The Star Cross: Galaxy in Peril

by Raymond L. Weil

  A few defensive satellites must be destroyed, and then the harvest can begin, reported Military Commander Fraymot. None of our ships suffered any damage.

  I will be in the converter chamber, replied Brollen. I wish to sample this food species and see if they are worthy to add to my own food collection.

  -

  It only took a few minutes to annihilate the orbiting energy beam satellites. With the last defensive satellite destroyed, the huge motherships settled into orbit around Talmor. From each ship fourteen black beams flashed toward the planet. Wherever one touched anything organic, it turned the living organism into a black ashy substance, which was pulled up to the converters in the motherships by tractor beams. Across the cities of Talmor the beams moved, changing flesh to ashes. In the crowded sky above the cities, brief shrieks were heard as the deadly beams did their work.

  -

  Dalol looked at Ibal and spoke. “We had a good life together.”

  “Yes, we did,” Ibal replied as a black beam came toward their tower. He held Dalol closer, not wanting her to see. With a gentle smile, he spoke one last time. “You are the love of my life.” Then the black beam passed through the tower, leaving black ashes floating in the air, which the embedded tractor beam quickly took away.

  -

  For nearly two hours the deadly beams moved across the planet, not leaving any area untouched. Then they stopped, and white energy spheres fell on the surface. The condensed spheres of energy burst like bubbles and expanded outward, destroying everything in their path. The tower cities of Talmor were turned into smoking and burning rubble, leaving no sign of the magnificence that once stood upon the planet.

  -

  Inside the converter room, Prince Brollen crunched on a gray food pellet. He swallowed and nodded in satisfaction. He would add a number of these to his private collection. Food species 1012 was acceptable and had a unique taste—very refined and pure.

  We are ready to move to the next inhabited world of this food species, Military Commander Fraymot reported from the Command Center. All the harvesting has been completed, and all evidence of a civilized culture ever existing upon this planet has been annihilated.

  Prince Brollen gazed at the converter, knowing it would be a few hours yet before it finished processing food species 1012. A surprising number of pellets had been found which were suitable for the Royal Caste. Take us to the next planet. By the time we arrive, all the processing will be finished. Let us hope the other worlds of this food species yield such a quality take. He was certain Queen Alithe would be quite pleased with this bounty.

  -

  A few minutes later the Vorn fleet entered hyperspace on their way to the next world of the Talmorans. When the Vorn fleet was finished, this Enlightened race would no longer exist but would serve as food for the Destroyers of Worlds. It was the way of the Vorn, and it would always be so. No mercy and no compassion. There was only the Vorn.

  -

  Fleet Commodore Dreen sat in his office with council member Marl, discussing the alliance.

  “The Andocks, Parmonts, and the Bascoms have agreed to join the alliance,” Dreen said, sounding tired. He had spent long hours each of the last few days, trying to coax various Protector Worlds into joining with the Lakiams and providing warships for a joint fleet to fight the Destroyers of Worlds. “Many others refused as they are pulling back their fleets to protect their own worlds. Fear of the Destroyers of Worlds is spreading rapidly.”

  “I suspected it would not be easy,” Marl said, folding his arms across his chest. “Every day we receive more reports of the culling of Enlightened Worlds by the black ships. Many Protector Worlds are afraid they will be attacked next, due to what happened at Bascom.”

  “The Bascoms are angry,” Commodore Dreen replied with a deep sigh. “They lost their two homeworlds to these fiends. Fortunately they’re spread across enough worlds to remain a powerful presence in their region of space. They still have substantial fleet assets and have promised to aid us in our battle against the Destroyers of Worlds.”

  Marl looked thoughtful and then spoke. “We must find a way to detect the black ships and to learn their targets, or we will never be able to defeat them. Even if our alliance included every Protector World in the galaxy, it would do no good if we can’t track these Destroyers of Worlds’ fleets.”

