“The government of New Providence currently has control of all of the old Federation worlds and outposts,” answered Hedon, recalling their recent discussion about colonization. “There will be some colonization allowed, but I suspect it will be heavily restricted at first.”
“As it should be,” Alvin nodded in approval. “Those worlds belong to the people of New Providence, and they should have complete say so in how many colonists come in so as not to upset their way of life.”
A buzzer sounded in the kitchen and Janice’s mom stood up with a smile on her face. “I hope everyone’s hungry; I’ve cooked Janice’s favorite meal to celebrate the two of you being here. Come on Linda, help me set the table.”
Hedon watched the two women go into the kitchen and then turned his attention back to Janice’s father. “How’s the war affected life here on Horizon?”
“Not too badly,” answered Alvin, leaning back and relaxing on the sofa. “There’s a shortage of things occasionally, but nothing we can’t do without. The planetary government has been doing everything it can to try to keep life normal while supporting the war effort. How much longer do you think this war is going to last?”
Hedon thought about what the AIs were building at the galactic center. He couldn’t tell Alvin anything about that; all of that information was highly classified. “We’ve pushed the Hocklyns back far enough that the new Federation is pretty safe. The AIs have withdrawn to the galactic center and haven’t ventured out for a while, which has allowed us to increase our pressure on the Hocklyns. We’re also in the process of developing new allies on some of the former Hocklyn slave worlds, so as time goes by we should have more help with the war, which should take some pressure off the Federation.”
“That’s good to hear,” Alvin said with a nod. “There was a time a few years back when I wondered if we were even going to survive.”
“We all did there for a while,” admitted Hedon, thinking briefly about the battle around New Tellus.
“Those days are behind us, Dad,” Janice spoke. “We’re winning the war now, thanks to Hedon, and at some point it'll be over.”
“That day can’t come soon enough,” Alvin said, wishing it would be finished quickly so he could see his daughter more often.
“Supper’s ready,” Linda said, sticking her head out the kitchen doorway. “I hope everyone’s hungry because Mom’s fixed a lot!”
-
After they'd eaten, Janice and Hedon took a walk outside. The Duncan’s home was close to some woodlands and a number of large trees were on the backside of the property.
“It’s peaceful out here,” Hedon commented as they came to a stop beneath a large tree resembling an Earth oak.
Janice smiled and took Hedon’s hand. “Mom asked about the sleeping arrangements for tonight, whether we needed one room or two.”
Hedon felt embarrassed and looked questionably at Janice.
“Relax, I told Mom two; you’ll be in the guest bedroom next to mine, but when this war is over we won’t be sleeping in separate rooms.”
Hedon turned and faced Janice and then bent his head, kissing her passionately and pulling her close. “No,” he agreed after a long moment. “I think one is all we’ll need.”
Janice pulled herself back with a laugh, feeling her pulse racing and feeling very warm all of a sudden. “At least that gives me something to look forward to.”
-
They stayed for two days and then left Horizon. Hedon had gotten to know Janice’s family extremely well, particularly her sister Linda. Linda, once she overcame her nervousness about speaking to Hedon, had been full of a thousand questions. As the shuttle climbed upward, Hedon couldn’t help but wonder what was next. Battle plans had been made and more ships were being rushed to New Providence. It was time for the next phase of the war to begin. Hundreds of years ago, the Hocklyns and AIs had attacked the home worlds of the original Human Federation of Worlds. Now it was Hedon’s turn to do the same to the Hocklyns.
Chapter Nine
Eight Months until doomsday.
Jeremy let out a deep breath as Fourth Fleet dropped out of hyperspace into the new star system. He leaned forward expectantly, waiting for the viewscreens to clear of static. The fleet was on a deep probe mission toward the Hocklyn home worlds. They'd brought Grayseth and his Carethian fleet along to give them some combat experience in case they encountered the enemy. Grayseth’s new mobile shipyard was also present to try it out in a combat situation. To ensure it stayed safe, Jeremy had assigned two Alton battlecruisers and ten light cruisers to guard it, even though Grayseth had claimed it was well protected with its own defensive weapon systems.
