Escape from Hopeulikit

The Arlo stops for a quick repair and runs into trouble.

Approximately 5500 words}

         Escape from Hopeulikit

         

         Jase stepped into the Arlo’s shuttle and his stomach did little flip-flops at the transition to the smaller craft’s gravity field.  The cabin lights eased on, and he headed to the front row of seats, just behind the pilot’s chair.  The enormous blue globe of Hopeulikit dominated the view from the forward port. Fluffy white clouds scattered over their destination, Ostland, the continent where the ghost drive repair shop was located.

         His new partner-in-crime, Manda Sue, followed him, her face taking on a distinct greenish tint when she crossed over the gravity threshold.  She glanced at the empty pilot’s chair and said, “’Tain’t ya’ll gonna fly this thing?”

         He gave her a reassuring smile.  His other partner, Arlo, had convinced him to add her to their team because she was smart, smarter than her babe-like appearance and hick accent would suggest. But, she was also new to all this and needed reassurance. “Arlo will be our pilot.  Everything’s going to be fine.  Just strap in and try to relax.”

         “If everthing’s gonna be fine, why strap in?”  She settled into the chair next to Jase, but continued to complain.  “’Sides, Arlo, he’s jest a machine, same as that ghost thing-a-ma-bob. The faster-than-light gizmo what needs fixin’. If it can break, so can he.”

         At the phrase jest a machine, Jace’s mouth tightened, but Arlo jumped in before he could speak.

         In his most soothing, tenor voice, Arlo answered through the shuttle’s speakers. “Manda Sue, the controller units for the Arlo’s ghost drive are completely independent of me.  The designers of the ship’s mind, my mind, put me in a sealed, self-contained, solid-state unit. I’m self-repairing and designed to survive battle conditions, up to and including destruction of the vessel.  I won’t let anything happen to you. I like you.”

         His earnest tone made Jase smile.  It was just one of the many things that made him love the guy.

         Manda Sue squirmed in her seat. “Sounds like cow doodle ta me. ‘Tain’t no such thing as fail-safe.”

         Jase put a hand on hers. “Just because this is a navy surplus vessel doesn’t mean it’s unsafe. Arlo survived the battle at Tannhauser Gate. He won’t let anything happen to us. Nothing can go wrong.”  At least, nothing with Arlo could go wrong.  He’d bet his life on that. He wasn’t so sure about people, though, except for Manda Sue and, of course, Arlo.

         He subvocalized so only Arlo could hear him Are you sure we need this repair? There’s a backup unit, right?

         Arlo answered through the implant behind his left ear. “Two of them, yes, but safety of the ship requires that all units be fully operational. The board in question is out of tolerance.  There’s a 0.57 percent chance it will fail the next time we activate the drive.”

         Sounds safe enough to me.

         Arlo said, “Failure of all three units could result in the ship and its contents dissolving into ghost condensates. That would be an unrecoverable error.”

         Jase didn’t quite roll his eyes. As usual, Arlo’s literal mind made him the unwitting, if endearing, master of understatement.

         Arlo continued, his tone adamant. “We must remain in this system until the unit is repaired.”

         Well, that was that.  When Arlo got stubborn like this, it meant his programming didn’t give him any options.  Without the repair, he could no more activate the ghost drive than Jase could sprout wings and fly. 

         But, given what they’d acquired on their last stop on Calydon, staying in one place for any length of time would also be an “unrecoverable error.”  Either Black Hand or Navy Intel would eventually find them, and either one would mean the end of them and their star-hopping enterprise.

         Jase glanced at Manda Sue.  “All strapped in?”

         She dimpled and squeezed his hand, sending warm tingles up his arm. “Ah’m ready if ya’ll are, pardner.”

         Jase spoke, out loud this time, to Arlo,  “Take us down.”

         A clunk reverberated through the shuttle as it disengaged and began its descent.

         

***

         Fours hours later, Jase sat with Manda Sue in a conference room at the Mechanikerstadt Handelsschule—Mechanicsville Trade School, according to Arlo’s helpful translation.  Floor-to-ceiling windows revealed a sunny, tree-lined campus, and the local version of coffee that he sipped was strong, but flavorful. The school’s contract officer, Jurgen something-or-other, spoke in an incomprehensible guttural language that Arlo called “German,” but his assistant, a flunky named Harlan Benedict, used passable Anglish.   

