Deep Space Endeavor

by Francis, Ron

  Garrinoras laughed impatiently as he asked, “Are you going to bore me with children’s lessons? Send the artifacts, or Enso Reed dies.”

  “Do you know what this is?” Jesse asked as he pointed to the force field. “It is Endeavor’s flight recorder force field. It can withstand almost anything, so that anyone searching space after a battle might be able to find the ship's records in the wreckage and learn what happened. Watch as I show you how well it works. He picked up one of the artifacts and placed it inside the force field. Then he threw a thermal charge in after it, and blew up the artifact within the force field. “See how amazing that was, Garrinoras? Would you like to see it again?”

  Garrinoras stood in stunned silence, his mind not wanting to believe what his eyes had seen. “You have just sealed your friend’s fate, Marcos.”

  Jesse picked up another artifact and placed it in the force field. Garrinoras yelled, “Stop,” but he destroyed the second artifact.

  “You see, Garrinoras,” he continued. “The only reason we even started this hunt was to save both Mister Reed’s life and the Catamaran. I don’t believe you intend to honor your part the deal. Consequently, since we cannot save either, we have no reason to continue. I will destroy each and every one of these artifacts before your very eyes. That is, unless we meet one-on-one in Kaldor’s spaceport. I’ll even let you choose the time. I’ll bring everything we have, and you bring Enso. We will each walk out and make the exchange. I give you the bag, you give me Enso, and we go our separate ways. We will never have to see or hear from one another again. Surely, one human’s life, or even the chance to get back at me, is not worth the treasure.” As he finished speaking, he was putting a third artifact in the force field.

  Garrinoras grit his teeth and threw Enso to the ground in anger. “You have a deal, human. Just do not destroy any more artifacts. We will make the exchange tomorrow, midday Kaldor time. And, Colonel, if you betray me, there will be no place you can hide in this galaxy or your own.”

  “As long as you keep your word and don’t betray me, you will never hear from me again, Garrinoras. “

  “Tomorrow, then,” Garrinoras confirmed as he cut the transmission.

  Cassie seemed angry as she came over to Jesse and said, “That was quite a gamble you just took with my cousin’s life, Jesse.”

  He was a little puzzled as he said, “What do you mean? That was the plan. You have to realize Garrinoras was never going to send Enso to us alive. This is our best chance. Garrinoras is still very likely to try and betray us, but at least Enso will be alive when we make the trade tomorrow. We are just going to have to outsmart him." She didn't seem to be comforted so he added, "We have just achieved our best case scenario, you should be ecstatic."

  “He had a knife to Enso’s throat, Jesse,” she said, her frustration rising.

  “And he didn’t use it,” he replied. “He was bluffing, trying to see if we would blink. When we didn’t, he agreed to meet on our terms. So far, everything is going according to plan.”

  “And what if it doesn’t work, Jesse, what happens to all your plans then?” She was yelling now.

  “Look, I’m doing my best here, Cass, we all are,” he raised his voice in frustration. “You know what; I’m not having this conversation.” He threw his hands up as he angrily stalked away.

  “What was that all about?” Kimiko asked, not even trying to hide her annoyance with Cassie. “Jesse is still hurt from your mistake. He’s putting himself on the line tomorrow for your cousin. He enacted the plan you agreed to. He didn’t deserve that.” She walked away before she could say something she would regret.

  “She’s right,” Cassie began, “I need to go apologize.”

  “Not now, Captain.” Wennagal replied. Let him settle down, and speak to him later.

  “He’s right,” Collin added, “Jesse has no problem forgiving people, but sometimes he needs to work through it first. If you go now, you’ll probably just make him madder.”

  Josiah looked at Cassie and said, “For better or for worse, this ends tomorrow. We should all get ourselves ready.”

