Read Steven Gordon 3: The Modloch Empire for Free Online Page A

lumps of chalk. As an unregistered planet, any
application will take years to process. Of course it would also
undoubtedly fail. The last thing the commission wants is a glut of
fire diamonds and precious metals on the market. That would drive
prices down.
    ‘ Many years ago,
Captain, I majored in finance and economics. My first job when I
left this institution was working with a major freighting company.
As you can imagine, this opened my eyes to the way things are run
on a universal level. I have to tell you that you and your people
are heading for a major disaster. You would be better turning round
and heading back to your own solar system.’
    Steven wasn’t amused, and neither was
Komoru. ‘Would you like to enlighten us?’ Komoru asked, ‘After all,
we have the support of your Emperor.’
    ‘ He is one Emperor in
a vast ocean of emperors. We do have the largest standing fleet and
probably the biggest empire, I admit, but that does not mean we are
invulnerable or that we can flaunt the laws at will. Are you aware
that there is a universal ban on the movement of any form of meat
products within this galaxy?’
    ‘ No sir I wasn’t,’
Komoru answered truthfully.
    ‘ I would presume you
have supplies coming from your own home world.’
    ‘ Yes sir, of
course.’
    ‘ Every freighter and
freighter captain is subject to universal laws. There is a
universal force that polices those policies. That means that they
can lawfully stop any vessel in any sector of the galaxy they wish,
including ours. The only exemption are those freighters that are
part of a military convoy. The penalties for transporting meat are
severe, such is the dislike of meat-eaters. For a world like yours,
with no official standing, that would mean internment for many
years for the crew and most likely the destruction of the cargo
along with the freighter.’
    ‘ But we could simply
escort them from the great barrier.’
    He sighed wearily, ‘Your world has no
official standing in this part of the galaxy. They could stop your
military vessels at will if they wished to do so. Any form of
resistance would bring whatever hell you primitives believe in down
on your head. Neither could our Emperor stop it, nor would he.
While you are part of the Modloch fleet you are all perfectly safe.
The moment you start roaming around on your own, you become very
vulnerable.’ He seemed to be about to conclude the interview.
‘There is one more thing that you may wish to consider. May I ask
how your ships are being fuelled at the moment?’
    ‘ By tankers from
home,’ Komoru answered.
    He half smiled, ‘Then you must have a
lot of tankers. Your ships are modelled on our own so I know they
can travel for months without refuelling, but eventually they will
need to be. You will not be able to procure fuel here. I am quite
sure that the Emperor might supply you with some, maybe for a
while, but a fleet your size is expensive to run. Of course he
could just let all of your ships run out of fuel and then rescue
your people. Under the laws of salvage those ships would then
become his property until you buy them back. Of course he also has
the right to procure them from you if he so wishes. I can assure
you the price he will pay would be nothing to the cost of building
them. Then again, with no legal way of paying you, he could just
keep them free of charge. Were you aware of that?’
    ‘ No sir,’ Komoru
admitted.
    ‘ I didn’t think so. I
am quite sure that you are having the adventure of your lifetime
and I envy you from the depths of my soul. However, the galaxy is
not a playground for children. You have no experts in galactic law
and no real clue as to what you are really doing here. We are
brought up with it. We are taught it from childhood. By looking at
you I can see that our brains are much larger than yours and far
more capable of retaining the knowledge required to survive out
here. From what information I have been able to gather, your
species is not