by Francis, Ron
The shuttle landed and Collin, Bessa and Sergeant Baldack exited with two of the other soldiers. They took a play from Reece’s book and dressed as mercenaries. Josiah, Kimi and Reece stayed in orbit aboard Endeavor. Collin was in immediate agreement with the description of Banar that Josiah had given them. As they looked at the incredible mirror-like city, he could not believe the perfect symmetry.
“How can such a corrupt government build such an amazing city?” He wondered out loud. Bessa and Baldack just shook their head in reply. They were only a few buildings from the company they were hoping to purchase the FTL drives from. He noticed all eyes were on them as they stalked confidently through the city streets. He stopped to reserve a hover lift they could use to bring the drives to the ship after the purchase. The worker in the rental place gave them a dubious look as they left their deposit to reserve the hover lift.
“Why does everyone keep staring at us?” Baldack inquired to the clerk as he tossed him twenty chrons.
“They think you’re here to cause trouble. Golaran had some trouble with a group of mercenaries a week ago. They are probably also looking at your beautiful friend. Most ‘loosh girls are slaves; they’ve probably never seen one that was a merc before.”
Collin fought back the urge to correct the derogatory term the clerk had used to describe Bessa, instead he just said loud enough for anyone listening to hear. “Well, we’ve never been to Golaran. I’m not here to cause trouble and there won't be any trouble unless someone comes looking for it.” With that, the five of them left the rental facility and continued on towards the establishment that sold Josiah the FTL drive. As they were about to enter the building, Collin noticed less people were looking and gesturing towards them. Someone must have bought their comment about Golaran, which was actually true. As they climbed the steps to enter the building, two men blocked their path.
These men looked like thugs, and Collin knew they would have backup close by. He also knew that he and his four friends did not have any backup, so he had to be careful.
“Something I can help you with?” He asked gruffly.
“Yeah, you need to pay the entrance fee to get into the store,” thug one said with a malicious grin.
“Maybe next time,” he said as he pushed past the men and entered the building with his team.
“That’s not the last we’ve seen of them,” Baldack offered. “They knew security from the store would be on their way to help us. Security won’t offer the same courtesy on the way out.”
“Unless we give them a bit of a bonus upon safe delivery to our ship,” Collin smiled. He had enough money with him to buy ten FTL drives if he wanted, and more than enough to pay a few security guards to help them past some thugs. As Collin began looking at the floor models of the different FTL drives, he came upon the one he was looking for. The object that caught Collin’s eye was a mid-sized-freighter FTL drive. It was meant for a ship ranging from slightly smaller to slightly larger than Endeavor, which made it the perfect choice. This drive had a cooling system built in and could be hooked up to an external power source. This particular model also happened to be the fastest, and Collin could tell from the specs that he could get even more speed out of it if he needed to, which he did.
A salesman approached them. He was a small man and he had two security guards with him. Collin knew it was because they looked like mercenaries, so he just went with it.
“My fleet is about to acquire three freighters, they are an older model but in good repair. The one thing they lack is a decent FTL drive. I’ve done all the research and this is the one I would like.” Collin didn’t think the man would try to sell him on another drive because the one he had chosen was one of the most expensive.
“That is a good choice, my friend,” The salesman started with a smile. “Those drives are three-hundred twenty-five thousand chrons each.”
Collin smiled, “When did the price go up? I was under the impression they were two-ninety.” He knew he had to haggle a little or the salesman might get suspicious.
“That may have been a previous sale, but I can give them to you for three-ten since you came all the way out here.”
“How about three hundred each, cash?” Collin knew the man wouldn’t turn down cash.
“You drive a hard bargain, mister?”
“Salowa,” Collin replied. “My name is Salowa. I’ll tell you what; I’ll throw in an extra thirty-thousand if six of your security guards would accompany us to our ship with our purchase.”
“I think that can be arranged,” the salesman smiled. This merc was smart. He knew he was going to have to give money to the thugs on the way out or risk a fight, so instead, he gave money to security to make sure the thugs stayed off his back. He still wound up giving money but he didn’t lose face in the process. Something told the salesman these mercenaries didn’t want to draw too much attention to themselves. That seemed to be about eighty percent of the clientele that bought FTL drives, so the salesman just smiled as he sent security out with Baldack to pick up the hover lift and accompany the mercs to their ship. No one would hassle clients that had a personal security escort. Hassling clients paying for security was one of the few things the government of Zenith would crack down on.
______
Jesse had slept for nearly thirty hours, and he woke up feeling weaker than he could ever remember. The first thing he noticed was the smell of clean sheets. He also noticed that he couldn’t move easily because his side was heavily bandaged. Suzy, his ever vigilant friend, saw that he was awake almost instantly as she made her way over to him. He could tell by the look in her eye that she did not have good news, and his mind began to race as he wondered what it was. Had Josiah or Collette not made it? Did something happen to Kimi or Reece? As Suzy approached she checked his vitals and smiled sadly.
