“Radiation alarms have been triggered all over the ship,” reported Kala nervously. “The levels are barely within permissible limits.”
“Increase the power to the energy shield,” ordered Derrick, leaning forward in his command chair. It was risky coming out of hyperspace in this system, but he knew this was a system the Confederation was probably not monitoring.
“Radiation levels are dropping,” confirmed Kala, relief in her voice.
Derrick looked at Audrey. “Are we ready to make our jump into the Confederation?”
Audrey nodded. “We know where a number of Confederation controlled worlds are located. We need to find a civilized planet that is not a world of the seven Confederation races. Perhaps there we can learn more about the Confederation, as well as where more of their worlds are located.”
“Lieutenant Viktor, take us into Confederation space. Lieutenant Nower, keep our long-range sensors active. I want to know where ships in this region of space are coming from and where they are going. We need to find some civilized planets.” Derrick knew they were about to embark on the most dangerous part of their mission. No one had ever attempted what they were getting ready to do. “Audrey, make sure our stealth fields are active at all times. We must not be detected.”
“Fields are active and working as specified.”
“Then it’s time for us to go. Lieutenant Viktor, take us into hyperspace.”
Moments later Derrick felt the familiar wrench in his gut as the Destiny made the transition into hyperspace. For better or for worse, they were on their way into Confederation space.
-
In the star system that contained Highland Station, 112 Druin warships appeared. The ships spread out and began searching every asteroid in the system. As soon as they dropped out of hyperspace, hundreds of starships jumped from the system. The small destroyers responsible for keeping peace in the system kept a wide berth around the deadly battleships and battlecruisers moving toward the numerous inhabited asteroids. Frantic messages were sent, promising no resistance and asking what the Druins sought. No reply came from any of the Druin vessels.
-
For hours the Druin warships scanned the various asteroids. In some cases, assault shuttles were sent down for more detailed scans and searches. In a few instances, Druin soldiers went into the colonies for a more in-depth inspection. Asteroid after asteroid was inspected, as the Druins searched for the location of the Humans’ hidden base. All they found was nothing. Each search resulted in failure after failure.
When the search was over, the Druin commander in charge had everything searched a second time. No asteroid was skipped, not even the smallest. If the base were here, it would be found. Finally the last asteroid had once again yielded no results. The commander of the Druin fleet sent a message to Admiral Kreen. “The base is not here.”
-
Admiral Kreen received the message and gazed at it in surprise. He had been certain the base was hidden somewhere in the Highland Station System. Now it left only one possibility. The base had to be located in the system containing the planet Earth. That brought up some worrisome thoughts. If the base was there, why hadn’t the Druin interdiction system detected it?
Admiral Kreen had requested the results from the latest scans of Earth’s star system, and nothing seemed out of sorts. This worried Kreen even more. Either the base was not in the Earth system or the interdiction system was not reporting the truth.
For many long minutes Admiral Kreen sat in his command chair, contemplating the problem. If the base was in the Earth star system, that would seem to indicate the interdiction system had been tampered with some time in the past and was no longer under Druin control.
Already a task group of nearly one hundred vessels was on its way to the Human system. Suddenly Admiral Kreen had a sinking feeling. That fleet would not be enough. Without hesitation, he contacted the Druin admiral above him and informed him of his suspicions.
-
Several hours later Admiral Kreen and his entire fleet were on their way to Earth. Another fleet would be sent to watch the Human worlds. If what Admiral Kreen suspected was true, he was on his way to destroy a planet. If the secret base he sought was on the planet Earth, he would wipe the base and the planet out of existence. No world could be allowed to defy the Druins, as Kreen suspected this planet had.
Chapter Six
The Destiny had traveled through Confederation space for nearly a day, using its long-range sensors to track the courses of as many ships as possible. The ship traffic was much lighter than what Captain Masters had expected. This was the Confederation, and he thought to see heavy ship traffic on the sensors. Why wasn’t there? Even back in the days before the Confederation attacked the Empire, there had been much more traffic.
“Where are the ships?” asked Lieutenant Commander Banora. Audrey stood next to the captain, gazing at the tactical display, showing the results of the long-range sensors—only two ships, where there should have been dozens. They could only locate ships when they dropped from hyperspace.
“I don’t know,” replied Derrick, confused. “I certainly expected the ship traffic to be much heavier. Maybe the Confederation is restricting ship travel in their region of space.”
Kala turned to face the captain. “From analysis of the ships we’ve detected, I have the possible location of four Confederation worlds.”
“How close is the nearest?”
Kala turned back to her science console and touched an icon. “About seven light-years.”
“Andrew, what are you picking up on the communication frequencies?”
“A lot of chatter between worlds. Most of it involves Confederation ship schedules to pick up raw materials from worlds under Confederation control. If there are any communications between the planets of the seven Confederation races, I’m not picking it up. They may be using a hyperlight frequency we’re not familiar with. I’ve been scanning the different frequencies, but there are millions of them. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. I’ve currently got a computer program going through the frequencies, analyzing each one, but it’ll take several days for it to go through them all.”
