The Lost Fleet: Oblivion's Light: A Slaver Wars Novel

by Raymond L. Weil

  Krusk watched as his crew rushed to their battlestations in preparation for combat. Many of them he had known for years.

  “All ships report combat ready,” reported First Commander Lukel.

  The sensor operator turned toward the admiral. “Enemy ships are accelerating and have formed up into a solid phalanx fifty ships wide and twenty high. There is no reserve.”

  “They mean to crush us in one overwhelming assault,” muttered Lukel as he took his seat buckling himself in.

  Admiral Krusk nodded and changed his comm unit so he could address his entire fleet. “All ships, we are about to engage in a battle that will decide the fate of our civilization. Let it be said by future generations we did not turn away, we did not show fear, but met the enemy with courage and fortitude. It has been an honor to serve as your admiral.”

  “Weapons range,” the sensor operator called out.

  -

  In space, the darkness became lit up as the Simulins fired their deadly energy cannons. Almost simultaneously, the Ornellians activated their pulse lasers and the deadly ruby-red beams struck the oncoming Simulin juggernaut.

  The Ornellian three-hundred-meter cruisers were working in squadrons of six to allow them to bring more of their pulse lasers to bear on a single target. Five hundred and thirty-eight cruisers fired their single pulse laser cannons toward the inbound Simulin fleet. The one hundred and ninety-four five-hundred-meter battlecruisers did the same. In orbit above Ornellia, defensive laser turrets and missile platforms joined in. Space became aglow from the savagery of the battle.

  In the Simulin battle line, the top section of a 1,700-meter battlecruiser exploded as several pulse laser beams blasted through its energy shield and burned deep into the hull of the warship. More laser beams played across the hull, opening up compartment after compartment to space. Secondary blasts began tearing the ship open and then it blew apart in a massive explosion. All across the Simulin battle line, their vessels were dying or suffering heavy damage.

  However, the Simulins were also firing. Besides their powerful energy beams, they were launching sublight antimatter missiles. The energy beams were cutting Ornellian warships in two and then they were being finished off by the antimatter missiles. In high orbit above Ornellia, their defending fleet was being blown apart as ship after ship died.

  -

  Admiral Krusk gritted his teeth as his flagship shook violently and warning alarms began sounding. On one of the viewscreens, he could see one of his companion battlecruisers literally on fire. Its hull was shattered and the escaping atmosphere was glowing a bright red from the fury of the destruction within. A moment later the battlecruiser vanished in a brilliant ball of light as a Simulin missile ended the vessel.

  Glancing at other screens, he saw one of the shipyards encompassed in a ball of fire, and above Ornellia he could see bright pinpricks of light as the orbiting defensive laser satellites and missile launching platforms were being systematically annihilated. His breath caught in his throat as the flagship shook violently, and in the distance he thought he could hear a muted explosion. The lights briefly dimmed and then went back to bright.

  “We have four decks open to space,” grated out First Commander Lukel as he listened to reports coming in describing the damage. “There are out of control fires all around the affected area. “I’m pulling the crew out and preparing to vent those areas to space to snuff the fires and prevent them from spreading.”

  “Do it,” Krusk said brusquely. He knew his ship was dying around him as well as his fleet.

  “All ships, continue to fire,” he ordered over the ship-to-ship comm. “We must keep the enemy away from Ornellia!”

  On one of the viewscreens, he saw a three-hundred-meter cruiser split apart as it was speared by a white energy beam. Moments later, more energy beams finished the destruction.

  “We have less than one hundred ships remaining,” reported First Commander Lukel in a strained voice. “Most of them are damaged.”

  Krusk nodded and leaned back in his command chair. Ornellia was doomed. He just hoped Rear Admiral Barnes succeeded in getting the evacuation fleets to safety. He knew once that was done she would be returning to attempt to destroy the artifact. She had wanted to stay and help with the defense of Ornellia, but he had finally convinced her that her services would be better served protecting the survivors. With a deep sigh, Krusk knew that, in other circumstances, Rear Admiral Barnes would have been a good friend.

