The Lost Prince Read online

  Star Chase

  Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter One • Chapter Two • Chapter Three • Chapter Four • Chapter Five • Chapter Six • Chapter Seven • Chapter Eight • Chapter Nine • Chapter Ten • Chapter Eleven • Chapter Twelve • Chapter Thirteen • Chapter Fourteen • Chapter Fifteen • Chapter Sixteen • Chapter Seventeen • Chapter Eighteen • Chapter Nineteen • Chapter Twenty • Chapter Twenty-One • Chapter Twenty-Two • Chapter Twenty-Three

  Epilogue

  Books by Saxon Andrew

  About Saxon Andrew

  Introduction

  In the early twenty first century, humanity discovered the dark matter field. Jay Skinner accidentally made the discovery when he was experimenting with an electronic field around a shuttle that would capture the elusive dark matter particles and hold them in the field’s pattern. Scientists knew that the universe’s total mass was composed of eighty six percent dark matter but the particles were next to impossible to create or capture. Some of the particles were created in large cyclotrons but large concentrations of them were as elusive as capturing a thought. Dr. Skinner believed he had found a way to collect them in large numbers. If he created an electronic field and just moved through space, he deducted that he could collect enough of them on the field to examine the Higgs particle and really decipher how the universe functioned.

  Dr. Skinner was alone on the shuttle designed to make the attempt because most of his colleagues determined that he was crazy to even attempt the effort. The general consensus was that he would die rather quickly but he refused to give up on his experiment. His reputation in the scientific community allowed him to make the effort.

  All of Earth’s telescopes and tracking devices had his ship locked in when he said, “I’m activating the field and will start accelerating once it’s in place. I’ll know the result in a few moments.” The blue field appeared around the shuttle and the ship started moving forward and disappeared. The scientific community was shocked and confused. There wasn’t even a blast or any evidence that the ship was ever there. The shock of the scientific community was instant and questions flew quickly as reporters began broadcasting that the eminent scientist had disappeared. The questions stopped and the shock deepened ten minutes later when the ship reappeared. They were stunned when Jay said that he had just taken a trip to Neptune and back. No one believed him until he showed them close up pictures of the planet. Humanity now had a way to reach for the stars and nothing was ever going to be the same.

  Within another hundred years, more than a thousand planets were discovered that would support human life in the spiral arm of the Milky Way where Earth was located. The exodus from the overcrowded planet began and mankind moved out into the galaxy. All birth control restrictions ended and the number of planets increased to a hundred thousand within the next three hundred years. The constant migration damaged Earth’s ability to compete with the new planets. The brightest and best of the home world left for the new frontier. Those that chose to stay finally decided to stop the exodus, ending the loss of scientists and engineers. The brutal government that imposed the restrictions took power and the populations were subjugated to total control. Those forced to stay decided to do something about it. Fifty years later, the planet was laid to waste in a nuclear war that killed all life on the planet.

  The hundred thousand worlds watched the destruction of Earth in horror and saw their future. They knew that eventually worlds would start having issues that would lead to wars. Humanity possessed an evil side that was hard, if not impossible, to control. One planet populated by the largest number of scientists sent word to all the others that they had to come to an agreement on how they would co-exist. A hundred thousand representatives came to Euclid and discussed how to establish a union that could ensure peace among them.

  These delegates knew democracy would never work in the new reality; mankind had become too large to be controlled by votes and was still growing at an incredible rate. The only vote taken among all the citizens was to approve or disapprove of the assembly’s suggestion. The resolution passed.

  They decided to set up a Monarchy that would enforce peace among the members of the new agreement. Those chosen to lead would be taught and developed for the role of protecting mankind from itself. The individual planets would rule themselves, but the Monarchy would force fair standards on their dealings with each other and would take action if a member acted irresponsibly. The Union could act to remove any Monarch that failed to rule according to the founding principles. A gathering could be called and the planets could vote to replace the ruler. Two hundred years later, all agreed that the chosen rulers were doing an outstanding job of leading the Galactic Union.

  Soon after the Monarchy was established, the scientists on Euclid began working to improve the genetics of the Royal Family to enhance their ability to guide the Union. The changes were small but over the centuries, the cumulative changes created beings that were superior to any human that ever existed. The numbers of genetically altered beings on Euclid expanded and the galaxy knew that any invasion of Euclid would run into a threshing machine. Their population possessed deadly talents. One planet attempted an invasion and the invading fleet was destroyed before it came close to Euclid’s orbit. The offending planet was removed from existence.

  Once the Obelisk was developed and deployed to all the member’s planets, no one would dare attack any planet. The main Obelisk on Euclid was connected to all the others and the Royal Family were the only ones that could operate it. The Obelisks were indestructible and tied to planetary defenses that were impregnable. Peace became the norm for the hundreds of thousands of worlds in the Galactic Union for three hundred years.

