The Lost Fleet Box Set, page 4
part #1 of The Lost Fleet Series
Katie and Kelsey still looked confused.
“Look down at the base of the steps,” Kathryn said.
The girls looked down and were astonished to see what seemed like thousands of cadets standing at attention at the base of the stairs and reaching back to the massive buildings of the academy itself. The pair looked back at the admiral, not understanding.
“They’re showing their respect for what the Special Five did for the Federation,” Kathryn explained. “Every one of them is praying that we’re successful in our mission. Already, across the Federation and Alliance space, the secret of what we’re attempting to do is spreading like wildfire. Messages have been coming in, nearly overwhelming the communications center here at the academy. The entire Federation is now solidly behind this mission, and we’re being asked to do one thing and one thing only—bring the missing fleets home.”
Kelsey and Katie stepped closer to gaze down at the assembled cadets, their hearts bursting with emotion. They’d never expected anything like this.
Kathryn walked over to stand next to the two women. “I promise you this,” she said with determination in her voice. “If they’re out there, we’ll find them!”
The three stood at the top of the steps for several more minutes, thinking about the past and what was waiting in their future. The greatest voyage ever attempted was about to begin. In orbit above them, the Distant Horizon beckoned.
Chapter Three
Four Years Previous
Jeremy felt himself flung violently against the restraints of his command chair, and then everything went dark. Slowly his senses returned, and his head throbbed with a pounding headache. Leaning back, he took a deep breath, trying to take stock of his surroundings. The lights were flickering, and smoke was in the air. Warning alarms were going off with red lights flashing everywhere.
“Status report!” he demanded, shaking his head trying to clear it.
“Ship’s power is down,” reported Ariel with a panicked look on her normally calm face. She was standing at Jeremy’s left side. “I’m trying to restore it. Right now the ship is operating on batteries only, including life support.”
“I need sensors,” Jeremy said, looking intently at the AI next to him. “I need the sensors and the viewscreens up as soon as possible. Make them a priority. What about our energy screen and weapons?”
“All nonfunctional,” Ariel reported gloomily. From her initial scans of the interior of the ship, many of the crewmembers were unconscious. Those that weren’t seemed dazed. “I’ll have one of the secondary fusion reactors up in five minutes.”
“We may not have five minutes,” stated Jeremy worriedly. At any moment he expected an AI energy beam or antimatter missile to put an end to the Avenger.
“Where are we?” moaned Commander Kyla Malen, pulling herself up off the floor. She had a wicked cut on her arm that was bleeding profusely.
A medic hurried over and applied a bandage to stem the flow of blood. Several medics were in the Command Center, all busy checking on and ministering to the injured.
“Don’t know,” spoke Kevin woozily, as he ran his fingers over his Main Sensor console. “I don’t have any power to the sensors.”
“Ariel’s working on that,” replied Jeremy, shifting his gaze back to the AI. “Ariel, do we have communications to other parts of the ship?”
“Coming online now,” replied Ariel, as she shifted some of the limited power she had available to the internal communications system.
Jeremy changed his minicomm setting to Internal and tried to raise Roger Simkins, the chief engineer. After nearly a full minute, he finally got an answer. “What’s the situation, Chief?” asked Jeremy, fearing the worst.
“We suffered some type of power feedback that caused all the reactors to automatically shut down, protecting themselves from critical damage. We’re doing a manual restart, but it'll take about thirty minutes before we have the main power restored.”
“Ariel said she can have one of the secondary reactors up in another few minutes,” Jeremy informed him. “Will that help?”
“A lot,” Roger replied. “If so, we can speed up the process with the others. Give me fifteen minutes, and I’ll have the mains back online.”
“Grab whoever you need,” Jeremy ordered. “Right now power is our main priority. We’re sitting ducks without it.”
Before Jeremy could say another word, the lights in the Command Center suddenly brightened, and the viewscreens came on, one by one. He gasped in concern when he saw an AI ship in close proximity to the Avenger on one of the screens.
