The Star Cross (14 page)

“What’s it
doing here?” asked Dalet, his eyes showing concern. “How did they learn of
Kubitz?”

“Spending
gold,” answered the communications operator. “One of our clan on the Controller
station says they paid their system fee with gold bars, and they had a
Profiteer with them.”

“They must
have captured him when they drove High Profiteer Creed from the system,” said
Castel, thinking about the possible ramifications of this.

“They have a
cargo ship,” pointed out Dalet, gesturing to it on a viewscreen. “How much gold
can they have?”

“Clan Leader
Jarls needs to be informed of this,” commented Castel, as he weighed his
options. “It’s evident the humans moved some of their gold off Earth between
the time High Profiteer Creed was driven away and when we returned. We have no
way of knowing just how much.”

“What are your
orders?”

“Send two clan
groups to the surface to keep a close eye on the humans. Make sure they’re
heavily armed. Find out who they’re talking to and how much gold they have. If
at all possible, I would like one of the humans seized and brought back to the
Rellal
.”

“I will pass
on the orders,” replied Dalet.

Castel watched
as Dalet hastened away to carry out his instructions. Turning his eyes toward
the orbiting human ships, Castel focused his attention on the large cargo vessel.
He wondered if they could place a tracking device on it. They couldn’t attack
the ship while in the Kubitz System, but, once it left, those rules no longer
applied. While he might not be able to get the gold from the humans—after all
they were obviously here to trade—Castel would reclaim what the humans bought
with their gold, as well as the cargo ship itself.

Emily Randson and
her twelve-year-old daughter, Alexis, were in their spartan quarters in the
large squat building currently home to all the captive humans. Each day she was
expected to help serve meals to the different aliens who stopped by the large
dining hall to eat. Fortunately most of the aliens were humanoid, and even a
few seemed as if they could have come from Earth. Around her neck, she wore a
medallion with a number engraved upon it. This was her identification number.
She knew the aliens coming to eat were prospective buyers and how well she
served them could well decide if she was chosen as a household servant or sent
to do other more demeaning work. She had heard rumors that some of the younger
women were being trained to work in the pleasure houses. She shuddered,
thinking what they must be going through.

“Mother, do
you think we’ll ever go home?” asked Alexis, as she put on the dark gray outfit
that designated her as kitchen staff.

Emily sighed
and, standing up, walked over and hugged her daughter. “I don’t know,” she
replied, wishing things were different. “We’re a long way from home, and no one
back on Earth knows where the Profiteers took us.”

The last few
months had been horrible. The trip from Earth in the crowded Profiteer ship had
been heart-wrenching. They had no privacy and very little food and water. She
knew a few people had died on the trip.

“So we may
never see Dad again?” Alexis asked, her eyes turning cloudy. “I want to go home.
I don’t like it here!”

“Don’t say
never
,”
Emily said, wiping a tear from her daughter’s cheek. “If your father finds out
what happened to us, he’ll never give up trying to find us.”

“He could be
dead,” said Alexis in an uncertain voice. “The aliens killed all the starships
in orbit. If Dad and the
Star Cross
were to come back to Earth, wouldn’t
they do the same to him?”

“He’s smart
enough to stay away,” Emily said. “Admiral Vickers won’t risk the
Star Cross
,
and he won’t be caught by surprise like our other ships. Remember, the
Star
Cross
is a very powerful warship.”

“I hope Admiral
Vickers kills them all!” said Alexis heatedly. “These aliens are evil!”

“They’re just different,”
answered Emily. “Some we’ve met have been very polite.”

“Not the
Profiteers,” replied Alexis, shaking her head. “They’re mean!”

Emily sighed,
wishing her daughter wasn’t going through this ordeal. She knew the odds of
Andrew ever finding them was pretty close to zero. Her only hope was to find a
humanoid buyer who would give her and Alexis a decent home. Right now her main
priority had to be finding Alexis a safe environment to grow up in, even if she
had to do things that she once considered unthinkable.

A bell chimed
three times, indicating it was time for them to report for their shift in the
dining hall. Alexis helped wash the dishes and keep the large kitchen clean. It
was hard work for a child who was so young. Emily knew she only had a few days
left before the first auctions began. She had to find the right buyer for her
and Alexis shortly. She felt disgusted about what she was considering, but she
had to think of Alexis first.

“Come, dear. Let’s
go to the dining hall,” she said in a soft voice. “Our shift starts shortly.”

Alexis nodded
and followed her mother out the door.

-

Kurt and Andrew
were in what, on Earth, would be considered a bar. Loud music played; scantily
clad humanoid women danced on a stage, and alcohol was being consumed in large quantities
by the people inside. Kurt had decided not to look at them as aliens or
humanoids but as people, since many of them resembled regular humans.