  But there were pockets of planets that resented the imposed peace and railed at the enforced restrictions. Five hundred years after the Union was formed they decided to act and remove the Union’s limitations. After a hundred years of secret preparation, they were ready to act.

  Chapter One

  The leader of the ground forces looked at the burning building and said, “Report.”

  “We lost most of the brigade taking the upper floors.”

  “How many were you able to capture?”

  “None.”

  “WHAT!”

  “The Royal Family refused to surrender. They used blasters that took out most of our soldiers going in. The Princess led the resistance and unfortunately, she hit one of our officers carrying a blast bomb and it went off, taking out the entire floor. Everyone was killed. There are no survivors on the top four floors.”

  “Are you saying the entire Monarchy was killed?”

  “I’m afraid one of them escaped.”

  “Who?”

  “The Prince was not among those killed. We don’t know where he is.”

  “Our reports said he was here on the planet.”

  “There is no DNA trace of him here and scanners don’t show his mind on the planet. He was not with the Royal Family.”

  The man looked around the building and saw the crowds start to gather; their time had run out, “Get the rest of the troops loaded and off planet. Do it now!”

  The six transports lifted, leaving the burning building behind. The intruders rose as quickly as possible above the planet but not before two of the six transports were blasted into gas by the planetary lasers, which were just coming back on line. The survivors landed in their transport’s bays and moved out as a huge fleet of warships moved in above the planet. The ships stopped outside the range of the planet’s defenses and waited.

  For the first time in five hundred years, Euclid was without the Royal Family’s leadership. The rest of the galaxy learned of the attack and knew that rebellion was now startin
g in the Galactic Union and the bond that unified the hundreds of thousands of inhabited planets was dead on Euclid. The war began in earnest and spread throughout the Union. The thousand planets of the Orion Nebula had prepared in secret for a hundred years and their fleets went out to take control of the Union. With the advent of the Obelisk, no one built warships and the Nebula moved to take control before their advantage was removed.

  The Ground Leader sent a message to the Prime Dictator that the Prince had escaped. The Prime’s anger was instant, “Find him and kill him. We can’t allow him to take the throne.”

  “He’s not on Euclid. The fleet has scanned the entire surface and his mind was not on the planet.”

  “You will keep the fleet there and kill any ship that approaches. He must be prevented from landing and taking control of the Obelisk. Find him; I’ll hold you responsible if he’s not eliminated quickly.”

  The Leader lowered his head and the conversation was terminated.

  • • •

  The Leader stared at the empty display and knew going in that if any member of the Royal Family survived the sneak attack, all bets were off on a successful rebellion. The suppression field put around the Obelisk when they landed was eliminated within an hour and once it was removed the planetary defenses came back on line. The suppression field would only work once. Once the Obelisk broke through the field, it would not be affected again. The fleet above Euclid knew that getting within range of the planet’s defenses was tantamount to a death sentence. The fleet couldn’t even get close enough to hit the planet with beams or missiles; any launched would be countered by the Obelisk’s defenses. The obelisk would need one of the Royal Family to make it connect to the other defensive devices throughout the Union. If that happened, the rebellion would be over before it began. The Nebula forces knew the Prince had to be found and eliminated.

  “Sir, the planet has determined that the Prince wasn’t killed in the attack. They’re broadcasting the information to the Union.”

  “If we could make that determination, they can as well.” The Leader looked at the planet in his display and knew that it would not be killed. If all else failed, it could be isolated. But if that Prince managed to get on the surface…he shook his head. The indestructible obelisks spread out in the galaxy would be useless until that happened. He had to be found and killed. “Start the search. I want every planet scanned and notify me when you find him.”

  “Sir, you know the talents that make him different. He’ll be difficult to capture.”

  “Kill him on sight and I don’t care how many die with him. Kill the planet if you find him. Is that clear!?!”

  The Commander nodded and sent out the orders.

  The Ground Leader looked at the planet and saw activity on the southern continent. He moved the view closer and saw that machines were starting to clear land. He wondered what they were doing and then he knew. Euclid was going to start building warships. If those superior beings weren’t stopped. He decided to use the only one that had a chance of finding the Prince. He pushed his communicator and saw the Officer appear, “Do you know what’s happened?”

  “I do.”

  “I’m assigning you the task of finding and killing the missing Royal.”

  The Officer’s expression showed no emotion. “You should have made sure he was there before you landed.”

  “Stating the obvious won’t find him.”

  “I’ll find him.”

  The Ground Leader had little doubt the Dark Officer would find the Prince. He just wondered how many were going to die before he did.

  • • •

  He moved down the street and looked up in the sky and saw the contrails of ships entering high atmosphere. They would be on the surface quickly. He walked at a sedate pace to avoid standing out and sensed the small ship landing three blocks behind him. Six Nebula Agents emerged and started moving up the street. He casually moved into a restaurant and saw there were numerous picnic tables scattered outside the main building as he sensed the agents getting closer. He looked around and decided not to go into the main building. There was a large crowd outside listening to the band play dance music. He glanced to his right and moved toward a picnic table with a group of women watching the band play. He sat down behind one of them, leaned over, and quietly whispered to her, “I’ll pay you a hundred drocs if you’ll allow me to kiss you.”

