The Star Cross (27 page)

“The
hyperspace sensor seems to be working adequately,” commented Andrew. “Unless
the Profiteers have a better hyperdrive on their cargo ship and the two
detainee ships, we should have no trouble following them.”

“We’ll see,” answered
Kurt. The Command Center routine had become more normal once they entered
hyperspace.

Kurt was
curious what the sensors would show as they neared the Solar System. Once they
rendezvoused with the
Vindication
, it would be a matter of waiting for
the Profiteers to send the convoy on its way. A lot was riding on this mission.
If the humans were successful, they could recover a full cargo ship of the
riches the Profiteers had stolen from Earth, plus free several thousand
captives who were about to be sold into slavery. It might also buy them the
time they needed to get the defense grid at Newton up and operational, and
perhaps even see the arrival of the new warships.

-

Kurt sat in
the Command Center, while the
Star Cross
dropped out of hyperspace two
thousand kilometers from the
Vindication
. It would be two more days yet
before the
Newton Princess
returned to pick up her next load of fleet
hopefuls.

They had
managed to follow the two light cruisers without losing them. It made Kurt feel
confident that they would be able to follow the Profiteer convoy when it
finally left Earth orbit.

“Message from
the
Vindication
,” Ensign Pierce reported. “Captain Watkins says the alien
convoy is already forming up and may be leaving at any time.”

“Crap,” muttered
Andrew, as his gaze moved to the tactical screen, now showing the Solar System
as seen by the hyperspace sensor. It didn’t show the system in great detail, but
it did show the ships around Earth. It was obviously detecting their hyperspace
drive emissions. Even when not activated, the drives still gave off a distinctive
energy signature. “I wonder how much time we have.”

“Have the
Dallas
and the
Johnas
take up supportive positions on our port and starboard
sides, and be prepared to enter hyperspace at a minute’s notice. Have them
slave their navigation computers to the
Star Cross
, and we’ll handle the
pursuit for all three ships,” ordered Kurt, as he gazed at the tactical screen.
“Once the alien convoy enters hyperspace, we have twelve to fifteen minutes to
locate them, before we no longer will be able to track them.”

Andrew looked
over at Kurt with concern on his face. “We’ve never attempted that type of
coordinated navigation before. At the speed we’ll be traveling, there won’t be
time to make sudden course corrections.”

“First time
for everything.” Kurt grinned. “Our navigation computer can handle it. We just
need to input the right information. Isn’t that correct, Ensign Styles?”

“Yes, Admiral,”
Styles replied confidently. “With the new hyperspace sensor, the computer
should be able to navigate all three ships safely.”

Andrew let out
a deep breath and nodded. “I’ll contact Captain Marsh and Captain Owens, and
let them know what’s going on.” Andrew still had a frown on his face.

“I’ll be in my
quarters,” Kurt said. “I need to speak to Captain Watkins.”

-

“How are
things on the
Vindication
?” asked Kurt, once he had Henry on the comm.
He leaned back in his plush office chair, enjoying the momentary comfort.

“Boring,” replied
Henry. “We spend most of our time hiding behind some of the larger ice rocks,
waiting for the stealth shuttles to go back and forth.”

“Has there
been any sign of the Profiteers or the Dacroni detecting the shuttles?”

“No, nothing,”
replied Henry, sounding perplexed. “Hell, even if I was running a standard
sensor sweep, I would have noticed something by now.”

“We don’t know
what their standard operating procedures are for scanning the space around a
planet,” Kurt answered.

“We’ve only
been landing at night and coming in with the Earth shielding the sun,” Henry explained.
“We’ve even used storm systems to hide where the shuttles land. For some
strange reason, the enemy doesn’t seem to be covering the poles of the planet
with any of their ships. We’ve been coming down over northern Canada.”

“They’re only interested
in stripping the planet of its gold and other valuable metals,” Kurt said. Plus
the Profiteers were not real military but pirates. However, that didn’t explain
why the Dacroni mercenaries hadn’t detected anything. Maybe they just didn’t
care.

