Battleship Avenger (Conquest of Stars Book 2)

by Sid Kar

  “I should have thought of that before,” Raptor said, “But I don’t want you to make a move in that direction just yet.”

  “Oh certainly not,” Hartar said, “Whoever set this up, Com. Carvyk or someone else, would have taken precautions to deal with Army Detectives. My department could be ‘infiltrated’ too. And as long as I am assigned to you, I am under your command and it’s your call how I should proceed.”

  “I will be counting on your advice,” Raptor said, “But first, there is one more matter to disclose, a new development that even VC Barryett and Col. Tollvyk aren’t familiar with.”

  “Something to do with Alvina?” Tollvyk asked.

  “Be patient Toll,” Raptor said.

  “Sure Com. but my rocket section is right next to the laser control, I saw her become disheveled upon hearing the message and Segwyk’s name,” Tollvyk said.

  “Alright, but this is confidential amongst the five of us,” Raptor said. He told them everything Alvina had told him except the parts about her engagement and involvement with Com. Segwyk.

  “I knew that Carvyk was a no good…” Tollvyk began.

  “Toll…” Raptor said, “We are still under his command.”

  “He tried to kill us under the pretense that we were aiding smugglers,” Tollvyk said, “And that’s not even a crime with death penalty, but treason is.”

  “Col. Tollvyk is right about that,” Hartar said, “If we present Alvina in front of House of War and they believe her, then Carvyk and Segwyk will face a firing squad of laser guns.”

  Raptor and VC Barryett looked at each other. Both had noticed how their officers had stopped referring to the higher ranked officers without their titles as was their due courtesy. He couldn’t really blame them after the events but as had been drilled into them that breakdown in army decorum was the first step in breakdown in army discipline and that Raptor wouldn’t have abroad his starship.

  He walked back from the four of them to stand at a distance and said, “I will not have senior officers spoken about with disrespect till they have been stripped of their titles and ranks by the House of War.”

  “Let’s keep that in mind,” Barryett added in support, “We will work to fight this conspiracy but we will do it the proper way. However, we have an immediate problem with Commodore Segwyk’s imminent arrival. He has been made the Battle Star Commander and that means he can give orders to our Commodore Raptor.”

  “What can he really do about the mechanical evidence that is part of this starship?” Capitan Styx asked.

  “He won’t attack us again with fourteen other starships present,” Barryett said, “but if the Mercurians attack again…” he let his words trail off not wanting to draw out their implication but Tollvyk had no such compunction.

  “He will send us on a suicide mission; he will get our spaceship destroyed by Mercurians,” Tollvyk said, “As the Star Commander for a battle force he decides our strategy and tactics. He will get excoriated by the Army for poor tactics but it is within his authority.”

  All of them looked at Tollvyk with stern expressions on their faces, no one was willing to say it out loud but they all knew Tollvyk was right.

  “There is a way,” Hartar said, “a Battle Star Commander’s authority extends only within a designated space. He has been given command over Starfirian forces inside the Nestorian Space.”

  Raptor laughed, “What would you have me do detective Hartar? Circle just outside the perimeter of Nestorian Space like a comet?”

  “It certainly would be hilarious watching Segwyk…Commodore Segwyk flail about in vain,” Tollvyk chuckled.

  “It wouldn’t work,” Raptor shook his head. Tollvyk, Hartar and Styx looked at him as if waiting for a reason for his claim.

  “It is true Com. Segwyk can’t order us to enter Nestorian space since we are not part of his fleet,” Barryett said, “But we are still a ship of Sixth Frontier and thus Carvyk can order us inside Nestorian space and then Segwyk will have us.”

  “It will at least buy us some time during the confusion,” Tollvyk said.

  “That gives me an idea,” Raptor walked about mulling a thought in his head and the rest of the officers looked at him eagerly, “What if we aren’t here? What if we are away some place elsewhere that Com. Carvyk can’t reach us?”

