by Francis, Ron
"He punched Colonel Marcos in the face, too." Bessa innocently added.
"You attacked the man that saved your princess?" The Governor looked shocked as he pondered Bessa's statement. "I'm sure the Colonel will be pressing charges."
"No, Sir, it was in the heat of the moment, and I'm fine. I will not be pressing charges. The Commander takes his job seriously, as he should. He hasn't been in protection too long, and he made a stupid mistake by reverting back to what he was good at. Hopefully, he has learned from his mistake and we can move on."
"The Colonel might not be pressing charges, but I don't think my father will be quite as forgiving." Princess Rayelle added in a tone that told the Commander it would be unwise to speak as she moved to stand next to the Colonel.
"How is your shoulder, Colonel?" Collette interrupted. “If you were wearing your jacket, you would not have been injured, would you?"
"It's fine, Collette, thanks for asking. The Princess needed the protection more."
"I was shot twice, and would not be here if not for your armored garment. Thank you, Colonel."
"It was an honor, Your Majesty. I'm going to see if we have a couple in your size that you can hold onto in case you ever need them again." The injured soldiers were brought on board and Jesse was ready to leave. He turned to the Governor and said, “If there is nothing else, Sir, I'm sure the King is most anxious to see his daughter."
"Actually, there is. King Dominus has requested that I come back with you to Hyperia, so we can get to the bottom of why the police did not respond. I fear we have a traitor in our department and the King wishes to see if I am able to handle it. He would also like to personally thank the six officers that did stay and help you. So my aide and I will be joining you for the flight back to Hyperia. You may leave when ready,
Once again, Endeavor had the most passengers she had ever carried. Twenty-six people would be making the six-hour jump back to Hyperia.
____
The King and Queen were waiting at the spaceport along with Torav and Soall as Endeavor landed. The King broke protocol and rushed to his daughter, picking her up in a worried embrace as the kingdom watched on live vid feed. While the crew disembarked, the King spotted Jesse. He approached him, and then embraced him. Jesse winced a little as the kings arms wrapped around his blaster burn. The King realized his mistake and immediately let go with an apologetic smile. "Thank you, Colonel, you have now given me the most valuable gift yet, you have retuned my daughter safely to me. Please come have lunch with us at the palace tomorrow, I would like to thank you again."
"Of course, Your Majesty. It would be an honor."
"No, my friend, the honor is all mine." With that, he turned and led his wife and daughter to a waiting armored vehicle for the short ride to the palace. While the King boarded, the Princess turned back and smiled at Jesse.
"Looks like she's finally warming up to you," Suzy remarked.
"Maybe she is," he agreed.
The following morning, a royal escort came to Endeavor. Jesse asked the crew to come with him to the palace. He knew that he hadn't saved the Princess alone, but they all declined. Collin was excited about beginning the deep space telemetry equipment training, and most of the crew was going with him. Jesse left Endeavor alone to meet with the grateful King. During lunch, the Queen asked Jesse about the medical technology aboard Endeavor. The injured guards were already healed which seemed incredible to her. As he began to explain the recovery pod, the Queen became very excited.
"Is there any way I might be able to get a look at your ship's med bay? My father owns the Monarchy's largest medical technology corporation, and I used to help him when I was growing up. I was actually a nurse before I met Dominus."
"She really loves to help people, but being the Queen often keeps her cooped up in the palace. She would love to spend some time working with her father on something that could really benefit the people of Hyperia." King Dominus added.
"I think that's a great idea, Your Highness. I knew there was a reason Suzy liked you so much, you're kindred spirits." He smiled and added. "You are welcome to come back to our ship and pick up a copy of the schematics. We have already given the technology to Kaldor. I'm sure Suzy would love to sit down with you and go over it."
"I would like nothing more, Colonel."
"Alright then, you can come over this afternoon if you would like and she'll be waiting for you, eagerly, I'm sure."
"Thank you, Colonel. One of these days, Hyperia will be forced to repay you the kindness you've shown us." The King smiled at his wife and she returned his smile.
When lunch was over and Colonel Marcos had gone back to the ship, the Queen turned to her husband and he noticed an excitement he had not seen in some time. "Dominus, I am so excited to be the one to help my father develop this technology. You know I love our people and I love being Queen, but sometimes I feel as if I have nothing to contribute."
"You know that is not true, my love," Dominus scowled.
"I do know it is not true, but it is how I often feel. Now I can head up a project that will save many Hyperian lives. I am so excited."
"And I for you." He embraced his wife and gently kissed her. He knew he could not have found a better woman in the entire galaxy.
______
Queen Constance was in a great mood. Her daughter had been saved by the dashing Colonel Marcos. Her family had just had a fantastic lunch with him. Now she was going with the Colonel to pick up the schematics for the recovery pod technology he and Doctor Baker had been telling her about. Constance couldn’t wait to begin working on it. She wondered if her daughter was finally warming up to their guest and if he had developed any feelings towards her. She decided she would ask later, for now it was all about the recovery pod. The Queen’s air speeder landed in front of Endeavor, she exited and told her detail to pick her back up in an hour. Constance had a few things to talk over with Jesse and Suzy, and Endeavor’s shields made it one of the safest locations on the planet. She only brought two of her royal guards in with her. Suzy met them at the open landing bay and she stationed her guards there as they continued into the ship.
