The Star Cross
Authors: Raymond L. Weil
Tags: #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Science Fiction, #Alien Invasion, #Colonization, #Exploration, #First Contact, #Galactic Empire, #Military, #Space Fleet, #Space Marine, #Space Opera, #Space Exploration
(The Star Cross Series, Book 1)
Website:
http://raymondlweil.com/
Copyright © October 2015 by Raymond L.
Weil
All Rights Reserved
Cover Design by Humblenations.com
This
book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either
products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to
actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All
rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the author.
The
Earth’s eight-hundred-meter-long heavy battlecruiser
Star
Cross
slid silently through empty space, the ship’s powerful sensors scanning
everything ahead and around it. Her four light cruiser escorts were in
screening positions, protecting the massive battlecruiser from attack. The six-hundred-meter-long
light carrier
Vindication
followed closely behind, protected by six small
destroyers. Each ship was on high alert, and tensions were high among the
crews. Everyone glanced anxiously at one another, wondering what was awaiting
them at Earth.
In the Command Center of the
Star Cross
, Admiral Kurt Vickers watched the main viewscreen,
which was focused on the light carrier, as four Lance fighters left the flight
bay to patrol in front of the fleet. The light carrier had twenty fighters in
its bay, plus ten small Scorpion bombers.
“CSP has been
launched,” Lieutenant Lena Brooks reported, as four friendly green icons
appeared on her sensor screen. The twenty-eight-year-old woman let out a quiet
breath.
Vickers could
tell Lena was hoping they would remain undetected by her rapid breathing. She
wasn’t the only worried one in the Command Center.
Lena focused her hazel eyes upon the admiral, awaiting further orders. She trusted him to
bring them through the coming ordeal.
“Current status?”
asked Vickers in a steady voice, turning to his XO and commander of the
battlecruiser, Captain Andrew Randson.
The captain
checked several data screens before answering the admiral. “Long-range sensors
indicate no unusual movement from the enemy ships. I don’t think they detected
our hyperjumps.” Randson let out a deep, ragged breath.
He seemed to
be feeling the tension running through the Command Center. Everyone’s nerves
were on edge. The first part of the mission was a success. They had jumped into
the Sol System without the enemy becoming aware of the small battle fleet.
Admiral
Vickers nodded, as his gaze returned to the main tactical screen, now
displaying information from the long-distance scans. He felt a tremendous
weight of responsibility upon his shoulders, knowing his next few decisions
could well determine the future of the human race. His fleet was the last fleet
Earth still possessed; all the others had been destroyed by a vicious and
unknown enemy.
The Command Center crew waited his further orders in silence. Everyone wanted to know what had
happened here in their home star system, and if their friends and families were
still alive. Kurt knew they had good reasons to be concerned.
-
Two weeks back
a mysterious and hostile alien fleet had appeared out of hyperspace and
annihilated the two human fleets permanently stationed around Earth for
protection. The majority of the ships had been destroyed before their shields
could be raised or a single weapon fired. Only a few had managed to fight back
and then only briefly. This wasn’t surprising, as no aliens had been detected
by any of Earth’s long-range exploration ships, and no one had been expecting
an attack. So the ships had been at a low level of alert. Many of the crewmembers
had even been on leave down on Earth.
The
Star
Cross
and her fleet had been in the Newton System, practicing maneuvers and
testing the new particle beam weapons the battlecruiser and the light cruisers
had been equipped with. The Newton System held a thriving human colony of
nearly eight million inhabitants, plus a large orbital station designed for
deep-space exploration and minor ship repair. The colony had a number of large scientific
outposts, since ships sent on exploratory missions were required to report to Newton before being allowed to return to Earth. Newton was also the only true Earth-type
planet to be discovered so far in the humans’ explorations. Humans could
survive on other planets, but none could compare to Earth or Newton.
A heavily
damaged light cruiser had limped into the Newton System and reported the shocking
news of the attack on Earth. The ship’s commander, Captain Owens, had barely
escaped and had lost over half of his crew in the brief battle above the planet.
The report of the attack had shaken the Newton colony, and, after conferring
with the colony’s governor, it had been decided that Admiral Vickers would
return to the Solar System. His mission was to determine the current condition
of Earth and the number of alien ships still present.
