Kinsley’s face turned pale, imagining Luna City being destroyed. “Is there anything we can do to protect Luna City and the other installations on the Moon?”
“Yes,” replied Brett. “We can install interceptor missile batteries, both defensive and offensive, as well as energy turrets. The energy turrets will project an intense beam of energy, capable of shooting down any inbound missiles. We’ll depend on the attack interceptors and the Imperial Fleet to handle any enemy spacecraft that launches an attack. We’ll also be placing some defensive satellites around the Moon to intercept such an attack before any missile can endanger Luna City or any other facilities.”
Kinsley shuddered and looked at Brett. “You sound as if someday you expect us to be attacked.”
Brett slowly nodded his head. “Someday the Druins or one of the other Confederation races will come. When that day occurs, we must be ready to defend ourselves. The entire Solar System must be ready.”
“But that won’t be anytime soon, will it?”
“We hope not. However, we must be prepared in case we’re wrong.”
Kinsley looked at a large viewscreen on the office wall. It showed a view of the construction going on at the spaceport. Hundreds of Pallas construction robots were visible, as well as Humans in spacesuits. Above them hovered some small Pallas construction shuttles that were moving heavy materials to the needed locations. Everything was moving so fast. She hoped it wasn’t moving too fast. She knew that, on Earth, it would be several decades before most of the planet was up to Imperial standards. However, here on the Moon, that would happen in less than a year.
In a year Luna City would more resemble a city of the Empire than a city of Earth. Kinsley had seen the plans and had approved them. Just the educational training alone that would be available in Luna City’s schools would be remarkable. With a deep sigh, she knew the future had arrived, and she was determined to embrace it.
Standing, she looked at Brett and the colonel. “If either of you need anything, don’t hesitate to contact my office.” With that, Kinsley left, as she still had numerous items to take care of before she went home.
-
“Do you really think she knows what being up to Imperial standards means?” asked Colonel Adams. He had spent a lot of time with Easton Dray and was very familiar with all the plans for the spaceport, as well as Luna City.
Brett laughed. “Eventually. We’ll make sure to keep her in the loop, so she knows what we’re doing here. Luna City will be the blueprint for what we’ll do down on Earth. Luna City has to be our shining example of what we’re offering the planet.”
Colonel Adams left the office. He had a long meeting with Easton Dray next to discuss the bunkers for the attack interceptors. He doubted the mayor had any clue as to how heavily defended the spaceport, Luna City, and the other facilities on the Moon would be. The Moon would be made into a fortress. A fortress with one main prerogative. It had to be capable of defending Earth.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Destiny dropped from hyperspace in a white dwarf star system. The star itself, while it had a large mass, was only the size of Earth.
“A few stellar remnants and nothing else,” reported Nower. “Not much of a star system.”
Andrew gazed at the viewscreen, showing a magnified view of the star. He didn’t think he would ever get tired of looking at the screen. In every system they stopped in, he was learning more and more about the Bacchus Region. In three weeks of travel, they had not found a single habitable planet or come across any other starships. There had also been no trace of the Cogans.
“It’s so desolate out here,” commented Lieutenant Commander Banora, as she gazed at the viewscreens. “It’s amazing the Empire ever found Earth.”
Derrick nodded in agreement. “During the expansive time of the Empire, exploration missions were sent everywhere. Particularly to regions where it was thought the Confederation would not be interested. Numerous such missions explored nearly the entire Bacchus Region. When Earth was discovered, all exploration missions to this region were canceled. The High King of the time felt it might be wise to keep the existence of a primitive planet of Humans a secret. It was an insurance policy in case the Confederation and the Human Empire ever went to war.”
“Which is what happened,” said Andrew. This much he already knew.
“We’ll stay here for a few hours and then make our next jump,” said Derrick. “The next one will put us right on the edge of the Empire.”
