The Slaver Wars: Retaliation (The Slaver Wars Book Five)

by Weil, Raymond L.

  “The supply fleet brought three hundred more fighters and two hundred bombers for the Carethians,” Ariel informed them as she walked over to stand next to Jeremy. “They’re crated up and will have to be assembled.”

  “That won’t take long,” Jeremy replied.

  He knew that Grayseth’s people had become very well versed at assembling the small craft. Jeremy also didn’t tell Kevin that another small supply fleet was waiting in a nearby system with additional supplies from Ceres, including the four new type two battle stations. He would leave that as a surprise. As soon as the New Tellus fleet left, they would jump in. The crews on the New Tellus ships were from all over the Federation, but the crews on the Ceres ships were from Ceres only.

  “Commander Marks is on the station and she is reporting that several of the supply ship commanders have been asking about the power beam installations on the outer hull of the space station,” Ariel added with concern in her voice.

  She knew those had not been in the initial plans, and the installations had only been added after Jeremy had coaxed Ceres and Governor Malleck into furnishing them.

  “Tell her to explain to the commanders that they are a recent addition to the station and are essential to its defense,” ordered Jeremy, wishing there had been some way to hide the installations. They were just so large that it wasn’t practical. He knew that when this news got back to the Federation that Governor Malleck would probably be summoned immediately to appear in front of the Federation Council for an explanation.

  Ariel nodded and seemed to focus her dark eyes on a distant point as she sent the message to Commander Marks. “Commander Marks says she will do it and that she is also going to the assembly area in the flight bays to help the bears with the new fighters and bombers.”

  Jeremy nodded as he continued to watch the viewscreen. Commander Marks had been spending a lot of time with the bears, particularly the bear pilots as she was responsible for their training. Every day squadrons of bears and human fighters engaged each other in war games. Initially the humans had won every game easily, but recently the odds had begun to shift and now the bears were winning occasionally. It wasn’t uncommon to hear the bear pilots bragging about how they had beat their human opponents. The two groups were developing a lot of mutual respect for one another and were working well together in joint maneuvers.

  “How many fighters and bombers does that give the bears?” Kevin asked. Kevin had made several close friends with the bears on the station.

  “Eight hundred fighters and six hundred bombers,” replied Jeremy, looking over at his best friend. Kevin had changed considerably since that first day when they had met so long ago at the Fleet Academy and then later during the failed New Horizon mission.

  “We’ll be on our own soon,” added Kevin, knowing they were over seven hundred light years from home.

  He glanced over to his left side where Katie was busy at her computer station. Over the months since they had been at Careth he had fallen deeply in love with the green-eyed blonde. Katie had also changed considerably over the years. She was no longer that crazy green-eyed kid that had snuck aboard the New Horizon, even though later she had been responsible for saving all of their lives, or at least getting them off the New Horizon before it was destroyed.

  Jeremy noticed where Kevin was staring and smiled inwardly to himself. He knew that once they returned to Federation space there would have to be some changes. In all likelihood, the five of them would have to be split up if they elected to continue to fight in the war. It would be difficult for all of them when that happened. Jeremy was not sure what he would do without the others around.

  Looking back at the main viewscreen, Jeremy saw that the last supply ship was undocking and starting to move away. Just the day before Rear Admiral Kimmel’s supply ships and the large fleet repair ships had jumped to Admiral Streth’s base. Admiral Streth would need all six of the repair ships if his fleet was to make it back to Federation space intact.

  Ariel looked around the Command Center. She knew that shortly the Hocklyns would be arriving and attempt to drive them out of the Careth system or destroy all the Federation ships outright. She had spent weeks running different simulations on how best to defend the bears’ planet. If the Hocklyns did manage to drive them away, they would find it very costly. Ariel just hoped it would be costly enough to force them to call off their attack. She didn’t think Jeremy would jump away as long as he had a single warship capable of fighting.

