“I wish this was over,” Casey said with a heavy sigh. She leaned over until their shoulders were touching. “The not knowing whether we’re going to get out of this is driving me crazy. I know most of the others feel the same way.”
“A few more days or a week at the most,” Ryan answered.
The feel of Casey’s shoulder against his was like an electric shock. He longed to take her in his arms and kiss her passionately, but in their current situation, he didn’t feel it was right. While no one would probably object, it wouldn’t be good for discipline in the ranks.
Casey nodded. Ryan made her feel human and when she was with him; it was easy to forget she was a clone though it had never seemed to matter to Ryan. “It’s getting late,” she said, releasing Ryan’s hand and standing up. “I’m going to take a shower and hit the rack.”
Ryan watched Casey stop by a small locker and remove some clothes. At least the Nabians had furnished them with additional uniforms and clothing articles. He watched as Casey went through the door, which led to the barrack’s restroom facilities. Ryan had initiated a schedule so the women and men could shower separately. In the close situation they were in, he didn’t want any incidents caused by someone becoming too tempted at seeing a naked body. He saw Lauren look at him and grin, and then she too got up and went in to take a shower.
Casey had removed her clothes and was standing beneath the showerhead, letting the warm relaxing water flow over her body. She ran her hands slowly over herself, rubbing soap everywhere. Looking down, she was pleased with her female assets. Her breasts were about average size for a woman of her build and her stomach was flat due to the stringent exercises she went through every day as part of the military.
“You should have Ryan come in and take a shower with you,” suggested Lauren with a playful laugh as she stepped under the showerhead next to Casey. “Alexander and I will guard the door so you’re not interrupted.”
Casey blushed and turned her head toward Lauren. “I bet the two of you would,” she said with a laugh.
“Seriously, Casey,” Lauren said in a more somber tone of voice. “You and Ryan might want to consider it, there’s no guarantee we’re going to survive this.”
“What about you and Alexander?” countered Casey. “I see how he looks at you.”
“He looks at all the women in the platoon like that,” replied Lauren, shaking her head.
“I’ve seen how he looks at you,” continued Casey, grinning. “Especially anytime you bend over.”
Now it was Lauren’s turn to blush. “Alexander’s a good man,” she admitted. “When I first met him I had my doubts, but he’s proven himself in combat and as a friend. Don’t you dare tell him I said that!”
“I won’t,” Casey promised as she began to wash her hair. Her hair had started to grow out, as they had nothing to cut it with. All the women and even the men were beginning to look a little bit shaggy. Casey had never allowed her hair to grow out before. She wondered if Ryan would like her with long hair.
Lauren watched Casey as the sergeant finished her shower and began to dry off. Casey was a knockout as far as looks were concerned. Her breasts were young and perky, her stomach was flat with muscles visible, and she had the type of legs men would just die for. It had taken a lot of work on Lauren’s part to get Casey to embrace her femininity. Once she had, she’d watched the young female clone blossom into a beautiful human woman. She really wished Casey would take her advice about bringing Ryan into the shower with her. The young woman needed to experience what being intimate with Ryan was like. Lauren greatly feared that if their planned attempt to acquire a command battlesuit failed, Casey would never know that wonderful experience.
Chapter Twelve
Colonel Wade Nelson was in the Command Center of the troop assault ship Defender gazing at the large viewscreen on the front wall. They were in the system of Lanolth. Lanolth was very similar to what Earth had been, with large oceans, white ice caps on the poles, and a warm to hot equatorial zone. It was also heavily populated with a population of nearly five billion. Lanolth was the fourth planet out from the system’s sun with two small moons orbiting it. Both of the rocky moons had large habitats sprawling across their surfaces where another two hundred million Lanolthians lived and worked. There were twelve planets in the system and numerous mining and scientific posts existed on most of them. Every one of their major cities sat inside a ring of ion cannons. It was the most advanced former nonaligned world in the Alliance. Wade could see several large oceans and wide swaths of green around the equator where tropical jungles existed. It saddened him to know that because of the Kleese, Earth would never look like this again.
