The Star Cross: The Dark Invaders (3 page)

Creed looked
worriedly around the Command Center. He didn’t dare drop from hyperspace too
soon or the Humans might find them. “Tell Engineer Gext to keep the drive
online as long as possible. When he thinks we’ve pushed it as far as we can,
then we’ll drop from hyperspace and begin repairs.”

High
Profiteer Creed coughed from the smoke still in the air. He wasn’t even sure if
his other battlecruisers had made it out. Not until he returned to Marsten
would he know the full extent of his losses. He cursed the Humans. Something
would have to be done so they couldn’t continue to interfere in Profiteer
business. When he made it back to Marsten and later to Kubitz, it might be
necessary to speak with the mercenaries again.

-

Kurt felt
extremely disappointed as the
Ascendant
Destruction
escaped into
hyperspace along with four other battlecruisers. The final remaining battlecruiser
was under heavy attack from the light cruisers and now the
Himalaya
. Obviously
the ship’s hyperdrive was damaged, and it couldn’t flee. In an eye-opening
explosion the ship blew up, sending fiery debris across space narrowly missing
one of the light cruisers.

“Profiteer
battlecruiser is down,” confirmed Lieutenant Brooks. “The others have escaped
into hyperspace.”

“We should
have used the more powerful hypermissiles,” said Captain Randson, showing his
frustration at the
Ascendant
Destruction
escaping.

Kurt knew
Andrew was right. They only had a few of the powerful fifty-megaton antimatter
missiles, and Kurt had been hesitant to use them. Only the battlecruisers were
armed with them, and each one only carried a few.

“How many of
them did we get?” Even if High Profiteer Creed had escaped, Kurt knew it had
been at a heavy cost. “We’ll have other opportunities at the
Ascendant
Destruction
.”

Captain
Randson spent a few minutes examining some data on his command screen as well
as speaking to several other ships, including the
Vindication
and the
Ranger
.
When he was done, he turned around with a huge grin. “We captured eight of
their cargo ships, including the two big jobs. We also destroyed six of their
escort cruisers and one of their battlecruisers.”

“Our own
losses?”

Andrew slowly
shook his head. “We lost the light cruiser
Badger
and all hands on
board.”

Kurt hated
losing the crew and their ship, but the Profiteers had lost a lot more. In addition,
Kurt now had eight more cargo ships, which could be taken back to Newton as soon as the fleet tugs were called in. Not only that, he intended to contact the
world of Julbian. Just maybe, if everything worked out right, Newton had gained
their first ally.

Fleet Admiral
Kurt Vickers breathed a long sigh of relief as the
Star Cross
exited
hyperspace in the Newton System. It felt good to be home after their successful
mission to Julbian. His only regret was that the
Ascendant Destruction
and High Profiteer Creed had escaped. Kurt allowed a smirk to cross his face as
he thought about the captured cargo ships and the Profiteer ships they had
destroyed. Creed’s little jaunt to the Julbian System had cost him a fortune,
and that pleased Kurt immensely. He would have other opportunities in the
future to bring the Profiteer to justice.

On board the
Star
Cross
was a delegation of Humans from Julbian. The Julbians had been
shocked to learn of the existence of other humanoid races as well as of the
Gothan Empire. Kurt had shown the Julbian leaders some videos of the occupation
of Earth and how the Profiteers had tried to strip it of its valuables as well
as kidnap men, women, and even children to be sold in the slave markets on
Kubitz. Kurt made it very clear what the Profiteers had planned for Julbian.
Their leaders had immediately requested to meet with Governor Spalding and see
the defenses around Newton. If things went well, the Julbians would be signing
a trade agreement as well as laying the groundwork for a future alliance.

“Do you think
the Profiteers will attack Julbian again?” asked Andrew as he watched Newton grow larger on the ship’s main viewscreen.

Newton was the only other fully Earth-type world discovered in Earth’s explorations. Now
they knew many others were scattered across the galaxy, and most of them were
inhabited.

“No, I doubt
it,” replied Kurt, folding his arms across his chest as he gazed at the
viewscreen and the blue-white world they were approaching. “That’s why I left
the
Ranger
and two battlecruisers behind. We’ll get the fleet tugs on
the way in the next day or two to pick up those disabled cargo ships as well as
a passenger liner for the Profiteer crews. The
Vindication
, along with
four light cruisers, will escort the tugs and passenger liner. Two of the light
cruisers will stay behind to add to Rear Admiral White’s task group. If
Governor Spalding’s meeting with the Julbians goes as planned, we’ll send a
cargo ship back with some defensive satellites to place in orbit.” Kurt didn’t
mention they would have to make a trip to Kubitz to replace any satellites they
sent to Julbian.

“How long will
you leave the
Ranger
and our other ships there?” Andrew felt
uncomfortable having three of their most powerful warships away from Newton. His wife and daughter were on that planet, and, after their harrowing abduction
from Earth, and almost being sold into servitude, he didn’t want them to worry
about it happening on Newton.

