The Star Cross

by Raymond L. Weil

  “What if we lose?” asked Corporal Lasher with worry in his eyes.

  Nathan didn’t reply. He didn’t have to. If they lost, then no one would be coming, and this old Cold War bunker would become their tomb.

  -

  “They did what?” yelled High Profiteer Creed, his large eyes growing even wider in shock.

  “The humans attacked and destroyed the ten shuttles that landed. One of the orbiting shuttles nuked the site.”

  “What about the tribute?” snarled Creed. They shouldn’t have nuked the site without contacting him first.

  “I don’t think there was any,” replied Second Profiteer Lantz. “It was a trap.”

  Creed considered that and finally nodded. It all made sense. That was why the North American Union had volunteered to make the entire payment. It lured all the shuttles to one location, so they could destroy them.

  “They will pay for their insolence,” he growled, his growing anger turning his eyes red. “Give the order to nuke all their major cities! Once we’ve destroyed their pitiful world, we’ll return to Kubitz. We’re done here!”

  Alarms suddenly sounded, and red lights flashed on the sensor console. All the Profiteers in the Command Center turned to look at Third Profiteer Bixt with concern on their faces.

  “What now?” demanded Creed, as he turned toward Bixt.

  “It’s the human fleet,” called out Third Profiteer Bixt with fear in his eyes. “It’s returned!”

  “Contact Clan Leader Jarls and tell him to destroy it, while we deal with the planet,” ordered High Profiteer Creed, his eyes focused on the blue-white globe on one of the viewscreens. The humans were in revolt, and they had called in their fleet from the colony world. They would all die together.

  “I don’t know if he can,” responded Bixt in near panic, as numerous red threat icons showed up on his sensor screen. “There are too many of them!”

  -

  Fleet Admiral Vickers felt grim satisfaction as his ships emerged from hyperspace within combat range of the Profiteer and Dacroni ships. On the main viewscreens, the images shifted to show the enemy vessels.

  “Energy shield is up, and weapons are online,” reported Andrew. “Condition One is set, and the crew is at their battlestations.”

  “Send word to the Hampton and Dallas to disable the hyperdrives on those two cargo ships and the four detainee ships. Rear Admiral Wilson has the go-ahead to launch his fighters and bombers. Instruct our fighters that their first priority is to stop any missiles aimed at Earth,” ordered Kurt, as he stared at the tactical screen.

  “Fleet is engaging,” reported Lieutenant Lena Brooks.

  “Opening fire!” reported Lieutenant Mays with a vengeful grin on her face.

  Kurt and his crew had known many of the fleet personnel who died in the original surprise attack. Now was payback time.

  The battle to free Earth had begun.

  -

  The light cruisers Dallas and Hampton closed rapidly on their unsuspecting targets. Dark blue beams of energy shot out, as the two cruisers fired their particle beam cannons at the hyperdrives of the two cargo ships. The beams penetrated, tearing through the hulls and cutting holes completely through Engineering. The power in both ships died, and they began drifting in space.

  Turning to the four detainee ships, the Dallas and the Hampton sent KEW rounds, which smashed into the hulls of two of them, as it would be forty seconds before the particle beams cannons could be fired again. Each round penetrated deeper and deeper into the ships’ hulls. Moments later large explosions blew apart the engineering sections, leaving the front two-thirds of the ships intact.

  The other two detainee ships accelerated away, trying to escape; however, the particle beam cannons were now ready to fire, and two more dark blue beams flashed out, and both of the fleeing ships’ hyperdrives were destroyed.

  -

  “Both cargo ships and all four detainee ships have been neutralized,” reported Lieutenant Brooks. “Two of the detainee ships suffered significant damage. I think they both lost their engineering sections.”

  The Star Cross shuddered violently, and red lights blinked on at the damage control console.

  “Multiple energy beam hits to the screen,” reported Andrew, as he swiftly checked for damage. “There was some bleed through, and we have slight damage to the outer hull in section fourteen.”

  Kurt nodded and, reaching forward, pressed his comm button to allow ship-to-ship communication with his two task groups. “All ships press the attack. The more we can hurt them, the more likely it is they’ll break off and withdraw.”

