The Star Cross: The Dark Invaders (6 page)

“Interpolate
the data from the viewscreens and put it into the tactical display,” ordered
Captain Veer, trying to stay calm. “Add the data from our other ships as well.”

Instantly on
the large holographic tactical display to the right of Captain Veer, a swarm of
red threat icons appeared. It took the captain only a moment to realize his
fleet was badly outnumbered. There was no way these ships had originated in the
Gothan Empire. The Profiteers couldn’t build anything like the ships Veer was
seeing.

Tarnth turned
to face the captain with a chilling look on his face. “Those spindle-shaped ships
match the ones in the legend! They are the Destroyers of Worlds, and they have
returned to ravage our galaxy. We must send word to Lakiam, informing them of
the danger.”

Captain Veer
could tell Tarnth was visibly fearful of the black ships. Veer had known the
tactical officer for most of his career in the fleet and had never seen him act
like this.

“Mara, send an
FTL message back to Lakiam, informing them of what we’ve discovered. Send our
latest sensor scans as well and our logs of all of our previous scans of the
vicinity of Galian Five.”

Veer then
activated his ship-to-ship comm. “All ships, prepare to initiate combat against
the black ships moving in on us. All attempts at communication have failed, and
we have to assume these vessels destroyed Galian Five. I am confident our
energy shields will protect us and our advanced weapons will make short work of
these interlopers. Once the black ships have been destroyed, we will perform a
thorough investigation of the wreckage to determine their point of origin.”

“Captain,”
Mara called out anxiously. “Our FTL communications are jammed. I can’t send a
message!”

Captain Veer
reached a quick decision. “All ships, open fire!” These black ships would soon
learn Lakiam vessels were heavily armed, and not the defenseless cargo and
passenger ships they had destroyed around Galian Five.

-

From the bow
of the
Aurelia
, a powerful force beam shot forth to strike the nearest
black ship. Other beams from the other ships in the Lakiam fleet also struck
the approaching vessels. The beams impacted energy shields, which seemed to absorb
the energy from the beams as if they were nothing more than a mere nuisance.
The force beams faded out as their power was absorbed.

Seeing the ineffectiveness
of their force beams, the Lakiams quickly switched to their energy projectors.
Once more ravaging power struck the shields of the black ships only to be absorbed
as well. The unharmed black ships continued to close on the Lakiam fleet.

-

“Their energy
screens are siphoning off the power from our weapons,” reported Sensor Operator
Baryon as he saw the ineffectiveness of their attack. “Our weapons are only
making their energy screens stronger!”

Captain Veer
realized, if all their energy weapons were useless against the Destroyers of
Worlds, he had only one other weapon that might work. It was a move of
desperation, but he had no other option. “I’m authorizing the use of a dark-matter
hypermissile,” he said in a calm voice. The dark-matter missiles had never been
used in combat before due to the danger they posed to nearby planets.

“Prepping
missile,” reported Tarnth as his hands flew over his tactical console. “We’re
going to be hit by the blast wave due to how close the black ships are.”

-

On the outer
hull of the
Aurelia
, a missile hatch slid open. In a sudden flash, the
missile inside the tube vanished as it jumped into hyperspace. At nearly the
same moment it slammed into the shield of one of the black ships, exploding in
a brilliant flash of white light. For a moment the black ship vanished as the
ravaging energy spread across its energy screen.

-

“Direct hit!”
called out Baryon as his sensor screens blanked out from the sudden release of
energy.

Then the blast
wave struck the
Aurelia
, the ship groaning in anguish from the backlash
of energy sweeping across the ship’s energy shield. Several consoles in the Command Center shorted out, and the ship was severely jarred from the deadly energy. Repair
robots rushed to control the fires in the burning consoles.

“Moderate
damage to the hull and we have several compartments open to space,” reported
Daxell from his damage control console. “Repair robots have been directed
toward the damaged areas. Repair nanites have been released and are already
closing the ruptures in the outer hull.”

“Several of
our other ships received damage as well,” reported Mara as messages flooded her
comm station.

On the main viewscreen,
the black ship reappeared still intact. The dark-matter hypermissile had failed
to destroy it!