“How close is that AI ship?” he demanded. The 1,500-meter-globe seemed to fill the screen.
“Short-range sensors are back up,” Kevin reported, as his hands danced across his screen. “That AI ship is only ten kilometers away, but it seems to be drifting. There’s no energy screen or other indications of power.”
As more viewscreens came to life, the command crew looked at them in shocked amazement. Hundreds of ships were visible, both AI and Federation. However, there were no signs of the black hole or any of the massive constructions the AIs had built.
Running a quick scan of nearby stars with what was in her database, Ariel informed Jeremy, “We’re not in our galaxy. When we destroyed the Hypertranslation Station, it must have activated the spatial vortex the AIs have been working on. We’ve gone through it.”
“Do you know what galaxy we’re in?” asked Jeremy, otherwise speechless. With a sudden feeling of dread, he realized that they were cut off from Kelsey and Katie. He glanced over at Kevin, wondering if his best friend had realized that yet.
“No,” Ariel answered, as she checked the database. “It will take time to correlate data from the stars we can see and then try to match them up with our stellar records.”
“We’ll worry about that later,” commented Jeremy, drawing in a sharp breath. “I want our energy screen up as soon as possible. That AI ship could fire on us at any moment!”
“I’ve already brought it up to 10 percent power,” Ariel answered, as she struggled to shift power to needed parts of the ship. “I can’t do more than that until the other reactors come back online. I do have power shunted to our secondary railguns, if they’re needed.”
That made Jeremy feel a little bit better. At least he had something to shoot with, if he had to. Though how much damage he could do to an AI ship with the Avenger’s secondary railguns was another matter.
“Jeremy,” Kevin said, his expression confused. “I’m detecting nearly five hundred AI ships as well as what appears to be the rest of the Fourth Fleet, plus Grayseth’s. I’ve even spotted his mobile shipyard!”
“Any moving?” asked Jeremy, wondering how all the ships had gotten here.
“No,” responded Kevin, shaking his head. “They all seem to be powerless.”
“What about the Alton ships? Did they come through with us?” Jeremy knew, if the AIs powered back up, the Federation fleets would need the Alton battleships and battlecruisers to have any chance to survive.
“Yes,” Kevin replied, as he checked his sensors. “I’ve spotted Admiral Cleeteus’s flagship, but it’s powerless also.”
“I believe it was the vortex,” Ariel put forth, looking over at Jeremy. “If we actually transited from one galaxy to the other, the energy required would have been tremendous. All our ships, including the AIs’, run on fusion power plants. Everything may have shut down automatically to protect the power units from damage.”
“Okay,” Jeremy replied, his eyes narrowing worriedly. How much longer would it be before the AIs restored power? “Keep an eye on those AI ships, and let me know at the first sign of one of them moving.”
“Chief Simkins reports main power will be coming online shortly,” reported Commander Malen. “They’re using the secondary reactor Ariel activated to jump-start the others. He says it’s a little bit risky, but it should work.”
Kyla’s arm was now bandaged, and she was moving around the Command Center, checking different stations. Several medics were still busy attending to injured personnel.
“All external communications remain silent,” reported Angela with a frown. “I have sufficient power for short-range communications with the other ships, but no one is responding.”
Suddenly a number of the other consoles in the Command Center resumed functions, and the lights seemed to brighten even further.
“Main power has been restored,” reported Ariel, relieved she could now increase the Avenger’s energy shield to full power. “We have all weapons, and the energy shield is charging.”
Jeremy breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Ensign Striker, move us outside this field of AI ships. That will give us a better tactical advantage. We’re way too close to some of them.”
“I’m detecting movement from several of the AIs,” Kevin said excitedly. “They’re moving away from us and haven’t activated any of their weapons.”
