“I had to reroute the ship’s power,” reported the systems officer. “We’ve lost a number of power couplings.”
Audrey stepped closer to Derrick. “We won’t survive much longer. I just want to say, it’s been an honor to serve with you, sir.”
“Same here,” replied Derrick in a soft voice. Inside he felt he had let the Princess down. He was supposed to protect Golan Four, and he was very close to failing in that endeavor. He blinked his eyes, wishing he could do something else.
On the viewscreens, he saw his fleet being devastated by all the incoming fire. Battlecruisers and dreadnoughts were now dying faster than Derrick could keep track of. On the tactical display, he saw that Rear Admiral Leeson’s fleet was now heavily engaged against the Zynth. However, even with the damage that Fifth Fleet had inflicted on the Zynth, they still outnumbered Leeson by two to one.
A massive explosion rocked the Destiny. The lights in the Command Center went out, and Derrick was hurled from his command chair. His head struck a console, and everything went black.
-
In the underground Command Center, the communications officer came over and whispered something to General Gantts. She frowned and turned toward the two Princesses. “We just received word that the Destiny has been heavily damaged and is falling toward the planet. We’ve dispatched a pair of tugs from the nearest space station to stop it before it enters the atmosphere.”
Layla suddenly felt as if she couldn’t breathe. She closed her eyes briefly, trying to take a breath.
“Can we communicate with the ship?” asked Krista, her heart racing.
Gantts shook her head. “Not at the moment. Most of the power on the Destiny is out. Reports indicate the ship has broken in two.”
“What about the fleet?”
“Rear Admiral Leeson has taken over command.”
Layla looked up at the viewscreens. Fifth Fleet was a fraction of what it once was. Even now the Druins were striking the defensive grid in an attempt to make a hole in it.
“I’ve ordered the battlecarriers and their escorts to form up beneath the weakest part of the grid. The escorts and the attack interceptors can protect the surface from bombardment for a while.” General Gantts looked gravely worried as she snapped out orders.
-
Rear Admiral Leeson was in a quandary. He couldn’t get past the blocking Zynth fleet, and, even if he did, it wouldn’t do much good. His fleet was too heavily outnumbered.
“We’re taking heavy losses,” reported Captain Newman.
On the viewscreens, Leeson watched as several of his battlecruisers were ripped apart by intense fusion beam fire.
“Contacts!” yelled Lieutenant Stewart. “We have more ships dropping out of hyperspace.”
“Identify them,” ordered Leeson, as he tried to stay up with what was occurring in the battle.
“Human Resistance ships,” reported Stewart, his eyes widening. “I’m picking up sixty-seven battlecruisers and three hundred support ships.”
“Have them rendezvous with us. We’ll add their firepower to ours.” This would even up the odds some but not enough. They needed a miracle.
-
Admiral Kreen noted the arrival of the additional Human ships. His forces still vastly outnumbered the enemy, and it would save him the trouble of having to hunt them down later.
“Admiral, I’ve just received a message from the Great Council,” reported the communications officer. “We are being ordered to withdraw from the Human core worlds immediately.”
“What!” Admiral Kreen could not believe what he had just heard. “That must be incorrect.”
The communications officer shook his head. “No, I’ve confirmed it. We’re to break off our attack and to withdraw.”
“No, not until I’ve destroyed what is left of this Human fleet in front of us and annihilated the Imperial Palace.”
“Admiral, the Zynth fleet has already broken off and is entering hyperspace,” reported the sensor officer.
“They are obeying the council,” said First Officer Falorr. “We should do the same.”
Kreen looked at the tactical display. The Zynth warships were vanishing from the battle. It would soon put him in a bad strategic position. He could not afford to allow his fleet to be trapped between the defensive grid and the remaining Human ships in the fleet he had been destroying and this new Human fleet, even now beginning to head toward his ships.
“Withdraw,” he grated out, his emotions raging. Once the fleet was out of the Human core worlds, he would demand that the Great Council explain their orders. Victory had been within his reach, and now it had been taken away by a ridiculous order from the council.
Moments later the Druin fleet disengaged and entered hyperspace. The battle for Golan Four was over.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Derrick awoke to the worst headache he had ever experienced. He blinked his eyes and moaned.
“Derrick,” said a worried voice.
As his vision came into focus, he saw Layla bending over him, and he could tell she had been crying. “Where am I?” he managed to say.
“You’re in a hospital in the capital. You have a bad concussion, but the doctors say you will be fine. Does your head hurt?”
Derrick nodded. “Feels like someone slugged me.”
Layla turned and summoned the nurse standing behind her. Since Derrick had been brought into the hospital, Layla had insisted a nurse stay in his room at all times.
The nurse stepped over and ran a medical analyzer over Derrick’s head. She then turned and made an adjustment to one of the pieces of equipment near the bed, administering medications. “That should help. It will take a minute or two for the pain to subside.”
“What happened?” Derrick remembered being on the Destiny and then felt a sharp pain, followed by darkness.
