Mara nodded. “I will say one thing about your world. It has some interesting food products. I tried three different tea types Keera recommended. We have nothing like them on Lakiam. I purchased a wide variety of different teas and had them delivered to my new ship. They will be very popular on my world.”
“I know,” commented Keera, eyeing Kurt intently. “I’ve told Kurt as well as Governor Spalding they could make a fortune exporting tea.”
“It would have a good market just on Lakiam,” said Mara, nodding. “Well, I should return to my ship. Kurt, if you have the time, I have a few things I would like to discuss. Also please talk to Tasid about updating the Limeira.”
Kurt nodded. “I’ll see what I have scheduled for the next few days, and I’ll check into what can be done to update your ship.” Kurt didn’t mention who he would be contacting. He suspected, if he talked to Colonel Hayworth, the Limeira could be taken into one of the new shipyards the Glaymons had built and updated there. Kurt also would have to decide what updates he was willing to share with Mara. So far she had been very trustworthy where the Glaymons and their technology were concerned.
Kurt watched as Mara left, getting into the vehicle waiting for her outside. With resolve, he turned around to Keera, who now had a glaring look in her eyes. Kurt felt his heart skip a beat.
“So, what did you do when Mara stripped off her clothes in front of you? And why didn’t you mention it to me earlier?”
Kurt gulped, not sure how to respond. After seeing the two of them together and acting so friendly, his fears about what had happened had vanished; now they all came rushing back. “I was shocked,” he said, deciding truth was the best option. “She invited me to her quarters, and I thought she wanted to discuss our mission. I wasn’t expecting her to take off her clothes.”
Keera shook her head with her hands on her hips. “It wasn’t the mission she wanted to discuss. It was something more intimate.”
Kurt didn’t know what to say or how to extricate himself from this mess.
Keera gazed at Kurt for a long moment and then burst out laughing. “It’s my fault. I was aware Lakiam women have no problems sharing themselves with people of equal rank or those they respect. It’s a common practice on their home planet and their colony worlds. They don’t have the sexual hang-ups present in many humanoid cultures.”
Kurt stared at Keera, aghast. “You knew and didn’t warn me?”
“I never thought it would be a problem. Very few Lakiam women share themselves outside their own race. Mara must have found you very special. From my own experience I can see why.”
“How did you find out?” asked Kurt, his mind still reeling from everything Keera said.
“She told me,” Keera answered. “Mara is a very confident Lakiam woman, and she told me about the incident. Fortunately I’m familiar enough with Lakiam culture that it didn’t shock me. Mara does not think she did anything wrong.”
“Well, I’m glad that’s out in the open, and I don’t have to worry about it.”
“Oh, it’s not over,” Keera said, her eyes sparkling. “The reason Mara told me is she still wants to share herself with you. She was asking for my permission.”
Kurt was stunned. It seemed as if this nightmare would never end. “What did you tell her?”
“I didn’t want to cause a diplomatic incident so I told her I would discuss it with you and see how you felt about it.”
“You did what?” Kurt blurted out, not believing what he had just heard. “I have no romantic interest in Mara.” Keera could have solved all this by telling Mara that Keera was not willing to share him.
Keera shook her head. “You forget that I’m from Kubitz, or at least I spent a number of years there. Remember, Meesa even worked at a pleasure house for a few months. While I would never have done that, it’s not frowned on like it would be here.” Meesa was her brother’s wife.
“I don’t think I want to do such a thing with Mara.”
“You don’t find her attractive?”
“Of course I do,” Kurt replied uncomfortably. “She’s a beautiful woman.”
Keera nodded. “If you ever do decide to take Mara up on her offer, just let me know first.”
Kurt was confused. “You wouldn’t object?”
“With Mara, no, because of who she is. She’s a Lakiam and from one of the major Protector Worlds. Their culture is so much different than ours.”
