“Bear!” Kevin uttered aloud his eyes widening in recognition. “They look like great big brown bears!”
“Not quite,” Ariel responded with a smile at Kevin’s reaction. “If you look at them closer you will see that instead of having paws they have actual hands that are only slightly covered with hair. They are also of slimmer stature and walk upright. Their faces are flatter and their nostrils aren't so flared out.”
Jeremy nodded as he gazed at the screen. From what he could see, the alien on the screen was a medium brown in color and didn’t seem very threatening. This would definitely be an interesting species to meet.
“Prepare a shuttle,” he ordered. “I want a squad of marines to come along also. Then, turning to Kevin, he asked, “Want to go meet the bears?”
Kevin hesitated only for a moment and then nodded. “Sure! Why not? It will give me a story to tell my children someday.”
-
Thirty minutes later, Jeremy breathed a sigh of relief as the shuttle entered the flight bay of the space station without any problems. It passed through an atmospheric force field, which ensured that the flight bay stayed pressurized. Looking out the cockpit window, he saw a group of the aliens waiting. They were quite impressive. Jeremy guessed that they must stand a good two meters in height and would tower over most humans. They were powerfully built and of various shades of brown.
Already at a disadvantage, thought Jeremy, knowing he would have to look up at their hosts.
Stepping back to the shuttle’s hatch, he watched it slide open. Sergeant McElroy indicated for him to wait as he took four of his marines down the ramp and set up in a defensive position. Looking around, he turned and motioned for Jeremy and Kevin to come down.
Reaching the bottom of the ramp, Jeremy and Kevin waited as the six aliens shuffled over to them.
“Greetings, slayers of the evil ones!” the largest bear spoke in a booming voice. “I am Grayseth, leader of this space station.”
Jeremy noticed that the bear was using one of the Hocklyn’s universal translators. Jeremy and Kevin had one also, except theirs were much smaller and rested on a small chain around their necks.
“Greetings, Grayseth,” Jeremy replied in a strong and steady voice. “I am Admiral Strong of the Human Federation of Worlds.” Then turning to Kevin, he added. “This is Lieutenant Kevin Walters who will be assisting me during our talks.”
Grayseth nodded, acknowledging Kevin. “I have set up a room for us to meet in. There will be food and refreshments, though I am not sure what might be safe for you to sample.”
Jeremy nodded. “I am sure it will be fine. What happened to the Hocklyn Protectors? There should have been a few still on this station even after their escort cruisers left.”
“We killed them,” Grayseth responded in a deadly serious tone. “We have waited for years for revenge over what they did to our colony worlds. They did not last long when it was time for them to die!”
“Perhaps we should speak of this in the room you have prepared,” Jeremy suggested. Turning back to sergeant McElroy, he added, “I will only be taking two marines; I don’t think we’re going to have any problems here.”
Sergeant McElroy nodded, and pointing to two of his marines, he instructed them to go with the admiral.
Jeremy was surprised to see how modern the space station was, it wasn’t far behind what the Federation built. It was clean, the corridors were spacious, and occasionally crewmembers passed by them with a nod of acknowledgment as they went about their duties.
They passed through several levels, taking wide stairwells to each. It was becoming obvious to Jeremy that the bear-like aliens did not like cramped spaces. They entered a large room and Jeremy saw that a table had been set up with large chairs around it. Another table was set up with a number of different types of fruit and drink mixtures, including a large pitcher of ice water.
The bears took their seats and Jeremy and Kevin decided to stand so as not to look too ridiculous sitting in the oversized chairs.
Grayseth looked over at Jeremy and asked the obvious questions. “Who are you, and why have you come to our solar system?”
“We come from the Human Federation of Worlds, which is quite some distance from here,” Jeremy began. He knew he had to be careful and not reveal too much information. “We came to fight the Hocklyns who are a threat to the entire galaxy.”
“A worthy task,” Grayseth rumbled in his deep voice. “A task that may be very difficult, considering they already control much of the galaxy.”
“It will be difficult,” admitted Jeremy, nodding his head slowly. “We have already freed much of this sector of space, destroying many of their ships.”
“They will return in even greater numbers,” warned one of the other bear-like aliens. “I fear no matter what you or we do, we will not be able to escape their grasp.”
“You mentioned earlier that they destroyed your colonies?” asked Jeremy, raising his eyebrow. “What happened?”
“It was twenty years ago,” responded Grayseth, his large dark eyes taking on a heavy look. “We had set up two flourishing colonies in nearby star systems. Nearly two million of our people had been transported to them when the Hocklyns came. They nuked both of the new colony planets and then came here. They gave us an ultimatum, either work for them or they would do to our home world what they had done to our colonies. We chose to work for them to protect our families.”
“We cannot guarantee your continued safety,” Jeremy finally spoke. He wanted these bears to know what might be ahead. “We expect the Hocklyns to counterattack heavily in an attempt to drive us back to our own sector of space.”
Kevin’s mini-com sounded and Ariel’s voice came over it. Only Kevin could hear the AI. “Kevin, I am detecting numerous shuttle and freighter launches from all over the planet. You need to warn Jeremy. I’m not sure what is happening. Colonel Malen has put the Avenger and the other ships at Condition One as a precaution.”
