“They are an old race,” Kincaid replied in a tired voice. “They don’t believe in war, and we have to respect their wishes or we’re no better than the Hocklyns.”
“You’re right,” Karla responded with a deep sigh. “It would just be nice if we had weapons based on their technology.”
Over the last several weeks, anxiety had been growing in the Federation as its people realized that the Hocklyns would soon attack the Federation worlds. For centuries, they’d heard about how dangerous the Hocklyn Slave Empire was and what had happened to the worlds of the old Federation. They also knew that Admiral Streth had been brought out of cryosleep to lead the Federation to victory. President Kincaid doubted if even the legendary admiral of the old Federation could pull off that miracle, but at least it gave the people a reason for hope.
“How are we doing on preparing for the attack, and what’s the latest from Fleet Admiral Streth?”
“Admiral Streth has already bought us over three month’s worth of time to prepare,” Karla replied as she recalled the latest reports coming in from Operation First Strike. “Production of new warships has been ramped up, and we are building hundreds of new defensive satellites daily.”
“What about the new defensive battle stations that Ceres has been building?” Kincaid asked. “Have we started production on them yet?” He knew how important they could be in protecting the satellite defensive grids around all the Federation worlds. The new battle stations would also go a long way toward calming the nerves of several of the Federation senators, including Senator Fulbright.
“Yes,” replied Karla, nodding her head. “We have four production lines operating at New Tellus, and we are producing thirty of the new battle stations per week. We will begin emplacing them as soon as the crews finish their training.”
“Have the first ones sent to Serenity and Bliss; perhaps that will quiet down Senator Fulbright,” President Kincaid ordered as he thought about the most recent complaints from the senator. “He is sure his world is going to be destroyed by the Hocklyns.”
“I will pass on the order,” replied Karla, knowing the president needed to keep the senators satisfied that everything was being done to defend their worlds. Serenity was the smallest colony in the Federation with only 200 million people, and Bliss had slightly over 680 million. Even so, it was the Fleet’s responsibility to defend them and Karla would make sure they were adequately protected.
Karla had made certain in recent weeks that the satellite defense grid above both Serenity and Bliss had been properly strengthened. There was a small fleet assigned to each world and if the Hocklyns attacked, the two fleets should be able to hold out until help arrived.
“When does Admiral Streth expect the Hocklyns to launch their counterattack?”
Karla let out a deep breath. “Another six to ten weeks,” she replied, recalling Admiral Streth’s latest report. “When they do, Admiral Strong will be staying behind and helping to defend the Carethians. Fleet Admiral Streth will begin a strategic retreat back toward New Tellus.”
“Will we be ready?” asked President Kincaid, his eyes focusing intently on the Fleet Admiral, fearing what would happen to the Federation when the Hocklyns and the AIs finally arrived.
He knew everything possible was being done to prepare, but the Hocklyns were a galaxy-spanning empire and the AIs were even worse as they controlled everything behind the scenes. He had seen the videos of the deadly AI spheres in action as they attacked the old Federation fleet. They had been unstoppable. President Kincaid didn’t want to see that type of destruction befall any Federation world. He had recently gone on a tour of the Fleet Academy on the Moon and had been impressed by what he had seen. Hundreds of heavy weapons emplacements had been built on its surface as well as countless flight bays for thousands of Talon fighters and Anlon bombers. The Moon would serve as a Sword of Damocles against the Hocklyns and the AIs if they dared to attack Earth.
Karla was silent for a long moment. She knew nothing was certain in war, and when the Hocklyns and the AIs attacked New Tellus not even the best military minds were certain of what the results would be. They had spent years preparing and could only hope that they had done enough.
“We will be as ready as we can be,” Karla finally replied in a somber voice. “It depends on the number of AI ships that take place in the attack.”
President Kincaid nodded. “Thanks for the briefing Karla. I have a meeting with the Federation Council later to brief them on the current situation. Senator Fulbright will be demanding assurances that his colony will be safe, as usual.”
