Deep Space Endeavor

by Francis, Ron

  Suzy caught up to him and said, “Jesse, you always say that helping people is what we do, so I think you need to get over it and help, she didn't mean for it to happen.”

  "I don't want to help this woman. Do you have any idea how long I stayed awake thinking about Rebecca last night because of her?" He looked hurt as he spoke and it didn't look like he was going to change his mind.

  "Jess, I'm sorry that she accidentally brought up some painful memories, but these people really need our help."

  "So you all really want to do this?" he asked as they all indicated they did. "And you want to let Captain Reed and her crew come along with us, too?"

  "Why not," Josiah began. "They know a lot more about this galaxy than we do, it seems like the smart play."

  "But they also have a crew member being held hostage by pirates, pirates that hate us, which automatically gives the pirates that hate us leverage over us. Did I mention how much the pirates hate us?"

  "That's why we need to help them, Jess," Suzy added as she squeezed his shoulder.

  "All right, maybe I am letting my bad mood cloud my judgment. Let's get the whole crew down to the landing bay and make this happen." As he turned to go back to the landing bay, Kiah came up alongside him and grabbed his hand as he walked. Upon entering the bay, Cassyanna and her crew looked at him with hope in their eyes. “It would seem,” he began, “That my crew was able to talk some sense into me. Here’s what we’re gonna do. First, I'm going to introduce you to the rest of my crew. Second, Dr. Baker will show you to your temporary quarters and then after that, we will go out and collect whatever supplies we are going to need for our journey. Any questions?"

  After the introductions were made, Captain Reed and her crew were given a tour of the ship, most of the crew left to begin gathering the supplies they imagined they would need for a treasure hunt. As they were leaving, Cassyanna came up to him, gently grabbed him by the hand and said, “I truly am sorry for what happened."

  He smiled, again taken back by this beauty that stood before him and replied, “Just give me a couple days, I'm sure I'll get over it.”

  As Cassyanna left the landing bay she smiled. She was going to have fun getting to know Colonel Marcos. She only hoped he didn't get too attached.

  Chapter six

  ______

  Six years earlier…….

  The gala was a huge success on all fronts. Serge talked science and Nina thanked shareholders, employees and customers. Jesse and Kimi carried out their part of the plan flawlessly. They danced, they embraced and they carried out the appropriate amount of public affection expected of a new couple. Suzy almost believed it herself, and she was sure it would fool any of the Asian Dawn’s spying eyes.

  The party began winding down, and suddenly, an alert rang throughout the building. It was soon announced that sensitive information had been stolen. Unbeknownst to the crowd, this was all part of the plan. Serge and Nina played their part like pros. Guards were confiscating electronic devices, shareholders looked worried and that’s when Kimiko made her call. She told the Master she had the data, but that the theft had been discovered, as she had no doubt they had already been informed. She told them the only way they could get the data, and she could complete her mission to kill Jesse, was to do a secure data transfer right then. She reasoned with them that if she were caught, neither objective could be accomplished.

  They agreed, and she sent the file. Moments later, as she was coming out of the restroom, Nina had the guards very publicly check her to make sure she didn’t have it. Jesse very publicly protested the treatment of his date and stormed off. Any Asian Dawn spies at the event would have been convinced it was a legitimate theft, and told their masters Kimiko had sent them the data just in time. Once they had the data, the Asian Dawn headquarters were abuzz with excitement. Everyone wanted to have a look at the information, and while they were verifying the legitimacy of the technology, Josiah’s team went in.

  Collin took out the two guards at the front from a distance while Ariel simultaneously took out the two on the roof. Jason had disabled security, but sent a cloned signal to the ops center so they wouldn’t be alerted to what was going on inside the compound. With the front cleared, and no cameras to worry about, Josiah and Manny went right in the front door while Collin and Ariel covered them. Josiah and Manny easily overpowered the two guards outside the Tamanorras’ holding room. They opened the door, and Josiah called out the word; “chocolate,” which was the safe word Kimiko had always used with her little sister.

