Total Betrayal (Deep Space Endeavor) (22 page)

             
Several hours later, Josiah had cleared all of the ships. The military vessels all agreed to fall under the military council's command while, as Nina predicted, thousands of the newcomers immediately began the process of purchasing Polisian homes. The council had been adamant about not wanting to use planetary funds to purchase homes for the refugees, or just give them away. They believed the homes Jesse and Nina's machines were building would be more than adequate. This allowed the rest of the economy to function normally. Now, most of the homes on Polisia were off the market and Polisia's contractors were about to get busy building new homes. For better or worse, several of Polisia's smaller cities were turning into boom towns.

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              "Thirty-one more ships have defected over to Marcos; we need to put an end to this," Admiral Bliney reported with a good deal of frustration. "Many of the soldiers see our treatment of Marcos as dishonorable and have abandoned their duties. This puts Polisia's total at two hundred fifteen, plus their impressive planetary defenses. Not to mention whatever tricks Marcos may have up his sleeve, and believe me, he'll have them."

             
"Yes, this is most troubling, Admiral. We need to begin replacing any ship captain that you are not one hundred percent certain of with Enclave personnel. Every ship we lose is an extra ship we have to fight. We have already lost over sixty ships to him. We cannot lose many more if we still hope to defeat the aliens."

             
"I agree. I will begin the replacement process immediately." Bliney replied. "Have you come up with any plans concerning Marcos or the aliens yet, Lucien?"

              “Marcos no longer concerns me, he cannot even walk. We will publicly execute him when we land on Polisia." He paused and smiled as he was about to reveal his other idea to Bliney. "I think we should contact these aliens and call a temporary truce. They want Marcos gone as much as we do, so I will suggest to them that we all band together to take out Marcos and then peacefully go our separate ways. If they wish to continue the war after that, fine. If not, even better. It will only be a matter of time before we unlock the secrets of Marcos’ tech, and when we do, we will quickly dominate the galaxy."

             
“These aliens hate us; do you think they will go for it?" Bliney looked unconvinced.

             
"I really don't see why not, Marcos has humiliated them twice now. He completely stopped their advance. I'm sure they wish to see him dead as much as we do, maybe even more."

             
"And he will pay for breaking my nose and having my home destroyed." Bliney added bitterly.

             
Ten minutes later, Lucien and Bliney were on a transmission with Dobar and Thansar. "So, the mighty humans have contacted us to beg for their lives," Dobar laughed as he spoke and Bliney thought with a smile that it sounded a little like a bark.

             
"No, Dobar, we have come to offer a temporary truce so that we may accomplish a mutually beneficial goal."

             
"I do not see how we would have any of the same goals as a cowardly human murderer." Thansar sneered in contempt.

             
"Normally, I would agree with you, Thansar, but in just this one instance, you are mistaken. We would like to offer up a temporary truce with you to destroy Polisia and kill Jesse Marcos."

             
"Humans killing humans, I like the sound of that, but why should we care?" Dobar asked. He feigned boredom, but his interest was piqued.

             
"You should care because he recently humiliated your fleet and he has since acquired over eighty ships. We all know that in Marcos’ hands, eighty ships is a much greater number." Lucien replied.

             
"Fine, we will withdraw our forces until you have annihilated your foe." Thansar smiled.

             
"That's where it gets a little complicated, Thansar," Lucien continued. "We know that taking Polisia will be costly, so we are not inclined to do it on our own. Now, if you were to send a fleet there with us, we could destroy him with far less loss and we wouldn't be giving you a decided advantage over us. The loss to each of us would be minimal and we could go back to being hated enemies as soon as both fleets have departed."

             
"It sounds to me like you wish our help in dealing with your problem. I see no benefit to us," Thansar surmised. "As you might be aware, we are not in the habit of helping humans."

             
"That is a very astute summation, Thansar, and we are aware of your track record with humanity." Bliney replied. "What makes it worth your effort is that while you would be helping us remove a big obstacle, we would also be helping you remove a big obstacle. If you wish to make a successful run at Earth, it becomes much easier strategically if you take Polisia, as Polisia is the gateway to the core. Right now, your entire advance has been stalled by Marcos, and he is only getting more powerful. You can't come any further without going through Enclave space and paying a heavy price. If Polisia were no longer manned by our mutual enemy, it would be much easier for you to continue your advance."

             
"You make an interesting offer, Lucien. Thansar and I will meet with the rest of the council to discuss it. We will give you our reply in a couple days."

             
"We look forward to it." Lucien replied as the transmission was cut. "So, Bliney, what did you think?"

             
"Thansar seemed a lot more wary of our intentions than Dobar, but they may go for it."

             
"If they do, I would like no less than two thousand ships arrayed against Polisia. Let's see the legendary Colonel Jesse Marcos fight his way past that."

             
"There would be no way for him to do so. Polisia will be utterly destroyed and every other planet in the Coalition will understand what will happen if they defy the will of the Enclave." They both laughed as across the galaxy, two leaders were having a similar conversation.

             
"What do you think Dobar?"

             
"I think this might be just what we need to get us back on track. Can you imagine those fools wishing to kill their most valuable asset? How do you feel about it?"

