Omega Force 7: Redemption by Joshua Dalzelle Page A

systems and lock out the computer," Jason said as he popped off his restraints. "I'll go open the rear hatch." He strode quickly off the flight deck and jogged down the narrow corridor until he was in the cargo bay. Once he unlocked the rear hatch he waited impatiently as it seemed to take even longer than usual to lower to the ground.
    "Can't say I miss this thing," a familiar voice said from the port side of the ship.
    Jason walked out onto the still-lowering ramp and hopped off onto the ground, catching Twingo up in a huge bear hug and lifting him off the ground.
    "How've you been?" Jason asked him once he set his stout, blue-skinned friend back on the ground.
    "Can't complain," Twingo said with a huge smile. "But look at you! You look great, cleaned yourself up and everything. I was a bit worried about you when I left S'tora."
    "Yeah," Jason said, a bit embarrassed. "Dark days, I guess."
    "I have a feeling you showing up here on my homeworld and wearing that uniform isn't a coincidence," Twingo said seriously. "What's going on?"
    "We can go over it in a bit when the others get out here," Jason said.
    "Others?" Twingo asked. "It's not just you and Lucky?"
    "No, he's dragged me along on this as well," Doc said as he walked down the ramp and embraced Twingo.
    "Doc!"
    They all took a few moments to greet each other and introduce Twingo to Kalette before heading to the spaceport's administrative building so they could arrange for transportation enough for the five of them.
    Due to his technical skills Twingo had been able to secure a well-paying job at one of the backshops that serviced the spaceport and let him afford a well-appointed home in a good neighborhood. As on most planets, the home resembled a tall, narrow townhouse from Earth with the front up against the street and a tiny yard out back.
    After they'd gotten him up to speed on the current situation Twingo sat back in his seat, silently digesting all the information. Jason took the opportunity to look around at the home more closely, noticing that it was unmistakably a bachelor's residence. He vaguely remembered that his friend had returned to his home to try and reconnect with his family, but he wasn't sure if that meant a wife and kids or his parents and siblings.
    "You're all sure this is something you want to get caught up in?" Twingo asked, breaking the silence. "This isn't simply returning a stray to her home. No offense, Kalette, that's just an expression."
    "No offense was taken," she said quietly.
    "We understand that as least as well as you do," Doc said. "But good idea or not, we're already involved. By chance Kalette happened to sneak aboard Jason and Lucky's ship and we're not necessarily willing to let her take her chances, all things considered."
    "Fair enough," Twingo shrugged. "What do you want from me?"
    "Our ship isn't going to make an extended trip like that without some work and probably some major components replaced," Jason said.
    "That could have been done on S'tora," Twingo said with a frown. "There are plenty of engineers and techs available."
    "Yes," Jason agreed. "But I thought it would be a good opportunity to come visit and we needed to get out from under the Defiant quickly. If they saw techs crawling around all over the ship it would be a giveaway that we were planning on running."
    "The engineers on S'tora would also require that we pay them, which will be difficult since we have very little money," Lucky said. Jason shot his friend an exasperated glare, but Twingo only chuckled.
    "I had already suspected as much considering the emergency hull patches I put on over a year ago are still there," he said.
    "I have told Jason that he should address that," Lucky confided. "But he said not to worry about it. Since I do not require a breathable atmosphere I have done just that."
    "Anyway," Jason said loudly, "we'd appreciate it if you'd take a look at it."
    "No problem," Twingo said, still laughing. "We can do that in the morning unless this