Karla leaned back in her command chair. She needed to send a message to President Kincaid and inform him that New Tellus had survived. She also knew the Albanians had a lot of explaining to do. Once she had the message sent and a few more things attended to, she was determined to meet with the admiral in charge of the Albanian fleet and find out just what was going on.
-
Fleet Admiral Resmunt looked at the ruins of his fleet. Numerous ships were damaged and even as he watched several self-destructs went off, taking the ships with them. The other ships moved quickly away from the nuclear explosions to avoid any flying wreckage.
“Where did those ships come from?” First Leader Ganth demanded his large, dark eyes even wider than usual. “Their weapons cut right through the AI’s screens! How is that possible?”
“An ally of the humans,” spoke Resmunt, knowing it would be a long time before they dared to mount another attack on human space.
It would be necessary to approach the AIs about more weapons upgrades, particularly the new sublight anti-matter missiles they had used. He also had no idea where the AIs had vanished to; they had not come to the designated rendezvous.
Resmunt knew they were fortunate the new ships had concentrated on the AIs or the losses to the Hocklyn fleet could have been devastating. As it was, nearly sixty percent of his fleet had survived.
But the losses had been bad enough. Commodore Maseth and his flagship the Destiny of War were gone, as well as four other War Leaders. Over five hundred warships had been lost, including twenty-six dreadnoughts and thirty-one war cruisers, as well as hundreds of escorts. He still had a powerful fleet comprised of over eight hundred ships, but many of them were damaged, and it would take days of intensive work by the crews to make them fully combat ready again. Even then, there would be a lot of internal and hull damage that could not be fully repaired in space.
“We will return to Kenward Seven to repair and rearm the fleet,” Resmunt stated in a calm voice, knowing he had no other choice.
“Then we will return,” proclaimed Ganth, determinedly. “We will destroy the humans and add to our honor.”
“I don’t think so, at least not for a long while,” replied Fleet Admiral Resmunt, shaking his head. “I fear we will have to worry about preserving our Empire first. We have severely weakened the outlying areas from all the ships we have taken for this assault. The humans and their ally may take advantage of this to attack us.”
“We still have thousands of ships in the Empire,” replied First Leader Ganth, fearing that the commodore might indeed be correct. “It may take time as you have said, but eventually we will be victorious.”
Resmunt only nodded. He was not quite so sure. He now had a duty to perform that he had been delaying. The Liberator had an FTL communicator on it furnished by the AIs. It would allow him to send a message directly to the High Council. How they would take word of this defeat was unknown, but Resmunt could take solace in the fact that the AIs had also been defeated.
-
Admiral Teleck was in the Command Center of his flagship, the battlecruiser Ceres. He had been preparing to jump back to the Sol system when he received a new message from Fleet Admiral Johnson.
“Albanians,” Colonel Barnes repeated, her eyes growing wide in disbelief. She had met the Albanian ambassador to the Federation several times at state dinners put on by her father the senator from Ceres. “I thought they were pacifists.”
“Evidently not,” Admiral Teleck responded as he studied the message that Admiral Johnson had sent. “They attacked the AI ships besieging New Tellus and destroyed over ninety of them.”
Ninety of them!” Kathryn echoed, her eyes widening in astonishment “How?”
“Fleet Admiral Johnson reports the Albanian ships are equipped with some type of energy beam that cuts right through the AI’s shields,” Telleck replied almost in disbelief. “The Albanian ship’s energy shields are also immune to all of the AI’s weapons.”
“What should we do?” Kathryn asked. She had met Ambassador Tureen several times when he had visited Ceres, and she was curious as to what he would have to say about this sudden reversal in the Albanian’s attitude toward nonaggression. If she knew her father, Senator Barnes would have a lot of questions for the ambassador. “We always thought their advanced science would make a difference.”
