The Lost Fleet: Search for the Originators: A Slaver Wars Novel

by Raymond L. Weil

  “Marines are taking out every Originator AI in all areas of the ship,” Major Weir reported as he listened to his comm link, which was now functional.

  Kathryn sat back down in her command chair even more confused than before.

  “Entering hyperspace,” reported Sible.

  Camlin looked directly at Leeda. “You’re responsible for this.”

  “Yes,” replied Leeda, staring directly into Camlin’s eyes. “Unlike you, I think there is still a possibility of Originators being in the stasis chambers on board the Dominator. I told Reesa and Clarissa what you were planning.”

  “I found the special programming in the ship’s computer,” added Clarissa. “I set up a counter program that would neutralize it shortly after it was activated. I also spoke to Major Weir informing him of what you were planning. We set up a separate communication system to allow him to contact the Marines on the ship informing them to stun all the AIs on board. It was also necessary to tell a few Marine officers so they would know what to do when the time came.”

  “Why wasn’t I informed?” demanded Kathryn. It seemed that once again Clarissa had circumvented her authority.

  “We were afraid Camlin would realize something was amiss if you were informed, Admiral,” Leeda explained apologetically. “She has been keeping a very close watch on you, and any indication of a change in your behavior might have tipped her off. We couldn’t risk that. Too much was at stake.”

  “I did what I had to do,” proclaimed Camlin, looking back at Kathryn defiantly. “Would you have done any differently to save your people?”

  “Leeda, will the detention cells on the ship hold Camlin and the others until we decide what to do with them?”

  “Yes, Admiral,” Leeda replied. “The cells have structural energy fields and will hold any Originator AI.”

  “How soon before they recover?” asked Kathryn, pointing toward several immobile Originator AIs lying on the deck.

  “A few hours,” replied Clarissa.

  “Sergeant,” Kathryn said, pointing to the AIs and Camlin. “Take them to detention. Make sure sufficient guards are in place.”

  “Do you think you can fight this ship without us?” cried out Camlin. “You could cost us everything with this foolishness. You must not risk the Distant Horizon!”

  “Get her out of my Command Center,” Kathryn ordered the sergeant, who quickly led Camlin out while the others were carried. Kathryn was surprised at all the emotions the Originator AIs had just shown. It was something she would remember in her future dealings with them.

  “Admiral, we’re getting close to Ornellia,” warned Commander Grissim.

  Kathryn nodded. “Take us to Condition One.” Then she looked at Leeda, Reesa, and Clarissa. “When this is over, we’re going to have a long talk. But right now we have a fleet and a world to save.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Admiral Jackson gazed at the nearby tactical display feeling his heart beating faster. It was full of red threat icons inbound toward the Ornellian System. “How soon before they arrive?”

  “Two minutes,” reported Commander Blanton.

  Jackson nodded; they had been tracking the inbound Simulin fleet since it hit the ten light-year mark. Already he had put the fleet at Condition One and sent the warning to Ornellia to prepare for an imminent attack.

  Looking at the numerous viewscreens on the front wall of the Command Center, he could see his other ships as well as several Type Two battlestations. His fleet was in its battle formation backed up to just outside the defensive grid. On one screen, he could see an Alton fifteen-hundred-meter battleship. Next to it was a one-thousand-meter AI warsphere.

  “One minute to dropout,” warned Lieutenant Ortega from his sensor console.

  “All ships stand by to fire,” ordered Admiral Jackson over the ship-to-ship comm. “If they dropout within weapons range we need as many kills as possible before their shields come up.” Jackson knew this was his only real hope for victory. If the Simulins dropped out of hyperspace too close to his fleet, he just might be able to inflict crippling losses on them before their systems stabilized.

  “Dropout,” called out Lieutenant Ortega.

  Jackson watched the viewscreens expectantly as spatial vortexes began to form. With a deep sigh, he knew the Simulins were dropping out of hyperspace too far away from his fleet. The easy kills were not going to happen. “All ships, hold position; let them come to us.” Now it would be a battle of attrition and his fleet was outnumbered nearly ten to one. Glancing at another screen, he could see Ornellia. He didn’t want to think about the panic that must even now be sweeping through the survivors on the planet.