-
Admiral Cleemorl came into the Command Center and glanced at the viewscreen. “Another dead system I see. Someday we need to do some research into why such a large region of space has no habitable worlds other than Earth.”
“Perhaps it was done to protect Earth,” suggested Banora.
Derrick frowned. He didn’t think that sounded reasonable. “But why go to such extreme lengths to protect one planet?”
“We may never know,” commented Dylan. “But there has to be an explanation for what happened here in the Bacchus Region.”
“Contact!” called out Lieutenant Nower. “It just dropped out of hyperspace.”
“Are our stealth fields up?” asked Dylan, looking alarmed.
“They’re up,” replied Derrick. His gaze shifted to the tactical display, showing a red threat icon. “Lieutenant Nower, can you identify the unknown?’
Nower spent a few moments working with her sensors. “Definitely Druin.”
“What are they doing out this far?” asked Derrick, feeling perplexed.
“A patrol,” suggested Dylan. “We’re pretty close to Highland Station.”
Derrick examined the tactical display for several minutes. There was no evidence the Druin vessel had detected them. “Change of plans. Viktor, set a course for the Ridge Star Cluster. We’ll make a quick stop in the star system where Highland Station is. I want to see if the Druins have a presence there as well.”
“Do we wait or leave now?” asked Dylan. His gaze focused on the tactical display and the red threat icon representing the Druin ship.
“Now,” replied Derrick. “No point staying and risking detection.”
“Course plotted,” said Lieutenant Viktor.
“Then execute,” ordered Derrick. “The sooner we leave this system, the better.”
The Destiny made the transition into hyperspace, leaving the white dwarf system and the Druin warship behind. Derrick couldn’t help but wonder what the odds were of them stumbling across a Druin warship like this. Either it was a remarkable coincidence or the Druins had a lot of warships patrolling the edge of the Bacchus Region.
-
Four days later the Destiny dropped from hyperspace in the outer regions of the Highland Station System. Immediately alarms sounded, and red lights flashed.
“Take us to Condition One,” ordered Derrick, as he checked the tactical display. Red threat icons were everywhere. “What do we have?”
Lieutenant Nower was already hard at work, analyzing the data from the ship’s sensors. “A Druin warfleet. Estimated numbers are 417 vessels.”
“Lieutenant Viktor, keep our distance.” Derrick shook his head. He had orders to avoid the Druins, and now he had jumped the Destiny right into the middle of one of their fleets.
On the main viewscreen, a highly magnified view of Highland Station appeared. Massive flashes of light covered the screen.
“Those are fusion and antimatter detonations,” reported Nower. “An energy shield is up around part of Highland Station, and the Druins appear to be trying to knock it down.”
“Any other resistance?”
“Some. About thirty small destroyer-size vessels are making attack runs against the Druins. Unfortunately their weapons are not powerful enough to bring down a Druin shield.”
The viewscreen switched to show the destroyer-size vessels. They were darting in and out of the Druin fleet formation, firing their weapons and launching missiles. Most of the missiles were nuclear, but, e
very so often, a fusion explosion would occur.
“I wonder what happened to cause this?” asked Dylan, his gaze focused intently on the viewscreen.
Derrick could see that the admiral was clearly upset about this attack on Highland Station. “I wish we could do something, but we’re just one ship.”
On the viewscreens the battle continued. Part of the Druin fleet was bombarding the asteroid, trying to bring the energy shield down, with the rest turning their weapons on the smaller destroyers.
“I’m picking up communications from the asteroid,” reported Andrew, as he listened on his comm console. “They are requesting the Druins stop their attack. They’re willing to cooperate fully.”
“Any reply from the Druins?” Derrick doubted if there would be. The Druins never negotiated.
Andrew shook his head. “No, nothing.”
On the viewscreen, four of the small destroyers suddenly blew apart. Their energy screens were no match for the fusion and antimatter weapons the Druins were using.
“Highland Station is requesting assistance from the other asteroid colonies.”
