CHAPTER 15: A KINDLING LOVE
Two months later. Conference Room of Base 2 ?
Jake sat in the conference room of Base 2, listening to his father. Within the room were all of Adrian's senior officers: Jake, General Scott Hauler, Colonel Peter Sanchez, Colonel Aromos Jantear, the new doctor - Colonel Ithel Hopet - and of course, Celeste. Jake looked across the room at her. She was sitting next to Colonel Jantear. Jake looked at Colonel Jantear and felt a spark of jealously run through him. Jake had rarely talked to Celeste for almost the two months she had been at Base 2. She had attempted several times to talk to him, but Jake felt intimidated and almost afraid every time he was in her presence. As a result, he used every excuse he could think of not to talk to her. He used excuses like flight training exercises for the new pilots and briefings he had to go over with his father.
Celeste picked up on his signals and essentially stopped bothering him. And when Adrian assigned her and Colonel Jantear to work together on planning a rescue attempt for Bantyr, Kylee, and Sean, she began spending more time with Jantear. This made Jake even more uneasy because he could see that Jantear was not intimidated in her presence. In fact, the two almost seemed to have fun together. They were always laughing and smiling at one another, and this made Jake terribly nervous.
He knew he was falling for Celeste because he thought about her every moment of the day, but for some reason, he felt inferior and weak around her. It was a problem he had never had around women before, but Celeste was no ordinary woman.
Jake continued to stare at Celeste and imagined what it would be like if she had the same feelings for him as he had for her.
"Jake? ? Jake?"
Jake saw Celeste turn to meet his gaze as well as everyone else in the room. Suddenly, his face flushed red from embarrassment, and he turned to his father. "Uh ? sorry, General, I didn't hear your question."
Everyone in the room giggled at Jake's reaction. It wasn't a secret that Jake had feelings for Celeste. Everyone knew it, including Colonel Jantear, who was the only one in the room not smiling.
Celeste smiled at him and turned back to face Adrian.
Adrian continued. "Jake, I asked, what are your numbers on battle-ready pilots?"
Jake frantically searched his mind to recall the number he had figured just before the meeting. "Every Wildcat 1 has a battle-ready pilot. I have trained almost all of the pilots for the Wildcat 2s and their copilots."
"When do you expect to have them fully trained?" Adrian asked.
"By week's end."
Adrian lowered his head and shook it. Even though Jake had nearly enough pilots to fly the Wildcats, which consisted of nearly two hundred pilots and one hundred copilots, he knew as well as his father that there weren't enough men or firepower to combat the Gnol's battle plan.
When Celeste and Nichelle successfully escaped Chast and made it to Base 2, Celeste informed Adrian and Jake that she had seriously miscalculated the actual numbers in the Gnol military. She informed them that after she had read Dorange's mind, she learned that the Gnols had a military of about two million strong, a number that was way more than originally believed to be in the Gnol armed forces.
Adrian also learned from Celeste that Dorange would be leading the attack on Earth. However, Jake sensed that Celeste was hiding something from Adrian; something about Dorange that she did not want to tell him. Besides the fact that Dorange was leading the attack, they learned that the squadron going through the wormhole would consist of one command ship that Dorange would be on. The command ship would have a crew of approximately ten thousand Gnol military personal. There would also be three hundred eighty-four battle cruisers; two for each country on Earth. The battle cruisers would contain a crew of approximately five thousand personnel each. Also, each cruiser would contain approximately one thousand space fighters, one thousand hover tanks, five hundred assault vehicles, and five thousand Chaties. And, although the numbers would be miniscule compared to the military powers on Earth, Jake knew that the firepower the Gnols contained alone could take out the entire planet.
Adrian looked back at his senior officers. "This is your choice gentlemen, and lady," he said as he nodded at Celeste. "The Gnols have us severely outnumbered in manpower and firepower - especially considering we don't even have a thousand people in our military personnel. This is going to be a suicide mission. It's your choice. You can walk away now, and no one will question your bravery ?" Adrian paused as he looked around the room.
Jake watched as one by one each person in the room stood - including himself - and offered his or her life to at least try and thwart the attack against Earth. As they did so, a smile grew on Adrian's face. He nodded and said, "Good. Then this is our strategy. We know the precise time the Gnols will try to go through the wormhole. It will occur at dusk two weeks from today.
