As Jax and his escort entered the hangar bay, he saw his friends boarding the same transport they’d arrived on. “Hey, guys!” he shouted. He turned to the ensign escorting him, who had steadfastly resisted his flirtations during their walk from interrogation to the flight deck. “I think I got it from here.” She stopped walking and nodded. The look on her face revealed how relieved she was to be free of his attentions.
Jax stepped aboard the shuttle a second before the ramp raised. Everyone was accounted for, plus four shock troopers. “Hi, guys.” He waved as he dropped into the jump seat next to Naomi. He leaned over, whispering, “You have something to do with this?” He wiggled his fingers to make sure she knew what he meant.
She looked around, paying particular attention to the shock troops watching over them. After running her hands through her jet-black hair, she whispered, “Yeah. They put us in a conference room with a terminal they thought was locked down.”
Jax made a face. “What? I was in a shitty interrogation room.”
“There were wraps: veggie and shawarma,” she added.
“The fuck?” Jax turned to look at Kori and Steve. “You had wraps?” Both of them nodded. “I had to beg for a hamburger.” He smiled wistfully, remembering the juicy patty. “It was good, though.” He closed his eyes.
Kori sighed. “So, what’s going on? No one told us anything.”
Jax related his discussions with the Captain and what their release likely meant. The entire time the shock troop escorts never said a word, their armored boots holding them to the deck as the shuttle bounced and rocked.
“Hey, look.” Steve pointed out one of the windows. Three shuttles similar to the one they were in were rocketing away from the planet toward the Imperial vessel.
The moment Jax stepped off the troop transport’s ramp, it rose, nearly knocking him over. The powerful lift engines cycled up, blasting all four of them with dirt. As the transport rose, Jax raised both hands, middle fingers extended. He turned and looked at the others. “Assholes.” He pointed to the Osprey, still sitting where Skip had landed her a few hours ago.
As they approached the Valerian Coop Infiltrator, its exterior lights flicked on, bathing the surrounding area in light. From the external speakers, Skip said, “Welcome home.”
Jax smiled and shouted, “Good to be home.” They walked up the boarding ramp to find Rudy and Baxter in the small embarkation room, which made the space incredibly crowded.
The combat droid nodded his head. “Glad you all made it back. Those Imperial goons were annoying.”
The group made their way up the stairs, through the cargo hold, and into the common area. Rudy shot up the center of the staircase all the way to the bridge. Jax followed. “I’ll get us underway.”
Kori said, “We’re behind schedule. Think you can swing by Jericho?”
Jax leaned down to peek below the threshold of the ceiling. “Yeah, I’ve nothing booked.” He looked at Steve. “You cool with that?” The other man nodded. He stood up.
“Hey, you didn’t ask me?” Naomi protested.
From the flight deck, Jax shouted, “You’re technically still a stowaway.”
Naomi looked at Steve, then Kori. “Rude,” she muttered.