“Damn, there are a lot of ships in orbit,” commented Captain Randson from where he sat in the copilot’s chair in front of Kurt.
Kurt had to grin. Those ships belonged to Earth, Newton, Julbian, Sertez, and Maldon, the latter three being the humanoid systems that had formed an alliance with Newton and Earth. All three had reached a similar technological development. Julbian had become a problem when Kurt had claimed jurisdiction over it at Kubitz. He had been forced to pay a large fee to register his claim, and, much to his surprise, he had found Lomatz had included two smaller regions of space in the contract also. When Newton ships had explored those two regions, they found the systems of Sertez and Maldon.
“Trade with our new friends is certainly growing,” said Kurt, pleased with the development.
As part of their agreement to form an alliance, Newton had provided the other planets with blueprints for improved hyperdrives to allow for quicker travel between all the alliance members. Of course none of the hyperdrives compared to the ones on the Aurelia or Kurt’s new ships. Also, as part of their agreement, Kurt had arranged for Lomatz to procure a few more Class Two Orbital Defense Platforms to protect their new allies from attack by the Profiteers. Both the Sertez and Maldon homeworlds were now protected by eight defensive platforms plus a Command and Control Station. Lomatz had informed Kurt immediately afterward that no more defensive platforms of any type were available from the empire. Demand for them was at an all-time high, and prices had skyrocketed. Lomatz had suggested using his large construction ships to possibly build more. He informed Kurt it would be time-consuming but possible.
As the shuttle descended through Newton’s thick and protective atmosphere, Kurt thought over the events of the past six months. The two Lakiams, Mara and Tarnth, had stayed at Newton for two months, showing Kurt’s people how to operate the Lakiam and Andock warships Lomatz had salvaged. Once Kurt was satisfied his people knew everything they needed to about the warships, he arranged for the two Lakiams to go to Kubitz, where they procured a ship to take them home. He had gone out of the way to ensure neither were aware of Earth’s or Newton’s exact location. However, if the Lakiams wanted to find either planet, they probably could. The locations were known on Kubitz, and that information could be bought for the right price.
The shuttle touched down, and Kurt and Andrew exited, stepping onto the tarmac of the spaceport. The midafternoon sun shone brightly in the sky with only a scattering of fleecy white clouds.
“Going home?” Kurt asked Andrew as they crossed the spaceport to the large terminal where vehicles waited.
“Yes,” Andrew replied with a smile. “I promised Emily and Alexis that I would take them out to eat at the new Mexican restaurant at the Westside Mall.”
Kurt laughed. Emily was Andrew’s wife, and Alexis was his fourteen-year-old highly spirited daughter. “I suspect some shopping will be involved after the meal.”
Andrew sighed, and his shoulders drooped slightly. “I’m sure, but I’ve been gone for three days, and I promised I would do whatever they wanted when I got back. What about you? How’s Keera adjusting to her brother and Meesa getting married?”
“It was actually a relief,” answered Kurt as they entered the terminal. “Meesa’s doing a good job keeping Dalen out of trouble. He’s been made foreman in charge of a large group of construction robots, building new homes. The money’s good, and he seems satisfied with his new life.”
“A big change from Kubitz.”
“Yeah, at least here he’s not working for any of the Profiteers.”
Reaching the far side of the terminal, they went their separate ways, getting into awaiting vehicles. Before Kurt could go home, he had a short meeting with Governor Spalding.
-
As the car drove through the city, Kurt couldn’t help marveling at all the changes that had come about over the last year. Towering skyscrapers reached toward the clouds. Huge apartment complexes, shopping centers, video theaters, and everything else one could imagine in a large Earth city were present in Newton’s capital. The city was more modern than any found on the home planet. The capital city’s population was rapidly nearing one and a half million. Even more satisfying, with the purchase of the automated factories from Kubitz, Newton was now self-sufficient. Anything made on Earth could be produced by the new factories, once they were programmed.
Reaching the Government Center, the large complex of buildings where the government was located, Kurt exited the hydrogen-powered vehicle and made his way into the largest structure.
-
It didn’t take Kurt long to reach Governor Spalding’s office. Once there he was quickly ushered into the governor’s office by his secretary.
“Fleet Admiral Vickers,” said Spalding, rising from his chair and walking around his desk to shake the admiral’s hand. “I was hoping you would have time to stop by.”
“I’m available anytime you need me,” Kurt replied with a smile. He had known Governor Spalding for years, and the two of them had grown quite close.
“Have a seat, Admiral,” Spalding said, returning to his own comfortable chair. “I wanted to speak to you about the latest message Marvin Tenner sent from Kubitz.”
Kurt raised his eyebrows. Since resigning his commission to become Newton’s ambassador to Kubitz, Marvin now reported directly to the governor. “What’s going on? Has Grantz gotten into more trouble?” Grantz was the Marsten Profiteer who had signed a very lucrative contract to work for Newton and Kurt. Grantz had been useful in a number of delicate situations on Kubitz. However, Grantz had an overwhelming urge for gold and would do almost anything to acquire it.