“We’ve accomplished wonders with the Alliance,” spoke Hyram Blake, who had only recently arrived on the Defender. He’d been down on Lanolth finalizing the admittance of several new nonaligned worlds.
“How many worlds do we have signed up now?”
Hyram turned toward Wade with a huge smile. Colonel Nelson had been instrumental in helping to form the Alliance. “Twenty-nine, and soon Diadem will make the thirtieth. Lanolthian President Raytol feels confident that once Diadem formerly joins the Alliance more nonaligned worlds in Sector Twelve will follow suit.”
“The only problem is most of the nonaligned worlds in that sector are already under Kleese control,” Wade responded.
“President Raytol has told me they have confirmed the Zaltule have temporarily pulled back their battlecruisers. He’s proposing launching a number of attacks to free six high tech star systems. The systems still have their orbital shipyards and infrastructure intact. The Lanolthians are already in the process of constructing more ion cannons to be used to protect those worlds once they have been freed.”
“Systems without space fleets,” answered Wade, cocking his eyebrow in doubt. “Can we afford to allocate resources to systems that can’t defend themselves?”
“I asked him the same thing,” replied Hyram, nodding his head. “I was surprised to learn that Lanolth, Nalton, Pradel, and Tureen have greatly increased their warship production. Other members of the Alliance are following suit. Each system will be sending a squadron to help defend these new systems.”
“But it takes time to build a thousand-meter battlecruiser.” Wade wasn’t convinced ships could be built fast enough to cover the growing military needs of the Alliance. He didn’t want to see their forces spread too thin in case the Kleese retaliated for the loss of their two trade stations.
“I’m not so sure,” Hyram said, looking toward the viewscreen and gazing at Lanolth. “Their ship construction technology is amazing, particularly since they have begun to share technology with each other. Only last week a Delton battlecruiser arrived with a large group of Kivean and Delton scientists and technicians on board, who are going to be working on Lanolth for a while. They want to study the technologies from the different Alliance worlds to see which ones could best help in the war with the Kleese.”
“Kiveans?” Wade said, feeling curious. “I don’t suppose that Marken is one of those that came?”
Hyram laughed and nodded. “Not only Marken but his life mate Harnett also. I wasn’t supposed to mention that as I think he wanted to surprise you.”
Wade allowed himself to smile. It would be good to see the two Kiveans. Perhaps they would have an idea of what to do next as far as Ryan and the missing Marines were concerned. Wade was at a loss as to what their next move needed to be.
“Now to our other problem,” Hyram said, gesturing toward another viewscreen showing the trading station from Sector Twelve. The one from Sector Nine was due to arrive in another three days. Both would be repaired at Lanolth before the one from Sector Twelve was sent on to the Sol System. “What are we going to do with the crews of the two captured stations?”
“Nearly two hundred and twelve thousand,” Wade answered with a deep sigh. “Five different races. I spoke to some of them while on board the station. They’re fearful of returning to thei
r home worlds since the Kleese still control them. The Nabians, of course, will be of no use. They’re totally dedicated to the Kleese and are certain the Kleese will arrive at any moment to take back the stations.”
“A difficult situation.” Hyram’s face creased in a deep frown. “I don’t believe it would be wise to attempt to send them back to their worlds. I spoke to Marken before I came up to the Defender and he feels any who return could cause the Kleese to extract horrible reprisals upon those worlds. Perhaps even dropping a few antimatter weapons.”
“It’s normal Kleese doctrine,” Wade answered with a grim look. “Look at what they did to Kivea. It’s a dead world now with only one surviving Kivean colony and that’s back in our solar system.”
“I still have nightmares at night about the Kleese and what they did to Earth,” admitted Hyram, shifting his gaze back to Wade. “The Kleese are such a cold and horrible race of beings.”
