The Star Cross (26 page)

President
Mayfield went silent for several long moments, as he thought over his options.
“We have four weeks,” he finally said, his eyes shifting to Fleet Admiral
Tomalson. “Send word on the
Newton Princess
that Fleet Admiral Vickers
must move on the Profiteers as soon as possible, or the situation here on Earth
may turn into a firestorm. If the people revolt, he might not have a world to
come back to.”

“If he hits
some of their convoys, it may shift some of their attention from us,” suggested
Tomalson, knowing things on Earth were reaching a tipping point. “He hurt them
badly at Newton. They lost five ships, and several of the Dacroni battleships showed
battle damage. From the reports we received from the stealth shuttle pilots,
Kurt lost one destroyer and a light cruiser in the battle.”

“But he
sacrificed four valuable cargo ships to achieve that victory,” pointed out
General Braid. “He can’t use that tactic too often, or he’ll run out of ships.”

“I hate to
push him, if he isn’t ready, but we can’t wait much longer,” responded Mayfield
with deep worry lines etched across his forehead. “I’m afraid that, at any time,
some of our troops will take matters into their own hands.”

“I agree,”
said General Braid. “The dissent is growing, since we’re not allowing them to
fight back. Keep in mind that the majority of our general army and Marine units
were sent home to be with their families during this crisis. Most of them have
weapons they could use at a moment’s notice. The president’s right. This could
blow up in our faces any day, from both the civilian and military fronts.”

“I’ll send the
message,” Tomalson replied. “The
Newton Princess
is scheduled to return
to Newton with her load of fleet personnel in a few more days.”

“That should
be soon enough,” Mayfield said, as he looked at the red threat icons circling
Earth.

True, not
quite as many enemy ships were in Earth orbit as before the Profiteers and the Dacroni
had attacked Newton, but there were still enough to keep Earth in submission. Mayfield
just hoped they could hold out until Fleet Admiral Vickers figured out some way
to free Earth of its tormentors.

-

Captain Henry
Watkins reread the message the communications officer had just handed him. He
let out a deep breath and looked up at the main viewscreen in the
Vindication
’s
Command Center. The passenger liner,
Newton Princess
, floated in a sea
of black under the steady light of countless stars.

“Bad news?”
asked Lieutenant Anthony Dries, the executive officer.

“Events have
taken a turn for the worse on Earth,” answered Henry, as he crumbled up the
paper and stuffed it into his pants pocket. “The Profiteers are increasing their
tribute demand.”

Dries shook
his head. “If this keeps up, there won’t be any gold or much of anything else
of value left on Earth shortly. What do they want us to do?”

Henry gestured
toward the passenger liner on the viewscreen. “Fleet Admiral Tomalson wants
Kurt to begin hitting the Profiteer convoys. He hopes that will divert some of
the pressure off the home planet.”

“Or it could
make it worse,” Dries quickly pointed out. “It could further anger the
Profiteers, and they could redouble their efforts to strip the planet.”

Henry remained
silent, knowing Dries was right. The defense grid and the new warships should
be arriving shortly at Newton. Once the grid was operational, and the warships
crewed and made ready for combat, it would be a different situation. However,
it didn’t sound as if President Mayfield felt they could wait that long.

“How many more
passengers do we need to fill the space on the
Newton Princess
?”

“One hundred
and ten,” Dries answered promptly. “Three more days and we should have the
liner at 100 percent capacity.”

“Tell Captain
Mertz I’ll have a personal message for him to deliver to Fleet Admiral Vickers
when he returns the
Newton Princess
to Newton.”

Dries nodded.
“Yes, sir.”

Henry leaned
back in his command chair, oblivious to the activity going on in the Command Center. He knew the enemy had suffered in their attack on Newton and had called it
off before incurring even more losses. He also knew that, if the aliens had
pushed the attack, the Dacroni battleships would have blown right through
Kurt’s ships. Every day the situation on Earth was becoming more desperate.

Henry had
hoped they would have more time to prepare Newton’s defenses and shake out the
bugs in the new warships. They had sent some of their own construction engineers
to help ensure the ships were properly equipped and ready for human crews. However,
they needed several months for the crews to familiarize themselves with the new
warships. It sounded as if that preferred time frame was out of the question
and it would be more like several weeks instead.

