The Star Cross Read online

  Lieutenant Lena Brooks checked her sensors and then turned toward the admiral to report. “Detecting twelve ships with the Poseidon.”

  “That’s all of them,” Randson said with a nod.

  “Get them into Newton’s orbit,” ordered Kurt, as he leaned back in his command chair. He was anxious to get the large construction bay attached to Newton Station, so they could complete the Kepler. Once the heavy carrier was finished, the fleet would be considerably more powerful, and he could begin thinking about the mission to Kubitz.

  “I have Colonel Hayworth on the comm,” reported Ensign Pierce. “His crew is aboard Newton Station and is ready to attach the construction bay. He says he can have it operational in five to six days.”

  Captain Randson looked over at Kurt meaningfully and nodded. “That’s good news. We need to get the Kepler finished as soon as possible.”

  “Inform Colonel Hayworth to use whatever resources he needs to get it done,” Kurt replied.

  He knew that Andrew was anxious to head to Kubitz to rescue his wife and daughter. From what they had learned from their Profiteer prisoner, that was where Andrew’s family and the other abductees would be taken to be sold. Kurt had clear orders from President Mayfield to rescue those people and procure a new defensive weapons system from the arms dealers on that planet.

  Kurt spent a few minutes studying the tactical screen with its friendly green icons. He had the Star Cross, the light carrier Vindication, seven light cruisers, and eight destroyers to defend the system with. Soon he could add the Kepler. He also had the light carrier Dante, but it needed major repairs. It would be several months before the light carrier was fit for duty.

  “Put us into an orbit close to Newton Station,” ordered Kurt. “I want to monitor the attaching of the construction bay, as well as the manufacturing section that the Juno is bringing.”

  The helm officer adjusted the course of the large battlecruiser, and, on the main viewscreen, Newton Station grew larger. It didn’t take Ensign Styles long to place the Star Cross twenty kilometers from the station, where they could observe the work.

  “Have a full crew here in the Command Center to monitor everything,” ordered Kurt, looking over at Randson. “We can’t afford for anything to go wrong.”

  “How soon before we can launch the rescue mission?” Captain Randson asked in a low voice.

  Kurt understood why Andrew looked so exhausted and hesitated briefly before answering. “Colonel Hayworth says he can have the Kepler fully operational in three weeks. Once the ship’s done, we’ll set out.”

  “Three more weeks,” repeated Andrew, letting out a deep sigh. “I just hope we get there in time.”

  “We’ll find them,” promised Kurt. He knew how he would feel if it was his sister’s family who had been taken. He wouldn’t allow humans to be slaves anywhere in the galaxy. And, if he had to tear apart the galaxy to do so, he would find every last human taken.

  -

  Kurt was asleep in his quarters, when the comm unit next to his bed chimed. Rolling over, he pressed the receive button. “Yes?” he said, still half asleep.

  “We have a problem developing on Newton,” Captain Randson announced over the comm, his voice concerned. “It seems that Secretary of Labor Marlen Stroud arrived on a Chinese cargo ship and showed up on Newton, at the governor’s office, demanding that the governor step down. Stroud’s saying that, since he’s the highest-ranking Cabinet member not trapped on Earth, and since Newton is a colony of the North American Union, the governorship falls to him.”

  Kurt came instantly awake. “Bullshit! Tell Governor Spalding to place that idiot under arrest immediately. Then find out what ship he arrived on to see if anyone else came to Newton without being screened. Send a platoon of Marines if necessary.”

  “He is a member of the Cabinet,” Andrew reminded Kurt in an uncertain voice.

  “I don’t care who he is,” replied Kurt, as he rolled from bed and reached for his clothes. “We were careful to ensure that no one like Stroud could come to Newton, just so nothing like this could happen. All Stroud cares about is power and money—something he no longer has, since the Profiteers have retaken Earth. He and his entourage took the place of much-needed individuals, who we can no longer evacuate. I have direct orders from President Mayfield and Fleet Admiral Tomalson to keep the current government of Newton intact, as well as my control of the fleet. I have a written copy of those orders in the safe here in my quarters. Do you need to see them?”

