-
After the banquet was over, Jeremy took Kelsey up to the large hill, which overlooked the Fleet Academy. Below them, the pristine white buildings stood out against the reddish soil of Gaia.
Kelsey took a deep breath of the fresh air. There was an atmospheric retention field recently installed around the complex. It allowed for a higher humidity and even a few small ponds with fountains had been added. Trees and other plants had been put in place to add sufficient greenery to make the Fleet Academy almost look like a lost oasis.
“You’re planning on attacking the Dyson Sphere, aren’t you?” Kelsey said in a soft voice.
She knew her husband very well, and he wasn’t one to shirk his duty. For the time being they were safe here inside the nebula, but there was no way to know if the Simulins had used the Dyson Sphere and its numerous hyperspace vortices to find another way to attack the Milky Way Galaxy.
Jeremy took a deep breath and looked over at Kelsey. “Yes, we have to. If we can destroy the Dyson Sphere then perhaps someday we can defeat the Simulins in this galaxy.”
Kelsey stood silently, holding Jeremy’s hand. She squeezed it gently and then said. “Someday, I want us to have children. It would be nice if they could be raised in a galaxy without war.”
“It seems as if that’s all we’ve ever known,” Jeremy responded. “From our days in the Fleet Academy until now we’ve gone from one battle to the next.”
“My father used to say I could do or become anything I wanted,” Kelsey said as she gazed off toward the distant spaceport. The sun was setting behind them and the hill was beginning to project its shadow toward the academy buildings. “I think he always thought that I would follow in his footsteps and take over as fleet admiral at Ceres.”
“Guess I screwed that up,” Jeremy responded.
“My mother was pleased when we started going out together,” Kelsey replied. “I don’t think she wanted me following in my father’s footsteps. I just wished she could have seen her grandchildren.”
Jeremy reached out and put his arms around Kelsey, pulling her closer. “I think they both understood how important it was for us to take part in the war against the Hocklyns and the AIs.”
“I know,” Kelsey responded. “They told me so in the messages they left.” All of their families had left recorded messages for the Special Five to listen to when they awakened from cryosleep.
Jeremy looked into Kelsey’s deep blue eyes. “I promise you someday our fighting will be over and we can raise our family in peace. I want children the same as you.”
Kelsey giggled and stepped out of Jeremy’s arms. “Can you imagine what Clarissa and Ariel will do with our kids?”
Jeremy grimaced. “I try not to think about it.”
Kelsey reached out and took Jeremy’s hand once more. “Let’s go back to the academy. We need to say goodbye to Rear Admiral Marks and then go back up to the Avenger.” She was staying with Jeremy on the Avenger for now. She didn’t think the Distant Horizon would be going anywhere soon and when it did, she wasn’t certain she was going to be on it.
-
Early the next morning Jeremy was back in the Command Center of the Avenger. Ariel was at his side briefing him on her experiences from the previous evening.
“I have sixteen students signed up for my advanced hyperspace navigation class for the next semester,” she said with pride in her voice. “I can’t wait to start teaching.”
“You will be a good teacher,” Jeremy replied. He was going to have Katie monitor Ariel’s classes to ensure the AI didn’t get carried away with her enthusiasm.
“We’ve been detecting stronger power emissions from the Originator ship,” Commander Kyla Malen said, stepping over closer to Jeremy.
Jeremy looked over at Ariel for an explanation.
“Clarissa says it has restored one of its secondary power generators,” the dark haired AI explained. “I visited with it briefly last night, and the AI seems quite reasonable.”
“That’s one hell of a secondary power source,” Kyla said, shaking her head in disbelief. “It’s putting out more energy than a Fusion Five reactor.”
“It needs the power for repairs,” Ariel replied. “The Originator AI is keeping Clarissa briefed on all of its efforts to repair the ship.”
Jeremy looked at one of the ship’s main viewscreens, which was focused on the massive vessel. At five-thousand-meters in length and six-hundred-meters in diameter, it was a colossal spaceship. “We need a name for that AI as well as for its ship.”
