“Second generation AI,” Jacen reminded her. “Ariel is a very sophisticated computer with a series of complicated programs designed to imitate human reactions and emotions.”
“Perhaps,” replied Teena, shaking her head in disagreement. “I think her program is working better than her designers had hoped. I was asking her today why she thought we haven’t run into any Hocklyns yet.”
“What did she say?” asked Jacen, laying down his fork and paying more attention to Teena’s words. This was something he wanted to hear.
“Evidently the Hocklyn warship docked at the space station in orbit around the Clarion’s home world was very old,” replied Teena pausing a moment to take a bite of her roll. “From the hard drives we recovered, Ariel has been able to deduce that the ship was nearly one hundred years old.”
“You’re kidding!” said Jacen his eyes widening in disbelief. “Why keep a ship that old in active service?”
“Ariel thinks the Hocklyns use their older ships as a type of garrison force for the slave worlds they control.”
“The ship that attacked us must have been like that,” mused Jacen as he thought about the ramifications. “It was probably from one of their other slave worlds. Being so old, it wasn’t equipped with their latest shield and weapons technology. That would explain why the lasers from the StarStrike penetrated the screen so easily and destroyed the ship. Does the admiral know?”
“Yes,” Teena replied with a nod. She reached down and picking up her fruit drink, took a long sip. “She informed the admiral yesterday.”
“But why haven’t we encountered any of their more up to date warships on our way back to the Federation?” asked Jacen, looking across the table at Teena. “Surely they know what we did in the Clarion’s system by now.”
“Perhaps,” Teena responded. “Ariel thinks there is still a chance that the Hocklyns will believe that it was an accident that caused the self destruct charges to go off due to the age of the ship.”
“But what about the ship the StarStrike destroyed? We don’t know if it sent out a message before it jumped in and was destroyed.”
“The StarStrike was jamming all communication frequencies during the attack. If the ship didn’t send a message first, then the Hocklyns might still be confused as to what happened. Once again they might think it was due to the ship’s advanced age.”
“I hope so,” replied Jacen, reaching across the table and placing his hand upon Teena’s hand. “Have you been able to talk to your brother Karl recently?”
“Yesterday,” Teena replied with a smile. “He’s doing fine and working with his pilots.”
“Any girls in his life yet?” Jacen teased with a grin.
“No,” replied Teena laughing. “Karl is too dedicated to his career. Dating is the last thing on his mind.”
“I’m glad you don’t believe the same way,” Jacen said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
-
In the Command Center, Commander Standel looked at the jump counter, which still showed nearly two hours until the next jump. Each time they jumped, the fleet was put at Condition One just prior to emerging from hyperspace. Every time Standel expected to see Hocklyn ships waiting. However, they were always met with nothing but empty space.
“We will be back home in a few more days,” commented Major Winfred, walking over from his plotting table. “Day after tomorrow we should be able to send a long-range message back to Federation space and warn them about what we found.”
“They won’t like hearing about what we’re up against,” replied Standel, letting out a heavy sigh. “Bob, you and I have been together for a long time. How did we ever get ourselves into this mess?”
Major Winfred shrugged his shoulders while shaking his head. “We were just in the wrong spot at the wrong time. The Hocklyns were going to find us sooner or later. At least now we have the fleet. We have a chance to save something. We have to evacuate as many people as we can.”
“Even if we take every ship we have, every single ship that is capable of jumping, we’re still going to leave billions of people behind. What happens to them when the Hocklyns and these masters of theirs show up?”
“Perhaps someday we can come back for them,” Bob spoke, his eyes showing deep concern for all those that would have to be left behind. “We can build a new and larger fleet and return. Drive the Hocklyns from our worlds. That’s the hope we will have to leave them.”
“If we evacuate and don’t stay and fight it could be years, even decades before we are ready to come back,” Standel spoke, his eyes looking haunted. “What will those years be like for those we abandon? What if the Hocklyns decide the populations on our worlds are too big and reduce them like they did to the Clarions?”
Major Winfred was silent. He didn’t know what to say to that. All he knew for sure was that when they returned home the Federation Council and Fleet Command would have some very important decisions to make.
-
Aboard the battle carrier Victory, Captain Arcles and Lieutenant Sanders were down in the flight bay checking their fighters. Karl stood back and gazed speculatively at the Talon fighter that he normally flew. The small, graceful fighter had two 30 mm canons in its nose plus hard points for four Hunter class interceptor missiles. In the hands of the right pilot, the small elusive fighter could be quite deadly.
Lacy strolled over from where she had been inspecting her own fighter. Even though the techs had already gone over all the systems, most of the pilots preferred their own hands on approach. It felt reassuring to check all the systems before going into combat. “How’s your fighter, Captain?” she asked.
“Ready to go,” replied Arcles, glancing over at the trim blonde lieutenant. Karl knew that Lacy was quite popular with the other male pilots, even though so far she had resisted all of their advances. She seemed to be pretty dedicated to becoming a top-notch pilot.
