The Star Cross (7 page)

It would be
much easier if he forced the humans to gather their planet’s riches for him. Once
the detainee ships arrived, those crews would begin loading up humans to be
sold in the slave auctions on Kubitz. The first batch he had taken there had
been very well received, particularly the women. Once their initial training
was complete, they would be sold, and a select group of the women would be sent
to the planetary pleasure houses. With the rich variety in the human form, he
strongly suspected these women would be in high demand. He could already taste
the profits he would receive from selling so many human slaves on Kubitz. He
would have to be careful not to overload the market and risk driving down the
prices.

“We’re
receiving a message from the surface,” reported Third Profiteer Lukon from Communications.
“The humans are offering a payment of gold and other metals, if we don’t
destroy any more of their cities.”

Second
Profiteer Lantz looked over at High Profiteer Creed with a greedy glint in his
eyes at the mention of gold.

Creed was
silent for a moment, as he considered the humans’ offer. “Ask them where this
gold is, and we will send a cargo ship to collect it. Warn them that any
attempt at subterfuge will have disastrous consequences for their world. Tell
them that their planet now belongs to us.”

-

“They’ve
agreed,” reported Fleet Admiral Tomalson, as he listened to the message just
delivered by one of the communications officers for the underground facility.
“They’re sending a ship to the Atlanta airport.”

“Are we doing
the right thing?” asked Secretary of the Treasury Dwight Michaels.

“If it will
save our cities,” President Mayfield replied in a tired voice.

They had watched
from their secure underground location as the Profiteers had returned to the system
and briefly engaged Admiral Vickers’s fleet. In anguish, they had witnessed the
destruction of two cargo ships and a passenger liner attempting to reach orbit
and then enter the safety of hyperspace. Fifteen hundred people had died on the
overly crowded passenger liner.

“They’ll want
more,” pointed out General Braid. “This will only whet their appetite.”

“We have
hidden a number of stashes of gold and other metals they have shown an interest
in,” Dwight Michaels said, his eyes revealing deep concern. “We can dole them
out over an extended period.”

“A very
lengthy period,” President Mayfield added. “We need to buy as much time as we
can and hope Admiral Vickers can return someday and drive these Profiteers
permanently from our world.”

-

The Profiteer
cargo ship
Calpis
landed directly in front of the Atlanta airport’s international
terminal. The six-hundred-meter vessel settled easily on the concrete, and,
after a few moments, a large hatch opened, and a ramp descended to touch the
pavement. Twenty Profiteers, dressed in dark gray body armor and heavily armed,
walked down the ramp and stood waiting expectantly.

Inside the
control tower, personnel sent word to the waiting armored trucks to proceed,
while a number of military officers watched to ensure that everything was filmed
and documented.

Two armored trucks
came around the terminal and drove up to the waiting Profiteers.

Captain Nathan
Aldrich rode in the passenger seat of one of the trucks, and, when they came to
a stop, he opened the door and stepped out. Taking a deep breath, he walked
over to the Profiteer who seemed to be in charge of the group standing on the
tarmac.

“I have a
delivery for you,” Nathan said, trying to sound calm. He gazed at the Profiteer,
noting the differences between him and normal humans. The alien’s skin had a
light blue tinge with coarse white hair on his head. His face, while humanoid,
had bigger eyes. The Profiteer was a little taller than Nathan’s six foot two
inches.

“Show me!”
demanded the Profiteer, his eyes focusing intently on the nearest vehicle. “If
there is not gold in your transport vehicle, your world will be severely
punished!”

“The gold is
in the trucks,” Nathan replied. He didn’t care for the Profiteer’s tone but
knew there was nothing he could do about it, at least not this time.

Nathan turned
and strode to the truck, unlocking the doors and swinging them open. Inside
were forty bars of gold. “Here’s your gold. There’s more in the other truck as
well.”

The Profiteer
gazed at the gold with greed in his eyes. Stepping inside he reached out and
touched one of the bars. “How many bars?”

“Forty in each
truck,” Nathan responded. This gold was like a ransom payment, and it pained
Nathan to see the Profiteers take it.

