The Star Cross (22 page)

“They got
Jenson,” called out a frightened pilot.

“Swenson and Gallagher
are gone too,” another pilot replied. “Our missiles are having no effect!”

Major Hanson
breathed out a deep sigh. He knew their cannons would have no effect either.

-

On the ground,
the chief of the air force watched as his planes were blasted from the sky.
“Call them back,” he ordered, as he studied the sensor screens. “We’ll lose all
of them if we don’t, and I refuse to throw away their lives needlessly.”

“Sending out
the recall,” the officer at the comm station replied.

The air force chief
looked down at the polished floor, even as the comm channel lit up with a
message from the government office in Canberra. “Don’t answer,” he instructed
the comm officer. “I’ll turn in my resignation tomorrow.”

-

The Profiteer
and Dacroni shuttles continued downward unmolested, as the remaining human
fighters flew off to escape the fighting. From what the aliens had learned in
the smaller cities, numerous small and large stores held huge amounts of gold plus
valuable jewels. Those would be their first targets.

On the ground,
the Australian army deployed moving tanks and armored vehicles into hastily
evacuated city streets. They might not be able to destroy a shuttle, but a
Profiteer not within the protection of his ship would be a different matter.

In Sydney nearly two thousand soldiers fanned out, blocking major intersections and setting
up choke points. They knew the Profiteers would be looking for gold, jewels,
and other valuables, possibly even art. Snipers were placed on the roofs of
buildings, covering the entrances to the stores most likely to be hit. Reserves
were called up, but it would be hours before they could assemble and be armed.
Soldiers checked their assault rifles and crouched down out of sight. Everyone
was now waiting to see what the Profiteers would do.

In Canberra, the government was in a near panic. The Profiteers hadn’t responded to their
latest offer. In desperation another offer was made. This time it included the
last offer of five hundred gold bars plus ten thousand carats of other valuable
gemstones. The government waited with bated breath, hoping for a response.

-

“Five hundred
bars of gold and ten thousand carats of gemstones,” gloated Second Profiteer
Lantz with greed glinting in his eyes.

“A good
offer,” replied High Profiteer Creed with a satisfied smirk. “Contact the
humans and tell them we accept. However, because of their failure to offer this
to begin with, their city of Sydney will be stripped of all its wealth. After all,
I promised Clan Leader Jarls he could have 40 percent of anything his
mercenaries take from the cities. He’ll have to be satisfied with the one. Call
back our shuttles and inform Clan Leader Jarls that his own shuttles may strip
the human city.”

-

In the air
above Sydney, a dozen profiteer shuttles suddenly stopped their downward
descent and rose into the sky. On the ground, the troops cheered, as the enemy retreated.
But then, in the distance, they saw other shuttles coming toward them.

-

Lieutenant Blake
Everton stared as two large shuttles landed in a nearby park. A third circled
overhead, and suddenly bright beams of light speared down, blowing apart two military
tanks. Billowing smoke and flames erupted, blotting out the sunlight. From the
two landed shuttles, dozens of aliens swarmed forth. They were of human height
but with a bulkier form. They had very short necks, making it look like their
heads sat on their torso. Each was covered in some type of dark gray battle
armor.

“Let them get
close, and then open fire,” ordered Blake over his comm, as the aliens made
their way cautiously down the empty street. The civilians had been ordered to
stay in their homes and to not come out until the all clear was sounded.

“What weapons are
they carrying?” asked Lance Corporal Phil Stewart.

“They
supposedly have an energy rifle,” Blake replied over his comm. “Don’t fire
until I give the order.” Blake had forty soldiers under his command. Half were concealed
on the nearby rooftops, and the rest had taken cover behind vehicles, doorways,
and down several side streets.

With apprehension
Blake watched the aliens come closer. Looking at them, he realized these must
be the Dacroni mercenaries he had heard so much about. That greatly concerned
him, as it implied they were trained how to fight.

