The Star Cross: The Forever War

by Raymond L. Weil

  -

  Prince Brollen had just returned from one of the converter chambers, where he had eaten a food pellet from the recently harvested food species. He looked at the viewscreen, seeing the handiwork of his fleet. Another world had been harvested, and it was time to proceed to the next one on the list.

  Take us out of orbit and back into hyperspace, he ordered. We have more worlds to harvest.

  Brollen was satisfied his strategy of staying away from the sector where food species 236 and the ancient ships were was, indeed, the correct one. In the coming few months he would continue to harvest sectors of the galaxy rich in food species but too far away from food species 236 for them to interfere. In time, only that region of Galaxy X241 would remain, and then he would turn the full might of the Vorn against the worlds which had defeated him. The food pellets from those worlds would be his most highly prized possessions. He had already set aside a pair of special cases for their storage.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Fleet Admiral Kurt Vickers was in Governor Spalding’s office, discussing the possible Vorn attack on Earth. In the office with him were General Mclusky, Captain Henry Watkins, Captain Randson, Lomatz, and Colonel Roger Simms from Newton Station.

  “What’s the current situation with the defensive platforms around Earth?” asked Spalding as he looked through a thick sheaf of papers on his desk. “Has installation of the platforms been completed?”

  “The assembly of the last one was finished two days ago,” Lomatz replied. His yellow-tinted eyes focusing on the governor. “My construction ships have fully updated both control stations above Earth as well as the one orbiting Mars. In Earth orbit, we now have twenty-two of the new stations as well as sixteen of the older Class Twos. It was not practical to update the Class Twos.”

  “What about the shipyard?” asked Captain Randson.

  “Fully updated with the most modern weapons and shield technology.”

  This was all they could do for now. Newton Station was still working around the clock, producing more of the new platforms, but Kurt expected the Vorn to show up any day. Time was running out. He didn’t know if they would be given the time to install more.

  “What about fleet units?”

  “Earth has its updated fleet, but their ships are still far behind our new battlecruisers. I’ve stationed ten of our battlecruisers near the Moon, hiding behind their sensor-dampening fields. The Vorn won’t know they are there until it’s too late.”

  “What size fleet are we expecting the Vorn to attack Earth with?”

  “Between four hundred to six hundred vessels,” Kurt answered and hoped this was so since it had been reported that those Vorn fleets didn’t have battleships with them. “That’s the fleet size operating on the periphery of our galaxy. We’re certain it was one of their scouting squadrons that found Earth.”

  “What does that leave us with to respond when the Vorn show up? We’ve put some of our new battlecruisers in all three of the new Newton Alliance systems as well as with Rear Admiral White and Rear Admiral Wilson. Seems as if we’re spread pretty thin.”

  “We’ll divide what remains between Newton and Earth,” Kurt answered. “I wish I could take the entire fleet to Earth, but we don’t dare risk the Vorn coming here. If just one mothership made it to Newton, it would be a disaster.”

  “How many ships are we talking about?”

  “The fleet I’ll be taking to Earth will consist of twenty-six battlecruisers and seven battleships.”

  General Mclusky’s eyes widened in concern. “You’re taking thirty-three ships to fight four hundred to six hundred Vorn ships? That doesn’t sound like near enough.”

  Kurt shook his head. “Don’t forget we already have ten other battlecruisers at Earth’s Moon plus Fleet Admiral Colmes has a fleet of nineteen warships in the system plus the Dante and the Wasp.”

  “The light carriers won’t be of much use against the Vorn,” pointed out Captain Watkins. “They don’t have any weapons that can penetrate a Vorn energy screen, and the carriers only have fighters on board.”

  “No, they won’t be used to engage Vorn warships,” Kurt answered. “As soon as the Vorn are detected, the light carriers will retreat beneath the defense grid and use their fighters to help take out any inbound missiles.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want the Vindication and our other light carriers to tag along?” asked Henry. “My crew is itching for some action.”

