Megaship Maverick (Conquest of Stars Book 3)

by Sid Kar

  Rockvyk wiped off sweat from his brow and looked around the room. All three of them were dead and Antrar’s body was the worst with a big hole through his face and skull.

  Laser fire splattered again on the door and he realized someone was still out there. Rockvyk was angry. The door was hanging from just one hinge and Rockvyk ripped it out and flung it across the now open room front and crashing down to streets below. He kicked the dead gunman that had come barging in, then picked him up. Rockvyk moved towards the opening where the door had been holding the dead gunman in front.

  In the hallway were two more gunmen and they fired lasers at Rockvyk but hit their own dead companion. Rockvyk aimed his pistol over the body and fired laser beams relentlessly down the hallway even after the two gunmen were dead.

  He threw away the corpse to one side, stopped and caught his breath. He tried to calm himself and slow down his mind that was rushing every which way. A part of him wanted to flee, a part of him wanted him to wait and tell all the revelations and another part wanted him to hunt down the killers.

  Rockvyk then started running. He skipped the elevators and instead took the stairways up keeping his laser pistol aimed high. His mind was still racing fast but he was thinking rationally. Whoever had planned this operation had to be a professional and a top one to dare strike against ex-army men. They must have snipers watching the exits.

  He ran up five floors then entered the lobby on the 76th floor and ran down a hallway, checking each door. He could hear sirens of police airships in the distance. He didn’t want to trust the police just yet. One of the doors was left open by the cleaning staff and Rockvyk ran inside, turned off the lights, locked the door and pulled the curtains on the large glass window. He sat down on the bed, kept his pistol beside himself and then reached to the side table for a half empty whiskey bottle to sooth his nerves.

  “My luck has gone to dogs,” Jontvyk Tubyt kicked the side wall of the roof when he looked over and saw the last of his gunmen get shot off of the ropes and fall down to the street below. A mighty commotion had been kicked up in the streets by the bodies seemingly raining from the sky and a large crowd was assembling, police sirens were blazing in distant sky and even his team in the hallway was not answering their radios.

  “Capitan, we must get out of here,” another gunman standing behind him said, “Our best estimate of police response puts them less than three minutes away. Two minutes for our rocketship to launch without appearing on the police scanners.”

  Jontvyk and two gunmen were standing on the rooftop of the same hotel wearing all red but without helmets and armed with laser guns.

  “Dogs take the police,” Jontvyk swore furiously, “and pigs too. This bloody mess is going to blow all over the Empire and Carvyk will blow his head off.”

  “Capitan, the police airships are getting closer,” the second gunman said looking desperately at the rocketship they had parked on the roof and back at Jontvyk.

  “Alright, we are out,” Jontvyk said and the three of them rushed into the rocketship, hastily launched it up in the sky and accelerated out into space at breakneck rate.

  Chapter 9: Rescue

  Commodore Segwyk was working in his personal office abroad Starship Masterpiece preparing a draft of his announcement of his intention to remove Solus Varus as the Chancellor of Nestorian Republic and to replace him with Remus Torus.

  This was a wonderful opportunity that had come his way, a chance for him to ingratiate himself with powerful constellars – who were the lawmakers of Starfire Empire – and win for himself some influential advocates in politics. Carvyk had been good to him but he had no doubt it was not out of any goodness in his heart; Segwyk always did as Carvyk wanted. He was Carvyk’s dog; Segwyk scoffed at the thought, but accepted its truth. One day he could be cut loose if he outlived his usefulness to the cunning regional commander and as insurance for that day, he needed to cultivate patrons in politics.

  He was also preparing an order to dispatch Strike Soldiers to Nestor’s surface and seize control of the rapidly deteriorating situation.

  His door opened and Segwyk stood up with anger. Vice-Commodore Neryak Gherry had used his emergency code to force open the door and starship’s law officer Omtyar Woohar accompanied him in.

  “What kind of emergency just broke out?” Segwyk asked.

  “Commodore, what you are about to do is unlawful,” Omtyar said.

  “Thank you for your opinion,” Segwyk said, “But I did not order you to give it. But I order you to stick it right back in.”