  A bright light suddenly filled one of the viewscreens. “What was that?” demanded Kurt, fearing the worst.

  “The Hampton,” replied Lieutenant Brooks in a shaken voice. “They were too far inside the enemy fleet formation, and two Dacroni battleships blocked her withdrawal. The Dallas managed to return to its fleet position unharmed.”

  -

  In space, dark blue particle beams and white energy beams fought a duel. The beams crisscrossed each other, seeking targets to destroy. Particle beam fire from the Trinity and Carlsbad penetrated the energy screen on a Dacroni battleship and slammed into its armory, setting off powerful explosions and hurling glowing debris into space. Moments later the screen failed completely, and a hypermissile blew apart the battleship in a massive fireball.

  In the human fleet formation, one of the new battlecruisers was under heavy attack from a Profiteer battlecruiser and two of its escort cruisers. The new battlecruiser’s energy shield glowed brighter and brighter, as energy beams and hypermissiles pummeled it. With a brilliant flash, the shield failed, and moments later a temporary sun appeared where the cruiser had been. The cruiser and its human crew died instantly.

  -

  “Battlecruiser Taggart is down,” reported Lieutenant Brooks.

  “Press the attack,” ordered Kurt resolutely, knowing more would die before this was over. They were fighting for Earth and for their freedom. They would either win this battle or die trying.

  “Profiteer ships are launching missiles at Earth,” warned Lieutenant Brooks in a frightened voice, as her sensor screen suddenly blossomed with new threat icons. “I’m picking up close to two hundred missiles, all with nuclear warheads.”

  “They must have emptied their tubes toward Earth,” muttered Andrew, his eyes filled with worry, as he gazed at the tactical screen, now showing numerous amber icons heading toward the planet.

  “Our fighters?” asked Kurt. He knew if the fighters could get there in time, they could shoot down most of the missiles.

  “Almost in range. It’ll be close,” reported Andrew, as he watched the small green icons attempting to intercept the deadly missiles.

  -

  In the bunker in Canada, President Mayfield and the others huddled together in the situation room, watching the battle in space intently.

  “Admiral Vickers has more ships,” commented Colonel Stidham in confusion.

  “Yes, I was going to tell you about that,” said General Braid with a grin. “The ships that Fleet Admiral Vickers bought at Kubitz arrived early.”

  “What ships?” asked Stidham in confusion.

  “I’ll explain later,” Braid responded.

  “We can win this then,” Colonel Stidham said, realizing what this meant.

  “Enemy missile launch,” reported a lieutenant. “We’re detecting 182 inbounds.”

  “Crap,” muttered Raul with fear in his eyes. “Now what?”

  “We try to shoot them down,” answered General Braid calmly. “We have our fighters in the air, and our interceptors are ready. From what I’m seeing on the tactical display, the carriers have launched their full squadrons of Lance fighters to also intercept the missiles. Let’s see if we can help them.”

  -

  All over Earth, interceptor missiles rose from their hidden silos and accelerated toward space. Fighters and fighter-bombers climbed to the extreme limit
s of their flight capability and fired their smaller interceptors at the rapidly descending targets. Above them in space and in the atmosphere, brief fiery explosions of light indicated the successful interception of some of the enemy missiles.

  -

  In space, Captain Craig Jenson heard his targeting computer give off a firm tone, as it locked on a dropping alien missile. He pressed a button on his flight controller, and a small interceptor ejected from the wing of his Lance fighter and darted toward the enemy missile. A few seconds later, a bright fireball indicated a successful intercept. “Got one!” he called out over his squadron’s comm frequency. “Everyone, target those missiles. We can’t let them get through!”

  -

  All around Earth, the Profiteer nuclear missiles were blown apart. From the European Union, the Russian Collective, and the Chinese Conglomerate, interceptor missiles and fighters targeted the alien missiles. The nukes died by the dozens, and soon their number had been reduced to less than forty. However, these last ones weren’t normal missiles; at a signal from the Ascendant Destruction, the remaining missiles suddenly came apart. In their places were ten small targetable nuclear warheads, each with a ten-kiloton yield.

