Deep Space Endeavor 3 Death Match

by Ron Francis

  Manny commed the Churchill as they waited. “Admiral, why don’t you take control of the fleet,” he began. “We could use someone with your knowledge and experience leading us.”

  “That is most gracious of you to say, Captain Hernandez, but I must decline; my career is already over. Besides, I’ve already lost twice to these guys; it may be time for some new ideas.”

  “Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, Polisia is our home and everyone we love is here, we’re not letting these monsters through.” Manny ended the transmission and waited. He had been in battle many times over the course of a stellar Special Forces career, but the waiting before was always the worst. They were as ready as they could be; all that was left now was the waiting. Just over three hundred enemy ships were headed their way. If they didn’t stop them, Polisia would be lost. It was that simple and yet that complicated. To save their home they had to stop bloodthirsty monsters at three to one odds.

  Nina couldn’t believe he actually went through with it. President Rhodes was all over the Vid news this morning declaring the Marcos family and the Romanov family to be enemies of the state. He went on to name several of the people close to them as well. He urged the ships at Polisia to turn on them and warned that anyone who stood with them would be punished for treason against the Coalition. He spent the next hour chronicling everything they had done wrong. Most of it was invented and could never be proven. It was all just a ploy to turn the people against them. Even if they saved Polisia, at this point, they were looking at being criminals. She called Jason down to hack the vid-news network so she could get her side out before everyone hated them.

  She broke into one of the President’s nonsensical rants with the words, “Hello citizens of the Coalition, I am Nina Romanov, the woman our distinguished leader has spent the last several hours trying to get you to hate. I am unsure of where the President has gotten his information, but what he has said about my family and myself is categorically untrue. In fact, the only law I have broken is hacking this vid-feed to defend myself. President Rhodes does not have one shred of evidence to back up anything he has said, nor does he have a shred of dignity. He said I stole ships? They were my ships. He claims I am under contract to give those ships to the Coalition. Those ships were always slated for the defense of Polisia. If he wants them, I will give them to him as soon as they pay for the seventy plus ships they have purchased and not paid for. He forgot to mention that bit. Almost half of the ships the government has taken possession of from us are still unpaid for. Does he think us to be a charity that exists simply to give him what he wants? He is the worst kind of client. Until I have the money he owes us for the ships he has already purchased, he will get nothing, and I challenge him to come up with a law that is being broken in regards to our ships. In accordance with Coalition law, I am well within my rights to begin repossessing our ships if they cannot pay. From now on, I will need the money in advance for any ships the Coalition Government purchases because I am unsure of our client’s ability to pay.

  “President Rhodes wishes me to look like a monster, but he is the one that will not send help to our outer planets. He and his new allies sit idly by while Coalition citizens are slaughtered by the millions. I know he has kept this information from you, but Triton, Stamdall and Geshern have all suffered orbital bombardment, and at this time, over sixteen million are unaccounted for. Yet, I am the bad guy for not wanting the same to happen to Polisia, my home. I have stolen nothing and done no wrong, yet three times assassins sent by the Enclave have tried to kill me. Three times they tried to kill my cousin. They tried to kill my friends, they did kill four of my top executives and close friends, and they tried to kill my seventeen-year-old nephew and sixteen-year-old niece. While avoiding all of those threats, our construction fell behind, and for that, I am branded a traitor. President Rhodes is an Enclave stooge. He was sent here long ago as part of a sleeper cell and he has risen to power. He is about to hand that power over to those who would use us and leave us defenseless. The reason they will send no help is because they wish the Enclave to have all of our ships to fight their enemy for them. In fact, the aliens are only attacking us now because of our alliance with the Enclave. I hope you will all see the truth.” Her speech was over and the political pundits immediately began talking about the implications of what she had said. None of them had known about the outer planets and they began seeking proof to Nina’s claims. She sent many of the communiqués that were being sent from private citizens to Polisia chronicling what had happened. The entire Coalition was abuzz with this news when the President came back on, this time with Lucien.