  “Desert?” Tollvyk said and Raptor gave him a squinty look, “just joking,” he said.

  “Away on a mission,” Raptor said, “A mission to strike back against the Mercurian Empire, to help the Nestorians avenge their loss, to bolster the authority and instill the fear of Starfire Empire.”

  “A strategic strike mission that necessitates silence and secrecy,” Barryett said with a smile on his face.

  “We can turn off our communications beacons for operational requirements,” Raptor said, “I have the authority for it on offensive missions inside the enemy space when signals could compromise our objective.”

  “Great,” Tollvyk said, “Com. Carvyk will be left scratching his head wondering where we disappeared.”

  Raptor looked at Barryett and he nodded his head in agreement.

  “House of War will have to recall us to examine all the data our starship will collect on Mercurians,” Barryett said.

  “Yes that too,” Raptor said, “We will be transferred out of Sixth Frontier and out of Carvyk’s command.” He took a pause then said, “Alright, Hartar and Styx, I will transfer Capitan Alvina to help you smoke out that saboteur,” Raptor said, “Keep her protected by multiple starship guards at all time. He attacked Com. Antrar, he won’t think twice of attacking Alvina if she can unravel his identity.”

  “I will personally oversee her security,” Capitan Styx said.

  Hartar and Styx saluted Raptor and VC and then left the room. Alvina and Starship Guards were waiting outside and all of them left together.

  “Let’s get on the trail of Battleship Avenger,” Raptor said. All three of them hurried out of his quarters and headed to the command center.

  Chapter 13: Emperor’s Guesthouse

  Antrar Wyft looked out of the window of his hotel room at the landing bay of the space station Emperor’s Guesthouse where he had booked a one night stay. He was awaiting his friend and former protégé Army Detective Evyk Kyr’s arrival. Emperor’s Guesthouse was a large space resort and along with its military counterpart Emperor’s Fortress, which Antrar could see from his room some distance in space, was one of the boundary points between the Central Region and the Core Regions of the Empire. Antrar had specifically chosen to stop here and fly no further.

  Every spaceship traveling beyond Emperor’s Fortress into the empire’s central region had to be examined and was registered along with all of its passengers. Even his own personal status as a battle veteran and national hero would not exempt him from that. The Guesthouse was the final place where Antrar could stay under a false name, where no one would care for his real identity. This was the specific reason he had set up the meeting here.

  This hotel was part of a space resort and a large number of tourists on their way to the central region stayed here and availed themselves of thousands of space cruises that launched and docked from here. The space station was huge, over a hundred miles long on its vertical axis and fifty miles on its horizontal at the widest points. Antrar would not have been surprised if it was the largest civilian space station in the whole of empire.

  But its twin military space station was even bigger. Antrar had been there a few times and had been awestruck at the amount of weapons and firepower it carried. Certainly it would have taken a hundred spaceships like his own Starship Thunder to overpower it and at least half of them would have been destroyed in the fight.

  As he was watching the spaceships dock on the landing bay, he saw one whose description matched what his friend had sent him. He picked up his binoculars and looked at the pilot who got out and it was Evyk Kyr. But Antrar was not watching for him, he wanted to see if Evyk had picked up a tail and watched all ar
ound the bay while Evyk made his way into the hotel. He was not followed and Antrar put aside his binoculars. He had already sent Evyk the room number and Evyk knocked on his door a few minutes later.

  “It’s open,” Antrar said and Evyk walked inside with a large grin on his face and he closed the door behind him.

  “Commodore Antrar,” Evyk said, “Great to see you again after so many years.”

  “Same,” Antrar said, “take a seat.” Antrar pointed to a couple of chairs near the window and they went over there.

  Evyk was a tall man, in his late fifties, had an oblong face that had been shrunk inward by age and wrinkled by his work, his eyes were penetrating and stretched sideways and his chin was long but narrow.

  “Did you bring it?” Antrar asked.

