The Lost Gunboat Captain (The Jolo Vargas Space Opera Series Book 1)

by J. D. Oppenheim

  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.

  A minute later she brought him a piece of apple pie. It had a flaky crust, it was sweet, and had small, golden brown chunks which really looked like apples. And even though he knew it was synthetic, he still enjoyed it. He couldn't remember the last time he’d actually held a real apple.

  Jolo went to back to the main deck as the Jessica was nearing Qualus. He found Katy sitting in the engineering chair eyeing the status screen. Jolo strolled in and sat down in the captain’s chair.

  “ETA?” he said.

  “We should be slowing down in a few minutes. Are you okay?”

  Jolo did not respond.

  “Who was she?”

  “A girl that I knew before.”

  “Did you love her?”

  “I can't get her out of my mind.”

  “Sounds like love to me.”

  “It's just that I can't remember things. I remember the girl. The ship. I remember Barthelme. I remember the young engineer, Tanaka, and most of the crew. But I still don't know who I am or where I'm from. Or why those bastards want me dead.”

  “Well, I'm just a trash hauler pilot so take it for what it's worth, but if I were you I’d try not to fight it. The memories will come. And I know earlier I said you didn't seem like a hero. But taking this ship was pretty heroic. Stupid. But heroic. So there's that.”

  “Well, thank you for that little pep talk.”

  “I hope you find her.”

  Just then the ship dropped out of warp and started making minor course adjustments for the trip down to Qualus.

  Qualus was a large, dirty rock devoid of any natural beauty. Once they got close to the surface Jolo could see work crews. And initially he thought they were droids moving rocks out of a big hole in the side of the mountain, but then he realized they were human. Katy said the BG used local people because they were cheaper than droids. They kept them fed on a brown gruel that most core world humans would not feed to their dog. Katy said the core worlds maintain some semblance of civility and peace, and the standard of living was acceptable, but out on the edges, beyond Federation control, the BG pretty much did what they wanted.

  No one ever went to Qualus unless they were hauling refuse, as it was the core world’s main dump site, or they were mining: Qualus was a prime source of quarz 5, which was a key component to the making of weapons grade alacyte. The BG had recently been sending cargo freighters loaded down with quarz plugs to Duval for final processing.

  The Jessica flew low over the mining operation on the ground. Shiny black BG foreman with long energy rods kept a close watch over the men, women, children, and even old people, who were busy hauling rocks into a large container. A freight ship waited to take a sufficient amount to Duval.

  A little further out, maybe 2 km from the work crew, Jolo spotted a small blue clump in the sand. They got close enough to actually see that it was a small child face down in the sand. The thermal scan read negative.

  “What's that about?” said Jolo.

  “He tried to run,” said Katy. “They got foreman enforcers on the ground and droids in the air.”

  Jolo landed at the rendezvous point and Katy came back an hour later sweaty, red-faced and breathing hard.

  “Did you get your money?” said Jolo.

  “Do I look happy?” she yelled back. “I was about to get the agreed upon amount, but then this greasy little bastard in a suit came and nixed the deal. I think he's a Fed. He said there is a battle group waiting for us when we break atmo. The slimy bastard was smiling like he already had us.”

  “Black suit and tie?” said Jolo.

  “Yep.”

  “Not good. Okay, let's stay on the surface for now and get out of here.”

  On the way out they passed by the mining operation again. Half a kilometer to the north Jolo saw some dust being kicked up and a shiny black drone in hot pursuit.

  “Katy, sit there in the engineer’s chair,” Jolo said. “Can you get a lock on the droid?”

  “What are you gonna do?” said Katy.

  “Well, we're already hot, so might as well go out swinging.”

  Jolo swung the Jessica around to get a better angle on the tiny droid and took it down with a short burst from the railgun. The people on the ground stopped running and looked up at the Federation gunboat hovering over them. They're wondering why the Fed would bother to help them, thought Jolo.

  Then they headed straight back to the mining operation. He flew in close and the people scattered when the large gunboat came in. The BG overlords waved their energy sticks at the ship. It was some sort of sign or signal. But Jolo took them out just like he’d done to the droid. Then he landed the ship. He opened the back hatch and started hauling out large boxes of Federation food and medicine to the work crew.

  Most of the people were tired and dehydrated, but happy to have something to eat. They tore into the boxes before they even got off the boat. A tall, bearded man came to Jolo. “Are you the captain?” he said. Jolo nodded. “I’m Berg. Thank you for your help, but unfortunately this will be our last meal. The BG will be back within an hour and they'll kill everyone here.”

  “Where can I take you?” said Jolo

  “Off this rock,” said Berg.

  “I'm not sure if I can do that,” said Jolo. “I've got a Federation battle group waiting for me topside.”

  “We'll take our chances with you, if that's OK,” said the man.

  “Bring all your people in. Keep them here in the storage bay,” said Jolo, eyeing the stern man whose clothes were worn thin. He guessed the man was military at some point before being taken. “If it comes down to it, at least we’ll die free men.”

  Berg nodded, and looked at the people, still tearing into the Fed rations, “And on a full stomach.”

  Gravity

  The planet Qualus.