The Profiteer
stepped outside the truck and removed a small communications device from the
thick black belt he wore. He spoke into it for a few moments and then turned to
face Nathan. “Your payment has been accepted. Your cities will remain unharmed
for now. Our High Profiteer will be contacting your leaders shortly to arrange
for the next tribute.”

“Next tribute?”
Nathan said, feigning confusion. They had actually expected this response.

“Yes,” the
Profiteer responded with a sneer. “As long as payments are made, your cities
will not be destroyed. If you fail to make a payment on time, the repercussions
will be immediate.”

“I will pass on
the message to our government,” Nathan answered. His hand strayed to the 45-caliber
Colt pistol in its holster. Then taking a deep breath, he moved his hand away.
Now was not the time to kill one of the invaders.

The Profiteer
then motioned to the others standing behind him, and several went back up the
ramp and returned shortly with two antigravity sleds. It took them only a few
minutes to load the eighty bars of gold and secure it inside the cargo ship.
Once the bars were loaded, all the Profiteers boarded again; the ramp lifted off
the runway, and the cargo hatch slammed shut. Moments later the enemy ship was
in the air and soon vanished from sight.

“I guess
that’s done,” commented one of the drivers of the armored trucks, who had
stepped out to watch the alien ship take off. “Damn shame we had to give them
all that gold.”

“It’s better
than losing a city,” Nathan replied brusquely. He needed to get back to the control
tower and make his report. He was still a little shaken at being so close to an
actual alien.

-

“Eighty bars
of pure gold!” gloated Second Profiteer Lantz.

Creed agreed
the amount of gold offered would, indeed, add considerably to the treasure he
expected to take from the planet. He strongly suspected Lantz would spend much
of his take in the pleasure houses on Kubitz. “Don’t forget we have to take
Clan Leader Jarls’s share out first.”

The glint
faded from Lantz’s eyes at this reminder. “We need to send our people to the
planet, searching for more plunder. The sooner we can depart this planet, the better,
as far as I’m concerned. The Dacroni mercenaries will try to pry from us every
credit they can.”

“Our detainee
ships will be arriving shortly,” Creed said, staring at one of the large
viewscreens on the front wall of the Command Center. “Once they’re here, we’ll begin
collecting humans to be sent to the slave pens on Kubitz. At the same time we’ll
search their world for more gold, platinum, and other valuables.”

“What about
their offer to pay us to leave their cities untouched?”

Creed allowed
a greedy smile to cross his face. His large eyes turned toward Second Profiteer
Lantz. “Eighty gold bars per human month. That will be the price to leave their
larger cities alone and not plunder them.”

Lantz frowned.
“Tempting, but there’s bound to be a lot of gold and other valuables in those
cities.”

“At some point
in time they will no longer be able to pay,” High Profiteer Creed replied.
“When that day comes, we’ll move into the larger cities and take what we want!”

-

“They’ve
agreed,” reported Fleet Admiral Tomalson to the gathered Cabinet members. “In
exchange for eighty bars of gold per month, they’ll stay out of all major
cities with a population in excess of one million.”

“How long can
we make that payment?” asked President Mayfield. “Eighty bars of gold sounds
like a lot.”

“Almost
indefinitely,” Secretary of the Treasury Dwight Michaels replied. “We have some
major hidden reserves of both gold and platinum, from which we can make the payments.
I don’t believe these Profiteers have the faintest idea what our gold reserves
are.”

“Let’s keep it
that way,” ordered Mayfield. He then turned toward Fleet Admiral Tomalson. “Is
there any way we can contact the mercenary ships in orbit and perhaps make a
deal with them to turn on the Profiteers?”

“No,” replied Tomalson,
shaking his head. “From what we learned in interrogating our Profiteer captives
on the shipyard, the Profiteers and the mercenaries will have a signed contract
on file on Kubitz, and the Controllers will ensure the contract is fulfilled.
Any attempt by the mercenaries to violate that contract will have serious
consequences. From what I understand, it’s very seldom, if ever, that a
contract is not fulfilled.”

President
Mayfield took a long, deep breath. “Then it will be up to Admiral Vickers to
drive these Profiteers from Earth. General Braid, what’s the status of our
military forces?”

“Sent home,” Braid
answered simply with a haunted look in his eyes. “We felt, for their own safety,
it best to temporarily disband most of the units. The rest of the world is
following our lead. Our naval vessels are putting into port, and their crews have
been placed on extended leave.”

