The Lost Fleet Box Set, page 28
part #1 of The Lost Fleet Series
The exploration cruiser returned and reported to the Simulin Grand Council its amazing discovery of a system rich in resources and a world much more suitable for life. The Grand Council didn’t take long to reach a decision. Life on Simulon was hard and growing more difficult with every generation. If something wasn’t done soon, their race would die out, as their planet would no longer be able to sustain life.
Four years after the discovery of the new star system, a Simulin battle fleet appeared in orbit over the inhabited planet. Nuclear missiles rained down upon the surface, detonating high enough above the cities to limit the spread of radiation. Then the first Conqueror Class drones were unleashed. Thousands were dropped on the surface with instructions to eliminate the planet’s inhabitants.
Ever since that time the Simulin race continued to expand, destroying every intelligent species they encountered. The Simulin population was growing rapidly, and no competition for the available resources could be tolerated.
-
In the Simulin flagship, the second in command turned to the ship’s commander. “Ships are in position, and targets are locked.”
The commander felt no remorse for what he was about to do. Emotions such as that had long since vanished from the Simulin race. “Fire missiles!” he ordered.
The ship shuddered imperceptively, as forty missiles left the missile tubes and entered the planet’s atmosphere. Each missile targeted one Kall city. At an altitude of three thousand meters, the first ten-megaton missile detonated, obliterating the floating city beneath it.
On the ship’s viewscreens, hundreds of brilliant fireballs appeared across the blue-white globe, as more detonations announced the death of the Kall civilization.
-
For several hours the Simulin fleet orbited the planet, ensuring all vestiges of the planet’s civilization had been eliminated. At the end of that time, four large Simulin transports exited hyperspace and took up low orbit above the planet.
“Instruct the cargo ships to deliver the Conqueror drones,” ordered the flagship’s commander.
Ten thousand of the deadly crablike drones would be dropped on the planet. Due to their amphibious construction, they could function just as easily in the water as upon the land. It would take a few years or possibly a few decades, but any Kall survivors would be hunted down and eliminated. Sometime in the far future, Simulin colony ships would come to this world, and it would become another Simulin-inhabited system.
From each of the four cargo ships, small pods fell toward the besieged planet. In each pod resided eight of the deadly Conqueror drones, programmed to be killing machines with no concept of mercy.
The Simulin commander watched impassively as the first pods fired their engines and set down on the landmasses and in the water. Upon contact the pods split apart, freeing their deadly cargo. The automatons would immediately begin searching for potential targets.
Satisfied this future threat had been eliminated, the commander turned toward his second in command. “The fleet will return to its patrol station for further instructions.”
“Shall we destroy the space stations?”
“Leave them,” the commander replied. “Without supplies their crews will soon perish. Our mission here is finished. This world will never be a threat to the Simulin race.”
“What about those strange ships that came from the AI galaxy?” asked the ship’s second in command. “What has become of them?”
“They’ve vanished,” replied the ship’s commander. “Our fleets are still searching. When they’re found, they will be eliminated.”
“Could they have returned to the AI galaxy?”
“It’s possible,” replied the Simulin commander. “That’s why the invasion is being sped up.”
“The AIs were supposed to eliminate the organic races in that galaxy.”
The commander nodded his head, as his gaze turned toward the ship’s viewscreens. “Their programming failed, and they’ve somehow joined with that galaxy’s organics.”
“Our invasion fleet will soon correct that unfortunate situation,” the second officer predicted. “Our race will someday need their living space, and those organics must be exterminated.”
-
Very little talking was heard in the Command Center of the Simulin flagship. The Simulins were a pragmatic and ruthless race. They’d long since decided they would tolerate no competition for resources. For thousands of years, they had spread across ten galaxies, colonizing tens of thousands of worlds. Already they had agents working in twenty more, preparing to add them someday to the Simulin Empire.