  “I know,” replied Commodore Dreen, feeling the pressure to make the alliance work. “The best scientists we and the Andocks have are working around the clock, searching for answers. The black ships utilize some type of masking field to hide the radiation signatures from their hyperdrives. We must find a way to see through that field.”

  Marl stood up and walked across the room to gaze at a painting of Lakiam hanging on the wall. “I’ve always admired this painting. It makes me realize how small we are in the grand scheme of things.” Turning around, he faced Commodore Dreen. “Something’s been bothering me recently. We’re the only Protector World to defeat a black fleet. Wouldn’t that make us a target?”

  Commodore Dreen’s eyes widened. “They’ve already destroyed Holdez. I suspected that was in retaliation for defeating their fleet and destroying a mothership.”

  “Was it retaliation or a probing attack?” Marl had served in the fleet for a few years before embarking on his political career and knew a little about strategy.

  “You’re suggesting they would eliminate us because they consider us a danger to their harvesting of this galaxy?”

  “Yes,” said Marl, nodding. “Just look at what you’re doing in forming this alliance. Let me ask you a question. If the Destroyers of Worlds were to attack us here at Lakiam with a fleet of several thousand of their vessels, could you defeat them?”

  Commodore Dreen considered the question. “It would take our entire current inventory of dark matter missiles, but I believe we could stop them.”

  “What if a second fleet of the same size shows up immediately after the first?”

  Commodore Dreen could feel the blood leaving his face. “We would lose. We could probably cause it a lot of damage, but I don’t think we could stop them if they were determined to push through to Lakiam.”

  “How many ships do you estimate the Destroyers of Worlds have?”

  “Probably several hundred thousand or more,” answered Dreen. “They’ve been doing this for millions of years. They must have a large reserve of vessels in case they come across a powerful enemy.”

  “What if we’re that enemy?”

  Fleet Commodore Dreen went silent as he thought over those words. In order for the Destroyers of Worlds to have been so successful for millions of years, they must have faced powerful enemies before. It would indicate they had a method to deal with such threats.

  “We have to find a way to track their vessels and quickly,” Dreen said after a moment. “Until we do, we will be vulnerable to such an attack. If we knew they were coming, we could take adequate precautions, even calling in more of our fleet units or our allies.”

  Council member Marl nodded. “I’ll be going now. I know a few scientists in the military research division. I’ll see what I can do to push things from my end. The remaining two dark matter facilities should be completed in a few more weeks. That should help immensely with the availability of warheads.”

  “Let me know if there is anything else I can do.” Commodore Dreen watched as Marl exited his office. Then, leaning forward, Dreen activated the comm device on his desk. “Alborg, come to my office for a strategy session.”

  Dreen intended to ask Alborg the same questions council member Marl had just asked him. Alborg was a brilliant tactician and tactical officer. Perhaps he could envision a way to better protect Lakiam from a massive black fleet attack. What they really needed was a weapon that could easily penetrate black ship energy shields. Lakiams’ scientists were searching for such a weapon, but, so far, all they had come up with were dead ends.

  Commodore Dreen picked up one of the various reports he had been
studying. Many of the Protector Worlds across the galaxy had repositioned their fleets to protect their homeworlds, leaving countless Enlightened Worlds open to attack. The reports he received daily indicated the Destroyers of Worlds had ramped up their assaults. Dreen had confirmation of at least twenty large black fleets currently operating in the galaxy. What deeply concerned Dreen was, how many more were still coming? What if this was only the initial wave?

  Pressing an icon on his computer console, he stared at the current Lakiam fleet deployments. Lakiam was responsible for eighty-seven Enlightened civilizations. Those civilizations had more than 1,400 colonies. Over the last several weeks he had sent out orders, pulling Lakiam fleet units from the smaller colonies. He had strengthened the fleets around the eighty-seven Enlightened civilizations’ homeworlds and some of their major colonies to compensate. When the pullback was complete, it would leave defenseless over eight hundred Enlightened World colonies, except for the meager defense grids that protected some of them. A number of colonies would have nothing but a few energy beam satellites to stave off an attack.

