Dylan looked over at the executive officer. “Yes, propaganda. We want the Zaltule to think we’re returning to the heart of their empire. If we succeed the Zaltule may pull their fleet back, which will give Fleet Admiral Rivers the time he needs to finish training the crews of his new warships.”
“What do we do if the Zaltule show up?”
“We’re going to try to be gone before that happens. We’ll change our course and move on to other worlds farther into the empire but not on a direct line toward their core worlds. Once we hit a few of those worlds, we’ll begin our return home.”
Commander Greer had been listening. “Will we hit any worlds on our way back?”
“No,” Dylan answered. “By then the Kleese and particularly the Zaltule will be looking for us. Our main priority will be making it back to Alliance space without being discovered. Fleet Admiral Kelly wants this task force returned intact if possible.”
“And if they find us?” asked Captain Damon with a hint of concern in her voice.
Dylan’s face took on a serious look. “Then we fight. We have a pretty powerful force and the Kleese will find we’re not a pushover.”
“What about other targets?” asked Commander Greer. “Are we limiting ourselves to former nonaligned worlds only?”
Dylan hesitated; there had been several long discussions about this very idea. “The Kiveans, Deltons, and Talts have furnished us with a list of very lucrative targets close to our line of flight. If we have the opportunity, we may attempt to take a few of them out. It just depends on the type of resistance we find on the nonaligned worlds. While we believe a schism has occurred in the Kleese Empire between two of the commanding factions, there are still a lot of exploration ships flying around as well as thousands of assault ships. Once we launch our attacks, we might find it difficult to remain undetected.”
-
The three spoke for a few more minutes and then Dylan left the Command Center to do an inspection of the Marines on board the Defender. He had a very competent staff of officers. Captain Jaime Stern and Captain Nicole Foster were in charge of the Marines on the ship. They were both experienced officers and had served with Colonel Nelson as well as with former Colonel Beth Nelson. They had brought with them a cadre of experienced Marines that should be able to handle any situation they ran into.
Major Jeffries wanted to come along, but Colonel Nelson had convinced him he would be of better use at Vesta working with General Bailey on organizing the asteroid’s defenses. Of all the colonies in the Solar System, the one they couldn’t afford to lose was Vesta. It was the glue that held the Human race together, particularly since the destruction of Earth.
As Dylan walked through the corridors of the Defender, he couldn’t help but notice how immaculate everything was. Discipline was strictly enforced and occasionally he passed a Marine, who was down on his hands and knees scrubbing the deck. Dylan allowed himself to smile. While the new Marine Corps was much different from the older one, some things never changed.
Chapter Six
Colonel Wade Nelson was in the Kivean asteroid visiting with Marken and Harnett. The sixty-kilometer asteroid was the home to eighty-one thousand Kiveans, some of whom had helped organize the original escape from the Kleese trading station where Wade and his captured Marines had been serving as conscripts. Those long months that Wade and the others had been forced to serve the Kleese were the worst months of Wade’s life. It had been a nightmare and something he wished he could forget. There were memories from those months which would always haunt him.
The other Kiveans had been rescued when the Humans had led a rescue mission to Kivea. Many of the Kivean scientists and their families had been rescued in that raid and had been brought back to the Kivean asteroid. Unfortunately, as a result of their mission, the Kleese had returned to Kivea and used antimatter missiles to make the entire planet uninhabitable.
There were two cities inside the asteroid, the original one where Marken and the six thousand Kiveans that had escaped from the trading station lived and a much larger city of seventy-five thousand where the survivors rescued from Kivea had taken up residence. The cities were both beautiful and something out of a fantasy. They resembled those that had been prevalent on their home world, sporting tall, slender towers with slim metallic bridges connecting them at different levels. The buildings were in multiple colors and of various shapes and sizes.
“I’m so glad the three of you could come,” said Harnett, gazing with excitement at the small baby Beth was holding. This was the first time Beth had brought the baby boy to the asteroid.
“We should have come sooner,” replied Beth, sitting down next to Harnett. “Do you want to hold him?”
Harnett nodded and allowed Beth to nestle the baby in the crook of her arm.
Marken watched, feeling sad at heart. Due to medical procedures the Kleese had forced on Harnett and the other females of the Kivean race on the trading station, she could not have children. It was a shame as Harnett was so good with them.
“I understand you received a message from Fleet Admiral Rivers today,” Marken said, looking over at Wade.
“Another refugee fleet is coming to the Solar System,” Wade replied, turning his gaze away from Beth and Harnett. He was still getting used to being a father. After being involved in the war for so long, it was a big change to have the added responsibility of bringing up a child. Fortunately, anytime Beth had a problem with Erick, Wade’s mother was only a phone call away.
Marken looked surprised. “There are only a few nonaligned worlds left that haven’t joined the Alliance. Is it from one of them?”
“Yes; from Bashan. An Admiral Hiath is leading a large fleet of warships as well as a few civilian vessels. They’ve requested sanctuary in the Solar System for their civilians and exchange they will place their warfleet under our command.”
“Bashan,” said Marken, his forehead wrinkling in a frown. “Didn’t Hyram ask them to join the Alliance a few months back?”
