by Jay Allan
“Yes, Sir,” Stern replied as she left to carry out the order. It would be a gruesome job, but at least the battle suits allowed them to move the bodies without coming into actual contact with them.
“I count thirty-seven Kleese in here,” Sergeant Perry reported as he finished his inspection of their bodies. Some were still twitching, which made Perry shiver. It took the things a while for their bodies to die, even with their heads removed.
“The other troops will be fanning out across the station over the coming days, searching for any stragglers,” Wade said. “I don’t think they will find any. They’ll also be helping to dispose of all the bodies, and then a crew of civilians will be coming on board to make sure everything is ready to begin receiving survivors. Marken will be assigning several hundred of his people to help train a new crew for the station.”
“How large will the crew be?” asked Beth, knowing how big the previous one had been. It was strange to think that this massive station would now be under the control of Humans.
“Marken has suggested at least twenty thousand due to the size of the station. While much of it is automated, there are still some things that the crew needs to do. There will also be a large military presence, which General Mitchell will command. Mitchell is already making plans to place more weapons on the hull as well as to put into service all of the assault ships in the bays. Human crews will have to be trained for them under the watchful guidance of the Kiveans.”
“Sounds like a lot to do,” Beth responded with heavy sigh. At least their fighting for the immediate future was over with. She wanted to return to Vesta and spend some time with her mother. It’d been wonderful to find out that she had survived.
“This station gives us a chance to save our people,” Wade added as he watched the marines working cleaning up the bodies in the room. “It will also be our best means of protection. Someday the Kleese are going to find us, and we have to be prepared for when that happens.”
Beth nodded. “What about the military people still in stasis? When are we going to start to awaken them?”
“Shortly,” Wade replied, recalling his conversation with General Mitchell about the stasis chambers. “Many of them will be used to staff this station as well as operate the assault ships. General Mitchell wants to awaken them gradually over the next several months. Some of them will need to be trained to operate the Type Two and three battle suits.”
Beth thought about that. For many of them, the awakening would be a shock, especially when they learned about Earth. But once again, the Kleese had made a major mistake. By abducting so many military personnel, it meant that Earth still had a solid group of trained military people, especially when you added all of those still on the ground helping with the survival camps. Someday that mistake would come back to haunt the Kleese.
-o0o-
Commander Michael Kirby sat in the command chair of the battlecruiser Armageddon watching the main viewscreen with interest. His fleet had been augmented by six assault ships with recently enhanced particle beam weapons. In addition, his original four support ships had also just finished being upgraded at Vesta.
“At least we have a reasonable fleet now,” Colonel Stehr commented from his position behind the main tactical console.
“The Phoenix will be out of Vesta’s spacedock in two more weeks,” Michael added as he gazed at the large space station on the screen. “Her updates are taking longer since she wasn’t originally designed as a warship. That will give us two full fleets to protect the system with until more of the assault ships on the station can be equipped with particle beam weapons.”
“Are there plans for additional battlecruisers?” asked Stehr, hoping he would be given command of one.
“Yes,” replied Michael, recalling what he knew about the most recent plans. “Vesta is already beginning construction of one, and they are going to be looking at the ship construction capability of the Kleese station also. Marken has assured us that it is fully capable of building new assault ships, but battlecruisers might be more difficult. He has suggested taking some of the advanced ship construction technology from the station and melding it with what Vesta has to decrease the time it takes to construct a battlecruiser.”
“Sir, Darren is reporting that the latest convoy for Mars Central is ready for departure,” Lieutenant Jones reported from Communications.
Michael nodded. He didn’t envy his brother’s job on Holbrook Station trying to coordinate the rescue and movement of so many survivors. At least with the Kleese station in orbit it should take some of the pressure off him.
“Very well,” Michael responded. “The fleet will form up around the convoy, and we’ll head for Mars.” Michael wished all the convoy ships had the new improved sublight drives on them. He knew that the Kiveans were in the process of doing the upgrades, but they could only do so much so quickly.
An hour later, the Armageddon and the other ten warships in her fleet had surrounded the six-ship convoy and set off for Mars.
-o0o-
Wade and Beth were back in the Command Center with Marken as they waited for General Mitchell to arrive. It had been decided by all involved that he would take command of the massive station.
“The new troops are already entering areas of the station to help remove the bodies of the dead crew,” Beth reported. They had removed their battle suits and felt much more relaxed.
“It’s a distasteful task,” replied Marken, shaking his head.
He had been very shaken when he had learned what the Kleese had done to the station’s crew. None of his people had expected the Kleese to react the way that they did. It demonstrated once more just how alien the Kleese were when compared to the humanoid races of this section of the galaxy.
“What about the habitation domes?” asked Beth, knowing that a number of them would have a considerable number of dead crewmembers inside as well as their families. “Some of them will have to be gone through also.”
“There are fourteen domes with dead crew inside,” Marken confirmed. “Those are sealed off and can wait until later. Our first priority needs to be the main parts of the station so we can begin training the new crew.”