“Status!” uttered Jeremy as he waited impatiently for the screens to clear. He hated these few moments when the fleet was without sensor readings; it make him feel vulnerable not knowing what was out there.
“Patience, Jeremy,” Ariel spoke in a comforting voice. “The screens are already starting to clear and sensor readings are beginning to come in.”
“No nearby contacts!” Kevin reported as the first short-range sensor sweep was completed. “Long-range sensors are scanning.”
“All ships, including the Carethian ones, have completed their jumps,” Commander Malen reported. “Admiral Marks is launching her CSP and the rest of her squadrons are at the ready. Fleet is at Condition Two and prepared for combat.” Commander Malen looked with satisfaction around the Command Center as it hummed with activity. This was a well-trained crew, and they were very efficient at their jobs.
Jeremy nodded as tactical information finally began to show on one of the nearby displays in front of him. A number of friendly green icons appeared in three distinct groups, signifying Jeremy’s task force, Admiral Mark’s carrier task force, and Grayseth’s Carethian task force. The large mobile shipyard was at the center of Grayseth’s force. Admiral Cleeteus had his Alton battlecruisers mixed in with Jeremy’s task force ready to be used for support at a moment’s notice.
“Hostile contacts!” reported Kevin as red threat icons began showing up on his screens around a distant planet. He quickly transferred the information to the tactical hologram displays.
Jeremy nodded as he watched the threat icons appear. There was an inhabited slave planet in this system, and they were only two hundred light years away from the Hocklyn home worlds, which meant this planet had been under Hocklyn control for a very long time. This attack was to serve two primary purposes, to destroy the defending Hocklyn fleet and obliterate the food production facilities on the planet. This would be the closest a Human fleet had come to the Hocklyn home worlds, thus far, during the war.
Commander Malen watched the tactical display for a few moments, waiting for the Hocklyns to take notice of Fourth Fleet’s arrival. She could tell when they did as the Hocklyn ships begin to form up rapidly into a defensive formation. The Hocklyn commodore must surely be upset to see a numerically superior Federation fleet in his system, particularly this close to the Hocklyn home worlds. “The Hocklyns have detected us,” she reported turning to Jeremy with a wolfish grin. “Should we jump in and engage?” With the firepower at Fourth Fleet’s disposal, they should be able to decimate the Hocklyn fleet with relative ease.
Jeremy smiled; Malen seemed to enjoy combat at times, particularly when they had the advantage. “Inform all ships to prepare to jump to just outside the planet’s gravity well. The mobile shipyard and its escorts will remain at this location.” Jeremy wasn’t too concerned about the safety of the shipyard. It was heavily armed and had both fighters and bombers to protect it as well as the dozen ships Jeremy had assigned to its defense.
“Detecting a large space station in orbit as well as numerous cargo ships in the system,” Kevin added as more icons began appearing on the tactical displays. “I’m showing twenty-two cargo ships either docked to the station or in the process of leaving the planet’s gravity well.”
Jeremy activated the ship-to-ship frequency on his mini-com so he cou
ld speak to all of his ships’ commanding officers. “All ships go to Condition One; use of antimatter missiles and Devastator Threes is authorized except on any planetary targets. We want this Hocklyn fleet neutralized and the space station captured intact.”
“Captured intact?” a confused Commander Malen said. “Why?”
“Admiral Streth’s orders,” replied Jeremy, evenly. “I’ll explain more when we go into orbit.”
“All ships ready to jump,” Ensign Striker reported from the Helm.
“Grayseth is reporting ready to kill the Evil Ones,” Angela reported from Communications with a grin. “He sounds anxious!”
Jeremy nodded. He understood how Grayseth was feeling. This would be his first battle aboard his flagship, Warrior’s Pride.
“Jump!” he ordered as he gripped the armrests on his chair and leaned expectantly forward.
“Jumping,” reported Ensign Striker as he turned the gold key on his console.
Instantly, in front of the fleet ships, blue-white spatial vortexes began to form, into which the ships flew unhesitatingly. Moments later, the vortexes collapsed, leaving no trace of their existence. Only the mobile shipyard and the twelve ships assigned as its escorts remained.
