“No, Admiral. I have my job to do, and you have yours. If I fail, just do everything in your power to protect New Providence. There are a lot of good people here. I also don’t think having the cruisers along would make that much difference.”
“I will keep New Providence safe, you have my word on that,” Hedon promised and then the line went silent.
“Admiral Flaxen is reporting that he has placed the shipyard at Condition Three and is doubling the CAP,” Lieutenant Trask reported.
“I am picking up Talon launches from the shipyard,” Lieutenant Stalls confirmed as more green icons appeared next to the shipyard.
-
Aboard the Vindication, Commander Wisthom watched as his ship rendezvoused with the Monarch Cruiser Endeavor. The light cruiser Sundance, the destroyers Anvil and Sword were already there, and forming up into their fleet formation.
“Ship is at Condition Three as the admiral ordered,” reported Major Garner from his position at the plotting table. He glanced up at the short-range scanners and then continued. “We will be in our assigned support position in twenty seconds.”
“Very well,” Commander Wisthom replied. He looked over at his crew. They were performing their jobs as if this was just an everyday maneuver and rendezvous. Not as if they were about to go into the first battle of an interstellar war.
“We are ready, sir,” Clarissa commented from the front of the Command Center.
The blonde haired, blue-eyed AI was visible on the ship’s main viewscreen. She was currently scanning all of the Vindication’s systems, making sure the ship was combat ready. Clarissa was determined to bring the Vindication through this conflict intact. She didn’t think that even Commander Wisthom fully understood all of her abilities and just what she was capable of doing.
-
On board the Avenger, Lieutenant Arcles was speaking to Lieutenant Barnes over a secure link on their mini-coms. Over the past few months, they had become very good friends.
“What do you think will happen when the Hocklyns get here?” asked Teena, looking over at Jacen who was at his sensor and scanner console.
“I don’t know,” Jacen confessed. “The admiral has a plan, and we have heavily fortified the space around New Providence. I guess it depends on how large their fleet is.”
“I’m scared,” Teena spoke quietly into her mini-com. “What if we can’t stop the Hocklyns? What if they are more powerful than we think?”
There was silence over the mini-com for a long moment. “I can’t believe that,” Jacen finally replied. “We destroyed their ship at Stalor Four, and we have new and better weapons now. I think we will be all right. We just have to believe in the admiral.”
Teena looked up at the main viewscreen. Ariel was busy talking to the commander. Teena liked the AI, and the two spoke quite often. Sometimes she felt there was much more to Ariel than people thought.
Jacen watched his scanners as the Avenger rendezvoused with the Monarch Cruiser Crucible. He knew that the Vindication was with the Endeavor. For some reason, the admiral wanted one of his two AI ships with each of his other two heavy warships.
“Clarissa and I have worked out some joint battle plans,” Ariel was telling Commander Standel. “If the Avenger and Vindication could work together, we could be quite deadly to the Hocklyns.”
“I will keep that in mind,” Commander Standel replied.
There was no doubt that the two AIs working together could do things no human crew could possibly do. But did he trust the two AIs to be in complete control of the two light cruisers? What Ariel and Clarissa were suggesting had never been tried before. However, if the situation warranted it, they may have no choice. Reaching a decision, Commander Standel decided to contact Commander Wisthom on the Vindication and discuss it.
-
On the StarStrike, Colonel Sheen gazed at the long-range sensor screen. Other than friendly green icons, there were no threats showing. She hoped that it would remain that way. Glancing over at Admiral Streth, she saw that he was still busy talking to Admiral Flaxen and General Allister over his mini-com. Letting out a deep breath, she just hoped that her parents back on Aquaria were doing okay. What worried her was how the Hocklyns were going to attack. Were they going to attack one system at a time, or all four systems at once? She wished they had more information on the size of the fleet the destroyer Ardell had detected. For now, they were still operating in the dark.
-
Down on New Providence, Taylor and Lendle were in the Command Center of the bunker watching as orders were sent out to close up all the bunker facilities across the planet. At the two deep mine sites, the selected civilians were being located and flown in as rapidly as possible. It was estimated it would take another eight to ten hours to get everyone inside and the facilities closed up.
“All ten bunkers are now sealed tight,” Major Jessup reported as messages continued to come in. “General Allister is moving all the marines off of their bases and deploying them around the planet. He will be here as soon as all the dispositions have been completed.”
“We will be ready if they attack,” Taylor replied evenly. He looked over at his wife. “The marines are well trained. If the Hocklyns land troops, we will be ready for them.”
“I know,” responded Lendle giving Taylor a weak smile. “I’m just worried about your brother up on the StarStrike. His fleet will be attempting to stop the Hocklyns from reaching New Providence. When they make contact, then we will know how powerful the Hocklyns actually are.”
All three turned to look at the main long-range sensor screen. It showed only friendly green icons. The largest icon was the shipyard, but two other unusually large icons were behind it, shielded by a number of large freighters and passenger liners so as to confuse Hocklyn sensors and scanners.