  “No, sir,” Andrew hastily replied. “I just wanted you to be aware there might be consequences for our actions.”

  “Arrest the son of a bitch,” ordered Kurt. “I’ll be in the Command Center shortly but get word to Governor Spalding. I want the responsible Chinese parties arrested.” He disconnected the comm with a slap of his hand.

  -

  Marlen Stroud sat in Governor Spalding’s office waiting for the governor to return. Marlen had demanded that the governor immediately resign and turn over Newton to him. Leaning back in the governor’s plush chair, Marlen allowed himself to smile. It had cost him a fortune to procure passage on a Chinese cargo ship bound for Newton. He had made arrangements for his wife, several of their better servants, and a few powerful supporters to accompany him. Their quarters had been quite spartan, but at least they were off Earth and now could lead a normal life. He would keep the fleet at Newton to ensure his security.

  As soon as Spalding returned with the resignation he was writing, Marlen would go on all the comm channels to inform the citizens of Newton that he was their new leader, and they would not be taking part in the war against the Profiteers. He would also be relieving Admiral Vickers of his command and replacing him with someone more tolerable.

  Marlen stood up and stepped over to the large window, which overlooked the capital city. The city held slightly over six hundred thousand residents. While small by Earth standards, it still possessed many of the comforts he was seeking. His wife was already searching for a new home suitable for their needs. He was fairly certain that, if they left the Profiteers alone, Newton wouldn’t see them. Marlen could build a good and comfortable life here, living in luxury and fully in control of the planet.

  The sound of the door opening behind him drew his attention. With a wide smile, he turned around, expecting to see Governor Spalding, holding his resignation in his hand. Instead, two heavily armed Marines stood there with grim looks upon their faces.

  “Marlen Stroud, you are under arrest for subversion and treason.”

  Stroud’s face turned pale at hearing those words. “What do you mean? Is this some joke?”

  “No, it’s no joke. You came to Newton illegally, with no screening, even though ordered by the government of the North American Union. Your authority isn’t recognized here, and yet you demanded that the Newton government be turned over to you without due process.”

  “I’m a Cabinet member,” snarled Stroud, growing angry. “That’s all the authority I need!” How dare these Marines threaten him. There must be some misunderstanding. He would see to it that they were cleaning latrines before the day was over.

  “We are aware of who you are,” the Marine sergeant replied in an uncompromising voice. His right hand touched the pistol in the holster at his waist. “Are you coming peacefully, or do we need to use force?”

  Marlen gazed at the Marine sergeant, his blood pressure boiling, but seeing the hard and cold look in the sergeant’s eyes took away any thoughts of resisting. These men weren’t to be trifled with. “I’ll go with you,” he grated out. “But this isn’t over. You don’t realize who you’re messing with.”

  “We do know,” replied the sergeant. “But this is Newton, not Earth. You have no power or authority here.”

  The two Marines led the angry Cabinet member from the governor’s office and down the hall to a waiting elevator. They had orders to take him to a small residence on the outskirts of the city and to keep him there under house arrest. His wife
, their servants, and his supporters had already been rounded up and were unhappily waiting for him.

  -

  Governor Spalding stepped back into his office and sat down in the chair behind his desk. He hoped they had done the right thing. If President Mayfield and the other Cabinet members were dead, then Stroud was next in line for the presidency. It that were true, then Stroud had every right to demand control of the government. However, as far as they knew, President Mayfield was still alive, along with the other Cabinet members. Until they knew otherwise, Stroud would be kept under twenty-four-hour lockdown and surveillance. Spalding just hoped nothing had happened to the president, or they could find themselves in a sticky situation.

  -

  “It’s done,” Captain Randson reported, as he stepped from Communications, where he had been in constant touch with the senior Marine officer at the governor’s mansion down on Newton, who had been responsible for sending the Marines to arrest Stroud. “You have one very upset Cabinet member on your hands now.”

