The Star Cross: The Dark Invaders (14 page)

Walking to a
wall, Grantz removed a picture, which was hiding a safe he had installed.
Pressing his palm to the identification pad, the light above it glowed green,
and a clicking noise could be heard as the steel pins inside the safe unlocked.
Opening the small safe, Grantz carefully placed the five gold coins alongside
the others. Several small gold bars were also inside as well as piles of
currency. Grantz took out some of the currency and then locked the safe.

If things
continued, very soon he would have enough credits to ensure his retirement. He
would live out the rest of his years in comfort and semi-luxury, something
every Profiteer strived for. He just needed the Humans of Earth and Newton to survive for another few years and to continue to pay him in gold when he came up
with important information, like what he had shared today.

-

On the
outskirts of the Gothan Empire, three medium-size cargo ships dropped from
hyperspace. They had been rebuilt and armed. Even so their weapons were only
slightly more powerful than an Earth destroyer. The three ships were from the
European Union, the Russian Collective, and the Chinese Conglomerate. Their
mission was very simple: open up trade negotiations with the leaders of Kubitz,
buy a small fleet of warships to help protect their colonies in the Solar System,
and see what other technological innovations might be available on the planet.
The captains of the three ships didn’t believe the planet could be as corrupt
and dangerous as Fleet Admiral Vickers had let on. They were convinced this was
a gambit by Vickers to keep other Earth powers from Kubitz and to retain all
the new Kubitz technology for Newton.

-

“What do you
think we’ll find?” Second Officer Mathew Quinn asked his captain.

On board the
largest of the cargo ships, the European Union’s
Athenia
, Captain Amos
Fulbright waited as the navigator plotted the next jump.

Quinn was
impatient to reach Kubitz and see for himself this famous black market planet.

“A civilized
world with rules and laws,” replied Fulbright. “I don’t believe all the stories
from the North American Union about the Enforcers, the dangerous Profiteers,
and these mysterious Controllers who maintain power through a series of
contracts that dictates their way of life. It all sounds too fantastic.”

“But what if
there is an element of truth in the rumors?” Quinn was deeply concerned they were
in over their heads. Much of the crew felt the same way. He still didn’t
understand how Captain Fulbright had been given command of this mission. Other
officers were better suited.

“No
civilization could exist under the conditions Fleet Admiral Vickers described,”
replied Captain Fulbright dismissively. “It’s all a sham to give Newton and the North American Union an advantage over the rest of us.”

Quinn only
shook his head. For as long as he could remember, the North American Union and
the European Union had gotten along well together. Why this sudden animosity?

An alarm
suddenly sounded on the sensor console.

“Contacts!”
called out the sensor operator. “I have seven ships exiting hyperspace.
Estimated distance is two million kilometers.”

Fulbright
grinned. “Now we can open communications and see who these people are. As close
as we are to the Gothan Empire, it’s bound to be one of their fleets. I’m sure
they’ll welcome us and be excited about the opportunity to open up trade with the
other nations of Earth.”

He smiled and
cleared his throat. “Communications, open contact with those ships. Inform them
we’re a peaceful trading mission from Earth and would like permission to
continue on to Kubitz.”

“Message
sent,” replied the communications officer.

“Ships have
changed their course and are accelerating toward us,” reported the sensor
operator uneasily. “Ships have been identified as one battlecruiser and six
escort cruisers.”

“A protective
force patrolling the approaches to the star cluster,” Captain Fulbright said
confidently.

“No response
to our message,” added the comm officer. “I’m retransmitting it.”

“Captain, we
should go to Condition One and raise our energy shield,” suggested Second
Officer Quinn. The
Athenia
had a weak energy shield, but it was better
than nothing. “It might also be a good idea to be prepared to make an emergency
hyperjump.”

“Ridiculous,”
scoffed Captain Fulbright. “We don’t want to appear threatening or afraid.”

“We’re being
hit by targeting scans,” reported the sensor operator nervously.

“I’m sure it’s
just a precaution on their part,” Fulbright said as he watched the seven red
threat icons on the sensor screen. “We’re strange vessels, and they’re only
taking precautionary measures.”

