General McGinnis then made his pitch to have half a million more soldiers sent to New Eden, along with a slew of additional military equipment. At first, Luca balked at the idea. But as he laid out the reason for the large force, it began to make sense. The general wanted to get the units acclimated to being on New Eden, then have them train on the planet as well as on the two moons in orbit. The whole goal was to get the invasion force that would be liberating Sumer ready to operate on any alien planet.
At the end of the military portion of the briefing, Luca agreed to his request and said she’d speak to General Pilsner when she returned to Earth. She also said she was going to promote McGinnis up a grade so he could stay in command of the expeditionary force.
Next, they transitioned to the civilian projects. A dozen sites had been identified by the engineers and surveyors as locations for new cities. One of the proposals was to build in a circular spoke pattern with the capital city at the center. This would allow for mass transit connecting all of the megacities the civil engineers were planning to build with each other while still allowing for a lot of growth and green space between them.
President Luca interrupted them. “When I flew into the camp, I saw a lot of land along the water not far from here. Are we planning on building any cities there at all?” She had grown up in San Diego and loved the water. It only seemed natural.
The civil engineers didn’t say anything at first. One of them, a guy named George, finally shrugged as he replied, “We hadn’t given it a lot of thought, ma’am. These five cities on the spoke are very close to our mining operations. It made sense to build a large city near where the mines are, given how much work and industry is going to happen there.” He pointed at the proposed map. “These two cities would be near the mountains, while these three would be in the plains, which is great agricultural land for farming. I suppose we could have a single city along the water connected into the spoke.”
Another engineer added, “George, we could just build a string of cities along the coastal areas and then integrate them into our original spoke design with the hyperloop. That way, we wouldn’t have to change any of our existing plans too much.”
Luca smiled as she saw a couple of them work to solve the problem. They’d obviously spent a lot of time and effort surveying and designing these cities, and now she was throwing a wrench into the plan.
Luca cleared her throat. “I have another question. If we move along with your original plan, how long will it take to start construction on these new cities, and how many people will they be able to hold?”
The lead civil engineer took the center of the room. “With the governor’s permission, we’d begin operations immediately using the fabricators and Synths that just arrived. We’d like to start with building the infrastructure first: hyperloops, tubes, stations, water, septic, and underground utilities. We’ll start with the capital city and then build out the other spokes in the wheel as each phase of the construction is completed. So phase one would be the infrastructure—that’s a hell of a lot easier to build when there are no homes, roads, or businesses in the way, so we’ll knock that all out first.
“Then phase two would consist of building out both the housing units and the public works needed to support them: schools, police, hospitals, things like that. Phase three will consist of expanding the industrial needs of each city and then the planet as a whole. With our current resources, we anticipate having a city able to house a hundred thousand colonists in roughly two years. That number would increase dramatically once we get more workers and fabricators built. All told, we’re hoping to have enough housing capacity for ten million people within a decade. From there, it’ll grow exponentially as we build more of these planned city designs.”
Luca smiled at the news, but she was always one to go bold. “Gentlemen, this is an exceptional plan. However, you need to think larger,” she insisted. “This is one city complex you’ve shown me. We need to have ten or twenty of them going, and preferably at the same time. We cannot wait a decade to have ten million people living here. We need to build New Eden into an industrial powerhouse able to support and sustain our growing military presence in the system. That means we’ll need a massive shipyard with the ability to build and repair our warships—that requires resources, workers, and more resources.
“We have billions of people on Earth. Despite the dangers of the Zodarks, tens of millions of people are lining up to travel here. I want to challenge you to move forward with this plan, but expand it at least tenfold. You’re going to have an army of workers, people, and supplies headed your way in the coming year, so be prepared and act now.”
The meeting ended shortly after her comments, and they traveled back to the airfield. When they reached that large hangar close to the Osprey that would take them back to the ship, there was a formation of soldiers waiting for President Luca to personally promote and award valor medals to them. She didn’t have as much time on New Eden as she wanted, not with the Zodark fleet bearing down on them, but this was important. The soldiers here were far away from home, away from their families and loved ones. They’d fought a long and tough campaign to capture an alien world from a hostile force. She felt she owed it to them to spend some time with them and present them with their medals and promotions in person. She was, after all, their commander in chief.
It took her two hours to go through the rows of soldiers, pinning their medals on them and awarding them their new ranks, but it was worth it. She got to see the esprit de corps of the various units and the pride in the eyes of these brave warriors that served in them. After spending the day on the planet, she felt a new sense of urgency and vigor to make sure these men and women had anything and everything they needed to win this war. She was more determined than ever to see this conflict through to total victory, no matter the cost.
Chapter Thirteen
Battle at the Gate
Rhea Gate
RNS George Washington
“We’re approaching the stargate now,” the helmsman called out as the ship finally came into sight of the massive floating structure.
No one knew who had created these stargates, or technically how they even worked. All the Earthers really knew was that the Zodarks used them to traverse the galaxy. Maybe they had been created by an ancient race that had once colonized the stars. Who knew? But right now, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that a Zodark fleet was heading toward them, and they didn’t have a lot of time to prepare.