“No, not Grantz this time. Tenner reported he received a message from the Lakiams. It seems they want their warships back.”
Kurt relaxed in his chair, taking a deep breath. Mara had warned him of this when she left. “What did they say?”
“They want you to come to Kubitz and turn over the vessels to them. They will have ships and crews there to return them to Lakiam. They also want the Andock vessels.”
Kurt stood up and walked to the window overlooking the capital. The city streets were still busy even late in the afternoon. “I don’t see we have a choice. While Mara and Tarnth probably aren’t sure where Earth and Newton are, they can certainly buy that information on Kubitz. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Lakiams haven’t already arranged for that.” That was the bad thing about Kubitz; anything and everything was for sale for the right price. Kurt didn’t want a fleet of Lakiam warships showing up over Newton or Earth. Despite the two planets’ newest defenses, the Lakiams possessed some of the most powerful warships in the galaxy. Even the Gothan Empire was afraid of them.
“So we just turn over those warships to them?” asked Governor Spalding unhappily. “Can we afford to?”
Kurt pivoted and returned to his chair. “Fortunately we’ve already learned everything we can from those vessels. Lomatz’s engineers can duplicate every system on any of those warships. The new battlecruisers we’ve built are actually more powerful than the Lakiam or the Andock vessels. We’ve put more weapons on board our ships and eliminated a lot of the wasted space present on the Protector World vessels. We’ve already built ten battlecruisers, and our new battleship will be ready in a few more weeks.”
Governor Spalding looked thoughtful and then replied. “So it was a good decision to allow Lomatz and his people to settle on that island?”
“It would seem so,” replied Kurt. There had been a lot of discussions before that decision was made. “You must remember their technology was already way ahead of ours. They’ve been studying Protector World and Enlightened World technology for years. Without their help, we could never have duplicated the advanced technologies on those Lakiam and Andock ships. The upgrades Lomatz’s people have made to Newton Station are breathtaking. What they’ve helped us to accomplish in a few short months would have taken us years to do by ourselves.”
“Yes, I’ve spoken to Colonel Si
mms, and he’s more than satisfied with what’s been done to the station. It’s hard to believe how rapidly they can build a new ship. I must take a tour when I have the chance.”
Kurt went silent for a moment, and then he asked, “How soon should we take the warships to Kubitz?” The ships had been made spaceworthy in the repairs bays in Newton Station. Kurt had hoped to keep them.
“The Lakiams are demanding we have them there in two weeks. They will have a small fleet waiting to take them off our hands.”
“I’ll make the arrangements. Is there anything else?” Kurt wasn’t happy about returning to Kubitz, but he didn’t see where he had any choice. He didn’t want the Lakiams coming to Newton and seeing any of the new ships that had been built.
“Yes, you’ll be taking a considerable quantity of gold. We’ve spent a lot on the automated factories and medical devices we’ve ordered over the last six months. President Mayfield has asked us to purchase a number of the automated factories and construction robots for use on Earth. He hopes it will make reconstruction easier. Lomatz also wants to purchase some specialized mining and refining equipment.”
“Yes, we spoke briefly about that. We’ll need the expanded mining and refining technology to keep Newton Station supplied with the materials to build the new ships. Lomatz also suggested buying some specialized factories that can turn out ship components when properly programmed.”
“Are you satisfied with the defenses we’ve put around Earth?”
“Eighty million people,” murmured Kurt, thinking about all the lives lost in the Profiteer attacks. “The Class Two Orbital Defense Platforms and its Command and Control Station we’ve given them should be sufficient. We’ve also provided Fleet Admiral Tomalson with additional ships.”
“Most of the world still blames the North American Union for their trouble with the Profiteers, particularly after what Marlen Stroud did. The loss of life didn’t help.”
“What’s the current status of people coming to Newton?” Ships arrived daily with immigrants.
“Our most recent census indicates we’re nearing a population of nineteen million. All those cargo and detainee ships we took from the Profiteers makes moving people from Earth to Newton a lot easier.”
“How many more will we take?” The original plan had been to get Newton’s population up to around twenty million.
Governor Spalding focused on Kurt. “I spoke to President Mayfield a few days ago about that. While most of our immigrants are from the North American Union, we are taking a large number from the European Union as well. Right now we’re accepting nearly everyone who has reasonable qualifications that could be useful here. Once our population reaches twenty-two million, we’ll reduce the number of immigrants to a few hundred thousand a year. We don’t dare drain the solar system of too many of their highly skilled people or we risk collapsing the system’s fragile economy.”
“Sounds reasonable,” replied Kurt. Twenty-two million would give Newton sufficient people to operate the growing fleet as well as all the orbital installations. So far plenty had volunteered for the military, and Kurt hoped to keep it that way.
“One more thing,” Spalding said with a pained grimace. “Tenner said to bring more gold coins for Grantz. That crazy Profiteer has acquired every one Tenner had.”
Kurt only shook his head. He should have warned Marvin not to let Grantz know how large a supply of coins were housed at the embassy.
-
Captain Randson had just finished his meal and was listening to his daughter tell him about the classes she had signed up for. She was a freshman in high school this year and was excited about all the new students she would meet.