-

A few days
later on Newton, Kurt was inspecting a laser battery set up on the outskirts of
the capital. “Does it have enough power to reach low orbit?”

“Yes,” General
Mclusky replied. They stood in a small field several kilometers from the city.
“It’s completely computer-controlled and will fire upon any missile it detects entering
the atmosphere.”

Taking a deep
breath, Kurt gazed about. The laser turret sat upon a twenty-meter tower with
gleaming twin barrels pointed upward. “What about a hypermissile?” Kurt was
deeply concerned about the Profiteers using hypermissiles to bombard the
surface of Newton.

“Hypermissiles
won’t work through an atmosphere,” Mclusky replied. “They’re designed to
operate in space, and, upon hitting any obstacle, they instantly lose their
high intrinsic velocity. That’s why they explode with such violence when they
hit a ship’s energy screen.”

Kurt wondered
why he hadn’t been made aware of this before. That explained why the Profiteers
had used regular missiles in their attacks against Earth. “How many of these
towers do you have?”

“Ten around
the capital and a few more protecting some of the other major cities.”

“If our luck
holds, and the defense grid gets here in time, we may never have to worry about
being bombed from orbit.” In the distance, Kurt could see several large birds,
circling high in the air, looking for prey. There was a light breeze, and it
seemed so peaceful out here in the country. “Let me know if you need anything
else. We have quite a bit of military construction capability with the
manufacturing section we added to Newton Station.”

“Yes, sir,”
replied Mclusky.

-

A short time
later Kurt headed back in a shuttle to the
Star Cross
. He had wanted
time to see Keera and his sister’s family, but Andrew had sent him a message
saying the
Newton Princess
, escorted by the destroyer
Sultan
, was
inbound and would shortly be docking at Newton Station. Andrew had mentioned
that Captain Stephen Mertz had an urgent message from Captain Watkins.

As the shuttle
rose through the atmosphere, Kurt couldn’t help but wonder about the message.
Sometime in the next week or two, he was expecting the ships containing the
defense grid to arrive. From what he understood in his original conversations
with the arms dealers, they maintained a special fleet capable of moving large
constructs and which would set up the grid. Of course all this came with a cost,
as stated in the signed contract registered with the Controllers on Kubitz.
Dolman and Grantz had both assured Kurt that the contract would be fulfilled,
and he had nothing to fear from the crews assembling the grid. Dolman had also
mentioned that a Controller would be on one of the ships, to ensure the
contract was strictly adhered to. Of course neither Grantz nor Dolman knew
about the warships. They had been purchased on a separate contract, which those
two knew nothing about.

The shuttle
cleared the atmosphere, and, glancing out the viewport next to him, he could
see the darkness of space studded with numerous unblinking stars. A few days earlier
he had paid a visit to the medical center where Private Dulcet was recovering,
and she had recognized him. Much of her memory was still jumbled, but she had
known who he was. While there, he had spoken at length with Keera about Lucy’s
future treatment. Keera was certain that Lucy would, in time, make a full
recovery, though treating her mental state—in regard to her “work” at the
pleasure house—might take some long sessions with several doctors who dealt in
that type of trauma.

A few minutes
later the shuttle neared the
Star Cross
, which was in orbit close to
Newton Station. Gazing at the shipyard, Kurt could see flashes of white light
where welding arcs occasionally flared. Workers were busy on the new flight bay,
installing the new weapons systems: defensive laser batteries, particle beam
cannons, and the tubes for the hypermissiles. The destroyer
Callisto
was
still attached to one section of the flight bay, just in case the shipyard
needed to activate the energy shield again. Colonel Hayworth had indicated in
their last meeting that, in another two to three weeks, the outer hull of the
flight bay would be fully installed, plus the emitters for the energy screen.
At that point the
Callisto
could be returned to its regular duty.

“We’ll be
docking in a few minutes,” the pilot announced over the comm system.

Kurt leaned
back and allowed himself to relax. He was alone in the passenger compartment of
the small shuttle, feeling curious about what was in the message Henry had brought.
It almost certainly concerned Earth and the Profiteers. He felt a cold chill
run across his back. He strongly suspected that whatever was in the message
wouldn’t be good news.

