He sent a recall order to Admiral’s Bachal and Jackson. They both had extensive battle experience, which would be valuable in the war against the Eternals. In addition, he was sending Rear Admiral Hiru Akira to Ornellia. Akira was a battlecarrier commander and there was no need for fighters or bombers against the Eternals. However, they were still needed in the Triangulum Galaxy to clear Simulin conqueror drones off former Ornellian worlds.
Rear Admiral Lindsey Cowel and Alton Admiral Lukel were being sent to Galaxy X-938 where they would relieve Rear Admiral Mann. Rear Admiral Cross would remain and would be in charge of the new fleets. They would consist of ten thousand Originator battlecruisers as well as six hundred of the new heavy dreadnoughts. Currently the relief fleet was still in Galaxy X-938. It would return to the hub as soon as the other fleets arrived.
Jeremy sent the orders and then leaned back, thinking about what else he needed to do. In the back of his mind he was considering promoting Rear Admiral Mann to the full rank of Admiral and putting her in command of a special response fleet. The new fleet would consist of the new updated battlecruisers being built here at the hub. They had an extra anti-matter chamber allowing them to have a triplex energy shield as well as more powerful weapons. The change had required the battlecruisers to be increased in size from 2,000 meters to 2,200 meters. Several Dyson Sphere shipyards were also building the new battlecruisers. In a few more months all of the Dyson Spheres would be on board with constructing the new vessels.
“Rear Admiral Mann will be an ideal commander for the new fleet,” Ariel said, nodding her approval. However, I would suggest you go and tell Kelsey you’re not leaving tomorrow but will be waiting until after Grayseth’s bonding ceremony. She’s being quite brutal with several of the pots and pans in the kitchen.”
“You’re right,” said Jeremy, standing up. Kelsey had been a little more emotional since she became pregnant.
Leaving his office he headed toward the kitchen. He was thinking about assigning more people to help Kelsey and Katie with the design of their new exploration dreadnought. Perhaps that would help take their minds off the absence of their husbands. Jeremy knew how anxious the two were to be back off into space again exploring but this time they wanted to take their families along. Jeremy fully intended for that vessel to be the most powerful warship ever built by the Originators. If they were going off exploring he wanted his family and friends to be safe.
-
Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes was on her way down to the planet to inspect the hidden stasis facility the Originators had built deep beneath the surface. Kazak, Nomar, Andram, and Commander Belson were with her.
As they flew over the planet, Kathryn marveled at how similar it was to Earth. Sixty percent water and four continents. Every type of environment on Earth was represented here: tall, snowcapped mountains to vast stretches of desert with sand dunes. There were rolling prairies, river valleys, huge forests with trees as tall as redwoods, and freshwater lakes that stretched for hundreds of kilometers.
“It’s a beautiful planet,” said Kathryn, staring out the viewport at the world they were flying over.
“Yes,” Commander Belson answered. “It’s one of the reasons we chose it. If the cure for the pathogen was never developed back at the Communications and Transport Hub but it was here, there was a possibility we would remain in this star cluster and make this world our home.”
Kathryn looked over at Belson in surprise. “Is there any chance your people will still want to do that?”
“No, not now. Not with the threat of the Anti-Life. There may be a few who elect to stay but most will want to return to the Shrieels and resume their lives.”
“Councilor Bartoll will be arriving in a couple of weeks and Fleet Admiral Strong a few days later.” Belson had agreed to allow Jeremy to come with a second fleet.
“I’m anxious to meet both of them,” Commander Belson replied. “I have many questions for them.”
The shuttle sat down on what seemed to be a nondescript landing pad in the middle of a grass-covered clearing with a small building over to one side.
“The stasis facility is far underground,” explained Commander Belson. “There are several ways to access it. This one is the easiest.” Even as he spoke the entire pad suddenly began descending.
For several minutes the pad continued downward and then finally came to a stop. Commander Belson indicated for them to follow him and they all exited the shuttle.
Looking up Kathryn expected to see blue skies but the opening above them seemed to have closed.
“A camouflage field,” explained Commander Belson. “The opening is still there; we just can’t see it and neither can anyone who might be flying overhead.”
“What type of defenses are there?” asked Kazak. The tall Originator military AI was gazing critically at the tunnel above them.
“There are several energy cannons embedded in the walls of the tunnel as well as some hidden upon the surface. Take my word for it; this facility is very well defended.”
Commander Belson led them over to a large hatch where he inputted a long string of symbols. When he was done the hatch opened and they stepped into what appeared to be an airlock. The hatch shut and then moments later the one on the far end opened. On the other side of the hatch twenty combat robots stood as well as an armed AI.
“This is Tanoak, the military AI responsible for the defense of this facility,” said Belson as the AI approached them.
“Welcome Commander Belson.” Tanoak looked at Kazak and then smiled. “You are Kazak of the Dominator.”
“Yes,” Kazak replied. “I don’t believe we have ever met.”
“No, we haven’t. I was constructed once the Originators arrived here in this system.”
“Let’s inspect the facility,” suggested Commander Belson, leading them off toward another hatch.