  “Yes,” Evyk said. He took out a small device the size of a handheld phone from his pocket and put it on the window ledge. It was a standard Aud-Scram that army issued to all of its detectives. He flicked on its switch. “You never know how sound proof the walls of these hotel rooms are. But this device will scramble our audio waves beyond ten feet in each direction.”

  “Alright,” Antrar took a deep breath, “Detective Evyk, what I am going to ask you is a big favor but it could potentially be a dangerous one. I will understand if you refuse to involve yourself in this but I assure you this is a matter of great consequence to our nation.”

  “Com. Antrar,” Evyk placed his hand on the window ledge, “I owe you my entire fortune of a rapid rise in my rank in Army Investigations. It was you and the starship crew of Thunder that won the big victory, me and my detectives were just along for the ride. Nevertheless it became a part of our record that we fought under you on Starship Thunder during its glory days and that opened all doors.”

  “I don’t want you to feel obliged.”

  “Tell me what it is?”

  Antrar related both the stories to Evyk, the coverup regarding the second assassin on Bravo and the ambush on Conquistador by other Starfirian warships. Evyk listened to the first one unruffled, after all it was his life’s work to uncover nefarious schemes, but when he heard the second story involving Conquistador, then he became extremely uneasy.

  “What do you think?” Antrar said at the end.

  “After what you have told me regarding Starship Conquistador, I wouldn’t even bother with the minor matter of the coverup of this killer known as ‘Silencer’,” Evyk said, “That could be just army trying to avoid embarrassment or petty corruption or the likes, but the other incident is treasonous but not simple treachery, it speaks of a larger conspiracy with aims I can’t fathom but fear terribly.”

  “I believe they are related,” Antrar said, “Have you heard of a secret organization inside the army called the Lambda Man?”

  “Commodore, you should not go there,” Evyk said.

  “I was on Lambda Man,” Antrar said.

  “You were?” Evyk was startled.

  “And its founder is my friend,” Antrar said, “I want to know how much the Investigations Department knows about it.”

  “Nothing,” Evyk said, “It’s off limits to us, and even to inquire about it is against our directives.”

  “Nevermind then, how far away in rank are you from your Commander?” Antrar asked.

  “I am in fourth rank from top,” Evyk said, “I have climbed high. There are only two individuals between me and the Commander.”

  “And what is your division?”

  “Don’t tell anybody,” Evyk said, “I run spies in the Jak Confederacy and detectives here to catch their spies. Spying and Counter Spying Division.”

  “Too bad you don’t deal with internal corruption,” Antrar said.

  “I have friends and acquaintances in that division,” Evyk said, “What is it that you wanted me to do?”

  “I want you to go to the Commander of Army Investigations Department, your topmost boss and a member of House of War,” Antrar said, “Tell him everything I have told you and am going to tell you in detail later. Ask him, beg and plead if you have to, but open a formal investigation of Regional Star Commander Carvyk Botlar.”

  “That is going to require some material evidence,” Evyk said, “Opening a formal investigation of an army officer, especially one of such senior rank without any evidence of wrongdoings is itself violation of army regulations. You know this, Commodore.”

  “I do, that is why I didn’t say go to your Commander right away,” Antrar said, “First I need you to collect this evidence. I have tasked my friend, the one who founded Lambda Man, to make inquiries about its current members. You along with a SPASI detective I have recruited have the resources to secretly watch them.”

  “Oh that is great,” Evyk laughed, “We will now be playing spy and detective amongst ourselves.”

  “I told you, I won’t ask you to risk your job and more…”

  “Commodore,” Evyk smiled, “the only thing worse than me spying on our own officers would be SPASI doing it.”

  “So you are in then?” Antrar wanted a solid confirmation.

  “Yes, what have you planned next?” Evyk asked.

  “I am going to set up a meeting,” Antrar said, “Between you, me, SPASI detective and my friend, the founder. I needed to vet each of you out individually, but now I want us to work together but quietly and secretly.”