Shaking his head, Kurt replied. “I will not be taking her up on her offer. You’re more than enough woman for me.”
Keera grinned. “I know, but I wouldn’t be jealous if something did happen. Now I’ll prepare you a welcome home dinner. Your sister was over the other day and showed me how to make chicken fried steak. I’ve been waiting for you to get here so I could try it out on you.”
“Cook away,” said Kurt. “I need to do a little computer work in my study.”
“I’ll come get you when it’s ready.”
Kurt watched Keera carry her packages into the bedroom and then head for the kitchen. This was one of the strangest conversations he had ever had. He realized, even after all this, he still had no idea what to do about Mara.
Chapter Six
The Fralix Empire was on the outer fringes of the galaxy. Twenty-seven worlds in eighteen solar systems bound together by culture and isolated from most of the other civilized worlds of the galaxy. For generations they had explored the space around them, finding resources and a few other isolated worlds to trade with and occasionally another world to colonize. Due to their location on the outer-fringes of the galaxy, the Fralix Empire had very little contact with the more advanced worlds farther into the galaxy.
During their explorations they became embroiled in a small interstellar war against a more barbaric world in their region of space. After multiple difficult battles and the loss of several million citizens on each side, the war ended in a stalemate. As a result, they had created and built a fleet dedicated to protecting the area of space they felt was theirs.
The Fralixians were a species which remotely resembled canines. They walked erect, and, instead of paws, they had fur-covered hands with five short digits. Their heads resembled a canine’s but a little flatter. Their ears stood erect, and their hearing was excellent.
-
“All scans are negative,” reported Third Officer Gandon, who stood in front of the sensor console.
“Still no sign of the mysterious black ships reported scanning the Datox System,” added First Officer Matob. “They seem to have vanished.”
Commander Damalb shook his head in confusion. “We have searched the entire region of space around Datox outward to ten light-years and have found nothing.” Damalb commanded a small fleet of ten battlecruisers and twenty-six light escorts, one of four such fleets the Fralix Empire possessed. “We have received reports of freighters encountering these mysterious ships from several of our worlds.”
“We can continue to expand the search,” suggested First Officer Matob. “The reports have been too widespread to be false. They must be out here somewhere.”
Damalb considered the suggestion and then shook his head. His large brown eyes focused on his first officer. “No, it would be best if we returned to Datox. If the black ships are part of a larger exploratory mission, they may return there. That’s where the most recent sightings occurred.”
“What if they’re like the Aatvox and are a hostile civilization?” asked Matob worriedly. “We could be looking at another war. It would collapse our economy.”
“Let us hope that is not the case,” replied Commander Damalb. The war against the Aatvox had lasted for seven years and strained the resources of the Fralix Empire. Another war might send the fragile economy of their empire over the edge. Already discussions were in progress to reduce the fleet by 50 percent to help rein in the budget. “Set a course for Datox Three.”
Matob nodded. He turned toward the helm officer. “Set a course for the Datox System and prepare to en
ter hyperspace.” He then used his ship-to-ship comm to pass on the same message to all the other ships in the patrol fleet.
-
Prince Caluume studied the latest reports from his fleet’s scout ships. For weeks he had searched the outlying regions of Galaxy X241 for an area where he could harvest sufficient food to completely fill up his fleet’s motherships. Now it seemed he might have found a rich harvesting region where several dozen inhabited worlds beckoned his ships. It was aggravating he could not proceed deeper into the galaxy where myriads of inhabited worlds were located. But, after Prince Brollen’s disastrous attack on a major Protector World, most of the harvesting fleets had been recalled to the staging system for repairs, with only a few remaining to harvest the periphery of Galaxy X241—harvesting just enough to ensure sufficient food for the Vorn in the home system.
The fleet is ready to harvest the first target, reported Military Leader Jattal. The fleet consisted of three motherships and four hundred of the five-hundred-meter-long cruisers. The cruisers were spindle-shaped and armed with the deadliest weapons known to the ancient race.
