Harnett nodded; so many of her friends were Human. She was even going to take President Mason’s niece, Karen, as an apprentice and teach her Kivean medical technology and methods. “You’re right,” she answered, releasing Marken’s hand and standing up. Let’s go get something to eat, I’m famished.”
Marken laughed and nodded his head. That was one thing he missed on these long-term space missions. Harnett was an excellent cook and he really enjoyed the meals she prepared for them when they were at home. At least they were together, and their guest quarters were quite spacious for a warship.
-
Admiral Adamson was sitting behind the command console on the Constellation drumming his fingers on the armrest of his command chair. For three weeks, the fleet had been motionless, holding its position in a small brown dwarf system as the two passenger liners traveled from system to system visiting the different nonaligned worlds in this sector of space.
“Sensors are still showing no unknown contacts,” reported Lieutenant Lash as the last sensor sweep was completed. For those three weeks, the sensors had been absent of any contacts other than those of Seventh Fleet.
“I don’t like letting those two passenger liners go off on their own like this,” Commander Shepherd commented as she walked back from Communications. “What if a Kleese ships finds one of them?”
“It’s a risk,” admitted Adamson, shifting his gaze to Sandra. “But if we were to go with them, the Kleese would readily recognize our warships. We sent four assault ships along with each passenger liner as protection. If they’re spotted, the assumption will be that they’re Kleese ships. The assault ships are standing by on the outskirts of the system the liners are in and can go to their aid very quickly if needed.”
“Assault ships won’t last long against a Kleese exploration ship or a Zaltule warship,” Sandra was quick to point out. “We should have sent a light cruiser or two along.”
“They’ll be fine,” Adamson assured her. “At the first sign of the Kleese the captains of both liners know they’re to enter Fold Space and get out of the system.”
Sandra was silent as she gazed at the tactical screen showing the green icons that represented Seventh Fleet. “I just have a bad feeling about this,” she confessed.
“Women’s intuition,” suggested Admiral Adamson.
“Call it what you want,” answered Sandra, turning back around to face the admiral. “I just don’t think all of us will be going home.”
-
Wade watched the main viewscreen as the Distant Star dropped out of Fold Space into the Nalton system. This was one of the worlds that was questionable about joining the Alliance. The Lanolthians were pretty confident that if the Naltons joined the Alliance several other nonaligned worlds would follow their example.
“Hostile ships detected!” called out Mace Sutton, the sensor operator. “Two Kleese assault ships at thirty light seconds.”
Looking at the tactical screen, Wade saw two icons suddenly flare up and turn red. “Continue on our present course,” he ordered. “Don’t act as if anything is wrong.”
“What are Kleese assault ships doing here?” questioned Captain Julian Rios. The Distant Star wasn’t armed but did have a powerful energy screen, which could be activated if need be.
“Picking up a squadron of Nalton warships accelerating out to intercept them,” added Sutton.
“Move us farther away from the assault ships and continue toward the Nalton home planet,” ordered Wade, drawing in a sharp breath. “We’ll watch how this plays out. Captain Rios, be prepared to jump the ship back into Fold Space if it becomes too dangerous to hang around here. I’m not sure what’s going on. This may be some type of regular inspection the Kleese do.”
“The Fold Space Drive will be ready,” Captain Rios promised as he went over to talk to Dash Stahls at the Helm.
“The Lanolthians did mention that Kleese assault ships come into their system on occasion to ensure they’re not violating the terms of the neutrality agreement,” commented Hyram from where he was standing slightly behind Wade. “Council President Raytol mentioned the Kleese make inspections about twice a year.”
“Hopefully, that’s what this is,” Wade said as he watched the tactical screen, which showed even more ship icons across the system.
“Picking up quite a few cargo ships as well as a number of other nonaligned world ships in the system,” Sutton spoke as his sensors worked to categorize the numerous icons appearing on the sensor screens. As soon as they were identified, he switched them over to the ship’s tactical screen. The Lanolthians had provided a ship database on many of the nonaligned worlds in this sector as well as several of the surrounding ones.