Lendle knew that the two large icons were the StarStrike and the Victory. She prayed silently to herself that everyone would come through this ordeal alive. She reached over and took Taylor’s hand, squeezing it. Sometime in the next few hours or days, the human race would begin an interstellar war. Lendle wished things had turned out differently. Now all they could do was wait.
Chapter Seven
Fleet Commodore Anglert stood on the upraised command pedestal in the War Room of the Hocklyn dreadnaught Invincible. He was dressed in light combat armor and was gazing speculatively at a large scanner screen that showed his fleet’s current disposition.
“All fleet units report combat ready,” First Leader Dreden reported from his position at the main fleet control board, which gave him a detailed status on all of the ships in the fleet.
“War Leader Sigeth has just jumped into the system with the support fleet,” reported Second Leader Kirel. “He is reporting that it will take him an additional two hours to rendezvous with us.”
“Excellent,” Anglert replied his cold eyes gazing at his subordinates. “Once he has made rendezvous, we will make the final preparations for our attack on the human worlds.”
Commodore Anglert turned his gaze back to the main scanner screen, which showed the massed Hocklyn fleet. Four dreadnaughts, twelve heavy war cruisers, and eighty support cruisers floated in space, waiting for the order to attack. While not a large fleet, it should be sufficient to conquer the four human colony worlds. War Leader Sigeth’s fleet had another dreadnaught, two heavy war cruisers, and four support cruisers assigned to it. In addition, there were forty troop ships carrying 110,000 protectors. There were also an additional twenty ships carrying munitions and other necessary supplies.
This was the largest fleet the Hocklyns had gathered in nearly a century. The last time they had put together a fleet this large was when they had encountered an advanced alien race called the Craydons. It had taken nearly two years to subdue them. The Craydons had controlled a small empire of twenty star systems and their small ships had been difficult to catch and destroy.
The Hocklyns had nuked the Craydon’s home world as an example to the rest of their inha
bited systems. The other systems had instantly capitulated, agreeing to become part of the Hocklyn Slave Empire. Their remaining small ships had been hunted down and destroyed one by one. With no support base to replenish munitions or for much needed repairs, the small ships had finally been eliminated. Once that was done, the populations of all the Craydon colony worlds had been reduced by sixty percent. The old, the unskilled, criminals, and others deemed unnecessary were eliminated. From then on strict population controls were enacted.
Commodore Anglert reached forward, activated a computer screen, and studied the data displayed. While it hadn’t been possible for the armed scouts to get detailed scans of the human colonies, it was obvious from the number of freighters and other ships that all four colony worlds supported large populations. Once their home worlds were located and conquered, he knew it would be necessary to drastically reduce the size of the human populations on all of their worlds. A population of two to four hundred million was all that was necessary on a slave world. This would ensure the population was controllable and still able to maintain a reasonable level of technology. Once the human worlds were all brought into the Slaver Empire, then it would be decided what they would produce for the Hocklyns as well as for the masters.
Soon the second group of scout ships that had been sent to the human worlds would return. These would not be so obscure in their missions. They would jump deep into the human systems and take detailed sensor readings of the human worlds and their defenses. The scout ships would then jump back to the fleet and report. Once the scouts had returned, the attack would be launched.
Commodore Anglert knew that soon he would be richly rewarded for bringing these human worlds into the empire. The masters would be quite pleased with the four human colony worlds and eventually the human’s home system. The humans should make excellent slaves. His family would prosper and grow, and he would continue to move up in the Hocklyn Hierarchy.
Anglert was growing impatient for the scouts to return. He wanted to get this conquest over with so he could return to the empire. He was already savoring the sweet taste of victory and his coming accolades.
-
Admiral Streth was in the Command Center when a warning alarm began sounding on the long-range sensor console. The atmosphere in the Command Center suddenly went from routine to a feeling of apprehension.
“Report,” ordered Hedon, looking over at Lieutenant Stalls.
“Two unidentified contacts have jumped into the system,” Stalls reported. His fingers flew rapidly over his keyboard as he attempted to identify the two red icons that had suddenly appeared on his screens. “New contacts are one billion kilometers out from New Providence.”
“Order the destroyers Oasis and Lance to investigate,” ordered Hedon, looking over at Colonel Sheen. “They’re to jump into close proximity of the unknowns, but do not engage.”
“Yes, sir,” Colonel Sheen reported as she passed on the orders to the two destroyers.
“I’ve tentatively identified the contacts as Hocklyn scouts similar to the one we destroyed in the comet ring,” Stalls reported as he gazed at the most recent results from his sensors. “I would guess that they are trying to scan the space around New Providence.”
“Go to Condition Two,” ordered Hedon, gazing at the sensor screen and its two threatening red icons. “All fleet units except the two destroyers are to hold position.” He wondered if this could be a prelude to an attack. Was there a large Hocklyn fleet lurking nearby?
"Admiral Flaxen is on the com, wanting to know what we’re going to do about the Hocklyn scouts,” Lieutenant Trask reported.
“Tell him we’re sending two destroyers to investigate.” Hedon knew that the sensors on the shipyard would have picked up the two scouts also.
