Colonel Grissom breathed a sigh of relief. Any threat of data getting back to the AIs about the defenses they had set up above the former Hocklyn fleet base was now gone.
Admiral Streth could feel the tension evaporate from the Command Center with the AI’s destruction. “Clarissa, are you detecting anything worth salvaging?” Hedon would love to get his hands on some of the AI’s tech.
“No,” replied Clarissa, looking over at the admiral and shaking her head. “I’m scanning the wreckage, but I am not detecting any active power sources or signs of surviving weapons. I believe the AIs have their self-destructs set to go off in the most sensitive areas of their ships that contain the highest levels of technology. They may do this to ensure that their technology remains a secret.”
Hedon nodded. They had found nothing in the two previous AI ships they had destroyed several months back. “Nevertheless, I want to search that wreckage. Colonel Trist, as soon as our other ships get here I want a thorough search of what remains of that AI ship.”
“Yes, Sir,” Trist replied.
“I don’t think we will find much,” commented Colonel Grissom, turning to face the admiral.
“What about our damage?” Hedon continued. He could see several glaring red lights on the damage control board. He knew energy beams had hit the StarStrike at least twice, perhaps more. It pained him to see his flagship damaged, but this had been a necessary battle in his opinion.
“The forward hull has been compromised in several areas,” Trist replied as he quickly spoke to the damage control teams who were in that area of the ship over his mini-com. “We also have a major hull breach near Engineering in section fifty-two. We have four decks open to space and the damage control team is reporting we have a six-meter hole in our hull.”
Hedon winced. It was going to take the fleet repair ships at least several days to repair the damage. “What about casualties?”
“Twenty-four confirmed,” Colonel Trist reported. “Another sixty-eight suffered injuries. Six of those are critical.”
Hedon nodded, feeling pain at the losses. He would make it a point to visit sickbay to speak to the injured as soon as he could.
“Contacts!” Reynolds reported suddenly as five new contacts flared up on his sensor screen. Then he relaxed as they turned a friendly green. “Admiral Adler has jumped into the system.”
“Admiral Adler is requesting orders,” Captain Janice Duncan reported from Communications.
“Have them jump to our location,” Hedon ordered. “They’re going to help us search the wreckage of the AI ship.”
Hedon allowed himself to relax. The threat from the AI ship was gone, and it wouldn’t be going home with any of the information that it had been gathering. Reaching to his chest, Hedon unfastened the safety harness and stood up walking over to stand next to Colonels Trist and Grissom.
Colonel Trist looked over at the admiral. He had known Admiral Streth since he had first been assigned to the original StarStrike back in the old Federation. “How much longer before the big attack?” he asked.
“It’s hard to say,” replied Hedon, taking a deep breath. “There has been no sign of any large Hocklyn ship movements since we took out the majority of the Hocklyn fleet that had been nearing Careth. The latest reports from Admiral Sheen indicates that her stealth scouts haven’t found anything either.”
“Intelligence estimates we have at least several more weeks minimum,” Colonel Grissom stated.
“You still think they’re rearming?” asked Trist, wondering what type of weapons they might be up against when the Hocklyns finally did attack.
“Yes,” Hedon replied evenly. “That’s the only explanation for this long delay. The AIs want to ensure a quick victory and will undoubtedly attack in what they feel is overwhelming force. I just hope that by destroying this AI ship today, it buys us another week or so.”
“It should,” agreed Colonel Grissom with a nod as she turned and walked over to one of the tactical displays. She wanted to replay the AI’s destruction to see if she could learn anything new.
Colonel Trist was quiet as he watched Admiral Adler’s ships vanish on the tactical screen to appear only moments later twelve hundred kilometers away from the StarStrike. “Hedon,” he spoke in a much quieter voice. “Do you honestly think we will ever get to return home someday?”
Hedon gazed over at the colonel. “I hope so,” he replied with a sigh. “We already know there are survivors on New Providence. If we could just find a way to fortify that planet we might be able to retake all the old worlds of the Federation and bring them back under our control. If we’re successful in luring the Hocklyns and AIs back to New Tellus and inflicting major damage to their fleet, that is what I intend to propose to the Federation Council.”
“A return home,” Trist spoke, his eyes growing wide with hope. “Do you really think it’s possible?”
“We have several big battles to fight first,” Hedon replied, his eyes showing that he firmly believed that he would see the shores of that small lake on Maken where his brother and Lendle had built a summer cabin. “Someday we will return home, I promise.”
-
Amanda looked at the latest reports coming in from the returning stealth scouts. Hocklyn ships were few and far between. They had searched deep into Hocklyn space to a depth of nearly forty light years and had not located any significant fleet formations. They had found a few small bases, but they possessed only minor fleet units. Normally a war cruiser and half a dozen escorts were all that could be found. It had been tempting to launch a strike and destroy these small fleets, but Amanda knew that Admiral Streth wanted it to look as if the Hocklyns had stopped the Human advance into their territory.
“That’s the last scout,” Commander Evans reported as the flight bay reported the small ship had landed and been secured.