-
An hour later they were standing on a catwalk with a view, which extended for several kilometers. This was a stasis facility and in the form of a long tunnel. On each side row after row of stasis chambers reached out into the distance. From what Kathryn could see there were ten levels all accessible by the large catwalks.
“How many Originators are in this chamber?” From the way it looked there had to be tens of thousands.
“One million,” answered Commander Belson. “There are twelve of these stasis tunnels in this facility.”
“I see a lot of repair robots,” said Andram.
Kathryn looked and saw he was right. On every catwalk the small robots were going back and forth.
“They’re inspecting the stasis chambers,” explained Commander Belson. “Each chamber is inspected four times per day.”
“I assume there are other Originator AIs here besides Tanoak?” asked Nomar.
Belson nodded his head. “Yes, there are several thousand. If there is a problem with any of the stasis chambers they supervise its repair. In addition there is a large Control Center staffed by the AIs which monitors the entire facility.”
“Can we see this Control Center?” asked Andram, his eyes full of curiosity.
“Yes,” Commander Belson replied. “I want to show it to you so you can better grasp the size of this facility.”
As they followed Belson into a side corridor, Kathryn couldn’t help but wonder how they were going to awaken all twelve million of the Originators who were in stasis. She was growing concerned this entire operation might take far longer than she had originally thought.
It didn’t take long for them to reach the Control Center. Stepping inside they were amazed to see hundreds of Originator AIs all sitting or standing in front of consoles. One of the AIs at a large console turned and made her way over to Commander Belson.
“Everything is operating at optimal levels and we are ready to awaken the Originators in stasis upon your command,” the AI reported. “We are also prepping the medical facilities as well as the living quarters.”
“This is Deelia,” Com
mander Belson said introducing the tall dark haired AI. “She is one of the AIs who supervises this installation.”
“How extensive are the living quarters in this facility?” asked Nomar.
Deelia turned toward Nomar. “You are an Originator. It is my pleasure to finally meet another. In answer to your question, we have sufficient living quarters for one hundred thousand Originators. It was always our hope to be able to awaken them someday so we built the living quarters to give them a place to stay until they either went to the surface or were taken into space to return to the Shrieels.”
“There are a number of large transports at the Communications and Transport Hub,” said Kathryn. “Perhaps some of those could be used to help move your people to the Shrieels. It is something we can bring up when Councilor Bartoll gets here.”
They had used the massive transports when they brought the three Federation races to the Dyson Sphere at the hub. Kathryn did some quick calculations in her head. Assuming at least a week, possibly two, before an Originator was able to travel after being given the cure, it would still take them several years to get all twelve million Originators to the hub. Kathryn knew they were going to have to come up with another solution. If there were ships traveling back and forth in intergalactic space for that length of time, it greatly increased the likelihood of the Eternals detecting them. It was a risk they couldn’t take. She hoped Jeremy had a solution.
“I’m sure we can work something out,” Commander Belson said.
For the next hour they walked around the Control Center with Deelia explaining the functions of numerous consoles. All around the room on the walls were countless viewscreens offering views of all areas of the stasis facility. When they were done they realized the facility was massive in size. It spread out underground for tens of kilometers and consisted of ten levels. The entire facility was two kilometers under ground.
At the end of the tour, they left the Control Center and headed back toward the shuttle. The tour had given Kathryn a better perspective on the job ahead of them. She was glad Councilor Bartoll and Jeremy were on their way. It was going to be up to them to figure out a way to get all twelve million Originators to the Communications and Transport Hub. Kathryn was intensely curious as to how they were going to do it.
Chapter Twelve
In the home galaxy of the Eternals on the planet Gardell an emergency meeting of the council was being held. There had been no communications with Fleet Commander Norlan or Fleet Commander Solten since they had entered Galaxy X-938.
“We have to assume the mission to take the Shrieel in that galaxy has failed,” said Clondax, the leader of the council. His cold dark eyes swept across the other council members. “I have ordered a small force of Eternal battlecruisers to exit hyperspace near the system containing the Shrieel to scan for Norlan and Solten’s fleets. I have also ordered Fleet Commander Parnon to send more of our ships into Originator space to search for unusual ship activity occurring around any of the Shrieels.”
“Fourteen thousand ships,” said Second Leader Queexel, who was responsible for warship construction. “We haven’t lost that many ships since the first war with the Originators. How is this possible? We are the Eternals and no race is our equal.”
Second Leader Barrant, who was responsible for the procurement of resources, looked deeply concerned. “Are we certain there are no living Originators? There are over two hundred Shrieels. The manufacturing and ship building capacity they possess may be greater than what we currently have at our disposal.”
“There cannot be any surviving Originators,” Clondax responded. “Computer simulations indicate they died of the pathogen over two million years ago. All activity we have observed since our escape from our own galaxy seems to confirm that. There have been no vessels spotted moving outside the Shrieels until recently. We believe their proxy race either managed to penetrate one of the Shrieels and establish contact with the AIs inside or the AIs themselves initiated contact as a response to our own activities.”
