The Star Cross: The Dark Invaders (30 page)

However,
orders were already on the way from the new military commander of the North
American Union for the two crews on board the platforms to return to Earth.
Supposedly maintenance teams would be arriving to service the platforms. For
the next few days Earth would be defenseless as there weren’t enough energy
cannon satellites to stop an all-out assault, not without the fleet and the
defense platforms taking the lead to stop an inbound enemy fleet.

-

The
Star
Cross
dropped from hyperspace in the Proxima Centauri System. Along with it
were the heavy battlecarrier
Ranger
, the light carriers
Vindication
and
Wasp
, and the battlecruisers
Ceres
,
Vesta
, and
Trinity
.
In addition there were the warships purchased from Kubitz, which had been rebuilt
and updated to current fleet standards. Those ships included the battleships
Ipetus
and
Triton
, and the four battlecruisers—the
Dione
,
Rhea
,
Hyperion
,
and
Pandora
. However, the most imposing vessel was the Lakiam
battlecruiser
Aurelia
, now combat ready and prepared to engage the
Profiteers.

“Contacts!”
called out Lieutenant Lena Brooks as warning lights flashed on her sensor console
and a low-pitched alarm sounded. “Contacts are friendly. I have positive IDs on
Fleet Admiral Tomalson’s ships.”

Kurt nodded. Strange
not to have Andrew at his side; however, it was more important he command the
Aurelia
.
Kurt trusted Andrew’s judgment more than anyone else in the fleet, except for
Henry. However, Henry was more valuable on the
Vindication
and was
better suited for carrier operations. Looking at one of the viewscreens, Kurt
could see the sleek outlines of the Lakiam battlecruiser. At 1,700 meters long,
the vessel looked impressive. He wondered if Newton, even with Lomatz’s help, could
ever build a ship like her.

“Fleet Admiral
Tomalson reports no evidence of Profiteer ships in the Solar System,” reported
Lieutenant Brenda Pierce. “He does report some strange fleet movements. The six
remaining warships in the Earth System have gone into orbit around Neptune.”

“Neptune?” said Lieutenant Evelyn Mays from Tactical, looking confused. “That doesn’t make
any strategic sense.”

Kurt let out a
deep breath. “It does if you don’t want the ships to engage the Profiteers.
President Stroud may be avoiding a confrontation with High Profiteer Creed.”
This put Kurt in a quandary. What if he attacked the Profiteer and Creed in
return nuked Earth?

Activating the
ship-to-ship comm, he spoke to the commanders of both fleets. “All ships will
go dark immediately. Full stealth mode and power at minimal levels. We’ll
continue to monitor the Solar System for the arrival of the Profiteer fleet. I
believe President Stroud will attempt to negotiate with them. Due to the
vulnerability of Earth and the other colonies in the system, we’ll wait and see
what the results of those negotiations are. As much as we want to destroy the
Profiteer fleet, we don’t dare put Earth in danger.”

“So what now?”
asked Lieutenant Mays. With the transfer of Captain Randson to the
Aurelia
,
Lieutenant Mays was now also acting as Kurt’s XO.

Kurt leaned
back in his command chair, folding his arms across his chest. “Now we wait.
High Profiteer Creed should arrive any day. We’ll see what happens in the Solar
System, and, if things go south, we’ll jump in and engage the Profiteer fleet.”

-

High Profiteer
Creed had just entered the Command Center. In thirty more minutes the fleet would
emerge from hyperspace inside the Earth System. Already he could see the piles
of gold bars waiting for him. He would soon become the richest Profiteer in
history!

“Everything’s
ready for emergence,” Second Profiteer Lantz said as he saw Creed.

Creed sat down
in his command chair as he studied the activity in the Command Center. Everyone was preparing for their arrival over Earth. If his people on the planet had
succeeded in their mission, the planet would be wide open to plunder. The
Profiteer ships would sweep in; cargo ships would land, and thousands of
Profiteers would spread out across the planet, looting everything of value.
Even the warships would be involved as shuttles of heavily armed Profiteers
would be sent to the more highly prized targets.

-

The minutes
passed quickly by. Creed studied the hyperspace sensor, seeing no signs of
Fleet Admiral Vickers. The only ships showing on the display were the ones
moving about in the Earth System. With satisfaction he saw six ships orbiting
the eighth planet. Those would be Earth’s warships. With a fierce grin, he
realized his plan had succeeded. The evidence was in the location of those six
vessels.

