Deep Space Endeavor Book Two: Royal Intrigue

by Francis, Ron

  “I have been giving thought to your claim that you and the Conglomerate in general are innocent of wrongdoing in the abduction of my daughter. If that is the case, you may prove it by returning them to me.”

  “I do not have them, Your Majesty.” He responded, a little bit confused.

  “Come now, Balinaz, surely you know where they are. Even I know where they are, and I have ten battle groups on the way there now.”

  “What do you need me for if you have such a tight reign of the situation?”

  “I need you, because I do not think my ships will make it to Pandara in time, and if my daughter is not there when my ships arrive, I will be quite disappointed.”

  The King’s implied threat worried Balinaz as he replied, “They are on Pandara? That actually makes sense with the chatter I have been hearing. I can have five battle groups there within twenty-four hours, Your Majesty.”

  “Not good enough, even my ships will be there before that. I am told my daughter and her rescuers do not have that much time. Send a transmission to each of the ship commanders that are there, telling them to turn on Greyside and stop pursuit of my family. Do something. I’m asking your assistance in good faith because my wife believes you are telling the truth. Do whatever you have to do to make sure my daughter is returned to me and Greyside is sent to me for execution.”

  “You have my word, I shall do my best, but Greyside is very popular and very powerful. I am not sure I will be able to convince any of the men he has handpicked to lead his task force to turn on him. I will do my best to try. Thank you, King Dominus, for giving me the opportunity to help clean up my government’s mess, I will begin immediately.”

  “I shall leave you to it then,” Dominus replied as he ended the transmission.

  “How did it go, my dear?” The Queen asked as he exited the transmission room.

  “Not as well as I had hoped, my love.” He replied with frustration evident in his voice. “It would appear our best hope comes from the mercenaries of Ginderbar that owe Colonel Marcos a favor.”

  “So Rayelle's life is in the hands of hired guns?” She asked even more worried than she sounded.

  “Ginderbar has a legitimate ruler now, and apparently they have Colonel Marcos to thank for that. Marcos also saved the man’s life and his family. I know he wishes to help, I just hope his men can be trusted.”

  “It would seem that Colonel Marcos’ ability to help people comes in handy when favors are needed. I just hope it works out, because I need this to end, Dominus. I haven’t slept in nearly a week. I want to hold our daughter again, right now.” She leaned on her husband for support and noticed for the first time how weary he seemed. “It doesn’t look as though you are sleeping well, either, my King,” she added.

  “I will. I will when Colonel Marcos walks through that door with our daughter and Collette is right behind them.

  ______

  Admiral Greyside arrived in orbit around Pandara with an additional nine ships, bringing his presence there to twenty-one capital ships. He had his flagship, the destroyer Absolution, as well as two other destroyers, and he had six each of the heavy cruisers, frigates and gunships. His fleet included fifty-four full fighter squadrons totaling six hundred forty-eight fighters. He had over two thousand soldiers he could deploy and every single soldier, every single fighter pilot and every single person on his ships were dedicated to him. With a price on his head, he had to consolidate his power. Everyone he could trust was with him. He was upset by the loss of Colonel Jaketh and Special Operative Zendar, but he had another Colonel waiting to capture Colonel Jesse Marcos and the Princess of Hyperia. First things first, though, he needed a status report and he needed to know if those eight pirate ships were still on his side. Captain Blade seemed to be open to keeping up his end of the bargain, but that was before there was a price on his head. Who knows, by the time this was all said and done, he might just have to team up with the pirates and head out to the Lawless Sector. He decided to send a transmission to his pirate friend, Captain Blade.

  “Status report, Captain,” He demanded in a crisp military manner that Blade didn’t mind so much. He liked to see discipline.

  “We are awaiting the arrival of your soldiersss’ new commanding officer after Colonel Jaketh foolishly got himself killed, Admiral.”

  “Why do you say foolishly, Captain?”

  “Because he never intended to honor your arrangement with the mighty Garrinorasss, he was killed in hand to hand combat while attempting to kill Colonel Marcosss. By the time your man arrivesss and beginsss the hunt, our quarry will be almost fifteen kilometersss away. We should be able to catch them within two and a half hoursss, but they have twenty-four Battle Hammersss coming to reinforce them, probably within that time frame.”