Kurt kept his
eyes on Grantz, who was speaking to a very human-looking man near the stage.
Both were drinking heavily and laughing, as they watched the dancers.
Occasionally Grantz would point to the table where Kurt and Andrew sat. Grantz
had asked to talk to the man privately as he was an old acquaintance and very
wary of strangers.

“Did you notice
that nearly everyone in here is armed?” commented Andrew uneasily, as he looked
around the establishment.

“Yeah,” Kurt
replied with a nod. He and Andrew were carrying 9mm pistols.

Their Marine
escorts and Lieutenant Tenner waited outside, as armed bodyguards were not
allowed inside the bar. What also concerned Kurt was the complete absence of
any Enforcers. Since leaving the spaceport, he hadn’t seen even one. Grantz had
commented that they were always around, just out of sight.

“They’re
coming over here,” Andrew said suddenly.

Kurt watched
as Grantz and the man he had been talking to made their way toward them. For
the first time Kurt noticed the man was armed with what looked like two very
large pistols in holsters hanging from a large black belt. They came to a stop,
and the human gazed speculatively at Kurt.

“I’m Avery Dolman.
Your friend here says you want access to the Marsten servant training facility
here on Kubitz.” The man spoke in a quiet voice, folding his arms across his
chest.

“Yes,” Kurt
answered. “We have some business to conduct there.” Kurt noticed how cold the
man’s eyes looked. This was a man not to be trifled with.

Dolman was
silent for a long moment and then spoke. “According to Grantz, the humans who
are inside belong to your race. I should let you know that an additional two
thousand were brought down in the last few days from the orbiting detainee
ships.”

“That’s four
thousand people,” Andrew said, stunned that so many had been brought to Kubitz
so quickly. It would press the
Newton Princess
to take on so many.

“We want to
make an offer for the entire group,” Kurt said evenly, staring into Dolman’s
eyes.

“You must have
a lot of credits,” Dolman said casually. “It’ll cost you in the neighborhood of
forty million credits to buy the freedom of so many. Are you certain you
wouldn’t rather pick out just a few? I understand some of the women are quite
beautiful.”

“We want all
of them,” Kurt said, holding his anger in check. “Can you help us?”

“Ten percent,”
the man answered with a smug look on his face. “For ten percent I can get you
into the local facility and arrange for you to meet the right people.”

“One hundred
thousand credits,” growled Grantz with a threatening look on his face. “For
that you’ll provide security to ensure we get to the facility and back to the spaceport,
or we find someone else.”

“Six percent,”
countered Dolman. “A Dacroni battleship is in orbit. They may send people down
to ensure you stay away from the servant training facility. One hundred
thousand credits will not buy you adequate protection.” He unfolded his arms,
and his hands touched his pistols. “Six percent and I will provide sufficient
security to ensure you and your people remain safe.”

“Six percent
is too high,” Grantz pointed out, shaking his head. “You can make a tidy profit
from this. Two hundred thousand credits and, if you refuse to accept our offer,
we’ll look for someone else.”

“Four percent
and it’s a contract,” Dolman said after a moment of thought. “We may have to go
against the Dacroni, and they’re not easy to kill.”

Grantz looked questionably
at Kurt.

“For 250,000
credits, it’s a deal,” said Kurt firmly; he didn’t want any more haggling.

Dolman
grinned. “Have your people ready in an hour. I have a few messages to send.
I’ll want 50 percent before we leave for the facility and the rest when we
reach the spaceport.”

“Just make
sure you keep up your end of the agreement,” warned Kurt firmly.

“I always do,”
answered Dolman, as he walked off.

Kurt looked
over at Grantz, who sat down across from him, holding a large glass containing
an amber-colored liquid. “What, no contract? Can we trust him?”

“As well as
you can trust anyone on Kubitz,” Grantz said with a laugh, then taking a long
swig of his drink. “He’ll do as asked.” Grantz took out a small recording
device from his pocket. “I’ll send a copy of this recording to one of the
Controller stations to make it official.”

“Won’t he get
upset about that?” asked Andrew, gazing at the small recorder.

Grantz laughed
again, shaking his head. “No. I strongly suspect he did the same thing.” He
tipped his glass and drank the last of the amber liquid. “This is good stuff.”
He looked at Kurt and Andrew. “When this is over, I’ll take you to the pleasure
houses. I promise you’ve never seen anything on Earth like what we have here.”

“No thanks,”
answered Kurt, shaking his head. “I think Captain Randson and I will both pass
on that offer.”

Grantz
grinned. “Your loss.” Waving his hand, the Profiteer ordered another drink.

