by Ron Francis
Jesse almost jumped when the gruff voice finally answered. “Let me get this straight, Marcos, you led ten unarmed men against twenty-seven armed hostiles and defeated them losing only one Marine in the process?” Jesse almost thought his Sergeant sounded impressed as he waited for the other shoe to drop.
“Yes, Sir, well, we did steal some of their weapons before we engaged, Sir.”
“I have to say, I’m impressed. We will have a ship to you to pick up your team and your prisoners and we will mark Zyrnn as inhabited so that we don’t ever bother those villagers again. Sit tight for three hours. Your assignment wound up being far tougher than anything we could have come up with and your actions were those of Coalition Special Forces Marines. You all pass, and Thomas will be given a hero’s funeral.”
“Thank you, Sir, he deserves it.” Jesse paused before asking his last question. “I do have one question, Sir.”
“I think you’ve earned the right to one question, make it a good one, son.”
“You keep referring to the group as my team, how did you know they had elected me to lead them?”
A deep laughter erupted from within the Sergeant. It almost frightened Jesse as he realized he had never heard Sergeant Kelly laugh before. “There was never any other choice, son.” The communication ended and they waited for the pickup.
Before they boarded the ship to leave, several dozen villagers came out to meet them. One of the young women that had been held hostage apprehensively came to greet Jesse’s team. She bowed low and then said, “We not speak you tongue good, we say thanks to you. Sorry one did not live.” She bowed again and prepared to leave.
“Thank you for your kind words,” Jesse began. “We are sorry these men hurt people in your village. They will never be back to bother you again.” He smiled and she returned his smile before walking back to her people. They all cheered as Jesse and his team boarded the ship sent to pick them up. The area had been cleared of all the technology the hunters had brought with them, and the villagers had asked to be given the dead creatures. They probably provided both food and warm clothing, and Sergeant Kelly had allowed it without reservation.
When they arrived back at Fort Buffalo, they were treated as conquering heroes. It turned out the men they had fought were wanted on nineteen Coalition planets. They were near the top of Earth’s most wanted list. Jesse was promoted to Sergeant and given his own team to lead. Jesse had earned the top spot in the Special Forces training class. He was told he could pick from among any of the fifty-three Marines that had completed the training. He picked the eight men that were with him on the frozen world and then added Natasha Blatski, the top communications specialist among the rest of the class to join them. The rest of the soldiers in the graduating class were given assignments with existing teams.]
As the thoughts of Zyrnn fled from his mind, Jesse decided he was not happy with his lack of sleep over the last couple days and he could only hope he was rested enough to face whatever enhancements Garrinoras would be sporting for the morning session. He wearily sat down on his bed and wondered if this would be the start of his final two days among the living. He silently berated himself for his doubt and quoted the mantra; adapt and overcome, over and over.
______
There’s nothing like a hot shower. Jesse stood in the shower as the hot water hit his back and rolled down his body. He breathed deeply as steam filled the shower stall and he felt his confidence returning as the water seemingly washed the tiredness from his body. He exited the shower and sat alone in his room as he dressed for the match. No armor was to be worn for the first session of battle, so he dressed in his tan BDU’s with a navy blue battle suit tee shirt. The shirt provided minimal protection and could not be considered armor. He sat on his bed as he laced up his old Special Forces combat boots. He hadn’t worn them in a long time but they fit as comfortably as if he had put them on yesterday. He tightened his belt, which had a canteen of water attached to it. The canteen was the only object he was allowed to bring into the arena besides his gloves, and he would be checked as he entered. Garrinoras would also be checked as he entered by a delegation from Ginderbar. This was one of the compromises he had fought tooth and nail against, but Jesse just wouldn’t accept the challenge unless it was agreed to. This stipulation sent a clear message to the government of Chawanas that Jesse didn’t trust their ability to be objective in their treatment of Garrinoras. Not to mention, it put another ten soldiers on the ground for when it came time for them to escape. Jesse looked over his room and nothing was out of place. He smiled as the thought hit him, at least one area of my life is in order. His mind drifted to his crew and his friends and family in the Milky Way. He always knew something like this might happen, not a death match per se, but being killed on an alien world, far from his family and those he loved. He had some of the people he loved with him, and he was glad his family was not here because they might not make it out alive if they were. As much as he worried about Garrinoras cheating in the actual match, he worried even more about what was likely to take place when the match was done. Would his crew be able to get themselves to safety? As he stood to leave, he grabbed a long-sleeved camouflage shirt to wear over his tee shirt because he knew the temperature would be cooler outside.