         Benedict nudged the defective circuit board sitting on the table between them. His expression looked like he was sucking lemons.  “Geisterkraft boards like this are designed to be replaced, not repaired.  We can test it for defects, if you like.”

         Arlo whispered from behind Jase’s ear, “Geisterkraft is the local vernacular for ghost drive.”

         Jace subvocalized Shut up, then answered the flunky, “Mr. Benedict, our ship’s mind has already determined it’s defective. If you can’t repair it, do you have a replacement part?”

         Benedict looked dubious. “No need to be formal.  Just call me Harlan.” He nudged the circuit board with a finger.  “It’s an obsolete module, from a class of ships no longer in active service.”

         “I assure you, sir, our ship is in service.  We just flew here from…another star system.” Their trip to Calydon had violated numerous Imperial regulations since no one had visited the place in five hundred years. No reason to give this doofus reason to turn them over to Navy Intel.

         Harlan shrugged.  “Whatever.  I’m sure it’s been decades since there’s been a class of ships on active duty using this particular unit.”

         “We’re a private vessel, a trader, not the Imperial Navy.  The Arlo is navy surplus.”

         “Well, I’m quite sure we don’t have parts in stock for surplus ships.  We train locals for service in the Imperial Navy, not for…free-lance traders.”  His expression suggested the whole idea was unsavory.

         The boss guy, Jurgen what’s-his-name, spouted a bunch of gibberish that sounded vaguely like an argument between wild hogs and Ryelllian fire dragons.  Arlo whispered a translation in Jase’s ear, “He’s telling Mr. Benedict that they need the credits and that he should stop fooling around and cut a deal.”

         Benedict narrowed his eyes and spoke in dubious tones. “Still, we’ve got a couple of students who could use the experience.  They’d need one our faculty to check their work, but they might be able to retro-fit something for you.  It will be expensive, though.  At least five hundred for the part, then an hourly charge for checking the retro-fit.  Our faculty’s time is valuable.”

         Arlo whispered, “A replacement board shouldn’t be more than two-fifty, three hundred max.  As to the hourly charge, it can’t possibly take longer than a few thousand standard seconds.  Our reserves are sufficient for a week at their standard rate for repairs.”

         Jase chewed his lower lip and tried to look desperate.  “I can pay one hundred for the part and your standard hourly rate for repairs.  Shall we say two hours?” 

         Harlan seemed to think it over. “Split the difference on the part?  I can agree to three hundred, but we’ll lose money at that price. The retrofit will take at least four hours, however.“

         Fourteen thousand and change seconds.  That qualified as a “few” in Arlo-speak, so Jase said, “Done.”

         Arlo whispered, “Their catalogue says their student services include implanting micro comm discs like the ones we use. Manda Sue’s going to need those eventually. Another chance to get them for her might not come our way any time soon.”

         Jase rubbed his nose. “Another minor thing.  You’re prep students for Navy service?”

         Harlan narrowed his eyes and nodded. “That’s our primary purpose, yes.”

         “You must have facilities for implanting standard micro comm discs. My colleague here—,“ he nodded at Manda Sue, ”—needs a set.”

         The Jurgen guy jumped in again, and Arlo said, “He must be getting his own translation.  He’s being pretty emphatic about how they should do this.  His phrasing is obscure, but seems to imply he has amorous feelings for Manda Sue.”

         Harlan seemed to think it over.  “It’s a relatively minor thing.  Perhaps we perform the procedure on her while our technicians work on the circuit board? No charge, as a token of our good will.” 

         Jurgen spouted more incomprehensible gibberish at Manda Sue, while Arlo whispered to Jase, “I’d like you to watch whatever retrofit these techs do.  I could even use your phone to monitor it and ask them questions if needed.”

         Jase turned to Manda Sue.  “Is that all right with you?  I’ve explained about my implants.  Getting them will give you something to do while I watch over the work on the new board.”

         She glared at Jurgen, her eyes throwing daggers, but she said, “Ah’m good with havin’ them doo-dads stuck in me.  Ah can see how they’d be useful and Arlo, he’s a sweetie.  Chattin’ with him that way sounds nice an’ cozy.”  She narrowed here eyes and glanced at Jurgen.  “Ah can take care a myself with these fellers, if need be.”

