Deep Space Endeavor Book Two: Royal Intrigue

by Francis, Ron

"I would love to," Suzy chimed in.

  "I'm in, lead the way," Jesse added with a smile.

  After dinner, they took a stroll along a stream in the park. Jesse was trying to figure out how a stream would work logistically in a moving city when he sensed something was off. He looked around and saw several shady people lurking about.

  "Is this a bad part of the city, Your Majesty?" He leisurely asked as they kept walking.

  "No, why do you ask? She replied.

  "Because I have a bad feeling that there are some people with less than noble intentions nearby. We should get back to the ship."

  "Nonsense, no one would try anything with my detail here." Rayelle chided.

  "Jesse is usually right about these sorts of things, Your Majesty." Suzy nervously added.

  Just then, a man stepped out from behind a tree and plunged a knife into one of the Princess’ guards. The rest of the detail and Jesse were armed instantly, while Jesse was letting the rest of the crew know they had encountered trouble.

  "This way, Majesty." The commander of the guards called out as he tried to usher her to safety only to see his path cut off by four men. A firefight broke out, and Jesse ran to the front, knowing his battle suit could take anything their blasters could dish out. He dropped two of the men while the guards dropped the other two. He noticed another dozen approaching from the same direction and said, “We can't go this way, I'll hold them off while you get the Princess to safety."

  "No, we stay and take them out," the guard replied.

  "This isn't a battle, Commander; you don't get any points for winning. You're only concern is getting your Princess to safety."

  "Do not tell me how to do my job, we stay."

  "Well, if you ask me, this is the perfect place to be boxed in. Let's at least withdraw to better cover." He took off his jacket and handed it to the Princess. "Please, wear this, it will protect you." Suzy nodded and pointed to hers as the Princess put it on and zipped it up.

  Three more of the attackers went down, but two of the bodyguards went down as well. Jesse, now with less protection, was taking fewer risks. He dropped two more as he noticed some men getting into position behind them. "There's more behind us,” he yelled as he took down two of them. A flurry of fire took down three more of the Princess' guards, and one of the bolts hit her. She cried out as she fell and then realized that Jesse's jacket had saved her. Suzy was by her side, checking her out and helping her deploy the jacket's hood. She wondered when the local law enforcement was going to show up.

  "They're boxing us in, we gotta go, now!" Jesse yelled to the commander.

  "Hyperians do not run from battle."

  "Winning a battle isn't our objective. Saving the Princess is."

  "You may leave anytime you wish. This is not your fight. Flee like a coward if you must."

  Jesse decided he would like to put his fist through the Commander's face, but that wouldn't help the situation either. They had their backs against a wall. They were boxed in on three sides, by over thirty men. There was only one way out, up. If Endeavor's crew didn't arrive soon to help them, he was going to have to take the Princess out of the line of fire no matter what her detail wanted to do. The Hyperians were holding their own. They had dropped at least twenty attackers and Jesse had dropped another six, but they were coming from every direction. The detail was still greatly outnumbered. Another guard went down; half of the detail was now injured or dead and they were still facing more than thirty foes. The Commander looked at Jesse and said, "You were right, they boxed us in. We should have taken cover in the trees. Do you have a way to get the Princess to safety?"

  "Yes, I do. Princess, Suzy, hold on to me." He unclipped Helga and began to take aim.

  "Jess, you can't take us both. The strain could dislocate your shoulder." Suzy called above the blasterfire.

  "I'm willing to risk it, now hold on."

  "I'm not, get Princess Rayelle to safety."

  "I'm not leaving you here. You can hold onto Helga, too, but you're coming with us."

  As Suzy and the Princess held on, the Commander nodded and Jesse fired Helga's grappling hook into the fourth deck above them. He recoiled quickly, swinging his two passengers onto the third deck and landing safely beside them. He was helping the Princess up when a blaster bolt ripped through the air and hit him in the shoulder, taking him off his feet. It was powerful enough to burn through his battle shirt and leave a burn. He cried out, as the air smelled like burnt ozone and charred flesh, but was quickly back on his feet and running with the women.

