Return of the Guardian King

by John E Bujanowski Jr

  Return

  of the

  Guardian King

  The Search for Truth

  The

  Adventures

  Of

  Boone Nova

  Book 5

  The final book in this series

  A novel by

  John E Bujanowski Jr

  Return of the Guardian King

  The Adventures of Boone Nova - Book 5

  The Search for Truth

  Author: John E Bujanowski Jr

  ISBN-13: 978-1975778217

  ISBN-10: 1975778219

  John’s Website:

  www.integritynovels.com-novelstoinspire

  All Rights Reserved – September 2017

  Cover: coversbykaren.com

  Front Image: Brita Seifert | 89464919 | Dreamstime.com

  Ship: ID 8676562 © Luca Oleastri | Dreamstime.com

  This novel has a list of characters:

  Boone Nova and the Guardian King Characters

  For character identities and descriptions go to:

  www.integritynovels.com/characters.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without the prior written permission of the publisher and copyright owners.

  Other science fiction novels by

  John E Bujanowski Jr

  Found on Amazon.com

  From the series:

  The Origin of the Sphere’s

  The Gold Sphere - The Search for Wisdom

  From the series:

  The Adventures of Boone Nova

  Book 1: Boone Nova and the 5th Prime

  The Struggle for Integrity

  Book 2: Boone Nova and the Gamma Weapon

  The Battle for Integrity

  Book 3: Boone Nova and the Nano Device

  Web of Lies

  Book 4: Boone Nova and the Pirate Queen

  The Flight of the Night Star

  Book 5: Return of the Guardian King

  The Search for Truth

  Dedication

  “1The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

  2 For he hath founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods.

  3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place?

  4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

  5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

  6 This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob.” Psalm 24:1-6

  Theme

  “Lead me in Thy truth, teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.” Psalm 25:5

  “Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.”

  Proverbs 12:22

  “He shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness.”

  Psalm 94:23

  “But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity.” Psalm 26:11a-b

  “Integrity is not just a virtue, it’s a lifelong conviction.”

  Abdomanon Constellation

  Contents

  Previously… From Boone Nova and the Pirate Queen

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  A Special Thanks

  A brief word about the author

  Acknowledgements

  Previously… From Boone Nova and the Pirate Queen

  The battle for the spatial corridors was just now being realized. For years, the Court of Primes, the High Guard Investigation Command, and many other planetary dignitaries failed to see what was happening within the spatial corridors of the Abdom'anon Constellation. Now, because of Boone Nova and his friends, they finally clearly understood an evil foe, a pirate queen was waging war against them.

  Infiltration caused grave problems for the Court and the High Guard administration. Several High Guard establishments, bases, and outposts were secretly infiltrated and it may have happened years ago. In some places, it may have occurred the same time the seven planets agreed to unification – over eight years ago. Presently, the queen and some of her key personnel were diligently attempting to infiltrate more places and free certain coveted pirates. One such pirate was the 5th prime’s servant, Luweena, and Merrick’s son-in-law and second-hand man, Ander Indrayel.

  The queen’s makeshift battlecruiser, the Ambulas, had successfully decimated one large cargo freighter and two cities – one on the planet of O'bipherion and the other on Efferium which lay over a parsec away in the Xeraxes star system. She threatened to devastate more cities unless her demands were met. Her demands: 1) The dissolution of the unified planetary system and 2) Boone Nova and Jurias Kwelling be brought to her. Her demands went unfulfilled for the moment. She was forced to flee during a skirmish due to Boone Nova, his Night Star, and his team made up of his friends, trusted High Guard officers, and investigators.

  While in session, the Court of Primes agreed to take action against the queen's network of rebellion and infiltration by targeting the compound that abducted the 5th prime and his daughter, Lorin. It was the first of many planned attacks upon the queen.

  Boone’s past had finally caught up with him. Despite his previous conflicts with the High Guard, the Court of Primes and Commander J'Dar, the animosity and hatred he faced from certain High Guard officials was mounting. Those weren’t Boone’s only worries – he was about to be escorted to Kova for wants, warrants, and crimes against a dignitary from a nearby star system called, Pereon, the constellation’s 2nd system. Ironically, as Boone endured the hostilities the High Guard threw at him, he still longed to roam the corridors of the constellation and confront the evil that tried to overtake it.

  Boone fears for his life and his future. Lies planted long ago, lies that ruined the lives of his family and friends were causing great pain and distress. But, for all the good he had done in the name of justice, justice was now working against him. As anxiety and personal conflicts mount, Boone attempts to uncover a secret which could free him - a secret that only an old gunship could tell.

  Chapter 1

  “Thunder 1 to group. Maintain stealth formation. Acknowledge?”

  The attack force acknowledged and created a successive live of ships extending nearly a mile long. They ascended up and into the atmosphere and orbited the planet.

  “Wave Leader, follow our lead. Acknowledge?”

