The Star Cross: The Forever War

by Raymond L. Weil

  Very slowly the beams moved across the shipyard, opening up numerous compartments to space. For nearly a minute the beams methodically carved the shipyard into dozens of pieces. Occasionally an explosion threw fiery debris away from the structure. When the beams finally stopped, the shipyard was a twisted mass of glowing debris and drifting wreckage.

  -

  “Target destroyed,” confirmed Lieutenant Brooks. She grinned and looked at Andrew. “A lot of ships are activating their hyperdrives and jumping away from Kubitz.”

  Andrew nodded. He watched the main viewscreen, which showed the wreckage of the destroyed shipyard. Reaching forward, he activated his comm, putting him in direct contact with Kurt. “Target destroyed, and a lot of ships are leaving orbit. Hundreds are entering hyperspace and fleeing the system.”

  “Sounds as if the Controllers will have a lot of fines to issue,” commented Lieutenant Mays with a satisfied grin. “I have the force beams locked on the secondary targets. Shall I fire?”

  “No, not yet,” Andrew replied. The secondary targets were the slave auction houses. He really wanted to destroy them. He hoped he got the opportunity.

  -

  Kurt looked at Kelmor as his comm unit buzzed, demanding his attention.

  “Yes?” Kelmor said as he listened to the message. His face turned pale as he disconnected and looked at Kurt in disbelief. “That shipyard cost over four billion credits to construct. That will be added to your fine. You are a fool to come and threaten us. This is Kubitz, and we will not allow such behavior. Your world will be forever banned from trading here, and your ships in orbit will be destroyed. At a command from me, our entire defensive grid as well as our planet-based weapons will fire on your fleet. Not even your ships can withstand that.”

  Kurt shook his head. “There will be no fine, and your defensive grid will not fire. You see, our ships were built by the Glaymons, and just one of them could destroy your world.”

  Kelmor turned even paler at hearing the word Glaymons. “The Glaymons built your ships?”

  “Yes, you are aware the Glaymons were instrumental in defeating the Destroyers of Worlds at Lakiam. We were there as well.”

  Kelmor was thunderstruck and sat in silence, lost for words.

  “However, I am levying a hefty fine against Kubitz and the Controller organization.” He opened up the small briefcase he carried. Reaching inside, he pulled out a thick sheaf of documents. “I want these filed immediately, and the payment of the fines put into Newton’s account.”

  Kelmor looked at Kurt in disbelief. He took the offered set of documents and began looking over them. He frowned at Kurt. “Controller Nirron filled these out.”

  “Yes,” Kurt answered. “He was paid a fee to do so. I believe you will find everything in order.”

  For nearly twenty minutes Kelmor studied the documents and then faced Kurt. “The documents are in order, and I will file them. But I should tell you that neither the Controller organization nor the Kubitz government will agree to pay this exorbitant fee. “You’re asking for 2.7 billion credits.”

  Kurt leaned forward, his voice cold and threatening. “Our planet was attacked twice by your Profiteers. Our people were taken to be sold in the slave markets here on Kubitz, and twice I have nearly been killed while conducting business here. Now our embassy compound has been attacked and Ambassador Tenner killed, as well as numerous Marines and embassy staff. I am not giving you an option. The Controller organization and the Kubitz government will pay the fine stated in the documents.”

  “Admiral,” Lieutenant Jones’s concerned voice came over the comm unit in Kurt’s hand. “We have hundreds of Lylan enforcers surrounding the Controller Exchange. They’re keeping their distance, but we have no way to make it to the shuttles.”

  “There’s your answer,” gloated Kelmor. “Surrender and pay the fines for what you have done. You and your people still on Kubitz will be taken into custody and sold as slaves. That is the penalty you shall pay for the desecration you have done to this facility and for destroying the shipyard. Your ships will not fire as long as we have you in our custody.”

  Kurt slowly shook his head. “You still don’t understand, do you? You’re in no position to make demands.” Kurt activated the transmitter once more. “Andrew, take out the secondary targets. Send Colonel Sewell with his Marines and combat robots. I want the entire spaceport as well as the Controller Exchange placed under our control.”