A spatial vortex formed in front of the flagship, and it jumped into hyperspace. Across the Triangulum Galaxy, hundreds of such fleets responded whenever a probe reported the presence of intelligent life. If all went according to plan, in a few hundred years, the only intelligent life in the Triangulum Galaxy would be Simulin, as all others would have been wiped out.
-
Admiral Jeremy Strong stood in front of the massive viewscreen of the Command Center within the 2,600-meter-long exploration dreadnought named the Distant Horizon. It was the largest ship ever built by the Federation or the Altons. Four months had passed since its battle with the Simulins, which had seen the dreadnought make it safely to the nebula and the hidden world where the lost fleets had made their home.
The original lost fleets encompassed Federation, Bear, and AI warships and crewmembers, plus Alton exploration ships and scientists, all under Jeremy’s ultimate command. The Federation’s Fourth Fleet had Rear Admiral Susan Marks as Jeremy’s second in command. The Bear contingent was within Grayseth’s fleet. The Command AI headed up his AI ships and crew with Admiral Cleeteus in charge of the Alton fleet. Now Rear Admiral Barnes’s exploration dreadnaught Distant Horizon was added to the “lost fleets” moniker.
It had been a busy four months, as the newest lost ship had brought messages from home for members of the original lost fleets, as well as additional technology, which might be of use. Some startling revelations came too, particularly where the Simulins and the AIs were concerned.
“I still can’t get over how this screen makes everything seem so real.” Jeremy stepped forward and touched the screen, as if to assure himself something was between him and the view of space. They were deep inside the heart of the ship, but the screen made it seem as if the deadly vacuum of space was only a footstep away.
“We enjoy this screen,” Andram Muce, the tall white-haired Alton, said with a smile. “This screen serves us well in our explorations.”
“I can see why,” replied Jeremy. He could easily imagine how useful such a screen would be in scientific studies. It made the viewscreens in the Avenger seem quite primitive by comparison.
Kelsey sat at the Navigational console and looked at Jeremy with a big smile. “You need to see what it looks like when we’re in hyperspace.” Over the last four months, Kelsey and Jeremy had spent most of their time together. After four years apart, it was a fantastic feeling to finally be together once again.
“I can only imagine,” Jeremy responded.
It had been a huge morale boost when the Distant Horizon had overcome the Simulins and finally appeared in orbit around Gaia, where the lost fleets were hiding. For Jeremy, the ship carried his wife—who he had never expected to see again. For others, it had brought messages from friends and family.
After a lot of discussion, Jeremy had agreed to allow both Katie and Kelsey to remain aboard the Distant Horizon in their current positions. Not only was the exploration dreadnought the most powerful ship in the Federation’s fleet, and now counted among the lost fleets, but it also had Clarissa on board as well. The Humanlike AI had been instrumental in bringing the ship safely to Gaia.
Reaching forward, Kelsey adjusted the screen, and a close-up appeared of the Clan Protector. “I don’t think Daelthon’s mobile shipyard will ever leave Gaia.”
The Bears’ shipyard had been greatly expanded and was now nearly three times its former size. Jeremy knew Kelsey had been excited to renew her friendship with her Bear friends, Malith and Karalle, who were on board the shipyard.
Jeremy let out a deep sigh and nodded his head in agreement. “Ariel says it would be possible, if we added additional hyperdrive systems. However, it would take one hell of a coordination job to transport the Clan Protector now. Grayseth wants to do it, but I’m not sure it’s worth the effort and materials.”
“Ariel or I could oversee that,” proclaimed the cute blonde, standing a few feet away. Her deep blue eyes gazed confidently at Jeremy. “Ariel and I have discussed the current configuration of the mobile shipyard, and we would add three additional hyperdrive systems, as well as a better integrated computer network. Mikow Lall claims she can design a system which could take the Clan Protector safely into hyperspace.”
“I don’t know if it will ever be needed,” replied Jeremy, nodding toward the AI. “Gaia is our new home, and it’s heavily defended. If the Simulins find us here, we’ll drive them out of the system.”
