The Star Cross (10 page)

Fleet Admiral
Vickers gazed at the large viewscreen on the front wall of the Command Center. A blue-white globe floated there with deep blue oceans and a scattering of
white clouds. Newton was a beautiful world, holding a little over eight million
people. He hoped it would still be unharmed when he returned from the Gothan
Empire.

-

Leaning back
in his command chair, he thought briefly about the conversation he had had with
Profiteer Grantz several weeks before.

Kurt and
Captain Randson had sat down in a secure briefing room with the Profiteer. On
the table was a small bar of gold that Kurt had brought along to ensure that
Grantz was cooperative.

“More gold,”
Grantz said with a slight hint of greed in his voice. “What is it you want this
time? I have already agreed to act as one of your crew, until such a time as my
contract has been fulfilled.”

“Your contract
is pretty simple,” Kurt said, as he ran his right hand over the bar of gold,
which sat on the table directly in front of him. “What I want to discuss are
what we humans call
bonuses
.”

“Bonuses?”
Grantz asked with a confused look in his large eyes. “What do you propose?”

“For you to
act as more than just a member of this crew,” Kurt said carefully. “For you to
do everything in your power to ensure our mission is a success. If it is, you
will leave this ship a very rich man.”

Grantz seemed
to consider what Kurt had just said. His large eyes strayed to the bar of gold
on the table. “If I agree, I want the guards on my quarters removed.”

“Demonstrate
your willingness to do as I ask first,” countered Kurt.

Grantz leaned
back and ran his right hand through the coarse white hair that covered his
head. “Very well,” he said. “As we approach the star cluster that contains the
Gothan Empire, your fleet needs to be on guard. Word of what High Profiteer Creed
discovered will have spread through the empire by now. Others will seek your
world and attempt to intercept any convoys inbound toward the cluster.”

“You would rob
from your own people?” Captain Randson gasped, his eyes widening at this
concept.

“Some of the
smaller Profiteer fleets would,” responded Grantz, shrugging his shoulders.
“It’s just how things are done. The larger fleets will recognize Creed’s claim
to your world and will not interfere.”

“We need to
emerge from hyperspace before we enter the cluster,” Andrew said, responding to
Grantz’s words. “We’ll also have to drop out of hyperspace several more times
once we’re in the cluster, as the star density will preclude us from jumping
straight to Kubitz.”

“Is there any
place in the cluster that will be safer than others?” asked Kurt, looking at
Grantz.

His eyes were
still focused on the bar of gold.

“No,” replied
Grantz, shaking his head. “The smaller fleets, when not out on raiding
missions, normally patrol the cluster, seeking small unescorted ships or
convoys.”

“We can hold
our dropout times to a minimum,” suggested Andrew. “Compute our next hyperspace
jump and leave as quickly as possible.”

“How long will
it take to compute the jumps?”

“Twenty to
thirty minutes at the most.”

“What type of
weapons will these ships be armed with?” asked Kurt. He had hoped to reach
Kubitz without being involved in a battle, particularly with the
Newton
Princess
and the
Lansing
along. Both ships were lightly armed and
were being equipped with rudimentary energy shields.

“Same as High
Profiteer Creed’s ships,” Grantz answered promptly. “Ion beams, energy
projectors, and hypermissiles for the most part.”

“What’s a
hypermissile?” asked Andrew.

“It has a
miniature hyperspace drive which can be activated once it exits the firing
tube. The missile will enter hyperspace and won’t stop until it strikes its
target. Either an energy shield or a ship’s hull. If it strikes nothing after a
given amount of time, the missile will drop from hyperspace and self-destruct.”

“What about other
weapons?” asked Andrew. “Do any of the other worlds in the Gothan Empire use
different weapons than these?”

“Direct energy
cannons,” Grantz said uneasily. “They’re more expensive and take a very
powerful energy source. For that reason they’re mostly found on mercenary
ships, particularly those used by the Dacroni.”

“What happens
when we reach Kubitz?” asked Kurt. He wanted as much information as possible
about what they were getting into.