“Prepare the fleet to jump,” Amanda ordered. It was time to return to Admiral Streth’s location.
“Where are the Hocklyns?” Commander Evans asked with a frown on her face. “You would think that if they were preparing to attack there would be some sign of gathering fleet units.”
“That’s what frightens me,” Amanda replied her eyes showing her deep concern. “The Hocklyn Slave Empire has thousands of ships at its disposal, but we just aren’t seeing them.”
“Do you think it’s because of the two AI ships we destroyed?” Commander Evans suggested. It was the only thing she could think of.
“Perhaps,” Amanda responded. “From what intelligence we have gathered those are the first two AI ships that have ever been destroyed. The AIs may have been knocked for a loop when they realized that we could destroy their ships. I fear that when they do attack it will be with a fleet much larger than anything we have ever seen before.”
Commander Evans remained silent as she thought about Amanda’s words. She wondered just how large a fleet the Hocklyns were gathering.
-
“We’re going back to the fleet base,” Lieutenant Stalls spoke to Lieutenant Trask over their private communication channel.
“I’m glad,” Angela responded. “It makes me nervous to be so close to Hocklyn space.”
“Admiral Sheen is a good commander,” Benjamin replied. “She would never let anything happen to us.”
“It will be over soon,” Lieutenant Ashton spoke from Navigation. She had just finished entering the next hyperjump into the navigation computer. She turned her blonde head toward the other two. “Once we get back to New Tellus we will all get a nice long leave. I don’t know about you two, but I could use some serious beach time.”
Benjamin and Angela nodded. The beaches at New Tellus sounded so inviting, but they had a lot of fighting to do before they saw them again. Benjamin turned his attention back to his sensor screens. He just hoped they all made it through the coming months safely.
-
Amanda was in her quarters relaxing. It would take three more days to reach Admiral Streth’s base of operation
s. By the time they made it back, most of her ships that were being repaired at Careth should be waiting to rejoin Second Fleet. From what she understood there were no more planned operations against the Hocklyns until they mounted their main attack.
Once that happened the fleet would bleed the Hocklyns and the AIs as much as possible and then began a fighting withdrawal back toward Federation space. The eventual goal was to lead them to the New Tellus system and hope that the massive fortifications in the system could destroy the invading fleet.
Amanda walked over and entered her bedroom. She removed her uniform and stepped into the shower. She closed her eyes as she felt the warm water coating her body, wishing that Richard were here. It was times like this that she really missed him.
After drying off from her shower, Amanda lay down on her bed and tried to relax. She was still having trouble sleeping after the deaths of so many people under her command. Many times when she did finally manage to fall asleep, she had the same recurring nightmare. In her dream, she saw the worlds of the new Federation on fire with a massive fleet of AI ships above each world.
Chapter Ten
Admiral Teleck was meeting with Governor Malleck and Admiral Kalen to discuss Admiral Strong’s most recent request. It had been a heated conversation so far.
“Power beams!” Governor Malleck exclaimed with a worried frown on his face. “President Kincaid will never agree to that. How can Admiral Strong make such a request and why didn’t he go through President Kincaid and the Federation Council?”
Admiral Teleck was silent for a moment as he thought over Jeremy’s request. “He needs those power beam installations so he can hold the bears’ planet,” Teleck spoke in a soft voice. “With power beams on the space station, he might just be able to stop the Hocklyns from retaking Careth.”
“Admiral Strong didn’t go through President Kincaid because I suspect he has already been turned down,” Admiral Kallen added. “Fleet Admiral Streth may have suggested that he go around the president and the council by going straight to us.”
“I don’t know,” muttered Governor Malleck, knowing there would be some serious repercussions if President Kincaid ever found out that Ceres had sent such installations to Admiral Strong without permission from the Federation Council. “If his request has already been turned down by the Federation Council, how can we seriously consider ignoring their decision?”
“What if we don’t send the installations and Admiral Strong and his crew are killed defending the Carethians?” Admiral Kalen asked, his eyes showing deep concern. “What would the people of Ceres as well as the rest of the Federation think when they learn that we refused to give Strong the weapons that he requested?”
“It wouldn’t look good, and it would be a major blow to morale in the Federation,” Governor Malleck admitted, not liking where this conversation was going. While Ceres did have some autonomy in how its forces and weapons were used, this went way above that. “Admiral Teleck, what do you suggest we do?” Malleck had always trusted the admiral’s advice.
“Governor, our power beams are just one step ahead of the Hocklyn’s energy beams,” Admiral Teleck pointed out. “I strongly suspect that when the AIs are finished upgrading the Hocklyn fleet there won’t be much difference between the two.”
Malleck put his hand to his forehead and rubbed it. No matter what he did there were going to be repercussions. But there was one thing he did know; the crew of the Avenger could not be allowed to die because Ceres refused to act. He leaned back and let out a heavy sigh. “Do it,” he ordered, his face showing renewed determination at what must be done. “Send Admiral Strong the power beam installations and whatever else he might need. Do it discretely; I don’t want word of this to get out, at least not for a while.”
