“What about Careth?” High Leader Nartel forced himself to ask. “What is to become of it?”
“Your follow up fleet will be used to annihilate it!” the AI commanded his mechanical voice rising in intensity. “Destroy the system! The Carethians have been exposed to the humans for too long and must be eliminated.”
“It will be so ordered,” Nartel replied evenly. He knew from reports that the Carethians were highly advanced and destroying that system with the humans present might prove to be both difficult and costly. They would also be losing a valuable slave race.
“There will be ten of our ships accompanying the main fleet,” the AI added as it came over and hovered close to Nartel as if trying to make a point. “The humans must be driven back to their worlds!”
“With the new weapons you have furnished us, it will be done,” Nartel spoke as he took a step back. It almost felt as if he could feel an electrical charge coming from the AI.
“It had better be a successful campaign,” the AI warned. “We will not accept failure! You have already experienced once what happens when we are displeased.”
The AI turned and left the council chambers, followed by the other three. None of the other AIs had spoken, but their presence had been enough to shake the council.
“Ten AI ships,” Ruthan breathed in shock. “Never have they gathered such a force.”
“It’s the humans,” Berken stated as he looked at the other councilors. “For some reason they greatly fear them.”
“Something from the remote past,” High Leader Nartel suggested as he gazed at the now closed doors. He was relieved the AIs were gone. “We must prepare the second fleet to attack Careth as well as sweep the area the humans took from us for any of their ships that might escape our initial assault upon their main fleet.”
“We should send a large number of scout cruisers along with the second warfleet,” Councilor Ruthan added, his eyes still showing fear at being so close once more to an actual AI. “They can be used to search the area for any humans that the main fleet may have missed.”
Nartel nodded; this was a good suggestion and he would order it to be done. “Commodore Krilen will be advanced to the rank of Fleet Commodore and placed in charge of our follow up fleet. He has faced the humans and learned how they fight. He will not make the same mistakes again in battle or his honor will greatly suffer.”
“Make sure that Krilen understands the importance of his mission,” Berken spoke in his rasping voice. “He must understand what the price of failure will be, not just upon him but upon all of us.”
“It will be stressed,” Nartel assured the councilor. Nartel would make sure that Krilen had a large enough fleet that failure would be impossible. Krilen would sweep Careth and the humans defending it into oblivion.
The meeting broke up, and High Leader Nartel went up to his office. Going in, he stepped over to the balcony that allowed him a view of the capital and the sky above. It was late afternoon, but the sunlight seemed dim due to all the artificial structures in orbit. Enough light came through to allow some plant growth but as he looked over the massive city, which ruled the Hocklyn Slave Empire, there was very little green to be seen. The air was clearer than normal today, and he could see across most of it. Millions of Hocklyns lived and worked in the capital, ensuring that the Empire continued to grow and that a firm grip was maintained on the thousands of slave worlds that served the Empire.
Nartel wished he knew why the AIs seemed to fear the humans so much. Granted they were fearsome warriors, but they could be killed as had been demonstrated by Hocklyn warships. Looking upward toward space, Nartel thought about the new law he was about to propose. Strict population controls for the entire Hocklyn race that would be highly unpopular. Several members of the High Council would oppose it, even though there was no other choice.
In twenty more years, their population would outgrow the ability of the ten star systems they called home to feed and house them. There would be widespread starvation as it would be impossible to bring in and process the food and resources the increasingly massive population would need. It would also become impossible to build sufficient habitats quickly enough to match the estimated population growth.
There was a slim hope to avoid this if the AIs would grant them the right to colonize more star systems as the High Council had previously proposed, but High Leader Ankler had destroyed that hope once before. Perhaps if the war against the humans was a success, that hope could become a reality once more. Nartel thought long and hard and decided it might be best to wait until the war with the humans was over before he brought forth a vote on his new law. He couldn’t risk a possible uprising of the civilian population while this new war was going on.
Nartel let out a heavy sigh of frustration. These humans had ruined everything, and they had to be dealt with. He turned and went back to his desk, sitting down. Taking his blade out of its sheath, he examined it closely. It was made out of the strongest metal, and its hilt was decorated in fine jewels. The blade was sharp enough to cut easily through the light battle armor worn in honor duels. Sighing deeply, he put the blade away.
It was a shame this war couldn’t be decided by an honor duel between him and the human leader. Leaning back, he closed his large eyes as he thought about the AIs and their demands that the humans be destroyed. They were keeping something about the humans a secret and Nartel would give almost anything to know what that secret was.
-
Jeremy was aboard the Avenger studying the latest readiness reports of his fleet as well as the bears. Another shipment of the new fighters and bombers had arrived and been delivered to the bears on the massive space station. The Carethians were flying numerous training flights daily as they tried to ramp up their flying ability to match the humans. Each day, several squadrons of human fighters would engage an equal number of bear fighters in war games. So far, the humans were undefeated, but the bears were rapidly closing the gap as they gained experience.
