by Francis, Ron
Jesse knew another hit to the chest was going to take him off his feet. He had already taken five or six, and while the suit had held admirably, each blast still hurt, and he could barely breathe. He noticed this awful squawking noise as some odd looking animals began swinging down from trees, swooping just past Topanar’s men, and in some cases, knocking them off their feet. Jesse used the distraction as an opportunity to open fire, dropping another one of Topanar’s men. Reece dropped one and Kimi sent four scurrying with a grenade. The animal’s distraction had been just enough as Jesse, Reece, and Kimi disappeared into the jungle and began making their way to the shuttle.
“What was that?” Jesse called through the pain as he ran a bit slower than he would have liked.
“Reptapes,” Reece said, smiling as he ran alongside him. “Collin thinks they like us.”
He was sure he’d get the whole story later, but for now he only wanted to get back to the ship. He heard Topanar's men closing in as they ran, and then he heard Shadow’s barking, as he saw her come bounding through the foliage. She circled around him and began jogging beside him. Jesse supposed it was his personal escort back to the ship. “Good, girl,” He called as he saw the shuttle and they made their way in.
Topanar's men opened fire on the shuttle as it took off and they lost it as it flew above the dense forest. Captain Topanar was furious as he and what remained of his men made their way back towards the ship. He had called to have his shuttle meet them at the closer coordinates, knowing there was no threat. Colonel Marcos’ team had fled from the battle like cowards. It was still a ten kilometer hike, and he was tired and very angry. Still, coward or not, Colonel Marcos had gotten the better of him this day. He knew was going to need more money and more men to continue the hunt. At least, he had the consolation of knowing that Kora would be getting the information to him soon enough.
Kimi was the last to board the shuttle, and Collin had it in the air before the hatch even finished closing. The trip to Endeavor took only a minute, and as they were all exiting the shuttle, Josiah looked at Jesse, smiled, and said, “Mission accomplished.”
Chapter eight
______
Jesse was pretty sure he had a traitor aboard, but he wasn’t sure what to do about it. The original crew had all been informed of his suspicions. He had to find the leak and plug it, while giving the crew time to figure out their newest clue. Endeavor also had to get some distance between them and Topanar while trying to stay out of the pirate’s sights. In the meantime, Cassie was being checked out by Suzy, and she was in a fair amount of pain.
“I don’t understand how I am still alive,” Cassie was explaining. “I was certain my quest to save my cousin had cost me my life.”
“Apparently, Josiah dove in after you, pulled you out and revived you. Jesse and Kimi arrived just in time to cover your escape as Topanar’s men closed in on you.” Suzy could see how shaken Cassie was, so she added, “Our crew has grown rather fond of you.”
Cassie smiled her thanks as Josiah entered the med-bay.
“Suzy, I’m really tired, but I can’t spare the time for sleep yet. I’ve got a couple very important things that can’t wait. Do you have anything that can help me?”
She knew Josiah was talking about the search for the traitor and the plan to thwart whoever it was, but her doctor side took over. “You are suffering from exhaustion, Josiah. Swimming against a torrent that strong while holding another person after all that time in the heat would take it out of anyone. The only cure for that is rest and hydration. However, since I know you won’t rest, here is an energy supplement that should keep you going for a while. Eventually, you will need to sleep, though.” She handed him the supplement and he thanked her with a hug, and then left the room to get back to work.
“Your crew is all really close, aren’t they?” Cassie noted.
Suzy smiled as she began to answer, “We've all been through a lot together, Except Reece, he joined us a couple days before you did.”
“Well Colonel Marcos has really put together a good team.” She really seemed to be developing feelings for Jesse, and Suzy silently prayed that she wasn’t the traitor.
______
Mayor Valinor sat across the desk from Agent Sandstorm with a big smile on his face. “I’m speechless. How did you find this information? This is going to put Sub-Mayor Topanar away for life, you know. I may have already had a strong enough case against him to end his career. Maybe even put him away for twenty years, but this vid is better than a recorded confession.”