  -

  On Ornellia Dax watched the sensors anxiously. He felt a cold chill spread over him as the sensor screen filled with deadly red threat icons. Admiral Jackson’s fleet was going to be heavily outnumbered.

  “How can Admiral Jackson defeat that?” asked Les, looking over toward Dax. “There are fifteen hundred Simulin warships showing up on the sensors.”

  Dax let out a deep sigh of resignation. “He can’t. If he stays his fleet will be annihilated.”

  “Then everything we’ve rebuilt and all the survivors we’ve gathered are in danger.”

  Dax nodded. “There’s nothing we can do. All we can hope for is to protect those entrusted to us.” Dax knew it would be difficult. There was no doubt the Simulins would eventually detect the hidden bunker beneath the mountain. All it would take would be one powerful nuke getting through the defenses and the dreams of a future Ornellia would die.

  -

  Supreme High Commander Altrab spent a long minute studying the tactical display. There was nothing to indicate any hidden surprises. “Take us in,” he ordered. “Standard attack formation.”

  -

  The Simulin fleet formed up into a wedge-shaped formation and headed toward the center of the defending ships. They would overwhelm it, blow apart the defensive grid, and then begin the nuclear bombardment of the planet. The Conqueror Drone carriers followed at a safe distance behind the fleet.

  -

  “Twelve seconds to extreme weapons range,” reported Captain Dwight Lance from Tactical. Weapons are charged, and missiles are in the tubes.”

  Admiral Jackson leaned forward, gazing at a viewscreen showing a seventeen-hundred-meter Simulin battlecruiser. What concerned Jackson was that five hundred of them were in the Simulins’ wedge formation. As he watched the viewscreen, his heart sank and his breathing quickened. He knew he couldn’t defeat the enemy fleet that was coming toward him.

  “All ships, fire a full spread of antimatter missiles and then energy weapons. Continue to fire missiles as rapidly as they can be loaded.” Jackson knew it took a lot of energy to knock down a Simulin ship’s energy screen. The only advantage they had were the particle beam cannons, which seemed to be able to penetrate the Simulin screens much easier.

  “Commander Blanton, I want the particle beam satellites and the Type Two battlestations to fire as soon as we do.”

  “Yes, Admiral,” Blanton replied.

  “Weapons range,” reported Captain Lance as he pressed several buttons on his console and then touched a number of icons on his screen. His fellow weapons officers sitting on each side of him were doing the same thing.

  -

  From the Human and Alton ships, as well as the AI warspheres, hundreds of sublight antimatter missiles launched and slammed into the shields of the advancing Simulin ships. Particle beam satellites and the Type Two battlestations added their firepower to the fleets, attempting to overwhelm Simulin shields. Power beams, particle beams, and energy beams flashed out, trying to find a way through the powerful Simulin energy screens.

  Space around the Simulin fleet lit up from the fury of the attack. Powerful missiles detonated against Simulin shields, releasing countless megatons of energy. The attack was so massive that a few shields wavered. An antimatter missile penetrated the over tasked shield of a Simulin escort
cruiser. The missile slammed into the stern of the vessel and the cruiser vanished in a fiery explosion as one hundred megatons of energy was released.

  Numerous particle beams were penetrating the stressed shields of Simulin ships. A battlecruiser vanished in a powerful explosion as it was blown apart. A pair of escort cruisers were turned into wreckage as particle beams and power beams ripped through them. Across the Simulin fleet, ships were dying from the powerful attack. Then the Simulin fleet opened fire.

  Powerful energy beams and antimatter missiles tore into the defending fleet. The Alton battlecruiser Star Finder exploded as twenty Simulin energy beams penetrated deep inside the vessel. Two AI warspheres died in fiery explosions of released energy as antimatter missiles detonated against their hulls. An Alton battlecruiser lost power and was turned into a glowing field of drifting debris. Other ships were suffering major damage as their shields were overwhelmed by the Simulin attack.

  -

  The Dauntless shuddered as two antimatter missiles struck her energy shield, severely jarring the ship. The screen seemed to flicker and then the flickering vanished as the screen strengthened.

  “Energy screen is at 80 percent,” reported Captain Lance. “We’re being targeted by a number of Simulin energy beams. Brace yourself!”

