The Star Cross: The Forever War

by Raymond L. Weil

  During all this time the Star Cross stayed in orbit, overseeing the construction of the platforms as well as keeping the Earth governments calm over the two Kubitz construction ships doing the work. Several smaller countries threatened to shoot down any of the shuttles from the ships if they came too close to Earth. Kurt was careful to make sure that didn’t happen, even to the point of having fighters fly patrols directly above the space of the complaining countries. This work had to be done, and the two Kubitz construction ships were the best suited for the job. He also kept two light cruisers close to each construction ship, in case they were needed to defend them. Of course both construction ships were heavily armed with their own defensive weapons, a fact Kurt didn’t mention to any of the Earth governments.

  -

  A few days later Kurt was on board the new shipyard in orbit above Earth. He was in the Command Center speaking to its commanding officer, Major Edmund Collins of the United Kingdom. Since the shipyard had been built and paid for by a number of different nations on Earth, its command crew comprised officers from several nations.

  “We just received a message from Rear Admiral Wilson, and he reports no signs of Vorn vessels in his patrol area,” Collins informed Kurt.

  “Rear Admiral White reported the same earlier,” Kurt replied. He wasn’t expecting a Vorn attack this quick, but the fleets from Earth were on alert just in case.

  The fleets of both rear admirals had been radically changed with the increased threat of the Vorn. Each fleet was now comprised of one heavy battlecarrier, two battleships, and ten heavy cruisers. In another day or two, ten Glaymon disk ships were scheduled to join the two fleets and participate in the patrols. In addition, eight light cruisers—equipped with the Glaymon long-range detection system—had been deployed in an arc in the general direction the Vorn were expected to come from. With any luck the Vorn fleet would be detected at least sixty light-years out from Earth, which should give Kurt sufficient time to prepare for their arrival.

  Kurt gazed at the numerous viewscreens which showed Earth, the station, space, and some of the different ships in orbit above the planet. Earth space was full of cargo vessels, passenger ships, and ships of every nature going back and forth between the planets and moons in the solar system as well as other worlds in the Newton Alliance, including Newton.

  On the far side of the Command Center, a group of officers were in front of a large communications station which held a number of sensor screens, showing the locations of all ships in the system, including new arrivals.

  “It can be quite a mess sometimes,” confided Major Collins as he noticed what had attracted Kurt’s attention. “Dozens of ships are coming and going each day, as well as many more moving about the system. It’s rather daunting at times to keep track of all of them. Multiple asteroid mining ships are privately owned, and they keep pretty much to themselves. Some of those miners have struck it rich and often don’t want to report where they’re going to or coming from.”

  “You can track them, can’t you?” asked Kurt. He couldn’t imagine the small mining ships hiding from the sensors of the shipyard or the control stations.

  Major Collins smiled. “Of course we can, but they don’t know that. It would just be easier if they would file a flight plan so we would know for sure who is going where.”

  Kurt knew trade with the other Newton Alliance worlds was booming. Interest in new products and even the sharing of different technologies was opening up broad avenues for the expansion of numerous industries. The number of ships traveling between the worlds would only grow.

  “Four Julbian cargo ships have just exited hyperspace,” reported one of the sensor operators in front of the large console. Each sensor operator was responsible for a different section of the system. “Two fighters from the Dante are giving them the once-over.”

  -

  Just outside the orbit of Mars, two Lance fighters broke away from their patrol route and accelerated toward the four Julbian cargo ships that had dropped from hyperspace. Visiting ships were asked to exit at two regions in the solar system. The Dante and the Wasp were responsible for confirming the identities of all inbound ships. This normally involved a quick inspection by a pair of Lance fighters to confirm the ships were who they said they were.

  The Dante was a six-hundred-meter-long light carrier with thirty Lance fighters on board. At one time the light carrier would have had ten Scorpion bombers on board as well, but the bombers were unloaded to make room for more fighters. The battlecruiser Lexington—built in the Kubitz shipyards, then updated in the new shipyard over Earth—provided escort for the Dante. The battlecruiser now possessed modern weapons and shields.