  Kurt nodded and let out a deep sigh. Marlen Stroud was the least of his worries. He had to get the Newton System prepared for war, as well as get the fleet ready for what was ahead. “Schedule a meeting with Colonel Hayworth and the commanding officer of Newton Station, Captain Simms.”

  “What are you planning?”

  “I want all our ships equipped with particle beam cannons, including the destroyers,” Kurt explained. “I also want to discuss the possibility of arming the station. The shipyard above Earth wasn’t armed, as the fleet was supposed to protect it. I don’t want to make that same mistake here.”

  Andrew nodded, as he thought over what Kurt wanted. “Once we get the construction bay and the manufacturing section attached to the station, we’ll have a lot of hull space to work with. Hell, we could make Newton Station more heavily armed than a battlecruiser.”

  “Exactly,” Kurt replied. He also needed to get in touch with his sister. He had made arrangements for a modest home to be made available for them. Her family had made it safely to Newton and should be settled in by now.

  -

  Several hours later Kurt arrived on Newton Station. He was escorted to a small conference room where Captain Simms, the commanding officer of Newton Station, and Colonel Hayworth, the commanding office of Earth’s shipyard, were waiting.

  “Admiral,” said Colonel Hayworth, standing up and saluting.

  “It’s good to have you aboard, sir,” Captain Simms said, also standing and saluting.

  Kurt returned the salutes and gestured for the two men to sit back down. “Captain Simms, how many exploration ships do we currently have out?” Exploration ships left and returned to Newton Station on a regular basis. All were required to report in on a strict schedule.

  “Four, sir,” Simms answered. “The Himalaya, Carlsbad, Trinity, and Surveyor Three are all currently away. Only the Surveyor Two is still here. The Carlsbad should be back within the week and the others three to four weeks from now.” The Surveyor One had been the first survey ship and had been retired years earlier.

  Kurt nodded. That was about what he had expected. The ships were required to send hyperspace message drones once per week, reporting on their current status. All exploration vessels were expected to return to Newton eight weeks after departure. Currently the exploration ships were surveying every star within fifty light-years of the Newton System. Their primary mission was to seek out potential habitable planets. They were also doing mineral surveys in asteroid fields and upon small moons. The ships were lightly armed and had strict instructions to return to Newton if they turned up anything that could be considered a danger. Each ship also had a First Contact team on board, just in case they stumbled across an alien vessel.

  “Colonel Hayworth, how soon can you have the construction bay and the manufacturing facility up and running?”

  “Five to six days on the construction bay and another eight to ten on the manufacturing section,” Hayworth answered. “Captain Simms and I have been discussing it, and we’ll have to make some modifications to Newton Station so the new configuration will be stable.”

  “It shouldn’t be too difficult,” Simms added. “We always planned on expanding the station, so we have the structural supports in place.”

  “Finish the Kepler as soon as possible,” Kurt ordered. “We’ll need her firepower, plus the fighters and bombers she can launch.”

  “It won’t take long to finish her,” Hayworth replied, as he looked down at the notes he had brought to the meeting. “We need to finish installing the energy shield emitters and do some cosmetic work inside. We also need to assemble the fighters and bombers assigned to the ship.”

  “Speaking of fighters and bombers, can we build a flight bay on the station to handle several squadrons of each?”

  Simms looked over at Hayworth before replying. “It’ll have to be a complete build. We have nothing in the plans for such a flight bay.”

  “I have plans that I brought with me,” Hayworth said, as he thought over what would be involved. “We can make most of the necessary parts in the manufacturing section. I’m guessing we’ll need at least eight to twelve weeks, once we start on actual construction.”

  “Can the Dante be put in the station’s repair bay, or is the damage too severe?”

  Simms thumbed through a couple pages of information on the table in front of him. He picked up one sheet and studied it. “We can do it,” he said after a moment. “Not sure of the time it’ll take, as some of this damage is quite extensive.”