“How’s your sister doing over on the Avenger?” Lacy asked curiously. The two of them did occasionally talk about their families, so she knew that the captain’s sister was in the fleet.
“I think that she and Lieutenant Barnes are getting pretty close,” Karl replied with an all knowing smile. “I’m glad to see she has finally taken an interest in someone.”
“That’s going to cause problems eventually,” Lacy commented with a heavy sigh. It was against fleet regs to fraternize with a fellow officer in the same department. It could cause too many complications.
“I think one of them is going to request a transfer to another section of the ship,” Karl replied in agreement. “That will probably happen as soon as we get back.”
“I hope things work out for them,” Lacy responded.
“I am sure it will,” replied Karl, nodding his head. He only wanted the best for his little sister. “Let’s go down below and check on our scout ship. Commander Adler wants us to be ready to check out tomorrow’s flight path. Our scout ship and another will be checking all five planned jump points.”
-
On board the StarStrike, Colonel Sheen was sitting at the command console. Admiral Streth and Major Trist were doing a surprise inspection of the flight bay and engineering sections. She hoped the crews in those areas were ready or they would be scrubbing the decks tonight.
She looked at the large viewscreen on the front wall of the Command Center. It was currently focused on a large glowing nebula just on the outskirts of the system they were currently in. During normal times, she would have liked to have moved the ship closer and find out what was causing the glow. It was highly intriguing, and several of the Command Center personnel had suggested that there might be another star actually being born in the heart of the nebula.
Other than that, the Command Center was quiet. Everyone was going about their duties as if it were any other normal day. Everyone was trying their best not to think about the Hocklyns and the growing threat to the Federation. Amanda was worried. Just where was the Hocklyn fleet? If they had as many ships
as Ariel and Clarissa suggested, then there should be at least some pickets between the Hocklyn controlled worlds and the Federation, yet they had found nothing.
If the Hocklyn fleet wasn’t where they were supposed to be, just where were they? Amanda was growing worried that Admiral Kinseth’s estimate of the time the Federation had before the Hocklyns could launch another attack was off, perhaps way off. She stood up and walked over to the plotting table. It was too difficult just to sit down and remain inactive. She felt so helpless being so far away from the Federation and not knowing what was going on. It would still be a few days before they were in effective communication range.
Lieutenant Angela Trask at Communications watched Colonel Sheen walk back and forth. Every once in a while the colonel would sit down, only to get back up, walk back over to the plotting table, and gaze down impatiently at the fleet’s current location and the counter counting the time down until the next jump.
Angela already had the first message prepared to send back to Federation space. If the fleet continued on its present course, then the day after tomorrow they would be in extreme communications range. The message would be sent and then they would have to wait for nearly two more days before a reply could be heard. It would be a long two days.
Chapter Eleven
Colonel Sheen walked over to the communications console for the second time in less than twenty minutes. Amanda looked at Lieutenant Trask, but all Angela did was shake her head in the negative. Letting out a deep breath, Amanda walked back to her plotting table and stared moodily at one of the viewscreens on the front wall. It showed a sea of unending stars. They were in another star system and were waiting for a reply from Fleet Command on Tellus. The return message should have arrived hours ago.
They had transmitted an encrypted message on a special frequency to Fleet Command that no one else should be able to pick up. That was over three days ago. They had continued to jump and had arrived at this system where a response was to be transmitted to. But no message had come. For the first time in months, Amanda knew she was losing her composure. Closing her eyes, she took several deep breaths and then with determination opened them. It was her responsibility to maintain discipline on the StarStrike and the crew didn’t need to see her upset. She felt rattled by the lack of communication from Fleet Command. Especially since the admiral had voiced his concerns about the need to return home swiftly.
“Still no response?” asked Admiral Streth, getting up from his command console and walking over to gaze at the plotting table. He knew Amanda was growing worried at the lack of a response from Fleet Command. Hell; he was too!
“We should have heard something four hours ago,” replied Colonel Sheen, forcing a calm and disciplined look onto her face. “With the information we have Fleet Command should have sent a message immediately after receiving our first report. I was expecting them to send more ships to rendezvous with us to escort us home.”
Admiral Streth nodded his head in agreement. He had expected the same thing. “We will wait another eight hours. If we still haven’t received anything, we will resume our jumps.”
Colonel Sheen nodded her head in understanding. The admiral still felt there was something wrong. “Do you think the Hocklyns hit the Federation while we were gone?”
“I hope not,” Hedon responded with a worried shrug of his shoulders. “Perhaps Fleet Command is not responding for fear of the Hocklyns picking up the message and it possibly leading them back to us.”
“I hope that’s it,” Amanda replied, but her deep blue eyes said she feared the worse.
Hedon returned to his command console and sat back down. He looked down at the console, which showed the current status of his small fleet. The Victory, StarStrike, the four light cruisers, and the two destroyers were all waiting for word from Fleet Command. There were four Talon fighters out flying CAP around the fleet as a precaution.
“Anything on the long-range sensors?” asked Hedon, glancing over at Lieutenant Stalls who was still working on the sensor data from earlier scans.
