New Empires: Conglomerate Series Book 3

by William Frisbee

  “How many ships could it hold?” Sonya asked.

  “Hundreds,” Harris said. “The volume is five hundred thousand kilometers. It is not too big on a stellar scale, but big enough to hold hundreds of large ships. The defenses are nothing to scoff at either. I think it might hold off a juggernaut if it had to. We haven’t been watching it for long, but considering how dark it is as far as communication traffic, I would say they are trying to keep their secrets.”

  “That tough?” Sonya asked. Another display came up highlighting weapons and defenses.

  “Those are just the ones we see,” Harris said.

  “We need to find out what is in there,” Sonya said. “That is where they sent the male survivors of Harris Town. I want to know why. I doubt every single male of Harris Town wants to go fight the Caliphate now.”

  “Captain, we are running low on resources,” Fry said. “We are doing fine with water and other biological requirements, but if we will deploy more drones, we need to build them and our metal resources are getting low.”

  Sonya nodded and leaned back.

  “Fine,” she said. “Let’s set a course back to the asteroid belt and find some small asteroid we can use. We will give the other drones time to get closer to their objectives.”

  “The drone might be close enough to Gaia tomorrow and should be sending data,” Harris said.

  “Good,” Sonya said with a smile. “It will be nice to get real gravity. I feel like we are tip toeing all the time.”

  “A baby farm?” Sonya asked staring at the displays.

  “That is a polite term Captain,” Harris said. “I think rape factory would be more appropriate.”

  Sonya scowled.

  A recon drone had tapped into an external network cable on a specialized and unencrypted subnet that passed through the hangar. The subnet was used by various security cameras and systems. By tapping into it the crew of the Cincinnatus had a front seat view of part of the Gaia facility which was buried in a subterranean ocean beneath the icy surface. Well protected from Jupiter’s intense radiation and close to water and other critical resources, Gaia could have been a safe haven. Getting the recon drone down the drop tunnel had been a small challenge, but the security didn’t seem as tight as on Thebe.

  On the screens were hundreds of pregnant women. If they weren’t walking around in a daze, they were weeping or sleeping. The facility itself was composed of several massive rotating bowls that provided earth standard gravity to the occupants. Sonya felt sick. There were plenty of robots to deal with the women and there were only a few men, doctors and other specialists.

  “They are punishing the women of Harris town who were attacked by religious fanatics by turning them into breeders?” Fry asked. “Sick bastards.”

  “We only have access to this one habitat,” Harris said. “There are at least eight more. Our drone doesn’t have the on-board resources to hack the network beyond this. The fact we found their surveillance system, and it has minimal encryption is just dumb blind luck.”

  “As soon as we are safe, send a data packet to the Gallant,” Sonya said, referring to one of the New Alamo battleships near the wormhole to Sol. “Give them everything we have. As soon as we get a response, I want to be notified. I don’t care what time it is.”

  “Aye Captain,” Harris said.

  Sitting back Sonya did a mental tally. She liked to think most of the Jupiter Alliance ships had been identified, but there could be a large number hiding in Thebes. Most seemed clustered around Europa and Ganymede but the frigates were standard patrol craft while the larger ships clustered in fleets. There was also a large assortment of inner system shuttles traveling among the colonies. The ships in Thebe was a big question mark and there were plenty of places around the Jupiter system that ships, or entire fleets, could be hidden.

  A much wider array of Jupe ships were busy mining the nearby asteroids and moons. A holographic map of the Jupiter might make it seem heavily populated the distances were still vast. The entire population of the Jupiter system was unlikely to be above five hundred million, a small fraction of the billions teeming on Earth. The Cincinnatus had discovered a hundred and sixty different colonies, but more could hide in the subterranean oceans of Ganymede or Europa.

  “Are we going to do anything about Gaia, Captain?” Fry asked.

  Sonya looked at the young lieutenant who had never known Earth, or the Solar system where humans originated. What was Fry thinking? Sonya felt ashamed that Sol had devolved so badly.

  “Yes,” Sonya said. “I don’t know what, but I can’t see anyone in New Alamo accepting that. We might have the advantage technologically, but we are still outnumbered two hundred and fifty to one, if we include Athena’s population, and no telling how many tens of thousands to one if the Caliphate throws their might at us.”

  Fry nodded, his blue eyes flickering among the different view screens and Sonya wondered if his clenched fists were hurting yet.

  “How can they do that to their own people?” Fry asked.

  “You need to read more history,” Sonya said taking her eyes off Fry and cycling through the view screens. “All throughout history, some of the worst dictators and murderers have claimed they were doing it for the good of their people and they were supported by their followers who believed them. Technology makes it so much easier for a smaller group to control a larger group.”

  Fry remained silent.

  “What was it like when you were here Captain?” Fry asked.

  Sonya frowned.

  “Less united,” she said. “More chaotic, but back then everyone knew the enemy. The Caliphate was always sending in suicide ships to ram colonies. We have yet to see a single attack or evidence of one, besides Harris Town, which makes me wonder if there is some unofficial truce with the Caliphate or if the defenses have improved that much. If the defenses are that much better than it is a surprise we have snuck in or seen evidence of them.”