-
Aboard the mobile shipyard, Daelthon nodded his approval as he watched his fellow Carethians jump to engage the Hocklyns. It was good that his people were now taking an active part in the war against the Evil Ones. This was something that Grayseth and many others had been craving for years.
Malith and Karalle looked at each other nervously. They'd been aboard the shipyard at Careth during the final battle there; it felt strange to be in an alien star system and once more facing the oppressors of their world. They were so far away from home, but they had faith that Grayseth and Daelthon would keep them safe.
“Have all personnel stand by to receive damaged ships in the repair bays,” Daelthon ordered in a commanding voice. They would see very shortly just how well trained the crew on the Clan Protector was. Daelthon lumbered over to one of the large tactical displays. He wanted to watch the battle close up and the huge hologram was the best way to do so.
-
Fourth Fleet exited hyperspace at the edge of the targeted planet’s gravity well. Around it, other blue-white vortexes discharged more Federation, Alton, and Carethian warships. In moments, the massive Federation fleet had formed up and was moving into the gravity well of the planet.
“Numbers and types of enemy ships!” demanded Jeremy as he watched the red threat icons on one of the displays. He had the enemy far outnumbered and with the fifteen Alton battlecruisers in his fleet, he felt confident of being able to handle the Hocklyns with limited losses.
“Two dreadnoughts, eight warcruisers, and twenty escorts,” Kevin answered as the data came across one of the three computer screens in front of him.
“Two dreadnoughts,” spoke Commander Malen, arching her eyebrows. “For as small as that fleet is, it’s still pretty powerful.”
“We go with plan Beta,” Jeremy said as he eyed his opponents. The Hocklyns had formed up into a close defensive formation to support one another and were already launching fighters.
“Two hundred fighter launches detected,” Kevin reported as he watched the small swarm of Hocklyn fighters accelerating toward the Federation ships.
Rear Admiral Susan Marks had been watching also, and from four of her eleven battlecarriers, twenty squadrons of Talons launched and accelerated rapidly so as to intercept the Hocklyns well before they could attempt to ram any Federation ships. Everyone knew what the Hocklyns had done to Admiral Sheen’s fleet with suicide attacks.
-
Major Thurman felt the acceleration push him back into his seat as his fighter raced toward the inbound Hocklyns. Reaching forward, he adjusted the fighter’s inertial compensator to alleviate the pressure. When he got back on board the Retribution he would speak to the deck chief about it. It should have adjusted automatically.
“At least this time we have the numbers,” commented Lieutenant Riley, who was serving as Thurman’s wingman. “I could get used to this.”
“Like shooting fish in a barrel,” bragged Lieutenant Stark. “These should be easy kills.”
“Only these fish shoot back,” Captain Julie Brice, one of the squadron leaders, replied. “Take your eyes off them for a moment and they’ll nail your ass!”
“Can the chatter, people,” Major Thurman ordered. “Use our missiles on the first pass, then engage fighter to fighter. I want to make short work of these Hocklyns and I expect to see all of you back on the carrier. I don’t want to see a single Hocklyn missile launched at our ships!”
“Coming up on missile range,” Julie reported.
“I have missile lock,” uttered Lieutenant Riley. His words were shortly echoed by dozens of others.
“Fire!” Thurman ordered as he fired off one of his two Hunter missiles, which streaked unerringly toward the Hocklyn fighter he'd targeted. Moments later, he was rewarded with a brilliant flash as the missile blew its target apart. Other explosions began to sweep across the inbound Hocklyn fighter formation as more missiles found their mark.
“Let’s finish them off,” Thurman ordered as he changed his fighter’s trajectory to bring his 30mm cannons into line with another Hocklyn fighter.
“Hocklyns, here I come!” yelled Lieutenant Stark.
“Watch your six, Stark!” Captain Brice warned as she saw the enthusiastic pilot began to pull away from his wingman.