“It is good to see you again, Queen Constance,” Suzy beamed as the Queen came aboard. “I can’t wait to show you the schematics for the recovery pod. You've already gotten some of the details, but now I’ll give you the complete rundown. Then, Jesse can talk you through our portable data unit which will be holding all of the recovery pod designs and schematics.”
“Thank you, Doctor Baker, that is most kind of you,” She replied.
Jesse nodded and gestured towards his friend, “You are in most capable hands, Your Majesty, and Suzy is going to take good care of you. I will be on the bridge if you need me, and I think the only other person currently onboard is Kimi.”
“You are correct, Colonel Marcos,” SAMMI chimed in. “Lieutenant Torrensede took the rest of the crew to the Science Center.”
“Thank you, SAMMI,” Jesse replied as he smiled at the Queen. He continued on to the bridge while Suzy excitedly ushered the Queen to med-bay. She began to teach her all about the recovery pod technology. She really liked the Queen and loved that she had wanted to help her people.
When they had finished in med-bay, Suzy brought the Queen up to the bridge and then left to prepare some snacks in the galley. After a few minutes of polite small talk, Jesse smiled and said, “Now, Your Majesty, let’s talk about that portable data device."
______
…… Back on Polisia, Sea Side Enterprise's leadership were still arguing the merits of keeping military production on Earth versus moving them to Polisia. Nina knew Serge and Ariel did not wish to move the facilities. Serge didn’t want to ruffle any feathers and Ariel just really loved Earth. It would be difficult for Ariel to move away. Ariel would never use it as a bargaining tool in the negotiations, but there was a good chance she wouldn’t stay with the company if she had to move off of Earth. She hated the thought of her cousin leaving the compa
ny, but she hated the thought of staying on Earth even more. Manny didn’t really care where the production facilities were located. Jason also wished to remain on Earth. She could potentially be out voted four to one. She did control Jesse’s vote, which, ultimately, would win her the decision if Manny voted her way. Because Jesse was the majority owner, in the event of a tie, his vote would count twice. She didn’t want to have to use it, though. This wasn’t a hostile takeover of another company, this was her family. She wanted to do what she thought was best for Sea Side Enterprises, but she also wanted to do what was best for the other four people in the room. That’s why this process had taken so long. She really wished Jesse were here. Even though she knew he would not agree to move the military production off Earth, he would have an effective way to deal with Natora, and he was really her biggest concern.
Ariel had just finished ordering food for the bodyguards. She opened up the door to the study at Nina’s house and called into the living room. “Food will be here in half an hour, guys, I ordered from the best Telosian place on Polisia. You guys are gonna love it.” Before Ariel could close the door, she noticed Charlie approaching with a look of concern on his face.
“Hey Charlie, I already know what you’re going to ask. Of course you can leave for your family trip if we are not finished our meetings in time. In fact, if we do not finish today, tomorrow morning you will board the Victory and head back to Earth. Captain Snyder has already been instructed to prepare the vessel for departure, just in case. I know how much you have been looking forward to a jungle adventure with your boys, and I wouldn’t dream of keeping you from it.”
“Captain, how could you possibly remember that given everything you have going on?” Charlie asked, astounded that his boss knew his concerns. He already knew Captain Marcos to be a good and fair boss to work for, and he knew she would never purposely keep him from his family trip, but he was astounded that she had already made the preparations to send him home when she had been locked in important meetings for nearly a week.
“I’m throwing in a bonus for Diane’s spa trip, too.” She added with a smile that could melt all of the ice on Polisia. “I don’t forget about my people, Charlie. You and your men do good work and should be taken care of accordingly.”
Charlie was amazed, “Thank you, Captain Marcos.”
“It's no problem, Charlie. Hey, don’t forget to have the delivery guy bring our food in to us; I’m really looking forward to it.” Ariel politely closed the door and went back to the meetings.
“Sometimes, I think you go too far for your men, Ariel.” Serge commented as she returned to the table.
“You can never go too far to take care of good people, Serge. I have such a successful record because I have a great crew. I have a great crew because none of the good ones wish to leave it. Charlie is one of the best in the business. If he were to be offered another position, even for more money, he might not take it, because he’ll remember all of the added bonuses of working for someone that cares about his life and not just his skills.”
“So, that’s your secret,” Manny smiled. "You underpay and pretend you care, very nice.”
“Very funny, Manny, I don’t underpay. I’m very generous and I do care. You can’t fake caring about people,” She protested.
“Okay, guys, do you think we could get back to our discussions? You know, it’s kind of the reason we’ve all been stuck here for a week.” Nina reminded them, hoping to return to business.
“What is the point, my love,” Serge answered unexpectedly. “We can debate this for a year and we will still not agree. Ariel, Jason and I think it’s not the right move and you think it is the right move. Manny doesn’t care either way, and Jesse is still in the Kalephi Galaxy.”
