Starship Conquistador (Conquest of Stars Book 1) (4 page)

    The six of them started walking the
hundred meter distance to the palace door.

    Silencer was watching Remus, Rockvyk
and SPASI’s guards’ leisurely stroll through the eyepiece of the telescope and
steadied his finger on his laser gun’s trigger. He had centered the coordinates
that he had marked on the telescope’s lens right in the middle of the path to
the palace. He had turned up the switch on his gun to ‘maximum energy’
position. On this setting his laser gun would be discharged in ten seconds but
Silencer knew that the victim needed only one second of exposure before he
dropped dead.

    He waited with bated breath as Remus
walked ever closer to his target spot.

    Two more seconds and he would pull the
trigger.

    Suddenly a spark flashed in his eye and
he pulled himself back.

    WHAT?

    He looked through the eyepiece again
and saw green laser raining down on the palace gardens but bouncing off of some
invisible field a hundred feet in the air and the contact of the laser with the
invisible shield gave off sparks.

    “WHO THE FUCK is this amateur?!!”
Silencer yelled.

    On the ground, Rockvyk and SPASI guards
surrounded Remus and rushed him to the palace door. The soldiers came out
running towards them to offer protection and escorted the company inside the
palace.

    Some sod bastard of an amateur had
fucked up his job, Silencer was fuming. Someone stupid enough not to know about
the invisible shield surrounding important buildings made of the electromagnetic
field carrying millions of nanoparticles of mirror-like material that reflected
away concentrated light such as laser. He had been given tech. specs of the
field by the client and had brought along a customized laser gun whose light
beam would carry sufficient energy through the field. But someone else had not
done their homework, he mumbled. 

    Silencer had an instinct where the
shooter could be and he turned the telescope towards an orbital space resort
that he knew was in the orbit in between the moon and the planet at that time.
He himself had contemplated utilizing it as the staging ground.

    He looked through the telescope at the
orbital resort and saw a shooter leaning over a laser gun attached to a
smaller, personal-sized telescope on its glass domed roof. The shooter had tied
himself to the tower of the resort with a tight safety harness that kept him in
place.

    Magyar the Silencer now aimed his
telescope at this shooter and steadied the coordinates upon the glass dome and
then let loose with his laser gun for five seconds. The laser went through the
shooter’s torso and shattered the glass. Magyar started packing up his gun and
his equipment back in the bag. He closed the roof of the telescope and was out
of the observatory in less than two minutes. He took advantage of the low
gravity of the moon to jump to his spaceship and started the engine the second
he entered inside.

    He increased his speed at a steady rate
at first as his spaceship flew away from the gravity field of the moon and the
planet. He felt insulted that his client had deemed to send a backup and felt
contempt that the client had sent a fool who had no understanding of the
protection measures and no knowledge of how to penetrate them.

    He increased his acceleration to the
maximum safe level. He would worry about the botched job later, right now he
needed to make it to deep space as fast as possible. If the orders went out to
the Sixth Frontier Fleet to close down the space frontiers of Zarrvyk Province
than it would become exorbitantly more difficult to escape out to the
unexplored space. He had a few pirate friends out there and now was the time to
go out and hide with them in some asteroid belt.

The door of the palace was sealed shut right
after Remus and company had made it inside. The soldiers took position behind
the door with their laser guns drawn.

    “My hearty apologies,” Chief Detective
Rockvyk said to the bewildered Remus, “We should have better vetted our
security protocol.”

    “Do you have insurgents? Is this
building a target?” Remus asked.

    Rockvyk was flummoxed.

    “Vice-Chancellor that was an attempt on
your life,” he said.

    “On mine? Why?” Remus could think of no
reason why any Starfirian would want him dead. He had never come here before
nor advocated any political position that would make him enemies in this
country.  “And from where? I saw anti-airship lasers on the walls.”

    “Allow me to speculate,” a man walked
towards them from inside the palace. He was dressed in the usual red and black
uniform but with epaulets, medallions and decorations that indicated he was an
officer. “I am Capitan Jontvyk Tubyt. I am in-charge of this palace’s security.
Regional Star Commander is waiting in his office, please follow me,” he said to
Remus then turned to Rockvyk, “your guards can entertain themselves in the
guest hall.”

    The four SPASI guards turned left while
Capitan Jontvyk led Remus and Rockvyk to the right side of the hallway. Remus
saw that the hallway floor and walls were made of black marble while the
ceiling was colored red. The walls of the hallway were twenty-five feet apart
while the height to the ceiling was a hundred feet. The palace here was
completely deserted except for the soldiers standing guard near the windows and
the side doors. The walls were also empty of decorations or statues except for
one row of life-sized paintings of the former commanders of this palace.