“What about
our Special Forces?”

“Hidden,” replied
Braid, a wolfish glint appearing in his eyes. “We have 12,000 highly trained
troops we can call upon, if needed.”

President
Mayfield nodded. With the Profiteers and the mercenaries in orbit above the
Earth, the humans could do little but seem as unthreatening as possible. It galled
him that they had to act so powerless against these aliens. The North American
Union and the rest of the world had been conquered once more, without even a
shot fired on the planet in protest. Mayfield just hoped they had made the
right decision.

Admiral Kurt
Vickers let out a long sigh of relief as the fleet tug
Poseidon
dropped from
hyperspace ten million kilometers from Newton. That only left the fleet tug
Juno
,
and he expected it to put in an appearance the next day. “They made it!” He had
greatly feared the size of the bays would wreak havoc with the tugs’ large
hyperspace drives. As it was, they were forced to travel much slower in
hyperspace than normal.

“Damn good
thing,” said Captain Randson, as he watched the main viewscreen, where the
distant tug and the large construction bay she had brought with her were displayed.

Lieutenant
Lena Brooks checked her sensors and then turned toward the admiral to report.
“Detecting twelve ships with the
Poseidon
.”

“That’s all of
them,” Randson said with a nod.

“Get them into
Newton’s orbit,” ordered Kurt, as he leaned back in his command chair. He was
anxious to get the large construction bay attached to Newton Station, so they
could complete the
Kepler
. Once the heavy carrier was finished, the
fleet would be considerably more powerful, and he could begin thinking about
the mission to Kubitz.

“I have
Colonel Hayworth on the comm,” reported Ensign Pierce. “His crew is aboard
Newton Station and is ready to attach the construction bay. He says he can have
it operational in five to six days.”

Captain Randson
looked over at Kurt meaningfully and nodded. “That’s good news. We need to get
the
Kepler
finished as soon as possible.”

“Inform
Colonel Hayworth to use whatever resources he needs to get it done,” Kurt
replied.

He knew that Andrew
was anxious to head to Kubitz to rescue his wife and daughter. From what they
had learned from their Profiteer prisoner, that was where Andrew’s family and
the other abductees would be taken to be sold. Kurt had clear orders from
President Mayfield to rescue those people and procure a new defensive weapons
system from the arms dealers on that planet.

Kurt spent a
few minutes studying the tactical screen with its friendly green icons. He had
the
Star Cross
, the light carrier
Vindication
, seven light
cruisers, and eight destroyers to defend the system with. Soon he could add the
Kepler
. He also had the light carrier
Dante
, but it needed major
repairs. It would be several months before the light carrier was fit for duty.

“Put us into
an orbit close to Newton Station,” ordered Kurt. “I want to monitor the
attaching of the construction bay, as well as the manufacturing section that
the
Juno
is bringing.”

The helm
officer adjusted the course of the large battlecruiser, and, on the main viewscreen,
Newton Station grew larger. It didn’t take Ensign Styles long to place the
Star
Cross
twenty kilometers from the station, where they could observe the
work.

“Have a full
crew here in the Command Center to monitor everything,” ordered Kurt, looking
over at Randson. “We can’t afford for anything to go wrong.”

“How soon
before we can launch the rescue mission?” Captain Randson asked in a low voice.

Kurt understood
why Andrew looked so exhausted and hesitated briefly before answering. “Colonel
Hayworth says he can have the
Kepler
fully operational in three weeks.
Once the ship’s done, we’ll set out.”

“Three more
weeks,” repeated Andrew, letting out a deep sigh. “I just hope we get there in
time.”

“We’ll find
them,” promised Kurt. He knew how he would feel if it was his sister’s family who
had been taken. He wouldn’t allow humans to be slaves anywhere in the galaxy. And,
if he had to tear apart the galaxy to do so, he would find every last human
taken.

-

Kurt was
asleep in his quarters, when the comm unit next to his bed chimed. Rolling over,
he pressed the receive button. “Yes?” he said, still half asleep.

