“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.
“Ready to jump,” reported Captain Randson, as he listened to the readiness reports from various ships over the short-range comms. His eyes focused on the admiral, still studying the large tactical screen on the front wall of the Command Center.
Kurt nodded. There was no point in waiting. Pressing the fleetwide button on his command console, he announced, “All ships, initiate jump in sixty seconds. All ships to fire upon targets as soon as you exit hyperspace. Don’t wait on orders from the flag to engage. The element of surprise is essential if we want to win this battle. Good luck and good hunting.”
Captain Randson activated a counter on his console. “Helm, prepare for hyperspace insertion.” Randson buckled himself in his chair in preparation for combat maneuvers.
The hyperspace jump would only last a few seconds. Kurt, like everyone else, wondered what they would find when they reached Earth.
“Tactical, ready the main particle beam cannon,” ordered Kurt, noting the increased activity in the command crew as they prepared for combat. “Lock on the enemy’s nearest capital ship and fire as soon as you have a confirmed firing solution.” The cannon could only be fired once every forty seconds due to heat buildup. They needed every shot to count.
“Weapons are ready,” reported Lieutenant Evelyn Mays from tactical.
The counter on Captain Randson’s console reached zero. “Jump!” ordered Randson, his hands gripping the armrests on his command chair.
-
High Profiteer Creed of the Gothan Empire stood in the Command Center of the Profiteer ship Ascendant Destruction. He was bipedal and slightly taller than a human, with light blue skin and coarse white hair. His face, while humanoid, had larger-than-normal eyes. The last few days had been quiet, while he awaited the return of the rest of his ships, plus the others he had sent for: a large fleet of detainee ships and a number of heavy cargo ships.
The Gothan Empire, with planet Marsten as its capital, was a loose federation of 118 star systems that routinely raided many of the civilized races of the galaxy. It was a dangerous living, but the huge rewards from the bounty collected more than offset the danger.
“We’ll make huge profits from this planet,” gloated Second Profiteer Lantz, as he gazed at the main viewscreen on the front wall of the Command Center, depicting the blue-white planet beneath them. “Their people will sell well in the slave markets on Kubitz.”
“Their world is rich in many things that will bring good profits on the black markets,” added Creed, recalling his last trip to the bustling black market world. “Gold, platinum, jewels, and even some of their art will add much to our coffers.”
Hundreds of alien races could be found on the planet Kubitz, either selling or buying, some of it openly and some done in the back rooms of the pleasure houses. It was also a very dangerous place for someone unfamiliar with the workings of the black market system. People were known to vanish quite routinely, and the local authorities always seemed to look the other way.
“We were fortunate to find this world in this backwater system,” Lantz said. “Few ships have ventured into this area where the stars are so far apart.”
“We can thank the Kreel for that,” Creed said. “Several of their cargo ships have reported unknown ships detected by their satellite marker buoys in a number of systems they have claimed. It wasn’t difficult for the computers on Marsten to correlate the data and extrapolate the most likely location of those ships’ home world.”
Lantz nodded in agreement.
Though it hadn’t been quite that simple, as the computers had given them an area of space nearly thirty light-years across, which had contained quite a few stars, even in this sparse region. The Profiteer fleet had searched for two weeks before finally pinning down the system they sought.
“It is well that we found this system when we did,” Lantz said with greed showing in his eyes. “They had a sizable fleet and, in a few more years, would have been too powerful to overwhelm without major losses. They still remain hesitant to obey our demands, even after we destroyed their cities. More examples might need to be made.”
Before Creed could reply, warning klaxons sounded, and red lights flashed in the Command Center. His eyes instantly went to the sensor operator. “What’s with the alarms?” he demanded.
“We have ships exiting hyperspace,” reported Third Profiteer Bixt, as red threat icons appeared on the sensor screen before him. Then, after a moment, he looked at First Profiteer Creed with astonishment on his face. “They’re human!”
“We didn’t get them all,” muttered Lantz.
-
Admiral Vickers felt the familiar gut-wrenching sensation as the Star Cross dropped from hyperspace within close proximity to its intended target. The tactical screen quickly updated, showing the alien ships in orbit around Earth.
“Energy shield is coming online,” reported Captain Randson.
“Target lock!” called out Lieutenant Evelyn Mays, as green lights flashed on her console. “Firing particle beam cannon.” She reached forward and pressed several buttons, activating the deadly weapon. Beside her, two ensigns entered targeting information for the ship’s heavy KEW batteries and prepared to fire the ship’s missiles.
-
From the Star Cross, a deep blue beam flashed across space, smashing into the targeted enemy battlecruiser. Its defensive energy screen was operating at a low level, which failed to stop the beam. A massive explosion tore into the cruiser, leaving a gaping hole fifteen meters across in its hull and blasting a huge fragment off into space. The ship seemed to stagger, as valuable systems inside were compromised and ceased to function. Several secondary explosions rattled the ship, sending waves of fire through shattered interior compartments and corridors.