  The woman was startled and she turned around with a raised hand to slap him for his impertinence. She saw the handsome young man and lowered her hand. He was gorgeous. “I’m not that kind of woman; but I’ll let you kiss me for free.”

  He leaned forward and placed his hand on the woman’s cheek and lightly placed his lips on hers. Two Nebula agents entered the restaurant and one looked left as the other looked right. He lightly pushed her cheek to the right and continued the tender kiss. He saw the agent’s scan move toward him and he emptied all thought from his mind. The scan passed them and he kept his head in the shadow created by the woman’s head. The Agent moved the scan back across the crowd and looked at the agent to his left. He shook his head and they exited the building. He broke the kiss and saw eight more agents sprint past the restaurant.

  The woman opened her eyes, “That was nice. Perhaps I should pay you for another.”

  He leaned forward again and kissed her as the Nebula vehicle passed the front of the restaurant. He managed to remain in the shadow created by the woman’s head and the vehicle’s scan came up empty and it continued up the street. “Thank you.”

  He stood and the pretty woman looked up at him, “Where are you going?”

  “I need to find a transfer to take me to the river.”

  “I’ll take you.”

  “No, you really don’t have to do that.”

  “I don’t mind. My trans is right over there.”

  He looked to the right of the building and saw a new sports trans. He smiled and said, “If it’s not a problem.”

  She leaned over and said something to the woman sitting next to her who nodded as she stood. He followed her out to her vehicle. They entered, lifted the small trans, and turned up the side street. He glanced behind him and saw more ships arriving.

  They arrived at the river and he stepped out, “I appreciate you bringing me. Thank you.”

  “No problem.” She watched him walk over to a huge transhauler and enter the cab. The huge vehicle drove away and she sighed; he was a great kisser. She wished he had asked to stay with her for a while. But she wasn’t the kind of woman that would ask him.

  • • •

  “I told you this was stupid.”

  “I know, I know. They came in faster than I thought.”

  “You were lucky.”

  “What do we do?”

  “Well, your mind is shielded now from everything in orbit but a scanship. I don’t know how they got a reading but it’s clear they did. We need to move far away from here before we attempt an exit. There are two Nebula Warships in orbit and they’re staying stationary above this city.”

  He thought for a moment and said, “Then they’re not certain I’m here.”

  “I wouldn’t bet the farm on that.”

  “They haven’t brought in a scanship.”

  “I’m keeping my scanner out for that. If one shows up, we’ll have to make a run for it.”

  The transhauler left the city and accelerated on the freeway. It matched the six hundred miles per hour traffic and headed away from the huge city.

  • • •

  The Nebula Officer walked along the street and let his mind go free. He was tall and his black uniform made him look imposing. It fit him perfectly and it was easy to see he took pride in his appearance. He felt the people in the buildings that lined the street and didn’t sense what he was looking for. He arrived at the front of the restaurant and stopped. Something…wasn’t…quite right. He went inside and felt the residue of a High Genetic. He went to the area where it was the strongest and stared at the now e
mpty table. He recalled the agents that had scanned the building and looked at what they had seen. He saw the group of women and the couple that was kissing. He couldn’t see the couple’s faces because they were turned away from the scan. He looked again and saw the face of the woman sitting next to the couple and she was looking directly at the agent. “Find this woman.”

  The agent moved out of the restaurant. He returned in thirty minutes and said, “She lives six miles from here.”

  “Take me there.” The Officer boarded the carrier with three agents and arrived at the address and found the woman sitting outside with a small male child. The four exited the carrier and the tall officer smiled, “I’m sorry to interrupt you but I need some information.”

  The woman saw the Nebula soldiers approaching with three of them holding blasters. She immediately felt fear for herself and her child. The stories of their brutality had been told by all the planets in the Union. She stared at the Officer and agents and tried to maintain her composure but her voice was shaky, “I’ll assist you any way I can, Sir.”

  “Who was the woman sitting to your left today at the restaurant?”

  “That was Natalie Weston.”

  The Officer looked at an agent and he pressed the gold colored circle on his collar. He spoke quietly and said, “I have it.”

  The officer leaned down and patted the young boy on the head and said, “You have a beautiful child.” He looked at the woman for a long moment and she knew she was going to die, but he stood and walked toward the carrier. One of the agents looked at him and didn’t see him look back. They boarded and arrived at another residence ten miles away. The four entered the building and went up three floors. An agent kicked the door in and the three carrying blasters rushed in ahead of the Officer with their blasters raised.

  Natalie was watching the monitor when the door crashed in and she pushed herself away to the end of the couch. The Officer entered and looked around. He smiled and said, “I need you to remember the man that was kissing you earlier.”