“So you will be going with us?” asked Katie, wanting to confirm what she just heard. If Jeremy was there Kevin would be also.
Nodding, Jeremy shifted his eyes toward Katie. It was hard to imagine this woman was the same green-eyed kid who used to follow him around when he was a teenager. “Yes, some of the time. With the new communications vortex the super exploration dreadnaught has I can stay in contact with the Hub if need be or they can contact us.”
Katie looked over at Kevin with a triumphant look in her eyes. “See, you’re coming with us!”
“Just pack a lot of hamburgers and fries,” answered Kevin as he stuffed a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth. “I get hungry on long trips.”
Kelsey took another bite of her Pasta Primavera. It would be great for all of them to be together again on the super exploration dreadnaught. It would be like the old days. Of course the only time all five of them had been together on the same ship was when the New Horizon had set out for Tau Ceti and a mutiny occurred. The ship had been destroyed and all five of them nearly died. She hoped the five of them being together again wasn’t a bad omen.
“What are you thinking about?” asked Jeremy, reaching over and squeezing her hand. He had noticed the pensive look on her face.
“Oh, nothing important,” replied Kelsey not wanting to talk about the past. “We still need to name our new ship.”
Jeremy nodded. “I’m sure the three of you will come up with something appropriate.”
“I hope so. It’s a lot harder to choose a name than I thought it would be.” Kelsey wanted the name to be unique. They still had a while yet before the ship was finished. “How’s your Lasagna?”
Jeremy smiled. “It’s great. You really need to learn to cook this.”
Kelsey shook her head. “It’s too time-consuming. We can always come here when you have a craving for it. Besides, it gives us a good reason to go out and have a nice evening away from home with friends.” Then she leaned over and whispered into Jeremy’s ear. “I’m saving my energy up for later.”
-
Ariel smiled to herself. She could hear every word said at the table even if it was in whispers. She would pretend she hadn’t heard Kelsey’s sultry comment but she was pleased how happy everyone at the table was. It also thrilled her they were willing to share nights like this with her and Clarissa. It made the two AIs almost feel Human.
Chapter Fifteen
Commander Zafron studied the scans from the system they were rapidly approaching. The last time they were in this galaxy, his fleet had nearly been destroyed attacking a system where the Eternals had laid a trap. They had followed convoys to the system from the Stralon Star Cluster. A second group of convoys had been traced to the system they were nearing, and Zafron strongly suspected another trap was waiting for his fleet. This time he planned on being ready.
“Advanced scouts are dropping out of hyperspace,” reported Captain Grayson.
It had been Kazak’s suggestion that a number of battlecruisers should be sent ahead to scout the system before the main fleet arrived. They would scour the system for any signs of a trap, particularly behind the system’s star and around the three gas giants in outer orbits.
“Admiral Lukel’s fleet is in position,” reported Captain Franklyn. Both fleets were using their stealth fields which should prevent them from being detected.
Commander Zafron leaned forward in his command chair, examining the data coming in from the scouts. There was no sign of any hidden Eternal vessels. Standing up he stepped forward closer to the tactical displays. He was certain there were hidden Eternal ships somewhere. It was the only explanation for the minor resistance he had encountered in the Stralon Star Cluster. “Focus our scans on the space immediately outside the system. See if we can locate a void area where the Eternals may be using their stealth fields to hide from detection.”
For several long moments it was silent in the Command Center and then Captain Grayson smiled like a fox that had just caught a rabbit. “Got em! I have a large void area on the far side of the system just outside the orbit of the eleventh planet.”
“Then let’s set our own trap,” replied Zafron, returning to his command chair. “We’ll go in first and make our way to the shipyards we’ve detected above the second planet. Admiral Lukel will remain behind. Once the Eternals come out of stealth and launch their attack, he will jump in directly behind them, pinning them between our two fleets. Kazak, don’t worry about destroying the shipyards. I want our blue energy spheres launched at the Eternal fleet. Once it’s been eliminated we’ll destroy whatever is in orbit of the second planet.” Admiral Lukel was following about twenty light years back so if the Eternals detected Zafron’s fleet Admiral Lukel’s should still be out of range.
