The Lost Fleet Box Set, page 48
part #1 of The Lost Fleet Series
“I hope you’re not making a mistake,” Korrel said with a frown. “My orders are to place my fleet under your command until such a time as the council order has been carried out.”
“Then let’s hope we can complete our mission before the Simulins return,” Race responded. He looked at Shay. “What’s the progress on Capacitor Station Two?”
“It will be ready in four weeks,” she replied. “Capacitor Station Three suffered much more damage. We can have it at 30 percent in one month.”
“Will the three stations have enough power to open an intergalactic vortex long enough to get the relief fleets through?”
“They will, with the alterations we’ve made to their power retention systems,” Shay answered. “By applying Alton power storage technology, we’ve greatly enhanced the amount of energy the capacitor stations can hold.”
“How much more?”
“Each station will hold six times the energy over what they were originally designed for. “We can open an intergalactic vortex eight hundred meters in diameter for thirty-eight minutes before we run out of power.”
“That will have to do,” Race said.
He knew, by delaying the destruction of the vortex area, he was probably ending his career. Once word of what he’d done reached Fleet Command, without a doubt, orders would be sent for Admiral Korrel to relieve him of his command. Hopefully, by then, the relief fleets would be on their way, and he would have fulfilled his mission.
-
On Maken, former Fleet Admiral Hedon Streth stood on the shores of the lake, watching the sun slowly descend on the distant horizon. The orange-red colors of the fading sun covered the western sky.
“I love the sunsets here,” Janice said, as she reached out and took Hedon’s hand.
Hedon smiled and looked down at her swollen belly. “Still no pains?”
“I have a few more weeks yet, according to the doctor,” Janice replied. “I spoke to Amanda earlier, and she plans on coming early next week and staying until I have the baby. The guest room is ready.”
“Is she bringing her son?”
“Of course,” Janice answered with a grin. “That way you can get used to having a little one around the house.” Janice could tell something was bothering Hedon. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s the damn council,” he answered tightly. “The senators from Bliss and Serenity managed to get a motion passed to destroy the vortex area around the black hole by detonating the capacitor stations.”
“Oh, no!” Janice said, her eyes growing wide with concern. “What will Race do?”
“I don’t think he’ll do it,” Hedon replied. “He might have just enough time to get the relief mission launched before they remove him from command.”
“Lose his command!” exclaimed Janice, growing angry. “They can’t do that!”
“They can and probably will,” Hedon answered. “I’ll do what I can to prevent it, but I don’t know if it’ll be enough.”
“Are the relief fleets on their way to the galactic center?”
“Yes,” Hedon replied with a deep and satisfied sigh. “More ships than I could hope for. If they can make it through, then Jeremy will have what he needs to take the war to the Simulins. If he’s successful, he might just save our galaxy.”
“You said you knew Jeremy’s father?”
“Yes,” Hedon replied. “Admiral Jason Strong. I can still recall the day he stepped into my office, after making the trip to Ceres in one of the old Avenger shuttles. The damn things were over one hundred years old, and he still took the risk to see what was there.”
“That was a long time ago,” commented Janice.
“Yes, it was,” agreed Hedon. “I think Jason would be very proud of what his son has accomplished.”
“Are you sending a personal message to Jeremy?”
Hedon was silent for a long moment. He let out a deep sigh and nodded. “Yes,” he answered. “It’s necessary for him to know what’s at stake. He has to take the war to the Simulins.”
Janice placed her hand on her belly. She could feel their daughter kicking. “I think your daughter will make a fine admiral someday.”
Hedon looked at Janice in surprise.
“I strongly suspect both our daughter and Amanda’s son will follow in their parents’ footsteps,” she said.
“Perhaps,” Hedon said, turning to look at the sun, sliding beneath the distant horizon.
He could remember standing here many times with his brother, watching the sunset and talking about the big fish that had gotten away. Those days had been so much simpler.