Kurt sat in
his quarters, staring, worried about the message Henry had sent him. Henry was
one of Kurt’s oldest friends, and, from the contents of the message, Henry was
very concerned about what was going on down on Earth. It looked to Kurt as if the
Profiteers were intensifying their search for the planet’s hidden wealth, most
of which was safely hidden on Newton.

“So what’s the
plan?” asked Andrew, sitting in front of Kurt’s desk.

“President
Mayfield wants us to attack the convoys immediately,” answered Kurt, with a
deep sigh. “He’s afraid that the situation on Earth is about to go down the
tubes.”

“We knew it would
steadily get worse, particularly when they realized much of the gold and other
valuables on the planet had been removed,” responded Andrew. “What do you want
to do?”

“I’m not sure.
The only problem is, a lot of the remaining gold and other valuables are still in
the hands of some of the governments and particularly in the homes of numerous civilians.”
Kurt leaned back, closed his eyes, and then opened them. He didn’t really want
to leave Newton until the defense grid arrived. “Some civilians have massive
art collections and probably millions in hidden gold and jewelry.”

“The
Carlsbad
’s conversion from exploration ship to battlecruiser will be done in
another week,” Andrew commented. “Once she’s out, we could afford to send one
of our battlecruisers to hit a convoy.”

“I wish we
didn’t have to weaponize all those exploration ships,” uttered Kurt
despondently “Someday we might need them again for their original purpose. We
never dreamed something like the Gothan Empire might be out there.” It saddened
Kurt immensely, since he had always wanted to command an exploration ship and explore
the galaxy with wonder and optimism, not fear.

“When that day
comes, we can build more,” Andrew answered. “They will serve us better as
battlecruisers for now.”

Kurt nodded and
looked intently at Andrew. “If we were to hit a convoy and make it disappear,
how would High Profiteer Creed respond?”

After a moment
of thought, Andrew said, “He’d freak out. He would want to know what happened
to the convoy.”

“Yes,” Kurt
said in agreement. “He might be just concerned enough to send some of his ships
orbiting Earth to search space for it.”

“The fewer
ships around Earth, the less pressure from the Profiteers in their pillaging of
the planet. But how do we find the convoy once it enters hyperspace? The
hyperspace buoys we’ve put around Newton and Earth can only detect a ship in
hyperspace for a distance of five light-years.”

“As you know,
we partially disassembled one and integrated it into our own sensors on the
Star
Cross
,” Kurt answered, as he tried to come up with a solution. “Ships in
hyperspace can only communicate if they’re very close to one another.”

“Seventy
thousand kilometers,” Andrew replied. “That’s as far as our communications and
short-range sensors will function. Any farther and communication becomes
impossible, plus the sensor data is nonsense. Long-range sensors don’t work at
all.”

Kurt looked down
at the message from Henry. “The Profiteers normally send one cargo ship, two
detainee ships, one battlecruiser, two escort cruisers and one Dacroni
battleship in each convoy.”

“From what
Fleet Admiral Tomalson has relayed to us through the stealth shuttles we have operating,
a convoy leaves each month,” Andrew said, his brow creasing in a frown. “That
should be any day now. Should we try for that one? Not only would we be
throwing a wrench into High Profiteer Creed’s plans but we’d be getting some of
our gold back.”

“We don’t know
if they monitor hyperspace for potential threats,” Kurt said, as he
unconsciously drummed the fingers of his right hand on his desk. “We would have
to follow them, wait until they drop from hyperspace, then jump in, disable the
drives on the cargo ship and the detainee ships.”

“What about
the warships?” Andrew asked with a frown. “They won’t be all that easy to take
out.”

“Hypermissiles,”
Kurt answered. “If we can hit them before their shields come online, we could
take them out.”

“That’s a big
if
,”
Andrew said, shaking his head doubtfully. “If I were to lay money on it, I
would say the Dacroni battleship is bound to have some type of hyperspace
sensors. It may also be several days before they drop from hyperspace. How far
do we follow them?”

“I think it’s
a risk we have to take,” answered Kurt, reaching a decision. “We’ll take the
Dallas
and the
Johnas
with us, and, if necessary, we’ll follow them clear back
to the Gothan Empire.”