“I’ll check,” Ariel said as she closed her eyes briefly. She had a habit of doing this anytime she asked Clarissa a question.
Jeremy looked around the Command Center. Only about one-third of the normal command crew were present. Since they were in orbit around Gaia and not expecting to be leaving anytime soon, many had gone down to the planet on leave. There were still enough crew on board that the ship could respond to an emergency for a limited amount of time if it had to go into combat.
“The ship is called the Dominator, and the AI has a long complicated numerical identification,” Ariel said after a moment of conversing with Clarissa. “He has told Clarissa he can be called Kazak.”
Commander Malen eyes narrowed sharply upon hearing the ship’s name. “Dominator,” she said. “That sounds intimidating.”
“Why was the ship named the Dominator?” asked Jeremy, agreeing with Commander Malen. He had assumed the Originators were a peaceful race similar to the Altons.
Ariel hesitated for a moment, as her eyes suddenly grew wide. “It’s a warship,” she said finally. “Kazak was hesitant to mention that as he didn’t want to frighten us.”
“Why did the Originators feel the need for a warship with all of their advanced technology?”
“Kazak says it can’t answer that question as it has been classified by the Originators and only an Originator can access it.”
Commander Malen shifted her gaze to the viewscreen and the Originator ship. “If that’s a warship, can you imagine what type of weapons it must possess? Just one of that ship’s defensive weapons disabled nearly half of the Simulin fleet!”
Jeremy nodded. He wondered if he had made a mistake in allowing the Originator ship to go into orbit around Gaia. “Ariel, is there any chance Kazak will see us as a threat?”
“Doubtful,” Ariel answered promptly. “He’s pleased we rescued him and his ship from the asteroid field. He has stressed a number of times that neither he nor his ship is a threat to us.”
Jeremy sat down in his command chair and looked broodingly at the large vessel on the screen. Somehow, he needed to find a way into the Dyson Sphere. He was convinced if he could get a fleet of ships inside he could destroy it or at least damage it to the point where it would be useless to the Simulins.
-
High Commander Zarth Lantu opened his eyes to find himself in an infirmary. He tried to move his head and found it was restrained. His entire body felt as if it was on fire, and he found it difficult to breathe. There were several tubes inserted into his throat.
“Calm down, High Commander,” ordered a medical technician standing nearby. “You were seriously injured and it has taken us time to heal your body to the point we could awaken you.”
“My ship?”
“Destroyed along with over eighteen hundred other vessels,” the med tech replied. “You and a few others were found alive once we began searching the wrecks for survivors.”
“Why was I rescued?” asked Lantu. Normally destroyed ships were not searched for survivors as they were deemed to have failed in protecting the Simulin race.
“Information,” said another voice as an older Simulin approached Lantu.
Lantu saw immediately, from the markings on the uniform, that this was a Supreme High Commander, one of only two in this galaxy.
“I have spoken with the others we took off the destroyed ships. We know the weapon that immobilized our ships came from the Old Ones’ ves
sel. What do you know of this?”
“Only what our sensors recorded,” answered Lantu, finding it difficult to speak. “The AIs and their organics found the ship in Ornellian space and managed to take it into hyperspace. We pursued it and sent word for other ships to join us at the Fitula Nebula. I believed if we could destroy the AI ships and the others we could gain control of the Old Ones’ vessel.”
“You failed!” the Supreme High Commander said in a harsh voice. “Now the vessel had been taken inside the nebula where, for the time being, it is out of our reach.”
Lantu remained silent, as he knew the Supreme High Commander was speaking the truth. “What are my orders?”
“None,” the Supreme High Commander said mercilessly. “You have failed the Simulin race.”
Turning away from High Commander Lantu, he stepped over to a console and turned it off. Instantly the equipment keeping Lantu alive stopped functioning. With one long, convulsive breath, the High Commander died.
