Star Bridge (Space Rogue Book 4)

by Jay Toney

  "Certainly, meet me in the conference room."

  Nord was already waiting for me when I arrived. "Captain, I didn't want to say anything in front of the young lady. Don't expect much, when we arrive. The Gorians leaving a ship behind is not a good sign. When they raid a colony, they take selected members, that they think will sell well at auction. Most of the men they take are sold for hard labor. The less desirable women are also sold as slaves. The majority of their female captives are used in breeding programs.

  Large well-established colonies are repeatedly raided every few years. Small colonies, such as Callisto II, don't fare as well. They are usually nuked from orbit after they take their captives. The remaining citizens are deemed as unacceptable, by their standards, and eliminated from the gene pool. With only two of their freighters full of captives, I suspect the rest of the people were considered inferior and terminated."

  "How did you come by this information?"

  "Our neighbors in Kesh and Iniguar space have been plagued with raids for as long as we can remember. Recently the raids have diminished with the Gorians turning towards humans."

  "Let us pray that this is not the case with Callisto II."

  Princess Lauren was on the bridge with us, anxiously waiting for news from her planet, Jewel was unable to raise anyone on the planet. There was no communications traffic that she could detect. The colony couldn't be seen due to heavy cloud cover. We would have to wait until we were in orbit to use our sensors, more effectively.

  Persephone's hologram appeared on the bridge. "Captain, would you please connect with me through the neurolink headset?"

  I put on the headset willing the connection. Persephone's image filled my mind. "How may I help you Persephone?"

  "I'm afraid that I am the bearer of bad news."

  My mind was filled with information from Persephone's sensors. Radiation levels were critically high. Life form readings showed no life in the area surrounding the colony. Thermal images and infrared images filled my head. The colony had been nuked from orbit. It was totally destroyed.

  I broke the link and removed the headset. Even though Nord told me what to expect, I was still shaken from the images Persephone showed me. There was no need to orbit Callisto II. There was no hope for its colony.

  I changed our course for the Laterus System and headed towards the next jump point. "Princess Lauren, I'm sorry. Your colony has been destroyed. There is no one left alive."

  Tears filled her eyes. "I'm afraid that I have no way of rewarding you for our rescue. I will inform my people that they are now indentured to your service. Hopefully, we can provide some compensation with our labors."

  "Princess, you have committed no crime, it is the Gorians that owe us compensation. I will not have your people enslaved. Instead, I offer you and your people the opportunity to join us. I need crew for the Carpacia and the Sequoia. We are in search of a planet that is safe from the Alliance and its tyranny.

  They've placed a bounty my head and are hunting us. Many of its members are searching for us, and gaining territory, expanding into this sector while searching. Our journey will take us to the Antares System. Once there we will begin searching for the Star Bridge. It is my hope that the Star Bridge will take us towards our planet of origin, Earth."

  "Another chance at life is more than we could hope for. I will inform my people. We accept your kind offer."

  Once we reached the jump point, we entered hyperspace. The Laterus System, our next stop, is in the Empire of Kesh.

  Kesh

  There was no information about the Laterus System. Its seven planets orbited the systems orange sun. Nothing was known about this system. The Empire of Kesh kept great care to keep information about its star systems secret. Only a few trusted traders were allowed to cross its borders. They kept what they knew to themselves.

  According to Nugget, a space station that we could use to resupply our ships orbited the planet Xalos. The Persephone and the Vengeance did not need to resupply yet, but our scout ships, the Carpacia, and the Sequoia were in need of servicing and restocking.

  The Carpacia's kitchens needed to be completely sanitized after sitting for two decades. All of the food had to be disposed of with the exception of the food kept in a deep freeze. The passengers, now crew, were glad to have the frozen food for meals. It was much better than what they were being fed by the Gorians.

  The same was true for the Sequoia. The researcher's staff aboard it thought they were above cleaning and cooking. The Keshians aboard the Sequoia let them know that no one else was going to do it for them. If they chose not to clean the kitchen and dispose of the spoiled food, they would go hungry until they chose otherwise. The freezers were locked to ensure the scientists couldn't get to the frozen meals. They were limited to the fruit that was growing in the ships biodomes and the small animals they could catch. It only took a couple of days for them to get hungry enough to clean the ship's galley.

  Sultan called me requesting that I bring a work detail to the Carpacia. I took a shuttle with twenty of my crew aboard, to the cruise ship. After landing we took a transport car to the main galley. Sultan was waiting there to greet me, along with the 387 people we rescued.

  The crew had gone through all of the empty cabins, collecting the clothing and personal effects that were left behind by the Carpacia's crew and passengers. I was surprised by the amount of credit chips and Jewelry that had been collected and placed in chests for me. There were boxes of clothing, uniforms, and shoes, sorted and piled up as well. All of the clothing was top grade and like new.

