First Strike (Hammer's War Book 3)

by James McEwan

  “Incoming transmission from Isis Sir, but it’s weak. Let me try to clean it up a bit,” the comm officer said.

  “Put it on the main screen please,” Wesson said.

  The main viewer came alive with static and slowly an image started to appear. At first there was no audio just a distorted image of a face appeared. However, as the comm officer cleaned up the signal the image became more defined. It was Eve. Wesson recognized her face through all of the distortion. “Eve, can you hear me?” he called to the screen.

  Finally the audio came through, though somewhat broken. “Yes Daniel, I can hear you. Can you hear me?”

  “Yes we can. Eve what’s going on? Your signal is weak and broken,” Wesson said loudly as if that would help.

  “Sorry about the signal, but Isis is under attack. I had to hack the enemy’s comm system just to get this message out,” Eve said.

  “Sorry, say again? Did you say that Isis was under attack?” Wesson asked wanting to make sure, he had heard her right the first time.

  “Yes, Isis is overrun,” Eve replied.

  “By who?” He asked.

  “Unknown forces, but what I have been able to gather at this point is they are calling themselves the New Galactic Empire. It seems to a massive group of races all working together. Races who would normally be fighting one another,” Eve said as she flashed up a list of governments involved.

  Wesson read a few names off the list, “What is this, a coalition of assholes?”

  “Pretty much and they’re tearing Isis a new one. The people need help. You need to rally whatever forces you can and get here as soon as possible,” Eve said as the transmission started to break up.

  “I will. Are you safe?” Wesson asked, needing to know before they lost the signal.

  “For now, but I don’t know for how long. Daniel I’m losing the carrier wave that I’m piggy backing on, but I’ll try to contact you with any intel I can...” The signal broke up and Eve’s face was replaced with static. The comm officer shut off the view screen.

  “Orders Captain?” Perry asked.

  “You heard the lady, they need help,” he stood up, straightening his jacket as he did. “I am declaring a fleet wide emergency and I want all ships to report in.”

  “What should I tell them Sir?” the comm officer asked.

  “Tell them we’re going to Isis, and tell them we are at war,” Wesson declared.

  A short time later on Isis a message was received at the newly decorated office for the Lord Emperor of the New Galactic Empire, which was actually the old senate chamber since it was the only building that had tall enough doors and ceilings to accommodate the self-appointed new Lord Emperor’s massive height. A clerk took the message and walked it into the main chamber. Inside Drake was having dinner with the Lord Emperor. The clerk looked extremely nervous as she handed the message over to Drake.

  He took the missive and she was dismissed. She left quicker than she had entered, mostly due to worry of what generally became of the proverbial purveyor of bad news. As Drake read the note the Lord Emperor spoke, his deep voice reverberating off the walls of the chamber. “Problem Drake?”

  “No problem my Lord. This may actually work to our favor,” Drake said as the wheels of war turned in his mind.

  “Please elaborate. I would hate to rip your mind apart looking for the information,” the Lord Emperor said.

  “It seems that someone in the StarGuard Fleet has gotten wind of our operation a tad earlier than we had intended. Not to worry my Lord, this is a good thing,” Drake said. The Emperor said nothing, just sat there looking annoyed. “This means that we don’t have to send ships out to hunt down the non-believers. They will simply come to us, and then they will join us or die,” Drake said as he popped a grape into his mouth.

  Back on the Damocles, the comm officer reported, “Sir, only about half of the fleet is responding and of those only a third are close enough to get there within the time allotted.”

  “Understood. I want you to broadcast this message I’ve prepared,” Wesson said as he passed his hand over his command panel transferring the message to hers.

  “Yes Sir,” She replied as she began broadcasting the message.