  “So we need to make sure they do not land any reinforcements on the ground so you will have time to capture them. How many does Marcos have with him now?”

  “He hasss between fifteen and twenty-five, but I know some are injured.”

  “No more than twenty-five and you wish to attack with four hundred? Why?”

  “They have turned usss back easily when we attacked with sixty-five and again when we attacked with eighty, and lastly when we attacked with one hundred twenty. We only have thirty-seven men left, and Marcosss’ team hasss killed almost two hundred. He hasss the advantage because we have to take the Princess alive. We cannot strafe them or use explosivesss. An overwhelming force isss the only way we can take him, Admiral.”

  Admiral Greyside thought about the Mannagore Captain’s words and replied. “That seems to be an accurate assessment. I will send six full shuttles with my new field commander. You may bring whatever forces you wish.” He ended the transmission and gave the go ahead to Colonel Farsnadd to depart. He knew no matter how many men the pirates put on the ground, with his men, Colonel Marcos and the Princess of Hyperia would be in his custody by day’s end. They had to be if he was to continue to survive in this galaxy.

  ______

  Now that a proper landing force had finally been deployed, Captain Blade was confident they would finally be capturing Colonel Marcos. Garrinoras was correct in his assessment of him. He was the single most impressive human Captain Blade had ever encountered. There seemed to be no end to the tricks he had used or the escapes he could make. Blade couldn’t wait for him to be in custody. He had another hundred twenty men join the hunt, bringing the Conglomerate and pirate combined total to just over four hundred fifty. No amount of tricks would save Marcos now. He smiled as the rain continued, knowing it would slow his opponent down.

  Colonel Farsnadd was a far cry from Colonel Jaketh. He was not the all-bluster, no-talent officer Jaketh had been. He seemed to be a good commander, knowing his own and his men’s strengths and weaknesses. Blade knew there would be no betrayal from this man, but he also knew this man would not go out of his way for him, either. He had asked Blade for a status report and then gave his men their assignments. Within seven minutes of landing they were on their way to once again find Colonel Marcos in the Pandaran jungle. Captain Blade had about one hundred thirty of his men on the hunt while Farsnadd commanded three hundred twenty-five men. They were well equipped and sensibly deployed. Blade could not imagine this man becoming so enraged by Marcos’ taunts that he would rush blindly into battle, losing half of his men to traps. He felt good about having this man on the job. At the very least, he had a lot more fodder to offer Marcos’ guns so he would not have to lose many more men. He still had Saaban with him and decided when this was over he was going to offer the big Pandaran a permanent job.

  Colonel Farsnadd was an expert in jungle warfare, it was the main reason he had been recruited by Admiral Greyside. He was specifically trained for this type of assault. He had no doubt that barring a large scale rescue he would have the elusive Colonel Marcos in custody before the night was out. Colonel Jaketh had not been a good choice for this mission. His stupidity alone had lost almost two dozen men to the jungle.
His irrational behavior probably cost him another thirty or forty men. Marcos wouldn’t have that advantage with him. There was nothing Marcos could say or do that would cause him to lose his composure like Jaketh had during battle. He was also sure he would not be losing men needlessly to the jungle.

  ______

  Jesse almost let out a shout of joy when he finally saw the clearing that Endeavor had landed in. They were merely a hundred meters of rain-soaked ground away from finally being out of this hellish jungle, and he didn't think he would have been able to go much further. He estimated they had fifteen to twenty-five minutes before the Conglomerate forces found them and approximately thirty minutes before the Battle Hammers got here, if they did get here. He told everyone to hurry into the ship and he knew none of them really had much left in the tank. He had pushed them hard to get here and he was on the verge of collapse. They were nearing their fourth full day in the Pandaran jungle, and it had not been kind to them. If he never saw anything having to do with Pandara again, it would be too soon. Collin had updated him on the unique electrical activity in Pandara's stratosphere. Endeavor would continue to be without cloaking capabilities for several minutes after they left the planet, which meant they would be totally reliant on the Battle Hammers to escort them to safety. As they began gratefully entering the ship, a scream from Lady Collette rang out through the clearing. Kimi was on the scene instantly. As she looked at Collette, she noticed the woman was down on the ground clutching her leg. “What happened,” she yelled while cautiously looking around.