  Kurt shook his head, looking at Henry. “No, I need you and the other light carriers here at Newton just in case the Vorn show up. As soon as we’ve confirmed the Vorn have arrived in Earth’s system, Rear Admiral Wilson will return to Newton as quick as possible and assume command of all our forces in the system. You will be his second in command. Rear Admiral White will jump her fleet to Earth to help in its defense.”

  Henry looked disappointed but nodded. “We’ll keep Newton safe.”

  “What about the Glaymons?” asked Colonel Simms. “How many of their ships will be involved?”

  “Ten with my fleet as well as twenty more already stationed near the solar system. They’ll send more when the Vorn are detected.”

  “We’ll still be badly outnumbered,” said Andrew with a deep frown. “Any chance the Glaymons can send all of their disk ships? That would even the odds and almost guarantee a victory.”

  “Tasid told me that he would send what they could. We’ll just have to wait and see.” Kurt suspected the Glaymons would send a large fleet as soon as the Vorn were detected. However, Tasid was concerned about the Vorn discovering there were a large number of Glaymon vessels in this sector. It might encourage them to do a more detailed search of the region sometime in the future. Tasid had said that, once the new Glaymon habitat was finished, and its offensive and defensive weapons installed, they wouldn’t be that concerned if the Vorn did find them, but it would be over a year before the habitat was done.

  “If the Vorn show up here, all my construction ships as well as my flagship will move to just beneath the defense grid,” added Lomatz. “Newton is now the home to my people, and I’ll do what is necessary to defend it.”

  Kurt nodded. The construction ships were decently armed and the Golan Four, Lomatz’s command ship, had been rebuilt and armed by the Glaymons, and was nearly as powerful as one of Kurt’s battleships.

  -

  The group continued to talk for several hours, making plans in case the Vorn attacked Newton. When they were satisfied they had done everything possible, the group broke up with Kurt staying to say a few more words to Governor Spalding. However, Spalding asked the first question.

  “How did the Vorn find Earth?”

  Kurt let out a deep breath. “I’m not certain, but I believe High Profiteer Creed was involved.”

  “Creed! How?” Spalding’s eyes showed anger at hearing that name.

  “I had our people on Kubitz make some discreet inquiries. It seems someone purchased several highly advanced communication drones a few months back. Very likely it was Creed, and he used the drones to send a message to the Vorn.”

  “But no one knows the Vorns’ language. They’re telepathic.”

  Kurt walked over to the window and looked out. Governor Spalding had a fantastic view of the city. “The Vorn also have a spoken language. The Andocks have a captured mothership in their system and have been going through it with the aid of the Lakiams and some Glaymons.”

  “A captured mothership,” muttered Governor Spalding, shocked. “How come I didn’t know about that?”

  “The Lakiams and the Andocks want it to be a secret. We’ve found out a lot about the Vorn from studying it. We’re not certain if the Vorn know we have it or not. Not only that but the Andocks are holding a number of Vorn captive, including a few from their Royal Caste. So far they’ve refused to cooperate. The Vorn look at us as food and beneath them. We only learned of their spoken language from the computer files on the mothership.”

  “That still doesn’t expl
ain how Creed managed to send a message the Vorn could understand. Where did Creed get the information on the Vorn’s language?”

  “It seems a copy of the Vorn language has been translated and is floating around on Kubitz. I’ve since made sure it disappeared, but there’s a chance High Profiteer Creed purchased a copy before we got rid of the original version which was in the possession of one of the arms dealers on the planet.”

  “How did he get it?”

  “A few Andocks show up on Kubitz every so often,” said Kurt, flustered.

  “Let me guess. The pleasure houses.”

  Kurt nodded. “There’s nothing like them on the more civilized worlds. One of the Andocks traded a copy of the Vorn language translation for a night of entertainment.”

  Spalding blinked his eyes. “Remind me never to allow Grantz to open one of those here on Newton.”

