Return of the Guardian King

by John E Bujanowski Jr

  Lincoln asked, “Boone? What’s going on? You sound like you’re in trouble.”

  Boone looked at Lincoln, Terra, and Phia and blared, “The High Guard has wanted me for years. Now, they have me!”

  Phia said, “Boone! You are under my authority! Remember? ‘I’ took you into custody!”

  “Phia! They don’t care about ‘your’ authority!” He looked at Terra and Lincoln. “And they won’t recognize your authority, either. My life, my freedom, it all just ended.”

  Boone let out a long and loud sigh. Jona, sitting beside Boone, had his arms folded across his chest with a disgusted look on his face. Disgusted because Boone agreed to return to Kova to answer the warrants issued for him over eight years ago. Jona couldn’t muster a single word of encouragement for him because he had none. Lincoln had to chime in again, fearing Boone would launch out in the other direction and head for dead space or wherever he could find refuge.

  “Boone?” Lincoln gently asked. “Can you talk to me? I don’t really know what this is all about. Do you need my help with this? I am the constellation’s Chief Investigator. What’s going on?”

  Boone turned, looked at him and said, “I have ‘never committed any crimes against any peoples,’ like the High Guard directive always asks you. In my case, Lincoln, it won’t matter. They won’t even ask me that. I’m hated and it’s because I don’t sit back and watch people get killed or looted in these corridors. I take action. Now, they are gonna find a way to make me pay for it.”

  Boone turned his gaze upon the Sim-Sa Gale and once again let out another loud quick sigh.

  Phia asked again, “What are you going to do?”

  Boone answered, “There’s only one thing I can do.” He flipped a switch, pushed the pilot yoke forward, and slowly proceeded toward the Gale. Everyone except Jona breathed a sigh of relief. Boone was complying. Boone wiped his face and let the Night Star slowly trek toward docking bay 151.

  Boone said, “I think the three of you should get back into your High Guard uniforms.”

  Phia, Terra, and Lincoln agreed and quickly left the cockpit to do so. As Boone gazed at the impressive size of the Gale, he wondered about the trouble he’d find there once on board. He feared Commander J'Dar. It was then the verse came to his mind again.

  “‘He’ is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. ‘He’ keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of His saints. Hmm,” he muttered to himself. “Oh, Lord! I’m in big trouble right now. I hope it’s true – ‘You’ are gonna protect me. Because I’m gonna need it!”

  The verse also made him think of Zay'Geis. Then he remembered something Zay'Geis told him before he left to go on the mission.

  “Boone!” Zay'Geis said. “With Him, there are no coincidences. Look at all you have done recently. Think about everything that happened. You’ve just gone through many trials, many dangers, and many painful things. You’ve suffered, Boone! How do you explain coming through these things alive? At least in one piece? Do you really think you’re that good or that capable? No, Boone, you are not that good or capable or lucky. No one is. It was the Father. He saw you through it all.”

  Boone entertained an idea. He looked at Jona as they slowly drifted through space toward the Gale. He chuckled as he thought for a few moments.

  Jona stared and asked, “What? What are you laughing at?”

  “Jona, I don’t know what’s gonna happen to me.” Jona nodded and grunted. “If what my mom says is true, and Dr. Zay'Geis says it, too, about the Lord being a ‘buckler’ then, in theory, I should be OK.”

  “In theory? The Lord?” he asked. “You want me to trust Him, too! Uh!”

  “I’ve got an idea but it’s a really, really bad one. It just came to me.”

  Boone glanced at him while Jona gazed back. “I already don’t like it ‘cause you’re asking me without really asking! What is it?”

  “It’s totally absurd. You know? I’m hoping you’ll say no.”

  Jona blared, “Then… then… pfft! I’m gonna say, yes! I’ll do it! Am I gonna fight the High Guard? When we get on board?”

  “What!” Terra shouted. Everyone re-entered the cockpit.

  “No,” Boone laughed. They all took their seats again.

  Lincoln said, “You’re in a good mood. Why’s that?”

  Jona answered, “Boone has a very, very bad idea about me and he won’t tell me! He wants me to agree before I even know what it is!”

