Richard went into the room and saw Amanda lying on the hospital bed with her eyes closed. “Amanda,” Richard spoke softly, not knowing if she would be able to hear him.
“Richard,” Amanda mumbled weakly her eyes fluttering open. “Is it really you?”
“Yes, it’s me,” replied Richard, forcing a smile and taking her hand. “You took a nasty bump to your head.”
“The WarStorm? Commander Evans?” Amanda asked, her eyes trying to focus on Richard. “Are they okay?”
Richard hesitated for a moment. “They didn’t make it,” Richard said in a somber voice. “Lieutenants Stalls and Trask got you off the WarStorm. It was seriously damaged and coming apart around them. Commander Evans rammed an AI ship with your dying battlecruiser, destroying both in the process.”
“The AIs?” asked Amanda, struggling to sit up worried that the battle was still going on. Admiral Streth was counting on her; she needed to get back out there.
“Lay down,” Richard told her, taking her shoulders and gently forcing her to lie back down. “The battle’s over, and we won. It’s a long story, which needs to wait until you’re feeling better. Just know that for now, we are all safe and Admiral Streth is still watching over us.”
That seemed to satisfy Amanda as she closed her eyes and was soon asleep. Richard sat down in a comfortable chair next to the bed and gazed at his wife. There was so much he would have to tell her the next time she awoke. The war was about to change, and he knew his wife would continue to be a big part of it. He just hoped they would have some time alone before she had to leave again.
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High Leader Nartel was standing in front of the Hocklyn High Council. He had just given them the battle report from Fleet Admiral Resmunt. Every Councilor stared at him in disbelief, unable to comprehend the enormity of what he had just told them.
“The AIs, defeated?” muttered Councilor Ruthan, shaking his head. “I don’t believe it! Fleet Admiral Resmunt must be trying to cover up his own cowardice.”
“Fleet Admiral Resmunt puts the total losses to the AIs at over one hundred and twenty ships and his own fleet at close to six hundred,” spoke Councilor Berken, repeating the numbers that High Leader Nartel had just told them. “How is this possible?” It would be the worst defeat in the Empire’s long history. It was incomprehensible to imagine how the humans could destroy so many of the massive AI spheres. Up until this time, the AI ships had been nearly invincible.
“The humans have an ally whose science at least matches the AIs,” Nartel replied, his dark eyes focusing on the council. “The AIs had no defense against their weapons.”
“We are doomed!” wailed Councilor Ruthan, gazing in consternation at High Leader Nartel. “The AIs will destroy us for this. They will blame us for their ship losses and this defeat.”
“I think not,” replied Nartel, glaring at Ruthan despising his obvious weakness. “They suffered as badly if not worse than we did. From what Fleet Commodore Resmunt has reported the AIs vanished shortly after the battle and he has not heard from them since. He believes they are returning to the galactic center to repair the damage to their fleet.”
“What do we do now?” Councilor Jarles asked in a grave voice. “Any expansion of our Empire will have to be put off until this situation with the humans and their ally is dealt with. It could be years before we can begin to expand again.”
“Fleet Admiral Resmunt is bringing his surviving fleet back to Kenward Seven,” High Leader Nartel replied. “He has requested that we speak to the AIs about giving us even more advanced weapons, particularly the new sublight anti-matter missile they used against the humans.”
Everyone was silent as they wondered how the AIs would react to this defeat, the first one in their long history. Would they even consider giving the Hocklyns the weapons they needed to combat the humans?
“I have given the order for all ships returning to Kenward Seven to be upgraded,” Nartel continued in an even voice. “I am sending the same message to all of our other shipyards. We are honor bound to give our warriors the best weapons and ships that we can for this coming conflict.”
“Then you believe the humans will attack our Empire again?” Councilor Desmonde asked.
“Yes,” Nartel replied his hand sliding down and touching the blade at his waist. “Never has our Empire faced such a threat. We must prepare for all out war. New and more advanced ships will have to be built. I have also given the order for our scientists to begin weapons research.”