Derrick looked at Andrew. “Any response?”
“No.”
“There won’t be,” said Dylan, shaking his head. “If they send any assistance, the Druins might attack them as well.”
“They still may,” said Lieutenant Commander Banora. “The Druins may be here to wipe out the entire system.”
The battle in space lasted a few more minutes, with the small destroyers gradually being destroyed in ones and twos. Finally the last destroyer blew apart, as an antimatter missile detonated against its energy shield, obliterating the small warship.
“Now they’ll concentrate on the asteroid,” predicted Dylan. “The energy shield around Highland Station can’t stand up to the combined attack of that fleet.”
-
For the next ten minutes the Druins fired relentlessly on Highland Station. The energy shield finally wavered.
“They must have all the station’s power pouring into that energy screen for it to withstand such a massive bombardment,” said Dylan, hoping the screen would stay up.
“This is it,” said Lieutenant Commander Banora. Everyone’s gaze was glued to the viewscreens.
Suddenly the shield collapsed, and the entire surface of the asteroid was turned into molten magma, as the heat from the blasts struck the surface, annihilating all the domes and other structures. When the firing from the Druins stopped, nothing was left.
“They’re all dead,” uttered Andrew in shock.
Dylan shook his head. “No, the civilian sections are kilometers underground. They most likely survived. Once the Druins leave, they’ll come back to the surface and rebuild.”
“Perhaps,” said Derrick, gazing at the destruction. “It depends on why the Druins attacked them in the first place.”
“They’re Druins,” replied Dylan. “They don’t need a reason to kill Humans.”
On the tactical display, the Druin ships left the vicinity of the asteroid and spread out across the system.
“What are they doing now?” asked Banora.
“Searching,” suggested Dylan. “They must have come here looking for something or someone.”
For the next hour the Druin ships spread across the system, pausing occasionally to search an asteroid. Druin ships would stop at one of the other inhabited asteroids, and shuttles could be seen going down to the domes.
“Definitely searching for someone,” said Dylan. “I would suggest we go ahead and leave before they stumble across our ship.”
“Agreed,” replied Derrick. “Lieutenant Viktor, set a course for the Haven Nebula. Several Human worlds are there that I would like to check on. We won’t land, but we will take some sensor readings and monitor communications.”
The ship turned away from the system and soon made the transition into hyperspace.
“We’re five days out from the nebula,” said Viktor. “Do you have any particular world you want to stop at first?”
Derrick looked at Admiral Cleemorl for a suggestion.
“Tantalus Seven,” responded Dylan. “The Druins bombed Dorman Three, and it still hasn’t fully recovered.”
“Tantalus Seven it is then,” said Derrick.
As the Destiny made its way through hyperspace, Derrick couldn’t help but think about the system they had just left. It was hard to fathom how any race could be as heartless as the Druins. They never showed any mercy and had killed billions of Humans since their original attack on the Empire. Even today he and his crew had witnessed an attack that had probably killed tens of thousands of Humans and members of other races. The Druins didn’t practice war; they practiced the wholesale slaughter of innocents. Derrick was determined that someday the Druins and the other races of the Confederation would receive what was coming to them. By going into cryo, he would be part of that vengeance.
-
The sheer violence demonstrated by the Druins had stunned Andrew. While he had been expecting it, seeing it was something else entirely. He began to understand why so many of the original Imperials who had escaped to Pallas had chosen to go into cryo. More than ever now Andrew was determined to join them. This injustice the Confederation was forcing upon other races had to be stopped. “Have the Confederation races always treated other races this way?”
“We don’t know,” replied Admiral Cleemorl. “The Confederation has been around for over thirty thousand years. What their early history was like is wrapped in mystery. They don’t discuss it, and there are no known records.”
This didn’t surprise Andrew. This was pretty much the same thing he had been taught all his life. “How many races are currently under control of the Confederation?” He knew there had to be thousands. Some parts of the galaxy were densely populated.