“The supply fleet today brought an additional quantity of Devastator Threes,” Colonel Malen reported, pleased with the number they had on hand. All the battlecruisers and strikecruisers now had an adequate supply plus there was a large reserve on several ammunition colliers that were in orbit beneath the satellite grid. A Monarch cruiser and four light cruisers were also guarding the two ammunition ships to ensure nothing happened to them.
“I sent a request to Governor Malleck about equipping the space station with power beams,” Jeremy said, looking over at his executive officer.
Colonel Malen’s eyes widened as she thought about what Jeremy had just said. “President Kincaid won’t like that,” she commented, pursing her lips. “He may feel as if you’re trying to go around him.”
“I know,” said Jeremy, allowing frustration to enter his voice. “But we need those power beams to ensure the survivability of the station. We’ve put a lot of heavy pulse laser turrets on it, but they’re not power beams.”
“Have you spoken to Admiral Streth about this?” asked Malen, feeling uneasy about going around President Kincaid. She agreed that they needed the power beams, but she wasn’t sure Admiral Strong had made a good decision in bypassing the Federation president. There was such a thing as the chain of command.
“Yes,” Jeremy replied. “Admiral Streth said he wouldn’t object if I sent a private message to Governor Malleck. However, he was unwilling to broach the subject to the president again.”
The president had already denied Fleet Admiral Streth’s request for power beams for the bears. It had been a hard decision for Jeremy to decide to approach Governor Malleck, but without the power beams he wasn’t sure he could hold Careth. Jeremy’s eyes strayed to the large viewscreen on the front wall of the Command Center. A beautiful blue and white globe floated there. Jeremy had swore to Grayseth that he would defend the planet and stand side by side with the bears when the Hocklyns returned.
“Governor Malleck will likely give you the power beam
installations,” Ariel said as she appeared at Jeremy’s side. The dark haired AI had a look of confidence about her as she continued. “He will not let anything happen to the Special Five if he can help it.”
-
Kevin had overheard the private conversation between Jeremy and Colonel Malen and now Ariel. “What do the rest of you think?” Kevin asked as he gazed over at Angela and Kelsey who were at their duty stations and explained what he had overheard. This was the first time in several weeks that they had all been on board the Avenger together.
“I think we should put power beams on the station,” Angela replied as she monitored the communications between various units of the fleet. “We need to do everything we can to protect the bears.” Angela had become quite fond of the bears after getting to know them better. The female Carethians were very friendly, and she had met several of them at the resorts.
“I agree,” responded Kelsey, fervently. “Jeremy is doing the right thing; we need those weapons! Surely Governor Malleck will agree.”
She knew that by adding power beams to the orbiting space station, it would give them a more commanding presence in orbit. She was extremely worried about what would happen when the Hocklyns and the AIs finally returned. When they did, she knew they would be bringing a powerful warfleet that would be very difficult to stop.
“Jeremy has committed us to protecting the bears,” Kevin spoke firmly. He had made several friends over on the space station and learned a lot about the Carethians over the last few months. He would hate to see anything happen to them. “I can’t see Governor Malleck turning him down; surely they will send us the power beam installations.”
He had spoken to Katie about this in depth, and she too was adamant that they do everything in their power to protect the Carethians. It was one of the reasons the young lieutenant was spending so much time on the space station doing all she could to update the station’s computer systems. Kevin strongly suspected that when Katie was finished the bears’ space station might have better computer systems than anything in the Federation. He smiled to himself. Over the last few months, he and Katie had grown quite close, and they had even spoken briefly about a future together.
Ariel was listening quietly to her friends talk. She enjoyed listening to them as they spoke about different things and walked over toward them. Over their private communications channel she said, “Governor Malleck wants to maintain an advanced base to be used to return to the old Federation someday. This system fits those needs quiet well. I suspect we will see the power beam equipment very shortly after he receives Jeremy’s request for it.”
“Especially since the ship from New Providence is now at Ceres,” Angela added, her eyes looking at the others. All five of them knew about the New Providence ship and had spent a considerable amount of time discussing just what it might mean for the future.
Kelsey nodded. She suspected that Ariel and Angela were correct in their supposition. Between Admiral Teleck and Governor Malleck, Jeremy would get what he wanted. Kelsey finished her last practice jump program and turned around to look at Jeremy. He was still speaking to Colonel Malen. Kelsey felt a warm feeling inside just looking at Jeremy.
They were closer than they had ever been before and she knew most if not all of the crew knew of their relationship. For now, it wasn’t a problem, but when they returned to Federation space, she knew they might be separated because of it. Not just her and Jeremy, but probably Kevin and Katie also. Fleet doctrine specifically forbid close personal relationships between members of the command crew. Letting out a deep sigh, Kelsey decided not to worry about it for now. It might be quite some time before they returned to the Federation.
-
Later, the six of them were in the officer’s mess eating a warm meal. All except Ariel, of course, she had joined them in her holographic form to make interaction easier.
Angela looked over at Kevin and laughed. “What would you do if the cooks ever run out of hamburgers and fries?” she asked, shaking her head at the large, double meat hamburger surrounded by fries on his plate. “Katie, you have got to get him to start eating something else!”