  Chapter eleven

  ______

  Midday was fast approaching on Kaldor. Jesse and the rest of Endeavor’s crew were making all the necessary preparations to meet Garrinoras and make the exchange for Enso. He had the remaining five fake artifacts, the fake key, and the original copies of all their map fragments. He also had the original copy of Topanar’s map. He knew the fake artifacts Josiah had made were good enough to stand up to a field inspection, but they would never stand scrutiny for long because they had no way to duplicate the rare metal the artifacts were made of. There was, however, no way to make copies of the maps on short notice that looked authentic enough to pass off to Garrinoras. He had decided to keep the copies and put the originals in the bag. They no longer needed the originals, because Josiah had already figured out that the treasure was on a planet called Najiban, located near the outer reaches of the Lawless Sector.

  SAMMI was ready to jam all signals and communications, beginning the moment Jesse placed the bag on the ground before Garrinoras. He also carried a blanket made of the same particlized fabric as the battle suits. He planned on wrapping Enso in the blanket as soon as Garrinoras released him. Kimiko waited on top of a building five hundred meters away. The HUD in her visor would allow her to see everything that was going on. She could open fire if necessary. Collin was also on top of a building almost eight hundred meters away, because he was a better shot. He had a different vantage point of the meeting area. Suzy was ready in med-bay to tend to Enso’s wounds and remove anything harmful that Garrinoras may have planted inside him. Josiah, Cassie, Wennagal and Shadow stood watch from the landing bay of Endeavor, while Commando stayed with Suzy in med-bay. The two warriorbots were also on standby. They were ready for action if they were needed. Lastly, Agent Sandstorm was flying a pattern around the area in his aircar, keeping a lookout for anything that might seem off.

  They were as ready as they could be, all of their resources were in play. The exchange would be happening in half an hour. Jesse hadn’t spoken to Cassie since their brief argument. He was still annoyed with her reaction, and he was pretty sure she had been avoiding him since her outburst. Today, it was Jesse that was doing the avoiding. He wanted to make sure his head was clear when he met Garrinoras. Spending time with Cassie at this point would not accomplish that goal. He was feeling a lot better, but he still wasn’t close to a hundred percent. Suzy was right about how bad the beating he took was. It would still be a few more days before he would even begin training again. Under normal conditions, he wouldn’t even be doing this mission, but he was the one that had to do the exchange. If he had suggested anyone else, Garrinoras would have suspected something and tried to use it as an advantage. He might have even called the exchange off altogether, and he couldn’t take that risk. Garrinoras expected to deal with him and the pirate leader didn't seem like the type that would take a change of plans in stride.

  Jesse had picked a great location for the meet. Collin and Kimi would have great lines of sight. Sandstorm would have easy access, and the rest of the crew could join the fray almost instantly if they needed to. Garrinoras’ side of the meet was much less desirable from a tactical standpoint. Jesse hoped he didn’t realize just how much less desirable and land elsewhere. The area he had chosen was also less active than the other zones of the spaceport, which would limit any collateral damage should Garrinoras try anything. At approximately ten minutes until the meeting time, SAMMI’s voice called over the speaker. “Colonel Marcos, Garrinoras’ shuttle has just landed, but he has not landed in the predetermined location.”

  “Where is he, SAMMI?” Jesse asked, knowing Garrinoras was going to try something.

  “He has landed eight berths from our position to the south.” SAMMI replied.

  “Thank you, SAMMI,” he was already on his communicator as he replied. “Alright, everyone, Garrinoras has made his opening move. Kimi a
nd Collin, please redeploy accordingly on my mark.” From their positions, Kimi and Collin could easily redeploy via zip line as soon as he gave the command. Collin’s reply was cut off as communications went dead. Garrinoras had jammed communications. Jesse left the landing bay and used hand motions to communicate to Kimi and Collin. He let them know that they should only change their position if Garrinoras exited the shuttle that had already landed.

  He had the artifact bag and he walked out to the open area next to Endeavor. Garrinoras exited his shuttle with Enso and six guards behind him. He yelled for Jesse to begin walking towards them, and Jesse laughed. “We meet half way, or we don’t meet,” he yelled back.

