“You saw what all has been done here in the Solar System. They’re way ahead of what we expected in much less than one hundred years. The fleet is even larger than the one we originally planned on having if we had slept for one hundred years. We’re ready for the war.”
The two continued on through the base until they finally reached the docking bay where the Destiny was berthed. Stepping inside, they saw the ship was out of stasis, and a number of technicians entering the vessel through its open hatches.
Derrick felt he was at home when he saw his light cruiser. While it wasn’t a heavy warship, it was now perfectly capable of defending itself, if needed. As they walked up the ramp, Derrick couldn’t help but wonder when the Princess Layla and Princess Krista would be brought out of cryo. He hoped he was here for that. For, with the awakening of the Princess Layla, it would be time for war.
Chapter Five
The Destiny had left Pallas and was on its way to the edge of the former Human Empire. From there they would alter their course for the Confederation. The crew had used the time since being awakened to familiarize themselves with the changes made to the light cruiser. The fusion power plant was more efficient, making more energy available for the weapon systems as well as the energy shield. Other changes had been made as well, but they were considered just minor adjustments that fine-tuned many of the systems on the ship.
Captain Masters sat in his command chair, watching the viewscreens. They showed a sea of stars, some familiar and some not so familiar.
“We’ll be on the edge of the Empire in three weeks,” said Lieutenant Commander Banora. Audrey stood next to the captain. “Do you think the war is about to start?” There had been a lot of discussion about that the last few days.
Derrick leaned back in his chair and looked at his second in command. “Maybe, we’ll know more when we get back. It seems to me there is a good possibility. The council thinks so, or they wouldn’t be bringing so many people out of cryo and ships out of stasis.”
“At least we’re not alone,” commented Audrey, looking at the main tactical display. On the display, seventeen friendly green icons kept pace with the Destiny. It was Rear Admiral Leeson’s task group, consisting of the Titan and sixteen Imperial battlecruisers. It was comforting knowing they had considerable firepower available, if they needed it.
“I spoke at length with the rear admiral,” said Derrick. “He’s ready for the war to start. He took a tour of what all has been done in the last sixty years with Admiral Reynolds. From what I understand, Leeson was really impressed.”
Audrey nodded. “I spoke to him briefly. He told me about going to Mars and seeing the oceans. The planet now resembles Earth in many ways.”
“It has a population of nearly two hundred million,” said Derrick. “Colonies are on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, as well as on a number of the larger asteroids. Terraforming of Venus has also begun, though they expect that to take over forty years to complete. Even then they feel the climate will be more tropical with considerable rain. A special energy field is being developed to put around the planet to reduce the amount of radiation from the sun.”
“I wish we would have had more time to visit some of the new colonies and even Earth,” replied Audrey. “I would have liked to see some of the changes that have been made.”
“We’ll take the time when we get back,” promised Derrick. “They say Earth now resembles what a world in the Human Empire was once like.”
Derrick himself would like to visit the shipyard and the space station he had helped to design and build. However, first they had a mission to complete. Derrick was extremely curious about what they would find in the Confederation. While the seven races that controlled the Confederation were well documented, not a lot was known about the number of planets each race lived on. Hopefully this mission would reveal some of that.
-
Several weeks later Admiral Kreen finally arrived at the world of Bator Prime. The planet was a desert world, but it held the master computer archives for the entire Confederation. He had already sent a message to the council, outlining his concerns about the strange cargo ships recently found in the former Human Empire. He had stressed that he believed a large secret base was hidden somewhere within Human space or just outside of it. There was also a slight possibly of another Human world that the Confederation did not know about. Though Kreen did not see how that could be possible.
The council had given him permission to check the archives on Bator Prime for any records of such a base or world. He was determined to find the origin of that strange warship from years ago, as well as the five cargo ships, which had traveled throughout the former Human Empire for who knows how long.
“Make my shuttle ready,” he ordered. “I’ll go to the surface to speak with the head curator of the archives.” Kreen was not certain how long this would take, but he was determined to get to the bottom of where these mysterious ships were coming from.
-
As the shuttle Kreen was in flew low above Bator Prime, he gazed at the landscape. It was a harsh and dry world, with only the occasional sandstorm marring the reddish color of the surface. In the distance, he could see the massive city that held the archives for the Confederation. Over twelve million members of the seven Confederation races lived in the city. The archives themselves were deep underground, buried in bedrock, where they would be secure for as long as the Confederation existed.
As they approached the city, Kreen gazed at the massive defenses that surrounded it. Fusion energy projectors and missile tubes pointed upward. While the Confederation had never been invaded, the archives were heavily defended just because of what they contained.
The shuttle landed at a small spaceport next to the city where an aircar waited for Admiral Kreen. The aircar took him into the city and to a large squareish building near its heart. After exiting the aircar, Kreen entered the building, where a Lormallian waited for him. The Lormallians were the oldest race in the Confederation and acted as custodians for the archives.