  The message went out to all ships in the fleet as well as Fleet Command. The message consisted of Captain Wesson standing at his desk in his ready room. “To all ships and commands in the fleet. This is Captain Daniel Wesson of the UTFS Damocles and I am issuing a fleet wide emergency. I have credible intel that Isis is under enemy attack. If any of you have tried to reach Fleet Command you know that they are not responding.” On his desk was a series of paper star charts rolled out. His hands pressed down on top of them with one finger pointing to a location on one of the charts. “I am ordering all ships in the fleet that can respond,” at this point a star chart flashed up on the screen, “to this rally point. From there we will organize our counter attack. That is all for now, Wesson out.” The message ended.

  It was after dinner that Drake had a chance to view the message for himself. He laughed, “He doesn’t know that Fleet Command has changed sides. Oh won’t that be a surprise. Send a sizeable fleet to those coordinates and affect the surrender of their ships or destroy them.” Drake issued the order. “Nice try Daniel, but it’s not going to work.”

  Captain Wesson was in his ready room having a light snack and some tea when the door beeped, “Enter,” he said.

  The door opened and Heather, the comm officer, entered, “I have confirmation that thirty two ships have received the message and are underway to the rally point Sir.”

  “Excellent.”

  “Captain, do you think that they understood where the right rally point was? And how can you be sure that the enemy won’t figure out your ruse?” She asked.

  “I know that they know where to go. No captain in their right mind would go to the location broadcast on a compromised comm net. And to your other question I really can’t be sure, but at the same time logic tells me that the only way that Isis could fall is if they had help from the inside and my guess is it was Sky Marshal Drake,” Wesson said as he lifted his tea for a sip.

  “Do you really think that the Sky Marshal is involved?” She asked intently.

  “I would bet my soon to be nonexistent pension on it. No, you can rest assured that slimly bastard is up to his neck in this. Don’t worry, I highly doubt that Drake will figure it out until it’s far too late,” Wesson said with distain in his voice.

  Still wondering she asked, “Why is that Sir?”

  He took a sip of tea then set the cup down before answering, “Because Drake has never been a command officer. He started out as an administrative officer and worked his way up through the ranks. He has never commanded a starship or troops. He’s a brilliant tactician don’t get me wrong, but he lacks command and practical experience, and that is his weakness and that is how we shall beat him.”

  “You’re risking a lot on him not figuring it out,” she said, as her way of saying she was scared.

  “I know, that’s why I make the big bucks, right?” He replied, trying to use a little humor to ease her tension.

  “I have to say Sir, I’m glad it’s you in that chair and not me. I mean if we have to go into battle, I’m really glad you’re in command. I hope this plan works,” she said.

  “Me too Heather, me too,” Wesson said as she left the ready room.

  Chapter 28

  Ruby sat alone, afraid, hungry, and most of all cold, as the air conditioning was too high for her comfort. She sat on a standard fair, run of the mill office chair with her knees drawn up to her chest. She was trying to stay warm, even though it wasn’t working very well. She had no idea how long she had been there. It had been hours since she was grabbed and taken away from Archie. Her little stomach was grumbling and she was trying not to think about it. Instead, she was trying to reach out to a mind, any mind to get information.

  Her captures must have anticipated this because she had b
een given robot guards and they had no minds to read. She tried to reach out and feel for her grandmother, or her father, but the millions of minds on the planet created a background noise that made it impossible to contact any one mind that was not in proximity to her own. She sat there wondering what was going too happened next when the door to the small room finally opened.

  Drake stepped through the door and into the room. Ruby touched his mind without any thought, however, before she could get any useful information she feet something. His mind was dark and twisted; it was as if it was coated in evil. She had felt this once before, back on Nome when she had reached out and briefly touched the minds of the Dreenoi. It was as if the same flavor of evil was in this man’s mind.

  “You must be Ruby,” he said as he stepped closer to her. She recoiled a bit at his approach. “Don’t worry I’m not going to hurt you. I’d just like to sit down next to you if that’s alright?” Ruby reluctantly nodded. “Thank you,” Drake said as he sat down next to her.

