The Star Cross: The Dark Invaders (32 page)

Mayfield
looked concerned. “They can’t take on a fleet that large.”

Stidham
grinned as he changed the view on one of the viewscreens. It showed a gigantic
ship engaged against the Profiteers. Even as they watched, a nearby Profiteer
battlecruiser exploded, sending debris flying across space. “They have, and
they’re winning. We haven’t identified that ship, but it seems to have more
firepower than all of our ships combined. Its energy shields are impenetrable.”

Mayfield gazed
at the screen for nearly a minute, watching the powerful ship. “I will say one
thing for Vickers. He never ceases to amaze me. Now I’ll go speak with the Cabinet.”

As Mayfield
left the room, Stidham turned toward General Braid. “What’ll he do?”

“He has them
over a barrel. They made a bad decision supporting Marlen Stroud, and now the
world is paying for it.” Looking at another viewscreen, General Braid could see
downtown Dallas. Buildings were on fire, and soldiers fought Profiteers in the
streets. “I suspect we’ll have a new Cabinet soon.”

-

President
Mayfield entered the Cabinet room, seeing the stunned looks on the faces of
most of the Cabinet members. “Does anyone object to me taking back the office
of president?”

No one
replied.

“Very well,
all in favor raise your hands.”

Very
tentatively everyone in the room raised their right hands.

“All this is
being recorded so it will count as a legitimate vote. Former President Stroud
has been taken prisoner by the Profiteers after he attempted to give them all
the gold at Fort Knox. Unbeknownst to him, I had it removed before I left
office to keep it safe from the Profiteers. In orbit above us, Fleet Admirals
Vickers and Tomalson are fighting the Profiteer fleet and winning. I expect the
Profiteers to be driven off shortly.”

“Our gold is
gone again,” groaned Dwight Michaels, shaking his head in disbelief. “Who did
you give it to this time?”

“That’s none
of your concern,” Mayfield said coldly. “I expect all your resignations on my
desk within the hour. Any of you who refuses to tender your resignations will
be charged with treason and will spend the rest of your lives in prison.”

Mayfield
looked from one shocked face to the next, but no one challenged him. “One
hour,” he reiterated as he turned and left the room.

“What do we
do?” asked Connie Saxon. “He can’t force us to resign.”

Dwight
Michaels shook his head. “He can, and we will. He’s right. With what President
Stroud tried to do, we could all go to prison. I prefer to spend my retirement
in comfort at home with my family.” Standing up, he addressed the others. “I’m
going to my office to write out my resignation. I suggest the rest of you do
the same.”

-

Above Earth,
Fleet Admiral Vickers felt the
Star Cross
vibrate and heard a ringing
sound strike the hull.

“Energy shield
is down to 74 percent,” reported Lieutenant Mays as she pounded a nearby
Profiteer escort cruiser with the ship’s energy projectors.

“Continue to
fire,” ordered Kurt. “Lieutenant Pierce, contact our bombers and direct them to
take out the hyperdrive on all the detainee ships. Once that’s done, they’re to
focus on the cargo ships.”

“Message
sent,” Pierce said. “I also sent it to Rear Admirals Wilson and White.”

“That’s fine. They
can coordinate the attacks.” Kurt looked at one of the primary viewscreens,
showing the night side of Earth. Even from space, some of Earth’s cities were
aglow with fires. Although no nukes had been used, the planet was once again
suffering a lot of damage. Hundreds—perhaps thousands—of people were dying.

“Admiral, the
Ascendant
Destruction
is nearly within range,” reported Lieutenant Brooks.

Kurt’s eyes
went instantly to one of the viewscreens, showing the hated Profiteer vessel
which had wrought so much destruction on Earth.

“Lieutenant
Styles, take us in. Ignore all other enemy ships around us. I want the
Ascendant
Destruction
!”

-

In space,
Captain Anders led his squadron of ten Scorpion bombers on their attack run. A
large detainee ship was ahead of them with only a few light energy batteries
for protection and no energy shield.

“That ship may
have abductees from Earth on it,” he cautioned over the squadron command
channel. “Target the Engineering areas only, and let’s ensure it doesn’t leave
this system with our people.”

“They’re not
leaving,” swore Lieutenant Davis as he launched a single Hydra missile equipped
with an explosive warhead toward the ship.

“I’ve got
secondary Engineering,” added Lieutenant Jamie Schmidt.

