began to emerge as they always did, but this time was different. This time Jolo was afraid for his people, for Marco and the rest. And especially for Katy. Gray square patches that marked Jaxxon and the other settlements came into view, and then the long black line that snaked through the orange hardpack that outlined the ravine.

  Usually there were boats moving in and out of Marco’s, tower busters and supplies being packed up for the evacuation. But as the black line grew wider and became a ravine that led to Marco’s hidden entrance, the only thing Jolo saw was smoke. It billowed up black and foul into the sky. At first Jolo thought it was Marco’s compound burning but then he realized it was the big transport. The fuel cells must have caught fire. The ship would burn until there was nothing left but a pool of gray metal and charred debris. There were smaller clumps of color on the surface, but Jolo couldn’t make them out. Two near the shell of the transport and a bright orange one by the hidden recharge cables where the tower busters used to come for supplies. The Argossy got closer and the bits of color took shape: legs and arms splayed out in unnatural poses. Jolo remembered the kid in the orange jacket who helped recharge the boats coming in. He didn’t even shave yet. Jolo swallowed hard. Where’s Katy?

  He didn’t have to wait long to find out. Koba’s board started flashing green. “Got a comm,” said Koba. He just stared at it for a moment, then checked the source. “It’s Marco’s comm link. But I don’t think its Marco.” Jolo nodded and suddenly the main screen was filled with shiny black. It was a BG warrior standing where Marco usually stood, but the mech was too tall and the video only picked up his chestplate and part of his legs. Marco’s old desk had been pushed into the back wall, tilted over on three legs, his ancient books and his prized old Earth dinosaurus model strewn about the floor. Jolo heard muffled yelling in the background and then it stopped abruptly.

  “Jolo Vargas, the synth, has come home at last,” the BG yelled into the comm. He was laughing, garbled electric wails, between words. “I have what you desire most of all,” the worm screamed.

  “You have nothing I want,” said Jolo. Where is Katy?

  Jolo looked over at Koba. He spun his finger around in the air. Bring out the guns.

  “Oh, I think I do,” his voice now calm, his victory at hand. “I have this little thing.” And he held up Katy. He had her between his big alacyte fingers, her head tilted down. Jolo’s heart jumped and he didn’t know if he could speak. His whole body was in pain. But he couldn’t take his eyes off Katy. Her hair was down over her face and she was like a rag doll, limp and unmoving.

  “I’m a synth. I don’t care about humans.” I love Katy.

  “How about the little humans at the hovel 32 km west?”

  “Bastard’s talkin’ about Bertha’s place,” yelled Greeley.

  “Here’s your choice, Captain Vargas, come down and face me and save the girl, or go and save the little roaches. But you can’t have both. You decide. If you go there I’ll kill everyone here. If you come here that wooden cage full of mice will burn to the ground.”

  It’s not enough to kill us, Jolo thought. He wants to make a game of it. I want Katy.

  “Hurry now, Captain. This ugly rock will be dust soon. Come fight for the girl or save the little humans.” The big mech disappeared for a moment offscreen and then Koba changed the view to the upper deck. The warrior appeared a few minutes later on the surface up top near the dead boy. He held Katy in his metal arms. The Argossy got close enough to kick up some dust, the fire atop the black transport angling away from the thruster blast, Katy’s hair whipping around.

  “Koba, can you take out the mech clean?” said Jolo.

  “Not without killing Katy, too,” he said.

  Jolo couldn’t take his eyes off Katy. Just then she moved her head a little, and looked up. There was a cut over her forehead and little lines of dried blood running down her face. But she looked up, right at the Argossy and shook her head ever so slightly side to side. No.

  “Koba, ease us up,” said Jolo off comm. Then to the warrior. “The humans are worthless to me.” I love Katy. And then he cut the comm.

  “Koba, take us out,” said Jolo.


  Koba didn’t move.

  He looked at the skinny-armed man. “Please, Koba,” he said. “Trust me.”

  “We gotta go to Jaxxon,” said Koba.

  “We’re gonna save Bertha and the kids,” said Jolo. “But we’re gonna save Katy, too.”

  Koba engaged the engines and took them up. Before the video cut off the BG warrior was waving, a black, metal, three-fingered goodbye. The audio dropped off to the sound of wheezing, digital laughter, the screen flashing white and orange as the Argossy burned straight up into the clouds.