Governor Malleck knew that, at some point, President Kincaid and the Federation Council would discover what they had done. When that day came, all hell would probably break loose in the council chambers and he would be in the middle of it.
“I will see to it,” Admiral Teleck replied, pleased with the governor’s decision, and then looking at Governor Malleck, he continued. “Keep in mind that if Admiral Strong can hold the bears’ system we have a forward base to use to someday retake our former worlds.”
“Speaking of our former worlds, our friends from New Providence will be back in a few more days,” Governor Malleck said, feeling a headache coming on. “They’re currently on a tour of the Federation as well as our allies. They will be expecting us to inform them of our decision to furnish them with Devastator Three missiles and an adequate delivery system.”
“I have spoken to our engineers who designed our defensive battle stations,” Admiral Kalen said, placing his hands on the conference table. “They have come up with a new design that will be able to handle Devastator Three missiles with the necessary computers and targeting systems to destroy an AI ship.”
“Why do I feel I am not going to like this either?” Governor Malleck groaned, his eyes focusing on the admiral. “What are they suggesting?”
“They have designed a totally new battle station based on what will be needed to defend New Providence,” Kalen informed the governor. “The new battle station will be one hundred and fifty meters in diameter and have most of the functions of the old ones with several new innovations.”
“What are the innovations?” asked Malleck, knowing it was hard telling what the technicians and engineers had come up with. It was also probably going to be very expensive.
“The engineers are calling it a defensive battle station type two,” Kalen continued. He had spent considerable time with the engineers and technicians explaining exactly what would be needed in the new battle station in order for it to survive. “It is fully self-contained, has an upgraded energy shield, defensive lasers, four pulse laser turrets, interceptor missiles, and twelve Devastator Three missile tubes with a standard crew of fifty. It will be powered by a class one fusion reactor.”
“Crap, everything but a power beam,” Malleck said, shaking his head. “Why was a power beam not included? It seems as if everything else was.”
“No room for the installation,” confessed Admiral Kallen, recalling the argument about whether to include one or not. “By not having a power beam it leaves more power for the energy screen.”
“How long will it take to build one of these?” asked Admiral Teleck. If they could be built in time, he might suggest sending some to Admiral Strong. They were sending him everything else, why not these also? A number of these around his space station could be quite valuable in its defense.
“Three weeks until the first one rolls off the assembly line,” replied Kallen, looking over at Admiral Teleck. “We currently have two assembly lines producing the type one battle station; it won’t take much to change one of them over to produce the type two.”
“Make it so,” Governor Malleck ordered. “If this means we can someday return to the old Federation worlds then it must be done. When our people fled to Earth and then later to Ceres so many years ago, it has always been our intention to return home and free our worlds from the Hocklyns. This could be the first step in making that happen.”
“What about the Federation Council?” asked Admiral Teleck, knowing that what they were proposing to do would have to be run by them and approved.
This was much different than sending power beam installations to Admiral Strong. If they were successful, this could mean opening up an entire new offensive front against the Hocklyns and AIs deep within their own territory. It would also be placing the sixty million humans on New Providence in danger. They would be depending on the new Federation to carry through with their promise of providing the new battle stations, as well as the Devastator Three missiles.
“Let’s start construction first,” Governor Malleck suggested as an idea came to his mind. “If we have several completed type twos we could offer them to the Federation Council as a solution to protecting all of our planets and mining sites fro
m an AI attack and perhaps even protect our allies. That might be sufficient incentive to get the council to agree to allow us to send them to New Providence.”
“What do we tell Senator Arden?” asked Kallen, knowing the senator from New Providence would be expecting an answer when she returned to Ceres.
“I don’t think its practical to deploy these new battle stations to New Providence until after First Strike is completed and Admiral Streth has led the Hocklyns and AIs back to New Tellus,” Governor Malleck said, taking a deep breath and looking at the two admirals. “If we can win at New Tellus then I suggest we deploy the battle stations immediately and perhaps send Admiral Streth along with them.”
“The council may not agree to deploy any ships so far from the Federation,” spoke Admiral Kallen, realizing it could be a problem.
“If they don’t we’ll send a fleet from Ceres,” Governor Malleck answered, determined to help the people of New Providence. “We still have a substantial reserve of ships in our bays, and this may be a good use for a major portion of them.”
“How many of the new battle stations will we need to adequately defend New Providence from the AIs?” asked Admiral Teleck, looking over at Admiral Kalen.
“Sixteen should be sufficient, though I would recommend twenty-four if possible,” Kalen replied. “Once the production line is changed over we can produce eight per month of the new type two model.”
“Three months,” responded Admiral Teleck, leaning back and crossing his arms across his chest. “Admiral Streth is expecting the Hocklyns and AIs to attack his position in another four to eight weeks. We can expect the Hocklyns to reach New Tellus two weeks after that.”
“When I speak to Senator Arden I am going to recommend that they stay here at Ceres until after the Hocklyn attack,” said Governor Malleck, hoping that would not be a problem. “If we win at New Tellus, then the senator can return to New Providence at the head of a fleet, one that will free our home worlds.”
The Slaver Wars: Retaliation (The Slaver Wars Book Five) Page 15