“Thank you, Mister Mayor,” Sandstorm crossed his legs with a satisfied smile. This wasn’t such a bad job after all. Tarrick Valinor was a good man. He was helping that good man put away a bad guy that wanted him dead. How he got the information didn’t matter. He had broken no laws to get it, and he was helping a good man so it was fine. At least that’s what he kept telling himself.
As Agent Sandstorm left the office, Mayor Valinor sat down to watch the vid again. Topanar was in a room in the lowest level of the building's basement, assuming he would have privacy. Ordinarily he would have, he thought. To the best of his knowledge, there were no recording devices down there. He hadn’t even known there were transmission capabilities there, but he was looking at the proof right in front of him. Topanar was arguing with a pirate captain named Janus. The best part, the line that sealed his fate was coming up.
“I delivered the Mayor to you on a platter. All you had to do was put
a blaster bolt between his eyes. It’s not my fault you were too
incompetent to complete the job.”
The shot was perfect; Topanar’s outraged face was in full view of the camera. Mayor Valinor put a copy of the vid in his office safe and sent another copy to both his home system and the Chairman. Sub-Mayor Topanar was going down, and that made him smile.
______
Jesse had come up with his plan. He was in the storage room with Josiah and Kimi to go over the details. “No one has seen the actual map fragment or the artifact yet, have they?” He asked.
“Wennagal has seen the map fragment, but only briefly,” Josiah corrected. “Why, what do you have in mind?”
SAMMI interrupted, “I have completed the task you gave me yesterday, Colonel Marcos. I have recordings of Reece, Captain Reed, Kora and Wennagal all behaving in ways I consider suspicious. I have sent the files to your portable display unit to view at your earliest convenience.”
“Thank you, SAMMI. Well done,” he replied. He then turned his attention back to his crew. “Do you remember when we first found the key?” He asked, hoping this idea would be viable. “We made a copy, but the copy didn’t exactly come out right.”
“Yeah,” Josiah was slow to reply because he wasn’t sure where his friend was going yet.
“In the original chest,” Jesse continued. “We found a couple small stones; one or two of them were the same type of green stone that is in the key. We mount one into the fake key and make a fake artifact as well. No one has seen either, so a copy should be able to fool the mole.”
“Unless the mole is Cassie, with her background, she could spot a fake fairly easily,” Josiah admitted. “But I have been making duplicate artifacts all along, in case we were to lose any of the ones we have.”
"Duplicate artifacts, is that difficult?" Jesse inquired. "How did they come out?"
"Pretty good actually, the only difference is the material used in their construction was a metal we have never encountered and could not be duplicated. Other than that, they are flawless representations and should be able to stand up to a quick inspection. With SAMMI's three dimensional holographic scans available, it was a fairly easy project. Much easier than the key."
Could the fakes fool the mole? Jesse asked thinking ahead.
"Probably," Josiah replied.
“Okay,” Josiah exclaimed. “I think I'm starting to get it. We make the key and the artifact. SAMMI should be able to help me get it done quickly. We bring them
out, and as a show of trust, we reveal the existence of the key to the rest of the crew. Whoever it is that’s working with Topanar will have to take the bait. Topanar will know that you can’t get to the treasure without the key, and he’ll have to have it."
“Perfect,” Jesse replied. “We’re ready then. Oh, can you make another key, Josiah?”
“Sure, I still have the mold, why?” Josiah asked as he tried to figure out the Colonel's thinking. He had always been amazed at the way Jesse’s mind worked. He seemed to see things that other people didn’t, and the logic behind many of his conclusions could be mind numbing at times, but he was usually right.
“I just have a feeling Garrinoras will make it a requirement for us to get Enso back." he answered. "Oh, and put some explosives in it, too. Now, I’m going to get some sleep. I took a bit of a beating. Josiah, you should get some sleep, too. You look terrible. No offense.”