“What about
the Profiteers’ cargo ship and the detainee ships?” asked Andrew, realizing
Kurt intended to take the
Star Cross
. “If we succeed in taking out their
hyperspace drives, they’ll be stuck in whatever system they’re in.”

“Once we’ve
secured the enemy ships, we send back one of our light cruisers to return with
our own cargo ship and several passenger liners for the captives.”

Andrew was
silent as he mulled over Kurt’s plan. “I don’t see anything else we can do,” he
said finally. “If the warships get their shields up, we could lose the
Star
Cross
and the two light cruisers.”

“I know,” answered
Kurt in a solemn voice. “I’ll contact Rear Admiral Wilson and tell him of my decision,
and I’ll also speak with Governor Spalding. If you want to go to Newton for the rest of the day to be with your family, you have my permission to do so.”
Kurt knew that Andrew had been spending as much time as possible with his wife
and daughter. They’d found a house close to where Denise and her family lived.

“If we’re
leaving tomorrow, I have too much work that needs to be taken care of,” replied
Andrew, shaking his head. “Emily will understand. I know Lieutenant Mays could
probably handle it, but I’d feel better if I took care of the details.”

“At least give
them a call,” Kurt suggested. “We may be gone for a week or two.” Kurt intended
on speaking to Denise and, of course, Bryan. Anytime Kurt called, the inquisitive
six-year-old demanded to be part of the conversation. He would also talk to Keera
and let her know he would be gone for a while.

-

“Let me go
with you,” suggested Keera over the private comm channel Kurt had set up in his
quarters. “With my medical history I could be useful in case of casualties.”

“Thanks for
the offer,” Kurt replied, “but we have a shipboard doctor, and he’s pretty
protective of his turf.”

“I can
understand that,” Keera responded. “But has he ever treated injuries from the
weapons the Profiteers and the Dacroni mercenaries have? I’m talking about
energy weapons that will burn completely through a body. I’ve treated those
injuries before.”

Kurt was very
tempted to agree to Keera going, but the
Star Cross
was a warship and no
place for civilians. “No, Keera,” he said firmly. “I want you here, helping
Lucy. When we return, if your medical expertise is needed, I’ll give you a
call.”

The comm was
silent for a moment, and then Keera spoke. “I thought you would say that. I’ll
be here when you get back. Just be careful and don’t do anything too daring.
Keep in mind that the Dacroni are trained mercenaries and know how to fight.”

“Thanks for
the words of advice,” Kurt answered. He could tell from the tone of Keera’s
voice that she was a little dejected with his decision. “I promise when I get
back, I’ll take you on that tour of Newton we’ve been talking about.”

“We might have
to include your nephew,” answered Keera with a slight laugh. “I mentioned it to
him, after your sister and I went shopping, and he became very excited about
taking a shuttle and seeing the rest of the planet.”

Kurt was
silent. There went the alone time he had planned with Keera. There would be no
privacy or even quiet time with Bryan around.

“Don’t worry,”
Keera said, laughing even more. “Denise told Bryan he could go next time and
that she would come along also. So the first trip will be just you and me.”

Kurt thought
over what Keera was saying. “Have you ever gone camping?”

“Out in the
wild, like sleeping under the stars?”

“Not quite
that wild,” answered Kurt, smiling to himself. “There are several resorts in
the mountains with some very nice cabins and spectacular scenic views. I was
thinking more along those lines.”

“And what will
be expected of me on this trip?” asked Keera in a teasing voice.

Kurt suddenly
realized he didn’t have a response.

“Don’t worry,”
Keera said over the comm. “We’ll figure it out when we get there. It might be
fun. By the way, what’s your favorite color?”

“Blue,” Kurt
blurted out, confused by the question.

“I like blue
too,” Keera said demurely. “I better let you go. I know you have a lot to do.”

“I’ll call you
as soon as we get back,” promised Kurt. The comm went silent, and he knew Keera
was gone. He was still a little confused about the color question. Oh, well, he
would worry about it later; for now he had a fleet to ready for combat.

-

Slightly
before noon the next day Kurt returned to the Command Center.

“The
Dallas
and
Johnas
have moved into flanking positions,” reported Lieutenant Mays,
as she got up from the command chair, relinquishing it to Kurt.