  “Where’s my Grandma?” Ruby asked with the same tone of authority that he had seen Amanda use many times.

  “Your Grandmother is a friend of mine, abut she’s awfully busy right now with all that’s going on. She sent me to check on you and to let you know she’s okay,” Drake said.

  Ruby wanted to look inside his mind to see if he was telling the truth, but she was too afraid of the darkness within his mind, afraid it might come into her. She would have to rely on her gut just like everyone else and her gut was telling her she didn’t have to be a mind reader to see that this man was a dangerous liar. “If you’re her friend then why would you have let me set here for hours with nothing to eat? Grandma would never let me go this long without food. She gets upset if I skip a snack, but you have eaten and you forgot about me.”

  Drake wrinkled his eyebrows, “How do you know that I wasn’t thinking anything about food or dinner?”

  “Easy,” was all she said, before pointing to a small gravy stain on his uniform.

  He looked at the stain, “I see, well I’m sorry that no one has brought you any food.” He then cupped his hand next to his mouth as to make it look like he didn’t want the robot guards to hear him, “That’s the problem with robots. They don’t think about human needs like food.”

  Ruby stood up and placed her hands on her little hips, “Oh yeah, my robot would have made sure I was fed. You must have stupid robots.”

  “Yeah they are pretty stupid, but you had a robot?” He asked not knowing about Archie.

  “Yes, he was my best friend and the best robot ever!” She said ever as if she was singing it rather than saying it.

  “Where is your robot now?” Drake asked wanting to know why he was not told about this robot.

  “I don’t know,” she paused and then her face dropped a bit, “I think he’s dead. The last time I saw him he was trying to save me from the big mean robots you sent to get me.”

  “Well, I’m really sorry if anything bad happened to it. It was all just a big misunderstanding. I’m sure we can get you a new robot friend, but first let’s get you some food and then I’ll take you to the room I’ve prepared for you.”

  She crossed her arms and looked at him before pointing a finger at him, “Okay, but no tricks mister or I’m going to be really mad.”

  Whatever humanity was still left in Drake must have been touched by her because he cracked a genuine smile, “No tricks I promise.”

  They left the room and Drake took her down a long hallway to a lift. He even let her push the buttons. After a short ride, the lift stopped and the doors opened. The first thing to hit her was the smell. The smell of fresh, hot, yummy, food. She rushed out of the lift, her little stomach now in control. The cafeteria of the Central Fleet Command had every kind of food imaginable as they served races of all kinds that were a part of the StarGuard.

  Drake stepped out of the lift and joined her at the cafeteria doorway, “You can have anything you’d like and as much as you want.”

  “Really?” Ruby asked as the smell of fresh baked rolls called to her.

  “Really, but I have to go see your grandma now so you need to stay here and eat. Can you do that for me?” He asked.

  She was already in the process of loading up a plate full of food when she dismissed him with a slight hand gesture and the word, “Sure.”

  Drake waved two bulky, mean looking marines over, “Good. These two marines are here to protect you and see you to your room for the night.”

  Not really paying any attention to Drake anymore Ruby was lost in a world of sent and color, “Okay,” she answered absentmindedly.

  Drake left Ruby to eat and true to his word, he marched back to the lift and took it to his office. Once he dismissed the two marine guards, he entered his office. Inside Amanda Hayes sat in front of his disk. In front of her was an untouched dinner tray. She was reading a book she had found on the shelf. It was ironically titled “How to Beat the No Win Scenario.”

  “I wouldn’t bother reading that, it’s all rubbish anyway,” Drake said as he slinked around the desk and slid into his chair.

  “Oh I don’t know about that. It says here and I’m quoting, “Most no-win scenario’s fail to take into consideration hope of divine intervention,” sounds reasonable to me.”

  “Amanda, I have known you for many years and I can’t say that I would have ever pegged you for a religious type,” Drake said as he opened the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a bottle of Eli Wight Lighting and two shot glasses.