“What!” screamed Councilor Ruthan, standing up, his face turning livid. “The AIs have strictly forbidden that! You must order our scientists to stop immediately or we are finished!”
Nartel shook his head. “I don’t think our weapons research will be a big concern to the AIs anymore. I also intend to ask them for more advanced weapons as Fleet Commodore Resmunt has suggested.”
Nartel looked across the council, seeing the acceptance in their faces. He doubted that many of them realized the significance of what had just happened in human space. For the first time in their long history, the entire Hocklyn Slave Empire was going to have to prepare for all out war.
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Jeremy looked worriedly at the latest reports from his stealth scouts. The Hocklyn fleet gathering in the system a short distance away had grown to over two hundred ships, with two recently arrived AI spheres joining them.
“Still no word from the Federation?” asked Jeremy, looking over at Angela.
“No, nothing,” she replied, shaking her head. “Our lines of communication may have been cut.”
“If the AIs or the Hocklyns found our FTL communication buoys and managed to destroy a significant number of them we won’t be able to send or receive messages from the Federation,” Ariel commented from Jeremy’s side.
It also meant that she had no way of sending messages to Clarissa. Ariel really missed her lifelong friend. She hoped the StarStrike would return shortly so she could speak to Clarissa again. Even with the Special Five to speak to, she still felt lonely.
Colonel Malen came to stand next to the command console. “Admiral Stillson is suggesting we send a destroyer back to the Federation to see what’s happened.”
Jeremy nodded. They had really felt cut off since their communication lines went silent. Everyone wanted to know what had happened to the Federation and if the trap at New Tellus had worked. “Let’s do it,” Jeremy responded. He knew it would take the destroyer over two weeks to travel to the Federation and return. However, the not knowing was crippling morale.
“I will have the destroyer leave in the morning,” Colonel Malen responded.
Jeremy’s eyes went to the viewscreen. Careth was prominently displayed with all the rich colors of an inhabited world. The deep blues of the oceans and the white of thick protective layers of clouds drew his eyes. Across the continents was the deep green of massive virgin forests. Careth was a beautiful world, and Jeremy was determined that the Hocklyns would never have it back.
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Later, Jeremy was in his quarters with Kelsey. They were lying in bed talking abut their current situation.
Kelsey placed her hand on Jeremy’s chest and raised her head to look at him. “I’m sure the Federation is fine,” she spoke. Ever since the loss of communication with the Federation, the worry in Jeremy’s eyes had deepened.
“I’m sure you’re right,” replied Jeremy, sliding his arm around Kelsey and marveling at how warm and soft she felt. “I have a meeting with Admiral Stillson and Grayseth tomorrow. Grayseth still wants to try to build a bomber production facility in one of their underground cities.”
“Let’s not worry about the war for now,” Kelsey spoke softly as she slid her body over on top of Jeremy. She bent down and kissed him fervently on the lips. She knew there was one sure way to take his mind off the war.
Ariel turned off the monitor, which had been focused on Jeremy and Kelsey. She needed to talk to Katie more about this sex thing with humans; it was s
omething she still found extremely confusing. Reappearing back in the Command Center, she had the main viewscreen focus on Federation space. All that was visible were hundreds of non-blinking stars. Ariel hoped the Federation and Clarissa were still safe.
-
Admiral Streth was on New Tellus with Captain Janice Duncan and some others from the Fleet. It had been two weeks since the Hocklyn and AI attack. Almost all the cities on the planet had been destroyed, and now a massive rebuilding effort was underway. They were currently at one of the plush mountain ski resorts, which had escaped the nuclear fire the Hocklyns had rained down upon the planet from space.
Janice had been extremely surprised when Admiral Streth had accepted her invitation to spend some time down at one of the resorts. They had separate rooms and Janice decided not to push it. If anything romantic happened, then it did; if not, then now was not the time.
“Were there mountains on Maken?” she asked as they sat at a small, secluded table, eating dessert. They were sitting next to a window, and the sun was slowly falling behind one of the nearby mountains.
