by Francis, Ron
"Still, it is Marcos fault. How many ships will be rendezvousing with us Janus?"
We will have an additional eighty ships meet us at Zinnebulous in three days. Are we still going through with our plan to invade Kaldor? We won’t have the finances to enact our full plan for the sector,” he commented.
“If we cannot find Marcos and get my treasure, we will have to conquer our sector a little more slowly, but Kaldor is still the first step. Kaldor has always been the first step. Who knows, Marcos may even be on Kaldor when we get there. It’s not like he knows lot of people in this galaxy.”
“Collin, set a course for a system just out of Garrinoras’ fleet’s sensor range. We have to warn Kaldor about this attack.” Jesse said with a heavy heart. Garrinoras was right; he didn’t know many people. He was also right that the ones he did know were all on Kaldor, except one man. As Endeavor jumped to light space, Jesse began formulating a plan to save Kaldor. Fifteen minutes later, Endeavor was back in real space, and he was on screen with Mayor Valinor.
“Hello, my friends, did you find what you were looking for?” Mayor Valinor’s smile contrasted with the dark news they had for him.
“Yes, Sir, and it is truly impressive.” Jesse tried to manage a smile, but could not.
“What is the problem, then? You do not look like a man that just found the treasure of the ages, the fabled treasure of Ameteo.” Tarrick was still smiling.
“Tarrick,” he said with the weight of the world on his shoulders. “Garrinoras arrived at Najiban as we were leaving. We intercepted a conversation between him and Captain Janus.” He played the transmission, and Tarrick’s smile quickly fell away. “They have one hundred and ninety-two capital ships, and they will be leaving from Zinnebulous in three days to attack Kaldor.”
“What are we going to do?” He asked. “We cannot withstand an invasion from a fleet that size.”
“How many ships does Kaldor have, Tarrick?” Jesse asked.
“Not enough,” The hard reply left his lips as he stared off in the distance.
“How many?” Jesse repeated louder, trying to snap his friend out of it.
“Eighty, maybe eighty-one. What difference does it make? We are no match for one hundred ninety-two.” He felt helpless as he spoke.
“Eighty could make all the difference, my friend. I have a plan that just might work. Alert the Chairman and the Council to the attack, but tell no one else. You have to get the Chairman to send all of your ships into orbit. It is vital that Kaldor doesn’t get caught with its ships on the ground. Trust me, I’ve saved planets against greater odds than these before.”
Tarrick asked him to wait while he contacted the Chairman. Several minutes later, he came back on the screen with a screen of the Chairman on the side.
“Please, Colonel Marcos, tell us of your plan,” the Chairman asked.
“I can’t tell you the whole plan yet because I have to ask a friend for a favor before we can finalize it. Please, just trust me and have all of your ships in orbit and ready for combat. I should arrive in two and a half days, and we can sit down for the details then. I know you’re scared, but I’ve been through this sort of battle before and survived. Just have everything ready when I arrive. I promise you, I will fight alongside you for Kaldor.”
When the transmission ended, he looked at Collin and said, “Set a course for Ginderbar, best possible speed.”
“What’s on Ginderbar, and who is this friend, Jesse?” Josiah looked surprised as he asked. How had he managed to make a friend on Ginderbar in one evening that would want to help stop Kaldor from being invaded?
“Commander Enosal is on Ginderbar, hopefully. And he’s technically not a friend, but he does owe me a favor,” Jesse replied as he was looking for the paper Enosal had given him.
“Is he the man who owns the largest mercenary fleet on Ginderbar?” Suzy asked, trying to remember what Jesse had told her about the man that night at the restaurant.
“Oh, that guy,” Josiah said sarcastically. “What are you two talking about?” He called out needing to know what was going on.
“Tell him, Suzy.” Jesse said as he ran off the bridge to his quarters.
As Josiah and the rest of the crew looked at her with confused expressions, she told them the story. “The night you were all getting arrested on Ginderbar,” she began as both Sandstorm and Enso raised an eyebrow. “Jesse and I were having a nice meal. During the meal, two of Garrinoras’ men entered the restaurant. They attempted to either kidnap or kill a man, his wife and their two sons. Jesse, of course, intervened, and the man said he owed him one. I assume Jesse went to look for the contact information.”