The council remained quiet as they contemplated the ramifications of the loss of Norlan’s fleet and the advent of this proxy race of the AIs. Finally Second Leader Barrant broke the silence. “We may have made a grave error in attacking the Shrieel. If the Originator AIs go on a war footing their warship production capacity could soon grow to rival ours. They could become a threat to our empire.”
“They attacked first,” reminded Clondax. “They appeared outside the Median galaxy, destroying two of our picket ships before continuing on into the galaxy and entering the Stralon Star Cluster.”
“They came seeking information,” said Second Leader Fehnral who was responsible for scientific research and development. “Somehow they must have learned we had escaped from the hyperspace interference field surrounding our galaxy. That first fleet was an exploration fleet, not a warfleet.”
“In our conquests of other galaxies we have come across numerous advanced races,” commented Second Leader Queexel. “While highly advanced none were comparable to the Originators or had spread to other galaxies. Victories for our fleets have been easy since we possess superior technology and weapons. That obviously is not the case with the Originator AIs and the proxy race. Their technology and weapons may be equal to ours.”
“There may be civilizations in distant galaxies that might rival our own,” responded Second Leader Fehnral. “We have conquered ten thousand and there are over one hundred billion more. It’s highly probable there are at least a few civilizations out there as highly developed as ours and the Originators. They may even be spread across multiple galaxies.”
“Which makes it even more important that we conquer the Shrieels,” interrupted Second Leader Tarmal, who was responsible for the deployment of warrior robots and Eternal shock troops. “At some point in time if we come up against one of these civilizations we may need the war production capacity of the Shrieels.”
Clondax’s eyes darkened further as he looked at the other members of the council. “I propose we send a mission to Galaxy X-938 to speak to the AIs in charge of that Galaxy’s Shrieel and perhaps to this proxy race of theirs. I will lead the mission and offer them a small degree of autonomy if they will agree to submit to our rule. They may be willing to consider doing so rather than face an all out war.”
“How will you persuade them it is wiser to accept your proposal than to resist us?” asked Second Leader Tallard, who was responsible for military research. “Both attempts to take that Shrieel have failed. They may believe we are not a threat to them.”
“I will show them what the consequences will be if they refuse,” Clondax answered coldly. “I will take a fleet of one hundred thousand warships with me. That should be enough to convince them of the wisdom of agreeing to my proposal. One hundred thousand warships will be more than enough to conquer the Shrieel in Galaxy X-938, and I’m certain they will realize that.”
Queexel stared at the First Leader for a long moment and then spoke. “I will order an increase in warship production to begin immediately.”
“They will not be needed,” proclaimed Clondax, shifting his eyes to Queexel. “We are the Eternals and the Originator AIs and Originator space will soon become part of our growing empire.”
“You forget who you are dealing with,” responded Queexel, his eyes narrowing sharply. “These are Originator AIs and they have defeated a fleet of fourteen thousand of our warships. Fleet Commander Norlan was a qualified war leader. I fear you may be underestimating the AIs and their proxy race. We have no idea how many warships they may have constructed before making their presence known. Remember, in the distant past during the war each Shrieel had a fleet of over ten thousand vessels. How many do they have now?”
Clondax gazed coldly at Queexel. He wasn’t used to being challenged by another councilor. However, he was also an Eternal and knew the wisdom of not underestimating an opponent. “Increase ship production. If my ploy fails then in time we will launch a full-scale attack against O
riginator space and take over all the Shrieels by force.” Clondax was determined to take over the Shrieels one way or the other. Once the Shrieels were under Eternal control, there would be no force in the universe capable of stopping the Eternal war machine.
-
In the Dyson Sphere where the three Federation races had settled, Fleet Admiral Jeremy Strong along with a large number of others stepped off a transport shuttle on the landing field next to the city the Originators and their AIs had built for the Carethians. The tallest structure was no more than ten stories high and made of heavy stone. The city was also more spread out with numerous green belts, large parks, and small lakes.
The Carethians preferred living in packs where large families could stay together. It was not unusual for several families in a clan to live in the same large home. The Carethians believed in honor and tradition and would spend many evenings around campfires telling of past heroics by members of the pack or clan. In the new structures the Originators had built for the Carethians, a large fire pit existed on the bottom floor of each where the pack or packs could gather. They called their homes dens as they had back on Careth.
In the city there were over four hundred thousand Carethians, though the population would probably soon explode as the Bears believed in large families. Around the city on one side were rolling hills that ended next to a small range of tall mountains. The peaks were covered in heavy snow. On the other side of the city, there was a massive forest with tall trees as far as the eye could see. This was ideal for the Carethians as they had a tradition of training their young in the way of the hunt. Fathers would take their sons into the woods and teach them how to survive using only the most primitive tools and weapons.
-
As Jeremy stepped off the shuttle, he was met by a Carethian honor guard commanded by Pack Leader Belal. Due to his closeness with Kelsey and how he had served her honorably in a moment of great crisis, Grayseth had promoted the large Bear to a position of honor. Jeremy also knew Belal had volunteered to lead the Bear security force that would be on board Kelsey and Katie’s new super exploration dreadnought once it was built.
The Originator Wars: Search for the Lost: A Lost Fleet Novel Page 21