  “I’ve been bitten by a large snake. I don’t know where it went, but I know it’s slithering around here somewhere, waiting to finish me off."

  As she made her way towards Collette, she noticed the snake poised to strike again from a large overhanging branch. In one motion, she unsheathed her sword, jumped through the air and decapitated the snake mere inches from its prey. She quickly scanned the area for evidence of any more snakes and then she ripped off the sleeve of Collette's shirt. She tied it tight enough to apply pressure above the wound, but not tight enough to inhibit blood flow. She also immobilized the area. She then took a needle from the medical kit offered to her by Reece who had reached the area while she was killing the snake. Inside the needle was a poison blocker. Combined with the pressure and immobilization it was designed to keep the poison from reaching her heart for up to three hours, depending on the level of activity. Poison blocker was initially created almost one hundred years earlier as the next logical step to anti-venom once humanity began encountering snakes on foreign worlds for which anti-venom didn’t work. It was technically more of a venom blocker, but Kimiko didn’t care about the etymology of the name. As she was injecting the poison blocker into both fang holes, Collette cried out in pain.

  “You will need to remain very still until we can get you to our doctor, I'm not sure how experienced she is with this type of wound, so remember, the less you move, the longer you will live. Do you understand?”

  “You saved my life, Officer Tamanorra, thank you.”

  “It is nothing you would not have done for me, Collette. Now, rest. Honus and Wassan will carry you out of this rain and into the ship. Let us hope the Battle Hammers show up on time.”

  She nodded her thanks as the Princess came running over to her wounded friend. “Collette, are you all right? I feared the worst when I heard you scream. Are you hurt?”

  “Yes, Your Highness, I am, but Kimiko has helped me and I shall be fine. Do not worry about me. Now, let's go back into the ship, we are finally leaving this horrid place, the enemy will soon be upon us and we do not want to be here when they arrive.”

  Jesse arrived and surveyed the scene. “Is everything all right?”

  “Jesse, we need to get her to Suzy, she has been bitten by a particularly venomous snake. I was able to get a blocker into her fairly quickly, but she still needs help.”

  Great, he thought, that’s just one more thing to worry about. “Good job, Kimi. Alright men, get her onboard and right to med-bay.”

  Jesse knew that Josiah and the other wounded man, Orvo, had already been taken to med-bay, now they would have more company. The third wounded man had died before they reached the clearing. He had head wounds along with a shoulder wound that could not be properly tended in the jungle. Jesse reflected sadly at another hero that had given his life without pause to save his King’s daughter. Good men inspired that kind of loyalty.

  Kimi looked worried as she stood beside Jesse. “We really need to get you to Suzy. You have lost a lot of blood and your wounds look infected. Reece also thinks you may have death brush fever. All of those things are troubling to me.”

  “Kimi, if we don't get out of this system soon, none of that will matter." Jesse made sure everyone was aboard and then the ship took off. They shot across the sky away from their pursuers and into the stratosphere, leaving Pandara behind for good and hoping the mercenaries of Ginderbar would be on time. Suzy had Josiah in the recovery pod while she was treating Collette's snake bite. Kimi had done well to get the blocker into her, extracting the poison would not be difficult, but it would take time and it would be very draining for Collette. Her third patient, Orvo, wasn't doing too well, either, and she knew he was in for a rather long session in the recovery pod. She was just happy to have everyone back on the ship.

  ______

  Queen Constance could never remember a time when she had been as lonely as she was right now. She missed her daughter so badly it hurt. Her precious Rayelle was taken from her almost a week ago, and she wanted her back, now. She knew Jesse and the crew of Endeavor, along with several of Hyperia’s best, was doing everything in their power to make that wish a reality, but it was just taking too long. She couldn’t understand why it had taken so long. Why had Dominus not sent his entire fleet to Pandara the moment he suspected Rayelle’s location? She couldn’t blame him, though; the information had to be verified. The last thing she would want was for a massive fleet to be sent to the wrong planet and then not be able to get to the right one in time. It was just so far away. There was no way to get resources there quickly enough to make a difference, so they were forced to rely on strangers and mercenaries to save their daughter. Not that the crew of Endeavor were strangers, not anymore. After all they had given and done for her family, they would always be friends. She just really wanted her daughter here in her arms. She couldn’t help but hope and pray that Endeavor would land in the Royal Spaceport any moment now with her daughter safely aboard.

