by D. J. Holmes
“The Kulreans? It would be an honor to meet them. My species holds them in high regard. Though I thought they rarely left their home system?”
“So did I,” James replied. “It seems they are starting a new tradition.” It had only been a couple of years since he had visited Varanni Prime with Hallock, one of the Kulrean Superintendents that led their government. That in and of itself had been a momentous occasion. If one of the Kulreans had now come to Earth it would be just as significant. I hope it is them, James thought as he led Flew through Earth’s corridors. It if wasn’t, it was unlikely to be good news.
When James stepped onto Earth’s bridge he immediately sensed something unusual was happening. A Kulrean delegation had visited Earth once before and everyone knew about their existence. Even so, every officer on the bridge was staring at the holo-display in silence. When James looked up at it, he froze. He blinked several times as he took in the data that was growing beside the image. That can’t be real, he thought. “Admiral?” he asked as he sought out Gupta.
She nodded at him. “The sensors are functioning normally. We are getting the same readings from every ship in orbit.”
James turned back to watch the three approaching spheres. Though they were travelling in a straight line towards Earth and were clearly constructed from some kind of advanced material, it seemed wrong to call them ships. They were perfect spheres with no sign of anything resembling engines, sensors or weapons. That wasn’t the most disturbing feature of the objects though, their size was. The data scrolling up beside the images indicated that each sphere has a radius of a kilometer. In his head, James calculated the volume of each object. They are colossal, he decided. What was left of the entire human fleet could fit inside one of the objects several times over.
“Do we know who they are?” he asked after he realized he had been staring for nearly thirty seconds.
“We can detect no engines, but the ships are giving off distinct gravimetric waves identical to the Kulrean diplomatic ship that visited Earth fourteen years ago,” Gupta answered. “I hope they are Kulrean. If not, we are in a lot of trouble.”
“Have you seen anything like this?” James asked Flew as he turned to her.
The Varanni shook her head. “There’s nothing like this in the Varanni databases.”
“You better get the fleet ready,” James said as he looked back at Gupta.
“I already have,” she replied in a neutral tone.
“Of course,” James said as he gave her an apologetic smile. It was hard not to take the lead. She was the commander of Home Fleet though. Stepping back behind her command chair, he folded his hands behind his back and prepared to wait. For twenty minutes he engaged Flew in small talk as he stayed out of Gupta’s way.
“They have entered two-way communication range,” Earth’s COM officer reported.
“Hail them,” Gupta ordered at once.
When a familiar face appeared James couldn’t help letting out a deep breath of relief. “Admiral Gupta,” Superintendent Hallock said with a formal wave of his arm. “It is good to see you. Though I am sorry it is under such circumstances. Please, accept my deepest condolences for the losses your people have suffered. I would like to request permission to enter orbit if I may.”
Gupta looked back at James before answering. He shrugged; the decision was hers. “We welcome you to our homeworld Superintendent. Before I send you an orbital holding pattern, may I ask, what is the purpose of your ships? They are far larger than anything we have ever seen before. I must admit, they make me nervous.”
“Ah… of course,” Hallock replied. “I’m sorry, I am just so used to them now. Yes, of course, I understand. They are our new Defender class guardships. We designed and built them as a result of the time I spent at Varanni Prime with Admiral Somerville. If the Karacknids ever attempt to attack Kulrea, they will find us ready to protect ourselves.”
“Thank you for the explanation Superintendent,” Gupta responded slowly. “Though I feel I still must ask, why have you brought them here?”
“A good question Admiral. Perhaps I have not been clear enough. I understand your concern. As soon as my people heard about the atrocious attack on your homeworld, we decided to send as much aid as we could. Our Defender ships are the largest ships we have ever built and it made sense to send our aid on them. Plus, if the Karacknids tried to give us any trouble, we would be able to convince them to think again.”
Gupta smiled, “In that case Superintendent, your ships are more than welcome. We could use all the help you are able to offer. Your sensors may have already detected a Varanni squadron in orbit. They have offered their help too. My people will be in both of your species’ debt. If you would allow me to welcome you aboard my ship, Admiral Somerville and Commodore Flew are already aboard, I’m sure they would be happy to greet you.”
“As long as the rest of my people can get to work right away,” Hallock responded. “My species have been pacifists for generations. Now we are willing to defend ourselves. We will not launch aggressive actions against anyone, not even the Karacknids. But that does not mean we do not hate what they have done. We wish to do everything we can to rectify their evils. To that end, we have brought a gift for your people. We have with us most of the resources needed to construct one of our tachyon FTL communicators. It will take some time, but we hope to build you one. We hope it will help prevent your world from suffering as it has ever again.”
Gupta stared at Hallock. James would have laughed at the look on her face, except he was pretty sure he shared it. A Kulrean FTL communicator was a big deal. A very big deal! They would be able to communicate with Varanni Prime and Kulrea in a matter of a day or so, not months! It would completely change the strategic situation of the war with the Karacknids.
