“How many people can this bunker hold?”
“Eighty thousand,” Major Baer answered. “We have twelve of these large bunkers around and below Luna City. There are emergency drills every three months where everyone evacuates the city and comes down to the bunkers. Each family has their own assigned berths in the dormitories as well as assigned schedules to eat in the cafeterias.”
Wade paused, looking sharply at the major. “That’s not nearly enough room for the entire population.” Wade knew over two million people called Luna City their home. There were several other large domed cities on the Moon as well.
“There are numerous small private bunkers throughout the city and the adjoining domes,” answered Baer. “Most are quite capable of surviving if the Kleese manage to hit the city or one of the domes with an antimatter missile.”
Wade knew what the major wasn’t admitting. If more than one antimatter warhead went off some of the bunkers could be compromised, just as they had at Mars Central.
Going into a small command and control room, Wade gazed at the now dormant facility. In case of attack, twenty people would be operating the control consoles that were now silent. Upon the wall, dozens of viewscreens were capable of showing views of Luna City and the surrounding desolate moonscape. Wade sincerely hoped it would never be necessary to activate this control center. If it was, then it would indicate the Zaltule had come to the Solar System in force.
-
General Mitchell was standing in one of Centerpoint Station’s many flight bays inspecting a battlecruiser that would be starting on its space trials the next day.
“That’s the last one,” General Pittman said. “The next group of battlecruisers won’t be ready for three more months. We used all of our resources to get the ones we were already working on finished and ready for combat.”
“I just hope it’s enough,” Mitchell said as he watched several large construction robots carrying crates and other supplies into the ship. Glancing over at General Pittman, he continued. “Robert, I want you to take command of Freedom Station. I need someone over there that I trust implicitly.”
General Pittman was taken aback by the request. “What about General Sampson? I thought she was doing fine commanding the station.”
“She is,” Mitchell replied. “But she has no combat experience. She’ll act as your second in command. I’ve already spoken to her and I’m pretty certain I sensed the sound of relief in her voice when I told her I was sending you over.”
General Pittman nodded. “I’ll arrange to have my personal items sent over to the station immediately. What are we going to do about Holbrook Station? Are you going to order it shut down?”
General Mitchell nodded his head. “I think we have to. It’s too lightly defended, and its energy shield wouldn’t last long against a Zaltule battlecruiser.”
“Darren Kirby won’t like that,” responded Pittman, arching his eyebrow. “He’s been fighting tooth and nail to keep the station open. He’s fully convinced that when we begin trying to calm the earthquakes and volcanoes on Earth Holbrook will be essential in that effort.”
“It would be nice to have since it’s so close to Earth and has all that scientific equipment on board.” The Kiveans in recent years had helped to completely modernize the station’s scientific instruments. Holbrook’s primary job was monitoring Earth and the ongoing changes to its atmosphere and tormented surface.
General Pittman nodded as he stepped back to allow two smaller work robots to go past them. They were carrying tools and headed toward an assault ship still in the bay. “When are you going to tell Kirby to begin evacuating the station?”
“Tomorrow,” General Mitchell replied with a frown. “I’m not looking forward to that conversation as I know Darren’s going to protest very strongly.”
-
The next day, Darren Kirby leaned back in his command chair and shook his head in anger. “Damn generals,” he muttered.
“What’s wrong?” asked Shirley Melvin, who was second in command of the station.
“General Mitchell has ordered us to abandon Holbrook and evacuate to Freedom Station until this crisis with the Zaltule is settled one way or the other.”
“Evacuate the station!” protested Shirley in disbelief. “We have so much work we still need to do. Juan is nearly finished with his latest atmospheric studies, and when he is he’ll have a workable model of what the volcanoes and the earthquakes are doing to Earth’s atmosphere. If we stop before he’s finished, it could set back Earth’s recovery efforts by years!”
Darren looked at a large viewscreen that was always focused on Earth. It was a dim and foreboding planet that filled the screen. Dark clouds covered the surface and occasional flashes of static discharges, very similar to lighting, were visible. The static lightning was caused by all the dust and other pollutants in the atmosphere. Darren knew by now there must be billions of tons of it.
“Juan can set the computers to continue his observations and record the necessary data,” Darren said after a few moments. “Once this crisis is over, we can return and he can finish running his atmospheric program.”
Shirley shook her head unhappily. “We’d better tell Lawrence we’re abandoning the station.”
Lawrence Henderson, chief of operations at Jornada, depended on them to furnish up to the minute weather forecasts for the forays his special salvage ships made around the planet. From the station, they could monitor the weather, volcanoes, earthquakes and even tidal waves. It helped that some of the special equipment the Kiveans had furnished them allowed them to see through the turbulent atmosphere. Granted, much of what they could see was partially computer generated as not even the most powerful equipment could see through some regions of the contaminated atmosphere.