  “No, Jona. I’m gonna ask you, I just wish you’d say, no. That’s all.”

  “Oh,” Jona muttered. He felt better about it. Everyone looked at the big burly man. He added, “It’s something you ‘know’ I will want to do but I shouldn’t go along with it. I understand. Can you tell me, now?”

  Boone grimaced and sighed as everyone was glued to what he was about to suggest. He glanced at everyone quickly.

  “Jona, I want you to take a space gunner, act like you're attacking the High Guard, and escape.”

  Everyone stared at Boone then at Jona. Lincoln asked, “Because?”

  Boone smirked, “I want Jona to infiltrate the queen’s network.”

  Everyone glared at him. Jona’s mouth dropped open at the suggestion but wonder soon began to take over his expression.

  Terra replied, “No! Jona, don’t! We’ve lost enough in this battle. Boone! I can’t believe you just asked him that!”

  Jona answered, “Terra, let me think! I need quiet.” Everyone quieted and Jona gazed out and studied the Gale as they continued their approach. Jona replied, “I know I will be alright, ‘cause I can outsmart them. But, making them believe me? And Boone, how would I get in contact with them?”

  “If the Gale has a gunner, you can take it, some High Guard runners can chase you, and you leave the system.”

  “Toward Adjelon?”

  Boone nodded.

  Terra said, “Adjelon? They are looking at Gorledeon. Not Adjelon.”

  Jona replied, “Terra, we, I mean Boone, Mace, and me all think Gorledeon is just a decoy. Boone has tracked a lot of movements in and out of Adjelon for a long time. We think that’s where her base it. Not Gorledeon.”

  “Well,” she argued, “Cumi was in Gorledeon. Sabin came out of Gorledeon when we came across him last month. I say it’s Gorledeon. Has to be.”

  “Terra?” Boone asked. “Can we do this our way? Please?” Terra huffed. Lincoln wondered. “Jona?” Boone said. “Now is the time for you to say, no. OK?”

  “I can draw attention to myself by letting the Guard chase me,” Jona muttered. “Hmm. I like that. But, I will need a code word to give the High Guard when I need to report. Or if the High Guard captures me later on.”

  Lincoln said, “I can arrange all that. What’s the mission, though, Boone? Jona?”

  Jona looked at Lincoln sitting behind him and answered, “Find the queen. Kill her. Right, Boone?”

  Boone smiled and answered, “Well, Jona, ah. Lincoln? Want to set it up once we get on board?”

  Terra sunk into her chair and huffed in disgust. They finally arrived at the very large ominous battlecruiser.

  Chapter 2

  Kwelling sat in an enclosed twelve-foot cubicle. He could hear ASOP (ae’sop) hover past his cubicle and down the corridor with a deep resonating sound. “It must be on its way to answer a cube,” he thought. To say he was perplexed would be putting it mildly.

  The many forms of reconditioning were just beginning to take its toll on his mind. The High Guard never wanted anyone to go insane but rather change their minds about the life they choose. The cubicle alone was depressing enough.

  Its floor, ceiling, and walls were of a specific color which ASOP would change periodically to invoke and monitor certain emotions and reactions – not for punishment sake but for reconditioning. Some days the ceiling and walls were dull colors, some days they were bright colors, and some days there were totally dark.

  Kwelling, like many others, had absolutely nothing inside their cells. That alon
e was punishment enough. Inside his cell was a bed which folded out from the wall only when ASOP allowed it. Instead of a blanket, ASOP would increase the temperature for sleeping. His chair, sink, and commode would appear from hidden panels when Kwelling asked kindly and clearly through a small hole – a COM only ASOP could answer.

  The items in his cell were securely fixed to the walls and there was nothing attached to the walls that could be ripped apart. When Kwelling asked for a chair, a slab would slide out from the wall. The moment he tried to break it or pull it out, to use it as a weapon or such, ASOP would retract the slab.

  ASOP-1243, an Automated Surveillance and Observation Probe, was one of the hundreds of robotic probes that hovered about the corridors of the recluse detention vessel known as the Exoteric.

