Total Betrayal (Deep Space Endeavor) (50 page)

             
"She's right, you know." Josiah offered. "We should have been prepared for this, especially after Kaldor. This isn't on you, Jess, it's on us."

             
"Well, I kinda feel like it's on me, they were trying to kill me, not him."

             
"And he died because we hadn't taken the proper precautions to keep you safe. If you had a dozen men protecting you, does Jameson die? I don't think so."

             
There was a look of anguish in Jesse's eye that told them he was taking this very hard as he replied. "I was just hoping to not have to bury anymore of my friends for a while, Jo, you know. Would it be too much to go more than a month without losing people we care about? Jameson brought his ships to Polisia because I asked him to. He came here because I asked him to."

             
"He also would have been dead fifteen years ago if not for you, Jess."

             
When Jesse got home, Kimi and Lana greeted him with worried looks. He assured them he was fine and then spent a little time playing with the pups with Lana and Sun. He was starting to worry that these types of conversations were becoming the norm for his family and he didn't like it one bit. He wanted to do something normal and fun with his girls to take his mind off Jameson, and the pups provided the perfect distraction.

______

              Two days later, there was a citywide memorial service for Admiral Jameson. Jesse, General Kelly and Manny all spoke and the ceremony was moving. Jesse had been given an eighteen man protection detail to surround him whenever he was outside of his home or office. Through the use of the truth chemicals, they had found out that Tovanoras had hired the Dark Brigade, and in an ironic twist that showed Suzy's mean side, she got Tenger to admit that the person he feared most was King Dominus because he had assassinated one of the King's top governors three years earlier. They had already sent him off to Hyperia wishing him a short and unpleasant life. He had left with the usual threats about making them pay, but Jesse did not even attend the sendoff, knowing it would make him even angrier.

             
After the memorial, Admiral Sonnadall asked Jesse if the commander of his second fleet group, Admiral Lena Tollegar could replace Jameson on the military council. Jesse agreed, thinking it would be a good idea to have more Hyperian input and introduced her to the rest of the council. After a brief introduction, Jesse left to have lunch with his family and friends. While they were eating, Nina approached Jesse with a matter of some urgency.

             
"Jess, we have an issue?"

             
"Issue?" he raised his eyebrow.

             
"Yes, it's not a problem, but it needs to be discussed." She continued.

             
"Can it be discussed tomorrow with the cabinet?"

             
"Probably, but we need to talk about it first." She persisted.

             
"Alright, but if this is gonna take more than ten minutes, we're talking about it after everyone leaves." He replied a little impatiently. He didn't want to turn into the guy that couldn't even relax around family.

             
"Fine, I'll be quick. I just want to brief you so you'll have an opinion when we talk about it tomorrow."

             
"Alright, Sis, what's up?"

             
"There is a very large group of people that wish to immigrate here. From all over. The only problem is with the frequency of attempts on you, I'm not sure we should open our borders yet."

             
"How many is a large group?" Jesse asked, suddenly interested.

             
"So far, almost three million."

             
"We can't even fit that many yet, Nina, the answer should be obvious."

             
"Maybe, but if we want to reach viability as a planet, we're gonna need to take a pretty big group, pretty quickly."

             
"Well, how about if we have people who want to be here apply, and as our construction equipment builds the housing, we let them in. First come, first served. In the meantime, you are vetting them. If they have a record they're out, and if they hail from a planet that hates us, they're out."

             
"Just like that?"

             
"Just like that, Nina. We're too small to court those types of problems. I don't want criminals moving here, and I don't want Zinnebailans or any other race that hates us here. Because even if the ones that want to come here are different, and good, we have a population made up mostly of people used to aliens trying to kill them. So maybe we should just let the nice ones in at first so they could get used to the fact that not every species hates us."

             
"Alright."

             
"Alright, as in you agree?"

             
"Alright as in we'll discuss it more tomorrow, briefing's over, Jess. One more thing, I got you an administrative assistant because I knew you would never do it. Her name is Ursula Mendez." She smiled and he kissed her cheek as he grabbed a beer and went over to Jason and Collin. He smiled when he saw Duke sitting at Jason's feet and mused that Princess Rayelle might not have a choice after all.

             
"Looks like Duke has grown quite fond of you, Jason. He may have even bonded with you."

             
"What does that mean?" He asked as he looked at his furry friend.

             
"It means we're probably going to have to give Lady to Princess Rayelle because we wouldn't want to break Duke's heart." Jesse replied with a laugh as Duke perked up at the mention of his name.

             
"Really, you're not messin’ with me? That would be great. You know I've always wanted one of these guys," Jason replied as he playfully pet Duke.

             
"I know, and it looks like you got one." He touched his beer to Jason's and Collin's and took a sip as Bessa came over to stand with her husband.

             
Suzy was just finishing up a conversation with Zoe when Raina apprehensively approached her.

             
"What is it, Raina, is everything alright?" Suzy asked with a kind smile.

             
"I was wondering," she began, a little unsure.

             
"It's okay, Raina, just ask your question." She put her hand on Raina's shoulder to encourage her.

             
"What is going to happen to my internship now that you are the Minister of Health?"

             
"That is a good question, Raina. Please tell me you haven't been worrying about this."