Darren knew he had no choice but to obey his orders. He was pragmatic enough to know if the Zaltule set their sights on Holbrook, it could very easily be destroyed. The station had half a dozen energy cannons and two full sized pulse fusion turrets. It also boasted a powerful energy shield, but it lacked heavy hull armor. Holbrook had been built many years before the Kleese had shown up, back during the time when the Human race still thought they were alone in the universe. It had been built as a waypoint between Smithfield and Earth. Mason Randle would ship heavy metals and refined products to Holbrook where they would then be sent on to Earth to fulfill paid contracts from numerous Earth companies.
Darren missed those old days when everything was so much simpler and Earth was a living and vibrant planet. “Jamie, get Lawrence Henderson on the comm; I need to give him the bad news.”
Darren also wondered if he had been ordered to evacuate Holbrook what special orders Lawrence was given. Darren was well aware of the deep survival bunkers beneath Earth’s only functioning spaceport. If the Zaltule were successful in destroying the rest of humanity in the Solar System, there was a distinct possibility that sometime in the distant future survivors from beneath Jornada would rise up and make their presence known once more to the galaxy at large. Once he was finished speaking to Lawrence, he would have to start working out the evacuation schedule. There were nearly two hundred people currently living and working on the station.
-
In space out between the orbits of Mars and Earth, the heavy battlecruiser Armageddon cruised with her fleet. After much consideration, Fleet Admiral Kelly had combined a number of Earth’s fleets into one large formation. He knew there was the distinct possibility he could be facing several thousand Zaltule battlecruisers, and with ten separate Earth fleets, it would be too difficult to challenge the Zaltule for control of the system. First Fleet currently consisted of twelve heavy battlecruisers, twenty-four regular battlecruisers, seventy-two light cruisers, and one hundred and twenty assault ships. All the ships had the latest weapons and the most powerful energy shields that could be designed. In all, First Fleet’s battle order consisted of two hundred and twenty-eight ships.
The fleet was currently on a rou
tine patrol practicing battle drills and doing occasional short Fold Space jumps to simulate emerging in crisp and ready to fight formations. It was essential the fleet be able to complete these maneuvers smoothly and concisely if they hoped to have any chance of a victory.
“Still no movement from the Zaltule,” muttered Commander Kevin Makita as he read the latest reports from the light cruiser Sparrow.
“Keep in mind those reports are nearly three days old,” Fleet Admiral Kelly said. It was fortunate FTL communications moved far faster than a ship could in Fold Space. It would take a ship three weeks to get from the Kleese trading station in Sector Thirteen to the Solar System. Unfortunately, the Alliance was only six days from the station.
“What are they waiting for?”
Kelly looked over at Makita and shook his head. “Who knows; perhaps more ships?”
“More ships! From where?”
“They could be waiting on exploration ships, assault ships, or even whatever battlecruisers they left scattered throughout their empire as they marched through it conquering all the nonaligned worlds that are not part of the Alliance.”
“All of our battle plans are based on facing a Zaltule fleet of no more than six thousand ships,” Makita said with a deep frown etched across his forehead. “What happens if they attack with more?”
“It will be a battle of attrition,” answered Kelly, shifting his gaze over to the tactical screen showing the friendly green icons of his fleet. He peered closely, seeing the battlecruiser Minotaur was drifting outside the formation. “Lieutenant Jones, contact the Minotaur and order them to close with the formation. I want Commander Lane to relieve whoever is at Navigation and assign them to extra duty. That’s the second time the ship has strayed from its assigned position.”
“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Jones replied.
-
Aboard the Minotaur, Commander Samuel Lane glared at his communications officer. He had ordered the Minotaur to the far side of the fleet formation as he didn’t feel comfortable having his battlecruiser so close to other ships. He wanted room to maneuver if it became necessary. Being inside the tight formation Fleet Admiral Kelly had set up seemed counterproductive to that philosophy.
“Your orders, Commander?” asked Lieutenant Tristan Hays, the ship’s second officer.
“Ease us back into our former position,” Commander Lane ordered unhappily.
Commander Lane had already decided that if it came down to a battle, his ship’s survival was paramount. If he had to move it to the outer regions of the fleet formation or even outside of it, he would without hesitation.
“I’ll be in my quarters if I’m needed,” Lane said after a few moments.
He had known Fleet Admiral Kelly for a number of years and cared little for his tactics. Lane always felt he would have made a better overall commander of the fleets. He had several bottles of liquor in his desk and now was a good time for several stiff drinks.
-
Lieutenant Hays watched as Commander Lane left the Command Center. When he had been assigned to the Minotaur, he had looked at the assignment as a stepping-stone to his own command someday. He had come to be greatly disappointed in how Lane ran the ship. Discipline was poor, the crew suffered from bad morale, and the commander was often absent from the Command Center for long periods of time, even during his own watch. Hays had considered asking for a transfer. Unfortunately, that would have to be approved by Commander Lane, and Hays knew that would never happen. With a deep sigh, he moved to the command chair and spent the next few minutes making sure the Minotaur resumed its correct spot in the fleet formation. He knew when Lane returned he would probably order them to move the ship out of formation again.
-
In the Kivean asteroid, Marken was meeting with a number of Kivean, Human, Delton, Talt, Belen, and Bashan scientists, as well as technicians and military officers. After the Belens fled to the Alliance, President Steward had offered them refuge in the Solar System. Another asteroid had been picked out and a small but comfortable habitat built inside for the Belen survivors.
