Starship Conquistador (Conquest of Stars Book 1) (2 page)

    Bakus laughed, “You haven’t seen the
energy ray that is why you say that. It is intensely bright red and can be seen
with a naked eye from another planet. It will draw the enemy spacefighters
right here.”

    “Use it to shoot them down?”

    Bakus laughed again, “were that we
could, it would just zap them and vaporize them instantly but it is like
shooting fish with a cannon. Won’t lock on small targets, instead I am going to
launch my own spacefighters.”

     Bakus walked over a few feet to a
communication station that had a direct line to the base command above the
surface.

    “This is General Bakus speaking,” he
announced to the soldiers above, “enemy space fighters are scanning the surface
of this planet for us. I want total blackout. And no one fires on any
spacefighter that flies above unless it starts shooting at our weapon. I want
all of our spacefighters to be launched. Search and engage the enemy. But do
not fly back here, land wherever you have to and turn on your signal beacon.
The land patrol will rescue you.”

     The base had three hundred Nestorian
spacefighters that were named Hawk after a type of a bird found on the planet
Nestor. They were 40 feet long, had a wingspan of 30 feet, carried a pilot and
a navigator up front along with a standard laser gun. Their main armaments were
the six super luminous rockets but today four of them had been exchanged with
sub luminous rockets. Faster than light rockets inside a planet’s gravity field
could not turn around and reacquire a missed target, instead they slammed into
the surface.

    The three hundred hawks launched into
the air and took off to hunt the alien spacefighters. The Nestorians had
covered the surface of the planet with radar installations and these painted a
broad canvas of targets for each Hawk to chase.

    The alien spaceship hiding behind the
other side of the planet realized that its spacefighters had abandoned their
search for the ray weapon and instead had engaged the oncoming fighters into
aerial dogfights. It launched five hundred more spacefighters from its bay
which picked up the task of scanning the surface of the planet.

    “How many fighter planes do they
carry!” Bakus wiped the sweat off his forehead. He was now watching the radar
data from across the planet that was relayed into the operations room.

    “General, surface under attack from
enemy fighters,” the defense officer shouted.

    “Order laser batteries to commence
firing,” Bakus said but he knew they would have done so already.

    The hundred anti-aircraft laser cannons
had opened fire at the enemy swirling around in the sky and were making hits
and dropping one every now and then. The alien spacecrafts were shooting lasers
at the Starfire Cannon which just bounced off of it and when enemy switched to
shooting rockets their explosion did not so much as make a dent into it.

    “Laser batteries are getting destroyed
by the enemy fire,” defense officer said, “but the weapon holds steady.”

    “A strange metal alloy protects it,”
Bakus said, “recall all our fighters.”

    But all the fighters in the air above
Blackskull were already rushing at top speed towards this location.

    Then the alien battleship marked
Mysterious Two suddenly disappeared from their radar.

    “Mysterious Two is gone,” radar officer
said.

    “What?” Bakus remarked.

    “It flew away from the planet into
space,” the scanner officer said, “it’s visible on gravitron now.”

    Bakus and Remus walked over to the
Gravitron scanner. Bakus suddenly put both of his hands on his head and froze
with his mouth wide open.

    The alien battleship rapidly
accelerated and swung past the planet Blackskull while still out in space and
launched a torrent of rockets. The coordinates for the location of Starfire
Cannon had been established and relayed by the alien spacefighters to their
battleship and were programmed into the rockets. The laser batteries fired at
the rockets but could not hit the faster than light speed rockets that struck
the energy ray weapon with multiple explosions sending up a dozen big red
mushroom clouds in the sky.

    Bakus and company downstairs felt
earthquake like shakes in their underground base and the staff tipped over in
their seats. 

    “What the hell?” Remus said, “they used
atomics on a surface strike. It is against the Space War Law to hit the
planetary surface with atomics!”

    “Let us haul them before a space
court,” Bakus said, “now all we need are a couple of civic-minded space
patrolmen to serve them summons.”

    “Senate will hear of this,” Remus said.

    “And do what?” Bakus said, “Our most
powerful weapon is gone. What remains on the surface?” Bakus turned to the
defense officer but answered himself, “nothing.”

    “Over a hundred Hawks have survived,
General,” the defense officer said, “but the rest of the surface base is
totally destroyed.”

    “Enemy spacefighters retreating to the
battleship marked as Mysterious Two,” radar officer said.

    “Order vice-commander Pontus and
Battleship Republic to come to our aid immediately,” Bakus said to the
communications officer, “And have them bring two more battleships along.”

    “Will the enemy battleship be able to
scan for us?” Remus asked.

    “I don’t think so but I am not taking
any chances. Who knows how far their science has advanced. For all we know they
are reading our thoughts,” Bakus said eliciting laughter from a couple of
officers.

    “You think this is funny,” Bakus said,
“we lost thousands of soldiers less than a minute ago and you…”

    “General, the enemy battleships are
retreating,” the gravitron officer said, “they are accelerating for an exit
from the solar system.”

    “Speed?” Bakus asked.