  “How soon before the power beam installations are complete?” asked Jeremy, looking over at Ariel and marveling how not a single hair on her head was out of place. Recently Ariel had been experimenting with different hairstyles. Today her thick black hair was just above her shoulders and slightly curled.

  “Another five to six days,” Ariel replied. “Grayseth and Rear Admiral Stillson have engineering teams working steadily, as well as the ones Admiral Kalen left. Once they have all the installations completed and the new reactors online, they plan on two days of tests to ensure the power relays will stay operational when the power beams are fired.”

  Jeremy nodded. These power beam stations were the same as the ones used on the asteroid fortresses in the New Tellus system. They were twenty percent larger and more powerful than the ones on a warship. He had been surprised when he saw these being unloaded from the supply ships. He had expected the regular ones that warships were equipped with.

  Ariel knew she would feel relieved when the new power beam stations were finished. With the laser satellites and missile platforms that were currently in orbit around the space station, it would make it very difficult for the Hocklyns to destroy it. She was also aware of the four type two battle stations that were soon to be delivered. Her biggest concern was keeping Jeremy and the rest of the Special Five safe. Those had been her last orders from Admiral Jason Strong, Jeremy’s father, and she intended to obey those orders no matter what the cost.

  -

  Six hours later, Kevin looked at his sensor screens in surprise as eight more friendly green icons appeared. They were quickly challenged by the light cruiser Kallen and sent their IDs. Kevin was amazed to see two additional supply ships, two battlecarriers, two battlecruisers, and two strikecruisers.

  “Jeremy, where did those ships come from?” he asked, looking back toward Jeremy who was sitting at the command console watching the tactical display now showing the new ships.

  “Those will be the last Federation ships we will see in a long time,” Jeremy replied sadly as he looked over at Kevin. “They are bringing four of the new type two battle stations and additional Devastator Three missiles from Ceres.”

  “Type two battle stations?” Kevin asked confused as he looked back at the tactical display. “What are those?”

  Jeremy allowed himself to smile. “Ariel, put up the specifications of the new battle stations on one of Kevin’s screens.”

  Ariel complied and soon Kevin was lost in studying the schematics of the new one hundred and fifty meter stations. “How did Admiral Teleck ever manage to send us these?” Kevin blurted. The power beams, the class one fusion reactors, and now these battle stations. It was hard to believe the Federation had agreed to send such advanced technology to the bears.

  “I believe it was Governor Malleck,” replied Jeremy, wondering how much trouble the Ceres governor was going to be in for doing this. From the encrypted message he had received from Admiral Teleck, he knew that Governor Malleck had done much of this without the approval of the Federation Council.

  Kevin nodded as he went back to studying the new battle station. From what he could see, it would be a great addition to the defense of Careth.

  -

  A few days later, Governor Malleck was called to a special meeting in the Federation Council Chambers. Fleet Admiral Johnson and Admiral Teleck were also in attendance.

  “I can’t believe you did this!” stated President Kincaid, looking angrily over at Governor Malleck. “You have turned ov
er to the bears nearly all of our most advanced weapons systems!”

  “The AIs probably already possess this technology,” Governor Malleck responded calmly. He had just informed the council that he had sent Admiral Strong the power beam installations and the new battle stations. “We already know that the Hocklyns are not allowed to develop new technology on their own, so there is no real danger of any of these weapons systems being captured and ever used against us.”

  “You still went around the council,” Senator Fulbright of the planet Serenity said accusingly. “What if the Hocklyns do develop this technology? Out on the perimeter of the Federation our worlds of Serenity and Bliss could end up being prime targets. Both of our worlds have defensive grids, but only small fleets to protect us.”

  “I agree,” replied Senator Davis of Bliss. “We have 600 million people on my world. This blunder could put all of them in danger.” Bliss and Serenity were both in the Epsilon Eridani system, the fartherest inhabited human star system in the Federation from Earth.