  -

  High Commander Lantu’s eyes gleamed in satisfaction as another Ornellian battlecruiser fell to the energy weapons of his flagship. The Ornellian fleet was in shambles with most of its units destroyed. Simulin defensive energy batteries were making short work of the orbital defenses.

  Glancing at a viewscreen, he watched as one of the still functioning Ornellian squadrons of three-hundred-meter cruisers blew apart a Simulin escort cruiser. Moments later, the entire squadron was attacked by twenty Simulin battlecruisers. Energy beams smashed through the smaller cruisers energy screens, blasting huge rents in their hulls. Secondary explosions blew hull material out into space. Antimatter missiles began arriving and the screen suddenly blanked out from the brightness. When the screen came back up all that was left of the Ornellian squadron was molten metal and a few wisps of glowing gas.

  “Victory is ours,” commented Second Commander Darst mirthlessly. “The battle computer now predicts a 98 percent chance of Ornellian defeat.”

  High Commander Lantu nodded. He had been surprised to see the AIs and their allies had not been present for this final battle. Once Ornellia was neutralized, he would send out some ships to search the other Ornellian colonies to see if they had gone to one of them.

  -

  Admiral Krusk was sitting in near darkness. Only a few red emergency lights were on and they only served to create a haunting glow in the Command Center. Most of the command crew were still at their posts sitting in silence.

  “I can’t reach Engineering or any other compartment,” First Commander Lukel said softly from the admiral’s side. Lukel had released his safety harness to walk over to the admiral. “I also believe there’s a vacuum on the other side of the hatch leading from the Command Center.”

  “It’s over,” Krusk said with a deep sigh, looking over at his friend. “I just hope we damaged enough Simulin ships to give our evacuation fleets time to get away.”

  “So that’s what this was,” said Lukel, realizing what the admiral had done. “This entire battle was to gain time for those fleets.”

  Krusk nodded. He noticed that not even the air vents were operating. It wouldn’t be long before the air in the Command Center became too bad to breathe. “Lukel, you have been a good executive officer and friend. I wish we could have gone down to Ornellia one more time to see our families.”

  Lukel stayed silent lost in his own thoughts. He knew soon the Simulins would begin their nuclear bombardment of the surface and then shortly after that release the deadly Conqueror Drones Rear Admiral Barnes had told them about. He just hoped his family would meet a quick death in the bombardment. He was about to mention that to the admiral when a brilliant light filled the Command Center.

  -

  That’s the last one,” Second Commander Darst said as a brilliant explosion marked the death of the last Ornellian battlecruiser. “From its location in their fleet, it might very well have been their flagship.”

  High Commander Lantu looked over at Darst and nodded his approval. Then in a cold and heartless voice, he gave his next order. “Move the fleet into nuclear bombardment orbit, and inform the Conqueror Drone carriers to prepare to deploy their cargo. It is time to finish the eradication of the organics of this world. There can be none but Simulin.”

  “None but Simulin,” replied Second Commander Darst as he turned to carry out the orders.

  -

  Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes gazed at the tactical display with a keen eye. There were 722 amber icons being displayed
. These were the ships of the Ornellian evacuation fleets. They had been underway for a full day and so far hadn’t encountered any Simulin vessels though the long-range sensors did indicate the presence of a few Simulin sensor drones.

  “Wish we could travel faster in hyperspace,” muttered Colonel Leon from her position near the display. “We’re moving at less than half of our normal cruising speed. It’s going to take awhile to put sufficient distance between the Simulins and us.”

  Arlak Grall looked over at Petra and nodded his head in agreement. “I wish we had the time to update our drives to a closer version of yours. It would cut over a year from our journey.”

  “We would have had to redesign the entire engineering sections of your ships,” Andram said as he considered the Ornellian scientist’s words. “It would have taken a Fusion Five reactor and a completely new hyperdrive system. To convert your vessels would have taken longer than the projected trip time.”

  “I’m just thankful for your help,” added Tomar Pelh. Pelh was a member of the Ornellian ruling council and the only one to make the journey. The rest of the council had stayed behind on Ornellia to await the coming of the Simulins. “Once we’re safely out of range of the Simulins, we will try to stay away from any other space-going civilization we might encounter.”