Kevin looked over at Grayseth and decided he needed to interrupt Jeremy. “Why are you launching so many shuttles and ships from the surface of your planet?”
Grayseth and several others looked surprised and uneasy at the question. Then Grayseth straightened his powerful shoulders and answered. “For years, we have prepared secretly for the day when we could take our planet back. Those shuttles and freighters contain weapons for this station as well as a full planetary defensive grid of satellites.”
Kevin nodded and quickly passed on the information to Ariel. He didn’t want Colonel Malen shooting down the shuttles and ships. It would not be a good start toward establishing relations with the bears.
“You risk much,” cautioned Jeremy, knowing the Hocklyns might very well nuke the planet for such behavior.
“The Hocklyns took much away from us,” one of the others responded in a grave voice. “We have built new cities deep beneath the surface of our planet. Even if the evil ones nuke the surface, many of us will survive. We will no longer be slaves to the Hocklyns!”
“They refused to let us explore our culture and heritage,” Grayseth explained with a pained look in his eyes. “They limited the number of children our families were allowed. There was no more research or advancement allowed in any of the sciences. They were gradually destroying our culture. Without our culture, we are nothing.”
Jeremy nodded in understanding; he could well see their point. The Hocklyns had forced the bears into living an intolerable existence, now they were ready to end it no matter what the risk.
“We will do everything we can do to help,” promised Jeremy, knowing he would have to have a long talk with Admiral Streth. “I will contact our Fleet Admiral and see what resources can be allocated to help defend your planet.”
Grayseth nodded pleased with the offer of assistance. “You sound like an honorable people, Admiral Strong. I will be speaking to our planet leaders and strongly suggest an alliance. Together we can grow strong and resist the evil ones.”
-
Several hours later, they were back over on the Avenger. The talks had gone smoothly, with the bears offering to give the humans a full list of their capabilities and weapon’s technology.
“We need to help them,” Kevin spoke as they walked back toward the Command Center. “This is a good race, the type of race that would be well received by the people of the Federation.”
“I agree,” Jeremy replied. He was already thinking about what could be done. “If we can fortify this planet so the Hocklyns can’t retake it, it would make a great forward base for this sector in our war effort. They are highly developed with a solid tech base; it could make a huge difference.”
“They seemed very friendly and open minded,” added Kevin, recalling the recent meeting.
Jeremy nodded. “You just like bears,” he said with a friendly smile. “I’ll bet when you were a kid you had a teddy bear.”
Kevin turned red and slowly nodded. “Yeah, I did.”
-
Admiral Streth, Admiral Sheen, Admiral Adler, and Colonel Grissom were meeting on the StarStrike in a small conference room, which gave them a semblance of privacy. A large viewscreen was on one wall and a large picture of the original StarStrike was on the other. Hedon gazed over at the picture longingly; he really missed his old flagship. He wondered what his brother Taylor would think of his new one if he were still around. With a heavy sigh, Hedon brought his thoughts back to the present situation.
“I am dispatching two of the Fleet repair ships to the world of the Careth,” Hedon commented as he reached a decision. “With their manufacturing and repair capability they can help the bears arm their space station.”
“Intelligent bears,” spoke Jacob, grinning. “Who knows what else is out there?”
“Admiral Strong says they are quite likable,” Amanda added as she read more of the report.
“They have a high technological base and their planet is industrialized,” Jacob continued. “For some reason the Hocklyns only destroyed their two colony planets and left their home world intact.”
“Unusual for them,” Hedon spoke through pursed lips, wondering why that was. “I don’t know how long we have before the Hocklyns can launch a successful counterattack against us. The bears are willing to join us in our war against the Hocklyns. They are already in the process of arming their space station and putting a planetary defensive grid in place.”
“What can we do to help them?” Amanda asked, her blue eyes looking at the other two. “Do we give them our advanced weapons? At some point in time, the Hocklyns are going to return, what will happen to the Carethians then?”
“I don’t think we dare give them our most advanced weapons,” Hedon breathed with a heavy sigh. “We can help them with railguns and possibly some missiles, but the Devastator Threes and Power Beams are restricted.”
“Lasers,” suggested Jacob, thoughtfully. “The Hocklyns are already familiar with them, and if we make them powerful enough they could be a formidable weapon for these bears to use.”
“We could expand their space station and help to armor it,” Amanda added. “Our Federation armor will be much more resistant to weapons fire than anything they have.”
“We also have a freighter full of laser satellites,” Colonel Grissom said as she looked over a list of what was in the supply fleet. “I would suggest turning them over to the bears for immediate defense of their world. It might not be a lot, but it would be a good start. I also agree that lasers and possibly even our Klave heavy missiles would be a good option. Neither contains technology that the Hocklyns are not already aware of.”
Hedon nodded his head in agreement. “This might be a chance for us to build a forward base deep in Hocklyn territory. It could cause them a lot of problems in the future. I think this is an opportunity we dare not pass on. I will instruct Admiral Strong that he is to stay in the bear’s system while we send more ships to support him. I will contact Admiral Kimmel and discuss just what can be done with what we have in the supply fleet to help the bears. Colonel Grissom, I would like you to accompany the ships we are assigning to this and see from a security standpoint what we can do. For now, this mission has the utmost priority.”