  Fleet Commodore Dreen felt guilty for leaving those worlds unprotected. However, by doing so, he had greatly enhanced the fleets around the main worlds and those defending the thirty-two star systems that contained Lakiam worlds or major mining operations. As he waited for Alborg, he greatly feared for the future of the galaxy. He was struggling to find five Protector World civilizations to join the alliance. One thing he was certain of: if they failed to stand together, they were all doomed.

  Chapter Nine

  Admiral Kurt Vickers sat in the Command Center of the battleship Star Cross. The 1,500-meter-long warship was just about to drop from hyperspace into the solar system. On the tactical display, four other green icons were visible—the four battlecruisers of the new design built at Newton Station. Each was one thousand meters in length and had more firepower than a Lakiam vessel of the same class.

  “Hyperspace dropout in six minutes,” Lieutenant Styles reported from the Helm.

  “All systems are operating at top efficiency,” Captain Randson added as he checked his command console.

  “No unidentified contacts on the long-range sensors,” reported Lieutenant Lena Brooks.

  Kurt nodded. The new sensors on the Star Cross could reach out nearly fifteen light-years, a big improvement over the old sensors. That would give them ample warning of any potential danger.

  A small repair robot darted across the Command Center, stopping near the wall. The robot quickly removed a tiny access panel, made some minor adjustments, then replaced the panel, and left through the open hatch.

  Andrew shook his head. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to those damn robots. They seem to be everywhere.”

  Kurt grinned. “Eight hundred of them are on the ship. All programmed to do routine maintenance and even major repairs if necessary.”

  Andrew let out a deep sigh. “We’re running this ship with a smaller crew than on the old Star Cross, and yet this ship is much larger.”

  “Everything’s automated,” said Lieutenant Mays to Andrew from her tactical station. “While our crew can do the repairs, it’s easier and more efficient to let the robots handle that function.”

  “It’ll take some getting used to,” responded Andrew with a slight grimace.

  “Two minutes to dropout,” reported Lieutenant Styles.

  Kurt shifted his gaze to another tactical display of the solar system. Hundreds of friendly green icons moved about the system. Since forming an alliance with the humanoid worlds of Julbian, Sertez, and Maldon, interstellar trade had taken off, due to Kurt’s purchase of a large number of small cargo ships from Kubitz. While the price of warships had skyrocketed, the small cargo ships had remained reasonable. These vessels had been sold to the three new humanoid worlds to aid in trade between all five star systems. They were also fortunate to have the captured Profiteer cargo ships as well as their large detainee ships. All had been modified at Newton Station for Human use. Every day ships from Earth arrived at Newton and vice versa.

  Kurt focused on the fifteen violet icons in orbit around Earth. These were the Class Two Orbital Defense Platforms and the Command and Control Station. While Earth’s defenses weren’t nearly as powerful as Newton’s, they were sufficient to ensure the Profiteers never bothered the planet again.

  “Dropout.”

  Kurt felt a momentary twinge in his stomach, and then the Star Cross exited hyperspace into the solar system four hundred thousand kilometers from Earth.

  “Receiving standard challenge from the Command and Control Station,” reported Lieutenant Brenda Pierce. “Sending recognition codes.”

  The station had known the Star Cross and her attending ships were inbound as they had been told about the trip several days earlier. With the advent of Lakiam communication technology, it was now possible to send messages between Newton and Earth. A delay of several minutes occurred due to the vast distance between the worlds, but at least they could communicate.

  On the main viewscreen, the Earth suddenly appeared. The atmosphere was filled with white clouds obscuring much of the North American Union. However, the deep blue of the Pacific Ocean was plainly visible. Kurt let out a deep sigh. Seeing Earth from space was something special. Even though his home was now Newton, Earth would always hold a special place in his heart.

  “I have Fleet Admiral Tomalson on the comm,” Pierce said, her eyes widening.

  Kurt activated the comm unit on his console. “Hello, Rod. I planned to come to the Retribution to pay you a visit.”

