Deep Space Endeavor (13 page)

He
had Collin bring the ships shields to full power and yell over the ships loudspeaker, “EVERYBODY, DOWN!” Then Josiah fired the rocket. He and Kimi dove behind the building, while Jesse and the remaining children hit the floor inside the building. The energy burst destroyed the armored speeder and the five armored pirates behind it, but the concussive blast knocked the remaining two warriorbots offline.

As the smoke cleared, Collin dropped the shields and Jesse commanded the wolves to retrieve the
two offline warriorbots. There were still about fifteen pirates out there, but they had no more heavy weapons. Still, it was going to be a whole lot more difficult to get the remaining eighteen children to the ship, and time was running out. With the warriorbots down, all of Jesse's new companions came out to join the fight. Even Seeja came back out to help more children to the ship. The Mayor and his wife brought out another five children while Jesse, Tania and Josiah formed the right side of the corridor and began laying down some cover fire. Kimi, Reece and Grimm formed up the left side and the Mayor’s group made it safely to the ship.

By this time the smoke was everywhere. Jesse was beginning to think they weren’t going to get all the kids out, but Grimm had other ideas. The big guy piled
seven girls in a metal cart and began to pull the cart slowly towards the ship. Jesse began to push from the back as the blaster bolts were flying everywhere. Tania was laying down cover fire and as the cart made it, the children ran into the safety of the ship. There was now only one more rescue trip left before he and his crew could get the children to safety.

Grimm began the last trip with six little girls in the cart. This time it was the Mayor’s wife wh
o pushed from behind while the Mayor shuffled sideways along the cart laying down cover fire. A blaster bolt ripped through the smoke and hit Grimm square in the chest, dropping the big Qualoosh to the ground. Another bolt hit Mistress Valinor in her side and she screamed out in pain as she fell. The Mayor was at her side instantly, carrying her carefully back onto the ship. Suzy pointed the way to med-bay as she ran into the chaos to try and tend to Grimm. Reece was pulling Grimm’s body toward
Endeavor’s
open landing bay and Suzy helped him get Grimm into the ship.

Reece ran back out into the smoke and pulled the cart with the terrified children the rest of the way into the ship
while Tania pushed from the back. As Josiah and Kimi raced towards the ship, they noticed Jesse hadn’t come back yet.

“Kimiko,” Josiah yelled
over the sound of the battle. “Have you seen Jesse?”

“I think he went back to the barn to make sure w
e have all the children.” She replied, worried they were running out of time. Just then, the side of the building began to collapse, trapping Kimi under the debris. Josiah was forced to take cover as several pirates opened fire and then disappeared into the smoke.

“Kiah, Kiah,” Jesse yelled into the smoke filled darkness. He knew he hadn’t seen her come out yet, and he couldn’t let anything happen to her. “
Where are you, Little One?” He continued to yell into the darkness.

Tania and Reece came out to cover Josiah while he tried to get the debris off of Kimi when suddenly several blaster bolts rippe
d through the smoke. One of them found its mark as Tania cried out and then crumbled to the ground. Just then, Josiah pulled Kimi free and she dropped a pirate while he was leveling his blaster at Reece.

“Jesse,” Kiah yelled her voice sounded like a cough and she was trembling with fe
ar. “Jesse, where are you?” She had been utterly alone since her parents died when she was four. In three years, no one had shown any concern for her at all until Jesse saved her from those pirates.
He promised he would take care of me and now I am all alone again.
She thought Jesse had abandoned her and she began to tear up. The thought of continuing on alone was even scarier than the battle. As she continued to look for Jesse, she thought she heard a voice, and a glimmer of hope rose up inside her.

Jesse’s face appeared through the smoke, a look of deep concern in his eyes. As soon as he saw Kiah he smiled and ran to her. “There you are,” he said in his best soothing voice. “I thought I’d lost you.” As he leaned over to pick her up, she jumped into his arms and squeezed his neck so hard he couldn’t breathe.

