Beta Sector: Anthology by Stephen A Fender

Author:Stephen A Fender [Fender, Stephen A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jolly Rogers Productions (JRP)
Published: 2016-08-20T07:00:00+00:00

* * * * *

A plan was beginning to take shape in my head, but I didn't rush it. First I had to be sure that I knew him well. Any man that can con an entire world into building a warship for him—and then steal it from them—was not going to stop there. The ship would need a crew, a base for refueling, and a mission.

Fuel had been taken care of first; the gutted hull of Golden Princess was silent witness to that. There were countless planets that could be used as a base. Getting a crew would be more difficult in these peaceful times, although I could think of a few answers to that one, too. He could raid the mental hospitals and jails. Do that often enough and he would have a crew that would make any pirate captain proud, though piracy was, of course, too mean an ambition to ascribe to this boy. Did he want to rule a whole planet—or maybe an entire system? Or more? I shuddered a bit as the thought hit me. Was there really anything that could stop a plan like this once it got rolling? During the Galactic War with the Kafarans, any number of types with a couple of ships and less brains than Toresson had set up just this kind of brigand government. They were all pulled down in the end, since their success depended on one-man rule. But . . . the price that had to be paid first!

This was the plan and I felt in my bones that I was right. I might be wrong on some of the minor details; they weren't important. I knew the general outline of the idea, just as when I bumped into a mark I knew how much he could be taken for, and just how to do it. There are natural laws in crime as in every other field of human endeavor. I knew this was it.

"Get the communications officer in here at once," I shouted at the intercom. "Also a couple of clerks with transcribers. And fast—this is a matter of life or death!" This last had a hollow ring, and I realized my enthusiasm had carried me out of character. I buttoned my collar, straightened my ribbons and squared my shoulders. By the time they knocked on the door I was an admiral again.

Acting on my orders, the ship’s engines were set to idle. Captain Mheax grumbled as we floated there with the engines silent, wasting precious days, while half his communications staff was involved in getting out what appeared to be insane instructions across the sector. My plan was beyond his understanding . . . which is, of course, why he’s a captain and I'm an admiral, even a temporary one.

Following my orders, the navigator again constructed a sphere of speculation. The surface of the sphere contacted all the star systems with a day’s flight ahead of the maximum flight of the stolen warship. There weren't

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