“Something’s coming through,” shouted the tactical officer.
“Spin up our targeting computers. I want whatever’s coming through locked up and blown apart if it’s not one of ours,” barked Captain Fran McKee, Hunt’s XO.
When Hunt had been promoted to rear admiral and given command of Earth’s most powerful warship, he’d pulled some strings to have Fran promoted to O-6, Captain, and made his official XO on the George Washington. He probably could have gotten her command of one of the battleships, but he really needed and wanted her help fighting on the GW. It was a beast of a ship, and he ultimately knew if she did a tour as the XO on this ship, the next dreadnought-class ship built would most likely be commanded by her.
Looking at the main display in front of the bridge, Hunt ordered, “Enhance that image. I want to see what’s jumping through.”
A second later, the display zoomed in and showed the stargate much clearer. It shimmered briefly, and then a ship shot through it. It didn’t move very quickly immediately after being ejected from the gate, but it was working on increasing its speed. As soon as the Earthers had a second to respond to the visual, everyone on the bridge seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief.
“It’s the Viper. Stand down, everyone,” ordered Captain McKee.
“Sir, we’re being hailed by them,” Lieutenant Molly Branson announced.
Like McKee, Branson had transferred over to the GW with Hunt. Hunt had done his best to have as many of his bridge crew from the Rook carr
ied over to the GW as he could. He knew them, and they knew how to fight a warship. He wanted that knowledge and experience anchoring the most powerful warship in the fleet.
“Patch them through,” Hunt ordered as he sat a little straighter in his chair.
A second later, the image of Commander Dobbs appeared. “Admiral, it’s good to see you. For a second there, I thought we were goners until we realized it was you guys here when we jumped through the gate.” He thought he saw a few beads of sweat on her forehead.
Hunt smiled. “We got your message a couple of days ago about the gate camping idea. I went ahead and moved the fleet into position. How far away is the Zodark fleet, Commander?”
She furrowed her brow. “That’s hard to say, Admiral. We’re still not one hundred percent certain on their actual travel speeds, so it’s hard to know exactly far away they are right now. Our best guess is they’re probably about a day and a half behind us. Now that we’re back in the system, sir, would you like our ship to support your fleet?”
“Commander, how much of your ordnance did you expend?” Hunt asked.
“We used a single barrage of plasma torpedoes and Havoc missiles. I’ve got two more loads of both aboard,” Dobbs replied. “I’m actually shorter on food than I am anything else.”
“OK, Commander, make your best speed back to New Eden and restock your food stores, then head back here,” Hunt ordered. “I’ve left our replenishment ships back near New Eden with the Voyager. Make sure you’re back here in thirty-two hours. I want your ship here for this coming battle.”
As the Viper headed off to resupply, Hunt ordered a couple more of his frigates to jump through the stargate and keep an eye out for the Zodark fleet. The rest of the day was primarily spent reexamining the footage of Commander Dobbs’s attack on the enemy fleet. Hunt’s people were looking for any and all means they could use to catch the Zodarks by surprise and hopefully crush their fleet.
The lone transport Hunt had sent a couple days ago had already made progress in unloading two of the plasma torpedo platforms. They still had one more to deploy before they could start deploying the three magrail turrets. Hunt wasn’t sure if they’d get them all deployed and brought online before the Zodarks showed up, but he was hoping they could. The floating turrets would add to the mayhem and carnage they’d be able to inflict on the enemy.
Earth had spent the last few years building up a navy to defend Sol and take Rhea. If they were able to crush the enemy fleet here, then they’d be able to travel, hopefully unopposed, to the Sumerian home planet and liberate them. Then Hunt’s people would work to integrate them into their military alliance and together they could liberate and free additional human worlds as they found them. The burning questions Hunt still couldn’t answer were how many other human worlds were out there, how they came to be scattered across the stars, and how big the Zodarks’ empire was. While he didn’t have answers to those questions yet, he was going to try to find them.
Hunt checked the time log on his neurolink; it had been nearly two days since the Viper had jumped through the gate. That had proved to be a good thing, since it had given the transport enough time to deploy the gate guns. Hunt would have liked to place a lot more—maybe even some anti-ship mines, but he was glad to have something set up.
The two scout ships on the other side of the stargate hadn’t jumped back to warn them of any approaching Zodark ships. Admiral Hunt was starting to wonder what to do.
I guess I’ll grab a shower and some food while we wait, Hunt thought as he stretched in his commander’s chair on the bridge.
He turned to Captain McKee. “XO, you have the bridge. I’m going to freshen up and grab some food. You want me to bring you anything from the mess deck?” Hunt asked as he stood up.
Captain McKee smiled but said she was OK.
Walking into his quarters, Hunt had to admit, he really enjoyed this perk of command. The admiral’s quarters were spacious compared to previous ships he’d served on. Heck, the captain’s quarters he had McKee staying in were amazing compared to previous commands he’d held. They’d designed this ship with the idea of a fleet admiral being stationed aboard. It had a section of quarters for such a staff, beyond the normal command staff.