  Josiah cautiously entered the room and Manny stood guard. “Who are you?” a frightened voice called out. “Are you the ones they have sent to kill us?”

  He sent them his best reassuring smile and answered, “No, ma’am, we’re friends of your daughter Kimiko, and we are here to rescue you. We don’t have much time, so if you and your daughter are ready, I’d like to go.”

  They had used the safe word, so she agreed, and a few seconds later the three of them were out the door. The young girl looked a little nervous when she saw Manny’s particle gun, but he just smiled and said, “Hola, kiddo; ready to go?”

  Josiah took point and Manny covered the rear, with Kimiko’s family in the middle. As they were coming out, Kimiko's sister tripped and cried out, which drew two of the other guards to the front to see what was happening. As they were running, Manny scooped the girl up off the ground and ran with her under his arm. As the first guard’s head came into view, Ariel dropped him before he could report and Collin dropped the second. Josiah and Manny made it to the evac zone, followed shortly by Ariel and Collin. Jason opened the hatch for them to board, and then they took off as if they were never there. The whole operation took under four minutes, from the first shot until the shuttle took off.

  The Asian Dawn gangsters were jubilant. They had the technology, and Jesse Marcos, the man who had dared to turn down their offer and call them thugs, would soon be dead.

  “Kill the Tamanorras,” the Master called out. Kimiko had dared to defy them, and even though she completed her mission, her defiance would be dealt with accordingly, and when she returned home, she too would die.

  “They’re gone, Sir,” a nervous voice called out.

  “What?” the Master cried out in angry disbelief, “How?”

  “Unknown, Sir,” the voice started. “It appears as if a team of professionals hit the complex while we were going over the data, eight guards are dead.”

  The realization of what had happened and the significance of the timing were not lost on the Master. “She’s working with him,” the Master’s anger flared. “Stop the information transfer.” The Master knew this was not going to be good.

  “It’s too late, Sir,” the nervous voice was back. “A virus has spread to all of our systems. It appears to be exporting all of our information before destroying it. All firewalls are breached, and all backups are corrupted as well.”

  We’re ruined, the Master thought, “How could this happen?” He yelled. “Can someone please explain this to me? How can one assassin, and the man she was sent to kill, cripple our entire organization?” He was screaming by this point, and just then, the main screen flared to life and Jesse’s image appeared.

  “This is just the beginning,” Jesse started. “I have all of your faces and all of your information. You tried to kill the wrong man.” Then the screen went blank.

  ______

  Present day……..

  The ship was buzzing with preparation for what the crew hoped would be an epic treasure adventure. Jesse just hoped they could gather intel on some of the planets in this galaxy. Dr. Hightower's biggest problem was that he did not bring back enough proof, Jesse intended to rectify that mistake. This may not have been plan A, but it would be as good a way as any for them to explore the Kalephi galaxy so the mission was a go. He had told the crew that even though he was willing to help Captain Reed, neither she, nor her crew, was to have any access to Endeavor tech, the piece of the treasure
they already found, or the key. Kimi and Josiah had brought all the rest of the clues and the original copy of the map out to the common area and had left the rest of the treasure related items in the locked storage room.

  Jesse sat by himself on the bridge and Cassyanna came and sat down beside him. “How are the preparations coming along, Captain?” He asked.

  “Very well, Colonel, Wennagal is getting his gear together, my gear is already in the crew quarters you provided, and not surprisingly, Reece and Kora left together to go shopping for their gear,” she replied.

  “No surprise there,” he said as he thought about his new crew member. Reece had lost everything to the pirates, and even though the Mayor had been as good as his word and paid Reece handsomely, the mercenary had yet to find the time to begin purchasing new equipment. But somehow, he had made time when Kora asked. “And please,” he added, “Call me Jesse.”

  Cassyanna replied, happy that Jesse seemed to be warming up to her again after the unfortunate pheromone incident, “Only if you call me Cassyanna.”

