Read Online The Star Cross: The Dark Invaders by Raymond L. Weil - Free Book Online

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