  “Let’s get on it,” Kurt ordered. “Once we’re done with the Dante and Kepler, have particle beam weapons installed on all our ships that currently don’t have them.”

  “I was expecting that,” Hayworth said. “Should we arm the station as well?”

  “Yes,” Kurt replied, pleased that Hayworth had guessed his next question. “Weapons plus an energy shield.”

  “That’s a lot of work,” Simms said, his eyes narrowing. “Fortunately, with the people that Colonel Hayworth brought, we should be able to do it.” Simms took out a calculator and ran some numbers. “Four to six months to complete everything. Does that sound about right to you?” asked the captain, looking over at Hayworth.

  “Sounds doable,” Hayworth responded. “Our people will be putting in a lot of hours.”

  “Recruit and train more if needed,” ordered Kurt. “Also, when the ships are being updated, don’t hesitate to use their crews to help with the work. We’re at war, and the security of Newton is paramount.”

  Hayworth grinned. “Would love to order about the crews. We’ll get it done, sir.”

  Kurt spent another hour speaking in greater detail to the two men about the things he wanted. When the meeting was over, he felt satisfied that a number of important issues had been resolved. Now he wanted to go to Newton and speak with Governor Spalding, plus visit his sister, Denise.

  -

  Denise was busy cooking when her cell phone rang.

  “I’ll get it!” yelled Bryan, as he ran through the house toward her phone, lying on the kitchen counter.

  The six-year-old had been hyperactive ever since they arrived on Newton. Denise put down her knife and the potato she had been peeling.

  Pressing the green flashing light on the cell phone, Bryan said, “Hello?” He listened for a moment, and then his eyes lit up. “Uncle Kurt, is it really you? When are you coming to visit? Our new house is really neat, and it’s close to my new school.”

  “Let me have the phone, dear,” said Denise, pleased that Kurt had finally called. She knew he had been tremendously busy the last few days.

  Bryan handed her the phone with a big excited smile. “He says he’s coming over!”

  “Hello, big brother,” Denise said. “Bryan says you’re coming over?” She listened for a moment, nodding to herself. “The house is fine. It’s nearly as big as the one we left in Houston. Alex is out checking on a potential job. One of the local companies
has a need for a systems analyst.”

  “Let me talk some more!” begged Bryan with his eyes open wide. “I want to tell Uncle Kurt about our spaceship ride.”

  “Why don’t you come over for supper? I’ll have it ready around seven.” She listened to Kurt’s reply, and a soft smile covered her face. “I’ll see you then, and Bryan can’t wait to tell you about our trip on the passenger liner.”

  Denise pressed the end button on her cell phone and looked down at her son. “Uncle Kurt’s coming for supper, and you can tell him then all about your ride on the spaceship.”

  “I can’t wait,” Bryan said, his face lighting up with excitement. “I’ll color him a picture of the spaceship.” With that comment, Bryan turned and rushed off toward his room.

  Denise picked up the knife and the potato again. She would have to cook a little more for supper than usual. It would do her brother good to have a home-cooked meal for a change.

  -

  “What was the final total of refugees we managed to evacuate?” asked Kurt, looking across the desk at Governor Spalding. He had stopped by the governor’s office to cover some of the events that had occurred at Earth and to discuss the potential problem having Marlen Stroud on Newton might mean.

  “One hundred and twelve thousand,” Spalding replied, as he checked some information on the computer screen on his desk. “Most of them families, with at least one member being someone who can greatly benefit Newton. We have teachers, engineers, doctors, nurses, scientists, and even some farming specialists.”

  “We tried to be very careful in our screening of potential colonists,” Kurt answered. He just wished they had caught Stroud before he managed to board the Chinese ship. That Cabinet member would be an ongoing migraine for Kurt and Spalding.

  “We arrested the Chinese crewmembers who brought Stroud and his entourage to Newton,” Spalding said with a heavy sigh. “He brought along several household servants and six other influential people, who have been involved in his past political and business dealings.”