In the previous week, they’d completed construction of the last of the Alton particle beam satellites. Gaia was now protected by 1,500 of the powerful satellites. Also thirty-two Type Two battlestations were presently in orbit, with plans for forty total. Once the last eight were completed, Jeremy was confident they could hold the planet against the Simulins, if they ever did discover where the Federation fleets were hiding.
“I believe Andram wants to discuss with you the Alton probes stored in one of our flight bays,” commented Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes, as she walked over to join Jeremy. Kathryn’s father was the current governor of Ceres and had been influential in getting the Distant Horizon built, as well as arranging for her to command the exploration dreadnought on this mission to find the lost fleets.
“The probes,” Jeremy said, his eyes narrowing. He had been stunned to hear the Altons on the Distant Horizon casually mention they had two probes which they might be able to send back home.
Andram nodded and explained. “Shilum, Mikow, and I have been working on the probes. Ariel and Clarissa have helped, and we believe one probe could be ready in just a few months.”
Jeremy let out a deep breath. It would mean so much to his crewmembers if they could get messages back to their families. Jeremy would also like to send a detailed report to Fleet Command about what the lost fleets had discovered about the Simulins. Kelsey had informed him Nagumo was the new fleet admiral, as Fleet Admiral Streth had retired, and Fleet Admiral Johnson had been killed in the battle at the galactic center.
“What would you need?”
“Six of the small vortex ring generators and four Fusion Five reactors to power them.”
“Can we do it?” Jeremy asked Clarissa. Over the years, he’d come to trust the judgment of the two AIs. They’d saved his life more than once.
“Yes,” Clarissa answered after a moment. “It will be necessary to construct the Fusion Five reactors, but we have the detailed specifications. And, with the capabilities of the mobile shipyard plus the fleet repair ships, we should be able to get them built. We also have the designs for the AIs’ capacitor stations, and we’ll build a scaled-down version of them to house the reactors.”
“Can we send the probe from inside this nebula?” Jeremy was hesitant about leaving the nebula, since it would expose them to possible detection by the Simulins.
Andram shook his head. “We can’t generate enough power. The heavy layers of gas in this nebula would prevent the spatial vortex from reaching our galaxy. It would destabilize it too much. We need to be in open space, preferably close to a large star or even a black hole, which we can use as an anchor for the vortex generators. It would drastically reduce the amount of energy we need. However, if we had a large enough gravity anchor, we could generate a vortex that would work through the nebula. But Gaia’s star is too small.”
“A black hole,” said Jeremy, recalling what had happened the last time he’d been close to one.
The battle at Sagittarius A, the massive black hole at the center of his home galaxy, had been brutal and extremely costly. It ended when he’d used the Avenger to destroy the AIs’ Hypertranslation Station, which had opened up an uncontrolled spatial vortex and then transported the Avenger and the other nearby fleets to the Triangulum Galaxy. It also won the battle for the Human Federation of Worlds and its allies.
“There is a large one at this galaxy’s center as well,” Andram informed Jeremy. “While we were traveling to find you, our Astrometrics department was busy cataloging many of the stars along our route. We also spent some time observing this galaxy’s center. There is a black hole here too but not a supermassive one. Our computer estimates place the mass of this galaxy’s black hole at three- to four-thousand solar masses.”
“The Distant Horizon has a stealth shield,” Kathryn informed Jeremy. “If we were careful about our chosen route, we could probably travel there undetected.”
Clarissa stood with her arms folded across her chest. “We’ve made some minor adjustments to the system to fine-tune it. Betrem Jalat, an Alton and the ship’s assistant chief engineer, has also done some work to make the ship more difficult to detect, even in hyperspace.”
“I don’t know if I feel comfortable sending the Distant Horizon that far without a powerful escort,” responded Jeremy with a frown. The ship had almost been destroyed by the Simulins on its voyage to the original rendezvous coordinates. He stared sharply at Clarissa. “Can we make the same adjustments to the Avenger and a few more of our ships?”