         More hog snorts from Jurgen, then Harlan smiled with his mouth and said to Manda Sue, “Herr Heydrich asks that I assure you that the procedure is safe, painless, and brief.  He has offered to personally accompany you while it’s done.”

         Manda Sue gave Jase a brief nod, and he said, “So we have a deal.  We’ll transfer half payment now and the balance when the new board is successfully installed in our ship.”

         Harlan’s mouth formed what he must have intended to be a smile and said, “That will be satisfactory.” He and Jurgen stood.  “I’ll take you to the Geisterkraft Reparaturlabor, and Herr Heydrich will accompany the young…lady to our clinic.”

         Jase hesitated. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to be separated.  Manda Sue said, “Ya’ll go on, pardner. Ah can take a myself.”  He was sure of that.  She’d certainly given ample evidence of her abilities on Calydon.  After all, what could possibly go wrong?

         

***

         Harlan led Jase across the campus, past flowering shrubs with a strong, vanilla scent, and into a building with a sign reading Geisterkraft Reparaturlabor.  Arlo translated via the micro comm link, “Ghost Drive Repair Lab.” 

         Jase frowned and responded Shut up.  I need to focus.

         Arlo didn’t answer.  Probably sulking. 

         When he followed Harlan into the lab, his ears plugged up at the pressure differential. That, and the sterile scent of the air, meant they kept at least minimal clean room standards. He yawned, but his ears didn’t pop.

         Inside, two young men hovered near a hologram displaying microcircuitry.  The looked enough alike to be twins, or at least brothers, with handsome, dark features and jet-black hair.  From the snippets of their conversation, they were speaking in Anglish.  Well, actually, techno-speak, but with enough Anglish to catch the gist.  Something about legacy machine languages.  There was no sign of the expensive “faculty supervision” that Benedict had mentioned during negotiations.

         Harlan cleared his throat and said, “Can I interrupt you boys for a moment.” It wasn’t a question.

         The two looked up and said in unison, “We’re busy.”

         Harlan’s mouth squirmed.  “That wasn’t an invitation to argue. Come here at once.  You need to meet our client.”

         They rolled their eyes, but shrugged and approached Harlan and Jase.  Harlan said, “Captain Asonides, these are two of our best students, Cas and Perce Schwan.  They’ll be working on your retrofit.  I have already transmitted specs to them.”

         Jase extended his hand and said, “Pleased to meet you.”

         Arlo whispered, “Press your palms together and bow. Natives to Hopeulikit likely won’t know what a handshake is.”

         Harlan and Jurgen had shaken his hand, but Jase adjusted his gesture and the twins responded in kind. 

         Immediately after, the one on the left said, “We’ve looked over the specs for your board.”

         The other one added, “Part number XA-3212.12.96B. Last produced in 3216.”

         They proceeded with a rapid-fire alternation, almost like they were reading each other’s minds, completing each other’s thoughts.

         “It works just like newer, stock boards.”

         “Bit the chips on the defective board use an out-dated machine language.”

         “Vintage.”

         “We’ll need to add pre and post compiler chips to the stock board.”

         “That way it can talk to the drive on your ship.”

         “There are some timing issues to resolve to make it all work.”

         “Modern boards have faster clock speeds.”

         “No sweat.”

         “We can do it.”

         “Give us a couple hours.”

         “It’s a fun problem.  Easy.”

         “But fun.”

         Jase wondered if they’d go on forever, but Harlan interrupted.  “Enough, already.  Bottom line, can you do it or not?”

         “That’s what we said.”

         “Easy-peasy.”

         “Two, three hours max.”

         Before they started another round of one-sided conversation, Benedict said, “Well, get to it.”

         Arlo whispered, “I’ll want to check the code in those chips.”

         Jase said, “The ship’s mind will need to verify your code.  Can you send it to him? It.”

         That started them off again.  “Our coding is always perfect.”

         “No need to check.”

         “We know what we’re doing.”

         “Done it before.”

         “Lots of times.”

         Harlan held up both hands and yelled, “Stop!”

         They both blinked and gave him wide-eyed stares.

         Harlan turned to Jase.  “If you want an independent check of the code, that’s your problem.”

         Jase reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone and offered it to the nearest twin.  “This has a standard comm link port. You can use it to talk to the tech on our ship. Will that do?”

         Harlan answered before the twins could start in.  “I’m sure they can work it out.”