The Lormallians were a warm-blooded species and stood nearly seven feet tall. They were humanoid in form with a bone crest on the top of their head instead of hair. They had large eyes, and their arms ended in hands with six digits. The Lormallians were a very old race, and all their decisions were based upon logic.
“I am Marlon, the head curator of the archives. I understand you have some questions for me?”
Kreen nodded his head. “I have encountered some mysterious Human ships, and I have some questions for the archives. Is it possible there is a large Human base we know nothing about or even a forgotten Human world?”
“Unlikely,” replied Marlon. “The Humans have been under Confederation control for over one thousand years. Follow me, and I will access the archives to see what we can learn.” Marlon had been told earlier why Admiral Kreen was coming.
Marlon led Kreen to a nearby room full of computer terminals. Marlon stopped and sat down in front of one. He placed his hands upon the terminal, and a small wire snaked out and attached itself to the base of Marlon’s neck, where a small data port was located.
“I am making my inquiries now,” said Marlon, as the wire glowed and as data flowed across the computer screen.
For several minutes Marlon sat here, reading the data with his mind. Then the wire disconnected itself, and the terminal shut down.
“There are two possible answers to your question. The first is that, before we conquered the Human Empire, they had already established a hidden base, anticipating what we would do. It is from this base these mysterious ships have come from. If this base exists, it is most likely in close proximity to Highland Station. There is a 92 percent probability the base is hidden in an asteroid in that system. With the illegal activity that goes on at that station, it would be easy for such a base to buy supplies and what is needed for it to function undetected.”
Admiral Kreen considered this. He had been to Highland Station several times alread
y. The renegade ships from rebelling Lydol Four had fled to Highland Station before vanishing. The mysterious stealth ship was possibly detected there as well. What Marlon told him made sense. When he returned to the Human worlds, he would send a battlefleet to thoroughly scan the system. “What is the second possibility?”
Marlon looked directly into Kreen’s eyes. “When the Human Empire was brought under control of the Confederation, a large number of its Royal Family and top military leaders were banished.”
“Banished?” uttered Kreen, surprised. Why had he never heard of this? “Where to?”
“They were taken to a primitive world of Humans in the Bacchus Region. They were not allowed to take any modern tools or equipment with them. They were watched for a number of years and seemed to settle down into a primitive agricultural society. To ensure this world never developed into a threat, an interdiction system was put around the star system to monitor the planet. That system has been active for the past one thousand years. I checked with the archives, and, while the planet has advanced, it has not developed interstellar travel. The world is embroiled in constant conflicts, due to having hundreds of different societies, which constantly try to take advantage of the others. The latest report from the interdiction system is only a few weeks old, and it confirms there have been no changes.”
An unknown Human world, thought Admiral Kreen. “Who is in charge of the interdiction system?”
Marlon looked with surprise at Admiral Kreen. “Why, your own people are. The Druins are the ones who banished the Humans to this primitive planet, built the interdiction system, and are responsible for monitoring it.”
Admiral Kreen blinked his eyes. He knew why he had never been informed. Since the primitive planet was deemed not a threat, it had never been brought to his attention. “What is the location of this planet?”
Marlon touched the terminal, and a computer card printed out. “This card has the stellar coordinates. However, I can assure you nothing is amiss there. I’ve checked the latest reports from the interdiction system, and the Human planet is still quite primitive by our standards.”
“What is this planet’s name?”
“Earth,” replied Marlon. “The planet is called Earth.”
-
Several hours later Admiral Kreen was back on board his flagship. He had two possible locations where the cargo ships and the stealthed warship could have originated from. He intended to check both out thoroughly. “Set a course for the Human worlds.”
Settling back in his command chair, Kreen watched as his battleship and its escorts entered hyperspace for the trip back. In his mind he was strategizing what he would do when he reached the former Human Empire. First, he would send a large task group to search the Highland Station System. At the same time he would send a smaller task group to check on Earth and to confirm it was not the source of the cargo ships. He felt the most likely explanation was a hidden base in the Highland Station System. However, he would be thorough, so Earth had to be checked out as well. Either way, he would soon know where this problem base was located. When he found it, the base would be destroyed.
-
The Destiny and its escorts dropped from hyperspace in a yellow-dwarf star system. The system, while it had six planets, had no habitable planets and was out of the way of normal space travel in this region of space.
As soon as Captain Masters was satisfied no other ships were in the system, he contacted Rear Admiral Leeson.
“Captain,” said Leeson, “are you ready to begin your mission?”
“We’re ready, Admiral,” replied Derrick. “It’s four days from here to the boundaries of the Confederation. I don’t believe it’s safe for your fleet to go any closer.” Derrick wanted to keep the risk of discovery down to a minimum.
“I agree,” replied Leeson. “We’ll stay in the outskirts of this system near its comet belt. That should shield us from possible detection. If you need help, send a message, and we’ll be on our way. How long do you think your mission will take?”
Derrick looked at Audrey. “Probably three or four weeks. We want to gather as much tactical information on the Confederation as possible.”
“We’ll wait here for six weeks,” Leeson informed Derrick. “At that point, I’ll have to assume your mission has failed and the Destiny has either been captured or destroyed.”
