The meeting went on for several more hours, and both sides were amazed at what each had to say. It seemed that humanity was much harder to kill than the Hocklyns had realized.
-
On the border of Hocklyn space, an AI ship prowled. The 1,500-meter sphere of death floated silently in the system it had just jumped into. Its mission was quite simple, find several human ships and engage them in order to discover everything they could about the human’s weapons and technology level. The reappearance of humans had deeply shaken the AIs.
They were well aware that in the distant past their creators the Altons, had brought the humans to the Federation worlds to prevent the AIs from spreading out across the galaxy. Now the humans had attacked one of their proxy races with worrisome success. This was a war the AIs would have to take a direct hand in, for the humans could be a serious threat as they had already demonstrated by destroying two AI ships.
Over a period of hours, the AI ship remained motionless as it extended its powerful sensors to encompass several nearby star systems. After detecting nothing, the AI ship vanished into a white vortex and jumped farther into the region of space the humans had taken from the Hocklyns. Several former slave worlds might have human ships still in orbit. They would search those and see what could be found.
-
Jeremy had returned to the Avenger to speak with Ariel. The ship’s AI was a good friend as well as a protector. As he entered the Command Center, he was surprised to see Kelsey sitting at the command console. There were only a few crewmembers on duty since the Avenger was docked to the space station, and most of the crew was down on the bears’ world on leave.
“Trying to take my job?” Jeremy teased as he walked up to her.
“Jeremy!” Kelsey spoke in a pleased voice. It had been several days since she had last seen him. Kelsey knew he was working extra hours with Grayseth setting up the defenses for the bears’ planet. She blinked her blue eyes at him and smiled. “I might be; think I can get promoted to admiral?”
“Perhaps,” he replied grinning. “I thought you were down at the resort with the others.”
“It’s boring without you there,” Kelsey replied in a quieter voice so no one could overhear. “Katie and Kevin have a room together and haven’t been coming out too often.”
“About time,” Jeremy spoke. Glad that his two friends were becoming closer. Katie and Kevin made an excellent couple. “What about Angela?”
“Last I saw of her she was hooking up with a good looking marine captain she met while scuba diving.” Then, looking at Jeremy with a pleading look in her eyes, “Are you going to be able to take any time off? I still have the room reserved for us at the resort. The food there is great, and they have several fruit drinks that are very similar to that one you liked on New Tellus.”
“It’s possible later this week,” answered Jeremy as he thought about his busy schedule and everything he needed to do. He would really like to spend some quality time with Kelsey. “I might be able to come down and spend a day or two. Right now something else has come up that I have to deal with.”
“The ship from New Providence,” Kelsey said, nodding her head in acknowledgment.
“How did you know?” demanded Jeremy, frowning as he looked around making sure no one else had heard Kelsey’s comment. “Where that ship came from is supposed to be a secret.”
“I told her,” spoke a voice from just behind him.
Spinning around, Jeremy saw a beautiful young woman with dark eyes and black hair that barely touched her shoulders. “Ariel, that information is classified!” Jeremy knew that very little escaped the talented and inquisitive AI.
“I have told no one but Kelsey,” replied Ariel, crossing her arms over her breasts defensively.
“Neither the Hocklyns nor their masters, the AIs, can ever learn where that ship came from,” Jeremy warned them in a serious voice. “The ship will be going on to Earth shortly, and all records of it ever being here will be erased from our systems.”
“A wise decision,” Ariel commented, her eyes focusing on Jeremy. “It would be ill advised to leave information that could someday reveal to the Hocklyns that there are still humans on one of the old worlds.”
“What have you been able to find out about the ship they came in and the story about survivors on New Providence?” asked Jeremy, knowing Ariel had been snooping. He was still having a hard time accepting that a large group of survivors could have survived four hundred years deep in Hocklyn space without ever being discovered.
