The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book Four)

by Weil, Raymond L.

  “I was watching the drive,” interjected Ariel, defensively. “It’s fine, but I understand the chief engineer wanting to double check.”

  “Just a precaution,” responded Jeremy, calmly. “Ariel, you did fine in the battle, and your tactics against the Hocklyns were outstanding. Just understand we can’t do that very often. We have a fleet to command and the Avenger can’t go rushing off and leave them behind.”

  “I realize that, Admiral,” Ariel replied. She had already sent off a message to Clarissa telling her what had happened. Clarissa would be thrilled at hearing what Ariel had done.

  “What were our losses in the battle?” asked Jeremy, looking over at Colonel Malen.

  “We lost the destroyers Fredrick, Kincaid, and Darwin,” she replied as she studied the information on her computer screen. “We also lost the light cruiser Lightning.”

  Jeremy knew his fleet had gotten off lucky. Admiral Adler had launched his Anlon bomber strike at the most opportune moment. He was also relieved that Admiral Streth had said nothing to him about using the Devastator Three missiles. “What about damage, how did we come out on that?”

  “The Monarch cruiser Vengeance will need some yard time,” Malen answered, her eyes looking grim. “She took a heavy nuke to her port side. Commander Smith is reporting over two hundred casualties, but he says the Vengeance’s FTL drive is still fully operational. The light cruisers Kallen and Malven will also need some extensive yard time. They were pretty well pummeled there toward the end by the war cruisers. The rest of the ships are reporting minor to moderate damage.”

  “Admiral Streth has ordered us to report to New Tellus for repairs,” added Jeremy, recalling his short conversation with the Fleet Admiral. “We’re going to get some leave time at the New Tellus resorts while our ships are in the shipyards. Then it will be time to launch Operation First Strike.”

  Malen was quiet for a moment as she weighed Admiral Strong’s words. “I hope the admiral knows what he’s doing, that’s a significant part of the Fleet we’re committing to this.”

  “He’s Admiral Streth, of course he knows,” Jeremy responded in a firm and confident voice. “If anyone can hurt the Hocklyns, it’s him. Look at this battle, not a single Hocklyn ship escaped.”

  Malen nodded; of course Admiral Strong was right. She just wondered what was ahead for the Avenger. Once the operation was launched, they would be gone from the Federation for quite some time. She just hoped it was still there when they returned.

  -

  Katie was in her quarters with Angela. Katie’s quarters were quite large as part of it was dedicated to computer research. An intervening bulkhead had been removed to allow her the extra space she needed for all of her equipment.

  “What have you done now, Katie?” asked Angela, curiously. Since discovering that Katie had also gone into cryosleep, Angela and Katie had continued to grow their friendship.

  “Ariel, are you watching?” asked Katie, looking over at one of the monitors in the room.

  “Yes, Katie,” Ariel answered. These last few months being with Katie again had been fabulous for the AI. She had long since forgiven Katie for tricking her into getting on board the New Horizon.

  “I have something new for you, Ariel,” replied Katie, feeling excited about what she was about to do. She wanted Angela to be here to see it also.

  Katie stood up and, walking around her quarters and research area, turned on several pieces of equipment.

  “What are you up to, Katie?” asked Angela, sitting down in a chair in front of some computer equipment on a large table.

  Katie smiled mysteriously and, walking back over to a large computer console, pressed several icons on the screen. Instantly, a green haze seemed to appear throughout the room. After a moment, the haze faded as if it had never been there.

  “What was that?” asked Angela, looking around suspiciously. With Katie, anything was possible.

  “You know how the emitters work in the plotting table to generate a tactical image above it?” Katie asked as she turned around to face her friend.

  “Yes,” replied Angela, trying to figure out what Katie was up to. “They give us a three dimensional view of the space around us.”

  Smiling really big and with a twinkle in her green eyes, Katie turned and pressed another icon. Instantly, in the center of the room, a figure of a woman appeared. She was slightly taller than Angela was, with dark eyes, shoulder length black hair, and dressed in the full uniform of a fleet officer.