  Outside the cockpit window of his fighter, Captain Wertz could see his wingman, Lieutenant Everton. Glancing at the Lance’s sensor screen, Wertz could see they were nearly to the four cargo ships.

  “Got ’em,” reported Lieutenant Everton. “Straight ahead.”

  Captain Wertz looked up, and, sure enough, there were the four Julbian transports. They were bulky ships and not designed to land on the surface of a planet, though they might be able land on an asteroid or a small moon. “Take it down their port side, and then we’ll circle back,” he ordered.

  The two fighters rapidly neared the four cargo ships which were moving slowly forward in a column. The fighters passed within one thousand meters of the four ships, visually confirming their identity.

  “I wonder what they’re carrying?” Everton asked.

  “They’re from Julbian, and, this time of year, the Talo plants are being harvested.” The Talo plant produced a fruit similar to an orange only smaller and a little sweeter. They had become very popular on Earth.

  “My sister likes those,” Lieutenant Everton answered over the comm.

  “A lot of people do,” Wertz replied as they completed their turn and flew down the other side of the four cargo ships. He was satisfied everything was kosher, and the four ships could continue to Earth, where they would dock with the shipyard. Once at the shipyard, the cargo would be inspected, a value placed on it, unloaded, and then it would be sent to Earth. Plans were in the works to construct a large space station where incoming vessels would dock instead of at the shipyard. Construction was supposed to start sometime in the next year.

  “Dante Control, this is Alpha flight,” Wertz spoke over the fighter’s comm system to the light carrier. “Julbian cargo ships confirmed.”

  “Very well, Alpha flight,” the control officer replied. “We’ll set them on their course for Earth. Complete your patrol and then bring your flight home. You’re scheduled for forty-eight hours of downtime.”

  Captain Wertz smiled to himself. It would be nice to get a few days off, though he really loved flying the Lances. He looked out the cockpit window. Already the four Julbian cargo ships were receding from sight, steadily growing smaller. Around him, space seemed full of stars. They were twenty million kilometers from Mars, and the view was fantastic. It almost seemed as if he could reach out and touch the thousands of stars that were visible. With a deep sigh he changed course so they could finish their patrol.

  -

  Fleet Admiral Vickers had listened to the conversations between the pilots and the Dante. “We have the same traffic-tracking situation at Newton but not quite as bad.” Newton’s population was much smaller than Earth’s, so the amount of trade was considerably reduced.

  “I’m concerned about the number of ships we might have in the system when the Vorn attack,” said Major Collins. “How do we get them to a place of safety?”

  “How many ships, currently in the system, have hyperspace drives?” In the more civilized sections of the galaxy, the ships in an attacked system normally jumped to their nearest colony. Kurt wasn’t sure if he wanted hundreds of ships jumping to Newton.

  “Sensor readings indicate 187,” Collins said as he looked at his command console. “That’s pretty much average.”

  Kurt thought for a long moment and then ans
wered. “Once the Vorn appear, we’ll have any ships in the system jump to the Proxima Centauri System, where I’ll place a couple battlecruisers. That should provide adequate protection. I don’t believe the Vorn will be interested in chasing after a lot of cargo and passenger ships.” It would also help make it simpler to conduct a battle in the solar system if all the civilian ships were out of the way.

  “What about the ships without hyperdrives?”

  Most of the mining ships as well as some of the cargo ships only had sublight drives, just to make runs between Earth, Mars, the asteroids, and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. “Once the Condition One alarm has sounded, have them power down and wait until the battle’s over. Just make sure they get far enough away from Earth and the other colonies to avoid Vorn ships.”

  Major Collins nodded his understanding. “Are we certain the Vorn will come here?”

  “Nothing is certain,” Kurt replied. “But I would say the odds of a Vorn fleet showing up are very good, particularly after they sent a scouting mission.” Kurt’s brow wrinkled in a frown. Why had the Vorn sent scouts to Earth’s system? How had they learned of it?

