END of LINE: Humanities Last Stand - part 3

by John Short

“ATTENTION ALL HANDS! Defiance will be entering Haven space in twenty minutes.” blared out from the ship-wide coms. Jon hurried to finish his shower using the specially installed bench in the cleansing area that Phillie had put in for his use. Then he dried off as best he could before putting on clean exercise clothes for the trip back to his stateroom in the wheelchair.

  Once in his sparse stateroom, he managed to get into his dress white Peacekeeper uniform with his swords at his waist before calling out on his com badge. “There will be an impromptu memorial held for our friend and team Lt. the Crown Prince of all Lexon Space, Zeprik. Uniform will be dress whites or for those who didn't bring them with you, wear your best tunic. A shuttle will be made available in the loading bay to transport attendees to the surface and back up to the ship. Zarrieal, please have the LT's squad and our flight crew standing by at our shuttle.” Then he set about getting himself back into the eckto-frames. Before leaving his stateroom Jon pocketed one of the crystal cubes that now held a stone with Zeprik's blood still staining it captive. He'd had the Canari jeweler place a small plaque on the bottom edges of one side of each cube that read, “You will never be forgotten.” He had also had the male add a super strong adhesive normally used to glue together panels on spaceship hulls to the bottom. Once Jon placed the cube on Zeprik's grave, it would take an expert using the latest explosives to remove it. He then made the trek down three flights to the hanger bay and greeted those who would be joining him on the surface. “I plan to stay in orbit for two days. After today's service I will be going by my home to pick up some things and tomorrow I plan to sign over my shares of the local BBITCo. revenues. I'm keeping the FTL ships and turning over all Haven system operations to my partners. Anyone who wishes to take leave has two days to spend on Haven, after that we're leaving. Anyone not interested of heading back out to the rim, let me know and I'll try to get BBITCo. to find you work here in system.”

  “Suppose we have family who wants to come out to the rim with us sir?” someone asked. “My kid brother has been begging me to ask you for a job.”

  “What can he do?” Jon asked.

  “About all he's good for is hacking computers.”

  “Tell him to find three of his buddies who want to go and they're all hired. Alright people, load up!” Jon called out.

  On the way down to the surface Jarrieal commented on how beautiful the planet was with its vast forests and clear lakes. Then after only a few minutes the shuttle's coms came alive. “Shuttles entering Haven air space, this is Haven Control. State your purpose.”

  “Haven Control, we are shuttle teams 1 and 2 from the Defiance. We are planning a unit wide memorial service for our fallen comrade, Prince Zeprik at the Summer Palace. We'll be out of your hair in a couple of hours.” Jarrieal told them.

  “Welcome to Haven. You are cleared to land at the Palace pad Teams 1 and 2. We're very sorry about the Prince. Everyone here liked him. Haven Control out.”

  “Good thing you didn't tell them that I was with you.” Jon told Jarrieal. “Last time I was here they had a fit because I parked Mercury in orbit. If they knew Defiance was mine they'd all be screaming for my head right now.”

  “What did you do to make them so mad at you?” Jarrieal asked.

  “I was born here.” Jon told him. “For some people that's more than enough.”

  “Relax Captain, your secret is safe with me. I won't say a word about the richest Warrior in three galaxies parking a Destroyer class Warship on their doorstep.” Jarrieal laughed and Jon chuckled along with him.

  In a matter of minutes, Jarrieal had landed the shuttle and was waiting as the team 2 shuttle shut down its drives before opening the rear hatch. Still it took over ten minutes for both shuttles to cool down enough for everyone to unload and arrange themselves into a proper military formation. These ships were never designed to be used to ferry troops. They usually opened the bottom doors and threw them out in their drop gear. When the engines cooled, Jon had Jarrieal lead them over to the guardhouse where he addressed a surprised Palace Guard. “Guardian, I am Admiral Connell and these people have all come to pay honor to a fallen comrade. Could you please arrange to have us escorted to the grave of Prince Zeprik?”