“Their ship is a stealth destroyer and very similar to our own newer stealth scouts,” Ariel replied. She’d spent some time breaking into the New Ashton’s core computer in order to confirm their story on her own. She had been concerned that this could be an elaborate ruse by the AIs to gather intelligence. She also made sure that there were no traces of her tampering with the New Ashton’s computer system. “They do indeed come from New Providence, though a lot of pertinent information is missing from their core computer.”
“A precaution to prevent the Hocklyns or AIs from learning where the humans are on the planet in case the ship was captured,” suggested Kelsey, intrigued by what Ariel was saying.
Jeremy nodded; it all made sense. He was just relieved to know that the New Ashton ship was legitimate. Looking over at Kelsey, Jeremy felt a stirring of desire inside. He knew he needed to take a few days off and spend some time with her. Later this week he would arrange it; for now he needed to return to the space station for another meeting with Admiral Stillson and several bear engineers. They were going to be discussing the heavy pulse laser batteries that were going to be installed on the space station. Ariel had worked up a set of detailed specifications for the engineers to follow.
Before he left, he turned to Kelsey. “I promise I will try to take some time off. Keep the room at the resort and I will see what I can work out.”
“You need the time off,” Ariel said, looking intently at Jeremy. “Humans need to spend time alone with each other; it’s what they do. Besides, you need to spend time with Kelsey; she needs you.”
“Ariel,” admonished Kelsey, shaking her head in dismay at the AI. “You’re getting too personal, and you have been reading too many of those old romance novels in your files.”
“Sorry,” Ariel replied her deep dark eyes focusing on Kelsey. “I read the romance novels because that is one aspect of humans that I still don’t understand very well.”
“You’re doing fine, Ariel,” Jeremy spoke with a grin. “Just don’t do anymore snooping in the New Ashton’s computer files.”
-
The AI ship jumped to a system that contained an inhabited world that only a few short months back had been under Hocklyn control. The four AIs in the ship’s Control Room hovered just above the floor their tentacles carefully adjusting instruments as they scanned the system.
“Human ships detected,” one of the AIs spoke as the glowing orb that served for a head brightened. “Two of their light cruisers are in the system just outside the gravity well of the inhabited planet.”
“So they can escape if Hocklyn ships are detected,” a second AI suggested as it swiftly calculated the best method to take out the two human vessels.
“We will set our energy beams to disable their jump drives and then allow them to engage us as we analyze their weapons,” the command AI ordered. “Once we have gathered all the necessary data, we will destroy them and return to Kenward Seven where the Hocklyn fleet is being rearmed.”
As soon as the decision on a course of action was made, another white spatial vortex formed in front of the AI ship and it vanished. A few seconds later, it reappeared a bare 2,000 kilometers away from the two unsuspecting human light cruisers. Instantly, two beams of deadly white light flashed out, striking the human ships and disabling their jump drives. The AIs had accomplished their first goal and the human ships were trapped.
-
The two Federation light cruisers were on patro
l just outside the gravity well of a small planet that Fifth Fleet had freed from the Hocklyns a short six weeks back. It had a small population of less than twenty million, and there was a moderate sized space station in orbit. Attempts had been made to speak with the inhabitants of the planet, but so far they had refused to respond to all attempts at communication. A number of the experts felt that it was due to a fear of reprisals from the Hocklyns when they returned.
The light cruisers Sphinx and Goliath were in the system watching for any signs of returning Hocklyn ships. If any were detected, they were to jump out and report the Hocklyn’s presence using their FTL transmitter and then wait for further orders.
“Sensor contact,” the sensor operator suddenly called out on the Sphinx as a bright red threat icon suddenly blossomed on his sensor screen. “Range to unknown is 2,000 kilometers.”
“Crap, they’re already in engagement range!” Alex Bartley, the executive officer, exclaimed as he looked up at the sensor screen.
“Go to Condition One and prepare to jump,” Commander Rodriquez ordered. He passed the same instructions on to the Goliath. “Do we have an identity on the unknown?”