-

The Dacroni
worked their way down the street, heading toward the largest jewelry store in
the city. Their heads moved from side to side, as they searched for any
potential danger. Suddenly their leader motioned for them to stop, while he checked
some device he carried. Looking around in what appeared to be anger, he called
out some commands, and the Dacroni with him suddenly raised their rifles and began
blasting away at the hidden soldiers.

-

“They spotted
us!” yelled Lance Corporal Stewart.

“Open fire!”
ordered Blake, as he raised his own assault rifle and took aim at the nearest
Dacroni mercenary. Blake was inside the open door to a clothing boutique across
from a jewelry store.

Weapons fire
rang out, and, with satisfaction, Blake saw several of the Dacroni drop to the
pavement, unmoving. Then the orbiting shuttle poured down a deadly fire of
energy beams, blasting the tops of the surrounding buildings and hitting the
vehicles in the street, hiding Blake’s soldiers. Smoke filled the air, and it
became difficult to see. Occasionally Blake could hear the piercing scream of
one of his soldiers as he or she was hit.

Out of the
smoke appeared two dark shapes. Blake targeted the first one, firing a short
burst into the Dacroni’s chest, seeing the alien drop his energy rifle and fall
to the ground. The second Dacroni raised his rifle and fired at Blake, who felt
a strange numbness and dropped his assault rifle. What happened? He thought.
Looking down he saw a smoking hole in the center of his chest. Falling to his knees,
he felt dizzy and faint.

“Foolish
human,” the Dacroni said, striding up to Blake. He raised his rifle and fired
one more time.

-

Across Sydney the fighting was much the same. A few Dacroni mercenaries were taken out, but the orbiting
shuttles made the military pay a dear price for each Dacroni they killed. In
the end, the fighting died out, and the looting began.

The Australian
army, realizing they could not stop the Dacroni, ordered its soldiers to stand
down and withdraw from the areas the aliens were targeting. The loss of human life
wasn’t worth it, and the city was already heavily damaged from the fighting.
Numerous buildings were on fire, and some of the streets were now impassable.
Firefighters were told to wait until the aliens left in their shuttles, before
responding to the destruction. Above Sydney a dark pall of smoke covered the
sky. The fighting was over, and, once again, the aliens had proved they had
control over the Earth.

-

President
Mayfield paced in the situation room, while General Braid and Fleet Admiral
Tomalson stood nearby. Raul sat at a table, alone.

“At least we
know they can be killed, when they’re out of their shuttles,” commented General
Braid, as he turned from a viewscreen, showing a satellite shot of Sydney.

“We already
knew that from the incident in Youngstown,” replied President Mayfield. “At
least the Australians managed to hold the damage down to just one city.”

“But who will
be next?” asked Raul Gutierrez. “We see a pattern developing, where the aliens
are increasing their demands. It seems our monthly tribute’s no longer enough.”

“It’ll be up
to Fleet Admiral Vickers to stop this,” Fleet Admiral Tomalson answered.
Captain Randson had left the previous evening. Already Tomalson was making arrangements
to find and locate the necessary people Kurt needed to crew his new warships.

“If we can
last that long,” replied President Mayfield grimly. He knew it was only a
matter of time before the same demands made of South Africa and now Australia were made on the North American Union.

Fleet Admiral
Kurt Vickers watched with deep satisfaction as the battlecruiser
Trinity
exited the large construction bay of Newton Station. She moved out slowly,
using her thrusters, while the outside lights around the bay flashed.

“I can’t
believe she’s ready,” Captain Randson said, as he stood next to Kurt, seeing
the activity on the shipyard.

“I’ve already
spoken to Rear Admiral Wilson about my plans for the
Trinity
,” responded
Kurt, as he turned toward Andrew. “I’m moving the
Kepler
,
Trinity
,
and the
Dante
into a lower geostationary orbit on the other side of Newton. That will put the three ships between the sun and the planet.”