From the bow of the Star Cross, the two heavy KEW cannons fired, sending a pair of large armor-piercing rounds at 10 percent the speed of light toward the reeling enemy cruiser. The rounds impacted the alien ship, tearing completely through it, setting off additional explosions. The energy generated was like twin nuclear explosions. With a brilliant flash, the battlecruiser blew, sending debris in all directions.
“Enemy battlecruiser is down!” Lieutenant Brooks reported with elation, as the red threat icon swelled up on her sensor screen and then vanished.
“We caught them before they could raise their shields!” uttered Captain Randson, his eyes shining with a wolfish glint. “We surprised them, just like they did when they attacked Earth.”
“Switch to secondary target,” ordered Kurt, as he intently watched the tactical screen, seeing what success his other ships were having. They had to hit the enemy quick and hard if they were to have any hope of victory.
“The Hampton has downed a second enemy battlecruiser,” reported Brooks, as she saw another red icon vanish from her screen.
“Vindication is jumping in!” added Captain Randson, seeing more green icons appear on the tactical screen. “We caught them flatfooted!”
-
First Profiteer Creed picked himself up from the deck, looking around the Command Center in anger. “What’s happening!” he demanded, as his gaze shifted to the ship’s tactical screen. He could see numerous red threat icons appearing nearby. They were appearing almost on top of his fleet!
“It’s a human fleet, and they’re attacking,” reported Second Profiteer Lantz breathlessly. “We’ve already lost the Warriors Pride and the Addax. The enemy is using a powerful particle beam weapon against us and kinetics.”
“Particle beams and kinetics!” roared Creed in disbelief, his eyes growing wide.
He knew that, for most warships, particle beams were impractical—as they required a tremendous amount of energy and needed a long cool-down time between firings. Most Gothan ships were armed with ion cannons, energy projectors, and missiles, which were cheap and efficient. Kinetics were a thing of the past and had been given up to be replaced by more modern weapons. No one used kinetics anymore!
“One of the new arrivals is a carrier of some kind,” Third Profiteer Bixt warned. “It’s launching smaller warships toward us.”
“We’ve lost four of our escorts,” said Lantz, watching the ships drop off the tactical screen. He groaned and murmured, “My profits … the pleasure houses …” Then he reported, “All our ships have their shields up and are returning fire, but I fear we’ve already lost too many. The Glimmer Fire is reporting heavy damage, and they’re asking permission to withdraw.”
The Glimmer Fire was their only other remaining battlecruiser besides the Ascendant Destruction. Creed looked at the viewscreen, which showed numerous explosions in space. He could even see the flash of a few beam weapons. “Order all ships to jump!” he grated out, knowing that he had no other choice but to withdraw or risk being destroyed.
They were in this for profits, not to lose expensive warships! He would return to Kubitz and come back with a much more powerful fleet. This planet was too rich to allow a single human fleet to keep him from it. The humans could have the planet for now, but, in time, he and his much larger force would retake it. He would also have to intercept the detainee and cargo ships on their way here and have them return to the Kubitz System.
-
“We’ve taken out two more of their light units,” Captain Randson added, watching as a pair of red icons fell off the tactical screen.
Andrew Randson breathed a little easier. At this rate, they would win the battle, and then, as soon as
possible, he intended to take a shuttle to Houston and evacuate his family. He knew others would be doing the same thing.
“Destroyer Brant is down,” Lieutenant Brooks reported grimly, as the friendly green icon representing the small destroyer vanished from the sensor screen.
Kurt winced at that news. It was the first ship under his command he had ever lost.
“Enemy ships are showing an energy spike,” Lieutenant Brooks informed them, per one of her sensors. “They’re activating their hyperdrives.”
Kurt switched his gaze to a large viewscreen just in time to see one of the two remaining enemy battlecruisers jump away. On the tactical screen, other red threat icons also vanished.
“Their last battlecruiser is too damaged to jump,” Brooks reported, as the enemy ship turned toward them with its weapons firing. “They’re attacking!”
Kurt felt the Star Cross shudder slightly as an energy beam struck the ship’s screen.
“Some type of ion beam is hitting us,” Lieutenant Brooks reported, looking at the data on one of her sensor screens.
“The shield is holding at 84 percent,” Captain Randson said.
“Particle beam is recharged,” Lieutenant Mays stated, as she targeted the alien battlecruiser. “Firing!”
-
The deep blue particle beam smashed into the Glimmer Fire, flashing right through its weakened defensive energy screen. A huge hole was blasted in its bow, and the ship seemed to lose all power. Two heavy KEW rounds from the human’s bow cannons plowed into the Profiteer ship, traveling nearly its entire length, and then the vessel detonated in a blaze of light as too many vital systems were compromised.
-
“All enemy ships have either jumped or been destroyed,” reported Lieutenant Brooks, breathing a sigh of relief. “We have control of Earth orbital space.”
Kurt nodded, allowing himself to relax. This battle had gone far better than expected. “Get me Captain Watkins. I’ll have the Vindication check out the shipyard. We may need their Marines to secure it.” Kurt turned his attention back toward one of the viewscreens, which showed Earth.
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