The Star Cross (24 page)

Andrew studied
the tactical screen and then turned toward Kurt. “From their position they
won’t detect Rear Admiral Wilson’s ships.”

“Good,”
replied Kurt with satisfaction in his voice. “Inform Captain Simms to prepare
to launch his Scorpion bombers upon my command.” Twenty of the small deadly
crafts were in Newton Station’s original landing bay. “Also tell him to launch
the squadron of Lance fighters the
Vindication
left behind.”

Andrew was in
constant communication with all the fleet units and the shipyard, so he could
pass on each of the admiral’s orders.

“Profiteer
fleet is moving toward us,” reported Lieutenant Brooks.

Kurt nodded.
The Command Center was alive with intense activity as the crew prepared for
battle.

“Move us out
at 10 percent sublight,” Kurt ordered. “I want to meet them far enough away from
Newton so they can’t fire weapons on the planet.”

“If they’re
coming for the gold they think we have, I doubt if they’ll risk destroying it,”
pointed out Andrew.

“Let’s hope
so,” Kurt answered. He was concerned about his family on Newton as was Andrew,
as well as the millions of others on the planet.

Kurt could
well imagine the fear running through his sister’s family and everyone else on Newton when the planetwide alarms sounded. They were all familiar with what the Profiteers
had done to Earth.

“Combat range
in seven minutes,” reported Lieutenant Brooks in a steady voice. She kept a
close eye on her sensors and the eighteen approaching red threat icons.

“Instruct our fighters
they’re to intercept any enemy shuttles that might be launched,” Kurt added, as
he thought of the possible tactics the enemy might use.

“All weapons
are powered up, and the new hypermissiles are on standby,” reported Lieutenant
Mays.

“I wish bigger
warheads were on the hypermissiles,” Kurt commented. “If they were of the ten-
or twenty-megaton range, we might be able to knock down the enemy shields with
the missiles alone.” But he didn’t have any of the more powerful antimatter
warheads. Those had been lost on the
Lansing
, and Lomatz had balked at
sending additional ones on the
Plymouth
. He had demanded more security
to move the more deadly missiles. Lomatz had promised to send more, once the
defense grid was delivered.

“We can speak
to our R&D department on Newton Station,” Andrew said, agreeing with the fleet
admiral. “However, we might not have the technical expertise to construct such
powerful warheads.”

“We can get
the know-how from the right people on Earth,” Kurt answered, as he kept his
eyes glued to the tactical screen. He didn’t like being dependent on Kubitz and
Lomatz for these.

“Engagement
range in three minutes,” reported Lieutenant Brooks.

“As soon as we
engage, Rear Admiral Wilson is to commit his ships,” ordered Kurt. “Have him
here as quickly as possible.”

“I’m relaying
the message,” Andrew replied and then a few moments later added, “He says he
can be in combat range in four minutes, once he comes around the planet.”

“Very well,
order all ships to stand by for combat maneuvers.”

-

High Profiteer
Creed gazed intently at the tactical screen and the human ships about to enter
combat range.

“Sensors show
they have one battlecruiser, one of their carrier vessels, six light cruisers,
and what appear to be nine of their small destroyers,” Second Profiteer Lantz
reported nervously.

“More ships
than we thought,” Creed said, as he quickly calculated how much this battle
might cost him in credits.

If everything
went according to plan, he shouldn’t lose more than one of two of his lighter
units, with minor damage spread across the fleet. If he could find the gold the
humans had hidden on this colony world, the attack would be well worth the
possible cost.

“Clan Leader
Jarls has placed his battleships in a double line just above our ships,”
reported Third Profiteer Bixt from Sensors.

“Very well,”
Creed answered. “Put our ships into two lines of four directly beneath Jarls’s
ships with the
Ascendant Destruction
and the
Crimson Star
directly below Jarls’s flagship.” The
Crimson Star
was his other
battlecruiser.

Creed leaned
back in his command chair with a satisfied grin on his face. His large eyes
gleamed, as he thought of the vast amount of gold that would soon be in his
hands. True, he would have to turn over a large portion to Jarls; but, if his
theories were correct, there would be plenty to go around.