  Love Tap

  Astid > Callen

  1 day left

  “Uh, Boss,” said Greeley. “I ain’t one to second guess your captainly wisdom and all but seeing how we are headed off-planet I cain’t quite figure out—.”

  But Jolo cut him off. “Go gear up. Heavy armor. Make sure the suit is charged and ready.”

  Greeley paused, a question forming in his head, but then Jolo grabbed him by the arm and looked him in the eye. “You know I really appreciate everything you’ve done for us. You’re a good man.” Jolo patted him on the shoulder. If this was it, Jolo was glad to have Greeley and the rest of the crew there to stand with him.

  That caught the big marine off guard. “Are we gonna have to hug it out, Cap’n?” Greely gave Jolo a bear hug and Jolo stood there like a tree. The two men separated, but Greeley was still holding onto Jolo’s arms.

  “You know we’re all probably gonna die today?” said Jolo.

  “Kinda killin’ our happy little moment here, Captain.” He paused. “Do I get to take out some worms in the process?”

  “Go suit up.”

  Greeley ran off and Jolo put his hand on Koba’s shoulder. “I appreciate all you’ve done, too, Koba. I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye but—”

  “Captain, you’re kinda freakin’ me out.”

  Jolo smiled. “Plot a course straight to Callen, and I want us to pop up right inside the fleet.”

  “That’s suicide, not to mention breaks every Federation law on record. What if… what if there’s a, you know, an intersection?”

  The first recorded intersection happened when jump technology was in its infancy. An old Earth boat with a crew of eight accidentally jumped into a space station in orbit over Mars. The ship merged with the station on one of the upper levels crowded with civilians. 143 people died, hundreds were injured or maimed. Some died instantly when suddenly a chunk of space ship reanimated inside their bodies. The lucky ones only lost a limb. Some were killed when the engines leaked plasma straight into the oxygenated, gravity-fed living sections. Since then safeguards were put in place to prevent similar catastrophes. And even pirates, who were the first to rip out all ship safety measures in the name of increased speed and firepower, would never mess with the jump safeguards.

  Jolo didn’t need George to tell him the odds of an intersection were very slim. If he jumped in on the outside of the fleet then they’d see him coming and would probably take him out before he could convince them of other options. But if he jumped in close he could catch them by surprise and present his case before they fired on him. He looked down at Koba. “It’s a slim chance, but if it happens then we die here as opposed to back down on Duval.”

  Then Jolo ran down to engineering. He walked up to Hurley, who was hunched over a console, and patted him on the back and said, “Thanks for everything, Hurley.”

  “We ‘bout to head into it, ain’t we?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I know you got a plan,” said Barth.

  Jolo turned to the one-armed engineer, “I just want to say—”

  “Yeah, I know,” he said. “You used to get kinda mushy right before the shit hit the fan back in the day. Telling the crew how great they were. That’s why they loved you.”

  “I don’t remember.”

  “You don’t have to. Just be you. Jolo Vargas.”

  “I’m askin’ a lot of everybody today.”

  “That’s fine. That’s your job.”

  Jolo had to ask Barth about pulling the safety on the next jump but knew he was going to hate it. “I need you to do something for me.” Jolo tried to keep his voice upbeat but he could tell the engineer was suddenly suspicious. “I need you to disable the safety on the next jump into Callen.” Barth’s eyebrows scrunched together and his head started to tilt down a bit.

  “What about the—” Barth started to say.

  “I know. Of course, I know. We need to get in front of the gunboats before they can respond.”

  Barth leaned back and scratched his back with his good hand, took a deep breath and stared over at the logic array near the jump drive that housed the safety. Jolo knew he was weighing their chances with his engineer’s brain. Barth wouldn’t go for it if he thought it was suicide.

  “I done it once,” said Hurley. “I’m still here.”

  “Okay. I’ll do it,” said Barth.

  “Good. When you are done with that I need you to modify one of the small turrets we’ve got in storage.”

  The Argossy burst into orbit above Callen 2.8 kilometers from Trant’s gunboat, the Nymeria. In seconds they were all over Trant and two other gunboats protecting the flank of two Fed transports. Koba had set his transponder to a Fed Courier Class ship so the Argossy popped up on their screen a tiny blue dot, which meant small friendly ship. Jolo hoped that’s what the Fed ships saw.