Grantz’s brow
furrowed as he thought over the question. “Kubitz maintains a large fleet of
what you would call police craft. They patrol out to the sixth planet and will
intercept any ship that enters the quarantine zone without permission. They
have a large fleet of powerfully equipped battleships at Kubitz, which they can
call upon if necessary.”

“So we can’t
jump in close to Kubitz?” asked Andrew.

“No. Ships are
not allowed to jump inside the orbit of the sixth planet. Most ships exit
hyperspace between the orbits of the sixth and seventh planet near the
Controller space station.”

“What’s the
Controller space station?” asked Kurt. Grantz was telling them a lot of
information he hadn’t mentioned before.

“I was going
to tell you once we neared the Kubitz System,” Grantz answered. “All inbound
ships must register with the station before proceeding to the inner system. A
fee will be assessed for each ship. Ships can stay out near the station to
conduct their business or, for a higher fee, can proceed into orbit over
Kubitz. The space above the planet will be packed with ships from all over the
galaxy.”

Kurt nodded,
satisfied with the answers Grantz had given. “I’ll have the guards removed from
the door of your quarters. You’re free to roam the ship but stay out of
restricted areas.” Kurt paused for a moment and then slid the small bar of gold
across the table to Grantz, who quickly picked it up. “It’s yours, plus more
where that came from, if you continue to show your value to this mission. And
that means no withholding of information.”

Grantz nodded,
as he gazed down at the bar of yellow gold in his hand. He hefted it, and a
broad smile spread across his face. “With me to advise you, I promise that your
mission will be a success.”

“See that it
is,” Kurt responded, as he and Andrew turned and left the room.

-

“Ready for
departure,” reported Captain Randson bringing Kurt’s attention back to the
present. “The
Newton Princess
, the cargo ship
Lansing
, and the
light cruisers
Sydney
and
Dallas
are in formation.”

Kurt nodded.
The
Newton Princess
was a large passenger liner, which could bring back
any captive humans they could free. Also a handpicked First Contact team from
the exploration cruisers was on board. The
Lansing
carried some very
valuable cargo—a portion of the gold brought from Earth. The remaining portion,
a good part of the gold, platinum, and other precious metals and stones, was in
a new secure hidden vault on Newton, under heavy guard. The
Lansing
would also be used to bring back any weapons they managed to procure.

“Break orbit
and proceed outward at 10 percent sublight,” ordered Kurt, leaning back in his
command chair, anxious to get this mission started.

On another of
the screens, he could see Newton Station. It was much larger than it had been
in the past. The construction bay and manufacturing section taken from the
shipyard above Earth had been added. In addition, work had already commenced on
the large flight bay that would eventually house the station’s fighters and
bombers.

“Rear Admiral
Wilson is wishing us the best of luck,” reported Ensign Brenda Pierce from Communications.

Wilson had been promoted to rear admiral and would be in charge of the fleet while Kurt
was gone. He had formerly commanded one of the fleet’s battlecruisers but had
been on leave on Earth when the Profiteers had originally attacked. Kurt had
been relieved to have someone with Wilson’s experience available to step into
the rear admiral position. The
Kepler
would serve as Wilson’s flagship.

“Put the
Kepler
on the main viewscreen,” ordered Kurt.

Instantly the 1,200-meter-long
battlecarrier appeared. The
Kepler
had a crew of 1,400 and held 80
Scorpion bombers and 120 Lance fighters in her large twin flight bays.

“Damn, that’s
a big ship,” commented Andrew, as he looked appreciatively at the
battlecarrier.

“Big enough so
the Profiteers will regret ever coming to the Newton System, if and when they
show up,” Kurt said. He could see several small groups of Lance fighters flying
in formation around the ship as part of its normal CSP.

In the distance,
he could see the smaller carriers, the
Dante
and the
Vindication
.

One of the
reasons he had waited so long to leave for the Profiteer’s Gothan Empire was to
allow for the
Kepler
to be finished and the repairs to the
Dante
to be done. The crews on the station had worked around the clock to finish
everything, which was a lot considering all that had to be done to the small
carrier
Dante
. They had accomplished a miracle in repairing it so
quickly.