Gently James cleared his throat to get Gupta’s attention. When she looked at him he raised his eyebrows and nodded towards Hallock. “Yes, right,” Gupta said quickly. “I will instruct my staff to liaise with your people right away,” she promised. “We can discuss how best to use your help when you meet with James and I.”
“Thank you Admiral, I will arrange a shuttle to come to your ship now,” Hallock said and then gave a slight bow before ending the COM channel.
As soon as he was gone, Gupta turned and shared a glance with James. James knew exactly what she was thinking. The Kulrean help was a godsend in and of itself. The fact that they had brought such powerful warships, even if they called them guardships, would greatly bolster Earth’s defenses. No matter what Hallock thought, if the Karacknids attacked Earth again and Hallock’s ships were in orbit, they wouldn’t just leave them alone. Hallock’s ships would be forced to defend themselves and Earth. Already James was thinking out what that would mean. When they became available, they would be able to send more ships to Lightfoot and expand his mission. From the look on Gupta’s face, he knew she was thinking the same thing. And then there was the FTL communicator, James had only begun to think through all the implications of having one of those.
Chapter 7
Today there are over three hundred flag rank officers who have real experience commanding squadrons in battle. It was not so during the formation of the Empire. Attrition against the Karacknids was so high among our flag officers in the Battle of Earth that those who survived have become legends of the fleet. Every one of them was called upon to attempt herculean tasks as we fought back against the Karacknids. Never since has so much responsibility fallen on the shoulders of so few Imperial Admirals. It is therefore not surprising that many of them did not survive the war.
-Excerpt from Empire Rising.
Springbuck, Beta system, 3rd October 2481 AD.
“No sign of any Karacknid ships,” Lieutenant Armitage, Lightfoot’s tactical officer reported.
Lightfoot didn’t allow himself to relax. “None that we can see,” he reminded his officer. “There were only a hundred odd that we could see in the Holstein system. It turned out there were more like a th
ousand. So keep your wits about you.” Though he had sent scouts in ahead of his fleet before jumping into the system, he did not intend to take any unnecessary risks.
“Of course Admiral,” Armitage replied as a serious look descended on his face. He hadn’t been at the battle of Holstein, but he had fought the Karacknids at Earth.
No one wants to fight them again, Lightfoot thought as he looked at his staff officers and Springbuck’s bridge officers. There wasn’t outright fear, but the air was thick with concern. That needs to change, he decided. And fast. He didn’t want to take a hesitant fleet into combat. Their anxiety would end up being a self-fulfilling prophesy. “Take us in, one quarter speed,” he ordered. “Captain Suarez, Springbuck will lead us in,” he added as he turned to his Flag Captain.
Given the recent history between Argentina and the British Star Kingdom, ordinarily Lightfoot would have been just a small bit suspicious of Suarez. But not in this case. Springbuck had been one of the battlecruisers of Admiral Gupta’s squadron in the Outer Defense Fleet. Suarez had fought the Karacknids in the battle of Jaranna and Gupta spoke highly of him. Lightfoot had no doubt that he had one of the most competent Captains in the fleet assisting him.
“Contact Captain Gar’am and request that he release his scouts as planned,” he ordered once the fleet was underway.
“Yes Admiral,” his COM officer replied.
“Then send a COM message to Beta colony, I want the latest intelligence they have on Karacknid ship movements.”
Moments after his officer acknowledged his second order, two Varanni scouts shot ahead of the fleet, their active sensors filling space with quantities of electromagnetic energy the Human and Vestarian ships in Lightfoot’s fleet couldn’t hope to match. If there are Karacknid ships hiding out there, they’ll have a much harder time hiding from Varanni sensors than ours, Lightfoot hoped. He didn’t want to be responsible for another disaster like the battle of Holstein.
An hour later a reply came in from the Beta colony. Lightfoot skimmed through it. He was already aware of the orbital bombardment the retreating Karacknid fleet had carried out on the colony. Every industrial and military instillation had been wiped out, along with more than ten thousand of the colony’s civilian population. When he got to the details of Karacknid ship movements, he slowed down. “They’ve seen nothing,” he commented after reading the brief paragraph.
“Which is exactly what the Karacknids would want us to think,” Suarez replied. “They could have slipped hundreds of ships through the Beta system towards Japanese and Chinese space. It looks like the Beta colony has barely a handful of functioning surface sensor arrays. Even we could sneak a fleet of ships past them.”
“Indeed,” Lightfoot agreed. “I’m glad we have the Varanni sensor data they collected on their way through German space. At least we’re not going in completely blind.” Commodore Flew’s forces had detected two hundred Karacknid warships in the Holstein system. It was possible they had all been sent to raid human colonies, but it was far more likely most of them had orders to garrison the colony and prevent any Human ships from attacking Jaranna. At least, that is what we are hoping, Lightfoot thought. His fleet was nowhere near strong enough to take on even half of the Karacknid ships at Holstein. “Dispatch Hammer and Gull as we have discussed. Then set course for the Ulm shift passage.”