  “As the chief law officer of this starship I am empowered by Army regulations to give a legal opinion on every act of legal and political consequences,” Omtyar replied.

  “Fine, you did, now dismissed,” Segwyk said but Omtyar did not move.

  “Com. Segwyk, we can’t allow you to proceed with your plan to dismiss Chancellor Solus,” Neryak said.

  “And why not?” Segwyk asked agitatedly.

  “It is strictly prohibited for Commodores or even Commanders to interfere in Protectorates’ internal politics and replace their government,” Omtyar said.

  “Legitimate government perhaps,” Segwyk replied, “Both of you saw the evidence. It is incontrovertible that Solus incited the coup and is thus a usurper.”

  “Be that as may, and I would agree with your point about Solus,” Omtyar said, “But only House of War can issue that order. I recommend you send the evidence and this Nestorian person Roofus’ testimony to them and await their response.”

  “But Commodore Raptor appointed Solus,” Segwyk said, “You don’t call that interference or unlawful action.”

  “No, in fact he acted lawfully, even if foolishly,” Omtyar said, “There was a rebellion brewing and he acted to defend the established government as our protection treaty requires and chose whom he believed in his judgement to be a representative of the existing regime.”

  Segwyk was miffed. He put his hands on his waist and stared at Omtyar intently.

  “Capitan Omtyar, just what the hell are you going to do if I ignore you,” Segwyk demanded to know.

  “Commodore Segwyk, I will inform all the other commodores of your violations of our laws and that they will be in the right to stop you from carrying it out,” Omtyar replied firmly.

  “You will incite a mutiny?” Segwyk squinted at him, “are you out of your mind? And you think they will listen to you?”

  “Once their own law officers confirm the correctness of my position,” Omtyar said.

  “I can have you arrested for threatening mutiny,” Segwyk said.

  “I do not recommend you do that, Segwyk,” VC Neryak said, “I will issue a countermanding order. Yours will most likely prevail over mine, but the resultant crises will force the Starfleet Command to override your benefactor Carvyk and dismiss your entire battle command pending an inquiry.”

  “You would do that at a time when the enemy fleet is advancing? You old fool!” Segwyk said.

  “Sir, they are still a distance away,” Neryak replied calmly, “Starfleet Command can always rush a replacement.”

  Segwyk was angry and wanted to arrest both of them on the spot but if there is one thing he had learned from Carvyk was to not allow your enemy to force your hand. He sat down and they stood there quietly.

  “I will take your opinions into consideration and inform you before I make any decision,” Segwyk said and looked up at them, “dismissed.”

  They were hesitant to leave and Segwyk controlled his anger and said, “I will consult with you before the final decision. Leave now?”

  Neryak and Omtyar saluted him, turned around and walked out.

  Segwyk took a few deep breaths then sat back down in his chair with his feet up on the table and his hands behind his head. He had three options. He could have them detained, but that would cause the Starfleet Command to get involved. All orders to arrest senior officers had to be confirmed in writing and automatically lead to a formal investigation. He did not
want that.

  Secondly, he could just ignore them and go ahead with his plan but that was risky because many of the other starship commodores resented him and the patronage he received from Carvyk in the form of favorable space patrols, desirable training roles and choice assignments. If they rebelled, he would be left hanging in space looking a weak, bumbling commander.

  Finally, he could go along with them. That was also equally unappealing as the news would get across the whole fleet that VC Neryak and a puny law officer, stood up to him and stood him down. He could not tolerate that. And without politically embarrassing Raptor by exposing Solus as the coup conspirator, he could expect to be replaced as the battle commander with Raptor as soon as he popped out of deep space or wherever the hell he was.

  Bloody Hell!

  Segwyk mulled all the possibilities while grinding his teeth.

  A thought flashed across his mind. First he smiled, then he grinned and then laughed out loud. It sure was great to have Carvyk as his mentor; some of his cunningness was rubbing off of him too.

  He had a plan and he would screw them all, good and hard.

  Segwyk pressed a few keys near the wall display behind him and connected to the display terminal outside of his room, where just as he had expected, Omtyar and Neryak were standing and waiting.