“I think it’s the right decision, Admiral,” Amanda replied pleased with how this meeting was going. “We need more allies, and from what Commander Strong has indicated, these bears could be ferocious in battle.”
Hedon leaned forward, placing his arms upon the conference table. “Unfortunately, we still have one issue that needs to be taken care of, and that is the planet below us.” Looking over at Jacob, he asked, “How much longer will it take you to destroy the rest of the Hocklyn’s defensive satellites?”
“I believe four more attack waves of our bombers and fighters and they will pretty much be eliminated.”
Hedon looked over at Amanda with a nod. “Plan on a full scale attack in thirty-six hours. We have repaired all of our battle damage and its time to finish this.” Hedon would also be notifying General Abercrombie that his marines would be needed shortly to capture the spaceport down below intact.
-
Later, Amanda entered her quarters on the WarStorm and sat down in a comfortable chair, which seemed to mold itself to her body. She let out a deep sigh of relief and looked over at the far wall, gazing reflectively at a picture of her parents in front of their beach house back on Aquaria on Krall Island. Idly, she wondered if the house was still there, or if time had removed all traces of it. Perhaps someday she would get to find out.
She needed to get some rest. First thing in the morning, she needed to plan her attack against the remaining Hocklyn ships. Her fleet had taken more damage than expected in the first battle, this time it would be different.
Chapter Seventeen
Admiral Johnson was meeting with Admiral Telleck, Admiral Freeman, Governor Malleck, President Kincaid, and Admiral Andrews in the command asteroid in orbit around New Tellus.
“This asteroid is impressive,” President Kincaid commented as they used a transit shuttle to travel deep within the asteroid. “The entire surface seems to be covered with weapons.” This was the first time he had actually been inside the massive asteroid command base.
“It is,” Admiral Johnson agreed. “It took us years using lasers and blasting to form the asteroid into a sphere, then decades more to add all the tunnels and power stations. We placed every weapon we could think of on the surface. This asteroid has a crew of over twenty thousand.”
“Including numerous power beam installations,” added Admiral Andrews, smugly. “If the Hocklyns attack this installation they will be destroyed. We have eight asteroid fortresses orbiting New Tellus and all are heavily armed and shielded.”
President Kincaid looked over at Richard and Admiral Johnson with a questioning look in his eyes. “What about an AI ship? Can you destroy one of those?”
The admirals looked uneasily at one another as the transit shuttle began to slow down, indicating they were nearing their destination.
“We don’t know,” Admiral Johnson finally admitted. “This asteroid is equipped with both regular Devastator missiles and the newest version of the Devastator Three. With the heavy weapons fire the asteroid is capable of and coupled with a missile attack, we believe we can knock their shields down. We won’t know for sure until we try.”
After another few minutes, they reached the heart of the asteroid, which contain the massive Command Center. They stepped out onto a small balcony and looked out over the room, which oversaw the eight massive asteroid fortresses.
“Impressive,” President Kincaid spoke, his eyes sweeping over everything. The Command Center contained dozens of large computer consoles and hundreds of massive viewscreens. “Can you command the entire defense of the system from here?”
“Just the defenses around New Tellus,” responded Admiral Andrews, looking over at the Federation president. “The planetary
defense grid and the asteroid fortresses can be controlled from this Command Center. It allows us increased coordination in allocating our defensive assets.”
“There are also two thousand Talon fighters and sixteen hundred Anlon bombers based on the asteroids,” Admiral Johnson added with a pleased smile. The fortresses were a very stable fighter and bomber launching platform.
“Where will the actual command of the battle be run from if the Hocklyns attack?” President Kincaid asked. He had assumed it would be from the asteroid command fortress.
“From New Tellus Station,” Admiral Johnson answered as she turned to face the president. “We have equipped it with the heaviest possible energy shield we could design, and it is massively armored. It has the firepower of twenty battle cruisers. Also, being inside the gravity well of New Tellus helps. We can coordinate the movement of our fleet units to repel or destroy any Hocklyn attack.”
Indicating for the group to follow him, Richard led them into an immaculate briefing room that held a long conference table as well as numerous viewscreens on the wall. The room had been specifically set up for this meeting. The screens showed views of the space around New Tellus as well as on New Tellus itself.
President Kincaid stood gazing at the viewscreens for several moments, amazed at all the information that was available to Admiral Andrews. “I must say, I’m impressed.”
“I was amazed also when I first saw the asteroid fortresses,” Richard confessed. “This is something we never even considered back in the old Federation.”
They all took a seat and then President Kincaid looked around the assembled group. “Admiral Johnson, what is the latest status of Operation First Strike?”
Karla took a deep breath. Reaching forward, she activated a computer screen, which displayed the most recent messages from Admiral Streth. “They have successfully destroyed five of the six forward fleet bases of the Hocklyns and eight secondary bases. They have also freed twelve of the known slave worlds in that sector.”
The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book Four) Page 29