Deep Space Endeavor (23 page)

“I told you she would; we now have everything
Endeavor
has.” He smiled as the woman sat down.

“It looks like you two are getting pretty cozy, Captain.”

Joldas Topanar laughed a cruel laugh and replied, “The woman has her charms and she is fun to play with, but do you really think I could ever fall in love with an alien? Now, we have what we came for; let’s begin sorting it all out.”

______

Jesse and Suzy made it back to the suite after dinner and a show, Suzy had loved the show although Jesse had struggled to understand it. He thought it was an ancient love story set in a long forgotten war. The music was spectacular and he really did enjoy himself, not as much as Suzy did, but enough. Now he had tired eyes and he wanted to give in to them. As he was about to fall asleep in an unbelievably comfortable bed, a call came in to his comm.

“
Colonel, we have a bit of a situation.” Josiah’s voice was serious but tentative.

“What’s wrong, Jo?”

“Well, we went to a really good restaurant. Then, we visited the exotic arms place and after we dropped off our stuff in our rooms, we decided to check out a club.” Josiah began, obviously trying to choose his words carefully.

“Josiah, I’m really tired, just get to the point.”

“We’re in jail,” he replied, without further preamble.

“All of you!” H
e replied in disbelief. “What happened?”

“Not all of us, Reece had already left to meet up with Kora.
We were at the club, having fun checking things out. Suddenly, these two big guys came over to ask Cassie and Kimi if they would like to dance. When they refused, the men grew insistent. When they still refused, one of the men grew a little violent.”

He could already see where this was headed. “So you, Collin, and Wennagal jumped in to protect the ladies and got yourselves into trouble?”

“Not exactly,” Josiah continued. “One of the men hit Cassie, and then Kimi broke his jaw.”

“But I didn’t even think Kimi liked Cassie.” He
replied with genuine surprise in his voice.

“I know,” Josiah agreed. “But that started it. The other man came after Kimi, and Cassie jumped on his back. The man threw her off his back into a group of other dancers, who then tried to take their frustration out on Cassie. That’s when Wennagal, Collin and I jumped in.”

“What’s the damage?”

“Nine people headed to the hospital. There’s twelve thousand chrons damage to the club. They are making us pay for the whole thing, even though those other guys started it. There is also a five thousand chron fine for disturbing the peace.”

“So, let me get this straight, you guys are in jail for getting into a bar fight?” He asked, trying hard not to laugh.

“I know you must be disappointed,” Josiah began.

“Disappointed?" He laughed. "I can’t wait to tell Suzy. Who's bailing who out now?”

“Fine
, have your fun, but they are making me end the transmission.” Josiah pleaded.

“Ok
ay, I’m on my way. It’ll take a little while because I don’t have that kind of money on me, so I have to return to
Endeavor
. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” The transmission ended and he walked over to Suzy’s door with a smile on his face. He was thankful to see her light still on. He gently knocked and she opened the door.

“Josiah and the crew are in jail. They got into a bar fight and I have to go pay their fines and get them released.” He
informed her with a smile on his face.

“And this is funny why?” She replied, unsure of why Jesse was so happy about it.

“Think about it, Suzy. How many times have I ever had to bail Josiah out for something like this before?”

“To the best of my knowledge, never.” she replied.

“Exactly, but he has never let me forget about the two times he had to bail me out,” he laughed. “Now I’m the one bailing him out, and I'm gonna make him squirm for a while. Just to, you know... even the score a bit.”

“Men are so strange,” she commented as she was beginning to close her door.
“Go have your fun tormenting Josiah and get your crew out of jail.” She added. He turned to leave and she watched with a smile as he left the suite.

______

………… Back on Polisia, Serge Romanov was sure
Endeavor
had made it into the matter conduit, but he was also sure they had taken some damage. He wasn't exactly sure what that would do to their chances for success and he had spent the last couple of weeks trying to play out all of the possible scenarios not only for his own piece of mind, but Nina's as well. He still had no idea what had caused the explosion that hit the ship as it entered the conduit.

He was
suddenly distracted from his dilemma by the sound of his wife yelling at someone in the next room. As he walked into the room, he looked up and saw Admiral Natora’s image on the view screen. Serge could not imagine how someone like Natora had come to be in charge of Earth’s entire space navy. He stood at the edge of the room and watched. He was off screen from what Natora could see as he listened to this man and his wife arguing.

“With Lieutenant Marcos presumed to be in the
Kalephi galaxy for the next fourteen months, the military is worried about the stability of Sea Side Enterprises.” Natora was saying coldly, with an amused smile.

“First of all, it is compulsory to address a former service member by their final rank which I believe you know is
Colonel, in my brother’s case. Secondly, in my recent briefing with the President, he gave me a letter of his highest confidence in the SSE. His confidence extends even in my brother’s absence as you can plainly see.” Nina waved the letter in front of the screen as she spoke. “This means to me that you are the one that is worried, not the military. This is odd because you, in fact, have stated on numerous occasions that the SSE would be better off without Colonel Marcos. I could replay some of them for you if you’d like.  And for the record, I’m worried about the stability of the military with Admiral Bliney in deep space and you in charge here. Now, we can both continue to worry, or you can get to your point, I’m a very busy woman.”

Serge had to give it to Nina, she was always prepared to give an answer
, and she never pulled any punches. Especially when speaking with Natora, he must have been boiling after that tongue lashing.

