Galactic Empire Wars: The Alliance (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 4)

by Raymond L. Weil

  -

  “That’s settled for now,” Admiral Rivers said as the assault ship returned to its formation. “As soon as the reconnaissance ships return and all repairs have been made, we need to get back into Fold Space. While I don’t think the captain of that mining ship will say anything, I would rather play it on the safe side.”

  “I agree,” replied Colonel Greerman. He walked over to Communications to speak with Ensign Martin Entz. “Monitor their communications, particularly any FTL messages. If they send out anything, I want to know about it pronto.”

  “Yes, sir,” Entz replied.

  -

  “That’s taken care of, for now,” said Captain Damon as she listened to fleet communications. “Admiral Rivers is ordering us to be prepared to leave as soon as the repairs to the assault ships have been made and the reconnaissance ships return.”

  Wade nodded. For a brief moment, he’d been fearful the Kleese had found the fleet.

  “It still may be a problem,” Commander Greer said, watching the tactical screen as the four small red icons continued on toward the asteroid field. “If they took detailed scans of our fleet they might have recognized the Delton ships with us. We’re getting close enough to Fleet Commander Achlyn’s home world that some of these races may be familiar with Delton vessels. We have quite a few in our fleet when you include the passenger liners and cargo ships.”

  “It’s a risk,” Marken said, his narrow eyes looking over at the commander. “However, if the captain of that mining ship believes our assault ship was a Kleese, he will obey. No race this far inside the empire wants to risk aggravating the Kleese in any way. He and his crews will remain silent.”

  “I would like to go over the plans to furnish Marines for the egress points on Delton,” Major Winfrey said. “Fleet Commander Achlyn has requested we supply at least a platoon of Marines in either Type Three or Type Four battlesuits for each evacuation location.”

  “Good idea,” replied Wade, nodding his head. “We’ll set up an audio and visual feed so Major Jeffries can listen in and make recommendations as well.”

  As the four left the Command Center, Wade couldn’t help thinking about his brother. Where was Ryan now, what were the Kleese doing to him, and even more importantly, was Ryan even still alive? He let out a deep sigh, knowing there was a chance he would never know the answers to those questions.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Exiting Fold Space in twenty minutes,” reported Lieutenant Guthrie as she nervously watched her flight controls. Another warning light had come on and was blinking furiously on her flight control panel. Autumn checked a data screen and a worried frown crossed her face. “Lieutenant, we’re developing a problem with the Fold Space Drive.”

  “What type of problem?” asked Ryan, growing concerned. It seemed as if every time he turned around there was another problem with the ship. The lack of any qualified technicians was wearing heavily on the ship’s systems.

  “I’m not sure,” Autumn replied as she peered at a data screen. “My best guess is the drive is slightly out of alignment; it’s drawing more energy to keep the space in front of the ship warped.”

  Ryan nodded. He knew the drive worked on the principal of folding space, or warping space as some scientists called it. The process made space directly in front of the ship collapse, making the distance between two points come closer together. He didn’t fully understand the science behind it other than it worked and required a tremendous amount of energy. The more the space in front of the ship was warped, the faster a vessel could travel.

  “Can we stay in Fold Space?”

  “For now,” Autumn replied, as she ran some quick calculations on the growing demand for energy from the drive. “However, I don’t know if we’ll be able to jump back into Fold Space again once we exit. The energy requirement may be greater than what the ship’s power systems can provide.”

  “I would give anything for a good engineer,” spoke up Casey. She was sitting in the second command chair next to Ryan. She knew the system problems on the assault ship were becoming serious.

  “If we can’t land on Delton, can we make it to Tranton?” asked Ryan, looking inquiringly at Autumn.

  “I don’t know,” she replied pensively as she tried to run some more numbers on her screen. “The drive is demanding more power with every passing minute. We can reduce the power to the drive, which will greatly decrease our speed, but if the power requirement increases to the point where the ship’s fusion reactor can’t provide it, we’ll drop out of Fold Space. We’ll be reliant upon the ship’s subspace drive, and if we’re too far away from a star system we could die of old age before we reach it.”