“There can be none but Simulin,” the Supreme High Commander said as he turned to leave the room.
“None but Simulin,” responded the med tech. Failure in the Simulin race wasn’t tolerated.
Chapter Seventeen
Admiral Race Tolsen gazed at the large viewscreen in the front of the Command Center of the WarHawk. The entire screen was filled with a closeup view of the Originator Dyson Sphere. For several weeks, the fleet had slowly charted the megastructure seeking an entrance or a sign something was alive inside.
“Nothing,” grumbled Colonel Cowel, shaking his head in frustration. “For two weeks we’ve circled that thing and we don’t know anything more about it than we did when we first arrived.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” responded Kelnor, turning around to face Cowel. “We know a lot more. We know the Dyson Sphere’s exact size and we’ve made scans of its surface in an attempt to analyze the composition of the material it’s made of. We know the sphere doesn’t reflect back most sensor scans. There are no obvious entry points though we know they must exist. There has also been no reaction to our presence either positive or negative.”
Brice continued to gaze at the Alton scientist. “As I said, we have learned nothing.”
“There has to be a way in,” Race said, staring with narrowed eyes at the Dyson Sphere. “Are we simply overlooking it?” He was just as anxious as everyone else to see what was inside the sphere.
Reesa looked over at Kelnor and then at the admiral. She took the small round globe out of her pocket and gazed at it speculatively. “This key opened up the Originator’s Control Center in their hidden outpost. If we can find an entry port on the Dyson Sphere, it may provide a way for us to get in.”
“We need to move closer to the sphere and take more detailed scans,” stated Kelnor. “Reesa is correct; if we can find an entry port, the key she has may provide us a method of entry.”
Race stood up and walked over to Reesa. He held out his hand and she gave him the small globe. It felt cool to the touch and was completely smooth. It was surprisingly heavier than he had expected. Handing it back to her, he spoke to Commander Arnett. “Put us in a closer orbit to the Dyson Sphere. We’re looking for a hatch or anything that might indicate a possible entrance point into the sphere. There has to be one somewhere.”
“Admiral,” called out Captain Davis from his sensor console. “I’ve got Shari warships on the long-range sensors.”
“Where, and how many?” Race returned to his command chair and set down. The long-range sensors had been quiet for the last two weeks. There had been no sign of Simulin or Shari vessels. Now that had changed.
“Fifteen,” reported Captain Davis. “They’re jumping into all the nearby star systems.”
Commander Arnett’s face took on a look of concern as she looked knowingly at Race. “They’re running a search pattern, either looking for us or the Simulins.”
“They’ll find the remains of the Simulin ships we destroyed in the Capal Four System,” warned Colonel Cowel. “The Simulins will suspect a Federation fleet was the cause.”
“We’re running with our stealth shields up,” Race said. “They can’t detect us.” However, he agreed with the colonel. An analysis of the weapons used in the battle from the debris would indicate Human or Alton ships were involved.
“No, but they’re bound to intensify their search once they find the battle scene,” added Colonel Cowel. “The Shari will find out the Simulin ships encountered a powerful fleet, which will lead them to suspect our involvement and they’ll be hunting for us.”
Race knew the colonel was probably correct. “We’ll worry about the Shari if they detect us or find this system. The Dyson Sphere hides this system’s sun so the likelihood of them finding it is infinitesimal.” At least Race hoped it was. “Commander Arnett, put us into orbit around the Dyson Sphere at two hundred thousand kilometers.”
-
High Lord Aktill stared at his viewscreen and the large debris field they had found in the system. More mystifying were the ruins, which had been detected on two of the planets. He had sent several teams of Shari soldiers down to the surface of one of the worlds and a team reported encountering dangerous robotic creatures that had killed most of its members. Further sensor scans revealed a large number of these robots on the surface and High Lord Aktill had hastily recalled all of his soldiers.
“Reports from the surface indicate the ruins are of immense age,” Lower Lord Samarth said. “This civilization died out eons before we even became thinking beings.”