Wade nodded. He knew that the nonaligned worlds traded with each other on a regular basis, though what they could trade was strictly limited by the Kleese. Any new items had to be approved by the Kleese on the nonaligned worlds’ trading station.
“What type of warships do the Naltons have?” asked Hyram, glancing over at Wade. The Lanolthians hadn’t said too much about the warships the other nonaligned worlds possessed.
“I don’t know,” answered Wade, looking over at Mace Sutton. “How large are those Nalton ships that are rendezvousing with the two Kleese assault ships?”
“Eight hundred meters in length and two hundred meters in diameter,” replied Sutton. “The ships are nearly perfect cylinders. I can’t tell from here what type of weapons they’re equipped with.”
“Those are big ships,” Hyram said, impressed. The fleet’s own battlecruisers were only five hundred meters in length.
“You mentioned that the Lanolthian President felt pretty confident we could bring the Naltons into the Alliance,” spoke Wade, turning and shifting his gaze to Hyram. “What do we have to offer the Naltons?”
Hyram sighed deeply and looked down at the deck before raising his eyes to gaze at Wade. “Probably a demonstration of what our Type Three battlesuits are capable of,” he said uneasily. “The ships of the Naltons are highly computerized and almost capable of fighting a battle without the crew raising a hand, but they’re very weak in combat troops. Crime on Nalton is virtually nonexistent and they have a very small police force, considering the size of their population. From what President Raytol told me, their actual ground troops total less than one hundred thousand and none of them has ever seen actual combat. They’re mostly used for ceremonial purposes.”
“I fear that’s going to be the case with many of the nonaligned worlds,” sighed Wade. “They’re all highly advanced and peace has existed on their worlds for centuries. It’s surprising they've resisted the Kleese for so long.”
“It’s the technology on their warships,” Hyram responded. “Their weapons are equal to those of the Kleese and in some cases surpass what the Kleese have on their assault and exploration ships. The Kleese were hesitant to take the losses they would've suffered in bringing the nonaligned worlds into their Empire.”
“That assumption no longer exists due to the Zaltule,” Wade murmured with a slight nod. “The Zaltule’s ships are designed for war and they seem intent on bringing the nonaligned worlds, as well as everyone else, into the Empire.”
Hyram nodded his head in agreement and then spoke. “The nonaligned worlds are capable of fighting; they’ve just forgotten how.”
“Then we’ll have to teach them,” Wade said, decisively. He felt apprehensive as he realized the mammoth task ahead of them. Twenty thousand Space Marines in battlesuits might not be enough.
As the Distant Star continued toward the planet, Wade kept a watchful eye on the tactical screen. Most passenger liners didn’t have an advanced tactical screen in the Command Center; normally they just depended on their sensor screens. However, due to the missions the Distant Star had been sent out on over the years, an up to date military tactical screen had been added.
The Nalton ships rendezvoused with the two Kleese assault ships. There were eight Nalton battlecruisers in the squadron
as it decelerated and then came to a stop in relation to the Kleese ships. After a few minutes, the squadron took up positions around the assault ships and began escorting them toward Nalton.
“Looks as if we’re going to have company in orbit,” said Captain Rios, unhappily. “I was hoping they would take a few sensor scans and then leave.”
“Not our luck,” responded Wade, folding his arms across his chest. “Try to stay as far away from them as possible while we’re in orbit. Once they’re satisfied the neutrality agreement is still being honored they should leave.”
“If the Naltons don’t turn us in,” muttered Dash Stahls at the Helm.
“Just be ready to activate our energy screen,” Wade replied. “It'll hold up long enough against two assault ships to allow us to activate the Fold Space Drive and escape.”
