Total Betrayal (Deep Space Endeavor) (15 page)

             
"I don't know. Could it have anything to do with Serge and Josiah's secret mission?"

             
"What secret mission?"

             
"The one they took
Endeavor
away for."

             
"I'll have to find out and get back to you," Ariel sighed.

             
"His ships, he just yelled; 'Where are my ships?’ to Jesse. He looks really confused. I don't think he knows what Lucien is talking about."

             
"His ships?" A sad look of understanding briefly flickered in her eyes as she whispered, "Oh no, I have to go check something out. Keep an eye on the situation and let me know if there's any change."

             
"Will do. Tell
Endeavor
to hurry, this can't end well."

             
"I agree, they'll do their best, but they're still pretty far away." The transmission cut and Jason was left to wonder what was going on, and would Jesse make it through this one in one piece.

             
"I don't like the look in this Lucien's eyes," Xanu said as he watched the screen.

             
"Me either, Xanu." Jason replied, hoping it wasn't going to end as badly as he thought.

______

              Lucien grabbed Jesse and shoved him into the wall. "Where are they?" He yelled. "Tell me, or I'll kill you now."

             
"I don't know what you're talking about, Lucien. Now take your hands off me before I drop you."

             
"You dare?"

             
"Yes, I dare, you can't even be here. Your presence is in violation of one of our highest laws. I'm here under a Banner of Peace; no harm is to come to me."

             
"I care nothing of your stupid laws, Marcos. Tell me where my ships are now, or you will feel pain the likes of which you have never known." He shoved Jesse again and Jesse reached his breaking point. He grabbed Lucien's arm and twisted hard. The pain doubled him over as he cried out in agony. Admiral Bliney and President Rhodes pleaded with him to let go.

             
"I told him if he touched me again I would drop him. I was very clear. He has trampled on one of our highest laws and I won't have it." He looked to Bliney and added, "You gave me your word."

             
"That was before you stole our ships," Lucien called while still doubled over.

             
"I what? I don't have any idea what you're talking about. I didn't steal anything." He let Lucien up and pushed him over to Rhodes. Lucien was furiously rubbing at the pain in his arm.

             
"Take him," Lucien shouted. “We will beat the answers out of him.” Four Enclave soldiers came in the room and began to move towards Jesse.

             
"You gave me your word, Admiral." He called out again.

             
To his disbelief, Admiral Bliney smiled as he pulled out a blaster and said, "I lied." He fired at Jesse as the Enclave guards opened fire. Jesse fought through the pain of blaster impact until he reached the first guard. He elbowed him in the face, grabbing his blaster and dispatching the second guard. He spun into a windmill kick that took the third guard off his feet as the Admiral, the President and Lucien quickly left the room. He was stunned; the Admiral, his close friend, had betrayed him. He didn't have time to comprehend what had just happened as he continued to fight his way out of the meeting room. He shot the fourth guard in the chest as the first guard was coming back at him. Six more Enclave thugs entered the room and charged Jesse. He took the first one down with a well-placed shot to the neck and leapt over the others, landing on the table and firing as he slid towards the French doors. Two more guards went down as Jesse crashed through the decorative doors and ran out into the garden.

             
By this time, there were over a dozen guards after him. He turned and fired, dropping two more and met three head on as he hit the first hard across the face with his blaster. He spun away from the second into a leaping knee to the face of the third. He dropped into a crouch, sweeping the legs of the second man and shot him as he fell. He made it to the wall and felt confident that he would escape if he could make it over the wall. He turned once more and fired, dropping two more guards and then he leapt up and grabbed the edge of one of the bricks in the wall. He found purchase with his feet and moved up. He was halfway up the wall when he started taking fire again. Each shot hurt, and slowed his climb considerably. He was only a couple feet from the top when the constant fire became too much. He fell from the wall and was immediately surrounded by eight angry guards. They began to hit and kick him while he was on the ground. When he woke, he was tied to the old wooden chair in the conference room. He was unaware of how much time had passed. His battle suit jacket and tee shirt lay on the table and three angry leaders stood before him.

______

              Jason didn't like the look of things and was thankful he had been recording when all hell broke loose in the conference room. Lucien pushed Jesse into the wall a third time and Jesse twisted his arm hard, doubling him over. He immediately sent a transmission to Ariel, letting her know the circumstances had changed in a bad way and patched her in to his hacked feed. They both watched in horror as the Banner of Peace was broken for the first time in Coalition history and Admiral Bliney, President Rhodes and Lucien began to send wave after wave of guards after Jesse. Jason heard Ariel cry out, 'No' when Jesse fell off the wall and he didn't like the look of things when they took off his jacket and shirt and tied him to that old wooden chair.

             
"Xanu and I are ready to go in and get him, Ariel. We can shoot our way in with the shuttle and our soldiers can cover us while we take out what's left of their guards."

             
"No, it won't work. The palace has shields; your shuttle doesn't have anything strong enough to get through those shields. Stand by and wait for
Endeavor
."

             
"Stand by? I don't think Jesse has time for us to stand by. They look like they're about to torture him. I can't stand by and watch that."

             
"And you think I can? Jesse is my cousin, my favorite person in the entire galaxy. This isn't easy for me, Jason."

