Total Betrayal (Deep Space Endeavor) (46 page)

             
"I look forward to it, my friend." the transmission ended and Jesse grimaced as Doctor Stevens was pressing against his injured rib. "Can you hit the broken rib a little more, doc?" Jesse joked to a frown from the Doctor. "Sorry, making light of this sort of thing is what I do." Lana slipped in between the doctor and her father and grabbed Jesse's hand. "I'm alright, Lana, but remind me to start designing my new leg, would you? This one breaks at the worst times."

             
Lana smiled as she continued to hold his hand. "Still, you took out a lot of bad guys."

             
"Yeah, but they were Conglomerate, they're barely even soldiers. I can take those guys with one leg, no problem. Josiah will vouch for it."

             
"It's true they don't seem to have a very well-trained military." Josiah added with a nod and a wink.

             
Doctor Stevens cleaned Jesse's wounds, stitched up his shoulder and arm, and wrapped his broken rib while the medbots were putting Ariel, Kimi and Reece through the recovery pod. Lana helped Jesse into a tank top and as he was sitting down to rest, the transmissions started pouring in. He spoke to Enosal, Admiral Togglasem, Admiral Dyson and King Dominus. He assured them all that he and his friends were fine, but he spent the most time speaking with the King.

             
"Your magnificent fleet saved Polisia and all my people, Your Majesty. You have my eternal thanks and my undying loyalty."

             
"Thank you, my friend, but it is not necessary. I still owe you more than I could ever repay. Admiral Sonnadall is very excited to continue to be a part of your fleet on Donara. He has two complete fleet groups with him. Will that be enough?"

             
"That is more than generous, Your Majesty. Are all of their families going to move to Donara as well?"

             
“Yes, most of them, it is very exciting. I cannot wait to see you at the ceremony to officially open the city."

             
"I'm looking forward to it, too. My daughter and I have a gift for Princess Rayelle that I'm certain she will love more than anything we've ever given her."

             
"That sounds intriguing, do you mind if I ask what it is?" He paused as if he had missed something, "And did you say daughter? I didn't know you had a daughter."

             
"Neither did I," he laughed. He briefly explained how he found out about Lana, once again not mentioning any wrongdoing by her mom and then called her over. "Please, allow me to introduce you to Lana Evans, my amazing daughter." Lana stepped into view and the King smiled widely.

             
"She's beautiful, she even gives Rayelle a run for her money. I can tell she is your daughter by the eyes. She has that Marcos intelligence."

             
"Thank you, Sire," she nervously replied. "Um, am I supposed to call you Sire? Or should I have said Your Majesty? I'm sorry, I've never spoken to a King before." Lana added apprehensively while Jesse and Dominus smiled.

             
"Sire is fine, Lana. You are now an honored friend of the King, just like your father. Now, what is this gift for Rayelle you spoke of?"

             
Jesse smiled, "Do you remember how much she loved Commando?"

             
"Yes, she has mentioned it several times since you have left as well."

             
"Lana and I were hiking in the same mountains where I found Commando, Shadow and Frost. Some hunters killed a snow wolf while she was nursing her three small pups. They were too small to survive on their own, so we took them and trained them. Lana did most of the work."

             
"You did a lot, plus you were in the hospital most of the time." Lana argued.

             
"Hospital?" The King repeated as a question.

             
Jesse sighed. He was dreading this moment, but he needed to tell his friend. "I lost my leg in a cowardly attack by a close friend, a man I looked up to more than any on my planet. He turned out to be a traitor. He and a few dozen soldiers attacked me while I was unarmed in a diplomatic meeting under our planet's Banner of Peace, which in the history of the Coalition had never been broken, so I went in alone, thinking I would be safe.

             
"I'm sorry, Jesse, I don't know what to say."

             
"It's in the past, my prosthetic is almost as good as my leg was, and I'm going to design one that's even better. My enemy is dead and I'm here to stay. Let's get back to Rayelle's present, shall we?"

             
"Yes, that seems like a better conversation," The King agreed, closing the awkward topic. He could see the pain lingering in Jesse's eyes and suspected it would always be difficult for him to talk about.

             
"So, Lana has kept one of the pups for herself, and Princess Rayelle will have her choice of the other two. The remaining pup will go to my close friend Jason. You will meet him at the celebration. Do you think she'll like it?"

             
"I would venture to say that in her entire twenty-five years, I will never have seen her as happy as she will be when your daughter gives her one of the pups."

             
"That's exactly what we were hoping. She's gonna love them, Your Majesty. They're so cute, and they're playful and loyal..."

             
"Lana, he knows," Jesse laughed and Lana was a little embarrassed that she had begun to ramble on in front of the King. "Lana might need to stay with Princess Rayelle and the pup for a week or two while the pup gets used to Rayelle." He added.

             
"That will be no problem, I'm sure Rayelle will love that. Perhaps Suzy could come as well, and help my wife and father-in-law put the finishing touches on Hyperia's recovery pod. We've had a couple glitches they have been unable to figure out."

             
"I'm sure she will be delighted."

             
"Very good, until the celebration, my friend. Royal business beckons for now." The transmission ended and Lana looked really excited. "Yes?" Jesse asked.

             
"Does he live in a castle? Am I gonna get to stay in a castle?"