Andrew nodded
his understanding. “So, when the Profiteers and the Dacroni jump in, they won’t
detect the ships, which will be hidden by Newton.”

“That’s the
idea,” Kurt answered, folding his arms across his chest. “We’re also emplacing
the rest of the hyperspace detection buoys around the Solar System. If Captain
Watkins detects the Profiteers jumping toward Newton, he’s to leave the
Newton
Princess
and his two destroyers and bring the
Vindication
here
immediately.”

“Do you think
we can stop them?”

Kurt nodded.
“From what we learned on Kubitz, their entire motive is profit. If we can
destroy enough of their ships in the early part of the attack, I think they’ll
break off and return to Earth. Before they can call in reinforcements for a
more powerful attack, we’ll have the defense grid installed. Once that’s done,
they won’t even consider attacking Newton again. It would be too costly.”

Kurt looked
back at the viewscreen and the
Trinity
. She was almost an exact
duplicate of the
Star Cross
, and Captain Cheryl Anniston would be a good
commander for the ship. She was strong willed, a good tactician, and extremely
intelligent. They had also found enough qualified spacehands with fleet
experience to fill the empty billets on the ship.

“Which exploration
ship is next?” Randson asked Kurt.

It had been
nearly two weeks since Andrew had returned from Earth, and they were hoping the
Newton Princess
would return shortly with its first load of potential
crew personnel.

“The
Carlsbad
will be next,” answered Kurt.

Kurt looked at
another viewscreen, which showed the other four exploration ships in a slightly
lower orbit beneath Newton Station. Even as he watched, one of them broke orbit
and began moving toward the shipyard.

An alarm
suddenly sounded drawing everyone’s attention toward the sensor console. This
new alarm was set to warn them of ships approaching in hyperspace.

“Admiral, the
hyperspace buoys are detecting two inbound ships,” reported Lieutenant Lena
Brooks as she studied the data. “They’re coming from the direction of the Gothan
Empire.”

“The
Dallas
and the first cargo ship we sent to get more hypermissiles,” suggested
Andrew, gazing intently at the tactical screen, now showing two red threat
icons far outside the system.

They had sent
another cargo ship and the light cruiser
Sydney
to Kubitz to get more
hypermissiles to replace the ones lost on the
Lansing
.

“It’s time for
them to return,” Kurt said, as he gazed at the screen. “Take the fleet to
Condition Two as a precautionary measure.”

Andrew passed
on the order, and shortly alarms and klaxons sounded, calling the crew to their
battlestations.

Kurt hoped it
was their two ships and not two Profiteer or Dacroni vessels about to drop in
and pay them an unscheduled visit.

Several minutes
passed, and the two ships in question dropped out of hyperspace six million
kilometers from Newton.

“It’s the
Dallas
and
Plymouth
,” confirmed Lieutenant Brooks, as her sensors quickly
identified the two ships.

“I have
Captain Marsh on the comm,” reported Ensign Pierce. Her eyes suddenly took on a
stunned look. “Captain Marsh reports they have Private Lucy Dulcet on board!”

“Lucy,” said
Andrew, taken aback “How?”

“I guess we’ll
find out shortly,” Kurt said. “Have them dock at Newton Station, and I’ll meet
them there.”

“Yes, sir,”
replied Ensign Pierce, as she relayed the admiral’s orders.

-

Kurt took a
small shuttle to the shipyard and was waiting anxiously at the docking port for
the
Dallas
. He had been extremely relieved to hear that Private Dulcet
was on board the light cruiser. It was one more loose end that had been tied up
from their trip to Kubitz. He was curious to hear how she had been rescued or
if the Dacroni had just released her.

Captain Simms came
down from the Command Center to watch the docking and to speak with the
admiral.

“The engineers
have come up with a way to put a temporary energy shield around the station,”
Simms said, as they waited for the large hatch to open. Four Marines armed with
assault rifles stood next to them with wary gazes on the hatch, on alert in
case someone other than a human came through.