Take the fleet into hyperspace and activate our sensor-dampening field, ordered Prince Caluume. It is time to harvest another world. We are the Vorn, and this galaxy will feed us for centuries.
-
Moments later the Vorn fleet entered hyperspace and headed toward the Fralix star system of Datox.
-
Commander Damalb was asleep in his quarters when the alarms sounded. His eyes snapped open as he jumped from the bed and grabbed his uniform. With one hand he reached over and hit the button on the comm unit. “Report!”
“Freighter Darden has reported encountering a large fleet of ships outside the fifth planet of the system. The captain reports the fleet is using a sensor-dampening field. He only spotted them because his freighter nearly collided with one.”
Damalb felt his blood turn cold. Datox was the third planet out from the system’s sun and had a population of six hundred million. The fact these mysterious ships were using a sensor-dampening field indicated their intent was most likely hostile. “How many?”
“We lost contact with the Darden almost immediately after the first report. The ship has vanished from our long-range sensors. The only thing we’re picking up is what appears to be a small debris field.”
“Take the fleet to full combat alert. Notify Datox Orbital Control we may have a hostile fleet in the system.”
Commander Damalb was greatly concerned. He had no idea how large of a fleet he might be facing or its technology level. The fact they could avoid sensor detection was worrisome. He quickly finished dressing and then rushed to the Command Center. Stepping inside, he could see the frantic activity of the ship’s officers as they attempted to control this rapidly developing situation.
“What about all the civilian ships in the system?” asked First Officer Matob, seeing the commander’s arrival. “What should we tell them?”
Commander Damalb thought for a few moments and then answered. “General broadcast on all frequencies. Order all ships to jump to the Belmar System.” It had an inhabited planet with three hundred million Fralixians and was nearby. The civilian ships would be safe there for the time being.
First Officer Matob hurriedly moved to comply. It took him several minutes to get the messages sent.
“Both orbital shipyards have activated their energy screens and weapons,” reported Second Officer Sheller from Communications. “They hope to locate the inbound fleet using their astrometric departments.”
Damalb nodded. “Order all our ships to maximize magnification of their viewscreens. We must find those ships before they get within weapons range.” Damalb was growing more concerned every moment. How could you target a ship you can’t detect with the sensors? “Tactical, use manual targeting for our weapons.”
“Manual?” Fourth Officer Pomal said, his eyes widening in shock. “That will be very difficult. Our systems are designed to be fired when our weapons lock on a target.”
“Not today,” responded Commander Damalb, raising an eyebrow. “Override the systems if needed.” He knew this was a desperate measure, but it was the only option he could think of.
Pomal shook his head and spoke to his weapons officers as well as those on the other ships of the fleet.
“The freighter Abloss has encountered the enemy fleet,” reported Third Officer Gandon. Then his face turned pale. “Communications lost. The captain did report the enemy ships are painted black, spindle-shaped, and approximately five hundred meters in length. He also reported spotting at least fourteen before we lost communications.”
First Officer Matob put up a system map on one of the viewscreens, depicting where both the freighters had been destroyed. The Abloss was disturbingly close to Datox. “At their current speed, the enemy fleet will be in combat range in twenty-six minutes.”
“All freighters and passenger ships equipped with hyperspace drives are jumping from the system,” reported Third Officer Gandon. “That still leaves quite a few only capable of sublight speeds.”
“Order them to power down their systems and operate life support at minimal levels,” ordered Damalb. “Perhaps that will protect them from detection.”
“Sirens sounding on Datox Three,” added Second Officer Sheller. “People are being told to take shelter underground. Mass evacuations have begun in all major cities.”
“The Savolt shipyard reports their astrometrics department has located at least 120 of the black ships,” reported First Officer Matob. “They also report spotting at least one unbelievably large vessel.”