  He could see Collin and Kimi already changing positions as Garrinoras begrudgingly began walking towards the halfway point. SAMMI’s visual could still pick up the exchange and would begin jamming when the time came. As Jesse and Garrinoras were walking towards each other, Endeavor’s crew stood by the front of the ship.

  When he reached the halfway point, he stopped and waited for Garrinoras and Enso to reach him. Garrinoras truly was an impressive being. He would be considered big for any species. Most Zinnebailan males were over six feet, but Garrinoras was easily over seven feet tall. He was also well built. He looked to be approximately three hundred and forty pounds of solid muscle. He carried a sword that Jesse had no doubt killed its fair share of his enemies. The head fin gave him the look of an ancient tribal warrior. Garrinoras moved with the easy grace of a seasoned soldier. He supposed that this imposing being would make for quite the intimidating opponent. He was dressed in red and black like his men, except that he was wearing black trousers and a red shirt with black trim instead of all black with red trim.

  As Jesse put the bag on the ground in front of him and began unfolding the blanket to wrap around Enso, Garrinoras boomed, “Not so fast, human.”

  “What is it, Garrinoras?” Jesse asked with steel in his voice. He wanted to be sure his opponent knew he wasn’t intimidated by him in the least.

  “Blankets were not part of the arrangement. Leave it on the ground.” Garrinoras commanded.

  “Neither were swords, nor setting your ship down over there.” Jesse pointed. “Looks like neither one of us are very good at following the rules.” As he spoke, he began wrapping Enso in the blanket.

  “My men can kill you right now if I desire. I have only to give the command.” Garrinoras smiled the smile of a man who knew he had the upper hand. His smile did not last long as Jesse began to speak again.

  “I have two snipers in position right now, and they will drop you before you see me die. Now, do you wish to go on posturing, or would you like to look at the contents of the bag so we can both go our separate ways?” He replied, not giving an inch. Garrinoras picked up the bag, and looked inside. He looked at the map, saw the artifacts, and smiled.

  “Nice doing business with you, Marcos, I expect you will keep your word and stay out of our way.” Garrinoras turned to leave while he was still speaking.

  Jesse called after him. “As long as you have not betrayed us, you have my word.” With that, he began to make his way back to Endeavor.

  While Garrinoras was walking he spoke two words into his communicator. “Kill them.” He waited for the explosion that did not come, and then he turned and yelled back to Jesse. “What have you done?”

  Jesse turned and smiled, “Did you think you were the only one jamming signals, Garrinoras?” As he continued walking back to his ship, he heard Garrinoras yelling to his men, and he broke into a run with Enso. Enso was injured, no doubt from being tortured, and couldn’t move very quickly at all. Jesse ran backwards facing Garrinoras to see what might be coming their way. Garrinoras' men were already setting up their heavy blaster cannon. Jesse was close enough to Endeavor to yell. “Extend shields, SAMMI.”

  As blaster fire erupted around them, SAMMI extended the shields to encompass Jesse and Enso, but not quite quickly enough, as the last blast hit close enough to throw Jesse and Enso almost eight meters. Jesse landed in a roll and came up reaching for Helga as he surveyed the area. Wennagal and Josiah quickly put Enso on a gurney to rush to Suzy as men pounded away at Endeavor’s shields with their cannon.

  ______

  As Enso was rushed into med-bay, Suzy was already scanning his body. Not for injuries, though, but for anything that might have been implanted. With all of the cuts and bruises, she would never be able to pick out the entry mark. The recovery pod's portable diagnostic unit, however, was able to find an implanted device immediately. She made an incision in his chest, just over his heart. She reached in and pulled out a small device with a transceiver attached to it. She scanned him again for any other devices, and when she was certain there was none, she began to scan his injuries. Enso would be spending a little time in the recovery pod and a lot of time sleeping before his happy reunion with his cousin.

  Jesse took the device and left the landing bay. He noticed the noise from the blaster impacting the shields was gone. He hurled the device towards Garrinoras’ shuttle and told SAMMI to release the jamming field. As the field was released, the device exploded, rocking Garrinoras’ shuttle as it took off. Garrinoras then hailed Endeavor and he took the transmission in the landing bay.

