Councilor Trallis frowned as he thought over the suggestion. “If we do that I would want several Originators on those installations as well. We would also have to make sure the technology was heavily guarded and completely under the control of our military AIs.”
“We can assign some of our newer warrior robots to the stations,” suggested General Wesley. “The robots can be commanded by our officers from here or one of our military AIs. I feel certain we can keep the technology safe.”
Councilor Roan spoke up with great concern in her voice. “What happens if the Eternals manage to destroy both the Alton systems as well as the Human Federation of Worlds?”
Councilor Barnes looked over at Councilor Roan. “I would suggest we increase the number of people we’re bringing to the Dyson sphere. That way if the worst happens we still have a large enough population to continue the war effort.”
Admiral Jackson spoke again. “I propose we send Admiral Tolsen and his fleet back to Earth. He has experience fighting the Eternals and could be a key factor in defending the Federation.”
Councilor Trallis nodded his agreement. “Councilor Barnes, it might be a good idea for you to travel to the Federation and speak to Fleet Admiral Nagumo. He needs to know there might be a serious threat to the Federation and the Alton worlds.”
“I will leave immediately,” replied Barnes.
“My people only have our homeworld and two small colonies,” commented Councilor Grayseth. “We are far from the Federation though there is a large Federation base on Careth. I must inform my people of the danger.”
Councilor Trallis voiced his approval. “We will begin construction of a second city for your people immediately. I would suggest you contact the military AI in charge of the Shrieel in your home galaxy and have them begin constructing an Accelerator Ring in your home system. The same should be done in Earth’s system as well as the home system of the Altons.”
“We can’t risk that technology falling into the Eternals’ hands,” cautioned Councilor Metrics. “Do we want to take that risk?”
“I don’t believe we have any other choice,” replied Trallis. “We must bring as many of the three races to the Shrieel as we can before the Eternals attack. If what we believe is true they will be attempting to annihilate all three races. I don’t see any way we can protect all of those worlds.”
Admiral Jackson opened up one of the folders he had with him. “We can use additional Originator transports to begin moving large numbers of people from our worlds. I also recommend destructive charges be set in all of the Accelerator Rings so they can be destroyed if necessary. We will place several military AIs in positions to implement that order.”
“What happens to the treaty with the Eternals if they attack the Federation, the Altons, or Careth?” asked General Wesley.
Councilor Trallis spoke in a grave and solemn voice. “It will invalidate the treaty. It will be all out war in our space as well as theirs.”
“Should we recall Fleet Admiral Strong and his forces?” asked Councilor Barnes. Every day Jeremy was getting further away.
“No,” replied Councilor Trallis. “The fleet admiral has placed well qualified people in command here as well as in our fleets. Besides, what he is doing could someday end this war. If we can put a barrier of galaxies up to contain the Eternals’ expansion then we might be able to bring this nightmare to an end.”
-
Two weeks and nearly three days later the dreadnought Dagger exited the Accelerator Ring located in the New Tellus System in the Human Federation of Worlds. On board Councilor Barnes wondered what it would feel like to see Ceres once more after all of this time. The Accelerator Ring was located in the New Tellus System since the people there were more accepting of the new technology and it was also a very powerfully defended star system.
“We’ve arrived,” announced Commander Schmidt as the stars appeared around the massive dreadnought.
On the main viewscreen, New Tellus became visible. It was a blue-white world with large oceans and vibrant landmasses covered in forests and rolling plains. In orbit were six massive asteroid fortresses with the largest being over twenty-two kilometers in diameter. The System Defense Command Center resided in the heart of the asteroid.
On another viewscreen, New Tellus Station was visible. It was one of the largest shipyards in the Federation. The sprawling shipyard was sixteen kilometers in length and eight in width and contained six massive construction bays, which could produce any size ship the fleet required plus twelve repair bays. The shipyard was covered in offensive and defensive weapons with the firepower of a dozen dreadnoughts. Twenty Indomitable Class Battlestations surrounded the station as well as over four hundred particle beam satellites.
There were five other large shipyards in orbit around New Tellus as well. The system was full of ship traffic with fleets coming and going. New Tellus served as the jumping off point for fleets going deep into the former Hocklyn Empire on routine patrol duty. There were dozens of cargo ships as well as passenger liners nearly always in the system. The New Tellus System also had a robust mining industry as many of the system’s moons and asteroids were rich in minerals. As a result there were large numbers of mining ships and cargo vessels moving about in nearly all areas of the system.
“It’s a busy place,” commented Councilor Barnes, looking at the tactical display showing hundreds of friendly green icons. It reminded him of Earth’s system which was even busier.
On the viewscreen, he could see several battlecruisers docked to New Tellus Station as well as numerous cargo ships. Shuttles were constantly moving from the station to the large spaceports on the planet’s surface. On another screen, he could see half a dozen Originator battlecruisers near the Accelerator Ring. These ships were tasked with making sure the ring did not fall into enemy hands. While they were in the New Tellus System, Commander Schmidt would be placing antimatter explosive charges on the ring to ensure its destruction if the Eternals attacked the system. Several additional military AIs would be staying behind as well.