“Black ships
are firing,” reported Baryon. “Enemy ship was unaffected by our missile.”

Captain Veer
looked up at the primary viewscreen to see what appeared to be a black sphere
of nothingness hurtling toward the
Aurelia
. Around its edges small
discharges of energy were evident.

“What is it?”
he demanded, leaning forward in his command chair. It was traveling much slower
than a normal missile.

“It’s some
form of antimatter,” Baryon reported as he checked his sensor screens. “But
it’s in a form I’ve never seen before.”

“Move us out
of its path.”

The Lakiam in
front of the helm console quickly moved the battlecruiser to one side to avoid
the inbound sphere of antimatter energy.

“It’s changing
course,” reported Baryon, his eyes wide in fear. “It’ll strike the energy
shield in five seconds.”

On the primary
viewscreen, Captain Veer watched in fascination as the black sphere of
mysterious energy struck his ship’s energy screen. The ship seemed to shriek in
pain as the screen was hammered and the black energy spread across it. The
lights in the Command Center dimmed substantially.

“Shield is
down to 48 percent and dropping rapidly,” reported Tarnth as he watched one of
his data screens in disbelief. “Shield will fail in fourteen seconds! Whatever
this weapon is it’s absorbing the power from our energy screen.”

Captain Veer
realized he was powerless to prevent the loss of the ship’s all-powerful energy
screen. Never before had he ever heard of a Lakiam ship’s energy shield being
overwhelmed by any known weapon. The shield was powered by antimatter reactors
furnished by the Visth centuries in the past. Veer didn’t know of a more
powerful energy source anywhere in the galaxy.

“Shield is at
8 percent,” warned Tarnth in desperation as his right hand moved across one of
his screens.

Captain Veer
watched as Tarnth stole power from other ship systems in an attempt to keep the
shield intact. However, nothing he did slowed the weakening of the energy
screen. Veer saw a red warning light appear on one of Tarnth’s screens.

“Shield is
down,” Tarnth said as he gazed at the nearest viewscreen in terror-stricken
fascination.

Veer let out a
deep breath of frustration. He was about to lose his fleet to an unknown enemy.
He didn’t know if Tarnth’s laments about the Destroyers of Worlds were true or
not, but they faced a very dangerous enemy. It disturbed Veer even more knowing
he had no way to warn Lakiam of what might be coming their way.

“Many of our other
ships have been hit with the same weapon,” Mara added as frantic calls came
over her comm system. “They’re losing power, and some report that nearly all
their systems have failed.”

“Captain, the
primary viewscreen!” called out Baryon.

On the screen,
a number of hatches slid open on several of the black vessels, and missiles
shot out. The lights in the Command Center continued to dim, and several
consoles ceased functioning completely from a loss of power. The black
antimatter had reached the hull of the ship.

“Shipwide
power is failing,” reported Daxell. “Engineering can’t provide the necessary
power to reinitiate the energy screen or power the ship’s systems.”

-

In space, the
black ship’s missiles slammed into the unprotected hulls of the Lakiam
battlecruisers. Where each missile struck, a miniature sun appeared, marking
the death of a Lakiam ship. Nearly all the Lakiam vessels were powerless and
drifting in space, making them easy targets for the deadly missiles of the
black ships.

-

“Our fleet’s
being systematically destroyed,” reported Baryon, his eyes showing panic. “It’s
only a matter of time before we’re targeted with a missile.”

Captain Veer remained
silent, knowing he was powerless to do anything to save his fleet or his ship.
On the holographic display, ship after Lakiam ship expanded in a flash of light
and then vanished from the display completely. Veer’s eyes shifted to Tarnth,
sitting quietly at his tactical station with his eyes closed. Perhaps these actually
were the Destroyers of Worlds who his tactical officer had warned him about.

With a sudden
jolt, the lights in the Command Center died away completely. All consoles
ceased functioning, and even the ever-present noise of the movement of air through
the vents vanished. For a moment the Command Center was in absolute silence. Veer
knew this was the end. If the black ships didn’t put a missile in the side of
the
Aurelia
, then the failure of the life support systems would soon
accomplish the same thing. Veer took a deep breath, knowing death was
inevitable. He had failed in his mission, and the black ships would continue on
their rampage of destruction. Veer greatly feared no one could stop them. The Destroyers
of Worlds had returned, and they were powerful beyond belief.