  On the ground, most of the attackers broke off the assault to go find the Princess, leaving only six behind to keep her men pinned down. Colonel Jaketh called into his communicator, "They are on level three, redeploy backup teams six through nine to the north exit, and ten through twelve to the east. Our men on the ground will be covering the south and west. We have to find them quickly; my contact can only keep the local police away for a few more minutes. Do not let Colonel Marcos or the Hyperian Princess escape. We need them both alive."

  ______

  Josiah, Reece and Xanu were tearing through the crowded dining area to get back and help secure the Princess' safety. They had just heard from Jesse that he was now on the fourth level. He was alone with Suzy and the Princess heading west and up to the fifth level. Colin had taken Collette and Bessa back to the ship, and Kimi was closest to their position. Josiah's group was still about seven minutes from catching up to them. As they ran, they saw a group of black clad armed men hovering near the east stairwell. He alerted Jesse that the attackers were watching the exits as the three of them quietly got into position to ambush their enemy. Jesse knew about the guards at the stairs, which was one of the reasons they were going up. If they could get to the tenth level, Collin could get them aboard Endeavor. Josiah went left while Reece and Xanu went right. They opened fire simultaneously from their positions of cover. Before their enemy knew what was happening, they were being torn apart. Collin finished off the last assassin and reconvened with Josiah and Xanu at the base of the stairwell. Six men down and they only lost a minute. Unfortunately, a minute could be far too long in battle.

  ______

  King Dominus could not believe his eyes. Breaking news showed his daughter under attack on Trinnus, by what amounted to an army of attackers. The commander of her bodyguard went into military mode and had dug in to fight them. This was likely to be a fatal mistake. He couldn't bear to watch, but he couldn't take his eyes off the vid screen. The Queen rushed to his side, seeking comfort. She cried out as they saw Rayelle get shot and go down. His wife began to cry when suddenly, miraculously, Rayelle rose to her feet. What had saved her?

  "What is she wearing, Dominus?" She asked, tears still filling her eyes.

  "It is Colonel Marcos' jacket. I was told it also acted as armor," he replied with excited relief.

  "What is protecting the Colonel, then, my love?"

  "I do not know, but apparently he wishes for Rayelle to remain safe until reinforcements arrive."

  After another couple minutes it was clear that reinforcements were not going to arrive. They were about to be overrun when the Colonel took out some sort of weapon and shot a grappling hook almost four stories. He grabbed Rayelle, then, had the doctor hold on as they quickly soared to the third floor. He breathed a sigh of relief that his daughter was out of immediate danger. Dominus winced when he saw Marcos take a blaster shot to the shoulder, but he was up fairly quickly. The Queen noticed the blaster had burned through his shirt.

  "He sacrificed his protection for Rayelle, and now he is hurt."

  "It is alright; the shirt is of the same fabric and has likely stopped most of the damage." He replied, thankful that the Colonel wasn't seriously injured.

  As the chase wore on, he found himself getting angrier and angrier. "Where are the reinforcements? Shall our daughter be chased like a dog through the entire Moving City? Soall, get the Governor of Trinnus on comms. I need to know why his men hav
e not arrived to help Rayelle. Colonel Marcos can only do so much."

  ______

  Jesse had reached the fifth floor by the time Kimi caught up with them. It was good to see she had come prepared. As they traveled through an entertainment district, people were staring at them. They wondered what their planet's honored guests were doing fleeing with weapons drawn. They didn't have to wonder long as blasterfire erupted around them. Jesse rounded the next corner and found himself instantly engaged in combat with three men. Kimi was laying down suppressing fire as she covered their rear. Suzy had the Princess crouched low to make herself less of a target. Kimi had taken down four men while Jesse was fighting. He took the first hit and rolled with it into a spinning kick that knocked the first attacker down the stairs. He fired twice, killing two more men that were coming up the stairs before another attacker leveled his blaster at him. Jesse shot Helga's blade through the man's chest, and killed the last one with a well placed blaster bolt. Then, they were on the move to level six.

