“I’m exactly what they don’t need. Not anymore,” Crusher said, his temper also deflating. “I’ll be the last of the Archons. Galvetor is moving into a new age and normal geltens and warriors will have to find their own way and new traditions.”
“So you’ll just leave them to it? Isn’t that a little dangerous?”
“My last act as Archon was to appoint Morakar as the warrior class’s representative in the Senate,” Crusher said.
“I bet he wasn’t happy about that,” Jason said with a laugh.
“Which is exactly why it was always going to be him,” Crusher said.
Jason looked at the bag he had with him as well as the well-worn body armor leaning against it. He’d obviously come with every intention of staying with the crew.
“You sure it can go back to the way it was?” he asked. “There’s only one captain on this ship.”
“My job here is done,” Crusher said as he picked up his belongings. “I’m ready to come home.”
Jason slapped him on the shoulder and hit the controls to close up the ship. The pair made their way to the stairs leading to the crew entry hatch.
“I can’t believe you were going to leave me behind.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, you big baby … all you would have had to do was call, the ship can fly both ways.”
Epilogue
“So tell me what you found.”
“When we arrived, we had to dig down through an apparent cave-in, but the ship wasn’t there. All we found were scraps of other Jepsen spacecraft. Some were the same model, others just of similar design.”
“Very interesting. What else?”
“We confirmed the ship was in the area and was involved in some sort of political upheaval on the planet.”
“That follows a certain pattern, so at least we know it was the right ship.”
“So what does it all mean? Why steal and scrap all those Jepsens?”
“Isn’t it obvious? There’s another player in the game. Someone else has learned of what makes that ship so special, but they’re not so well-informed that they know exactly which ship it is. Where are they now?”
“They were last seen flying away from the Galvetor System. We lost them soon after.”
“I assume you know what to do then?”
“Yes. We have already dispatched teams to track them down. It shouldn’t be long.”
*****
“Please! I did everything you asked!”
“And yet here I sit without the thing I want most in the universe. You understood the deal when we approached you.”
“But it wasn’t my fault! I couldn’t have known the crew would be so hard to control.”
“Ah … but we warned you, Connimon. I believe I was quite explicit in that you should be very careful around them. But I do take solace in the fact that neither of us is getting what we wanted in this bargain: Galvetor and Restaria are even now signing new accords and forging a new relationship. Your little revolution is over, so you’ll have no need for our fleet in any case.”
“Since we both lost, can I just leave and we can put this whole unpleasant incident behind us?”
“Oh, no,” the voice chuckled mirthlessly. “I am sorry, my dear, but this is just business.”
A shot flared from a blaster pistol in the darkened cargo hold and the Caretaker’s body slumped to the ground.
“Dreadful beasts,” the assailant muttered before walking over to the intercom. “Send someone down to clean this mess up and let me know when we’re clear to leave. I wish to be off of Restaria as soon as possible.”
“The battlecruiser and the gunship both made the transition to slip-space an hour ago. There is no indication they were able to penetrate our cloaking field.”
“As soon as the hold is cleaned up, you are clear to launch. I will be in my quarters trying to think of a way to break the bad news to him.”
*****
Thank you for reading Omega Force: Return of the Archon.
If you enjoyed the story, Captain Burke and the guys will be back in:
Omega Force: Secret of the Phoenix
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Omega Force 5: Return of the Archon Page 28