Kurt looked at
them for a moment and then turned toward Captain Simms. “We really need to find
a better weapon than assault rifles. Firing armor-piercing rounds on the
station or even on one of our ships is just asking for trouble.”

“Is there
something on Kubitz that would work better?” asked Simms thoughtfully. “Perhaps
they have some energy weapon or even a stun gun.”

“We know the
Profiteers use energy weapons,” Kurt answered. “I’ll have Lieutenant Tenner
check into it. Now what did you come up with on the energy shield?” A noise at
the hatch drew his attention, and he saw it open. The Marines tensed, holding
their rifles at the ready.

“If we place
one of the destroyers against the incomplete hull structure of the flight bay,
the ship’s emitters will allow us to activate the energy shield. We’ll need to
make some adjustments to the destroyer’s emitters though.”

“What if we
used one of the exploration ships instead?” suggested Kurt, as the door swung
completely open, and Captain Bridget Marsh stepped out. She instantly stopped,
upon seeing Kurt, and quickly came to attention and saluted.

“Too big,”
Simms answered. “It’ll work better with a destroyer.”

“At ease, Captain,”
Kurt said, returning Marsh’s salute. “I understand you have our lost Marine
with you.”

“Yes,” replied
Marsh with a somber look on her face. “However, there’s a problem. A Dacroni
mind probe was used on her, and she doesn’t remember who she is. Grantz rescued
her from one of the Kubitz pleasure houses, where she was working.”

“A pleasure
house,” Kurt said, his blood boiling. “How did that happen?”

“They emplaced
some false memories to make her think she belonged there. She’d been there for
a number of days before Grantz rescued her.”

Kurt had to
focus to fight down his rising anger. “Where is she?”

“Dr. Jelk is
with her, and they’ll be out shortly.”

“Dr. Jelk,”
stuttered Kurt, his eyes growing wide. “She’s here?”

“Yes, she’s
been treating Private Dulcet and insisted on coming, since we didn’t have
anyone familiar with the effects of this mind probe device the Dacroni used.
She was very insistent, and Lieutenant Tenner didn’t think it would be a
problem.”

Kurt heard
other voices coming toward the hatch, and soon Private Dulcet, dressed in
civilian clothes, and Keera stepped through. Lucy looked at Kurt, and, from the
look of confusion on her face, he knew she didn’t recognize him. He swore silently
to himself and vowed that he would make whoever did this pay.

“Hello, Admiral
Vickers,” Keera said with a pleasant smile. “Do you have a medical facility on
this station where I can take Lucy?”

“Yes,” Kurt
answered. “Captain Simms, will you please escort Dr. Jelk and Private Dulcet to
the station’s medical center.”

“Yes, sir,” replied
Simms. Motioning toward Dr. Jelk, he said, “If you will please follow me, I’ll
take you where you need to go.”

“I’ll talk to
you later, Keera,” Kurt said, his gaze meeting hers.

“I was counting
on that,” Keera said, as she turned to follow Captain Simms.

“Where are
we?” asked Lucy with a frightened look on her face. “Why can’t I go back to the
pleasure house? I liked my work there.”

“Everything
will be fine,” Keera said in a soft and reassuring voice. “Just trust me. The
people here will help take care of you.”

“Don’t leave
me!” pleaded Lucy. “I don’t know anyone else.”

“I’m not leaving
you,” Keera promised.

As the three
walked down the corridor, Kurt turned toward Captain Marsh. “Do you have a full
report of what happened?”

“Yes,” Marsh
replied. “Lieutenant Tenner sent a report and interviews with both Profiteer
Grantz and Avery Dolman.”

“Dolman was
involved too?”

“Yes,” Marsh answered.
“From what I understand, one of Dolman’s informants told him about Private
Dulcet’s location.”

“Do we know
who did this to her?”

“The Dacroni
on the orbiting battleship,” Marsh answered. “It left shortly after the
Star
Cross
did.”