“They won’t turn us in,” predicted Hyram, confidently. “They assured the Lanolthians they would guarantee our safety while we’re in the system conducting negotiations.”
“Only thing is they didn’t expect to have two Kleese assault ships here at the same time,” Captain Rios interjected with deep concern etched on his face. “Don’t forget that a sublight missile could be launched and strike us before we could raise our energy shield.”
“They have to open a missile hatch first,” Wade said, understanding the captain’s concern. “If we see one open, activate the shield and get us the hell out of here.”
“I’ll monitor their missile hatches closely,” Sutton promised as he turned and adjusted the ship’s sensors. “If they open a hatch, I’ll know about it.”
As the Distant Star neared the planet, they were contacted by the Nalton’s equivalent of space control and assigned an orbit. The Naltons had been expecting them and no one on board was surprised when they were placed in an orbit far away from the two Kleese assault ships. They also noticed several squadrons of Nalton battlecruisers take up positions almost nonchalantly between the Human ship and the Kleese.
“I have a message on a tight beam instructing us to stay in the assigned orbit and not to launch any shuttles at this time,” Anne Norman reported from Communications. “They expect the Kleese to be departing in a few hours and then we can send a shuttle down.”
“Very well,” answered Captain Rios, sitting down in his command chair. He wouldn’t be leaving the Command Center until the two Kleese ships were safely out of the system.
Wade looked at several viewscreens, showing views of the planet. He recalled what he knew about the Nalton home planet and star system from the briefing he'd received earlier from Marken and Admiral Adamson. Nalton was a heavily forested planet covered with small, deep lakes and snaking aquamarine rivers. The population of the planet was slightly over four billion and there was no orbiting moon.
Nalton was the third planet out from the system’s primary and slightly smaller than Earth. There were eight planets in the system with planets four and five having a large number of orbiting moons as well as a massive asteroid field between them. The Naltons had a number of large domed habitats and mining operations on the moons with nearly three hundred million Naltons living upon them. There was also a robust mining operation in the asteroids where much of the system’s refined metals came from.
As Wade settled down to wait, he wondered how Ryan’s combat training was going. By now, Ryan was well into it and would be nearing the final, grueling tests. Wade was deeply concerned that before this current mission was over his brother would be joining them. He hoped not, but if the nonaligned worlds wanted a demonstration as to whether the Humans could stand up to the Zaltule in armed combat on the ground there was a high likelihood that Ryan and his company would soon be on their way.
Wade let out a heavy sigh of worry. Ryan was old enough to look out for himself, but Wade still felt responsible since he was the oldest. However, he didn’t know what he could do to help protect his younger brother in what was to come. He wished he could talk to Beth about his concerns, but she was far away with the rest of Seventh Fleet. Looking at the viewscreens and the blue-green world they displayed, Wade couldn’t help but notice how peaceful everything looked. Wade had a haunted feeling that very soon all that was going to change and not for the better.
Chapter Ten
Wade was standing on a firing range just outside one of the Naltons' small military bases. A viewing stand had been set up and over two hundred Naltons were seated, waiting for the demonstration to begin. The majority of them were in the Nalton military with a few important government officials there to observe as well.
For nearly four days, Hyram Blake and his team of negotiators had been holding high-level talks with the Nalton government and military as well as several other nonaligned worlds, which had sent representatives. Hyram hadn’t been aware that three other nonaligned worlds would be represented and had been burning the midnight oil to get everything set up for this demonstration.
“Well, this should be interesting,” commented Sergeant Russell in his South Chicago accent, looking at the packed viewing stand.
“Just don’t blow them up instead of the target,” drawled Sergeant Dawson, who was standing next to him. Dawson was from the Midwest and had a slight southern drawl when he spoke.