  “Or starve to death,” Alexander said worriedly. “We don’t have the supplies for a long drawn out trip.”

  “Then we have to make Delton work,” Ryan said decisively. This might be a problem, as the Kleese could have a powerful presence in the system. There was a good possibility their assault ship would be detected as soon as they dropped out of Fold Space.

  Everyone remained relatively quiet as the minutes slowly ticked by. The counter on the main viewscreen was moving toward zero and the anxiety in the Command Center was rising. Autumn was nervously watching the steadily increasing power demand from the ship’s drive.

  “We’ll make it,” Casey said encouragingly, looking over at Ryan.

  “Go take over Communications,” Ryan replied, glancing over at Casey. “We may need them once we arrive in the Delton system.”

  Casey stood up and made her way to the large Communications console. She had already familiarized herself with it and could send and receive messages as needed. Sitting down in the overly large chair in front of the console, Casey began powering everything up in preparation for their exit from Fold Space.

  Ryan looked around the Command Center. The primary stations were staffed, but many of the secondary ones were still vacant. He hoped they could find what they needed in the Delton system. If not, they would never be able to make it back home.

  “Drop out!” reported Autumn with relief in her voice as the assault ship reentered normal space.

  Ryan heard the constant thrum from the Fold Space Drive fade away, and the viewscreens suddenly cleared, showing views of space. Hundreds of stars appeared, shining their unwavering light upon the assault ship.

  “Contacts,” called out Private Hopper from her sensor console as numerous red threat icons began to appear.

  “What do you have?” asked Ryan, gazing intently at the tactical screen, which was being updated from the ship’s sensors. He hoped they hadn’t emerged from Fold Space next to a Kleese warship. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he waited for her response.

  “Cargo ships,” Private Hopper reported with a deep sigh of relief. “We have seven cargo ships within twenty million kilometers of us. We exited Fold Space near the seventh planet and it has a large number of active mining operations on its moons.”

  “Set course for Delton,” Ryan ordered satisfied the ship wasn’t in any immediate danger. “Try to stay out of the main space lanes so we won’t be detected.”

  “I’m sure we already have been,” Lauren said from her spot at the ship’s main Navigation console. “Those cargo ships probably detected us as soon as we exited Fold Space.”

  “I’m not receiving anything on Communications,” Casey added. “We’re not being challenged or asked for any type of identification.”

  “Probably because we’re in a Kleese assault ship,” Ryan responded.

  “Setting course,” Autumn reported as she activated the ship’s subspace drive.

  “Take us toward Delton and let’s see if we get challenged as we near the planet. Keep our sensors active as I want to know if there are any Kleese ships in the system.”

  “It’ll be a few minutes before our sensor scans range on the planet,” reported Private Hopper.

  Ryan nodded and leaned back in his command chair. They’d made it safely
to the Delton system and now came the hard part, finding a safe place to land and making contact with Deltons who would be willing to aid them. The second part might be nearly impossible if there was a large Kleese presence upon the planet.

  The assault ship turned toward Delton and began to accelerate. It would be hours before they reached the planet, which gave them plenty of time to search for Kleese ships. It also gave the Kleese plenty of time to spot them.

  -

  A number of hours later, Ryan looked at Private Hopper in disbelief. “Nothing?” he asked, feeling confused. “Are you certain there are no Kleese ships in the system?”

  “None,” replied Private Hopper, nodding her head. “All of my scans have come back negative. There are no Kleese exploration ships or Zaltule battlecruisers anywhere in the system. If there are any assault ships, they have to be down on the planet.”

  “Have we received any challenges from Delton?”

  “No,” replied Casey, who was still at the Communications console. “I’m picking up standard communications between the cargo ships in the system and what appears to be Delton Flight Control, but no inquiry as to our presence. It’s as if they’re ignoring us.”

