The Slaver Wars: Retaliation (The Slaver Wars Book Five)

by Weil, Raymond L.

  Amanda returned to her command console and spent the next few hours talking to various commanders in the Fleet checking on the progress of their repairs. She felt pleased at the progress that was being made. Some of the internal damage was being routed around to bring ships back up to full operational status. Other damage, particularly to the armored hulls of the ships, could only be mended in a repair bay and would have to wait until they reached the safety of the Careth system.

  -

  A few hours later, Amanda was satisfied that everything that could be done had been finished. All the ship commanders felt confident that they could now make it to Careth. It was time to leave this section of Hocklyn space.

  “All ships, prepare to jump,” she ordered as she sat back down behind the command console.

  She looked at the main viewscreen and could see blue-white space vortexes beginning to open. For close to two months, Second Fleet had been going from one small battle to the next. It would be good to give the crews some time off. Amanda knew that several resorts had been built on the bears’ planet for the human crews of the warfleets. The only thing Amanda regretted was that Richard would not be there to share her leave time.

  Moments later, the WarStorm entered a swirling spatial vortex and vanished. This part of Operation First Strike was complete, and now the second part would begin.

  Chapter Two

  Admiral Sheen breathed a deep sigh of relief as they made the final jump into the Careth system, home to the bears. The bears were actually called Carethians but, due to the fact that they vaguely resembled Earth bears, the nickname had stuck. The bears had accepted the nickname after learning about the ferocious animals that lived upon Earth.

  “We’re being hailed by the light cruiser Fury,” Lieutenant Angela Trask reported as she sent the WarStorm’s ID codes to the light cruiser. This was now standard procedure for any ship or fleet entering a human held system.

  Amanda knew the Fury was assigned to Fourth Fleet, commanded by Admiral Jeremy Strong. “Inform the Fury that we will be going into orbit around Careth for some downtime and ship repair. Admiral Strong already knows we’re coming.” Amanda had previously notified Strong about the damage Second Fleet had received in the battle with the Hocklyns. He had assured her that he would have the two repair bays as well as the four fleet repair ships ready to receive her ships.

  Angela sent the message and then turned toward the admiral. “The Fury says we have permission to micro-jump to Careth and that we will enjoy the new resorts. The commander of the Fury says the bears have done a fantastic job building the accommodations for us to enjoy on leave.”

  “I heard the new resorts are on one of their oceans,” Commander Evans commented with a broad smile. She definitely needed to work on her tan, and she couldn’t wait to get down to the planet. It had been a tiring and stressful two months not knowing when they would stumble across a major Hocklyn fleet. It would be good to get her mind off the war for a few days.

  “Set up a micro-jump to just outside of Careth’s gravity well, and once we arrive we need to set up yard time for our ships that need to be repaired,” Amanda ordered with a nod.

  She knew it would be good for her ship crews to have some extended leave. It would improve morale as well as improve their efficiency and help to relieve the stress from the last battle. Amanda knew she could certainly use it.

  There were ten planets in the bears’ home system, with the fourth being located in the Goldilocks zone and home to the Carethians. The bears had been slaves under the Hocklyns until Admiral Strong had destroyed the two escort cruisers guarding the planet and freed them. Now the bears were becoming staunch allies and helping to build massive defenses above their world in preparation for the eventual return of the Hocklyns.

  More blue-white vortexes formed in front of Second Fleet, and the ships entered them only to exit new vortexes a few seconds later closer to the bears’ home world. It had taken them three days to travel from the scene of their last battle to the Careth system.

  On the main viewscreen of the WarStorm, the massive space station in orbit around Careth appeared. It had grown tremendously in the past two months as the bears and the humans labored intensively on it. Setting close to it were four massive fleet repair ships that had been working non-stop expanding the station. It originally was two kilometers across and supported a large landing bay for small shuttles and freighters. Now it had grown to more than six kilometers across and contained two large repair bays for fleet ships as well as new landing bays for fighters and bombers. The construction was ongoing, and the station was still far from being completed.

