Total Betrayal (Deep Space Endeavor) (18 page)

             
"This can go no further than this office. The only people who know this are my wife, my doctor and myself." He took a deep breath as he prepared to continue. "I'm sick, Tarrick. It's probably not fatal, but it is serious. The doctor told me the only treatment was plenty of rest and light duties. I'm not exactly a young man, Tarrick, and if I am to have any chance of seeing my son's eighteenth birthday, I need to slow down. Maybe adopting a child at my age wasn't my best idea, but I knew it would help you change our culture. I loved how bravely you stared hundreds of years of social taboos in the face and took that little girl in. You had the strength to do the right thing, even though it was not popular at the time, and the charisma, to begin to make the right thing popular. That's a rare leader indeed. I will be announcing my retirement within the next two weeks and then there will be about a six-week period where I will transition out of office. Technically, it will be two months because that is the shortest amount of time the Chairman is allowed to give to resign. Two weeks after I hand in my resignation there will be an emergency election and with my endorsement, it should be a pretty easy victory for you."

             
Tarrick was stunned. Only a little over a year ago he was just a well-liked Mayor, there were at least four or five people the planet would have voted for before he went to Outpost Twenty-Three. Now, he was a governor and he was being told he would be leading the planet in about a month's time. He was overwhelmed. "I... I don't know what to say, Sir."

             
"Say you'll do it, so I don't have to have this conversation again with someone else."

             
"Yes, yes, of course I'll do it. If you believe me to be qualified, I will accept the position and do my best to serve our people."

             
"There is no one I would rather see lead this planet, Tarrick. You are the best choice." He stood and began walking to the door. "Remember, no one can know; and Tarrick, have fun with your daughter tonight." He opened the door to his office as Tarrick Valinor prepared to leave.

             
"One more thing, very quickly, Sir. I received a rather cryptic note from Topanar warning me about some big problem coming to the sector, should I go see him about it?"

             
"I would only go if you find evidence something big is about to happen that would affect Kaldor or her allies."

             
"Thank you, Sir; that is good advice." He turned to leave and he could barely contain his excitement at the thought of being his planet's next leader.
It looks like Kiah won't be the only one bouncing off the walls tonight
, he thought as he began to make his way home.

______

              ...On Polisia, Suzy looked over Jesse's sleeping body. There were still a good amount of burns, bruises and lacerations. She looked at the doctor that had been aboard
Endeavor
and asked, "And he was in the recovery pod for eighty-three minutes?"

             
"Yes, Doctor Baker, it would appear as though your theories on diminishing returns are proving to be accurate."

             
"Diminishing returns with high usage, Doctor Stevens; Jesse has been in the pod for serious injuries seven or eight times in the last eighteen months. We've never had another case of such frequent usage for so many injuries. Still, it bears further study." Suzy was stalling, because she was afraid to examine Jesse's leg. She already knew from the punishment she had seen him take that he would lose his leg, she just wasn't ready to confirm it yet.

             
"There may be a chance we can save the leg, Doctor Baker," Stevens began as if reading her mind. "It would take at least half dozen surgeries and up to a year and a half recovery time, but with the nano-technology we possess there is a strong chance..."

             
"If by strong chance you mean forty to forty-three percent, then I'd agree. I just don't think we can keep Colonel Marcos in bed for a year on a forty percent possibility he would be able to walk, but not much more under his own power someday. Unfortunately, amputation allows for us to fit him with a prosthetic that will allow him to walk, run, jump and fight like he's used to, far more quickly than a year from now."

             
"Do you have any idea what losing a limb would do to a man like him, mentally?"

             
"I'm aware, Doctor Stevens, Colonel Marcos is the closest thing I have to family. I know him quite well, not to mention that the knee isn't the only thing destroyed. Three quarters of his leg below the knee is basically crushed, and the deep cuts above the knee have severed and destroyed ligaments, tendons and muscles key to the overall function of the leg. He can't come back from this injury if we keep the leg. Not to mention the risk of infection."

             
"You may be right, but it's not your call to make, or mine for that matter. Missus Romanov will have to make the call." Stevens replied.

             
Suzy knew he was right, but she didn't have to like it. Nina was already on her way to med-bay to check on her brother's condition. She would have to make the final decision. Suzy just wanted to run out of the room and cry, and she was lost in thought when she realized that Stevens was still talking.

             
"We need to just lay out both options to her, completely unbiased and let her decide."

             
"I agree," she quietly replied.

             
When Nina arrived, Stevens laid out both options very fairly and completely unbiased; Suzy was actually impressed with the man. He didn't need to be right or vindicated, he only wanted what would be best for Jesse, which is what they all wanted. After a fifteen-minute conversation, Nina looked at Suzy and said, "Take it off. He's gonna need to get past this quickly and move on, and forty percent chances dragged out over years will not accomplish that. I'm assuming that there are prosthetics that will allow him to train and fight as hard as he used to.

             
"Yes, there are, Nina." Suzy quietly replied.

             
"Then we have to amputate." She began to tear up and walked out of the room and straight into her husband's arms.

             
"I am sorry, Nina, this is all my fault. If I hadn't taken the ships..."