         Jase handed his phone to the twin on the left, and they returned to their hologram, where they chattered away in techo-Anglish.  From the sounds of things, Arlo was already joining in via the comm link.

         Harlan said, “I apologize for those two. They’re from Paradies, about a hundred clicks from here.  It’s a, I think the Anglish word is socialist, community.” He wrinkled his nose and his tone turned sneering, “They have unusual ideas about what’s proper.  These two boys, for example, are fraternal twins, with one mother and two different fathers.”

         Well, that was kind of unusual parentage for twins, but in not the sneering way this nob implied. More like interesting.  Jase said, “Nothing wrong with that.”

         That got him a hmmph from Harlan, who then added, “Well, they are bright enough. Not that they’ll ever amount to anything, being what they are. Do you require anything else from me?”

         “I guess not.”

         “Very well.  The boys can notify me when they’re done.  You can find your way back to your shuttle?”

         “Of course.” He remembered Manda Sue.  “How about my companion?”

         He sniffed. “I’m confident Herr Heydrich will see to her.  I’ll bid you farewell, then.  I look forward to receiving your final payment once your new component is installed and working.”

         Jase let him leave, and stretched his jaws again.  This time, his ears blessedly popped. He eyed the twins, the morphing hologram, and the now three-way conversation they were having. He could code if needed, but machine language was too arcane for him.  Still, with nothing better to do, he wandered over to listen in.

          After listening to about forty minutes of stultifying and barely intelligible conversation, Arlo spoke via the micro comm link. “These two are brilliant. They wrote code even faster than I could, and they even designed and built the new chips, on the spot, to add to the replacement board.”

         Jace mentally shrugged. That’s nice.

         “It’s more than nice. If we had these two in our crew, my calculations show we could save as much as twenty-three percent of our annual budget for maintenance expenses.”

         Jace frowned.  More crew means more expense, even if we don’t share revenues.

         “My calculations were net savings after allowance for expenses and revenue sharing.”

         Well, that was impressive.  But adding two chain-talking techno-geeks wasn’t exactly appealing.  I’ll think about it. We’d have to talk to Manda Sue, too.

         “You’re the boss.  They’re done with the new board and it’s add-on chips.  I’d like to have them install it in the ship, unless you want to do it.”

         Jase winced.  Fiddling with boards and electronics was a pain, but the thought of these two chain-talking all the way to orbit and back was also unappealing.  How hard will it be to install the new board?

         “I estimate it will take you 12,692 seconds to fully install the board.”

         In hours, please?

         “Approximately 3.52 hours.”

         And if the terrific twins do it?

         “Between 582 and 1,228 seconds, based on incomplete data.”

         Well, that was a vote of confidence in the twins. Or maybe no confidence in Jase. Still, the choice was clear.  It’s the terrific twins, then.  You want to tell them, or should I?

         “I already suggested it to them.  They are excited about a trip to orbit.  They’ve never been off-planet.”

         OK.  Any progress report from Manda Sue?

         “She has not used her phone. In fact, she appears to have shut it off.”

         Jase frowned.  That was strange.  How long as she been offline?

         “Since shortly after you entered the Geisterkraft Reparaturlabor.  To be precise, 7,586 seconds.”

         A little over two hours.  What was her last location? Can you guide me there?

         “Her phone’s last ping was at the flitter park outside Mechanikerstadt.”

         Flitter park?  What the fuck?  Why would she be there?

         “The data are insufficient to speculate.”

         Did they do the implants?

         “The record shows a stop at the school’s clinic of sufficient duration for the implant procedure. However, if she did get the implants, they were never activated.”

         Curiouser and curiouser.  Maybe that flunky Harlan knows something.  Can you connect my phone to our local contact? That Benedict guy?

         “Yes.  Should I do so now?”

         Give me a second.  I need to get my phone back from the terrific twins.

         He walked to where the twins were still chain-chatting over their hologram and said, “Can I have my phone back? I need to speak to Mr. Benedict and have him track down my partner.”

         The twin on the left—Cas?—handed him the phone.  The other twin, Perce?, said, “Mr. Benedict’s not likely to help you.”

         “He’s a jerk.”

         Before they could launch into another chain-chat, Jase said, “We’ll see about that.” He waited for Arlo to connect them and kept the speaker on so the twins could listen in.  Harlan’s hearty voice answered at once.  “Captain Asonides. How may I assist you?”