-
“What now?” Captain
Randson asked, as he stepped closer to the admiral. Upon the tactical screen, a
large number of red threat icons were visible. “Twenty alien ships are in orbit
above Earth. Four of them are approximately the same size as the
Star Cross
,
and the rest seem to be similar to our own light cruisers.”
Vickers
nodded. “From the reports we received from the captain of the light cruiser, the
alien ships are heavily armed. I don’t want to risk an engagement with them at
this time if we can avoid it. We have the Newton colony to think about. Our
fleet is their only means of protection.”
“The enemy ships
are still above Earth,” Randson pointed out. “They may not even know about Newton.”
“We can’t
afford ship losses,” Kurt replied with a heavy sigh. “Governor Spalding
specifically requested that we return to Newton rather than risk involvement in
a major combat operation.”
“You don’t
have to answer to Spalding,” responded Randson, raising his eyebrow. “Fleet Command
and the president are on Earth.”
“I’m not sure
about that,” Kurt said. “If Earth has been conquered, then Governor Spalding’s next
in line for the presidency. There are no other high ranking members of the
government off Earth.”
Randson was
silent for a moment, as he seemed to consider that. “So what do you want to
do?”
“We need more
information.” Kurt had spent hours with Captain Owens, going over the tactical
data recorded during his light cruiser’s brief battle above Earth. It had been
painful to watch as Earth’s proud space fleet had been all but annihilated.
“Our new
particle beam weapons should give us an advantage,” Randson carefully pointed
out. “None of the ships we had over Earth were equipped with them. I’m very
concerned about what the aliens may have done to our people.”
Kurt didn’t
like entering such an unknown situation while the Solar System was so quiet.
The Moon and Mars both held sizable human colonies. The total silence was eerie
and frightening as to the possible cause that ceased all communications.
Normally the radio frequencies were full of transmissions and messages. “Can we
detect any transmissions from Earth, the Moon, or from Mars?”
“No, and all
the scientific outposts are also silent. Not a peep coming from the asteroids
or the moons of Jupiter and Saturn,” Randson replied with growing concern in
his eyes. “It’s just too damn quiet! I can’t believe they’ve all been wiped
out.”
Kurt could only
imagine how Randson felt. His wife and twelve-year-old daughter were on Earth,
just outside of Houston. So was Kurt’s sister and her family.
“We could send
in a couple destroyers,” Randson suggested, “to check on some of the outposts.”
“Not yet,” replied
Kurt, shaking his head, as he thought about the absence of signals. “They might
be detected. Right now, our biggest tactical advantage is that the aliens don’t
know we’re here. Let’s keep it that way for a little while longer.”
“Sir,” Lieutenant
Brooks said, her eyes alight with fear. “The long-range sensors are picking up
elevated radiation levels from Earth.” Lena worked at her console fervently.
“I’m trying to get better readings.”
Captain Randson
stepped over and studied the data, the frown on his face deepening. He shook
his head, and his breathing quickened. “A few nuclear weapons have definitely
been dropped on the surface,” he stated, drawing in a sharp breath. “The level
isn’t dangerous, but it’s four times higher than normal.” He gazed at the admiral,
his expression deeply concerned. “I’m not sure we can afford to wait. What if
they drop more bombs?”
“The bombs may
have been dropped in the original attack,” Kurt said evenly, struggling to stay
calm.
He knew, if
the radiation-level readings were correct, that millions of people could be
dead on the planet. He felt anger growing inside him at such an enemy who would
nuke a planet from orbit. This said a lot about the temperament of the aliens
they faced. While Kurt had never gotten married and his parents were deceased, he
worried about his sister, Denise, and her six-year-old son, Bryan. Denise’s
family lived in Houston because her husband, Alex, had a systems analyst job
with an up-and-coming company there.
“What are your
orders?” Randson asked.
The
indications of nukes being used on the planet might also explain the
communications silence, if everyone was afraid of drawing the aliens’
attention.
Admiral
Vickers studied the tactical screen for a few more moments, while he decided on
the best course of action. The enemy ships couldn’t be allowed to continue to orbit
the planet. They had to be driven off before they nuked Earth again. The
presence of an elevated radiation level changed things considerably. Vickers
was afraid to even guess how many people had already died. He wondered if the
aliens had landed ground troops. In the back of Kurt’s mind, he could hear
Governor Spalding saying to not risk his fleet. He had a hard decision to make,
and it wouldn’t be easy.