“Let’s go inside and eat,” Janice suggested. “We need to talk about what we’ll do while Amanda’s here. She might have some useful ideas about this Simulin threat.”
Hedon nodded. It would be good to talk to Amanda and reminisce about old times.
Chapter Sixteen
Above Gaia two thousand small particle beam satellites and forty Type Two battlestations were in stationary orbit above the planet, ready to open fire on the enemy at a moment’s notice. The Type Two battlestations were 150 meters in diameter and had upgraded energy shields, two particle beam cannons, four power beam cannons, twelve missile tubes containing Devastator Three missiles, and defensive laser turrets. Their fusion reactors had been upgraded from a Class One to a Class Three, giving the stations much more power than previous models.
Slightly above them were the massed fleets that had come through the runaway spatial vortex nearly five years previously. Four hundred and seventy of the 1,500-meter AI spheres surrounded the planet. At any one time, two hundred of the AI ships were at Condition Two, ready to respond to a Simulin attack. The AIs, not being organic, required no rest and were determined to defend the organics, who in the past had been their enemies.
Fourth Fleet was in a higher orbit in a loose defensive formation. Its ninety-two warships led by its flagship, the Avenger, were prepared for an impending Simulin attack. Further along in the same orbit, Grayseth’s Carethian fleet was in a defensive formation around the mobile shipyard. Grayseth commanded thirty-three warships led by his flagship, the Warrior’s Pride. Alton Admiral Cleeteus, aboard his flagship the Cydonia Two, had a powerful fleet of Alton warships. His seventy-eight Alton battleships and fifty-nine battlecruisers were the heart of Admiral Strong’s planned defense against the Simulins. With the superior technology and heavy weapons of the Alton ships, they would take the lead in any attack against an incursion.
Last of all was the Clan Protector itself. The mobile shipyard had been greatly expanded and was presently over six thousand meters in length and two thousand in width. Massive weapons emplacements covered its hull, and the entire structure could be protected by an energy screen powered by four Fusion Five reactors.
For weeks the fleets had waited, knowing it was only a matter of time before the Simulins found their hidden sanctuary.
-
Kevin leaned back in his chair in front of his Sensor console, watching the screen with a bored look upon his face. They’d waited weeks for the expected appearance of the Simulins, but nothing had happened yet. There had even been some discussion that the Simulins might not have been able to trace the exploration dreadnought to Gaia using their tracking device. Perhaps the last few jumps had put the Distant Horizon out of range of Simulin detection, and their planet would remain safe and undetected inside the nebula.
“Stay awake,” cautioned Ariel, who suddenly popped into existence next to Kevin with a grin on her youthful face. “You’re supposed to be setting an example for the rest of the crew. After all, you’re one of the Special Five.”
“I absolutely hate that name,” responded Kevin, frowning and letting out a deep sigh. “We’re not any more special than anyone else in the fleet.”
“That’s debatable,” responded Ariel, placing her hands on her shapely hips and staring at Kevin. “Will you be in Angela’s wedding?”
Kevin nodded his head. “I’ll be there,” answered Kevin. “Not sure what she has planned for me, but I’m sure she’ll have me doing something.”
Ariel giggled. “You could be an usher. If the wedding’s on the beach, you could even go barefoot.”
Kevin glared at Ariel. “Don’t even suggest that to Angela! Have you heard when the wedding will be?”
“They’re waiting until the Simulin threat has been dealt with,” Ariel replied, her dark eyes looking at Angela’s Communications station. Currently another woman was sitting there, as Angela was on the Distant Horizon, visiting Kelsey and Katie.
“Just as well,” Kevin said. He was about to say more when an alarm went off on his Sensor console. “What the hell?” he muttered, sitting up straight and powering up the Avenger’s full complement of sensors. His hands moved rapidly over his console, as he called up data on the disturbance.
“It’s a spatial vortex,” confirmed Ariel, her face turning pale. “It’s between the orbits of the third and fourth planets.”