             
"I'm sorry, Ariel, just get everyone together to come up with a plan; maybe there's a way to break in or something."

             
"We're on it, just keep recording so we have proof of how they so completely disregarded the Banner of Peace."

             
"Jason," Nina called. "Can you hack into the vid news network and play this feed? Maybe if the government sees what they're doing, someone will finally call for them to stop."

             
"I'll give it a try, I may need to borrow a few things, give me half an hour."

             
"Thank you, Jason." The transmission ended and Jason left the shuttle. "Hold down the fort, Xanu," he called as he ran off to borrow some gear. Twenty-seven minutes later, he was back with an armful of tech gear. He quickly went about setting it up and five minutes after that, he was in. He quickly typed the heading: This is what our leaders are doing to Colonel Marcos under the Banner of Peace. He then began to play the attack. A few moments later, Nina was back on the transmission.

             
"Good job, Jason, make sure you're not discovered."

             
"I won't be. Let me know when the rescue can begin."

             
"I will." The transmission ended again and Jason, Xanu and the soldiers were left with nothing to do except watch the torture.

______

              "Where are our ships, Marcos?" Lucien yelled again as a big guard punched him hard across the face.

             
"I still have no idea what you're talking about, and you have no idea what kind of trouble you're about to bring on yourself." He looked at the Admiral and added, "I can't believe you're letting them do this, Bliney."

             
"Letting us, he's been part of this from the beginning. All of those orders to assassinate your family, where do you think they came from? It's ironic, because Admiral Natora hated him, but all the while was unknowingly taking orders from him." As President Rhodes finished speaking, they all laughed as the shocked expression grew on Jesse's face.

             
"You were the one trying to kill my family and friends?"

             
"I got a few, too," He laughed. His face then turned hard as he added. "As soon as I saw what you could do, and realized you would never turn it over willingly to the Enclave, I began seeking ways to keep you motivated. Once you defeated the Jarlevians, I knew you were bound for a tragic end. Don't worry, I'll make sure we eventually get them all, including that science project of a daughter you have." They laughed again as another shot rocked Jesse.

             
"Threaten my daughter again, Bliney, and I will kill you." Jesse couldn't believe what he was hearing, from the first moment they met, Bliney had been playing him. Natora was such an obvious enemy that he had missed the subtle, far more dangerous enemy, and now it would likely cost him his life. "So it was all an Enclave game? How far back, Bliney, how far back did the motivation begin?"

             
Bliney laughed a cruel laugh. "Jesse, Jesse, Jesse, you should not ask questions you do not want to know the answer to." Another shot rocked him, this time the chair tipped. When they had placed him upright again, Bliney looked at him and answered. "Your talents were being wasted in Special Forces, so I set up a little accident that I knew would get you to leave the Marines."

             
"Accident? What accident?" As the realization set in, Jesse went berserk, rocking his chair, pulling at his bindings. "I'm gonna kill you, Bliney. I swear, I'm gonna kill you. She was your friend, too. We used to have dinner with your family. How could you kill someone you knew so well? How could you kill someone so gentle, kind and caring? I'm gonna kill you and destroy everything you care about." Another three hits to Jesse's stomach brought his tirade to an end."

             
"Well, that certainly got him worked up, who was it you had killed?" Lucien asked with a smile.

             
"His fiancé, Rebecca; I actually did feel a little bit bad about it, until Jesse quit the service and I had accomplished my goal." He laughed again as all of the fight seemed to be gone from their prisoner. "Now, Jesse, where are Lucien's ships."

             
Jesse looked up; one eye swollen shut and blood trickling down his face. Sweat was pouring off his body and into the open wounds, mixing with his blood as it splattered on the floor almost in rhythm. He took a moment to settle himself before answering, "I still don't know what you're talking about, but I know where a whole bunch of ships are gonna be real soon."

             
"Oh yeah, where's that?" Rhodes asked with a smug grin.

             
"Seven twenty-four Haversham Lane, Providence, Rhode Island." He started laughing as the realization of what he said hit Bliney.

             
"Are you threatening me? You think you're going to send people to my house to hurt my family?" He picked up a metal stanchion and hit Jesse across the knee with it, causing a cry of pain. He hit him again and then several more times until Jesse thought he would pass out.

             
"How does it feel, Bliney?" Jesse wheezed through the pain. "You're always gonna be looking over your shoulder now, no matter where you go," he threatened. "Someone who owes me will be after you and I can't wait to see the look on your face when you realize that your family died because of you." As Jesse started to laugh, the big thug hit him hard across the face again, sending another spatter of blood onto the once pristine wall of the palace conference room.

             
"This is ineffective, bring out the energy wand," Lucien called out to the thug that had been hitting Jesse.

______

              Lana was in tears as she saw the man hitting her father over and over. Suzy put her arms around her to console her, but she would take no comfort. "We're gonna get him back, Lana; Josiah will find a way." Lana barely registered her comment as she cried in her arms. Suzy wasn't even sure she believed it herself as Lana's hot tears touched her shoulder. Suzy cringed as Bliney hit Jesse's knee over and over again and she knew he was not likely to ever walk again under his own power.

             
Ariel inhaled sharply as what Bliney had said registered. "He killed Rebecca. Jesse just found out that one of his most trusted friends murdered his fiancé seven years ago."