  Admiral Teleck stood up. “May I address the council? I have something to say that might alleviate this situation.”

  “By all means, Admiral,” President Kincaid responded with a heavy sigh. This entire situation was dividing the council, and that was a situation that couldn’t be tolerated at this precarious time, not with an impending attack by the Hocklyns and the AIs.

  Admiral Teleck walked over to a holographic projection table and inserted a computer chip. Instantly a large, gray sphere materialized above the table. It was slowly rotating, showing numerous defensive laser turrets, as well as missile tubes. “This is the new type two satellite defensive battle station we have developed on Ceres.”

  “That’s one of the weapons we should not have sent the Carethians,” Senator Fulbright spoke loudly. His face was turning lived at the nerve of the Ceres people having bypassed the council. “You have endangered the Federation with your audacity.”

  Admiral Teleck ignored the interruption and continued. “The station is one hundred and fifty meters in diameter and fully self-contained. It has an upgraded energy shield, defensive lasers, four pulse laser turrets, interceptor missiles, and twelve Devastator Three missile tubes with a standard crew of fifty. It is powered by a class one fusion reactor.”

  Then, pausing, Admiral Teleck looked directly at Senator Fulbright. “It has advanced computer and targeting systems that will allow it to engage an AI ship, and we are willing to furnish these to place around all the worlds of the Federation.”

  A majority of the senators started speaking at once. Protecting their worlds from the AIs had been the biggest concern of the senators for months.

  “Are you saying this battle station could destroy an AI ship?” asked President Kincaid, gazing at the hologram with renewed interest.

  “In conjunction with fire from the defensive satellite grid and the type one satellite battle stations, it could,” Admiral Teleck replied. “We can also furnish these to our allies to better protect their worlds.”

  “We would have to maintain Federation control over them,” spoke Fleet Admiral Johnson, rising to her feet and coming over to the hologram to examine the new battle station in more detail. “If all the stations had Federation crews on board then I don’t see a problem with using them to defend our allies’ worlds. That has been their biggest complaint, that they have nothing that can stop an AI.”

  “We did send small fleets with strikecruisers to all of our allies,” President Kincaid reminded Carla. “But I can see the advantages of using these battle stations; it would obviously make them feel more secure with something so powerful in orbit of their worlds.”

  “How do we test them against an AI?” Senator Malle from Mars asked, his eyes focusing on Admiral Teleck. He could easily see how beneficial these new stations could be if they were available in significant numbers. They could also free up valuable fleet units to be used elsewhere if needed.

  Admiral Teleck looked grimly around the large conference table at the senators. “It’s quite simple. In another few weeks, the Hocklyns and AIs will, in all likelihood, be attacking the Carethian system. We will know then if they work.”

  “How soon before you can deploy them to our worlds?” Senator Fulbright demanded. “We should have the first ones since our defenses are the weakest.”

  “We will need to set up additional production lines,” Admiral Teleck answered. “These new battle stations take longer to produce than the type ones.”

  “We are already producing the type one battle stations at New Tellus,” Fleet Admiral Johnson commented as she thought about what they could do. “How hard would it be to change over one or two of our production lines to accommodate the type two battle stations?”

  “A little over a week,” Governor Malleck replied. “It’s not that difficult.”

  President Kincaid nodded. He could see how the new battle stations could be extremely beneficial to the defense of all Federation worlds. He would finish speaking to Governor Malleck later in private. While he didn’t totally disagree with what Ceres had done, the governor should have spoken to him about it first. Kincaid knew he would probably have privately approved allowing Ceres to send the weapons to Careth. After all, there was still a heavy Federation presence there. He also didn’t want to see Admiral Strong and the crew of the Avenger fail because the Federation had refused to give them what was needed to stop the Hocklyns and AIs.

