The Star Cross: The Forever War

by Raymond L. Weil

  “We are still getting reports of Vorn activity on the periphery of the galaxy,” said Alborg with concern in his voice. “Our latest intelligence reports indicate at least seven Vorn harvesting fleets are at work. Every day more worlds are being attacked and their populations turned into food.”

  Commodore Dreen let out a deep sigh. The periphery of the galaxy covered such a large area that it was impractical to send a fleet. It would be next to impossible to locate the Vorn harvesting fleets. They were striking indiscriminately, sometimes hundreds or even one thousand light-years from their last attack. Dreen shuddered when thinking about what the Vorn were doing—feeding on the intelligent inhabitants of the galaxy. How gruesome and it had been going on for millions of years, and not just in this galaxy but countless others.

  “I have spoken to Fleet Captain Waelt,” said Dreen. “Unfortunately we can do nothing to defend the outer worlds at the present time. There is no clear target for us to attack. Our goal for now is to build the Lakiam Alliance so we can defend as many worlds as possible. At the moment those inhabited worlds on our galaxy’s edge are on their own.” For many of those worlds, this would be their death warrant. He felt horrible knowing he could do nothing to prevent their harvesting by the Vorn.

  Alborg was silent for a long moment. “Is there any chance of the Glaymons sending more warships?”

  “No,” Commodore Dreen answered. “I have asked Fleet Captain Waelt about that, and he said the Glaymon fleet currently here is all that’s coming.”

  “And we don’t know where their world or worlds are located?”

  Commodore Dreen shook his head. “All we know for sure is that it’s very well hidden.” Dreen suspected the Glaymon fleet captain wasn’t being entirely truthful about his home world. Every time the subject was brought up, a pained look appeared on Waelt’s face, as if he never expected to see home again. However, Dreen wondered if this thing with the Hanorians was a clue as to the location of the Glaymon home world. Why else would they be so anxious to make sure the Hanorian fleet was fully updated?

  “Jalad, set a course for Andros. We need to check on how the Bascoms are coming along with their defenses.” Commodore Dreen was more concerned about the Bascoms since their twin home worlds had been destroyed by the Vorn. It had substantially weakened their ability to defend themselves, though new shipyards had been built, and additional warships were now coming online. Currently, with the additional Protector Worlds that had joined the Alliance, an area nearly twenty thousand light-years across was now committed to a joint defense against the Vorn. Dreen just hoped that would be enough to turn the tide of destruction.

  -

  A few minutes later the Basera and her attending fleet of 170 Lakiam battlecruisers entered hyperspace. Commodore Dreen was touring the Protector Worlds nearest Lakiam to ensure they were ready for an attack by the Vorn. In Dreen’s mind, there was no doubt one was coming. His greatest fear was how overwhelming the Vorn’s next attack on the Lakiam system would be.

  Since capturing the Vorn mothership and decrypting the files in its computer, much had been discovered about the Vorn. The Lakiams now knew the location of the system the Vorn were using as a staging area for attacks on the galaxy. Several discussions had already been had with Fleet Captain Waelt about sending an exploratory force to the staging system to see if something could be done about it. Waelt wanted to send the Humans. After seeing their ships in action, Commodore Dreen could well understand why the Glaymons wanted them for this mission. Dreen felt growing tension in his shoulders. He greatly feared their months of being free from Vorn attacks was about to end.

  -

  On Marsten in the Gothan Empire, High Profiteer Creed was in the Command Center of his battleship, speaking with Second Profiteer Hurkler, who had been with Creed for many years, commanding one of the Profiteer fleet’s battlecruisers.

  “Ten million credits,” reported Hurkler, shaking his head in disbelief. “That’s the amount of the bounty Fleet Admiral Vickers has placed on your head.”

  Creed looked at the viewscreen showing Marsten—the fourth planet of seven and the capital of the Gothan Empire. The planet was slightly larger than Kubitz with 15 percent higher gravity. Marsten had several small oceans but, for the most part, was an arid world. Some areas around the planet’s equator and the more mountainous regions were lush with vegetation. These regions were the prime real estate on the planet and highly coveted by Profiteers who had made their fortunes leading the raiding fleets.