  “Ariel!” Angela screamed excitedly as she realized what Katie was up to.

  The figure turned to look at Angela with a look of confusion and then surprise as she gazed about.

  “Katie, how are you doing this?” Ariel asked as she took several tentative steps in Katie’s direction.

  Katie turned toward Ariel with a big grin on her face. “I have installed holographic emitters throughout my quarters,” she replied, reaching up and moving a wayward blonde curl from in front of her eyes. “I have written a new program that will allow you to see everything from the hologram’s perspective, and I also set it up so you can turn it on and off at will.”

  Angela stood up and, walking over to Ariel, reached out and touched her shoulder. She jumped as her hand passed completely through it. “You look so real,” Angela said, stepping back and gazing at the young woman in front of her.

  “I really like this,” Ariel said as she raised up her right hand and stared at it. “Thank you, Katie!”

  “You’re welcome, Ariel,” responded Katie, feeling extremely pleased. “This is something I have always wanted to do, but the technology just wasn’t there. In this new day and age, it is.”

  “Can we set these emitters up anywhere else?” asked Ariel, realizing how great this would be. She could interact with the crew much better this way.

  “I’m going to talk to Jeremy, but I would like to install them in the Command Center and the officer’s mess for now.”

  Ariel nodded as she walked slowly around Katie’s quarters. She marveled at how real this all seemed. She knew now that she had been right so long ago when she had told Jason Strong that Katie was something special.

  “Now let’s all sit down and talk,” suggested Katie, walking over and sitting down in a comfortable chair. “You need to get used to associating with people in this new way.”

  Ariel nodded and walked over to another chair. She hesitantly sat down and found it was no problem whatsoever. Then she looked down and noticed that her right hand had passed through the arm of the chair. She looked inquiringly at Katie.

  “We may have to modify the program a little,” Katie confessed as she watched Ariel. “It’s bound to have a few bugs in it.”

  “I think it’s wonderful,” replied Ariel, looking over at Angela and Katie with a big smile. “This is the best gift ever, Katie. How can I thank you?”

  “Just continue to watch over us,” answered Katie, nodding at Angela. “You seem to be very good at that.”

  Ariel smiled. She would always watch over the Special Five. They were her connections to her past, and they would always be important to her.

  -

  Jeremy watched from the Command Center, a few hours later, as the Avenger entered a swirling blue-white vortex. He felt the momentary queasiness as the ship jumped into hyperspace, and then everything returned to normalcy.

  Kelsey came to stand next to Jeremy and asked a simple question. “How soon do you think it will be before we launch First Strike?” The battle had made her nervous; all the friends she had left at this time were on the Avenger. Even the few new friends she had made on the ship would all be lost if something drastic happened.

  Jeremy paused for a moment. This battle had brought a lot of questions to his mind. He thought about the personal messages his father and mother had left him. Perhaps it would be a good idea for all of them to do some research just to see what kind of family they still had living. It would give them a connection to home, something
they might need when they left to fight the Hocklyns.

  “Probably four to six weeks,” Jeremy answered in a quiet voice, his eyes focused on the main viewscreen, which showed the swirling black and purple mass that was hyperspace.

  He pressed a button on his command console and the image vanished, to be replaced by one of Ariel. Jeremy was surprised because Ariel looked as if she were preoccupied, something he had never noticed before. Glancing over at Katie’s computer console, he noticed an ensign was operating it. Whatever Katie was up to, he was sure she was responsible for Ariel’s lack of attention to what was happening in the Command Center. He had a sneaking suspicion he would eventually find out, he just hoped it was nothing mind shattering. Then again, this was Katie and mind shattering seemed to be the norm for her.

  Then in a quieter voice, that no one could overhear, Kelsey added. “When we get to New Tellus and get everything sorted out, we’re going to spend some time at one of the seaside resorts. I need a good tan and the beach will be perfect. It will also be the last alone time you and I will have for quite sometime.”