  Kelmor stood, glaring at Kurt. “We are the Controllers. You will not dictate terms to us!”

  Kurt stared into Kelmor’s eyes. “In this instance, that’s exactly what I’m doing, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

  -

  On board the Star Cross Andrew smiled in jubilation. Finally he could destroy the slave auction houses. These huge buildings were in the center of the capital, where thousands of slaves were routinely sold. The number of slaves sold had dropped sharply recently due to the danger of raiding fleets running across the Vorn.

  “Target the slave auction houses with our force beams. Set the beams to the narrowest aperture as Admiral Vickers doesn’t want to bring down the environmental dome. Even though this is Kubitz, a lot of innocent people live inside.” Andrew knew from talking to Keera that not everyone on Kubitz was a Profiteer or even agreed with their thieving ways. Since there were no active sales occurring, there would be few people in the auction houses. Most of the slaves were held at the slave training facilities outside of the dome, like his wife and daughter had been.

  “The dome will not collapse,” Aleea said in her youthful voice. “I detect an energy shield just beneath the dome holding it in place. I’ve confirmed each auction house remains empty, except for work robots.”

  Andrew nodded. Twenty-six separate buildings were to be destroyed. Targets had been sent to the twenty heavy battlecruisers supporting the Star Cross for a coordinated strike. “Colonel Sewell will launch his assault shuttles as soon as we stop firing.” The assault shuttles were heavily armored with two small turrets capable of firing energy beams and protected by an energy shield. Each shuttle could hold twenty-two Marines and ten combat robots. Colonel Sewell would be sending twenty of the shuttles to the spaceport.

  “All targets have been acquired,” reported Lieutenant Mays. “Ready to fire on your order.” Her eyes focused on Andrew.

  “Fire!” ordered Andrew, leaning forward and gazing in anticipation at the main viewscreen, showing a magnified view of the large dome. For the first time he felt that the kidnapping of Emily and Alexis at the hands of the Profiteers was about to be fully avenged.

  -

  From the twenty-one warships in Kurt’s fleet, pencil-thin force beams flashed downward, cutting through the large environmental dome that protected the center of the Kubitz capital city. Several ships, including the Star Cross, had more than one target to destroy. The beams slammed into the tall structures, which were the blockwide slave markets. The beams, upon striking the buildings, spread out, disrupting the atoms holding the structures together. In a matter of a few minutes the buildings collapsed, sending towering pillars of dust high up into the dome. Alarms sounded, and people panicked.

  The beams shut down, and where the slave auction houses had once stood were piles of rubble, most of it in the form of massive dust mounds. Twenty-six city blocks lay destroyed.

  -

  “Targets destroyed,” confirmed Lieutenant Brooks. “They won’t be selling any more slaves there again.”

  “Lieutenant Pierce, send a message on all frequencies that we will destroy any ship or defensive platform which fires on our shuttles. Also inform them, if a shuttle is fired upon, we will target the planet again.”

  Lieutenant Pierce got busy and then reported, “Message sent.”

  “Shuttles launching,” reported Lieutenant Brooks as twenty small green icons appeared on a nearby tactical display.

  Andrew leaned back in the command chair. Now it would be up to the Controllers and
the Kubitz government to decide what happened to their world. The next targets would be all the defensive platforms orbiting the planet, rendering Kubitz nearly defenseless. Andrew hoped they refused. He would like nothing better than to reduce this world to a near state of helplessness. If the Vorn showed up to harvest Kubitz, Andrew would feel no pity. He probably should feel guilty about that thought, but he didn’t.

  -

  The twenty shuttles landed, and the Marines and the combat robots stormed out from each. They spread out across the spaceport, and, anytime they encountered a Lylan Enforcer, they stunned him. Seeing the Marine takeover of the spaceport, many of the other ships and shuttles frantically took off, several nearly colliding. In forty minutes the spaceport was under control of the Marines and their towering robots. All work at the spaceport was at a complete standstill. Workers cowered, waiting to see what would happen next.

