The Star Cross by Raymond L. Weil Page A

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.