OMEGA Guardian (23 page)

After arriving at the target area between Effica and Gantor III, Malcom spoke. "We’ve been here for three hours and nothing. With all the training and all the talk, I thought this would be nonstop action."

I replied, "If they were out here every day, no one would travel this route. We might have to spend a week here monitoring before anything happens, but it will happen."

Malcom huffed. "I don’t see why we have to be out here chasing pirates anyway. That’s not our job."

I shook my head. "It is our job. We work for the security forces. Our primary task might be checking ships for contraband, but our overall duty is to protect the citizens of this sector. Things have to change out here if civilization is to exist. We are the implementers of that change. Being a detective for the security forces is a service job. We aren’t paid to pick and choose what it is that we want to do. We just have to go out and do what is right and do what is needed."

I was a bit put off by Malcom’s remarks. His attitude was selfish and his morals were corrupt. When the first undocumented ship appeared on our sensors, it took every bit of convincing that I had to keep Malcom on station. Their target was a food freighter heading to Effica.

I spoke. "Keep your transponder off, and we should be able to intercept them at the point that I have highlighted on your display. Our ships should be faster than theirs, so they will have the option to either turn themselves over or die."

Malcom replied, "Yeah, or kill us. You do realize that the armor on these ships has not been tested. What if they did a shoddy job of installing it?"

I sighed. "Well, I guess at that point you die. If that happens, you aren’t going to care, so don’t let it bother you."

When the supposed pirates had taken up a position that would allow a raid on the freighter, I set our plan into action. Almost immediately our ship movements were picked up on their sensors. The two ships turned to flee and then stopped.

I hailed the pirates over the general comm channel. "This is Detective Beutcher with the Omega sector security force. You are being instructed to hold your position. An investigation into your activities has been activated."

The captain of one of the vessels came online. "It’s obvious that you can outrun us. So, we’ll wait for you here."

We arrived at a point that was ten kilometers from their position.

I said over the comm, "Enable my scanner to tie into your systems, please. When a scan is complete, we may or may not choose to board your vessel. Will you comply?"

The captain nodded. "We will comply. We have done nothing wrong. But first, can you look over an item that we found on Gantor III? We came by it in an auction, and we believe it might be stolen. I will put it out for you to pick up and I’ll move away."

I replied, "That's an unusual request."

Malcom spoke. "Can you just shove it out through your gravity wall? We can take a look at it with our sensors."

I opened a comm to Malcom. "What are you doing?"

Malcom replied, "What I’m doing is moving this investigation along. You know, they could have easily been here to place something on that freighter, not necessarily to take something off."

I thought about Malcom’s statement as he spoke. "There, they jettisoned it. I’m going to go check it out."

The suspected pirate vessels moved away as Malcom pulled to within a kilometer of the meter-long metal device.

Malcom snarled. "Scan didn’t penetrate far enough to see inside. I’m moving in closer."

I replied, "Malcom. Something isn’t right here. I advise that you pull back from that until we know what it is."

Malcom laughed. "Yeah, well, I don’t have all day. If this turns out to be nothing, we just send them on their way."

I watched on the display as Malcom Barber pulled his ship up to within ten meters of the device.

Malcom began his close inspection of the device. "Scanning it now. It looks like—"

A bright flash filled my monitor as the device exploded, taking Malcom and his ship with it. The pirates had deployed a bomb of unknown makeup and then lured Malcom into their trap. I pushed my throttle to full as the two pirate ships split, heading off in different directions. I had closed to within firing range of the first ship after fifteen minutes of pursuit.

Two quick bursts from my ion cannon turrets ended the regress of the ship that had deployed the weapon. I pushed the controls over to pursue the other fleeing ship. After forty-five minutes, I had closed to within a hundred kilometers. At fifty kilometers I began to take shots at the pirate vessel as it changed its direction every few seconds. At twenty kilometers a close shot scorched an engine nacelle. At ten kilometers the pirate vessel began to fire back, its ion cannon no more powerful than a blaster rifle.

In a final attempt to thwart my advance, two bombs of the same makeup as the first were jettisoned through a gravity wall. Each exploded harmlessly several kilometers from my location. I flipped on Garrett’s automatic targeting algorithm and closed to within two kilometers. The twisting and turning ship flipped to port and into an oncoming ion bolt. A meter-sized hole appeared in its hull. I turned off the auto-targeting and watched.

The pirate vessel had lost power and had begun to slowly spin. When the nose of the ship turned in my direction, the gunner, who had survived the initial hit, fired back. The hull upgrades Go had made easily absorbed the weak ion bolt. I countered with three quick bursts, ending the fight the pirates had begun. The remainder of the dead hull began to slowly drift away. I tagged it with a beacon that would allow salvagers to clean up the mess.