“Assure the senator we are doing everything possible,” replied Karla, hoping it would be enough.
President Kincaid watched the Fleet Admiral leave. He walked back over and sat down at his desk, feeling the burden of his office weighing heavily on his shoulders. He prayed that Fleet Admiral Streth would return safely, but what concerned him the most was that Admiral Strong and the crew of the Avenger would be staying behind and would be cut off from the Federation. It would be a huge blow to the Federation’s morale if something happened to any of those five young officers on that ship. In many ways, those five and Ariel were the Federation.
-
Several hours later, Fleet Admiral Johnson was on her way to Ceres to meet with Governor Malleck and Admiral Kalen. As she approached Ceres, she was surprised at how heavily the defenses had been reinforced over the past six weeks. There were seventy-two of the new satellite defensive battle stations in orbit around the asteroid as well as several thousand defensive satellites. Add to that all the heavy weapons that were emplaced on the smaller asteroids that guarded the approaches to Ceres and it might very well be the most heavily defended colony in the Federation.
Once her meeting was over, she would be returning to New Tellus to go on an inspection tour of her new battleship that was under construction. The engineers had told her it would be another two months before the ship was ready to leave the dock for its space trials. She just hoped the Hocklyns and AIs waited long enough for it to be completed.
-
Jeremy rolled over and opened his eyes. The sun was just beginning to shine through the window of the resort room that he and Kelsey were in. Jeremy sat up, being careful not to wake Kelsey as she was still sound asleep. She should be after the way she had worn him out in their lovemaking. He let out a deep breath of disappointment, knowing that today was the last day he could spend down at the resort. For the last three days, he had left Admiral Stillson in charge of working with the bears and taking care of the day-to-day routine of organizing the defense of an entire solar system. There were so many details that needed to be taken care of.
“Are you leaving?” Kelsey asked sleepily as she gazed up at Jeremy with half open eyes.
The last three days had been wonderful, and she wished that they could continue. However, she also understood that Jeremy had an important job to do and that job was going to occupy him more and more in the coming days and months. Special times like these would be few and far between.
Jeremy smiled and leaning down kissed Kelsey on the lips. She smiled back and her arms slid around Jeremy, pulling him down partially on top of her.
“Do you have to leave now?” she asked, enjoying the warmth of Jeremy’s body on top of hers. She wiggled suggestively as her hands moved gently up and down his back.
“You know I do,” replied Jeremy, disentangling himself from Kelsey’s arms and sliding out of bed. “Admiral Sheen’s fleet is departing shortly, and I need to be on the Avenger for that.”
Kelsey nodded; feeling disappointed but understanding that Jeremy had to go. “The rest of us will be coming back up in a few days. Katie is going to do some work on the new computer system in the station, and Kevin is going to be assisting her. Angela will be setting up some encrypted communication codes for use when the Hocklyns attack, and Ariel and I will be working on refining our in system jumps even more. She thinks it might be possible to emerge from h
yperspace less than a hundred kilometers from an enemy ship.”
Jeremy nodded. “We all have jobs to do and this resort has been great. Perhaps we can come back down in a few more weeks, but we have a lot of work to do in the meantime.”
Kelsey was silent as she watched Jeremy get dressed. So much had changed since their time on the New Horizon, and the five of them had continued to grow even closer. Kelsey had already decided that she wanted to spend her life with Jeremy, and she was fairly certain he felt the same. They just had to defeat the Hocklyns and the AIs first.
After Jeremy left, Kelsey closed her eyes and thought about her parents. Her father and mother had been such a big influence in her life, and she wished they were here to share how she felt about Jeremy. She knew her mother would be extremely happy, and her father would definitely approve.
-
Ariel was busy running battle simulations in an effort to find the best strategy to take out an AI ship. She knew that if the Federation was to survive, the AIs had to be stopped. Ariel was currently standing in the Command Center of the Avenger next to Lieutenant Charles Preston, the ship’s tactical officer.