  Commander Grissim frowned and addressed the politician. “Don’t you think you should attempt to warn them of the Simulins?”

  “We will,” answered Arlak. “We have some message buoys we will be dropping off that will send out a hyperspace signal warning of the Simulins. They will contain all the information we have gathered. If there’s an advanced race within range, they should pick up the signal and can retrieve the buoy.”

  Kathryn nodded, knowing this was the prudent thing to do. “I’ll speak to our technicians and see if we can place several sets of Alton long-range sensors on a few of your battlecruisers. That will allow you to see any ship traveling in hyperspace within ten light-years of your fleet.”

  “Ten light-years,” said Arlak, looking amazed. “That will be of immense value, particularly when we reach the star cluster where we want to establish our new colony.”

  “How long will you be able to escort our fleet?” asked Tomar. “I know you’re anxious to get to the artifact.”

  “We’ll stay with you for a full week,” Kathryn responded. They would be able to return at a much faster hyperspace speed. A week should put the Ornellians safely beyond the Simulins’ reach.

  Clarissa looked over at Tomar and spoke. “If this artifact is indeed an Originator spacecraft, it could hold the key to defeating the Simulins.”

  Arlak nodded his head in agreement. “Then I am glad we told you about our discovery.”

  -

  Kelsey, Katie, and Clarissa were sitting at a table in the officer’s mess. Kelsey was eating a bowl full of strawberries and Katie was eating a salad.

  “I still don’t understand why women eat so differently than men,” Clarissa said, looking at her two friends.

  “Habit,” muttered Katie with a smile. “I think women worry about their figures much more than men do.”

  “Men also seem to be able to lose weight easier than women,” Kelsey added as she dipped one of her strawberries in some whipped cream. She loved strawberries and allowed herself one bowl of indulgence a week.

  “What do you think Jeremy will say when we tell him about the Originator ship?”

  Kelsey looked over at Katie with a thoughtful look on her face. “He’ll be thrilled. From what Andram has said, the science of the Originators is far ahead of the Altons.”

  “First we discover the Dyson Sphere and now this,” Katie said, her green eyes shining. “Maybe he’ll let us take the Distant Horizon out exploring more often.”

  Clarissa looked at the two, shaking her head in denial. “The Simulins still control this galaxy; look what they’re doing to the Ornellians. By now their home world has probably fallen and their other colonies are under attack. I don’t think Jeremy will allow the Distant Horizon to wander far from Gaia very often.”

  “Clarissa’s right,” Kelsey said with a sigh. “This may be the only opportunity we have to explore for quite some time, so we’d better take advantage of it.”

  “I know Kevin would object to us going out again,” Katie said, taking a deep breath. “It might be wise for the two of us to stay at Gaia for a while when we get back.”

  “The Special Five should be together,” Clarissa declared.

  “I hate that name.” Kelsey looked over at Katie. “I wish no one had ever called us that.”

  “But why?” asked Clarissa, looking confused. “Look who your parents were and what they did for the Federation. You were all on Earth’s first interstellar mission. Back in the Federation all five of you are revered as heroes, almost as much as Fleet Admiral Streth.”

  “I think it’s one reason why all of us except Jeremy have refused promotions,” Kelsey said, putting her fork down and leaning back in her chair. “It makes us seem more normal to others.”

  Katie was just picking at her salad. “I wish we could have done something for the Ornellians. If we had just found them a year sooner, maybe we could’ve saved them from the Simulins.”

  “Doubtful,” Clarissa said as she quickly ran several simulations. “The Simulins would have just brought more ships until they overwhelmed the Ornellians.”

  “At least we know now why there were so few ships at the blue giant star cluster,” Kelsey commented. “They were here fighting the Ornellians.”

  “That still wouldn’t account for the ships they should have had there,” Clarissa informed her. “They may be fighting in other areas of the galaxy as well, and perhaps they haven’t recovered from the losses they suffered at the hands of Admiral Tolsen.”

  “Admiral Tolsen,” said Kelsey, looking curious. “I wonder what he’s doing now? If he succeeded in destabilizing the vortex area, he must be leading a much more peaceful life.”