“You told me you would come back for me, you promised.” She coughed, hugging him even tighter. “I thought you forgot about me and I was scared." She had a few tears rolling down her cheek as he tried to comfort her. He noticed the building was beginning to collapse, so he ran out of the building as fast as he could. He smiled to try and reassure her as he ran out into the smoke and right into the butt end of a pirate blaster. The force of the blow sent Jesse reeling and Kiah flying from his arms.

“What do we have here?” Singo sneered. “Looks like the human went back for the street trash,” he continued as his two friends laughed.

Jesse grabbed Helga and fired, dropping one of the pirates, but before he could fire again, Singo was on top of him, hammering down blows. All he could think about was how he had failed Kiah. The third pirate stood over the helpless child and aimed his blaster. He wasn’t going to be able to get there in time.

As the pirate raised his blaster to kill the girl, Jesse heard a loud growl, and saw Commando come flying through the smoke to knock the pirate off his feet. A giant wolf was the last thing the pirate could have ever expected, and Commando’s teeth piercing his throat were the last thing he ever saw.

Commando created enough of a distraction that Jesse was able to get his weapon in position. When Singo tried to deliver another shot to the face, Helga's blade shot right through the pirate’s chest. Surprise filled his eyes, and blood gurgled in his throat. As the life drained from his body, Jesse threw him off and stumbled over to Kiah.

Commando was stand
ing in guard position over Kiah, as if daring anyone to come close. His low growl rumbled like a ship’s engine. “Good boy, Commando!” Jesse called out as he patted his pet's head and painfully leaned over to pick Kiah up. He stumbled on to the Gralium-plated deck of the landing bay. Reece had just made it back to the ship and he stepped up to take her from him, but she refused to let go, so Jesse waved his thanks but continued to carry the little girl.

“Status report, SAMMI,” h
e inquired.

“All life signs in the immediate vicinity of the ship have ceased, except for those of Lieutenant Jackson and Officer Tamanorra.” SAMMI replied. “There is a large building on the other side of the settlement containing several hundred life signs. Lieutenant Torrensede believes that to be a holding area for the remaining occupants of Outpost Twenty-Three. I believe his assessment to be logical,
Colonel.”

“
What about Tania? Where is she?"

"Tania was killed during the fight," Reece angrily replied as he kicked at the ground.

Jesse put his hand on Reece's shoulder as he began to speak. "I'm so sorry you lost your friend Reece, we will help you get a message to her family or whatever you need us to do."

"Thanks,
we have worked together several times and we really got along well. We should make sure she has a good burial."

"We will," Jesse promised as he brought the focus back to the situation,
"What about the vessel in space? Have the reinforcements arrived yet?” He asked, hoping to have a little more time.

“No additional ships have arrived in orbit,
Colonel.” As SAMMI answered, Jesse noticed several of the children looking around trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

“Very good,” h
e smiled, “We’ll get the children back to their families and be on our way, then.”

“
Lieutenant Jackson, SAMMI believes all the pirates to be dead. Please head back to the ship so we may depart.”

“On my way,
Colonel,” Josiah replied. “Kimi and I have found some interesting stuff pertaining to something called the treasure of Ameteo on one of the pirate ships. We’re bringing it back to the ship now. Kimi's moving slowly so it might take a couple minutes. We should probably destroy those ships before we leave, too. We don’t want to have to fight them again in the future.” He remarked.

Reece arrived back at the ship at
the same time Josiah and Kimi arrived in one of the pirate’s unarmed speeders. The speeder was packed with two large containers and an assortment of other gear. As the speeder pulled in and the landing bay hatch closed, the ship took off. Jesse called up to the bridge, “Lieutenant Torrensede, please make those ships disappear.”

“Y
es, Sir,” Collin answered with a hint of excitement in his voice. He always did like blowing things up.

