by Clark Graham
“Selling spacecraft?”
Jedin let out a brief laugh. “That’s only his cover. He is an arms merchant. He buys shipyards and builds all sorts of spacecraft including star destroyers and cruisers. Much of Emor’s fleet came from Darmid. He has hidden shipyards all over the galaxy and he was able to help Emor amass a large fleet under the very noses of the Empire.”
Zedra just started at him for a while and then said, “An arms merchant; he looked like such a nice guy.”
“He is a nice guy. Well, at least until you cross him then you will meet one of his not so nice friends. Emor is one of those not so nice friends.”
“Why are you even telling me all of this?” Zedra asked.
“I am going to your planet to take over the shipyard there. Darmid has bought it from Emor and wants to start building star destroyers out of there as soon as possible. This wasn’t a chance ride; we were going to be together in a few days on this ship. Your purchase of the ship only rushed our plans. Darmid likes you, you know. He wants you to be one of his engineers. He thinks you can get more output from the standard destroyer engine that will make them faster and more powerful. He wants you to work with me on Andaria Major.”
“Why didn’t he just ask me?”
“That’s not his way.”
“What happens when the princes all gang up on Emor and run him out of the galaxy? What will become of you and me then?”
“The princes are stupid. They are not building more ships because they think they have enough. All they are doing is attacking each other and destroying the ships that they do have. They are not taking the planets, just the space around them. When one prince attacks another, he weakens his own fleet and then another prince sees that his brother has a weak fleet and then he attacks. This happens over and over again. Emor is the only one increasing his fleet and the others fear him so they do not attack him.”
“You think Emor is the one who is going to win this war?” Zedra asked.
“I do. I think it is inevitable.”
Chapter Forty One
Andaria Major
Space Port
General Borist’s men hid behind the buildings of the space port and watched the transports land. There were four of them at first. The enemy disembarked and gathered their gear. They had no idea that the general and his men were even there. When the ships left, the army rushed in and with blasters pointed at the enemy, they all surrendered. The next group was that of Emor and his personal staff. The merchant had wanted to walk around and enjoy the sunlight after weeks in space. He had not expected anyone to oppose his landing.
Emor was a large man who had eaten well all of his life. He wrapped himself in colorful robes, each hung from only one of his shoulders. The blues, greens, and oranges clashed, but he didn’t mind. Nobody forgot meeting him and that was the look he was going for.
His personal guards were in blue uniforms with orange and green striped sleeves. When the army came around the corner this time, Emor found several blasters pointed at him. His men responded by taking out their own blasters, but there were hundreds of soldiers from the planet and the guard had only fifty men.
“Put down your weapons, men,” Emor said to his own guard. To the soldiers he said, “We surrender.”
A major came up to General Borist and said, “Sir, we have caught a really big fish this time. We have caught a man named Emor.”
“Emor? isn’t he the leader of this fleet?”
“Yes, Sir .”
“Where is he?”
“He is in the room across from here.”
When the general entered, Emor was sitting back in his chair acting as if he was in charge of the situation. The general cringed when he saw how the man was dressed.
“So,” the general began. “I have captured one of the most powerful men of the galaxy. I hope we can reach an agreement to keep my planet out of the war.”
“Your planet is already in the war and I have come to claim it,” Emor said boldly.
“You are a prisoner; you can’t claim anything,” the general said flatly.
“Farmers, that is all you are. farmers and fools.” Emor was smiling inside even though he was worried that one of the men might shoot him at any minute.
By this time there were six officers in the room and two guards.
“I would suggest you sit down quickly.” Emor gripped the armrests of his seat. There was a thunderous explosion and then the city shook violently. All of the windows shattered and some of the walls cracked. All of the men in the room except for Emor had fallen to the floor because of the shaking.
“What was that?” the general asked as he looked out of the broken windows. There was a ten foot deep crater in the ground just outside the walls of the space port.
“That, General Borist, was just a small sample of my power. It was a broadside from one of my small destroyers. The next explosion will take out your hometown of Madisk. If I die I have left instructions to destroy your entire planet.” Emor had let go of the armrests, and he was now sitting back and relaxing with a smirk on his face.
The general looked at him and then he looked outside then back at him. He didn’t know what to do. If Emor were bluffing, he didn’t want to be played for a fool. If he was not, it was going to get serious very soon.
“You see, General, when they attacked before, they were under imperial law that states no ships are allowed to bombard planets for fear of civilian casualties. Since the Empire is no longer, I am not bound by any of those laws.”
“What do you want?” the general asked.
“I don’t want anything that isn’t rightfully mine. The shipyard and the ore from the mine were bought and paid for by the Empire. Since I have now taken over for the Empire, those things are mine. I will do you one better though. I will hire your people in the shipyard and the mine, so your people will have employment and your economy will thrive. I will leave everything else alone. It’s either that or all of us die a senseless death.”
“You have me over a barrel, but I can live with your deal.” He turned to his soldiers and said, “Release him and his men.”
