Deep Space Endeavor (18 page)

As Josiah was preparing to reply,
SAMMI broke in, announcing, “Colonel Marcos, we have visitors at the landing bay.”

“On screen,” h
e called out reflexively.

As they came into view, Jesse noticed it was Captain Cassyanna Reed, along with a Qualoosh male and a Farannsian Female. “Jesse, I really need to talk to you,” she was shouting.

“I’m on my way,” he barked over the ships speaker. He really didn't want to see this woman again, although he did want to find out why she had drugged him. He motioned for Reece and Suzy to join him as they made their way to the landing bay. Suzy also called Shadow to accompany them, a sure sign she did not wish this woman to be around either. As they reached the landing bay, he let out a breath and lowered the hatch.

H
e looked Cassyanna in the eye and coldly asked, “What do you want, Captain Reed?”

Cassyanna was taken a little bit aback by the chilly reception. She looked to Dr. Baker who had her hand on the head of her wolf, and she noticed the same distrustful look.

“What’s wrong? Why the hostilities? When we last spoke, you were eager to help.”

Suzy noticed she seemed genuinely confused and replied, “Last night,
Colonel Marcos wasn’t in full control of his faculties, now was he?”

Cassyanna wasn’t sure what was going on, but she nervously replied, “We need to get off the street, can we come in?”

Jesse motioned them into the landing bay, apparently he had promised to at least hear her out. “Who are your friends?” He asked.

“This is my first mate
, Wennagal,” she replied as she pointed to the Qualoosh. “And this is, Kora, my sensors officer.” she continued, as she pointed to the Farannsian.

Reec
e took one look at Kora, smiled and added with a wink, “I’m Reece.” Suzy smiled,
he really never took a moment off,
she thought.

Jesse was still all business. “Now that introductions have been made, what is it you would like for us to help you with, Captain Reed?”
He asked in the same cool tone he had taken since she arrived.

Ca
ssyanna couldn’t take it, and to Jesse’s surprise blurted out, “Have I done something to offend you, Colonel? Your demeanor towards me is quite different this morning than it was last night.”

“Offend, offend?” Suzy interrupted, “You drugged our commanding officer, and we would like to know why?” She finished, not noticing her voice had risen. She kept her hand on Shadow’s head as Shadow let out a low growl that clearly frightened Kora.

But Cassyanna looked genuinely surprised. She stammered as she tried to find the words “Y….
you think I tried to drug your commanding officer?” She asked in stunned disbelief. “I did not drug Colonel Marcos!” She replied emphatically, “I need his help."

Suzy could sense that she was telling the truth about that, but she continued on a hunch. “But you did do something though, right?” As she said this, Jesse looked at her, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Cassyanna protested. “I came here for your help, and all you’ve done is accuse me of things I didn’t do.”

“I have known Colonel Marcos since we were four years old, and he has never lost control of himself in the manner he did last night. You may not have drugged him, but I have no doubt you did something."

Cassyanna knew she was caught, she knew she had messed up, and now Enso was going to suffer for it. She figured she might as well at least try to tell the truth. “I am the captain of a freighter called the
Catamaran,
” she began. “Yesterday morning my ship was stolen by pirates, with our engineer, my cousin Enso, aboard. The pirates contacted me and told me they had been dealt a setback in their search for a treasure and they knew I had a reputation as a treasure hunter. They told me if I didn’t lead them to the treasure, they would destroy my ship and kill my cousin. I was in orbit around Kaldor while you were fighting the pirates on the ground, and I know there was at least an opportunity for you to get a look inside their ship. I was hoping you found something that could help me find the treasure.”

“What did you do to the Colonel
, then?” Suzy asked, not quite ready to forgive.

“I co
uldn’t take the chance Colonel Marcos would say no, so I doused myself with synthetic pheromones that I believed would make the Colonel a little more likely to comply with my request. But I swear to you, I didn’t know it would have that kind of effect on him.” she explained, hoping they believed her.

“Do you have a sample of these pheromones with you?” Suzy asked. Cassyanna handed her the vial that contained only minute traces, but Suzy knew it would be e
nough as she took out a small device.

“I think there might be a couple drops left,”
she explained as she handed the doctor the vial. “I used it all last night.”

“All of it?” Kora gasped. “Are you insane? Do you have any idea how that much pheromone would interact with a man that had been drinking alcohol? The results would be… they would be…”

“Narcotic,” Suzy finished as she put her portable device away. She looked at Jesse, who had been unusually silent through the whole exchange, and said, “It was an accident, Jesse; she didn’t mean to do it. I think we should at least finish hearing her out.”

