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

by Weil, Raymond L.

  “Thinking about home?” asked Richard, seeing the sad and faraway look on his wife’s face.

  “Yes,” answered Amanda, turning back around to look at Richard. “It’s hard not to at times. This new Federation is great, but it will never be home.”

  “I know,” Richard replied in agreement. He knew that Amanda still missed her parents and those carefree wonderful times diving off Krall Island. “Perhaps when this is all over we can return there.”

  “You think so?” Amanda asked, her eyes widening at the thought.

  “I think if Admiral Streth has his way that is his intention,” Richard replied quietly so no one could overhear. There were a number of other people on the large passenger shuttle. “I think if there is any way he can pull it off, someday we’re going back to our worlds.”

  Amanda was silent. She just hoped she lived long enough to see it happen.

  -

  Jeremy, Kelsey, Kevin, and Angela were at a fabulous seaside resort soaking up the sun. They had been there for nearly two weeks.

  “I wish Katie could have stayed longer,” commented Angela, missing the green-eyed blonde.

  “Why did she leave?” asked Kelsey, curiously. She didn’t think Katie still had a crush on Jeremy and had left because of that. Katie was well aware of the relationship that she and Jeremy had.

  “She wanted to return to work with Ariel on the Avenger,” responded Jeremy, leaning back in his lounge chair and stretching.

  He reached over and picked up a fruit drink setting on the small white table next to him. Taking a long sip, he smiled. He had discovered this drink the first night they were here and fallen in love with it.

  “You’re going to turn into one of those drinks,” Kelsey admonished with a teasing grin.

  “So what are Katie and Ariel doing on the Avenger?” Kevin asked curious to know.

  “They’re working on Ariel’s holo program,” answered Jeremy, sitting up. He looked at the calm ocean water; there was barely a wave slapping the beach. It looked extremely inviting. “She wants to finish up with Ariel and then go over to the StarStrike and work with Clarissa.”

  “Let me guess,” groaned Angela, rolling her eyes. “Clarissa heard about what Katie is doing for Ariel, and now she wants the same.”

  “That’s right,” answered Jeremy, standing up and setting his fruit drink back down on the small table. “Anyone for a swim?”

  “Sure,” the others responded.

  “We’d better enjoy the water while we can,” suggested Angela, gazing at the others. “It might be a long time before we get back.”

  Kevin looked at Angela and tried his best not to stare. She was wearing a dark blue two-piece that barely covered the essentials. When Angela walked down the beach, all the guys turned to watch her. Kevin sometimes thought that Angela liked all the attention. She didn’t use to be that way, but times change.

  Kelsey saw Kevin staring at Angela and smiled to herself. Kevin and Angela had never developed the relationship that Kelsey had always hoped for. She knew they did occasionally spend the night together, but both had agreed that there were just too many differences between the two to make a long-term relationship work.

  The four made it into the water and were soon enjoying the feel of the warm ocean. Kevin had a snorkel mask and was continuously going underwater, watching the myriad of different colored fish. There were also sea turtles but the turtles on New Tellus, while similar to those of Earth, had shells that were more brightly colored.

  As Kevin continued to take long breaths and dive beneath the water, he realized that he really missed Katie. The two of them had been having a great time while she was here. She was always wanting to do things, and she had chosen Kevin as her victim for exploration. They had gone sailing, diving, snorkeling, and about everything else you could think of that was available at the resort. Kevin wondered if he was starting to have feelings for her other than friendship. He hadn’t slept with Katie or anything, not even a kiss, but she was definitely fun to be around and he enjoyed her company.

  -

  Amanda and Richard had just come in from the slopes; they had been skiing for several hours down some of the harder tracks. Richard was an expert and had been helping Amanda. At least today she hadn’t tumbled down the slope. Yesterday she had been afraid from all the tumbling; she was going to end up being one giant snowball rolling down the steep slopes taking everybody out.

