by Ron Francis
Five days later, they were finally getting ready to leave and head back to Hyperia after ten days of visiting Trinnus. Jesse hadn’t intended to stay that long, but the science bug had hit him and he felt like he was really making progress on what could turn out to be his greatest invention. It had also taken a bit longer than he had thought because he spent every lunch with his crew and every evening with Kimi. He didn’t want to take her for granted for one second, and he was glad Suzy had playfully called him on it. The crew was happy to be heading back to Hyperia. Jesse figured to go see the Federation after a little downtime.
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Later that day, they arrived on Hyperia. They had gone off in groups to different dinning locations for a nice meal from a still grateful planet. Jesse, Kimi, Collin and Bessa arrived back to the ship after dinner to the sounds of Reece and Xanu training. He went up to the common room and sat on the couch to try and sort through everything he had learned on Trinnus while Kimi decided to stay and watch the training. She couldn’t wait to begin training with Jesse again, but Suzy wouldn’t let him yet and after everything he had put Suzy through, she knew he wanted to honor her request.
While his girlfriend and crew were training or busying themselves with other activities, he began going through the data from Trinnus. The most interesting discovery had been an unintended one. He had recorded an energy signature almost identical to the one recorded at the conduit and had asked the lead technician where it had come from. The technician had told him it was the result of the high concentration of a specific mineral. When he arrived back at the ship that night he had SAMMI confirm the presence of that mineral in high quantities in both the Polisian and Kaldorian systems and he had his first official breakthrough in his galaxy drive research. He had spent a good amount of time on it before he went to spend some time with Kimi and the rest of the crew. Soon after arriving in the common room, he began to grow really tired.
Jesse looked wearily over to the rest of the crew. “Alright everyone, I’ve had a long day, I’m going to get some sleep early tonight. I’m leaving Josiah in command of the ship.” Kimi got up from the couch and took hold off his hand. She at least wanted to walk him to his quarters and stay with him until he fell asleep.
Suzy looked worriedly at Josiah as Jesse left the bridge. She approached him and asked, “Has Jesse been acting strange, Jo?”
“Not strange, he just seems to be more tired than normal lately. He might also be preoccupied with the galaxy drive on his mind. Why?”
“The Hyperion doctor said if his death brush fever came back, it could kill him. If he’s getting sick, I need to know. I’ll go check him out and let you know what I find.”
“Thanks, Suzy,” Josiah hadn’t thought about the possibility of the death brush fever returning, and now he, too was a little worried.
Suzy caught up with Jesse and Kimi in the galley, he was making himself a light snack before bed and she was keeping him company. She was happy to see how much time they had been spending together and while they kept the public displays of affection mostly to themselves, everyone knew they had grown a lot closer. “Hey, Jess, I’m going to need to run a blood test and take a couple readings before you go to bed, alright?”
“Why, I don’t feel sick, I’m just a little beat. Where’s this coming from, Suzy?”
“I noticed, and Josiah has commented that you seem more tired than normal, I want to make sure you’re not catching anything, that’s all.”
He could tell by the look in her eye that it was more than that. “You want to make sure the death brush fever isn’t back is what you meant,” he laughed.
“Jess, please, would it kill you to be a little proactive concerning your health?”
“Just do it, Jesse, Suzy is only trying to make sure you stay well, which I support, by the way.” Kimi added with a nudge.
Under the weight of their stares he conceded. “Alright, Suzy, let’s do it, if something is wrong, we need to know.” As they walked towards med-bay, he put his arm around his oldest friend and gave her a playful hug.
“I only bother you about it because I care,” she added as they walked.
“I know.”
Ten minutes later she looked at him and announced, “Good news, you have an upper respiratory infection, probably from spending so much time underground on Trinnus.”
“How is that good news?” He laughed while Kimi shot her a puzzled look.
“Because it’s not death brush fever.” She replied as she injected him with some medication. “You will need to relax for a few days, no activities, no leaving the ship, etcetera, etcetera.”
“I get it,” he laughed. “Hey, Suzy,” he looked a little more serious. “Is it possible that the death brush fever has weakened my immune system? I never used to get sick.”
“It’s possible,” she started slowly. “Or, it could be that combined with all of the injuries you took fighting Garrinoras. It could be any number of things. Don’t worry, I’ll keep my eye on it.”
“I know you will; thanks.” He smiled tiredly, “I’m gonna go sleep now.” Kimi gave Suzy a reassuring hug before slipping her arm inside Jesse’s and walking him to his quarters.
As Jesse left med-bay, she did wonder if his battle with death brush fever had weakened his immune system. She now had her next research project and she would be placing a call to the Hyperian doctor that treated Jesse in the morning.
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Jesse was finally enjoying some alone time on the ship. He still wasn’t feeling well and had finally been able to convince Kimi that she wouldn’t be a terrible girlfriend if she took a day and went out with the rest of the crew. He had wanted to do some more work on the galaxy drive anyway, so he was happy when she agreed.