H
e shook his head and started saying, “Have you ever looked at yourself, Captain Reed? Have you ever seen the way men look at you? What man in his right mind would have refused your request if it were in his power to help? You didn’t need your stupid pheromones.” As he finished speaking, he slowly turned and began walking away. Cassyanna was about to call out to him, but thought better of it as her one hope of ever seeing her cousin alive again was walking out the door.

Suzy walked over and put her hand on Cassyanna’s shoulder. “This isn’t over,” she whispered, “Give me a little time to talk to him.”
She felt a glimmer of hope rise up inside her as Suzy followed Jesse out of the landing bay and she hoped the doctor was right.

As Jesse left the landing bay, he was met by Josiah, Collin, and Kimi, who had heard the whole exchange. “You know we have to help her,” Josiah said.

“Why? Because you really want to hunt for treasure? We can find it without her.”

“No,” Josiah replied patiently. “Because you will never forgive yourself if you don’t.”

“I still think we should torture her,” Kimiko smirked in what Jesse hoped was an attempt to lighten the mood.

Suzy caught up to him and said, “Jesse, you always say that helping people is what we do, so I think you need to get over it and help
, she didn't mean for it to happen.”

"
I don't want to help this woman. Do you have any idea how long I stayed awake thinking about Rebecca last night because of her?" He looked hurt as he spoke and it didn't look like he was going to change his mind.

"Jess, I'm sorry that she accidentally brought up some painful memories, but these people really need our help."

"So you all really want to do this?" he asked as they all indicated they did. "And you want to let Captain Reed and her crew come along with us, too?"

"Why not," Josiah began. "They know a lot more about this galaxy than we do, it seems like the smart play."

"But they also have a crew member being held hostage by pirates, pirates that hate us, which automatically gives the pirates that hate us leverage over us. Did I mention how much the pirates hate us?"

"That's why we need to help them
, Jess," Suzy added as she squeezed his shoulder.

"Al
l right, maybe I am letting my bad mood cloud my judgment. Let's get the whole crew down to the landing bay and make this happen." As he turned to go back to the landing bay, Kiah came up alongside him and grabbed his hand as he walked. Upon entering the bay, Cassyanna and her crew looked at him with hope in their eyes. “It would seem,” he began, “That my crew was able to talk some sense into me. Here’s what we’re gonna do. First, I'm going to introduce you to the rest of my crew. Second, Dr. Baker will show you to your temporary quarters and then after that, we will go out and collect whatever supplies we are going to need for our journey. Any questions?"

After
the introductions were made, Captain Reed and her crew were given a tour of the ship, most of the crew left to begin gathering the supplies they imagined they would need for a treasure hunt. As they were leaving, Cassyanna came up to him, gently grabbed him by the hand and said, “I truly am sorry for what happened."

H
e smiled, again taken back by this beauty that stood before him and replied, “Just give me a couple days, I'm sure I'll get over it.”

As Cassyanna left the landing bay she smiled. She was going to have fun gettin
g to know Colonel Marcos. She only hoped he didn't get too attached.             

Chapter six

______

Six years earlier
…….

The gala was a huge success on all fronts. Serge talked science and Nina thanked shareholders, employees and customers. Jesse and Kimi carried out their part of the plan flawlessly. They danced, they embraced and they carried out the appropriate amount of public affection expected of a new couple. Suzy almost believed it herself, and she was sure it would fool any of the Asian Dawn’s spying eyes.

T
he party began winding down, and suddenly, an alert rang throughout the building. It was soon announced that sensitive information had been stolen. Unbeknownst to the crowd, this was all part of the plan. Serge and Nina played their part like pros. Guards were confiscating electronic devices, shareholders looked worried and that’s when Kimiko made her call. She told the Master she had the data, but that the theft had been discovered, as she had no doubt they had already been informed. She told them the only way they could get the data, and she could complete her mission to kill Jesse, was to do a secure data transfer right then. She reasoned with them that if she were caught, neither objective could be accomplished.

They agreed, and she sent the file. Moments later, as she was coming out of the restroom, Nina had the guards very publicly check her to make sure she didn’t have it.
Jesse very publicly protested the treatment of his date and stormed off. Any Asian Dawn spies at the event would have been convinced it was a legitimate theft, and told their masters Kimiko had sent them the data just in time. Once they had the data, the Asian Dawn headquarters were abuzz with excitement. Everyone wanted to have a look at the information, and while they were verifying the legitimacy of the technology, Josiah’s team went in.

Collin took out the two guards at the front from a distance while Ariel
simultaneously took out the two on the roof. Jason had disabled security, but sent a cloned signal to the ops center so they wouldn’t be alerted to what was going on inside the compound. With the front cleared, and no cameras to worry about, Josiah and Manny went right in the front door while Collin and Ariel covered them. Josiah and Manny easily overpowered the two guards outside the Tamanorras’ holding room. They opened the door, and Josiah called out the word; “chocolate,” which was the safe word Kimiko had always used with her little sister.