  At the Controller Exchange, the Lylans had laid down their weapons and surrendered. They recognized their resistance was useless. They stared at the intimidating combat robots waiting to see what would happen next.

  -

  “Perimeter is secure,” reported Colonel Sewell over the comm to Fleet Admiral Vickers.

  Kurt looked at Kelmor, who was speaking on a conference call with other Controllers and the Kubitz government. When he found out about the destruction of the slave auction houses, the fight had gone out of him.

  Kurt casually mentioned the same could be done to all Controller facilities on the planet as well as government ones.

  At last Kelmor ended his conversation and looked up at Kurt.

  “The Kubitz government and the Controllers agree to your demands.”

  Kurt let out a slow exhale, which he hid from Kelmor with his frowning glare. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if they had refused.

  “Very well.” Kurt reached into his briefcase and handed over another document smaller than the first one. “This describes what we want from this point forward. I should also inform you that Newton has been granted Protector World status.”

  Kelmor’s eyes widened in shock at this announcement. For centuries the Gothan Empire had gone out of its way to avoid angering any Protector World.

  “If you doubt my word, you may contact Fleet Commodore Dreen of the Lakiams for confirmation.”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Kelmor said hastily. With a deep sigh, he took the newest document and read it. When he was done, he looked at Kurt in disbelief. “You claim your vessels can destroy Vorn ships. What proof do you have of that?”

  “The Lakiams will confirm that statement too.”

  Kelmor frowned and then looked again at the document. “You want to rebuild your embassy and protect it with modern weapons. You also want to bring in special armored personnel vehicles far in advance of anything currently on Kubitz.”

  “They will only be used to transport embassy staff or to pick people up from the spaceport. Other than that, they will stay inside the compound.”

  “You also want to double the number of Marines which guard the embassy.”

  “After the attack on the embassy, it’s prudent we do whatever is necessary to ensure nothing like this happens again.”

  “You also want a free hand in finding and capturing all Profiteers or Dacroni mercenaries responsible for the attack on the embassy compound.”

  “Yes,” Kurt answered and then made a surprising announcement. “We are also willing to leave two of our heavy battlecruisers at Kubitz to protect it from Vorn attack.”

  “For a fee,” mentioned Kelmor, pointing to a paragraph in the document.

  “Of course,” Kurt answered evenly. “Those are very expensive ships.”

  Kelmor shifted his gaze to Kurt. “I believe the Controller organization and the Kubitz government will agree to this, primarily because we currently have no weapons other than perhaps the new defensive platforms Lomatz provided us that can stop a Vorn vessel. I will contact the necessary Controllers and the people in the government to seek their approval. I will notify you when a decision has been made.”

  Kurt nodded. “I’m bringing down two large shuttles. They contain the vehicles I feel are necessary to safely travel in the capital.”

  Kelmor nodded. He knew he was in no position to object. “I will notify the Lylan Enforcers these new vehicles are permissible.”

  “Then our business for today is complete.” Kurt motioned to Sergeant Evans and they left the office.

  Kurt breathed out a huge sigh of relief. Things had gone much better than he had imagined. While it had been tempting to pull all the Newton embassy staff from Kubitz, the black market world still held a lot of resources that might be useful. It was also a good place to gather information. For now Kurt intended to keep a Newton presence on the planet.

  -

  Two hours later Kurt arrived at the embassy complex, riding in one of the new armored personnel carriers. They were equipped with spacecraft battle armor, two small energy turrets on top, and room to carry eight Marines if needed. Sergeant Evans was with Kurt as well as two other Marines and four of the large combat robots. Exiting the personnel carrier, Kurt paused as he gazed at the ruins of the embassy. Smoke still rose from a few areas of the rubble.

  “Admiral,” said Captain Briar as he stepped forward. “I’m sorry about the embassy. We did everything we could.”

  “I’m sure you did,” Kurt replied. It felt strange for Ambassador Tenner not to be here to greet him. “Do we know who did this?”