“So, our night of drunken bar fighting wasn’t a total failure?” Collin asked jokingly.
“I think Enso and I need to hear more about this night on Ginderbar,” Sandstorm laughed as he looked at Kimi and patted Enso on the back. Enso's raised eyebrow told everyone he agreed.
“It was all his fault” Cassie laughed as she pointed at Josiah.
“Now, don’t start that, Captain. Wasn't it you that hit the wrong guy with a chair,” Wennagal laughed.
By that time Jesse was back on the bridge. “Do you think this Enosal feels indebted to you enough to commit his fleet to the defense of Kaldor? Josiah asked.
“No, not at all,” he answered to more puzzled expressions. “But he may feel indebted enough to hear me out." The crew still looked confused. "We have treasure, which means we now have an awful lot of money to pay his men with.” The understanding became evident in the eyes of his crew as he asked, “Collin, how long until we reach Ginderbar?”
“Thirty-two hours,” he replied.
“Good, we probably won’t need that much time. How much are we estimating the treasure is worth?” Jesse asked Cassie and Sandstorm.
“It’s worth somewhere between one and two trillion dudichrons.” Cassie smiled as she answered. "Probably closer to two." Sandstorm and Wennagal nodded in agreement.
“Two Trillion?" Jesse asked in awe, momentarily forgetting their current crisis. This really was the treasure of the ages.
"Give or take," Cassie replied with a playful smile.
"Wow, here’s what we have to do. I would like the treasure fully enclosed in two of the landing bay’s four sections. Then, I would like approximately ten billion dudichrons worth of the treasure left out on the landing bay deck. At least half of that amount should be in gold coins. As we discussed, you may each have a few personal items from the treasure. We will be giving about ninety-five percent of it away, then we will be dividing the rest of the treasure among us equally later. Don't worry, we will each still receive a sizeable amount Reece will be receiving his share as well, any questions?”
“Who are we giving most of the treasure to, and why do we have to hide the treasure?” Sandstorm asked.
“I plan on giving a lot of it to Kaldor, and I would like to return all of the historically significant pieces to their planets of origin, we have no right to hold onto those pieces. I figure we'll still end up with a few billion each which is more than we could ever spend. We’re hiding the treasure because if Commander Enosal does agree to help us, he is going to be coming aboard with some of his men to take part of the treasure as payment. I don’t want him to see the rest of it just sitting out there and get tempted to change the deal. I may have saved his life, but he’s still a mercenary. If there are no other questions, let’s get started. Oh, and if anyone sees that Hyperian painting, bring it to me. That's our backup plan.”
As everyone except Collin was leaving the bridge, Josiah asked Jesse, “Are you going to take a couple personal items from the treasure?”
“I am going to take a few, actually,” he smiled as he knew his answer would throw his friend. “I’m taking some pieces for our friends back home."
“I knew you weren’t going to take anything for yourself, so I picked out two things I know you’ll like.” Josiah smiled as they entered the landing bay. Everyone except Suzy and Jesse had
already picked out their souvenirs. “I picked out two things for Reece, too.” As Josiah went to his bag to retrieve the items he picked out for him, Jesse smiled at how even in the midst of one of his biggest moments, Josiah had thought about his best friend.
Josiah handed him a beautiful sword and an even more impressive dagger. He couldn’t wait to research them and find out what they were and where they had been. “Thanks, Jo, this really means a lot to me. Hey Suzy, look at what Josiah found for me.”
She came over and looked at the beautiful weapons and nodded. “He certainly knows what you like.”
“Hey, Suzy,” he began again. “Can you pick out some things for Nina, Ariel and Zoe? You would be able to pick out something much nicer than I would. Josiah, can you pick out a couple things for Manny and Serge since you have already seen a lot of this stuff? Oh, get something for Jason, too. He'd really get a kick out of alien treasure from another galaxy. I’m going to find something to give Kiah when we see her again.”
