The Star Cross: The Forever War

by Raymond L. Weil

  “They’re firing some type of black beam which is going right through our energy shields,” reported First Officer Matob, his eyes showing panic. “We’ve already lost twenty-two escorts and seven of our battlecruisers.”

  Commander Damalb was about to reply when the lights went out in the Command Center. Dim red lighting came on, illuminating the crew’s frightened faces.

  “Main power is out,” reported First Officer Matob.

  “Shield is down, and all weapons are offline,” added Pomal from Tactical.

  “Communications?”

  “Nothing,” reported Second Officer Sheller. “My console is dead as well.”

  Commander Damalb leaned back in his command chair, accepting his defeat. He didn’t know what these aliens had planned for the Fralix Empire, but his fleet could not stop them. Never had he imagined a weapon of such power as what was obliterating his ships. His flagship shook violently, and Damalb closed his eyes. This was the end.

  In a massive explosion the flagship blew apart, becoming the center of an expanding field of wreckage which once contained thirty-six Fralix warships.

  -

  Enemy fleet destroyed, reported Military Leader Jattal. Proceeding to the planet and the two orbiting shipyards.

  Excellent, responded Prince Caluume. He already felt the anticipation of trying out a food pellet from this new food species. He would make it a point to be in one of the converter rooms so he could sample the first pellets when the harvesting began.

  -

  The Fralixian commander in the largest of the two shipyards stared in shock at the debris field where only a few moments before a major part of the Fralix fleet had been. Now all that was left was a slowly expanding cloud of wreckage. Already bright arcs of light were visible where some of the Datox fleet remains were entering the planet’s atmosphere.

  “Energy shield?” he asked, knowing it would be useless. He had witnessed how the black ships’ weapons had cut through the fleets’ shields as if they didn’t even exist.

  “Fully functional and all reserve power has been diverted to it. Power plants are operating at 120 percent,” reported the tactical officer.

  “Fire all missiles. Empty the pods,” ordered the station commander. In the brief fleet battle, not a single missile had been launched. Perhaps the station’s missiles could make a difference and force the black fleet to turn away from Datox.

  -

  From the missile tubes of the shipyard, forty small missiles darted toward the enemy ships. Each missile contained a twenty-kiloton warhead. While not extremely powerful, it had served the Fralixians well in their one and only interstellar war. As soon as the first forty cleared the tubes, the next forty were loaded and launched.

  The first missiles slammed into the shields of the black ships, exploding and releasing their nuclear energy. The explosions seemed to begin, and then their power was absorbed by the energy screens of the enemy ships. Missile after missile struck the shields with little or no effect. Then, from several of the black ships, black spheres appeared and hurtled toward the two stations. The spheres struck the stations’ shields and absorbed their power. In moments the shields failed, and then the spheres struck the hulls. Lights went out, and systems shut down. Soon both stations drifted powerless in space.

  From the black ships, small antimatter missiles launched, and brilliant flashes of light appeared from the detonation of the missiles’ warheads against the hulls of the stations. The metal of the stations was vaporized, and two glowing balls of uncontrolled energy appeared where the stations once were. When the light faded, all that remained were a few wisps of glowing plasma and twisted wreckage.

  -

  The shipyards have been destroyed, reported Military Leader Jattal. There is no defensive grid or other weapons deployed in orbit.

  Prince Caluume nodded his satisfaction. Place the fleet in orbit so the harvest can begin.

  -

  The Vorn cruisers and the three motherships went into orbit. On each mothership, fourteen large hatches slid open. From each a black ray flashed forth to strike the surface of the helpless planet below. Wherever the beams struck, any usable organic material was transformed into a black ashy substance, which was then sucked up by an embedded tractor beam. Across the planet the beams swept, transforming all animal life and the hundreds of millions of Fralixians into the raw material that would become food for the Vorn.