Derrick nodded. He had known from the beginning this wouldn’t be an easy mission. “Keep scanning, and let me know if you pick up anything useful. Kala, send Lieutenant Viktor the coordinates of that world seven light-years distant. I think we’ll pay it a visit and just see what’s there.” They were already far deeper into Confederation space than Human Empire trading ships had been allowed to go in the distant past.
A few minutes later the Destiny adjusted its course toward the indicated system.
“Audrey, take the ship to Condition One. Lieutenant Breen, stand by on weapons, but I don’t want to engage any Confederation ship unless the Destiny is in danger. I want to slip into this system under stealth and take as many scans as possible and then slip back out.”
-
The minutes passed, and finally the Destiny dropped from hyperspace in the distant outskirts of the target system. Almost immediately sensor alarms sounded.
“Druin battlecruiser detected,” reported Lieutenant Nower apprehensively. “It’s in orbit around the fourth planet which appears to be inhabited.”
“I’m picking up communications between the Druin ship and the surface of the planet,” added Andrew. “They’re making arrangements for several Confederation cargo ships to pick up loads of grain and some exotic wood. There seems to be some haggling over the wood, as the Druins are demanding an increase.”
Andrew listened for several minutes and then slowly nodded his head. “They’ve agreed to a 22 percent increase in the wood for next year. The people on the planet don’t seem too pleased about the increase but have accepted it.”
“The Druin battlecruiser is breaking orbit and accelerating away from the planet,” reported Nower. “It’s made the transition into hyperspace.” On the tactical display, the lone red threat icon vanished.
> Derrick was relieved the Druin vessel had departed. “Lieutenant Viktor, take us in closer to the inhabited planet. Bring the Destiny to a stop two million kilometers distant. We’ll take what scans we can from there and then determine if we need to move any closer.”
The Destiny made the transition back into hyperspace and moments later exited closer to the planet.
“Stealth fields are active,” reported Audrey.
“Picking up six vessels in orbit around the planet,” reported Nower. “I believe they’re cargo ships and intersystem haulers. Several mining operations are being detected on one of the smaller moons in the system.”
“Not a lot going on,” commented Audrey, as she studied the sensor scans. “The planet seems pretty advanced. You would think they would have more cargo ships and a more robust mining industry in the system.”
Derrick looked at Nower. “Are you detecting any Humans on the planet?”
Nower shook her head. “No, just the locals.”
“What about communications?” Derrick looked at Andrew.
“Not as many as you would expect. Very few hyperlight transmissions are being sent, and, even on the regular frequencies, I don’t find a lot coming across.”
“What do the locals look like?” asked Audrey, as she gazed at the main viewscreen, focused on the planet.
The view instantly changed to a close-up of a being that resembled a large bumblebee. Even antennae were on its head and small wings on its back.
“An insectoid species,” said Lieutenant Nower in surprise.
“Not an unusual occurrence in this part of the galaxy,” said Derrick. Numerous nonhuman species in the galaxy existed, with some being much stranger than these. “Is their language coming through?” The ship was equipped with a universal translator tied into the communications system.
Andrew nodded. “Yes, there have been no problems with the translations.”
“Is there any reason not to move closer to the planet and take some short-range scans?” Those would be much more detailed.
“I don’t see any,” replied Audrey. “The Druins are gone, and not many ships are in the system.”
“Very well. Lieutenant Viktor, take us in closer. Put us in orbit at twenty thousand kilometers.”
-
The entire command crew watched expectantly as the Destiny moved closer to the planet and went into orbit. Once in orbit, Lieutenant Nower used the ship’s short-range sensors to thoroughly scan the entire planet.
After about an hour she turned toward the captain with a look of confusion on her face. “For an insectoid species, their population is quite low. I’m only showing about two billion of them on the planet. Similar planets I’ve studied in the past have had ten billion or more. There are also signs of orbital bombardment in the distant past.”
“How long in the distant past?” asked Derrick.
“Five to seven thousand years.”
“How advanced are they?”
Nower glanced at her sensors and then answered. “Slightly behind the Empire at the time the Druins attacked.”
“Put one of their cities up on the viewscreen.”
On the screen a massive city appeared. In some ways it resembled a huge hive, as the buildings were close together and all connected in some way. The center building was the largest and also the highest by far.
Derrick knew that most insectoid races had queens, sometimes multiple queens. Looking at more cities, Derrick noted they were all similarly constructed. No doubt the tall center building was where the queens lived. “I think we’ve learned all we can here. Let’s find another world and see what it looks like.”
Moments later the Destiny left orbit and accelerated away from the planet. It then made the transition into hyperspace, vanishing from the system.
“What do you think?” asked Derrick, looking at Audrey. In the past the Confederation had told the Human Empire which worlds it could trade with. Derrick wanted to see worlds the Empire had never had contact with.
“We may be looking at population control,” she replied. “It will be interesting to see what we find on other planets.”
Derrick looked at Kala. “Any more suggestions?”