“Fleet Admiral Johnson wants us to jump to New Tellus,” Admiral Teleck replied, his face showing deep concern. “They lost over sixty percent of the fleet and much of the rest is damaged. We’re to help with rescue operations as well as serve as a defensive force until they can get their remaining fleet units reorganized.”
“Fleet Admiral Streth?” asked Kathryn, hoping the legendary admiral had survived.
“He’s fine,” Teleck replied with a nod and then with an element of concern in his voice he continued. “Admiral Sheen was severely injured, and her flagship the WarStorm was destroyed. Set coordinates for the New Tellus system just outside of the planet’s gravity well. All ships are to standby to help conduct rescue operations; there are a lot of stranded pilots and damaged ships out there.”
A few moments later, blue white spatial vortexes formed in front of the eighty-one ships of the Ceres fleet and the ships quickly flew into them, jumping into hyperspace. The vortexes collapsed, leaving no trace of the ships. Space was empty as if nothing had ever been there.
-
Karl Arcles was on the battlecarrier Endurance waiting anxiously as dozens of pilots were being unloaded from rescue shuttles. Most had ejected just prior to their fighters or bombers being struck by Hocklyn missiles. A few had ejected when their craft had become too damaged to continue in the battle and could not make it back to the battlecarriers.
As each shuttle was unloaded, Karl searched the pilot’s faces hoping to spot Lacy. He still hadn’t given up hope that she had managed to eject and survived the battle.
“Still no sign?” Captain Stewart asked as he came to stand by Karl as another shuttle landed in the bay. Stewart was a squadron leader from the Endurance and had survived the battle with nearly half of his fighters.
“Not yet,” Karl replied somberly. “I can’t imagine she didn’t make it. She just has to be out there!”
“We lost a lot of good pilots,” Stewart continued in a grave voice. “I've never seen a battle like the one today. There were so many Hocklyn fighters, and the missile fire from their ships was intense. Most of our bombers were not able to complete their attack runs. I heard several of the bomber pilots talking about entire squadrons being wiped out, particularly when those two AI ships jumped in.”
Karl nodded; a number of fighter squadrons had suffered just as bad. Of his own squadron of twenty fighters, only eight had returned to the Endurance. His gaze focused on the recently arrived shuttle, and he saw four tired looking pilots step out. He felt disappointment flow through him. Each time a shuttle landed without Lacy her chance of being one of the survivors decreased.
“Who’s that?” Stewart asked as another pilot appeared in the door of the shuttle.
Karl looked back up and saw the familiar blonde hair. He knew instantly that it was her. “Lacy!” yelled Karl, feeling intense relief at seeing the young lieutenant.
Lacy looked up, and a big smile spread over her face as Karl ran up to her. “Did you miss me?” she asked with a grin.
Karl grabbed her and wrapped his arms around her in a big hug, lifting her up in the air. “Don’t you ever scare me like that again!”
“Yes, Sir,” replied Lacy, embarrassed at the embrace.
Karl let her go and stepped back. “What happened? One minute you were off my port wing and the next you were gone.”
“I got cut off by two Hocklyn fighters,” explained Lacy, recalling the horrifying experience. “I managed to take out one of them, but the other dropped in behind me and nailed my fighter with a missile. I managed to eject just before it hit.”
“You were lucky,” Captain Stewart said fro
m where he had been listening to the two. “A second or two more and you wouldn’t be here now.”
“I know,” Lacy replied her blue eyes focused on Karl. “But I am and I survived the battle.”
“Let’s go get you cleaned up and something to eat,” Karl said brusquely, feeling moistness in his eyes. “We have a squadron to put back together!”
-
Admiral Streth was busy reorganizing the surviving fleet ships into two combat ready task groups. While he didn’t think the Hocklyns or the AIs would return, he wasn’t going to take any chances. There were one hundred and two surviving Federation warships, not counting the destroyers. Thirty-four of those ships needed serious yard time and had headed to the shipyards.
