“Impressive, isn’t it?” said Rear Admiral Susan Marks. Susan was in charge of the new and larger Fleet Academy on the Dyson sphere. She had asked to speak to Admiral Jackson and he had invited her to come along on his tour.
“Quite! I hope Jeremy is satisfied with this.”
“He will be,” replied Susan. “I wanted to speak to you about increasing the size of the Fleet Academy. With the influx of more Humans and Altons coming to the Dyson sphere, I would like to increase its size as well as add more teachers.”
Jackson turned toward Susan. “How large?”
“Four times what it is now,” she replied. “That would allow us to graduate twenty thousand officers for the fleet every semester.” Training was quicker now as they had Human, Alton, and Originator instructors. They were also using a combination of Alton and Originator training methods.
“I’ll speak to Jeremy about it,” replied Jackson. “I’m sure he will approve it.”
Susan nodded. “When you talk to Jeremy remind him to come by the academy when he gets back. He hasn’t been there for quite sometime. His presence would make a big impact on the recruits.”
“I will,” replied Jackson as the shuttle slowed down to pass over one of the massive Originator shipyards.
Jackson looked at the structure which consisted of hundreds of construction and repair bays. It stretched out nearly thirty kilometers and this was only one of ten such structures at the hub. Along its hull were hundreds of weapon emplacements as well as missile tubes.
“They build everything large here,” commented Susan as she gazed at the shipyard.
Jackson nodded and smiled. “They’re Originators; what would you expect?”
-
In the New Tellus System, one of the two Accelerator Rings had activated. Admiral Tolsen was watching from the Command Center of the WarHawk as Originator dreadnoughts and battlecruisers began to come through. This was the reinforcement fleet he had requested from the Dyson sphere in Shari space.
“Where are you going to position this fleet?” asked Commander Haskins.
“In the Oort Cloud,” replied Race. “The Eternals should not be able to detect it and when the time is right I’ll have them enter hyperspace and drop in behind the Eternals, pinning them between our defenses and the new ships.”
Commander Haskins nodded. “That’s why the fleet is so large.”
“Yes,” replied Race. “There are three hundred dreadnoughts and eight thousand battlecruisers in that fleet.”
‘It is a good strategy,” commented Zamdol, the Originator military AI. “We will pin the Eternals between our two forces. It will give us our best chance for victory.’’
On the viewscreen, additional ships continued to come out of the swirling blue vortex of the Accelerator Ring. It was an impressive sight as ship after ship appeared. With the arrival of this fleet Race felt much better about the coming battle. When the Eternals arrived he planned on crushing their fleet in such a way they would never contemplate attacking New Tellus again. He intended to fight one battle to ensure there would be no future battles in the system.
“Prepare my shuttle. I want to go to the Command Fortress and speak with General Wilcox. I need to ensure everyone knows what they are to do when the Eternals arrive. Zamdol, you will accompany me.”
-
Race took a shuttle and was flown to the Command Fortress. As they approached the large asteroid, Race marveled at what all had been done. Besides the asteroid’s original weapons dark energy cannons, dark matter missiles, antimatter cannons, and antimatter missiles had been added. The asteroid now bristled with weapon emplacements. It also had an energy shield powered by a series of antimatter power plants.
A large hatch opened and the shuttle entered to set down on a landing platform. Several fleet officers were waiting to greet Race and take him to the Command Center.
As they walked through the massive asteroid complex, Race saw a beehive of activity. There were large numbers of regular soldiers as well as Marines visible. They had to go through several heavily defended checkpoints to reach the main elevators which went down to the Command Center. Race knew there were explosives in the walls that could be detonated if an enemy force was to reach the elevators and begin descending.
It didn’t take long for the elevator to reach the command level and after going through another heavily defended checkpoint, Race stepped into the Command Center where General Madison Wilcox and her staff were waiting for him. He also saw Senator Brown was present as well.
“Admiral,” greeted General Wilcox, stepping forward and shaking his hand. “You already know Colonel Briggs and Senator Brown. These other officers are General Ethan Smith, my second in command, Colonel Olivia Sutra who is our chief communications officer, and Major Will Hill who is in charge of all fighter and bomber operations.”
Race greeted each one. “I want to go over our operational plans for when the Eternals arrive. I’m expecting that to occur sometime in the next two weeks.”
“So our time has pretty much run out,” commented General Smith.
Race nodded. “We need to finish all of our defensive preparations within that time.”
“I was hoping we would have longer,” said Senator Brown. “Are we ready for this attack?”
“Let’s move to the command platform,” suggested General Wilcox. “We can review all of our defensive preparations from there.”
Senator Brown nodded his agreement. “I want to know everything we’re doing.”
The group moved to the elevated platform which gave them a complete view of the entire Command Center. General Wilcox sat down in her command chair and activated the console in front of her. Instantly on the main tactical display an overview of the system appeared. All eight planets, the system’s moons, and the three asteroid fields were visible. Across the system there were friendly green icons representing warships and other vessels. There were also a number of mining operations shown.