  The rescued crew were clean and fed, looking much better, but still wearing tattered clothing. None of them took anything for themselves. Lauren had organized them into work parties, gathering all of the possessions, laundering the dirty laundry and linens. Her reports showed that there was still a lot of bed sheets and blankets to launder, but enough had been cleaned to supply 400 cabins. She assigned her people to those cabins.

  The Vorg workers that I brought with me didn't need any orders to get started. They opened one of the clothing shops, and quickly packaged the shop's inventory and moved it into the back stockroom. After clearing the racks of merchandise, they started bringing in the boxes of reclaimed clothing, hanging what they could on the empty racks, and placing the rest of the neatly folded clothing on the empty shelves.

  It only took a couple of hours to get the clothing shop in order. Several boxes were piled high, in the store, to refill the racks and shelves as they were emptied.

  I couldn't see Lauren. She organized her people into a line and took her position at the end of the line. As loudly as I could I announced:

  "May I have your attention?" Silence filled the air and everyone's eyes were on me. "There is plenty of clothing for everyone. Select what you want, but limit yourselves to seven outfits, for now."

  The crowd cheered, and the line of people started slowly moving in, and back out of the shop, after selecting their new clothing.

  Half of the Vorg were inside assisting the new crew. The other half were going through the personal possessions of the former passengers, sorting the credit chips, jewelry, and other sellable merchandise into separate boxes. The rest was taken to disposal chutes and dumped. The items would be sorted later, into recycling bins.

  The Vorg took the boxes of credit chips, jewelry, and other valuables to our waiting shuttle. They remained with the shuttle, patiently waiting for the rest of us to return. The line finally came to an end, with Lauren, its last member.

  "Nathaniel, thank you for the loan of this dress and tiara. I will return them as soon as I can get the dress cleaned."

  "Please keep them as a gift from me and my wives. Jewel and Amber have more than enough cloth
ing to wear, as it is. They add more to their collection at every port we visit. They seldom have a chance to give them to someone so deserving.

  I noticed how well you organized your people. I need people I can trust, especially with organization skills for officers. The position of quartermaster needs to be filled. I gladly offer it to you. The job comes with all the benefits of being one of my officers."

  "Just how many officers do you have?"

  "Including you, thirteen. I also have 27 warrant officers, as pilots. Mike doesn't have an official position and he won't take one. I pay him the same as I would any of officers. I also overpay his wife Rosie. She earns as much as any of my officers, taking care of me and my wives."

  "So few, for a ship of its size?"

  "I am very picky when it comes to picking people I trust enough to fill the positions."

  "Then it would be an honor to be your quartermaster. I accept your offer. Whom do I report to?"

  "Me. For now, just keep doing what you are doing. We will be taking on more passengers and crew as we need them. Find yourself one of the officer cabins. The position of officer rates a suite to use as your quarters. When we reach port, I will be transferring to this ship, and bringing most of my officers with me."

  "Thank you, Nathaniel."

  As soon as everyone had been issued clothing, the shop was filled with the remaining clothes. We still had over half of the passenger clothes left and all of the uniforms. The quality was good enough that I was sure I could trade with them, or auction them off.

  We left, locking the clothing shop behind us. The remaining Vorg and I returned to our shuttle and made the short flight back to the Persephone. The credits and jewelry were taken to the purser's office and locked up, the rest of the items were added to the cargo in our cargo holds.

  We were still a few hours away from Xalos when battle stations were sounded. Even though Nugget told me to expect to be challenged, I was still surprised by the alarms.

  Jewel, Amber, and I ran to the bridge. Amber sat at her sensors console and began scanning the area. She transferred the tactical display to the main viewscreen. Jewel began the process of attempting communications, with the ships that were now identified as Keshian Raiders on the tactical screen.

  I sat in the command chair and started taking in the information. There were a dozen ships, slightly smaller than our Marauders. They split into two groups and flew past my ship then circled back surrounding us. A Keshian's image filled our viewscreen splitting the viewscreen with the tactical information. His features could not be seen clearly through the dark face shield of his flight helmet.

  "I do not recognize any of the ships in your fleet. Transmit your visa information immediately."

  "We do not have any visas. We are here for trade and resupply."

  "Silence intruder. You and your ships are now the property of Kesh. Any deviation from my instructions will result in your destruction."

  The sound of someone clearing his throat, for attention, drew my eyes to the lounge. For the first time since entering the bridge, I saw Nugget sitting quietly on the couch.

  "Nathaniel if I may?" Without waiting for me to answer, he addressed Jewel. "Signal Red and our Vorg pilots to stand down from battle stations. I will handle this myself. He walked to the center of the bridge and faced the pilot on our viewscreen. "Do you recognize me?"

  "Who are you and what are you doing on a human ship?" the pilot demanded.

  "I see that you do not recognize me. Who's orders do you follow?"

  "We follow the orders of Queen Cecilia."

  "Then you must at least know of me. I am Nugget, Chancellor of Edam, second in line to the queen and her chief adviser. These people are under my protection and will go where they will, unchallenged."

  "Chancellor, I recognize you now. We have not seen, or heard from you, for over a decade."

