The Star Cross: The Vorn!

by Raymond L. Weil

  “Valen and Marshton must have finished it,” Tasid said breathlessly. The mobile shipyard was twice the size of a colony ship. His eyes flew from screen to screen taking in all the Glaymon ships now in the system. “Send a message to Fleet Captain Waelt and Fleet Admiral Vickers that their presence is required. I believe we are going to have a lot to talk about. Also send a message to Captain Lilith and remind her to keep all of those ships under stealth.” Tasid knew the ships had been under stealth earlier or they would have been detected by the colony ship’s regular sensors.

  “We have a count on the ships,” reported the Glaymon at the sensor console. We have 1,112 battleships, 3,714 battlecruisers, 10 colony ships, the shipyard, and 260 supply ships.”

  “Tasid, I have Fleet Captain Lilith on the comm,” reported the Glaymon at communications. “She was promoted by Valen and Marshton. Not only that, Councilor Marshton is with the fleet.”

  Tasid felt a flood of relief upon hearing Marshton was here. He was an actual Glaymon councilor and could assume the duties Tasid had been forced to take over. Perhaps now Tasid could concentrate his efforts on finishing the new habitat. From the look of the number of ships which had accompanied Councilor Marshton, they were going to need it.

  -

  In the Newton System Kurt was working at home. Later in the day he had an appointment with Governor Spalding at Government Center to go over the latest reports on the Vorn as well as to discuss some items a few business people were requesting from Kubitz. Even though they now had access to a number of advanced technologies, including Glaymon, there were still some items that could only be purchased on Kubitz. Everything one could imagine was available on the black market world for the right price.

  His personal comm unit beeped. It was similar to an old time cell phone. “Yes?”

  “Kurt, this is Commander Randson. We just received a message from Tasid, and he’s requesting our immediate presence.”

  “Did he say what for?” Kurt felt uneasy, worried this was about his recent foray into the staging system.

  “No, though he said Fleet Captain Waelt would be attending as well.”

  Kurt’s eyes narrowed. This must be important. “Where are you?”

  “On the Star Cross. I was over on Newton Station when Aleea notified me about the message.”

  Kurt knew he had no choice but to respond. “Call in the crew.” Kurt glanced down at his watch. “We leave in eight hours.” Kurt knew some of the crew might not make it back in time, but that wouldn’t be a problem for a trip to the Glaymon’s new system. They shouldn’t encounter anything dangerous.

  “So you’re leaving,” said a voice behind Kurt.

  Startled, he turned around seeing Keera standing there with a disappointed look on her face and her hands on her hips.

  “I was hoping to go out and eat at that Italian place we like.”

  “When I get back,” promised Kurt. “I’ll only be gone for a few days. I need to flit over to the Glaymons and speak with Tasid.”

  Keera nodded. “I was getting ready to go to the medical center. We have a lot to do there today.”

  “It’s your work,” Kurt answered smiling. “You’re really good at helping people. I also think when you have the time it would be a good idea for you to come up to the Star Cross and help Doctor Willis for a few days. All of this new medical technology is really confusing him, particularly the medical nanites.”

  Keera grinned. She had met Doctor Willis before. “I know it can be confusing. I promise when you get back I’ll spend a few days on the ship. I believe he has a medical technician who’s pretty familiar with all the equipment.”

  “Yes, and I think that’s what bothers him the most. He feels uneasy asking the young man for advice or how to operate some of the equipment in the med bay.”

  “Well, he’s not the only one. A lot of people are confused by all of this new technology. I was talking to Denise yesterday, and she mentioned Bryan’s school has changed over to the new technology. The school is actually setting up training classes for the parents so they’ll know what’s going on.”

  Kurt felt this was a good thing. The generation of children going through school now would someday feel fully at ease with all the new technology being implemented. Kurt stood up and kissed Keera, holding her close for a long moment. “I’ll be back as soon as I can and then we can go to that Italian restaurant.”

  “I’ll remember that,” Keera said with a smile.

  -

  Later that afternoon Kurt stepped through the hatch into the Command Center of the Star Cross. Walking over to his command chair, he sat down.