“Oh my God!” the sensor operator spoke with obvious fear in his voice as the red threat icon suddenly changed to orange. “It’s an AI ship.”
“How soon can we jump?” demanded Rodriquez, glancing over at Bartley. “We have no chance against that thing.” An AI ship was the last thing they had expected to encounter.
“Two minutes,” replied Bartley, shaking his head in alarm He knew what this meant. “Communications is reporting that all FTL channels are being jammed.”
The Sphinx suddenly shuddered and seemed to leap to one side, and its hull made a terrible groaning noise. The lights dimmed and then brightened.
“What was that?” demanded Commander Rodriquez, looking over at damage control. “Were we hit?”
“They took out the jump drive,” Bartley replied his face turning ashen as he realized they would not be leaving the system alive. “The Goliath is reporting the same thing.”
Rodriquez nodded in understanding as he accepted their fate. “Load Devastator missiles in all tubes and prepare to fire. Helm, take us toward the AI. We’re going to ram this ship down its throat. Tactical, fire everything we have at that monstrosity, including the kitchen sink.” The commander then contacted the Goliath, ordering it to follow him in. He did not intend to let either ship fall into the hands of the AIs.
From the two light cruisers, sixteen Devastator missiles blasted out of the missile tubes and hurtled toward the 1,500-meter sphere that was the AI ship. The two ship’s heavy bow pulse lasers began firing sending orange-red beams of light to impact harmlessly on the powerful energy screen of the AI. Then the Devastator missiles struck, and sixteen ten kiloton nuclear explosions rolled across the AI ship’s energy screen in blinding nuclear fire. In one or two places, the screen flickered slightly, but that was all.
-
Inside the AI ship, the four AIs in the Control Center watch impassively as the two human cruisers threw every weapon at their disposal against their ship’s powerful energy screen. One of the AIs checked the recording devices that were cataloguing and evaluating the weapons being used against the ship. Nothing these two human ships had were of concern or could be considered a threat.
-
Commander Rodriquez frowned as he realized the AIs were not returning fire. They were just sitting there, allowing his two ships to pummel their energy screen. Gathering intelligence on our ships and weapons, Rodriquez realized as the railguns on both ships opened up, striking the AI ship’s screen with even more ordnance. They were firing explosive shells, and bright explosions crawled across the AI’s screen.
In space, the area between the two ships was full of tracer rounds from the railguns, missile trails, and the orange-red beams of the lasers. Even the pulse laser batteries on the upper and lower hulls of the two Federation light cruisers were now firing.
Rodriquez shook his head, seeing how their weapons were having little effect against the AI. If he could get the Sphinx close enough, he intended to ram the huge 1,500-meter sphere. “Increase sublight speed to forty percent!”
-
“We have all the data necessary on these two ships,” one of the AIs spoke as it studied some recording instruments. “It is time to end this.”
One of the others moved forward and touched several controls with two of its tentacles. Instantly, the AI ship’s potent energy weapons fired.
-
The deck heaved under Commander Rodriquez, sending him sprawling to the floor. Struggling to stand, he stumbled back to the command console hearing cries of pain and fear from the crew in the Command Center. Smoke and small fires were everywhere, and alarms were blaring loudly on the damage control console. Red lights were blinking on in rapid succession, indicating serious damage to the ship.
“We’re done for,” Bartley reported as he reached the command console. His right arm was hanging limply at his side, and blood was running down the side of his head. “The main fusion reactor is down, and Engineering is reporting we are running on the auxiliary. Shields are at twenty percent and dropping.”
On the sensor screen, the green icon representing the Goliath suddenly blossomed and then faded away.
“Goliath is down,” reported the sensor operator in a dull and frightened voice. “Its self-destructs activated.”
“We can’t let them board our ship,” Commander Rodriquez spoke as he pulled a key from around his neck and inserted it into his console, gazing intently at Bartley. He knew his plan to ram the AI ship was now doomed to fail. Loss of the main reactor had shut down the ship’s sublight drive.
