However, Nartel had another ace up his sleeve. There was additional help he could call upon, and to preserve the Empire he had done so. When the Humans returned, he had a surprise that he hoped would end the Human problem once and for all. If he succeeded, then he would have the advanced weapons and warships he wanted and the Hocklyns could move quickly to finish expanding the Empire to the edge of the galaxy and possibly beyond. It might also put them on a more equal footing with the AIs.
-
Hedon was in Governor Malleck’s office meeting with Admiral Telleck and the Alton Ambassador Tureen. They had been discussing the current situation in the Federation as well as the ongoing war with the Hocklyns and the AIs.
“If we go on the offensive, how many of your warships can we count on?” asked Admiral Streth, looking intently at Ambassador Tureen.
He was growing impatient to launch his relief fleet. Two more weeks had passed since he had interrupted the meeting in the Federation Council Chambers. He knew that he had aggravated a number of Federation Senators in doing so.
The tall, white haired ambassador took a deep breath and then replied. “You must understand Admiral that close to ninety percent of my race will not participate in this war. As I have explained earlier, even those warships we have deployed have minimal crews aboard.”
“Is there any chance we can put Federation crews on your ships if we agree to let your people remain in command?” Admiral Telleck asked. He had gone on board one of the Alton battlecruisers and been highly impressed by what he had seen. Even with the designs, it would be years before the Federation could build such ships.
“It might be a solution and is one my people have already discussed,” Tureen responded with a slow nod. “We have a fleet of slightly over four hundred battlecruisers. To ensure the safety of the Federation and the other races in our section of the galaxy, our leaders feel we must keep at least three hundred of those cruisers close to home.”
“That still leaves over one hundred,” Hedon spoke, his eyes lighting up at the thought of having those ships added to his fleet.
“We would not want to risk all of those at once,” Tureen added as he placed his right hand palm down on the conference table. He gazed at his long, slender fingers. “I have already spoken to my people and we would be willing to furnish you with twenty ships to go with your relief fleet. If you wish, I can have those ships at New Tellus in forty-eight of your hours.”
“What about adding Humans to your crews?” Governor Malleck asked.
“We are not an overly aggressive race,” Tureen responded with a heavy sigh. “It was extremely distasteful for our crews to fight at New Tellus, though they realized it was a necessity. Our battlecruisers, in order to function at full capacity, need a crew of four hundred. We can furnish fifty Altons to crew each ship and we would like you to furnish the rest. The commanding officer will be an Alton, but we would like the executive officer to be a Human.”
“It will be necessary to modify the ships for Human crews,” Hedon said between pursed lips. “That might take a while.”
“The twenty ships I am speaking of have already been modified to handle Human crews,” Tureen replied. “Once they arrive at New Tellus I propose that you have some of your own construction engineers go on board the ships and see if anything else is required.”
“Will there be any problems mixing the crews?” Governor Malleck asked his eyes focusing sharply on Tureen. They couldn’t afford to have an incident between the Human crew and the Alton crew.
“No,” Tureen replied without hesitation. “Our people will serve primarily as advisors. Your people will be responsible for the ship during combat operations. We have carefully chosen these crews; they are some of the more aggressive members of the Alton race.”
The door suddenly opened and an ashen faced Rear Admiral Kalen stepped in. “Sorry to interrupt, but we just received a message from Fleet Admiral Johnson. A light cruiser has just jumped into the New Tellus system. It’s from Careth and they want to know where the relief fleet is. The commander says the system is facing a fleet of over five hundred Hocklyn warships and ten AIs and they have already thrown back two attacks.”
“Ten AIs,” Governor Malleck mumbled with sudden concern in his eyes. “They can’t stand up to that many AIs.” Malleck felt his stomach churn. It was unimaginable to let the Special Five die. He knew with a sinking feeling that Ceres would once again have to disobey the Federation Senate.
“This is Admiral Strong we’re talking about,” Hedon responded as he stood up. “I wouldn’t count him out just yet. What worries me is what happens if the Hocklyns and AIs throw even more ships at him. I don’t think we can wait four more weeks to launch the relief fleet. I’m returning immediately to New Tellus to speak with Admiral Johnson. I told Jeremy I would return and I’ll be damned if I will let him die at Careth!”
“My fleet will be going with you,” added Admiral Telleck, standing and looking at over Governor Malleck, who nodded in agreement. “We’re nearly through with the Alton upgrades and can be ready to depart by the end of the week.”
“Then be ready. I’m going to save Admiral Strong with or without the approval of the Federation Senate.”
Governor Malleck watched as Hedon strolled purposefully from the conference room. Admiral Kalen stayed behind with a grim look upon his face. “What about the Federation Senate? We have already gone around them several times in the past. This will not be well received when they hear what we have done.”
“Ambassador Tureen, the Federation Senate wants us to hold off another four weeks before we launch the relief fleet,” Governor Malleck informed him in a serious voice. “Would you be willing to speak with President Kincaid and promise to help preserve Federation security if he will launch the fleet sooner?”