Nina looked hurt that her husband could just so callously throw in her brother’s extended trip to another galaxy. “Serge, I really miss my brother, and none of this would even be necessary if he were here.”
“I miss him, too, Nina, we all do,” Serge replied, seeing the hurt in his wife’s eyes. “It’s just that we cannot do anything to get him back because we do not know where he is. None of that changes the fact that we could be making a terrible decision.”
“I have an idea,” Manny announced. “We all know that if we cannot convince Nina to keep the facilities on Earth, they will be moving to Polisia no matter what we vote.” Nina looked annoyed and was about to interrupt, but Manny put up a finger before she could. “Please hold all objections until I have actually expressed my idea,” Manny continued with a smile. “What if we kept the original time table for Jesse’s return as our baseline?”
“What do you mean?” Ariel’s interest was piqued.
“Jesse was supposed to be gone fourteen months anyway, right? So, what if we hold off on making any of these decisions or moves until we at least pass that amount of time? The timetable works for all of our concerns. Jesse had been gone just over four months now. In eight months, our contract expires with Coalition Naval Command. We have one hundred days from that point to work a new deal or become free agents. If Jesse hasn’t returned in fourteen months, we still have three full weeks to make any decisions. All of the preparations have already been made, and all of the merits of deciding either way have already been presented. Now it’s just a matter of pulling the trigger either way. Three weeks is more than enough time to do that. Let’s wait until the conduit opens and Endeavor brings Jesse and the rest of our friends back to us.”
Ariel smiled at Manny, and then she looked at Nina and Serge and replied. “I’m prepared to vote on that option right now.”
Nina frowned at her cousin. “But that still doesn’t resolve anything, eight months from now we will still be deadlocked in our discussions.”
“We will always be deadlocked Nina, we have a philosophical difference of opinion. Neither side is wrong, but we do disagree. You are the highest ranking officer of the company with Jesse gone, and you are going to make the decision. We haven't been able to convince you of our point of view and you haven't been able to convince us of yours.” Ariel knew this was a good plan as she spoke.
“I’ll vote to move the facilities to Polisia in eight months if Jesse’s not back,” Manny called into the debate. Nina knew with her and Jesse's votes plus Manny’s, that would seal the deal. As Nina pondered her response, lunch arrived. Ariel received it at the door and gave the delivery boy a very generous tip along with a smile the boy may have appreciated even more than the money. She was putting everyone’s order down in front of them when Serge spoke up.
“I believe Manny’s idea to be sound. We should wait the fourteen months Jesse will be gone anyway before beginning a move."
“I agree,” Nina conceded. It was a good idea and there really was no reason to rush a decision. All of the merits had been well thought out for both sides of the debate, but, ultimately, if Jesse didn’t return on time, they would be moving.
“Okay, before we eat, let’s make it official,” Ariel added raising her hand. "I vote yes for Manny’s proposal, all in favor?”
Serge, Nina, Jason and Manny all raised their hands and said “Aye,” Ariel then went to the door and called out. “Good news, Charlie! We all leave tomorrow morning.”
______
Deep in the bowels of the Hyperian Royal Palace, a shrouded figure was making a traitorous transmission. "Admiral Greyside, I know your attempt on the Princess failed due to Colonel Marcos’ continued interference, but now is our best opportunity to move against both the Princess and the Queen. With the head of palace security off planet on vacation, there will never be a better opportunity. Our intelligence places the Princess in her quarters with only her friend Collette. The schematics I have should get a strike team to her wing unseen. The Queen is currently aboard Endeavor, meeting with Marcos and the Doctor. She has only two bodyguards with her and the rest of Endeavor's crew is at the Royal Science Center. We could easily take her as she exits the ship."
"It would seem our time
has come, do you have enough men?"
"Yes, Sir. I have been able to sneak almost sixty men into the capital, thirty for each job."
"Make it happen, and do not fail me. We need both prisoners so we can kill one to convince Dominus of our intent, after which he will give us whatever we ask for. Ten of his battle groups should be enough to get our invasion of the Lawless Sector started. I almost have the Mannagore Captain in position to be the fall guy, and Hyperia's reputation will take a big hit in the process. But we need both prisoners to set it in motion. Taking only one would make matters considerably more difficult."
"I understand." As the transmission ended, the traitor did not realize that he was not alone. Young Soall had wandered in on the last part of the transmission. He was unsure of what he had just seen and heard, but thought it wise not to make his presence known. When the figure was gone, he was going to plant some surveillance to get to the bottom of it all.
Chapter Seven:
________
Princess Rayelle was helping Collette pick out a gown for the next party they would be attending.
"So, now that he has saved your life, are you warming up the Colonel a little?"
"Maybe a little, I may have been too quick to judge him. I still hope he does not wish to propose marriage, though. How would it look for me to turn down the man that so heroically saved my life?"
"Not to mention that your father would be truly upset. I think he would marry Colonel Marcos if he could."