  With sudden certainty, Kurt had a suspicion his answer lay on Kubitz. Only the Profiteers and a few Lakiams knew of Earth’s location, and Kurt was certain the information hadn’t come from Fleet Commodore Dreen or the few other Lakiams who possessed it. No, somehow the Vorn had to have learned from the Profiteers where Earth was. With a cold chill running along his spine, Kurt knew that High Profiteer Creed had been involved.

  -

  On Kubitz, Grantz waited outside the Sandshree Pleasure House. He had it on good information that Fourth Profiteer Tierman was inside, visiting one of the girls. Grantz looked at his timepiece, noting he had been waiting for over an hour. Looking across the street, he saw the two bodyguards Avery Dolman had furnished. They were keeping an eye on Grantz as well as anything else that might look suspicious in the vicinity. Since that one attempt on his life, there had been no others. It had been strangely quiet on Kubitz. Word had it that two Human battlecruisers were in orbit, and the Enforcers had been unusually stringent in enforcing laws recently. Violence in the capital city was way down.

  The door opened, and a number of people exited the pleasure house. Grantz noticed the final one to leave had a furtive look about him. It was Tierman! As he stepped onto the sidewalk, he looked at Grantz and froze. “What are you doing here?” he stammered, glancing around as if seeking a place to run.

  “Look across the street,” said Grantz, stepping closer to Tierman.

  Tierman looked where Grantz had gestured, seeing the two men watching him. He took a deep breath and looked at Grantz. “It was nothing personal,” he said, a pleading look in his eyes.

  “Nevertheless we’ll take a little walk and have a discussion about how much you were paid to shoot me.” Grantz shoved Tierman toward a nearby alley. Other people on the wide sidewalk paid little or no attention to them; after all, this was Kubitz.

  Walking to the alley, Grantz gestured for Tierman to get in the vehicle parked in the center. Grantz’s two bodyguards took positions outside the alley to make sure Grantz wasn’t bothered.

  Getting into the large back seat, Grantz studied Tierman. The Profiteer was sweating and had a panicked look in his eyes. “If you want to live, you will tell me everything I need to know.”

  “They’ll kill me,” said Tierman, his voice quivering.

  “If you don’t tell me, I’ll kill you and send your head to your nearest relative.”

  Tierman gulped and looked at the floor of the vehicle. “What do you want?”

  “Who hired you?”

  “It was a hit put out by the Jalon Clan.”

  “You’re a member of that clan, are you not?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who made the payment to the clan?”

  Tierman’s eyes moved back and forth, still searching for an escape route. He could see the two men blocking the alley. “It was a weapons dealer.”

  This surprised Grantz. He had been expecting it to be High Profiteer Creed. “Which weapons dealer?”

  “Toblan. He made the payment to the clan, and I was told to make the hit.”

  “How do you know it was Toblan?” Grantz knew of Toblan. He often dealt in some very shady weapons deals. He also did a lot of work for High Profiteer Creed.

  Tierman shook his head. “Toblan will have me killed if I say anything else.”

  Grantz gestured to the two bodyguards at the entrance to the alley. “If you don’t talk, they’ll kill you and leave your body in this alley, minus your head.”

  Tierman’s shoulders drooped. “The hit on the Human embassy went badly. Most of our clan, including our High Profiteer, were killed. Only a few of us are left. I had a few contacts and asked some questions. It took me weeks to find out who was behind the attack on the embassy. Toblan had made the payment and ordered the hit, but he was only following someone else’s orders.”

  “Whose?” demanded Grantz, his eyes narrowing. He was certain now he would hear High Profiteer Creed’s name.

  “It was a Dacroni clan leader.”

  Grantz took a deep breath. Now it all began to make sense. “Was it Clan Leader Jarls?”

  Tierman looked surprised. “Yes, Jarls made the initial payment to Toblan, who made all the arrangements with the Jalon Clan. Mercenaries from Jarls’s clan were involved in the hit on the Human embassy. They wore different uniforms and patches to make them seem to be another clan. They were very careful to take all their wounded and dead with them. Once the hit was over, they went to the spaceport and took shuttles to their orbiting ships. As soon as all their people were on board, they left the system.”