“They’re not humanoid,” Wade pointed out. “They believe themselves to be a superior life form and all others should serve them. They look at most humanoid races as nothing more than semi-intelligent vermin.”
“Are you certain that all the Kleese on the station have been eliminated?”
“All but one,” Wade said with a vicious smile. “Minor Overlord Betel surrendered to us. I’ve met with him several times and he’s been very forth coming with the information he has been willing to share.”
“That’s strange for a Kleese,” Hyram said frowning. “The two we have back in the solar system have refused to cooperate.”
“Betel and I have an agreement,” Wade said with a glint in his eyes. “I told him if I ever catch him lying to me or refusing to give me the information I want, I’ll toss him out the nearest airlock.”
Hyram’s eyes widened at this admission. “I don’t know if I approve of those kinds of threats, even if Betel is a Kleese. We shouldn’t descend to their level.”
Wade looked down at the deck and then raised his eyes to meet Hiram’s. “They took my brother and several hundred other Marines. I have to know where they’re going and what the Zaltule’s plans are for the captives. I meant it when I said I would toss him out the nearest airlock and he knows that.”
“Did he tell you where they’re going?”
“Yes,” Wade answered, his eyes narrowing in anger. “They’re being taken to the Kleese home world for in depth interrogation and study. We already knew that from the letter my brother left me as well as information we found in the station’s primary computer system. Betel feels the majority of them will be taken to Zaltule labs to be experimented on.”
Hyram’s face turned white at hearing Wade’s words. “What can we do?”
“Betel was good enough to provide us with Military Overlord Harmock’s course as well as his plans to return with an updated warfleet. I have already transmitted the information to General Mitchell.”
“Colonel,” interrupted Commander Greer. “I just received a message from Admiral Adamson asking that you and I report to the Constellation.”
“Perhaps we’ll find out now,” Wade said. He had been expecting a response from General Mitchell; perhaps this was it. “Would you like to accompany us to this meeting as it could very well involve the Alliance as well?”
Hyram nodded. As a diplomat, he was pretty well secure from being involved in any area where there might be fighting. It was also good for him to know what was going on so as not to be surprised in meetings with other diplomats, many from worlds he knew very little about.
-
The three took a shuttle over to the Constellation and were soon on their way to the briefing room where Wade had been told to come. As they walked through the battlecruiser’s corridors, they discussed the conscripts on the two trading stations.
“I’m going to suggest they be placed on several of the Alliance worlds temporarily,” Hyram said as they stepped into the corridor that held the briefing room.
“What if we kept some of them as crew?” suggested Wade. “They already know how to operate the station, so training would be minimal.”
Hyram looked surprised at the suggestion. “That just might work,” he said after a moment, his eyes visibly brightening. “I don’t think all of them would be willing to serve, but I suspect the vast majority would. We would definitely have to remove the Nabians.”
“We would add our own people as well,” Wade said. “Our own military, of course, as well as the command crews.”
“Yes,” Hyram responded as he thought over what would be needed. “We would want humans in all the controlling positions on the station that’s being taken to the solar system, but we have to be careful to remember these humanoids are used to obeying the Kleese without question. There will be a long learning curve until we can get them to change their way of thinking. I will make that suggestion to General Mitchell as well as President Raytol.”
The three entered the open hatch to the briefing room and Wade froze in his tracks. There sitting at the table were Admiral Adamson, Major Jeffries, Major Winfrey, Marken, Harnett, Kalarn, Larnell, and Beth!
-
“Welcome, Colonel Nelson,” spoke Admiral Adamson with a broad smile as he stood.
Beth got out of her chair, walked over to a still stunned Wade, and gave him a quick hug. “Surprised?”
“To say the least,” Wade stammered, as Beth led him to the empty seat next to where she had been sitting. He was beginning to feel apprehensive since Beth was wearing a Marine officer’s uniform with the rank of colonel. Beth had resigned her commission to take on the security job at the cloning facility. Something was definitely going on here.
“Commander Greer, if you and Hyram will take a couple of seats we’ll get this meeting underway.”