Clarissa quickly established a communications line with Ariel, who was on the Avenger, and filled her in on Jeremy’s question. Then the two of them ran a series of calculations and studied some specialized design plans for the systems on the Distant Horizon. All of this only took a few seconds, as the two were working at a speed, which would seem incomprehensible to Humans or even Altons.
“It’s possible. If we start the work immediately, we should be able to properly upgrade some of the fleet while the probe is readied,” Clarissa reported. “How many ships would you want to modify? Some of the changes are major.”
“Give me a couple days to get back with you on that,” Jeremy answered. He wanted to talk this over with Rear Admiral Susan Marks, Grayseth, the Command AI, Admiral Cleeteus, and, of course, Kathryn, since her ship would be heavily involved in this operation. “The task group needs to be small to prevent detection but powerful enough to get us out of a jam if the Simulins find us.”
Clarissa took another moment to confer once more with Ariel. “Ariel and I will provide design plans for Alton battleships, Human battleships, Human battlecarriers, and for the AI ships. We’ll have them ready within twenty-four hours.”
“Add strikecruisers to that also,” Jeremy ordered.
“That won’t be a problem,” responded Clarissa.
Jeremy looked at Kelsey, knowing once more he would be putting his wife’s life in jeopardy, but she was the daughter of an admiral, and Jeremy knew she would have it no other way. Turning away from his wife, he asked, “Can we be ready in two months?”
“Yes,” Clarissa and Andram both said together.
“Very well then,” Jeremy said, reaching a decision. “In two months we’ll travel to this galaxy’s center and attempt to send one of the two probes to our home galaxy. Let’s just hope we’re successful and don’t run into any Simulins.”
Chapter Two
Admiral Race Tolsen felt the WarHawk drop from hyperspace and exit the swirling blue-white spatial vortex which announced their reentry into normal space. The 1,600-meter-long flagship of Third Fleet was alone as it made a trip to the Altons’ home system deep in the galactic center. The rest of the fleet was at Careth, undergoing additional updates. The Bears’ shipyards were some of the largest and most efficient, outside of the Federation’s.
For the last four months, Race had been traveling around the Human Federation of Worlds, talking to various senators and even several key allies of the Federation, all at the bequest of former Fleet Admiral Streth. Race’s meetings had been met with skepticism and demands for solid evidence of the imminent threat he was foretelling. Only at New Tellus, Ceres, New Providence, and Careth had his words of warning been met with promises of future action. All four worlds had grown concerned when Race had invoked former Fleet Admiral Hedon Streth’s name.
“We’re being challenged,” reported Lieutenant Denise Travers from Communications. Denise’s cousin, Captain Austin Travers, was the Communications officer for the missing exploration dreadnought, Distant Horizon. “I have an Alton battleship at twelve million kilometers.”
“Send our ship ID and inform them we have permission from Ambassador Tureen to visit Astral,” Race responded.
His trip to the Altons’ current home system had been met with only lukewarm support. The Altons didn’t want to be involved in another drawn-out war, as most of their population were pacifists. They were also heavily involved in uplifting many of the former slave worlds of the Hocklyn Empire. Only at their former home world in the galactic center did the Altons maintain a powerful fleet of warships. They did have a few other battleships assigned to various Federation fleets, patrolling the borders of the former empire. However, for the most part, the majority of the Alton warships had been recalled to their core systems.
“I have a message from an Alton Admiral Victell. He says we were expected. We’ve been given permission to continue to Astral and go into orbit using a microjump.”
“That was easy,” commented Commander Madelyn Arnett.
The Altons were known to be very strict about allowing visits to Astral. Race glanced at Commander Arnett. “Ambassador Tureen feels the Federation, as well as the other allied worlds, owes much to former Fleet Admiral Streth. Tureen was very concerned when I relayed Admiral Streth’s premonitions. It’s unfortunate they’re such pacifists. Tureen wasn’t certain just how much support he could drum up for us.”