  “On further thought, I believe your counsel is prudent and I won’t proceed with my initial plan,” Segwyk said calmly, “Are you satisfied now?”

  Neryak and Omtyar looked at each other surprised and relieved. They had almost expected to be taken into custody with armed force.

  “Com. Segwyk, I am glad we resolved this matter amicably,” Neryak said, “it would go far to put us at ease if you would issue written notice to other starships of your intentions to only observe Nestor’s elections.”

  “I will,” Segwyk smiled at them. They had not expected him to agree and right away. But they saluted him and walked back to their sections. As he had promised them, Segwyk drafted and sent a notice to Neryak for review and asked him to forward it to the rest of the fleet but only after he returned to the command room.

  Segwyk then entered his code on his terminal and opened an encrypted connection to the Starfire base on Nestor and directly linked to Col. Jarvyk’s personal terminal.

  “Are you alone, Col. Jarvyk?” Segwyk asked.

  “Yes sir,” Jarvyk replied.

  “How are matters down there?” Segwyk asked.

  “I am glad you called, Commodore, the situation is way past riots now, it’s not just civilian supporters of Solus and Remus fighting out in the streets. Nestorian Infantry Corps and the Republican Guard are shooting it out all across the main city and surrounding regions. Polling booths are being taken under control by either of them, and they stuff the ballots and declare a make believe vote count. This election is a joke.”

  “You understand I can’t directly take control by sending in our Strike Soldiers?” Segwyk said.

  “I do,” Jarvyk replied.

  “And you have heard that I have been appointed the battle fleet commander?”

  “I have,” Jarvyk said.

  “Good, then listen carefully, I have a secret mission for you,” Segwyk said, “We have to rescue VC Remus.”

  “I agree,” Jarvyk said.

  “But I can’t have you take an entire division of Strike Soldiers,” Segwyk said, “I want you to organize a covert operation. Take that Nestorian’s help, one who brought you the evidence. And I want you to do something else too,”

  “Sure commodore,” Jarvyk said.

  “I want you to capture Solus and bring him back to your base, but do it discretely and disclose the knowledge of it to no one,” Segwyk said.

  “What about Infantry Corps? They could attack us to try to retrieve him,” Jarvyk said.

  “I am aware of it, but the bigger danger is Solus,” Segwyk said, “he is the only one who can order Nestorian battleships in orbit to attack us. It would be suicide for them to do so, but it will be a political disaster, what with Mercurians poised to attack.”

  “You speak true, Commodore,” Jarvyk said.

  “And your Commodore Raptor will also want to interrogate Solus, what with Solus having betrayed his trust,” Segwyk said then scoffed more like played him for a fool, but Jarvyk was Raptor’s man and he wasn’t going to let his true feelings about Raptor out to the Colonel.

  “I definitely concur, I don’t want Com. Raptor to be embarrassed for making a judgement call in difficult circumstances,” Jarvyk replied.

  “Then get to it, Colonel,” Segwyk said, “And only I am to be informed directly and personally when the operation is concluded.”

  “Yes sir,”

  “Alright then,”

  “Alright.”

  Segwyk terminated the connection to the ground base and was delighted with himself. If Col. Jarvyk managed to capture Solus and Nestorian Infantry Corps attacked the Starfirian base, then he could swoop down to their rescue. Solus was too cunning to order an attack on Starfirians but Jarvyk was too foolish to realize it himself. But if Nestorian soldiers overran the ground base; all the better. Then Neryak and Omtyar would not be able to even raise a brow and he would be proclaimed a savior across the empire.

  And if Col. Jarvyk failed to grab Solus and instead died and the operation failed; then there would be no witness to testify against him. He would blame it on the unruly and undisciplined forces under Raptor’s command and hang the political albatross around his neck. He had his law officer and vice-commodore to thank for providing him cover and claim ignorance of Jarvyk’s operation.

  Segwyk left his personal office in a much happier mood. He walked over to the cafeteria and took a deliberately slow meal. He wanted Jarvyk’s operation to be underway before his notice was sent out.