“How large?” Commander Damalb had hoped his fleet would only face the original sighting of fourteen ships, those five-hundred-meter-long vessels. His own battlecruisers were nearly eight hundred meters in length.
“The ship is dumbbell-shaped, with two enormous globes at each end connected to one another by a short cylinder. The ship is painted black as reported earlier. Each of the globes is two thousand meters in diameter, and the cylinder connecting the two is four hundred meters long and three hundred in diameter.”
Commander Damalb felt his heart stop beating. That ship by itself had as much tonnage as nearly his entire fleet. Any hope he had of defending the Datox System slipped away. “Have Orbital Control send a hyperspace message to our other worlds and to Fleet Command of what data we’ve gathered.” At least he could warn the other worlds of the empire what might be coming their way. “Matob, have the fleet go to defensive formation D-02. We need to see what weapons we’re facing before we go on the attack.” Defensive formation D-02 placed the fleet in a small cylindrical formation with the escorts on the wall of the cylinder and the battlecruisers sheltered inside.
“Viewscreens are active, and we’re searching for the inbound enemy fleet,” added Third Officer Gandon. “Still negative on Sensors. They’re not picking up anything.”
“Communications, contact that fleet. Maybe we can find out what they want.” Perhaps there was still time to prevent a catastrophe. Maybe this was all a simple misunderstanding.
“Commander, Orbital Control reports all hyperspace communication frequencies are jammed,” reported Second Officer Sheller from Communications. “They’ve also been attempting to contact the incoming fleet, and there has been no response.”
Commander Damalb sucked in a deep breath as he saw a military disaster in the making. No communications, his fleet outnumbered, and their weapons could not lock on the enemy ships. His fleet was in a hopeless tactical situation.
“Found one!” called out Third Officer Gandon excitedly.
On the main viewscreen, a black spindle-shaped ship appeared. It had numerous weapon turrets as well as hatches that indicated hidden missiles. This ship was obviously designed for one thing and one thing only: to destroy any vessel it attacked. This was a warship, plain and simple.
“Our other ships are reporting spotting black ships,” reported First Officer Matob. “Recommend we
initiate firing.”
“No,” replied Commander Damalb. “We won’t start an interstellar war. We’ll let them fire first.”
“But, Commander,” protested Matob, his expression showing great concern. “They’ve already destroyed two of our freighters. They’ve demonstrated their intent!”
“We don’t know for sure why they destroyed the freighters. Keep trying to contact them. I fear, if this goes to combat, we will be on the losing end. If there is any chance of resolving this through communications, we will attempt to do so until the very last second.”
-
Prince Caluume gazed at the main viewscreen, showing the waiting enemy ships. Evaluation of the enemy vessels?
Weak, replied Military Leader Jattal. Our own scans indicate they have no weapons which might be a threat to the vessels of our fleet.
Very well, take the fleet in. We will destroy the enemy fleet, annihilate the two orbiting shipyards, and then harvest the planet. This species inhabits twenty-seven worlds, according to our scout ships. Our three motherships will soon overflow with food cubes to take to our Queens.
We will deploy our dark matter energy beams, replied Military Leader Jattal. This opposing fleet will be space dust in just a matter of a few minutes. We are in combat range.
-
From the four hundred Vorn cruisers, black beams of deadly antimatter energy flicked out toward the waiting Fralix fleet. The beams struck the defensive energy shields and easily penetrated. Fralix escort ships began to die in fiery explosions as the outer wall of the defensive cylindrical formation was ravaged by the black beams. Glowing and mangled debris was sent flying in all directions.
-
“Return fire!” ordered Commander Damalb frantically as his flagship shook violently. Warning alarms sounded, and he could hear secondary explosions rattling his ship. On the viewscreens, he could see the carnage the black fleet was inflicting on the vessels in the wall of the defensive cylinder. Already enemy weapons were penetrating the wall and striking the battlecruisers.
The Star Cross: The Forever War Page 9