“I would recommend we proceed to shut down all mining operations and evacuate the personnel,” said Race. “We won’t be able to defend them and the Eternals will doubtlessly target them in their effort to exterminate us.”
“I agree,” said Senator Brown. “We can get by without the mining operations for a few weeks.”
“We’ve been getting reports for several days now of mysterious contacts in some of the other Federation systems as well as our science and mining outposts in the outlying regions,” reported Colonel Sutra. “Computer analysis suggests they’re Eternal ships.”
Race nodded. “I saw those reports. I’m pretty certain they’re stealthed Eternal battlecruisers assigned to locate all of our worlds and outposts. I recommended to Fleet Admiral Nagumo he see about evacuating all of those outposts temporarily. There have been reports from Alton space of mysterious contacts as well.”
“Some of those scientists and miners will be too stubborn to leave their operations,” said General Smith.
“I’ll leave Fleet Admiral Nagumo to deal with that,” replied Race.
“We haven’t detected any anomalies in our system,” reported Colonel Briggs.
Race gestured toward the main tactical display. “We have ships and fighter squadrons patrolling the space in the system all the way out to the Oort Cloud. I suspect the Eternals haven’t found a way to penetrate that, though I would almost make a bet they have been here but stayed outside the system relying on their long-range scanners instead.”
“When they do attack, can we use our bombers against them?” asked Major Hill. “We have twenty-kiloton nukes we can deploy on our bombers.”
Race shook his head. “No, they would wipe out your bombers with defensive fire and it would take forty or fifty missile strikes just to take down one of their energy screens.”
“What about damaged Eternal vessels?”
“Their damaged ships do not normally withdraw,” replied Race. “They would still be protected by the defensive fire from their other
ships. To attempt to attack them with your bombers would be suicidal. Your bombers are better off defending the planet beneath the defense grid.”
“What of your fleet and the other Originator fleet stationed outside the system?” asked General Wilcox.
Race smiled wolfishly. “There’s no way the Eternals can know how heavily this system is defended. I intend to lure their fleet in and then use the second Originator fleet and our own forces to eliminate it. We’re going to take some major losses but I believe we have a good chance for victory.”
General Wilcox nodded in agreement. “Let’s go over our defensive plan in detail. Our world and way of life are at stake and we can’t afford to make mistakes.”
-
For the next four hours they went through all the defensive plans meticulously along with the positioning of the various fleets in the system. They covered which settlements needed to evacuated as well as what the ground forces on New Tellus needed to be prepared for. After some discussion, Race decided to contact the Dyson sphere in Shari space and request several thousand combat robots to be assigned to the New Tellus ground forces. Some of those would also be placed on the asteroid fortresses as well as the shipyards. In the end they were all satisfied they had done everything they could to get ready for the coming attack.
“I don’t know if we’ll be able to meet like this again before the attack,” said Race. “When Condition Three is announced it’s essential all civilian ships get out of the potential combat zones.”
“We have sufficient shelters on the surface to get all of our civilian population to safety,” added Senator Brown. “New Tellus has always been at the forefront of Federation military activities so we built them in case the planet was ever attacked. It seems now it was a good thing we did.”
“I’ve spoken to Admiral Crown and we’ve set up an evacuation site for all of our commercial ships,” commented General Wilcox. “It’s in a nearby system and we’ll have a squadron of our strikecruisers there to protect the vessels.”
“That should work. Just make sure the commercial ship captains understand with the setting of Condition Three they need to exit the system immediately.” Race knew the Eternals wouldn’t hesitate to target civilian vessels.
“I’ll speak to Admiral Crown and between the two of us we’ll get it taken care of.” General Wilcox spoke to the admiral several times each day.
Senator Brown turned toward Admiral Tolsen. “I assume since you have battle experience against the Eternals you will be coordinating the battle?”
Race nodded. “That’s the plan as of this moment. If something happens to me then command of the fleet action will fall to Admiral Crown. I intend to assign Zamdol to his command to ensure there is no disruption in communications with Originator warships. As you know Zamdol is an Originator military AI and fully familiar with how I want this battle fought. He is well qualified to command a fleet if necessary.”
Senator Brown turned to address the entire staff. “There’s a lot at stake in this battle. I have full confidence you will make the people of New Tellus proud.”
Race hoped the senator was right but in battle one could never know what might happen. The unpredictable always seemed to turn up when it was least expected.
-
Around Federation and Alton space, a number of Eternal stealth battlecruisers were busy searching for all the inhabited worlds, bases, mining facilities, and scientific outposts the two races might have. Already over ninety primary targets had been located. The stealthed ships were scheduled to complete their mission in another few days then they would pull back to await the arrival of the Eternal attack fleets. Once the fleets arrived, the tactical information the stealth ships had gathered would be transmitted to the fleet admirals. The admirals would use the data to plan their attacks.
-
The Human Federation of Worlds Senate was in session. With the detection of possible Eternal stealth ships in nearly every system an emergency meeting had been called.