“Premonitions?” said Colonel Brice Cowel, the executive officer. “Do you really believe in those?”
Four years after the discovery of the new star system, a Simulin battle fleet appeared in orbit over the inhabited planet. Nuclear missiles rained down upon the surface, detonating high enough above the cities to limit the spread of radiation. Then the first Conqueror Class drones were unleashed. Thousands were dropped on the surface with instructions to eliminate the planet’s inhabitants.
Ever since that time the Simulin race continued to expand, destroying every intelligent species they encountered. The Simulin population was growing rapidly, and no competition for the available resources could be tolerated.
-
In the Simulin flagship, the second in command turned to the ship’s commander. “Ships are in position, and targets are locked.”
The commander felt no remorse for what he was about to do. Emotions such as that had long since vanished from the Simulin race. “Fire missiles!” he ordered.
The ship shuddered imperceptively, as forty missiles left the missile tubes and entered the planet’s atmosphere. Each missile targeted one Kall city. At an altitude of three thousand meters, the first ten-megaton missile detonated, obliterating the floating city beneath it.
On the ship’s viewscreens, hundreds of brilliant fireballs appeared across the blue-white globe, as more detonations announced the death of the Kall civilization.
-
For several hours the Simulin fleet orbited the planet, ensuring all vestiges of the planet’s civilization had been eliminated. At the end of that time, four large Simulin transports exited hyperspace and took up low orbit above the planet.
“Instruct the cargo ships to deliver the Conqueror drones,” ordered the flagship’s commander.
Ten thousand of the deadly crablike drones would be dropped on the planet. Due to their amphibious construction, they could function just as easily in the water as upon the land. It would take a few years or possibly a few decades, but any Kall survivors would be hunted down and eliminated. Sometime in the far future, Simulin colony ships would come to this world, and it would become another Simulin-inhabited system.
From each of the four cargo ships, small pods fell toward the besieged planet. In each pod resided eight of the deadly Conqueror drones, programmed to be killing machines with no concept of mercy.
The Simulin commander watched impassively as the first pods fired their engines and set down on the landmasses and in the water. Upon contact the pods split apart, freeing their deadly cargo. The automatons would immediately begin searching for potential targets.
Satisfied this future threat had been eliminated, the commander turned toward his second in command. “The fleet will return to its patrol station for further instructions.”
“Shall we destroy the space stations?”
“Leave them,” the commander replied. “Without supplies their crews will soon perish. Our mission here is finished. This world will never be a threat to the Simulin race.”
“What about those strange ships that came from the AI galaxy?” asked the ship’s second in command. “What has become of them?”
“They’ve vanished,” replied the ship’s commander. “Our fleets are still searching. When they’re found, they will be eliminated.”
“Could they have returned to the AI galaxy?”
“It’s possible,” replied the Simulin commander. “That’s why the invasion is being sped up.”
“The AIs were supposed to eliminate the organic races in that galaxy.”
The commander nodded his head, as his gaze turned toward the ship’s viewscreens. “Their programming failed, and they’ve somehow joined with that galaxy’s organics.”
“Our invasion fleet will soon correct that unfortunate situation,” the second officer predicted. “Our race will someday need their living space, and those organics must be exterminated.”
-
Very little talking was heard in the Command Center of the Simulin flagship. The Simulins were a pragmatic and ruthless race. They’d long since decided they would tolerate no competition for resources. For thousands of years, they had spread across ten galaxies, colonizing tens of thousands of worlds. Already they had agents working in twenty more, preparing to add them someday to the Simulin Empire.
A spatial vortex formed in front of the flagship, and it jumped into hyperspace. Across the Triangulum Galaxy, hundreds of such fleets responded whenever a probe reported the presence of intelligent life. If all went according to plan, in a few hundred years, the only intelligent life in the Triangulum Galaxy would be Simulin, as all others would have been wiped out.