Josiah laughed, “None taken, but I still look better than you. I’ve got about three hours of work to do here, and then SAMMI will be able to have everything ready for tomorrow morning. After that, it’s off to bed for me, too.”
“I look better than both of you,” Kimi teased, hoping to brighten the mood. “But I’m going to stay up for a while and keep my eyes open for anything that looks suspicious.”
______
The next morning, Jesse had the crew gathered around as Josiah revealed the “artifact” they had procured the previous day and the existence of the key. Cassie was genuinely happy that he had trusted her people enough to show them the key, and he almost felt bad that it was a ruse to figure out who was giving Topanar the information.
In the meantime, Josiah, Kimi, Cassie and SAMMI had figured out the next destination; Xalaa. Even more exciting was that Josiah had figured out that counting the clue they were about to go after, there were only two more clues before the treasure. Jesse could feel the crew getting excited as the thought of the hunt being over and the treasure of Ameteo being found finally seemed like a possibility. As Collin set the next coordinates and the ship was preparing for the jump to light space, Cassie approached Jesse and asked, “Can I talk to you in the common room, Jess?”
“Sure, Cassie, what’s on your mind?” His kind smile was so different from that first day when he was so angry with her over the pheromone incident.
“It’s Enso,” she started. “I know Garrinoras is going to be contacting us soon to trade what we have for Enso’s life and the Catamaran. What are the plans?”
He looked at the concern etched on her face and replied, “I am prepared to do whatever we have to do to get Enso back, Cassie. I’ll give it all to him without question and without regret, but what you have to understand is that Garrinoras is not going to play fair. He might kill Enso just to spite us for the trouble we’ve been. He might kill him even if we do everything he asks, so we are also coming up with contingency plans to cover what we do when Garrinoras breaks his word. Our first priority is Enso.”
“I guess that’s about as much as I can hope for at this point.” She replied as she turned away, her worry evident.
He put his hand on her shoulder and gave a slight squeeze. “Cassie, I promise we’re going to do our best. I’m not going to do it any differently than I would if it was my own cousin, and I only have one. I also want you to know, you and Enso have a place here on Endeavor if you want it.” He smiled and stood to go back on the bridge, he just couldn’t shake the feeling that they were jumping into trouble.
______
Jesse had just finished an energy supplement, and he actually felt pretty good as they were exiting light space around Xalaa. Before Collin could cloak the ship, Endeavor had already taken its first hit from one of the weird, snail-shaped pirate ships which Jesse had found out were called Xenul-Class gunships. A dozen pirate starfighters, also known as Razzers, were on their way towards Endeavor.
“Raise shields, battle stations,” he called out. As he looked out the viewport, he noticed three of the gunships, which alone Endeavor could take, but he also noticed the Pillager, a fairly powerful Heavy Frigate. This was going to be a close one for Endeavor.
“Should we prep the net, Colonel?” Kimi asked as she slid into military precision, just as the rest of the crew did whenever the situation demanded it.
“No, Officer Tamanorra, I want to save that for a rainy day. Take them out with the lasers; they can’t hurt us. Lieutenant Jackson, prepare to fire main weapons at the closest gunship. Let’s clear these gunships out quickly before we take on the Pillager. Lieutenant Torrensede, evasive maneuvers, in three, two, one, mark. Give ‘em Kimi’s good side, Collin.”
“Let’s get their attention, people,” he called over the ships automated battle klaxons. “Lieutenant, fire main weapons,” he ordered.
“Firing main weapons, Colonel,” Josiah repeated as he fired.
Endeavor’s plasma beam quickly overwhelmed the gunship’s shields and scored a direct hit, causing major damage. Endeavor took two more hits as Josiah yelled out, “Shields holding at ninety-four percent.”
“Hail the Pillager, Lieutenant,” Jesse called as he stood from his chair.
“On screen,” Josiah replied as the Pillager’s bridge came to life on their view screen.
“Destroying us at this point would seem ill-advised, Janus.” He began as Kimi destroyed her third Razzer.