“Kia, plot a jump so we exit hyperspace sixty thousand kilometers from the planet. I want us out of range of any shipyard or planet-based weapons. Captain Franklyn, inform Admiral Lukel he’s to jump in as soon as the Eternal fleet jumps near the planet.”
Commander Zafron let out a deep breath. If the Eternal commander didn’t know there was a second Originator fleet this would be a short action. Zafron looked over at Kazak. The military AI had disliked being forced to withdraw the last time they were in this galaxy. As Zafron watched Kazak prepare his weapons console, there was no doubt the AI was relishing the thought of some payback.
-
A few minutes later the thirteen hundred vessels in the Originator fleet exited hyperspace near the target planet. The fleet quickly formed up into a disk formation with the flat side facing the planet.
-
“Report!”
“Fleet is at Condition One,” reported Kazak. “Weapons are ready to fire.”
“All systems powered up and working at optimum levels,” reported another AI.
“There are four shipyards and seven processing stations in orbit around the planet,” reported Captain Grayson as he checked his sensor readings. “There are two large shipyards and two smaller ones. The other seven stations appear to be raw resource refineries and possible orbital factory installations.”
“Hold position,” ordered Commander Zafron. His eyes were on one of the tactical displays showing the large void area just outside of the system. It was moving and suddenly it rapidly accelerated.
“Eternal fleet has entered hyperspace,” confirmed Captain Grayson. “Hyperspace emergence in four minutes.”
“Weapons ready to fire,” reported Kazak. “I’ll hit them with a full barrage of blue energy spheres as soon as they emerge.”
“Admiral Lukel’s fleet will be exiting hyperspace seven minutes after the Eternals,” added Captain Grayson.
“All ships rotate one hundred and eighty degrees and prepare to fire on the inbound Eternal fleet,” ordered Zafron over the comm unit connecting him to all the ships in his fleet. Only the two hundred heavy dreadnaughts were crewed; the battlecruisers were operated by AIs with a military AI in charge of each one.
-
The ships in the disk formation quickly reversed their orientation so they now faced outward toward the inbound Eternal fleet.
-
The minutes flew rapidly by, and the first Eternal vessels began to emerge from hyperspace.
“Fire!” ordered Commander Zafron as a massive Eternal battlecruiser appeared on one of the ship’s viewscreens.
From the Dominator a steady stream of blue energy spheres began striking the emerging Originator battlecruisers. Dark matter missiles started detonating releasing massive quantities of energy against Eternal screens. Other ships began firing as well as the Originator fleet turned its full fury on the emerging enemy ships. This time they were not taken by surprise!
-
Fleet Commander Durant’s flagship dropped out of hyperspace and instantly shook violently. Several amber lights appeared on the damage control console.
“Gravitonic strike to our energy shield,” reported the Eternal at the ship’s sensors. “The Originator
fleet is in a disk formation facing us and is firing upon our ships as we emerge from hyperspace. Sensors indicate thirteen hundred vessels; two hundred of their dreadnaughts and eleven hundred battlecruisers.”
“There is light damage to our hull on the stern,” reported the Eternal at damage control. “The weapons fire did not penetrate.”
“Return fire,” ordered Durant. He had over 2,400 battlecruisers to fight this battle with. “Activate hyperspace distortion field.” He would lock the Originator fleet out of hyperspace so it could be destroyed. This time they would not escape.
“Field is being jammed,” reported the Eternal at one of the tactical stations.
“Their hyperspace drives are still functional,” added the Eternal at the Sensors.
Second Officer Carmmod frowned as he studied the sensor readings. “The Originators have found a method to make our hyperspace distortion field nonfunctional.”