  Wave Leader acknowledged as his squadron mimicked the formations of Thunder Group.

  They were in the 4th star system, on the planet, Peridius. The High Guard Command Center had received a direct order from the Court of Primes - infiltrate and capture two of the Queen's compounds on the nearby planet, Ta’Jeon. The squadron of High Guard attack ships received the order and launched from Peridius.

  The eighteen High Guard attack ships were quite different from the renowned High Guard intergalactic runners. The speedy in
tergalactic runners were strictly made for space and had the responsibility of chasing down offenders and looters within the spatial corridors. They had a crew of eight and large loud roaring engines which gave them the status of being the fastest airship in the constellation, apart from the battlecruisers. Runners were triangular-shaped ships with an extended nose for a bow. They were one-story ships and had a wide aft section - taking up fifty yards of space, wing tip to wing tip. No other ship could match the speed of the intergalactic runners.

  Guard attack ships, on the other hand, were one-manned ships and designed solely for atmospheres. They had spaceflight capability and often orbited the planet but their main purpose was to engage in atmospheric battles. They were sleek, fast, and capable of launching rockets and phaser fire. Their armor-plating made them sluggish within the atmosphere but nonetheless effective against most airships. They were bird-shaped with a pair of wings under the cockpit and a slightly larger pair of wings under the aft section. Attack ships could take a beating, even lose a wing or two and still function.

  The particular squadron of stealthy guard attack ships dispatched for the mission, eighteen in all, were dark-blue with light-green pin-striping. Their designation was called Thunder Group.

  Thunder Leader led the group of ships into orbit – eighteen guard attack ships and five large Interplanetary Class 2 gunships. They exited the orbit of Peridius and headed for the planet Ta’Jeon.

  …

  Meanwhile, on the other side of the constellation, from a high orbit over the planet Efferium, the Ambulas had bolted from its strategic attack posture over the city of Nepa’pa. Not since the days of the former planetary wars, nearly twenty years ago, had such a strike from space occurred. Neither had such a strike occurred by means of a high-powered laser.

  The constellation had just witnessed a new weapon and with that, they learned a new foe had made their presence known. The Pirate Queen was expressing her disdain for the Unified Planetary System and the Court of Primes.

  Boone and his Night Star and Mace’s Kori Dane had successfully deterred the Ambulas from attacking the city further. The queen and her Ambulas headed toward dead space. Fortunately for the Ambulas, its rear deflector panel was still in tack and working properly. It made a quick exit from the orbital path of Efferium and hid its escape from the Night Star, the Kori Dane, and the Sim-Sa Gale.

  “Damage?” Rena shouted.

  “Ma’am!” Juvas replied, gazing at his instrument panels. “Life support malfunction in several places along the top decks and a major hull breach under our bow!” Then, in a state of panic, he exclaimed, “Queen! Several laser turrets damaged! We lost some of our shadow arrays.”

  “What?” she asked. “What’s the status of our aft arrays? It’s vital our exit not be seen?”

  “Checking, Ma’am!” Juvas replied. He quickly checked to see if the eight aft shadow arrays were indeed working. The Ambulas had two shadow arrays mounted on its top, two sides, and under its hull. They were vital to cloak the Ambulas from being scanned and detected. The shadow array was as valuable as the forward mounted lasers. The queen waited with bated breath.

  “Status?” she asked as she glared at Juvas.

  “Ma’am,” he turned in his chair to face her. “All intact! That is, all eight aft shadow panels intact. I’ll check the rest, Ma’am.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief but it was short-lived.

  “Ma’am!” Qwi’mae, the queen's dark-skinned disciple interrupted as she entered the bridge. “They dropped two tracking devices on us! They are somewhere on top of us!”

  Rena glared at her then turned to Das and ordered, “Das! Get two volunteers! Now! Have them suit up and get up there with two of our fastest ships. Tell them to find those trackers, place them on our two ships and launched them toward Axeon! From our present position, they should pass right through the Gorledeon system.”

  Das, the queen’s second in command, a large man with more brawn than anything else nodded and smiled. “OK. Nice plan! So, our volunteers are not going in the ships?”

  Qwi’mae replied, “No, Das.” Qwi’mae nodded to the queen. “I’ll see to it. I’ll also retrieve the volunteers.”

  “Go! Now!” the queen ordered.

  Two of the queen’s volunteers each flew a gunner over the top of the Ambulas. Qwi'mae followed with her personal small space flyer and pointed out where the trackers were as she was the one to notice what the tricky Boone Nova did. While slowly traversing the top deck of the Ambulas they noticed the damage the Night Star had done.

  Large charred holes dotted the surface; metal and steel were ripped apart, bent, and twisted. Though Qwi'mae admired Nova’s craftiness, she too had a disdain for him.

