Empire's Birth (Empire Rising Book 9)

by D. J. Holmes

  Within seconds Emilie got her answer. After speaking, the Folian raised one of its mandibles, “All in favor of dismissing Captain Kansas’ testimony?” Emilie’s heart sank as three more hands shot up immediately. The Folian had a majority. When a fifth hand was raised Emilie bit back a curse. Only Xamon had not voted against her. She had failed to convince any of them. When she turned to the Gramrian to at least give a nod of thanks, a squeak escaped her lips when she saw Xamon slowly raise her hand as well. The apologetic look Xamon gave Emilie did nothing to quell her emotions. “Fools, all of you are fools,” she snarled.

  In anger she jumped to her feet. “Come on,” she said to Alvarez. “We’re not waiting around here for them to decide they want to detain us.” Tapping her COM unit, she opened a channel to Shaw. “We’re coming out, I don’t know if we’re going to be pursued or not. But we are coming to you. Warm up the shuttle”

  “Acknowledged, we are ready,” Shaw replied immediately.

  Without waiting to see what any of the speakers said, Emilie grabbed Alvarez by his arm and pulled him out of the large room the conclave was being held in. Barging passed several unarmed Folians, Emilie moved as quickly as she could without breaking into a jog. She didn’t know how far away any Folian guards would be, but she didn’t want to wait to find out. As she moved, she felt tears run down her cheek. She had put everything into speaking to the Conclave and she had failed. She had failed her species and her uncle.

  “Hold on,” Alverez said as he caught her arm, spinning her around. Crashing into his chest, Emilie didn’t have the will to resist when he pulled them into a small alcove.

  “What are you doing?” she asked when she looked up into his face. It was dangerously close to hers.

  “Something I should have done already,” Alverez said as he lowered his lips to hers.

  For several seconds every other thought evaporated from her mind. Then it all came flooding back. She quickly pushed Alverez back. “What… why?” she panted.

  “You were inspiring in there,” Alverez said as he held her sides. “I know you well enough to know you did not fail. You spoke with elegance and conviction. Please, don’t blame yourself, you did all you could.”

  “I… but why the kiss?”

  Alverez smiled sheepishly. “It was the best way I could think of to make you pause.” His smile widened. “And I’ve been wanting to for months now.”

  “Really?” Emilie asked as her lips threatened to crack a smile.

  “Captain, Captain,” Xamon called from further down the corridor.

  Alverez’s face changed and Emilie suddenly remembered where they were. “We need to get out of here,” she said. Grabbing his hand, she pulled him out of the alcove and broke into a jog again.

  “Captain,” Xamon called out again, this time she sounded much closer.

  Emilie didn’t slow, but she did turn to peer over her shoulder. Xamon was speeding down the corridor after her. For a second Emilie couldn’t help but feel like the lizard like alien was about to pounce on her and tear her to shreds. Though she felt a spike of fear run through her, she continued nonetheless, if it was going to happen, there was no way she could stop it.

  “Captain,” Xamon said in a much sterner voice when she got closer. “Where are you going? Even if the Conclave won’t listen to you, there is much I would like to discuss with you.”

  Emilie’s anger made her stop. “What difference would that make to the decision the Conclave will make?” she asked as she turned. “Even you voted against me! Why do you want to talk to me, so you can make the arguments I would have? They will take nothing I share with you seriously… Will they?” Emilie pressed when Xamon didn’t respond.

  “I… I am not sure,” Xamon answered. “They may, or they may not. I fear they do not trust what you have to say.”

  “They won’t trust it even if it comes from you,” Emilie replied as she forced herself to calm down. Remembering Alverez’s lips helped. “Thank you for allowing me to speak to your Conclave. It was worth a try. I’m afraid I have wasted your time as well as my own however.”

  “But the Karacknids, they are still a threat to you and us. Where are you going?” Xamon asked.

  Emilie didn’t know the answer until Xamon asked. She had been reacting on rage. But the answer came to her as soon as she thought about it with a level head. “I’m going to Nanee space. If you won’t believe what I have to say, maybe you will believe them. There are bound to be survivors on some of their colonies. I’m going find some and bring them here. They can address your conclave. Perhaps then you will listen and turn back from the path you are taking.”

  Xamon stared at Emilie and flicked her tongue back-and-forth several times. “You would take one ship into Karacknid space? You would go alone?”

  “If that is what needs to be done, then yes,” Emilie insisted as she raised her chin. “If that’s what it will take to stop your species throwing away their futures.”

  Xamon nodded. “What can I do to help?”

  Emilie turned and started walking again. Only then did she realize she was still holding Alverez’s hand. Smiling at him, she let it go. They would have much to talk about when they got back on board Intrepid. But now it’s out in the open, she thought. Maybe the day hasn’t been a complete failure. “Aren’t you coming?” she asked as she looked over her shoulder to Xamon. When Xamon caught up with them she rattled off a list of things that would be helpful. “One more thing,” she said as they stepped out of the Folian building, “Who are the Kalassai?”