“We should
take our own,” suggested Quinn a little heatedly. “At least bring our energy
screen and weapons online.’

“We’ll do no
such thing!” growled Fulbright, turning toward Quinn. “I have orders not to
provoke these people. Communications, inform the
Yangtze
and the
Kirov
not to take any provocative actions.”

Quinn only
shook his head and turned his attention toward the incoming ships. For several
long minutes he watched as they rapidly closed the range with the three cargo
ships. Quinn felt a cold chill run down his spine. The way the ships approached,
they were definitely on an attack vector. He studied the small tactical station,
wanting to rush over and raise the ship’s energy shield and power up the
weapons. It was all he could do to restrain himself.

On the ship’s
main viewscreen, one of the approaching ships became visible, and it was obviously
heavily armed. Even as Quinn watched, several hatches slid open on the hull.

“Crap!” yelled
Quinn. “Those are missile tubes! They’re going to fire!”

“What?”
stammered Captain Fulbright, his face turning pale. “That’s impossible. Why
would they do that?”

On the screen,
a small missile appeared and then vanished as it transitioned into hyperspace.

A sudden
bright light filled one of the other viewscreens, which was focused on the
cargo ship
Kirov
. In a fierce explosion the
Kirov
blew apart; in
its place a raging fireball swirled and then died away.

“
Kirov
has been destroyed,” reported the sensor operator in dismay. “Detecting more
targeting scans.”

“We’re getting
a message,” the comm operator reported. The comm operator had one of the egg-shaped
translation devices, which they had gotten from the Profiteers who had attacked
Earth. “The commander of that fleet is a Tellurite, and he’s demanding our
immediate surrender. If we fail to do so, he will destroy us.”

“But we came
in peace,” cried out Captain Fulbright. “How can this be happening?”

“Because Fleet
Admiral Vickers spoke the truth!” Quinn said angrily. “You have led us to our
doom.”

“Captain, what
should I tell the Tellurite commander?” asked the comm officer.

Fulbright
gazed at the viewscreen, still showing the glowing wreckage of the
Kirov
, too paralyzed to speak.

With a deep
and resigned sigh, Second Officer Quinn turned away from the captain to face
the comm officer. “Inform the Tellurite commander we surrender. Our ships are
his.” Quinn knew this was the only option he had to save the crews of the
Athenia
and the
Yangtze
. He was greatly afraid none of them would ever see Earth
again.

-

On Kubitz,
Marvin Tenner was very relieved to see a fleet, especially the
Vindication
from Newton, go into orbit above the planet. The light carrier
Vindication
,
along with the battlecruisers
Vesta
and
Trinity
, three light
cruisers, and four medium-size cargo ships were now overhead. Captain Henry
Watkins was one of Fleet Admiral Vickers’s oldest and most trusted friends. Watkins
would know what to do with Grantz’s information, which had been confirmed by
Dolman.

Contacting the
compound’s communications center, Tenner had a message sent to Captain Watkins
to meet with him as soon as possible. As an afterthought he contacted Captain
Briar and informed him of Captain Watkins’s expected arrival and that he would
like three Humvees sent to pick up the captain. After the incident with Fleet
Admiral Vickers, Tenner wasn’t risking anything happening to Watkins.

-

On board the
Vindication
,
Captain Watkins gazed at the ship’s tactical screen in amazement. Over eleven
hundred ships were in orbit above the planet. At the Controller station, there
had been close to six hundred. Henry had never seen so many ships in a single place
at one time. It made him realize how minuscule Earth and Newton were in the
grand scheme of galactic politics and power. This was his first trip to the
Gothan Empire, and he was well aware of the dangers.

“Damn, that’s
a lot of ships,” muttered Lieutenant Anthony Dries, the executive officer. All
viewscreens in the Command Center were on, and each one was focused on a
different type of spacecraft. Some were obviously warships, but, for the most
part, the others were cargo ships and passenger liners.

“Any Dacroni mercenary
ships in orbit?” Henry asked.

“No, none
detected,” reported Lieutenant Julie Jenkins from her sensor console.