“Target them with our antimatter missiles,” Jeremy ordered, his eyes focused sharply on one of the tactical displays now beginning to relay data. “If they fire a weapon or launch a missile, hit them hard.”
“Locking on,” Lieutenant Preston reported from his Tactical station.
“Why aren’t they firing?” asked Commander Malen, looking confused. “Our other ships are defenseless, and the AIs could easily wipe them out.”
“They’re confused, just as we are,” Ariel replied, as she ran several simulations on the ship’s main computer. “I would suggest we send them a message requesting a cessation of hostilities until we understand what's happened.”
“Will they agree?” asked Jeremy, looking doubtful.
“I will mention that we have several Alton science ships with us,” Ariel explained. “They know the Altons’ science is far superior to theirs. My simulation indicates a 72 percent chance they will agree.”
Jeremy shook his head, not quite sure what to do; if the AIs fired—within a 28-percent probability—he could lose most of his fleet. He took a leap of faith on the 72 percent chance of succeeding with this. “Do it.”
-
On one of the AI ships, the Command AI studied the message from the Human ship. A cessation of hostilities made sense considering Altons were involved. From the sensor scans they had performed so far, this seemed to be the galaxy they’d targeted originally in their research, but there was no sign of the AI ship sent through earlier.
“Inform the Humans that we agree to a cessation of hostilities for now,” the AI said, the radiant ball of energy, which served as its head, glowing brighter.
While the AIs had some emotions, they were still a very logical race. Studying the tactical screen, the Command AI knew that, as soon as all its ships had restored power, they would have a decisive tactical advantage over the Humans. The Command AI would allow the cessation of hostilities for now, but, as soon as it learned from the Altons what was needed, all the organics would be eradicated.
-
“The AIs have agreed,” spoke Angela nervously. “They wish to speak to the Altons as soon as possible.”
“They will attempt to destroy us as soon as they’ve learned what they need to from the scientists and researchers,” warned Ariel, her dark eyes focusing on Jeremy. “It’s what I would do in their position.”
“That will at least give us time to gather our fleets and prepare,” Jeremy said in full agreement with Ariel’s assessment of the situation.
Kevin looked over at Jeremy with dawning realization. “Jeremy, how will we get home? What about Kelsey and Katie?”
“I don’t know,” Jeremy replied, as he leaned back and studied the tactical display. He wondered how the rest of the battle at the galactic center had turned out. Were the Human and Alton fleets victorious, or had the AIs wiped them out?
-
Rear Admiral Susan Marks was about to come unglued. For ten minutes, they’d been struggling to restore the Retribution’s power. They had battery power, and one of the viewscreens was working. She felt a cold chill run down her back as she gazed at the 1,500-meter AI sphere less than four kilometers from her ship.
“I want all fighters and bombers ready to launch.” She spoke with ice in her voice. “Nuclear ordnance is approved for the bombers.”
“We’re trying,” reported Major Wink Thurman, a frustrated look on his face. “Some of the emergency doors are shut, and we’re having trouble getting the pilots to their ships.”
“Tactical, as soon as we have power, target that AI ship and blow it away!” Susan ordered.
“I don’t know if that would be wise,” cautioned Captain Tracey Thomas from Tactical, glancing back at the admiral. “We’re so close to the AI that, if we destroy it, we could suffer severe or even cataclysmic damage.”
“Damn!” uttered Susan, her face taking on a grim look. “Target it anyway, but don’t fire until I order you to.”
She was beginning to wonder just what kind of terrifying horror she’d led her ships into. From what they’d seen on the one functioning viewscreen, all of the Fourth Fleet and Grayseth’s fleet were here, along with hundreds of AIs. So far they hadn’t found the Avenger. They had spotted some of the Alton ships, which made her feel better.
The lights in the Command Center suddenly brightened but then went out completely. For a moment she stood next to her command chair in total darkness.