“It does not matter,” replied Durant, his eyes as cold as ice. “We vastly outnumber them and if they want to stay and fight we will destroy them.”
-
The Eternal fleet hastily maneuvered into an attack formation rectangular in shape, twenty-four ships high and one hundred ships in width. It extended beyond the disk formation of the Originators and heavy weapons fire was now striking both fleets.
Particle beam fire from several Originator battlecruisers slammed into the main part of an Eternal warship, setting off massive explosions and hurling debris into space. Moments later a dark matter missile arrived, turning the massive vessel into a burning star.
The top section of an Eternal ship blew apart as gravitonic beams raked across it. Large pieces of debris started drifting away from the ship as secondary explosions began blowing out large sections of the hull. Several antimatter beams penetrated the weakened Eternal energy shield, blasting a deep hole in the hull and destroying a number of energy cannon turrets. The ship suddenly split in two and dark matter missiles finished the destruction as twin suns were born within the Eternal fleet.
Across the Eternal fleet, ships were being heavily damaged or destroyed. Blue energy spheres were turning large sections of the battlecruisers they were striking into space dust. It was taking four of the deadly blue spheres to destroy the massive Eternal battlecruisers. However, the spheres had no difficulty piercing Eternal energy shields. Nearly one hundred Eternal vessels were slowly being broken down as their atoms lost the charges holding them together.
However, the Eternals were having success against numerous Originator ships. Two dreadnaughts blew up under intense energy cannon fire and exploding antimatter missiles. Battlecruisers were dying as their shields were overloaded, leaving the ships themselves vulnerable to Eternal weapons fire. In both fleets, brilliant flashes of light indicated dying ships.
-
Commander Zafron sat in his command chair as the Dominator shook from a number of antimatter missile strikes to its energy shield.
“Shield is holding at 86 percent,” reported Kazak as he continued to fire blue energy spheres at the Eternals.
“We’ve lost seventy-three battlecruisers and four dreadnaughts,” added Captain Grayson.
“Numerous other ships are reporting damage,” added Captain Franklyn.
Zafron took a moment to study a nearby tactical display. His fleet was taking a pounding from the Eternals. He was badly outnumbered and the Eternals were hitting his fleet with their heavy energy cannons. While they were having a hard time penetrating the powerful energy screens of the dreadnaughts, the battlecruisers were not faring as well. His dreadnaughts were more powerful than the Eternal battlecruisers, but his own battlecruisers were weaker than the Eternals and excessive energy weapons fire was bringing down their shields. “How soon before Admiral Lukel arrives?”
“Three minutes,” Captain Grayson replied. “I have them on the long-range sensors.”
Zafron nodded. “As soon as they drop out of hyperspace we’ll spring our own trap. I’m almost certain this is the largest fleet the Eternals have in this galaxy to oppose us. If we can destroy it there will be nothing to prevent us from moving from system to system, destroying all the bases and shipyards we come across.” His mission was to force the Eternals to commit vast reserves of ships to protecting their galaxies from this type of attack. He fully intended to do that.
-
The battle ratcheted up in intensity. The dreadnaughts were all armed with the new dark energy cannons. The weapons fire from the cannons penetrated Eternal energy screens as if they didn’t even exist. On each side ships were being blown apart from concentrated weapons fire. What was holding the Eternal fleet at bay were the blue energy spheres the Dominator was firing. The Eternals had no defense against the deadly weapons. Ship after ship was slowly being turned into space dust.
-
Fleet Commander Durant stood impassively in front of the main tactical display as the battle raged between the two fleets.
“We’re losing ships at a nearly even rate,” reported Carmmod. “The Originator dreadnaughts are all equipped with dark energy weapons which are penetrating our energy shields. We also have the blue spheres the Originators’ flagship is firing. Those two weapons are keeping the ship loss rate almost even.”