“What are you going to do to defend our systems?” demanded Senator Adams of Serenity.
“I thought you didn’t believe in the danger the Eternals represent,” said President Treadway pointedly. “While some of the systems in the Federation have been evacuating their citizens and building up their defenses you and Senator Hanford have made every effort you could to derail the defensive effort. Now you have the audacity to demand protection.”
“We have over one billion people on our two worlds,” replied Adams, ignoring the president’s comment. “We are a member of the Federation and demand more fleet units be sent to defend our worlds.”
“And from what world should these ships come from?” asked Senator Lisa Karls from Horizon. “Those of us who have spent a fortune in the last few months building up the defenses of our system have no ships to send you. You had a choice to make and it was the wrong one. Should the rest of us now have to suffer for your stubbornness?”
Senator Adams’ face turned red with fury. “The military has brought this Armageddon down upon us! It is their meddling in affairs that they shouldn’t have that has brought the Eternals to our doorstep. I demand sufficient fleet units be sent to Serenity and Bliss to protect our worlds.”
President Treadway stared coldly at the two senators. “I will speak to Fleet Admiral Nagumo and see if any ships can be spared. I can assure you we have no desire to see Serenity and Bliss destroyed.”
“How many ships?” demanded Senator Hanford.
“It’s not my decision,” replied President Treadway. “That will be up to Fleet Admiral Nagumo.”
-
For the next several hours the arguments raged as various senators demanded or requested more warships to protect their systems. In the end, President Treadway promised to do what she could but if the various worlds really wanted to protect their citizens, they needed to send them through the Accelerator Rings to the Dyson sphere in Shari space. Some senators nodded their heads in agreement while others left the meeting feeling frustrated and angry.
-
Later President Treadway was meeting with Fleet Admiral Nagumo and describing the highlights of the council session.
“Lamebrains,” muttered Nagumo. “Both Senators Adams and Hanford had an opportunity to increase the defenses around their worlds but refused to do so. Now it’s too late.”
President Treadway pursed her lips. “I don’t care for the two senators either but there are nearly one billion people on their two worlds. Is there anything we can do?”
Nagumo leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “I can send some defensive satellites and a couple of squadrons of light cruisers. The light cruisers aren’t going to be much help around the heavy combat areas. They’re just too small.”
“Do it,” said President Treadway. “At least they’ll feel we’re making an effort.”
Fleet Admiral Nagumo paused and then asked President Treadway a question. “Are you going to evacuate to the Dyson sphere?”
“No, my job is here on Earth with the people. So few have evacuated. I was hoping for two or three times the current number.”
Nagumo’s brows creased in a frown. “What if we announce we’re expecting a major Eternal attack in the next few weeks? Do you think that might spur the evacuation?”
“It would probably increase those who are willing to evacuate but it’s going to cause a panic as well.”
“Declare martial law across the Federation,” suggested Nagumo. “We know the attack is coming in the next few weeks. By declaring martial law we can use the military to keep the peace. Each planet can set its own curfew but I think we’ve reached the point where it needs to be done. The Eternals are coming and we’re probably going to lose a lot of people. We need to save as many as we can and the only way to ensure we do that is to send them to the Dyson sphere. By declaring martial law they’ll realize how serious the situation is.”
“President Treadway let out a deep sigh. “Th
at will wreck our economy for years to come.”
“What do you think the Eternal attack is going to do?”
“You’re right, of course. I’ll have my people draw up the orders. It will take a day or two but as soon as the papers are done I’ll announce the declaration of martial law.”
Nagumo nodded. “It will also make the fleet’s job easier. We’ll ground all unnecessary traffic and be prepared for a massive migration to the Dyson sphere. I firmly believe up until now our people haven’t believed the Eternals are a threat. Declaring martial law will change that.”
“I hope so,” replied President Treadway. “I would hate to see the Human race end because people were too stubborn to evacuate.”
“They’ll evacuate. Martial law will give them sufficient reason to do so. One other thing; why don’t you show the people the new cities that are being built in the Dyson sphere?”
President Treadway nodded. “We were planning on doing that anyway. The video should be arriving in the next day or two. We’ll make a final all out push to encourage more people to evacuate before it’s too late.”
Nagumo knew time was running out. In a few weeks they would know if the Federation was going to survive or if it was destined to fall to the Eternals.
Chapter Nineteen
Rear Admiral Barnes was pleased with the direction the negotiations with the Galactic Union were heading. They were receptive to aiding in the war against the Eternals, particularly when they learned of the large battlestation going to be used to stop future Creevak incursions.
“We’ll place one of our forty-kilometer battlestations here in this galaxy and use it as our primary base of operations,” explained Kathryn to the assembled group. “The leaders of the Galactic Union have also agreed to aid in exploring neighboring galaxies in this cluster and to take the lead in its defense. They recognize how serious the threat from the Eternals is.”
The Originator Wars: Explorations: A Lost Fleet Novel Page 26