Suzy and Bessa had left to go shopping and Kimi had tagged along with everyone else as they explored Queenstown, Hyperia’s second largest city. King Dominus had given them a strikingly beautiful woman to guide them and Reece immediately began pulling out all of the stops to get her attention. Their guide, Toria, was not the least bit interested in getting to know Reece. Toria, as fate would have it, was in love with Colonel Marcos. Even though his status with Kimi had been made known to her, she still paid Reece no mind. It was fun to watch Reece trying everything he could to get her attention only to be continuously shut down. He could tell that Suzy enjoyed it, but she almost felt bad for him.
“Reece, why don’t you give it up? Toria’s clearly not interested and you’ve missed several other opportunities while you’ve been preoccupied with her.” Collin asked.
“Opportunities come and go, Collin, just think of how much sweeter it will be when Toria finally comes around to my way of thinking.”
“You mean when she finally loses her sense and goes out with you?”
“You make it sound like a bad thing when you say it like that.” He laughed as Collin cracked a smirk and threw up his hands in surrender. He turned and began talking soccer with Kimi.
It was another beautiful day in the expansive Queenstown. Unlike Hyperia’s Royal City, Queenstown was spread out and built over a much larger area. Josiah marveled as he looked around. It’s obviously a well thought out city, everything seems in balance. The people, traffic, buildings and nature are all in sync here. Nothing seems out of place. The buildings do not reach as high into the sky here as they do in the capital and there are many more neatly manicured parks for the people of the city. The city seems to be built on a diamond shaped grid, radiating out from the King’s summer palace. I wish Jesse was seeing this, at least Kimi’s out today. We’ve been on Hyperia almost three weeks now, and Jesse has only been off the ship a couple times. I know he’s a hundred percent now, but he’s got the science bug and he’s probably trying to avoid Toria. He’s probably hoping Reece will wear her down, but she only had eyes for him. He’s wisely trying to avoid anything that will hinder his new relationship with Kimi.
Jesse ha
d spread out his equipment all over the landing bay. He was feeling well enough to go out, but wanted to make sure, so he stayed in. He thought about his crew as he worked. I’m glad I convinced Kimi to go have some fun today. Now that everyone is gone for the day, I’m free to continue my research into the possibility of a galaxy drive. I’m almost positive I’m going to be able to get it to work. I will need to take readings before the conduit opens, all the way through the conduit and when the conduit closed to be absolutely sure it’s possible, however, I am reasonably sure that it’s possible and I think I’m close to figuring it out. I can’t believe this idea had hit me on Trinnus of all places. You never know what’s going to spark an idea. I registered an energy signature similar to the signature Endeavor recorded at the conduit and that gave me the idea. When I asked about it, I was told it was made by a certain mineral. A mineral that SAMMI confirmed was also rich in the Polisian system and the Kaldorian system.
He had since been theorizing that the power the mineral was capable of producing was needed to open the conduit, probably in conjunction with the gravitational anomaly present when all of the planets in the system were aligned. If I could just figure out a way to recreate both the energy signature in the exact measure and replicate the gravitational anomaly, I’m reasonably certain I can open up a conduit. At the very least, I can open a gateway between Polisia and Kaldor. I bet that eventually it can be even more widely used, but even if it’s never used for more, a shortcut through space to the Kalephi Galaxy would be enough for me. I really am torn between home and here, the home of my distant ancestors. If his galaxy drive worked, I won’t need to be. If I can just get everyone I care about here, that would be the perfect solution.
He had decided he would need to invent two machines to use in tandem. He would need the machine to create the proper energy signature and the gravitational machine. The power needed to build up before the gravity would open the conduit and he felt there was less that could go wrong if he didn’t have to worry about both functions on one machine. It would also make it easier to replace if one wasn’t working properly. With SAMMI’s programming, she would be able to turn on the gravitational machine at the precise moment it needed to be on, so that wouldn’t be a problem. He also theorized that with one ship opening the conduit, many ships could enter before that ship went through. Theoretically, he could bring Vee-Fleet, the Olympians and all of their transports with them if they ever needed to. He was very excited about the possibilities, but it seemed like the only ones that currently shared his excitement were Collin and Bessa. He didn’t mind though, he knew Serge, Jason and Irina would be chomping at the bit to get in on this once Endeavor made its way home.
Jesse was really enjoying his research, it felt like when he was younger and he would take leave to go build something with Serge. He enjoyed thoughts of the old days when he and Rebecca would meet up with Nina and Serge. He enjoyed the joy of scientific breakthrough, and the camaraderie of the Rocket Riders. Sometimes he felt sad that his life had taken such a different turn. While he was contemplating the good old days, Suzy and Bessa returned from their shopping excursion. They were both very excited about showing him all of their purchases and he pretended to be excited about seeing all of their purchases. Halfway through, thankfully he received a transmission.
“Jesse, I hope you are well,” King Dominus greeted in a jovial manner.
“Getting stronger every day, Your Majesty. What can I do for you, Sire?”
“The Queen would like one more lunch with your crew, especially Doctor Baker before you leave for the Federation.”