  In desperation, the Earth fighters tried to shoot them down; more interceptors were launched, and even the Lance fighters came into the atmosphere, following the warheads dangerously close to the surface. There were numerous successful intercepts, but there were just too many warheads. Suddenly, on the surface of Earth, mushroom clouds appeared.

  -

  “Nuclear detonations detected,” reported Lieutenant Brooks, her face turning white. “I’m picking up dozens of nuclear explosions on the surface of Earth.”

  Kurt’s face turned pale at the news. “Keep me informed. We need to finish this battle and then see what’s left on Earth.” This was his greatest fear: that the Profiteers would nuke Earth, destroying all life. Kurt wouldn’t know until the battle was over just how badly Earth had been hit.

  -

  With renewed fury, the two Newton task groups closed on the Profiteer and Dacroni ships. Two of the new battleships promptly blew apart an escort cruiser with their powerful ion beams. Hypermissiles pummeled the enemy energy screens with a fury not yet seen in the battle.

  A Profiteer battlecruiser tried to move in to support a Dacroni battleship under heavy fire. The attacking human battleship and two battlecruisers cruisers promptly turned on the battlecruiser, which was a weaker opponent.

  The battlecruiser’s energy screen was compromised by two particle beam strikes and an ion beam hit. A hypermissile slipped through a momentary gap in the screen and slammed into the bow of the battlecruiser, obliterating one-third of the ship. Its power failed, and the two human battlecruisers quickly finished it off with their energy projectors. Then the three vessels turned to the Dacroni battleship, which had pulled back. At that moment the ten squadrons of Scorpion bombers from the human carriers swept in, each releasing two Hydra missiles with ten-kiloton warheads. Nuclear fire washed across energy shields of the entire Profiteer and Dacroni fleet formation. Several failed, and the attacking Newton warships promptly blew apart another Dacroni battleship and two more escort cruisers.

  -

  “We’re hurting them,” Andrew said jubilantly, as he saw three red threat icons, representing the Dacroni battleship and two escort cruisers, vanish from the tactical screen.

  “Battlecruiser Kraken is reporting heavy damage,” reported Ensign Pierce. “The captain is requesting permission to pull back to initiate repairs.”

  “Permission granted,” responded Kurt, not wanting to lose the ship and crew.

  On one of the viewscreens a brilliant light suddenly appeared. Kurt looked intently and could see a human battlecruiser under heavy attack from three Dacroni battleships. “Is that the Kraken?”

  “Yes, it is,” replied Lieutenant Brooks.

  Even as Kurt watched, a hypermissile penetrated the ship’s energy screen, and a massive explosion tore through the forward third of the ship. Then secondary explosions blew open compartment after compartment, until the ship seemed to come apart in a violent explosion of raw energy.

  “Kraken is down,” reported Lieutenant Brooks.

  Kurt felt the pain of losing another ship and its crew; this battle would be costlier than the previous ones, but he had no intention of pulling back. The Profiteer fleet and the Dacroni had to be nearing their breaking point.

  -

  High Profiteer Creed picked himself up off the deck. His right arm was bleeding, and he had a darkening bruise on his forehead.

  “We have compartments open to space, and our sublight drive is damaged,” reported Second Profiteer Lantz with a panicked look in his eyes. “We need to withdraw!”

  “But the cargo ships,” roared Creed. One of those cargo ships was loaded with a fortune in gold and gemstones. How could he abandon it?

  “We’re taking too many losses,” Lantz informed him. “If we stay, the humans will destroy all of our ships. There’s nothing we can do about the cargo ships. Both hyperdrives have been destroyed.”

  Creed let out a deep and frustrated breath. He had already sent enough gold and gemstones to Kubitz to make this a highly profitable venture. If he remained, he would be risking his own life. “Do it,” he ordered. “Contact Clan Leader Jarls and tell him that we’re withdrawing.”

  High Profiteer Creed gazed in anger at the now not-so-quite-blue-white world. Even as he watched, it receded, and then the Ascendant Destruction jumped into hyperspace. His occupation of Earth was over.