    “20 light speed and accelerating,” the
officer replied,

    “Slower than the mad escape of their
first ship which was like a man jumping out of a burning building,” Bakus said,
“But faster than what our battleships can accelerate.”

     “22 light speed,” the officer said.

    “Hmmm…”

    “25 light speed,”

    “Call off the chase,” Bakus turned to
the communications officer.

    “Sir, there was no chase,”
communications officer replied.

    “Why?” Bakus asked but got his answer
the next moment when the damage reports from the seven battleships flashed
across a couple of screens in the room.

    “Damn…damn…damn,” Bakus read it out
loud, “minimum damage is 25% and average damage is 55% what the…”

    “Maximum damage of 81%,” Remus said,
“That battleship is all but destroyed. General Bakus I want these reports for
Senate and Chancellors review as promptly as possible.”

    “Have at it,” Bakus turned around to
face him, “I will personally deliver the report and give a piece of my mind to
the fools who make up our senate. No offense to you.”

    Bakus stormed off into his personal
quarters and as Remus watched the gravitron the alien spaceships disappeared out
of the solar system and off of the scanner.

Vice-Chancellor Remus hurriedly walked up
the stairs of the Senate building to the topmost floor where he was scheduled
to attend the meeting with Chancellor Augus and other leaders of the republic.
It had been a couple of weeks since the battle and they were recovering from
the damage. The battleships had been sent to the yards for repair and the army
analysists were all over the place trying to understand just what exactly had
taken place. Remus walked on to the top floor and then walked down the empty
corridor and stood in front of a steel door in the center. The machine in front
scanned his face and his iris and then the door slid open and automatically
closed when he walked inside.

    Chancellor Augus was standing in front
of his table while General Bakus was standing to his right. Everyone else was
seated on individual sofas spread around in a semi-circle. There was War
Minister Horus Bors an old balding man with a sleepy right eye, Foreign
Minister Hickus Tofus an oblong-faced middle aged man with saucer-shaped eyes
sat in front of him with his opposite fingers making an arch. Interior Minister
Lemon Bree sat confidently with one leg on his other knee; he was a suave man
with hair combed back neatly and a clean shaven face. The last person present
was Senator Solus Vars, the official leader of the opposition in the senate,
who appeared to be lost in his own thoughts while he stroked his beard.

    “Gentlemen, now that everyone is here,
let us begin this meeting,” Augus said and looked at Remus who nodded his head
in approval. Remus did not take a seat but stood near the door. “General Bakus,
what are we calling this battle, a victory or a defeat?” He turned around to
face the general as he asked the question.

    “I would call it a draw,” Bakus replied
and before he could continue he was cut off by War Minister Horus Bors who
jumped in, “A draw? Our enemy ran away.”

    “After inflicting a lot of damage upon
our battleships,” Bakus said.

    “And we haven’t had a single attack by
these aliens since that battle,” Horus said.

    “And they destroyed our most powerful
weapon: Starfire Cannon,” Bakus said.

    “Our enemy is licking his wounds too,”
Horus said, “if that is any consolation to you, general…”

    “It is not,” Bakus shot back

    “For nothing short of total destruction
of the enemy would have done for you but war sometimes turns out like politics
with muddled outcomes,” Horus said.

    “We have no idea what damage we have done
to the enemy,” Bakus said, “Battleship Guardian will have to be scrapped
completely; rest will be in the repair yards for months.”

    “This alien spaceship you marked
Mysterious One, we did destroy it, no?” Horus flailed his hands outward on
either side.

    “No, just ruined it and it was all the
work of the energy ray,” Bakus said.

    “So,” Horus shrugged.

    “Starfire Cannon is not our weapon. I
don’t find it reassuring that the only weapon that was truly effective is the
one that we had imported,” Bakus said, “And now it is gone.”

    “I can commandeer any of our industries
to rebuild it on a war footing,” Interior Minister Lemon said.

    “It is far beyond our technical
capability to build it,” Remus said, “our scientists don’t even understand its
working.”

     “Hickus can place an order for the
replacement,” Lemon said.

    “Why don’t we just invoke the
protection contract we have with the Starfire Empire?” Foreign Minister Hickus
asked.

    “Do not invite those dastardly hordes
to settle our affairs,” Senator Solus Vars sprang up from his seat and waved
his finger at Hickus, “Or have we forgotten that Starfirians had suggested that
we crown a king when the protection treaty was signed.”

    “They believed it would bring stability
to our republic and their observation wasn’t totally off mark,” Bakus added
quickly, “not that I agree with them.”

    “The republic cannot survive
interference of kings and generals in its politics,” Senator Solus said.

    “Would you like me to leave, Senator?”
Bakus asked and took a step towards the door.

    “Nobody is suggesting that,” Chancellor
Augus said, “Solus. It was originally Hickus’ idea, your fellow elected
senator.”

    “Me and my senators won’t support it,”
Solus waived his palm, “We don’t want the Imperial Starfleet to come out here
and park itself in our orbit.”

    “Our protection contract stipulates no
interference in our politics,” Augus said, “Starfirian track record with
regards to their other protectorates is consistent with that.”

