Total Betrayal (Deep Space Endeavor) (27 page)

             
"Not exactly, Councilor, we aren't going anywhere while Polisia is still in the crosshairs. Once this whole Syndicate / Enclave business is settled and Polisia is safe, I will be taking my SSE ships, the Kalephi ships and anyone that wishes to come with us back to the Kalephi Galaxy. If all has gone well, Polisia will not only be back in the Coalition, free from Enclave influence, but also be one of the Coalition's leading planets. We would never leave you during a crisis, but I can no longer be part of the Coalition." Everyone around the conference table could see the pain in his eyes as he said that last line.

             
"No one would blame you if you left now, but I am most thankful you are going to stay. Do you have any plans in place for the inevitable battle?" Councilor Jacobs asked.

             
"I have two or three contingencies in place each for all of the most likely scenarios. However, the bottom line is that we won't really have a full plan until we know what we're facing. Is the Coalition going to give all of their ships to the Enclave and come after us in force or are they going to try and wait us out to see if we break? We won't know any of that until the time comes, but we are as ready as we can be."

             
"And," Nina interjected, "we are now finished with Polisia's shipyards, which means this will likely be coming to a head sooner rather than later. We can push through forty ships every three months, and while they're not SSE class, they are still better than any ships the Coalition will be producing. It would seem to me that the longer they wait, the harder it will be to defeat us. Ready or not, this war is going to come back to Polisia."

             
"Let us hope you are ready when it does then, Colonel." Councilor Dana solemnly replied.

Chapter seven

______

              The Syndicate was in agreement; they were going to take Lucien up on his offer. Priority one was to rid the galaxy of Jesse Marcos and his associates. Only then would they be confident moving forward. Thansar had his reservations, but he was swayed when priority two was revealed.

             
"We will send nine hundred ships to Polisia, with another six hundred waiting in reserve." Dobar began with a smile. As soon as it looks as though Polisia is finished, our remaining six hundred ships will jump into the system and eliminate the remainder of the Coalition and Enclave forces."

             
"Won't bringing that many ships in greatly deplete our ability to police our own sectors?" Thansar inquired, worried that they may be spreading their forces too thin.

             
"Possibly, but being able to break the Coalition and send the Enclave back to their sector without their prize will be well worth it. After that, we will forever have the advantage in ship numbers and resources and it will only be a matter of time before they are defeated."

             
"Let us send our response then, Dobar." Thansar replied as he initiated the transmission. Supreme Commander Lucien's face appeared in a sneer over Dobar's vid screen.

             
"Dobar, Thansar, have we come to a decision?" Lucien asked, skipping all preamble. He hated these aliens and would not even waste pleasantries with them. He did, however, need them if they were going to take down Marcos.

             
"Yes, we have, Lucien," Dobar replied, purposely not using Lucien's title. “We agree to join our forces for the express purpose of ridding the galaxy of Colonel Jesse Marcos. We will be sending nine hundred ships to Polisia."

             
"The Enclave and the Coalition will be sending eleven hundred ships between us," Bliney interjected. "With two thousand ships at his doorstep, even Jesse Marcos will have nowhere to run and no miracle to pull off."

             
"I agree," Thansar added, relishing the death of the man that had cost his people so much. "Of course, the ceasefire will end as soon as both fleets completely vacate the Polisian system after the battle."

             
"Of course," Lucien replied. His plan was to get the aliens into position to do the bulk of the dying at the hands of Polisia's defenses, and he smiled, relishing the thought of a weakened Human Suppression Syndicate as well as the end of Jesse Marcos. "Both fleets will vacate the system as soon as Polisia has been bombed from orbit. There are approximately fifty-three million people on Polisia supporting Marcos; let's see if we can't destroy them all." His laughter was quickly joined by the aliens who relished the thought of fifty-three million dead humans.

             
"We shall be ready to accompany you in thirteen of your Earth days," Dobar added. "We will all meet at Polisia then and say goodbye to Colonel Jesse Marcos."

             
"Thirteen days, then," Lucien agreed as the transmission ended. He looked at Bliney and smiled, "In thirteen days, the galaxy will be rid of Jesse Marcos and we will be on our way to the domination and subjugation of our galaxy. After other worlds hear of what happened at Polisia, none will dare to stand before us."

             
"It will be as you say, Supreme Commander," Bliney agreed. "And I have an extra special surprise that will take Marcos off his game even further. We will destroy him, then we shall make the Coalition yield before the Enclave. There will be no more talk of electing a new president because they will now have a Supreme Commander."

             
"We will bring four hundred of our Enclave ships, our remaining two hundred SSE ships and five hundred of the Coalition's ships. I am anxious to see how these
Leviathans
and
War Hawks
cut through Polisia's vaunted defenses. We must make sure they are in a position to do maximum damage to the aliens should they get it in their minds to betray us."

             
"I will begin calling all of our forces together immediately. Thirteen days should give us more than enough time to assemble our fleet." Admiral Bliney replied, a look of evil delight spreading across his features.

             
"Yes, and then Polisia will be destroyed." Lucien added.

____

              Josiah walked out of the new Carmine's Italian Restaurant holding Sergeant Tanna Rivada's hand. They had just shared a meal and it was Tanna's first experience with Italian food.

             
"That was wonderful, Josiah. I shall remember this meal for the rest of my life. That sauce, what was it called?"

             
"Marinara sauce," he supplied with a smile.