“Some,” replied Hedon, recalling his home planet. “Not as many as are on New Tellus, but Maken had some it could be proud of.”
“You will have to show me someday,” Janice spoke softly, her eyes focusing on the admiral. “I would love to see your home world.”
“You may sooner than you think,” Hedon replied.
He wondered what Taylor and Lendle would think about Janice. That he was developing feelings for her was something he couldn’t deny. He would like to show her the lake on Maken and the snow covered mountains. In two more days, he would be returning to New Tellus Station to meet with Fleet Admiral Johnson and Admiral Teleck. It was time to return to the old Federation worlds while the AIs and the Hocklyns were still reeling from their recent losses.
Admiral Strong was waiting for a relief force, and Hedon was determined to lead it. He only needed approval from Fleet Admiral Johnson and President Kincaid. Then, if things worked out at Careth, Hedon intended to push on to the old Federation worlds. Smiling over at Janice, Hedon decided he was going to enjoy the next few days. For the first time in a long while, the future looked brighter, and he knew that someday he would show Janice his old home world. He also knew another simple fact. The battle for New Tellus was over, but the battle for the Hocklyn Slave Empire was about to begin.
The End
If you enjoyed The Slaver Wars: Retaliation and want the series to continue, please post a review with some stars. Good reviews encourage an author to write and help books to sell. Reviews can be just a few short sentences describing what you liked about the book. If you have suggestions, please contact me at my website listed on the following page. Thank you for reading The Slaver Wars: Retaliation and being so supportive. Current plans call for there to be two more Slaver Wars books in the series if the interest continues.
Books in the series should be read in the following order.
Moon Wreck: First Contact (Short Story)
Moon Wreck: Revelations (Short Story)
Moon Wreck: Secrets of Ceres (Short Story)
The Slaver Wars: Alien Contact (Novel)
Moon Wreck: Fleet Academy (Novel)
The Slaver Wars: First Strike (Novel)
The Slaver Wars: Retaliation (Novel)
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For updates on current writing projects and future publications go to my author website. Sign up for future notifications when new books come out on Amazon.
Website: http://raymondlweil.com/
Other Books by Raymond L. Weil
Available at Amazon
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Dragon Dreams: Dragon Wars
Dragon Dreams: Gilmreth the Awakening
Dragon Dreams: Snowden the White Dragon
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Star One: Tycho City: Survival
Star One: Neutron Star
Star One: Dark Star
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The Slaver Wars: Galactic Conflict
Coming May 2014
The Slaver Wars: Endgame!
Coming October 2014
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Dragon Dreams: Firestorm Mount
Coming 2014
Turn the page for a short preview of Star One: Tycho City Survival
Star One: Tycho City Survival
Deep in the darkness of space a small, indiscreet dust cloud hides a dangerous secret. For years, the dust cloud has protected its secret from the unsuspecting solar system from which it is slowly receding. Due to the small size of the dust cloud and its distance from the star system, the dust cloud has never been detected. Shortly, the secret it has hidden for years will make its deadly presence known. For that secret has come to kill a solar system. Unfortunately, it is the system that contains the planet Earth!
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Lieutenant Trace Lewis was in a small line of foxholes and trenches that stretched for several miles in front of the enemy’s forward positions. He had eight members of his original squad still with him as well as Corporal Higgins. Two more squads had been assigned to him and anchored down his flanks. He had two fifty caliber machine guns and three mortars to hold this area of ground with. Lewis knew it wasn’t enough if the enemy attacked in force.
“What do you think, Lieutenant?” Corporal Higgins asked as he slid into the foxhole.
The corporal’s shirt was torn, and he looked as if he had worn the same shirt for days. The truth was they all were beginning to look like that. It was getting harder each day to get supplies and they were running low on ammunition.
“Are they going to hit us again?” Higgins asked as he took a small sip of water from his canteen.
“Yeah, they will,” replied Lewis with tired lines around his eyes. “They hit us yesterday with a massive human wave attack. We just barely managed to throw it back. They will come at us with their armor next.”