  “Nina Romanov spoke passionately about wanting us to know the truth, well here it is. I am a citizen of the Enclave. I was sent here as part of a long-term study team. We were to study your society to see if the Enclave would want to align ourselves with you. We like everything we see, except the Marcos family. We believe they wield way too much power for the good of the Coalition…”

  “Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we.” Lucien impatiently cut in. “Aliens are at your doorstep and we have the power to help you. We will not, however, unless the Marcos and Romanov families are brought to us along with any of their co-conspirators. As of this moment, the government is seizing all of their facilities and assets for the good of the Coalition, which means, they are now illegally in possession of twenty-four of our vessels. Polisia may already be lost, don’t let the rest of the Coalition be. I will expect a decision from each of the twenty-nine planets of the Coalition by tomorrow morning. Either they go or we do.” Lucien smiled because he knew these people would turn on his enemies to save themselves. Now he just had to wait.

  Nina was back on the news feed instantly, “We wield too much power? Maybe it’s more like we won’t be intimidated, or serve a warmongering savage. Do you see, citizens, this Enclave leader now speaks for our government. Lucien said the government was seizing our facilities, he said we were now illegally in possession of his ships. I ask you, has Lucien paid for any of those vessels? What makes them his ships? Is it because he believes this Enclave to be more powerful than we are? So now, apparently the philosophy of the Coalition is might makes right. And why is President Rhodes letting this dog speak for him? Does Lucien now own our government as well? I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that the moment one of the enemy combatants of the Enclave enter one of our facilities is the moment Sea Side Enterprises declares war on the Enclave. I don’t care if they are pretending to be our allies.” Nina finished her rebuttal and Jason cut the feed.

  Ariel was in shock over what she had just heard when Manny addressed the fleet. “OK people, I’m not good at speeches. You all just heard Little Lucien and his lap dog, now hear this. If that spineless coward Rhodes allows this to stand, we are now outlaws. Anyone that decides to stand with us, even in defense of this world, will likely be deemed an outlaw as well. Anyone that wants to leave, go now, because the aliens are coming and we’re gonna protect Polisia at all costs. Our government has abandoned us to the same fate as Stamdall, Geshern and Triton, and they will eventually come for us all if we stand in defense of Polisia. If that’s breaking the law of the Enclave, call me a criminal.”

  Ariel felt some vindication as Captain after Captain replied. The resounding sentiment was; “I’m staying for Polisia, let the Enclave come.”

  Nina was resigned. She knew she would forever hate herself for what she was about to do, but she had to do it. There was no way the Enclave would have any of their facilities. She had made sure all of her employees were barred from the premises of all of their facilities. Anyone still there was likely to be Enclave and she didn’t care. She watched on the vid feeds from every one of their facilities as Enclave soldiers stormed them and broke down the doors. She defiantly thought, you want to take it all Rhodes, take this. Then she pressed the button and Sea Side Enterprises was no more. All of the ship building facilities, offices and other tech facilities w
ere gone in an instant, along with all of the Enclave soldiers that had raided them. To anyone watching, it looked as if the Enclave raid had triggered a self-destruct. She relished the thought of Rhodes and Lucien’s reactions when they found out there were no more SSE facilities anywhere. She may have struck a severe blow to their chances of winning this war, but she no longer cared. Her only goal now was protecting her family and her people. She wept as she realized she had not only destroyed hers and Serge’s legacy, but Jesse’s as well. He had done nothing to deserve the storm he would be flying back into, hopefully within the next couple days.

  Nina was stirred out of her sorrow by the words “Alien fleet approaching.” broadcast throughout the fleet.

  ______

  Jesse was so excited. He had loved the Kalephi Galaxy and wanted to eventually come back and live here, but he couldn’t wait to get home. The final two weeks had gone by without incident. He had spent two amazing days with Kimi. I loved that beach resort we relaxed at. All of the people we ran into there were warm and kind. Not to mention that any vacation where I get to see Kimi wearing beach attire is a great idea. I loved how much fun she was having. I don’t usually get to see her having fun with the exception of the almost imperceptible smile she has while destroying enemy fighters. We both really enjoyed the seafood, and we learned a Kaldorian beach sport, which is almost like polo except on machines that look and acted a lot like a jet ski. Our new Kaldorian friends were patient and gracious as we learned their sport and they enjoyed themselves watching us try. He could still smell the fresh sea air and see the smile on Kimi’s face as he thought about the brief vacation. I was also able to spend a fun-filled afternoon with Kiah and I have made incredible strides in the galaxy drive. I really am literally weeks away from being able to build it. As he thought about the last two weeks, a particular thought crossed his mind. It’s ironic that we won’t need any of those extra light drives we worked so hard to get and integrate. Going through the Conduit was a much better option, and for once, it looked like plan A would work out. He badly wanted to see how everyone was doing, and share the adventures with his inner circle. He couldn’t wait to tell Nina and Ariel about Kimi. He was as happy as he had ever been.