“Only a month
or two,” Kurt answered. He could see Newton Station on the viewscreen now. The
massive space station was capable of repairing and building any type of ship
Kurt needed for the fleet. “They’ll help the Julbians upgrade their own
warships with more modern weapons. We’ll send some construction people and
technicians on the passenger liner to assist with the upgrades. Fortunately
they have a small shipyard in orbit that should suffice to do the necessary
work. Once that’s done, and, with the addition of the defensive satellites, it
should discourage any future Profiteer incursions.”

Andrew looked
pensive. “The Julbians only have six medium-size cruisers to defend their
system. Will that be enough?”

“I’ll permanently
assign one of the battleships we bought from Kubitz to the system,” Kurt
explained. He had already spent some time thinking about this. “It’s been fully
upgraded and will have a full load of hypermissiles. That, along with the six
cruisers and the defensive grid, should prevent any further attacks from the
Profiteers.”

“Unless they
return with mercenaries,” Andrew pointed out.

In the Gothan
Empire, several mercenary groups routinely hired themselves out to deal with
potential problems the Profiteer clans encountered. The most notorious were the
Dacroni mercenaries, who had assisted High Profiteer Creed in his earlier conquest
of Earth’s solar system.

“We’ll deal
with that when and if it occurs,” answered Kurt, looking at Andrew meaningfully.
Kurt didn’t want to spread his own forces too thin. The galaxy was a much more
dangerous place than many had believed possible.

“We’ll dock with
Newton Station in twenty minutes,” Lieutenant Styles reported as he moved the
large eight-hundred-meter-long battlecruiser toward a docking port.

Kurt gazed at
the massive shipyard. On one quadrant, he could see new construction. A second
flight bay would increase the number of fighters and bombers available to the
station for its own defense. Even as he watched, four Lance fighters exited from
the other flight bay to go on their patrol route. The space around Newton was heavily protected with a complete and extremely powerful defensive grid
encircling the planet. Not even a fully armed Dacroni mercenary fleet could put
a dent in the defenses around Newton. Kurt had done everything in his power to ensure
the colony was secure and safe from future attacks. It had been expensive and cost
a lot of Earth’s gold, but it was well worth it.

“Several
passenger liners from Earth just dropped from hyperspace,” reported Lieutenant
Lena Brooks, as two large green icons suddenly appeared on her sensor screen
with a smaller one. “They’re escorted by the destroyer
Malvin
.”

Kurt nodded.
All cargo ships and passenger liners coming from Earth now did so with an armed
escort. He had assigned their remaining destroyers to escort duty as they were
too small to be effective against Profiteer ships or mercenaries. He also had
no plans to build any more of the small ships.

“How many
people do we have on Newton now?” asked Andrew, glancing at the tactical screen
and the three inbound green icons.

Ever since
Earth had been freed from the Profiteers, a steady flow of new colonists were
coming to Newton. The living conditions back on Earth were still pretty
miserable due to all the nuclear warheads that had been detonated. Chemicals
had been brought in from the Gothan Empire to help disperse and reduce the
radiation, but it had been expensive and had cost a fortune in gold. However,
the use of the chemicals had probably saved million of lives.

“We’re
nearing twelve million,” Kurt answered. “Governor Spalding says he’s nearly
swamped finding accommodations for all of them. Before we left on this mission,
he mentioned sending the Star Cross to Kubitz to see if we can purchase some
better construction technology to help with the housing shortage. Tens of
thousands of people are living in a few tent cities on the surface, while awaiting
permanent housing.”

“Kubitz,”
muttered Andrew, shaking his head disgustedly. “I hate that planet. I still
don’t understand why all the civilized races in the galaxy tolerate the Gothan
Empire. You would think they would join together and take out those Profiteers
once and for all.”

“Their worlds
are too heavily defended,” responded Kurt. “You saw what the defenses around
Kubitz look like. They dwarf what we’ve put around Newton.”

Andrew nodded,
and then shook his head. “How soon are we leaving? I’d like to see my wife and
daughter.”

“Not for a
few days. I still need to talk to Governor Spalding. I also want to take care
of this trading agreement and alliance with the Julbians, and the
Vindication
and the fleet tugs must be sent off. We’ll give the crews a couple days’ leave
before we set out for Kubitz.”

“What if we
run across the
Ascendant Destruction
when we get there?” asked Andrew.

Most of the
Profiteers routinely visited the planet. “We’ll cross that road when we get
there,” Kurt replied in a steady voice. In the Kubitz System, they dared not
engage the Profiteer ship, but outside the system was a different matter
entirely.

-

Later that
afternoon Kurt walked up to his sister’s house. He heard a loud shout from
within, and the door flew open. Flying out came eight-year-old Bryan, his eyes wide upon seeing Kurt.

“Uncle Kurt!”
yelled Bryan, bouncing with excitement. “You’re here!” Bryan ran to Kurt and
grabbed him by the hand. “Did you blow up any alien ships? Did you kill that
evil Profiteer everyone’s talking about?”