“You have been asleep for thirty hours, Jesse. I have immobilized your side to keep you from reopening the wound as you apparently did several times in the jungle.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad, Suzy; I’ll just take it easy for a couple weeks. You look really worried, though, what’s wrong?”
She sighed as she prepared to give him the bad news. “Jess, your wound became infected while on Pandara, and you contracted death brush fever. Hyperia's leading doctor has prescribed medication for you, but to this point it has had no effect. It is basically draining your strength and I have not been able to stop it or even slow it down. I don’t expect you’ll be up and about much until I can figure a way to beat this infection. I would be surprised if you can even stay awake for two hours today.”
He didn’t know what to say, he had always been really healthy, he could count on one hand the number of times in his life he had been sick enough to be confined to his bed, but Suzy was the best and he knew she would figure something out. “How about everyone else, how are they doing?”
“They are all fine, they have all woken up and gone back to sleep already. Commando is in your room fully recovered from his jungle adventure. You guys really got hammered out there, didn’t you?”
“Suzy, remember after the war with the Pack, when I finally started coming back to myself after Rebecca…I started having those occasional nightmares that we actually lost the Battle of Polisia, do you remember that?”
“Of course, I always felt so awful that those dreams forced you to remember that. I thought it was because your grief over your fiancé immediately following the battle never allowed you to properly process what had happened. Why do you ask?”
“Because I think that any nightmares I have from now on will be of Pandara.” Jesse looked distant as he began to think of what his team went through down there.
“Jesse, I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I hope you know that I’m not going to rest until you are healed of this infection.”
“I know, Suzy.” Jesse held his friend’s hand and was once again hit by just how weak he felt. “Suzy, if I’m only gonna be awake for a couple hours, I’d really like to
see the crew."
"Unfortunately, they are all on Zenith, helping Collin buy some more FTL drives. He has some crazy plan about hooking them up to Endeavor to get us home if the conduit fails."
"That's actually a great idea," he smiled weakly. "There may be some power distribution and housing issues, but we can probably work around it."
"He said you'd say that," she smiled as she spoke. She always loved watching Jesse's mind work. "Are you hungry at all?" She added.
"I could probably eat a little."
"So Kimi told me you guys are back to normal? Are there any possibilities for more?"
“We sort of made up in the jungle. I guess it’s the one good thing that happened there because we’re friends again, although, I'm not sure if she wants to be more. I am hoping, though."
Before she could answer him, Princess Rayelle walked into med-bay and smiled at him. Suzy took that as her cue to go get Jesse his lunch.
“Colonel, I didn't realize you were so ill, I heard my father talking. Your death brush fever is severe and you might not recover. I’m sorry, Colonel, you risked everything to save me, twice. Even though I was so horrible to you when we met, you risked your life for me without hesitation, now you’re stuck here in this bed. I feel like it's all my fault.”
He was so tired, but he knew he had to encourage Princess Rayelle, after everything she had been through. “Your Majesty, it’s not your fault at all. It wasn't your fault that evil men abducted you, and I volunteered to go on the mission to rescue you, so that's not your fault, either. The only people at fault are the leaders of the Conglomerate."
"But you and Josiah were seriously hurt trying to save me, and you do not even know me. I do not understand why you would do this."
“And that’s why you are going to be such a great leader when it becomes your turn to sit on the throne, because you care about people. I promise I will gladly lay here until Suzy fixes me up knowing that I saved you. You are far too important, and I would do it again, without hesitation.”
“Just like when you jumped into the death brush to save Wassan and myself? He told me no one has ever survived death brush before you figured out how to get us out.”
“I have to help people, especially people like you and Wassan, it’s just who I am.”
"Well, I would like to officially apologize for being so terrible to you when we met. I have no excuse for my behavior, and I am sorry."
"Collette told me that you thought I was here to ask you to marry me and that you had been proposed to seventeen times this year by people you didn't even know. I can't imagine how lonely that must be, you were just protecting yourself, and I accept your apology." He smiled weakly as he tried to find a more comfortable position to sit in. He really did hate being out of commission.
“Well, Collette told me that she thought you were better than all of the men that have ever asked for my hand, and I'm beginning to agree with her. Thank you again, Colonel." She smiled at him as she spoke and he returned her smile.
Suzy arrived with a small meal and said, “Alright, Your Highness, Jesse needs his rest. You can come back next time he wakes up and spend some more time with him, if you would like.”
As the Princess stood to leave, she grabbed his hand and said, "You will recover, Colonel, just stay strong." Then she was gone, and Jesse's eyes followed her the entire way out.
"That was different, I didn't think she liked me much," he said as Suzy put his tray down.
“So, you dove into the death brush?” Suzy smiled as she laid out a tray of food for him.
"I didn't actually dive," he started the wry answer. She looked at him incredulously as she began to chuckle.
"Thanks for not being mad at me, Suzy," he added.