“That was interesting,” Preston commented as he watched Ariel’s latest simulation on one of his tactical screens. “You managed to take out the AI ship with no losses to the fleet, how did you do that?”
Ariel put her hands on her hips and turned to face Lieutenant Preston. She had discovered that humans reacted better when she spoke to them face to face. She was wearing a standard dark blue fleet uniform with no insignia. “I placed four Devastator Three missiles in a twenty-meter area on the AI’s energy screen and then sent two more through the resulting twelve-meter hole to impact and explode on the ship’s hull. If you noticed, I used three strikecruisers, with two of them hitting the screen over a larger area with Devastator Threes.”
Lieutenant Preston did some additional checking and then turned back toward Ariel. “Your ships did receive some damage,” he informed her. “It’s moderate, and all three ships are still capable of another attack, but as the AIs learn that the strikecruisers are a danger to them they will start to make their destruction a priority. Each subsequent attack is going to be more difficult and dangerous.”
Ariel nodded in agreement. She folded her arms across her breasts and pondered what the lieutenant had just said. He was right of course, once the AIs realized that only the strikecruisers and the StarStrike were a danger to them they would place a high priority on their destruction. She would have to run more simulations on how best to increase the survivability of the strikecruisers. Even as she thought about this, she saw Jeremy enter the Command Center, nodding at Lieutenant Preston she walked over to the command console where Jeremy had gone.
“Hello, Admiral,” Ariel spoke in her pleasing, female voice.
“Hello, Ariel,” replied Jeremy, smiling.
Ariel was a mainstay; for all of his adult life she had been around. Even when he had been serving on the light cruisers after the New Horizon incident she had been waiting for him any time he returned to the academy on the Moon.
“Admiral Sheen and Second Fleet will be departing soon,” Ariel informed Jeremy, knowing he would want the current status of Second Fleet’s departure.
“Were all the repairs completed?” Jeremy asked as he sat down and looked across the Command Center. It was only partially staffed as they were still docked to the space station.
“Except for two light cruisers that will remain in the repair docks,” Ariel reported as she called up the latest status on the two crippled warships. “They still like another forty-eight hours before the engineers are finished with the repairs. Both ships were heavily damaged in the last battle with the Hocklyns and were fortunate to be able to make it here.”
Jeremy nodded as he ordered the communications officer to contact Admiral Sheen on the WarStorm. Jeremy spoke briefly with the admiral, wishing them luck in the coming battle and promising that her other two ships would be repaired shortly.
“Put Second Fleet up on the tactical display,” Jeremy ordered as he walked over to the plotting table.
Instantly, the tactical hologram lit up with fifty-nine bright green icons representing Second Fleet. Even as he watched, the fleet began moving away from the protection of the bears’ planet and toward the edge of the planet’s gravity well where Second Fleet would jump to their rendezvous with Admiral Adler and Admiral Gaines. The fleet’s destroyers would jump to Admiral Streth’s position while the remainder of her fleet would jump to the rendezvous point.
-
Amanda was sitting in her chair behind her command console on the WarStorm watching as the fleet neared the edge of the gravity well where they could jump. The last several weeks had been interesting, to say the least. Richard showing up with Admiral Teleck had been a shock and the time they had been able to spend together at the resort had been fantastic. The beach resorts the bears had built upon their planet to allow the humans of the fleet to take leave were wonderful. They were very similar to the ones on New Tellus and Earth itself.
Commander Evans had taken overseeing to the repairs of the fleet and had insisted that Amanda spend all of her time with Richard. Samantha had reminded Admiral Sheen, in no uncertain terms, that she could handle the repairs and that the admiral needed to spend this time with her husband as it might be months before they saw each other again.
