Jeremy waited until the Gatoans had returned to their ship before joining Elenora in the testing command center. He smiled in satisfaction. He gestured for the two soldiers who accompanied him to remove the unconscious Maussey. "Put him in the transport outside. He has a date with a court-martial."
Elenora laughed, and Jeremy gave her a surprised look. "What's so funny?"
"Fate. Destiny. Whatever you'd like to call it. When they say what goes around, comes around, they meant it in his case. Stupid fool, just one charge alone will earn him a flogging like the one he gave Jewels. In this instance, justice works well."
Jeremy grinned. "I like the way you think. I'd love to stay and play, but I have a ship to catch. But first..." He dropped to one knee before Elenora, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a ring. "Will you marry me?"
Her mouth fell open in surprise, and Elenora stared him for a long moment before whispering, "Yes."
The room erupted in cheers. He slid the ring on her finger, stood, and kissed her long and hard. Jeremy stepped back with a smug grin. "I think a miracle occurred. You're speechless." He caressed her face. "I've got to go. I'll see you later."
"You be careful out there." She hugged him and stole one more kiss.
Jeremy didn't mind. He hoped that now Elenora understood what she meant to him. He moved from her arms, waved, and teleported to the space launch pad.
He took a moment to get his bearings, and then he was off at a brisk clip to the assembly room. Jeremy entered and chuckled at the loud mental greetings from the eleven psionics in the room. Four women and seven men came to their feet.
"Colonel Lingley, nice of you to join us," Manroe drawled.
"You know I'm always on time. And don't think I've forgotten the stunt you pulled earlier tonight. I'll settle with you later. Right now, Jewels needs us. Is the ship ready?
"Of course. You know how it is. A little bit of psionic power goes a long way. Now, let me introduce your crew, Colonel." Manroe walked over to the psionics and stopped at a petite black-haired woman. "We picked them all based on past experience with working with Jewels. She has known each of their minds or at least touched them so that they are not foreign to her. This is necessary for her adjustment process once we get her on the ship."
Jeremy nodded. "Makes sense. She always performs better if she's relaxed."
"This is Patrice, she's your linguist and cryptologist. She is highly skilled in both." Manroe smirked. "Her very talented mouth does occasionally get her in trouble."
"Hey, I can't help it that I'm good at foiling the bad guys' secret codes."
Jeremy grinned. He remembered Patrice from an operation they did three years ago. It was one of the few times that he'd ever seen Jewels want to be in another woman's company.
Manroe rolled his eyes and continued with the introductions. "This is Robin, your science officer. Next to her is Yasmine, chief medical officer. Our last lady, but certainly not the least, is Melinda, your parapsychologist. Yasmine and Melinda are responsible for your overall physical and mental health, especially Jewels' stress and performance levels."
"Duly noted." Jeremy turned to the seven men. "Gentlemen." He realized that none of the gathered psionics had a higher rank than him, though several were older and had served in the military longer.
"Mike is on weapons. Nathan is your engineer. Tyler has communications. For your navigator, we gave you the best, didn't we, Lionel?"
The portly older man stepped forward with a laugh. "You know I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to work with Psi Ops' famous Lt. Enbran. Besides, every living thing needs someone to give it good directions, and I do that better than anyone alive."
"Too true." Manroe waved him back and faced the remaining three men. "Malcolm is in charge of security."
"Hello, Colonel," the giant black man grunted.
Jeremy remembered Malcolm. He was a man of few words, but the big guy could take down an enemy fast and with deadly accuracy.
"Your last two crew members are people Jewels knows well, considering they are ex-anchors."
Jeremy turned to Manroe. "Ex-anchors? I thought Jewels' disability drained our powers to the point we couldn't use them again?"
"We thought so too until some of our medical healers began doing research and found that your abilities aren't gone. What you do lose is your shielding power. Not your normal psionic shield, but the ability to extend it to another is unusable. Any other gifts you have remain. They are unaffected."
"Wow. When did you discover this?" Jeremy felt a little betrayed by the news. Imagine how much less stress if he had known he wouldn't become useless after giving up his anchor position!
"We've known for about seven years, thanks to Eric and Skylar's dedication and cooperation."
"And silence," Jeremy snarled, angrily glaring at Skylar.
Skylar shrugged. "You're my best friend, Jeremy, but confidentiality agreements are a pain to get around."
Jeremy nodded and turned to Manroe. "You could have at least told Jewels. Do you realize how agonizing it is for her to believe she's killing her anchors?"
"It was a calculated risk. Besides, if everything works out, the anchor program will be shelved."
"Meaning?" Eric demanded.
"Just what I said," Manroe replied and smoothly changed the subject. "Eric is your diplomat and first contact guide. Skylar is your Intel operative. Now that you're all acquainted, get moving. Your ride is here. Please go down to the loading bay. The fleet is launching, and you need to be at the forefront. Colonel Brion has gone to get Jewels and will rendezvous with you. Oh, by the way, the President will be on board watching. He's going to determine if we're worth all that extra funding. No pressure."
"Sure, no pressure," Jeremy snapped. He turned his back on Manroe. "All right, people, let's move out."
Eagerly, the psionics left with Jeremy in the lead.