             
"He lives in the most impressive and beautiful castle of all time. It is the single greatest work of architecture in two galaxies. You are gonna love it."

             
They talked for a while longer until Jesse fell asleep. The battle had taken a lot out of him. Everyone was awake by the time they reached Donara and Jesse was dreading all of the fussing Suzy and Nina would be doing over him. Since he couldn't go in the pod, he was the only one that looked like he had been in battle. At least he got his leg working properly again, a limp would have been too much. He greeted them with a smile, and an assurance from Doctor Stevens that he was fine. He was really beginning to like the guy, and thought that Josiah had done a fine job choosing Suzy's replacement. He was actually a battlefield surgeon, so he would not be as affected by all the injuries as Suzy was, should they ever have need of his services as much as they had needed hers. By the time Carmine brought dinner by, all of the questions had been answered, and it was back to business as usual.

______

              Ariel sat in the
Vanguard
mess hall. She was still feeling the effects of the recovery pod and felt herself growing weary quickly. Doctor Stevens had warned her she would be in for a short day, but she wanted to believe she could overcome the effects of the pod. As it turned out, the doctor was right and she was tired. She stared vacantly at her food, reliving the battle in her mind. While she was raised around Special Forces guys almost her whole life, she had never really been in a full-scale land battle. She had done a couple jobs with Jesse, but they were always so well planned that she never really felt in danger. This time, however, things were different. They were vastly outnumbered, her cousin wasn't one hundred percent and it didn't look like they were going to win. She would be dead now if it wasn't for Reece, and his help almost came at the price of his own life.
Reece, the guy who hits on almost every woman in the fleet, but has yet to even have a conversation with me. Reece, the guy that would do anything to keep his friend Suzy safe. Reece, the guy who bravely jumps in and does what needs to be done to get everyone home alive. Why am I thinking about Reece so much
? As she was thinking, Reece came and sat across from her with his tray of food. He seemed nervous, but she might be imagining it.

             
"Hey, Ariel, how's the leg?" He asked, not quite meeting her eyes.

             
"It's fine, Reece, how are you feeling?"

             
"Just a bit tired. Suzy's machine really does work miracles, just like she does."

             
"I agree, it has saved me before, and I heard about how she saved you when you were shot in the chest. That must have been intense." Ariel smiled as she spoke and Reece couldn't look away.

             
"I don't know, I was asleep for it, but I know how much Suzy did to keep me alive, I'll never forget."

             
"Is that why you're so protective of her, Reece?"

             
"A little, she just always looks after everyone else, and she's not like us. She's not combat trained, so when we're in a dangerous situation, I need to make sure she's looked after, just like she always makes sure I'm looked after in all other situations."

             
"I know she appreciates it. You're a good guy, Reece."

             
"Thanks," he replied, still not meeting her eye. He was one of the most confident people she knew, but it just didn't seem to be there right now. Maybe he was tired, too. "Ariel, I was wondering," he began, but could go no further.

             
"Wondering what, Reece?" She smiled, hoping to encourage him to finish his thought.

             
"I was wondering if maybe you'd like to get dinner with me sometime, you know, when the city is settled and the restaurants are opened. What do you think?"

             
Is he asking me out? Maybe that's why he's so nervous. What should I say? Do I even like him? He is pretty cute, and he did save my life on Kaldor, but he flirts with everyone. He flirts with everyone except me; maybe it's because he likes me.
Ariel sat there for a moment as all of these thoughts went through her mind when she suddenly realized Reece might be expecting an answer of some sort. "Sure, Reece, I would like that." She looked up at him and for the first time since he had sat down, their eyes met, and his looked happy.

             
"Really? That's great."

             
"Except I have no idea when any restaurants will be opened." Ariel said. "Maybe we should go to a nearby planet so we don't have to wait as long."
Why did I just suggest that? Is that what I want? Maybe I do, I guess I'll find out.

             
"Yeah, that's a great idea. We could go, what's the day called on your world?"

             
"Friday," she supplied.

             
"Great, Friday. We'll take a shuttle to Stannisou. There's a great place in their capital. I think you'd really like it.

             
"I'm sure I will. How far is Stannisou?"

             
"About an hour forty-five minutes by shuttle. It's the closest planet to Donara.

             
"Great, it's a date." She smiled, he smiled back, and he had no problem meeting her eyes anymore. They talked for almost an hour when Ariel finally excused herself to go get some sleep. She ran into Suzy on her way to her quarters. She must have been smiling because Suzy caught it.

             
"So, what's got you so happy?"

             
"Not much, just glad to be at our new city." She really needed to sleep, so she needed to keep this conversation quick.

             
"Me, too. I just ran into Reece, and he was happy, too."

             
"Really? Yeah, we just had lunch in the mess."

             
"You look tired, Ariel, so I'll get right to it. Reece likes you, and he's a great guy. He's a little rough around the edges, but he's a great guy."

             
"I know he is, what are you saying, Suzy?"

             
"I'm asking that if you decide you don't feel the same way, just let him down easy. He's my friend and I don't want to see him hurt, just like I would never want to see you hurt."

             
"I appreciate that, Suzy, I really do. Truth is, I'm not sure how I feel yet, but I know how you and Jesse feel about him and he did save my life on Kaldor, so I would never want to hurt him." She sighed and continued. "Suzy, can we talk more about this later? I really need some rack time; I can barely keep my eyes open."