“Bryan!” admonished Denise as she stepped out on the porch, frowning at her young son. “You
shouldn’t ask your uncle those kinds of questions.”

“Hi, Denise,”
Kurt said, pleased to see his sister. “Have you seen Keera the last few days?”

Keera was a
Human doctor he had met on Kubitz and had fallen in love with. Most of the time
when Kurt was on leave or on planet, the two spent their time together. Keera
worked at Newton’s main medical center, teaching techniques and medical procedures
used across the galaxy to cure various afflictions. She had even talked Kurt into
purchasing some very advanced medical equipment from Kubitz to bring back to Newton.

“She was over
last night for supper,” answered Denise, indicating for Kurt to follow her into
the house. “She mentioned something about going to Aston to give a speech on
advanced medical practices for the treatment of the elderly.”

“Sounds like
her,” Kurt said as he sat down on the sofa. “She takes her medical profession
very seriously.” It was one of the things he liked about Keera.

“She’s good
at what she does,” Denise said, as she walked into the kitchen and returned
with two glasses of iced tea. She handed one to Kurt and sat down across from
him. “Alex is at work and won’t be home for a few more hours.”

Bryan sat down next to Kurt and glanced at his mother, then his eyes shifted to his uncle.
“So, did you blow up any ships?”

Kurt laughed.
Bryan was so inquisitive and always full of questions. “A few,” he admitted. “We
brought some new people from another world back with us.”

“Do they have
four arms or wings?” asked Bryan, his face lighting up with curiosity. “Are
they aliens?”

“Bryan!” exclaimed Denise with a deep frown. “That’s not polite.”

“Well,” Bryan said, defending himself. “Keera told me, on some worlds, people have wings and can
actually fly. She promised to show me some pictures when I get older.”

“Not these,” said
Kurt, shaking his head. “They look just like you and me, and I think we’ll be
good friends.”

“Why don’t
you go play?” suggested Denise to Bryan with a smile. “I’m sure I can talk
Uncle Kurt into staying for supper.”

“Will you?”
begged Bryan, looking expectantly at Kurt.

“Sure,” Kurt
answered. “I don’t have anything else planned.” Besides, his sister was a sensational
cook.

“Great!” responded
Bryan happily. “Maybe we can play some baseball. I’m getting pretty good at
hitting the ball with my bat.”

Denise sighed
and nodded. “He can hit the ball. He broke out the neighbor’s window the other
night.”

“Sure,” Kurt
said to Bryan. “We’ll play some later.”

That seemed
to satisfy the young boy as he turned and headed toward his room.

Once Bryan left, Denise studied her older brother. “Did you run across High Profiteer Creed?”

Kurt leaned
back on the sofa, relaxing. It amazed him how comfortable the sofa was. Nothing
like this was in his quarters on the
Star Cross
. “Yes, it was his
Profiteer fleet we found in the Julbian System. Unfortunately he got away, but
we captured most of his cargo ships and destroyed some of his other vessels.”

Denise
nodded. “You’ll get him someday. It’s only a matter of time.”

Kurt hoped
Denise was right. A lot of anger remained, particularly on Earth, over what had
happened during the Profiteer occupation. Killing High Profiteer Creed and destroying
the
Ascendant Destruction
would alleviate much of that.

-

The next day
Kurt sat in Governor Spalding’s office. He had been summoned here to discuss
the impending negotiations with the Julbians.

Spalding stood
at the large window that overlooked the capital city. In the past year, its
inhabitants had grown from six hundred thousand to nearly one million. Most of
the growth had been new colonists coming from Earth.

“Things have
really changed in the last two years, and they still are,” Spalding said as he
turned around to face Kurt. “We have more and more people on Earth applying for
colonizing visas every day.”

“How many more
will you allow?” Kurt knew the cargo ships and the passenger liners were hard-pressed
to keep up with the demand from people on Earth wishing to migrate to Newton.

“That depends.
Things on Earth are still pretty chaotic. It’s all President Mayfield can do to
keep the North American Union from collapsing. There’s a lot of discontent and
threats against the government. The same problems have been experienced by the
European Union and the Russian Collective, though I understand the Chinese
Conglomerate has come through pretty much unaffected. They have a much tighter
control on their people.”

“What about
the gold reserves sent from Earth?” asked Kurt. Most of the major countries on
the planet had sent their reserves to Newton for safekeeping.

Governor
Spalding’s eyes narrowed sharply, and he let out a deep and regretful sigh.
“They’ve been sent back. Every government, including the North American Union,
demanded we return what was sent here. They were quite unhappy to find out how
much of it we spent at Kubitz and then paid Avery Dolman when he came here.
They demanded an accounting of every credit we spent.”

“You didn’t
send it all back, did you?” asked Kurt. They might need that gold at a later
date as very little minable gold remained on Newton or on the other worlds and
moons of the system. Earth was unique in having gold deposits so close to the
surface, making mining it relatively easy.