  “A conspiracy against another conspiracy,” Evyk chuckled, “Superb scandal it will make when it all blows over.”

  “A patriots conspiracy against traitors conspiracy,” Antrar said, “I will gladly testify in front of the Constellation.”

  “Speaking of which, you may just get your wish even without me taking the first step,” Evyk said.

  “Meaning?” Antrar asked.

  “Your new friend, Commodore Raptor, has stirred up the political cauldron to its boiling point,” Evyk said, “I work in the central region even though my office is not exactly in the capital. Raptor’s actions are the talk of every political chatterer. Here, take a look.”

  Evyk got up from his chair and walked over to the display screen in the room. He switched it on and turned the knob to tune it to an interstellar political events channel which was continuously replaying the highlights from the Constellation: the lawmaking institution of Starfire Empire.

  Antrar watched the show intently. He had never cared much about politics and didn’t pay attention to it. But this was definitely interesting. A few minutes later the channel played a snippet from Constellar Portvyk Haryett’s speech, a representative of aristocracy.

  “I demand to know,” Constellar Portvyk Haryett was speaking in the Constellation, “Is this a new policy of our state and our empire to now install our opponents as leaders of our protectorates? This Chancellor Solus is a known foe of our protection treaty with Nestorians. Commodore Raptor must have known this through his legal officer. Is he naïve or is he a buffoon?”

  “Perhaps he has a sense of humor…” some other Constellar jested and the display switched again to the show host.

  “That was not a good move Com. Raptor made,” Evyk said, “He should have appointed Vice-Chancellor Remus as their next Chancellor.”

  “That’s the man I told you about, who had two assassins after his life when he visited planet Bravo,” Antrar said, “Raptor must have had his reasons.”

  “Perhaps the conspiracy did not want Remus to become the next Chancellor,” Evyk said, “and perhaps Raptor ended up doing their job for them, even if unwittingly. Where they failed, he saved them.”

  “Your reasoning is right, Remus is known to be at least neutral towards us, not actively hostile like Solus, I don’t know, politics was never my strong forte,” Antrar said.

  “Apparently, neither it is of Com. Raptor,” Evyk said then pointed to the screen when the show switched to another snippet from the Constellation, “watch this. What I meant about getting your wish.”

  “Who the hell appointed Segwyk Rafter as the Star Commander,” Constellar Flyptar Lartar, a represe
ntative of warrior class was speaking, “Who the hell is Segwyk anyhow? He has no battle experience and he is chosen over Com. Raptor. Some here do not like Raptor, but let us not forget he has won a major battle. He might have saved Nestor from conquest and in doing so he reaffirmed the ironclad trust of Starfire’s protection guarantee. Who doesn’t like Raptor? Some fools, I suppose.”

  There were cheers and jeers heard in the background.

  “Warriors love him. Soldiers Love him. Ten year old boys love him and play around pretending to be Raptor,” Constellar Flyptar said, “What has Commander Carvyk got against him? I say we haul Carvyk right here and demand an answer. Bring Carvyk here. This Constellation should cancel Segwyk’s appointment as Star Commander.”

  The display on the screen switched to the show again and the host started giving his opinion on this piece but Evyk turned down the volume to ignore him.

  “Unbelievable!” Antrar said, “It has really heated up. I have never known the Constellation to make tactical decisions of the Army; they defer those to the Supreme Commander.”

  “As they should,” Evyk said, “But this was a very foolish decision to say the least.”

  “Or Segwyk is Carvyk’s boy chosen to deal with Raptor and Conquistador,” Antrar said, “Even if he is not involved in what I told you earlier, he will come out looking inept if it comes out in the open.”

  “That is true,” Evyk said and then turned off the screen, “Let’s move fast. If we can find solid material to throw doubt on Com. Carvyk’s character, we may be able to get Supreme Commander to ignore his recommendation and cancel Segwyk’s authority as Star Commander.”