Admiral Kurt
Vickers watched the tactical screen intently as the
Star Cross
prepared
to jump into the globular star cluster which contained the Gothan Empire. The
cluster was 120 light-years across and contained nearly three thousand stars. The
empire was a loose federation of 118 worlds in 87 different star systems that
routinely raided many of the civilized races of the galaxy.

Nearly all the
planets were heavily fortified with orbital defenses as well as warships. Most
of the systems sent out raiding fleets periodically to attack convoys of the richer
and more civilized planetary systems. This plunder, including captured crews
and passengers, was brought back to Kubitz. In most cases, the crews and
passengers were held for ransom. If no ransom was received, the captives were
sold in the slave markets to the highest bidder.

“God, I hate
this star cluster,” muttered Andrew with a grimace as he gazed at the hundreds
of unblinking stars on the main viewscreen.

Kurt laughed
and shook his head. “You’ll get to see Grantz again. I’m sure he’ll want to
take you to one of the pleasure houses and show you the wanton ways of Kubitz.”

Andrew moaned.
“You know better than that. I’m happily married. Emily would throw a fit if she
heard of such nonsense. I’m not risking my wife’s ire.” Andrew shook his head.
“I hope you brought some gold for your pet Profiteer. I’m sure he’ll have some devious
plan to get as much of it as he can from you.”

“Plotting the
next jump,” said Lieutenant Charles Styles as his hands moved over his
navigation console. “We should enter hyperspace in six to eight minutes.”

Kurt looked
at Andrew. “I want the fleet at Condition One each time we emerge from now
until we reach the Kubitz System.”

From here on
in, they were in danger of being ambushed by small Profiteer fleets interested
in making some quick credits off ships inbound toward Kubitz. It had happened
before, and it would happen again. A few small Profiteer fleets always prowled
the space inside the cluster, seeking a helpless victim. Ships from all over
the galaxy came to trade at Kubitz. Most came with armed escorts.

Kurt glanced
at the ship’s main viewscreen currently focused on the six-hundred-meter-long
light carrier
Wasp
. In the distance, he could see one of the small
fleet’s two light cruisers. Their primary responsibility was the protection of
the passenger liner
Newton Princess
.

The
Newton
Princess
wasn’t visible on the main viewscreen, though Kurt knew Keera was
on board. He had been tempted to have her stay in his quarters on the
Star
Cross
, but then he’d decided she might be too big of a distraction. Keera
had grown very proficient at taking his mind off his fleet duties whenever she
had the opportunity. They still talked each day, and they would be together
most of the time on Kubitz.

“No contacts
showing on our short-range sensors,” Andrew said as he shifted his eyes to another
screen. “Though a number of vessels show up on the long-range sensors on the cluster’s
edge.”

Kurt studied
the indicated screen. Nearly twenty small red threat icons were visible. At
this distance, they could be cargo ships or Profiteer raiders. One small fleet
of about eight ships looked suspicious. “Keep an eye on those long-range
sensors.” The special sensors could detect a ship for a distance of five light-years,
which would give his fleet sufficient time to prepare for an attack.

A few more
minutes passed, and then Lieutenant Styles announced they were ready to jump.

“Here we go,” said
Andrew, staring at the viewscreen, his worry evident on his face. “It seems as
if every time we come to the Gothan Empire, something bad happens.”

“Let’s hope
it’s different this time,” Kurt replied. “Helm, take us into hyperspace.”

Moments later
Kurt felt a slight twinge in his stomach as the
Star Cross
transitioned
from normal space into hyperspace. In normal space, faster-than-light travel
was impossible. However, in hyperspace, different universal laws were at play,
which allowed a ship to greatly exceed the speed of light. The 5,500 light-year
journey from Newton to the Gothan Empire had only taken eight days. It would
have taken longer a few years back, but—thanks to some of the technology they
had acquired on Kubitz—all of the hyperspace drives on Earth’s and Newton’s ships had been upgraded. Kurt knew the hyperdrives on vessels from the Protector
Worlds or the Enlightened Worlds were even faster.