Josiah cautiously entered the room and Manny stood guard. “Who are you?” a frightened voice called out. “Are you the ones
they have sent to kill us?”

He sent them his best reassuring smile and answered, “No
, ma’am, we’re friends of your daughter Kimiko, and we are here to rescue you. We don’t have much time, so if you and your daughter are ready, I’d like to go.”

They had used the safe word, so she agreed, and a
few seconds later the three of them were out the door. The young girl looked a little nervous when she saw Manny’s particle gun, but he just smiled and said, “Hola, kiddo; ready to go?”

Josiah took point and Manny covered the rear, with Kimiko’s family in the middle. As they wer
e coming out, Kimiko's sister tripped and cried out, which drew two of the other guards to the front to see what was happening. As they were running, Manny scooped the girl up off the ground and ran with her under his arm. As the first guard’s head came into view, Ariel dropped him before he could report and Collin dropped the second. Josiah and Manny made it to the evac zone, followed shortly by Ariel and Collin. Jason opened the hatch for them to board, and then they took off as if they were never there. The whole operation took under four minutes, from the first shot until the shuttle took off.

The Asian Dawn gangsters were jubilant. They had the technology, and Jesse Marcos, the man who had dared to turn down their offer and call them thugs, would soon be dead.

“Kill the Tamanorras,” the Master called out. Kimiko had dared to defy them, and even though she completed her mission, her defiance would be dealt with accordingly, and when she returned home, she too would die.

“They’re gone, Sir,” a nervous voice called out.

“What?” the Master cried out in angry disbelief, “How?”

“Unknown, Sir,” the voice started. “It appears as if a team of professionals hit the complex while
we were going over the data, eight guards are dead.”

The realization of what had happened and the significance of the timing were not lost on the Master. “She’s working with him,” the Master’s anger flared. “Stop the information transfer.” The Master knew this was not going to be good.

“It’s too late, Sir,” the nervous voice was back. “A virus has spread to all of our systems. It appears to be exporting all of our information before destroying it. All firewalls are breached, and all backups are corrupted as well.”

We’re ruined,
the Master thought, “How could this happen?” He yelled. “Can someone please explain this to me? How can one assassin, and the man she was sent to kill, cripple our entire organization?” He was screaming by this point, and just then, the main screen flared to life and Jesse’s image appeared.

“This is just the beginning,” Jesse started. “I have all of your faces and all of your information.
You tried to kill the wrong man.” Then the screen went blank.

______

Present day
……..

The ship was buzzing with preparation for what the crew hoped would be an epic treasure adventure. Jesse just hoped they could gather intel on some of the planets in this galaxy. Dr. Hightower's biggest problem was that he did not bring back enough proof, Jesse intended to rectify that mistake. This may not have been plan A, but it would be as good a way as any for them to explore the Kalephi galaxy so the mission was a go. He had told the crew that even though he was willing to help Captain Reed, neither she, nor her crew, was to have any access to
Endeavor
tech, the piece of the treasure they already found, or the key. Kimi and Josiah had brought all the rest of the clues and the original copy of the map out to the common area and had left the rest of the treasure related items in the locked storage room.

J
esse sat by himself on the bridge and Cassyanna came and sat down beside him. “How are the preparations coming along, Captain?” He asked.

“Very w
ell, Colonel, Wennagal is getting his gear together, my gear is already in the crew quarters you provided, and not surprisingly, Reece and Kora left together to go shopping for their gear,” she replied.

“No surprise there,” he said as he thought about his new crew member.
Reece had lost everything to the pirates, and even though the Mayor had been as good as his word and paid Reece handsomely, the mercenary had yet to find the time to begin purchasing new equipment. But somehow, he had made time when Kora asked.
“And please,” he added, “Call me Jesse.”

Cassyanna replied, happy that Jesse seemed to be warming up to her again after the unfortunate pheromone incident, “Only if you call me Cassyanna.”

He thought about it and asked, “Does anyone ever call you, Cassie?”

“Enso does,” She replied. “But I wouldn’t mind if you did, too.”

______

Suzy arrived on
the bridge with a bright smile and a question on her lips. “Jesse, would it be alright if I showed Dr. Kinson the recovery pod now?” As she saw Cassyanna she stammered, “I mean, Colonel, would…”

H
e interrupted. “Of course it’s alright, we already talked about it, and I believe SAMMI has translated the schematics into Kaldorian and downloaded them, as you requested. And, Suzy, as long as we are on this treasure hunt, Cassie and her people are a part of the crew, so there’s no need for formality when they’re around unless the situation demands it.”