“Two minutes
to hyperspace dropout,” reported Third Profiteer Holbat.

High Profiteer
Creed leaned forward expectantly. The fleet would drop from hyperspace just
outside the orbit of Earth’s moon. If danger was evident, then the fleet would reenter
hyperspace and reassess the situation.

The last
minute flew by, and suddenly the
Ascendant Destruction
emerged from
hyperspace. For a moment static blurred the viewscreens, and then they cleared,
showing a vivid view of space. On the main viewscreen was Earth, its blue-white
globe nearly filling the screen.

“Contacts,”
reported Third Profiteer Bixt. “I have a large number of civilian ships. Most
seem to be cargo ships and a few passenger vessels. No warships are in orbit
around Earth. However, two Class Two Defensive Platforms and a number of energy
cannon satellites are in place.”

“Are the
platforms targeting us?”

“No,” answered
Bixt, looking at Creed in surprise. “They seem to be shut down.”

“Excellent,
that’s what I wanted to hear. All ships,” Creed said over his ship-to-ship
comm. “Earth poses no danger to us. We will go into orbit and shortly collect
the fortune that awaits us.”

It didn’t take
long for the Profiteer fleet to go into orbit around Earth. For the most part,
the comm channels were silent, except for fleeting messages from a number of
cargo ships and passenger ships jumping into hyperspace and fleeing the system,
no doubt bound for Newton, where they thought they would be safe.

“I have Clan
Leader Jarls on the comm,” reported Third Profiteer Lukon from Communications.
“He wants to know if he can destroy those two defensive platforms as well as
the energy cannon satellites. The platforms don’t have their screens up and
will be easy targets.”

Creed thought
for a moment. He had never promised he wouldn’t destroy the platforms; he had
only asked that they be shut down. “Yes,” he replied. If somehow the platforms
were reactivated, they could pose a threat. Better to eliminate that
possibility now than regret it later.

Once the
Profiteers from the other ships landed, it would be evident rather quickly to
the North American Union President that Creed had no intention of following
through on their agreement, at least not all of it.

-

Dacroni Clan
Leader Jarls wasn’t quite sure what was going on. All Earth warships in the
system were orbiting the eighth planet, making no effort to resist the
Profiteer fleet. The two defensive platforms, which could cause considerable
damage, were shut down. It didn’t make any sense to Jarls unless High Profiteer
Creed was up to something. Jarls had already decided to keep an eye on the High
Profiteer. Jarls strongly suspected there was more to this raid than Creed had let
on.

“I want all
our battleships to target the orbiting defense satellites and take them out.
We’ll fire two of our hyperspace missiles at the defense platforms and destroy
them. Once we’ve done that, there won’t be anything in orbit around Earth to
interfere with the raid.”

“What about
those six warships?” asked Salas, gesturing toward the six red threat icons on
the tactical display. “Three of them are battleships and could pose a danger.”

“No, we’ll
leave them alone unless they move toward us. If they do, we’ll destroy them.”

Salas nodded
his understating and passed on the orders to target the two defensive platforms
and the energy cannon satellites.

-

From the
twenty-eight Dacroni battleships, beams of light flashed out as energy
projectors fired, striking the orbiting satellites. Bright flashes of light
filled Earth’s sky as the satellites were rapidly annihilated. Then Jarls’s
flagship launched two hyperspace missiles. One missile each struck the two
large Orbital Defense Platforms, turning them into expanding fireballs, which
lit up the night sky over the North American Union.

-

On Earth,
President Marlen Stroud stared up in shock as two bright fireballs flared in
the night sky. Other smaller fireballs indicated the destruction of all the
orbiting defense satellites. Feeling nervous and betrayed, Stroud turned to
face the two grim-faced men in black suits, standing in his office.

“The defense
platforms were not to be destroyed,” he said angrily. “I thought we had an
agreement!”

“We do,”
replied one of the men. “High Profiteer Creed is just ensuring no incidents happen
while the fleet’s in orbit. By removing the defense platforms and the armed
satellites, it reduces that possibility. I’m sure you see the common sense of
taking such a precaution.”

Stroud thought
it over and had to agree it did make sense. He had already contacted the European
Union, the Russian Collective, and the Chinese Conglomerate, asking them not to
engage the Profiteers. He had informed them he was in the process of
negotiating a settlement to allow the Profiteers to take their gold and leave.
He had made the calls as soon as the Profiteer fleet appeared in the system.
Neither of the other three major governments seemed pleased with Stroud’s
request, but they agreed to hold off on any aggressive action until the
negotiations were finished.