  “Take us into high orbit and let’s see what happens,” ordered Ryan, taking a deep breath and leaning forward in his command chair. The chair was so large it was nearly impossible to feel comfortable. His feet just barely touched the floor.

  Ryan was growing more confused by the minute. Why would the Kleese leave an important planet such as Delton defenseless? They had fought a pitched battle against Fleet Commander Achlyn in order to take the system. True, the planet was deep within the empire, but you would think there’d at least be a battlecruiser or several assault ships in orbit to ensure none of the escaped Delton warships returned.

  “Going into standard orbit at twenty thousand kilometers,” reported Autumn as she reduced power to the sublight drive and placed the ship in orbit.

  “Scanning the surface,” Private Hopper added, as her hands moved over the sensor controls making subtle adjustments. “I’m not detecting any unusual activity and there are no assault ships on the spaceports on this side of the planet.”

  “I have a challenge,” reported Casey from Communications with a sudden look of surprise on her face. “It’s from a Kleese, Minor Overlord Craed. He’s demanding to know when the exploration ship that was in orbit will be returning.”

  “Do we have a location of where he’s communicating from?” Ryan asked. At least they knew there had been an exploration ship here recently. They also knew there were Kleese down on the surface.

  “The capital city,” Private Hopper responded. “It’s on this side of the planet.”

  “Send a short message stating the exploration ship will be returning shortly,” Ryan ordered. Minor Overlord Craed had no reason to believe the assault ship wasn’t under Kleese control. A quick, brief message shouldn’t cause him to become suspicious. “Autumn, as soon as we get on the far side of the planet we need to find someplace safe to set down. Private Hopper, find us a place, preferably a mountainous area that’s sparsely populated. We can camouflage the assault ship and use the drop ships to take us where we need to go.”

  “This is a highly civilized planet,” Casey pointed out. On the main viewscreen it was night on the side of the planet they were currently above. The landmasses below were covered in city lights, with many cities seeming to merge into the next. “It might be difficult to find a suitable landing spot.”

  “We have to try,” answered Ryan, knowing Casey was right. “We have to hope they are environmentalists and have a few areas designated for wildlife and wilderness preservation. Most of the Alliance worlds do; we’ll assume the Deltons are the same.”

  Autumn carefully piloted the assault ship until they were on the far side of the planet away from the Delton capital where they knew there was a Kleese presence. As they came around the planet to the daylight side, they could see several small blue oceans as well as a large landmass.

  “There’s a large forested area with some very big mountains on the continent below,” Private Hopper reported as she checked her scans. “I’m guessing it’s some type of nature preserve as there are few signs of settlements.”

  “Like the national parks we used to have on Earth,” suggested Lauren. She adjusted some controls and the main viewscreen suddenly displayed the forested area Private Hopper mentioned. A large part of it was concealed with cloud cover though their sensors could easily penetrate to the surface.

  “There seems to be some heavy storms in the central section,” Ryan said, seeing the flashes of lightning in the upper levels of the clouds. “Autumn, take us down into that stormy area; it might help to shield us from anyone that detects us coming down. Once we’re beneath the cloud layer, we’ll look for a place to set down.”

  The assault ship changed its course and gradually began its descent through the atmosphere.

  “Ryan, we’re being hailed from the surface,” Casey suddenly reported with worry flashing across her face. “They’re demanding to know why we’re flying toward the Killen National Forest Preserve. It’s off limits to all aircraft, including space vessels.”

  “Inform them we’re doing routine scans and will be gone shortly,” ordered Ryan, taking a deep breath. He hoped the fact this was a Kleese assault ship would silence whoever had detected them.

  Casey sent the message and leaned back waiting to see if she got a response. There were no more messages, just silence.

  “Coming up on the storms,” Autumn reported. The ship’s energy shield was activated at a low level to allow them to pass safely through the atmosphere without heating up the hull. It would also protect them from the lightning.