“Captain, I’m
receiving a message from our embassy compound,” reported Ensign Paul Lasher
from Communications. “Marvin Tenner requests you come to the compound
immediately due to some emergency.”

“Is the
compound under attack?” asked Lieutenant Dries, turning toward Ensign Lasher.

“No, nothing
like that. Ambassador Tenner has some important information he needs to brief
you on. He says it’s highly sensitive, and he doesn’t want to broadcast it over
the comm channel.”

Henry sighed.
He had hoped to avoid going down to the chaotic planet. “Inform them I’ll be
down shortly. Lieutenant Dries, arrange for an armed escort and prep one of the
shuttles.”

Henry wondered
what Tenner was so excited about. While Henry was at the compound, he might as
well ask Tenner about setting up a meeting with Avery Dolman. Henry’s main
reason for coming to Kubitz was to acquire more defense satellites for Newton. He hoped that, by now, Dolman had come through on his promise to Kurt.

-

Two hours
later Captain Watkins was ushered into Marvin Tenner’s office. With a groan, he
saw Kurt’s pet Profiteer Grantz was also in the room.

“Captain,” said
Tenner, indicating Henry take a seat in front of his desk next to Grantz.

“Where’s the
fire?” asked Henry, ignoring Grantz. “Your communications officer indicated
there was an emergency.”

Marvin nodded.
“Grantz, tell the captain what the Profiteers are preparing to do.”

Grantz nodded
and spent a few minutes detailing his conversation with Second Profiteer Lantz.

When Grantz
was finished, Henry shook his head and spoke to Tenner. “How sure are we this information
is correct and that Grantz isn’t just trying to get more gold?”

Grantz replied
angrily to Captain Watkins. “I have an agreement with Fleet Admiral Vickers as
well as a written contract. I will abide by those, and this information has
nothing to do with gold.”

“You did get
some gold coins for this information,” Tenner reminded the Profiteer. Shifting
his attention back to Henry, Tenner continued. “We confirmed the information
through Avery Dolman. It seems High Profiteer Creed is buying new ships to
replace the ones Fleet Admiral Vickers destroyed. Creed is also updating all
his ships to the highest standards allowed for a Profiteer vessel. Also enough
rumors are floating around that appear to indicate Creed’s bringing in some of
the other Profiteer clans as well as the Dacroni mercenaries.”

“He’ll smash
the fleet protecting Earth’s solar system and then ransack the planet before
Fleet Admiral Vickers can respond,” Grantz said, his eyes focusing on Captain
Watkins. “In most cases Profiteer fleets don’t work well with one another. This
has seldom been done before. However, Creed has promised huge riches for those
willing to follow him to Earth.”

Henry leaned
back in his chair as he thought over what Tenner and Grantz had just told him.
“How soon before High Profiteer Creed can be ready to attack Earth?”

Tenner looked questioningly
at Grantz.

“He has to update
his ships,” Grantz said, hesitating. “Not only that, he’s ordered some new
warships. It will take several months for those to be ready. At the earliest, I
would say you have three months to prepare for his attack.

“Three
months,” mused Henry as he thought over what that might mean.

In three
months they could substantially increase the defensive grid over Earth and even
station a quick reaction force close to the Solar System. If everything worked
out right, they might just put a surprise in place for the Profiteers.

“I’ll take
this information back to Fleet Admiral Vickers,” promised Henry. “However,
while I’m here, I need to meet with Avery Dolman and possibly Lomatz. Kurt
wants to purchase more defensive satellites to put over Newton, Earth, and
Julbian. After what you just told me, we may want to increase the size of our
order.” Henry knew about the large cache of gold bars stored beneath the
embassy. It would only take a fraction of that to pay for the defensive
satellites.

-

Second Officer
Mathew Quinn looked despairingly around him. The entire crew of the
Athenia
had been tossed into a large cargo hold on board the Tellurite battlecruiser. The
furnishings broadcast its sole purpose was to hold prisoners.

“What’ll
happen to us?” asked Ensign Barbara Jones. “Did you see how these people stared
at us?”