             
"Then that monster would have our tech, Serge, and I know Jesse told you to do it if the Enclave tried to take any of our ships to their home system. You can't blame yourself." She put her head on his shoulder and called up to Ariel to let her know. She could see the tears in her cousin's eyes even on the small monitor and the hard set of her jaw said revenge. She would need some time to cool down before they spoke about it, they all would, Suzy especially. She heard Doctor Stevens offer to help Suzy, knowing how difficult this was likely to be on her and was surprised when Suzy allowed it. Suzy was to make the cut about two inches above the knee and then Stevens was to sterilize and bandage the wound. A few minutes later, Suzy rushed out of med-bay not looking at anyone and went straight to her quarters to let it all out. Her best friend had just lost his leg; the most active and athletically gifted person she had ever seen had lost his leg to a friend, and he now had a long recovery ahead of him, not even counting the mental scarring. She just couldn't keep it in, and so she let it all out. After a little while, Reece was at the door.

             
"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Suzy, I'm here if you need to talk." He stood there, awkwardly staring at the floor and waiting for a reply. When none came, he turned to leave and added, "Sorry I bothered you, Suzy, you know where I'll be if you need anything.” Before he could leave, Suzy embraced him and began to cry on his shoulder. He just stood there and held her in his arms.

Chapter five

______

              Lana and Kimi dropped out of light space just beyond the sensor range of Telos. Kimi immediately commed Ariel and stiffened ever so slightly when she saw the dried tears on her face. Lana didn't notice either as she said, "Okay, Aunt Ariel, we're here, now what?" The only thing holding Lana together right now was the desire to save the man that had saved her.

             
"Before you go in, Lana, I just want to let you know, Josiah's team recovered your dad. He was badly injured and his recovery will be a long and slow process, but he will recover. He's safe now." Lana smiled for the first time all day and hugged Kimi as Ariel continued. "It's gonna be pretty rough for him and he's gonna need both of you to help him get through this."

             
"I understand, Aunt Ariel," Lana smiled and turned to pet Commando and Ariel looked at Kimi and made a cut motion right above her knee. She then mouthed the words
don't tell Lana yet
. Kimi nodded her understanding as Lana returned her attention to the screen. She didn't notice how upset Kimi was because Kimi was trained to hide her emotions. "Okay, now what?" Lana asked in a relieved voice.

             
"There's a hole in the satellite coverage just above the equator on the far side of the planet. Once you're in, your gonna have to fly fast and low to avoid detection. Carmine's beacon puts him near the South Pole in New Juno. I'm sending you a route; don't deviate unless you are spotted. Keep your eyes open, get Carmine and get out. Don't dawdle; we've had enough of a scare for one day."

             
"We will, Aunt Ariel. We'll see you in a few hours."

             
"Kimi, you take care of my niece and I'll take care of your sister."

             
"Of course I will, and Ariel, thank you." Kimi sadly replied as the transmission ended; she just couldn't think of Jesse with only one leg, and she couldn't stand not being with him. This just might be his breaking point, and whichever way he broke, she would be with him. Lana made it to the beacon with no issues, but when they arrived at the location, they didn't see anyone. She put the shuttle down in a dead-end ally and she and Kimi opened the hatch with Commando by their side. Kimi carried two blasters and her sword, while Lana carried only the blaster her father had given her in the mountains. Kimi looked at her blaster and adjusted the settings.

             
"I don't know if I can kill someone, Kimi."

             
"It is my greatest hope that you will not need to, but if we encounter trouble, I am going to need to know that if someone goes down, they will stay down. It may very well be the difference between life and death for us, do you understand?"

             
"Yeah, but I don't like it."

             
"And I am glad you do not. You are too young to be exposed to this kind of danger, but desperate times do not always allow us the luxury of growing up as innocently as we would like. Just stay behind me and shoot at whatever I miss if it comes to it." Lana nodded and they continued slowly down the street. Suddenly, Commando began to growl. Kimi was instantly on alert, blaster in hand. Around the next corner, she saw almost a dozen Coalition men running towards them.

             
"Look, it's Marcos' daughter and Tamanorra. Shoot to kill." Kimi didn't like the sound of that as the men came at them fast. Lana took cover behind a speeder with Commando standing dutifully by her side. "So you think you and your friends can kill our president and we won't retaliate?"

             
"He tortured a man under the Banner of Peace, and my friends didn't target him, but he got what he deserved, as will you if you do not leave now." Her comment only enflamed them more as they continued to charge her position. In a blur of motion, Kimi had both guns in her hands and had taken out the first four soldiers. She back flipped over a speeder and landed in a crouch as she took out two more. She rose and charged the remaining six, knowing her battle suit could take the small arms they were throwing at her. She dropped another as she charged and leapt in the air at the last instant, holstering one of her blasters and drawing her sword. As she came out of her flying somersault, she shot another guard and slashed through the abdomen of the next. She spun through their swings, slashing and stabbing as she went and a few second later, the last three were down. She looked over at a frightened Lana and smiled, "Come Lana, we need to find Carmine before more show up."

             
"Kimi, behind you," Lana cried out as another four soldiers took up position. She dove for cover as the first soldier had fired a much heavier blaster at her. She hit one of the soldiers with her next shot, but it didn't even slow him. These men wore much better armor and they were in trouble. Two of them began to target Lana and she fired back, hitting one and knocking him down, but he got right back up and kept moving towards her. The other three were closing in on Kimi and she quickly set her second blaster to side cannon mode. Her first shot easily made it through the soldier's armor, taking him down and her second shot dropped the next enemy. She missed her next two shots as the third soldier crept ever closer and the last one was practically on top of Lana. Kimi could see the fear in the young girl's eyes as her assailant raised his weapon, only to be taken down by Commando. Commando's claws weren't strong enough to go through the soldier's armor, but he was strong enough to keep the man on the ground. Eventually, he found a weakness in the armor near the neck and Kimi could hear the screams as Jesse's faithful companion killed the man in defense of his master's daughter.