“No, they will not have the Sphinx,” his executive officer agreed as he reached for his own key and inserted it with a blood covered hand into its slot. Then, looking at Commander Rodriquez, Bartley nodded his head.
Both Federation officers turned their keys at the same time, and the two nuclear self-destructs in the Sphinx detonated simultaneously.
-
“They destroyed their ships,” one of the AIs spoke as the bright glare of the nuclear explosions washed across their energy screen. “There will be nothing of value to recover.”
“We have what we came for,” the command AI responded. “It is time for us to return to Kenward Seven with the data we have gathered.”
Moments later, another white spatial vortex formed and soon afterward, the AI ship was gone. It had completed its mission and eliminated two human ships. The human commanders would never know what had happened in this system.
-
At Kenward Seven, Fleet Commodore Resmunt gazed at the main viewscreen in the War Room of the dreadnought Liberator. On the screen was one of the massive fleet shipyards that built and maintained the Hocklyn fleet. The structure was over twenty kilometers across and had forty bays capable of building and repairing any warship. There were four of these massive shipyards in orbit around the planet.
Kenward Seven was a large world, rich in natural resources as was the entire system. Millions of Hocklyn slaves toiled on the planets, moons, and asteroids mining the resources and building the equipment needed by the massive shipyards. It was not uncommon for several thousand slaves a day to die in mining or construction accidents.
“How goes the refit?” First Leader Ganth asked as he stepped up next to the command pedestal, placing his right hand upon it. Ganth stood two meters tall and was powerfully built for a Hocklyn. He had won several honor duels in the past during physical combat.
“Another six weeks and it will be done,” Resmunt responded in his rasping voice as he turned his dark eyes toward the First Leader. “Then five weeks to travel to the sector the humans have taken from us.”
“There will be much honor for all of us when we return to fight,” Ganth responded, pleased with the new weapons they had been given by the AIs. “How many AI ships will be accompanying the fleet?” Ganth did
n’t like the AI’s presence, but against these new humans they might very well be needed.
“I don’t know,” answered Resmunt in his cold grating voice. “I’m not sure the AIs even know yet.”
“What War Leaders will be going?” Ganth continued to ask. Since being driven from their main base by the humans, Fleet Commodore Resmunt had allowed Ganth more freedom to speak his mind.
“That is being decided by the High Council,” Resmunt replied with a hint of aggravation in his voice. He would rather pick his own War Leaders than have the council do so.
Resmunt turned his gaze back to the viewscreen. It had changed to show several dreadnoughts settling into orbit above Kenward Seven. Shortly, he would be in charge of the largest warfleet ever gathered in the long history of the Hocklyn Slave Empire. If he succeeded in his campaign and destroyed the humans, then he would return to the home system in triumph. Perhaps he could even win a seat on the High Council.
“The AIs have ordered us not to sacrifice our ships to uphold our honor,” continued Resmunt, agreeing with the decree from the AIs. “The humans are too powerful, and there will be no shame in withdrawing to preserve our ships if the tide of battle goes against us.”
“That will be difficult for many First Leaders and others to accept,” warned Ganth, tapping the blade at his waist. “They may not obey those orders in the heat of battle. The accruing of honor has been a big part of our military for untold generations, and it cannot stop overnight.”
“I fear you are correct, First Leader,” replied Resmunt, nodding his head in concern. “I am afraid in the coming war, we will lose many ships needlessly.”
“We have a large empire and thousands of warships,” continued Ganth, knowing even though their fleet here at Kenward Seven was large, there were many more ships that could be called upon from within the Empire if needed. “We can afford the losses, and I suspect the humans cannot. We are opposed by a few worlds at most, and once we have destroyed their fleets those worlds will fall and be destroyed as the AIs have demanded.”
The Slaver Wars: Retaliation (The Slaver Wars Book Five) Page 5