"Jake and I will lead the Wildcats to the wormhole. We will be there waiting when Dorange attempts his entrance." Adrian then looked at Scott. "General Hauler, how many ground troops do you have prepared to defend the base?"
"I have enough men to man every hover tank, ten assault vehicles, and every Chati in the fleet - approximately two hundred fifty soldiers," Scott said.
"Good. That just may be enough to defend the base. We know from Celeste that her father has planned a simultaneous attack on the base when Dorange launches his fleet," said Adrian.
Adrian then turned to Petey. "Colonel Sanchez, are the communication networks, computer network, and energy resources prepared?"
Petey smiled at Adrian. "Yes, sir. Everything is ready to go. Just let me know if you need any changes made."
Adrian returned Petey's smile. "Good," he said. He then looked at Colonel Hopet.
Colonel Ithel Hopet was the first Terrestrian to graduate from the medical school Doc had established on Terrest. He was an intelligent man with a warm smile and inviting sense of humor. Hopet was in his early fifties with a full head of graying black hair and brown eyes. As Jake looked at the man who had replaced his father's best friend, he noticed for the first time how small he actually was. Jake figured that the man barely stood over five feet tall and maybe weighed less than one hundred thirty-five pounds. Nonetheless, Jake knew that Colonel Hopet would make an excellent leader in his father's military because of his work ethic and genuine love for everyone involved in the rebel cause.
As Adrian spoke to Colonel Hopet, Jake sensed sadness in his father's voice. "Colonel Hopet, make sure your medical team is ready. You're going to have a lot of casualties."
"Yes, sir," replied the colonel.
Adrian finally looked at Celeste. "Celeste, have you and Colonel Jantear finalized your preparations for the rescue attempt?"
"Yes, General," Celeste said. "Colonel Jantear and I, along with fifty other troops, will take an assault vehicle to Chast as soon as the attack on the base begins. My father will be so distracted with the attack, that he won't even suspect a rescue attempt."
Adrian nodded his head. He was about to speak again, when he remembered something he had forgotten to ask Celeste. "Oh, Celeste, any word from Nichelle and her people on the whereabouts of Skip and his crew?"
Sadness seemed to cover Celeste's face. "No, General. Talead has been crawling with Gnol soldiers for the past two months. There is no way Nichelle can get to the temple."
Adrian frowned at Celeste's response and sighed. "Very well, we can only assume that he has either been captured or ?" Adrian paused and swallowed. Jake could tell that he was trying to stay strong. He then looked back up at Celeste. "Just inform her to keep trying to find a safe route to that temple."
Celeste nodded and said, "I will. She and her people have returned from Talead and are at the base now."
Adrian nodded, cleared his throat, and focused his attention back to everyone in the group. "Okay, if there are no further questions, everyone is dismissed."
As everyone in the room began to leave, Jake continued to sit in his chair. He leaned onto his thighs and cupped his head in his hands. Th
e mention of Skip brought a lot of emotions to the surface that he didn't want anyone to see, especially Celeste. He missed his best friend and prayed every night that he was safe.
Jake began to feel the tears flow from his eyes. He rubbed his eyes and was about to stand up when he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. He turned his teary eyes in the direction of the person who had touched him.
There stood Celeste with concern in her eyes. "Are you all right?" she asked.
Suddenly, Jake felt ashamed and embarrassed. He knew how powerful Celeste was and did not want to seem weak around her. He cleared his throat and said, "Uh, yeah, I'm just tired that's all ? uh ? I've got to go. I've got some pilots still to train."
Jake tried to walk away, but Celeste grabbed his arm and, with her strength, held him in place. He turned around and met her eyes. "You are not getting away from me that easy," she said. "We need to talk."
"About what?" asked Jake as he glanced outside the door. There, in the doorway, stood Jantear. He didn't look happy and seemed to be waiting impatiently for Celeste.
Celeste grabbed Jake's face and turned it gently to face hers. "Meet me in my quarters in two hours. I have to go now because I have some final plans I need to go over with Colonel Jantear." She smiled at Jake, leaned in, and gently kissed him on the cheek.
Jake watched as Celeste left the room. Now, he was more confused than ever. What was that all about, and what did Celeste want to talk about? Whatever the answers were, there was no way he was going to avoid Celeste this time.
Worlds Without End: The Mission (Book 1) Page 67