“And
gemstones,” Henry added. “I received a report yesterday that several Profiteer
shuttles landed at The Louvre in Paris. Dozens of Profiteers emerged and
attempted to enter. There was a brief battle between the French security people
at the museum and the Profiteers. Surprisingly enough, the Profiteers returned
to their shuttles and left. A few hours later the Eiffel Tower was destroyed by
an energy beam.”

“With the
tribute Earth is paying, the Profiteers are supposed to leave the major cities
alone,” Kurt said in concern. “I’m not surprised about the Eiffel Tower. The Profiteers always seem to retaliate when we offer resistance.”

“
Supposed
to
,” reiterated Henry. “They seem to be ignoring that agreement more every
day.”

Kurt didn’t
like the sound of that. President Mayfield was right. Earth was rapidly
reaching the tipping point where an actual revolt against the Profiteers could
easily happen. That couldn’t be allowed to occur, because there was no doubt in
Kurt’s mind that the Profiteers wouldn’t hesitate to use nukes on more Earth
cities. They had already nuked the planet once before, and there was no reason
to think they wouldn’t do it again.

“Hopefully, if
you can take this convoy, it will ease the tension on Earth some,” Henry added.
“Although High Profiteer Creed will be infuriated.”

“Earth will
only feel some relief if the aliens commit some of their ships to the search
for the missing convoy,” Kurt reminded Henry.

“Creed will
search for it,” Henry said confidently. “Each cargo ship he sends off is packed
full of plunder. He’ll do everything he can to try to recover it.”

Kurt talked to
Henry for a few more minutes about what was going on at Newton. Henry asked
some questions about Kurt’s sister and how Andrew’s family was doing since the rescue.
Finally Kurt signed off and hoped to take a quick nap. At any moment, he
expected to be called back to the Command Center. As he lay on his bed, his
thoughts turned to Keera, and he soon drifted off to sleep.

-

“Admiral
Vickers, please report to the Command Center,” said someone in a loud and
urgent voice over the comm.

Kurt’s eyes
flew open and, glancing at the clock next to his bed, he was surprised to see
he had slept for nearly six hours.

“Report,” he
ordered, pressing the button on the comm.

“Enemy convoy
is leaving Earth orbit and moving into open space,” Lieutenant Mays reported.
“We estimate they’ll be jumping into hyperspace sometime in the next ten to
twenty minutes.”

“Very well,”
Kurt answered. “I’ll be there shortly. Let me know if they jump into hyperspace
before I reach the Command Center.”

Kurt quickly stripped
off his wrinkled uniform and changed into a clean one. He spent a few minutes freshening
up and then left his quarters, hurrying toward the command deck. On his way he
passed several crewmembers also headed to their stations.

Stepping into
the Command Center, he saw Andrew was already there and Lieutenant Mays had returned
to her tactical station. “Where are they?” Kurt stepped to his command chair
and sat down with his gaze shifting to the tactical screen.

“Past the
orbit of the Moon,” replied Andrew, as he turned toward Kurt.

“They’re
jumping,” called out Lieutenant Brooks.

“Inform the
Dallas
and the
Johnas
to stand by,” ordered Kurt. “Also notify Captain Watkins
that we’ll be departing shortly.”

“How long do
we wait?” asked Andrew.

“Five
minutes,” Kurt answered. “Give them a head start but not much of one. We don’t
know if that Dacroni battleship will detect us or not.”

“If it does,
we’re screwed,” commented Andrew in a low voice that only Kurt could hear.

The time
passed quickly by, and, at a signal from Kurt, Ensign Styles turned the navigation
of the three ships over to the ship’s navigation computer. Almost instantly the
Star Cross
accelerated and jumped into hyperspace.

“
Dallas
and
Johnas
have jumped also,” reported Lieutenant Brooks.

Kurt looked at
the tactical screen, seeing two green icons displayed in close proximity to the
Star Cross
.

“Now we’ll know
for sure,” Andrew said. “If there’s no reaction shortly, then I would guess
they haven’t spotted us.” Andrew focused on the tactical screen, his gaze
locked on the red threat icons they followed. He also watched the green icons.
On the screen they were so close that they seemed to be touching.

The anxiety in
the Command Center was high, as everyone took occasional furtive glances at the
tactical display. After about thirty minutes, nothing had changed, and the
tension gradually receded.