Looking out
his cockpit window, Anders saw several telling explosions against the hull of
the Profiteer ship. It seemed to tremble and then went dead in space.

“Target
neutralized,” commented Lieutenant Davis smugly. “That ship’s not going
anywhere.”

Captain Anders
quickly scanned the detainee ship, seeing both Engineering sections were
heavily damaged. The ship was repairable but not without a shipyard. “Good
shooting. Let’s go to our next target.” Adjusting course, Anders pointed his
bomber at a large cargo ship. There were still plenty of targets to be taken
out.

-

The battle grew
more heated with every passing minute. Profiteer ships were blown from space by
the
Aurelia
, one after another. Seeing the devastating firepower from
the massive vessel, the Profiteers were trying to stay out of its way, while
taking on board their shuttlecraft.

The light
cruiser
Concord
came under fire from two Profiteer battlecruisers. The
shield erupted in brightness as powerful hypermissiles and energy beams struck
it. One energy beam penetrated and then half a dozen more. The hull was blown
open in several areas, and secondary explosions shook the ship. Emergency
bulkheads slammed shut, sealing some of the crew inside the damaged areas. Fire
suppression systems came on to control the raging inferno, spreading through
several decks. Then a Profiteer hypermissile penetrated deep inside the ship,
and moments later the
Concord
died as it was turned into a fireball by
the nuclear blast.

Other Human
ships were on the losing end of their battles as well. The battlecruiser
Vesta
exploded, sending debris into the shields of several nearby ships when it
strayed too near a Dacroni battleship. The battlecruiser
Far Star
died
when it was struck by a large piece of debris from a destroyed Profiteer
warship.

-

Kurt flinched
each time one of his ships was lost. But the
Aurelia
was destroying
Profiteer vessels far quicker than the Profiteers were destroying the Human
ones.

“In range!”
called out Lieutenant Mays.

“Fire!”
ordered Kurt, his eyes glowing with determination. “I want that son-of-a-bitch
dead!”

On the main
viewscreen, the
Ascendant Destruction
appeared. Across its screen
massive hypermissile explosions released torrents of energy. The screen held,
and the Profiteer ship returned fire with its own missiles. The
Star Cross
shook violently, and a shower of sparks erupted from a console. Damage control
people hurried to put out the small fire and work on getting the console back
in operation.

“Lieutenant
Mays, fire our antimatter hypermissiles. Lieutenant Pierce, inform all ships
the use of antimatter weapons is now authorized.” Kurt had been waiting until
they were at point-blank range before deploying these much deadlier weapons.

On the screen,
Kurt watched with anticipation as the first fifty-megaton explosion rocked the
energy screen of the
Ascendant Destruction
. Then a second and a third
explosion pounded the Profiteer ship. Suddenly the
Star Cross
fired its
particle beam cannon, and the bright blue beam passed completely through the
Ascendant
Destruction
’s energy screen, impacting the armored hull. The beam’s impact
set off a massive explosion, hurling glowing debris into space. The energy
screen around the Profiteer ship seemed to flicker.

“Firing KEW cannons,” called out Lieutenant Mays, sensing the weakness in the Profiteer ship’s
energy screen.

The two KEW rounds penetrated the screen, and dual massive explosions rocked the
Ascendant
Destruction
. For a moment the ship seemed as if it would survive, then, in
a brilliant explosion, the Profiteer flagship blew apart.

“
Ascendant
Destruction
is down,” reported Lieutenant Brooks breathlessly.

Admiral
Vickers leaned forward, his adrenaline rush coming to an end. He just hoped
High Profiteer Creed had been on board that ship when it died.

-

Dacroni Clan
Leader Jarls recoiled in shock when he saw the
Ascendant Destruction
explode. “How much longer on our shuttlecraft?”

“They’re all
on board,” reported Salas. “The last one is being secured.”

“Let’s get out
of here! This battle’s lost.” Even as he spoke, he saw the
Aurelia
blow
apart two of his battleships. “Jump now before that thing destroys us all!”

Almost
instantly Jarls’s flagship jumped into hyperspace. He felt anger at losing to
Fleet Admiral Vickers once more. At least High Profiteer Creed had paid Jarls a
large fee up front so all wasn’t lost on this raid. He hoped his shuttle crews
had succeeded in bringing some gold and captives to their respective ships. If
so this raid could still turn out to be very profitable.