  “Alright everyone, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for and it’s come a day early. Admiral Sonnadall, is the fleet ready?”

  “Yes it is, Colonel. We’re ready to go on your command.”

  “I have no idea what’s waiting for us, and I can’t promise you’ll get home, so if anyone wants to back out, this is your last chance.” When no one took him up on his offer, he smiled. “Alright, Lieutenant Torrensede, take us in.”

  Collin smiled and replied, “Aye aye, Sir.” Almost immediately, they were in the conduit. There was no explosion this time, so the data was going to be far more accurate. SAMMI had been recording every energy signature, gravitational reading and other assorted sensor information. When they returned home, he would get Serge, Jason and Irina in on this right away and soon enough, they would be able to come back. They exited the conduit and Jesse checked in with the fleet. Before they could respond, SAMMI alerted them to a large-scale conflict getting ready to take place over Polisia. They were still thirty minutes away, and apparently, the invading fleet was still getting into position, but Jesse knew they hadn’t spotted him yet. In fact, their ships were positioned in a way that told him they knew no reinforcements would be arriving. That was their first mistake. All of the ships had checked in and Admiral Sonnadall gave him the good news that everyone had made it through. Jesse had SAMMI patch him through to the fleet.

  “It seems we have arrived in one piece. Unfortunately, we have also arrived to battle. We are just about a half hour out at top sublight speed. I will fill you in as soon as I know what the situation is.” He sent out a transmission and was happy to see Ariel. She seemed a little haggard and it seemed she had grown up a bit, which made him a little sad. Her eyes lit up when she saw him. “Jesse,” she yelled. “You’re a day early!” She sighed heavily and he could tell she hoped he had a miracle.

  “Hey, beautiful. Looks like I’m just in time. How can I help?”

  “Just get here as soon as you can. So much has happened since you guys left and almost none of it good.” She looked so sad as she said that, he hated seeing her like that. He just wanted to hug her.

  “Well, Cousin, I have some good news. I have fifty ships with me and we’re twenty minutes out. Where do you need us?”

  The light returned to her eyes and she said, “We have five alien races banded together calling themselves the Human Suppression Syndicate. They’ve attacked Polisia with three hundred ships and we have about a hundred ten defending, plus Polisia’s planetary defenses. Jess, they’ve already completely annihilated Triton, Stamdall and Geshern. Over sixteen million are dead. Earth, and her new ally, long story, refuse to send help, so it’s just us.”

  “Sounds tough, we’ll get the details later, for now, tell Serge to put more of his guns in play. I know that he has them. I’ll bring my fleet up behind them at full speed and we can catch them in a cross fire. I’ll see you when they’re gone.” She sighed with the same world-weary look in her eye and her transmission winked out. He commed the Admiral again and asked, “Admiral, did you hear that.”

  “Yes I did, Colonel. We’re right behind you, where do you want us?”

  “I want the Hyperian Destroyers, Kaldor’s Destroyer and your Melee Cruisers to form up the center. Fill in the Frigates and Gunships around them as you see fit. I want six Battle Hammers on each flank. We’re gonna bottle em up and let Serge shoot em down like fish in a barrel. I’m looking forward to seeing your Melee Cruisers ram some bad guys.”

  “You won’t be disappointed.” The Admiral heartily replied. He had heard about Colonel Jesse Marcos’ brilliance during battle, now he was going to be witnessing it firsthand.

  They had only just arrived and were already testing the Kalephi ships against an unknown alien armada. As they approached Polisia, they saw the chaos, and flew towards battle.