  “You just couldn’t resist, could you? We would have been out of the hunt, and out of your life, but you had to try to kill us. Now we’re all in to the very end.” He had not intended to yell, but he found himself raising his voice.

  “Soon, you will be dead, human, and I will rule this sector. I care not what you think,” Garrinoras replied with a smile.

  Jesse responded with a smile of his own. “I hope you’re not standing next to the bag.”

  He sent the transmission and another explosion rocked Garrinoras' shuttle, this time, from the inside, and he cut the transmission. The shuttle teetered, but remained in the air as it made its way back to the Retribution in space. Jesse went into Engineering to make sure none of the initial blasts had caused any damage.

  Suzy and Commando came to the landing bay; she wanted to make sure Jesse was all right. When she didn't see him, she ventured out of the ship with Commando at her side. She stood to the left of the open landing bay, when she suddenly felt a tiny pain in her neck. She fell to the ground and Commando started barking. Then he fell to the ground as well. Three men dressed in black from head to toe quickly came and picked up the unconscious woman and her unconscious guardian. They began moving towards an idling speeder truck.

  Agent Sandstorm watched it all from the aircar, he knew these were not Garrinoras' men. That could only leave Topanar as the responsible party. As the men loaded the woman and the wolf into their speeder truck, he got as close as he could and fired a tracking beacon onto the top of the speeder truck. At least he would be able to follow once he collected backup.

  In the next instant, Jesse was receiving a transmission from Sandstorm and he put it onscreen. “Is everything alright, Agent Sandstorm?” He asked, a little confused as to why Sandstorm would risk his cover sending a transmission.

  “No,” Sandstorm began, “Topanar’s men took Suzy and Commando."

  “How? When?” Jesse asked, feeling his world begin to spin.

  “Just now. I saw Suzy and Commando standing outside the landing bay, I'm not sure why. I guess Topanar had men sitting on the ship, knowing I would never kidnap someone. I did manage to shoot a tracker onto the speeder truck. I’m prepared to go get her right now if you can send another person or two with me.”

  Jesse sent the transmission to the whole team and after he let them know what was happening, he told Sandstorm to pick up Collin and Kimi from their respective roof tops, and go. He wanted to be the one to save her, but he knew his body was not yet ready for that kind of mission. He wouldn’t risk his oldest friend's life because of pride. He watched Sandstorm pick up Kimi, then Collin. He banked his aircar to the west and hit the thrusters. Jesse was angry as he thought about Suzy in Topanar's hands. They were going to ge
t her back. As he was standing alone in the landing bay, Cassie came running in.

  “We’re going to get Suzy back,” she said with confidence as she approached.

  He looked her in the eyes and replied, “Yes we are.” He trailed off a little as he added, “We have to.”

  “Jesse, she’s going to be alright. Kimi and Collin are going to bring her home. Trust in your crew.” She knew Suzy was like a sister to him and that this must be killing him. She now had her cousin back, so she could break off her relationship with him whenever she wanted. While she didn't love him, she did like him and she didn't want to see anything bad to happen to Suzy, or to see him in pain. She stood next to him and just put her arms around him to show her support and to console him in silence.

  Josiah and Wennagal came into the landing bay to give Jesse the update. “Agent Sandstorm needs to know that he has the go ahead to breach Topanar’s safe house,” Josiah began. As he noticed the faraway look in his friend's eyes he yelled, “Jesse, what do you want them to do when they get there?”

  As Jesse began to reply, he noticed that he was slightly off balance. He realized that cannon blast took more out of him than he thought, but Cassie steadied him as he stood. “Tell the team they may use whatever means necessary to bring Suzy and Commando back to us. They don’t have to wait for my orders. Collin is in charge of the mission. He is free to make any decisions necessary to bring Suzy home.” He began to lose his balance, and Wennagal came over to help Cassie steady him.

  He looked at Josiah and said, “We have to get him to bed. That explosion took a lot out of him. Suzy was right that having him do the exchange was a bad idea.”