“We have found several worlds with ancient structures,” Aktill said. “These dead worlds may be the source of all the rumors and superstition which surrounds this cluster. The AIs were also very old; perhaps they knew of this ancient race and that is why they banned us from exploring it.”
“That may be so, but why are the unknown ships here in this cluster and who destroyed them?” asked Samarth. There was much about this he didn’t understand. “We’ve found debris from another ship type, but so far we haven’t been able to identify the race it comes from.”
“What were they fighting over?” asked Aktill as he thought of the possibilities. None seemed to make any sense. These worlds were all dead; there was no reason for any other race to be here.
Lower Lord Samarth turned away from the sensor console where he had been studying some data on the ship debris field. “Sensors indicate the unknown ships were destroyed by energy weapon and particle beam fire. There is also evidence of antimatter warheads being used.”
“The humans!” swore High Lord Aktill, his eyes narrowing sharply. “They have dared to enter our space.”
“If it was the humans, where have they gone? The debris field is recent.”
High Lord Aktill stood still thinking about his next move. If the humans had come to the Rylus Cluster, they had violated Shari space. That was an act of war. “Call in the rest of our ships from the outlying areas of the cluster. We will do a thorough search using this system as the starting point. I suspect the unknowns and the humans are searching for something in this cluster, which has something to do with these ancient ruins. That is the only explanation for their presence.”
“But what can they be seeking?” asked Samarth, looking confused. “There’s nothing here.”
“Look below us,” Aktill said, pointing to one of the viewscreens showing the surface of the planet they were orbiting. “That’s a very ancient civilization. We have no idea as to how advanced they were. What if somewhere in this cluster they left a cache of their technology, which would explain the unknown’s presence as well as the humans.”
“Perhaps,” Samarth responded with a doubtful look upon his face. “I will send out the recall message to our other ships.”
Aktill nodded as he folded his powerful arms across his chest. If the humans were here in Shari space, he would find them and destroy them. When he made his eventual report to the Shari Grand Council of High Lords, there was little doubt in his min
d they would declare a state of war between the Shari Empire and the humans and their allies.
-
Several days passed and Race’s fleet continued to orbit the Dyson Sphere but much more closely. They had located several areas on the surface that were possibly hatches. Some of them were twenty to thirty kilometers in diameter. There were also a few structures that might be some type of control centers.
“What do you think?” asked Commander Malen. She had one of the large hatches up on the main viewscreen so they could study it in detail.
Before Race could respond, an alarm began sounding on the sensor console. Captain Davis quickly shut it off.
“We may have a problem, Admiral,” Davis said as a green icon on his sensor screen began blinking. “The stealth shield on the dreadnought Jaden is down.”
“What? How?” Race couldn’t believe their bad luck. As large as the dreadnought was, it would show up on the Shari long-range sensors. Race wasn’t certain what their detection range was, but there were so many Shari vessels in the surrounding systems the Jaden was bound to set off an alarm.
“It was an accident,” Commander Arnett said. She was speaking to the commander of the ship. “A crewman was doing routine maintenance on a power coupling when it shorted out. The crewman was killed and the short cause a power feedback, which momentarily compromised the stealth shield. They have it back up now, but it was down for nearly twenty seconds.”
“Is that time enough for the Shari to detect the Jaden?”
“Yes, Admiral,” Captain Davis answered. “I strongly suspect the Shari will shortly know we’re here.”
“Gather the fleet into defensive formation D-03,” ordered Race, taking a deep breath. “Send out an emergency FTL message indicating our location may have been compromised.”
The message would be transmitted along the line of FTL buoys they had placed between Federation space and their current location. It shouldn’t be detectable to the Shari. With any luck a reinforcing Federation fleet would be here in a few days. At least Race hoped it would. As many Shari ships as they had been detecting, he doubted if his fleet could defeat such a large force even with their advanced weapons.
The Lost Fleet: Oblivion's Light: A Slaver Wars Novel Page 25