“So what now?”
asked Stroud, a little less sure of himself.

The two men
looked at each other. “We go to Fort Knox to meet with High Profiteer Creed. If
he’s satisfied with the amount of gold stored there, we’ll load it into our
cargo ships and leave your system in peace, never to return.”

“What about
the two ships you’re to leave in orbit to ensure I become ruler of the entire
planet?”

“That’s
something you will have to talk to High Profiteer Creed about. I’m sure for the
right price an arrangement can be worked out.”

Marlen Stroud
let out a deep breath. This wasn’t going as he had planned. He thought an
agreement had already been made. “Let’s go to Fort Knox. There’s enough gold
stored there that even your High Profiteer will be satisfied.”

As they left
the White House, Stroud felt confident that, sometime within the next few days,
the planet Earth would have its first world leader, and that leader would be
Marlen Stroud.

Across the
planet, swarms of Profiteer shuttles set down in major cities. They landed in
schoolyards, parking lots, parks, and everywhere else with room to do so. The
entire world waited fearfully to see if President Marlen Stroud of the North
American Union had succeeded in working out a deal with the Profiteers. Would
the world be allowed to go on in peace, or would war break out?

In the United Kingdom, that question was answered early as Profiteers opened fire on innocent civilians in
the streets of London. They mercilessly killed everyone in front of six large
jewelry stores marked as potential targets to plunder. The Profiteers set up a
perimeter around all six sites and began hauling out everything of value. Other
Profiteers fanned out, seizing young men and women to be sold at the slave
auctions on Kubitz. Young nubile women were brutally handled and taken to the
nearest shuttle to be placed on a detainee ship for transport to Kubitz. Women
such as these were in high demand by the pleasure houses on the black market
world. Young men who could be trained to fill various labor positions were
rounded up as well and loaded onto the shuttles.

The British Prime
Minister, hearing of the mayhem and death in the streets, sent in the army to
take on the Profiteers. This was a brutal invasion, and the prime minister was
determined to meet the enemy, particularly since innocent civilians were being
slaughtered. He might reap severe consequences for his actions, but he saw no
other viable choice. British citizens had died and were being abducted, and he
was determined to stop it.

In Australia, the Perth Mint was struck. Ten shuttles and a small cargo ship set down.
Profiteers loyal to High Profiteer Creed attacked the guards and, in just a
short time, reached the vaults. Setting explosive charges, they blew them open.
It didn’t take long before the first antigravity sleds of precious metals,
including a large quantity of gold, were headed for the cargo ship.

All across Australia, wherever major deposits of gold or precious metals were stored, Profiteer
shuttles put in an appearance. With reluctance, knowing it was probably
useless, the Australian government gave the order to deploy the military into
the streets of the country’s cities. They were confused as to how the
Profiteers had known exactly where the gold was.

All across the
world it was the same. In China, Russia, Germany, France, South Africa, South America, the Profiteers went after the gold, killing anyone who got in their
way. In less than an hour after their first appearance, heavy fighting broke
out across the world between the Profiteers and the worlds militaries. Most
world governments felt, since the Profiteers had nuked the planet twice before,
they would probably do it again, and this time it would be the end of everything.
So they might as well fight. At least they could take a few of the hated enemy
with them.

-

At Fort Knox, President Marlen Stroud stood beside High Profiteer Creed as the first massive
gold vault was opened. Stroud nodded in satisfaction, seeing the gleaming pallets
of gold bars. This should ensure the Profiteers left the North American Union
alone. Stroud had already heard fighting was breaking out in other countries,
where they had decided to resist the Profiteers. He knew it was useless to
resist the Profiteers due to their superior weapons. The other governments were
just sending their brave men and women to their deaths.

“See,” said
Stroud, gesturing toward the gold. “There’s enough gold here to set you up for
life.” Stroud was confident this gold haul would encourage the Profiteer to
allow Stroud to rule the world. “Remember, our agreement is for 70 percent of
all future gold mined on Earth to be sent to your Kubitz account. I can make
you a very rich man.”

“We’ll see,”
commented High Profiteer Creed as he gazed greedily at the gold bars. “We must
sample the gold first to test its purity. If it’s acceptable, then perhaps an
agreement mutually beneficial to both of us can be worked out.”