  With that size of a bounty on his head, Creed might not even be safe on his home planet. He was surprised Vickers had actually gone that route. It was something a Profiteer would do. Vickers was learning to think like a Profiteer, which made him even more dangerous.

  “I suspect Avery Dolman had something to do with getting Vickers to set the bounty,” muttered Creed. He clenched his fist, gazing at his missing left hand and arm. A modern medical facility was in one of the large shipyards orbiting Marsten. He had already arranged for the medical procedure to regrow his missing limb.

  “It is a substantial sum,” said Hurkler. “It’s one of the largest bounties I know of. A number of the smaller clans will be interested in collecting it, particularly on Kubitz.”

  “We’ll have to stay away from Kubitz for a while,” replied Creed. This aggravated the High Profiteer because he did so much business on Kubitz, or at least he did before he became involved with Fleet Admiral Vickers. Gazing at the viewscreen, he stared at the lush areas around Marsten’s equator. He had hoped to make his home on a mountain range there with a small green valley, retiring as one of the greatest Profiteers of all times. Vickers had crushed that dream, and now Creed was determined to destroy the Newton fleet admiral.

  Hurkler hesitated and then spoke again. “Unconfirmed rumors state Profiteer Grantz survived the attack on him, though he was shot twice in the chest.”

  “Body armor,” muttered Creed with a deep frown crossing his face. “Grantz was never the kind to take chances. At least we know we got Tenner and a lot more of the Humans living at the Newton Embassy.”

  “It’s being rebuilt,” Hurkler said, “with thicker walls and better defenses. We won’t get another shot at it.”

  “We accomplished our goal of taking out Tenner and inflicting pain on Vickers,” replied Creed dismissively. “The embassy isn’t of concern to me anymore.”

  Hurkler stepped up to a control console and pressed an icon. A 1,700-meter-long battleship appeared. “This is Vickers’s new flagship. From our scans that ship possesses weapons equal to or more powerful than any Protector World we know of. He managed to threaten the Kubitz government and the Controllers into paying a huge fine for what we did to the embassy.”

  “After he demonstrated he could blow their defensive platforms and the slave auction houses into oblivion,” replied Creed, his eyes narrowing. “He’s gained access to some very advanced technology.”

  “There are rumors the Glaymons are involved,” said Hurkler uneasily.

  “Plhtup!” growled Creed. “The Glaymons aren’t real. No, he’s gained the technology from one of the more advanced Protector Worlds or an Enlightened World. Vickers is very cunning, and his new ship confirms that.”

  Hurkler was silent for several moments and then spoke again. “This technology puts Vickers beyond our reach. As long as he remains in his flagship or on Newton, we can’t touch him.”

  High Profiteer Creed turned toward Hurkler, his eyes turning red with anger. “No! Vickers must die! He’s cost me too much.”

  “But how?” asked Hurkler with a puzzled look on his face. “There’s no way we can reach him.”

  “We can’t, but the black ships can.”

  Hurkler took a step back. “The black ships? Surely you jest? I’ve seen the secret reports of Dacroni Clan Leader Masak’s attack on one of them. He lost fourteen of his battleships and only managed to destroy one black ship. His ships were destroyed in just a matter of seconds. It’s too danger
ous for us to approach a ship of the Destroyers of Worlds. They will destroy us on sight.”

  “We don’t need to approach them. Just send them a message describing Earth and Newton.” Creed already had a plan, and it would strike Vickers where it would hurt the most.

  Hurkler looked thoughtful. “First we need to find a black fleet, which in itself will not be easy.”

  “Easier than you might think. A black fleet is operating a few thousand light-years from here, toward the edge of the galaxy. It’s currently attacking the Fralix Empire.” Creed had heard of this from an informant on Kubitz who had spoken to a captain of a freighter that had recently fled the region. The freighter captain was known for trading with the worlds on the galaxy’s edge where he could collect higher profits by trading technology for gold and other valuable metals.