Wade nodded his head. “Yes, but they refused. It seems the Kleese showed up with a large fleet and Admiral Hiath, rather than risk losing all of his ships in a hopeless battle, escaped. He had already arranged to get a number of civilians off Bashan into some waiting passenger and cargo ships. From what Admiral Rivers said a large number of scientists and technicians are in the civilian part of the fleet.”
“How many warships is the admiral bringing?” asked Harnett as she gently rocked the baby in her arms.
“Quite a large fleet,” Wade answered with a pleased smile. “Over Four hundred support vessels and two hundred and four battlecruisers.”
“That is substantial,” murmured Marken, his eyes widening. His idea of using the Humans to take down the Kleese Empire was now showing huge dividends. With the Talt, Delton, and now Bashan ships it gave the Humans a very large fleet in the Solar System. Also, the Humans were building new vessels of their own at a greatly expanded rate. His dream of seeing the Kleese Empire come to an end was growing more likely every day.
“Fleet Admiral Kelly was quite pleased when he heard the numbers and that they wished to be placed under his command,” added Beth as she watched Harnett and the baby.
“I presume we need to hollow out an asteroid to build a home for the Bashans?” Marken said as he wondered which asteroid would suffice. “Do we know how large the civilian population is they’re bringing?”
“Not that large,” Wade said sadly. “From what I understand their planet’s chancellor knew nothing about the planned evacuation so only a minimal number of ships were used.”
“Why didn’t the chancellor know?” asked Harnett as she gently patted Erick. “From what I remember of the briefings we attended earlier in the year, the Bashans had quite a large fleet of cargo vessels and passenger liners.”
Wade sighed and shook his head. “Chancellor Odis didn’t believe that the Kleese would attack their system. He felt their fleet and the substantial defensive grid they’d put arou
nd their planet would discourage the Kleese from violating the neutrality agreement.”
“Guess we know how that worked,” murmured Harnett in a somber voice. The baby had fallen asleep and was resting quietly in her arms.
Marken stood up and indicated for Wade to follow him. He didn’t want to disturb the baby as he could tell from the happy look on Harnett’s face she was really enjoying her time with the young child.
-
Stepping out onto a balcony overlooking the Kivean city, Marken turned to face Wade. “The Zaltule will be coming soon. They know that unless they can defeat your race, their empire is in danger of slipping away from them. That’s why, over the last few months, the Zaltule have been conquering all the remaining nonaligned worlds that hadn’t joined the Alliance.”
Wade nodded. “Yes, Fleet Admiral Kelly and General Mitchell have come to the same conclusion. I know they met with President Steward recently to apprise him of the threat. The president gave his approval to install more ion cannons around all the colonies in the Solar System as well as strengthening the defensive grids, particularly the ones over Mars and the Moon.”
Marken looked out over the city. The brightly colored buildings, which soared high above the ground and the slim walkways that connected them to one another were breathtaking. Though he had spent most of his life on board a Kleese trading station, he knew what the cities on Kivea had looked like. He was also sad that all of those cities had been destroyed by the Kleese. So much culture and history had been erased in the antimatter bombing, let alone all the Kiveans who had died. Thanks to the Humans, his people had built a new world inside this asteroid free of the Kleese. Kivean scientists were some of the best in the known galaxy and doing everything they could to help in the war effort.
“I fear the Zaltule know if they can conquer the Solar System and eliminate the Human threat, the Alliance will collapse,” he said in an even voice. “I strongly suspect the Zaltule will attack here and not in Alliance space.”
Wade was silent as he thought over Marken’s words. The Solar System was heavily defended with every colony protected by ground-based ion cannons and other weapons. However, it was rumored the Zaltule had well over six thousand battlecruisers under their command. Wade knew there wasn’t a system in the Alliance that could withstand such an attack. He also knew the Solar System couldn’t either.
Looking out across the city, Wade could see a number of Kiveans in the lush green parks and walking between buildings. It was strange to see Kivean children. The children had come with their parents when the Kivean rescue mission had returned. The Kiveans had done so much to help the Human race. Wade wasn’t sure they would have survived without the higher science and technology the Kiveans had brought with them. There was already some talk about launching a terraforming project on Earth to cleanse its atmosphere of all the pollutants as well as to calm the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions still shaking the planet. The Kiveans had been quite adamant that they could correct many of these issues if the Humans could dedicate the resources. Unfortunately, with the present war situation, the resources weren’t available.
Wade turned back toward Marken. Over the years, he had grown to consider Marken a close friend and developed a special bond of trust with the Kivean. “So you believe it’s a false assumption that since the Alliance is between us and Kleese space they’ll attack it first? I know General Mitchell and Fleet Admiral Kelly have considered both possibilities.”
“Yes,” Marken said emphatically. “If it were the normal Kleese then yes, they would probably attack the Alliance, but we’re dealing with the Zaltule. They’re warriors and sound strategists and will attack the Solar System first.”