  “I will,” promised Kurt. “What I wanted to talk to you about were the trade contracts Mara has been working on.”

  Spalding grinned. “She’s a very talented negotiator. I was amazed that two of the main things she was interested in were a number of tea varieties and popcorn.”

  “For some reason we have a much larger number of tea varieties than most other worlds, and popcorn is something they’ve never heard of. Both Mara and Keera believe they will be a major moneymaker for Newton. In exchange, the Lakiams are willing to furnish some of their advanced mining technology and some special alloys we don’t have.”

  “Can’t we get all that from the Glaymons?”

  “We could,” admitted Kurt. “But we don’t want to become too dependent on them. Also by trading with Lakiam, it gives us access to a very advanced world and possibly the means to someday trade with other Protector Worlds or even a few Enlightened ones.”

  “That’s assuming we can deal with the Vorn,” said Spalding.

  Kurt nodded. The Vorn were the big guerilla in the room. As long as they were in the picture, doing a lot of trading with other worlds outside of Newton’s Alliance was questionable. However, this trade agreement with Lakiam would be a good start.

  “So, you want me to approve the two agreements?”

  “Yes, I think it would be in our best interests.”

  Governor Spalding thought it over for a minute and then spoke. “Very well, I’ll approve them and see where it goes from there.”

  Kurt was pleased with the governor’s decision. He was sure Mara would be as well.

  -

  A little later Kurt arrived at his house and was shocked to see Mara and Keera sitting on the couch talking amicably to one another. The two were spending a lot of time together, and he wondered if Mara had ulterior motives for doing so.

  “Kurt,” said Keera, standing, a pleased look on her face. She came over and kissed Kurt lightly on the lips. “I invited Mara to eat with us tonight. I want to show her some of the foods we have here on Newton that’s not available anywhere else.”

  Kurt eyed Keera for a moment. “I suppose you’ve been the one helping Mara with her trade deals.” Keera had been after Governor Spalding for months to trade some tea varieties to the markets on Kubitz.

  A sheepish look appeared on Keera’s face. “Only a little.”

  Mara stood, looking at the two. “Life here on Newton is so much different than on Lakiam. Most mated couples on Lakiam would never greet each other with a kiss such as you do.”

  Keera looked at the taller woman. “Many Human cultures still do this. It’s quite common between couples on most Human worlds.”

  “I can understand it if sharing oneself will shortly occur, but just to be doing such a thing casually is something I was not prepared for.”

  “Lakiam culture is very different in some ways than ours or many other Human worlds,” Keera explained patiently.

  Mara nodded thoughtfully. “I am beginning to understand that.”

  Kurt noticed that, for once, Mara seemed to be wearing normal clothes and nothing revealing. He wondered if that was because Keera was present.

  “Have you heard if Governor Spalding will approve the two trade agreements?” Mara asked, her deep blue eyes focusing on Kurt.

  “I hope so,” said Keera, glancing at Mara. “Just the tea trade alone will bring in a fortune for Newton.”

  Kurt walked over and sat in a recliner. “I don’t understand everyone’s fascination with tea.”

  Keera came back and sat on the sofa facing Kurt and looked at Mara, waiting for her to explain.

  “On Lakiam we have two or three different types of tea. It’s a very popular drink. With the trade agreement, Newton is offering twenty more varieties, all of which I’ve tried. I promise you, these new varieties will be very popular on my home world.”

  Kurt waited a moment and then spoke. “I did speak to Governor Spalding today, and he’s agreed to sign the two agreements.”

  Mara grinned broadly. “I’ll send several varieties to Fleet Commodore Dreen. He’s always enjoyed a good glass of tea.”

  Kurt’s voice took on a darker tone. “Speaking of Fleet Commodore Dreen, have you heard anything from him recently?” Kurt knew that Mara occasionally sent messages to Kubitz that were in turn sent on to Lakiam on visiting freighters.

  “Still the same. He’s expanding the Lakiam Alliance, hoping it will keep the Vorn at bay.”