  The one thing Jesse didn't like about this complex was that the stairs were in different locations on each level. They couldn't just make a straight run to the roof to wait for Collin. They came out of the stairwell on level six, and were dismayed to see the next stairway was almost seventy-five meters away. He looked back at Rayelle and asked, "Are you all right, Princess?" She nodded tensely and he continued. "Can you run to the next stairwell?"

  "I think so," she replied as the fear in her eyes threatened to turn to tears. She had to rely on this man that she had been so mean to if she wished to survive and he was already hurt because she wore his protection. The beads of sweat were running down the side of her face, but she was determined to last until a rescue could arrive.

  "Good." He gave her his best reassuring smiled and added, "Let's go." The four of them broke cover and began running for the stairwell. Blasterfire lit up the night around them as the few remaining patrons went scurrying for cover. Jesse and Kimi were picking off the attackers pretty quickly, but the blaster bolts did not stop coming. They rounded the next corner, and ran directly into eight enemies.

  "Not so fast, Colonel." The first one said as he hit Jesse hard across the face with his gun.

  Jesse didn't even flinch. Instead, he speared the man, knocking him and the two men behind him off of the walkway to the level below. He fired, killing two more while Kimi was taking out the last three.

  They made it to level seven only to see another dozen men heading in their direction. They were all tired, and they didn't know how much more of this they could take. Suddenly, they saw their attackers begin to drop. They didn't wait to see what was happening. He and Kimi added their blasterfire to the mix, and soon, all twelve men were down. Josiah sprinted through the smoke with Reece and Xanu behind him.

  Two men dressed as law enforcement cautiously approached and bowed. "May we be of assistance in helping the Princess?" They asked as they looked around at the carnage.

  "You can start by telling us why no law enforcement has come to our aid?" The Princess angrily began, “We should not be outnumbered by the enemy on one of our core worlds. Where are the rest of your men?"

  "I am sorry, Your Majesty, we do not know. We are the regular guards stationed here on the seventh level. There are two each on eight, nine and ten waiting for us, but I have been unable to reach any below us. I know not why backup has not arrived."

  "Let's talk about this when we get out of here. Take the lead up to level eight." Jesse wanted to keep these men in front of him until he knew he could trust them.

  "Colonel Marcos, where are you?" The commander's voice burst through his communicator. "You should not have taken the Princess from the battle. We have defeated our attackers."

  "No, you didn't, they all left to find us. We have already encountered many more than we faced on the ground, but because they now have to spread out, they are in more manageable numbers. We are meeting my ship on the roof. If you can make it there in time, fine. If not, go to the Governor, and have him give you a shuttle. We have to keep moving."

  "I am going to let King Dominus know you have put his daughter in danger and separated her from her protection. Mark my words, this is far from over."

  "My father will know the truth." Rayelle whispered to Jesse. "You were right, and my commander is the one that endangered me," The Princess concluded as they continued to run up the stairs to the ninth level. They had picked up the guards from eight and nine, and now had six police along with their crew. Their last stairwell was only forty meters away. Collin had just alerted them that he was only a couple minutes out, although he was going to have an angry escort. Apparently, ships flying in this area were not taken well by the local government. When they made it to the stairwell, they came upon the two officers from level ten. "There are too many of them up there," the first one said as Jesse and his team approached. We cannot get out that way."

  "Well, there are even more of them down there, and our ride is almost here. We'll take our chances. Jesse brushed past the two officers, and the men drew their weapons, "Hold it, Colonel. You have put up a good fight, but it is over now. Juno, take their weapons."

