by Francis, Ron
“Thank you, Your Majesty, for your most generous offer.” Jesse looked at Josiah and Josiah nodded assent. He continued. “We are humbled to be considered worthy to enter your presence, and we accept your offer with both humility and excitement.”
“That is most wonderful news, my friend. I anxiously await your arrival.” Dominus ended the transmission very excited and thankful for such a dutiful young page.
“Soall, you are with me. You are about to receive a promotion and meet the Hero of Kaldor.” Dominus could tell the boy was excited. He was trying but failing to hide it. “It's okay, son, I’m excited, too,” the King added.
King Dominus turned to the captain of his guard and commanded. “I want Commander Gallo put in a cell until I have a chance to question him. Pick the guard yourself and let no one speak to him. Not even my advisors or family. I want to get to the bottom of this travesty myself.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” The captain bowed and then took off at a run to fulfill his King’s order. He called two of his men to meet him there, but he knew there would be no trouble.
______
Endeavor was being escorted to the Royal Spaceport by two unarmed airships. They were led on a route that allowed them to see the full beauty and majesty of the Hyperian Royal Palace. They were told the palace was over four thousand years old. It was the most impressive thing Jesse had ever seen. It stood almost a thousand meters high. The outside walls were pure unblemished white stone, hand hewn and fitted to perfection. The decorative patterns around the doors and windows were solid gold, and the symbol of the royal family was emblazoned on each side of the main gate. The wall surrounding the palace courtyard was not merely for show. Standing seventy-five meters high and twenty-five meters think, it was made to withstand even the heaviest blasterfire. The main portion of the palace stood only six hundred meters high. The spires rising from the middle of the palace and the corner towers made a pattern that reminded him of a flower mixed with an ancient Jewish star. The building was truly an architectural marvel, and he couldn’t wait to see the inside.
As Endeavor landed, Jesse could see a well-dressed man that commanded respect directing the servants at the Royal Spaceport. He was excited for so many reasons. They were going to meet a famous king that was also considered a good man. They were about to be invited into the most astounding building he had ever seen, and they were now one step closer to the telemetry equipment that might be the key to finding a way home if Hightower's matter conduit failed.
He let his crew disembark before him. Collin and Bessa were first, Suzy and Reece were second, Josiah and Kimiko were third and Jesse was last. A step behind were the wolves, Shadow on his left and Commando on his right. He wanted the full effect of his crew to be seen by the people at the Royal Spaceport. It worked. Upon seeing the snow wolves, activity ceased. People were pointing and staring, and the well dressed man in charge approached Endeavor’s crew apprehensively.
“Hello, I am the Royal Advisor to King Dominus. My name is Torav, and this is Soall.” He pointed to a young man that looked to be about seventeen years of age. “Let me once again apologize for the confusion which led to you being left out in space for over a day. The King would be here to greet you himself, but he is getting to the cause of the mix up and cleaning house among the people involved. He has still not allowed the battle group to come home.”
“Hello, Torav, I am Colonel Jesse Marcos, and this is the crew of Endeavor. I will let them each introduce themselves to you. Hello, Soall,” he continued. “I understand I have you to thank for the honor of meeting your king.”
Soall looked like he was not used to any attention as he replied. “I was just doing my duty as a loyal citizen of Hyperia, Colonel.”
“Well, in that case, thank you for being such a diligent and loyal citizen. If it were not for you, we would still be out in space. Come; meet the rest of my crew.” Soall beamed with pride at being among the first on Hyperia to meet the famous treasure hunters.
Commando had come to sit next to him and Shadow was sitting next to Suzy. Almost all eyes were still on the wolves as Jesse realized the Hyperians were gathering around to get a look at them.
Torav met the crew and then returned to him. “You have some very interesting pets, Colonel Marcos,” He complimented. “May I inquire about them? No one on Hyperia has ever seen canines so large; you could probably ride these animals.”
Jesse laughed. “These are Polisian snow wolves. They are native of a planet called Polisia and only found in the mountains. They are the largest canine species known to the Milky Way Galaxy and I haven’t seen any larger ones in the Kalephi Galaxy yet, either. I found and trained three pups. The third is named Frost, and she is with my sister Nina back on Polisia. Allow me to introduce you to Shadow. She is a female, and the females are always larger. The smaller, although not by much, male is Commando.”
“They are quite majestic, Colonel. Will King Dominus have an opportunity to see them?” Torav asked.
“Absolutely,” Jesse replied. “But we will be leaving them in the ship for a good portion of our time here.”
“I know the King will be very interested to see such fine animals. Do you breed them?” Torav inquired, hoping the answer was yes.
“I would love to, but unfortunately snow wolves will only mate in the mountains of Polisia, and never with a sibling. Which might be a good thing, or I would have a ship full of snow wolves,” he laughed.
Torav looked mildly disappointed, but he turned to him and said. “You are granted an audience with King Dominus tonight at nine o’clock Hyperian Standard Time. You will be escorted from your ship at eight-thirty. Dress formal. No weapons are allowed before the King, and I’m afraid you will have to leave the snow wolves on the ship. The King will most likely wish to board your ship and greet them at a later date. I understand you have a gift for the King?”