Jesse noticed several small pouches of dudichrons in Reece’s hands. “Did you steal those from dead pirates?”
He asked with a puzzled look on his face.

“Sort of,” Reece replied, a little unsure. “When I was captured, one of the pirates took my pouch of chrons and split it up with his four friends. I just went out, found them and
took back what was mine. There is a little more here than they took though.” He admitted. “I didn’t stop to count it."

Jesse smiled and said, “Good thinking.” Kiah w
as still clinging so tight; he thought she might squeeze the life out of him. As
Endeavor
landed on the other side of the settlement, he asked, “Where’s Grimm?”

Reece looked away, a touch of sadness in his eyes as Suzy said, “He didn’t make it. I tried everything I could, but his wounds were just too severe.”

Jesse felt his heart sink. Grimm was the first alien he met that he actually liked, probably because he was the first alien he had met that hadn’t tried to kill him. “Are there any more casualties besides Grimm and Tania?” He asked.

Suzy shook her head, “
No, Mistress Valinor is in the recovery pod now and the little girl will make a full recovery, although she’ll be asleep for several hours. I have yet to see what kind of injuries Kimi has sustained but Josiah assured me it's nothing serious. Although I'd prefer to diagnose her myself.”

Josiah and Kimi unlocked the doors to the large storage facility that was housing the frightened people of Outpost Twenty-Three. The little girls ran out of
Endeavor
’s landing bay and they desperately began searching for their parents. All of the children were either human or Qualoosh, Grimm’s species. As the confused and frightened parents of Outpost Twenty-Three started seeing their missing children, an excitement began to build until all the girls were scooped up in lovingly concerned embraces by jubilant parents.

The celebration was cut short when Mayor Valinor and Reece brought out Grimm’s body. Two of the outpost elders took the body and carefully laid it to rest on the ground by the building they were being held in.

“I’m sorry, you’re constable was a good man.” Mayor Valinor offered. “He died a hero’s death, saving six of your little girls. He should be honored for that.”

One of the elders shook his head sadly. “He will be,” he replied, al
most low enough to be a whisper.

A tall
man approached Jesse franticly, “I can’t find my daughter, have you seen her?”

“I’m not sure,” Jesse replied truthfully. “We do have one with minor injuries.”

As he was speaking, Suzy came out, holding a sleeping child. The man’s eyes lit up with worry as he moved to hold his little girl. “Will she be alright?” his whispered concern evident in his eyes.

“She’ll be fine,” Suzy assured him with a big smile. “She was shot in the leg with a blaster, but she has been healed.
She will be asleep for the next five or six hours though. All you need to do is make sure she drinks plenty of liquids when she wakes up.”

The man
nodded as Suzy handed him his daughter, thankful that his little girl was going to be alright. “Thank you,” he cried, unable to contain his joy.

One of the elders called out; “Thank you, Mayor Valinor, for saving out children.” As the words left the elder’s lips, a loud cheer rose up from the crowd.

Kimi looked a little annoyed as she turned to Jesse and said, “He didn’t save the children, we did.”

H
e looked at her and replied, “Yeah, but he’s the only one they know. He did help, and he’s a good man. Let’s just let the Mayor have his moment.”

She
knew Jesse never liked to take credit, but she was surprised when the Mayor replied with his practiced politician’s smile, “I wish it were I that saved your children. While I did help in my own small part, it was these offworlders and Constable Grimm that fought so courageously for the lives your children. If it were not for them, your daughters would be on their way to a life of slavery on a distant world. Their heroism has come at a steep price as well. Several of our heroes were either wounded or killed fighting for your children. Please remember their sacrifice.” As the mayor spoke, he made a sweeping gesture in their direction, and the crowd again cheered loudly.

After the Mayor’s announcement,
Kimi decided that this was one politician she might actually like.

As Jesse, the Mayor, and the crew turned to get back on the ship, Jesse noticed Reece was not boarding. “Is this good bye, then?”
He asked, hoping it wasn’t.