The entire system of Gaia had been seeded with vortex detection satellites. The satellites were designed to detect any nearby vortices and report on the type of ship that emerged.
“Video coming in from satellite 212,” reported Ariel. “I’m putting it up on the main viewscreen.”
On the screen a 1,100-meter-long Simulin escort cruiser appeared, its six spires glinting dangerously in the starlight.
“Go to Condition One,” ordered Kevin, his eyes growing wide. The Simulins had finally found them! He pressed another button on his console, as red lights flashed, and klaxons sounded. “Commander Malen, report to the Command Center. A Simulin escort cruiser has just jumped into the outer system.” Then he turned toward Ariel. “Contact Jeremy. I think he’s on the Clan Protector. Inform him of what’s happened.”
“Yes, Kevin,” Ariel replied without hesitation. She didn’t bother to inform Kevin that a sensor operator didn’t have authority to take the entire fleet to Condition One. However, because he was one of the Special Five, no one questioned the order.
-
Between the orbits of the third and fourth planet, the Simulin escort cruiser drifted slowly through space. Its sensors were already recording data on this star system it had discovered deep in the heart of the nebula. For several weeks now, Simulin escort cruisers had been jumping into the nebula, searching for the hiding place of the mysterious organics and AIs, who had thus far eluded them. Now it seemed as if their hiding place had finally been found.
The ship’s commander gazed impassively at the sensor screens as the data came in. “The organics and the AIs have set up a base on the second planet of this system. This must be reported, so this potential threat can be eliminated.” A massive search had been launched since the recent disturbance in the blue giant nebula.
“They found the Great Sphere of the ancients,” commented his second in command. “That knowledge must be concealed at all costs.”
“They shall die without passing on the knowledge,” stated the ship’s commander. “The Great Spheres are the key to expanding our influence across other galaxies. Their existence must be kept secret. Someday this entire universe will be a Simulin universe. There can be no other organics.”
Alarms sounded, as a spatial vortex opened up within one thousand kilometers of the escort cruiser.
“Enemy vessel detected,” reported the sensor operator.
“Engage our hyperspace drive,” ordered the ship’s commander. Time to take what they’d discovered back to their waiting fleet.
-
Out of the blue-white vortex stormed the Warrior’s Pride. It had been on high alert and set up the jump as soon as the presence of a Simulin vessel had been confirmed. Grayseth hadn’t waited on formal orders.
“Lock weapons on that vessel,” ordered Grayseth, as he stood next to the ship’s Tactical station. “We must not allow it to take word back of what it has discovered.”
“Weapons locked,” confirmed the Tactical officer.
“Detecting an energy spike,” reported the ship’s sensor operator.
“They’re preparing to open a spatial vortex,” warned Ganlon, the ship’s second in command.
“Fire!” roared Grayseth heatedly. “They can’t be allowed to escape!”
“Firing particle beams,” the Tactical officer replied. Then, a few seconds later, he added, “Launching two sublight antimatter missiles.”
The Simulin vessel was displayed on the Warrior’s Pride’s main viewscreen. Two bright blue particle beams smashed into the ship’s hull, and then one of the sublight missiles detonated against the vessel’s energy screen in a brilliant flash of light. The second missile shot through a six-meter-wide gap in the screen, created by one of the ship’s particle beams, and detonated against the heavily armored hull of the Simulin warship. In an instant a small sun formed where the Simulin vessel had been.
“Target destroyed,” the Tactical officer reported.
“A successful hunt!” boasted Ganlon, his face in a wide grin. “The Warrior’s Pride has shown she’s a worthy adversary in the hunt of the enemy.”
The crew nodded. To the members of the clan, the success of the hunt was a justification of their ability to defend the fleet and respond to threats.
“Jump us back to Gaia,” ordered Grayseth. “Our clan brother, Admiral Strong, will want a report of our action.”
-
Commander Malen had entered the Command Center, just as the Warrior’s Pride exited hyperspace and engaged the Simulin vessel. Thanks to the hyperspace detection satellite, they had a front-row seat to the action. When the antimatter missile destroyed the Simulin escort cruiser, the Command Center broke out into cheers.
