“There are some areas in the countryside, particularly around the more mountainous regions, where the radiation is much lower,” Rathers continued as he studied the data coming in. “People could have actually survived in those locations.”
“That’s why the troop transports are here,” muttered Arcles, wishing the scout was armed with nukes. It would be so easy to slip in behind those troop transports and nuke them. He doubted if their shields were even up since all fleet resistance had supposedly been eliminated and they were safe here inside Aquaria’s gravity well.
The viewscreen changed again and showed the city of Nervana. It was the largest city on the planet and served as the planetary capital. A pall of dark smoke hovered above the city, and numerous fires were still burning. From the devastation in certain areas of the city, it was obvious that several nuclear weapons had been used. It didn’t look as if a single skyscraper was still standing.
“How can they be so heartless as to kill so many helpless people?” groaned Sanders, feeling rising anger toward the Hocklyns. They act as if they don’t care!”
“They may not,” answered Arcles, glancing over at the lieutenant. “This is part of their culture, something they have been doing for possibly thousands of years.”
“Someday, someone will stop this,” Sanders spoke, her eyes glinting in barely suppressed anger.
“That might not be for quite some time,” Arcles commented. He wondered how you stopped an empire that spanned thousands of light years of space. The Hocklyn Empire might already have grown too large to be stopped by anyone.
“All scans are complete,” Rathers spoke softly. “There can’t be many survivors left down there on the planet.”
“Over 1.2 billion people,” Sanders mumbled, not allowing herself to cry. She couldn’t bear to think of the horror that had occurred on the planet below. Lacy knew she shouldn’t have volunteered to come on this mission. What she was seeing would haunt her memories for a terribly long time.
“I think it’s time to go back and report,” Arcles said as he turned the scout around and began accelerating away from the dying world. He strongly suspected that, in another week or two, nothing would be left alive on Aquaria.
-
Down on Aquaria on Krall Island, Anson Sheen sat with his wife on the large couch down in the basement. Avery Brennen and his wife were also with them, as well as Avery’s son Donsle and his young wife. They had been hiding in the basement for over two weeks and only occasionally venturing upstairs to look around. They had come downstairs as soon as the vid channels had reported two unidentified ships had jumped into orbit and were engaging the defending Federation fleet.
“What are we going to do?” asked Anson’s wife, squeezing his hand a little tighter.
“I think we’re safe down here,” Anson replied in a quiet voice. “We have enough food and water for months, as well as the emergency generator if we need it. We just need to stay quiet and not go upstairs very often. If we’re lucky, they might overlook us.”
He glanced over at the stairs that led upwards out of the basement. One of the two heavy assault rifles was lying on a gun rack over to one side. The rifle was fully loaded and two extra clips were next to it on a shelf. The gun cabinet was unlocked, and the other assault rifle was inside and loaded. Avery didn’t feel comfortable with guns, and Anson had spent some time explaining and showing him how the rifle worked. Anson just hoped they wouldn’t need them.
Several times in the last two weeks, they had heard some type of aircraft flying overhead. There had also been some weapons fire in the general direction of the town a few days earlier. For the last forty-eight hours, it had been quiet; almost frighteningly so.
“I managed to get a report on the emergency channel last night,” commented Avery, standing up and walking over to the small emergency receiver, which was always on. “I think it was a small marine unit. They reported that the radiation is dying down and for anyone receiving their message to remain hidden. Supposedly Hocklyn troops are searching the countryside for survivors.”
“If we can stay hidden long enough they may leave,” responded Anson, giving his wife’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “If they think there are no more survivors or not enough to worry about, then they may pull their troops off the planet.”
“The fleet’s destroyed, isn’t it?” Donsle’s wife asked worriedly. Her younger brother was in the fleet. He was assigned to a light cruiser in the Tellus system, and she greatly feared that he had been killed.
“Most of it,” replied Anson’s wife, raising her head and looking over at the young woman. Then she got a strange look on her face as if she was listening to someone far away. Then she looked over at Anson and said. “But Amanda’s still fine. I can feel it.”
Anson nodded his head in agreement. A mother would know if her daughter was still okay. Looking up, he knew that somewhere up in space the StarStrike had survived. He just prayed that it would continue to do so.
Chapter Twelve
The StarStrike was docked to the shipyard at one of the external docking ports in case they needed to leave quickly. As soon as Admiral Streth and Colonel Sheen made it through the airlock, they found Major Andrews and half a dozen heavily armed marines waiting for them. Upon seeing Richard, Amanda hurled herself into his arms and started sobbing uncontrollably. Admiral Streth said nothing. He had known about the two for a while, and he couldn’t blame her for this emotional outburst.
“Richard, I didn’t think I would see you again,” Amanda sobbed as she tried to catch her breath. “When we heard the Omega signal, I thought you had been killed.”
“Omega signal?” Richard asked with a surprised look upon his face, glancing over at Admiral Streth. “Are you talking about that signal originating in the Tellus System? It started a few days ago, and we couldn’t decode it.”