-

On board the
Newton
Princess
, Keera was both excited and nervous about her return to Kubitz.
She had attended medical training on the Enlightened World of Karash and then
traveled to Kubitz with her brother. Practicing medicine on the Profiteer world
had been extremely challenging and exciting since hundreds of different
humanoid races paid visits to the planet on a regular basis, as well as a few
completely alien species. Kubitz was also a very frightening place because one’s
life nearly always hung in the balance. In many areas of the capital city, it
was unsafe to travel without an armed escort. The Enforcers, who were
responsible for the law on Kubitz, had a bad habit of looking the other way at
times.

She had first
met Fleet Admiral Kurt Vickers right after a Profiteer attack on the vehicle
carrying the admiral. She had been in the vicinity and rushed to give medical
aid to the wounded. In gratitude, Kurt had invited her to supper at the embassy
compound, and their relationship had only grown from there. She had traveled to
Newton with Private Lucy Dulcet, who had been kidnapped by the Profiteers and
put through a horrifying ordeal.

After spending
some time on Newton and coming to know Kurt even better, Keera had decided to
make it her home. Now she and Kurt were living together, and she couldn’t be
happier. Not until she received the message from her brother did she realize
she still had unfinished business on Kubitz.

Getting up
from the sofa, she removed her clothes and took a quick shower. After drying
off, she stood in front of the full-length mirror, gazing at her figure. She
had dark shoulder-length hair and a fair complexion with curves in all the
right places. She knew Kurt approved. She allowed herself to smile, thinking
about how passionate Kurt could be at times.

Running her
hands over her flat stomach, she was pleased with the muscle tone of her body.
She worked out on a regular basis and was careful to eat as healthy as
possible. She still overindulged on occasion. Newton had a form of chocolate
she absolutely loved and a number of tea varieties she found nearly addictive.
She had mentioned to Kurt that several of the teas she had taken a liking to
would sell very well on Kubitz.

Slipping into
a robe, she returned to the sofa and picked up the message she had left there, the
one from her brother. She read it one more time, sensing the fear in his words.
Something ominous stirred in the galaxy, and several of the Profiteer clans were
deeply concerned. A number of raids had even been canceled as they deemed parts
of the galaxy too dangerous to venture into. Dalen even hinted a number of
secret meetings had occurred on the planet Marsten, the capital of the Gothan
Empire.

Keera leaned
back and closed her eyes. She let out a deep sigh. If the Profiteers were frightened
about this mysterious menace, she wondered what it might mean for Newton. She had grown to love her new adopted world. Life there was so much slower than
Kubitz. She could walk out in the streets without the need of an escort or a
handgun to protect herself. She hoped nothing ever changed that.

Opening her
eyes, she looked one last time at her brother’s message. She had never known Dalen
to be afraid of anything. Just another reason he had gone to work for one of
the larger Profiteer Clans on Kubitz. He enjoyed the sense of danger and the
thrill that type of life offered. Keera had disapproved of Dalen’s decision,
but she had come to Kubitz nevertheless so she could practice her medical
skills on a myriad of different humanoid and alien races.

Keera stood up,
deciding to go to bed. Sometime tomorrow they would arrive at Kubitz, and she
would get her answers. Unfortunately, in order to find out what was happening
in the galaxy, it might be necessary to contact Avery Dolman. She despised
Dolman as he had his hands in every despicable activity that occurred on
Kubitz. However, if something were going on, Dolman would know of it or how to
get the information.

-

The
Star
Cross
and her fleet dropped from hyperspace near the large Controller station
in the Kubitz System. The Controller station was forty kilometers in length and
ten in width. On its surface were a number of small habitable domes one to two
kilometers in diameter. The station was profoundly armed with ion cannons,
energy projectors, and hundreds of hyperspace missile tubes. In near orbit of
the station were twenty squadrons of small police ships, each two hundred
meters in length and heavily armed. They were responsible for ensuring the incoming
ships caused no problems.

“We’re being
hailed,” reported Lieutenant Brenda Pierce. “They want to know who we are and for
us to state our business.”