“Destroyed,” replied Derrick. “I will not allow the ship to fall into Confederation hands.”
Leeson was silent for a moment and then finally spoke. “Good luck, Captain. I hope you succeed.”
“So do I,” replied Derrick. The communication ended, and Derrick looked around at his command crew. “Well, this is it. It’s time to set out for the Confederation. Our escorts will be staying here, so we’ll be on our own. Lieutenant Viktor, set a course for Confederation space. It’s time we learn what they’ve been hiding from us for all these years.”
Moments later the Destiny made the transition into hyperspace, leaving Rear Admiral Leeson and the yellow-dwarf system behind. They were on their way to worlds where no Human ship had ever traveled before.
-
Admiral Kreen was back in Human space. He had already sent a large task group to the Highland Station System and another to where Earth supposedly was. Either way he felt confident his problem with this mysterious base of Humans would soon be solved.
“Set a course for the Mall Star Cluster. I want to make a show of force over all the Human core worlds. They must have known about these mysterious Human cargo ships. It’s time they were reminded who rules all their worlds.” Kreen did not know if it would be necessary to destroy any cities as an example or not. If he deemed it was, he would have no problem in dropping a few antimatter missiles on various worlds.
-
Andrew and Kala sat in the commons area on board the Destiny. For the next few days there was little for either of them to do.
“Any regrets?” asked Andrew, reaching out and taking Kala’s hand. She was sitting across the table from him.
Kala laughed. “No, none. I even spoke to my father the other day. He’s been taking the life-extension drugs the Imperials made available. He’s been very busy working on various expeditions and digs on Earth.”
Andrew nodded. “My parents are still alive as well. My mother was very pleased to hear from me. I promised both of them that I’d visit once this mission is over.” The life-extension drugs were now in general use throughout the Solar System.
Numerous Imperials he knew had gone into stasis in the years after he did. Loren Henderson and Brett Newcomb had both gone into cryo for a few years. Henderson was now in permanent charge of the space station, and Brett led the Imperial Council on Earth. Over the coming months, as more people were brought out of cryo, even more people both of them knew would awake.
Kala squeezed Andrew’s hand. “I was afraid I would be lonely when I woke up. I’m glad to find I was wrong.”
“When we get to the Confederation, I suspect you’ll be quite busy.” Andrew knew Kala was excited about being the ship’s science officer. It was a position she took quite seriously.
Kala nodded. “I’ve downloaded everything I could about the Confederation worlds to the ship’s computer. I was amazed how little is actually known. The seven races keep their space locked down, not allowing any outside races admittance. All trade ships entering or leaving their star systems are operated by crews of the seven races.”
“What about the races that live inside the Confederation?” Andrew knew the Confederation covered thousands of light-years of space, and there were bound to be a few civilized races in that region.
“Not a lot is known,” replied Kala. “The Confederation has extended their influence across nearly one-third of the known galaxy. Their fleets ensure that all the civilized worlds they control obey their demands. The Human Empire did trade with some of the alien worlds on the periphery of the Confederation, but no trade was ever allowed with worlds deeper into Confederation sp
ace.”
“What about conflicts with other races?”
Kala shook her head. “They’re handled much like the conflicts with the Human Empire. The Confederation uses overwhelming force to ensure there is little or no resistance.”
Andrew frowned. “We’re just one world. What can we do against the Confederation? Are we facing an immovable object?”
“I don’t think the Confederation has ever faced a star system that’s actually ready for war. You saw some of the defenses that have been put up in the Solar System. We’re also a long way from Confederation space. Not only that, if and when the war starts, we’ll be freeing Human worlds in the Empire who will join us in our fight.”
Andrew stood and walked to a refreshment unit on the wall and got himself some iced tea. He got a second glass for Kala and then returned to sit at the table. “What do you say that, when we return to Pallas, we take a few weeks off and go to Earth, assuming we’re not at war?”
Smiling, Kala nodded her head. “I would like that. I wouldn’t mind getting a cabin in the Rockies. I’ve always enjoyed watching the snow come down. Just make sure the cabin has a nice warm fireplace.”
“Snow it is,” replied Andrew. Spending a couple weeks in a secluded cabin in the Rockies with Kala sounded like fun. If this mission worked out, and the war hadn’t arrived yet when they got home, he was determined to make that happen.
-
Several more days passed as the Destiny steadily neared Confederation space. As they traveled through hyperspace, Captain Masters made sure that the ship avoided all known civilized worlds. This region of the galaxy had numerous civilizations, all of them under the Confederation’s control. Some of these worlds the former Human Empire had once traded with. Trade back then had been permissible, as long as the Empire’s ships did not encroach deep into Confederation space and stayed away from any of the worlds of the seven races.
Finally the Destiny exited hyperspace in a blue-giant star system awash in radiation. Only the powerful energy shield surrounding the Destiny allowed the light cruiser to stay in the system unharmed.
The Forgotten Empire: Earth Ascendant: Book Two Page 6