A Farannsian male replied. “Captain Janus is unavailable right now, and I think destroying you is always a good idea.” As he spoke, two more shots hit Endeavor’s shields.
“That’s because you’re an idiot,” he countered as Josiah had just destroyed the first gunship with Endeavor's torpedoes. “If you destroy us, and we have most of the treasure clues and artifacts, how will you find the treasure? Don’t you think old Garrinoras might be a little upset with you if that happens?”
The Farannsian simply looked at him as he gave the order for the Pillager’s main batteries to open fire. He smiled a smile that looked pure evil, and Jesse thought he recognized him.
“Hey, Red,” He taunted. “Didn’t I punch you in the face and knock you out in that restaurant a couple weeks ago?” Both crews looked genuinely surprised by his comment, but he knew by the way Red stiffened slightly that it was him, and he smiled.
“You will regret coming to this planet,” he stiffly replied as the Pillager scored a direct hit on Endeavor’s shields. “You will pay for your insolence, human.”
“So that’s a yes, right? You really need to stop underestimating us. Clear the field, Lieutenant Jackson.” Jesse’s hand made a sweeping motion as the transmission was cut. As the transmission died, the second gunship and two more Razzers went down. “Janus beat us to the planet; they’re just trying to keep us occupied until he gets back. Let’s make sure he has nothing to come back to.”
Endeavor was rocked by two more hits as sparks showered the bridge. “Shields holding at fifty-one percent; we can’t take too many more hits like that, Colonel.” Josiah exclaimed as the shields for the third gunship went down.
Collin skillfully evaded the Pillager’s next barrage as Josiah hit and destroyed the last gunship, which exploded into a cloud of atoms. Kimi hit her sixth Razzer, and the remaining Razzers swung around to regroup for a concentrated attack.
“My sensors have picked up an armored shuttle exiting the planet’s atmosphere on the far side of the Pillager,” SAMMI informed.
“Janus has the clue; he beat us. Let’s see if we can’t destroy the Pillager before he can get that clue to Garrinoras. If we can’t have it…” Jesse yelled to his crew, wishing the battle klaxons would shut off already.
Another shot struck Endeavor’s shields as a plasma beam from Endeavor destroyed two of Pillager’s weapon batteries. “Shields at thirty-seven percent,” Josiah warned.
“Keep firing,” Jesse yelled as Kimi took out two more Razzers, and the rest retreated to escort the shuttle aboard the Pillager. Endeavor’s next shot rocked the Pillager, causing significant damage. Th
e Pillager had stopped firing as the shuttle and the Razzers entered the landing bay. The ship turned its undamaged side towards Endeavor, and then the Pillager and Janus were gone.
“She’s gone, I’m sorry, Sir,” Josiah spoke in a normal voice now that the battle klaxons were off.
“Don’t be sorry, Lieutenant. Endeavor’s crew availed themselves quite well today. The fault was mine; I should have ordered the Pillager disabled before clearing out the gunships. Janus escaped because I dropped the ball, not you.” He was really disappointed with himself, and he wanted to make sure none of the crew put the blame on themselves.
“Attention, three ships emerging from light space.” SAMMI’s voice broke the silence.
“Cloak the ship, Collin,” Jesse ordered.
“We can’t, Colonel. We spent too much power on the shields. The cloak won’t be available for several minutes. We’re being hailed.”
“Of course we are,” Jesse muttered, “On screen!”
Topanar’s cruel features filled the screen as he smiled and said, “Well well, well, it seems we meet again. You are outnumbered three to one, and your ship is damaged. I suggest you surrender and prepare to be boarded.” He smiled as his ships began a flanking maneuver.
“Hello again, Joldas,” he replied, smiling widely, purposely not calling him Captain. “It appears that you are late to the party, again. You really need better people working for you. Anyway, Janus already beat us to this clue, and as you can see, there was a battle, but the Pillager escaped.”
He muted the channel and asked, “Can we make the jump to light space?”