“I am sure the crew would be delighted, what time would you like us to arrive?”
“Noon tomorrow, maybe we can talk you into staying a bit longer.”
“It is a possibility, Sire, I’m not sure my entire crew wants to continue exploring.”
“Very good, we shall discuss it more tomorrow.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” The transmission ended and Jesse knew he would be having an interesting conversation with his crew later.
After Jesse had told the crew of their invitation to the palace, he began to explore their feelings about going to the Federation. It seemed no one really cared and the decision would be left up to him. He wanted to honor the spirit of this mission, but he didn’t want to burn out his people either. While he was having his internal debate, Suzy approached him with an apprehension he never saw from her. Her eyes were sad as she said, “Jess, we need to talk.”
The seriousness in her eyes made him sit up and take notice. He turned to her and said, “Yeah, sure, Suzy, what’s on your mind? Is everything alright?”
“No, Jess, everything is not alright. I’m tired. I need a break. I didn’t sign up to be a battle medic. I’m a ship’s doctor. Cold, flu, the occasional training accident and maybe, horribly, a battle related injury once or twice in my life. I can’t do this anymore, I feel like I’ve reached my breaking point. I don’t want to sew you and Josiah and Kimi and Reece and Collin up any more. It hurts me to see you like that, any of you. I…I don’t want to seem pushy or ungrateful, but I don’t know if I can keep this pace up.” Jesse just looked at her, deep in thought as she poured out her soul to him. He knew the injuries bothered her. He had no idea they bothered her this much. Losing Ogen probably didn’t help. It must have really hurt her to see her closest friends in so much pain, so often, and he wanted to kick himself for not seeing it sooner. He was still musing when she added, “Jess, please say something.”
“Suzy, I am so sorry. You have always been such a rock for me that I took you for granted. I’m sorry that I didn’t think about your feelings in all of these battles. You always tell me to slow down, and I thought it was just you being you. I never stopped to think how much it might hurt you to see us in pain. I’m a terrible friend, please forgive me.”
“Jess, it’s not your fault, most of these situations could not be avoided. I just really want to take a couple months to relax. No more exploring, no more danger, just rest and fun. Can we do that? I’m not asking ship’s doctor to commanding officer; I’m asking one friend to another.”
“I think that’s a great idea, Suzy. We have more than enough data, several new technologies and more vid than we could ever watch. Why don’t we make Serge and Nina really happy by organizing as much as we can before we leave for home? It will also give me some time to spend with the King and more time to spend on the galaxy drive. Suzy, I think I’m close. I won’t know for sure until we make the return trip, but if it confirms my theories, we can do it. We would literally be weeks away from recreating it.”
Suzy loved how excited he was about this, and she loved that he just said yes without trying to explain or defend himself. He took her at her word and agreed to her request. “Thank you, Jess, this really means a lot to me. I can spend some time with the Queen working on Hyperia’s recovery pod as well. I’m really looking forward to this.” Jesse left to get some sleep, happy that Suzy was so excited. The King would be excited as well when Jesse told him they would be staying an additional two months to help finish the recovery pod.
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Now that Jesse had decided to keep the crew on Hyperia for a while longer, Collin had picked out the perfect location to ask the most important question he had ever asked. He took Bessa out to see the falls. He seemed a little nervous, but Jesse didn’t think anyone else had caught it. When they reached the falls, Collin began pacing around. Bessa called him over to sit next to her. “Collin, all of your pacing is making me dizzy. Won’t you come sit with me and enjoy this beautiful sight before us?” The sun was setting over the beautiful Hyperian waterfalls. The picturesque view that made them feel like they were sitting at the edge of the world was right before them. She still had a hard time believing she was here sometimes. As a slave, this picture would have never even entered her wildest dreams. That she shared it with the man she loved made it even better.
“I’m
sorry, Bess, I just have some stuff on my mind.”
“Anything you wish to speak about?” She asked, a note of concern in her voice.
“Alright, here goes.” Collin nervously began. “I’ve been waiting to come to someplace beautiful like this with you for a while because there is something important I need to ask you.”
“Of course, Collin, you can ask me anything, and you do not need beautiful waterfalls to do it.” She smiled, completely unaware of what was going on. Collin stood up from the bench and faced her. He knelt on one knee and produced a small black box from his pocket. “What are you doing, Collin?” Bessa asked, not understanding the earth custom.
“Bessa, this is a tradition from my homeworld. When a man is hopelessly in love with a woman and he knows that he cannot live a second without her, he proposes marriage.” He opened the box, and inside was the most beautiful diamond ring she had ever seen. A gold band, studded with small diamonds with a setting holding one large diamond, surrounded by six smaller sapphires. Bessa gasped when she saw it and Collin smiled. “Bessa, I love you more than anything in the galaxy. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. I can’t even remember what life was like before I met you that day on Binwar. You were the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on and as I began to get to know you, I fell deeply in love with you. Would you do me the honor of being my bride? Bessa, will you marry me?”