  "Then form an escort to Xalos."

  "We cannot, by order of the queen."

  "By what order?"

  "No intruders are to be allowed to cross our borders unchallenged and without permission from our government."

  "That does not apply to the monarchy. We can travel where we please and with whom we please. These people have my permission to enter the Keshian Empire. As for your challenge, I accept."

  "I did not mean to challenge you. By law challenge of our leaders is not allowed."

  "Then a champion. The human named Nathaniel shall be my champion."

  "Their Marauders or Vipers are no match for our ships. It wouldn't even make a fitting challenge."

  "Then we will even the odds. You will face him in combat using one of his Marauders. That will even the odds leaving your skill against his."

  "Accepted. What are the winning conditions?"

  "Three direct hits determines the winner."

  "Agreed."

  "Do you accept life stakes?"

  "Yes. If I should win, you will denounce your royal status, and accept permanent exile. You will be permanently banished from the Empire of Kesh."

  "Agreed. If my champion wins you and your squadron will pledge loyalty to my champion, forsaking all others."

  "What of our mates?"

  "They will follow you into exile, becoming members of our fleet."

  "I accept your terms."

  The screen changed back to show the tactical information. One of the fighters broke off from formation, heading to our ship. Nugget and I headed to the port side launch bay, to meet with the Keshian pilot.

  "Nathaniel, we will not loose much if you are defeated. I will gladly accept banishment. Should you win, we stand to gain a lot."

  "Why don't you address me as Captain?"

  "It is not our way to do so, to people of lower status. You heard I am next in line to rule all of Kesh."

  "Why did you leave Kesh?"

  "I use my position to my advantage, but I have no desire to rule. I will leave that to others. The politics of government bore me. I seek a greater challenge, perhaps the same challenge you seek."

  We entered the shuttle bay. The Keshian pilot was there looking over the Marauders. "This Marauder is unclaimed," he said inspecting Natty's former Marauder. "What is wrong with it?"

  "It is in perfect condition. Its former pilot was banished from this ship. I do not have another pilot to fill the position."

  "Then I will claim it as my own."

  He boarded the craft and powered up the ship. I went to my Marauder and did the same. I taxied the ship to the launch tube. I wasn't sure of what was expected of me. Marauder #5 pulled alongside my ship.

  "Human, we will face each other in single combat. Do take care to set your energy weapons to practice mode and your combat computers to training. The computers will register each hit and simulate the damage sustained. The first one to score three hits wins."

  I made the changes to my settings and signaled my readiness. We both advanced our throttles to full, and took off in formation as soon as we cleared the Persephone, the Keshian Pilot said, "Let the contest begin." He banked hard to starboard and I turned opposite, to port. As soon as we were 10 kilometers apart, he turned towards me. I matched his maneuver, heading towards him. Energy bolts were fired towards my ship. I rolled and banked hard to evade. He expertly turned his ship hard, lining up on my tail. I went into a climb, then flipped my ship into a dive. I couldn't quite get him into my weapons sight. I pulled back hard out of the dive, then rolled my ship and turned into a Cuban Eight. This time I had him. I fired scoring a direct hit on his cockpit windscreen.

  "You know how to play human. This will be a challenge after all
. That shall be the last hit you score on me."

  I broke off circling around for another match. I thought the Kesh pilot would do the same. Instead, he followed and fired, scoring a direct hit on my starboard side. I fought to regain control. According to my computer, half of my starboard thrusters were out and I lost my starboard wing. My ship was now reacting sluggishly, and drifting to starboard. I constantly had to fight for control. I was sent into a spin from another hit. Alarms sounded and warning lights flashing. I ignored them and fired my weapons as the Keshian pilot flew past me.

  The score was even. The next shot would declare the winner. I flew towards the Keshian pilot, and locked onto his tail, ignoring the flashing lights and warnings. I couldn't take the time to reset them or to look at the simulated damage. I was flying by the seat of my pants.

  The Keshian banked hard to evade and I turned to follow. Instead of turning, my engines shut down with a new series of warnings, and my ship went into a spin. None of my flight controls responded. The Keshian seeing that victory was his, turned his ship, to gloat over me, and humiliate me before taking his final shot.

  My guns were still charged and had one shot left. I didn't have a reticle sight to aim my shot with, so had to best guess when his ship would be in position. When his ship came into view, I fired, scoring the winning hit.

  The Keshian, angered by his defeat fired six shots at my ship, causing it to simulate its destruction. He headed back to the Persephone, and I struggled to reset the computers and regain control. After I managed to regain control, I flew back and landed. Nugget and the pilot were waiting for me.

  When I got out of my Marauder he said, "A lucky shot! But, luck has as much meaning as skill in our games. By our laws, my squadron and I are yours to command." He bowed, then knelt in front of me.

  "Get up. Your first order is to escort us to Xalos. We will be docking at its space station. Your squadron is to escort us there and see to our safety."

  "No one will dare challenge you after my defeat."