  Dominus walked in to the room and saw the anguish on her face. He moved to her and just held her in his arms without speaking. He had cancelled all royal business not related to finding his daughter from the moment he made the announcement that they were taken. No one could blame him; in fact, most people were surprised he continued with business as usual for as long as he did. At this time, Soall and Plonse were the only advisors he would speak to until his family was back and he could find a replacement for Torav. Soall was too young to be his main advisor, but he would be someday. He just might promote Plonse, but he had to find out if that is what his friend wished first. Dominus looked at his beautiful wife and knew she longed for a simpler life, one where people wouldn’t take their daughter to get at him. He was so thankful that the plot to take his wife had been foiled by Jesse and Kimi. He knew he could never hope to repay his new friends, especially if they arrived safely back here with Rayelle, but he would do everything in his power to make sure they got home. He knew that to be their one desire, although he wouldn’t mind if they decided to stay on Hyperia. He would give them a guided tour of his entire sector for their exploration himself; if only they would walk through the door of his palace with his daughter.

  ______

  As Endeavor made it into space, the first thing Collin noticed was that there were twenty-nine capital ships in orbit, and not the twenty-one they had expected. Endeavor's stealth capabilities would not engage for several minutes once they left the planet, and
the fleet had no doubt been told that they had escaped Pandara in a ship. It was very close to the time the Battle Hammers should be arriving, and then they could safely get away during the fighting. Until then, they had to lay low just above the ionosphere, hoping their allies showed up. Reece came over to him and gave Jesse a full briefing on the status of the enemy fleet including the class, strengths and weaknesses of each type of ship. He had also deduced the defensive formation they were planning on using. Jesse was struck once again by how efficient he was. In fact, he was one of the few military men that he had ever met that he would put into the Rocket Riders, that’s how good he believed Reece Gavin to be. As a matter of fact, he already fit in so well with him, Jo and Collin that he sometimes thought of him as one of his old Special Forces men.

  "Thank you, Reece, and thank you for coming after us."

  "It's nothing you haven't already done for me, Jesse; let's just hope Enosal's men get here soon."

  "Let's hope, I don't want to risk going past all of these ships with our cloak out and no back up. I know they are looking for us, and if they do detect us, we'll be in trouble" he replied. "Did Josiah and Orvo make it to the recovery pod all right?"

  "Yeah, they're both going to be fine. You could probably benefit from another round in the pod yourself, Jesse," he mused as he went back to the bridge to check the sensors.

  "I will, as soon as we are safe. How's Collette?"

  "Suzy says she'll need plenty of rest, but she'll be fine. I'm certainly happy about that, it would be a shame for the galaxy to lose someone so beautiful." he added with one of his lopsided grins. Jesse just smiled and shook his head as he hoped the Battle Hammers would show up soon.

  ______

  As Colonel Farsnadd watched the mystery ship streak away with their prey aboard, he was very disappointed. If he had been put in charge of this mission sooner, or was directed to land in a better position to cut off their escape, Marcos and the Princess would be his captives. Colonel Jaketh had not only lost all of his men and his own life, he had also lost the prize, the one advantage the Conglomerate would have in the upcoming war with the Hyperian Monarchy. As he reached the clearing Marcos had no doubt escaped from, he called for the shuttles that had dropped him off to come back and pick them up. They needed to get out of the rain. They would be returning to their ships empty handed. The withdrawal would take a little while because there was only enough room for one shuttle at a time to land. As the Commanding Officer, he would supervise the withdrawal and take the last shuttle out. It gave him time to think about this Colonel Jesse Marcos and how he had evaded them. He wanted to make sure that if they were to ever meet again, he would know his enemy and use that knowledge to his advantage.