-
Admiral Jeremy Strong stood in front of the massive viewscreen of the Command Center within the 2,600-meter-long exploration dreadnought named the Distant Horizon. It was the largest ship ever built by the Federation or the Altons. Four months had passed since its battle with the Simulins, which had seen the dreadnought make it safely to the nebula and the hidden world where the lost fleets had made their home.
The original lost fleets encompassed Federation, Bear, and AI warships and crewmembers, plus Alton exploration ships and scientists, all under Jeremy’s ultimate command. The Federation’s Fourth Fleet had Rear Admiral Susan Marks as Jeremy’s second in command. The Bear contingent was within Grayseth’s fleet. The Command AI headed up his AI ships and crew with Admiral Cleeteus in charge of the Alton fleet. Now Rear Admiral Barnes’s exploration dreadnaught Distant Horizon was added to the “lost fleets” moniker.
It had been a busy four months, as the newest lost ship had brought messages from home for members of the original lost fleets, as well as additional technology, which might be of use. Some startling revelations came too, particularly where the Simulins and the AIs were concerned.
“I still can’t get over how this screen makes everything seem so real.” Jeremy stepped forward and touched the screen, as if to assure himself something was between him and the view of space. They were deep inside the heart of the ship, but the screen made it seem as if the deadly vacuum of space was only a footstep away.
“We enjoy this screen,” Andram Muce, the tall white-haired Alton, said with a smile. “This screen serves us well in our explorations.”
“I can see why,” replied Jeremy. He could easily imagine how useful such a screen would be in scientific studies. It made the viewscreens in the Avenger seem quite primitive by comparison.
Kelsey sat at the Navigational console and looked at Jeremy with a big smile. “You need to see what it looks like when we’re in hyperspace.” Over the last four months, Kelsey and Jeremy had spent most of their time together. After four years apart, it was a fantastic feeling to finally be together once again.
“I can only imagine,” Jeremy responded.
It had been a huge morale boost when the Distant Horizon had overcome the Simulins and finally appeared in orbit around Gaia, where the lost fleets were hiding. For Jeremy, the ship carried his wife—who he had never expected to see again. For others, it had brought messages from friends and family.
After a lot of discussion, Jeremy had agreed to allow both Katie and Kelsey to remain aboard the Distant Horizon in their current positions. Not only was the exploration dreadnought the most powerful ship in the Federation’s fleet, and now counted among the lost fleets, but it also had Clarissa on board as well. The Humanlike AI had been instrumental in bringing the ship safely to Gaia.
Reaching forward, Kelsey adjusted the screen, and a close-up appeared of the Clan Protector. “I don’t think Daelthon’s mobile shipyard will ever leave Gaia.”
The Bears’ shipyard had been greatly expanded and was now nearly three times its former size. Jeremy knew Kelsey had been excited to renew her friendship with her Bear friends, Malith and Karalle, who were on board the shipyard.
Jeremy let out a deep sigh and nodded his head in agreement. “Ariel says it would be possible, if we added additional hyperdrive systems. However, it would take one hell of a coordination job to transport the Clan Protector now. Grayseth wants to do it, but I’m not sure it’s worth the effort and materials.”
“Ariel or I could oversee that,” proclaimed the cute blonde, standing a few feet away. Her deep blue eyes gazed confidently at Jeremy. “Ariel and I have discussed the current configuration of the mobile shipyard, and we would add three additional hyperdrive systems, as well as a better integrated computer network. Mikow Lall claims she can design a system which could take the Clan Protector safely into hyperspace.”
“I don’t know if it will ever be needed,” replied Jeremy, nodding toward the AI. “Gaia is our new home, and it’s heavily defended. If the Simulins find us here, we’ll drive them out of the system.”