-

“Combat range
in one minute,” reported Lieutenant Brooks.

“We’re at the extreme
range for our main KEW batteries,” commented Andrew with a cunning look in his
eyes, looking meaningfully at Kurt.

Kurt nodded. “Lieutenant
Mays, one of those two Profiteer battlecruisers probably belongs to High
Profiteer Creed. Hit both with two KEW rounds from our main batteries. I want them
to know we’re here.”

“Yes, sir,”
Mays answered, as she passed on the orders to her tactical team. Moments later
the
Star Cross
vibrated slightly as the large tungsten rounds were fired
at 10 percent the speed of light at the two Profiteer ships. “Weapons fired,”
reported Mays with a satisfied grin.

On the main viewscreen,
the energy screens of the two Profiteer ships suddenly lit up with explosions
of released energy. When the screen cleared, the two ships were still there,
but now they knew, for certain, that the humans were coming.

-

“What was
that!” roared Creed in anger. The sudden attack had nearly thrown him from his
command chair.

“Kinetic
energy weapons,” answered Second Profiteer Lantz. “No damage, though the shield
was stressed from the sudden attack. Those rounds were coming at 8 or 10
percent of light speed.”

“We’re in
combat range,” reported Third Profiteer Talbot from Tactical.

“Well, fire
then!” roared Creed, his large eyes glowing with rage. “Destroy the humans!”

-

“Inbound
fire!” warned Lieutenant Brooks, as her sensor alarms went off, indicating incoming
energy.

The
Star
Cross
shook, and the lights dimmed slightly.

“Ion beams and
energy weapons,” reported Andrew. “Shield is holding at 82 percent.”

“Initiate
firing plan Beta 3,” ordered Kurt. Time to teach the Profiteers that this
attack would be expensive. “Contact Rear Admiral Wilson and tell him to
commence his attack run.”

-

From the
Star
Cross
and the six light cruisers, dark blue particle beams lanced out and
struck a single Dacroni battleship. In their wake KEW rounds hammered the
shield, seeking a weakness. Almost at the same time, six hypermissiles from the
Star Cross
slammed into the battleship’s energy screen, and, for a moment,
a small hole opened. Instantly a KEW round penetrated, smashing into the hull,
blasting a huge glowing pit in the side of the ship. Its power fluctuated
briefly, and then several particle beams penetrated, raking the hull and
opening up more compartments to space. Almost immediately the shield failed completely,
as too many power couplings had been compromised.

The light
cruisers
Dallas
,
Birmingham
, and
Johnas
turned broadside
and opened fire with their lighter KEW batteries, quickly scoring numerous hits
on the now heavily damaged battleship. They continued to pound the hapless vessel,
until it suddenly exploded in a blazing flash of light.

-

“Dacroni battleship
is down,” reported Lieutenant Brooks excitedly.

Another flash
of light suddenly lit up a viewscreen, drawing Kurt’s attention. “What was
that?”

“Destroyer
Kline
is down,” replied Lieutenant Brooks, as her jubilation at the destruction of
the Dacroni battleship quickly faded.

“They were hit
by multiple ion beams and a hypermissile,” reported Andrew, as he listened to
the reports coming in across the fleet. “Rear Admiral Wilson is inbound and is
preparing his Scorpion bombers for a shipping strike.”

“When his
fleet gets in range, have him order Captain Anniston to target one of the
Profiteer escort cruisers with the
Trinity
’s full spread of hypermissiles,”
ordered Kurt.

“Message
sent,” replied Andrew.

-

The space
between the two battling fleets was full of weapons fire. The dark blue human
particle beams and the white flash of Profiteer and Dacroni ion and energy
beams filled the void. Occasionally a hypermissile would light up space, as one
struck an energy screen.

-

“Three more
ships!” roared High Profiteer Creed, still reeling from the shock of one of
Jarls’s battleships being blown apart by the human fleet. “Where did they come
from?”

“They were
hiding behind the planet,” reported Third Profiteer Bixt. “One of them is 1,200
meters in length. It must be the ship they were building. They did finish it!
There’s also another human battlecruiser and one of their small carrier
vessels.”