“I spoke to Colonel Bailey earlier, and they are already screening possible applicants in the survival camps,” spoke Wade, looking over at Beth. “They may also be transferring some specialists from Luna City and Vesta until we can get enough people properly trained.”
“How long before the Kleese find us?” asked Beth, looking over at Marken with concern in her eyes. She knew they weren’t ready yet to face a Kleese battle fleet.
“I don’t know,” replied Marken, uneasily. He took a deep breath and then looked over at the two marine officers. “It could be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Remember, it’s already been over four weeks since we took the station. I’m sure that by now the search is well underway. The Kleese only have fifteen of these giant space stations to control each sector of their Empire. The loss of one will be a major blow to their plans for future expansion as well as trade within that sector. They’ll want it back.”
“At least we will have the station’s assault ships to help in our defense,” Beth stated. She had seen them in combat often enough to know what they were capable of.
“The only problem is going to be crews,” Marken pointed out. “An assault ship takes a normal crew of one hundred but can make do with around twenty if necessary. Not only that, but the assault ships on the station need to be updated with particle weapons and better shields. They wouldn’t last long against a Kleese disk ship as they are now.”
“Then we had better get busy,” suggested Wade, knowing they needed to move quickly. “We need to waken all the military personnel in stasis with flight training as well as bring up any military personnel still on Earth that might be useful staffing the ships.”
“It’s going to be a big effort,” Beth stated with a frown. Then, turning to Marken, “How long will it take to train a crew for o
ne of the assault ships?”
“I can assign a few Kiveans to each ship to help out with the technical details,” Marken replied. “But it will take months of intensive training to get Human crews up to a standard at least equal to what they will be facing.”
“The assault ships we will be facing may have more experienced crews, but I suspect ships operated by Humans will be more unpredictable with their tactics,” Wade responded confidently.
From what he had observed of the strategy employed by the other humanoid races under Kleese control, fleet tactics were minimal. They depended on their superior technology to blow right through enemy opposition. That wouldn’t work against Human controlled ships.
“I hope you’re right,” Marken replied, glancing over at Wade. The Humans had already proven themselves in their aggressiveness. Even Commander Kirby had done well in the brief battle when they took control of the station.
“We’re going to have to protect Mars, Vesta, the Moon, and the Earth when the attack does finally come,” Wade pointed out, knowing they were going to have to spread their forces out. “We’re going to need someone to coordinate everything.”
“A Fleet Admiral,” suggested Beth, arching her eyebrows in thought. “But who?”
“I would suggest Commander Kirby,” Marken spoke unhesitantly. “He’s already demonstrated his command ability in the attack upon the station and is familiar with the weapons on the two battlecruisers as well as the updated assault ships. I will make that suggestion to General Mitchell when he arrives.”
Wade and Beth both nodded in agreement. Their eyes wandered over to the main viewscreens, which were focused on the Earth and the Moon. They both knew that on the Moon massive construction projects were well underway as Humans working alongside Kivean engineers were in the process of building larger and more secure habitation domes. Earth was a different story. The planet was wrapped in a dark, grayish looking cloud layer. Nowhere did sunlight reach the surface. The vast oceans and landmasses were locked away in darkness. Both knew with sadness that the home of the Human race was suffering and it would be many centuries, even with the Kivean’s advanced science, before the surface would be habitable again.
CHAPTER 19
Newly promoted Admiral Michael Kirby sat in the command chair of the five hundred-meter battlecruiser Armageddon. It had been six months since they had successfully hijacked the Kleese space station and brought it safely back to the solar system. During that time, much progress had been made preparing for the expected attack of the Kleese and their conscripts.
“Current fleet status?” asked Michael, looking over at Colonel Stehr. Michael knew that shortly he would be losing Colonel Stehr to the battlecruiser Liberation under construction in the spacedock at Vesta. Stehr would become the Liberation’s commander.
“All ships in formation and reporting normal operations.”
Kirby nodded. Over the last six months, a massive retraining operation had been launched as the assault ships from the station had been sent to Vesta and modified with more powerful energy shields and particle beam weapons. It was hoped that the new technology would give them an advantage when the Kleese finally did attack.
“Rear Admiral Sanders is reporting they’ve just completed their shakedown cruise for the assault ships added to his fleet,” Lieutenant Jones reported from Communications. “He’s placed his fleet into orbit over Mars and is awaiting further orders.”
The solar system currently boasted two powerful fleets. They had been designated First Fleet and Second Fleet and had been going through continuous training exercises for the last several weeks in expectation of the coming attack. First Fleet consisted of the Armageddon, four light cruisers, and ten updated assault ships. Second Fleet, with the battlecruiser Phoenix, was composed similarly. Fleet Admiral Kirby also had ten scout ships available, all of them currently deployed in the outer reaches of the solar system scanning for enemy contacts out near the Kuiper Belt.
“Everything is still quiet,” Colonel Stehr commented uneasily. “I would have thought they would have found us by now.”