“So are we all in agreement as to the weapons we shall use to destroy the Zaltule if they attack here?” Marken asked.
“The new mines are being produced in mass at Freedom Station,” Gerald Lawson reported. “General Mitchell has allowed us to modify six assault ships to act as mine layers.”
“The mines should be undetectable to Zaltule sensors,” Larnell added. Larnell was one of the Kiveans who had been part of Marken’s trusted group from the very beginning.
“My only concern is the mines have very limited maneuverability,” Marken pointed out. “They’ll have to be emplaced directly in front of the Zaltule battlecruisers, and the assault ships doing the mine laying will, in all likelihood, be detected.”
“That’s why we set up several traps in the Solar System,” suggested Sub Commander Kith of the Talts. “We emplace the mines and then lure the Zaltule into them by offering to engage in a fleet battle. If our fleet is on one side of the mines and the Zaltule on the other, they’ll have no choice but to fly through them. When they do, the mines will do their jobs.”
Marken nodded his approval. “I’ll leave it up to you and Commander Pasha to work out the details with Fleet Admiral Kelly.” Turning back to Gerald Lawson, he asked the next question. “What about the cargo ships; are they ready?” Marken was referring to the eight hundred older cargo ships furnished by the Alliance. Each one had been equipped with an energy shield and their cargo holds filled with asteroid debris from the system’s mining operations.
“The cargo ships are ready,” confirmed Lawson, glancing at notes he had brought along. “Their energy shields and Fold Space Drives have been tested and will work as needed. When the time comes, we can use them to ram the Zaltule warfleet.”
“Be aware that Fleet Admiral Achlyn feels the Zaltule will be able to intercept many of these cargo ships,” warned Second Commander Baylith of the Deltons. “They will be destroyed well short of the Zaltule fleet.”
“I disagree,” said Sub Commander Kith, shaking his head. “If they’re all deployed at once I believe some will get through.” Kith saw some of the others nod their heads in agreement.
“I believe our other weapon would be far more effective,” commented Daebenn, the esteemed Delton professor of advanced sciences. “If it works, it could destroy the Zaltule fleet.”
“If it works,” repeated Marken with a deep and worried frown on his face. “If we have to use it, we risk destroying the Solar System and all of our races who now call this system home.”
“Is the apparatus ready?” asked First Commander Dasha of the Belen.
“It’s been installed on Earth’s moon,” replied Daebenn. “We’ve run some tests at low power and everything indicates it will function as projected.”
“We’re taking a terrible risk if we turn it on at full power,” commented Larnell. “It may be just as big of a risk as the Zaltule.”
“A weapon of last resort,” stated Marken, fully in agreement with Larnell’s statement. He hadn’t even told Fleet Admiral Kelly or General Mitchell what the weapon was fully capable of. When he did, he wasn’t sure how they would react. “What do the latest projections of the damage we’ll cause to the Solar System show if we activate the weapon?”
Daebenn looked gravely around the group. “There is a forty-two percent chance we’ll lose containment and there will be total destruction. Even if we don’t, there is a seventy-four percent probability of some harm being done to the Solar System if we activate it. However, it will destroy the Zaltule fleet.”
Marken stood and nodded his head. “I will go to Centerpoint Station and inform General Mitchell of what we’ve done. It will be up to him whether to use this ultimate weapon or not.”
-
After the meeting was over, Marken returned home and stepped out onto the balcony overlooking one of the two Kivean cities inside the asteroid. It was so beautiful and peaceful. Looking
down at one of the parks, he could see Kivean children playing. He so wished he and Harnett had been able to have young ones. He had always wondered what it would feel like to be a father. With a deep sigh, he turned and went back inside.
He was gravely concerned the new weapon they had designed was too dangerous to use. If they did use it and they lost control of it, then it could very easily destroy everything they had struggled so hard to build. The Kivean race would be gone as well as the Humans, and his bid to free the galaxy of the Kleese would be at an end. While the weapon might indeed be capable of destroying the Zaltule fleet, with the Solar System gone the remaining Kleese would then destroy what remained of the Alliance and continue on their quest for galactic domination. Marken knew he was in for many sleepless nights as he worried about what the future might hold and what was the right thing to do.
Chapter Seventeen
Military Overlord Harmock gazed at the multiple viewscreens on the wall of the Command Center of the Warrior’s Fire. Zaltule battlecruisers were dropping out of Fold Space by the hundreds. He stamped his six feet upon the metal deck of the Command Pedestal in approval. He could finally begin his final push against the Human led Alliance and the Humans themselves.
“The rest of our fleet is here,” Minor Overlord Gareth said from his position on the Command Pedestal next to Harmock.
“I have heard from War Overlord Tetus,” Harmock said as he turned his triangular shaped head toward Gareth. “The Human fleet reported to be attacking former nonaligned worlds has been met in battle and defeated. He has reported what remains of the fleet is fleeing toward Alliance space and is no longer a threat to the empire.”
Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 5) Page 25