  Ryan watched the viewscreens as they entered the upper cloud layer, seeing occasional bright flashes of cloud-to-cloud lightning. They continued to descend and soon were beneath the clouds and in heavy rain.

  “It’s been awhile since I saw rain like this,” spoke up Alexander, recalling what an Earth thunderstorm had been like. On the screen, the rain was coming down in heavy sheets, obscuring the surface below.

  “I’m taking us parallel to the surface,” Autumn reported as she flew the assault ship at an altitude of two thousand meters. “Using the ship’s sensors to detect any obstacles as there are a few mountains around.”

  For the next twenty minutes, the assault ship flew above the surface, then Ryan ordered Autumn to take the ship lower. It was time to find a refuge.

  -

  In the Kleese home star system, Military Overlord Harmock had taken a portion of his fleet into orbit around the home world. The rest he’d sent on to the Zaltule shipyards for routine maintenance and updating.

  “Are you certain?” demanded the Military Overlord in his cold overbearing voice.

  “It’s confirmed,” Jalridd replied as he finished his sensor sweep. “There are no exploration cruisers in orbit. There are a few farther out in the system, but none that owe allegiance to Supreme Overlord Xatul.”

  “Something has happened,” said Minor Overlord Gareth, his multifaceted eyes focusing on the Military Overlord. “Xatul would not have removed his ships from orbit without a reason.”

  “We shall find out shortly,” replied Harmock coldly. “Contact the Great Hall of the Council of Overlords and inform them I’m coming down to address the council.”

  “Will you be taking an armed escort?” Gareth asked. He didn’t trust Xatul. This sounded like some type of trap.

  “Yes,” replied Harmock as he stepped down from the Command Pedestal. “I want twenty of our best warriors to accompany me. If this is a trap, we’ll make short work of it. When I return, the Zaltule will finally have control of the council as we always should have.”

  “This will be a great day for the Zaltule and the empire,” announced Gareth with great satisfaction in his voice. He looked toward the main viewscreen and the massive city on the surface. Today the Zaltule would take
their rightful heritage.

  -

  Harmock took a large combat shuttle down to the surface. The pilot quickly flew to the single remaining city on the planet, which ruled the empire. The capital city spread out over one hundred kilometers with ten million Kleese, who monitored everything needed to run an empire nearly eighteen thousand light years across and consisting of thousands of worlds. Towering buildings reached for the sky and massive structures, which controlled the empire covered entire city blocks. The architecture was harsh and brutal with no care taken for aesthetics. The city served one purpose and one purpose only, to rule and expand the empire.

  The shuttle landed on a landing pad on the roof of the Great Hall and Harmock’s Zaltule bodyguards quickly fanned out across the rooftop, making sure there were no hidden assassins. The bodyguards were all wearing Type Three battlesuits and carrying RG rifles as well as Energy Lances.

  “Roof is clear,” the commander of the bodyguards reported to Harmock.

  “Leave four warriors on this roof to guard the shuttle, the rest will accompany me into the council chambers.” Harmock looked across the rooftop. There were several other shuttles present but no pilots or other Kleese.

  “As you command, Overlord,” the bodyguards’ commander replied. He quickly made the necessary assignments. Those chosen to accompany the Military Overlord formed up around Harmock, and they began walking toward the council chamber.

  As Harmock made his way through the massive building, which contained the Great Hall where the Council of Overlords met, he couldn’t help noticing how few Kleese he was seeing. Many of the workstations were vacant and those Kleese he did see seemed to be in the process of leaving.

  Reaching the Great Hall, two of his bodyguards pushed the massive doors open and Harmock stepped inside. With surprise, his multifaceted eyes saw only four Overlords standing at the massive stone table; Darthu and the three other Zaltule Overlords he had personally chosen months back to represent the Zaltule on the council. All the others were absent.