Fleet destroyers were towing a few warships that had serious damage to their sublight drives toward waiting repair bays. Fortunately, a large number of the destroyers, which had been deployed in the defense grid, had survived. The ten fleet repair ships were also busy as there were not enough repair bays for all the damaged ships and one of the shipyards had been destroyed in the battle. Several others had suffered serious damage.
“We have sixty-eight ships that are still combat capable,” Colonel Trist reported as he finished going over the reports. “Most of those have minor to moderate damage.”
Hedon nodded; that was about what he had been expecting. “We will form two fleets using the StarStrike and the Tellus as flagships. That will put thirty-four ships in each fleet.”
“At least the Albanians are still here, and Admiral Teleck will be arriving soon,” Colonel Grissom added.
Looking at one of the tactical displays, she could see that all of the Albanian ships were circling New Tellus in low orbit and were deploying some type of widespread energy beam that was supposed to eliminate the radiation from the nuclear detonations on the planet’s surface. She hoped they were successful; New Tellus had been a beautiful world.
It had been a difficult day. Hedon let out a heavy sigh as he thought about everyone that had died. He knew that if not for the Albanians the New Tellus system and all the fleet units in it would have been destroyed. His quest to destroy the Hocklyns and someday rebuild that cabin on Maken would have come to an end. Looking at the planet on the main viewscreen, he knew from the latest reports that all the underground bunkers had survived. There had been very few civilian casualties on the surface of the planet, though it would be a while before it would be safe enough for some of them to emerge from the underground shelters.
In the last hour, a shuttle had arrived to take Amanda to the hospital in the command fortress. The command fortress had a large, modern hospital deep inside that could handle even the most serious of injuries, and Hedon wanted Amanda to have the best treatment possible. He had also notified Richard that she was coming over. Her husband would be waiting for the medical shuttle to dock.
“Admiral Teleck is arriving,” Captain Reynolds announced as numerous green icons began to appear just outside of the planet’s gravity well.
Hedon nodded. It was a relief to see the friendly green icons appearing on one of the tactical displays. A few moments later he watched as Admiral Teleck’s fleet began moving toward the gravity well of the planet. The battle was over, and he and the StarStrike had survived. Looking at another tactical display showing all the Albanian ships above New Tellus, he wondered what this could mean for the war. Already, in his mind he was thinking about the next steps that needed to be taken.
Captain Duncan leaned back as she listened to the various communications between fleet units. It was a relief to know that Admiral Teleck’s fleet had arrived. Janice knew all of them were fortunate to still be alive after the massive attack by the AIs and the Hocklyns.
Looking at Admiral Streth, she was surprised to see the look of confidence on his face; she wondered how much of that had to do with the Albanians. She knew that Hedon wanted to return to the old Federation worlds someday and free them from Hocklyn control. With an Albanian fleet to support him that might just happen much sooner than anyone had believed possible. If it did, she wanted to see this lake where Hedon wanted to build a cabin. She was extremely curious to see the world that Fleet Admiral Streth had come from.
Chapter Twenty-Four
President Kincaid had just finished a long private meeting with the Albanian ambassador and several important Federation senators. Some of the things Ambassador Tureen had revealed had been astonishing. It seemed that agents working for the Albanians had secretly furnished key parts of the science used to develop the sublight missiles to several Federation research scientists. There were also a few other important scientific advances that could be attributed directly to the Albanians. Tureen had gone on to assure Kincaid that Albanian interference in Federation affairs had been minimal since the Federation already had a powerful driving force in the old Federation survivors.
In his office now were Senator Barnes from Ceres and Senator Anderson from Earth. They were all quiet as the Albanian Ambassador left and they thought over what he had said. It had been a stunning development to learn that the Albanians were actually the Altons, the creators of the AIs.
“It seems as if they are willing to share some of their military technology,” Senator Barnes spoke. The entire council had been briefed on the battle at New Tellus and the difference the Alton ships had made.