Wennagal approached Jesse with a huge grin on his face and a large, framed painting in his hands. “I found it,” He bragged. “This is the painting you are looking for."
“Seriously?” Jesse countered excitement building inside of him. “Thanks, Wennagal, this is amazing. If you come across any more Hyperian stuff, put it aside, would you. It wouldn’t hurt to have more than one bargaining chip.”
______
No one had slept much by the time they reached Ginderbar. The excitement of the treasure was still fueling them. Jesse was very relieved when he was able to raise Commander Enosal on a secure transmission.
“Hello, Commander Enosal,” he began. “I don’t know if you remember me. We met a few weeks back in a restaurant.”
“Colonel Marcos,” the jovial response came through the vid screen. “Of course I remember you. Your line about punching pirates in the face has become quite the joke among my boys. How may I help the man that saved my life and the lives of my family?”
“I was wondering if I could hire your fleet,” he hesitantly replied. “But I do have to let you know up front, it won’t be an easy job.”
“Few people who need my services ever have an easy job in mind.” Enosal said somberly. “Who are we invading?”
“Well, we’d actually be defending,” he spoke cautiously. “Garrinoras will be attacking Kaldor with a significant fleet within the next two or three days. Kaldor does have a decent size defense fleet, but it’s not enough. I also have a few tricks up my sleeve, but we need some more muscle to ensure the victory.”
“Well, when you call in a favor, you really call it in,” Enosal laughed. “You want me to put my fleet on the line against the mighty Garrinoras? I heard he has close to two hundred ships. And Kaldor has what, eighty?”
“Sounds like you’ve already been briefed about what’s going on,” Jesse surmised. “If I could get you in the battle with fifty or so ships, I’m confident we can rout Garrinoras. I’m not asking as the man that helped you out. I will pay you, very well. If things go to plan, you won’t even lose many ships.”
“Oh, it’s a paying mission? That may help in the decision-making process,” Enosal laughed. “How much are you willing to pay to put my fleet on the line?”
“One hundred million chrons,” Jesse’s response caused a slight smile to cross Enosal’s face, but before he could reply, Jesse added; “Per ship.”
The look that came across Commander Enosal’s face when he made his offer reminded Jesse of the look someone has when they figure out a joke has been played on them. Enosal looked right at him though the vid screen and said, “Son, don’t even joke around about that kind of money. Really, what’s your offer?”
“Commander Enosal, I have recently come across more money than I could ever hope to spend in a hundred lifetimes. That is my number, truthfully. I can bring you aboard Endeavor right now and you can have a look at it yourself if you would like.” He smiled, hoping Enosal would go for it.
“I’m on my way, and if you are willing to pay that much for my services, I will have fifty of my best Battle Hammers available to fight at a time and place of your choosing for any cause you would like. Except slavery; I won’t help slavers.”
“Knowing that, Sir, I like you even more,” he replied as Enosal ended the transmission. Jesse decided that he liked this mercenary with a sense of honor and a hatred of slavery.
Half an hour later, Commander Enosal’s shuttle was docking with Endeavor. The Commander stepped onto the deck flanked by four bodyguards. After the pleasantries were exchanged and introductions were made, Jesse took Enosal to the portion of the treasure he would be receiving as payment if he should agree to the mission. When they arrived in the landing bay, Enosal stopped short and looked at the treasure in awe.
“You found it,” he exclaimed in wonder. “I heard there were other players looking for it besides Garrinoras, but I had no idea it was you.”
“We did,” Jesse confirmed. “The rest of it has been divided up among the crew and placed in the proper secure facilities. But we left this out for you.”
“There’s more than five billion worth of treasure here,” Enosal noted as he was sure Colonel Marcos already knew.
“I’m not sure how easy it will be for you to exchange this for chrons, or if you will even receive full value. I added some extra to make sure you get everything promised.” He looked at Commander Enosal then added with a laugh, “Plus, I really want you to say yes.”