  Once the trackers were found in two separate locations, the two men stepped out of their gunners, each wearing a dark colored space suit. They slowly walked a short span across the Ambulas and pulled the trackers off the deck. They each placed the trackers on their ships and programmed them to fly through the Gorledeon system and ultimately head toward Axeon. The three of them watched the two gunners quickly jet away into the blackness of space and smiled. The men then grabbed hold of Qwi’mae’s ship and she gently brought them into the top egress bay of the Ambulas.

  The Sim-Sa Gale suddenly appeared above the planet Efferium. It had jumped from the O'bipherion star system and reappeared in the Xeraxes star system which was 1.37 parsecs away. The newly mounted teleportation device worked flawlessly. The queen’s Ambulas had just fled Boone’s attack and the Gale immediately launched fifty High Guard intergalactic runners to engage the twenty-two remaining pirate space gunners that were approaching the Night Star and the Kori Dane. Everyone on the Night Star and the Kori Dane gazed at the awesome sight.

  The Sim-Sa Gale is the most intimidating battlecruiser in the fleet. Her triangular hull is very long and wide with dozens of floors. It's large wide wings extend outward, adding to its enormous size. The bridge or command section is a towering pyramid-like structure which sits on the aft part of the ship and contains many docking bays. The pyramid-like tower tapers and narrows closer to its bow eventually creating a long flat surface. The Gale’s bridge formation was most impressive.

  The queen’s space gunners would be weak, at best, against the speedy High Guard runners launching from the Sim-Sa Gale. In an effort to defend themselves, the space gunners attacked in formations of three ships per group. They engaged the High Guard runners from three separate sides. At first, it seemed futile for the queen’s space gunners but they had previously sent messages throughout the planet the moment the Sim-Sa Gale appeared. Once the initial engagement began, more space gunners emerged from the planet below.

  The Kori Dane was hiding next to a small moon a short distance away. Aboard his ship were two Royal High Guard Officers – Gunner and Chopak. They jetted toward the fray, Mace using his laser, Chopak launching small rockets, and Gunner firing the Kori Danes’ phase cannons. They fearlessly engaged a small squadron of space gunners, cutting them down to a handful of ships. The queen’s gunners eventually fled, having been overpowered and outmaneuvered. The Kori Dane sought other targets.

  Boone and his crew – Chief Investigator Lincoln DeKator, Investigators Terra Je’en, Phia Sa’vo, and his good friend Jona Kozak watched the fray from a distance.

  The Night Star sat idle in space. Boone sat in his pilot’s seat, Jona sat beside him, and Lincoln, Phia, and Terra sat in the rear cockpit seats. Boone gazed at the Sim-Sa Gale and contemplated the message Captain Eisen just issued him.

  He recalled, “Mr. Nova!” Captain Eisen appeared in his hologram. “Thank you for this teleportation device. It’s wonderful! Now! Would you please land your Night Star or Kenos, uh, cargo ship? What am I to call it, Mr. Nova? Docking Bay 151. Now! We have a lot to talk about.” Boone fretted over the orders and on board the Sim-Sa Gale, his troubles intensified.

  Commander J’Dar stepped in and personally closed the hologram – he cut Boone off. “Captain, w
e don’t have a lot to talk about. And don’t listen to that man any further. He’ll trick and mock you just like he did to me in the Court. In fact, the moment he steps on board he is under arrest. He’s not allowed to speak.”

  Captain Eisen glared at him in disbelief. When the hologram ended, Commander J'Dar immediately sent a message to his favorite officer, OPS Officer Zayne Brighton. The commander had an important task as Boone Nova was about to board the Sim-Sa Gale.

  Boone tried to hail them again. He had important INTEL to give them but his hails went unanswered. He grimaced and gazed at the awesome sight in front of him – the Sim-Sa Gale launching a host of rockets, phaser fire, and even firing its forward-mounted laser – the first of its kind for a High Guard vessel.

  The queen’s gunners attempted to break through the line of High Guard runners and attack the Gale but none were successful. The flurry of phaser fire and ships exploding then falling toward the planet was a surreal and somewhat horrifying sight.

  Boone’s crew sat and watched, mesmerized by the display. The queen’s gunners fought fearlessly and relentlessly, disregarding the fact they were out-maneuvered by the speedy High Guard runners. As the High Guard runners pursued relentlessly, Boone’s mind drifted to his problems. With trepidation, he slowly and cautiously gripped the flight yoke.

  “Boone?” Lincoln asked, noticing his fear and reluctance. “What are you doing? We’d like to know.”

  Terra, the only one there that truly understood his dilemma, placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. She said, “Boone, listen. I know what you’re thinking. You want to bolt out of here, run, and hide. I know! But, listen, I’m here with you. I’m gonna see this through with you. All the way. I will be with you. OK?”

  Phia added, “Me, too, Boone. I’m not going anywhere and just like we talked about before, at the hospital, I’m going to be here for you. OK? What do say?”