  “Could the people in charge have orchestrated the attack on Harris Town?” Fry asked.

  “That is absurd,” Sonya said. “Why would they bother? What could the Jupiter Alliance hope to gain and why would they have responded so quickly with aid and assistance?”

  “I don’t know Captain,” Fry said. “It is pretty cold hearted.”

  Sonya nodded. “But that probably answers my question. The Caliphate has just switched tactics, which also means there might be some unofficial back channels to the Caliphate.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Discovered

  “Captain,” Ensign Walberg said. “I’m getting an odd sensor return on an outbound object.”

  Captain Eismann looked at the young ensign and did his best to hold his emotions in check. Ensigns were always imaging things, or seeing things that weren’t there.

  “What do you have?” Eismann asked, proud of the way he sounded interested.

  “Gravimetric picked up a blip, Captain,” Walberg said and Eismann tried to avoid rolling his eyes.

  “Scan for nearby asteroids Ensign,” the Captain said. “There is bound to be one.”

  “I did that sir, twice,” Walberg said.

  “Well do it again,” the Captain said letting some of his frustration into his voice. An object outbound from the Jupiter system could be anything. It was only inbound objects that worried the Captain of the patrol frigate.

  “I’m not seeing anything else,” Ensign Walberg said minutes later. “I have everything possible within a light second cataloged.”

  Captain Eismann tapped keys on his console and brought up what Walberg was looking at. There was a dip in the gravimetric plane showing a small object, but that dip didn’t correspond to anything detected by other sensors. Nothing on any other wave length. It was like a ghost on the sensor.

  The Captain authorized a fail over to the backup gravimetric sensor, and the dip was still there.

  “Sound battle stations,” Captain Eismann said, and the Ensign stabbed the alert button. �
��Prepare to engage active sensors and focus them on that dip. On my command.”

  “Aye sir,” Walberg said.

  Several crew members ran into the bridge/CIC, grabbing their chairs and reporting readiness.

  “Target is two hundred thousand kilometers and closing,” Walberg reported. Two thirds of a light second away.

  “Prepare missile tubes one and two,” Eismann said. “Ship to ship missiles.”

  “Preparing missile tubes one and two, ship to ship missiles aye,” the weapons officer replied.

  A second later. “Missiles ready, awaiting target lock. Mass drivers online.”

  “Go to active sensors now!” Eismann said and Walberg stabbed the control, sending out a pulse of energy at the gravimetric blip.

  “Unknown battle cruiser detected!” Lieutenant Collins yelled.

  “Launch missiles,” Eismann said, her training taking over as she stared at the screen in surprise. “Flank speed, get us out of here.”

  “Missiles launched aye,” the weapons officer said.

  “Changing course, flank speed aye,” another officer reported.

  The battle stations alarm didn’t last more than half a second since Harris was already hovering over the cancel icon. Everyone had been at battle stations since the Jupiter Alliance frigate had altered course. The change of course hadn’t been unexpected, patrol vessels did that frequently to remain unpredictable, but the fact the frigate had been close enough to detect them had been enough for Sonya to order battle stations.

  “She popped two missiles and is running,” Harris reported.

  Sonya chuckled. Two frigate missiles didn’t concern her.

  “Launch two missiles,” Sonya said. “Drop stealth, increase speed.”

  Automated anti-missile batteries fired several minutes later, before the missiles came within range.

  “Incoming missiles destroyed,” Harris reported several seconds later. “Our missiles will impact in thirty seconds.”

  Sonya stared at the plot, watching the doomed frigate. The missiles from the Cincinnatus would deploy warheads before they came within range of the frigate's point defense weapons.

  “Warhead separation,” Harris reported. “Now entering the frigate’s point defense range.”

  A second later the icon for the frigate turned orange and then became a holographic ghost. The frigate was dead. No possible survivors.

  “They will be more cautious,” Sonya said. “Now they know what we can do.”

  “I think those frigate captains will also be more paranoid than ever too, Captain,” Harris said. “Nothing will scare them more than realizing that if they find us, they will die.”

  Sonya nodded.

  “Maintain course for six light minutes, then drop gravity, initiate stealth and change to a random course,” Sonya said.

  “Aye Captain,” Harris said.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Enemy Scout

  “A battleship?” James asked.

  “Yes,” Lee said. “Heavier, faster and much more lethal than one of our battleships. That size vessel fills the battle cruiser role in Conglomerate fleets. Based on what we’ve seen it could go head to head with two of our battleships. According to the logs, the frigate thought it was a sensor glitch at first.”

  “Did the frigate at least damage it?” James asked.

  “The frigate was destroyed without harming it,” Lee said.

  James glared at the image of Jupiter floating serenely across his window while Lee watched the Secretary General.

  “What was it doing?” James asked after a long uncomfortable silence.

  “As near as we can tell it was conducting a reconnaissance,” Lee said.

  “A battleship was doing a reconnaissance? Why was it leaving?” James asked.

  “I would assume because its mission was complete,” Lee said.

  “Do we know anything about their order of battle?” James asked. “How many ships, how many troops?”