“Nothing,” reported Stalls, shaking his head. He reached up and rubbed his eyes, then checked the sensor screens again. “This system has no planets and only a few small asteroids.”
Hedon nodded. Many of the systems they had been jumping into had been similar. They were picking these types of systems to lessen the possibility of running into Hocklyn picket ships that might be searching for them. Lieutenant Ashton over on the Victory had been plotting their course. So far, she had done a great job. They were nearly home and still no sign of the Hocklyns.
-
Captain Karl Arcles was in his Talon fighter flying CAP. Lieutenant Sanders was just off of his starboard wing and slightly below. Looking out the cockpit window, he glanced at the StarStrike and still felt awed by the size and power of the fleet flagship. From his current position, slightly to the aft of the ship and above, he could see the eight main upper hull turrets and the twin barrels of the deadly railguns they contained. Each railgun was capable of firing an armor piercing shell two meters in diameter.
“I don’t feel so lonely as long as I can see the StarStrike or the Victory,” Sanders spoke softly over the com. “The Victory almost feels like home.”
“She is our home,” Arcles replied solemnly.
Looking carefully around, he spotted the Avenger and wondered what his sister Teena was doing. He was halfway tempted to switch com channels and speak to her. Karl knew she should be on duty. But he resisted the urge, knowing it was against fleet regulations. After this patrol he had some downtime scheduled, and he would get in touch with her then. In some ways, it made life easier having his sister in the fleet. However, it also worried him when they went into combat. As a fleet pilot, he would do everything possible to protect the fleet and his younger sister.
“I can’t wait to get back home to New Providence,” Sanders continued over the com. “We should get some nice leave time after this mission. There are some great resorts up in the mountains. I think I’m going to try to get some skiing in.”
“I’ve heard about the resorts,” replied Arcles, knowing how Lieutenant Sanders felt. While the Victory did seem like home, it was still nice to go on vacation every once in a while. Skiing did sound interesting. He wondered if Lieutenant Sanders would mind if he tagged along.
The two continued on their patrol, flying in gentle circles around the fleet. Occasionally Karl would change the pattern and fly along one of the fleet ships for a few minutes. He wanted to remind them that the fleet pilots were out here protecting them.
-
“Sir, I’m picking up a signal from what appears to be an emergency beacon,” Lieutenant Trask spoke sharply, her face darkening in worry. “The beacon is in the Tellus system, and it’s transmitting an Omega signal.”
Hedon felt as if he had just been slapped across the face. His blood turned cold, and he gripped the edge of his command console with his hands. It was as if a giant hand had just reached in and squeezed his heart. This was the last thing he had expected. He took a deep breath and steadied himself before responding.
“What does it say?”
“It’s encrypted and addressed directly to you. The first section states that you have the encryption key in your personal safe.”
“Transfer the message to my personal computer in my office. I will decode it there.” Hedon suspected what the key was; the computer flash drives that Admiral Kinseth had given him several months back before he began this mission. Flash drives and information he had been told not to open unless an Omega signal was received.
“An Omega signal,” Colonel Sheen spoke, the color draining from her face. She knew from previous staff briefings that there were several different Omega situations. None of them were good. An Omega signal basically said that the worlds of the Federation were no longer under Federation control.
“Major Trist, come to the Command Center,” Admiral Streth ordered over his com system. Looking around, Hedon not
iced that everyone had shocked and frightened looks upon their faces. It was a look he had never seen on his crew before. “Everyone calm down and return to your duties,” he ordered. “I will see what the message says and brief the fleet shortly.”
Admiral Streth waited patiently until Major Trist arrived. He quickly explained about receiving the Omega message and that he had to go to his quarters to decode it. Once he was satisfied that Trist was ready to take over the Command Center, he turned and nodded at Colonel Sheen to follow him.
A short time later, they were in his quarters and Hedon was in the process of opening the safe. He had to steady his hands to get the combination right.
“During my last briefing with Admiral Kinseth he gave me a folder and some computer flash drives,” he explained to Amanda as the safe finally opened. Reaching inside he removed the folder and the drives, carrying them back to his desk and the waiting computer.
“He expected something like this?” asked Colonel Sheen. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest. What had happened to the Federation? Was Richard okay? What about her parents back on Aquaria?
“I doubt it,” Hedon replied as he opened up the file with the Omega message and inserted a flash drive, which said Omega Encryption Code on it. “But Admiral Kinseth has always been one not to take any chances. He would have prepared for the worst case scenario.”
They both sat down and waited nervously for the computer to finish the encryption. After about ten minutes, the computer beeped and the message started displaying on the computer screen. Admiral Streth slowly read the message, and his face turned pale. He felt as if the weight of the entire Federation had suddenly crashed down upon his shoulders.
“What is it?” Amanda asked with growing concern. She could tell by the admiral’s reaction that it was very bad news.
“The Hocklyns have attacked the Federation in overwhelming force,” Hedon forced himself to say. “They came in a massive fleet with two new unidentified warships.” He turned the computer screen around so Amanda could see the ships he was referring to.
The Slaver Wars: Alien Contact Page 25