  Admiral Jackson gripped the armrests on his command chair as the ship was struck by intense weapons fire.

  “Multiple breaches along the forward hull; we’re venting atmosphere,” the damage control officer reported. “Damage control teams are en route.”

  “Two warspheres have moved in to cover us,” added Commander Blanton.

  “Get me a status report on the damage as soon as possible. All batteries continuous fire,” ordered Admiral Jackson, his eyes watching the tactical displays intently. Green icons were vanishing too fast.

  “We’re losing ships,” Lieutenant Ortega reported in a strained voice. “We’ve lost Two Alton battleships, four Alton battlecruisers, three warspheres, and two Strikecruisers.”

  “The enemy?” asked Admiral Jackson, feeling helpless to prevent the carnage the Simulins were delivering to his fleet.

  “Four battlecruisers and seven escort cruisers,” Ortega answered.

  On one of the viewscreens, a flash of bright light spread across it.

  “Warsphere WS-142 is down,” reported Ortega, trying to keep his voice calm. “The Simulins are also targeting the defensive grid. Over seventy particle beam satellites have been lost so far.”

  Taking a deep breath, Admiral Jackson switched his comm over to the frequency of the battlecarrier Exeter. “Andrew, I want a full bomber attack sent in from all of the battlecarriers. Your targets are any Simulin ships that have suffered substantial battle damage. Maybe the Anlons can get in close enough so they can deliver their Shrike missiles. Have your fighters go in with them to take some of the pressure off the bombers.”

  “Yes, Admiral,” responded Commander Frisk. “Flight bays will be clear in two minutes.”

  Admiral Jackson nodded to himself. He wasn’t happy with this decision. He knew he had just sentenced most if not all of those fighter and bomber pilots to their deaths. However, the confusion caused by the hundreds of fighters and bombers going in might just allow his capital ships to take out more Simulin vessels, maybe enough to thwart this attack. It was a long shot, but for now it was about the only one he had left.

  -

  In space, particle beam fire from an AI warsphere slammed into the main part of a Simulin battlecruiser, setting off massive explosions and hurling glowing debris into space. A Devastator Three missile arrived, blowing the ship in two.

  A pair of Simulin energy beams struck the Federation battlecruiser Livingston, blowing a deep hole in the hull and destroying several energy turrets. The battlecruiser reeled as more Simulin fire covered its weakening energy screen. On board the Livingston, fires were spreading as several secondary explosions rattled the ship.

  -

  Aboard the Exeter Captain Marsha Trask exited the flight bay at the head of her squadron of Anlon bombers. Every bomber was carrying two Shrike missiles each armed with a twenty-megaton warhead.

  “All Raiders form up in standard assault formation,” she ordered over her squadron’s comm frequency.

  “Some mission,” muttered Lieutenant Fry. “Go out and shoot a Simulins warship, any warship, as we’ll be vastly outnumbered. We’ll be lucky to even get a missile off.”

  “Shut up,” a female voice replied hotly. “You should have died on Absom when those Conqueror Drones had you cornered.”

  “Yeah,” another female voice said. “I heard about the brunette you had a date with. I understand she ditched you.”

  “It was a misunderstanding,” Fry replied defensively. “We’re still going to hook up.”

  “Can the chatter,” Marsha ordered. “We have a mission to do. We’re going in with our fighters to target any Simulin ship that seems to have suffered extensive battle damage. Maybe we can take some of the pressure off our warships.” A bright light suddenly lit up space.

  “What was that?” asked one of the male pilots.

  “It was one of our battlecruisers,” answered Fry. “From my sensor readings, I would say it was the Livingston.”

  The comm channel was quiet for a long moment and then Captain Trask gave her next order. “Form up on me and let’s get this done.” Switching over to the general channel, she contacted Captain Scott of the Black Rain fighter squadron. “Captain Scott, are you ready?”

  “Yes, we’ll form up on your squadron’s flanks and try to give you some covering fire. At the very least we should draw some of their defensive fire toward us.”

  “Let’s do it then,” Marsha said as she turned toward the Simulin fleet and accelerated her bomber. She knew in all likelihood she would not be returning to the Exeter. None of them would.