             
"It sounds good, but we must remember, they are human and not to be trusted. I am not so sure we should do this."

             
"You may be right, but I believe it to be worth the risk; we will let the entire council decide."

Chapter six

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              It had been ten days since Jesse was hospitalized, and the only time he resembled his old self was when Lana and the pups were around. The rest of the time, he was withdrawn and disinterested. He said all the right things when other people were around, but he offered nothing and did not seem motivated to go any further than the chair a few feet from the bed. Those closest to him were beginning to worry, and Suzy was unsure of what she should do. Josiah had been back in, this time with General Kelly to try and motivate him back into shape, but even that was met with polite resistance. He barely spoke to Nina, Serge and Ariel except to answer their questions. Even the prospect of the galaxy drive could no longer get him excited. The longer he stayed in this state, the more likely it seemed that he may never come out of it. Suzy knew it was more than the leg, it was the fact that it was someone he had looked up to for so long, and it was finding out about Rebecca. All of it had him in a funk the likes of which she had never seen. He still politely met with all of his friends, including his Kalephi friends, but even that worried her. Admiral Sonnadall remarked that it seemed as though the fire was gone from his eyes, and Bessa cried, saying he was no longer the same man that rescued her.

             
Suzy put on her best reassuring smile as she entered his room with a tray of food. "Eat up, Jess, there won't be any dinner tonight. We are going to be inserting the pins and screws that will hold your new prosthetic in place tomorrow morning."

             
"Thanks, Suzy," he replied. "Just leave it there for now, I'll eat it later. I'm not really hungry."

             
"Jess, you need to eat. You have to keep your strength up."

             
"Why? For what, Suzy? What could I possibly need strength for?"

             
"How about for Lana? How about for Nina and Ariel and me? How about for the millions of people on Polisia praying that you still have a miracle left for them?" How about for Kimi?"

             
"Kimi?"

             
"Yeah, Kimi, you don't think I've noticed how you won't even make eye contact with her? You didn't think she'd notice? Everyone has noticed, Jesse. You're about to ruin the best thing in your life next to Lana because you're feeling sorry for yourself."

             
"That's just it, I can't be with Kimi. She needs someone who she can spar with, someone to watch her back, someone worthy of how perfect she is, not someone who is stuck in bed, someone who is gonna have to learn how to walk all over again. She needs someone else, not to mention that I can't get Rebecca out of my mind, and that's not fair to her, either."

             
"Don't be an idiot, Jesse. It's natural for you to feel that way; you just found out something terrible, but don't shut her out. I promise you, if you screw this up, you will lose her forever. Now, please eat your food." She put the tray down in front of him, but he was still so angry.

             
"I said I'm not hungry," He yelled. He hit the tray and sent it sailing across the room and to the floor. Only then did he notice that it wasn't med-bay food. It was his favorite meal and it had been homemade, probably by her. Suzy began to tear up and ran out of the room. "Suzy, I'm sorry," he desperately called after her. "I didn't know you made it, Suzy, I'm sorry."

             
"Good one, Dad," Lana quipped as she walked in the room.

             
"Now is not a good time, Lana." He replied without looking at her.

             
"I know," she replied, undeterred. "But I'm staying anyway." She began to clean up the mess he had made.

             
"Lana," he started a little more loudly than he intended, but she was still undeterred.

             
"What?" She yelled back. "Do you need me to find you something to throw? How about a nice home cooked meal from one of your best friends?"

             
"Can I just have some time alone, Lana?"

             
"In a minute, first there are some people I want you to meet."

             
"Now's not a good time for me to meet anyone, Lana," he replied while still avoiding looking at her. His daughter was as persistent as the rest of the Marcos clan and would not be easily dissuaded.

             
"Tough, you need to hear what they have to say, so unless you can outrun them, you're gonna listen." She hated to go there, but her father was being a jerk to everyone except her right now, so she was the only one that could. "This is Sergeant Jones, Private Fielder and Private Dixon, and these are their families."

             
"Nice to meet you," Jesse politely replied without looking up.

             
"You have something in common with these three fine soldiers, Dad, they all lost a leg in battle; Dixon lost both."

             
Now Jesse did look up; they looked normal, they moved normal and they looked happy."What brings you out here?"

             
"Your daughter, she's very persuasive. She told us you were having trouble dealing with your new reality and thought we might be able to help."

             
"Thanks for coming out, but my daughter was mistaken, I'm fine."

             
Jones looked at the tray of food on the floor and raised an eyebrow. "Looks like it, but hear me out anyway, I did come all this way." He paused before looking Jesse right in the eye. "I was a Special Forces Space Marine, just like you used to be. I lost my leg to enemy heavy blaster fire and I thought my life was over, but someone had donated an insane amount of money to make sure injured Marines got the best care available, and I was one of the recipients of that care. Not only that, but my wife and son were supported while I recovered. If anyone knows what you're going through, we do, and I have to warn you, I've seen families torn apart and friendships forever ruined because people couldn't deal with their loss. From the look on your friend's face as we were coming in, I'd say you're slowly heading down that path."