  “We can leave anytime,” Captain Randson reported. “All the crew is aboard except a few and they’re either gone on extended leave or at some of the resorts. I can call for replacements from the station if needed.”

  Kurt glanced around seeing that all the primary command crew was present. “No, I don’t believe that’s necessary. This won’t be a combat mission, and we’ll only be gone for a couple of days.”

  “Very well,” said Captain Randson, turning toward the helm and navigation. “Lieutenant Styles, disconnect us from the station and move us out ten thousand meters.”

  -

  In space, the massive 1,700-meter battleship disconnected from the station and slowly began moving away using its station-keeping thrusters. In just a few minutes it was ten thousand meters from Newton Station. The ship’s hull seemed to glow from the sunlight striking it. Weapon turrets, sensor dishes, and communication antennas were plainly visible as well as the hatches hiding the launch tubes for the dark matter missiles. From the station, the Star Cross looked magnificent.

  -

  “Newton Station has given us clearance to activate our sublight drive,” reported Lieutenant Brenda Pierce from Communications. “Path in front of us is clear of traffic.”

  “Lieutenant Pierce, take us out and prepare to activate the hyperdrive,” ordered Andrew.

  Kurt watched the viewscreens as the Star Cross accelerated away from Newton. The planet rapidly grew smaller and then vanished as the ship made the jump into hyperspace. The Glaymons were in the system of Epsilon Reticuli, some fifty-nine light-years from Earth. From Newton, the system was only thirty-nine light years away. With the new enhanced hyperdrive the Star Cross was equipped with they could make the trip in less than five minutes. However, the Star Cross was not traveling at her highest speed and the trip would take a little over thirty.

  “Sensors are clear of hostiles,” reported Lieutenant Lena Brooks. “There are a number of cargo and passenger vessels showing up.” On the tactical display, there were twenty-seven green icons inbound. The long-range sensors on the Star Cross could detect ships out to thirty-two light years.

  This didn’t surprise Kurt as space around Newton was pretty heavily traveled. With a deep sigh, Kurt leaned back in his command chair wondering what Tasid wanted. If he was to be dressed down for attacking the staging system, he was prepared for that. There was no use speculating as he would find out when they got to the Glaymons’ new system.

  -

  Thirty minutes later the Star Cross dropped out of hyperspace in close proximity to the habitat the Glaymons were constructing. The ship had its stealth field activated as Kurt didn’t want to give the location of the Glaymon’s new home away. On one of the viewscreens a star appeared, an orange-red giant about six times the diameter of Sol. No habitable planets were in the system though a planet slightly larger than Earth was in the habitable zone. It was in an eccentric orbit due to the presence of a large gas giant. The Glaymons were building their habitat just beyond the edge of the mineral rich system.

  “Admiral, I’m picking up a hell of a lot of ships,” reported Lieutenant Brooks. Then with a deep frown, she shook her head. “This can’t be right.”

  “What is it?” Kurt could see that the lieutenant was shaken.

  Suddenly on the main viewscreen of the Command Center, a massive Glaymon warship appe
ared.

  Kurt drew in a sharp breath. He recognized the vessel as a Glaymon battleship. The problem was Fleet Captain Waelt didn’t have any of those vessels.

  “Sir, there are hundreds of those battleships in orbit around the new Glaymon habitat and colony ships,” added Lieutenant Brooks, still looking confused. “Not only that, I’m detecting ten more colony ships and one vessel that’s at least twice their size.”

  Kurt didn’t know what to say. It was obvious the presence of these ships was what Tasid had summoned him to talk about. Was it possible the Glaymons opposed to Fleet Captain Waelt’s leaving the Dyson Sphere had come out here to take the others back?

  “I have Tasid on the comm,” reported Lieutenant Pierce. “He’s requesting you come over to the colony ship he’s aboard.”

  Kurt looked over at Aleea who had remained silent through all of this. “Any ideas as to what’s going on?”

  “No,” she answered. “The Aggressives on the Dyson Sphere do not possess any battleships. The presence of the battleships may indicate a major shift in the Glaymon Council’s opinion of the war against the Vorn. I do not believe they would risk sending a fleet out to force the others to return.”