  “Make for Trant,” said Jolo.

  “What, we gonna try and board his ship?” said Koba.

  “Barth,” Jolo barked into the comm. “I’m gonna ram Trant’s gunboat. I don’t want to kill the ship, just piss him off.”

  “Don’t catch his engines or topside near the bridge. Slow down before impact and clip him low just under the nose, you’ll take out the storage bay but he’ll still be fully functional.”

  “What about the fuel cells.”

  “Yeah, that’s right. Don’t hit those either, but they’re encased in alacyte. You gotta hit just under the bow. What are you doing?”

  “Inviting everyone to the party.” Jolo looked down at Koba, who’d just heard the whole conversation.

  “I can’t do that,” he said. “I ain’t Katy.”

  “Do it.” Koba nosed the Argossy down as the comm board lit up with incoming messages.

  The gunboats scrambled to get out of the way of the Fed transport that had suddenly popped up on their screens. Message after message came in but Jolo ignored them. The Argossy’s proximity warning sensors had long since been removed but Jolo was sure they were going off on the Fed boats now. He imagined their captains trying to look calm as the klaxon wailed in the background, junior officers scurrying about, maybe rifling through some outdated Federation manual searching for an entry on what to do when a rogue Fed transport was out of formation and on an intercept course, trying to decide if it was okay to unleash the cannons.

  “They’re gonna take us out,” said Koba.

  “They’re thinking about it,” said Jolo. “They would have if it weren’t for your transponder. They don’t want to take down a sister ship. Make sure your current trajectory has us missing all the boats. Then at the last second adjust and clip Trant.”

  Jolo got on the comm and told everyone to hold on to something. A few seconds later Koba crashed into the Nymeria, the gunboat’s cannons were hot but once the Argossy was close Trant wouldn’t fire for fear of hurting his own ship. The Argossy gained speed as the Nymeria went into a spin and fought to regain control.

  “Koba, get us out of here!” said Jolo, as Koba made jump calculations.

  Then Jolo grabbed the comm and opened a channel to all Federation boats. “This is Jolo Vargas. I just rammed the Nymeria. Now I’m going down to Duval and I’m going to kill every human I can find. Especially the kids down there in Jaxxon. Ya’ll stay here. Don’t get your nails dirty.” And he cut the comm.

  Jolo kept his eye on the screen as the Argossy’s jump drives wound up. He noticed some of the smaller Wasp fi
ghters that usually stayed attached to the large Defenders disappear, their tiny blue dots going black. They were smaller and could make jump calculations faster than any of the Fed boats. And the gunboats, all three in Trant’s group, had slowed and Jolo hoped they were getting ready to jump as well. Any of the ships that left would be going against Filcher’s orders. Jolo was counting on a little dissent among the ranks. Sitting out in the middle of nowhere under the guise of military training operations is fine, but after awhile the natives get restless and start to question. Jolo hoped his earlier escape had stirred things up a bit. Jolo needed captains willing to take a chance and fight. Just before the Argossy made the jump out, Trant’s Nymeria had gained control and was dead still. Her computer was plotting a course. She was coming.

  Any doubts whether Jolo’s plan was working disappeared when they popped into Astid. There were eight Wasps spread out over the sector and they instantly converged on the Argossy the second the old ship showed up. They took some fire from the Wasps’ smaller rail guns, but the Argossy held and jumped out, but not before Jolo let Greeley call them all a bunch of worm-loving wussies on the Fed channel. Two gunboats had popped in just as the Argossy and her attendant Wasps made the jump out.

  Two BG cruisers popped up on screen as soon as Jolo and crew made it into Duval orbit. The Wasps were already there.

  “We got two BG on top, Captain.” said Koba.

  “Great. They haven’t left yet. Head for the BG boats.” Koba hesitated for a split second, then thought better of it.

  “Aye, Captain,” he said and headed straight for the two BG boats, Wasps in pursuit.

  “Is the Fed courier transponder still active?” said Jolo.

  “Yep.”

  Computer, thought Jolo. Can Fed Courier class boats carry weapons?

  Most Courier class ships are not outfitted with offensive weapons, though some older models do have the fittings to mount small turrets.