“Is Admiral Nagumo here?”
“Give me a moment,” replied the communications officer.
Lieutenant Bryce spent a moment talking to one of the communication officers on New Tellus Station and then turned to face the commander and Councilor Barnes. “He arrived yesterday along with the president. They’re both waiting for you in the VIP quarters on the station.”
“How soon before we dock?”
“Ten minutes,” replied Commander Schmidt. “We’ve been given priority docking privileges.”
Councilor Barnes watched the viewscreens as the massive dreadnought approached the station and then gently docked to one of the primary docking ports.
“Good contact and seal; we’re at station keeping,” reported the Originator AI at the helm.
“Excellent,” replied Commander Schmidt. Schmidt then stood up and stretched. “Councilor Barnes, if you will follow me we’ll make our way to the main exit hatch.”
As they made their way to the hatch, Councilor Barnes was surprised to find two heavily armed Marines accompanying them at a discreet distance.
“What are the guards for?”
Commander Schmidt glanced back at the two Marines before answering. “Ever since the Defenders of Zorn woke up we’ve been taking extra security precautions. As you know there are hundreds of Zorn’s followers we haven’t located. They could be anywhere.”
Councilor Barns shook his head. “An eight foot tall Originator should be pretty easy to spot.”
“That’s true,” replied Commander Schmidt. “However, there are a few Originators working with the Federation on upgrading parts of their technology. While they’ve been cleared as not being members of the Zorn sect it’s best not to take any chances.”
They reached the hatch and exited the ship, finding two more guards on the outside. They walked down a long corridor and took several turbo lifts up to the command deck where the VIP quarters were locat
ed. They reached a long corridor with a series of hatches along each side. Several more heavily armed Marines were stationed along the corridor.
“Sure is a lot of security,” commented Councilor Barnes. He wasn’t used to seeing this on the Dyson sphere except in the Tower.
A Marine guard was waiting for them in front of an open hatch and indicated for them to enter. As soon as they passed through the Marine shut the hatch, securing it. In the room was a lavish conference table and four other people, two men and two women. Councilor Barnes instantly recognized Fleet Admiral Nagumo standing at the head of the table.
“Councilor Barnes, Commander Schmidt, welcome to New Tellus Station,” greeted Admiral Braedon Cross who was in charge of New Tellus Station and all the shipyards and fleets in the system. He gestured to the other two people who were present in the room. “This is Fleet Admiral Nagumo, whom you already know and General Madison Wilcox who is in charge of the Command Fortress and the other five asteroid fortresses. She is also in charge of all orbital defenses except those protecting the shipyards. And this is President Evelyn Treadway of the Human Federation of Worlds.”
“Madam President,” acknowledged Councilor Barnes. “With me is Commander Schmidt of the dreadnought Dagger.” Barnes had met President Treadway when she was just a senator from Mars.
“Pleased to meet the two of you,” replied President Treadway. “I have been briefed in part of the threat you have come here to warn us about. Why don’t we sit down and discuss it in more detail and decide what steps we need to take to protect the Federation.”
-
For the next two hours Councilor Barnes and Commander Schmidt briefed the other four about the potential threat the Eternals posed to the Human Federation of Worlds, the Altons, and the Carethians. Commander Schmidt had some video footage of battles with Eternal vessels which they all watched.
“Very impressive,” commented Fleet Admiral Nagumo. He had been taking notes during the entire presentation.
“How big are those Eternals ships?” asked President Treadway.
“They’re four kilometers in length,” Barnes answered. “They are armed with extremely powerful energy beams and antimatter missiles with one hundred-megaton warheads.”
Admiral Crown was studying the Eternal ship displayed on the large viewscreen in the conference room. “And you believe these Eternals are searching for Earth?”
“There’s a high probability of that,” replied Councilor Barnes. “We’ll know for certain if we spot more of their ships in other galaxies controlled by the Originators.”
“Our ships can’t stand up to something like that,” said Admiral Crown worriedly. “We would suffer massive losses just trying to take one of those vessels out.”
Councilor Barnes nodded in agreement. “We have provided the Federation with some older Originator vessels and even those would have problems fighting against Eternal vessels. We are proposing making available to the Federation and the Altons Originator antimatter cannon technology as well as provide one hundred-megaton antimatter missiles for your warships. In addition we will give you a better power system to increase the strength of the energy shields which protect your vessels.”
“We have already installed the latest technology you provided us,” said Nagumo with a frown. “It cost a fortune to make the updates we already have. To have any chance of surviving a major conflict with the Eternals we will need more Originator warships.”
“What about newer Originator warships?” asked Admiral Crown. “The older ones you furnished us have been a tremendous help in pacifying much of the galaxy. However we will need the newer ones to take on the Eternals.”