  “Let’s hope so,” Kurt answered as he stood up. “Lieutenant Mays, you’re with me.” If this was going to be a tactical discussion on how to use these Glaymon battleships against the Vorn he wanted the lieutenant with him.

  -

  Once Kurt arrived on the Glaymon colony ship, he was quickly reminded of why he disliked coming aboard these large vessels. In order to get to areas of the ship quickly, there were small transport shafts. A transport shaft nullified gravity and used small transport beams to take one to their destinations. A person just stepped out into nothing and was whisked away to one’s chosen destination. It was similar to floating in air and Kurt didn’t think he would ever get used to it. Looking over at Lieutenant Mays he noticed that her face looked as if she had seen a ghost. He almost laughed but he well remembered his first experience in a transport shaft.

  After taking a number of transport shafts under the escort of a Glaymon, Kurt and Lieutenant Mays arrived at the conference room where they found the others already waiting. With surprise they recognized Councilor Marshton, Tasid, and a female Glaymon he didn’t know. Also present was Captain Tolmass.

  “It’s good of you to come on such short notice,” Tasid said. He gestured toward the Glaymon woman sitting next to him. “This is Fleet Captain Lilith, the person responsible for the new fleet of Glaymon ships which recently arrived in the system.”

  Kurt and Lieutenant Mays sat down and Kurt looked inquiringly at Councilor Marshton. “Does this mean the Glaymon Council has changed their mind about becoming involved in the war?” Kurt hoped so as it would tip the balance against the Vorn.

  Councilor Marshton slowly shook his head. “Sadly the answer to that question is no. We have managed to gain some support with the aid of Fleet Captain Lilith’s recent remarks to the council. It was actually necessary to temporarily disable part of the Dyson Sphere’s defenses so we could escape with the ships you see. I’m sure we caused considerable turmoil within the council.”

  “The council is still opposed to the war,” explained Fleet Captain Lilith, her eyes focusing on Admiral Vickers. “Lead Councilor Lavin was quite upset at what we did. I don’t think we dare send anyone else back to the Dyson Sphere. Unless there is a major shift in opinion in the council these ships are all that will ever be coming to assist in the war.”

  “Will there be more repercussions for your people?” Kurt knew Marshton and Valen had both expected serious sanctions from aiding Kurt and sending Fleet Captain Waelt and his ships away from the Dyson Sphere.

  Marshton smiled slightly. “No, not this time. We have notified the council we won’t be conforming to their request to reduce our population. Far from it; we told the council we would be expanding. We have worked very hard since the departure of your ships and Fleet Captain Waelt’s trying to gain support in the council. Fleet Captain Lilith made an emotional speech about our duty to protect other races from the Vorn. Thanks to her plea we managed to gain enough support to allow us to depart the Dyson Sphere with what ships we could. Councilor Valen stayed behind in the hopes he could persuade the council to come fully into the war. Whether he can be successful is unknown.”

  Tasid looked at Kurt with a slight look of aggravation. “Please tell Councilor Marshton and Fleet Captain Lilith about the attack on the Vorn staging system in which you and Captain Tolmass took part.”

  “The staging system?” asked Marshton, his eyes widening. “Did you cause any damage?”

  “They didn’t damage it, they destroyed it!” answered Tasid. “They were supposed to survey it and report back. That isn’t quite what happened.”

  “Tell me,” said Marshton, leaning forward.

  Taking a deep breath, Kurt began explaining what happened. He started with the attack on the solar system and the loss of the four million Humans from Mars. He ended by describing how Mara had used her two ships to hit the single planet in the system with Zero-Point Energy rounds and dark matter missiles, causing the planet to blow apart.

  “Remarkable,” said Councilor Marshton, leaning back and looking with admiration at Kurt and Captain Tolmass. “That has to be the greatest victory anyone has ever achieved against the Vorn. It shows they can be defeated, just what I’ve been trying to tell the council. I need to send this information back to the Dyson Sphere. Gaylith will be listening on a specific hyperspace frequency Valen and I set up to communicate with. I want news of this successful attack against the Vorn staging system to be revealed to the council. It just might persuade a few others to come over to our side.”