  He thought about it and asked, “Does anyone ever call you, Cassie?”

  “Enso does,” She replied. “But I wouldn’t mind if you did, too.”

  ______

  Suzy arrived on the bridge with a bright smile and a question on her lips. “Jesse, would it be alright if I showed Dr. Kinson the recovery pod now?” As she saw Cassyanna she stammered, “I mean, Colonel, would…”

  He interrupted. “Of course it’s alright, we already talked about it, and I believe SAMMI has translated the schematics into Kaldorian and downloaded them, as you requested. And, Suzy, as long as we are on this treasure hunt, Cassie and her people are a part of the crew, so there’s no need for formality when they’re around unless the situation demands it.”

  “Understood, and thanks, Jess,” she replied as she left the bridge. As she strode back to the landing bay, the thought hit her that he had referred to his guest as Cassie. She needed to find out more about that later.

  “Dr. Kinson,” she called out as the door slid open to the landing bay. "The Colonel has authorized a tour of the med-bay; would you like to come see it?”

  “Of course, Dr. Baker,” he replied enthusiastically. “And thank you for allowing me to be the first physician on Kaldor to see this new technology.”

  ‘Not at all, Doctor,” she replied cheerfully. “I even have a patient lined up so you can see it work in person.” She was very excited. She had chosen to give Dr. Kinson the tour because the Mayor believed him to be a good candidate to understand and reproduce the technology. Suzy also felt he had the right attitude about medicine. It was true, he was rather charming, but he was also married.

  As they entered the med-bay, she was greeted with a gruff, “It’s about time, Doc,” from Collin. Fortuitously, Collin had dropped a piece of heavy machinery on his leg just before Suzy had returned with Dr. Kinson. She decided to let him be her test subject as she showed off the merits of the recovery pod technology to her colleague.

  Dr. Kinson looked at Collin’s leg with some worry in his eyes, but she just took out the handheld diagnostic device. She began as if she were teaching a lesson, “Step one is to run the portable unit over the injured area to get a diagnosis.” As she scanned Collins leg, green light emitted from the device, and his injury showed up on the main screen in the med-bay. “If there were more than one injury, more than one screen would light up.”

  “Amazing,” he replied. “That was so quick, and it looks to be so accurate.” He looked to Collin and asked, “Sir, would you mind if I had a look at your injury the old fashioned way so I can get an estimation of the device’s accuracy?”

  Collin shook his head in disbelief at the clinical way; they were speaking and acting while he was in obvious pain, but he knew this was important to Suzy. After all, she had fixed the engines and he owed her one, so he replied, “Have at it, Doc.”

  As the doctor checked Collin’s leg, he surmised that the recovery pod had been completely accurate. “This device could save us so much time in our emergency rooms,” He beamed.

  “That’s not even the best part, Dr. Kinson,” she exclaimed with pride as she cleaned Collin’s injured leg. “Step two, the really amazing part, is coming up. Watch this.”

  At the touch of a button, a cushioned exam table slid out from the side of a round tube. Collin lay down on the table, and it slid back into the tube. Dr. Kinson watched in complete concentration as the recovery pod began its work, and after nearly twelve minutes, the table slid back out and Collin lay there fast asleep his injury having been healed. He listened with wonder as she launched into an explanation of what had just happened and how it worked.

  As she was finishing, she added, “The more severe the injury or injuries, the longer the time in the recovery pod. About a week ago, Colonel Marcos was in there for a little over an hour and a half. The only side effect is that it puts you to sleep, usually about a half-hour for every minute in the pod. In this case, Lieutenant Torrensede will be out for about six hours, then a day or so of rest, and then he will be back to work. So, what do you think?”

  “I’m speechless; completely in awe of what I have just seen. The one who could make such a technological breakthrough on Kaldor would be forever remembered in medical history.” He exclaimed, a touch of reverence in his voice.