  Chapter 20

  When it comes to the founding of the Empire, historians always like to put a year, day and even an hour to the momentous event. As my students may imagine by now, the reality is not so simple. The Empire’s birth was a long and protracted one, not without its hiccups. Yet we can point to a moment when the journey to Empire began.

  -Excerpt from Empire Rising, 3002 AD.

  UNS Earth, 7th February 2482 AD, 8:45 am

  “Thank you for coming on such short notice James,” Gupta said as James stepped into her office on-board Earth.

  James nodded to Scott who was already there and took a seat. “No problem Admiral,” he said with a smile. “What is it?”

  “I’m afraid I have some grave news,” Gupta said, not returning his smile. “Word has just reached us from New Berlin. The planet and Lightfoot’s fleet are being blockaded by approximately one hundred Karacknid warships.”

  James groaned. “Has there been a battle yet?”

  Gupta shook her head, “Not that we know of. Artaxerxes has just returned, Lightfoot dispatched her with the news. He ambushed a Karacknid squadron as they were returning to Holstein. The Karacknid commander there didn’t take too kindly to the attack. The fleet that is now besieging Berlin was dispatched to pursue Lightfoot. When he got to New Berlin the reinforcements we had sent him were in orbit. Rather than sacrifice them he brought his squadron into orbit as well. With the planet’s battlestations and his fleet, Lightfoot believes the Karacknids will not attack.”

  “Perhaps not, but let me guess, they have dispatched more raiding squadrons?”

  “Yes,” Gupta replied. “Artaxerxes witnessed two squadrons break off from the main Karacknid fleet. One of them chased her all the way to the Beta system. There, they turned towards Japanese space.”

  James swore. “What forces do we have there?”

  “Very little,” Gupta said as she activated her office’s holo projector. It sprang to life and displayed Japanese colonial space. “There are a handful of Japanese warships. Hopefully, they will be enough to prevent the Karacknid ships from raiding any of the main Japanese colonies, but the rest will be all but defenseless.”

  “Chinese colonial space?” James followed up. If the Karacknids were willing to send squadrons through the Beta system they could just as easily hit Chinese space.

  “The same,” Gupta answered. “I’ve already dispatched a frigate to bring news of the development to New S
hanghai. If they concentrate their forces in the Wea system they may be able to push back any Karacknid squadron that tries to raid their colonies.”

  “If they detect the squadron,” James couldn’t help but comment. He knew full well Gupta understood the implications of the Karacknid stealth capabilities. “What is your estimation of the situation? Do you agree with Lightfoot, will the Karacknids be content to just blockade New Berlin? If they crush Lightfoot’s fleet, we’ll have nothing to defend any of our colonies.” In the back of his mind James was already thinking about how he would have to bring the news to the Emergency Council. Those who had opposed dispatching Lightfoot would not be happy. Bernard would have a field day telling everyone how he had been right.

  “New Berlin’s defenses are strong,” Gupta replied. “With the reinforcements we sent to Lightfoot, one hundred Karacknid warships would take a serious beating trying to take the planet. Lightfoot included all his battle reports and scouting data with Artaxerxes. He managed to send two Varanni frigates into the Holstein system before he was chased off. It seems many of the Karacknid warships still there are undergoing repairs. My guess is their damage is minor, the more damaged ships were probably taken back to Jaranna or further into the Karacknid Empire. Still, if the Karacknid commander at Holstein sent most of his battle-ready ships after Lightfoot, they are unlikely to risk all of them in one battle. Especially if all it will give them is a colony of limited importance.”

  “Then we need to relieve Lightfoot as soon as possible,” James decided. “We need to get his fleet free to pursue the Karacknid raiding squadrons again. His ships are no use to anyone bottled up in New Berlin. What forces do we have to send to his aid?”

  Gupta shrugged and shook her head. “There is nothing. We sent all the ships that were just out of the repair yards to New Berlin to join his forces. Home Fleet has already been cut to the bone. If we send a force to relieve Lightfoot and the Karacknid fleet at New Berlin breaks off the blockade and comes here, we’d be very hard pressed to fight them off.”

  “They wouldn’t even have to attack here, they could circumvent Home Fleet and strike at Britannia or into the French or American colonies,” James said as he played out the possible scenarios in his head. “We’d have nothing to chase them down.” He swore again. They simply didn’t have enough ships! “What about the Karacknid raiding squadrons? Can we hunt them down?” he asked as he changed tack. There was no point wasting energy on impossibilities.

  Scott shook her head. “Not at the minute, all the ships in Home Fleet are un-upgraded ships. None of them would have the speed nor the fighting capabilities to take them on. Every upgraded ship is with Lightfoot at New Berlin now.”

  James nodded, he already knew that, his head was just so full of Emergency Council business that he had forgotten. “What about our construction operations, do we have enough ships coming off the assembly lines?”