Admiral Natora’s amused smile disappeared shortly after Nina Romanov had begun to speak.
Who did this woman think she was, speaking to the highest ranking officer in Earth’s space navy in such a manner?
I am the military,
he thought. He hated this whole family, and truthfully couldn’t be happier that Jesse was gone, at least for a while. But dealing with his arrogant sister and manipulative cousin were just as bad. He still had no idea how they had managed to get a letter of the President’s confidence, but there was no way around that letter. The only way it could be nullified is if one of the Romanov’s were to be killed or commit treason. Nina Romanov was too smart, and knew the law too well to be successfully framed for treason. This left him only one option, he had to, “hope” for a tragic accident of some sort.

He hated to admit it, but the Coalition
still needed Sea Side Enterprises. The ships they were building were light years more advanced than anything Earth’s military shipyards were producing. Earth was still producing Battleships, Heavy Cruisers, Frigates and Gun Ships. But even those were all outfitted with SSE weapon and shield modifications. Coalition scientists just could not duplicate the
Leviathans
or
War Hawks
of the SSE, and they were the fleet’s most powerful ships. He just couldn’t understand how the Coalition could leave its most powerful military technology in the hands of civilians, especially these civilians. The very thought was unacceptable to him.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and that anger bubbled to the surface as he addressed Nina Romanov. “I care nothing of this letter of confidence or what you and your family think they may have done for Earth i
n the past. Sooner or later, the Coalition military will have control of Sea Side Enterprise’s military technology. It is only a matter of time. You had just better hope you are not in the way when that time comes.”

“Why, Admiral,” she replied with a smile on her face, “That sounded an awful lot like a threat. I would hate for your patriotic intentions to be misconstrued, so hear me closely. If
you do ever successfully manage to get control of my company, you won’t have to worry about SSE’s military technology. Because there will not be any, and then the Coalition military shipyards will have to begin producing three times as many ships as they currently produce. Everyone in the business knows one of ours is worth at least two or three of yours. Good day.” With that, she cut the transmission and reveled at the thought of Natora’s anger being cut off.

Serge approached his wife and just shook his head. “Why must you provoke the man, Nina?”

“He has made no secret about how he feels about our family, Serge. So I feel no need to keep my feelings about him secret, either. He wants this place, Serge, and I fear he’ll stop at nothing to get it. And he doesn’t want it for the Coalition’s benefit, either; he wants it for his own. I swear to you, I will destroy every last blueprint we have. I will also destroy every last ship building facility we have built for our military tech before I let him get his hands on any of it.”

He knew his wife well enough to know she meant it. “Sweetheart, we need to be
on the same side. What if the Coalition is attacked again? We will need all of our resources, because I don’t think Jesse’s trick will work again.”

“
Forget about earth, if that Neanderthal, Natora gets his hands on our tech, the Coalition will be in serious trouble. I promise you, he does not have the Coalition’s best interest in mind.”

______

Jesse had just arrived at the holding facility and was once again hit by how tired he was. He paid the fine and the damages for his crew’s impromptu bonding session. One of the guards was giving him a hard time, saying they would need to stay for two days, but Jesse was able to find someone in charge with a differing opinion. As he was being led to the cell, he was trying to figure out what he was going to say. He rounded the corner with the guard and almost let out a laugh on the spot. He held it in and hoped the guard hadn’t noticed. He was supposed to be playing the unhappy commanding officer about to punish his crew, so he probably shouldn’t be laughing. The guard would be expecting some kind of verbal tongue lashing, and he had to deliver it. The guards were only releasing them into his care on their commanding officer’s order and the promise they would be dealt with, severely.

He began what he
hoped would be a convincing tirade as the guard opened the door to the cell. “I was just about asleep in the most comfortable bed I have ever encountered, and this is the call I get?” The crew looked a little bit shocked as he yelled his impromptu speech. “My first officer and several key members of my crew involved in a bar fight.” his voice was ringing through the whole cell block now, and the guard was smiling. “A bar fight!” He yelled again. “It is unfathomable how any of you could have thought this was a good idea. What part of stay out of trouble did you not understand?" He looked back to the guard and added, "I assure you, Sir, they will be given double duty for the next two weeks, and the next planet we land on, you may rest assured they will be given no liberties. Again, Sir, you have my sincerest apologies for this blatant disrespect of your wonderful city. It will not happen again.” He let the steel hang heavy in his voice for that last sentence. The look of shock on his crew’s face at the speech he had just made sold the bit as the guard opened the door. He wished he had been able to get an image of it to show Suzy. As they filed out of the holding center, no one said a word.

Once they were in an air taxi, he started laughing so hard he could barely move. “You should have seen the look on your faces,” He beamed while trying to catch his breath.

Josiah looked at him and as he tried to comprehend what had just happed, he replied. “You mean that was just an act?”

“Of course it was, pretty good, right?” He had just about settled down as he spoke. “The guard was going to make you stay in there for two more days even after I paid the fine. I had to promise him you would be dealt with in the most severe possible manner before he would agree to let you go.
So I had to make it look good. It was just an added bonus that I was able to have so much fun making it look good.”

“You’re not mad?” Kimi sounded relieved.

“No, I’m actually pretty happy. I mean, I’m not happy about being awake right now, but you guys bonded. I'm proud of you guys. Standing side by side, taking on a whole bar and having each other’s backs; what’s to be mad at?”

“Well, we are here to have fun,” Collin joked.

Jesse looked a little more serious as he said, “Well, one of you is getting up early to help Suzy buy her medical supplies, because I’m sleeping in.”