“The Destiny was heavily damaged and was falling toward the planet,” explained Layla, taking Derrick’s hand. “General Gantts sent two tugs to rescue the ship before it entered the atmosphere. The Destiny had been torn in two. The two pieces were taken back to one of the space stations, where operations to rescue the crew were quickly implemented. From what I’ve been told, they managed to save about twenty percent of the ship’s crew.”
“The command crew?” Derrick hoped they had survived. Most were Imperials who had come with him from the Empire over one thousand years ago.
“Most are okay. I’ll have to check to see who they are.”
Derrick looked around the room. He noticed flowers were everywhere. “What happened in the battle?”
Layla let out a deep breath. “We’re not totally certain. The Zynth and Druin fleets suddenly withdrew and have left the core worlds.”
“That makes no sense,” said Derrick, confused. “They had us. There was no reason for them to withdraw.”
“They withdrew from here, but they control much of the Empire. Between the three Confederation fleets, they have isolated many of our worlds. Only those with powerful defensive grids or protective fleets are still under our control.”
“How much of my fleet survived?”
“Let me get someone who can answer that question.” Layla let go of Derrick’s hand and opened the door to the room. Outside were two Imperial Guards. “Have Captain Banora and Ensign Allert come in.”
Layla closed the door and returned to Derrick’s side, taking his hand again. She knew she had come very close to losing him. For the last few days Krista had been handling the business of the Empire. Occasionally she contacted Layla with questions. Layla had been at the hospital since Derrick had been brought in unconscious.
The door opened, and Audrey and Brenda came in. Both looked relieved to see that Derrick was conscious.
“Admiral, I’m glad to see you’re awake,” said Audrey.
Derrick noticed that Brenda’s eyes were red. “I’m feeling better. What about the command crew? How many of them survived?”
A sad look passed over Audre
y’s face. “We lost nearly 80 percent of the ship’s crew. In the Command Center we didn’t lose anyone, though quite a few were injured. Everyone should be fully recovered in another week. Most of the injuries were some burns and a few broken bones.”
“We did lose Sergeant Bower and Corporal Jenkins,” said Brenda sadly. “They were in the flight bay when the ship broke apart.”
“What happened with the fleet?”
Audrey shook her head. “We took a lot of losses. I checked earlier, and, counting the ships that can be repaired, Fifth Fleet is down to 112 battlecruisers and 17 dreadnoughts. Fortunately all the battlecarriers survived, though we lost over half of our attack interceptors.”
“How much of the Empire do we still hold?” This concerned Derrick greatly as it would have an impact on the war.
“We have the core worlds, the Haven Nebula, the Vortex Worlds, the Lamina Stars, and the Human worlds near Lydol Four,” replied Audrey. “We also have about twenty other star systems that have substantial defensive grids that the Confederation is staying away from.”
Derrick nodded. “We need to make sure we hold all those worlds.”
“Rear Admiral Mendoza will be here late next week, and he has twenty cargo ships packed full of defensive grid elements, as well as replacement attack interceptors.”
“Okay, I think that’s enough for now,” said Layla. “Derrick needs his rest.”
Brenda grinned knowingly. “I think he has a very good nurse, and I’m not talking about the one standing behind us.”
Layla blushed. She knew the two women could not miss that she was holding Derrick’s hand possessively. Layla watched as the two filed out. She then told the nurse to leave them as well for a few minutes.
As soon as they were alone, Layla turned toward Derrick. “As soon as you’re well and the situation in the Empire has stabilized, we’ll announce our engagement.”
Derrick’s eyes widened. “What? I haven’t asked you to marry me.”
Layla grinned. “As the High Princess, I have the right to ask any man I want to join with me. You won’t object, will you? I could always have you put in chains and kept in my personal quarters.”
Derrick laughed and felt a light pain flash through his forehead. He winced slightly and then nodded. “Yes, I will marry you.”
Layla bent over and kissed Derrick deeply. When she pulled back, she had tears of happiness in her eyes. “Wait until I tell Krista. Now, why don’t you get some rest. I have a Royal Wedding to plan.”
-
Several days later Derrick was fully recovered and in the underground Command Center with Layla, Krista, General Gantts, and Governor Stein.
“We recently received a message from Admiral Marloo. We now know why the Druins and the Zynth withdrew. Evidently Admiral Marloo listened to High Princess Layla’s speech, where she said we had a fleet on the way to attack the Confederation. He sent a small task force of Human Resistance ships out past the Empire and partway to Confederation space. This fleet dropped out of hyperspace and sent a hyperlight message, asking what their targets in the Empire would be.”
Admiral Marloo replied that the targets would be decided based on how much damage the core worlds suffered. He hinted that, if necessary, the fleet would be ordered to attack several of the major worlds of the seven races. Over about twenty minutes Admiral Marloo and the commander of this small task force spoke considerably about what some of the targets might be. Evidently it caused enough concern for the Great Council to call off the attack on Golan Four.”
“How big was this fleet?” asked Derrick. He couldn’t imagine the Human Resistance having enough ships to actually attack the Confederation.
“Only a couple battlecruisers and some support ships,” replied Gantts with a grin. “It was all a big bluff, and it apparently worked.”