             
"Umm, sort of," she admitted as she subconsciously fidgeted with her sleeve.

             
"Well don't. I still plan to train you, unless of course you no longer wish me to."

             
"No, of course not. You're the only one I want to train me. How will you find time?"

             
"I am not going to be in meetings forever, just until we get things rolling, then it will only be one or two a week. Plus, you'll be studying a lot, and I'll go to my meetings then. Raina, believe me when I tell you that I think you are gifted. You are the type of student a teacher dreams about teaching, and I'm not going to let a few meetings get in the way of that." Suzy smiled as she saw Raina beaming from the compliment.

             
"Of course she's gifted, she's my little sister." Jason said as Duke playfully jumped up on Raina's lap and licked her. "Jesse told me that we're gonna be able to keep Duke because he's bonded with me. He is going to give Lady to Princess Rayelle.

             
"That's great, Jason," Raina stood up and hugged him.

             
"Congratulations, Jason," Suzy added as she pet Shadow. "She is the best companion I could ever hope for.” Shadow barked to punctuate Suzy's comment and Raina laughed.

             
The gathering went on for a few more hours before everyone began to make their way home. Jesse noticed sadly that his night detail had arrived outside his house and Kimi took him by the hand and led him away from the window. They sat on the couch and talked until she fell asleep in his arms and he smiled thinking about how in spite of all the bad, there was still so much good in his life. A short time later he drifted off as well.

______

              Tovanoras had just been informed his plan had failed. Sixty heavily armed members of the Dark Brigade attacked Marcos and three of his associates and they were able to hold them at bay until help arrived with nothing but blasters.
Is there no way to kill this man?
He angrily thought.
He bested my brother in one-on-one combat, he escaped the Conglomerate forces that had tried to kill him and now he has successfully evaded the vaunted Dark Brigade I sent after him.
Tovanoras clenched his fists tight. There were no other humans he would even consider hiring, and there was no way to get any of the alien species that hated humans onto Donara. At least he had found out where Marcos was, but Marcos had over eighty ships and strong planetary defenses protecting Donara and the planet was technically in Hyperian space. There would be no way to attack without incurring the further wrath of Hyperia.
King Dominus hates us, my brother should have never let his forces get involved in the Conglomerate's ill-fated scheme.
Now Dominus needs no excuse to come after us at his leisure.
The more he thought about Marcos, the angrier he became.

             
While Tovanoras was thinking of how he could kill Jesse Marcos, he received a transmission from Yartan. "This had better be good, Yartan, I am in a foul mood."

             
"We have received word that Lord Sagan would like for us to join him in Federation space among the four planets the Jyal inhabit." Yartan replied with a smile. "I have him on transmission now."

             
Tovanoras smiled, the Jyal had formed a fairly powerful little cluster that Federation authorities did not seem to wish to break up. They had close to two hundred ships and a tentative alliance with two other fairly powerful non-human worlds in their sector. Maybe this would be a good place to lay low and replenish his forces. Marcos would be unable to touch him, the Alliance would not follow him, and Hyperia would not risk war by going into Federation space en masse. This might be a great temporary solution to his problems.  "Put him through, Yartan, I will speak with this, Lord Sagan."

             
Twenty minutes later, a deal had been struck. Sagan needed a little more muscle to ensure the Federation would not crack down on him until his alliance was complete, and Tovanoras needed a place to lay low and get his ships repaired quickly. It seemed like a good fit, so he recalled all of his forces from Pandara Minor's surface and left for the Federation and the Jyal homeworld. It would be a five-day journey through Conglomerate space, but Tovanoras was fairly certain they wouldn't be stopping anywhere ships were likely to be. As soon as his fleet was settled and the repairs had begun on his ships, he would begin sending envoys back out to the edge of the galaxy to recruit more forces. He could now plot his revenge in safety, at least he hoped he could. Now that he knew that he was untouchable, he felt the need to taunt his enemy. He sent a transmission to Donara on all frequencies. His communiqué was received and answered by Captain Ariel Marcos aboard the
Vanguard
.

             
"Captain Marcos," Tovanoras boomed. "You would not happen to be of any relation to the wretched Jesse Marcos, would you?"

             
"It's none of your concern, pirate," she quipped and he immediately hated her. "What do you want? Do you wish to surrender before our leader finds you and kills you?"

             
"Surrender? Ha. I guess humans do have a sense of humor."

             
"What is it that you want then? I'm busy."

             
"I wish to speak to your leader."

             
"Never gonna happen, leave a message and if he sees fit, he'll get back to you. He has no time for beings that hire thugs to kill him."

             
"What? How?" Tovanoras had no idea they knew it was him. It would seem Tenger utterly failed him.

             
"How do we know it was you?" Ariel laughed. "Four of your assassins survived, and we have ways of making people reveal that which they do not wish us to know. It was a most unpleasant experience for them, but I rather enjoyed it." Ariel hoped she sounded mysterious, possibly even a little bit evil. She knew it was the only way to deal with a being like Tovanoras. In reality, she had been nowhere near Suzy when she injected Tenger with the truth chemicals, but she knew it to be a painless process. The only unpleasant thing about it was when they shipped him off to Hyperia to face the King.