“A wise choice, General,” Emor said as he stood up. “Now if you don’t mind I will take your leave and return to my ships.”
The general just grunted and walked out of the room.
A few minutes later Emor’s transport left the space port and the general and his staff did too. The city was turned over to the sailors from Emor’s fleet.
As the general and his staff were driving away, one of his officers leaned over and said, “Still, it’s good to put a face with a name.”
The general just shook his head and said, “I had no idea what we were up against. No idea.”
When Emor arrived back at the ship, his personnel attaché was worried. “I thought they were going to kill you down there. Were those people horrible?”
The merchant was his usual unflappable self. “I respect those people; they are brave but realistic. I want you to recruit heavily from this planet. I want those people on my side.”
Chapter Forty Two
Delmark sector
It was silent and cold when Zedra woke up. The familiar sound of the engines that he had grown used to wasn’t there so he made his way to the flight deck to see what was happening. Jedin was staring at the monitors waiting for a patrol craft to leave the area. When it did, he would give the ship a bump with the thrusters just to get it moving and let it drift to a stop then scan the area for more ships.
“What is going on?” Zedra asked.
“We have crossed into the Delmark sector. Prince Asat has control and he is paranoid. He has heavy patrols on his borders. I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn’t think it was going to be this bad. He is the only one who uses small, twenty men, patrol crafts. Everyone else uses destroyers which have around a hundred and ten men. He has thousands of the patrol craft and they all seem to be looking for us. I must have set off a sensor when I came across the borde
r. I have only made it five miles inside and I am having to play all of these cat and mouse games.”
Zedra watched as a small ship came across the front of them. It was only about a mile distant. “Can they see us?”
“This ship is well insulated so they can’t see our electronic footprint when the engines are off. When I fire the thrusters, they get electric interference, but it isn’t enough to allow them to pinpoint us. I figure in another few miles we can fire up the engines and leave. As long as we are far enough from the nearest patrol craft, that is. After that they will not be able to tell the difference between us and all of the traffic a normal sector has. It’s only on the border that we’re in danger.”
Over the next two hours, Jedin would wait until his scope was empty of patrol craft and he would fire the thrusters briefly. After firing the thrusters, a patrol craft or two would search the area. When they didn’t find anything they would go back to their assigned areas, then Jedin would hit the thrusters again.
Jedin looked down at his scope after firing his thrusters. He waited a few minutes and then said, “There was no response. I think we are in the clear. I am going to fire up the engines and get us out of here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Fairly sure,” he said as he hit the button. When the engines came on line a patrol craft appeared right in front of them. “He was playing dead. I didn’t see him,” Jedin replied.
“Turn off your engines and prepare to be boarded,” a voice said over the speakers.
“Can we outrun them?” Zedra asked.
“Yes, but one hit from that popgun of theirs and we will be in bad shape. It’s not worth it.” Jedin cut the engines.
Soon the patrol craft positioned itself above them and locked on. Then the top hatch opened and four heavily armed men dropped inside the transport. One kept his weapon on Zedra and Jedin, who instinctively raised their arms, and the others started searching the ship.
Lee had been sound asleep and was pulled out of his room in his underwear. Landris had been awake and reading, but was still shocked when someone came in his cabin with a blaster pointed at his head.
When the armed men were sure that the ship was secure they gave a signal to the patrol craft and it started towing the transport to the center of the sector. The four occupants were put at the table in the galley where they were guarded by the troopers.
“What’s going on?” Lee whispered to Zedra.
“Quiet,” the leader of the troopers said. Lee just sat back in his seat.
It was hours later that they were towed into the middle of a battle group. As Zedra looked out of one of the side windows, it reminded him of another fleet he had seen long ago when Tedric had exclaimed that a force that size could never be defeated. Most of those ships were space scrap now and the men that manned them, including Tedric, were mostly dead.
A large cruiser opened its cargo bay doors and Zedra’s transport was flown into the large opening. It snapped shut behind them.
The four men were told to walk when the hatch of the transport opened. As they marched through Landris whispered to Zedra, “I’m hungry. We haven’t eaten in hours.”
Lee whispered back, “that is nothing. They woke me up from a deep sleep. I have never had to go this bad in my life.”
The guards no longer minded the whispering. They put the men in a holding cell that had facilities and they fed them. They left them there for an entire day. The next morning they were issued one by one to see the captain of the ship.
Commander Frante sat behind a mahogany desk. He had sunken eyes that had not seen enough sleep lately. His grey hair just peeked out of the sides of his green uniform cap. It was the same uniform the Empire had. No one bothered to change it.
“You are the one named Zedra. It is strange that you don’t have any other name. You must be from one of those backwards societies.”
When Zedra didn’t answer him the commander looked up. “It says here you’re a discipline problem.”
Again Zedra didn’t answer. He didn’t like the man and he wasn’t being asked any questions.