  “All we know is that two battleships slipped into the Sol system after our fleets were destroyed. The Namo’s have a different designation than us. Their battle cruisers are the equivalent of our battleships. Two Namo dreadnoughts, bigger than anything we have, came through afterward and are guarding the wormhole,” Lee said. “The Security Council is recommending we avoid them given their recent demonstration of military superiority.”

  “No shit,” James said. “Two fleets, without survivors. Vanished, without a trace. Until we know more fighting them is out of the question. Do we have any other way to conquer them?”

  Lee shrugged, “there is always conquering them through immigration. Maybe not as fast, but we can exploit their kindness if we can. Combined, Athena and New Alamo don’t have a population greater than two million. We have over five hundred million people.”

  “Immigration?” James asked. “It will let us slip in spies, agents and saboteurs. Good idea.”

  “It will take time,” Lee said.

  James nodded, “I think we have time. The Caliphate got their ass handed to them, so we don’t have to worry about those religious morons for at least seven years, then maybe another show of force, chest thumping and they are back to being quiet for seven years.”

  Lee nodded.

  “I’m thinking more like a decade for full control, maybe longer,” Lee said. “We will have to find good immigrants that will remain loyal, prep our agents and fabricate reasons for them to immigrate.”

  “Fine,” James said.

  “We might get things started in the short term,” Lee said. “We can encourage dissidents and other undesirables to migrate, start a trend and slip in our agents. Might speed up the intelligence gathering, but that kind of intelligence gathering can work both ways, especially if we use it to get rid of undesirables who know a lot about us.”

  “Whatever,” James said. “Make it happen. I want to find out what we are dealing with sooner, rather than later. If they can slip battleships into our space without getting caught I don’t know what kind of information, we can keep from them if they really want it. They have Athena. They probably know more about us than any of our undesirables can tell them.”

  “We can also use some of our pet corporations make contact and begin trading with them,” Lee said. “That would be another way to get more information and technology.”

  “I like it,” James said.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  The Vress

  A holograph of a Vress officer rotated slowly on the holographic display. Half the size of the subject sitting in a cell, it was one of the ugliest creatures Luke could remember looking at. Reports seemed so sanitary and clean compared to the real thing. He recognized the creature, but this monster didn’t do the Bronkaw reports any justice and the footage from Gray’s rescue of the Bronkaw battleships only showed them dead or dying.

  “They prefer their food alive,” Pavlis was saying as everyone looked at the creature. “As you know they are predatory and parasitic. This one is the senior remaining officer. Her name is Krasval, and they speak in the human auditory range. That is a good approximation of the way they say it. Apparently, they don’t get a real name until they have a position of authority. The ‘Kras’ part indicates a senior leader. Their fleet Grand Marshal was named Krasnal.”

  “She is now dead,” Shum said, earning a curious look from Pavlis.

  Luke shook his head at Shum.

  “Tell us more about this Krasval,” Luke said turning back to Pavlis.

  Pavlis pursed his lips as he turned back to look at the creature.

  “Krasval was the captain of the battleship,” Pavlis said. “She belongs to a specific lineage, we are still getting details, and females of that lineage end up in positions of authority.”

  “Was she able to tell us anything about their home world, their military forces, their plans?” Luke asked.

  “She doesn’t appear to know much,” Pavlis said. “Or she pretends not to know much. Since you have r
uled out torture, my options are limited.”

  Luke shrugged.

  “She said the Vress home world is not far away and that they have a reserve fleet,” Pavlis said. “The Vress are intent on conquering a large portion of the Conglomerate and claims she is a vassal of the Battle Singers. While the reserve fleet may be ready, Krasval wasn’t clear, she said the reserve fleet was not supposed to enter battle for some years.”

  “What does she know of the Battle Singers?” Shum asked.

  “She doesn’t know much,” Pavlis said. “Or she doesn’t admit to it. She says the Vress were uplifted by the Battle Singers a few hundred cycles ago, years I’m guessing. The Battle Singers elevated them in intelligence, gave them technology and gave them a focus in life.”

  “But she knows nothing about them?” Luke asked.

  Pavlis shook his head.

  “She doesn’t seem to care too much about them,” Pavlis said. “The best comparison for us is that she sees them as a god like figure. The Vress appear to be a very emotional species but not very inquisitive. Krasval believes they are facing a battle of epic proportions. The Battle Singers have promised them ultimate victory but the Vress have also been promised numerous failures and lost battles. They believe if they die in battle, hating their enemy, the Battle Singers will take their souls to a higher level of intelligence beyond the physical realm.”

  “They are slave soldiers,” Luke said.

  “One way to put it,” Pavlis said. “But she mentioned a couple other things that concern me.”

  Luke looked at Pavlis and raised an eyebrow.

  “Well,” Pavlis said glad to have Luke’s attention. “She said there are other races on the edges of the Conglomerate that will now be invading. She said the Battle Singers have been planning this for many great cycles.”

  “And?” Luke said.

  “She mentioned a Tonkan directorate, a Broma Sept, the Nava Empire and the Caliphate,” Pavlis said.