“I don’t think
they know we’re here,” Kurt said, allowing himself to relax. It confused him
some as to why the Dacroni wouldn’t be monitoring hyperspace; surely they had
the ability to do so.

“Now we just
have to wait and see how long they stay in hyperspace,” Andrew commented, as he
sat down at his command station. “It could be several days or more.”

Kurt nodded in
agreement. The Profiteers and Dacroni were more experienced with hyperspace
travel than humans were. It was unknown how many times they might feel it
necessary to drop from hyperspace during the 1,500–light-year journey to the Gothan
Empire.

-

For five days
the
Star Cross
and the two light cruisers shadowed the small convoy.
During that time the Profiteer fleet never varied its speed in hyperspace.

“Current distance
between us and the convoy?” asked Kurt, as he gazed at the red threat icons on
the tactical screen.

“Three point
two light-years, sir,” answered Lieutenant Brooks.

“What if they
don’t stop until they reach the Gothan Empire?” Andrew asked from his command
station. “They’ve been maintaining that speed from the very beginning. I’m concerned
we might be away from Newton for quite some time.”

“They have to
stop short of the star cluster,” Kurt responded, his brow wrinkling in thought.
“They need to drop out to plot their hyperspace course, as the star density in
that cluster is too great to enter blindly.”

“Admiral!”
called out Lieutenant Brooks. “Their speed is dropping.”

“Contact the
Dallas
and
Johnas
,” ordered Kurt, leaning forward expectantly. “All ships are
to go to Condition One!” He was relieved that the convoy was finally exiting
hyperspace.

“They’re
dropping out,” confirmed Brooks, as she checked the hyperspace sensor. “They’re
in a small brown dwarf system.”

“I’ve updated
the
Dallas
and the
Johnas
,” added Andrew. “They’re going to
Condition One.”

“Ensign Styles,
put us two hundred kilometers from the Dacroni battleship. Lieutenant Mays, I
want two hypermissiles targeted on the Profiteer battlecruiser, one each on the
two escort cruisers and the remaining two on the battleship. Have the tubes
reloaded as soon as the missiles have launched. Any enemy warships that survive
our initial attack, we target with our particle beam cannon. Lieutenant Mays,
it’s vital we launch the hypermissiles as soon as we drop from hyperspace and
before the enemy can raise their shields.”

“Yes, Admiral,”
Mays responded, as she started speaking to her tactical people.

Kurt pressed
the ship-to-ship comm on his command console. “Captains Marsh and Owens, the
Dallas
will target the drives on the two detainee vessels, while the
Johnas
is
to target the hyperdrive on the cargo ship. It’s imperative that we disable the
drives on all three ships. Once you’ve confirmed the drives are out, you’re to
come to the aid of the
Star Cross
, if we’re engaged with any enemy
ships. I’m hoping our sudden emergence from hyperspace will take them by surprise
and our hypermissile attack will do them in.”

“We’ll be
ready,” answered Captain Marsh.

“I hope this
works,” Andrew said uneasily. “We have a lot riding on them not having their
screens up. We’re taking a chance jumping in so close.”

“We’ll find
out shortly,” responded Kurt. “The hypermissiles have the speed to hit the
enemy warships before they can fully activate their energy shields. We’ll only
have a few seconds to do this.”

“Eight minutes
to hyperspace emergence,” announced Ensign Styles, as he worked with his navigation
computer so all three ships would come out within close combat range of their intended
targets.

The Condition
One alarms sounded, and Captain Randson made the announcement over the ship’s
comm. Across the ship, the crew raced to their battlestations. Safety bulkheads
slammed shut, and damage control teams put on self-contained suits, in case
they had to enter damaged areas no longer in an oxygen environment. Marines
retrieved assault rifles from the ship’s two armories and took up positions at
key locations throughout the vessel.

Andrew turned
off the alarms and flashing lights, and turned toward Kurt. “Ship is at
Condition One, and all stations report ready for combat.”

“Very well,”
Kurt replied, as he buckled his safety harness. The others in the Command Center did the same. “Stand by for combat maneuvers.”

“Hypermissile
strike is set up,” Lieutenant Mays reported.