“It looks as
if the shipyard is relatively intact,” Kurt said, looking at the large green
icon on the tactical screen. Earth’s only shipyard orbited forty thousand kilometers
above the planet.
“It is, sir,” Lieutenant
Brooks said, nodding her brunette head as she studied one of her data screens.
“My scanners are showing only minor damage to the shipyard, and its power
systems still seem to be operating.”
“I wonder why
they spared the shipyard?” asked Captain Randson with a questioning look upon
his face. “You would think it would’ve been one of their first targets.”
“Unless they
want it for themselves,” Kurt responded, thinking about the two thousand men
and women who operated the station. He wondered if they were still alive or had
been killed by boarders. So many unknowns faced them.
“The first
alien race we encounter and they’re the ones to find us,” Randson said, as his
eyes narrowed. “Why did they attack us in the first place?”
The higher
officers in Earth’s space fleet had always expected to eventually encounter an
alien race with the planet’s exploration ships ranging deeper and deeper into
unexplored space. First-contact protocols had even been set up with linguists
and other specialists assigned to each exploration mission, just in case
another exploring spacecraft from an alien civilization was encountered.
“We may never
know,” replied Kurt brusquely. “Lieutenant Brooks, are you detecting anything
else on the long-range sensors?”
“No,”
responded Brooks, shaking her head.
“What about
communications?”
“Nothing,” replied
Randson. “No radio or video broadcasts of any type have been picked up from
Earth, the Moon, or Mars. Everything’s silent.”
“I’ve got additional
information on the radiation in Earth’s atmosphere,” Lieutenant Brooks added,
her eyes showing growing worry. “It originates from twenty-two different
sources where major cities are located on the planet.”
The silence in
the Command Center was profound, as everyone realized the magnitude of the
calamity that had struck Earth.
Randson’s eyes
widened in anger. His gaze shifted back to the admiral. “We need to get into
Earth orbit!”
“Get Captain
Watkins on the
Vindication
,” ordered Kurt, folding his arms across his
chest, as he thought about his options. He knew he didn’t really have any but
one. The knowledge that some of Earth’s cities had been nuked was the deciding
factor. He didn’t think Governor Spalding would react negatively to Kurt’s
decision, once the governor learned of this.
“Captain
Watkins is on the comm,” Ensign Brenda Pierce, the communications officer,
reported.
“Henry, we
need to drive away those alien ships. From our scans, it’s obvious that Earth
has suffered a nuclear bombardment. We can’t afford to allow them to bomb the
planet again.”
“I was afraid
of that,” his longtime friend replied. “Our scanners are showing the same
thing. What do you have in mind? We’re outnumbered by nearly two to one.”
“I’ll jump in
first with the light cruisers. We’ve spotted what looks like four enemy capital
ships. We’ll try to take them out with the new particle beam weapons. Once we’re
engaged, you and the destroyers will jump in. Launch your bombers and have them
target the smaller ships with their Hydra missiles. Hopefully we’ll have enough
surprise on our side to carry this out.”
“It’s risky,”
Henry replied after a moment’s pause. “But I don’t see where we have any other
choices. We’ll only have one shot at this.”
“Get your
bombers ready,” Kurt ordered decisively. “We make the jump in twenty minutes.”
Lieutenant
Brooks stepped over and handed Kurt a list of the nuked cities. He noted with
relief that Houston wasn’t on the list. However, Chicago; Washington, DC; Rome; Cairo; Moscow; and numerous other cities scattered around Earth were. He felt his
heart grow cold as he looked over the list. If this was correct, well over
forty million casualties could have resulted from the orbital attack. His eyes
shifted to the tactical screen and the twenty red threat icons. How could an
enemy be so callous as to nuke defenseless civilians?
-
The tension
and anxiety in the Command Center had increased considerably as the time for
the attack neared. All the ships in the fleet were at Condition One with their
crews at their battlestations. This would be the first time any member of
Admiral Vickers’s fleet had actually gone into combat. They had trained for it
and even participated in war games against other Earth fleets, but never in the
history of the fleet had a weapon been fired against another ship.