Battleship Avenger (Conquest of Stars Book 2) (15 page)

“Yes sir, will be
there right away,” Styx saluted him and disappeared from the terminal. Raptor
turned around to face Alvina.

“I am sorry sir,
but I never saw this man or even talked to him,” Alvina pleaded, “Carvyk has
given him the duplicates of my codes and cards.”

“Very cunning,”
Raptor said, “he can go about the starship and its systems would leave him
alone mistaking him for a command room officer. But it still doesn’t explain
how he could open the door to Plasma Weapons. You don’t have that privilege.”

“I don’t know that
sir,” Alvina that.

“Detective Hartar
will figure all of that out,” Raptor said.

“I was also to
serve as a witness in all of your court martial,” Alvina spoke hesitatingly.

“It is Carvyk who
needs to be court martialed for treason,” Raptor said, “You do realize you have
unwittingly aided it?”

“They betrayed me
too,” Alvina protested.

“They?” Raptor
asked.

“Segwyk,” Alvina
said, “It was he who was going to stop our ship for inspection. Carvyk had
given Segwyk command of three starships for that.”

“Damn,” Raptor
exclaimed and then sighed, “you are still his fiancé, aren’t you?”

“I am,” Alvina,
“But I don’t know now. Him and Carvyk lied to me; they tried to kill me too. I
thought Segwyk loved me and he knew I was going to be inside
Conquistador
.
He was there when Carvyk gave us our orders. How could he lead an attack on
us?”

 “His profession
of love was false,” Raptor said and surprised himself with such a stark
statement. For the first time tonight he felt pity for Alvina.

“Oh I don’t know
Commodore,” Alvina said and her eyes were teary.

“Compose yourself,
Capitan,” Raptor said. He pulled open a drawer and handed her one of his fine,
silk handkerchief to wipe away her watery eyes. “You are an officer of the
Starfire Army.”

“I apologize,” she
said, dried her eyes, straightened her posture and returned his cloth.

“Sit down,” Raptor
said and pulled out the chair for her. “Do you still care for Segwyk now? After
knowing all this?”

“Oh I don’t know,”
Alvina said, “I still have feelings for Segwyk, I know I shouldn’t but…” she
paused for a few moments. Raptor saw on a screen that Styx and Hartar had
arrived and were waiting outside his door but he let them bide time.

“I would like to
confront Segwyk,” Alvina said, “Ask him why? Why he betrayed me and all of us?”

“I don’t think
that is wise,” Raptor said, “He is the Star Commander.”

“He is also my
soon to be husband,” Alvina said, “That is how I will face him.”

“Alvina,” Raptor
said placing his hand on her right shoulder and leaning down to where his mouth
almost touched her hair, “there will be other men who will love you, if you
give them a chance.” She turned her neck to look at him and their eyes matched
for a few seconds then Raptor pulled himself up straight, “Meanwhile, first you
must help us find Carvyk’s spy.” Raptor turned to intercom and flicked on its
switch, “Hartar, Styx, step inside.” He opened the door for them and the two of
them walked in and saluted him and watched Alvina wearily.

“Capitan Alvina,
wait outside with the Starship Guards,” Sthykar said. Alvina got up and crisply
saluted him, put up a smile on her face and left the room.

“What is going on,
Commodore?” Hartar said, “There are rumblings and rumors whirling in the
spaceship.”

“Of what kind,”
Raptor asked.

“That there was
something ‘wrong’ about the attack on us in our transit,” Hartar said, “And I
do apologize, I still haven’t been able to locate this imposter on board.”

“Not your fault,
he had duplicates of a command officers’ codes,” Raptor said.

“Yes, that would
certainly make it a lot difficult to trace him, command room officers have the
highest level of privilege and access across the Starship,” Hartar said.

“I need to take
you in confidence about the ambush,” Raptor said. He walked over to his
terminal and typed in personal messages to Barryett and Tollvyk to meet him in
his quarters. While they were on their way, Raptor told both of them all the details
he had disclosed over the officer’s dinner and his conversations with Com.
Antrar suspecting the attackers to be other Starfirians.

Hartar and Styx
were both shocked. They had both seen and heard of many devious schemes in
their long durations with the Army, but this was uniquely malicious.

Barryett and
Tollvyk pressed the buzzer outside the door and Raptor let them inside.

“I have taken
Detective Hartar and Capitan Styx in confidence,” Raptor said to them.

“I was going to
suggest that much myself,” VC Barryett said, “We need them to be in the know if
they are going to prevent leak of this information into the general crew.”

“I will certainly
see to that,” Styx said.

“Commodore, you
did right by involving me in this,” Hartar said, “All of you on this starship
are under linear command from the Starfleet Commander in the House of War
through the Regional Star Commander to Starship Commodore and the rest of the
officers. But it is different for me and my section. We are under your
authority on this starship but our command goes through a different chain to
Chief Army Detective for Frontier Regions and all the way to Commander of Army
Investigations Department, another member of House of War. Commander Carvyk’s
ability to order me around is limited and I can go to the superiors in my own
department.”

“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.

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 around 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
representative 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.”

“I agree,” Antrar
said, “you go first. I will leave after your spaceship takes off.”

Evyk and Antrar
smiled at each other and Evyk exited the room. He carefully walked over to his
spaceship while occasionally sneaking a glance at his back to make sure he
wasn’t being followed. He knew he was being paranoid but after what Antrar had
told him – and even if only half of it was true – then paranoia was the
operational necessity.