         “The retro-fit is finished with over an hour to spare. We’re ready for the install.  We’re impressed with the twins’ expertise. Their work so far took less than the four hours we agreed to, and we’d like to use the remaining time to have them assist with the install on our ship.”

         “Those boys are of little value to us. In fact, they are a burden on us. If you’re impressed with them, you can keep them however long you like.  However, their transport is not part of our contract.  You’ll need to arrange that at your own expense.”

         “Can do.” This jerk talked like the boys were slaves.

         His tone turned dismissive.  “Fine. Do whatever you want with them. Is there anything else?”

         Time for the key question.  “Can you arrange transport for my colleague back to our shuttle? We’d like to depart as soon as possible.”

         Silence stretched for at least a count of three before Benedict answered, his tone now evasive. “Ah, yes. About your colleague. It would seem she has decided to remain with us. To immigrate to Ostland. Herr Heydrich has made her an offer she couldn’t refuse.”

         Jase narrowed his eyes. That didn’t sound at all like the Manda Sue he knew. “I need to hear that from her.”

         Benedict was quicker this time, and now dismissive. “I’m afraid that’s not possible.  She is presently indisposed. In point of fact, she’s in transit to Herr Heydrich’s residence in the north and her new position in his household.”

         New position?  As what?  Not as his cowpoke, her previous profession on Calydon, that was for sure. “Patch me through to her. I want to speak with her.”

         Benedict seemed to have an infinite store irritating nuances to his voice; this time it turned condescending, almost indulgent. “Really, I’m afraid that’s not going to be possible.  She specifically requested privacy and stated that she did not wish to speak with you in particular. We must honor her wishes.”

         “Bullshit.”

         The line went silent for a moment, then an indignant Harlan announced, “I’m afraid if you’re going to use that kind of language, I’ll just ring off.  Since the boys have finished with your contract, I’ll have to ask you to take them and your part and depart Ostland at once.”

         “I’m not leaving without Manda Sue.”

         Threatening Benedict answered this time. “We’ll see about that.  I’m in contact with the authorities.  The Imperial authorities.  I must insist you be gone within the hour.” 

         The line went dead.

         Cas looked at him with wide eyes and asked, “Is your partner a pretty woman?”

         Perce chimed in, “Mr. Heydrich, he likes pretty women.”

         “We don’t understand the appeal.”

         “We think men are so much more attractive.”

         “But if she’s pretty, Herr Heydrich will want her.”

         “And Mr. Arnold, he’s a total suck up.”

         “He’ll cover up for his boss.”

         “Herr Heydrich is an even bigger jerk.”

         Jase said, “Stop!  I get it. They’re both assholes.  And now they’ve kidnapped Manda Sue and taken her chaos knows where.”

         “We know where.”

         “Herr Heydrich has a cabin in the north.”

         “A love nest.”

         “It’s in the mountains.”

         “At Eagle’s nest.”

         “Aldernest.”

         “We’ve been there.”

         “We’ve seen the inside.”

         “It’s where he keeps his female companions.”

         “We installed the security system.”

         Jase interrupted, “You installed the security system?  Can you disable it?”

         “Sure.”

         “Easy peasy.”

         Jase held up his hand. “Give me a minute, please.  Arlo, have you been listening?”

         “Yes. The planetary satellites confirm a flitter in the air with a registered flight path from your location to one named Aldernest.  Departure time aligns with when Manda Sue’s phone went offline.”

         “Can our shuttle get us there without them knowing?”

         “Affirmative.  The shuttle’s stealth capabilities will suffice planet-wide, with the sole exception being penetration of the air space near the Imperial Navy base in Five Lakes province. However, if we depart now, the flitter will beat us to the destination by at least three thousand seconds.”

         He turned to the twins. “You guys up to helping with a rescue?”

         They exchanged looks and answered in unison. “Yes.”

         He had to be honest with them. “It might mean you’d have to leave with us.  Never come back here. It might be dangerous, too.” Chaos knew what kind of security might be at a place called Eagle’s Nest.

         They exchanged looks again, and answered in unison, “Acceptable.”

         Jace waited, but, for once, that seemed to be all they had to say.

         “Let’s do it, then.”