Tureen was silent as he contemplated his answer. “It would be unfortunate if Careth was to fall to the Hocklyns and the AIs. If we can fortify Careth, it would make an ideal advance base to continue the attack against the Hocklyns and eventually the AIs in the galactic center. I'll speak to President Kincaid.”
“I firmly believe that President Kincaid is supportive of sending the fleet, his hands have just been tied by politics in the Senate,” Admiral Telleck spoke.
As Ambassador Tureen left, Governor Malleck had the uneasy feeling that there was something going on at the galactic center that greatly concerned the Altons. He wondered if the real reason the Altons had intervened at New Tellus wasn’t the threat the Hocklyns and the AIs were posing to the Federation, but events at the galactic core.
-
Several days later, Admiral Streth was walking through one of the Alton battlecruisers that was docked to New Tellus station. The ship was unbelievably modern and had the feel of just having come out of the construction yard. The decks were polished and devoid of scuffmarks or any other signs of wear. It was one thousand meters in length and two hundred in width. A large sphere nearly four hundred meters in diameter was at the front, and another sphere three hundred meters in diameter was at the rear that housed the ship’s drives as well as its main fusion power plant.
The ship was equipped with an advanced particle beam as its primary offensive weapon. It also had numerous energy turrets for defense as well as additional offensive capabilities. There were twenty-four missile tubes capable of launching sublight antimatter missiles.
Alton Admiral Cleeteus was currently taking Hedon on a tour of what would serve as the Alton fleet’s flagship in the relief fleet.
“Will it be a problem having Humans on board?” Hedon asked as they stepped into Engineering. He paused as he stared at what he knew were the sublight drives and the FTL core. Both were far smaller than on Federation ships.
“No,” Cleeteus replied in a pleasant voice. “And before you ask, our ships are capable of making jumps of nearly fifty of your light years and only require a brief cool down time of about ten of your minutes.”
Hedon could only nod as he thought of t
he possibilities. Looking around, he noticed that there were already several Human members of the crew working with Altons as they tried to become familiar with the new systems and technology they would be expected to operate. Hedon knew that for the next few months, the Human crews would be highly dependent upon the Altons for operating the ships.
“Let me show you the Command Center,” Cleeteus suggested with a smile. “I think you will find it interesting.”
Admiral Cleeteus led Hedon to a small passenger tram, which ran through the center of the ship to allow the crew to get to their duty stations quicker. After a few short minutes, they stepped into the Command Center. Hedon was pleased to notice two heavily armed marines standing at the armored hatch. He'd assigned fifty marines to each Alton battlecruiser as a security detachment.
The Command Center was about the same size as would be expected aboard a Conqueror Class Battlecruiser, but there the differences ended. Three of the walls were covered with large viewscreens depicting space or different sections of the ship. Four large holographic tables were located in a semi circle around the center command station. The consoles all seemed to be cutting edge technology with touch screens and audio links.
The only area of the Command Center where there weren't viewscreens was on the front wall. Hedon wondered about that as the two walked over to the center command console.
“Watch this,” Admiral Cleeteus said as he waved his hand over a sensor on the console.
The entire front wall of the Command Center vanished suddenly, and Hedon gazed at an unobstructed view of space. In the distance, he could see New Tellus Station and even several Federation warships. The battlecarriers Endurance and LightStar were visible nearby. The view was crystal clear and Hedon had no idea how this was being projected on the front wall.
“It’s a holographic image,” explained Admiral Cleeteus, seeing the confused look upon Hedon’s face. “The entire front wall contains holographic imagers which project a detailed image of what is in front of the ship. Unlike Humans, we Altons prefer to see where we’re going at all times.”
Hedon nodded; he knew that Alton science was far ahead of anything the Federation had. He would be curious to see what his own engineers had to say after serving aboard Alton ships. The Altons had already made it clear that certain technologies were still off limits, at least for now.
-
Two hours later, Hedon was back on board the StarStrike. As he stepped into the Command Center, he saw that Colonel Trist was on duty and Captain Janice Duncan was busy at Communications. The StarStrike was still inside one of the repair bays in New Tellus Station being updated with Alton weapons and technology. Crews had been working around the clock trying to get the massive battleship ready.
“How much longer?” Hedon demanded as he sat down behind the command console. He had been ready for several weeks to take a task force to Careth to relieve Admiral Strong even if he had to leave the StarStrike behind. The arrival of the light cruiser had only added to his determination to get underway. He had spent several hours speaking to the cruiser’s commander about the situation in the Carethian system.
“Thirty-eight hours and everything will be finished,” Colonel Trist reported as he stepped over to the command console. “The new fusion reactor has been installed, all repairs are completed, and we have full load outs of Alton sublight antimatter missiles. The new heavy particle beam weapons have been installed and are ready to be tested.”
“The rest of First Fleet is nearly ready also,” Hedon added as he thought about what he wanted to do.
He had reorganized what remained of First and Second Fleet into one fleet for now. The new First Fleet currently consisted of the StarStrike, six battlecruisers, eight battlecarriers, fourteen strikecruisers, ten Monarch cruisers, and thirty-six light cruisers. Hedon wished he had more ships, but he knew that with the losses suffered in the recent battle none were available in the New Tellus system. There were other fleet units, but they were assigned to each of the other systems in the Human Federation of Worlds and at the moment could not be spared.