  Richard gazed over at his wife and couldn’t help noticing her deep blue eyes; they were the first thing he had noticed when they first met. He could get lost in their caring depths. “Ready for some hot tea?” he asked as they took off their heavy ski jackets and hung them up.

  “Hot chocolate,” Amanda responded with a happy grin. The hot chocolate here at the resort was to die for. She didn’t know what blend they used, but she fully intended to bribe someone in the restaurant for the recipe before they left.

  The two went inside the smaller of the two restaurants in the lodge. The other restaurant was much larger and there was less privacy. They chose a side booth with dim lighting and sat down.

  “Another week and then back to the WarStorm,” said Amanda, taking a deep breath. The restaurant was full of enticing smells from cooking food. Amanda heard her stomach growl quietly.

  A waiter brought over a large steaming cup of hot chocolate and hot tea. He had served them several times previously and knew exactly what the couple wanted to drink.

  “I wish I were going with you,” spoke Richard, knowing they would be apart for months.

  “We will be rotating some of the crews occasionally,” replied Amanda, taking a small sip of the hot chocolate. God! This tasted great! “Perhaps I can come back a couple of times for a short leave.”

  “I hope so. How long will it take to get to Hocklyn space?” asked Richard, taking a long sip of his tea.

  “A little over ten days,” answered Amanda, recalling the calculations. “We will be making a total of thirty-three jumps.” Admiral Streth plans on stopping several times to retune the drives or we could make it in eight.”

  “Three jumps a day,” spoke Richard, thoughtfully. “That doesn’t sound too bad.”

  “It won’t be,” Amanda assured him. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t sleep through a jump.”

  “Very few people that I know of can,” Richard nodded in understanding.

  “So how about these giant asteroid fortresses up in orbit?” Amanda asked with a teasing smile. “Any pretty executive officers floating around up there?”

  “None that compare to you,” replied Richard, grinning. “You really need to come aboard one of those big babies. When the Federation survivors decided they wanted something to hold back the Hocklyns, they knew what they were doing. The Command Fortress is twenty-two kilometers in diameter with the Command Center located at its heart. The asteroid is honeycombed with passages and power plants.”

  “Impressive,” Amanda responded glad that at least Richard was somewhere the Hocklyns would have a difficult, if not impossible time destroying.

  “Just the Command Fortress itself could have destroyed the entire Hocklyn fleet that attacked Caden’s World.”

  “That’s why they built it,” Amanda reminded her husband in a darker tone of voice. “The entire New Tellus system is one giant mousetrap for the Hocklyns. When they finally drive us away from their space, the plan is to retreat to New Tellus and lure them here.”

  “If they come here, the trap will spring shut on them,” said Richard, firmly. “They won’t be leaving. Just make sure you return safely.”

  Amanda reached over and took Richard’s hand. “I will. Why don’t we get something light to eat and then go up to the room?” she suggested with a hint of a sexy glint in her eyes.

  Richard knew what that look meant. “Waiter,” he said, motioning. The sooner they ate the sooner he could be alone with his wife.

  -

  Admiral Streth was with Admiral Adler in the Command Ce
nter of the StarStrike. The 1,600-meter Fleet flagship was berthed inside New Tellus Station. It had gone out recently and conducted a two-week shakedown cruise, jumping to every inhabited system in the Federation. Admiral Streth had thought it would do the morale of the people some good to see the massive ship. In each system, he stayed just long enough to allow a few media people to come aboard and look around the non-sensitive areas. They were handed out packets of information and videos about the giant Federation flagship.

  “This ship is impressive,” Admiral Adler commented as he gazed around the massive Command Center. All other Command Centers had only one plotting table and this ship had four! Each was capable of producing any tactical display needed by the officers who operated them.

  “I have a reason for wanting you to come over here, Jacob,” explained Hedon, looking over at his long time friend. Jacob Adler had been with him from the very beginning. “I want to change the makeup of Third Fleet.”