Katie giggled and nodded. “While we were at the resort we tried one of the restaurants, and they didn’t have hamburgers on the menu. I thought he was going to die!”
Jeremy smiled as he listened. “I can imagine. For as long as I have known Kevin, he eats hamburgers at least once a day.”
“What did he eat?” Angela asked curiously. She had met a marine captain while at the resort and spent much of her time with him. They had made plans to get together again the next time they both had leave.
“A steak!” Katie replied to everyone’s surprise. “He actually ate a steak and a baked potato.”
Angela looked over at Kevin with wonderment on her face. “Did you have to choke it down?”
Kevin face turned a little red but he answered anyway. “I like hamburgers and fries, I always have, but I also don’t mind a good steak every once in a while.”
Jeremy nodded. He didn’t mind a good steak either if it was cooked just right. He looked over at Kelsey and could see the smile on her face as she talked. Their little group was very special, and he hoped nothing would ever break it up, but he also knew that people changed over time, and someday the couples in the group would have to make some decisions. Fortunately, that time was still quite a ways off.
Ariel watched the other five and smiled inwardly. She was quite pleased with Jeremy and Kelsey’s relationship and had been mildly surprised when Katie and Kevin had paired off. She hoped that someday she would have a new set of special children to watch over. But for now, they had a war to fight and win, and the odds were not stacked in their favor.
-
The next day, Jeremy was back on the space station meeting with Grayseth and Admiral Stillson. They were making plans on how best to defend the Carethian system when the Hocklyns finally launched their attack.
“I say we let the Hocklyns come to us,” Admiral Stillson suggested as he walked slowly around a large tactical hologram that showed the space around Careth. “We don’t have the fleet units to meet them in open battle. I feel we should lure them down into range of the satellite defensive grid and use it plus our ships to cut them down to size.”
“Only problem is I don’t want to be throwing Devastator Threes around that close to the planet,” Jeremy objected as he gazed at all the icons displayed in the hologram. “We could end up taking out a large part of our defense grid ourselves.”
Grayseth stood and walked over to the tactical display crossing his powerful bearlike arms. “What about the space station?” he asked. “It will be the primary target in any attack by the Hocklyns. It is above the defense grid, and with its shields you could use your more powerful missiles without the fear of damaging the grid. It will also provide some much needed protection for your ships.”
“We could also order any heavily damaged ships to retreat beneath the grid,” commented Jeremy, liking the idea. “That would lessen our fleet losses.”
Admiral Stillson rubbed his brow with his left hand as he thought over the idea. “It just might work. However, I have another suggestion. What if we place about a dozen of the new defensive battle stations around the space station to give it some added protection?”
“We want to shoot their missiles down, particularly their nukes,” Grayseth spoke as he eyed the hologram. “We now have factories on Careth turning out new laser and railgun defensive satellites. What if we put a couple hundred of them around the station as well? It would add even more protection to the fleet as well as to the space station.”
“The battle stations could command them,” Admiral Stillson added as he thought the suggestion over. “We could mix in some missile platforms as well.”
Jeremy nodded. They had the beginnings of a plan that might just allow them to hold Careth. It all depended on one important factor; how many AI ships would jump in with the Hocklyn fleet? The AI’s weapon
s could blast right through their energy screens and cause immeasurable damage before the Devastator Threes could be brought to bear.
“We will also have a huge advantage in fighters and bombers,” Grayseth added. He had given the order to add two more large flight bays to the station. Each bay would hold two hundred additional fighters and the same amount of bombers. If everything worked out, Carethian pilots would operate all of these.
“What if we used your small attack craft at the same time we launch our bomber strike?” Admiral Simpson added. He knew the versatile, one hundred meter ships could be deadly if used along with the fleet’s bombers, particularly with their newly installed energy shields.
“I will speak to the commanders of our ships,” Grayseth replied as he nodded his head. “It will be wise for them to begin practicing some maneuvers with the bombers. We have enough trained Carethian pilots to begin such training now.”
“We still need approval for the power beam installations,” Jeremy added with a heavy sigh. If he could add them to the station, he could almost double its firepower. While it would be no threat to an AI ship, it would play havoc with attacking Hocklyn warships.
“How soon before we know?” asked Admiral Stillson, glancing over at Jeremy. He knew how important the power beams were if they wanted to hold the system.
“Soon,” Jeremy replied. “The next major supply fleet is due in two weeks. If there are no power beam installations accompanying that fleet then I fear my request will have been denied.”
“I was up in the Command Center earlier,” Admiral Stillson said as he returned to the conference table and poured himself a glass of cold water. “The new computer system that Lieutenant Johnson is setting up is remarkable. It can lock on and fire at multiple targets simultaneously, delivering a tremendous amount of firepower. I spoke with Ariel, and she informed me that they will be able to hit a dozen targets at once using every weapon on the station. I would not want to be on the receiving end of that kind of firepower.”
The Slaver Wars: Retaliation (The Slaver Wars Book Five) Page 13