  “That’s more like six thousand light-years from here,” corrected Hurkler. “It would take us at least ten days to reach that area of space. Longer if we take a fleet with us.”

  High Profiteer Creed nodded. His new battleship had the latest and most powerful hyperspace drive available in the shipyards above Kubitz. “Then we’d better get going. Contact one of the orbital shipyards and arrange to have us resupplied. We will not take any other ships, just the Ascendant Fury.”

  “How do you intend to send a message to the black ships?”

  “I acquired several advanced message drones while we were at Kubitz. I bought them from Toblan.”

  Toblan was the weapons dealer Creed normally dealt with. The two drones had been expensive but not nearly as much as the message program he had acquired to send a message to the black ships. Where Toblan had obtained a program of the language of the Destroyers of Worlds was something Creed didn’t inquire about. Some things you just didn’t ask a weapons dealer.

  “I’ll contact the shipyards and see which one has an open docking port. It shouldn’t take long to load the supplies.”

  Creed nodded. If this worked, not only would Fleet Admiral Vickers die, so would everything and everyone Vickers held important to him, namely both Earth and Newton and every Human in both systems.

  Chapter Eight

  Fleet Admiral Kurt Vickers was in Governor Spalding’s office, discussing the latest developments in the war against the Vorn as well as the status of the defenses around the worlds of Newton’s small Alliance.

  “We’re putting the new defensive platforms in orbit around all our worlds,” reported Rear Admiral Susan White. Her battlecarrier, the Ranger, had been overseeing this installation. “These are much more powerful than the ones originally designed by Lomatz and what he is currently selling to the different worlds in the Gothan Empire.”

  “How are Julbian, Sertez, and Maldon paying for their defenses?” asked Governor Spalding. “Our budget is already strained from all our own defense expenditures.”

  “We’re selling them the defensive platforms at cost,” replied Rear Admiral White. “Since we’re now producing the basic platform for Lomatz in one of the fabrication bays on Newton Station, we’re raking in a considerable profit from those. Lomatz is using his connections to sell the platforms to all the worlds in the Gothan Empire and is even in the process of arranging for sales to some Enlightened Worlds which have shown an interest. The profits from the sales are already adding up. They should help to offset what we’re spending to modernize our fleet and to build new warships. We’re also producing the newer platforms in the bay as well. We’ve retrofitted Lomatz’s construction ship to be as it once was, since it’s no longer needed to build these newest defensive platforms.”

  “Lomatz,” said Spalding with a deep sigh. “Having so many of his people on Newton still makes me sleep uneasily at night. I’m always afraid, when I wake up, they will have stolen the planet.”

  Kurt laughed. “Most of his people are not Profiteers. Keera is using many of their medical specialists to train people in our med centers. They’re doing a fantastic job. A few of them have already been given unlimited access to travel wherever they want.”

  “Only a few,” said Spalding. “Granted, the ones helping Keera seem okay, but twenty thousand more of them are on the island. I can’t believe we don’t have a few bad apples in that bunch.”

  “I don’t think we have anything to fear,” Kurt said reassuringly. “In a few more years they’ll be acclimated to living on Newton and will have forgotten what their life was like on Kubitz.”

  Lomatz’s people had been very useful in helping with the new technology being installed across the planet and in the shipyards. They were working alongside Human and Glaymon technicians, adapting more advanced technology for widespread use. So far, all the new technology based on Glaymon science had been restricted to Newton.

  “President Lambert has requested access to more of our technology,” continued Spalding, “as it will help stimulate the planet’s economy and aid Earth to recover quicker from the devastation caused by the attacks of the Profiteers.”

  “If we grant the North American Union access, the other world powers will want the same,” commented General Mclusky, his eyes narrowing sharply. “They were hit pretty hard as well.”

  “That is a problem,” Spalding said, his brow wrinkling in a frown. “I would suggest we make accessible some of the technology Lomatz has brought to us but continue to keep all Glaymon technology restricted to Newton.”