“We have a
problem developing on Newton,” Captain Randson announced over the comm, his
voice concerned. “It seems that Secretary of Labor Marlen Stroud arrived on a
Chinese cargo ship and showed up on Newton, at the governor’s office, demanding
that the governor step down. Stroud’s saying that, since he’s the highest-ranking
Cabinet member not trapped on Earth, and since Newton is a colony of the North
American Union, the governorship falls to him.”

Kurt came
instantly awake. “Bullshit! Tell Governor Spalding to place that idiot under
arrest immediately. Then find out what ship he arrived on to see if anyone else
came to Newton without being screened. Send a platoon of Marines if necessary.”

“He is a
member of the Cabinet,” Andrew reminded Kurt in an uncertain voice.

“I don’t care
who he is,” replied Kurt, as he rolled from bed and reached for his clothes.
“We were careful to ensure that no one like Stroud could come to Newton, just so nothing like this could happen. All Stroud cares about is power and money—something
he no longer has, since the Profiteers have retaken Earth. He and his entourage
took the place of much-needed individuals, who we can no longer evacuate. I
have direct orders from President Mayfield and Fleet Admiral Tomalson to keep
the current government of Newton intact, as well as my control of the fleet. I
have a written copy of those orders in the safe here in my quarters. Do you
need to see them?”

“No, sir,” Andrew
hastily replied. “I just wanted you to be aware there might be consequences for
our actions.”

“Arrest the
son of a bitch,” ordered Kurt. “I’ll be in the Command Center shortly but get
word to Governor Spalding. I want the responsible Chinese parties arrested.” He
disconnected the comm with a slap of his hand.

-

Marlen Stroud sat
in Governor Spalding’s office waiting for the governor to return. Marlen had
demanded that the governor immediately resign and turn over Newton to him.
Leaning back in the governor’s plush chair, Marlen allowed himself to smile. It
had cost him a fortune to procure passage on a Chinese cargo ship bound for Newton. He had made arrangements for his wife, several of their better servants, and a few
powerful supporters to accompany him. Their quarters had been quite spartan,
but at least they were off Earth and now could lead a normal life. He would
keep the fleet at Newton to ensure his security.

As soon as
Spalding returned with the resignation he was writing, Marlen would go on all
the comm channels to inform the citizens of Newton that he was their new leader,
and they would not be taking part in the war against the Profiteers. He would
also be relieving Admiral Vickers of his command and replacing him with someone
more tolerable.

Marlen stood
up and stepped over to the large window, which overlooked the capital city. The
city held slightly over six hundred thousand residents. While small by Earth
standards, it still possessed many of the comforts he was seeking. His wife was
already searching for a new home suitable for their needs. He was fairly
certain that, if they left the Profiteers alone, Newton wouldn’t see them. Marlen
could build a good and comfortable life here, living in luxury and fully in
control of the planet.

The sound of
the door opening behind him drew his attention. With a wide smile, he turned
around, expecting to see Governor Spalding, holding his resignation in his
hand. Instead, two heavily armed Marines stood there with grim looks upon their
faces.

“Marlen
Stroud, you are under arrest for subversion and treason.”

Stroud’s face
turned pale at hearing those words. “What do you mean? Is this some joke?”

“No, it’s no
joke. You came to Newton illegally, with no screening, even though ordered by
the government of the North American Union. Your authority isn’t recognized
here, and yet you demanded that the Newton government be turned over to you
without due process.”

“I’m a Cabinet
member,” snarled Stroud, growing angry. “That’s all the authority I need!” How
dare these Marines threaten him. There must be some misunderstanding. He would
see to it that they were cleaning latrines before the day was over.

“We are aware
of who you are,” the Marine sergeant replied in an uncompromising voice. His
right hand touched the pistol in the holster at his waist. “Are you coming peacefully,
or do we need to use force?”

Marlen gazed
at the Marine sergeant, his blood pressure boiling, but seeing the hard and
cold look in the sergeant’s eyes took away any thoughts of resisting. These men
weren’t to be trifled with. “I’ll go with you,” he grated out. “But this isn’t
over. You don’t realize who you’re messing with.”

“We do know,”
replied the sergeant. “But this is Newton, not Earth. You have no power or
authority here.”

The two Marines
led the angry Cabinet member from the governor’s office and down the hall to a
waiting elevator. They had orders to take him to a small residence on the
outskirts of the city and to keep him there under house arrest. His wife, their
servants, and his supporters had already been rounded up and were unhappily waiting
for him.

