Starship Conquistador (Conquest of Stars Book 1) by Sid Kar Read Free Book Online Page A

allow
me such an extended vacation,” Remus replied.    
        “I do request that you wait for the
next space cruiser,” Rockvyk said, “There are pirates out there and there are
people who want you dead. But space frontier vacation cruises have an escort of
20 of our spacefighters and they swing by your planet Beacon.”
        “When is the next cruise?” Remus asked.
        “In a week or two,” Rockvyk said.
        “I rather not wait that long,” Remus
said, “I will take the chance. I don’t even have to conserve fuel heading home
and can outrun pirates or anyone else.”
        “As you wish, if there isn’t anything
else…” Carvyk said.
        “Actually there is,” Remus said, “Our
Starfire Cannon was destroyed in the battle. Please put an expedited order for
another one and have it shipped promptly. We will pay on delivery.”
        “Starfire Cannon?” Rockvyk mused out
loud, “We have hundreds of types of cannons.”
        “He means the SpaceCutter Ray Cannon,”
Carvyk said.
        “We call it Starfire Cannon because we
bought it from you,” Remus said.
        “I will place an order for that,”
Carvyk said, “I will see if I can’t get it to the front of the queue.”
        “Thank you,” Remus said.
         Remus and Rockvyk got up and took
Carvyk’s leave. They walked out of the door where Capitan Jontvyk was waiting
for them. He escorted them to the first floor and till the front door of the
palace where the four SPASI guards were awaiting them.
        “My rocket troopers reached the resort
and found the dead body of would be assassin. He was one of yours,” Jontvyk
said.
        “Your star commander informed us,”
Remus said.
        “I am going to personally lead this
investigation,” Detective Rockvyk said, “But vice-chancellor, please order an
inquiry in your country and keep us informed.”
        “Trust me,” Remus said, “No one is
keener to find out who wanted me killed than myself.”
         Rockvyk and SPASI guards escorted him
into a larger armored airship that was packed with a couple dozen soldiers
carrying laser guns. All of them accompanied him to the spaceport but their
journey was incident free. Rockvyk talked to the spaceport administrator and
had Remus’s ship scheduled for immediate departure and in less than fifteen
minutes he was accelerating away from planet Bravo.
        As Remus’ spaceship took flight he
hoped that Regional Star Commander would hew close to his promise and not find
some clause in the treaty to deny them reinforcements. He had been just a child
when the protection treaty with Starfire Empire had been signed and there had
been rumors lasting to this day that Starfirians themselves had goaded one of
their protectorates to pick fights with Nestorian Republic. It wouldn’t do for
them to be seen across the galaxy as intimidating a country into becoming a
protectorate, much better to maneuver behind the scenes and step in as the
guarantor of order and stability.
        But whatever the truth to these rumors,
Remus had more important matters to worry about. First and foremost he had to
find out just who had sent an assassin to kill him. As his ship picked up speed
Remus let the auto-pilot take over the flight controls and he sat back and
closed his eyes.
     

Chapter 6: Return
     
    Planet Nestor’s spaceport administration
was surprised when they received the code for their Vice-Chancellor’ spaceship
on their computers and they had to scramble to clear him for an immediate
landing. Usually, even rank-and-file senators representing outlying planets
sent out the notice of their arrival in advance and expected swift clearance
and deferential treatment. But Remus was calm and indifferent and he had told
the space traffic controllers to take their time scheduling him in an open
slot. He was their own senator and like most residents of the planet, most of
the controllers were also fond of