  Kurt was silent for a moment. “I spoke to Tasid a few days ago, and the Vorn have renewed their attack on the galaxy. They’ve returned with a massive fleet.”

  Mara’s face took on a look of deep concern. “What will we do?”

  “I’ll start supper while you two discuss the war,” said Keera, standing up. “I can’t wait for Mara to sample what I’m cooking.”

  Kurt watched Keera go into the kitchen, and then he turned his attention to Mara. At least in his own home with Keera present the sexual tension was nearly absent. “We know where both the Vorn staging system is as well as the Vorn home system.”

  Mara looked surprised. “How?”

  “It was in the captured mothership’s computers the Andocks have.”

  Mara looked thoughtful. “Can we attack either of them or are the distances too great?”

  Kurt wasn’t surprised at how perceptive Mara was in realizing the problem. “The home system is probably out of the question for now. I strongly suspect the Glaymons haven’t told us everything they’ve learned for fear of it hampering the war effort.” Kurt suspected the Glaymons knew far more about the Vorn than what they had been willing to share.

  “I can see them doing that if the news is really bad. What about the staging system?”

  “When I went to visit the Glaymons, Tasid and Fleet Captain Waelt asked me if I would consider scouting the system to see if an attack was possible.” It had taken Kurt a while to agree to accept the mission. He still wasn’t certain he had made the right decision.

  Mara’s face flushed with concern. “You could be killed doing that.”

  Kurt was touched by Mara’s reaction. “I agreed to do it, but, if I go, I’m taking a small fleet with me.”

  “You’re going to attack the system,” said Mara accusingly. “Instead of scouting it, you’ll attack it. Do the Glaymons know this?”

  Kurt frowned. Mara knew him too well. “No, they don’t. If I can get my ships in close enough without being detected, then I’m willing to take the risk. This may be our only chance to force the Vorn to pull out of our galaxy for a time. Without the staging system and their intergalactic transport ships, we could delay their harvesting of our galaxy by a year or two. Just think how much more Fleet Commodore Dreen could do, getting the Lakiam Alliance ready to resist the Vorn, if he had that added time.”

  Mara slowly nodded, a foreboding look on her face. “That’s what this war will be like. Back and forth between us and the Vorn. This war could last forever!”

  Kurt felt shaken at that prospect. “Let’s hope not.” A forever war was not something he wanted to think about, though he could see how that could ea
sily happen.

  Mara stood. “I’ll help Keera in the kitchen. I’m actually a pretty good cook, which I may prove to you someday.” With that, she went into the kitchen, and soon the two women were rattling pans around.

  Kurt took a deep breath. He wondered if it were possible for his life to get any more complicated than it already was.

  -

  Andrew was at home, listening to his wife and daughter tell him about Alexis’s latest boyfriend. She was sixteen, and it seemed as if she had a new boyfriend every few weeks.

  “He’s really nice,” Emily said. “He was over the other night, watching a movie with us.”

  “What’s this boy’s name?” Andrew still had a hard time with his daughter’s dating.

  “Derek Allen and he’s a senior,” Alexis answered.

  “A senior,” Andrew said with a concerned frown. He could well remember what he had on his mind his senior year. “What kind of business is this boy’s father in?”

  “His parents are divorced,” Emily explained. “Derek lives with his mother, and she’s an elementary schoolteacher.”

  “Has he kissed you yet?”

  Alexis giggled and shook her head. “You don’t have to be so protective. Derek treats me nice and has a lot of respect for me.”

  “Just make sure it stays that way.”

  “I know his mother, and she raised him right,” said Emily. “You need to meet him.”

  “Perhaps some other time. I have to get back to the Star Cross later today.”

  A concerned look crossed Emily’s face. “Is it the Vorn?”

  Andrew nodded. He hated for his family to worry about him. “Yes, they could show up at Earth any day now.”

  “How long do you think you will be gone?”

  “A few days to possibly a few weeks.”