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SECOND CHANCE:
SCROLL SEEKER
by R. Richard
Justin prepares for an arbitration hearing to
decide if he’ll die as a result of being a Kivosh. He begins to
discover the power of the alien language he’s learning. He is then
subjected to PCP charges because of his Kivosh status, but is able to
convince the Arbitrator that the charges are based upon conclusions, not
facts. They then charge that he is in possession of banned technology,
specifically anti-gravitation. He produces the math that he supposedly
used to produce his own anti-gravitational device and is cleared of the
charges against him.
The Arquellian Arbitrator then tells Justin,
privately, that they need to recover a stolen manuscript, but won’t
describe it. However, the order to Justin is, 'Recover the manuscript or
die.' He does manage to get information that the manuscript the
Arquellians seek is in the possession of the Priests of Vorell. Justin
returns to Alvero, where he and Ashoro once failed to gain the
manuscript that is obviously the one the Arquellians want. Justin talks
to the High Priest and convinces him that the Arquellians will soon raid
the Temple to acquire the manuscript. The High Priest agrees to give
the manuscript to Justin if he can kill him in an unarmed combat duel,
so that no one will know that Justin has the manuscript.
After obtaining the manuscript from a man willing
to die doing his duty, Justin realizes that he needs to play the
advanced cultures, one against the other, if he’s to survive. He manages
to get Norva Lemni assigned as the PCP Ambassador to Fori Novor and
Major Dakon Harkand, a Dorond Marine assigned as the Dorond Ambassador
to Fori Novor. He and the Major then plan for the possibility of an
attack from an Arquellian scout boat. A small scale attack does come
and Justin's forces repulse the attack. He then has three naked whores
run from his palace. Supposedly the naked whores were driven in front
of the cowardly Arquellian invaders. In the aftermath of the Arquellian
attack, Justin arranges for a show trial to be held in Mervon. The show
trial is turned, by him, into a circus.
After the circus, a large Aozoran colony ship is
discovered, heading to Corin, probably to join the Aozoran colony
there. However, the colony ship won’t answer hail. A team needs to be
sent to investigate. Justin is maneuvered into leading the team. It’s
an obvious attempt to kill the Kivosh. He leads the team and survives
the attempt to kill him. When he returns to Fori Novor, Justin finds
that drug smuggling into Averon is on the decline due to his sky pirates
ripping off the delivery ships. Instead, the drugs are being warehoused
in an island off the coast of Averon. Justin's troops raid the
warehouses and steal the drugs.
Justin visits the islands of Aozora and begins to
suspect that Lord Vorell may have been on Corin and may still be there.
He also feels the need to upgrade the Fori Novor Air Force. Since Fori
Novor doesn’t have a lot of money, Justin plots to steal the aircraft he
needs.
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