-

Governor Spalding
stepped back into his office and sat down in the chair behind his desk. He
hoped they had done the right thing. If President Mayfield and the other
Cabinet members were dead, then Stroud was next in line for the presidency. It
that were true, then Stroud had every right to demand control of the
government. However, as far as they knew, President Mayfield was still alive,
along with the other Cabinet members. Until they knew otherwise, Stroud would
be kept under twenty-four-hour lockdown and surveillance. Spalding just hoped
nothing had happened to the president, or they could find themselves in a
sticky situation.

-

“It’s done,”
Captain Randson reported, as he stepped from Communications, where he had been in
constant touch with the senior Marine officer at the governor’s mansion down on
Newton, who had been responsible for sending the Marines to arrest Stroud. “You
have one very upset Cabinet member on your hands now.”

Kurt nodded
and let out a deep sigh. Marlen Stroud was the least of his worries. He had to
get the Newton System prepared for war, as well as get the fleet ready for what
was ahead. “Schedule a meeting with Colonel Hayworth and the commanding officer
of Newton Station, Captain Simms.”

“What are you
planning?”

“I want all
our ships equipped with particle beam cannons, including the destroyers,” Kurt
explained. “I also want to discuss the possibility of arming the station. The
shipyard above Earth wasn’t armed, as the fleet was supposed to protect it. I
don’t want to make that same mistake here.”

Andrew nodded,
as he thought over what Kurt wanted. “Once we get the construction bay and the
manufacturing section attached to the station, we’ll have a lot of hull space
to work with. Hell, we could make Newton Station more heavily armed than a
battlecruiser.”

“Exactly,”
Kurt replied. He also needed to get in touch with his sister. He had made
arrangements for a modest home to be made available for them. Her family had
made it safely to Newton and should be settled in by now.

-

Several hours
later Kurt arrived on Newton Station. He was escorted to a small conference
room where Captain Simms, the commanding officer of Newton Station, and Colonel
Hayworth, the commanding office of Earth’s shipyard, were waiting.

“Admiral,”
said Colonel Hayworth, standing up and saluting.

“It’s good to
have you aboard, sir,” Captain Simms said, also standing and saluting.

Kurt returned
the salutes and gestured for the two men to sit back down. “Captain Simms, how
many exploration ships do we currently have out?” Exploration ships left and returned
to Newton Station on a regular basis. All were required to report in on a
strict schedule.

“Four, sir,”
Simms answered. “The
Himalaya
,
Carlsbad
,
Trinity
, and
Surveyor
Three
are all currently away. Only the
Surveyor Two
is still here.
The
Carlsbad
should be back within the week and the others three to four
weeks from now.” The
Surveyor One
had been the first survey ship and had
been retired years earlier.

Kurt nodded.
That was about what he had expected. The ships were required to send hyperspace
message drones once per week, reporting on their current status. All
exploration vessels were expected to return to Newton eight weeks after
departure. Currently the exploration ships were surveying every star within
fifty light-years of the Newton System. Their primary mission was to seek out
potential habitable planets. They were also doing mineral surveys in asteroid
fields and upon small moons. The ships were lightly armed and had strict
instructions to return to Newton if they turned up anything that could be considered
a danger. Each ship also had a First Contact team on board, just in case they
stumbled across an alien vessel.

“Colonel
Hayworth, how soon can you have the construction bay and the manufacturing facility
up and running?”

“Five to six
days on the construction bay and another eight to ten on the manufacturing
section,” Hayworth answered. “Captain Simms and I have been discussing it, and
we’ll have to make some modifications to Newton Station so the new
configuration will be stable.”

“It shouldn’t
be too difficult,” Simms added. “We always planned on expanding the station, so
we have the structural supports in place.”

“Finish the
Kepler
as soon as possible,” Kurt ordered. “We’ll need her firepower, plus the
fighters and bombers she can launch.”

“It won’t take
long to finish her,” Hayworth replied, as he looked down at the notes he had
brought to the meeting. “We need to finish installing the energy shield
emitters and do some cosmetic work inside. We also need to assemble the fighters
and bombers assigned to the ship.”