  “No, you’ve seen this old tub. I’m more interested in your new battleship.”

  Kurt couldn’t help but grin. “Come on over, and I’ll give you the grand tour.”

  “As soon as you go into orbit, I’ll come aboard. I have a few things to discuss with you as well.”

  The comm went silent, and Kurt turned his attention to the viewscreens. The Moon was also prominently displayed. He could see several of the large domed colonies on its surface.

  “Sure are a lot of ships in orbit,” Andrew said as he studied the tactical displays.

  “Mars too,” responded Kurt.

  Mars had been settled by the European Union along with Australia and Japan. The planet was already using technology purchased from Kubitz by Newton to begin the terraforming process. Climatologists predicted that, within twenty years, Mars would have a breathable atmosphere. The terraforming equipment had been delivered to Mars—also to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Those were more complicated projects due to the size of the moons and lesser fields of gravity and would require some type of atmospheric retention field.

  -

  Twenty minutes later the Star Cross and her escorts went into orbit above Earth as six Lance fighters flew by for a close inspection.

  “We’ve been scanned by nearly every ship in orbit,” reported Lieutenant Brooks.

  Lieutenant Mays grinned. “Won’t do them any good, not with the sensor-dampening field we have now.”

  Lomatz’s people had made this discovery when they had looked at various ways to combine the technology of the four Protector World civilizations when designing the new Star Cross and the heavy battlecruisers. While most scans would be stopped by a ship’s energy screen or the armored hull, this dampening field stopped the scans cold, just short of the screen.

  The Star Cross and the four heavy battlecruisers would cause a stir. None of the new warships had made the trip to the solar system until now.

  “Admiral, I have a query from the government of the North American Union. President Mayfield requests a meeting at your earliest convenience.”

  This didn’t surprise Kurt. He wanted to meet with the president too as this would be Kurt’s last opportunity to do so before the elections. “Inform the government I’ll be coming down to the surface tomorrow if they want to set up an informal meeting.”

  Kurt gazed at the Earth on the viewscreen. It was a beautiful planet,
and, from space, none of the destroyed cities were visible. Chicago, Washington, Paris, Cairo, Moscow, and numerous other cities scattered around the world had been hit by Profiteer nukes. Thanks to advanced technology secured from Kubitz, the radiation had been removed. Also highly specialized radiation drugs had been brought back to help the injured. In every city, reconstruction was underway. In another few years the cities would be rebuilt, and the signs of the Profiteer attack would be gone. However, in each city, memorials were already being constructed so no one would ever forget what had been done to Earth and its people.

  -

  Kurt was in his quarters when the hatch opened, and Fleet Admiral Rod Tomalson stepped in. Rod was graying around the temples and had a few more lines on his forehead.

  Kurt stood with a big welcoming smile on his face. “Rod, it’s good to see you.”

  Fleet Admiral Tomalson stepped over, shaking Kurt’s hand.

  “Have a seat. We have a lot to talk about,” said Kurt, gesturing toward the large conformable chair in front of his desk.

  “This new Star Cross is amazing,” commented Rod as he sat. “Just from what I saw in the flight bay and on my way here, it’s far more advanced than anything we have in the solar system.”

  “It’s based primarily on Lakiam and Andock technology with some odds and ends thrown in from a few more Protector Worlds. Lomatz and his people have worked wonders in helping to design and build this ship.”

  A slight frown crossed Rod’s face. “I was going to ask you about that. How are all those Profiteers doing that you settled on Newton? Any problems?”

  “No, none at all. For the most part, while Lomatz’s people worked with the Profiteers and sold them a lot of weapons, none of them are actual Profiteers. Many of them seem to be normal people, wanting a good and safe place to live. Not only that, a lot of highly qualified technicians came to Newton. Even a few scientists. It may take a while, but eventually we’ll transform Newton into a highly technological civilization. Already discussions are ongoing about changing our educational system to conform with how children are taught on more advanced worlds. While we may have some problems adapting to all the new technology, our children will grow up with it.”