    “There is an orbital resort making its
round above us at this time,” Capitan Jontvyk said, “We suspect the assassin
fired from there. The palace radar report no airships and laser fire originated
from the air.”

    “Just a single killer?” Rockvyk asked.

    “The intensity of the laser shots
suggests a single laser gun,” Jontvyk said, “We will find out soon enough. Our
rocket troops have taken to the sky.”

    “Rocket troops?” Remus asked.

    “One of our elite troops,” Jontvyk
replied, “They mount a personal rocket on their backs which allows them air
mobility. They should reach the orbit in five minutes.”

    They entered an elevator which took
them to the fourth floor. The corridor here was narrow, just ten feet wide and
twenty feet in height, with red carpet on the floor and the ceiling and the
walls painted in matching red. There were doors at some interval with signs
that Remus could not read. They reached the center of the corridor and faced
two soldiers guarding either end of a much wider door.

    “I will leave you here,” Jontvyk said,
“but will return to escort you back.”

    “Jontvyk, can you gather a couple dozen
troops and an armored airship for our guest's return?” Rockvyk said, “I don’t
think the assassin will try again even if he manages to flee but let’s not take
chances.”

    “Exactly what I was going to do,”
Jontvyk said and walked back.

    The two soldiers had been told to
expect them and they pushed a button to slide the door and the guests walked
in.

    Regional Star Commander was sitting on
his desk and he smiled when they walked in and the door closed behind them. He
was an elderly man with a wrinkled face and disheveled hair on either side of
his head. He was dressed in the same uniform as others but on his shirt were
ten strings of gold that stretched from one side of the chest over the buttons
to the other. He was wearing a distinctive hat that had both a front visor,
like usual Starfire soldier’s hat and two side visors that were unique to his
hat.

    He walked over to the sofa and pointed
Remus to a large, comfortable cushion seat.

    “Welcome, Vice-Chancellor Remus. I am
Carvyk Botlar, the Commander of Sixth Frontier Fleet and all of Starfire Army’s
forces in the Zarrvyk Province,” he said, “I was going to inquire about your
trip, but some countryman of yours has already marred it.”

    “My countryman?” Remus asked. The three
of sat down on the sofa and a land mobile robot passed around a glass of drink
to each.

    “News just came that the dead assassin
was a Nestorian visitor, an illegal alien,” Carvyk said then raised his hand,
“Not that we mind our friends visiting us but we appreciate advance notice and
request proper registration.”

    Remus felt a slight rebuke of his act
of showing up unannounced on their door but he was stunned at this new
revelation. He wasn’t the only one.

    “Dead?” Rockvyk asked, “I just talked
to Jontvyk and he had just launched the rocket troopers.”

    “They haven’t reached the resort,”
Carvyk said, “It was the manager of the resort who called me directly. His
glass dome was also shattered.”

    “That complicates the matter,” Rockvyk
turned to Remus, “Vice-Chancellor we don’t wish to interfere in your politics
but we are going to investigate this attempted assassination thoroughly since
it happened on our planet and involved an attack on our building. But it could
open a can of worms for you and if you wish us to be discrete and keep matters
under wrap you should tell us which of your political enemies might not want
you to visit us.”

    “I don’t know what to say,” Remus said,
“My trip was supposed to be a secret.”

    “It may not be his enemies,” Carvyk
said, “It could be someone who doesn’t want him to meet us and request our
protection. Which brings us to the purpose of this visit. You want to invoke
the protection clause of our contract. Is that correct?”

    “Yes,” Remus said turning his glass in
his hand.

    “Good, now let’s set aside this
unfortunate incident till my detectives and SPASI gather more clues,” Carvyk
said then leaned forward, “Who is it exactly that is attacking you?”

    “We don’t know, these are mysterious
aliens,” Remus said, “their civilization must lie farther along than our planet
Blackskull in that direction. About a couple of years ago our mining and
exploration spaceships that ventured out in the frontier space and beyond
started getting attacked and abducted. We thought they were pirates or
disgruntled political factions from our own civilization. Slowly we came to
realize that it was actually an alien race that we had never encountered before
and we know nothing about.”

    “Are you familiar with our Starfire
Galactic Navigation framework?” Carvyk asked.

    “I am,” Remus said.

    “Then in what coordinates in those
charts would you say these mysterious aliens hail from?”

    “Somewhere between -30/-60/-30 degrees
and -30/60/-30 degrees from the galactic center,” Remus said.

    “The only large section of the galaxy
that our long range galactic exploration spaceships haven’t traveled to,”
Carvyk looked at Rockvyk.

    “Yeah,” Rockvyk replied, “bad luck. The
only uncharted space in the galaxy happens to have an aggressive, hostile
spacefaring civilization.”

    “What about their spaceships?” Carvyk
asked.

