Total Betrayal (Deep Space Endeavor) (38 page)

             
Jesse was thankful the festivities had begun winding down; he could hardly wait to spend the rest of the night with his wife. He smiled as he admitted that wife had a nicer ring to it than fiancé. The DJ had just called for the last dance, and only the teens and a few other energetic souls of the group were still on their feet. Raina was dancing with Dmitri, Lana was dancing with Sun and Vinnie was dancing nervously with General Kelly's daughter, Savannah. The general was doing his best to look intimidating, and it looked like Vinnie was buying it. Paulie and Carmine were laughing at him off to the side and gave the general an approving nod. The only other people still on the makeshift dance floor were Collin and Bessa, Josiah and Tanna and Ariel and Reece. Everyone else was saying their goodbyes, packing up children or picking at the last of the cake.

             
Kimi and Jesse were thanking guests for coming as they made their way to their speeders when Jason and General Kelly approached with a serious look in their eye. "Can we talk?" the general asked as he and Jason approached.

             
"Sure, let's sit. Kimi, can you give our best to the guests who have to leave, I need to talk to the General and Jason for a moment." He kissed his wife and smiled at her as she held his hand.

             
"Of course, just don't leave me alone too long." She winked and smiled and back, at her husband knowing she truly was the luckiest woman alive.

             
"What's up, guys." Jesse asked all business.

             
"Serge and I decided to have alerts sent to us if any SSE ships were still out there, and we just got the alert." Jason excitedly began. "Serge has already returned to the console that would let us get them, but we don't have much time."

             
"What? How would the signal have been hidden from us all this time?"

             
"Apparently, the ships were undergoing standard repairs and the manager of the facility was no fan of Lucien and Bliney." General Kelly reported. “There are three
Leviathans
and eight
War Hawks
along with six more Special Forces cruisers. We could use all of those ships for the protection of our new home on Donara."

             
"Yes, we can," Jesse excitedly agreed.  "Why do we not have much time, Jason?"

             
"Because we believe it is Enclave forces that have the ships, and they no doubt heard communications from the battle that chronicled our ability to take control of the ships. Assuming they don't have any Coalition techs working with them, we might have a window to get the ships back before they get them into Enclave space."

             
"We can't let them get our ships, Jason; even with Lucien gone, the Enclave is evil. We need to send
Endeavor
and our three cloaked shuttles filled with Special Forces and warriorbots to board those vessels and bring them back here. General Kelly is right; we need every one of those ships. Josiah, Maria, can you guys come here for a moment?” Jesse called. He hated to have to plan a mission on his wedding night, but apparently, such was his lot in life.

             
"What's up, Jess?" Josiah asked as he and Maria arrived at the table.

             
"We have just found out there are eleven SSE ships and six Special Forces cruisers that the Enclave are trying to take off Earth. We need to get those ships. Can you get
Endeavor's
crew together along with a sizable Special Forces contingent and a dozen warriorbots per ship we need to take? General Kelly already has men prepared to meet you at the command center. We should probably send five battle groups with you in case we need to fight our way out, we still don't really know how the Coalition feels about us."

             
"I'll take the Olympians and four others in support of
Endeavor
," Manny offered. Jesse hadn't even seen him approach.

             
"And I'll coordinate the strike team with Maria," General Kelly added.

             
"Great, Josiah, you'll coordinate with Manny and Serge for the time and place to strike. These ships could be a huge help to us in the Kalephi Galaxy. I had hoped to bring close to a hundred, and we have less than a third of that. These ships would give us thirty-four and twelve Special Forces cruisers. That would make me feel a lot better. So, let's go get em. Good luck."

             
"Let's do this, guys," Josiah added with determination. "Jason, can you come with me on
Endeavor
?"

             
"No place I'd rather be, Captain."

             
"We'll let you know as soon as we have something, Admiral Marcos." General Kelly said as he saluted and turned to leave. "And congratulations, sorry your wedding night has to end this way." Everyone else saluted and turned to leave while Jesse began getting ready to accompany Serge.

             
"So, are we off to war, then?" Kimi asked with a concerned look in her eye.

             
"Not exactly," Jesse replied, hoping this wouldn't ruin her night. "We've been alerted to eleven SSE ships and six Special Forces cruisers that are still out there, likely in Enclave possession, and we're going to get them back."

             
"You are leading the mission?" She tried to keep the concern out of her voice and eyes, but Jesse knew it was there. It was a constant reminder that he was no longer the soldier he was just a few months ago. She caught the flash of self-doubt in his eyes and immediately regretted the question.

             
"I'm coordinating the mission with Serge and General Kelly from Serge's basement. Josiah and Manny will be leading the hands on part of the mission." He could see the relief briefly flicker in her eyes.

             
She could tell he saw it and added, "Jess, it's not that I think you are no longer a great warrior..."

             
"I'm not field-ready yet, Kimi," he interrupted. "Plus, I have a lot more to consider before throwing myself into these missions now. Even when we get to Donara, I will still be looked at as the military leader of the fleet, so it will be unlikely I ever get back in the field very much. We can't have the Fleet Admiral fighting death matches or leading military raids."

             
"I didn't mean to imply that you would be unable to, Jesse." She took his hand and looked deep into his eyes.