  -

  “Remaining Profiteer and Dacroni ships are jumping,” reported Lieutenant Brooks elatedly. “We won!” The entire Command Center broke out into cheers and yells of jubilation.

  Kurt nodded and allowed himself to take a deep breath and then spoke over the ship-to-ship comm. “Rear Admiral Wilson, recall your bombers and fighters, and then secure those two cargo ships and the four detainee ships. Take their crews as prisoners.” Kurt looked at one of the viewscreens. Earth was prominently displayed, and he could see dozens of small mushroom clouds dotted across the planet. Had they won only to lose the home planet?

  -

  President Mayfield looked grim, as the reports continued to come in. Fourteen nuclear warheads had struck the North American Union. A number of major metropolitan areas were in ruins. Fortunately the nukes were quite small, as nukes went, and the country would survive. Early casualty figures indicated over six million people had died and many more were injured.

  “The Profiteers and the Dacroni have jumped,” confirmed Colonel Stidham.

  “Fleet Admiral Vickers has control of Earth space,” added Fleet Admiral Tomalson. “We won. It’s over!”

  President Mayfield appeared to have aged years over the last hour. “Yes, it’s over, but they still hit us pretty hard. Six million are dead. And those nuked cities will take time and manpower to clean up. We need to get aid to those areas immediately. Get help to the injured and food and water to the homeless, so we don’t lose more of our people.”

  “I’m on it,” Raul said, as he went to talk to several military officers.

  “All the Profiteers on the planet have either been captured or killed,” reported General Braid, as he listened to the numerous reports coming in.

  “There were 112 confirmed detonations of thermonuclear devices,” reported one of the other officers in the room. “The European Union and the Chinese Conglomerate were both heavily hit.”

  “I’ll contact their leaders and offer what help we can,” Mayfield said. He didn’t know exactly what they could do to help the other countries, as the North American Union had their own dead and injured to deal with.

  For several long moments, he gazed at the large tactical screen that for too many months had shown a myriad of red threat icons orbiting Earth. It felt strange to only see the friendly green icons of Newton’s victorious fleet.

  Standing up to his full height, he looked arou
nd the situation room and then he spoke. “Let none of us forgot today. Millions of people have died because, in our ignorance, we assumed we might be alone in our galaxy. We now know that isn’t true. I promise all of you this. We will never be caught unprepared again, and someday we will have our full vengeance against those who brought this carnage and suffering to our planet.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  President Mayfield stood outside the presidential bunker in southern Canada. He took in a deep breath of the cool fresh air. It was a little chilly, and he shivered slightly. The mountains around him were covered with snow, and, in the distance, he could see a herd of elk grazing in a small meadow where a few sprigs of grass still poked through the snow.

  “Cargo ships from Newton will be arriving the day after tomorrow,” Fleet Admiral Tomalson said. He stood next to the president. “It’s nice being out in the sun after weeks of underground living.”

  The president just smiled and nodded.

  “I’ve checked with the colonies on the Moon and Mars, and they’ll need supplies shortly.”

  “It still amazes me that the Profiteers left them alone.”

  “No money to be gained in messing with them,” Tomalson explained. “They were more interested in the looting they could do on Earth.”

  “The scientists say it will be years before all the radiation from the nukes goes away,” Mayfield said glumly “It’s hard to believe that there’ll be so many areas of our planet devoid of life for decades.”

  “Perhaps not,” responded Tomalson. “I had a long conversation with Fleet Admiral Vickers earlier, and he suggested that we send a team to Kubitz to see what they have to clean up radiation.”

  “Kubitz?”

  “Remember what Admiral Vickers said. Everything is for sale on Kubitz. If something will clean up radiation, it will be there.”

  “So many people died. So many cities destroyed,” Mayfield said with a deep sigh. “We’ve lost a lot of our future and our past, our history. Raul estimates the casualties from that last attack will exceed forty million worldwide.”

  “It’s a hard lesson we’ve learned,” admitted Tomalson gravely. “We became too complacent.”