The admiral quarters were divided into two sections. The first was his office, which had a large mahogany desk that also had an extension for his aide to work from. Hunt thought about how his aide rarely ever left the office—then again, it was her job to facilitate all communications and administrative duties for Hunt. She was a lifesaver.
At the opposite end of the office was a sitting area with two couches and two chairs for informal meetings, and then a ten-person wardroom table to accommodate private briefings or meals. At the rear end of the office was a door that led to his sleeping quarters. His smaller sleeping quarters were still twice as large as anything he’d previously had on the Rook or any other starship he’d served on. Instead of a twin bed, he had a queen-size bed to stretch out on. He also loved the comfortable leather La-Z-Boy rocking recliner and small entertainment center to watch holograph movies or listen to music. All in all, this was a very comfortable home away from home. His shower was even large enough for him to actually bend over and scrub himself. It was quite luxurious compared to what he’d grown accustomed to as a naval officer.
Stripping off his couple-day-old clothes, Hunt placed them in the bin for his aide to deliver to the ship’s laundry department. He laid out a clean uniform on his bed and then hopped in the shower. He turned the water temp up pretty high before stepping in. He was steadily feeling every bit of his fifty-four years of age. Hunt was still lean, but not nearly as muscular or cut as he had been. Command was taking its toll on him physically. He found himself spending more and more time in meetings or strategy discussions and less time in the gym working out.
After squeezing some foamy soap onto his hand, Hunt turned the hot water off for a moment as he proceeded to lather up nice and good. Once he was sufficiently soapy, he turned the water back on and let it wash away the soap, grime, and stress of the last couple days.
Just then, he heard the familiar sound of the 1MC blaring its klaxon noise, alerting the crew to man their battle stations.
Sorry to interrupt, Admiral, but the stargate is activating. Something is about to jump through, Captain McKee said through the command’s neurolink.
Man, it’s always when I’m indisposed that the battle station alarms blare, Hunt thought.
Thank you, Captain, I’ll be up there momentarily. If it’s a Zodark ship, you know what to do, he replied as he turned the water off. He rushed to the bed to grab his clothes. He didn’t have time to properly dry off, so his fresh uniform would just have to absorb the water for him.
As soon as he exited the door to his office and quarters, Hunt broke into a run, racing to get to the bridge. He was hoping it wasn’t the Zodarks, not right away. Hunt wanted to be on the bridge when the first several critical decisions needed to be made. He trusted McKee to do the right thing, but he was the man in charge of not just this ship but the entire fleet. Fifteen thousand lives depended on him making the right call at the right time.
He arrived on the bridge just as two ships emerged from the stargate; he was relieved to see they were Republic frigates and not a Zodark fleet.
“Hail them, get an update and find out if they’ve spotted the enemy fleet yet,” Captain McKee ordered the coms officer.
Hunt walked up to McKee. “Did you send a message out to the rest of the fleet to go to general quarters yet?” he asked.
“It just went out as you entered the bridge,” she replied.
“Admiral, a message from the Blackjack,” announced Lieutenant Branson. “They said the Zodark fleet had just arrived at the other side of the gate. That’s why they jumped through.”
Taking charge of the situation, Hunt bellowed out loud enough for everyone to hear him, “OK, people, this is it—the battle we’ve been waiting for. The enemy is on the othe
r side of that stargate. They may jump across in a few minutes or a few hours. What we do know is they’re going to be jumping across to try to retake this system. Let’s be ready to give them a good old-fashioned Earth greeting when they do.”
Hunt turned to look at his tactical officer. “Commander, send a message down to flight ops to begin preparations to deploy our fighters. Let’s also spin up the plasma cannon. That damn thing takes a while to get ready, so let’s start the process now.”
Captain McKee walked closer to him and leaned in. “Admiral, when the battle starts, do you want me to handle fighting the ship while you focus on managing the fleet?”
Looking at his XO, Hunt smiled; this was why he wanted her as his XO. She was intuitive and knew how to anticipate his needs before he vocalized them. “Yes, XO, that’ll work out great. I’ll stay in control of the plasma cannon, but yes, please fight and manage the ship while I work with the other ship captains. This is going to get chaotic. Don’t forget to stay on top of damage control once we start taking some hits. We have a lot of new and untested systems on this ship. We’re bound to have some hiccups during our first engagement.”
McKee nodded approvingly. She then turned to start barking more orders to various sections throughout the bridge.
Taking his seat at his terminal, Hunt had just gotten his screen brought up with an overview of the fleet when the stargate activated. Looking up at the massive display screen at the front of the bridge, he watched the stargate field shimmering a bit as whatever was on the other side traveled through it. Moments later, the first ship emerged.
“That looks to be a Zodark battleship,” called out one of the crewmen in the tactical section.
“Start jamming that ship now! Weps, lock onto it with our main guns and engage them,” ordered Captain McKee excitedly.
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