Kurt had been
expecting this. The computers on the station would have already identified his
ships as from Newton. “Tell them who we are and ask what the current fees are
to go into orbit around Kubitz.”

All ships had
to pay a fee at the Controller station before being allowed to go farther into
the system. Failure to do so would result in an immediate attack by the
patrolling police ships or by the station itself. Once the fee was paid, Kurt’s
ships would fall under the protection of the Kubitz government and then would
be immune from attack by any ship in the Kubitz System. If an attack did occur,
the consequences were so severe that the offending ship would most likely be
destroyed, and the world it came from would be severely fined or restricted
from future raiding.

“Detecting 287
ships currently in orbit near the station,” Lieutenant Lena Brooks reported. “A
number of them are not in our files.”

Kurt shifted
his gaze to the main viewscreen, showing the huge Controller station. He could
see a number of ships in close orbits. Many of them he had never seen before—ships
from numerous races, and nearly all were of a different size and configuration.
“Make sure you add all the unidentified ships to our database.”

An alarm
sounded on the sensor console.

“We have ten
police ships coming to give us the once-over,” Andrew reported as he watched
the tactical screen and the approaching red threat icons.

“We’re being
scanned,” added Lieutenant Brooks as a red light appeared on her sensor
console.

“Ignore them,”
Kurt ordered. He had the fleet at Condition Three with all targeting sensors
off. He had also left the antimatter hypermissiles the
Star Cross
normally carried back at Newton Station. Ships were not allowed inside the
Kubitz System with such weapons.

“The fee is 250,000
credits for all five of our ships,” Lieutenant Pierce stated as the information
came over her comm.

“They’ve gone
up a bit,” Andrew said in disgust, rolling his eyes. “They squeeze every credit
they can from you.”

Kurt nodded
his head in agreement. “Tell them to subtract the fee from our account.”

A few more
moments passed. “Our account has been debited, and they are transmitting a
confirmation of our payment to us as well as the Controller exchange office at
the main spaceport on Kubitz. We may proceed to the planet.”

“Set a course
for Kubitz,” Kurt ordered as he settled back in his command chair. It would
take them a while to reach Kubitz, even traveling at sublight speeds.
Hyperspace travel was not allowed inside the orbit of the Controller station.

“Admiral,” said
Andrew, showing some concern in his voice. “I did a sensor scan of the ships
around the Controller station, and a number of Dacroni mercenary ships are here.”

Kurt’s eyes
widened. No love was lost between the Dacroni mercenaries and Humans from Earth
and Newton. “It may just be a coincidence. They come here routinely to sign
contracts as well as trade.”

For once Kurt
was glad the Kubitz government allowed no fighting between ships, no matter how
serious the disagreement might be between the vessels. If the Dacroni were to
attack any of Kurt’s fleet, the Kubitz government would respond by immediately
destroying the offending ship and heavily fining the Dacroni clan involved.

“Activating
sublight drive,” Lieutenant Styles reported from the Helm.

On the main viewscreen,
the Controller station fell away as the
Star Cross
accelerated away from
it. Kurt was anxious to get to Kubitz and meet with former Lieutenant Tenner. Kurt
was certain Keera was just as anxious to see her brother. Plus he would keep an
eye on the Dacroni ships to ensure no further mischief occurred, since the
Dacroni had been involved in kidnapping Private Dulcet. Kurt would not forget or
forgive that.

-

The next day Kurt,
Keera, and Andrew were inside the Controller exchange office at the main
spaceport. A squad of heavily armed Marines was outside, waiting for their
return. One thing Kurt had learned about Kubitz: he and his crew didn’t go
anywhere without an armed escort.

It took them
only a few minutes to be taken to a small office where a Controller sat behind
a desk with two armed Lylan Enforcers. The Enforcers were humanoid with large
muscular arms and legs, and a squat chest. They came from a high-gravity world,
and Kurt didn’t want to get into a fight with one unless he wanted to end up
with a broken arm or worse. The Controller was easily seven feet tall and
humanoid. His head was slightly larger than normal and completely bald. The
Controller’s eyes were of normal size, though his lips were a little thinner. His
body was slim, and his hands had six long digits. He was also a little pale, as
if he very seldom saw any sunlight.