Total Betrayal (Deep Space Endeavor) (36 page)

             
"Any people, who wish to join us on our Kalephi adventure, can. We have a new city waiting for us," Nina added excitedly as she was preparing a data pad to give to Councilor Jacobs.

             
"I also have about ten billion in liquid assets I would like to give as a fund to help the families of the military personnel that died saving Polisia. It is all bearer bonds and artwork, things that would have no value in another galaxy. I know gold has value, so I will be bringing my gold with me." He laughed with the council. “Also, I would like the profits from the shipyards to go to military families that have lost or injured loved ones, as well as the science center. I think that's about it for the major stuff, Nina and Ariel are prepared to go through all of the nuts and bolts with you. I have to go address the fleet. I'm sure we will meet several more times before we take our leave." Jesse put his hand out and Councilor Dana shook it heartily.

             
"Thank you for all of your most generous contributions, Admiral. Polisia will lead the Coalition, and it is because of you and your people." Jesse nodded and began to walk away with Josiah. Councilor Dana turned to Nina, sighed and said, "Alright, let's get to it, shall we?"

             
Two days later, Jesse finally had a moment to himself. He couldn't believe how much work cleaning up after a battle of this magnitude entailed. He had hundreds of people doing thousands of tasks and he and Nina were coordinating it all. He pushed away from his desk and put his face in his hands. He couldn't look at any more numbers. Just then, through the reflection in his screen, he saw a familiar smile.

             
"Just leave it, Dad, it'll still be there tomorrow." Lana said as she embraced him from behind and kissed his cheek. "I haven't seen you in almost three days. Kimi and I are taking you to Carmine's, and I've already cleared it with Aunt Nina, so you can't say no."

             
Jesse smiled at his daughter, looked at the work stacked up on his desk and then looked back at his expectant daughter. He stood up, put an arm around her shoulder and began to leave it all behind, for a little while anyway. "So, Carmine's, huh?"

             
"You know it's my favorite place, and I love Carmine."

             
"You're so much like your Aunt Ariel, it's scary. Don't you know any boys your own age you could hang out with? You know, someone you could bring home so I can have fun terrorizing them."

             
"I hang out with Dmitri, but Raina really likes him, and we also hang out with Paulie's nephew Vinnie. He's a lot of fun, but I'm not interested. We're all really busy anyway, maybe when we get to Donara we'll have some more time to hang out and do normal teen stuff."

             
"I'll make sure of it." He smiled at his girl and gave her a squeeze. She really did have him wrapped around her finger, and it hadn't taken her very long to do it. He had only known her four and a half months, but he could no longer imagine life without her. They walked into Carmine's and were greeted by the big Italian. Paulie and Vinnie were there, too, and it seemed to Jesse that Vinnie was hoping for more than friends with Lana. He put the thought out of his mind and made his way to a table occupied by Kimi and Sun. He gave Sun a big hug, and gave Kimi a kiss in greeting and then sat down for a nice meal.

             
"I feel like we're sort of a family," Sun announced to a slightly embarrassed look from Kimi.

             
"Me, too." Lana replied, "That makes us sisters, Sun." She said excitedly, just to see her dad's reaction, but she also noticed how much Sun seemed to enjoy the prospect of having her for a sister.

             
Jesse just sat there with a smile, taking it all in. This was the perfect break, and with any luck, some of his work would be done by the time he went back in tomorrow.

______

              A week later, Jesse could finally see the end of the tunnel. He had spent every night with either Lana, Kimi or both. He had even had lunch twice with Jason, Manny, Suzy, Ariel, Reece and Josiah. He hadn't seen Collin and Bessa for a while, but they were spending a lot of time with his parents trying to convince them to come to the Kalephi Galaxy. He had delegated a lot more work to General Solomon and Admiral Armistead because they were the only members of his military council that were staying. Manny and General Kelly were both making the trip and he couldn't be happier. He was pretty sure King Dominus was going to leave Admiral Sonnadall with them, but Vantilas was his top guy, so he would be taking him back. Even so, Donara was set to have a pretty talented roster leading its military.

             
Jesse heard Nina before he saw her. She was still down the hallway, walking arm in arm with Serge. He turned in his seat as she entered the room. She smiled at her brother and said, "This is the last big meeting, everything else after this is small stuff that they can do for themselves."

             
"What meeting?" Jesse asked. He didn't have anything on the schedule.

             
"This one just came up, but the ruling council has one more favor to ask of us." Serge replied as he embraced his brother-in-law.

             
"Let's get this over with," Jesse sighed. "I have a big lunch planned with Kimi, Lana and Sun and I don't want to be late."

             
"Big lunch, huh?" Nina questioned him with her eyes. "Where are you guys going?"

             
"To a park that Lana and Sun take the pups to."

             
"Nice, what are you gonna do with them anyway?"

             
"Lana's keeping Soldier, we're giving Duke to Princess Rayelle and we're not sure what's happening with Lady yet."

             
"Are the pups coming to lunch today, too?"

             
"What? No. Why are you so interested in this lunch, Nina?"

             
"No reason," She smiled and held Serge's hand as they walked. When they reached the council chambers, they greeted each member of the ruling council. After the opening small talk and pleasantries, the real reason for the meeting came up.

             
"Admiral, what are your plans for the planetary defenses?" Councilor Dana asked.