  “Certainly my Lord. If you will follow me, I'll take you there now.”

  “Thank you.” Jon replied and walked off behind the guard who lead them along a path of beautiful flowering plants and directly to a polished stone monument.

  “This is it my Lord. How long will your party be staying?”

  “Only a little while Guardian. Not longer than an hour.” The guard then gave Jon the fist over the heart salute that had become the standard sign of respect and backed several steps away so as not to interfere with the ceremony Jon had planned. Turning to those who had come to pay their respects Jon called out “ATTENTION! Here lies our fallen comrade. He was a loyal friend, a trusted leader and a hard core fighter.” As soon as Jon said that the Prince's entire team of grubs gave their team's war cry and the courtyard rang out with the yells of mature males calling out their own war cries. “Prince Zeprik, we have come to your resting place today to give you our respect and to wish you a safe journey to the after life.” Jon then took two steps away from the grave and one by one each person came forward and said one or two sentences before bowing to the grave in respect and to give the salute, then turning and walking back to the waiting shuttles where they all waited until the last man left the grave.

  When everyone had said their peace and walked away, Jon took the crystal encased stone from his pocket, peeled the protective backing away from the adhesive and carefully placed it on the grave. Standing, he bowed his head before muttering, “I'm so sorry Zeprik. I should have gotten to you sooner. Know this my only true friend from this goddess forsaken planet, you will never be forgotten.” Then he offered the one fisted salute, turned and walked toward the shuttle.

  Before he could get past the guards at the Palace gates a male dressed in fine robes approached him. “Excuse me, are you the Warrior, Jon Connell?”

  “Yes, how can I help you my Lord?” Jon asked. He was still on the Palace property so he decided to play nice with whoever this over dressed idiot was.

  “It is I who may be able to help you warrior.” the Regent told him. “I am Regent to the King. I have been sent here to inform you of changes in the status of certain relationships at the Lexon Palace. With the death of Prince Zeprik, Princess Satrina is now in line to inherit the throne. As the sole Royal Heir, she cannot be seen in the company of someone such as yourself. There is not even a single drop of Lexonian Royal blood in your veins. Her duty to the throne is to marry from the Royal Houses and create an heir worthy of the throne. She knows this and has sent me to ask that you stop sending her messages. She will not answer them. She will be our Queen one day and any offspring she bears must be pure. It is our way and she has been raised to take her proper place. She knows this and intends to do her duty to the throne and to the Royal House.”

  Jon bowed to the Regent, “Yes my Lord, you have been a great help to me. Please tell her that I wish her only the best, always. She will not be bothered by me anymore.” Then he turned and walked into his shuttle. Reaching the cockpit, he slammed his fist on the engine starts and shoved the throttles full on. “Jarrieal, fly this thing!” He bellowed.

  “Sure thing Captain, where are we going?” Jarrieal asked.

  “Head south, follow the road away from the Palace and you'll come to a large building made from trees. A short ways past that is my house. It sits back away from the roadway near a clear blue lake. You'll find it. If you fly over a city you've gone too far. Land in front of the house. I'm going to ask that you help me load a bunch of stuff I want taken up to the ship.” Jon instructed him. “By the way, I'm all done being anybodies Captain. My company says I'm an Admiral, so either call me Admiral or Jon. No more Captain.” Jon sat in the copilot's chair and fought back his tears. Satrina had abandoned him. He could have faced anything with he
r at his side, but now she was to become Queen and she no longer wished to have him as her mate. Damn the Royals to the lowest levels of hell! He'd go out to the rim and start killing things until the rim planets were safe or he had found this U'Lanto that had ordered his friend Zeprik killed. First though, he had to find the beast and wake it up!

  “That was easier than I thought it would be.” U'Lanto said to himself. Now he just had to let the Princess know that her giant had told him to his face that he would not be sending her a message and the stage would be set for him to take the throne. He even had one of the trusted Palace guards as a witness! Now, if he could just convince the stupid female to leave the Palace for sancturary sooner than expected, everything would be in place for the final act to begin.

