Total Betrayal (Deep Space Endeavor) (4 page)

             
"I'm also a pretty good pilot. Aunt Ariel told me I'm way better than she was at my age. I win all my dogfights except against her."

             
Jesse was really impressed. "A pilot, huh, no one told me that. That's pretty impressive, and your Aunt is really good. I, on the other hand, am a terrible pilot. If I can properly land the thing I'm doing well." They both laughed as they made their way over to the group.  Jesse looked at them all and said, "I know you know this already, in fact you all apparently knew before me, but I would like to officially introduce you to my beautiful daughter, Lana." Lana's smile was so big, Nina thought she would burst.

______

              An hour later, as an impromptu victory celebration and welcome home party had been hastily thrown together, Jesse sat at the table mulling over everything that had happened that day. Everything from leaving the Kalephi Galaxy to the battle, to everything he had learned about his family's struggles, to Lana played itself over and over in his mind. He was still so angry about so much, but when he looked at Lana kicking the ball around with Raina, Dmitri, and Sun, he smiled, in spite of it all, he smiled. All of the anger momentarily left his body. Lana was teaching Sun one of her juggling tricks, and he might just be a proud father, but she was good, really good. As he was lost in thought, Kimi came over and sat down next to him. He gently took her hand in his without looking away from his daughter.

             
"I'm sorry, Kimi, I've kind of been lost in thought since we got here. So much has happened, the President, Ladyhawk, Sea Side Enterprises and Lana, I still haven't processed most of it yet. I'm sorry if I've been ignoring you."

             
"You haven't ignored me, Jesse; it has been a very busy and trying day for all of us." She smiled, thankful to be home with Jesse, even though the situation was not ideal. As they were talking, Lana stole the ball from Dmitri and put it through the makeshift goal and Kimi saw Jesse smile.

             
"Kimi, so much of this is new to me. With my company destroyed, I'm not sure what to do, other than protect Polisia and the people I love. I also have a daughter to think about now, a beautiful young lady that is dying for my time and affection, and I want to give it to her."

             
"And you should, Jesse, I know what it's like to grow up without a father and even at her age, I fantasized about meeting mine."

             
"I think it means we still have to take things a little slower than we have been, Kimi. I want to be with you more than ever, but I also have to make sure I'm there for her."

             
"I understand," she replied, but he could see some apprehension in her eyes.

             
"Kimi, look at me." He gently touched her arm until their eyes met. "You are the only one I want to be with and I'm going to tell anyone who will listen that we are together. Lana's not gonna change that. The only thing that might change is how much time we can spend together, at least at first."

             
"You wish to get to know Lana alone, to make up for lost time. I understand, Jesse."

             
"Maybe at first, but as soon as I'm sure she understands how much I love her, I want you there with us the rest of the way. Lana is not gonna change my feelings for you, Kimi. I promise."

             
"So, we take things slow," Kimi reflected sadly.

             
"Well, maybe not slow, just not as fast as we were hoping. How about somewhere in between for now?" He leaned in and kissed Kimi passionately while he still gently held her hand. She grabbed his hand tighter and kissed him back. He looked at her and smiled, “Thank you for understanding, Kimi."

             
"Well, that's something we've all been hoping to see for a long time," Ariel laughed as she sat down next to her cousin. "So does this mean that the two of you have finally stopped torturing all of us and got together?"

             
"Torture? You should have been there for the nine months following Jesse’s terrible mistake. It was difficult for all of us." Suzy added with a laugh as she sat down next to Kimi with a smile. Reece sat down next to her, eyes on Ariel the whole time.

             
"I'm not gonna blame Jesse too much for that one; Cassie was beautiful, and none of us really knew she was playing him." Reece mused.

             
"All of us knew she was playing him, except you and maybe Collin," Suzy replied as Kimi shot daggers at Reece with her eyes.

             
"I'd be careful saying things like that around Kimi, new guy." Ariel laughed as she gave her friend a hug.

             
Kimi just smiled as she said, "Reece gets that look from me at least once a week."

             
"It's true," he added, "That and a beat down in training. It's not my fault though, she can be quite distracting." Suzy laughed as this time it was Jesse that feigned outrage.

             
"Don't mind Reece, Ariel, this is just how he always is." Suzy added as she gave him a hug and stood up. "I'm going to go see how the Admiral is faring. It seems that the rest of our Kalephi guests are being looked after."

             
"So, when were you gonna tell us, Cousin?" Ariel inquired with a look that said she hated being out of the loop and that he would pay for it in some subtle way.

             
"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to mention it before with everything going on, it just didn't seem like the time.

              As Suzy walked away, Manny came and sat down with Zoe. They talked a while longer, and most of the conversation centered on Kimi or how Jesse was feeling about his new daughter. After a while, he stood and gave Kimi a gentle kiss on the lips and jogged over to Lana to see if she wanted to go for a walk. She eagerly accepted and they took off arm in arm. On the way out, they ran into the two Admirals.

             
"Admiral Sonnadall, Admiral Collingsworth, this is my beautiful daughter, Lana." She smiled and they introduced themselves.

             
"You are a lucky young lady, Lana; your father is a great man." Sonnadall offered.