  When Segwyk returned to the command room, he found Neryak and Omtyar standing at the base of Commodore’s section, tense but firm, still prepared for the possibility of Segwyk changing his mind and ordering Starship Guards to arrest them.

  “Commodore, I have reviewed the notice and it is a wise precaution on your part,” VC Neryak said. They both knew Segwyk could not afford a challenge to his authority to stand in front of command room officers and had to behave as if nothing had transpired. It also meant pretending that this was Segwyk’s idea all along.

  “I am glad you concur, and you law capitan Omtyar have blessed it as the best political and legal action,” Segwyk said and proclaimed to the command room, “we must remain neutral regarding infighting of various factions of Nestor.”

  “As our treaty affirms and army regulations require,” Omtyar nodded his head.

  “Send out the Notice of Neutrality to all starships,” Segwyk said.

  “Yes sir,” VC Neryak replied and directed the communications section to send it as the highest priority transmission to the rest of the fleet.

  Segwyk climbed over to his section and oversaw the command room. The tension was slowly dissipating and VC and the law officer looked pleased with themselves. Little did they know, Segwyk chuckled, of the little operation he had put in play.

  He had also specifically addressed his neutrality notice to starship commodores; if it got transmitted to the ground base, Jarvyk would just ignore it.

  Col. Jarvyk, Nestorian Roofus Bolfus and twenty strike soldiers were huddled together in the dark of a small and sleek airship that was flying very low to the ground, barely avoiding the building rooftops, on its way to the Nestorian Senate. This was the fastest airship in Jarvyk’s inventory and one with the most powerful electronic jammers to counter scanners. But they barely needed them today, the city was gripped by intense and chaotic fighting and only the wait of the election results was holding back a full-fledged civil war. Nor did they have to worry about air traffic controllers giving them trouble for violating minimum flight altitude regulations. All airports and spaceports were being fought over by Infantry Corps and Republican Guards as prized strategic locations.

&nb
sp; Their airship descended down even further and cruised amidst the buildings as it got closer to the Senate. They could see riots and battles on the streets below. Many gunmen had set up on rooftops and were raining laser bolts on the streets below. An occasional one would strike and bounce off their airship every now and then. Jarvyk had ordered extra armor to be plated atop this airship.

  “We are ten minutes away from Senate,” Roofus said, “Col. Jarvyk, you haven’t asked me about my knowledge of the building?”

  “That’s because we already have the blueprints for it,” Jarvyk and other strike soldiers laughed, “When we landed on Senate grounds earlier to stop the coup by Republican Guard, we discretely scanned the whole complex from top to the bottommost underground layer.”

  Roofus gave them an awkward look. He was not happy with an alien army having possession of their government secrets, but there was no other force that could rescue VC Remus. Republican Guard, even after being armed with heavy firepower weapons provided by Starfirians, was significantly outnumbered and would be fighting a defensive, holding battle.

  A few minutes later their airship parked on the rooftop of an office building a couple of blocks away from the Senate. It was the headquarters of some of the largest insurance companies in Nestor. More importantly, it was an older building that shared the same water pipe with the Senate and no one had thought or bothered to change the water connection to a newer supply pipe built later for private buildings.

  Four strike soldiers led the way, followed by Jarvyk and Roofus and sixteen remaining soldiers following behind. Jarvyk and Roofus carried laser pistols while the rest were armed with laser long guns. They did not have to break the roof door as it was not locked and elevators were still operational. However, the building was deserted, the Election Day was a general holiday for most and with social conditions rapidly deteriorating, the companies had sent all their office workers home till further notice.

  Jarvyk and his team quickly got into the basement. They blew open a couple of locked doors and soon were inside the underground, utilities floor. There were various pipes and wires strewn about the floor. They approached the large water pipe that was over ten feet in diameter, sufficiently large for them to enter into. They put on water masks, then two strike soldiers opened a wide latch used for maintenance. The high pressure water started gushing out and they quickly jumped into the pipe one after another. The last two soldiers closed the latch from inside. They were still a distance away from Senate but they did not have to swim as the force of water carried them forward.