“Well, Colonel Marcos, you certainly seem to be an honest man. You save my life and ask nothing in return, now you want to overpay for my services. How can I refuse; what’s the plan?” Enosal asked with a business-like expression on his face.
Jesse went over the plan with Enosal. Garrinoras would be arriving from Zinnebulous, and Commander Enosal was to arrive to the left flank of Garrinoras’ fleet four minutes after the pirates arrived. The Battle Hammers were to launch all of their fighters, which would have little resistance from the pirate fighters if one of Jesse’s tricks worked. Enosal enthusiastically agreed to the plan because it made the best use of his ship’s attack capabilities. His ships were made to attack. Although they could defend, it wasn’t their strength. Commander Enosal thought with a laugh, for the kind of money Marcos was paying, he would let his ships sit there and be used for target practice. When they were finished, Commander Enosal left to muster his fleet. He assured Jesse he would be within sensor range of Kaldor to make the jump to light space and arrive at the battle on time. This was the only option Jesse had, and the fate of Kaldor depended on whether or not Commander Enosal came through. Jesse thought him to be a man of his word, so he wasn’t worried. Endeavor left for Kaldor at best speed, hoping they would have enough time to put the full plan in motion.
______
Six years earlier………
This was it, the end was near. The man that ordered the hit on Jesse was in the safe house a kilometer away, and the final assault was about to begin. The two shuttles had just opened fire on the men guarding the safe house. After most of the guards had been taken down, Jesse’s team came from the west and Cartwright’s team came in from the east. It didn’t take long to eliminate the remaining guards and secure the perimeter. While Cartwright’s men set up a defensive perimeter, Jesse’s team breeched the safe house. The strike team and Jones’ marines were all wearing SSE battle suits, and, as a result, were able to cut through the Asian Dawn’s defenses pretty quickly. Not quickly enough, though. The Master was able to get to his safe room, and breaching those defenses would take time. Jesse was sure a lot more men would be arriving shortly. He didn’t want the fight to be prolonged, especially with Nina and Serge on the premises. Josiah took out a Brinium torch which could burn through just about anything, and quickly. He had come prepared for any eventuality because he couldn't let the Master get away, this needed to end, today.
When they breached the safe room, they were surprised to see an open door leading to a tunnel. But instead
of running, the master was letting in a large contingent of men. They had walked into a trap. The Master had grown tired of being hunted and had laid a trap. But the joke was on him, because Jesse's team wouldn’t go down easily. Jesse fired four explosive rounds into the roof of the tunnel, causing a collapse. Several men were buried under the rubble, and several more were stuck on the other side. That bought them enough time to deal with the twenty or so that had made it through. Ariel and Collin began laying down cover fire as they used a heavy oak desk for cover. Josiah and Manny were using shelves for cover on the other side while Jesse and Kimi were right out in the open. Jesse had already taken three shots, but the battle suit absorbed most of the damage. Kimi had been hit a couple times as well. The two of them began backing out through the hole in the wall.
Jones, meanwhile, was making the hole bigger to avoid a bottleneck or kill zone for anyone else trying to enter the room. He was in the process of taking out almost half the wall when a grenade flew through the opening. All of the men dove for cover. As the grenade exploded, the Master’s men made their move. Eight men rushed Ariel and Collin while the rest pinned down Josiah and Manny. Jesse saw what was happening and brought down the entire section of wall Jones’ men had been working on. As the wall crumbled, Jesse, Kimi and six marine commandoes opened fire, taking down all eight of the men charging Ariel and Collin. Jesse then turned his attention to the men pinning Josiah and Manny down. They opened fire again, and several of the Master’s men went down. Jones lost two of his marines to heavy weapons fire. Manny picked off the thug with the heavy blaster, and now the Master only had four men left.
Jesse could hear the sound of battle raging outside as more of the Master’s men had answered his call for help. By the time it was all said and done, there were likely to be over one hundred thugs here at the safe house. Fortunately, most of them would not be leaving alive. Having the marines along had thwarted the Master’s plan. He had obviously prepared for a surgical strike by Jesse's team.