On the main sensor screen, the two green icons representing two Federation destroyers vanished, to reappear a few seconds later several thousand kilometers away from the two Hocklyn ships. The two Hocklyn scouts were several hundred million kilometers away from each other, so both destroyers had jumped in close to each.
“Destroyers are moving in on their sublight drives,” Colonel Sheen reported as she watched the destroyers close on the two hostile contacts. “No reaction as of yet from the Hocklyns. They are holding position.”
Amanda took a deep breath. She wondered if this was happening in the Beltran System where Aquaria was located. Her eyes focused on the plotting board and the two threatening red icons that were now being displayed.
“No closer than five hundred kilometers,” warned Hedon, keeping his eyes glued to the sensor screen. “If the Hocklyns attempt to engage, the destroyers are to jump to safety.”
Hedon could feel the tension in the Command Center go up as the two destroyers crept closer, then suddenly the two red icons vanished.
“They’re gone,” reported Lieutenant Stalls breathing out a sigh of relief. “They must have finished their scans and then jumped out.”
“For now,” replied Hedon, looking over at Colonel Sheen who was standing at the plotting table. From the resigned look on Amanda’s face, she knew what was coming next. “Order the destroyers to report back here to New Providence. I think we can expect an attack within the next twelve hours. Those scouts were sent to check on our fleet makeup and dispositions. They won’t wait long.”
“Do you think they made out the StarStrike or the Victory?” Colonel Sheen asked worriedly. Those scouts had been pretty close; only a billion kilometers out. Well within what was assumed to be their maximum sensor range.
“I doubt it,” replied Hedon shaking his head slightly. “We have enough freighters and passenger liners around us to mask our signature on their sensors. But they will know about the Monarchs.”
Turning toward Communications Hedon added. “Send a message to Fleet Command on Tellus that Hocklyn scouts have jumped in and scanned the system. We expect an attack to be imminent.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Lieutenant Trask, feeling a sharp chill run down her back.
“Take the fleet back to Condition Three, but let all ship commanders know that an attack is imminent and they can expect to go to Condition One at any moment.”
“Yes, sir,” Colonel Sheen replied as she began passing the message on over her mini-com to the other warships. Amanda had to fight to stay calm. She wished there was some way she could warn her parents on Aquaria that it was time to go down into the basement and stay there.
-
On the Avenger, Teena Arcles waited nervously for the impending attack. She knew that her brother would be leading his squadron of Talons against the Hocklyns from the battle carrier Victory. Teena took a deep fortifying breath and prayed that her brother would come through this safely.
“Thinking about Karl?” Jacen asked over the mini-com on their private channel. He had noticed the tense and worried look on Teena’s face.
“Yes,” she responded with a weak smile. “I can’t help but worry about him.”
“He’s one of our best pilots, Teena,” responded Jacen, putting on a reassuring smile. “He will come through this all right. We all will.”
Teena nodded. Over the com system, she could hear several of the civilian captains talking about what they should do when the battle started. A few moments later, she heard Admiral Flaxen order all civilian ships to be prepared to retreat beneath the planet’s defensive grid. The order would be given once the main Hocklyn attack was detected and they had committed themselves.
“Ariel, I want you to monitor the battle and run simulations on what our best course of action should be,” ordered Commander Standel, watching the dark haired AI on the ship’s main viewscreen. You may make recommendations to me on a course of action if you see the ship is in danger.”
“Yes, Commander,” Ariel responded. “Have you and Commander Wisthom discussed allowing Clarissa and I more control during the battle? We would work very well together if paired up. The Avenger and Vindication working together under our joint guidance could be extre
mely deadly to the Hocklyns.”
“We discussed it,” replied Commander Standel, folding his arms across his chest. “Let’s see how the battle goes before we resort to such tactics.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Ariel sounding slightly disappointed. She truly thought Clarissa and she could make a difference.
-
Commodore Anglert studied the reports brought back by the scouts. The scouts had managed to get good scans of all four human systems. He didn’t like what they had revealed. There were large human fleets in all four systems. Not only that, but there was a new class of warship they hadn’t seen before. The new ships were 800 meters in length and obviously heavily armed. There were eight of them total. However, he had twelve heavy war cruisers that were 1,000 meters each plus the four dreadnaughts. While this was more human ships than he had expected to face, he didn’t believe the extra ships posed a major threat to his fleet. He had a clear advantage in firepower as well as technology.
“Do we change our attack plans?” First Leader Dreden asked, his eyes focusing on the commodore.
“No,” Anglert replied evenly, shifting his gaze to the First Leader. “The humans have a larger fleet than we expected and that new cruiser, but it will be of no consequence. Our weapons and shields are superior. We will wipe all four systems clean of their warships and then move in on the inhabited planets.”
“Two of those systems have large orbital constructs,” Second Leader Kirel pointed out. “They may be heavily armed.”
“Of no consequence,” responded Anglert brushing off the comment and turning to face Kirel. “They are trapped in orbit and can’t maneuver. They will be easy targets for our war wings.”
“Then we attack?” First Leader Dreden asked. He was impatient to get this battle started. As First Leader of the flagship, he could expect rich rewards from the subjugation of these human worlds.
The Slaver Wars: Alien Contact Page 15