He was surprised and extremely pleased at Amanda’s response to seeing him. He had prayed that the part of First Fleet that had left to venture deep into Hocklyn space had survived. For days now, he had given up hope of ever seeing Amanda again. Each day he had expected it to be his last. He knew that the Hocklyns could destroy the station anytime they wanted, even though the laser turrets the station was equipped with would take a heavy toll on any attackers. He held Amanda tightly, still finding it hard to believe that both she and Admiral Streth were here.
“It was for us,” explained Admiral Streth, referring to the signal. “We sent a signal to Fleet Command, and I suspect it activated this Omega signal. The message was in a special code that only I had the decryption key for. It basically said the Federation had been destroyed and we were to return, gather all the survivors we could find, and then leave for parts unknown.”
Richard was silent for a moment. He released Amanda, and she stepped back trying to regain her composure. “What are your plans, Admiral?”
“Let’s go to the Command Center and you can brief me on the current situation on New Providence as well as the condition of the shipyard. I also want to know how you managed to survive. Why didn’t the Hocklyns destroy the shipyard in the original attack? ”
“That’s a long story, sir,” replied Richard, nodding his head. “Let’s go to the Command Center and I will explain everything.”
Amanda worked drying her eyes and wiping the tears from her face. It had been a shock to find Richard still alive. She had given up hope after they had received the Omega signal. She walked holding Richard’s hand, not caring who saw them. For some reason, she had the feeling that the admiral approved.
It took them a few minutes of walking through corridors and taking an elevator to reach the Command Center. One thing that Admiral Streth and Colonel Sheen noticed were the large number of armed marines everywhere they went. They didn’t recall this many marines being on the shipyard the last time they were here.
“The Hocklyns keep trying to land troops,” Richard explained as they passed a barricade in a main corridor where marines had set up some heavy
weapons.
Once in the Command Center, they stopped in front a large bank of viewscreens, which showed the planet below. City after city was displayed in ruins. Fires were prevalent, and smoke was bellowing into the air. In a few areas, fighting was obviously still occurring between isolated marine units and Hocklyn protectors. One of the screens showed a battle with massive explosions occurring over a forested area. It was hard to tell who was winning.
“What’s the condition down on the planet?” asked Hedon, gazing at the battle on the screen. He was wondering how many of the bunkers had survived and how many marines were still fighting.
“All ten bunkers are still intact. As a matter of fact, General Allister has just ordered a general airstrike on the Hocklyn ground units since you have taken out their ships in low orbit. Those ships have been keeping the general’s air wings out of the battle. The Talons and Anlon bombers should be launching shortly.”
“What about other survivors?” asked Amanda, looking around the Command Center.
She noticed that many of the fleet personnel had a haggard look about them. Most of them looked as if they hadn’t slept in days. Another thing she noticed was the sudden look of hope in their eyes upon seeing Admiral Streth.
“Both the two main cave facilities are intact and sealed up,” Richard reported as an aide came up and handed him a report, which he quickly glanced at. “General Allister is in the process of moving as many survivors and military personnel as he can into the bunkers and several other deep cave facilities that have been prepared. He’s sending out everything and everyone he can to bring in more supplies and people while he has this opportunity.”
“How many survivors are we talking about?” asked Hedon, gazing at the viewscreens, which showed the destruction that had occurred on New Providence. All the colony worlds must look like this. He felt ill gazing at what the Hocklyns and the AIs had done to New Providence.
“In the secure facilities, about 200,000,” Richard responded, recalling the numbers. “General Allister thinks he can put another 100,000 or so in some of the other cave facilities. The only problem is they’re not as well equipped or supplied as the others and may eventually be found by the Hocklyns.”
“Will they be protected by marine units?” Amanda asked. She knew life for the survivors outside the main bunkers was going to be difficult perhaps impossible.
“Yes,” Richard replied as he changed one of the viewscreens to show a close up of a mountainous area with a single winding road leading to it. “This is the entrance to Darvos Caverns, one of the largest cave systems on the planet. General Allister is rushing marines and supplies even as we speak to the deeper caverns. If we have the time, we could put over 300,000 people in the lower caverns. There is plenty of fresh water inside, and the cave already has its own hydroelectric power supply.”
“I hope he has the time,” Admiral Streth responded.
He knew that living condition in the caves would be extremely difficult and hard for the civilians to adjust to. However, if it meant more people would survive, then it had to be done. People had a way of adjusting to harsh or difficult conditions if it meant their only chance of survival.
“Other survivors are being scattered throughout other mountainous areas with smaller cave systems in the hope that they can survive. General Allister wants to go silent and wait to see if the Hocklyns leave. He’s going to pull all the marine units back. The additional marines should be able to provide some aid to the other survivors, and perhaps offer better protection and living conditions. They will do everything possible to avoid any further contact with Hocklyn protectors after today.”
“That may be his only choice,” Hedon conceded with a heavy sigh of resignation. “Make the Hocklyns think the fighting here is done. What happened to Admiral Flaxen?”
Richard was quiet for a moment before replying. “He was killed in the first attack. He was on an inspection tour of the battle cruiser Independence when those two large Hocklyn ships jumped in. The Independence was the first ship to be destroyed. They jumped in almost on top of the battle cruiser. It never had a chance.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Hedon said with a sad look in his eyes. He had been friends with Admiral Flaxen for years.