  Jolo ran back to the bridge and Katy was in a panic. “We've got a large ship breaking atmosphere in about 30 seconds. I think it's probably a BG cruiser. What are we gonna do?” Katy said. “If we go topside the Feds got us.”

  “And I don't think we can beat a cruiser with a gunboat,” said Jolo. “Especially with no crew.” Jolo stood there for a moment staring at the empty nav and engineer’s chairs.

  “You ain’t blanking out on me again, are you?” said Katy.

  “Naw. Just thinkin’,” he said. She was holding his arm, looking at him like a scared child. “Okay,” he said. “We're gonna run. I need time to think.”

  “Where to?” said Katy.

  “Away from here. Stay low and close to the mountains.”

  “I'll be back in a minute.”

  Jolo ran back down to the storage area where the BG work crew was assembled. The feeding frenzy from before had slowed down and now they were sitting and resting. Some were crying, some looked happy, and most wanted some kind of reassurance or answer.

  “What's the situation?” said Berg.

  Jolo looked him in the eye. “It doesn't look good. Along with the Fed battle group waiting topside, we got a BG cruiser coming down to greet us.”

  Some of the people heard and started to get restless. “Maybe we should've stayed there,” they said.

  Jolo looked into the crowd. “Do any of you have experience on a large vessel? Preferably military?”

  An old man stepped forward. He had scraggly, gray hair and was missing several teeth. His clothes hung in rags off of his body. “Yes, sir,” he said, saluting Jolo. “I was engineer of a merchant frigate and we used to do long runs to the edge of space back before the wars. The BG took ownership and forced us into labor.”

  “Thank you,” said Jolo. “Anybody else?”

  Two large men stepped forward. “We work security on private ships. The BG got us too. We might can be of use.” Jolo glan
ced at Berg and he nodded his head.

  “These men are the Greeley brothers and I trust them,” he said.

  And finally one small man with glasses stepped forward. “I've never flown into deep space. But I'm a mathematician and probably could work in some capacity. My name is Koba.”

  Jolo pointed the big Greeley brothers to the armory. He hoped there were at least two battle suits that would fit. Then he told the old man, named Hurley, and the mathematician, to follow him to the bridge.

  Then he turned to face the crowd. “Have you people heard of Jolo Vargas?” he said.

  Everyone looked up. “He’s a war hero. Is he coming to rescue us?” someone said. Then another, “He died two years past.”

  “Well, I am Jolo Vargas,” he said. “I’m not dead yet, and I will not let you down.”

  He turned and strode out of the room as confidently as he could. He’d tried to say it like he thought Jolo Vargas would have said it. Like a real hero. He hoped they believed it, hoped he believed it. And as he made his way to the bridge, a familiar line popped into his head: If you can’t make it, fake it. Jolo smiled at the thought of it. These were the words of someone close to him long ago. And the words rang true. If he was going to have to improvise the whole way, then so be it.

  Jolo sat in the captain’s chair and considered his crew. He had the mathematician and Katy helping on the bridge, and the old man, Hurley, down in the engine room, and the two former hired guns getting geared up just in case. Berg had agreed to stay behind and lead the group.

  Jolo didn't know if any of them could help. And he didn't know if he could trust the two brothers named Greeley, who he’d turned over the full ground assault arsenal to. But he had no choice.

  Jolo kept the ship low and out of sight, running as fast as he could without being seen. He needed time to think and come up with something. If it was a smaller BG ship he could go toe to toe, but that was in space. In the atmosphere the BG ship may have an advantage. So for now running was the best option.

  And then there was the matter of the Federation. If what Katy said was true then there was a cruiser and at least four gunboats waiting for him in orbit. He imagined Silas Filcher himself standing on the deck of a large destroyer, eyeing a large screen for the missing Fed gunboat. He wondered if Filcher had any sympathy at all, or was he fully on the president's side? He wondered if Barthelme got away.

  When it came down to it he couldn't trust anyone. He was going to have to get past the Federation ships and he couldn't fight the BG on the surface of Qualus, so his options were limited.

  What he needed to do was jump. He just needed time to jump. But if they broke atmosphere, the moment they got there the Federation ships would lock on and that would be that. What if somehow he could make the calculations early? There was just no way that he could break through the atmosphere without them knowing, without them being there.

  “Koba,” he said, “can you decrease the calculation time for a jump?”

  “There are some things we could do,” he said. “But if you're asking can we make the calculation before the Federation boats lock on, the answer is no. They’ll know when we pop up.”

  Jolo had the ship heading into a generally southern direction, following a mountain chain and trying to stay undetected. For a moment they broke out into an open area when the mountain chain ended. They were no more than 50 meters off the ground and came upon a large group of people walking in a long line on the dusty surface. Jolo adjusted course slightly to go around but he was still seen. It was difficult to hide a large ship when you're running full out close to the ground. At first Jolo thought the line of red robed people were military.

  “Who are they?” said Jolo.

  “The Kubara,” said Katy. “They are the local religious leaders. They rarely pop their heads out of the caves in the mountains because of the BG patrols searching for workers, but there's going to be a partial eclipse in a few hours. It's a holy day for them and they'll lead their believers in prayer.”