“So, we’ve bought some time,” said Derrick. “What’s next?”
“We’ll start deploying the first ODPs shortly. Plans call for sixty of them to be put into orbit around Golan Four. We’ll also be increasing the strength of the defense grid. We’ll fortify all the core worlds substantially to ensure we can hold them all. Then we’ll start building warships, so we can retake the rest of the Empire.”
“What’ll happen when the Confederation realizes there was no Human fleet about to attack them?”
“We hope to be even stronger before they do.” General Gantts shifted her gaze to one of the viewscreens that showed one of the large shipyards in orbit. “We’re converting several production lines on the shipyards to produce your attack interceptors. We’ll shortly be mass producing them and will deploy them on all the core worlds. We’re still several months away from being able to produce any major warships.”
Derrick took in a deep breath. “We need to contact Earth and see if they can send us another fleet. The Confederation is bound to make a move sooner rather than later. We have to be prepared for that. In the meantime we need to fortify, as much as possible, all the planets we control, including those away from the core worlds. This will not be a short-term conflict. It could last for years.”
General Gantts nodded. “All the core worlds are ramping up production of defensive grid segments. In only a few weeks we’ll start sending them to all the worlds we still control.”
“We’ll shortly be producing the attack interceptors planetside as well,” added Governor Stein. “We’re already retooling factories for that purpose, as well as to produce the necessary parts for our warships.”
Derrick turned toward Layla. “Have you decided on who to name as fleet admiral?”
Layla smiled. “I would like to name you, but, since we are to be joined, that might not be the best idea. What about Admiral Marloo? He’s well respected in the Human Resistance movement.”
“I like that choice. Why don’t we have him come to Golan Four, and you can make a public announcement. It might not be a bad idea at the same time to fill some other posts at the Palace.”
“You should,” said Governor Stein. “We must ensure everyone realizes the Imperial Palace and the House of Worlds is the seat of power for the Empire. We need to ask each of the worlds we control to send a representative.”
“How soon before the House of Worlds is reconstructed?” Layla had seen the massive building, and it was in worse shape than the Palace.
“Several more months. We’re working on it as well as the Palace around-the-clock.”
Layla nodded. “We’ll schedule the first meeting for the House of Worlds to be held in the Royal Court of the Palace. It’s big enough to hold everyone.”
Stein nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. I’ll be glad to help with the arrangements.”
They made a few more plans, and then Layla and Krista headed back to the Starburst. They had a Royal Wedding to plan.
-
Cheryl was pleased when they finally reached the Ridge Star Cluster. Her yacht, two escort ships, and the battlecruiser headed for Highland Station. She was curious to see what she would find. She had also heard from the captain of the battlecruiser that Dylan was close by at Jalot Four, one of the Vortex Worlds. Once she was finished with her business here, she would make the short trip to Jalot Four and meet up with Dylan. She thought it might be wise for her to buy something appropriate to wear that would take Dylan’s mind off her not obeying his orders. Plenty of specialty stores were on Highland Station that would have what she had in mind.
It wasn’t long before the Princess Haven and her escorts dropped out of hyperspace into the Highland Station System.
“It appears they’ve completely rebuilt everything,” commented Captain Bryan. On the viewscreens the domes had been rebuilt, and space traffic seemed to be heavy around the station.
“The domes look even larger,” commented Cheryl. “Are those weapon emplacements?” On the viewscreen, what looked like weapon turrets surrounded all the domes.
“They appear to be,” replied the sensor officer.
Cheryl spent a few
minutes examining the viewscreens as they neared the station. She noticed the small destroyers that normally defended the system appeared to be much larger as well. They were twice the size of what they once were.
“We have a message from the station, saying we are not welcome and to turn around immediately,” reported the communications officer. “It appears they don’t like you.”
Cheryl laughed. “I’m not surprised. Tell them that we’ll pay double the normal docking fee and then request a landing berth.”
The communications officer sent the message and then waited. Finally he received a reply. “We’re to dock in berth 28A in dome two.”
Captain Bryan looked at Cheryl. “It appears money does talk here.”
“Yes, I knew they couldn’t resist receiving double the normal docking fee. When we report to the payment window in the terminal, I suspect a good portion of the extra fee will be pocketed by the people who run it.”
A few minutes later the Princess Haven was docked, and Cheryl exited the ship with two heavily armed guards. She was not surprised to see some of the station’s security people waiting for her.
“Cheryl Bannon, you were told never to return,” said one of the men. “Why are you here?”
“I have some business to take care of,” Cheryl replied, as she handed the security officer a one-thousand-credit note.
The officer pocketed the note and nodded. “You may proceed to the docking terminal to pay your fees. There may be other fines there as well.”
Cheryl and her two guards made it to the docking terminal, and, sure enough, she was charged a large fine for damage the station had incurred the last time she was here. Cheryl argued heatedly with the terminal manager until she got the fees lowered considerably. She then accessed a secret account she had on the station and easily paid the docking fees, as well as the penalties.
The Forgotten Empire: Earth Ascendant: Book Two Page 33