             
"Yes, Marinara sauce. It was heavenly. Your friend has a fine place here. Then, of course, there was the chicken cutlet parmesan, the vintage wine, oh and those pastries we had at the end, what were they called?"

             
"Éclairs, chocolate éclairs. I'm glad you enjoyed it all."

             
"I did, but most of all, I enjoyed your company, Josiah. Thank you for showing me this world. I know it's not the one you wished to show me, but it is quite lovely."

             
"I'm glad you like it. I'm just sorry I couldn't show you more of our Coalition. I never could have imagined any of what has happened. I always thought Jesse was being paranoid about Admiral Natora; only now, I see that he wasn't paranoid enough. Seeing him blindsided and lost like this is killing me. Seeing my family suffer assassination attempts and Kimi losing her mother and all of our other friends that have been killed, it's all starting to get to me a little. I'm happy you could help me take my mind off of it for a little while."

             
"Come, Josiah, let us walk along the beach and take your mind off of it for a while longer." She smiled mischievously and took his hand again.

             
Josiah raised his eyebrows as he replied, "You must have read my..." Before he could finish, a blaster bolt flew past his face. Charred ozone filled his nostrils as he yelled, "Tanna, get down." They both dove behind a speeder and came up with weapons drawn. Josiah saw their targets across the street. According to the vid stills he had received from Maria, these were the final two assassins. Josiah was instantly on his comms. "Collin, the last two assassins have Tanna and I pinned down outside Carmine's, could you send some help?"

             
Before Collin could answer, four men in silk button down shirts quietly came up behind the assassins and began to beat them with what looked like bats. One of them waved and yelled out, "You're all clear, Lieutenant Jackson."

             
"Cancel that request Collin; it looks like some of the neighborhood boys helped us out." He and Tanna rose from their cover and began across the street. A middle-aged Italian man with jet-black hair and a bit of a belly was twirling a baseball bat in his hand as they approached. "Thank you, gentlemen, they had us pinned."

             
"No problem, I owed Carmine a favor and he called it in; tell him that we're even now. Johnny Costanzia is paid in full." He turned to his friends who gave a wave and they were gone, just like that.  Carmine came out of the restaurant and looked at Josiah.

             
"I thought you went legit?" Josiah laughed.

             
"Mostly, I said I went mostly legit. A lot of guys still owe me favors, and until we're settled in Jesse's new city, I'm not in a position to turn them down. Do me a favor, though, don't tell your boss." He grinned and shrugged. "Hey, it don't happen overnight, you know."

             
"Fair enough, your secret is safe with us." He winked and then they were on their way. He turned back and said, "By the way, Johnny Costanzia wants you to know he's paid in full now." He smiled at the look on Carmine's face and then took Tanna's hand as they continued.

             
"Jesse's friend Carmine is a little bit scary." Tanna whispered. "He does not seem like the sort of man the Colonel would bring into his confidence."

             
"It's a long story, but Ariel and Lana love the guy, so right there that brings him to the front of the line of people Jesse would call friend."

             
"Still, it seems a little bit off."

             
"Carmine is a bit shady, but deep down, he's a good guy."

             
"How deep?" Her question was in earnest, but Josiah just started laughing.

______

              ....On Kaldor, Governor Valinor was meeting the Chief of State of Ginderbar, his friend Enosal. Kaldor's Special Assignments Task Force was waiting for them in the governor's conference room to discuss the looming threat of the late Garrinoras’ angry brother. As Enosal disembarked with his entourage, he enthusiastically shook his friend's hand in greeting and they began to walk, Valinor's detail out in front and Enosal's detail behind.

             
"Have you been able to dig up anything further on Tovanoras?" Governor Valinor asked as they walked towards their waiting speeders.

             
"Nothing past what you have already told me, but I have been able to confirm most of it. We have a lot to talk about, my friend. There are rumors the Hyperian fleet may not be sticking around to bail us out this time, and I am not entirely sure the Alliance has the resources to deal with a threat of this magnitude." Enosal shook his head sadly, once again wishing his friend Jesse was still in the Kalephi Galaxy. The trip to the governor's office took only a few minutes and they hurried up to the conference room where Captain Reed and her task force were waiting.

             
The conference room was located on the two hundred eighteenth floor and overlooked most of Kaldor City. With floor to ceiling windows on three sides, it offered a spectacular view. The large room was naturally set in two sections by the placement of the furniture. The first section held a large, blackwood conference table with twenty-six black leather seats around it, while the second section held a half dozen forest green couches arranged in the shape of a U with a large, blackwood coffee table in the middle. The carpet was a plush, off white, almost cream color and both sides of the glass double door entrance to the room were dominated by blackwood bookcases. The room was elegant with its soft lighting and was usually the room of choice to meet in when dignitaries came to Kaldor City.

             
Chief of State Enosal had brought four aides to the meeting and Governor Valinor brought two. Captain Reed was there with her team, bringing the total for the meeting to sixteen people.

             
"Let's get right down to business, shall we?" The Governor somberly began. "Current intelligence suggests that Tovanoras has access to close to seven hundred fifty ships and that his initial targets are Kaldor and Ginderbar. We need to confirm this and come up with a plan. We have also learned that Tovanoras may have the ability to hack our planetary banking codes and that his likely plan is to invade Ginderbar with the bulk of his fleet while using a smaller portion of his fleet to keep Kaldor's fleet at bay while he remotely bankrupts our planet. We are in the midst of changing our entire system to protect against this."