  -

  On board the flagship, Prince Caluume was in one of the large converter chambers. He watched expectantly as the tractor beams inside the black rays brought the converted organic substance into the mothership and fed it into the converters. The converters classified the different organic substances and then changed them into appropriate food for each of the three castes of the Vorn race.

  The prince walked over and pressed a button on a small control panel. Instantly a receptacle slid open and a gray pellet in the form of a small cube was ejected onto the tray. Prince Caluume took the pellet and popped it into his mouth, crunching the pellet with his mandibles and feeling the invigorating strength which instantly flowed through him. While he had tasted better food pellets in the past, this one was acceptable. From the number of gray pellets being converted, there would be sufficient numbers for the Royal Caste to make harvesting this entire food species worthwhile.

  When the harvest is complete, destroy all vestiges of civilization on the planet, he sent to Military Leader Jattal, still in the Command Center.

  It will be done, responded Jattal.

  -

  Two hours later, the orbiting Vorn cruisers dropped hundreds of white spheres of energy on the vacant cities. The spheres burst like a bubble, expanding outward, destroying everything in their path. Buildings were knocked down, and others were simply turned into a heavy dust that settled upon the ground. Across the planet, the deadly spheres wreaked their destruction on cities, dams, power stations, infrastructure, and anything that might indicate the planet was once inhabited.

  -

  Prince Caluume gazed at one of the viewscreens with his multifaceted eyes, his twin antennae moving slowly back and forth. The atmosphere of the planet was already turning dark from all the ash rising from the surface. The use of the white energy spheres had ignited numerous fires, sweeping across the planet. Forests were burning as well as the large grasslands.

  The harvest of this world is complete, he sent. Set a course for the next world of this food species. We have found a rich harvesting ground, and we will harvest all of this food species’ worlds.

  As you command, responded Military Commander Jattal with a slight bow.

  A few minutes later, the Vorn cruisers and the motherships made the transition to hyperspace on their way to the next world of the Fralix Empire.

  -

  All across the periphery of the galaxy, Vorn harvesting fleets were wiping out civilized planets. While, in most regions, the harvesting was severely limited due to the distance between stars and the few inhabited worlds, they did not have to concern themselves with any major Protector World threat. World after world was dying with no one coming to their defense.

  Chapter Seven

  Prince Brollen gazed with deep satisfaction at all the ships now under his command. Since he had become Queen Alithe’s consort and had secured his place in the chain of command for the Vorn race, his word was now law. It had been a blissful four and a half months with repeated matings with the Queen. In between attending to Queen Alithe’s needs, Brollen had also been solidifying his power base. He had spoken with key military leaders as well as a few of the younger Queens. Others were always seeking power; all they needed were the right inducements.

  -

  In the Royal Court none dared to challenge him. To do so might mean another mysterious disappearance—occurring with unusual regularity since Brollen became the Hive Queen’s consort. Only a few days earlier Queen Alithe had gone to the birthing chamber to lay her eggs and would be indisposed for the next severa
l months. Normally during that time one of the other senior Queens would take the ruling Hive Queen’s place. However, Brollen had taken the appropriate steps to ensure that didn’t happen.

  A senior military leader who was completely dedicated to serving Prince Brollen would rule the Vorn. Prince Brollen had convinced Queen Alithe that, in this desperate time of war, it was the prudent thing to do. He had used the threat of this new and ancient race in Galaxy X241 to explain the wisdom of following his advice. Queen Alithe had agreed and then gone off to the birthing chamber.

  -

  Standing in the Command Center of the Vorn mothership Reaper, he was now prepared for the assault and harvesting of Galaxy X241. On the viewscreens, as far as his eyes could see, were thousands of Vorn spindle-shaped cruisers. However, the strength of his fleet lay in the massive force of battleships he had ordered activated. Twelve thousand of the large 1,200-meter-long spindle-shaped battleships were now under his command. In addition, nearly forty thousand cruisers would be accompanying the fleet. It would take nearly a month for the intergalactic transports to take all the ships to the staging system. From there, the different fleets would be sent to Galaxy X241 to renew the harvest with renewed vigor, and 230 motherships would be at the heart of the fleets. This would be by far the largest harvesting fleet ever launched by the Vorn.