Amanda had relented and agreed to stay at the resort. Well was she aware that when she did see Richard again, a Hocklyn and possibly an AI fleet would be just behind her. She would be bringing death and destruction with her.
“Ready to jump,” Commander Evans reported from her position at the plotting table as the fleet cleared Careth’s gravity well.
“Very well,” replied Amanda, looking over at the commander. “Order the jump and let’s go kick some Hocklyn ass.”
In front of the fleet, spatial vortexes began to form. The ships of Second Fleet entered the vortexes one by one and jumped into hyperspace. Behind them, the vortexes collapsed and vanished as if they had never been. Admiral Sheen watched until only the WarStorm was left, then her ship entered the vortex in front of it and she felt the familiar nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach as the ship made the transition from normal space to hyperspace.
On the main viewscreen, she gazed at the swirling dark purple colors of hyperspace and felt some comfort. Ships could not be attacked in hyperspace, and they would be in no danger until they exited the spatial vortexes. Amanda knew that Admirals Adler and Gaines would be waiting for her, and once Second Fleet arrived, they would finish planning their attack on the Hocklyn fleet.
-
Jeremy watched as the WarStorm vanished from the tactical display and Second Fleet was gone. He let out a deep breath. For some reason, he had felt more secure with Admiral Sheen and her fleet in the system. He knew it was because she was a highly experienced admiral and well trusted friend of Fleet Admiral Streth.
“Admiral,” Ariel spoke quietly as she stepped closer. “Grayseth is on the station and wants to launch some of the new Talon fighters and Anlon bombers. He says he has a number of pilots that have finished their training on the simulators and are anxious to try out the real thing.”
Jeremy smiled. He was curious to see what type of pilots the bears would make. He had a suspicion they would be fearsome pilots and would give the Hocklyns fits in combat.
“Tell Grayseth I will be over shortly,” Jeremy replied. This should be interesting.
He would also be talking to Commander Susan Marks of the battle carrier Retribution. It might be a good idea to pair up some of the bear pilots with human ones for the next part of their training. Susan was an expert when it came to training pilots from her previous experience a number of years back as head instructor at one of the flight schools at New Tellus. She had already been instrumental in programming the simulators the bears had been using.
-
On board the space station, Grayseth and a
number of bear pilots were in one of the station’s large flight bays, inspecting the new fighters and bombers that had been dropped off by the supply fleet. Many more would be coming on the next two supply missions, giving the bears an even greater opportunity to protect their world.
The new fighters were sleek, though the cockpits and controls had been enlarged to allow a bear to operate the deadly little spacecraft. Grayseth looked at where two of the human’s Hunter interceptor missiles could be placed beneath the small stubby wings of the fighters. They could operate in the atmosphere of a planet, if necessary, though they were more at home in space.
“The humans make excellent fighters,” one of the pilots spoke as he ran his large hair-covered hand gently over the hull of one of the ships. “They will serve us well in our war with the evil ones.”
Several others nodded in agreement. Grayseth wished they could make fighters such as these on Careth, but the technology was too far advanced. It would take too much time to build the factories to make all the parts necessary to construct a fighter. No, for this they would have to depend on the humans and, so far, the humans had been very generous in their aid.
“We will hunt together,” one of the pilots spoke solemnly as he looked at the sleek fighters and bombers that were lined up in the bay.
“Yes,” replied Grayseth, feeling pride for his people. “We will hunt together and make the evil ones pay for what they did to our world and our colony. The people of Careth will never be slaves again!”
Jeremy had just entered the flight bay and heard the conversation between Grayseth and his pilots. He knew the bears spoke the truth. They would fight until they either won or their world was destroyed, and Jeremy had already sworn to himself that he would do everything in his power to prevent Grayseth and his people from dying. The bears were worthy allies of the Federation, and they would stand together against the Hocklyns and the AIs. They would either live together in victory or die together in combat. There could be no other way.
The Slaver Wars: Retaliation (The Slaver Wars Book Five) Page 8