“I did too,” confessed Michael. “Another couple of weeks and the Liberation will be finished. The light cruisers and the assault ships are ready; all they need is their command ship. I just hope the attack doesn’t come until after we have our third battlecruiser available.”
“At least the crew for our new battlecruiser will be trained,” Stehr added. They had added additional crewmembers to both the Armageddon and the Phoenix who would shortly be transferred to the Liberation. He had helped to pick the men and women that would be crewing his new command.
“What do you think, Major?” asked Michael, looking over at Major Nelson. “Is there a reason the Kleese haven’t attacked?”
“I spoke to Marken and several other Kiveans about that on Vesta the other day,” replied Wade, recalling his short trip to the asteroid. He had gone to visit his family who had come up from Earth a few months back. It had been great to see them again. “Marken believes the Kleese may be gathering a massive assault ship fleet to aid in the attack. He still feels the Kleese are hesitant about exposing themselves to any type of physical injury or being killed.”
“So we may not face any of their big disk ships?” asked Colonel Stehr, looking over at Wade.
“The disk ships will be in attendance,” Wade answered. “They’ll probably hang back and wait to see how we handle the assault ships before attempting to engage us. When we attacked the station we took them by surprise; that won’t be the case this time.”
“Then it’s just a waiting game,” stated Michael, letting out a deep breath and shaking his head. “We will continue to work on our defenses until they show up.”
Wade nodded. He had spoken to Beth the previous night; she had been promoted to the rank of captain and placed in command of a full company of marines in Type Three battle suits. Her new responsibly involved seeing to the defense of the large spacedock inside of Vesta. Colonel Bailey had taken over command of the military forces assigned to the asteroid since he had some experience in dealing with the Kleese.
Wade had also spoken briefly to his younger brother who wanted to join the marines as soon as he was old enough. He had told his brother to finish his education first and then they would discuss it. It made Wade feel proud that his brother wanted to follow in his footsteps. It also made him a little nervous knowing how dangerous it was to be in the military right now.
Lieutenant Jeffries had also been promoted to captain and was now responsible for another company of marines in Type Three battle suits; however, his marines were based on the Kleese space station and he reported directly to General Mitchell. Wade let out a deep breath as he gazed thoughtfully at the main viewscreen on the front wall of the Armageddon. He wondered what was in their future and if they could stop the Kleese when the attack finally came.
-o0o-
General Mitchell was in the Command Center of the huge Kleese space station watching the myriad of viewscreens on the front wall. Some of the feeds were from satellites scattered about the system. One showed the recently expanded Mars Central exploration base. It currently housed nearly two hundred thousand refugees from Earth in its large, airtight domes dug slightly into the arid Martian surface. The Kiveans had worked miracles with their technology helping to construct the new facilities and setting up Mars Central’s ecosystems. The domes also had deep underground bunkers for the protection of the colonists in case of a Kleese attack. Mars Central was surrounded with a series of energy beam batteries, which could reach out nearly three hundred kilometers into space. Fifteen hundred military troops had been assigned to Mars Central to aid in its defense.
Another screen showed Luna City with its dozens of new domes spread out across the desolate lunar landscape. Mayor Silas had reported the population was nearing one million and that thanks to Kivean technology, the food situation was now stable and they were starting to see an excess in crops. More domes were under constructio
n, and the hopes were that they would be able to continue to expand Luna City until it could house two million survivors. There had even been some serious discussions about building a second city on the Moon to house an additional one million people.
Another satellite was focused on the massive airlock leading to the huge spacedock inside Vesta. Currently, it showed an assault ship exiting to take up a defensive position above the large asteroid. Once it exited the tunnel, the large airlock doors slid shut, sealing the entrance. There were also four powerful pulse fusion beam batteries set up on the surface near the entrance to protect the tunnel from attack.
Inside Vesta, nearly one and a half million people had found a new home in the recently completed second habitat. Over the coming months, plans were being made to move an additional six hundred thousand people into the large asteroid. Vesta was probably the most secure and heavily protected of all the Human colonies. General Mitchell suspected it would eventually become humanity’s new capital.
The biggest screen was a view from Holbrook Station. It showed a steady stream of assault ships and passenger ships entering and leaving the large Kleese space station, depositing refugees from Earth. Already over six million people had been moved into the massive station, allowing the numerous survival camps on Earth to consolidate the remaining survivors into more secure living quarters.
The deaths at the camps had almost come to a stop thanks to that and the advanced medical technology the Kiveans had brought with them. Marken’s life mate Harnett had been instrumental in teaching Human doctors and specialists how to use the new medical procedures. There were also daily search missions ongoing, combing the planet for additional survivors. Surprisingly, a few hundred thousand more had been located thanks to improved sensor technology.
“We’re going to have to start putting people in the corridors shortly,” Colonel Tricia Morgan commented as she walked up to the general. “We’ve filled up all of the available habitats and the barrack facilities inside the station.”