I returned to the debris field left behind when Malcom’s ship had exploded. The proximity of the bomb and its powerful blast had left nothing to salvage. Malcom Barber was dead. I had lost a partner. The fact that I had not properly acted to prevent it would weigh on my conscience.

The mood back at SS241 was subdued. Malcom was not popular by any account, but he was one of our own. A proper memorial service was performed and his material possessions donated. Malcom had no family.

During the weeks that followed, the pirate activity in Omega dropped dramatically. Most pirates were not looking for a fight, and many a ship’s captain had taken possession of their own blaster. Others had taken to paying one of their crew a bonus for being a security officer. I had no doubt that with more time, the thievery of cargo in transit would drop to almost nothing. There would always be a new generation who thought they could best the system and avoid the law. Those individuals would eventually find out differently.

When Garrett took possession of his new freighter, he brought it to SS241.

Garrett moved the freighter into a docking bay on the station before seeking me out. "It looks like I’m all set. The ship is ready to go, the samples are aboard, and Layda has approvals for me to jump all the way to Adicus. There will be a few detours along the way so that it doesn’t look like Adicus was the primary destination, but I should be there within a week."

I replied, "And all the data on your trading company and your identity? Everything in order?"

Garrett nodded. "It is. Talisan Mills Trading Company is registered on Dallex, and it appears to be a thirty-eight-year-old company. Ded Williams is in marketing and sales with the company. I originally came from Effica to Dallex for work. Everything looks legit. I sent you a data packet that contains my backstory if needed."

I sighed. "I wish I was going with you."

Garrett offered a half frown. "Yeah, me too. I’m just hoping we haven’t been wasting our time. Let’s hope she is out there."

Soon after our conversation, Garrett and his new ship, the
Jealousy
, were swept away by a portal to the Psi sector and station SS202. His journey to Adicus was only just beginning. My efforts were turned back to the continued reorganization and cleansing of the Omega sector. A Council of Governors was set up to ensure that all colonies were taking steps to improve life in Omega. I listened in on every meeting I could.

My close relationship with the acting mayor of SS241 allowed me to make unlimited calls to my family. All were doing well. Getta continued to stress the need for me to keep a low profile. Being the Emperor of Talisan would make that task difficult. If the Saltons were to investigate my heavy involvement with the changes in Omega, there would likely be a heavy price to pay.

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Steve

A full month had passed since Garrett’s departure for Adicus. With the detours he had planned on his flight out, I was expecting word from him any day. When the comm call came through, his report was not what I had envisioned.

Garrett said, "Everything went perfectly until I tried to get swept out to Adicus. The closest station said their gate was down. I had to make the four-day journey by flying. That was after the station people told me it had been quarantined. When I arrived in the system, there was no response from the Adicus security people. When I landed, the place was abandoned. The planet is empty. Everybody is gone. I’ve looked all over. I even checked the logs at the portal. Other than passing through comm signals, it has been blocked off, and the logs say it was last used twelve days ago. They had to have all been conscripted."

I sighed. "Spend a day and see what you can find. If that’s the case, we will only have a few months to try to get to her before they all get shipped off to Andromeda."

Garrett nodded and returned to his search for information. I sat down on a chair just outside of my ship. Had we waited too long? If Joni was there, was she being prepared for a one-way trip to Andromeda? I wondered if we would ever find out what happened.

Gerald was sitting in his usual chair. "You don’t look so good over there. Something wrong?"

I stood, walked over, and sat in another chair across from him. "A person we have been looking for has gone missing from where we thought she would be. It’s a long story."

Gerald held his hands out to his sides. "We’ve got four hours to kill before we go out again. I’ve got the time if you do."

I replied, "You might not believe what I have to say."

Gerald gestured for me to proceed. "Please. You showed up out here, got enslaved and then became emperor of a planet. Spew it."

I leaned back in my chair and took a deep breath. "I would guess that you have heard the rumors about whole colonies disappearing in some of the remote sectors. I’m not talking about Effica, where it was the Talisans. I’m talking about something much different."

Gerald nodded. "I’ve heard the rumors."

I continued, "Well, they aren’t disappearing. They are being conscripted to go off to fight a war."

Gerald half laughed. "What war? There aren’t any wars going on. Haven’t been since the AMP was created."

I shook my head. "That’s where you are wrong. There is a war being fought in Andromeda. The portal gate to there from Alpha Prime has been shut down for some time. There is no travel to and from Andromeda, except by the military."

Gerald again half laughed. "We don’t have a military."