    “Sure,” Solus guffawed, “they don’t
send in the Starfleet with lasers blazing into the protectorates but if you
think their cunning and ruthless spy department isn’t active subverting
republics across the galaxy, you aren’t fit to be the chancellor.”

    “May I remind you, Solus,” Augus said,
“This treaty is already signed and we don’t need a vote in the senate to invoke
it.”

    “Do as you wish but I will raise the
people against it,” Solus turned around and stomped out the door.

    “You don’t have to take this
chancellor,” Remus said, “Barely 20 senators support him.” Remus never liked
this behavior from the opposition leader but he could not risk to alienate him
either as it could ruin his own shot at becoming the Chancellor. The elderly
and gentlemanly Augus was no match for abrasive Solus in politics, but
fortunately this earned Augus many other allies who also disliked Solus and
kept him in the office.

    “The man is passionate if a bit
unreasonable,” Augus said, “I don’t want to make him feel marginalized and have
him stir up trouble when we already have enough on our plate.”

    “We are at war Chancellor even if we
haven’t announced the battle to the public,” Lemon said, “I can order the
public assemblies canceled. Throttle Solus before he even utters a word.”

    “No, that will give credence to his
opposition. I will try to reason with him afterward,” Augus said, “I want to
return to this question of our protection contract with Starfirians and whether
we should invoke it?”

    “From a military standpoint we are hard
pressed Chancellor,” Bakus said, “In the next two months we can field no more
than 26 battleships. On the other hand, we have managed to identify about a
dozen different alien battleships based on scattered reports of our mining
ships and our spy ships.”

    “Should be enough then,” Horus said.

    “If we assume the ratio of our 7 ships
against their 3 battleships as equivalent force,” Bakus said, “we will need 28
battleships.”

    “Have Lemon conscript whatever labor
force he needs to expedite the repairs,” Horus said.

    “I cannot believe they would have only
a dozen spaceships,” Remus said, “the farthest one of our spy ships got in
their space was 87 light years from our frontier and that is where it had
sighted the first of their populated planets. But it had to turn tail and run
from afar without gathering any information because there were five enemy
battleships orbiting that planet. What kind of a power would send a dozen
ten-mile, twelve-mile long gigantic battleships so far from its front? Only one
that has quite a few to spare.”

    “You are right my friend,” Augus said.
Horus began to speak but Augus raised his hand to motion him to stay quiet and
continued, “We cannot let our ego dictate our decisions. I don’t necessarily
trust Starfirians but it is not for nothing their protection contract is
considered gold across the galaxy; they have never abrogated it in the past. We
must ask for their help.”

    “I am ready,” Hickus said, “Put me on
the next space cruiser to planet Bravo.”

    “That is not a good idea,” Remus said,
“Solus and his supporters will be watching foreign minister Hickus and his
disappearance for long will clue them in. They could make the Senate
dysfunctional.”

    “A state leader is required to activate
the contract,” Augus said.

    “I will go,” Remus said, “You can’t go
obviously, neither should Hickus and General Bakus is needed here for future
defense preparations. I won’t be missed and Solus won’t start denouncing me. He
harbors the dream of becoming the future chancellor and this planet Nestor
makes up 1/4th of the total votes. Attacking Nestor’s senator is not a good way
to become popular here.”

    “As you wish,” Augus said. He adjourned
the meeting soon thereafter. Gen. Bakus caught up with Remus as he was just
walking outside the room.

    “What’s his problem?” Bakus asked.

    “He is passionate as the chancellor
said,” Remus replied, “But I would say he is way more than a bit unreasonable.”

    “Not senator Solus,” Bakus said, “he
doesn’t like the officer corps, likens us to old lords and soldiers to poor,
suffering peasants. I know it’s not personal with him, I meant war minister
Horus.” Bakus turned around to make sure Horus wasn’t nearby but he had walked
down the opposite corridor.

    “His position is redundant so he has to
make noise to appear relevant and the best way to do that is to play foil to
the top general of Nestorian Republic,” Remus said, “Nestor’s senator is always
the vice-chancellor by default and Nestor contributes the most to the military
finances and so demands that its vice-chancellor be the political leader of the
military. Poor old Horus represents some far lying backwater planet.”

    “He could make a hay of our
preparations,” Bakus said as they walked down the stairs where they were the
only two.

    “Ignore him. I will override any
foolish decision of his when I return,” Remus said.

    “Should I send a signal to the Regional
Star Commander at Bravo of your imminent arrival?” Bakus asked.

    “No, I want the trip to be a secret till
I reach some fix with Starfirians,” Remus replied, “I will be traveling alone.”

    “Vice-Chancellor, that is dangerous,”
Bakus stopped and turned to face him, “There is over a hundred and fifty light
years of pirate infested space between our planet Beacon and the patrol route
of the Sixth Frontier Fleet.”

    “That is why I am taking our fastest
spaceship, the one that reached 87 light years into these mysterious alien’s
territory,” Remus smiled as they walked down the stairs.