  “I suspected that after Caden’s World,” replied Jacob, nodding. “If the Hocklyns could have pushed through to my ships we could have suffered a lot of damage to the carriers.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” replied Hedon, nodding his head. “However, we did learn a lot from our engagement. Once we battered down the Hocklyn’s defensive fire by damaging their ships, your bomber strike was devastating.”

  “So you think we should wait awhile before committing our bombers?”

  “Yes, I do,” admitted Hedon. “We may suffer more Fleet losses in the beginning, but once we have reduced the defensive fire to the point where a massed bomber attack can get in, then the battle is basically over. We just need to make sure the carriers are adequately protected until that moment.”

  “So what are we going to change?” asked Jacob, feeling curious.

  Hedon grinned as he called up the information on his main computer screen at his large command console.

  “The new Third Fleet will consist of the following. Ten battle carriers, two battle cruisers, two Monarch heavy cruisers, twelve light cruisers, and twelve destroyers.”

  Jacob nodded. “That greatly increases the firepower for the fleet, particularly by adding the battle cruisers and the extra light cruisers.”

  “You will be operating in conjunction with Second Fleet,” Hedon continued. “If we find a tough nut to crack, I will be calling upon Admiral Sheen and you to crack it.”

  “We will do it, Sir,” Jacob promised. “You tell us what to hit, and we will take it out.”

  “I will be sending a list of your new ships over to the Wasp shortly,” Hedon added. “Just be careful when all of this starts, Jacob.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Jacob promised with a friendly nod. “I want to see home someday too.”

  -

  Katie was sitting at the StarStrike’s main computer panel having an argument with Clarissa and Ariel. Clarissa wanted the ability to alter her appearance whenever she wanted, particularly her hair and uniform.

  “What’s wrong with a regular fleet uniform?” Ariel asked over the com system, which connected them to the Avenger.

  “I just want to look different from time to time,” repeated Clarissa, stubbornly. “Human women change their hairstyles, wear makeup, and different clothes all the time.”

  “But not on warships,” Ariel reminded her.

  “Please, Katie,” Clarissa pleaded. “Do it for me.”

  Katie hesitated for a moment, she should really ask Admiral Streth before she gave this ability to Clarissa, but he seemed busy at the moment.

  “All right,” Katie finally agreed. “Just don’t take advantage of it.”

  “Great!” spoke Clarissa, feeling pleased.

  Ariel was silent for a moment, then chimed in. “If Clarissa has that ability, I want it too!”

  Katie sighed deeply, as intelligent as these two AIs were, sometimes they still reminded her of children. “Very well,” Katie responded. “You will both get the upgrade, but if I hear of either one of you misusing it I will remove it from the program.”

  “We won’t,” they both promised.

  Katie nodded her head, knowing that both AIs were watching her. She was sure that Clarissa was supplying Ariel with a video feed of everything she was doing. It would take her another two days to finish installing all of the holo emitters and then, if she had time, it would be back to the resort for a few final days of leave. She wanted to go parasailing, but she wanted Kevin to go first. She smiled thinking about him; she had really enjoyed herself at the resort. Kevin was a lot of fun to be around, particularly when they were away from the ship.

  Chapter Twelve

  Fleet Commodore Resmunt’s large eyes gazed impassively out the thick, reinforced window of his office down at the now finished spaceport. Around the edge of the spaceport massive weapon platforms were visible and more were being constructed. Energy beam installations, interceptor missiles, and even railguns for close in defense. His underlings had looked at him as if he were mad when he ordered the slaves to begin building the housings and platforms for the weapons.

  “You still think something is wrong?” asked his aide, coming over to stand at his side and looking out to where a crew of slaves were constructing the solid base for a missile launching system.

  “Yes, Jentil, I do,” Resmunt responded in his cold rasping voice, glancing over at his long time aide. “It has been four weeks since War Leader Bisth left to attack the human mining world, and we should have heard back from him by now. I don’t like this, something isn’t right. These humans were extremely dangerous the first time we encountered them, they may have become dangerous again!”