I replied, "Yes, we do. A new shipyard has been constructed in the Theta sector. The Saltons have created their own military to go off and fight in Andromeda. They have somehow acquired a portal gate that will allow them to send moderately large warships through to Andromeda as well. There has been an invasion from outside the six galaxies. Already nearly a quarter of Andromeda has been overrun.

"The Saltons have been sending everything they can through the secret portal gate to help with the fight, only we are losing badly at every battle. Harden Salton’s advisers convinced him that he would not be able to raise a volunteer army given the condition of the economies of most colonies, which we both know doesn't make sense. So, they turned to conscription on a colony scale."

Gerald leaned forward. "Wait. You are telling me they are taking whole colonies off to fight a war?"

I nodded. "A colony is surrounded and everyone taken away. The elderly are supposedly put into care, and the children are put into government schools. Those who are slightly less able are forced to work on the war effort behind the lines. Anyone of any age who is deemed able to fight is trained, outfitted, and sent to the front. The war has been raging for several years, and supposedly no one has returned from the fighting."

Gerald crossed his arms. "Well, that’s just great. The New Alliance is just snatching people to go off and fight their war for them."

I shook my head. "It’s not that simple. If this outside force takes over Andromeda, what’s to stop them from coming here to the Triangulum or to any of the six galaxies? Currently, the Saltons are the only ruling family of the New Alliance who are trying to do anything to stop this. The other families, except for the one being taken over in Andromeda, refuse to contribute any resources to the fight.

"I am not a big believer in the Saltons and in the way they do business. But, when I talked to Harden Salton, he had some things to say that made sense. If the New Alliance falls apart, we become nothing more than weak individual colonies. Together, we can muster the resources to fight back. I am not a fan of the conscription method of building an army, but at the moment we don’t have much of a choice."

Gerald shook his head. "Why aren’t they coming to the people? Tell us what’s happening. With the economies in such sad shape, he would probably have all the volunteers he needed. If this war is so big, you need to have all your people behind it."

I nodded. "I would agree; that is my reasoning as well. I was told that I did not have all the facts and that the advisers were taking the best course of action. I just don’t know that I agree that sending whole colonies to their death is the best course, certainly not for those colonists."

Gerald placed his hands behind his head. "Wow. That is some heavy stuff you’ve been carrying around. And your friend was on one of these colonies that just got conscripted. I wondered what you and Mr. Williams were up to. You always seemed to have a second agenda working. I’m guessing this must be a special friend if you were willing to go through all this trouble."

I replied, "It’s Harden Salton’s niece."

Gerald laughed. "Hahaha! Well, that serves him right, then!"

I shook my head. "No, she is not deserving of such. Unlike her uncle, she has a sense of what’s right and wrong."

Gerald leaned forward. "It’s evident that you don’t really like Harden Salton, but I have heard you extol the virtues of the New Alliance time and again over the last few months. I don’t get it."

I replied, "It’s simple. Together we are strong. Make us individuals, and there are those who will fight, steal, enslave, and do anything they can to give themselves advantage or privilege over others. If we fall back to having individual colonies, there will inevitably be wars between them, or between groups of them. We could do without the ruling families, but we need the alliance."

Garrett interrupted as he came over the comm. "It was definitely conscription. I dug into the media files for the week it happened. The Saltons surrounded the planet with some of their new warships. The Adicans were prepared to fight, but Harden Salton outflanked them. Instead of an all-out assault, he sent troops down and captured several small villages. He threatened to butcher all the citizens in them if those in charge didn’t join him in the Andromeda war. He was convincing enough that they took his deal to join the military. Once they understood that a war was already under way, they chose to join with him instead of fight him."

I replied, "I’m starting to see a pattern here. All of the planets in the Alpha sector that we have seen conscripted were the planets with the most unrest. Adicus had revolted, but even with all the blasters the Orwallians had shipped to them, they didn’t have the power or defenses to stand up to the Saltons. Also, by plucking out the worst offenders, he strengthens the alliance through rumor and intimidation if nothing else."

Garrett looked around his cockpit. "Well, I have a trade ship loaded with ore samples. If they are building ships in Theta, they need raw materials. I think I’m going to make a trip over there and see if I can work out any deals. That will give me an excuse to nose around. It will take me four days to get back to the station; from there I can use the portals to head out to Theta."

I replied, "Keep me posted. If you run into any trouble, let me know. I don’t know that I can do anything from here, but we do have resources at our disposal."

Garrett closed the comm.

I turned back to Gerald. "The Captain was wanting to get back to his desk this week. He wants me to partner up with you for any pirate activity. Do you think you could convince him to stick with you for another week? I need to spend some time at Dallex."