Major Thurman pressed the firing button on his flight control and two lines of tracers reached out and tapped the Hocklyn fighter in front of him, stitching a deadly path across the cockpit, killing the reptilian pilot. Then the fighter exploded as its energy source was compromised. Glancing quickly around, Thurman saw the other Hocklyn fighters were quickly being decimated by the Talons. There were bright explosions all around signifying dying enemy fighters.
Looking at his sensor screen, he saw that only four Human fighters had been lost so far. “Keep up the pressure,” he ordered over the squadron’s com channel. “Don’t let any of them get to the fleet!”
-
“Looks like our fighters are having an easy time of it,” Commander Malen commented as she watched the red threat icons in the tactical display being rapidly reduced.
“Nearing combat range of the Hocklyn fleet,” Lieutenant Preston reported as he spoke to his weapon techs making sure they were ready to fire the ship’s weapons on command.
“Alton ships are jumping,” Kevin reported as spatial vortexes formed in front of them and they quickly vanished, only for the vortexes to reform almost immediately within close proximity to the Hocklyn fleet.
The Alton ships were the only ships in the Federation fleet that could jump within a planet’s gravity well. All fifteen ships had been ordered to take out the two vessels that were the biggest threat to Fourth Fleet, the two twelve hundred-meter Hocklyn dreadnoughts.
“Alton battlecruisers are firing,” Commander Malen spoke as she eyed several of the large viewscreens, which were now focused on the two Hocklyn dreadnoughts. She could feel her pulse hammering as she watched the attack.
On the screens, dozens of bright blue particle beams could be seen smashing into the Hocklyns’ energy screens, causing them to glow brightly. For a moment, it seemed as if the screens were going to hold, and then several areas flickered and weakened, allowing a number of the beams to strike the armored hulls of the vessels. Instantly, massive fiery explosions were visible as large sections of hull material were blasted away into space.
Both ships seemed to stagger as internal explosions compromised numerous vital systems. Almost simultaneously, the energy screens on both dreadnoughts went down. Seeing the screens vanish, both dreadnoughts were bracketed by ten sublight antimatter missiles each. In the center of the Hocklyn formation, two new suns formed where the dreadnoughts once were.
“Dreadnoughts are down,” reported Kevin, breathlessly
.
“We’re in weapons range,” Lieutenant Preston said, looking back at the admiral.
“Fire!” Jeremy uttered his eyes focused on the viewscreens, which were now shifting to other ships in the Hocklyn formation. The Altons had done their job, now it was the rest of Fourth Fleet’s turn.
From Fourth Fleet, missile hatches slid open and Devastator Three and antimatter missiles flashed out of their tubes. Violet power beams slashed out to strike Hocklyn energy screens. Across the Hocklyn fleet, massive explosions rolled across their formation.
-
The Hocklyn ships began spreading their formation as the surviving War Leaders on the warcruisers realized it had been a mistake to form up in such a densely packed formation. The destruction of the two dreadnoughts had damaged a few ships that had been too close. To make matters worse, now the Alton ships were targeting other Hocklyn ships and the Humans were beginning to fire as well. Hocklyn ships were being blasted apart under the intense attack.
-
Grayseth bared his teeth as a Hocklyn escort cruiser died under the heavy fire of his flagship. His battleship was just as heavily armed as one of the Humans'. “Keep firing,” he roared as he saw another ship of the Evil Ones die from his fleet’s fire. He looked around the Command Center approvingly as his warriors fired the ship’s weapons nonstop at their hated enemies.
-
“The Warrior’s Pride got a confirmed kill,” reported Kevin, looking over at Jeremy. He knew that Grayseth must be feeling extremely pleased at finally getting to use his new warships against the Hocklyns. Kevin turned his eyes back to his screens just in time to see the friendly green icon representing one of the fleet’s light cruisers swell up and vanish. “Light cruiser Melbourne is down.”
Jeremy nodded. Even though he had the Hocklyns vastly outnumbered and overpowered, it was too much not to expect a few losses, not when they had so many warcruisers. “Keep firing,” he ordered evenly. “I want every Hocklyn ship destroyed!”
The Slaver Wars: Endgame Page 12