“The system
should be safe until we return.”

“With our kidnapped
people,” Andrew said in a firm and determined voice.

Kurt knew it
had been difficult for Andrew these last few weeks, not knowing what had
happened to his wife and daughter.

“We’ll find
Emily and Alexis,” promised Kurt. His XO had been greatly concerned about his missing
family. “We’ll bring them all back.”

“Do you trust
Grantz?” asked Andrew, raising his eyebrow. “All of this depends on the
Profiteer to guide us, once we reach the Gothan Empire.”

“He’ll do
what’s in his contract,” Kurt answered. He had dwelled on this considerably. “Plus
he’s anxious to receive the gold we’ve promised him.”

“An entire
culture based on greed and thievery,” muttered Andrew, shaking his head. “This
Gothan Empire is like something out of Earth’s past.”

“The Barbary pirates,” suggested Kurt. “They raided from North Africa for several centuries
until most nations paid them a tribute to allow their ships to pass by
unmolested. Two small wars were fought between the United States and the pirates,
which finally ended their threat to American shippers. This Gothan Empire seems
to be the modern-day Barbary pirates but on a much larger scale.”

As he spoke,
the
Star Cross
and her fleet broke orbit, and accelerated away from the
planet. On the viewscreens, the planet Newton, the
Kepler
, and Newton
Station rapidly dwindled.

“Hyperdrive is
charged,” reported Ensign Charles Styles from the Helm. “Course is laid in.”

“All ships
report ready to enter hyperspace,” added Ensign Pierce.

Kurt took a
deep breath. He looked longingly at Newton, now nearly two hundred thousand
kilometers away. He had told his sister good-bye the night before and had even
spoken to Bryan for a few minutes, promising to bring the six-year-old
something from this new adventure.

“Take the
fleet into hyperspace,” he ordered. It was time to go to the Gothan Empire.

-

Ten days later,
Kurt and Captain Randson sat down once more in a secure briefing room with
Profiteer Grantz.

“What kind of
defenses does Kubitz have?” asked Kurt. He felt uneasy about taking his ships
in close to the planet considering how many unknown ships would be in orbit.

“The most
powerful in the galaxy,” boasted Grantz, his eyes lighting up. “A full-scale orbital
defense system, with battleships, and planet-based defensive and offensive weapons.
I once heard High Profiteer Creed say that Kubitz by itself could hold off any one
of the major galactic powers.”

“Is there any
reason they would attack us or allow other Profiteers to try to take our
ships?”

“No, the
Controllers won’t permit it,” Grantz said in a serious tone. “Once you arrive
at the outer Controller station and have declared your intent to trade, no
attacks against competitors are allowed. Your ships fall under the protection
of the Kubitz government. Of course no ships are allowed to discharge a weapon
or fire a missile once the fee has been paid.”

“What happens
if someone does?” asked Andrew.

“I saw it once
a number of years ago,” Grantz admitted, as his large eyes narrowed, recalling
the incident. “Two of the smaller rival Profiteer fleets were having a dispute
over a cargo ship that both claimed. One ship fired on another, and, before
anyone else could respond, the Kubitz defense grid activated. The offending
ship was blown from space, and the breaching Profiteer fleet eventually had all
its ships confiscated. There hasn’t been an incident since.”

“Any other surprises
you haven’t mentioned?” asked Kurt.

“No,” Grantz
answered.

“Very well,
you can go,” Kurt said. He watched as Grantz stood up and left the room.

 “What do you
think?” asked Andrew. “Can we trust him?”

“I think so,” answered
Kurt, thinking about what the Profiteer had said. “The gold and our contract
filed with the Controllers will see to that.”

-

Two days later,
the
Star Cross
and her small fleet dropped from hyperspace into a small
star system just short of the Gothan star cluster.

“Report!”
ordered Fleet Admiral Vickers, as he gazed anxiously at the tactical display
and the viewscreens. The screens quickly cleared, showing a scattering of
unfamiliar stars.

“Sensors are
clear in our immediate area,” answered Lieutenant Brooks. She pressed several
icons on her computer screen. “Beginning long-range scans.”