Kurt nodded;
his anger faded slightly. If that were true, then the Dacroni battleship that
had died with the
Lansing
was the guilty party. Those involved had
already met a swift and deadly justice for their crime.

“Did you bring
the hypermissiles? We’re expecting a Profiteer attack on Newton shortly.”

“Yes,” Marsh
answered. “The
Plymouth
has its cargo holds full of the new missiles.”

“Let’s go to
the Command Center. Get her docked and unloaded as quickly as possible, so
those new missiles can be on board the
Star Cross
and
Trinity
today.”

“The
Trinity
?”
said Marsh with a look of surprise on her face. “Is she ready for combat?”

“Yes,” Kurt
answered. “You just missed her exiting the construction bay.”

“How soon are
you expecting the Dacroni to attack?”

“Anytime,”
Kurt replied. “We’ve put the hyperspace buoys in place around the system, and
we should have a short warning before they arrive.”

“The
Dallas
will be here for a month, before we’re scheduled to relieve the
Sydney
,” Marsh said thoughtfully.

“We can certainly
use her,” Kurt replied. “Give your crew forty-eight hours’ leave and then have
them report back to the ship. Requisition any supplies you might need to have
your vessel ready for combat.”

“We won’t need
much,” Marsh said, pursing her lips, as she considered her ship’s supply
situation.

Reaching an
open turbolift, the two entered and were soon on their way to the Command Center. Kurt wanted to meet briefly with Colonel Hayworth and see to it that the
correct hypermissiles were delivered to both the
Star Cross
and the
Trinity
.
Then he wanted to find Keera and have a long talk with her. With a deep sigh,
he knew he would have to take her to Newton to meet his sister, or he would
never hear the end of it.

-

Kurt and
Captain Marsh walked into the Command Center of Newton Station and were quickly
ushered by one of the Marines on duty to Colonel Hayworth, who was talking to
several engineers.

“I don’t care
how complicated it is. I want that particle beam cannon operational by this
time tomorrow. Put extra crews on it, if necessary.”

“The targeting
computer hasn’t been programmed yet,” protested one of the engineers, an older
woman. “We need it to calibrate the entire system.”

Hayworth
frowned and then looked surprised when he saw Kurt and Captain Marsh walk up.
“I’ll make sure it’s programmed by the end of the shift tonight. Will that
work?”

“Yes,” the
other engineer replied. Seeing the fleet admiral, he turned a little pale and
motioned for the other engineer to follow him. Moments later they had left the Command Center.

“Problems?”
asked Kurt.

“Not really,”
replied Colonel Hayworth. “Engineers constantly complain. I think sometimes
they spend more time complaining about a project than actually getting the job
done.”

“The
Plymouth
is here, and it has my hypermissiles on it,” Kurt said. “I need them
unloaded, and then the missile tubes on the
Star Cross
and the
Trinity
loaded with the fifty-kiloton ones.”

“All twelve of
the missile tubes on the
Trinity
have been converted to handle the new
missiles,” Hayworth answered. “But only six of the tubes on the
Star Cross
have been modified.”

“I’m aware of
that,” Kurt answered. The large Command Center seemed to be unusually busy with
people constantly coming and going. “Load the tubes that have been modified.”

“We’ll also
have to change the missile control system so the missiles will respond to our
commands,” Hayworth added.

“How long?”
Kurt was anxious to get the missiles on board the two battlecruisers.

“Probably only
a few hours,” Hayworth answered, “if I get the right people on it. And I know
just who I need. I’ve got a young hotshot computer specialist who can work
circles around the other programmers. I’ll assign him to it.”

“What about
this destroyer idea Captain Simms was talking about, so we can activate the
energy shield around the station?”

Hayworth
looked surprised and then answered, “If we bring in one of the destroyers and
replace some of its emitters with more powerful ones, and then shove the ship
against the hull where we’re building the flight bay, it should work. It’ll
take about six hours to change the emitters and then ground the destroyer to
the metal frame of the bay.”