Two corvettes broke away from the fleet. They headed towards the shift passages that led to Japanese and Chinese colonial space. If the Karacknids had sent ships in either direction, Lightfoot would have to attempt to deal with them. A problem for another time, he reminded himself. He knew there were still Karacknid ships operating in German colonial space. If he headed to Japanese or Chinese space, he could spend weeks searching for an enemy that might not be there. Moments after the two corvettes broke formation, the rest of the fleet altered course away from the Beta colony and towards the Ulm shift passage.
Unsurprisingly, Springbuck soon received a less than cordial COM message from the Governor of Beta colony. Though Lightfoot empathized with the Governor; her world had been attacked and many of her people killed. He didn’t have the time or resources to provide aid. Nor was it likely any would be arriving from Earth in the near future. All the aid Earth had access to was needed there. Rather than send her a video message in reply, he simply typed out a response. Beta colony was on its own for the foreseeable future. When the Governor replied with her own text message, listing the medical supplies she needed and the number of survivors likely to succumb to their injuries without help, Lightfoot ground his teeth together. The message brought back too many memories of what he had been forced to do after the Battle of Earth. Even now, weeks later, every night when he retired to his quarters and closed his eyes he saw the damaged section of HMS Vulcan being blown apart on his orders. Mentally, Lightfoot filed away the number of additional casualties the colony’s Governor expected. They were another list of names he intended to repay the Karacknids for.
“New contacts,” a sensor officer shouted, bringing Lightfoot out of his thoughts. “Three ships accelerating in from the Ulm shift passage. They’re Human.”
“Hail them,” Lightfoot demanded.
Moments later a thickly bearded, disheveled face appeared on Springbucks main holo- projector. “Boy am I glad to see you Admiral,” the man said with a heavy German accent. “I thought we were never getting out of there.”
“You have come from the German colonies, what information do you have on the Karacknids? Did you encounter any of their ships?” Lightfoot responded.
“We sure did,” the man replied, “my name is Jonah, I own these three freighters. We’ve been lying low since we heard about the invasion of Holstein. We were running out of supplies, so we decided to make a run for it. We spotted eight alien ships in the Gutenberg System, but thankfully they didn’t seem interested in us. They were too busy bombarding the colony. We just made out of the Ulm System in time, twelve alien ships were approaching the planet when we jumped out. They looked like they were up to no good as well.”
“There are Karacknid ships in the Ulm system right now?” Lightfoot demanded.
The German freighter Captain shrugged. “There were when we left. I expect Ulm will be getting the same treatment as some of the other colonies we visited. There was nothing my ships could do for them.”
Lightfoot shared a glance with Suarez then turned back to the German freighter Captain. “Take your ships to the Beta colony. See if you can help them in anyway. At the very least you can transport some of their wounded to Earth. You won’t know, but Earth has been attacked. Every freighter is worth its weight in gold at the moment. You will be well received there. There is massive demand for supplies and food.”
“Where are you going Admiral?” Jonah asked.
“Ulm, I intend to pay my respects to these invaders” Lightfoot answered then cut the COM channel. There wasn’t a moment to spare. “The fleet will go to maximum acceleration, get us to Ulm as fast as possible,” he ordered. The German colony was a day and half away in shift space. It was just possible they could get there in time to stop the Karacknids from completely destroying the colony’s infrastructure.
*
5th October 2481 AD.
Thirty-two hours later Springbuck and the rest of Lightfoot’s fleet jumped out of shift space. The ships of the Outer Defense Fleet with Mindus and Varanni tech upgrades could be pushed even harder than Lightfoot had suspected. As per his orders, all of his ships bar Gar’am’s Varanni warships accelerated at the rate they had been able to before their upgrades while Gar’am’s ships cruised into the system in stealth.
“They’re still here,” a sensor officer called out moments later. “I’m picking up twelve active contacts in orbit around Ulm.”
Lightfoot nodded. How confident are you feeling? he asked his opponent. As time progressed and the contacts didn’t move, Lightfoot got his answer. Karacknid warships had a significant acceleration advantage over an un-upgraded Human ship.
They were still faster than his upgraded ships, but not by as much. Allowing the incoming Human ships to build up momentum was the Karacknid commander’s first mistake. And with any luck, it will be his last, Lightfoot hoped. Even a cursory glance at the sensor readings of the Ulm system told him the Karacknids had been busy. The gas mining station that had orbited Ulm’s only gas giant had been destroyed many weeks ago. Lightfoot had watched that first hand. Now pretty much every other piece of orbital real estate was gone. The Karacknids had left nothing intact.
“Heat bloom from the surface,” someone reported.
Lightfoot’s fists clenched as his eyes widened. “Not again,” he couldn’t help saying out loud.
“It’s not nuclear,” the same sensor officer replied. “The bloom is too small. An orbital strike probably.”
“And not the first I would imagine,” Suarez said. “They’ve probably been bombarding the surface from the moment they entered orbit.”
“Yes,” Lightfoot agreed as a wave of relief washed over him. Orbital bombardments were bad, they usually caused a lot of collateral damage, but at least he wasn’t going to have to deal with another planet that had been nuked.