  “Sounds fine to me,” Jeremy responded with a nod of his head.

  It was hard to be on the ship with Kelsey and keep his feelings for her hidden. Even though he suspected that Colonel Malen knew what was going on. The colonel missed very little of what went on aboard the Avenger.

  -

  The next day, Admiral Streth was aboard New Tellus Station having a meeting with Fleet Admiral Johnson and Admiral Teleck. They were discussing the battle above Caden’s World. Admiral Teleck had arrived in the battle cruiser Ceres, which was his flagship, so he could attend.

  “I understand why you held your ship units out as long as you did,” Admiral Teleck spoke. He was totally in agreement with the need to send the Hocklyns a message, to enter human space meant death!

  “I know how you feel about the Hocklyns,” Admiral Johnson spoke with a deep sigh. “But we lost a lot of ships, ships we might need later.”

  Hedon turned to face Admiral Johnson with a deadly serious look upon his face. “Admiral, I understand your concern. I hated sacrificing those ships as well, but you have to understand the enemy we face. They understand one thing and one thing only and that is brute force. From our latest count, we have eliminated four of their fleets that were guarding the new fleet bases they are building. I don’t expect those bases to be reinforced until they realize the fleets are not returning. Even then, it will take them several months to receive new ships. By not allowing a single Hocklyn ship to escape, we have ensured that we can strike without warning and without having to worry about heavy Hocklyn fleet units arriving shortly afterward. We will have months to prepare for the eventual counterattack and that will occur at least six to eight hundred light years from the Federation. That will buy you the time you need to finish your war preparations here.”

  “Admiral Streth’s right,” added Admiral Teleck, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest. “I know it’s hard to talk about acceptable losses, but this battle was necessary. The Hocklyns don’t know about us or what is coming at them. That is absolutely necessary if we want Operation First Strike to succeed.”

  Admiral Johnson closed her eyes briefly and then opened them. She knew the two admirals were right; it was just difficult to accept. “What were our final ship losses from the battle?”

  Rear Admiral Bennett looked at his computer screen setting on the conference table in front of him and called up the information.

  “Our total ship losses were four battle cruisers, two battle carriers, five Monarch heavy cruisers, eleven light cruisers, and twenty destroyers.”

  “Hocklyn losses?” asked Admiral Johnson, grimacing at the loss of life on the destroyed ships.

  “Ninety-six ships,” Bennett responded. “Eight dreadnoughts, twenty-four war cruisers, and sixty-four escort cruisers.”

  Admiral Johnson nodded. She knew it was a decisive victory any way you looked at it.

  She looked over at Major Ackerman, seeking additional information. “What does Intelligence have to say about all of this?”

  Major Ackerman looked around the group. “We believe all four of the fleets that the Hocklyns used came from their primary base located 680 light years from here. We recommend launching Operation First Strike as soon as possible to take advantage of their ship losses.”

  Admiral Johnson looked over at Rear Admiral Stillson. “What have your scouts found, anything new?”

  “We have been keeping about two hundred stealth scouts out at all times surveying Hocklyn controlled space,” Stillson replied. Standing up, he walked over to a computer console and, activating it, a detailed tactical hologram appeared.

  A large area of space six hundred light years from the Federation and extending back for about four hundred light years and a thousand light years across began flashing in a light yellow. Within that were a number of red and gold icons.

  “The red icons represent Hocklyn bases,” Stillson began. “There are twenty known Hocklyn bases in this area. Six are toward the front of their expansion and pose the most danger. One of these bases, this one here,” he pressed a button and one of the red icons began flashing. “Is being heavily fortified. It was from this forward base that the recent Hocklyn attack was launched. Whoever is in charge of this base is no fool. He has built a substantial shipyard above a Tellus type planet and is placing defensive satellites in orbit.”

  “Is he expecting an attack?” Admiral Teleck asked with a worried frown. “I have never heard of Hocklyns using defensive satellites before.”

  “We don’t know,” Major Ackerman broke in. “We believe this base commander is deeply concerned about what may be out past their controlled space. He’s taking no chances.”