  ASOP was a most unusual shape, similar to a flying floating praying mantis. It never walks on its legs as its legs also serve as robotic arms. ASOP’s main body was square - five inches by five inches and four-feet tall. For a head, it had a small data display monitor attached to the top of its four-foot tall frame which displayed the data needed to function and serve the prison barge. The display served as a face. ASOP hovers with a constant soft deep tone.

  It had two robotic arms with joints to serve as elbows which were made of metal rods. Likewise, it had two robotic legs also with joints that served as knees. ASOP’s four appendages were constantly adjusting the control panels of the cubicles it was assigned to.

  Each ASOP was responsible for seventy-eight feet of corridor which would include approximately twelve cubicles, six on each side of the corridor. The corridors of the Exoteric were over 1000 feet long. They were twelve feet wide and constructed of a stainless steel-like finish with a bluish hue. The ceilings were white and well lit.

  ASOP’s had the capability of escorting prisoners as well as controlling them. By means of laser-tip appendages, similar to a finger, ASOP could zap anyone deemed as an offender. It did not have laser capabilities such as slicing metal, skin, or bone but the electrical pulses that emitted from ASOP’s two arm-like appendages could paralyze anyone.

  ASOP’s would direct new prisoners to their cells, release prisoners who had served their time and remove the deceased. After one week of detention, Kwelling had given up the mocking he did toward ASOP-1243.

  As ASOP-1243 hovered past Kwelling’s room again, he pondered what the queen was doing. “I know she’s coming or sending someone. Then I think I will change my priority. This vessel is going to burn. I’ll see to it!”

  …

  Jak and Nell, the queen’s two best soldiers, were in their space gunners. They gave up their pursuit of the Night Star when they saw it head toward the Sim-Sa Gale. They decided to observe the battle taking place above the planet Efferium from a great distance. They wanted to avoid the battle and the Sim-Sa Gale but also wanted to monitor everything. They decided to slowly and cautiously head toward the star system of Adjelon and keep watch for the Ambulas and the Sim-Sa Gale.

  Janek and Rowe were also pursuing the Night Star. The queen had ordered them to retrieve the teleportation device but the Night Star disappeared. That was shocking enough for them. They scanned every nearby system - O'bipherion, Xeraxes, and Gorledeon and discovered the Night Star had jumped to the planet, Efferium in the Xeraxes system. They immediately headed toward Efferium.

  Then an even more amazing thing happened, the mighty Sim-Sa Gale appeared above Efferium. It was then Janek realized the potential of the device the Pirate Queen tried to conceal. Janek and Rowe were still going after Boone Nova, as hired by the queen then they decided stealing the Night Star’s device was paramount. Janek schemed as to accomplish both – catch Boone Nova and claim the teleportation device for himself. He thought the queen could have the one aboard the Sim-Sa Gale but getting it would be her problem.

  As they slowly trekked, as not to draw unwanted attention to their shuttle, they watched every move the Night Star made. Presently, it was slowly approaching the massive battlecruiser.

  …

  Co’Dak, Merrick’s best officer and fighter from years ago when the planetary wars were at its height, began to initiate Merrick’s plan of infiltration – the rescue of Kwelling, Luweena, and Ander. Co’Dak was in his late 50’s and he was of average size and build. His face exhibited thin cracks and crevices from years of stress and many battles - battles he fought defending his home planet, Peridius, the 4th system. His frame was unintimidating but his guile, speed, and ability never diminished. That trait, along with Co’Dak’s experience, made him deadly and well capable of posing as a maintenance worker.

  Co'Dak hid his Class II Jay Hawk ship, the Jokey, inside an old broken-down hangar. Though the hangar appeared to be dilapidated and unused, it was far from that. He had high hopes he would soon return and find the Jokey right where he left it and untouched. He mounted the sleek fast blade-propelled ATV-like hovercraft the queen’s friends supplied him with and left for an unsuspecting victim.

  Co’Dak watched and waited for a man from a distance. The man was late and should have left his home minutes ago to head to his workstation. Twenty yards in front of him, he gazed at a busy designated wide road-like path cut through the landscape – a hover-route they called the Roove. It was a speed corridor, a designated thoroughfare for hover crafts and one and two-manned flying crafts of all types and speeds.