“Where did
they get another battlecruiser?” Creed leaned back in his command chair, deep
in thought. This attack would be far more costly than he had originally thought.
These humans were full of surprises; he wondered what else they might be
hiding.

-

The light cruiser
Blair
suddenly found herself under attack from four Dacroni battleships.
Her shields flared brightly under the assault.

“Put all power
to the shields,” called out her captain, as he saw they were in danger of
failing.

“Engineering
reports they’re giving us all they’ve got,” reported the executive officer. “Shifting
all power from weapons and life support.”

The ship
suddenly shook violently, and an explosion rocked the Command Center. Crewmembers were hurled to the deck, and several consoles erupted in bright showers of
sparks. Smoke filled the room, and the acrid smell of burned wiring prevailed.

“Shield is
down,” reported a grim-faced executive officer.

“Damn!”
uttered the captain, knowing this was the end.

-

Several ion
beams slammed into the top section of the
Blair
, causing massive explosions;
the hull pressed outward, and glowing debris drifted from the ship. Then a
Dacroni hypermissile detonated in the damaged area, and the ship turned briefly
into a miniature sun. When the brightness died away, all that was left was a
few wisps of glowing gas.

-

“Light cruiser
Blair
is down,” uttered Lieutenant Brooks in a shaky voice.

“I think it’s
time for our surprise,” suggested Andrew, looking intently at the fleet admiral.
“Most of our ships can’t go toe-to-toe against those Dacroni battleships.”

“I agree,” answered
Kurt, as he studied the tactical display with a frown. Other ships were damaged,
and, if he didn’t do something quickly, he would lose more ships. He had
already lost the crews of the
Kline
and the
Blair
; he refused to
lose any more human lives.

“Rear Admiral
Wilson is nearly in combat range, and he’s launching his Scorpion bombers,”
added Andrew. “The
Trinity
is preparing its hypermissile strike.”

“Initiate Operation
Last Ditch,” ordered Kurt. Now he would see if his little trap would pay off.
“Order Rear Admiral Wilson to hold off on the
Trinity
’s hypermissile
strike for now. We may need those missiles later.”

Amid the human fleet, four small
computer-controlled cargo ships, posing as destroyers, suddenly accelerated
forward under full power. Each ship had been equipped with an energy shield,
and nearly all the power the ships had available was directed into those
shields.

-

“Four human destroyers
have accelerated and are heading toward our ships,” warned Third Profiteer
Bixt.

“What!” called
out High Profiteer Creed, his eyes focusing on the four red threat icons,
pulling out of the human fleet formation. “That’s suicide.”

“We’re directing
weapons fire toward them,” reported Second Profiteer Lantz, “but they’re still
accelerating.”

Creed’s large
eyes watched one of the viewscreens, which showed a magnified view of the approaching
human ships. One of them was hit with an ion beam, blasting a glowing crater in
the bow of the ship. Another was hit with several energy beams, tearing open compartment
after compartment.

“They’re still
accelerating!” warned Third Profiteer Bixt. “I think they’re going to ram us!”

“Pull us
back!” yelled Creed, his eyes suddenly full of fear. Before he could say
another word, the viewscreens suddenly filled with light.

-

The four cargo
ships were half-destroyed wrecks when they slammed into High Profiteer Creed’s
support cruisers. The cargo ships’ Command Centers had been moved to the rear
of the ships, in case the forward sections were destroyed in the headlong attack.
The cargo ships smashed through the Profiteer support cruisers’ shields, as the
sheer mass of the cargo ships overloaded the enemy’s energy screens. Massive
explosions lit up space as the eight ships died.

-

“We just lost
four of our escort cruisers,” reported a frightened Second Profiteer Lantz. “If
one of those ships had struck the
Ascendant Destruction
, I’m not sure we
would have survived.”

“The other
three human ships are entering combat range, and they’ve launched over two hundred
small attack craft,” reported Third Profiteer Bixt from his sensor console.

“Withdraw,”
grated out High Profiteer Creed, his large eyes glowing with anger. “This
attack has already been too costly, and it’s only growing more so. We must jump
back into hyperspace, before we lose even more of our ships.”