“Und
erstood, and thanks, Jess,” she replied as she left the bridge. As she strode back to the landing bay, the thought hit her that he had referred to his guest as Cassie. She needed to find out more about that later.

“Dr. Kinson,” she called out as the door slid open to the landing bay.
"The Colonel has authorized a tour of the med-bay; would you like to come see it?”

“Of course, Dr. Baker,” he replied enthusiastically. “And thank you for allowing me to be the first physician on Kaldor to see this new technology.”

‘Not at all, Doctor,” she replied cheerfully. “I even have a patient lined up so you can see it work in person.” She was very excited. She had chosen to give Dr. Kinson the tour because the Mayor believed him to be a good candidate to understand and reproduce the technology. Suzy also felt he had the right attitude about medicine. It was true, he was rather charming, but he was also married.

As they entered the med-bay, she was greeted with a gruff, “It’s about time, Doc,” from Collin. Fortuitously, Collin had dropped a piece of heavy machinery on his leg just before Suzy ha
d returned with Dr. Kinson. She decided to let him be her test subject as she showed off the merits of the recovery pod technology to her colleague.

Dr. Kinson looked at Collin’s leg with
some worry in his eyes, but she just took out the handheld diagnostic device. She began as if she were teaching a lesson, “Step one is to run the portable unit over the injured area to get a diagnosis.” As she scanned Collins leg, green light emitted from the device, and his injury showed up on the main screen in the med-bay. “If there were more than one injury, more than one screen would light up.”

“Amazing,”
he replied. “That was so quick, and it looks to be so accurate.” He looked to Collin and asked, “Sir, would you mind if I had a look at your injury the old fashioned way so I can get an estimation of the device’s accuracy?”

Collin shook his head in disbelief at the clinical way; they were speaking and acting while he was in
obvious pain, but he knew this was important to Suzy. After all, she had fixed the engines and he owed her one, so he replied, “Have at it, Doc.”

As the doctor checked Collin’s leg, he surmised that the
recovery pod had been completely accurate. “This device could save us so much time in our emergency rooms,” He beamed.

“That’s not even
the best part, Dr. Kinson,” she exclaimed with pride as she cleaned Collin’s injured leg. “Step two, the really amazing part, is coming up. Watch this.”

At the touch of a button, a cushioned exam table slid out from
the side of a round tube. Collin lay down on the table, and it slid back into the tube. Dr. Kinson watched in complete concentration as the recovery pod began its work, and after nearly twelve minutes, the table slid back out and Collin lay there fast asleep his injury having been healed. He listened with wonder as she launched into an explanation of what had just happened and how it worked.

As she was finishing, she added, “The more severe the injury or injuries, the longer the
time in the recovery pod. About a week ago, Colonel Marcos was in there for a little over an hour and a half. The only side effect is that it puts you to sleep, usually about a half-hour for every minute in the pod. In this case, Lieutenant Torrensede will be out for about six hours, then a day or so of rest, and then he will be back to work. So, what do you think?”

“I’m speechless; completely in awe of what I have just
seen. The one who could make such a technological breakthrough on Kaldor would be forever remembered in medical history.” He exclaimed, a touch of reverence in his voice.

“Well, that person is going to be you.” She announced as
his jaw practically hit the floor. “Mayor Valinor asked Colonel Marcos if he would be willing to share the technology that had saved his wife’s life, and Colonel Marcos charged me to find someone worthy to bring it to. I have had our ship’s computer translate the schematics for both the portable device and the recovery pod itself into Kaldorian, and downloaded onto this portable data unit.” She smiled brightly as she handed the unit to him.

He was practically stuttering as he tried to find the words, “B…
bu… but why me, Dr. Baker? Why would you choose me?”

“Simple,” she smiled. “Because of all the medical professionals I met at the party, and there were many, you were the only one that did not
try to impress me with all of your accomplishments. But instead, you talked about how much you love to help people.”

“Really,” he said.
“Believe me, I am not complaining, but that does not seem like a very scientific method to decide something of this import.”

“I also gave your name to Mayor Valinor, and he checked out your credentials. He assured me you were up for the task,” she replied.

“Of course,” he smiled. “How foolish of me to assume someone of your learning and experience would not do her homework, my apologies.” He bowed what she assumed was a very formal bow.

“Not at all, Dr. Kinson,” she replied with a warm smile. “It was a legitimate question. Unfortunately, we are making preparations to leave on another mission, and with the good Lieutenant ou
t of commission for a day or so, we have a lot to do. I’ll walk you out and let Mayor Valinor know you have agreed to begin the recovery pod project for Kaldor.”