“Algebra,” she said with a frown. “Why do we have to take so much math? What good will it ever do?”
“It’s part of a well-rounded education,” Emily said with a humorous smile.
“You want to go to college, don’t you?” asked Andrew, laying down his fork. He could well recall how he had disliked math too when he was her age.
Alexis toyed with her dessert before answering. “Yes, I want to go to college. I want to be a physical therapist and help people.”
“Then you’ll have to take math,” Emily said, gazing at her daughter. “Probably a lot of it.”
Andrew looked at Alexis. She was rapidly becoming a young woman. Soon the boys would start calling, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for that.
“Let’s go shopping,” suggested Emily, smiling at her daughter.
“I need a nice dress,” stated Alexis hesitantly. “There’s a dance to start off the school year, and I want to look nice.” She looked nervously at her father.
“A dance?” stuttered Andrew in surprise. Surely this boy stuff wasn’t starting already?
“Yes, a dance,” Emily said, gazing sharply at Andrew. Then she turned to Alexis. “I’m sure we can find something suitable here at the mall.”
Andrew groaned inwardly. They would be here for hours.
-
Kurt made it to the apartment he and Keera shared. She had suggested they move to a small house in the suburbs where they could have more room, so they could have friends over, such as Captain Randson and his family. Kurt agreed with her as he really enjoyed spending time at his sister’s house and playing baseball with Bryan, his nine-year-old nephew.
Then there was Meesa and Dalen. Keera invited them over quite often for family meals. Part of this was so Keera could keep a close watch on her brother to make sure he didn’t return to his old ways. He had already been arrested once on Newton for building small snooper robots to spy on competitors’ businesses. The small flying robots were a little larger than one’s thumb and used very widely on Kubitz, something Kurt had shared with Ambassador Tenner to watch for at the embassy.
“How was your day?” asked Kurt.
Keera sat on the couch, munching on some popcorn—something they didn’t have on Kubitz, and Keera had taken an immense liking to. He also noticed she had a large glass of tea on the coffee table next to her. Tea was something else Keera was fascinated about as they didn’t have such a wide variety in the Gothan Empire as was prevalent on Earth and Newton.
Keera put aside the bowl of popcorn and, standing up, came over and gave Kurt a kiss and a big hug. “I’ve been at the new medical center, helping to install some Kubitz medical equipment. I even got a few government permits to allow several of Lomatz’s people to assist.”
Kurt nodded. Anytime some of Lomatz’s people left their island, they were issued a travel permit. There was still much concern about the people on the island contaminating the culture on Newton. Many of them had Profiteer connections. “How’s it coming along?”
“Slowly,” Keera said with a deep sigh, leading Kurt to the sofa and indicating for him to sit next to her. “I’m spending a lot of time explaining to doctors and medical technicians how to use the equipment.”
Kurt looked thoughtful and then spoke. “I’m sure many more people on Lomatz’s island know how to use the equipment, probably even some doctors and additional medical technicians.”
“Yeah, I’m using a few of them, but the travel permits are only good for forty-eight hours. It’s making everything so time-consuming.” Keera looked intently at Kurt. “A few of Lomatz’s people were never involved with the Profiteers or with what goes on at Kubitz. If I can find a few doctors, nurses, and medical technicians who would be willing to work full time at the new hospital, do you think it would be possible to lengthen the travel permits?”
Kurt frowned as he thought it over. “I can speak to Governor Spalding about that, but they would have to be heavily vetted to ensure they don’t attempt to spread Kubitz’s culture to Newton.”
Keera’s eyes brightened. She leaned forward and kissed Kurt on the cheek. “Could you? This new technology could save a lot of lives. I’m certain, if we can get it installed in the new medical center, it will be much simpler to install elsewhere. We can train the medical technicians and nurses
at the center, and then they can return to their own medical centers and train others.”
Taking Keera’s hand, he looked deeply into her eyes. “I’ll see what I can do. I’ll talk to Governor Spalding first and then to Lomatz.”
Keera nodded. “I knew you would understand.” She hesitated a moment before speaking again. “Dalen and Meesa are coming over for supper. I’ve made a dish that is very popular on Kubitz which I think you will like. I know they will.”
“You know I enjoy your cooking. How soon before your brother and Meesa arrive?”
“About an hour,” Keera said, grinning suggestively. “If you’re well behaved, I have a special surprise for you later.”
Kurt’s heart raced a little. Keera’s smile turned her face into something radiant and very alluring. He had a pretty good idea what she had in mind.
“What are your plans for tomorrow?” asked Keera, knowing the effect she was having on Kurt.
“Working up some crew rosters for our new battlecruiser.” Kurt did not intend to tell Keera that, in less than one week, he would be returning to Kubitz. Last time she had tagged along, and Kurt had nearly been killed in an ambush. This time he intended to take sufficient ships to ensure that didn’t happen again.
Keera stood up, placing her hands on her hips. “I’ll finish getting everything ready for supper. Just make sure you have plenty of energy for later.”
The Star Cross: Galaxy in Peril Page 4