  Scott leaned forward and switched the view on the holo- projector. “Operation Overhaul is progressing on schedule. We’ll have seven warships coming out of the repair yards by the end of the month. Four destroyers and three medium cruisers. They’ll have to spend a week or so carrying out systems checks and space trials, but that would give us a small task force. Thirteen more warships will be ready by the end of the next month, and then another thirty-three the following month, but they all may be too late.

  “Operation New Fleet is not faring as well. We’ve got four of our Python destroyers currently completing space trials, the next six will be complete in six weeks. Aurora our first light cruiser, is completing her space trials, if everything checks out with her, six more keels will be laid down by the end of the month. I’m afraid that is as far as we have come, however. It is proving difficult to retool our construction yards to produce our new designs. Regin in the Maximilian system is still producing most of them. Coordinating shipyards in British, Chinese, French, Russian and American colonies to produce the same designs is a logistical nightmare.”

  “Operation Force Multiplier?” James queried, hoping there was good news there.

  Gupta smiled, “That is one piece of good news I can share. We already have many factories spread around our colonies capable of producing Spitfires and missile pods. Ramping up production has had its difficulties, but it is progressing ahead of schedule. Finding the freighters to carry them has been the bigger issue. As you know, the demand for freighters for supplies for Earth and war materials is immense. We are still trying to source all we will need, but McCarthy has been very helpful with this. It turns out the missions we have in mind for these freighters are just the kind of missions McCarthy and his smuggler types enjoy. He’s been recruiting volunteer freighter crews to work with us.”

  “How soon can we have the first freighters coming online?”

  “I’m hoping that by the end of the month we will be able to begin live firing drills and active missions outside the simulators. But our forces will not be in a position to hunt down Karacknid raiding squadrons any time soon. Most of the freighters have yet to have their engines and reactors upgraded.”

  “So what, we just allow the Karacknid’s free rein?” James asked as he looked from Scott to Gupta. “That is unacceptable.”

  “We can send out our new destroyers and Avalon when they have all completed their space trials. It will only be six ships. But they will be the most advanced ships in our fleet,” Scott said. “They could take on a small Karacknid squadron.”

  James closed his eyes as he thought. He was reacting as the Emergency Committee Chairman, he needed to become the Admiral he was once again. “No,” he said as he opened his eyes. “We can’t risk them, not yet. If we’re going to drive the Karacknids out of our space we need to build up a strong enough force to win outright. If we keep feeding our new ships into battle as soon as they come out of the construction yard we’ll never be able to do that. We’ll have to wait. If we combine our new construction with the ships that are scheduled to finish their overhauls in the next three or four weeks we should have enough ships to put together a strong squadron. Our colonies will have to fend for themselves until then.” As much as he knew it was true, James hated admitting it. Even more so because he knew how some of the Emergency Council members would react to such a reality.

  “I do have one suggestion,” Gupta responded. “It’s the only thing I can think of that we can do right now. It may buy us the time we need to get more ships in the field.” She paused as she looked at James. “I’m not sure you’re going to like it, nor the Emergency Council. But we could take Home Fleet to the Beta system. If we set up patrols along the German shift passage we may be able to prevent, or at least deter, Karacknid raiding squadrons from passing through the system to Japanese and Chinese space.

  “That would leave Earth almost entirely uncovered except for the Kulrean ships. What if a force slips past Home Fleet? Even a small squadron could cause havoc here or in our other colonies. Our freighter fleet is already being pressed to the limit. Just one Karacknid ship getting amongst them would set us back weeks, if not months.”

  “It is a risk,” Gupta agreed. “But if Flew is willing to take her ships with us, Varanni sensors would make it much harder for any Karacknid ships to slip past us.”

  “You think this is the best course of action?” James asked.

  Gupta nodded, “My staff have had an hour or so to run some simulations. We’ll want to look at it further, but at the minute yes. I think the risk to Earth is acceptable.”

  “All right, I’ll give you some more time to look things over. I’ll call an Emergency Council meeting for this evening to brief them on this,” James decided. “We can meet before it and you can share your final recommendations with me.”

  “Certainly,” Gupta responded. “There is an upside to all this we should consider. As Scott has shared, over the next couple of months we will have more and more ships coming online. If the Karacknids continue to blockade New Berlin and we can limit the damage their raiding squ
adrons are doing, we may be able to catch them with their forces split. Once we have a large enough fleet we could attack New Berlin and defeat the Karacknid fleet there. Then with Lightfoot’s forces added to our own we could push on to Holstein. If the Karacknid fleet there is undergoing repairs they would be vulnerable.”

  “If…” James replied. “That’s a big word. On the other hand, if they received reinforcements, or if their repairs are completed, we could be throwing away all the upgraded ships we have. We could find ourselves in the position we were in just after the Battle of Earth… “However,” he continued as he thought it through, “I like the idea. Even if we just hit New Berlin with enough ships to defeat the Karacknid fleet before falling back again, it would buy us more breathing space. Get your staff to start working on battle simulations for such an engagement. I want to know how many ships we would need to be assured of victory. Then we can start prioritizing what construction to focus on so as to get such a force together as quickly as possible.”