  “We need to consider what part of Lomatz’s technology we’re willing to share,” said Kurt. “We know the NAU is highly interested in some of our new educational methods.”

  “Earth will soon be turning out a quite a few new warships,” said Rear Admiral White. “The last time I was in the system, the shipyard was operating around the clock on new construction.”

  “The new shipyard above Earth is officially completed,” Spalding added. “We did provide two construction bays, using the same shipbuilding technology the Kubitz shipyards employ.”

  Kurt nodded. The Newton shipyards were equipped with Glaymon technology. “I suggest we make available to the NAU the new updated antimatter power chambers. That will allow them to equip their warships so they can destroy a Vorn cruiser.” The new shipyard above Earth had been funded by all the major world powers. Kurt hoped that cooperation continued in the future. It would be nice to see Earth someday have a united world government.

  Governor Spalding leaned back in his chair, a serious look on his face. “If the Vorn were to attack Newton with a major fleet, would we survive?”

  “Yes,” Kurt answered. “We’re keeping the majority of our fleet here, plus we have ten Glaymon disk ships in the system. If we call for help, the Glaymons can have a major fleet here within the hour.”

  Spalding eyed Kurt for a long moment. “I still wish I knew just where the Glaymons are hiding.”

  Kurt slowly shook his head. “They wish that to remain a secret. Only myself and a few others know, and the Glaymons have requested it stay that way.”

  “I guess I have to accept that,” Spalding said. “They’ve done so much for us, and I’ll not risk offending them.”

  “The Vorn have been relatively quiet as of late,” Kurt said. “Since the battle in the Lakiam System, the Vorn have pulled back from attacking any Protector Worlds or Enlightened Worlds. A few Vorn fleets are still operating on the periphery of the galaxy but nowhere else.”

  Kurt still relied on the Newton embassy on Kubitz and Avery Dolman to keep him informed of what was going on in the galaxy. He also received regular reports from the Glaymons as to Fleet Commodore Dreen’s progress with his Lakiam Alliance.

  Of course there was Mara, and she had made it a point, since her return to Newton, to spend more time with Kurt and Keera. So far—other than the “sharing” discussion with Keera—Mara hadn’t done anything that might make Kurt feel uneasy. However, the fact she was acting so proper had Kurt on edge. Mara was extremely intelligent and used to getting her way. The few times they had been alone, she had been extremely polite but forceful in her d
iscussions about possible trading agreements.

  “What is the latest report from our embassy on Kubitz?” asked Rear Admiral White.

  Susan spent much of her time in space, going from one Newton Alliance world to another. Particularly of late, as she and her fleet were placing more of the new defensive platforms into orbit. Her fleet and Rear Admiral Wilson’s were rotating this responsibility, sharing the patrol duty and defensive platform installation around the three worlds of Julbian, Sertez, and Maldon. Both fleets had been substantially increased in size, in case they had to go up against a black fleet. Susan’s own fleet now consisted of the Ranger, two other light carriers, two battleships and ten battlecruisers. The light cruisers had been pulled back to Newton, with serious talk of discontinuing their production. The light cruisers were just too small to be a threat to the Vorn.

  “All the reconstruction is finished, and Kyla Brent has assumed the role of ambassador. Jarman Juarez is serving as deputy ambassador,” replied Spalding. “We replaced all the staff who were killed and increased the size of our security detail at the embassy. We now have two full companies of Marines present.”

  “We added modernized weapons as well,” Kurt said. “I don’t think we have to worry about the embassy being attacked again. Also two heavy battlecruisers are in orbit as well as several light cruisers.” Kurt was still using the light cruisers to shuttle people back and forth between Kubitz and Newton.

  General Mclusky leaned forward. “I wish we could find High Profiteer Creed. I still find it extremely disappointing he escaped from Earth.”

  “We all do,” Kurt replied solemnly. “I placed a ten-million-credit bounty on his head with the Controllers on Kubitz. That’ll severely restrict where he can go in the Gothan Empire. If I had to make a guess, the only safe refuge he has left is Marsten. Even on his home planet, a few Profiteers may be interested in collecting the bounty.”