“It also says you are genius when it comes to engines. Highly skilled but you did not get advanced because you don’t listen to authority. I have an offer for you. I don’t need your friends, soldiers and pilots I have, I will forgo your furlough and add you to my navy.”
“No, thank you. I have seen enough of war and I don’t like it.”
“You can’t blame a guy for trying,” the commander said and then he looked Zedra in the eyes. “What is Jedin doing on your ship? He is one of Darmid’s men. It has never been proven but we believe Darmid is a smuggler.”
“The only business I had with Darmid is to buy that spacecraft and hire a pilot to get me back home.”
The commander scratched his head. “Are you telling me that Jedin is just your pilot? You have a pilot.”
Zedra smiled, “all I have is an escape pod pilot. He didn’t know how to fly the ship. As for being a smuggler, I am sure you have gone through my ship form stem to stern and have found nothing illegal.”
“You’re right. You are free to go, but if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Zedra said as he walked out.
Chapter Forty Three
Cruiser Trintan
Delmark sector
Zedra made his way back to the transport. When he got to it there were two men guarding the door, but they stepped aside and let him enter. He thought the inside would be trashed out as he was sure they had ransacked it, but everything had been put back.
He sat down and relaxed, a few minutes later his friends started to trickle in, first Jedin then Landris. Lee came an hour later. Lee seemed excited. “The commander said that they didn’t need pilots or mechanics, but they needed men like me who are decorated heroes. I am thinking of joining back up. He has given me until the morning to think about it.”
“He told me the same thing. ‘I don’t need soldiers and mechanics, all I need is good pilots.’ I didn’t bother to tell him I’m not really a good pilot.”
“He told me the same thing,” Zedra admitted.
Lee was stunned. He looked like someone had just slapped him. When he got his composure back he said, “I am thinking of joining up anyway. If you will excuse me, I saw a bar for enlisted men on deck seven. I am going to make use of it.”
After Lee left Jedin stood up and said. “They will let us go in the morning. You might as well make yourselves comfortable.”
“Why are they still holding us?” Zedra asked.
Jedin replied, “An enemy fleet is nearby and they don’t want us to go and tell them where this fleet is. The enemy will be gone by the time they release us.”
“What enemy fleet?”
“Grand Duke Gastinof. He wouldn’t attack even if he knew where the fleet was. He doesn’t have an overwhelming force yet.”
“I haven’t heard of him,” Landris said.
“He was the emperor’s favorite son, but since he was illegitimate, he could not be made an heir. Otherwise this war wouldn’t be happening. The duke is negotiating with Emor, I heard someone say. That is why his fleet is in the area.”
“Emor is close by?” Zedra asked.
“Yes, he has captured all the nearby sectors but this one. We will be in his space when we leave this sector.”
“How will Emor treat us?”
“I don’t know, but I tell you what. I am not going to try and sneak across any more borders. I am just going to blast across and say, ‘here I am.’”
Landris and Zedra just laughed.
After sleeping awhile, Zedra looked around and saw that Lee wasn’t there. He went to look for him. He was still in the bar on deck seven. He was drunk and sitting at a table by himself. Zedra ordered up a drink and sat down next to him.
Lee looked up with blood shot eyes and said, “Oh, it’s you.” He tried to finish the rest of his drink, but he spilled some on his chin s
o he gave up.
“You have had enough, hero; we will get you back to the transport and let you sleep it off, so you will be awake and sober when you reenlist tomorrow.”
Lee turned and looked Zedra in the eyes. “I can’t.”
This surprised Zedra, “what do you mean?”
“It’s the screams.”
“What screams?”
Lee cleared his throat. “The screams of the wounded and dying men. It’s those screams that I try to drown out by drinking. I’m not a hero. They needed someone to pin a medal on and since I had the fewest holes in me, they pinned it on me. Did I ever tell you that?”
“No,” Zedra admitted.
“We were on fire duty. The ship was hit and we rushed down to put out the fire. Men were burning alive. They screamed and screamed as the flames engulfed them. I can’t get the sound out of my head. It haunts my dreams. We put out the fire but the ship was hit again in the same spot. The man in front of me was cut in half. I just sat and watched what was left of him float through the air. The antigravity had gone out with the second hit.”
“I had no idea,” Zedra said with understanding eyes.
“I was the only unwounded man, so I clung to the sides of the wall and pulled myself to an emergency panel and got the antigravity working again. I was then able to get the wounded out of the section. That makes me a hero, you know.”
“You kept your head. You are a hero,” Zedra replied.
“No, I’m a drunk trying to drown out the screams with alcohol.”
“Whoever you are at this time, we need to get back to the ship. Either way you will need to be sober in the morning.” Lee let Zedra help him back to the ship. He then crashed on his bed.
It was hours later that the commander came into the ship. He handed Jedin a paper. “This guarantees you safe passage through our space. You should not try to sneak through a war zone in the future.”
“I thank you for letting us go,” Jedin replied.
“Is Lee here?” The commander asked.