“Yes, Sir,” he confirmed.
“Would you mind if I inspected it before you bring it before the King?” Torav asked.
“Can you keep a secret, Torav?” He smiled as he patted the advisor's back and led the way into Endeavor.
Torav stood in front of Sansabar’s Hyperia in complete shock. He was standing in front of Hyperia’s most famous and beloved work of art. It was created for the same king that built the Hyperian Royal Palace over four thousand years ago. The painting was an instant classic and held the utmost value to the royal family. It was stolen during an uprising almost three thousand eight hundred years ago. Many believe the entire uprising was caused as a diversion so the painting could be stolen. No one had seen this painting in almost three thousand eight hundred years, and Endeavor’s crew had found it in the Treasure of Ameteo. They were now presenting it as a gift to the King of Hyperia. Torav left Endeavor speechless.
“King Dominus will be most pleased,” Torav uttered in reverence. “You have my word; he will be surprised when he sees this cherished piece of Hyperia’s history.” Torav turned with Soall to leave, and the crew boarded Endeavor. They excitedly began to prepare themselves for their audience with King Dominus.
______
Kimiko was still having a hard time with her feelings for Jesse. She had been avoiding him ever since their last conversation and only spoke to him when duty required it. Things were a little better, but she was still hurt. She discovered that she wasn’t ready to forgive him or move on yet. As she was walking down the corridor to the galley to have a light snack, she saw Jesse walking towards her. He was in full Naval Command dress blues as well, and he was striking. She smiled shyly and said, “Hello, Jesse, you look great. You must really be looking forward to this meeting.” It wasn’t what she needed to say, but at least it was a start towards regaining their friendship.
He seemed almost taken back that she had spoken to him. It took him a moment as he replied. “Thanks, Kimi, I am. If everything goes well, we could be looking at the deep space telemetry equipment within the next week. Plus, this palace is really amazing, an
d I can’t wait to see it. I really hope this night is perfect. Then we can continue exploring, work on our backup plan and pass time until the conduit opens back up.” He was happy to actually be speaking to her again, but he knew it would still be a while before things were right between them. This was a start, though, and for that he was grateful. As he looked at the beauty in front of him, he would give anything to undo the last three months.
______
…….. Back on Earth, the leadership of Sea Side Enterprises had convened for another round of strategy talks. The topic was still the best way for Sea Side Enterprises to leave Earth. Ariel didn’t want to leave Earth, and she didn’t want SSE to leave Earth. She could think of a dozen reasons why it was paramount that they stay. The problem was that for every reason she could think of for them to stay, Nina had a reason just as viable for them to leave. Still, she knew leaving Earth would be an enormous mistake. She only hoped she could convince Nina of that. Serge actually wanted the SSE military facilities to remain on Earth. Jason and Manny didn’t care either way. But Nina was a force to be reckoned with, and Ariel had no doubt that if her mind could not be swayed, her cousin would have her way.
As she entered the meeting room in SSE’s headquarters, she noticed from the amount of bodyguards that she was the last to arrive. The five of them and Manny’s wife Zoe had all been forced to accept added protection since the attempt on Nina’s life. Nina still believed it was an attempt on all three of them, so everyone was forced to have a detail with them. Ariel believed that Nina was the target, and that misery loves company. She dropped off a large amount of breakfast pastries on the table in the room where the bodyguards were waiting. “Coffee’s on the way boys.” She added with a smile that could melt Polisia’s frozen mountains. This was just another example of why Captain Ariel Marcos was so loved by her crew, by the Earth Defense Force and by most of the military. She took care of people. She easily could have delegated the task of buying breakfast for the men, but she didn’t. She liked the personal touch. She enjoyed learning about her crew’s lives and their families. It was one of the many things that made her a great commanding officer. Many people thought that at twenty-eight she was too young to lead a fleet group. The reality was that Vee Fleet would only join the EDF if Earth were under attack. Vee Fleet was privately owned, and its owners could choose whomever they wished to command it.
As she entered the meeting room, an animated conversation between Nina and Serge was already underway. “Hey, you can’t start yet. I’ve still got ninety-three seconds before I’m late,” she protested with a smile.
“They were already in full swing when Jason and I arrived,” Manny added. “I think they started last night,” He joked as Jason nodded his agreement.
“Ha, ha, guys.” Nina replied. “Serge and I were discussing the scientific possibilities of artificially recreating the matter conduit that Endeavor took to the Kalephi Galaxy.”
“As I have already said,” Serge began. “Even if it were possible to recreate the conduit, it would still not guarantee us a trip to the Kalephi Galaxy.”
“Why’s that?” Ariel asked.
“Because there are too many variables that we would have no way to accurately duplicate,” he responded while looking at Nina. “Firstly; we do not know what direction they went. We have a general direction, but if they went as far as I believe they did, anything less than precise calculations could put us off by an entire galaxy. Secondly; we do not know how far they traveled. Are they in the next galaxy, or the next or the next? We do not know where the Kalephi Galaxy is. Thirdly; we have no way of measuring the force needed to open the conduit without which we may never be able to duplicate it. Not to mention the fact that I don’t know of anyone that would be willing to be a test subject.”