             
"I know, Kimi." He kissed her and added. "I'm not gonna stop training, either. I know I'm likely to always be a target, but I certainly won't be an easy one." He kissed her again, this time a little longer and turned to leave as he noticed all of the military personnel at the party were now gone.

             
"Are you okay, Kimi?" Suzy asked as she stood next to her.

             
"Yes, it's just that I see the hurt in his eyes that he cannot currently do these missions, and even though he is aware that his role has evolved into that of a leader, he still longs to be able to do the things he used to be able to do."

             
"He will; in a few more months, he'll be able to do everything he used to do. Maybe even more if he designs the type of leg I think he's planning." Suzy encouraged.

             
"I know, but he seems unsure. Ultimately, it is irrelevant because he is right, the Fleet Admiral cannot take those kinds of missions anymore."

             
"He said that?" Suzy asked, hope building inside of her.

             
"Yes, Suzy, you will have your wish and he will be removed from field work." Kimi replied, happy that he would be safer, but not as happy that he would no longer be doing what he so obviously loved. She thought back to the jungle of Tuleah and how happy he was running towards battle to save his friends, swinging out of the tree on Helga's grappling hook and throwing himself in harm's way to protect the people he loved. That person would now be locked away inside a military leader while the wounded warrior moved on. Instead of leading those missions, he would be sending others on those missions, and while she was happy he would be with her more, her heart broke for what he had lost.

             
"That's great, Kimi. He'll have more time for you and the girls and he won't be in harm's way nearly as much." She gave Kimi a hug and began to help Nina and Lana clean up.

             
"I just hope he's as happy about it as you are, Suzy." She replied as Josiah commed her and asked if she could join
Endeavor's
crew for the mission. She checked with Jesse and he enthusiastically agreed she should go if she wanted, then she, too, was out the door promising him a proper wedding night as soon as she returned.

             
Raina approached Suzy while she was cleaning up. Lana was locked in conversation with Nina, Sun was sleeping, Dmitri was carrying a bag of trash to the proper container and everyone else had gone. "Doctor Baker, do you have a minute?" She shyly asked.

             
Suzy stopped what she was doing and looked at Raina. She had a look of apprehension in her eyes and Suzy could tell it was important to her. "Of course, dear," She answered. "Come, sit, what is it?"

             
"Lana is a really good pilot, and Dmitri is a really good scientist-engineer guy. They are both also really good fighters. Even Vinnie is already a really good cook, but I'm not good at anything, and I'm not brave like Lana and Dmitri. Dmitri beat up one of the assassins, while I just screamed and ran away."

             
Suzy didn't know what she was getting at, but felt like Raina really needed some encouragement. "That's not true, Raina, you're a good fighter, too," she began. "And you are very brave. Even while you were scared, you protected Sun. You got hurt shielding her from the grenade, which was very brave. I'm sure you will find something you are good at because you are a very talented young lady."

             
"Thank you, Doctor Baker, I know that I can fight if I have to, but I don't like to. I want to help people, not hurt them. I was wondering if you could take me on as an intern while I learn how to become a doctor or a nurse. I think I can really help a lot of people that way, just like you do."

             
Suzy was taken aback by Raina's request. It was not the typical request of a seventeen-year-old girl. She, Lana and Dmitri would never be able to graduate now; they had been out of the classroom too long during their time on Polisia, but Raina wanted to keep learning, she wanted to learn to be a doctor or nurse. Suzy smiled at her as she said, "Of course I'll take you on as an intern. I'll even take charge of your training until we can get a good medical academy set up on Donara. I'm not going to be
Endeavor's
ship doctor anymore, but there is still plenty to do planet-side. When would you like to begin?"

             
“How about tomorrow?" She excitedly replied. "My parents are going to be so happy."

             
"Tomorrow it is, then, but I must warn you, it will not be easy. It's a lot of work and I will be hard on you because I want to see you become the best doctor you can be. Are you alright with that?"

             
Raina smiled and hugged her. "Absolutely, and thanks, Doctor Baker."

             
"You are most welcome, Intern Cheng." Raina's smile grew even bigger when Suzy said that last line and then she was off to tell Lana and Dmitri the good news. Suzy, meanwhile still had her mind on her friends taking on one last mission before leaving for the Kalephi Galaxy.

______

              Chief of State Enosal was getting really tired of Zinnebailans. It seemed as if all they were good for was destabilizing the sector. He had just spoken to the government of Zinnebulous and was met with great hostility.
I should have razed that planet when I had the chance
, he thought. It turned out that Chairman Valinor was right about Tovanoras’ strength, and it seemed he had also correctly guessed his intent. If he could remove Ginderbar and Kaldor from the equation, the rest of the Lawless Sector would be his. He would surely destroy Sollonia, Qualoosh and Julan in his second wave of attacks, and by the time the rest of the sector wised up and put their fleets together, it would already be too late. They had to get their allies together before Tovanoras attacked. Enosal sent a transmission to Chairman Valinor on Kaldor.

             
"Hello, Tarrick," he called wearily. "It is unfortunate that this Tovanoras business is not allowing you to enjoy your new role as the leader of your people."

             
"Yes, my friend, I would have liked a little time to get a feel for things, yet here we are. I can't help but hope Jesse Marcos will show up at some point in the next couple days. He has a sizeable contingent of Hyperians with him as well as his own ships. He could easily turn the tide back in our favor."