“Due to the technology on those vessels I’m afraid we can’t turn those types of ships over to you. However, we are willing to place several fully upgraded Originator fleets in some of your star systems, which will have our latest technology. We will also be increasing the number of warships in this galaxy’s Dyson sphere. Those ships can travel via Accelerator Ring to the ring in this system in just a few hours. It’s for that reason we would like to add rings to the Solar System as well as the capital system of the Altons.”
Fleet Admiral Nagumo blinked his eyes and nodded. “I fully understand the Originators’ hesitation in turning over to us their most advanced technology. If I were in their situation I would do the same thing.”
President Treadway narrowed her eyes in thought as she considered what Councilor Barnes had just proposed. “I would have to run it by the Senate Council. I know of only a few senators who might oppose the idea. At least that would give us some advanced ships to hold off the Eternals.”
“As much as I hate to say this we need to implement these polices as quickly as possible,” said Councilor Barnes, stressing the urgency with his voice. “We have no idea when the Eternals might discover the Federation. There’s a small chance they already have.”
“I’ll head back to Earth immediately and call a meeting of the Senate Council. As far as the more advanced weapons for our ships, I believe Senator Brown will be receptive to begin doing that immediately here in the New Tellus System.”
General Wilcox nodded her head. “I believe that is true. I spoke to him earlier and he’s quite agreeable to accepting your recommendations.”
“There’s one other thing,” added Councilor Barnes. This was going to be the hard one. “We would like to immediately begin moving more Federation citizens, Altons, and Carethians to our Dyson sphere.”
“Why?” asked President Treadway with a look of confusion on her face. “There are already millions of people from all three races going there every year.”
Councilor Barnes hesitated. “There’s a chance we will not be able to stop the Eternals. Their fleet far outnumbers ours. If they are determined to destroy the Federation, the Altons, and Careth we may not be able to stop them.”
President Treadway’s face turned pale. “You’re talking about an evacuation.”
Councilor Barnes nodded. “I’m afraid you’re right. If you’re in agreement we’ll set up Accelerator Rings in more systems to evacuate people. We have Originator transport ships that can transport tens of thousands of people at once. We would like to begin as soon as possible. Councilor Tureen is on his way to visit the Altons with the same proposal.”
President Treadway looked at Councilor Barnes in shock. “You think we’re going to lose?”
Barnes hesitated and then replied. “We believe the Eternals feel by eliminating the Federation, the Altons, and Careth it will change the direction of the war, forcing the Originators to drop their opposition to the Eternals’ expansion across the universe.”
President Treadway slowly shook her head. “This is going to be hard to get past the Senate Council.”
“You must do the best you can to persuade them,” replied Barnes. “If you fail to do so we’re not going to have the people we need to stop the Eternals.”
General Wilcox crossed her arms over her chest and spoke. “New Tellus and Earth are the only two systems that might be able to survive such an attack. However, in order to do so we need to begin updating our weapons systems immediately. We also need to begin pulling the majority of our fleets back to New Tellus and Earth.”
Fleet Admiral Nagumo spoke with a deep frown across his face. “It’s going to be a major job updating our ships to accommodate the weapons we’re being offered. It’s also going to be very expensive. Also, where’s Fleet Admiral Strong?”
“He’s on a mission that’s going to take a while,’ replied Councilor Barnes. “Since he’s not currently available Admiral Tolsen will be returning to Federation space to command the ships the Originators are sending here.”
“I’ll be glad to have Race back,” replied Fleet Admiral Nagumo, pleased with this announcement, “even if it’s only temporary.”
“Let’s go briefly over the weapon systems we’re going to make available to you,” suggest Commander Schmidt. “It will give you a better idea of what you ne
ed to do.”
“One thing,” said President Treadway with a look of concern on her face. “What if we do all of this and the Eternals don’t show up?”
Commander Schmidt looked over at Councilor Barnes waiting for him to answer.
“Our AIs are predicting an 82 percent probability they will. Are you willing to risk all the lives of the people in the Federation for an 18 percent chance they won’t?”
President Treadway slowly shook her head. “If the Eternals do show up it will be the end of the Federation as we know it.”
“However, if we evacuate enough people, the Federation will continue but on a Dyson sphere and there are some tremendous advantages to living on one,” replied Barnes.
“He’s right,” said Fleet Admiral Nagumo. “In this situation all we can do is hope to hold our losses to a minimum. I believe the best expectation we have for continued survival is here at New Tellus, the Solar System, and the Dyson sphere. I fear there is nothing we can do to save the other Federation worlds if the Eternals launch a major attack against us. I would suggest we immediately begin increasing our defenses in those two systems and start evacuating as many people as possible from the others.”
President Treadway stared down at the table for several long moments before replying. “I’ll use my emergency powers to make the funding you’re going to need immediately available to you. I’ll also return to Earth and call a meeting of the Senate Council. That is one meeting I’m going to dread. Many of those senators are not going to accept what we’re talking about.”
The Originator Wars: Explorations: A Lost Fleet Novel Page 7