“Thank you, Lieutenant,”
Kurt answered. Captain Randson was busy making sure their extra hypermissiles
were properly stowed in the missile pod.

Kurt pressed
the ship-to-ship button on his comm. “Captain Marsh and Captain Owens, are you
ready to get underway?”

“Yes, Admiral,”
they both replied.

“You will go first.
Leave in ten minutes,” Kurt ordered. “Proceed to rendezvous with the
Vindication
.
The
Star Cross
will follow, so we can see how well the new hyperspace
sensor functions.”

“See you at
the rendezvous, sir,” replied Captain Marsh.

“Same here,”
replied Captain Owens.

-

Captain Randson
came into the Command Center just in time to witness the
Dallas
and
Johnas
preparing to make the jump into hyperspace.

“Lieutenant
Brooks, make sure the new hyperspace sensor is online,” ordered Andrew. “I want
to see those two light cruisers on the tactical screen, and I don’t want to
lose them.”

“Yes, sir,”
she replied, as her fingers moved nimbly across her computer screen, touching
different icons. “Sensor is operational and online.”

“Ensign
Styles, stand by to jump into hyperspace. Lieutenant Brooks will feed you the
course and speed of the two light cruisers. Stay on their tail and do not lose
them.”

“Ready to
engage,” Styles answered, as he leaned forward a little bit closer to his
navigation console.

“
Dallas
and
Johnas
are jumping,” reported Lieutenant Brooks.

-

Kurt looked at
the main viewscreen, as both ships seemed to shimmer and then vanished. He stared
intently at the tactical screen, which now showed two green icons rapidly
departing the Newton System.

“Give them a
ten-minute head start, and then we’ll follow,” he ordered. He noted the
increased activity in the Command Center as they neared the time to enter
hyperspace.

“All systems
are powered up and working at optimum levels,” reported Andrew, as he took his
place at his command console. “All departments report ready for hyperspace
entry.”

On the main viewscreen,
the image shifted to show Newton Station. Several Lance fighters were visible,
flying their patrol routes.

“Admiral, Rear
Admiral Wilson wishes us good luck on our mission,” reported Ensign Pierce from
her communications console.

“Tell him
thank-you and to keep Newton safe while we’re gone,” replied Kurt.

A few more
minutes passed, and Kurt returned his attention to the tactical screen, still
showing the two receding light cruisers.

“Distance is
2.6 light-years,” Lieutenant Brooks reported. “Hyperspace sensor is showing a
strong tracking signature.”

“Stand by to
enter hyperspace,” Andrew announced. “One minute to hyperspace transition.”

Kurt looked at
another screen with the blue-white globe of Newton. He wondered if the defense
grid would arrive before they returned. Taking a deep breath, he prepared
himself for the transition into hyperspace.

“The ship is
yours, Ensign Styles,” said Andrew, looking at the Navigation and Helm.

“Yes, sir,”
Styles replied, as he pressed several buttons on his console, including his
preset initiate icon.

Almost instantly
the
Star Cross
accelerated forward, and then the hyperspace drive
activated. Kurt felt a slight wrenching in his stomach, while the stars
disappeared from the ship’s viewscreens. He checked the tactical screen for the
two light cruisers and was surprised to note that the screen revealed the
entire Newton System plus the ships in orbit. He came to realize this hyperspace
detection system could be quite valuable, if used properly.

“All departments
report normal operations,” said Andrew, as he listened to the different
department heads report in over his comm.

“All right,”
Kurt said, relaxing a bit. “Now let’s see if we can follow those two cruisers
without losing contact with them.”

“You heard the
admiral,” said Andrew, looking at Lieutenant Brooks and Ensign Styles. “Don’t
lose those two ships!” Andrew smiled. “I’m also curious as to how well the new
sensors will work.”

-

For the next
two hours Kurt watched with interest as the
Star Cross
followed the
light cruisers. Several times Ensign Styles made minor course adjustments. What
intrigued Kurt most was the hyperspace sensor’s display on the tactical screen.
The two cruisers showed as brilliant green icons; however, the sensor also showed
nearby star systems. He noticed, the farther away they were, the detail was not
all that great. But the new sensors should give adequate warning of any approaching
hyperspace hazards.