“Where did the Hocklyns get ships like those?” asked Richard, looking over at Admiral Streth. “I didn’t think it was possible to jump that far inside a planet’s gravity well. Our weapons couldn’t penetrate their shields and their energy weapons cut through ours as if they were not even there.”
“Those are not Hocklyn ships,” Hedon replied, his eyes narrowing. He then went on to explain to Richard what an AI ship was.
Richard was silent as he digested this new information. “The Hocklyns have support ships that come by on a regular basis. I would guess you have only twelve to sixteen hours before the next group drops in. You need to be gone from here by then. General Allister plans on having his attack on the Hocklyn protectors wrapped up in about six hours and then he will be sealing up all the bunkers.”
“How did the shipyard manage to survive?” Hedon asked. He couldn’t understand why the Hocklyns hadn’t destroyed it.
“I think they wanted to capture it intact,” Richard replied. “Fortunately, the laser batteries we installed above the construction bays were powerful enough to keep their ships at a distance. Evidently, the AIs didn’t realize we had the laser batteries or they probably would have taken them out before they left. The Hocklyns tried on three different occasions to land shuttles, but we managed to shoot them down before they got too close. For the last few days, those two support ships have been sitting just outside of our weapon’s range, watching us.”
“We need to evacuate the shipyard,” said Hedon, wondering how many people were still on board. “Eventually the Hocklyns will succeed in either taking it over or destroying it.”
“I think we can help with that,” Richard spoke with a smile. He touched a button on one of the consoles and it switched to show one of the repair bays.
Hedon’s eyes grew wide when he saw what was inside. “That’s a battle carrier!”
“Yes,” Richard responded with a grin, “It’s the Harrington. She was inside for some minor repairs when the Hocklyns attacked. We couldn’t get her out as we were under heavy fire. There are also two more light cruisers in two of the other bays that suffered heavy damage and were brought inside for their own safety. We have almost finished their repairs, and they can leave the docks at any time.”
“What about your air wings?” Amanda asked. Having three more warships in the fleet would be a tremendous boost to morale. Especially another carrier.
“That’s a problem,” admitted Richard shaking his head grimly. “The air wings are non-existent. We sent them out to help defend the fleet in the attack, and they were destroyed. We have only four Talons left and no bombers.”
“How many people do you have on board?” asked Hedon, wondering where they could put everyone. These were fleet personnel, and he would be damned if he would leave any behind.
“Admiral Flaxen had four large passenger liners put inside two of the other bays just in case we needed to evacuate,” Richard replied. “There are also two fleet supply ships in bays seven and eight. We have slightly less than 6,000 fleet personnel on board, not counting the ship crews. It will be a little crowded, but we can get them on the four passenger ships. The warships, liners, and supply ships are all fueled and supplied.”
Admiral Streth thought for a minute. He would like to stay longer and top off his own fleet’s fuel, ammunition, and supplies, but he dare not let the Hocklyns catch the StarStrike’s fleet inside New Providence’s gravity well.
“Order your people to get on the liners. Have the Harrington, the two light cruisers, and the supply ships move out of the docks immediately. We’re leaving in two hours.”
“Where to?” asked Amanda, turning to face the admiral. She was still anxiously waiting for the scout ships to return so she could le
arn what had happened to Aquaria. Richard had survived; perhaps her parents had also.
“We’re going to one of the fleet supply depots,” Hedon responded. “They’re both in open space, and I doubt the Hocklyns have found them. We can refuel, supply, and rearm the fleet. There should also be some Talon fighters in storage. Perhaps we can give the Harrington back an operational air wing or two, if we can find the pilots.”
“Pilots won’t be a problem,” Richard spoke, his eyes lighting up at the thought of getting the Harrington fully operational. “I have nearly two hundred here on the station. We were in the process of increasing the shipyard’s air wings, and they were just finishing their training when we were attacked. Unfortunately, we hadn’t received any new Talons yet.”
“What about after the depot?” asked Amanda, wondering where they could go. “Are we going to search for more survivors? I don’t see what we can do without additional ships to put them in.”
“I have instructions to return to the Tellus system and transmit a signal to a secret communications satellite,” Hedon replied with a frown. “I don’t know why, but Admiral Kinseth was quite adamant that I do this if the Hocklyns won.”
“I wonder what that’s about?” spoke Amanda, shaking her head in confusion. “The Hocklyns probably control the entire system. It might not be safe to even attempt to send that message.”
“Perhaps,” responded Hedon knowing she was right. “But there is a reason he asked me to do this and I intend to obey that order. Major, let’s get your people on board those ships. I also want to speak to General Allister if it’s possible.”
Richard nodded and moved over to the shipyard’s com station to begin passing the orders to evacuate. They could figure all of this out later when they were safely away from New Providence. He would also try to get in touch with General Allister in the command bunker. Richard knew the general was busy conducting attack and rescue missions all over New Providence. But he also knew the general would want to talk to Admiral Streth.
The Slaver Wars: Alien Contact Page 27