Captain Duncan heard Hedon’s voice and turned her head with a smile spreading across her face. In the weeks since the attack, the two of them had become much closer. While nothing intimate had occurred on their little vacation to the mountain resort, there was no doubt in Janice’s mind that eventually it would.
Janice had managed to spend a week back home on the planet Horizon. Her younger sister Linda had just about died when she told her about Hedon. Even her mother had been full of questions. Fortunately, her father was an ex naval officer and understood that there were certain things Janice couldn’t talk about.
Janice turned back to her Communications console. Even though they were still inside the repair bay, the StarStrike was the flagship for First Fleet and there were a large number of communications constantly going back and forth. Janice brushed back her short brunette hair with her left hand as she reached forward to answer an incoming call. She'd already decided that the next time that she and Hedon had an extended leave she needed to find some way to have him meet her family. She could already visualize the look upon her mother and sister’s faces when she walked in with the legendary Fleet Admiral.
Hedon had noticed Janice’s smile upon seeing him and it made him feel warm inside knowing there was someone that really cared for him. He'd kept most people at a distance since he had gone into cryo sleep. Only a few had he kept close, such as Amanda and Jacob. Of course, Jacob had been killed above the Hocklyn fleet base when he had sacrificed himself and his command to save the StarStrike. The loss of his oldest friend had deeply shaken Hedon. Then he'd almost lost Amanda in the battle over New Tellus.
“The light cruiser BattleCry has some tactical data on the Hocklyns and AIs that are besieging Careth,” he spoke, looking over at Colonel Trist. “Have it downloaded to one of our tactical displays; I want to study just what Admiral Strong is up against. Also, load the current defenses around Careth and how Strong has deployed his fleet and other resources.”
“Yes, Sir,” Trist replied. “How soon is the relief fleet going to be launched?” Colonel Trist knew that Hedon had been growing more impatient with each passing day. With the arrival of the light cruiser from Careth, Trist knew that Hedon was highly impatient to launch the fleet.
“Within the week if I have any say about it,” Hedon responded with fire in his eyes. “According to Governor Malleck, the Altons are going to put some pressure on the Federation Senate to launch the mission. This time I don’t believe they will refuse.”
Colonel Trist nodded his head in understanding as he moved over to Communications to contact the commander of the BattleCry. He knew how Hedon felt about leaving people behind. He would move the galaxy single handedly if he had to in order to return and rescue Admiral Strong.
-
President Kincaid let out a heavy sigh as he sat down behind his desk. He'd just finished presiding over a very tumultuous meeting of the Federation Senate. Ambassador Tureen had asked to speak to the gathered senators. Kincaid had been stunned when the Alton Ambassador had suggested that the Federation needed to launch a relief fleet immediately to save Admiral Strong, as well as the Carethians. Tureen had made it clear that the Altons would not look kindly upon the Federation if the Hocklyns and the AIs were allowed to wipe out Fourth Fleet, as well as the friendly Carethian race.
The turning point had been when Ambassador Tureen promised that the Altons would furnish twenty of their battlecruisers to accompany the fleet and guaranteed the rest of their ships would ensure the safety of the Federation while the fleet was gone. After a long and heated debate with Senator Fulbright leading the opposition, the vote had been taken and been carried by a twenty-two to six margin.
“I sense Fleet Admiral Streth’s hand in this,” Kincaid said with a weary smile.
“You’re probably right,” Senator Anderson responded with a nod. “We all know the Fleet Admiral has been pushing to launch the rescu
e fleet for weeks now.”
“I did some checking and Ambassador Tureen was at Ceres a few days ago,” Senator Malle added. “I strongly suspect Governor Malleck is also involved. There are some unconfirmed rumors that Admiral Streth was also present and Admiral Telleck is preparing his fleet for deployment.”
President Kincaid stood up and walked over to the large map of the galaxy that hung on the wall of his office. He let his finger trace out the distance from Earth to Careth. It was a little over seven hundred light years.
“Admiral Streth would make a good politician,” he said with a short laugh, realizing the Fleet Admiral had finally gotten his way. Then he turned back to the other two senators. “If we’re going to do this, let’s do it right. I will send orders to Fleet Admiral Johnson to give Admiral Streth everything he needs to launch the rescue operation.”
“When will it commence?” asked Anderson, raising his eyebrows.
“I will leave that up to Admiral Streth,” Kincaid replied. He folded his arms across his chest and spoke in a serious tone. “I just hope Admiral Strong and the Carethians are still there when the admiral arrives. If not, I would not want to be any Hocklyns or AIs in the way of the Fleet Admiral’s wrath.”
“There will be some serious repercussions even for us if Careth has fallen,” Senator Malle reminded the other two. “Admiral Strong and the other four of the Special Five are Federation heroes and are held in very high esteem by the civilian population.”
“I wish we could have launched this rescue mission weeks ago,” Senator Anderson spoke, with a frown. “Why is Hedon so fired up to launch it now? In another few weeks, we will have more ships updated with Alton technology and weapons. He'd have a much stronger force.”
The Slaver Wars: Galactic Conflict Page 6