Higgins nodded; he knew the fighting would be over in the next day or two. If he could just survive one more battle, he could return home to Nebraska and his family. Privately, he had thought about sneaking off in the night as many others had, but he felt he owed the lieutenant his loyalty and had stayed.
Lewis and Higgins ducked instinctively as several insurgent artillery rounds hit just behind them. It was common practice for the insurgents to lob a few shells close to the defending army’s positions to disallow them any sleep. Everyone looked haggard and worn down from the constant shelling. More rounds started falling, throwing up large clouds of dirt and dust as well as black smoke.
“It’s starting,” Lieutenant Lewis said as he watched the shelling increase. “Get back to your men, Corporal, and good luck.”
“You too, Sir,” Higgins replied as he climbed out of the foxhole and ran bent over to his position.
Lewis looked over the edge of his foxhole and reached for his binoculars. He felt a chill run down his back when he saw insurgent tanks and personnel carriers coming toward him. At the same instant, a shadow passed overhead, and a group of attack helicopters from the cape flew by.
Lewis hadn’t known they still possessed so many. Over the past few weeks, numerous attack helicopters and aircraft had been shot down on both sides. The battlefield was littered with their burned out remains.
In moments, the helicopters were engaged with the insurgent armor as they let loose their tank busting missiles. He also heard a loud roaring noise and saw that General Strong had committed his last six heavy battle tanks. This is it, Lewis thought as he watched the battle slowly come toward his position. He checked his rifle making sure it had a full clip. He had two other clips and then he would be out; it was the same for the rest of his marines.
Lewis ducked as an artillery round struck the ground just in front of him, showering him with dirt. He brushed the dirt off and looked back over the top of the foxhole to see what was going on. The attack helicopters and General Strong’s tanks were taking a heavy toll on the insurgent’s advancing armor. For a moment, Trace felt a surge of hope as the ene
my forces staggered and ground to a halt under the heavy attack.
However, the insurgents hadn’t been completely unprepared. Lewis could see a number of attack helicopters burning on the ground that had been shot down by enemy fire. The few remaining continued to pound the enemy armor trying to turn back the advancing tide.
Lewis saw a missile arc into the air to strike one of the helicopters, exploding against its side. It nosed downward and crashed into the ground in a fiery explosion. Lewis knew that no one could have survived. Artillery fire began to increase as a rolling wave of explosions began to march toward his position as the insurgents intensified their attack and started moving forward again.
Looking toward General Strong’s battle tanks, he saw that four of them had been destroyed, and the remaining two were slowly pulling back. Then a massive series of explosions covered the retreating tanks as insurgent artillery fire zeroed in on them. When he looked again, they were burning and several men were running away.
It’s over, he thought as he raised his rifle and braced it on a sandbag. In just a few more minutes, the enemy troops would be within rifle range. He knew the odds of him making it back home to Oklahoma and his wife and young son were bleak. In all likelihood, he would die here on this field of battle. He just prayed that it had all been worth it.
Over a four-mile stretch, the insurgent juggernaut advanced. Over twenty thousand troops plus tanks and armored personnel carriers followed the artillery barrage toward the hard pressed defenders. The generals in charge had used massed human wave assaults composed of green civilian troops to weaken this area over the past several weeks. Now they would use their seasoned troops to annihilate the weakened opposition, push on to the cape, and capture it. Senator Farley had made it clear that he wanted the cape and its facilities captured intact.
Lieutenant Lewis ducked as machine gun fire raked his position. To his left and right he could hear the fifty calibers firing back. He heard a sudden loud roar behind him and, turning saw a shuttle rising up into the air. Moments later a second joined the first as they fled upward on twin pillars of fire toward safety. Lewis knew these were the last two and there would be no more. The days of launching shuttles from the Earth were about to come to an end. He held his breath as he watched the two shuttles climb higher into the sky.
The Slaver Wars: Retaliation (The Slaver Wars Book Five) Page 37