Kala nodded. “I may have a planet in a star system about twelve light-years distant. Some of the hyperlight communications I picked up earlier were aimed at that system. I’ll send the coordinates to Lieutenant Viktor.”
A few moments later the Destiny altered course and set out for the next star system. With every passing hour the light cruiser flew deeper and deeper into Confederation space.
-
Back in the Solar System, Admiral Reynolds was speaking to Admiral Cleemorl, who had just been brought out of cryo. “We’re expecting a possible attack by the Druins in the next few weeks. You’ve had experience with the Druins in the past. Think you can handle a fleet battle?”
Dylan smiled. After what had happened at his home planet of Lydol Four, he would like nothing more than to take on the Druins with a modern warfleet equipped with fusion and antimatter weapons. “I would love the opportunity. The Druins have never fought against anyone with modern weapons on the same level as theirs.”
Admiral Reynolds smiled and nodded his head. “I will be directing everything from here.” They were currently in the Command Center, deep within Pallas. “You’ll command a fleet of 212 battlecruisers and 20 dreadnoughts. Depending on where you meet the Druin fleet, you will also have a large number of attack interceptors at your disposal as well.”
“I accept command of the fleet,” replied Dylan formally.
“I have one more surprise for you,” said Admiral Reynolds. “I had a special dreadnought built, expecting to put you in command. We named it the Themis after your old battlecruiser. I imagine you will want to transfer your entire command crew to the new ship. I understand nearly all of them went into cryo with you.”
Dylan nodded. “Yes, they did. I’ll make sure they are all brought out of cryo today and tomorrow. Is the ship docked here at Pallas?”
“Yes, it’s in bay forty-seven. It’s been flight tested and is ready for combat. Get your crew on board as soon as possible. The technicians on board will help familiarize your crew with the ship. Some of them will also be staying on board, in case they’re needed.”
“Sounds good. Will any other fleets be available in case the Druins attack in force?” Dylan knew the Druins believed in using overwhelming force to ensure their victories.
“Two more fleets are in reserve. One will be in orbit near Earth and a second one out near Mars. Other task groups will be here at Pallas, at the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, as well as at each of the eight battlestations. If the Druins come, I want them taught a lesson they won’t soon forget. We’ll be fighting this battle on our terms and not theirs.”
Dylan grinned. “I’ll make sure the Druins regret ever coming to this star system. I assume if they do attack, it will signal the beginning of the war to free the Empire?”
Admiral Reynolds nodded. “Yes, the Destiny is already in Confederation space, trying to learn more about the seven Confederation races. We need to know exactly what we’re up against and if they have any weaknesses.”
Dylan blinked his eyes in surprise. “You sent the Destiny into Confederation space, seeking out the seven races? Even the Empire dared not do something like that. It was considered far too dangerous.”
“I understand your concern. The Destiny is equipped with both fusion and antimatter weapons. I also sent a task group under command of Rear Admiral Leeson as support. The task group is to wait outside of Confederation space and only respond if the Destiny gets into trouble. With a little luck, the stealth fields that hide the ship will allow the vessel to complete its mission without ever being discovered.”
Dylan laughed. “If it is discovered, the entire Confederation will go into shock. As far as I know, there is no record of any outside race ever entering a system of the seven races.”
-
&
nbsp; Later Pallas Admiral Reynolds was busily working on ship deployments and ensuring all the different military commands in the Solar System were ready, in case the Druins showed up.
“Do you think they’re coming?” asked Colonel Bryson.
Reynolds looked at Evelyn. “Yes, I do. Once the Druins realize the cargo ships did not come from any of the Human worlds in the Empire, they’ll come to check on us. I expect to see a powerful Druin battle fleet.”
Colonel Bryson looked at the tactical displays. They showed the disposition of all the fleet assets across the entire Solar System. “I hope we’re ready for this.”
“So do I,” replied Reynolds. He knew the Druins were coming here for one reason and one reason only. To destroy the Earth, once they found out it was responsible for the cargo ships. Reynolds knew that, as soon as the Druins scanned the system, they would know the truth.
-
The Destiny dropped out of hyperspace in the next star system they would search. As soon as they exited, they began picking up ships.
“Forty-three ships,” reported Lieutenant Nower. “A large mining operation is in this system. Many of the ships I’m picking up are ore carriers.”
“Any Druin vessels?”
“No, not a single one.”
“Lieutenant Viktor, put us into orbit at ten thousand kilometers. Lieutenant Banora, prepare a shuttle and a team of Marines. I’m going to the surface.”
“Sir, I must protest,” said Audrey, frowning deeply. “You should stay on the ship. Let me lead the away mission.”
Derrick shook his head. “No, I’ll go. You’re perfectly capable of commanding the ship in my absence.” Derrick felt the Destiny come back out of hyperspace. On the viewscreen, a blue-white world was visible.
“Short-range scans activated,” reported Nower.
“I’m detecting a lot of communication signals,” added Andrew. “Some in the hyperlight frequencies as well.”
“What do the inhabitants look like?” asked Derrick.
The Forgotten Empire: Earth Ascendant: Book Two Page 7