“What now?”
asked Salas. “As near as I can tell, we lost four of our battleships to that
Lakiam vessel.”

“Consider us
lucky,” Jarls answered back. “We could have just as easily lost all of them.”
Once they got back to Dacron Four, Jarls would have the damage to his ships
repaired. Perhaps it was time to leave Fleet Admiral Vickers alone. To fight
him was too costly in ships and crews. There were better ways to make a profit.

-

In space, the
other Profiteer clan leaders saw the Dacroni mercenary ships flee into
hyperspace. On their viewscreens, the monster ship bore down on them. Without a
moment’s hesitation they too jumped out, leaving stranded shuttles in orbit
that hadn’t made it to their ships. A single detainee ship and a few cargo
ships also jumped out, but most remained. They were drifting powerless as their
engineering sections had been destroyed or disabled by the Scorpion bombers.

-

On Earth, in
the secret command bunker in Canada, the operations room erupted in loud cheers
and clapping when it was announced the
Ascendant Destruction
had been
destroyed, and the Profiteer fleet was in full retreat.

“Fleet Admiral
Vickers did it again,” commented General Braid with a huge grin. “We’ve won,
and this time it will be permanent.”

President
Mayfield nodded. He didn’t mention the possible menace from the black ships.
That would be dealt with later. For now, he needed to clean up the massive mess
President Stroud had made of the world in his attempt to negotiate with the
Profiteers.

-

Aboard the
Star
Cross
, Kurt let out a long sigh of relief. The battle was over, and Earth
was once more free of the Profiteers. A few enemy shuttles still had to be
dealt with; and they were being escorted to ground by Lance fighters. Also numerous
Profiteers remained on the surface and were being rapidly rounded up by Earth’s
military. Once their fleet had withdrawn, they had thrown down their weapons
and surrendered.

“What now?”
asked Lieutenant Mays.

“We spend a
few days in orbit, and then we’ll go home.” Kurt wasn’t sure what was in store
for Newton next. The black ship menace remained, and he needed to work out some
deal with Mara and Tarnth. Kurt really wanted to find a way to encourage them
to stay instead of going back to Lakiam.

Glancing at
the main viewscreen, he saw the glowing gas and twisted wreckage that
represented the
Ascendant Destruction
. There was no doubt in his mind
that, after today, the Profiteers would never be a danger to Earth or Newton again.

In the Oval
Office of the White House, President Mayfield, General Braid, Secretary of
Homeland Security Raul Gutierrez, and Fleet Admiral Tomalson were all together
once more.

“The world’s a
mess,” Raul said as he gestured toward a thick stack of reports he had brought
in. “Most of the world blames the North American Union for what happened in
this most recent Profiteer attack.”

“And they
should,” Mayfield answered with a deep sigh. “Stroud was nearly the end of us all.
If Fleet Admirals Vickers and Tomalson hadn’t arrived when they did, I fully
believe the Profiteers would have nuked us into oblivion.”

“So what now?”
asked General Braid. “In the shape Earth’s in, it’ll be all we can do to defend
ourselves.”

“We won’t be
alone for much longer,” Tomalson said. “We’re forming an alliance with the
Julbians and possibly two more nearby worlds. It will allow for trade and
should help our world to recover. Admiral Vickers has also made several more of
his ships available to defend the Solar System, and he’s moving four Class Two
Orbital Defense Platforms from Newton to Earth.”

“We’re also
opening up Newton to increased colonization from more countries across the
world,” added President Mayfield. “Since they now have their independence,
they’ll take more people.”

“It will be
easier with all the detainee ships we captured,” Tomalson said. “They’re
currently at Newton for refurbishment and being changed over into passenger
liners. Each one can carry twelve thousand colonists.”

The four men
fell silent as they thought about their future. It would still be years before
Earth fully recovered, and, until then, it would be up to Newton to protect the
system and to be the shining light of hope for the Human race.

-

On Kubitz,
Marvin Tenner was attending one of the slave auctions. For the last hour a
number of Humans from Earth had been placed on the selling block. His people
had purchased every one so far. Now an older man was brought up. Tenner
recognized Marlen Stroud. The man looked worn and haggard and seemed confused
as to where he was.

The auction
began with no bids. The price was lowered, and one of the reps from a small
pleasure house placed a minimum bid. Stroud’s eyes seemed to clear as he looked
hopefully in Tenner’s direction.