Gerald nodded. "Yeah, the Captain likes me for some reason. I’ll tell him I need his help. He wants to get back to his desk so he can bury himself in paperwork without anyone bothering him. With those new systems you managed to get for the office, he doesn’t have much paper to bury himself in anyway. I’ll take care of the Captain; you go do what you need to do."

I arrived at the capital city on Dallex through a portal. Go was waiting to collect me for a ride out to the shipyards.

I said, "How are things going out here?"

Go half smiled. "It’s actually kind of boring. The Talisans don’t need much supervision. I mostly watch."

I let out a deep breath. "I have something I think we need to discuss. Something big."

After setting down in the aircar and stepping out onto the landing deck, Go pointed to his office. "OK, let’s talk. Oh, and I have a surprise for you in the office. I was going to bring it to you, but you are here. So, you can take it with you whenever you leave."

We entered the office. Go immediately went for a box sitting in the corner. I sat at a small table as he set the box on the table in front of me.

Go smiled. "Open it!"

I ripped open the top of the container to reveal the contents inside. It was coffee! Enough to last me for a month! I had not had coffee since being sent to Omega.

I looked up with a grin. "Where did you find this?"

Go replied, "Hold on. I’m taking in that grin. I don’t think I’ve seen that expression on your face before. I knew you liked coffee, as you had mentioned it before, but wow! Hahaha!"

Go continued, "I pulled a few strings and found a trader who specialized in importing it. There are several colony Governors that have it brought in. It’s expensive, but I think we can keep you supplied in it for the foreseeable future."

I wanted to grab the young Human for a hug. Coffee was something I had craved, but had no access to since the beginning of my exile.

I looked down, humbled. "I don’t know what to say. I was not expecting this."

Go pulled out a coffee brewer and powered it up. A packet was poured into the machine and a grinder switched on. Go poured water into an attached container from a pitcher. Thirty seconds later, a cup of hot, fresh brew was sitting in front of me. I took a moment to smell the steam coming off the top of the surprise. My nostrils were filled with the happiness that coffee was.

Go sat in his chair. "So, what are you here for?"

I held up my hand as I took a small sip. "First, thank you, thank you. This was something I needed. Second, if you took the best fighting ship the Talisan yards produce, and if you add the technologies we have on the
Jess
, how long would it take to turn out a new ship and then each subsequent ship after that?"

Go sat back to think. "Hmm. They have been taking four weeks to turn out the smaller gunships and three months for one of their big ships. If we applied the efficiency they have at everything they do here to updating the gunships, I think it would add a couple of weeks to the process. For the big ship, maybe an extra month. Why?"

I replied, "We may be in need of a small fleet. One that has all the advancements the
Jess
has on her. I’m thinking maybe six of the big ships and fifty of the gunships to support them."

Go pursed his lips. "I think we can handle that construction-wise. What we are lacking is computers with the power of those on the
Jess
. Those are hard to come by. There are probably only a handful of them in Omega right now. Aside from the computers, there is also the question of raw materials and things like ion conduits. Oh, and blasters. We would have to strip the Talisans and the Feldons of the blaster rifles they have. I don’t think they are going to want to give them up."

I replied, "I’ll contact Garrett. He might be able to trade some ore stockpiles for computers or maybe even blasters. The Orwallians seem eager to export blasters. I’m sure he could work up a deal for a supply."

Go tepidly raised his hand. "What is it that you need these ships for, Mr. Beutcher? You know we are already in violation of the New Alliance laws for having armed ships with what we already have. What are you planning?"

I took another sip of the coffee. "What I’m planning is irrelevant at the moment. How long would it take you to construct the ships I need?"

Go shrugged as he thought. "Hmm. If I had everything, four months. If you make this a priority, since you
are
the Emperor, we could probably pull that in to only three."

I replied, "That’s for all of them? Four months?"

Go nodded. "Well, yeah. We have twenty construction bays out there. Once you have the hull put together, you can move it out of the bay for the next one to be worked on. The Talisan population is nearly four hundred million strong, and they all work for you. Give the order, and they will start organizing for it today."

I shook my head.

Go spoke. "What’s wrong?"

I replied, "This is wrong. No one person should have this much power."

Go laughed. "Well, you better get used to it. Until you are dead, they are going to do whatever you say. You want an armada, they will build you one. And if it’s for a good purpose, which I suspect it is, you could look at it as if they are paying for their past atrocities."

I sighed. "Have them begin. I will contact Garrett for the items we need. Oh, and how is the Feldon resettling coming? Have the Talisans been providing them with everything they need?"

Go nodded. "They are doing well. In fact, the Feldons have been asking for less help and more equipment that they can use themselves. I’ve done my best to supply them with what I could. Even though it was the Talisans who caused them this trouble, they don’t want the Talisans to be involved in their recovery. Kind of a principle thing."