The Nathan Daniels Saga: Part 1 Read Free Page A

smuggling I can assure …” The Empress raised her hand cutting him off.
    “ You are not on trial here, Captain Daniels.  There is no need to be cagey with your answers.”
    “ Excellency, if I may ask, what am I here for?”
    “ All in due time, captain,” the Empress answered, taking a drink offered by another liveried servant that had appeared on the dais.  After a sip of the beverage, she continued.  “My intelligence agents have had their eyes on you for over a year.  They tell me your skill and reputation allows you to travel virtually unhindered to nearly all the kingdoms, empires and planets in known space.  Is this the case?”
    “ Well, all except Ziadan, I had a little problem there once with a local prefect, his daughter and her fiancé.”
    “ Even so captain, do you understand how unique this makes you?” She gazed directly into his eyes.
    “ Well, Excellency, I would imagine any good trader would have similar freedom of movement.”
    “ On the contrary captain.  When my intelligence service started preparing for this mission, over two million potential candidates were identified.  Upon investigation we found only two with your level of access.” She took another sip of her drink.
    “ I am curious as to the other.”
    “ Captain Jeremy James.” Nathan knew James.  He was a good guy.  They had played cards numerous times, sometimes exchanging cargo as a result.  “Truthfully, we approached Captain James first.  We sent a team to him on Somata IX.  However, when they arrived they found he had met with an unfortunate accident.
    “ What kind of accident?”
    “ He had been hanged for having an affair with the governor’s wife.” That certainly sounds like James, Daniels thought.
    “ I’m sorry to hear that, Excellency.  I believe Captain James was a good man.”
    “ That no longer matters.” The Empress put down her drink and dismissed the servant.  “I want you to undertake a mission, covertly.”
    “ Excellency, this has the sound of espionage, and traders who engage in it suffer a loss of reputation if they are lucky and a loss of life if they aren’t.  Personally I’m rather attached to both my reputation and my skin.”
    “ It is not a spy mission, but a transport mission.”
    “ I’m listening.”
    “ I have a very valuable cargo that must be on Rathshelliam exactly one year from today and must visit as many destinations as possible in the known worlds before arriving.”
    “ Sounds expensive,” Daniels was already doing the calculation in his head.
    “ Upon the cargo’s safe and timely arrival on Rathshelliam, you will receive one million credits for each unique planet-fall you have made with the cargo.  The planet-fall must be at least three days in length and you must engage in your usual trading activities.”
    The amount floored Daniels.  He could be an incredibly wealthy man at the end of the coming year.  “What about upfront money?” he asked.
    “Given that you must continue your trading activities, there will be no upfront money so that you will not be tempted to be lazy.”
    “ Okay, say that I agree,” Daniels said, heart racing.  “What’s the cargo?”
    The Empress motioned off to her right.  Onto the dais strode the most beautiful woman Nathan had ever seen.  “Allow me to present my daughter, Remini.”  Remini was a few inches shorter than her mother, with unblemished caramel colored skin, where her mother's was ebony.  She had long flowing raven hair, which she wore loosely about her shoulders.  She had a small nose, and full lips, with the same penetrating coal eyes as her mother.  Her body was that delectable mid-point between lean and curvaceous, although the floor length gown she wore masked some of that appeal.  Daniels was barely able to stifle a whistle that would have been wholly inappropriate for a royal introduction.
    “Remini is twenty-two years old and is betrothed to the crown prince of Rathshelliam.  In her