  -

  Admiral Tolsen felt relaxed in his command chair as he gazed out over the Command Center of the Defiant. His fleet was currently on patrol at the far edges of the New Tellus system. So far, the patrol had been uneventful; he had spent much of it working his fleet and preparing them for battle. They had practiced changing formations rapidly and making short micro-jumps to disrupt the enemy’s formation. He had read up on all the battles and war games that Admiral Strong had been involved in using short micro-jumps to confound the enemy.

  Tolsen had nearly lost his entire fleet at Gliese 667-C, and he had no intention of that happening again. Whenever possible, he was running battle drills and had only recently watched as several of his battlecruisers supported by four light cruisers pulverized a small asteroid in a weapon’s test.

  “Last fleet efficiency reports show we have improved by three points over the last week,” spoke Colonel Arnett, feeling pleased at the results of the last few battle drills.

  “No one was shooting back,” responded Race, raising his eyebrows. “Only a few of our ships have actually seen combat, and that is a game changer. I want us to be as ready as possible. We have one more week of deployment before we return to New Tellus. Tomorrow we will divide the fleet and practice a more complicated war game. The winning side will get an extra two day leave when we get back.”

  “I will spread the word,” Colonel Arnett replied with a grin. She knew the added incentive of additional leave would spur the crews of all the ships to give their utmost effort.

  Race leaned back in his command chair as he watched Colonel Arnett walk off. She was turning out to be an exemplary executive officer. In many ways, she reminded him of Colonel Beck his former executive officer who had died on the old WarHawk in the Gleise-667C system. He could still picture that horrible sight as the Hocklyn energy beams ravaged the WarHawk after its shields failed. Almost the entire command crew died, and he had been severely injured.

  They had won the battle thanks to some unorthodox maneuvers by Admiral Strong and Ariel, and finally when Admiral Streth sent the rest of the waiting fleets in to destroy the Hocklyns. From what Race had seen from the videos and reports, the Hocklyns had been wiped out to the last ship. He just wished he could have been conscious to see it.

  -

  Jeremy was with Grayseth and Daelthon in the massive Command Center in the space station. Daelthon was Grayseth’s second in command, and his short fur was a light brown in color. They were watching one of the large viewscreens as several small tugs were placing the four new bat
tle stations into their protective positions around the station.

  Kelsey was also in the Command Center as she had been visiting one of the female Carethians who was working as a navigation officer. Kelsey had made friends with several of the female Carethians, and she was currently talking to Malith about how to set up routine patrol routes for fighters and bombers.

  Looking over at Kelsey, Jeremy smiled as he saw the contented look upon her face. Kelsey and Malith were fast becoming close friends, and Kelsey had even brought the female bear over to the Avenger for a tour. Malith had been uneasy at meeting Ariel, as she didn’t quite understand how the crew of the Avenger could be friends with an AI after she had heard so much about how big a threat they were. Kelsey and Ariel had spent quite a bit of time explaining Ariel’s origin and how she was not like the AIs from the center of the galaxy.

  “With those four battle stations and the defensive satellites we have placed around the station the Hocklyns will not enjoy their return to our world,” Grayseth spoke, his large, friendly eyes turning to look at Jeremy.

  “With the new power beams and fusion reactors the station will be a hard nut to crack,” Jeremy agreed with a satisfied nod. The new reactors greatly enhanced the strength of the energy shield as well.

  “We will hunt our enemies together,” Grayseth said, sounding more serious. “They will not be allowed to have our world again.”

  “We will hunt together, my friend,” Jeremy promised, equally serious.

  “We will have the new bombers and fighters assembled shortly,” Daelthon added. “I’ve just come from the new flight bays and assembly is well underway. Commander Marks has brought a team over from her battlecarrier, and they are assisting our engineers. The new hunting wings should be ready for deployment within two more days.”

  Jeremy glanced over at one of the large holographic tactical displays that showed space for twenty light years around Careth. Each star system had been seeded with multiple FTL detection buoys. When the Hocklyns arrived, Careth should have some advance warning; at least enough time to get all the crews off the planet on leave and back up to their waiting ships.