             
Jesse looked at Serge and shrugged. "I hadn't really thought about it, I left it all up to Serge. I know we have two full planetary shield systems in one of our cargo vessels, along with forty Plasma cannons. I don't know. Serge, did you have any plans?

             
"I was planning on leaving the planetary shield in place, but taking twenty of the cannons with us. Why, Jess, what do you think we should do?"

             
"You were already planning on leaving the bulk of the defenses for us?" Jacobs asked, thankful for their willingness to give.

             
"Why don't we just leave all fifty, Serge? After all, the best shipyards in Coalition space are located here, and this is the likely attack point if the Syndicate comes calling again. We should let them have the extra protection, we'll make due until our factories are up and running."

             
"That sounds like a good idea, Jesse. Let us just leave everything in place for Polisia." Serge agreed. "We will need to train some of your people quickly. I will meet your chief tech and his crew. I will bring Irina and Jason with me. We must begin tomorrow morning."

             
"Tomorrow morning will be fine, thank you again. This is just one more thing to add to the list of what we owe you." Dana surmised.

             
"No," Jesse said quickly. "You don't owe us anything. This is the one world that did not turn its back on us, the one planet that offered us a safe haven. That is worth much more than we have given."

             
"Councilor, Polisia has been my home since before Jesse's unit won the Battle of Polisia against the Pack. I love this world, and am happy to give to make it even better." Nina added.

             
"And Polisia has been fortunate to have you. We shall miss you indeed, Missus Romanov." Jacobs added with a frown.

             
"Forgive me, but if there's nothing else, I have an important lunch with my daughter and my girlfriend. Nina and Serge would be more than happy to hammer out anything that might need to be discussed." He took his leave and Nina flashed Serge a knowing smile.

______

              When Jesse arrived at Kada Park, three beautiful women were waiting for him. Kimi greeted him with a kiss and Lana and Sun each greeted him with an embrace. Jesse dropped his pack next to a table that Kimi and Lana had set lunch up on. They had a busy afternoon planned. First lunch, then they were going to hike the trails, and then they were going to go back to the house and check in on the pups. They were finished with their training, and it was time to see if they were trained well enough to keep. Lana was really nervous about the inspection because she couldn't bear to think of what would happen if they weren't. Jesse already knew they'd be fine, he just wanted to keep his daughter in suspense. Most importantly though, Jesse had a special surprise planned for Kimi.

             
"Dad, you're late!" Lana chided as he sat down on the bench next to Kimi.

             
"Sorry, sweetie, Aunt Nina and Uncle Serge unexpectedly took me into a meeting with the ruling council. I really did leave as soon as was acceptable, maybe even a little sooner. I couldn't wait to get to see my favorite girls."

             
"Even me?" Sun asked with a smile.

             
"Of course, you," he replied with a look of mock indignation. "Why wouldn't I be excited to see you, Sun?"

             
"How come you never call me Sunshine?"

             
"Because that's Manny's nickname for you, I didn't want to assume you'd be okay with other people calling you that."

             
"It's okay, Reece and Jason call me that, too, and Serge always says the same joke; 'You are a very bright little Sun.’ and then he laughs in Russian."

             
"How does someone laugh in Russian?" Lana asked with a chuckle.

             
"You know, with his accent, he goes; ‘heh, heh, heh.’"

             
"So do you want me to call you Sunshine? I could go with something else like Sunburn or Sunscreen, maybe even Sunspot, what do you think?"

             
"I don't really like any of those," she replied as Jesse smirked.

             
"I think Jesse is just having a bit of fun with you. Apparently, his bad sense of humor is back." Kimi added with a wink at her sister.

             
"What's for lunch? I'm really hungry." Jesse asked as he put his hand on his stomach.

             
"Well," Kimi began. "We decided sandwiches would probably travel best. We also have chips and cookies – your favorite, double chocolate chip." Kimi answered as she handed him a turkey, ham and cheese sandwich. She also put out some lettuce, tomato, mayo and mustard for toppings. Jesse helped himself to all but the mustard. They sat at the table eating, talking and laughing for almost an hour.

             
Jesse felt truly happy for the first time in ages. He stood up and took Kimi's hand, pulling her to her feet. "Hey girls," he began, looking at Lana and Sun. "Do you mind if I take Kimi for a walk around the lake alone before we all go on our hike?"

             
"Yeah, Dad, it's fine. Sun and I will clean up and put the cooler in the speeder." Lana replied. "Do you need your pack?"

             
"No," he raised Kimi's hand with his. "I've got everything I need, right here." He tossed his pack to his daughter with a smile. Somehow, she had figured out his intention and was doing her best to move the process along. He gave the girls a sly wink and turned with the woman he loved and began walking towards the lake.

             
The lake was picturesque in every respect. Leading up to the water was a wide-open field of golden grass that grew just above the top of your feet. Framing each side of the lake were the beautiful red berry bushes common throughout the lower regions of Polisia. In back of the lake sat another field that gently began sloping upward to the base of Polisia's highest mountain. Halfway up the mountain you could begin to see snow, along with the deep violet trees prevalent on this continent of the planet. To the left there was a small waterfall that flowed from the mountain into the lake and to the right was a beautiful, light grey stone bridge. Jesse and Kimi walked around the lake until they reached the stone bridge. Halfway across the bridge they stopped to take in the beautiful waterfall. Jesse had been unusually silent and Kimi thought he almost looked nervous as they leaned against the bridge and stared at the living picture in front of them.