  On the tactical hologram, the planet seemed to be surrounded by blue and green icons. Amanda knew the blue icons were defensive satellites, though she noticed with surprise that a number of these were unusually large. She would have to ask Admiral Strong about those. The green icons were Admiral Strong and Admiral Stillson’s ships. Amanda was surprised to see that the Ceres relief fleet was still here; she wondered what else had changed during her two-month absence. She also noticed that a big part of Admiral Kimmel’s supply fleet was in orbit around Careth.

  -

  Admiral Strong was on board the large space station meeting with Grayseth, Admiral Stillson, and Admiral Kimmel. They had been discussing the continued expansion of the space station as well as the offensive and defensive weapons it was to be equipped with. Ariel had been vital in this as she could quickly evaluate their plans and suggest changes. The dark haired AI was currently busy on the Avenger and had not been able to attend the meeting.

  Jeremy’s mini-com went off in his right ear, informing him that Admiral Sheen’s fleet had just arrived outside of Careth’s gravity well and was proceeding toward orbit. “Second Fleet has just arrived,” he informed the others. “They suffered a lot of damage in their recent battle and are in need of major repairs.”

  “That means the Hocklyns will be arriving soon,” Admiral Stillson commented in a grave voice, leaning back in his chair and looking at the others. “We still have much to do before we’re ready for a major battle.”

  “We need to speed up our timeline,” Jeremy stated, determined to defend the bears’ home system. He had become very close to the bears in the last few months and had no intention of leaving them undefended. “Let’s assume we have between six to ten weeks before we see an attack here. That means we need to have the station completed and its weapons ready six weeks from today.”

  “That will be a major undertaking,” Admiral Kimmel spoke with a deep sigh as he thought about the resources he had available. “But with the help from Grayseth’s people, I believe it is doable.”

  “My people will do whatever is necessary,” Grayseth spoke in his powerful voice. “We will never be slaves to the evil ones again!”

  “We will stand with you,” Jeremy promised solemnly, staring at the large figure of Grayseth. The bear would easily tower over Jeremy if they were standing next to each other. “In this we will hunt together.”

  “We will hunt together,” Grayseth repeated, his large brown eyes glowing in affirmation.

  “The new fighters and bombers from Ceres will be arriving in two more days,” Admiral Stillson added as he looked down at a computer pad he was holding. He had just received a communication from Admiral Teleck before coming to the meeting. “They are also sending twenty-four more of the new defensive battle stations.”

  Grayseth grinned at this information. To most, the grin would have been frightening at the sharp teeth it revealed. “The new fighters and bombers will be well received by my people,” Grayseth spoke.

  The new fighters and bombers had enlarged cockpits and controls so the bears could operate them. Already, hundreds of bears were working in hastily assembled simulators to prepare them to fly the new ships. When the Hocklyns returned, Grayseth’s people would join the humans in space to defend their planet.

  Jeremy was pleased to hear about the battle stations; they would add consi
derably to his offensive and defensive capability. “We will also be positioning all of our destroyers in the same orbit as the defensive satellites,” Jeremy added as he thought about the plan to defend the planet. “The destroyers are too vulnerable in a fleet action. They will serve better if we use them to protect the satellites. Admiral Sheen lost seven in her most recent battle with the Hocklyns.”

  “We will also have ships to add,” Grayseth spoke as he thought about the work being done in the secret underground cities on Careth. “We are adapting your technology to many of the smaller ships we built in secret. They will be ready in six weeks.”

  Jeremy had seen the small ships of the Carethians. The bears had established a number of deep underground cities they had kept secret from the Hocklyn occupiers. They had almost been ready to attempt to overthrow the Hocklyns and free their world when Fourth Fleet arrived and did it for them.