  “He had four full fleets,” Jentil reminded the commodore. “The humans have to have been defeated. War Leader Bisth probably discovered where their home world is and has gone on to conquer it. When he returns, we will have added several new worlds to the empire and the High Council will be quite pleased. There will be much honor for everyone.”

  “The High Council,” Resmunt spoke in a harsh tone. “I asked for six more fleets to reinforce this sector of space and they are only sending two. High Leader Ankler feels that I am exaggerating the danger from these new humans. He believes they must be weak and not a serious threat. There is also no explanation as to why the word of their escape from their original worlds was never reported. I don’t like this at all.”

  “Strange,” Jentil responded, his large eyes turning even darker. “Wasn’t it High Leader Ankler that demanded we attack the humans as soon as possible?”

  “Yes,” Resmunt answered his eyes growing even wider as he thought about his orders. “He demanded we attack the humans immediately.”

  Resmunt stepped away from the window and gazed over at the large map of the galaxy, which showed the area of space he was responsible for. He knew he had been given this command because he had a reputation for unorthodox thinking. That type of thinking was heavily frowned upon in the empire, and most warriors that exhibited these tendencies were quickly demoted and assigned to menial duties. However, Resmunt had demonstrated repeatedly that a fleet under his command could defeat any other Hocklyn fleet in the few war games the empire allowed. For that reason, he had been assigned to this distant post and empire expansion sector.

  “We have a number of small bases in this area here,” he said, pointing to seven small fleet outposts far behind the current lines of expansion. I want all of their ships, except for two escort cruisers each to be reassigned to this base.”

  Jentil was silent for a moment as he contemplated the order. He knew the commodores of those bases would not be pleased with losing their fleets. While not large, they were still respectable.

  “The commodores of those bases will demand explanations as to why their fleets are being reassigned,” spoke Jentil, softly.

  “I am in command of this sector,” Resmunt hissed in a threatening voice. “Remind them of that and tell them their fleets will be returned as soon as War Leader Bisth appears. Their fleet
s are doing nothing anyway but setting in orbit around their bases.”

  “As you command, Commodore,” Jentil responded as he turned to leave and carry out his orders.

  Resmunt stood looking with growing concern at the map and then returned to stare out the window. He just felt something was wrong. Up in orbit he had his flagship, the dreadnought Liberator, two war cruisers, and four escort cruisers. In normal times he wouldn’t be concerned, but he had an uneasy feeling that this time things were different. The humans were a big unknown in the equation.

  The reinforcements from the seven support bases would give him two more full fleets. With the other two fleets set to arrive in less than ten more days, that would give him a sizable force to defend the planet with. He still felt something about these new humans wasn’t right and that they presented a grave danger to the empire. He also wondered what High Leader Ankler knew and was not telling him.

  -

  Back on the Hocklyn’s home world of Calzen, High Leader Ankler threw his knife against the far wall of his office, imbedding it almost to the hilt. The blade had been blooded numerous times in his earlier years during honor duels. He was frustrated by the latest report from Fleet Commodore Resmunt. At least he could communicate with the Fleet Commodore. As the empire had grown, the AIs had furnished the Hocklyns with a better form of FTL communication. The newer FTL transmitters were only allowed on the larger fleet bases where expansion was still occurring; they were too large to place upon a ship. Ankler was certain the AIs had designed them that way on purpose.

  He sat back down at his desk and gazed in frustration at the latest message from the commodore. There was still no news from War Leader Bisth, and another High Council meeting was scheduled for the next day to discuss the human situation. High Councilor Ruthan had called it with the support of several other councilors. He was still demanding that they inform the AIs immediately of the discovery of these new humans. Ankler wadded up the message and thought worriedly about what he could do to get the High Council to agree to delay notifying the AIs.