No other bids
were offered, and Stroud was sold at the minimum bid. As he was led out, he
looked desperately at Tenner. Tenner met the man’s eyes and slowly shook his
head. What Stroud didn’t know was that Tenner had arranged for the ex-president
to be sold to this particular pleasure house. He would be put to work, but the
work wouldn’t be that hard. He would also be on round-the-clock surveillance.
Marlen Stroud would never be a danger to Earth again.

-

On Newton, Kurt had just finished speaking to Mara and Tarnth. After much discussion they had
agreed to stay for three more months. During that time they would teach Kurt’s
people how to operate the two Lakiam battlecruisers as well as the four Andock
vessels. At the end of that time, the
Star Cross
would deliver the pair
to Kubitz, where they would find passage back to Lakiam. Enough ships from various
worlds across the galaxy traded at the black market world that it would be
relatively easy to book passage back to Lakiam space.

“So they
agreed to stay a bit,” commented Keera, as she snuggled up to Kurt. They were
sitting on the comfortable couch in their apartment.

“It’s because
of the black ships,” Kurt answered. “Even the Lakiams agree with us. The more
worlds that can fight the Destroyers of Worlds, the better. I think both of
them have been impressed by what they’ve seen here on Newton.”

“What about
Lomatz? I still don’t like the idea of so many of the weapons dealer’s people
coming to live here,” Keera said.

“The first of his
people should be arriving next week. He’s been busy on the island, getting it
ready. I was over there yesterday, and they’ve already built housing,
businesses, and set up a number of automated factories. As much as I hate to
say it, his people can teach us a lot.”

Keera sat up
and stared into Kurt’s eyes. “Just don’t let them off the island. I don’t want Newton to turn into another Kubitz.”

“Don’t worry
about that. We’re taking precautions to ensure that doesn’t happen. Lomatz’s
people will be allowed to travel on Newton, but only for short periods of time
and only after their travel plans have been approved. Perhaps after a few
years, we can reduce the restrictions and someday eliminate them completely.”

“What will we
do when the black ships finally come here?”

Kurt let out a
deep sigh. “We should have time to prepare. Both Mara and Tarnth are in
agreement on that. They say we live in a backwater section of the galaxy that’s
sparsely inhabited. It may be years before the black ships make their way here,
and, by then, we’ll be ready. We’ll continue to add to the defensive grid, and
build bigger and more powerful ships.”

-

Keera leaned
back, snuggling against Kurt. She felt his hand slide to her back, moving
gently up and down. Her breathing got heavier, and she could feel her
excitement building. Turning her head, she kissed Kurt, enjoying the special
relationship they had. If anyone could find a way to stop the Destroyers of
Worlds, it would be Kurt. However, right now she had other plans, and Kurt knew
exactly what they were.

The End

If you enjoyed
The Star Cross: The Dark Invaders
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The Slaver Wars: Alien
Contact

The
United Federation of Worlds thought they were alone in the galaxy. But now an
alien spacecraft has appeared over one of their mining operations. The
frightened miners call for help to deal with this first contact situation.

Admiral
Streth is sent to defuse the situation and discover what the aliens want. The
aliens are called Hocklyns, and they claim to come from a trading federation.
In truth, they come from an empire that conquers worlds for slaves and they
have set their sights on the human worlds as their next conquest.

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The Galactic Empire
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To
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in their wars of aggression against other planets. The Kleese are one of three
large Galactic Empires that control the majority of the galaxy. To them, Earth
is a dangerous planet due to the aggressiveness of the humanoid species that
inhabits it. This is a species that cannot be allowed to go out into the
galaxy. Once they have taken their conscripts, the planet will be destroyed.

Mason
Randle controls the Smithfield Mining Corporation. His main base is inside the
asteroid Vesta, and he will do everything in his power to save what is left of
the human race after the Kleese attack.

Lieutenant
Wade Nelson is a marine taken as a conscript by the Kleese. His primary goal is
to find a way back to Earth. In the meantime, he will fight in the wars the
Kleese are involved in until he knows enough to take the fight to the Kleese
themselves. He will bid his time and someday find a way back home for himself
and his marines.

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Special
announcement! A new military science fiction series will be starting in 2017.
Earth Fall tells the story of alien invasion and Earth’s frantic attempt to
fight back and survive. The following chapter was published in the Galactic
Chronicles as a short story.