  “Well, that person is going to be you.” She announced as his jaw practically hit the floor. “Mayor Valinor asked Colonel Marcos if he would be willing to share the technology that had saved his wife’s life, and Colonel Marcos charged me to find someone worthy to bring it to. I have had our ship’s computer translate the schematics for both the portable device and the recovery pod itself into Kaldorian, and downloaded onto this portable data unit.” She smiled brightly as she handed the unit to him.

  He was practically stuttering as he tried to find the words, “B… bu… but why me, Dr. Baker? Why would you choose me?”

  “Simple,” she smiled. “Because of all the medical professionals I met at the party, and there were many, you were the only one that did not try to impress me with all of your accomplishments. But instead, you talked about how much you love to help people.”

  “Really,” he said. “Believe me, I am not complaining, but that does not seem like a very scientific method to decide something of this import.”

  “I also gave your name to Mayor Valinor, and he checked out your credentials. He assured me you were up for the task,” she replied.

  “Of course,” he smiled. “How foolish of me to assume someone of your learning and experience would not do her homework, my apologies.” He bowed what she assumed was a very formal bow.

  “Not at all, Dr. Kinson,” she replied with a warm smile. “It was a legitimate question. Unfortunately, we are making preparations to leave on another mission, and with the good Lieutenant out of commission for a day or so, we have a lot to do. I’ll walk you out and let Mayor Valinor know you have agreed to begin the recovery pod project for Kaldor.”

  “Yes, yes,” he excitedly exclaimed. “I’ll begin at once, and thank you.”

  “My pleasure, catalogue any problems or questions you have, and on my next trip through Kaldor, I will help where I can, if I’m needed.”

  She was thankful Jesse had allowed her to share the tech with Kaldor. He hadn’t even questioned her judgment as to who she should give it to; his faith in her discernment was that strong. As she waved goodbye to the doctor, she was surprised to see the Mayor and his wife approaching the ship. Seeja was carrying a wrapped gift as they waved in greeting.

  "Hello, Mayor Valinor, hello, Seeja, what brings you out to the spaceport today?" Suzy smiled as she brought the Valinors into the landing bay.

  "We're actually here to see Jesse, is he busy?" Seeja excitedly replied.

  "He's not doing anything that can't wait," she pressed the comm against the wall and called out, "Colonel, you have guests in the landing bay."

  A few moments later Jesse walk
ed in and smiled when he saw the Mayor and Seeja. "Hello, please, come up to the common room. What can I do for you?"

  "Well, we're here about Kiah," the Mayor replied.

  After almost twenty minutes, the conversation was coming to a close. The crew had steered clear of the common room and kept Kiah occupied knowing how important the conversation was. Jesse was a little reluctant to give Kiah up, but understood she could not stay on Endeavor long-term. He was also really excited that she would be going to a couple like the Valinors that would love her and be able to take care of her.

  "Ultimately, it's got to be her decision," Mayor Valinor added. "The last thing we want to do is take her from Endeavor if she really doesn't want to go."

  "We were hoping you could convince her though," Seeja added in anticipation of what she hoped was about to happen.

  Jesse called Kiah in to the common room and let her talk with the Valinors for almost twenty minutes, during which time Seeja gave her the gift she had brought. Kiah's eyes lit up as she could never remember getting a gift before. She opened a plush canine of some sort and held it tight to her body. She smiled from ear to ear and then hugged Seeja.

  "Kiah," Jesse began. "I have some great news for you. Mayor Valinor and his wife would like to adopt you and become your parents. You would live with them, and they would take care of you. You would have a family again, isn't that great?" Jesse smiled, knowing he would have to sell this plan to Kiah. The Valinors wouldn't make her come with them but he knew they wanted her, and everyone including Jesse knew she couldn't stay on Endeavor with all the danger she would likely encounter.

  "But what about you, Jesse, wouldn't you be sad?"

  "Of course I would, but I would also be happy because I know that you will be loved and taken care of. You will have a mom and a dad. I would miss you, but I have to let you go with them because it's what's best for you."