“This can’t be good,” muttered Commander Hiru Akira from her side. “The emergency lighting shouldn’t have gone out. The batteries should be good for hours yet.” Even the quiet noises of life support were gone. The gentle sound of air moving through the vents had faded, and everyone in the Command Center stopped talking.
All at once the lights flickered on, then went to full brightness, and the viewscreens blinked on, one by one. Around the Command Center, numerous consoles slowly hummed back to life.
“Sorry if I scared you,” came the chief engineer’s voice over Susan’s minicomm. “But we had to take the batteries offline and use them to jump-start one of the auxiliary reactors, which we, in turn, used to restart the mains.”
“Admiral, I have the Avenger on the comm!” shouted an excited Ensign Peyton Wilde from Communications. The young brunette was literally beaming with joy. “Admiral Strong is instructing us not to fire on any of the AIs. There’s currently a cessation of hostilities agreement until both sides can determine exactly where we are.”
“I have short-range sensors online,” reported Lieutenant Nathan Brewster. “God, there’s a hell of a lot of ships out there.”
Susan looked at one of the tactical displays, which had just activated; numerous friendly green and red threat icons were beginning to appear. One large green icon was moving away to one side of the conglomeration of ships.
“That’s the Avenger,” reported Commander Akira, pointing to the moving icon.
“Is the sublight drive functioning?” asked Susan, looking at Lieutenant Justine Brittles.
“Yes, Admiral,” Justine replied.
“Set a course for the Avenger,” Susan ordered. “Put us on her starboard side. Once we’ve reached her, I want two full squadrons of fighters out on combat space patrol. Instruct the pilots they’re to stay away from the AI ships for now.”
“Yes, Admiral,” Major Thurman replied, as he passed on the order to the flight bay. With power restored, at least his pilots could reach the bay.
-
Jeremy watched patiently and nervously as the ships of the Fourth Fleet and Grayseth’s fleet regained their power and slowly moved away from the AI ships to take up defensive positions around the Avenger. Once all the Federation ships were operational, Jeremy ordered the Bears’ mobile shipyard, the four Alton science ships, and all supply ships to a position behind the Fourth Fleet, and all sixty of the Alton battlecruisers. The battlecruisers would provide protection for the more vulnerable ships from any AI attack.
Strangely enough, the last ships to move were the Alton battleships and battlecruisers. With Admiral Cleeteus’s warships, it gave them at least a fighting chance against the AIs, if a shooting war broke out here, like a continuation of the galactic center battle. Later Jeremy learned the Alton systems had been more heavily affected by the destruction of the Hypertranslation Station. Many of their computer servers, which linked multiple complicated and advanced systems on the Alton ships, had to be replaced before power could be restored. The Alton ships’ highly networked systems had worked against them in this instance.
Activating his minicomm to the Command channel, he was instantly put in contact with Admiral Cleeteus, Rear Admiral Susan Marks, and Grayseth.
“We’re in a mess,” Jeremy began without preamble. “Evidently we were drawn into the AIs’ intergalactic spatial vortex when the Avenger destroyed the Hypertranslation Station. I just wish I knew what happened after we were taken away.”
“We won!” Susan said with confidence. “Our last readings, just before we entered the vortex, indicated the destruction of the Hypertranslation Station caused a massive feedback of power through all the Capacitor Stations, resulting in a huge EMP burst. Our readings indicated the AIs had stopped firing on the fleet.”
“The massive EMP blasts immobilized the AIs,” Admiral Cleeteus informed them. “I have spoken to several of the scientists on our research vessels, and they feel confident of that.”
“So they would have been sitting ducks for what was left of our fleet,” uttered Jeremy, his eyes wide with hope. “Then the Federation won!”
“Probably,” Admiral Cleeteus said. “We won’t know until we find a way to return home or send a message.”
“Susan,” began Jeremy, considering what she had said earlier. “What do you mean about entering the vortex? Weren’t you drawn in like the rest of the Fourth Fleet?”