  The Roove consisted of three separate levels in which one could jet across the land and span long distances in a matter of minutes. The Roove was a straight path for the most part but winded its way from distant wildernesses and rural communities to the busy commerce of the megalopolises. It contained many small insignificant bends and turns, along with a few sharp ones.

  Below the busy air traffic of the Roove, pedestrians walked on pristine pathways to get to their desired locations while hovercraft and such prodded along just above them in three separate tiers. The lowest level, a mere twenty feet above pedestrians was designated for slower and leisurely air travel while the second level – nearly sixty feet above the ground, was designated for faster one and two-manned flying ships. Most of them were blade-propelled. The third and highest level – nearly a hundred feet above the ground consisted of much faster-moving crafts of various sizes.

  Co’Dak, an expert in everything technological, knew how old hovercraft worked and failed. A bomb would not suffice as it would only draw attention but a mechanical malfunction in the maneuvering system of the speedy gliding aircraft would be more believable should he drift off course and crash into a building. His timing, though, would have to be precise. It was vital the man die accidentally and without any suspicions whatsoever.

  The Exoteric was the most secure place in the constellation and Co'Dak’s infiltration would require extreme caution and execution. Co’Dak thought since the man was running late, perhaps he would push the hovercraft higher into the air and much faster than it should. Such was the case.

  The man launched out sitting upon his hovercraft and entered the Roove as an empty space for him came along. The man quickly accelerated and jetted up to the third level. Seconds later, Co'Dak immediately launched out after him, forcing others to adjust and make room for his spontaneous entrance.

  As Co’Dak followed, he tried to catch up to him by dangerously passing others and forcing some to the lower levels just to get out of the way. Co'Dak kept a careful eye out for the High Guard flyers that policed and monitored the Roove. Co'Dak was planning on causing a certain crash but he saw the man make up for lost time and attempt a sharp turn to enter the busy commerce of the city. It was then his steering apparatus gave out and he crashed into several other smaller flying ships - flying ships that were not able to adjust in time. His demise was immediate.

  Co’Dak assumed the adjustments he made on the man’s hovercraft were enough. He would not have to force a crash after all. He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Now, because of the unexpected death, a maintenance shuttle that was headed to the detention ship, Exoteric, wou
ld be one man short. It would take a day or two to summon a maintenance worker qualified enough to take his place. Co’Dak was ready for the job. He hoped friends in high places were doing their part.

  …

  As the Night Star gently glided into docking bay 151, a man directed the Night Star to a designated landing spot. Boone also spied Mace’s Kori Dane land not far from him. Boone immediately spied the handful of guards that stood waiting for him. Kola, Goss, and Pryce were with them. He landed and Boone, Jona, Terra, Phia, and Lincoln walked down the cargo ramp toward Kola, Goss, and Pryce. Mace, Gunner, and Chopak arrived just after them. They all quickly greeted each other, hugging, shaking hands, and rejoicing because the Ambulas had left the system. They felt like heroes.

  Pryce quickly studied Terra’s face, noticing how well many of the cuts and scars that once dotted her face had healed. She was following Dr. Weimar’s orders by continually washing and applying the healing cream. The hair on the right side of her scalp still had not grown back as it had only been four days since their mission began. The hairless scalp which also revealed a few neck burns looked freakish but she refused to shave her head completely. For Pryce, it didn’t matter. He also dare not ask her how her legs were feeling; she hated being coddled and at times even simple concern bothered her.

  Pryce didn’t have time to chat with her either and he noticed a great deal of apprehension on her face. He thought it was because Boone had to face the commander and the High Guard.

  Boone watched Jona and Lincoln walk toward another section of space dock. They were headed for an old confiscated space gunner. Jona was leaving without saying a word to anyone. Boone couldn’t let Jona go without informing Pryce and Mace.

  “Pryce, Mace,” he muttered, knowing they would be mad. “Jona is leaving. He’s gonna try to find the queen’s base.”

  “What!” Mace screamed. Everyone on space dock heard him. Jona and Lincoln turned around and looked at him.

  Boone added, “It was my idea! Be mad at me, not him.” Mace didn’t pay any attention to Boone as he ran after Jona. Pryce glared at Boone with a death stare.