  Admiral Stillson nodded, gesturing at the hologram. “If we can take out these bases there are thirty-four slave worlds that we can free in this space.” Pressing another button, all the gold icons began flashing.

  Admiral Streth nodded as he gazed thoughtfully at the display. “Then that’s what we will do. We take that entire area of space from the Hocklyns and free those worlds!”

  Hedon stood up and walked over to the holographic display, gazing at it thoughtfully. “I want to capture those six forward fleet bases,” he said after a moment.

  “Capture them!” Major Ackerman blurted out, surprised. “Why?”

  “For our own use,” explained Hedon, turning back around to stare at the group of officers. “We fortify them and use those bases to control this area of space. We then let the Hocklyns come to us. We can harass them all the way across the conquered space until they reach the bases where we will have heavy defenses set up. We will try to bleed them as much as possible before leading them to New Tellus and their destruction.”

  “Good strategy,” spoke Teleck approvingly, looking over at the holo image. “But you will need a lot of hyper detection buoys so you can spot the incoming. Even then, you might not be able to locate them. They managed to sneak up on Caden’s World without us detecting them.”

  “I’m well aware of that,” Hedon replied. It had taken them awhile to figure out how the Hocklyns had managed that. “Colonel Grissim believes the Hocklyns were using small nebulas and possibly dust clouds from which to jump their fleet.”

  “That’s a dangerous maneuver,” commented Admiral Teleck, arching his eyebrows. “One miscalculation could have destroyed their ships.”

  “Perhaps,” Hedon said. “But keep in mind the Hocklyns have been navigating hyperspace like this for thousands of years.”

  “What are you going to need to do all of this with besides the Ready Reserve?” asked Admiral Johnson, suspecting she was about to get a new list from the Fleet Admiral.

  She was already beginning to feel uneasy about everything she had committed to this operation, and now it sounded as if Admiral Streth wanted even more. She knew she had no choice she never had. This operation had to succeed! The Federation needed the extra time this ope
ration would provide.

  “Buoys, marines, defensive satellites, and missile platforms.” replied Hedon, looking at Fleet Admiral Johnson. “We’re going to need a lot of marines to take the bases and free those planets.”

  Admiral Johnson leaned back, and her eyes narrowed as she thought of her choices. “Would General Abercrombie do as commander for the marines?” she asked, looking at Hedon.

  “I think General Abercrombie will do fine,” Hedon responded. From talking to the general on Caden’s World, Hedon had been impressed by the man’s concerns for his people as well as his professionalism. He was just the type of officer Hedon enjoyed working with.

  Admiral Johnson turned to look at Admiral Freeman. “How soon before the Ready Reserve is updated and ready to deploy?”

  Freeman checked a computer screen, calling up several different sets of data. “We are ahead of schedule,” he announced. “We will have to repair the damage to the ships in the battle at Caden’s World but the fleet should be ready to deploy in three more weeks.”

  “How soon after that can we launch Operation First Strike?” Johnson asked Admiral Streth. This was a question that President Kincaid wanted an answer to as well. The entire Federation was on pins and needles after the battle with the Hocklyns above Caden’s World.

  “Three weeks after,” replied Hedon, confidently. “I would like to have more time, but the sooner we strike, the better,”

  “Very well then,” said Admiral Johnson, standing up. “I will inform President Kincaid and the Federation Council that we launch the operation in six weeks. Are there any objections?”

  Everyone was silent.

  -

  Amanda and Richard were on their way down to New Tellus, having reserved a room at one of the plush mountain resorts. Admiral Streth had informed her that she could give her crew a three-week leave before they had to report back for duty, and that included her. He had stressed the point that he expected her to take some time off.

  She gazed out the viewport at the rapidly approaching planet below. She could see vast deep blue oceans and white puffy clouds covering some of the landmasses. Large areas of untouched forests covered the continents. This must be what home looks like now, she thought, recalling how Aquaria looked from an approaching shuttle.