This did not concern Durant as he had twice as many ships as the Originators. “We have the ships to lose,” he said with little emotion in his voice, glancing over at Carmmod. “The Originators don’t. We will destroy this fleet and then examine the wreckage. Perhaps we can discover the secret to their new weapons.” If his fleet could gain some valuable insight into the new Originator weapons, it would ensure his promotion to a higher position in the empire.
He was about to comment further when alarms began sounding on the sensor console. His eyes shifted back to the tactical display as hundreds of red threat icons began to appear behind his fleet. Drawing in a deep breath, he recognized he had fallen into a trap. There was a second Originator fleet and he was now pinned between the two forces.
“Prepare to enter hyperspace,” he ordered, recognizing the impending danger to his fleet. “We no longer have the tactical advantage.”
“We can’t,” replied the helm officer in disbelief. “We’re locked out of hyperspace.”
Durant looked over at the sensor officer. “Why can’t we enter hyperspace?”
“The Originators are broadcasting a hyperspace interference field which is rotating through numerous hyperspace frequencies. It’s causing enough instability in our ships’ drives so we can’t safely activate them.”
Fleet Commander Durant felt a cold chill pass through him. His fleet was the largest one currently operating in this galaxy. True there were several thousand other warships but they were scattered across thousands of parsecs of space. If his fleet was defeated, the Originators could cause considerable damage to the shipbuilding capability of this galaxy. He could not allow that to happen.
“Advance toward the fleet in front of us,” he ordered. “We will destroy it and then continue to the shipyards around the planet. With their weapons added to ours we will then destroy the second Originator fleet.”
-
In space, the intensity of the battle increased to new levels. The Eternal fleet formation charged forward, colliding and entering the disk formation of the Originators. Admiral Lukel recognizing the danger to Commander Zafron’s fleet ordered his fleet to advance. Within minutes the battle resembled more of a dogfight than a coordinated attack. However, the advantage flipped to the Originators as their AIs could communicate with each other over short distances in space. Groups of two to five Originator battlecruisers would flash forward, engage an Eternal warship by blasting down its energy shield and then use dark matter missiles to destroy it. Ships were dying at an ever increasing rate.
-
Commander Zafron was growing frustrated with the course of the battle. He had effectively lost command. Glancing over at Kazak, he realized the military AI was now directing the battle with hi
s own internal communications implant. In this type of battle it wasn’t practical to use the defense globes.
“Eternals are losing two ships for every one of ours they manage to destroy,” reported Captain Grayson. “At least I think that’s what’s happening. It’s getting harder every second to keep track of this battle.”
The Dominator shook violently and several red lights flared up on the damage control console.
“We took a partial hit from an antimatter missile,” reported the AI at damage control. We have six compartments open to space, one gravitonic cannon destroyed, two antimatter projectors destroyed, and three energy cannons. There are also several fires in adjoining compartments. Repair robots are en route.”
Zafron nodded. “Keep me informed.” He disliked hearing his ship was damaged. However, this was war and damage at times was expected to occur.
A sudden flash of light suddenly filled the main viewscreen.
“The dreadnaught StarFire blew up,” explained Captain Grayson, his face turning pale. “It was right next to us.”
“Some of the Eternal ships are moving past our fleet and heading toward the shipyards,” Kazak reported as he listened to reports from the other military AIs.
Captain Grayson turned toward Commander Zafron. “They want to use the shipyards as protection. The two largest ones are heavily armed.”
Zafron let out a deep sigh. “We can’t stop them at the moment. We need to finish this battle and see how much of the Eternal fleet survives.” Zafron knew this battle was far from over.
-
Fleet Commander Durant was standing in his Command Center. There was smoke in the air and several consoles were nonfunctional. His flagship had received substantial damage in the battle. Only 33 percent of the ship’s weapons were still functioning. His fleet had made it to the two primary shipyards but he greatly feared it would do little good. “How many ships do we have left?”
“Three hundred and twelve,” reported Second Officer Carmmod. “Most are heavily damaged.”
Conflict Unending Page 21