         

***

         A breeze whispered through the aspen forest and chilled Jase’s cheeks.  A gibbous moon hung above low peaks, while high cirrus clouds painted the sky.  Amber street lights illuminated the compound in the valley below, less than half a click away.  His night-vision nox revealed roaming battlebots on the perimeter, meter-tall barrels on treads with lethal distruptor tubes sprouting like tiny arms from their sides.

         The compound was three buildings, arranged in a U-shape around a central courtyard.  The two legs of the U were one-story structures, while the bottom was a three-story villa.  According to the twins, Heydrich kept his women locked up and under guard on the second floor. 

         He lowered his nox and regarded the twins, standing next to him in the shadows.  “You guys sure you can disable those bots?”

         One of them—maybe Cas?—held up his phone.  “The app is ready to go.”

         The other one said, “One push of the button, and it’s lights out.”

         Before they could chatter-chat, Jase said, “Let’s check the link to my night goggles.” He strapped them on and his world transformed from pearl-shaded shadows to brilliant green outlines. 

         Jace thought he recognized Perce’s voice in the answer. “All clear.”

         “We see what you see.”

         Jase jumped in, “Good.  The two of you stay here, where it’s safe. You know what you need to do.”

         “We want to go with you.”

         “No plan survives contact with the enemy.”

         Jase was getting a handle on communicating with them—jump in before they got started. “I don’t care what Sun Tzu says. You stay put.”

         They looked at each and snickered.  Arlo’s voice came via Jase’s implants. “It wasn’t Sun Tzu.  It was Helmut von Moltke the Elder.  He was a Prussian—”

         Jase wanted to shout, but he subvocalized Not now, Arlo.  Don’t distract me.

         Arlo managed to sound petulant.  “Sun Tzu said the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. Isn’t that the plan here?”

         I said don’t distract me.

         He looked at the two boys.  Good boys, smart and brave.  “I need to know you’re safe here, next to the shuttle. I need to know you’re monitoring their systems. Making sure they go offline according to plan, and that don’t come back on until we’re all back here and safe.  Understood?”

         They exchanged glances, then answered in unison, “Roger that.”

         Jase gave them a hard look.  That was as good as he was likely to get, although he understood the difference between “roger” and “wilco.”

         Fifteen minutes later he lay prone on a small ridge outside the compound. Just in front of him, the green glow of an antenna marked the exterior perimeter, exactly where the twins’ plans predicted.  It blinked twice, then vanished.  That meant the twins were watching and had disabled the perimeter screen, all according to plan.

         Jace crawled forward.

         Ten meters from the rear of the rear of the main building, he stopped. A battlebot rounded the corner, stopped, and its disruptor tubes rotated in his direction. 

         The battlebot suddenly froze.  All the lights went out—both the exterior lights and the lights inside the main building.  The boys were working their magic, right on time, all according to plan.

         Jase jumped to his feet, ran to the building, and pulled on the door.  Unlocked, exactly per the plan.  He pulled it open, crouched low, and ducked inside.

         A muzzle flared from a couple of meters inside.  Jase fired his weapon, green light spouted from the snout, and a guard tumbled to the floor. 

         So far, so good.

         Apparently there was just one guard at the back door. But with the lights off, they’d all be on alert now. 

         He scrambled to the stairwell, flattened against the fall, and listened. 

         Silence.

         He used a probe to look around the corner and up the stairs. Empty.

         On silent feet, he raced to the second floor, stopped at the top, and whirled about, checking for the guards he knew must be there.

         Except there weren’t any guards. 

         That should be good news, but the twin’s warning about battle plans surviving contact with the enemy echoed in his mind.  Something was wrong.  There had to be guards.

         Wait.

         Those three forms, laying prone of the floor at the end of the corridor.  They looked like bodies.  Keeping low, he stalked them, then toed the nearest one.  It was a guard all right.  But it didn’t move. What in chaos was going on?  This couldn’t be the boys doing. But it couldn’t be good, either.

         A voice whispering from nowhere sent cold shivers jittering down his spine. “Jase? Is that you?”

         He whirled, his gun at the ready.

         A green figure emerged from the shadows.  Even in the surreal night vision world, he recognized her. “Manda Sue? Is that you?”

         “Jase. It’s about time you got here.”

         “Manda Sue.” He tried to control the tremor in his voice.  “Are you all right?” He scanned the corridor.  All clear, as nearly as he could see.