“Sixty-two thousand,” replied Dylan. “Some races only control one- or two-star systems, and others control dozens. The Human Empire was by far the largest, with over one thousand inhabited star systems.”
“Are there other races still out there not under control of the Confederation?”
Dylan nodded. “A few. Some are very primitive, and others are what the Confederation considers not to be a potential threat. Also a few regions of the galaxy are still relatively unexplored.”
“So we have no possibility of gaining allies in our war against the Confederation?” Andrew had hoped there might be one or two races that would join them.
Dylan shook his head. “No, the only allies we dare to hope for are those in the Empire itself. Very soon, after the Druins attacked the Empire, dozens of secret bases were established in the hopes of someday freeing the Empire. I don’t know if anyone knows just how many there are. If anyone does, it will be General Creel. He has contacts all over the Empire.”
“Let’s hope those bases are willing to help us,” commented Banora. “A fifth column working in the Empire could be the difference between us succeeding and failing. We will only have one shot at freeing the Empire, and we must not fail.”
Dylan nodded. “We’ll know much more once we can speak to General Creel.”
-
Later Andrew was in the small cafeteria in the Destiny, eating a light evening meal before retiring. He had a couple hours’ worth of reading to do, as he was still studying some of the technology available on Pallas. Andrew saw Ensign Allert come in, and, upon spotting him, she came over and sat down.
“Well, what do you think of our adventure so far?”
“I guess I didn’t realize the Druins were so evil.”
Brenda nodded. “Most people don’t until it’s too late. Even the High King during our day didn’t believe the Confederation or the Druins would really attack us. Our warfleets were mainly for show and not to defend the Empire. If we had wanted to adequately defend ourselves, we would have needed ten times the number of ships, plus fusion weapons.”
“Could the Empire have developed fusion weapons?”
“Oh,
yes,” replied Brenda. “We never did, as we feared it might upset the Confederation. They don’t allow other races to do research into fusion weapons or antimatter.”
Andrew took a bite of his French toast. “And now we have both.”
Brenda grinned. “Yes, it will be quite a shock to the Confederation.”
“How do you feel about coming back to the Empire, which the Druins now control?” Andrew knew he would feel horrible if Earth were under control of the Druins, knowing the atrocities they were willing to commit.
Brenda let out a deep sigh. “I’m originally from Golan Four. I volunteered for the military as soon as I finished school. I thought it would be exciting, and I could see the Empire.”
Andrew nodded. “A lot of people join the military for that reason. Did you get to see a lot of the Empire?”
Brenda smiled as she thought about those days. “Yes, I guess I traveled to over sixty Imperial worlds, before I was asked to join the crew of the Destiny.”
“Have you ever regretted joining up?”
A look of sadness crossed Brenda’s face. “I don’t know how my parents died. I hope it was from old age and not a Druin attack. I left a lot of friends behind, but my duty was to the Empire and to the Princess. I did what I had to do.”
“All of you seem to have a lot of respect for the Princess.” Andrew wondered what she must have been like.
“Oh, we did. For her and her brother.”
“What happened to her brother?”
“He was exiled to Earth. We dared not attempt a rescue, as during those early years the Druins were watching the banished Imperials very closely.”
Andrew leaned back, looking at Brenda. “I guess I don’t understand why the Druins banished the Imperials instead of killing them.”
“It’s quite simple. To the Druins, banishment is the worst possible punishment. To them, what they were doing to the Imperials was worse than death.”
“The Druins themselves, how many worlds do they inhabit?”
Brenda took in a deep breath. “We don’t know for certain. The Druins are supposed to inhabit a very large number of worlds. There’s not a lot known about any of the Confederation races, other than they believe themselves to be above all others and treat most races as if they’re barbaric or children. All the worlds of the seven races are off limits to other races.”
The Forgotten Empire: Banishment: Book One Page 29