The two went and sat down in the two seats the admiral was pointing toward.
“What’s going on?” Wade asked, his eyes shifting to the admiral.
“A rescue mission,” Adamson replied. “After speaking with Admiral Mitchell and reviewing what we discovered on the trading station in Sector Twelve, as well as the information Minor Overlord Betel gave us, we have a pretty good idea of the course of War Overlord Harmock’s fleet.”
“We’re going to follow it?” asked Wade, scarcely believing what he was hearing.
“In a manner of speaking.” Adamson walked over to the wall and activated a large viewscreen. On it appeared a map of the Kleese Empire with a number of red and green dots. The red dots far outnumbered the few green. “As you can see, the Kleese control a tremendous number of worlds. However,” he pressed a control and the map zoomed in on a small section of space very close to the Kleese home world. “We may have a plan that will allow us to attempt to rescue our abducted Marines.”
“The Delton mission,” guessed Wade, seeing what systems were being displayed on the viewscreen. He’d heard rumors about it since his return to Lanolth. One of the small icons was flashing yellow and from its location, he knew this was indeed the Delton home system.
“Yes,” answered Adamson, nodding his head. “Admiral Rivers and Fourth Fleet will be here in another two weeks, at which point the Defender will be joining them to continue on to the Delton home world.”
“Will any other Seventh Fleet units be joining Fourth Fleet?” asked Wade. He knew any trip that deep into Kleese space was going to be extremely hazardous. He was also relieved that he might get the chance to rescue Ryan and the other Marines after all.
“Both the Union and the Britannica are being reassigned,” Adamson informed Wade, feeling deep regret at losing the two heavy battlecruisers. “Fourth Fleet is being augmented as well with some Alliance vessels.”
“Which Alliance members?” asked Hyram. This was the first he’d heard any mention of a rescue operation, let alone a mission going to the Delton home world. President Raytol hadn’t mentioned anything about Lanolthian warships being assigned to another human fleet.
“The Tureen are adding ten battlecruisers with their 40-me
gaton antimatter missiles, Pradel twelve, Nalton fifteen, and Lanolth fifteen. There will also be forty Delton battlecruisers and a number of passenger vessels of Delton and Kivean design accompanying Fourth Fleet.”
“That’s a large fleet,” admitted Wade, wondering how Beth was involved in all of this. “But the Kleese have larger fleets, particularly that close to their home system.”
“The Deltons will be conducting rescue operations on their home planet in an attempt to remove as many key people as possible. Special emphasis is being placed on scientists, technicians, doctors, and other specialists. Once the rescue operation is nearing its end, the fleet will begin hitting Kleese targets in the area, as well as their home system.”
“Their home system!” gasped Commander Greer in disbelief.
“Yes,” Adamson replied. “From the information gathered from the computers on the trading stations as well as from Minor Overlord Betel, we know the Zaltule have several major shipyards in their home system. We want to destroy them.”
“The Tureen and their forty-megaton missiles,” commented Wade in understanding. “If we can get in close enough, those heavy missiles should be able to cause considerable damage.”
“That’s the plan,” Admiral Adamson replied. “Don’t forget about our own multi-warhead antimatter missiles. That’s one reason we want the Union and Britannica; with their heavier shields and armor they should be able to get in close enough to deliver a devastating attack against the shipyards.”
Wade shifted his gaze to Beth. “Why is my wife wearing a colonel’s uniform?”
Adamson didn’t reply he merely shifted his eyes indicating Beth should explain her presence.
“Both the Defender and the Argyle will be going on this mission,” Beth responded, turning toward Wade and reaching out taking his hand. “I didn’t want us to be separated for what could be up to a year. You will be in charge of the Defender and any attempt to rescue our abducted Marines. I will be in charge of the Argyle along with Major Jeffries. I asked General Mitchell to reinstate my commission. He increased my rank to colonel and gave me command of the Argyle.”
Galactic Empire Wars: The Alliance (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 4) Page 18