Barnes was still waiting anxiously to hear from his daughter on the battlecruiser Ceres. Kathryn had not yet sent him a message, and he didn’t know if the Ceres had been involved in the fighting around New Tellus or not.
“Only some of it,” President Kincaid reminded him as he looked over at the large map of the galaxy. “They are willing to share their energy weapon technology that was so devastating to the AIs, but it will take a totally new type of power system.”
“A power system they are willing to furnish,” Senator Anderson spoke. He had been Earth’s Federation senator for nearly ten years. “The power system itself will allow for even stronger energy shields and an increase in the power of most of our current weapon systems.”
“Just from listening to Ambassador Tureen I got the impression that they are still hesitant about sending their warships too far from home,” commented Senator Barnes, raising his eyebrow.
“That’s what I understood also,” responded Kincaid, leaning back and placing his hands on his desk. “They are willing to make a few of their ships available to us in the short term, but the actual fighting in this war is going to be primarily left up to us and our other allies.”
“What about Careth and New Providence?” asked Barnes, thinking about Senator Arden back on Ceres. “With a few Albanian ships to support our fleet we could send a relief force to Admiral Strong as well as set up a defensive perimeter around New Providence.”
President Kincaid was silent for a long moment. “I strongly suspect that Fleet Admiral Streth is already planning that, but it’s going to take us a while to replace our fleet losses from Operation First Strike and the recent attack against New Tellus.”
“I agree,” replied Senator Barnes but then, leaning forward, he added, “If we can secure those two systems to use as advance bases in this war it might prevent the Hocklyns and the AIs from launching additional attacks against us here.”
“A strong reason for sending a relief fleet as soon as possible,” Kincaid conceded. It would also be devastating to the Federation if something happened to Admiral Strong and the crew of the Avenger.
“Can we design our strikecruisers to handle this new power system and energy weapon of the Albanians?” asked Senator Anderson. “I don’t think we can launch any type of relief mission until we have done so.”
“We need to talk to Fleet Admiral Johnson and Admiral Freeman,” replied Kincaid, knowing that Admiral Freeman would know more about that. “The Albanians will have to bring in the technicians and weapon specialists we’ll need to adapt this new technology to our warships. After I speak with Johnson and Freeman I will set up another meeting
with Ambassador Tureen to discuss that aspect.”
“It’s going to take a while,” sighed Senator Barnes. At least he could tell Senator Arden that there was hope for New Providence. He knew the ambassador was getting impatient to return home.
-
Outside the building that housed the Federation Senate Chambers, Ambassador Tureen was climbing into a ground car. An Alton ship had just gone into orbit, and he needed to go up to speak to its commander. One thing he had not revealed to President Kincaid was the fact that their warships were highly automated. On the ships that had gone to New Tellus, there were less than twenty Altons in the crew of each one.
For the majority of the Alton race, any type of armed or physical conflict was detestable. Only a small percentage of the Alton people could be counted on to participate in this war. That was the primary reason that the majority of their ships would be staying close to home, and the humans and their allies would have to carry the war to the Hocklyns and the AIs.
-
Admiral Andrews was waiting anxiously for the doctor that was examining Amanda to come out. Admiral Hazleton was currently busy coordinating the repairs for the remaining six asteroid fortresses. All six, including the command fortress, had suffered heavy damage in the attack. From the initial assessments, it would take years to repair all the damage.
The doctor came out and, upon spotting Richard, came over. “Your wife will be fine. She has a nasty bump on her head and will be under observation for the next forty-eight hours, but she should make a full recovery from this injury.”
“Can I see her?” Richard asked, his eyes focusing on the doctor. “Is she conscious?” When she had been brought off the medical shuttle, Amanda had looked very pale with a large bandage over her forehead. It had shaken Richard to see his wife looking so vulnerable.
“Barely,” the doctor replied. “You can go in to see her, but only briefly; she needs her rest.”
The Slaver Wars: Retaliation (The Slaver Wars Book Five) Page 36