Wade and the two sergeants were all wearing their Type Three battlesuits waiting for the signal from Hyram for the demonstration to begin. Hyram was currently addressing the spectators as to what they were about to see. Once they'd learned that the Naltons and the other three races wanted to see a demonstration of Humans in battlesuits, Wade had requested that the Fire Fox be sent to the Nalton system. The large troop transport was currently waiting just outside the system with two light cruisers as escorts. Sergeants Russell and Dawson had been sent ahead in a shuttle for the demonstration.
Even as Wade watched, Hyram seemed to finish his presentation and turned to face him. He waved his arms, indicating that the demonstration could begin.
“Alright, Sergeants,” Wade said over his suit com. “We have twenty remote controlled vehicles that will be coming over that rise a thousand meters away. There are also forty popup weapon emplacements, which will appear between the vehicles and us. They’re not armed, but the drill is to see how rapidly we can annihilate the attacking force and the popups. Sergeant Russell, you’re carrying an energy cannon so your first priority is the popups. Sergeant Dawson, you’ll assist with annihilating the popups with explosive rounds from your RG rifle. I’ll focus on the vehicles with my suit explosive rounds. This shouldn’t take long.”
“Yes, Sir,” Sergeant Dawson answered. “Let’s make this look impressive!”
“Piece of cake,” added Sergeant Russell as he removed his energy cannon from his shoulder to cradle it in his arms. “Just say when.”
Wade turned to face the small rise and waited expectantly. He didn’t have long to wait as twenty small remote controlled tanks suddenly rolled over the hill. They were slightly larger than a mid-sized car but they appeared to be heavily armored. They had one turret with a medium-sized cannon affixed.
At the same time as the tanks rolled over the rise, forty embedded popup weapons rose up from the ground with their guns swiveling to lock on the three battlesuits. It was an excellent job of synchronization.
“Fire!” commanded Wade. His suit sensors immediately locked upon the tanks and began assigning targets. Before he could fire a round, one of the tanks fired and an explosion threw him violently to the ground.
“What the hell?” yelled Dawson as flying rock and dirt fell on him. He was already firing his RG rifle at the popups as quickly as he could. Several vanished as the grenade-like explosives tore them apart. “I thought they were supposed to be unarmed!”
Wade staggered back to his feet and began firing off suit explosive rounds as rapidly as he could. “Change of plans,” Wade called out, feeling pissed off. The tanks weren’t supposed to have been armed with live rounds. “Sergeant Russell, switch to suit explosives and help me clear out those tanks.”<
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Immediately, massive explosions began to roll across the advancing line of tanks. Even as several exploded and were destroyed from the explosives fire, two more fired at the three Humans. Sergeant Dawson screamed as an explosion hurled him violently up into the air, causing him to come crashing down to the ground. On Wade’s HUD, Sergeant Dawson’s green icon switched to amber.
“Report!” yelled Wade as he frantically fired explosive rounds as rapidly as possible. Already, in the line of tanks, six of them were burning and five others were lying on their sides. Even as he watched two more were hit by Sergeant Russell.
“Leg’s busted,” Dawson groaned as he staggered back upright. He immediately began blowing the popups apart as he fired round after explosive round from his RG rifle.
Wade nodded; he knew Dawson’s suit would be injecting him with meds including painkillers. Several more explosions went off close to them, showering them with debris, but the three kept up an unrelenting fire of explosive rounds. In another few seconds, the target range became quiet as the last target was blown apart. Smoke drifted everywhere and a number of the small tanks were on fire. Where the popups had been, small craters indicated their destruction.
Wade turned around to see where Hyram was. The negotiator was about to get a piece of Wade’s mind over this demonstration. The tanks were supposed to have been unarmed and Hyram hadn’t briefed Wade that the demonstration had been changed. As his eyes focused on Hyram, he could see the man was standing in front of several nonaligned world members gesturing with his hands and pointing at the burning tanks. Even from here, Wade could tell that Hyram was deeply upset. Wade decided it was best not to say anything at the moment. They would discuss it when they returned to the Distant Star.
Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) Page 14