             
"Thank you, Sir, I'm just glad I finally got to meet him." She squeezed her father's arm a little more tightly as she smiled.

             
"Actually, Admiral, I kind of feel like I'm the lucky one, to be given such an incredible gift. He leaned over and kissed her head and her smile grew even bigger. "I hope you don't mind if I take some time to get to know Lana. My friends and family will be able to get you anything you need."

             
"Of course, Colonel, go spend some time with your daughter, I'll be fine. Admiral Collingsworth has already been showing me around, and he has already organized with your sister for some of my people to come down and see this beautiful planet."

             
"Great, then if you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way." Jesse and Lana walked out of the compound and into the beautiful streets of Salankaz. "I love these mountains, Lana."

             
"I didn't know that."

             
"I was actually camping a couple days from here when I found Commando, Shadow and Frost. The mountains are one of my favorite places to camp. I also like the forest.”

             
"So you must really like a mountain covered with trees."

             
He laughed, "I suppose so. How about you?"

             
"I love the beach, but I've never been camping."

             
"Really, never?"

             
"Nope, do you think maybe we can go someday?"

             
"Of course, I would love to."

             
"Someday soon?" She asked with hope in her eyes.

             
"How about sometime in the next two weeks? If circumstances allow it, I'll know exactly after I talk to your aunts and uncles."

             
"Uncles?"

             
"Yeah, it's not just Serge, it's all of my closest friends, Josiah, Collin, Manny, Jason. You now have many uncles, and Suzy is my oldest friend. We've been friends since we were four. Her family died when she was your age and our family took her in. I consider her a sister like Nina and Ariel. So she's your aunt, too."

             
"But I thought Ariel was your cousin."

             
"Details," he laughed.

             
"So is Bessa my aunt, too?"

             
"I guess so, what did you think of her?"

             
"She was really sweet, and very beautiful. She said that you saved her life."

             
"I did, then Collin fell in love with her and I've never seen him so happy. I only hope his parents will forgive him and get to know her."

             
"I think they're just scared that people will hurt Collin because Bessa's not human. We've never met good aliens before."

             
"I think you're right." He stopped and looked at her. "Beautiful and wise, look out world." She smiled again as she was beginning to think her father really did love her. She couldn't wait to go camping with him and spend a few days catching up on some dad time.
I wonder what dad time even looks like?
She thought as they continued walking.

             
"Do you think we'll find any snow wolves when we go camping, dad?"

             
Jesse smiled as the thought hit him that he liked hearing Lana call him dad more than anything he could think of. "Possibly, we will have Commando with us, but we can only take some to train if they are young enough and they have no mother. I found the pups after I saw the carcass of their mother being taken by poachers."

             
"Was it difficult to train them? Everyone says it's really hard."

             
"Actually, it's not as hard as people think. There are two keys and then the rest is easy." He looked are her expecting him to say more, so he continued. "The first week is difficult, but everything you will ever need to teach them has to be taught in the first week. After that, the next four months is diligently reinforcing what you taught them the first week. That's hard because they're so cute that you almost want to let them get away with stuff, but if you do, they won't really be trained, and if they are not trained well, they will eventually turn on you. So that means, when they do what they're not supposed to, a good swat and a firm voice are what they get. That's the hard part, because like I said, they're really cute."

             
"Aww, you have to hit them, dad?"

             
"Yeah, but don't worry, they have thick hides. I've seen Commando and Shadow take laser fire, I would have to hit the pups really hard for them to feel it. It's not about pain, in fact, you should never discipline the pups in anger. They're really intelligent and they can tell. It's about the sense of disappointment and consequence. They're eager to please, and they associate the firm voice and a good swat with disappointment."

             
"I hope we find some," Lana smiled.

             
"Me, too, actually, I have a friend in the Kalephi Galaxy that would love to have one. Let's hope we find at least two."

             
"Really? We're gonna look?"

             
"Sure, why not. Something tells me you're not really into hunting, and we need to have something to do all day while we're up there. Plus, it will give us a lot of time to talk. We can tell each other stories of stuff that has happened to us."

             
"What story could I possibly say, you're like a war hero, you must have a million."

             
"That doesn't mean I don't want to hear yours, Lana. You're my daughter, and I just met you after all these years. I want to know everything about you. What kind of cake you had on your fifth birthday. Your favorite music. Your best soccer memory, all of it."

             
She looked at him and could tell he meant every word. Having a father that loved her was all she ever wanted; she only wished her mom were here to see it. "Thanks for accepting me, dad."

             
"Thanks for not hating me." He kissed her head and they kept on walking.

______

              Thansar was in shock, it happened again. History had repeated itself and Jesse Marcos had once again defeated him with a much smaller force. Those cannons were well protected and powerful, and those Hyperian ships seemed unbeatable. If there really was more on the way, they would be in serious trouble. He was pretty sure that Marcos was just trying to get to him, and it had worked, but those ships had to have come from somewhere. No race he had ever encountered had them. He tried to think of how he was going to explain the defeat to Dobar when he received an incoming transmission. "Dobar, I do not bring you good news. Colonel Jesse Marcos, the very man we feared may hinder our plans, showed up at the last second at Polisia and defeated our forces."