  “More spiritual then religious, but I have to say that if there is a God he will not let this slaughter of innocent people go on much longer. I have to believe in some kind of divine intervention.”

  “Ah good point, but who’s to say there hasn’t already been divine intervention, just not on your side?” He responded while pouring the two drinks. He pushed one towards her, “Will you join me?”

  She picked up the glass, “Sure why not, after the day I’ve had I could use a stiff drink,” she said before downing it.

  He could see that she was no stranger to the hardest of all liquors, “You really have to give it to the Eli for being the only race in the Galaxy to turn rocket fuel into a palatable drink.”

  “Yes the Eli do seem to have a taste for the extreme, that’s for sure.” She paused as she slid the glass back across the desk. He lifted the bottle and poured out another drink then slid the glass back to her. “But you didn’t order me back to your office for a private drink and a bit of light conversation. Out with it Quinton, what do you want with me?”

  “Straight to the point, that’s just one of the things I’ve always liked about you. Fine, I’ll get to it. You see I’ve been promoted to Lord Marshall of all of the Lord Emperors New Galactic forces.”

  She cut him off, “Yes I remember I was there and as I remember you murdered the Federation’s President.”

  “Yes well, unfortunately that had to be done, and as you are so quick to remind me, let me refresh your memory as well. You were given a choice to serve or to die. You chose to serve and you took a new oath of office. Now I know you’re too smart to die for your ideals so you must have been thinking you could do more to fight against us from the inside.” He paused to let his words sink in.

  However, Amanda didn’t miss a beat as she answered back, “Oh I’m sorry was I supposed to look surprised or scared that you discovered my plan? For God’s sake Quinton, how long have we known each other? Thirty years, give or take? So you know me and fairly well I should think. That just leaves me with one question?”

  “Oh?” He asked intrigued.

  “Why?”

  “Why what?” He asked back, his brain starting to get a little fuzzy from the alcohol already.

  “Why am I still I alive?” She asked as she downed the second drink.

  Drake laughed, “All these years and you still never figured it out? You’re still alive because I love you. I couldn’t bear to see you dead. So my payment for
services rendered to the Lord Emperor, is you.”

  The revelation floored her. She had known for some time that he liked her and had even shown her special treatment now and then in her career, but love? All she could think of right then was ‘Ah shit!’ “So what I am to become your sex slave? Are you going to keep me chained to your bed?”

  “Nothing so dramatic or even so base. No, I was rather hoping you’d rule at my side and help me run this empire for our Lord Emperor. God knows I could use your experience and skills,” Drake said as he looked at her face trying to read her reaction.

  “Just my skills, huh?” Amanda asked dreading the answer she feared he was going to give.

  He smiled a devilish smile, the kind that serial killers smile just before they pounce, “Make no mistake Amanda, you will be mine inside and outside of the bedroom.”

  “And what makes you so sure that I’ll go along with your little plan? After all aren’t you forgetting about the divine intervention?”

  “Oh, if you are referring to Thad and his twin whores, you can rest assured that you’ll get no help from them, they’re dead,” Drake said with sadistic pleasure.

  “I don’t believe you,” Amanda said, her voice cracking.

  He waved his hand over his desk and a holo video of the burning police headquarters began playing, “You see we got lucky. After learning about his abilities, we had a full company of highly trained troops with heavy combat robot support ready to take him down, but the fool went clubbing with his whores. He got in a fight, which landed them all in jail. They just happened to be in that building when it was hit by an orbital strike. What was that you were saying about divine intervention?” On the screen the names of the missing and dead were scrolling by. Drake paused the holo video, smiling cruelly when the names of Thaddeus Hammer, Fiona Hammer, and Freya Hammer appeared. “So yes they’re all dead, but they’re not the only reason you’ll do as I say.”

  Amanda hoped inside he didn’t mean Ruby. God please not be her, she said as a silent prayer.