  -

  Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes gazed at the tactical display anxiously. The delay caused by Camlin had put the Distant Horizon behind schedule. She felt like crying every time she saw a friendly green icon disappear from the display. “How much longer?”

  “Forty seconds,” Sible reported. “I’m putting us directly behind the main part of the Simulin wedge formation. Distance will be two thousand kilometers. We’ll be directly between their warships and the Conqueror Drone carriers which are trailing their fleet by ten thousand kilometers.”

  “Captain Weir, are the ship’s weapons ready?”

  “Yes, Admiral,” Weir replied. “We can begin firing within two seconds of hyperspace emergence.”

  “Clarissa, can you help coordinate our weapons fire? I want a spread of antimatter missiles aimed at those Conqueror Drone carriers. Their energy shields will be substantially weaker than their warships. I want them taken out.” Kathryn didn’t want to risk any of the deadly drones getting loose on Ornellia.

  “Yes, Admiral,” Clarissa responded. “I recommend we hit their warships with all of our main weapons upon emergence. We can direct our antimatter missiles toward the Conquer Drone vessels. I calculate it will take two missiles each to annihilate one of their drone carrier vessels. After that it will take thirty seconds for the energy-siphoning field to fully activate. From my calculations, it will take in nearly 89 percent of the Simulin fleet.”

  Kathryn nodded. The drone carriers were out of range of the energy-siphoning field and that was why she wanted them targeted with the sublight antimatter missiles.

  “Ten seconds, Admiral,” Sible reported. “We should be dead on target.”

  “Stand by,” ordered Kathryn, leaning forward expectantly in her command chair. The Distant Horizon was about to announce its return to battle against the Simulins in a big way.

  “Emergence!” cried out Sible.

  “Fire!” ordered Kathryn as she saw another AI warsphere explode on the viewscreen, which was now showing a clear view of the battle.

  “Missiles launched,” reported Clarissa.

  “Energy
weapons firing,” added Major Weir.

  -

  The Distant Horizon stormed out of the spatial vortex with weapons firing and missiles launching. Behind the ship, massive explosions suddenly wracked the Conqueror Drone carriers as fourteen of them died instantly from the deadly missile attack. The second round of missiles took out the last twelve, leaving only glowing debris behind.

  Gravitonic cannons sent beams of destruction toward the unsuspecting Simulin fleet. Two Simulin battlecruisers exploded in brilliant fireballs as the gravitonic beams tore them apart. The ship’s antimatter projectors flashed through a Simulin energy screen, tearing an escort cruiser open from bow to stern. The ship’s particle beam cannons struck a Simulin battlecruiser, turning it instantly into a drifting wreck. Those were just the primary weapons.

  On the ship’s hull secondary weapons began firing, sixteen antimatter projectors as well as eight more gravitonic cannons. Chaos spread through the Simulin fleet as the backside of the wedge formation became filled with dying Simulin ships. Forty-eight power beam turrets added their deadly fire to the mix. The missile tubes were retargeted and 100-megaton antimatter missiles began launching in rapid launch mode. There were thirty-six missile tubes and each was launching a missile every ten seconds. The entire back side of the Simulin wedge lit up like a nova had just overtaken it.

  -

  “What the hell?” said Admiral Jackson as he rose instinctively to his feet at seeing the chaos sweeping the far side of the Simulin formation.

  “We have a ship that has exited hyperspace behind the Simulin formation,” reported Lieutenant Ortega. “It’s opened fire on the Simulins! It’s already destroyed all twenty-six Conqueror Drone carriers!”

  “Is that the Dominator?” asked Commander Blanton. “It’s the only ship I know of that can cause that type of damage.”

  “Scan that ship!” ordered Admiral Jackson. “I want to know who it is and where it came from.” Even as he spoke those words, the Dauntless suddenly seemed to heave upwards, sending Jackson crashing to the deck.

  Struggling to stand, Jackson stumbled back to his command chair. Looking around, he saw smoke and sparks everywhere. Several consoles were on fire. Alarms were screaming from the damage control board and red lights were rapidly blinking on. Admiral Jackson blinked his eyes and looked around the Command Center to see if everyone was okay.