Wade’s eyes wandered down toward the nearest park where he could see several Kivean families. The children were playing a game kicking a ball around like any normal Human children would be. He sighed deeply, wondering how Fleet Admiral Kelly and General Mitchell would take the news that the Zaltule were coming for them and not the Alliance. As Wade thought about it, he realized how much sense strategically it made. If the Humans and their fleets could be eliminated, then the Zaltule could probably conquer the Alliance with minimal effort. Most of the admirals in the Alliance had very little experience in actual combat. That was one of the reasons Human battlecruisers were being placed in most of their fleet formations.
“Marken,” he said after a moment. “We need to find a way to defeat the Kleese if they attack us here.”
The Kivean looked long and hard at Wade. “That won’t be easy.”
“Of course not,” Wade responded. “However, between your people, the Talts, the Deltons, and now the Bashan, there must be a solution.”
“A new weapon,” murmured Marken as he frowned deeply. “Something that would be instantly fatal to a Zaltule battlecruiser.”
“Is it possible?”
“I don’t know,” Marken replied. “We may not have the time to develop such a weapon.”
“Is there anything we can do to modify an existing weapon system?”
“I’ll call a meeting of some of the preeminent scientists and technicians. Perhaps we can come up with something, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up. What you’re asking may be beyond us.”
Wade nodded. “I’ll speak to General Mitchell and inform him of what you’ve told me today. I don’t think he’ll take it very well.”
“We have some time yet,” Marken said. “Particularly if Admiral Adamson can give the Zaltule reason to pause in their attack.”
“Let’s just hope he’s successful.”
“Harnett is planning on fixing a special meal for all of us,” Marken said after a moment. “Let’s not talk about the war anymore. Your family is part of mine, and let us enjoy that kinship for the rest of our time together today.”
“Sounds fine to me,” Wade said. He knew Harnett as well as being a medical doctor was a fabulous cook. He had sampled her cooking more than once and never been disappointed.
-
Beth and Harnett were discussing the cloning facility inside Vesta, which was being run by former President Mason Randle. Harnett visited the facility on a regular basis to help evaluate the cloning techniques hoping to reduce the failure rate. No matter how hard they tried, a few clones in every batch were still nonfunctional and had to be destroyed.
Beth was watching Harnett rocking Erick. “Have you ever thought about creating a clone of either you or Marken? You could take it out of the cloning chamber at an early age and raise it as your own.”
A strange look crossed Harnett’s face, and she glanced toward where Marken and Wade were still out on the balcony talking. She leaned over closer to Beth and spoke in a soft voice. “Actually, I have. I’ve been working with DNA samples from Marken and myself and combining them in different sequences to create a unique child that would have characteristics from both of us. I’m very close to making it work.”
“That’s wonderful,” said Beth, knowing how badly Harnett wanted a child of her own.
“Malton’s been helping me,” continued Harnett. Malton was a Kivean geneticist.
“How close are you?”
“A couple of months, if we’re lucky.”
Beth nodded. “I hope it works. How’s the training of Mason Randle’s niece going?”
Harnett smiled. “Karen’s doing great!” In another two years she’ll have completed the first phase of her training and can begin doing fieldwork. She wants to go into advanced medicine specializing in nanotechnology.”
Beth laughed. She had met Karen on several occasions and recognized the young woman was very talented. It wasn’t surprising considering who her uncle was. “We can use more like her.”
“Yes, she’s interning at the main medical center in the New Eden habitat.” The New Eden habitat was inside Vesta and the home to over one and a half million Humans and clones. “She spends two days a week going on rounds with either me or another Kivean doctor I’ve assigned to help in her training
. She already understands more about Kivean medical techniques than most human doctors ten years older than she is.”
“I’m glad,” Beth responded. “I’m sure Susan and Michael are proud of her.”
Harnett looked at Beth and then down toward the baby still sound asleep in her arms. “Do you ever regret resigning your commission?”
Beth hesitated and took a deep breath. “Sometimes. I made a lot of friends in the Marines, and the battles we fought were all very important. But I saw enough people die to last me a lifetime. I still have nightmares about our time on the trading station and the things the Kleese forced us to do. I know Wade does too.”
“Those were harrowing times,” Harnett said in agreement. “For years the Kleese forced us to do things which were revolting to our way of life. Even on the trading station and in the dome that was our home we tried to respect life and live as our people on Kivea did. It was very difficult, and we had nearly given up hope of ever changing the situation when the Kleese brought you and the other Humans on board. When they did, it changed everything as Marken and our other leaders realized this was the opportunity we had waited so many years for. In those early days when you were on the station, Marken and the others were forced to do things they regret to this day. I can well remember Marken coming home in the evenings or after a mission and complaining about what the Kleese had ordered him and the others to do.”
“We’ve spoken of this before,” Beth said. “In times of war, we all do things we wished had turned out differently. Right now all I want to do is raise our son and enjoy my time away from the war.”
“How’s your mother doing?”
“Fine, for her age. She’s having a few memory problems and sometimes I have to remind her who I am or who Wade is. The retirement home she’s staying at is taking good care of her. She really seems to perk up when I bring the baby around.”
“Wade’s parents?”
Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 5) Page 8