-

An hour later
Dolman pulled alongside the bar in two very large vehicles that resembled old
military trucks. Both were fully armored with a small turret on top.

“Are those
legal?” asked Lieutenant Tenner, as he examined the vehicles. “I thought large
weapons were illegal on Kubitz.”

“No,” Grantz
answered, as he gestured for the others to follow him. “However, it’s not
uncommon for vehicles like these to transport large amounts of credits or
important clients. The Enforcers will look the other way, unless the turrets
are fired. If they are, the Enforcers will take everyone into custody. Normally
only large fines have to be paid, if you can show the weapons were used in
self-defense.”

Dolman stepped
from the lead vehicle and walked over to Kurt and the others. “I’ve made
arrangements for you to eat a meal in the dining hall at the training facility,”
he informed them. “There is the matter of payment before we’re on our way.”

Kurt handed
over the metallic computer card, which Dolman inserted into a small device he
held. He pressed several buttons and then gestured toward Kurt. “It needs your
thumbprint to complete the transaction.”

Grantz took
the device and checked the amount deposited to Dolman’s account. “Everything looks
all right.” He handed the device to Kurt and indicated where to place his
thumb. Then, after Kurt had approved the transaction, Grantz removed the
computer card and handed the device back to Dolman; the card he returned to
Kurt.

“Let’s be on
our way,” Dolman said. At a signal from him, the back of the large trucks opened.
“Half of you in one truck and the rest in the other.”

Kurt saw
several heavily armed men inside each vehicle. After quickly dividing the Marines,
he climbed into one, followed by Andrew, Grantz, and three Marines, including
Sergeant Jones. Lieutenant Tenner and the remaining three Marines took the
other vehicle. The men inside looked coldly at Kurt and the others, and didn’t
say anything.

“Pretty
primitive vehicles,” commented Andrew, as the vehicles pulled out and headed
down the street. “I expected something more advanced.”

“Practical,”
Kurt replied. “I suspect that really advanced technology is held to a minimum.”

“Only where
weapons are concerned,” one of the armed men said. “Heavy energy weapons could
seriously damage the city, so their use is restricted. These old transport vehicles
are very dependable and sturdy enough to withstand most attacks we might face.”
He rapped his knuckles against the armor on the wall. He then settled back, as
if he had lost interest in talking.

“We should be
safe,” commented Sergeant Jones. “The armor on these vehicles seems adequate.”

Grantz didn’t
say anything; he just sat there and smiled, as if he was enjoying a private
joke.

-

For nearly
thirty minutes, the vehicles moved through the city until they finally came to
a stop. The backs of the vehicles opened, and the men climbed out.

Kurt looked at
the large structure before them. It covered several city blocks and was about
ten stories high.

“Your people
are here,” Dolman said, joining them. “I have made arrangements for four of you
to go inside. Your armed escorts will have to remain here with the trucks.”

As Kurt turned
to go, Dolman stopped him. “I almost forgot to mention that there will be a fee
to get inside.”

“How big a
fee?” demanded Kurt.

“It’s negotiable,”
Dolman said with a grin. “Everything on Kubitz is negotiable.”

“I’ll handle
it,” Grantz said. “Let’s get inside. I don’t like being out in the open like
this with a Dacroni battleship in orbit.”

Kurt agreed.

“Also the sky
is clouding up. We don’t want to get caught outside if it begins to rain.”

“Why is that?”
asked Andrew, looking up and noticing the dark clouds.

“Acid rain,”
answered Grantz. “Some storms are bad enough the raindrops will eat away your
skin. Normally an alarm will sound, just before the rain falls, sending
everyone to cover.”

Andrew shook
his head in disbelief. “Just what type of world is this?”

“The best!”
said Grantz with a grin. His eyes widened. “I still say again that you should
try the pleasure houses while you’re here. There are none comparable in the
rest of the galaxy.”

“Let’s get
inside,” Andrew said, ignoring Grantz. “I need to find my wife and daughter.”

At least the Marines
and Dolman’s people would have the armor of the trucks to protect them. “Lead
the way,” Kurt said, looking at the Profiteer.

-

Emily was four
hours into her shift and in the kitchen, full of tantalizing smells, picking up
a food order. She saw the despairing looks on many of the human faces around
her. Most had given up hope and felt they had no future. They were also not
allowed to eat any of the food they prepared. Their own fare was quite bland by
comparison.

A number of
overseers in the kitchen ensured the food was prepared properly. Punishment for
not doing one’s job was quick and quite painful. Emily was glad to see that
Alexis and several other young teenagers were busy keeping the dishes washed
and stacked and seemed to be staying caught up. It was warm in the kitchen, and
the work wasn’t easy.