  For months Vorn technicians had labored over the battleships, increasing the strength of their shields and adding extra power plants to power the weapons. Now the Vorn armada was ready to descend upon the target galaxy and strip all its inhabited worlds of food. The Vorn race would have enough food pellets to last for centuries, long enough to find other rich sources of food or even to move to another part of this universe if necessary.

  Status? asked Prince Brollen. He was anxious to get underway.

  Cruisers and battleships are docking to the transport ships, answered Military Leader Ansolk. First ships will leave within the hour.

  It will take four weeks to transport all our warships and motherships to the staging system, added Military Leader Gallet.

  Prince Brollen now had two military leaders on the Reaper. After the failure of his last two military leaders, he would not take the risk this time of another failure. Both of you shall devise battle plans for dealing with the ships of the ancient race that attacked my fleet in the system of food species 236. Assume it will take at least six of our battleships to destroy one of their vessels.

  Prince Brollen had kept it a secret that the Vorn mothership Scythe had been captured and that the ancient race even now might have the coordinates to both the staging system as well as the Vorns’ home system where the habitats were located. He had kept this a secret even to the point of arranging for the deletion of every member of his ship’s crew who might have been aware of this. If Queen Alithe had found out the home system might be compromised, no doubt she would have ordered Brollen’s immediate deletion.

  From the scans taken by the Reaper and the surviving battleships from the battle, we both believe this was all the ships this ancient race possessed. If they had more, those would have been committed to the battle, responded Military Leader Ansolk. We have twelve thousand battleships to deal with a little over nine hundred of these vessels. While the cost to destroy these ships might be heavy, we have the ships to do so.

  Prince Brollen nodded. That is why we will divide the harvesting fleet up into a number of different units. For the time being, we will avoid the section of space where food species 236 resides. It is essential we harvest sufficient quantities of food for the Queens and the other castes in the Vorn habitats before committing our fleets against this ancient race. When the time comes, we will draw their ships into a battle of our choosing. We will use our superior numbers and firepower to destroy them once and for all. Then we will search the galaxy for their home world, and, when it is found, we shall harvest it. The food pellets from that world will be the most highly coveted of any in Galaxy X241.

  Prince Brollen turned toward the viewscreens. One of them was focused on a massive intergalactic transport ship with numerous Vorn ships docking in preparation for transport to the staging system. The intergalactic transport vessel was ten thousand meters in length and had a Zero-Point Energy drive. A journey that would normally take a week in hyperspace could be done in just a matter of hours with that powerful drive.

  Unfortunately the drive was too large to be used on other Vorn ships. Prince Brollen was determined to remedy this. Already thousands of Vorn from the scientist caste were busy doing research. They would either succeed in building a smaller drive or be deleted. If they were all deleted, then the next group would be chosen to continue the research.

  Brollen planned on gathering all the fleets at the staging system and then launching a massive attack against dozens of food worlds simultaneously. They would move across Galaxy X241, harvesting hundreds and then thousands of worlds before moving against the sector of space that contained food species 236 and the ships of the ancient race.

  He did have one other major concern. In another few months Queen Alithe would have finished laying her eggs. At that point, she would return to the Royal Court and soon afterward choose another consort. Of course if she were to die before naming another consort, Prince Brollen might just step in and be named ruler. He had taken the necessary steps to solidify his power base, ensuring the right Vorn—those who supported him—were now in positions of power, including a few of the younger Queens. Now he would just wait and see how everything played out. Even on the Vorn habitats, accidents occasionally occurred.

