Deep Space Endeavor 3 Death Match (37 page)

Suzy just shook her head with a mixture of playfulness and disbelief as she left the room.

“What?” he called after her, trying not to laugh.

Jesse lay on his bed, halfway between sleep and consciousness when he thought he smelled jasmine. He wasn’t sure if it was real or a dream, just as he still wasn’t sure if his relationship with Kimi was real or a dream. He opened his eyes to see Kimi sitting in his chair reading. He took a moment to just look at her and he couldn’t believe how lucky he was. Everything he had survived when he had no right to, everything he had done to miss the opportunity, and yet he was alive and she was here. He briefly wondered what she was reading when she suddenly realized he was watching her and put the data pad down to come sit next to him on the bed.

“What were you reading?”

She looked almost embarrassed as he gently prodded her for an answer. “I was reading your notes on the matter conduit and the possibility of recreating it.”

“Really? What did you think?”

“I think I’m in trouble.”

“What, what does that mean?”

“That project figures to be my main competition for your time and I don’t understand any of it.” She laughed playfully as he took her in his arms.

“So, you were scouting out the enemy.” He chided as he kissed her.

“Like any good soldier,” she replied and then kissed him back.

After four days, they arrived at Hyperia to a hero’s welcome. The death match was broadcast to the entire monarchy and if it were possible, Jesse was an even bigger hero to the Hyperian people now. He exited
Endeavor
and made his way over to the waiting King and Queen. The crowd gathered at the spaceport heartily cheered the arrival of the victorious, Colonel Marcos.

Jesse was the first to disembark and he enthusiastically greeted the King and Queen.

“Congratulations, my friend, your defeat of Garrinoras in the death match will be talked about for years. His death almost instantly brought the tensions down in the Lawless Sector, and it looks like they will be avoiding war. You have saved millions of lives.” He paused as he embraced him and allowed the Queen to do the same. “You are now one of the most famous men in the entire galaxy and we are humbled that you chose to come back to Hyperia to celebrate your return to health.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty; it is good to be back. And, from what I understand, it was your fleet that kept the sector from a long and costly conflict.” Dominus just waved off the comment as if it were no big deal; Jesse then watched as the King greeted each member of his crew and then they were on their way to the palace for lunch. Jesse rode alone with the King; he had an important matter to discuss.

“Your majesty,” he began, “I was wondering if my crew and I might spend a few days on Trinnus, studying the workings of the Moving City. Our last trip there wasn’t quite as long as we had hoped,” he laughed as he remembered the harrowing chase and last minute escape.

“Jesse, you certainly have a gift for understatement. Of course you may go back. I’ll have the city’s chief engineer awaiting your arrival.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty, I am really looking forward to this.”

“It is nothing, my friend. We shall be having lunch in a short while.”

“I am looking forward to that, too, Your Highness,” he replied. The speeder pulled to a stop and the King got out, followed by the Colonel, and they were on their way to more Hyperian hospitality.

The next morning, they left Hyperia to spend a week on Trinnus. Jesse had an empty notebook, and a head full of ideas. He couldn’t wait to study the tech that moved a city.

______

Jesse was thoroughly enjoying his time on Trinnus. He really was enjoying studying the inner workings of the moving city.
I can’t believe how well thought out it all is
. They had been there four days, and he was going to need at least two more. His crew were enjoying themselves, but all of them except for Collin were ready to go. They were, however, happy Jesse had found something to so completely occupy his time that wasn’t dangerous. Everyone except Kimi, that is.

“Don’t take it personally, Kimi, it’s only for a couple more days,” Suzy was saying as she tried to cheer her up.

“I know, and believe me, I am grateful that Jesse is not engaged in a dangerous undertaking, but I want to spend time with him. I’ve waited too long…”

“Remind him when he gets back for dinner.”

“You think he is going to skip lunch? Again?”

“Sorry, but yes. Why don’t you surprise him?”

“Because crawling around in the dirt under the city and then being ignored when he finds a shiny rock is not my idea of a romantic time.”

“I can’t say I blame you. At least enjoy the day with us, then smack some sense into your boyfriend’s head later.” Kimi smiled at that and Suzy figured she didn’t need to say anything else.

They met up with Josiah, Reece, Xanu and Tanna and mere planning on having lunch in the fully restored Market Gardens. Jesse, Collin and Bessa were planning on meeting them, but were running forty minutes late already. Josiah was musing that at least no one had tried to kill them this time as Jesse’s transmission came in, letting them know Bessa and Collin were on the way, but that he would be skipping lunch.

“He must really be having fun under the city,” Josiah concluded.

Just then, Collin and Bessa approached the table. “Jesse might be even more enthralled with the workings of this city than he is with battle,” Bessa began to a round of laughs.

“I guess will just have to think of some more effective means of tearing him away from his work.” Kimi added to another round of laughs along with some raised eyebrows. They continued eating and laughing while Jesse was working on understanding what he was seeing.

Jesse was really impressed by the power distribution he had been studying, but he loved it all. There was a large underground river that not only provided much of the power needed, but also had been rerouted to flow completely around the eleven-kilometer city center. This easily provided the source for the two large streams he had seen flowing through the city. It also created a natural entrance and exit for the water; it was genius. Above the river, a large roadway had been constructed in a loop surrounding the entire city center as well. This way, no matter where the city was in its rotation, all of the eight thoroughfares leading into the city center always led to the loop. Speeders could navigate their way into the city center from there. He loved everything he saw here, and was thinking about the possibility of building a moving city on one of the coalition planets when he received a transmission.

“Jesse, it is almost dinner time, you’re not ditching us again, are you?” He could almost hear Suzy’s smile as she spoke, she really was happy he wasn’t doing anything dangerous. “I think Kimi is sharpening one of her swords just in case you miss another meal.”

“What a coincidence, I just finished working and I happen to have some free time,” he teased. “I’ll be back to the hotel in ten minutes, Suzy.”

“You better, I would hate to think you were becoming someone who would like to spend his life underground.”

“No, just someone who wants to be underground for two more days,” he joked. “I’m on my way. Tell the crew to hold on just a few more minutes. I’ll tell Kimi I’m sorry about the last couple days when I get there.”

“Good, because we are all getting hungry, and we also miss our commanding officer.”

“I’m leaving now; I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

When they arrived at the restaurant, Jesse surprised all of them by having a separate table reserved for Kimi and himself. They were also happy to see the copious amounts of apology flowers adorning Kimi’s table. The kiss she gave him let everyone know he was forgiven.

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.

______

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.

______

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 had 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.”