  Three hours later, Jon and Jarrieal had loaded all of his things from the house into the shuttle and he was about to close the ramp when a huge black tiger lunged into the back and lay down. Jon had not expected his pet to suddenly decide to come, but now that it was here, he was glad that it had. Here at least was something he could trust from his home. His cat had always been loyal to him. Jarrieal took one look at the massive animal and nearly experienced heart failure. He had heard about these huge beasts, but this was the first one he'd ever seen up close and with it sitting between the pilot and copilot's chairs, it was too close! “You do realize that we are about to take a wild animal onboard a spaceship. Right Jon?” Jarrieal asked.

  “He'll be fine.” Jon told his pilot.

  “Its not him, its the rest of the crew!”

  “You sure its not just you being afraid of a little kitten?” Jon joked.

  “Kitten my ass!” Jarrieal said. “Wrenches is going to scream all the way back to Lexon!”

  “We're not going back there Jarrieal. When we get everyone onboard, I'll give navigation our new destination coords.”

  “I thought you said we were heading out to the rim worlds. You not planning to take cargo out there?”

  “Defiance will be our cargo. We'll be flying something much bigger and carrying Defiance along for the ride.”

  “Why in the Goddess' dress would we do that?” Jarrieal asked.

  “Because we'll need a base of operations once we get out there and I know just the thing. What would you say if I told you I know where we can get our hands on a ship that could easily load all five of the ships in my fleet with room to spare?” Jon smiled as he passed a photo of a massive spaceship over to Jarrieal. “Meet the beast. The humans who found her and flew her here named her the Leviathan, but she had a Umin name before that. She was originally named Galaxiey, the very same name as my aunt. I think that was the secret my uncle and his friends never discussed.”

  “You know where this antique is?”

  “I have the coords and the pass codes to let us get aboard without being blown up. Once we get there I'll have Wrenches run a complete check of her systems before we try to take her anywhere. Once we know the ship is OK to fly, then we'll start looking for cargo and try to attract pirates to us.” Jon leaned back in his chair and continued to rub Talga's ears. “Tomorrow I plan to contact the local BBITCo. office from the ship and make arrangements to have plenty of fuel crystals loaded on Defiance. I don't know how many it will take for us to reach Leviathan or to get back if she is too far gone to fly. So I'm planning to have plenty of them onboard before we leave Haven System.”

  “And just what are you going to do with your friend here?” Jarrieal asked pointing at Talga.

  “Jar, meet my good friend. He is as loyal as a wild animal can be and has never asked for anything more than a bowl of warm milk now and then. Talga, meet Jar. Jar is a friend, we're going to live on a spaceship, but I'll make sure you get to run and play. Will you help me?” The huge cat rubbed against Jon and purred. Then it looked at Jarrieal and rubbed its head against the male's side nudging Jarrieal's hand until he found himself scratching the cats ears.

  “Damn thing is a kitten.” Jarrieal commented.

  “So, are you still up for this?” Jon asked Jarrieal.

  “You've got me interested. You know how much I love an adventure.” Jarrieal answered all the while scratching Talga behind his ears.

  Jon's plans took more than one day to complete. First he had to make the entire crew feel easy around his pet. So he kept the massive cat with him everywhere he went. Soon it became as well known and accepted as Jon. The crew all petted the animal and in just a few short hours adjusted to having one of the wild tigers onboard the ship. Talga was soon walking the corridors of the ship freely and the crew never flinched when he came up to them to be petted.

  Whenever Talga wandered into the mess hall, Jinkly always gave him fresh raw meat and milk. Talga liked the funny cook after his second visit to the mess and always made it a point to rub against the male while purring loudly. The male was always good for a nice scratch behind the ears. Soon he found little Phillmma and he could smell Jon's scent on her. This was not the female Jon had kept at their house, but as strong as Jon's scent was on her she must be special to him, so Talga began staying near her to offer his protection to his human's other furry friend. As for Phillie, she was nervous around the big cat at first, but soon was petting him and scratching his ears to make him purr. She found herself enjoying having the animal near her. It gave off a feeling that whenever it was around, everything would be all right no matter how sad she was. It had found her crying one day and refused to leave her side until she had finally smiled and petted him.