  The small ships were one hundred meters long and carried a crew of twenty with powerful sublight engines. They were equipped with heavy railguns and were now being modified to add energy shields and several small missile tubes. The bears were being given a smaller class of Klave missile tipped with a tactical nuclear warhead. Jeremy also knew that the bears had nearly two hundred of these small ships.

  “We will meet in two more days when the new supply fleet from Ceres arrives,” Jeremy informed them as he stood up. “I need to meet with Admiral Sheen and arrange for her ships to be repaired and crews to take leave on Careth. I also need to go over the weapons plans for the station with Ariel.”

  “The resorts are ready for your people,” Grayseth rumbled. “We are pleased that you approve of them.”

  “You have done a fantastic job with the resorts,” Jeremy responded with a friendly nod. He had gone down to Careth with Grayseth and inspected them. Grayseth had insisted that Jeremy give his approval before they were opened. “Our people really appreciate what you have done for us.”

  “It’s the least we could do,” Grayseth responded. He liked these humans; in many ways they were much like his own race. Grayseth hoped this alliance was the beginning of a long and trusting friendship.

  -

  A few days later, Amanda was down at one of the seaside resorts the Carethians had built for Humans to use. She had been pleased to find that the resorts were very plush with all the amenities. Even more surprising was the fact that a number of Federation civilians had been brought in to help operate them. Amanda suspected it was because the Carethians had felt other Humans would know more about what would be expected at the resorts.

  Amanda was lying on a lounge chair next to the water with Samantha Evans, sipping a relaxing glass of iced tea. It was nice to get away from the fleet and burden of command. Only this morning had she finished with the arrangements to have all of her damaged ships repaired. She had spent nearly two days setting priorities and meeting with Admirals Strong and Kimmel. She knew her ships were in good hands and she could relax.

  They had only been on the beach a couple of hours when Amanda noticed someone was blocking the sun. She looked up and her mouth fell open in amazement. Her husband Richard was standing there, with a big grin on his face.

  “Richard!” she screamed in astonishment, jumping up and wrapping her arms around him. “Where did you come from?”

  He laughed and untwined himself from his wife’s arms after giving her a long, passionate kiss. “I came with the supply fleet that arrived earlier today. Admiral Streth sent a message that he thought you would have some leave time in another week or so and suggested that I come out with the fleet. Since he couldn’t afford to let you come back to New Tellus to take leave, here I am.”

  “That’s so much like Admiral Streth,” Amanda spoke, her eyes glowing with excitement at seeing Richard. “He always seems to be watching out for me.”

  Richard looked over at Samantha and saw that she had stood up and was watching them with a happy smile. The commander was wearing a modest, white two-piece swimming suit and looked very alluring in it. “Hello, Commander; how are you doing?”

  “We’re on leave, so please call me Samantha,” Evans replied pleasantly and then, with a knowing smile, she added. “I’m glad you could come out to see Amanda. We have two week’s leave coming, so you two should be able to get reacquainted very well.”

  Amanda blushed at what Samantha was implying. She was so glad to see Richard; this was just what she needed! “Richard, sit down and tell Samantha and I about what’s been going on in the Federation. What are people thinking about this war?”

  Richard sat down next to his wife, holding her hand, and began. “As you know, we have a chain of communication buoys between Fleet Admiral Streth’s main base and New Tellus. We’ve been getting an update each day on the progress of Operation First Strike, and it’s been the hot topic on all the media channels. The admiralty is highly pleased, and the civilians believe that Admiral Streth could walk on water if he so desired.”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if he could,” Samantha commented with a grin. She came from Harmony and had always been taught that someday Admiral Streth would be awoken and lead the humans to victory over the Hocklyns. So far, he had done a pretty good job of it.

  “But the Hocklyns are bound to counterattack, and then what will they think?” Amanda asked and then proceeded to tell Richard about her most recent battle.

  “So they finally managed to stop the advance into their space,” Richard spoke in understanding. “We knew that would happen sooner or later, and the civilians know that First Strike was just to buy time for the Federation to finish arming itself and get all the planetary defenses set up.”