  “Enough to bring the rest of the Glaymons into the war?” asked Kurt. There was no doubt in his mind that if the Glaymons committed their entire fleet, they could defeat the Vorn.

  “No, but every councilor we can bring to our side draws that day nearer.”

  Tasid looked over at Kurt. “Fleet Captain Waelt will be here tomorrow. Once he arrives we will let him decide on how best to use the new warships we have. Also, Councilor Marshton will be taking over as leader of the Aggressives who are here. I’ll be focusing my time on completing the habitat. We now have over 1,316,000 of our people in the system. They’re going to need a place to live.”

  Kurt was surprised at the number. “I wish Fleet Commodore Dreen was coming as well. At the moment he’s pretty much in charge of the war effort against the Vorn.”

  “We considered that,” Fleet Captain Lilith replied. “But we felt it might be best to keep the existence of our battleships and greatly expanded fleet a secret for now. If used correctly we can achieve some huge victories against the Vorn when we introduce them into the conflict.”

  This made sense to Kurt. If a number of Glaymon battleships suddenly attacked one of the harvesting fleets, it would be a massacre. He had seen what the 1,000-meter disk ships could do. The battleships were probably three or four times more powerful; perhaps even more.

  “The Vorn fleets are at a standstill at the moment,” Lieutenant Mays said. “Without any Collector ships or Intergalactic Transport vessels they cannot move their harvests. Their harvesting fleets have gathered in designated systems awaiting the arrival of the larger ships. Perhaps now would be the time to strike them.”

  Kurt leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful look in his eyes. “Lieutenant Mays has a point. With our updated hyperspace drives we could reach most of those systems in a matter of days.”

  “They would not be expecting an attack,” said Fleet Captain Lilith, looking thoughtful. “They might not even know about the loss of the staging system. Using our advanced stealth technology we could attack those fleets before they even know we’re there. If we are successful, we could eliminate most if not all of the harvesting fleets currently in this galaxy.”

  “It could work,” added Captain Tolmass. “In the areas the Vorn fleets have ga
thered there are no habitable worlds; all have been harvested. They would not be expecting an attack.”

  Councilor Marshton’s eyes narrowed as he considered the suggestion. “Fleet Captain Waelt will arrive tomorrow. Perhaps we should speak to him of this. If he agrees the attack is feasible then I see no reason we should not take advantage of this opportunity to attack the Vorn. That is why we came out here and left the Dyson Sphere.”

  Kurt was pleased to hear this. If they could destroy the harvesting fleets, they might be able to buy an even longer respite before the Vorn could resume their harvest. “When we arrived we detected a truly large ship, one over two times the size of your colony ships. What is it?”

  “A mobile shipyard,” replied Fleet Captain Lilith. “It is capable of repairing all of our warships as well as building more of our 1,000-meter disk ships. Only the shipyards back at the Dyson Sphere can build our battleships.”

  -

  The group talked a little bit longer with Councilor Marshton explaining in more detail what was going on back on the Dyson Sphere. He had hopes that eventually Valen could encourage enough councilors to support going to war against the Vorn even though Lead Councilor Lavin was intensely opposed to it.

  They also discussed Vorn tactics in attacking inhabited planets. Tasid showed Marshton some videos of fleet battles as well as what a planet looked like after a Vorn harvest.

  Marshton was stunned at seeing the destruction the Vorn left behind.

  After a few hours of discussion, the meeting ended with plans to resume the next day when Fleet Captain Waelt arrived.

  -

  As they were returning to the Star Cross, Lieutenant Mays paused and looked at Fleet Admiral Vickers. “Will this new fleet of the Glaymons make a difference? Those battleships are gigantic!”

  “It will for a while,” Kurt replied. “There’s a chance these new ships could even discourage the Vorn from continuing the harvest in our galaxy. The problem is we have no idea how large of a fleet the Vorn actually have.”

  Mays nodded in understanding. “Then we could still be in for a long war.”