In the previous week, they’d completed construction of the last of the Alton particle beam satellites. Gaia was now protected by 1,500 of the powerful satellites. Also thirty-two Type Two battlestations were presently in orbit, with plans for forty total. Once the last eight were completed, Jeremy was confident they could hold the planet against the Simulins, if they ever did discover where the Federation fleets were hiding.
“I believe Andram wants to discuss with you the Alton probes stored in one of our flight bays,” commented Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes, as she walked over to join Jeremy. Kathryn’s father was the current governor of Ceres and had been influential in getting the Distant Horizon built, as well as arranging for her to command the exploration dreadnought on this mission to find the lost fleets.
“The probes,” Jeremy said, his eyes narrowing. He had been stunned to hear the Altons on the Distant Horizon casually mention they had two probes which they might be able to send back home.
Andram nodded and explained. “Shilum, Mikow, and I have been working on the probes. Ariel and Clarissa have helped, and we believe one probe could be ready in just a few months.”
Jeremy let out a deep breath. It would mean so much to his crewmembers if they could get messages back to their families. Jeremy would also like to send a detailed report to Fleet Command about what the lost fleets had discovered about the Simulins. Kelsey had informed him Nagumo was the new fleet admiral, as Fleet Admiral Streth had retired, and Fleet Admiral Johnson had been killed in the battle at the galactic center.
“What would you need?”
“Six of the small vortex ring generators and four Fusion Five reactors to power them.”
“Can we do it?” Jeremy asked Clarissa. Over the years, he’d come to trust the judgment of the two AIs. They’d saved his life more than once.
“Yes,” Clarissa answered after a moment. “It will be necessary to construct the Fusion Five reactors, but we have the detailed specifications. And, with the capabilities of the mobile shipyard plus the fleet repair ships, we should be able to get them built. We also have the designs for the AIs’ capacitor stations, and we’ll build a scaled-down version of them to house the reactors.”
“Can we send the probe from inside this nebula?” Jeremy was hesitant about leaving the nebula, since it would expose them to possible detection by the Simulins.
Andram shook his head. “We can’t generate enough power. The heavy layers of gas in this nebula would prevent the spatial vortex from reaching our galaxy. It would destabilize it too much. We need to be in open space, preferably close to a large star or even a black hole, which we can use as an anchor for the vortex generators. It would drastically reduce the amount of energy we need. However, if we had a large enough gravity anchor, we could generate a vortex that would work through the nebula. But Gaia’s star is too small.”
“A black hole,” said Jeremy, recalling what had happened the last time he’d been close to one.
The battle at Sagittarius A, the massive black hole at the center of his home galaxy, had been brutal and extremely costly. It ended when he’d used the Avenger to destroy the AIs’ Hypertranslation Station, which had opened up an uncontrolled spatial vortex and then transported the Avenger and the other nearby fleets to the Triangulum Galaxy. It also won the battle for the Human Federation of Worlds and its allies.
“There is a large one at this galaxy’s center as well,” Andram informed Jeremy. “While we were traveling to find you, our Astrometrics department was busy cataloging many of the stars along our route. We also spent some time observing this galaxy’s center. There is a black hole here too but not a supermassive one. Our computer estimates place the mass of this galaxy’s black hole at three- to four-thousand solar masses.”
“The Distant Horizon has a stealth shield,” Kathryn informed Jeremy. “If we were careful about our chosen route, we could probably travel there undetected.”
Clarissa stood with her arms folded across her chest. “We’ve made some minor adjustments to the system to fine-tune it. Betrem Jalat, an Alton and the ship’s assistant chief engineer, has also done some work to make the ship more difficult to detect, even in hyperspace.”
“I don’t know if I feel comfortable sending the Distant Horizon that far without a powerful escort,” responded Jeremy with a frown. The ship had almost been destroyed by the Simulins on its voyage to the original rendezvous coordinates. He stared sharply at Clarissa. “Can we make the same adjustments to the Avenger and a few more of our ships?”