    “Huge, like yours, ten-twelve-fifteen
miles long, although only one sighting for the later sized ship,” Remus said,
“they appear to be significantly more technologically advanced than us. Their
speed and acceleration capability and shield technology are also much farther
along than ours.”

    “Have you tried to contact them and
negotiate?” Carvyk asked.

    “They have made no contact and rebuked
all of our attempts as well,” Remus said, “It just could be that our and their
technologies are too incompatible but that is unlikely since technology relies
on the same universal laws of science.”

    “True, but it could take very different
development paths,” Carvyk said. “Vice-Chancellor Remus, I believe you, but I
also need hard data.”

    “I have brought along,” Remus took out
a small, metallic green box and handed it to Carvyk, “Data that was captured
live during our battle with them. It is shorn of our military secrets but has
sufficient details to prove our case for protection.”

    “I will have to get this analyzed and
if it meets the terms of our contract…” Carvyk said.

    “Commander Botlar,” Remus said, “The
Starfire Empire charges us a hefty protection fee annually. We have never
missed a payment and are now entitled to the benefits we were promised.”

    “I completely agree,” Carvyk said, “But
you have to realize the political decision to make you a protectorate was met
with considerable internal opposition in the Empire. Your and our space borders
are almost a 150 light years apart. Usually, we don’t spread our wings so far
out in the frontiers. But in your case you were on the verge of conflict with
another of our protectorates and the only way to bring those stubborn fools to
the negotiation table was to give you our protection as well.”

    “And we pay dearly for it. Your fee to
most of your other protectorates is a requirement to import 25% of their
machines and industrial equipment from Starfire Empire, but we have to import
50% of our industrial goods from you,” Remus said.

    “Don’t worry Vice-Chancellor, we will
not allow anyone to overrun Nestorian Republic,” Carvyk said, “Vetting the
terms of our treaty is just a formality. I promise you our help. Will you stay
with us till I put together an armed force for your reinforcement?”

    “I am afraid my position doesn’t allow
me such an extended vacation,” Remus replied.    

    “I do request that you wait for the
next space cruiser,” Rockvyk said, “There are pirates out there and there are
people who want you dead. But space frontier vacation cruises have an escort of
20 of our spacefighters and they swing by your planet Beacon.”

    “When is the next cruise?” Remus asked.

    “In a week or two,” Rockvyk said.

    “I rather not wait that long,” Remus
said, “I will take the chance. I don’t even have to conserve fuel heading home
and can outrun pirates or anyone else.”

    “As you wish, if there isn’t anything
else…” Carvyk said.

    “Actually there is,” Remus said, “Our
Starfire Cannon was destroyed in the battle. Please put an expedited order for
another one and have it shipped promptly. We will pay on delivery.”

    “Starfire Cannon?” Rockvyk mused out
loud, “We have hundreds of types of cannons.”

    “He means the SpaceCutter Ray Cannon,”
Carvyk said.

    “We call it Starfire Cannon because we
bought it from you,” Remus said.

    “I will place an order for that,”
Carvyk said, “I will see if I can’t get it to the front of the queue.”

    “Thank you,” Remus said.

     Remus and Rockvyk got up and took
Carvyk’s leave. They walked out of the door where Capitan Jontvyk was waiting
for them. He escorted them to the first floor and till the front door of the
palace where the four SPASI guards were awaiting them.

    “My rocket troopers reached the resort
and found the dead body of would be assassin. He was one of yours,” Jontvyk
said.

    “Your star commander informed us,”
Remus said.

    “I am going to personally lead this
investigation,” Detective Rockvyk said, “But vice-chancellor, please order an
inquiry in your country and keep us informed.”

    “Trust me,” Remus said, “No one is
keener to find out who wanted me killed than myself.”

     Rockvyk and SPASI guards escorted him
into a larger armored airship that was packed with a couple dozen soldiers
carrying laser guns. All of them accompanied him to the spaceport but their
journey was incident free. Rockvyk talked to the spaceport administrator and
had Remus’s ship scheduled for immediate departure and in less than fifteen
minutes he was accelerating away from planet Bravo.

    As Remus’ spaceship took flight he
hoped that Regional Star Commander would hew close to his promise and not find
some clause in the treaty to deny them reinforcements. He had been just a child
when the protection treaty with Starfire Empire had been signed and there had
been rumors lasting to this day that Starfirians themselves had goaded one of
their protectorates to pick fights with Nestorian Republic. It wouldn’t do for
them to be seen across the galaxy as intimidating a country into becoming a
protectorate, much better to maneuver behind the scenes and step in as the
guarantor of order and stability.

    But whatever the truth to these rumors,
Remus had more important matters to worry about. First and foremost he had to
find out just who had sent an assassin to kill him. As his ship picked up speed
Remus let the auto-pilot take over the flight controls and he sat back and
closed his eyes.