“Humans, stop!” one of the Kleese spoke in a commanding voice. The other was still pointing the collar activation device at the advancing Humans and continually pressing the detonate button.
Wade didn’t hesitate. He reached the Command Pedestal and leaping to the top, swung the lance at the Kleese standing before him. It cut completely through the Kleese, making a sizzling sound as it passed through flesh. The look upon the Kleese was of surprised shock. Then his body toppled over and fell from the pedestal with a resounding thud. Sergeant Stern had jumped up beside Wade and already dispatched the second Kleese.
“I enjoyed doing that,” she spoke with satisfaction in her voice.
Looking around, Wade saw that Sergeant Perry and his squad were also standing above a group of dead Kleese. “Secure the room!” ordered Wade, seeing that many of the humanoids were making a mad dash toward the hatch to escape the consequences of this deadly attack upon their masters.
“Let them go,” Marken spoke as he climbed up on the pedestal. Marken waited a few moments until he was satisfied that everyone except his own people and the Humans were out of the Command Center, then he pressed several buttons on a large console. Instantly, the hatch slid shut.
“The hatch will remain closed until I open it,” Marken spoke in a calm voice. “It is now time to activate the rest of our plan.”
There were ten other Kiveans in the room sitting in front of complicated control consoles. Marken nodded to them; it was time to begin the evacuation of the station. After the actions in the Command Center, there was no turning back. Marken gazed briefly at the dead Kleese; it was the first time he had ever seen one killed. Several of the marines were moving the Kleese large bodies to one side of the Command Center out of the way. Occasionally one of their legs would twitch. Marken shuddered and turned back toward the command console. They had a lot to do and it needed to be done quickly.
Taalon was sitting at the main computer console and had been stunned at the brutality of the Human attack. He could feel his stomach churning, but he fought back the urge to vomit and instead pressed several icons on his computer screen. Instantly, airtight hatches throughout much of the station slammed shut, as well as the hatches upon many of the habitation domes, sealing them off.
Wade watched the entire process knowing that teams of his marines were spreading out throughout the large station tracking down and killing as many of the Kleese as possible. All of these teams were escorted by at least two of Marken’s people.
Now it was all up to Lieutenant Williams. It was her job to take out the Kleese that controlled the station’s massive flight bays and monitored the coming and going of all spacecraft. If they failed to take control of the Flight Command Center, they would have no way off the station.
-
Lieutenant Williams had ten marines with her. Skagern was leading them, and it did not take them long to reach the Flight Command Center. Without hesitation, Beth pushed her way past the two startled guards, hearing the sound of energy lances behind her as the two guards were eliminated. There were four Kleese in the large room watching scanners and communicating with inbound ships. Before they could respond to Beth’s sudden entrance, she had already cut the first one down. She heard screams and what sounded like struggling behind her. Turning, she saw that all the Kleese but one were down and it was struggling with Private Nicole Foster. Private Gonzales quickly stepped over and lopped off the Kleese’s head with his energy lance. A number of the humanoids in the room were screaming and running for the exit.
“Let them go,” Beth instructed her marines. “We don’t need them.”
A few minutes later, a group of forty Kiveans filed in and took up positions in front of the numerous consoles. They instantly began giving orders to various ships.
“I want four guards at that hatch; don’t let anyone in without my permission,” ordered Beth. She moved over to a large viewscreen, which Skagern was adjusting to show the evacuation fleet, which would soon be leaving the station. Letting out a sharp breath, Beth knew the hardest part was now behind them. In a short matter of time, they would be on their way home.
-
All over the massive station, there was general panic amongst the humanoid crew, particularly when they heard that Humans were killing the Kleese. Most of them barricaded themselves in their quarters, ordering the conscripts under their control to guard their doors or the hatches to the domes. It didn’t take them long to discover that the airtight doors all over the station were now sealing many of them in, and even at the domes the hatches would no longer open. There was general panic growing about what would happen when the Kleese returned and discovered what the Humans had done.
-
In one of the main flight bays, General Mitchell and Colonel Bailey put in an appearance. They had brought nearly one hundred marines and soldiers with them to ensure the bay was kept under Human control. In other flight bays, the same method was being used. Humans in battle suits were fanning out, securing the bays and the corridors leading to them.
“Major Nelson reports the Command Center is secure,” Colonel Bailey reported. “Lieutenant Williams has also secured the Flight Command Center and the Kiveans have taken over the control consoles. They are starting the evacuation.”
“Very good,” General Mitchell replied as his eyes looked across the large flight bay. Neither he nor Colonel Bailey were in battle suits though they had several marines standing close by in case they were needed.
In their flight bay, Mitchell could see over twenty of the versatile assault ships. The standard crew for one of the assault ships was nearly one hundred, and Mitchell knew that in order to take as many ships with them as possible the Kiveans were sending only twenty of their race to operate each vessel. There were also a number of passenger and transport ships the Kiveans were commandeering as well.