“Detecting any other Simulin ships?” demanded Commander Malen.
“No,” replied Kevin, checking the Avenger’s long-range scans as well as the data transmitted by the hyperspace detection satellites. “Only the one.”
“A probe ship,” suggested Ariel, as she walked to stand slightly behind and to the left of Commander Malen. “There are probably a large number of these deployed in the nebula searching for us.”
Commander Malen nodded. “Their search routes are probably known, so, if one vanishes, they have a record of where it was going.”
“We can expect another probe to appear once this one fails to return,” confirmed Ariel, as she ran some simulations and probability calculations. “There is a 72 percent probability of more Simulin ships appearing in the system within the next seventy-two hours.”
“I have Admiral Strong on the comm,” reported the Communications officer. “He watched the entire engagement from the Command Center of the Clan Protector. He’s ordering the fleet, other than the AIs, to go to Condition Three. The admiral is also ordering all crews currently on leave to be recalled.”
“Take us down to Condition Three,” ordered Commander Malen. Then she turned to Kevin with a disapproving look on her face. “I understand you ordered the entire fleet to go to Condition One.”
Kevin looked sheepishly at the commander. “Yes,” he answered. “It seemed like the prudent thing to do.”
Commander Malen nodded. “Next time wait until I reach the Command Center, unless it involves a direct attack upon Gaia.”
“Yes, Commander,” Kevin answered in a subdued voice. His reaction had been automatic. After his involvement in so many battles over the years, his instincts had taken over.
“You did the right thing,” Ariel said over their private channel. “Commander Malen knows it. She’s just saying that for the benefit of the crew, so they’ll respect the chain of command.”
“I know,” Kevin replied.
Looking up at one of the viewscreens, he could see the Clan Protector and the Distant Horizon. Most of the repairs to the ship were completed. Kevin wondered if he would see Katie again before the Simulins arrived. He let out a deep breath as he thought about their future. The Simulins would do everything in their power to root out the Federation forces and the AIs from the nebula. The next few days would probably be quite tumultuous.
-
Jeremy looked at Rear Admiral Barnes, who had joined him in the Command Center of the Clan Protector. “Grayseth bought us a little time.”
“But not much,” replied Kathryn, pursing her lips. “The Simulins will know we’re here now. It’s obvious they did track the transmitter on the Distant Horizon to the nebula.”
“We can have the Distant Horizon ready to undock in forty-eight hours,” Daelthon informed them. The large light-brown Bear was standing at his command console, towering over the two Humans. “The ship just needs some cosmetic touches on the interior. Her armor and weapons are fully functional. The ship is ready to return to the hunt.”
“The ion cannon?” asked Jeremy. He was anxious to see the new weapon tested, particularly after seeing how successful the Distant Horizon’s defensive globes had been.
“It’s ready,” Kathryn replied. “It’s not been tested, but the Alton technicians have assured me it’ll work.”
“We’ve installed six of them on the Clan Protector,” added Daelthon. “The Simulins will meet the full fury of the clan if they dare to attack the shipyard.”
“I’m sure the clan will be brave in the hunt and give a good accounting of themselves,” replied Jeremy in a respectful voice.
“How are Andram and his Alton scientists doing on their two projects to keep the Simulins out of the nebula?” asked Kathryn.
Jeremy knew it would be near suicide to fight a series of long-drawn-out battles above Gaia. Eventually the Simulins would wear down their defenses.
“The gravity generators will be ready to deploy in two to three weeks,” Jeremy answered. “However, once they’re deployed, it will take at least four weeks for them to increase the density of the hydrogen gas around Gaia’s system to interfere with hyperspace jumps. They won’t be much help in the short term.”
“What about Andram’s other project?” Kathryn asked. “I know he’s working on something he’s really excited about, but he’s keeping it close to his chest.”