"Thanks for coming back to me," she responded.
______
Collin walked the few short blocks back to the shuttle with the rest of his team and their six hired security guards. Even though he took the precaution of hiring the guards, he was still wary that something was going to go wrong. He made sure Bessa, Baldack and the other soldiers were on guard in case anything was to happen. They reached the shuttle without incident. The pilot and Baldack were loading the FTL drives with the help of the security guards. The other two soldiers stood guard at the back of the shuttle while he and Bessa stood guard at the front of the shuttle. A group of six men were passing by and he noticed Bessa stiffen slightly as it appeared she recognized one of them.
“Well, well, if it isn’t my lazy ‘loosh,” the man started as Collin noticed the fear in Bessa’s eyes.
“What are you looking at, move along,” Collin shouted gruffly at the man. His comment drew the attention of the guards in the back.
“Come on, Bessa, how bout you give me an hour for old time’s sake,” He laughed as he approached her.
Bessa just looked away in fear, unable to move because she knew her old master would not give up. In one moment, this whole new perfect life she had become a part of was about to come crashing down.
“Look at me when I speak to you,” he yelled menacingly as he pulled a small black box out of his jacket.
By this time Collin was by her side, and she could see the anger rolling off him. “Speak to my friend in such a manner again and I will kill you.” The look in his eye told the man that this was no idle threat.
“Oh yeah, tough guy,” the man started as he waved the box at him. “Do you know what this is? With one push of a button, I can have her on her knees. I can kill her if I want, she’s my slave and I’m taking her with me.” By this time, the man’s five friends were standing with him in positions that said they were ready to draw weapons if needed.
“If you press that button, it will be the last action you ever take, I can promise you that.” As Collin spoke, he could see that Bessa was paralyzed with fear. He knew the device implanted in her had been removed and that the box could no longer hurt her, but he wasn’t sure she understood that.
Her former master just laughed cruelly and pushed the button. Bessa winced automatically, a sheer reflex of years of punishment and torture. Suddenly, she realized nothing had happened, no pain had come. Her former master didn’t seem to understand either and pressed the button again. Collin just started laughing and said, “When my friend freed her, he had our ship doctor remove the device implanted in her. Those little boxes can no longer hurt her. He stared menacingly at the man.
Bessa's former master took a step back as he stammered, “Umm, this was all just a misunderstanding; I’ll be on my way with no trouble.”
Collin was going to let him go when Bessa finally spoke. She leveled her blaster at her former master and said, “Give me the box. You will no longer use it to hurt my friends that are still in your employ.”
The man acted as if he was going to give her the box but instead he slapped her hard across the face. "You don't speak to me like that, slave. I may no longer own you, but I can still kill you."
As Collin took a step towards him, his friends drew their weapons. Collin drew as well and took down three of them before Baldack's men arrived. They took down the remaining two men and looked at Bessa as she was using the fighting techniques Collin and Kimi had taught her over the last six weeks to dismantle her former master. It was against the law in Conglomerate Space for a freed slave to kill their former master, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t pulverize him. Everyone watched as she took out years of frustration on him landing blow after blow, connecting with her knee to his face and putting him on the ground. He was bleeding and had his hands up, begging for mercy.
“You never showed me mercy once, you forced yourself on me countless times and beat me regularly; how is it you think I would show you mercy?”
“You were my property,” he stammered. "It was my right. You won’t kill me though, because you obviously value your new freedom and you wouldn’t want to be sent to prison.”
Bessa realized he was right, she didn’t want to go to prison, but even more importantly,
she didn’t want to kill an unarmed man no matter how much she hated him. Jesse had taught her that. She put her blaster away and turned to enter the shuttle and she heard a sick laugh behind her as her former master drew his weapon.
“I’ll teach you to turn your back on me, ‘loosh,” He pointed his blaster and then slumped to the pavement as Collin put one in the side of his head.
“The law doesn’t say I can’t kill you if you threaten my friend.” He said more to himself than anyone else. He ran over to comfort Bessa and she smiled as she realized that for the first time, she really felt free. She stomped on the black box and everyone boarded the shuttle as Collin paid the security guards a little extra to clean up the mess. They took off and headed to Endeavor and Baldack asked, “What was that all about?”
“I was once a slave on Binwar, and that was my former master,” Bessa offered.
“Jesse saved her from being severely beaten and purchased her from that man,” Collin began to tell the soldiers the story. “He immediately freed her, legally, and she asked if she could come to Endeavor to be part of the crew. Jesse agreed, and here we are.”
“Wow,” Baldack replied, “So does Jesse just travel around helping people when he’s not finding treasure?”
“Pretty much,” Collin nodded. “Our ship motto is: If you can help someone, you should.”
“Now I know why the King likes you guys so much,” he replied.
“Saving the Queen and the Princess a couple times probably didn’t hurt,” Collin mused as the soldiers smiled and nodded.