Stroud smiled,
pleased to hear the Profiteer’s words. Stroud had been right: the Profiteers
could be reasoned with. Of course it helped that Stroud had provided a list of
where most of the planet’s gold was stored. It didn’t bother Stroud that he had
betrayed the other leaders of the world and was the direct cause of the deaths
of many of their citizens.

-

High Profiteer
Creed gazed wide-eyed at the pallets of gleaming yellow gold that lay in the
vault, and this wasn’t the only one. The Human leader told him how much gold
was in the vaults, and Creed had nearly fainted. The amount Stroud had
mentioned was beyond belief. If what the Human had told Creed was true, the
total amount of gold in just this facility alone would be worth over 240
billion credits. Add that to his share of the gold his Profiteers were seizing
all across the planet, and his take from Earth could easily be over five
hundred billion credits! He wouldn’t only be the richest Profiteer in history,
he could actually afford to buy Kubitz if he wanted.

From now on,
wherever High Profiteer Creed walked, people would whisper and point,
mentioning his exploits, and how he was the richest and most successful
Profiteer ever. He was assured a spot on the ruling council on Marsten if he
wanted it. Anything he wanted or desired, he could have!

Creed walked
over and placed his hand on one of the pallets in the vault. He marveled at the
feel of the gold beneath his hand. The Human had offered him 70 percent of all
gold mined on the planet in the future. Creed found it difficult to grasp the total
riches being offered to him. Picking up one of the gold bars, he smiled,
thinking about how Second Profiteer Lantz would react when he found out the
value of all the gold. There was no doubt in Creed’s mind that his second
officer would go out and buy a pleasure house of his own. Creed would enjoy the
look on Lantz’s face when he showed him just how right it had been to mount
this raid.

“High
Profiteer, there’s a problem,” spoke up Profiteer Lagan, who was testing the
gold. “This isn’t what it appears to be.”

The grin faded
from High Profiteer Creed’s face as he turned toward Profiteer Lagan. “What do
you mean, there’s a problem? I know what gold feels like.” He still held the
bar of gold he had picked up in his right hand. “This is gold!”

Profiteer
Lagan shook his head. “It feels like gold and looks like gold, but it is not.
There’s an outer layer of gold but, inside, is an alloy that has all the
characteristics of gold, yet it’s not real.”

“So what’s all
this worth?” asked Creed, gesturing toward the vaults and feeling his world come
crashing down.

“A few million
credits at the most,” Lagan replied. “Or course it will cost more that that for
all the handling, transport, and smelting to free the gold from the alloy it
covers.”

Creed felt his
anger boil. He had been duped by this Human leader. His dreams of becoming the
most famous Profiteer had just been shattered. “So all this is worthless?”

“Yes, High
Profiteer,” Lagan answered with a nod. “It’s best if we just leave it here and
go on.”

Creed turned
his anger on the Human, standing near him. “Did you really think I would fall
for this? How many other lies have you told? Is there fake gold at the other locations
as well?” Creed was angry enough to kill the Human standing in front of him.

“I don’t
understand,” stammered Stroud, looking around confused. “This gold was real.”

Creed reached
out and grabbed Stroud by the neck, squeezing. “I should kill you here and now
for your treachery,” he snarled. With disgust, Creed shoved Stroud to the
floor, glaring at him. Gesturing to two nearby Profiteers, Creed gave an order.
“Take this cowardly Human to one of the shuttles. He’s to be taken to Kubitz
and sold at one of the slave auctions.”

“He’s too old.
He won’t bring much,” commented one of the Profiteers, who grabbed Stroud,
jerking him back on his feet.

“Doesn’t
matter. I’m sure someone will purchase him for light labor. He could clean the
rooms at one of the pleasure houses. That would be a fitting punishment for the
treachery he’s shown.”

-

Stroud didn’t
know what to say as the two Profiteers led him back outside. Both were well
armed, and Stroud knew, if he attempted to make a break for it, he would be
killed. To be sold at the slave auctions, he thought, recalling the High
Profiteer’s chilling words. He had thought the slave auctions were something
Fleet Admiral Vickers had made up. Even after the two captured cargo ship crews
had returned and told their stories, Stroud had refused to believe them.

In the
distance, he heard a loud explosion. Looking toward the north, he saw a bright
glow in the night sky. The city of Louisville was in that direction. With a
sobering thought, he realized he had been played by the Profiteers from the
beginning. As he was taken on board the shuttle, he realized, instead of going
down in history as the world’s greatest leader and savior, he would be recalled
as its greatest traitor instead.