“What’s the current status of the Kleese?” Mitchell asked as Colonel Bailey continued to get updated reports from one of the marines in a battle suit next to him.
“Sixty-two accounted for so far,” Bailey replied. “A large number are in the sealed off sections of the station, and I have ordered our troops not to go in and get them. As long as they’re behind the sealed hatches they can’t cause us any problems.”
“What about the other humanoid conscripts in battle suits?” Mitchell asked, concerned about additional fighting on the station. He knew that the domes most of the other conscripts were in had been sealed shut.
“Only a few have resisted,” Bailey replied. “Most seem to be staying out of our way.”
“All right, let’s get everyone loaded on board these ships. We have two hours and then anyone not aboard will get left behind.” Mitchell watched as his orders were carried out. His biggest regret were the people they were leaving behind in the stasis chambers. He let out a heavy sigh, wishing there was something he could do but knowing there was not.
-
Major Nelson was standing on the Command Pedestal along with Marken watching the large viewscreens on the front wall of the Command Center. Already several assault ships had launched and taken up positions outside of the station.
“We have twelve passenger liners and sixteen transport ships as well,” Marken explained as a rather large and bulky looking ship moved into position between the assault ships. “They will be carrying people as well as some special supplies we managed to acquire. Their crews have all been replaced by Kiveans.”
“All FTL communications have been disabled,” Kalarn reported as he walked up to the pedestal. “It will take several hours before the surviving Kleese can reestablish communication with any of their ships.”
“That should do,” Marken commented with a nod. “What about the information concerning Earth’s location?”
“Also eliminated,” Taalon replied. “I erased it from the computers of the exploratory ship that went to Earth originally as well as from the follow up ship that abducted the Humans. The computers on the station have now a
lso been purged of any references to Earth.”
“So the Kleese can’t find Earth?” asked Wade, glancing over at Marken.
“Not easily,” Marken replied as he looked back across the room at one of the large viewscreens. “They will know the general area the planet is located in, but they will have to search for it. They may have to search hundreds of stars before they find the right one. Hopefully, we will have our new particle beam weapons installed on our ships by then.”
“Will they destroy one of the large disk ships?” Wade asked. He knew if they couldn’t defend themselves all of this would have been for nothing.
“We think so,” answered Marken, trying to sound confident. “Of course, for a ship the size of one of those it will take numerous hits to destroy it.”
“At least we will have a chance,” responded Wade, letting out a deep breath. It was just so hard to believe that they were actually going home. Wade wondered what his family would think when he told them about where he had been. His younger brother would have a thousand questions.
-
For the next two hours, the fleet outside continued to grow. Large passenger liners and transport ships containing nearly five thousand Kiveans continued to assemble outside the station. The transport ships also held the Human support personnel as well as the military research scientists and engineers. Assault ships containing Kiveans and Human military personnel were intermixed to provide both protection and an escort for the vulnerable civilian ships.
“We may have a problem,” Taalon spoke from his console where he was frantically entering commands. “I think several of the Kleese have made it to one of the flight bays we have sealed off and are trying to gain entry.”
“What happens if they get inside?” Wade asked concerned, as his eyes focused on Taalon.
“If they can activate one of the assault ships and get it outside they can use its FTL transmitter to contact one of their ships. We can’t take on one of their disk ships without heavy losses,” replied Marken, worriedly.
“We have maybe thirty minutes before they can override the codes I have set up and get a ship out of the flight bay,” Taalon informed them.
The flight bays had always been a problem, Wade knew. They circled the station, and there was no way they could seize all of them. The bays they were not going to use had been sealed off instead.
“How soon before we can leave?” asked Wade, knowing time was growing short.
Marken made some quick calls on the com system and then turned to Wade. “We can leave now; the last ship has just finished loading. There is one assault ship waiting for us. Even if the Kleese can get an assault ship out of the flight bay and use its FTL communicator it will take at least two hours or more for one of the disk ships to return.”
“It’s time to go,” Wade ordered over his com to his marines. Then, turning to Marken, “Is there a shorter way to the flight bay than the way we came?”
“Yes,” replied Marken, nodding his head. “Follow me. We will take one of the faster transit tunnels.”
With that, all of the Kiveans shut down their consoles and Taalon entered a final command into the station’s computer system. Instantly, the lights dimmed and the consoles went silent.
“What did you do?” demanded Wade, feeling concerned that Taalon might have just shut off the life support to the entire station, which would doom all of the humanoids that were sealed up in the domes.
“Don’t worry,” Taalon replied with a wolfish grin. “I shut down the station’s main fusion reactors. The station is operating on emergency power and will continue to do so until the reactors are reinitialized. That process alone will take several hours. The transit tunnel is still operating as well as the flight bay we will be using.”
Wade nodded. Now they needed to get to the assault ship and off the station.