  A look of surprise crossed Juno's face as Kimi threw a knife into his chest. One of the other police officers shot the one that had spoken. "I guess our attackers did get to ten first." Josiah mused. "Let's be careful as we go." Josiah poked his head up from the stairwell and blasterfire rang out. The men were so focused on the stairs that they didn't notice Jesse, Reece and Kimi climbing over the rail from the level below. When they had stealthily made it to cover, they opened fire on the unsuspecting soldiers. Once they had the soldiers’ attention, Josiah, Xanu and the police opened up from the stairwell, catching them in a crossfire. The men were taken out quickly, and then Jesse and his team waited for Collin on the tenth level of the once pristine Market Gardens. While they were waiting, several dozen men filed out of the stairways all the way to the north of the complex. They were running towards the Princess. Jesse knew his worn out, injured, ragtag group of defenders could not take this many. Five more men approached from the south, and he realized it was the remainder of the princess detail.

  "So this was your big plan, Colonel. You wished to bring our Princess to the roof to be killed? Well done, Colonel Marcos." The Commander sneered, his voice dripping contempt.

  "At least she is still alive, which is more than she would have been under your idiotic protection." Kimi replied, not liking this man verbally attacking her friend.

  "I will not be spoken to in such a manner. Colonel, get control of your crew."

  "Enough," The Princess yelled, “Let us at least escape before we start fighting amongst ourselves."

  As the enemy slowly came closer, one of them shouted, "It was a good strategy, Colonel, going on the run to break us into more manageable numbers. It almost worked, too. But, you had no idea how many of us there were. Apparently, the stories are true. You are both a fierce and cunning warrior, but now you have lost. If you surrender yourself and the Princess, no one else will be harmed. Continue to fight us, and all of your friends die."

  Jesse's crew, the Princess' remaining guards and the police had all taken positions of cover, waiting for the final assault. They were outnumbered four to one, but they were not even contemplating accepting the enemy offer. Jesse yelled to the slowly advancing attackers, "That is a most generous offer, but apparently you didn't know I had reinforcements, too." He smiled as Collin de-cloaked and began to strafe the still unknown attackers.

  "It didn't matter how many men you had, I knew if we made it to our ship, we would be fine." The few attackers that remained retreated as Jesse's team began to fire on them as well. Collin hovered almost half a meter off the ground as Endeavor's crew boarded with the Princess, her guards and the police that had aided them. Jesse took one last look around before boarding as well and then Collin flew them out of there.

  ______

  As Dominus spoke to the Governor, he found out that t
he Governor could not get through to his police force. A legion had been detached from the military to come to the aid of the Princess. He felt his heart sink as he continued to watch the news vid. He saw that they were cornered on the roof. Why had Marcos gone up there with no way out? It does not seem like the type of mistake a man of his reputation would make. Maybe all of the stories were untrue. Then suddenly, unbelievably, Endeavor appeared out of thin air and began tearing into the enemy. He joyously embraced his wife as Rayelle made it safely onto the ship, and was taken away from the danger. He could never remember a time where he was this thankful, or angry.

  ______

  As soon as Endeavor's hatch was lifted and they were away, the Commander angrily approached Jesse and punched him in the face.

  "You are under arrest for endangering the Princess," He yelled.

  Jesse just laughed. "You're an idiot. I have no idea how a man as intelligent as King Dominus saw fit to entrust the protection of his only daughter to you. I'm going to let that punch slide because I know you are still worked up from battle, but if you touch me again, I will break your arm." With that, he turned and left the landing bay to go see to his injuries. He had a burn on his shoulder and a cut above his eye. Not too bad. He laughed to himself because he knew Suzy would still have something to say about it. Everyone else had bruises and scrapes as well, but no one merited a trip to the recovery pod. They put back down at the spaceport where a legion of Hyperian soldiers waited with the Governor to protect the Princess. They were told that three of the injured bodyguards had survived and were on their way back to the ship after having their injuries treated.

  The Governor came aboard Endeavor to check on the status of the Princess. After he saw that she was all right, he lit into the commander of her guards. "How could you take a stand and fighting stance while you are protecting Hyperia's most cherished treasure? Not only that, but you verbally attack the one man that gets it, the man that ultimately saved your charge. It does not matter how many men you lose or how many men they lose, saving the Princess is all that matters. There is no other positive outcome. Every good bodyguard knows that. You should have run when you had the chance. Believe me, the King will be seeing vids and hearing audio of your performance tonight."