  “Maybe,” Briar replied with a strange look on his face. “But you need to hear that from Avery Dolman.”

  Kurt looked around the compound. Marine guards were present wherever he looked, and the wall had been rebuilt. The new guard tower was in place with two machine guns in obvious sight. “Where’s Dolman?”

  “He arrived a short while ago. As soon as he heard your fleet was in orbit, he came here. He’s in one of the buildings we’ve set up with offices for the survivors of the embassy staff.” Briar gazed with interest at the four towering combat robots, standing behind Kurt. “Where the hell did you get those?”

  Kurt grinned. “Our new combat robots are courtesy of one of our latest friends. We’ll rebuild the embassy, and, when we leave, I’ll leave some of them here with you. We’ll also equip the embassy compound with more modern weapons, including energy turrets for the guard towers.”

  Briar’s eyes lit up at the news. “What about those personnel carriers you arrived in? Any chance of a few of them staying? We lost two of our Humvees in the fighting, and I’ve never felt that secure in them anyway when traveling in the city.”

  “Yes, we’ll leave at least four of them. Now let’s go talk to Dolman.”

  “I saw a lot of dust in the air earlier,” Briar said as they walked. “At first we thought the Star Cross was destroying the city, and then we heard over the media channels that the slave auction houses had been destroyed. Good riddance to those. They were a travesty.”

  “Captain Randson destroyed them from the Star Cross,” confirmed Kurt. “I suspect he is very pleased at the moment.” Kurt knew how much Andrew hated the slave auction houses, and Kurt had been with Andrew when they had rescued Emily and Alexis as well as thousands of others from a slave training center earlier.

  Entering one of the smaller buildings, Kurt noticed a number of holes that had been repaired, where stray weapons fire had impacted the walls. A lot of work still needed to be done.

  Briar escorted Kurt to a room, opened the door, and indicated for the admiral to go in. Stepping inside, Kurt came to a sudden halt upon seeing the two individuals waiting for him.

  “Admiral!” boomed an all-too-familiar voice.

  “Grantz! I thought you were dead!” Kurt couldn’t believe his eyes. There, standing next to the conference table, was the Marsten Profiteer.

  Grantz’s face took on a somber look. “It takes more than a few bullets to kill me.”

  Avery Dolman shook his head. “What Gran
tz failed to mention is that he nearly always wears a bulletproof vest whenever he goes out. He got lucky his attacker didn’t shoot him in the head. That’s what my people would have done.”

  “But unconfirmed reports stated you were lying in a pool of blood,” blurted out Kurt, confused.

  Grantz nodded. “You have to fool these attackers. My vest has an inside lining of a thick liquid that looks like blood. When I was shot two times, the lining was punctured, and the liquid leaked out, making it appear I was mortally wounded. Clever, isn’t it?”

  Kurt merely shook his head. Leave it to Grantz to plan to fake his own death. Kurt’s attention focused on Dolman. “Do we know who was behind this?”

  Dolman sat, indicating for Kurt to do the same. “We know. It wasn’t easy as the person behind this took a lot of precautions to keep his identity secret. I had to spend several million credits to find out.”

  “You’ll be well compensated,” Kurt promised. “Now tell me. Who do I need to kill?” Whoever was behind this, Kurt had no intention of allowing them to live. Marvin Tenner had been a good friend. On top of that, a lot of Marines and embassy staff had died in the attack as well.

  Dolman took a deep breath and pushed a sheaf of papers over to Kurt. “It’s all in there. The credits that were paid and every Profiteer who was involved. I traced the credits and one name kept coming up. High Profiteer Creed.”

  “Creed!” uttered Kurt, feeling the blood drain from his face. “That’s impossible. He was killed on Earth.”

  “Was he?” asked Dolman. “To the best of my knowledge his body was never found. Also an unknown Profiteer recently spent an exorbitant amount of credits on a new battleship, with the credits coming from Creed’s account. I’ve also received confirmed reports of all Creed’s former ships in his Profiteer fleet being updated with the most modern weapons available in the Kubitz shipyards.”