  Grantz leaned back, deep in thought. Dacroni Clan Leader Jarls and High Profiteer Creed had a long history. If anyone knew where Creed was, it would be Jarls. “You can go. Don’t tell anyone about this conversation.”

  “I won’t,” Tierman said as he opened the door and hurriedly got out. “I won’t say anything.”

  Grantz knew he wouldn’t as a gunshot rang out, and Tierman slid to the ground with a bullet hole in his forehead. The two bodyguards shut the door and moved the body over behind some refuse containers. They then got in, started the car, pulling into the street and heading toward the Human embassy. Grantz had found out what he wanted. He had two ways to go from here. At some point in time High Profiteer Creed would be contacting either Toblan or Jarls. When he did, Grantz would be ready. A ten-million-credit bounty awaited, and Grantz intended to claim it.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Prince Caluume listened with interest to the report of Military Leader Renwarld. He was surprised to hear of a world rich in food so far from the other civilized areas of this galaxy. One thing that did concern him was Renwarld had lost one of his cruisers in a brief skirmish with the inhabitants of that system. It indicated this particular race, even though isolated, might have heard of the Vorn and the harvesting fleets.

  I believe other worlds are close by as well, Renwarld sent. He was on board his cruiser and communicating telepathically with Prince Caluume. We observed numerous ships coming and going from the system. From the flight paths we recorded, as many as three or four more food worlds are nearby.

  You say this primary world has several billion inhabitants?

  Yes, the third planet has an estimated four to seven billion of the food species living upon it.

  Prince Caluume considered this new information. Just the one world would be well worth harvesting. Also none of the large Protector Worlds were nearby, so all the harvesting fleet would have to worry about were the warships and the defenses of this single world. He would have Military Leader Jattal study the sensor recordings Renwarld made of the system to see how powerful the defenses of this particular food species were.

  The harvesting fleet of Prince Lakat was nearby and could be called upon for a joint harvest if necessary. A thousand Vorn cruisers and six motherships should crush the
defenses of one isolated world—or possibly five. If all had similar populations as the one Military Leader Renwarld had observed, the trip would be certainly worth it.

  Two days previously Prince Caluume’s fleet had rendezvoused with a Collector ship and unloaded its bounty of food pellets. A large number had been found to be suitable for the Royal Caste. He had also been informed that Prince Brollen had returned to the galaxy with a large harvesting fleet and was already processing food world after food world.

  This pleased Prince Caluume as it meant his fleet could now return to the richer food harvesting regions of this galaxy. After he harvested the world or worlds Military Leader Renwarld had found, and if he continued to bring in successful harvests, perhaps Prince Brollen would secure Caluume a higher position in the Royal Court.

  He had met Prince Brollen once, though Caluume doubted if the prince would remember him. Rumors swept the fleet that Prince Brollen had risen to a high level of power in the court and might someday even replace Queen Alithe if she decided to step down from her lofty position.

  Many of the princes in the court had always questioned why the Queens were allowed to rule. Most believed it was biological since the Queens produced the young of the race. Prince Caluume would not mind seeing Prince Brollen rise to power and become the High Ruler of the Vorn.

  Caluume spent some time wondering how he could bring himself to Brollen’s attention to secure himself a better position in the Royal Court. Perhaps this new food world would aid him in that goal. All it would take was to find one world which contained a food species the Royal Court found highly desirable. It all came down to the taste of the food pellets. Caluume was determined to find such a food species.

  -

  Fleet Commodore Dreen had been summoned to a meeting of the Lakiam Council to discuss the latest developments in the Vorn war. Council member Marl had informed Dreen there was a lot of confusion as to what to do about the Vorn attacks in the Rumii Sector. The few Protector Worlds in that sector had recently sent requests for help as they were powerless to stop the Vorn—their fleets being annihilated by the Vorns’ superior weapons and shield technology.