  “Yeah,” replied Katie jealously. “At least his fighting is probably over.”

  -

  The days passed and finally it was time to leave the Ornellian refugee fleet. They had traveled over 1,200 light-years toward the edge of the Triangulum Galaxy. The fleets were currently stopped in a small brown dwarf system allowing the drive cores on the ships to cool. Once the refugee fleets jumped again, the Distant Horizon and her fleet would remain behind and shortly begin their journey to the system the Originator ship was supposedly in.

  “Thank you, Rear Admiral Barnes, for seeing us to safety,” Tomar said over the ship-to-ship comm. Tomar had flown over to one of the larger colony ships, which would serve as his base of operations for the long journey to the distant star cluster. He intended to stay awake the entire time in case a situation arose, which needed his input.

  “You’re more than welcome,” Kathryn replied. She looked at the large viewscreen in the front of the Command Center showing one of the Ornellian colony ships. The vessel was seven-hundred-meters in length with a diameter of two-hundred-meters. Inside each colony ship were four thousand Ornellians resting in cryosleep. “I hope you find your new world.”

  “I’m confident we will,” Tomar responded. “I hope you find what you’re seeking in your war with the Simulins. They’re a truly frightening enemy.”

  “They’re beginning to jump,” reported Captain Reynolds, as ships began vanishing from his short-range sensors.

  On the main viewscreen, swirling vortexes began to form as the Ornellian fleet jumped into hyperspace to continue on their long journey. The Command Center was quiet as they watched the ships vanish one by one until only the Distant Horizon and her fleet remained.

  Commander Grissim let out a deep sigh and turned toward the admiral. “Do you think they’ll make it?”

  “I hope so,” answered Kathryn, settling back in her command chair. “They’re a good people.”

  “What happened to the Ornellians is very similar to what occurred
with the original Human Federation of Worlds,” Clarissa commented. Her deep blue eyes focused on the admiral. “They were wiped out by the AIs and the Hocklyns. Here in the Triangulum Galaxy, the Simulins have done the same thing to the Ornellians and countless other races.”

  “They’re a scourge that needs to be stopped,” said Commander Grissim somberly. “Perhaps what we find on the Originator ship will allow us to do just that.”

  Kathryn nodded her head in agreement. “Lieutenant Strong, begin plotting jumps back to the system the Ornellians indicated the Originator ship is in. I want 120 light-year jumps with minimal cool down time for the drive cores of the fleet. I want to get to that system as soon as possible.”

  “Yes, Admiral,” Kelsey responded, as she called up the hyperspace equations on her console and began plugging in the necessary numbers.

  Kathryn wondered what they would find. If the science of the Originators was truly as advanced as Andram indicated then perhaps that ship held the key to winning the war against the Simulins. Even more importantly, it might contain the secret to going back home.

  Chapter Eleven

  Admiral Race Tolsen was in the Command Center of the heavy battle dreadnought WarHawk. On the large viewscreen that covered the entire front wall another ship was visible floating in space against a backdrop of unblinking stars. It was the Corvus, a slightly smaller dreadnought. The Corvus was two-thousand-meters in length and four-hundred-meters in diameter. The ship was in the shape of a cylinder with a six-hundred-meter globe at the front and a five-hundred-meter flared stern. The ship’s design easily declared it as being from an Alton shipyard. The WarHawk itself was similar except it was three-thousand-meters in length.

  Race looked around the spacious Command Center. The Altons had told Race it was very similar to the one in the Exploration Dreadnought Distant Horizon, only larger. In front of the large viewscreen, Kelnor Mard and Reesa Jast sat in front of the two science consoles. In addition, Navigation, Helm, and the Hyperspace consoles were there. Sensors and Communications were to his right with Damage Control and the main computer station to his left. In front of the command dais and slightly to the left and right sides were four tactical holographic displays. The biggest station was Tactical, directly behind the command dais on an upraised platform. It was manned by twelve officers who controlled the ship’s weapons as well as the WarHawk’s powerful energy and stealth shields. The ship was capable of traveling one light-year every two minutes. Her effective jump range was one hundred and forty light-years.