  -

  Fleet Commodore Dreen was inspecting the new defenses placed around the Lakiam world of Oprell—with its population of 820,000,000 and being the outermost major colonized Lakiam system. The Lakiam Federation was spread out over thirty-two star systems with sixteen habitable worlds. Major mining operations and scientific outposts were in all of these systems, and, even where no actual colonies were, a few small domed cities existed.

  Lakiam was also responsible for the defense of eighty-seven Enlightened Worlds and their colonies. Due to the Vorn threat, Lakiam defensive fleets had been pulled back from most of the Enlightened colonies to better defend the Lakiam home system and Lakiam’s major colonies.

  On the main viewscreen of Commodore Dreen’s 1,700-meter-long battlecruiser a large defensive platform was being put into orbit. The new platform had an improved antimatter chamber as a power source. The upgrade was the result of technology provided by the Glaymons. In addition, the platform had new shields, which should be capable of standing up to Vorn weapons for a short period of time.

  “That platform can take out a black ship as well as resist their weapons,” Alborg from Tactical informed Commodore Dreen. “The improved antimatter chamber will power the platform’s weapons. The platform is also equipped with dark matter missiles. The new manufacturing techniques the Glaymons have shown us have greatly increased the production of the missiles. We finally have enough for all of our ships as well as the platforms.”

  Commodore Dreen watched as several large tugs gently moved the defensive platform—two hundred meters across and forty meters thick—into its permanent orbit. A crew of twelve as well as a complement of repair robots would oversee its six large direct energy projectors and two powerful force beam cannons. It also had twenty missile tubes, all loaded with five-hundred-megaton dark matter missiles. Ten of the large platforms were being placed around Oprell.

  In addition, a small Lakiam fleet of 140 battlecruisers was responsible for defending the system. Fleet Commodore Dreen was satisfied that, with the new defensive platforms and the Lakiam fleet, they could buy enough time for reinforcements to arrive, which could deal with any black ship incursion.

  “With these platforms, all our worlds will be safer,” commented Sheera Keenol from Communications. “Even our major mining operations will have these defensive platforms in place.”

  “And we’ll continue to build more,” said Alborg, fold
ing his arms across his chest. “Every month the defenses around our worlds will grow stronger.”

  “I’m sure the Enlightened Worlds we’re responsible for will be pleased to receive them as well,” said Sheera. “Defending them will be much easier.”

  “We’ve already moved a few small Lakiam fleets to some of the larger Enlightened World colonies,” Commodore Dreen said as he watched the tugs disconnect from the platform and move away. Lights flashed on, and the platform came alive as its power system was activated. A small shuttle approached, carrying the platform’s crew. A large hatch opened, and the shuttle entered.

  Dreen gazed at the world of Oprell. Like so many other inhabited worlds, it had large oceans and white clouds covering much of the planet. The visible landmasses were covered in greens, browns, and nearly every color one could imagine. A few of the larger cities were even visible from orbit.

  Over the last two months, another 14 Protector Worlds had joined the growing Lakiam Alliance. That made a total of 42 of the 173 Protector Worlds that had become members. Most of the Protector Worlds that had joined were in close proximity to Lakiam or the Hanorians in the galactic center. Commodore Dreen was worried the Alliance was growing too fast. It would take over a year to disseminate the necessary technology to all the new worlds that had joined and to get their ships updated.

  For the time being, the defense of the galaxy would fall to the core group of Alliance worlds which had banded together from the very beginning. The Lakiams, Andocks, Parmonts, and the Bascoms would bear the brunt of the defense until the other Protector Worlds were ready. The Hanorians were the exception, as a large number of Lakiam technicians and several Glaymon disk ships had traveled to the Protector World to help rapidly advance its ability to update their ships and build new ones with the updated Glaymon technology.

  The central part of the galaxy was too densely populated to risk it falling to the Vorn. Commodore Dreen had found it strange that Fleet Commander Waelt had volunteered to send Glaymon ships to the Hanorian region to aid in the updates. Dreen wondered if Waelt had an underlying reason for doing so.