  “We have some big battles ahead,” commented Samantha, knowing that many of the ships in Operation First Strike might not make it back home once the Hocklyns launched their counterattack.

  “We’re going to lead the Hocklyns back to the Federation,” Amanda said worriedly, still finding it hard to believe that Richard was sitting next to her. “I wish we didn’t have to do that.”

  “That has been the plan all along, for us to lead them back to New Tellus and attempt to destroy them,” added Samantha, hoping that her home world back in the Alpha Centauri system was ready. She knew there had been plans to put some massive defenses in orbit to go with the ones already there. Only Earth had a larger human population than Harmony.

  “We’re ready for them,” Richard replied confidently. “If they follow you back to New Tellus, they will die there!”

  “I hope you’re right,” Amanda responded, her blue eyes focusing on her husband. She felt sure New Tellus could handle the Hocklyns, but she wasn’t so sure about the AIs. The AIs still frightened her after what they had done to the original Federation.

  Samantha listened to the two talk for a while longer, then stood up and wandered down the beach. She knew the two needed some alone time, and she would make sure they had plenty of it.

  -

  Jeremy was in the newly completed Command Center in the space station speaking with Grayseth. Both bears and humans, in almost equal numbers, staffed the large room. At the moment, he was waiting for the commander of the newly arrived supply fleet to make an appearance, if it could be called a supply fleet. Looking at one of the numerous holographic tactical displays, he was amazed at the warships that had accompanied the fleet. Some he had expected, but not the sheer number that had put in an appearance.

  There were thirty supply ships in the fleet, including several of the new fleet design being built at New Tellus. There were four battlecruisers, eight battlecarriers, six of which had brought the new defensive battle stations, six Monarch heavy cruisers, six heavy strikecruisers, twenty light cruisers, and twenty destroyers. What was even more surprising was that all the ships except the supply ships were obviously from Ceres. Jeremy knew Ceres had a large supply of warships in its construction and ship bays; they had spent the last one hundred years building ships non-stop just for this war.

  “An admiral has come o
n board from the new fleet,” Grayseth reported as one of the bears working communications sent the message over to him.

  Jeremy nodded. A fleet that large would have to have an admiral in command. He was curious to see who it was and why no one had said anything.

  After a few minutes, the heavily guarded hatch to the Command Center swung open, and Jeremy’s eyes widened when he saw who was standing there. He instantly snapped to attention as he watched Admiral Teleck step into the room; he was one of the last people that Jeremy had expected to see. He was in charge of all of Ceres’s military forces and had been primarily responsible for promoting Jeremy to the rank of rear admiral.

  “At ease, Admiral,” Teleck spoke with a friendly smile as he strode up to Jeremy. “This space station is impressive.”

  “Thank you, Sir,” Jeremy replied as he relaxed. “I wasn’t expecting to see you.” Then, gesturing toward Grayseth, Jeremy continued. “This is Grayseth, the Carethian’s military commander.”

  “Live long and hunt together,” Admiral Teleck spoke, acknowledging the bear.

  “Live long and hunt together,” Grayseth replied, pleased that this great admiral had studied their customs. It spoke well for the humans and their leaders.

  “Do we have someplace we can talk?” Admiral Teleck asked. “Grayseth may come with us since this involves his world.”

  Jeremy nodded and led the admiral to a small conference room just off the Command Center set up to accommodate both Humans and Carethians. He wondered what was going on that it required Admiral Teleck to put in an appearance this far from home.

  After Jeremy and Grayseth were seated, Admiral Teleck turned to them and began speaking. “I spoke to Fleet Admiral Streth, and we both feel that the Hocklyns will begin moving back into the captured territory in just a matter of weeks.”

  “We thought that also,” Jeremy replied, nodding his head in agreement. “We are working on a timeline of at least six weeks before they reach us here. We hope to have the station done as well as all the orbital defenses.”