Moments later
the shuttle lifted off, taking President Marlen Stroud with it. He would be put
on a detainee ship and shortly be on his way to Kubitz with the other captives
rounded up across the planet.

-

Fleet Admiral
Aaron Colmes fumed at the videos coming in from Earth. The Profiteers were
attacking everywhere. All across the planet, cities were in flames, and world
militaries were engaging the Profiteers. Occasionally an orbiting warship would
fire a beam weapon toward the surface in support of Profiteers fighting Human
forces, devastating entire city blocks.

“We can’t stay
here,” said Captain Tamara Scott, her eyes shifting to the admiral. “It’s our
sworn duty to protect Earth. People are dying there. Military people are dying,
and we’re sitting out here at Neptune.”

Colmes let out
a deep and ragged breath. “We were ordered to stay here.”

“Screw our
orders!” cried out Tamara, pointing at the front wall of the Command Center. “Look at the viewscreens.” On them scenes from various media stations were being
displayed. Buildings were on fire, and Profiteers were shown firing beam
weapons on helpless civilians. Military forces fought back but, in many
instances, were being slaughtered by the superior weapons of the Profiteers.

Colmes closed
his eyes, wondering what Fleet Admiral Tomalson would do. As soon as he considered
that, he knew what must be done. He had never fully trusted Marlen Stroud. He wouldn’t
sit here and let his world die under the hands of the Profiteers.

Activating his
ship-to-ship comm, he spoke to the commanders of his other five ships. “The
Profiteers have attacked Earth, and people are dying. We were ordered by
President Stroud to stay here at Neptune and wait for further orders. Those
orders haven’t come. I intend to violate the president’s orders and go to Earth
and engage the Profiteers. I can’t ask the rest of you to do the same as it
would be putting your careers on the line. All I can do is ask you to do what
your conscious is telling you. I’m going to Earth. Fleet Admiral Colmes, out.”

Aaron turned
toward a grinning Captain Scott. “Tamara, activate the hyperdrive and put us
just outside the Moon’s orbit. We’ll choose targets of opportunity and see if
we can’t take out a few of those Profiteer warships.”

“It’s the
right decision, sir,” Tamara replied as she moved to carry out the admiral’s
order.

Colmes just
hoped he was doing the right thing. “Activating the shipwide comm he announced,
“All crew, go to Condition One. We’re going to Earth to engage the Profiteers.”

Moments later
the
Atlas
entered hyperspace, only to emerge a few seconds later just
outside the Moon’s orbit. A minute later, the sensor alarms sounded as five
more ships exited hyperspace nearby.

“It’s the rest
of the fleet,” Tamara said with a tear in her eye. “They came after all.”

Colmes sat up
straighter in his command chair. It was time to see just how good of a fleet admiral
he was.

-

On board the
Star
Cross
, Lieutenant Lena Brooks saw on her long-range sensors the six ships
orbiting Neptune suddenly vanish and then reappear just outside the Moon’s
orbit. “Admiral, I believe those six warships are about to engage the
Profiteers.”

Kurt stared at
the tactical display long and hard and, after a moment, realized Lena was right. The six ships had formed into a V formation and were moving directly toward
the orbiting Profiteer fleet.

“Something’s
gone wrong,” he said as he activated his ship-to-ship comm. “All ships, it
appears as if something serious has occurred on Earth. The six Earth warships
we were monitoring orbiting Neptune have jumped back to Earth and are in an
attack formation. They are moving to engage the Profiteers.” Taking a deep
breath, Kurt continued. “I don’t intend to let them fight alone. All ships
standby to enter hyperspace. We have a planet and some brave ship crews who
need rescuing. Five minutes to hyperspace entry. All ships go to Condition One.
I want every Profiteer ship in the Solar System destroyed!”

Kurt leaned
back in his command chair, taking a deep breath. Perhaps at last he would get
his shot at High Profiteer Creed and the
Ascendant Destruction
. No doubt
Creed was there, leading the raid. Kurt intended to ensure this was the last
Profiteer raid Creed ever led.

-

The five
minutes passed, and then all twenty-four warships in the Proxima Centauri
System entered hyperspace. They were barely over four light-years from Earth.
The trip through hyperspace would take a little more than eight minutes.

-

Fleet Admiral
Colmes swore as the
Atlas
shook violently, and a number of red lights
flared on the damage control console. Smoke hung in the air, and the
ventilation system was having a hard time clearing it out.