“I can imagine,” Ariel laughed. “Hey, how would you like to volunteer to possibly be lost in another galaxy or blown up on the way into the artificial conduit? What, no one? Really? Why not?” She laughed again.
“Exactly,” Serge folded his arms and looked at Nina.
Ariel realized that she had just strengthened Serge’s position in the argument. She sent her cousin an apologetic smile as Nina put up her hands in surrender.
“Okay, I get it. It’s improbable that we can get to them, but we shouldn’t give up, imagine being able to travel between galaxies at will? We would be more famous than Hightower himself."
“Hey,” Ariel responded. “No one is saying we give up, but we may just need to wait the fourteen months to get the added data from Endeavor before we can begin to figure it out.”
“Okay, let’s call this meeting to order,” Serge changed the subject. “What ideas do we have to make the transition as smooth and beneficial as possible to all parties if we decide to go through with the move?”
“Hold on one second before we start, Serge,” Ariel cautioned as she pulled out a small rectangular device.
“What are you doing, Ariel?” Manny inquired as he motioned to her to get a look at the device.
Nina and Serge were also interested in her intentions.
Jason instantly recognized the device and correctly guessed why Ariel might be using it.
Before she answered, she turned the device on and walked around the room with it. As she approached the window, the device started to beep a warning. “We are being spied on,” she announced. “We are not safe to discuss anything classified right now. I had a feeling after our last meeting, so I brought my bug sweeper. I didn’t let you guys know what I was doing because I didn’t want whoever is listening to have time to turn their equipment off while I swept the room. I can have a jamming field set up before we continue.” She suggested as she pulled out her communicator.
“No,” Nina replied. “We’re leaving. We will continue our discussion en route to Polisia aboard the Vanguard.”
Serge looked at his wife in concern. “Nina, if we leave in Vee Fleet, it may send a message we do not yet wish to send.”
“Oh, I wish to send a message, alright,” Nina added.
“We should stop speaking now,” Ariel reminded. “Unless we would like to give our unknown adversary information he or she shouldn’t have.”
“Yes, of course,” Nina replied, thankful for her cousin’s cool head in a crisis. “Let’s bring in the jamming equipment and then plan our next move.”
As Ariel made the call to her second-in-command Captain Snyder, she checked on the bodyguards to see if the coffee had arrived. She could tell from the aroma the moment that she opened the door that it had arrived. She smiled as one of the men brought her a cup.
“Thanks, Charlie, how are Diane and the boys?” Ariel asked as she peered over her steaming cup.
“They are doing very well,” he replied. "We are getting ready to take a vacation to the rain forest for a jungle adventure next week. The boys can’t wait. Diane is not quite as excited,” He laughed.
“That sounds great. Do you need any extra time off to prepare?” Ariel offered.
“No thanks, Captain,” he smiled. “I could actually use some overtime to pay for the vacation. That and my wife’s spa trip after our jungle adventure,” He laughed again.
Ariel laughed at the comment as well. “In that case, Charlie, I think you may be in luck,” Ariel commented as she went back into the meeting room.
“You’re so good to your people,” Manny observed. “No wonder all of my best people want to transfer to your command.”
“I've been trying to ditch you to work for her for months now.” Jason joked as he winked at Ariel. She smiled at his comment and took another sip of her coffee.
“I swear I’m not trying to poach your staff, Manny,” she answered as a small mischievous smile began to form on her lips. “Except the talented ones, like Jason, of course,” she joked while holding her cup with both hands for warmth.
“Keep it up, Marcos, and I’ll steal Captain Snyder from you,” he threatened in mock outrage. “Actually, I think I can afford to overpay
the entire bridge crew of the Vanguard.” He laughed as he continued to pour it on.
“Okay, okay, you win. I won’t recruit your people,” she laughed.
Just then the jamming equipment arrived and Ariel thanked the crewman that had made the delivery. As she went about the task of setting up the equipment, Manny closed the blinds on the window for added privacy.
“Now, we can talk about our strategy,” Nina observed. “I will give the president a call and let him know that Vee Fleet will be escorting us back to Polisia. We will continue our discussion along the way, and then we will finish at our home if we haven’t finished during the journey.”
“Nina, if we use Vee Fleet, we will be sending the message that we are leaning towards leaving Earth. Why not call in the Olympians?” Serge asked.
“Because I wish to send a strong message to whomever it is that was spying on us,” she replied. “It was more than likely Natora or one of his cronies. Let’s introduce him to what Earth's defenses would look like without Vee Fleet in orbit. It will only be for a few days.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Ariel agreed. “We can easily sell it publicly that we were concerned for our safety after everything that has happened. At the same time, we send Natora a message that we will not take his aggression lying down.”
“I am in agreement as well,” Manny added.
“Me, too. Let's make ‘em mad. Maybe next time they won't try to spy on us.” Jason added.
“Okay, then,” Serge replied. “We take Vee Fleet on a short cruise to Polisia and see whose feathers get ruffled the most.”