He noticed a distinct lack of aroma as he sat down by himself to a small breakfast of a ration bar, a glass of water and an energy supplement. This particular supplement was designed to keep a soldier going for up to ten hours. He hated taking it, but he knew he needed it. He felt it might give him some of the stamina he had been missing since Pandara. He wasn’t sure he would ever be right again, but for today he needed any edge he could get. After he had left the bridge earlier, he had asked his crew to give him a wide berth until it was time to leave the ship. He needed to get himself into the right frame of mind. He knew that would be impossible with all of his crew and their Kalephi colleagues’ well wishes being sent his way the whole time. When the time came, they would all be waiting for him in the landing bay. He walked the gleaming white corridor of the ship to the empty common room and thought about home. He badly wanted to see Nina and Serge again. He wanted to hug his kid cousin, Ariel, and have one more beer with Manny and Jason. He wanted to shake President Sandoval’s hand, and see Admiral Bliney make it back from the outer territories. He knew Endeavor would be leaving the Kalephi Galaxy in six months, one way or another. He was going to make sure he was on board when it did.
As he walked the empty corridors alone towards the landing bay, his cool, collected outward appearance was at war with his inward feelings. He would make no public concession that there was even a possibility he would lose, in fact, the only concession he had made at all was a vid that stated if he didn’t make it back, everything he owned would be split evenly among his friends and family. No one but Josiah even knew about the vid, because he didn’t want to worry anyone that he might be having doubts. The reality was that he was having doubts. He didn’t doubt he could take Garrinoras in a fair fight. As he had told Josiah, he doubted his opponent would fight fair. He wasn’t one hundred percent and Garrinoras had what amounted to home field advantage. He knew Garrinoras would have people alerting him to his opponent’s whereabouts throughout the competition, and it wouldn’t surprise him if there were extra weapons hidden throughout the arena, but none of that mattered. He couldn’t change it if he tried. He just had to be ready for whatever his opponent had cooked up. Adapt and overcome.
It was now time to go, and as nervous as he was, he was happy the wait was finally over. As he entered the landing bay, his crew of fifty awaited him. It was the largest crew that had ever been aboard Endeavor, and he actually knew less than half of them. He was, however, glad they were all here. Each one gave them a better chance to survive the aftermath of the match. He shook hands with all of Sergeant Rivada’s soldiers that would be staying on the ship as they wished him luck. He embraced Bessa. She was trying so hard not to, but she broke down a
nd cried.
“Please be careful and come back to us,” she said softly while she held his embrace and hot tears streamed down her lovely face.
He kissed her forehead and replied. “You know I’ll do my best, and my best has always been good enough.” He smiled and shook hands with Collin as the Lieutenant moved to console Bessa. Finally, he moved to embrace Suzy, and he could see the worry in her eyes through the smile she tried to put on. He winked at her, causing her to smile a little more. He also greeted Enso and Teha before he left. He had elected to keep them on the ship in favor of two more of Rivada’s men, so that Captain Reed would have some friendly faces to comfort her when she arrived at the ship. The rest of his crew would be coming with him, along with the rest of Captain Reed’s crew, the Hyperian soldiers and nine of Rivada’s soldiers. He supposed it would make for a pretty imposing sight as the twenty-five men and women left ahead of him. They would also be bringing three of the big Ginderian hunting cats sergeant Rivada’s men had brought along. His entourage was to make sure everything was all right at the tunnel and at the stadium’s entrance before he approached. He followed behind them, flanked by Shadow and Commando.
His crew watched as he slowly walked the hundred-meter path towards the stadium. It was the loneliest walk of his life. Commando could sense his unease and fixed him with a quizzical stare. He stopped almost five meters short of the contestant tunnel, looked around at the beautiful forest surrounding the stadium and called out to the Zinnebailans waiting for him. “Send Captain Reed out to me.”
They shook their heads no as the lead guard responded. “We have orders not to release the prisoner until you are on the arena floor. Come this way, human.” His matter-of-fact tone told Jesse it would be unwise to defy him, but Jesse just glared at him and defied him anyway.
“No, I don’t think I will.” He stood his ground; he was getting sick of having to fight for every last detail of what was already agreed upon. “I know that once I enter the arena, I can no longer leave under penalty of death. At that point, I have no guarantee that you will release Captain Reed. In fact, I’m certain you will not because I don’t trust you. I won’t enter the arena until Captain Reed is safely aboard my ship.”
The lead guard drew his blaster and repeated with some menace in his voice, “Come this way, human.” His partner had also drawn his blaster and the showdown had begun.
Commando began a low rumbling growl that clearly frightened the Zinnebailan guards and was soon joined by Shadow. The sight of the two giant snow wolves waiting for the order to strike while baring their teeth and growling was enough for the guards to take a step back. Jesse just looked at the guards blasters and laughed as his team all raised theirs. “You want to shoot me? Go ahead!” He laughed again. “But I don’t think Garrinoras, or the half million people in that giant stadium, will be very happy with you if you do. All I’m asking for is what we have already previously agreed upon. If you can’t do that, I can’t fight. Bring her out now or I walk away. I’m tired of your nonsense, what’s it gonna be?”
The lead guard still shook his head no, so Jesse continued. “Last chance, it’s all up to you. Do I see Captain Reed board my ship, or do I walk away? It’s your call.”
Jesse began to walk back towards his ship and the guards relented. He saw out of the corner of his eye two more guards bringing Captain Reed out. He turned back around to see them take off her restraints, and she began walking slowly towards him.