-
Twenty minutes later, Wade breathed a sigh of relief as the assault ship exited the flight bay and took its position in front of the assembled fleet. At last count, they had twelve passenger liners, sixteen transport ships, and forty assault ships. The Humans had been crowded together on the assault ships with some on the transport ships as well. It wouldn’t be a comfortable trip, but Marken had assured him they had enough supplies to get them through.
“We’re going home,” Beth spoke from his side with an excited smile upon her face.
“Yes, we are,” responded Wade, with a nod. “You might be able to get married after all.”
“I hope so,” Beth replied. “But we’ve been gone a long time; who knows what might have changed back home.”
Wade looked up at one of the large viewscreens in the assault ship Command Center at all the assembled spacecraft. He had kept his promise to both Beth and Captain Jenkins about returning home. The only question on Wade’s mind was what would they find when they finally got there?
Marken gave the order and the entire fleet activated their Space Fold drives. Moments later, they had left the space station far behind as they set their course for the planet Earth.
Chapter Fifteen
Mason had been summoned to the Control Center by Pamela. She had said it was urgent, so he had rushed as quickly as he could. From the tone of her voice, he was worried that another disaster had befallen Earth, as if enough hadn’t happened already. Upon entering the busy room, he could sense an air of urgency from the people who sat in front of their consoles and viewscreens.
“What is it, Pamela?” he asked as he strolled up to the main control console where she was sitting talking frantically to several individuals.
“We may have a problem,” Pamela replied nervously as she gestured toward one of the large sensor screens.
Over the past few months, the Phoenix and her fleet had been placing new scanning satellites all over the solar system. They currently could scan in real time almost all the way out to the orbit of Neptune. The satellites had been built in several of the large electronics labs in Smithfield.
Wade looked at the indicated screen and drew in a sharp breath. At the far edge was a large cloud of red threat icons. “What are those?”
“We’re not sure,” replied Pamela, uneasily. “They showed up about twenty minutes ago and have just been sitting there.”
“Where are the Phoenix and her battle group?”
“Out close to Mars escorting some passenger ships to Mars Central.”
“Contact Commander Sanders and order him to return to Holbrook Station as quickly as possible,” Mason ordered, fearful of what the red icons might mean. If the aliens were returning, he wanted to be ready for them. “Then get me Darren on Holbrook; I need to talk to him.”
A few moments later, Pamela indicated she had Darren on the com.
“What’s up?” Darren asked.
“Check your long-range scanners,” Mason said in an even voice. “Our friends may be back.”
Darren was silent for a long moment and then his voice returned. “We see them. What do you want to do?”
Mason studied the sensor screen for another moment noticing that the icons were still not moving. “I have ordered Commander Sanders to return to Holbrook with his fleet. How are you situated if you have to defend the station?”
Over the past few months, numerous railgun emplacements had been placed on the outer hull of the space station. They had also put an additional layer of armor around the hull for protection. It had been a dangerous job, but in the end Holbrook station now had the firepower of Commander Sander’s entire fleet.
“We have a lot of civilians on the station waiting for transportation to the Moon,” Darren replied with concern in his voice. “Do you want me to contact Jornada and tell them to hold off on any more launches for the time being?”
“I think that would be wise,” Mason replied as he saw Drake come rushing into the Control Center. “Initiate a communications blackout until further notice and let’s wait and see what these aliens do. At the moment, we don’t know if these are the same aliens
that attacked us before or someone new.”
“They’re back,” muttered Drake, staring with apprehension at the red icons on the screen. “What are we going to do?”
“What’s the current status of the Armageddon?” Mason asked. He knew the work crews had been working around the clock for months trying to finish the new battlecruiser as quickly as possible.
“She’s ready,” replied Drake, glancing over at Mason. “But I wouldn’t recommend launching her yet. We don’t have all the crew on board, and we still have a lot of systems tests to run.”
“We may not have any choice,” replied Mason, knowing that as soon as word got out about these new aliens there would be widespread panic. They might need every ship they had to protect the system. “We need to be ready to launch her in case we need the extra firepower.”
“I’ll go speak to Ethan and Sean about the Armageddon,” Drake responded with one last look at the sensor screen. “Michael and the command crew are on board and I’ll let them know what’s going on.”
Mason nodded; if the aliens attacked again, it would be a disaster. Luna City had been dramatically expanded, and many of the new domes and tunnels were highly vulnerable, the same with Mars Central. Only Vesta was relatively safe from attack. There were a number of railgun batteries on the surface as well as several inside the kilometers long tunnel that led to the spacedock. If anything attempted to come down the tunnel, they could blow it away. Mason just hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
-
In the outer part of the solar system, Wade stared with deep concern at the tactical display showing Earth. Marken had only told them the previous day what the Kleese had done to the planet. It had been a shock as word quickly spread throughout the fleet.
“Are we detecting anything?” whispered Wade, praying that some people had survived. He was deeply concerned for his family.
Galactic Empire Wars: Destruction (The Galactic Empire Wars) Page 24