Clarissa quickly established a communications line with Ariel, who was on the Avenger, and filled her in on Jeremy’s question. Then the two of them ran a series of calculations and studied some specialized design plans for the systems on the Distant Horizon. All of this only took a few seconds, as the two were working at a speed, which would seem incomprehensible to Humans or even Altons.
“It’s possible. If we start the work immediately, we should be able to properly upgrade some of the fleet while the probe is readied,” Clarissa reported. “How many ships would you want to modify? Some of the changes are major.”
“Give me a couple days to get back with you on that,” Jeremy answered. He wanted to talk this over with Rear Admiral Susan Marks, Grayseth, the Command AI, Admiral Cleeteus, and, of course, Kathryn, since her ship would be heavily involved in this operation. “The task group needs to be small to prevent detection but powerful enough to get us out of a jam if the Simulins find us.”
Clarissa took another moment to confer once more with Ariel. “Ariel and I will provide design plans for Alton battleships, Human battleships, Human battlecarriers, and for the AI ships. We’ll have them ready within twenty-four hours.”
“Add strikecruisers to that also,” Jeremy ordered.
“That won’t be a problem,” responded Clarissa.
Jeremy looked at Kelsey, knowing once more he would be putting his wife’s life in jeopardy, but she was the daughter of an admiral, and Jeremy knew she would have it no other way. Turning away from his wife, he asked, “Can we be ready in two months?”
“Yes,” Clarissa and Andram both said together.
“Very well then,” Jeremy said, reaching a decision. “In two months we’ll travel to this galaxy’s center and attempt to send one of the two probes to our home galaxy. Let’s just hope we’re successful and don’t run into any Simulins.”
Chapter Two
Admiral Race Tolsen felt the WarHawk drop from hyperspace and exit the swirling blue-white spatial vortex which announced their reentry into normal space. The 1,600-meter-long flagship of Third Fleet was alone as it made a trip to the Altons’ home system deep in the galactic center. The rest of the fleet was at Careth, undergoing additional updates. The Bears’ shipyards were some of the largest and most efficient, outside of the Federation’s.
For the last four months, Race had been traveling around the Human Federation of Worlds, talking to various senators and even several key allies of the Federation, all at the bequest of former Fleet Admiral Streth. Race’s meetings had been met with skepticism and demands for solid evidence of the imminent threat he was foretelling. Only at New Tellus, Ceres, New Providence, and Careth had his words of warning been met with promises of future action. All four worlds had grown concerned when Race had invoked former Fleet Admiral Hedon Streth’s name.
“We’re being challenged,” reported Lieutenant Denise Travers from Communications. Denise’s cousin, Captain Austin Travers, was the Communications officer for the missing exploration dreadnought, Distant Horizon. “I have an Alton battleship at twelve million kilometers.”
“Send our ship ID and inform them we have permission from Ambassador Tureen to visit Astral,” Race responded.
His trip to the Altons’ current home system had been met with only lukewarm support. The Altons didn’t want to be involved in another drawn-out war, as most of their population were pacifists. They were also heavily involved in uplifting many of the former slave worlds of the Hocklyn Empire. Only at their former home world in the galactic center did the Altons maintain a powerful fleet of warships. They did have a few other battleships assigned to various Federation fleets, patrolling the borders of the former empire. However, for the most part, the majority of the Alton warships had been recalled to their core systems.
“I have a message from an Alton Admiral Victell. He says we were expected. We’ve been given permission to continue to Astral and go into orbit using a microjump.”
“That was easy,” commented Commander Madelyn Arnett.
The Altons were known to be very strict about allowing visits to Astral. Race glanced at Commander Arnett. “Ambassador Tureen feels the Federation, as well as the other allied worlds, owes much to former Fleet Admiral Streth. Tureen was very concerned when I relayed Admiral Streth’s premonitions. It’s unfortunate they’re such pacifists. Tureen wasn’t certain just how much support he could drum up for us.”
“Premonitions?” said Colonel Brice Cowel, the executive officer. “Do you really believe in those?”