She looked haggard, tired and a little bit bloody, but she was still beautiful. She stopped when she was close enough to touch Jesse and said, “I can’t believe you would do this for me, after how I ended… things.”
“There’s more at stake here than just you and I,” He replied as he looked at her. “How are you feeling, did they treat you alright?”
“About as well as could be expected, I’ve been through worse.” Her eyes, however, told a different story. As she began to move, Jesse gently caught her arm, and she stopped to look at him again.
“I just have one question, was any of it real? I’ve never been good at reading women, so I have to know, was there ever a point that our relationship was real for you?”
She turned away, this was the part she had been dreading most out of the whole ordeal. “No,” she replied not meeting his eyes.
“Why then? What did I do to you to deserve that? I gave you my word from day one that I would help you. There was no reason you had to use me to get what you wanted. I was always going to do my best to get your cousin back. Then, as soon as we got Enso and the treasure, you took your share and you were gone. You didn’t even say goodbye.” The hurt was rolling off him in near visible waves. She had so desperately hoped to never see him again, because she knew she had not treated him fairly, but here he was, getting ready to put his life on the line and he needed answers.
Either Jesse and Cassie were unaware that they were being recorded for all to see, or they didn’t care, but the crowded stadium was transfixed on this drama that was unfolding before their eyes. The lead guard was given instructions not to interfere in the conversation because the added drama was pushing up ratings even further.
“I’ll tell you what happened, I at least owe you that much.” She continued while still looking at the ground. “I did everything I could to get you to fall for me because I needed to be sure you would stay interested in helping me get my cousin and my ship back. I have never been good at trusting people. I have always felt that other people just wanted to take advantage of me. Because of that, I developed the philosophy of taking advantage of others before they have the opportunity to take advantage of me. I know it’s not the best way to live, but it was always how I had gotten through life. Enso is the only family I have left and I couldn’t lose him. It’s always been easy for me to get guys to fall for me, so I did it to you. I didn’t believe you would follow through otherwise. As soon as I got what I wanted, I left. I know it was a terrible thing to do, but I did what I had to do for my family. I am sorry I hurt you.” She replied with tear-filled eyes.
“You never really knew me at all; did you?”
Cassie slowly answered as the galaxy watched, transfixed on the drama unfolding before them. “I guess I never did, and I’m sorry for that as well. You have always kept your word, and I had no reason to doubt you would continue. Thank you for coming for me. I honestly didn’t think you would.”
Jesse smiled a little as he looked up, “I almost didn’t; you can thank my crew, Captain.”
With that, he turned and began slowly walking towards the stadium as she hurried towards Endeavor. It had stung that he had not called her by name, she had gotten used to the way he called her Cassie, but what did she expect, she had used him and he was still hurting. When she reached Endeavor, Suzy came out to scan her. She did a through scan with the portable, and then gave Jesse the thumbs up. Then, she took Cassie into the ship. Jesse looked at the lead guard and said, “Let’s go.”
The guard just looked at him, shock evident on his green face and said, “That woman betrayed you, and yet, you are still willing to give up your life to help her, why?”
He looked at the guard and replied, “I guess there are three reasons. First, where I come from we don’t leave our people behind. She was a member of my crew, so she doesn’t get left behind. Not if I can help her. The second reason is that I have no desire to see the Lawless Sector descend into chaos, which is what might have happened if Kaldor and Ginderbar mounted an armed rescue. Billions of innocents would suffer if that happened; innocent Zinnebailans, Mannagore, Humans, Farannsian and many others. If we can avoid all of that suffering by only putting two lives on the line, than that is a noble undertaking.”
The guard looked really confused as he asked; “Why would you care about what happens to Zinnebailans or Mannagore or any other sentient species besides humans?”
“Because, I don’t have any ill will towards anyone, and it is my deepes
t wish that eventually all of the hate will stop. I wish these worlds could all live in peace with one another.”
Jesse continued into the tunnel and the guard stopped him. “Wait, what is the third reason?”
Jesse smiled as he turned around and said, “I really don’t like Garrinoras, and killing him seems like a good idea.” He turned and stepped into the arena, past the point of no return.
The guard just looked at him, thinking about the conversation they had just had. It was the first conversation he had ever had with a human, and it troubled him to think that there were some humans that didn’t hate him, because that was what he had always been taught to believe.
As Jesse entered the arena, Garrinoras smiled and pressed a button. He knew his signal wouldn’t penetrate Endeavor’s jamming field, but as soon as the field was turned off, Captain Reed would be dead. The device also contained a backup on a timer that should begin starting its countdown any moment now. She was dead either way; she just didn’t know it yet. He had put explosives in her head that would be impossible to get out without killing her. She should be dead about an hour before the end of the day’s fighting. Then Jesse Marcos would take his tired and battered body back to his ship only to find out his death would be for nothing. The despair he would feel would be almost good enough to taste. He smiled again, and then strode purposefully into the arena to rid himself, once and for all, of Colonel Jesse Marcos.