         “Now that you’re here, yes.  I figured you’d come a-lookin’ for me, so I was ready. When them lights went out, I snookered these three afore they could do nothin’.”

         Trust Manda Sue to rescue herself.  He stopped remove his night goggles and give her a quick hug, then whispered, “We’ve got to get out of here.  The shuttle’s about half a click away.”

         A voice, male and surly, said, “Hold it right there, you two. Drop your weapons.”  A bright red dot illuminated Manda Sue’s forehead.

         Jase froze and held his weapon high. 

         “Drop it, I said. Now.”

         Jase let his weapon clatter to the floor. 

         The brilliant light of a disruptor beam flashed in the corridor, followed by the sound of a body crumpling to the floor.

         A now-familiar voice said, “Got him.”

         Another chimed in, “Good thing we followed you.”

         “We had our own plan.”

         “Lucky for you.”

         Jase turned to face the twins.  A guard lay prone at their feet, unmoving.  Jase said, “I thought I told you to stay safe on the hill.”

         They looked at each other, grinned, and didn’t speak.

         Arlo spoke instead, via Jase’s implants. “The guards have called ImpSec for reinforcements. I’ve moved the shuttle to just outside the rear entrance to the compound, where you came in. I recommend immediate evacuation before they can reactivate the battlebots.”

         So much for planning.  Jase snatched up his weapon and said, “Arlo’s put the shuttle outside the back entrance.  Let’s get out of here!”

         

***

         Two hours later, Jase sat in the Arlo’s pilot’s chair, safe in orbit on their ship.  His buddy Arlo whispered in his ear, “The twins have installed the new board. Safety checks have satisfactorily completed.  A Navy corvette has hailed us and demanded we halt for boarding.”

         Can you get us out of here?

         “Yes, provided we depart the system in the next 38.462 minutes. After that, and we’ll be in range of their weapons.”

         Will they be able to follow us?

         “At their current closing rate, we have 43.15 minutes, after which they will be able to follow the quantum trace left by our ghost drive.  Do you have a destination?”

         A destination.  That was going to be a problem.  But, first things first.  He turned to Manda Sue, who was chit-chatting with the twins in the command seats behind him.  “I see you’ve all met.”

         Manda Sue beamed at him. “We have.  These fellas are real sweethearts.”

         Well, that meant they were getting along.  He looked at the twins.  “We can’t take  you back to Hopeulikit.  Is there someplace else you’d like to go?”

         “We don’t know anyplace else.”

         “We want to stay here.”

         “With you.”

         “With you, and Arlo, and Manda Sue.”

         “Arlo says you’re traders to the stars.”

         “That sounds like our dream come true.”

         Jase held up a hand. “Okay, you can stop.” He raised an inquiring eyebrow at Manda Sue.

         She said, “If ya’ll want my opinion, we oughta need ta ‘dopt ‘em.  The poor things.  They say their momma and poppas sold them to that awful Jur-gan person. Like they was property or somethin’.”

         Adoption wasn’t quite what he had in mind, but it was clear she was on board with them joining the team.  Arlo, what do you think?

         His answer came privately, via implants. “I already gave you my assessment.  But it’s up to you, boss.  It’s always up to you.”

         Jase nodded his head. “We’re all agreed, then. You’re part of our team.”

         Manda Sue beamed at him. “That makes us all Arlo-nauts now.”

         Jase rolled his eyes and didn’t answer.

         “Arlo whispered, “Less than thirty minutes to contact with the Navy corvette.  I still need a destination.”

         With the Imperial Navy after them, they couldn’t return to the Empire.  Is there someplace in the Beyond where we might hide out for a while?

         “Ancient records show several possibilities. They indicate multiple habitable worlds in this quadrant that were settled before the Great Disruption and that have not yet been assimilated into the Empire of Humanity.”

         Pick one of those, then.  Make it far enough away that we’re not going to meet up with ImpSec or Black Hand.

         “Done.”

         Jase gazed out the forward port.  The star field blurred, then swirled into quantum streaks as Arlo engaged the ghost drive. 

         Manda Sue squeezed his hand while the twins crowded in front of them to peer out the forward port. 

         Arlo-nauts.  It sounded kind of goofy, but Jase liked it anyway.  Jase and the Arlo-nauts.  He was sure they could handle whatever lay ahead.