  “I hope they say a prayer for us,” said Jolo. “What we need to do is jump from here.”

  “That's impossible,” said Katy. “Too much atmosphere, too much gravity to generate a warp field.”

  Jolo sat in his chair leaning to one side, the last of the red religious leaders now out of sight. Computer, he thought, what happens to gravity during a solar eclipse?

  At the beginning and end of an eclipse gravity is decreased as there is less atmosphere.

  Computer, where is the least amount of gravity on the planet Qualus.

  The southern pole, came the reply.

  Computer, has anyone ever made a warp jump from the surface of a planet?

  There is one recorded instance of a small freighter making a warp jump from the surface of the planet Darst.

  Under what conditions?

  It was during a solar eclipse in the year 2432.

  “Katy,” Jolo said. “Take us to the southernmost pole.”

  “Koba,” he said, “is it possible to make a jump from the surface of the planet?”

  “From the atmosphere? No,” he said.

  “What if we got less atmosphere?” said Jolo.

  “Oh,” the mathematician said. “Are you gonna try what I think you’re gonna try? Because more ships have failed than have succeeded. As a matter fact, I don't think anyone has succeeded.”

  “Yes, they have,” said Jolo. “A ship made it off the planet Darst during a solar eclipse.”

  “You remembered that?” said Katy.

  “Uh, yeah. Weird stuff just pops into my head,” said Jolo.

  “Well, this little idea don't sound too good.”

  The mathematician turned in his chair and adjusted his glasses. “The captain’s gonna try to make a jump from the atmosphere.”

  “No,” said Jolo. “Not from the atmosphere. From a very thin atmosphere.”

  “If we’re in the southern pole, which has the least amount of gravity on this rock, and in the middle of the solar eclipse, can we do it?” said Jolo.

  “It is theoretically possible,” said the mathematician. “But success rate is low.”

  “Katy,” Jolo said, “take us to the South Pole and keep us low and out of trouble. I’d like to stay off the BG scanners if possible. Koba, you find out exactly when the optimal time will be to jump during the eclipse.”

  “What about the Fed boats?” said Katy.

  “They won't come down.”

  “How do you know?” said Koba.

  “Their boats are made to fight in space. Just like this one. They'll wait for us. And hopefully we’re gonna fly right past them.”

  “One more thing,” Jolo said. “I need to know if you guys are in. This might not work.”

  “Better here, than down there,” said Koba.

  “Those bastards took my money,” said Katy. “And I guess I'm out of a job hauling trash. So yeah, I'm in.”

  Jolo went down to the armory and found his newly recruited Marines ready to go. They were both dressed in battle gear and ready. They were disappointed when Jolo told him there probably wasn't going to be a fight just yet. He asked if they were in, and they just laughed.

  “Happy to be on board. Just promise me that I get to fry a few BG at some point during this little adventure,” said the older Greeley.

  And then Jolo went down to the storage area where the large group of former BG workers were still assembled.

  Jolo told them the situation, and what they were going to try to do. “Any man, woman, or child who wants off this boat, can get off right now,” Jolo said. “We’ll give you as much food as we can and try to set you down as far away from any BG work sites as possible. Or you can stay with us. I'm not sure what’s going to happen from here on out. Our main concern now is to get past the patrols and get off this rock.”

  The people looked around at each other, fear in their eyes. But they all decided to stay on board, even though the jump out might be their last.

  �
��…

  Silas Filcher stood on the main deck of the Federation destroyer, Maurusen, and peered out the large view ports into the empty, blackness of space. There were four other gunboats and a cruiser in orbit above Qualus. He stood with both arms behind his back and the hint of a smile on his face. There was a beauty and coolness in the empty black void that reached out farther than his mind could comprehend.

  This was a nothing mission and he knew it. This wasn't like fighting the BG before. This was just squashing a bug under his boot. But it still felt good. There was nowhere the little rat claiming to be his former captain could go. Eventually he had to come up and make a jump. He had to escape. By now he knew the BG cruiser was hunting him on the surface. Which left only one option: He’d have to come up. He’d try to make a quick jump but that’d be useless. The Fed boats will be on him the second he pops up.

  “Commander, the BG cruiser has the Jessica on her scanners. Should I send a few gunboats down?”

  “No. He will come to us. He has no other choice.”

  “Begging your pardon, Commander, but are you sure? It is Jolo Vargas, Sir.”

  “It is not Vargas! Question my orders again and I'll have you down in engineering scrubbing the lower level vent shafts.” The man slunk back to his chair.

  Barthelme was a fool, thought Filcher. How could he have believed the little rat was truly Vargas, after he'd seen him die? But that didn't concern him. Barthelme had no ambition. And now he would spend his final days on a work planet.

  Barthelme relied too much on his heart and not good sense.

  That hint of a smile came back to Silas's lips. When the alliance was forming with the BG, fools like Barthelme stood against it. Some people just didn't see opportunity. But Silas had. A few words in the right ear and he had risen quickly.

  He would bring the president this little synth rat. This creature the president worried needlessly about. It wasn't Vargas. But Silas would do his job as he always had, further cementing the trust the president had in him.