  Jon contacted the BBITCo. corporate offices and worked out a deal. They would have complete control of all inter-system cargo and mining operations. He would have total control of the Inter-planetary FTL fleet. The ships registrations where all transferred to him so that he had total ownership of all of them. The Corporation would pay for their portion of the transaction by supplying the power crystals needed to fuel his ships. In return he would send one of them on regular runs to bring the supplies needed at Haven from the Lexon Station and to bring pack a load of the power crystals to the Lexon station at no charge provided he never had to go back there himself. He was finished with Haven, he'd never go back. Corporate insisted that he retain ownership of the company as this was the way everything had been set up cycles ago by his father and all the other members of the Connell family before him. As far as they were concerned, BBITCo. would always belong to the Connell family. The only stipulation Jon insisted on in the deal was that his name was never to be given to the press, nor was anyone at the Corporate office to ever tell the press what he was doing or where he was. He suggested that after five cycles the company be turned over to the eldest male from the Lexonian branch of the family and corporate agreed. If Jon was so determined never to return to Haven, they would turn the business over to his closest relative in the other branch of the Connell family. Within an hour of the deal being signed, shuttles started delivering power crystals to the Defiance.

  Once he had a full load of crystals and other supplies loaded along with his full crew onboard Defiance, Jon commed back to Haven control and was given clearence to leave the system. Within an hour of clearling the last orbit of the farthest planet's moons, he odered Defiance into the slip headed in a direction never before used by any of the ships leaving the system.

  At the BBITCo. corporate office:

  “What do you think he is going to do sir?” the comptroller asked

  “I'm not sure son,” the BBITCo. Commander said, “But I know I don't want to get in his way. That male is looking for a fight. I think he has set himself a blood quest and will kill anyone or anything that tries to stop him.”

  “He sure has changed since he joined the Peacekeepers. He's hard as a stonewall now.” the young comptroller noticed. “I think he means it that he's never coming back here.”

  “You'd be hard too if your best friend got killed right in front of you. Whether or not he comes back is hard to say. If his aunt comes home, he might. Even if just to visit her.”

  “D
o you think he really killed those ten pirates single handed with some kind of flaming swords while his own back was broken?”

  “Anything's possible son. The Connells have a long history of doing the impossible.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Once the Defiance's hold was filled with the precious blue power crystals, Jon handed a data disk to the navigation operator. “This is where we are going. Once we exit the slip, bring us to a full stop. We may have to adjust for the planetary drift. Those coords are over two hundred cycles old.”

  “Aye sir.” Once the nav computers had plotted the course and found the right combination of slipways to get there the officer looked at Jon saying, “Sir, that's out in the middle of nowhere. Its light cycles away from anything.”

  “I know that, but trust me. Something is out there.” Jon assured the officer. “This whole operation might get me killed, but I have no desire to take everyone here with me.” Jon left the bridge and went straight to his stateroom. He had been trying to walk without the eckto-frames and his back was in a lot of pain after just the short walk from his stateroom to the bridge and back. He collapsed on his bed and was asleep in seconds of his head hitting the pillow. He slept soundly for two full days before waking with a gnawing hunger nagging at him. He called to the mess hall and asked to have a meal brought to him and then made his way into the cleansing chamber for a shower. He fought to keep from using the bench that Phillie had made for him, but after several unsuccessful tries he finally dropped it into place and sat himself down to wash his legs and feet. After showering and dressing in his black leggings and silver and black tunic, Jon sat at his desk to read over some of the old records left by his ancestors back at the house. He needed to learn as much as he could about this ship they called Leviathan. So far the records spoke of how it had carried the survivors of the human race to the stars. The data disk he was studying now spoke of the ships drive systems. They were far more advanced than even Phillie's modifications to their own slip drives. He commed for Phillie and when she answered he asked her to join him.