“Just Tolsen now,” Race said.
The Alton smiled. “The title of admiral can never be taken away. While on board my ship you will be called admiral.”
Race nodded, knowing there was no point in arguing. His eyes were quickly drawn to the massive viewscreen in the front of the Control Room. Like most Alton ships, the entire front wall was one massive screen from ceiling to floor and wall to wall. He caught his breath, feeling he could just step right out into space.
“Reverse thrusters have been activated and we’re moving away from New Tellus Station,” the human at the helm controls reported.
Looking at the viewscreen, Race watched as New Tellus Station came into view. New Tellus Station was sixteen kilometers in length and eight in width as it contained six massive construction bays, which could produce any size ship the fleet required as well as twelve repair bays. It was also covered in offensive and defensive weapons with the firepower of a dozen battleships. Twenty Type Two battlestations surrounded the station as well as over two hundred particle beam satellites.
“Station has been cleared,” reported the second officer, who was also an Alton. “We have permission from station traffic control to activate our subspace drive.”
“Take us out at 20 percent power,” ordered the Alton captain.
Race watched as the giant shipyard gradually diminished until it was only a brilliant spec of light in the viewscreen. New Tellus itself was a garden world of blues, browns, greens, and whites. It was a beautiful planet and heavily populated. It was also the most powerfully fortified planet in the entire Federation. There were six shipyards orbiting New Tellus as well as six massive asteroid fortresses in its outer defensive ring. In its mid orbital defensive ring there were twenty Indomitable Class battlestations, and in the inner and final defensive ring were thousands of particle beam satellites and eighty Type Two battlestations. Only Earth could boast defenses nearly as powerful. Race greatly feared that if a Simulin fleet the size of the one he had destroyed at the galactic center attacked the Federation, only New Tellus and Earth would survive. To prevent this from ever happening, he had to find this Dyson Sphere, if it existed.
“Standby to enter hyperspace,” ordered the captain, as he checked the operational stations in the Control Center.
“Hyperdrive is charged and ready to activate,” reported the Helm.
“Set course for Albania,” ordered the captain.
Moments later Race watched as a blue-white spatial vortex formed in front of the passenger liner and then it accelerated into its center. He was surprised at how smoothly the ship entered hyperspace as he scarcely noticed the transition. On most warships it was a gut wrecking feeling as if one’s body was being torn apart and then instantly put back together.
Looking at the large viewscreen, he was mesmerized by the swirling dark purple colors of hyperspace. The viewscreen seemed as if it were alive.
“It’s fascinating, isn’t it?” commented the Alton captain. “Some of our research scientists believe our drive field itself is acting upon dark energy or dark matter to cause those oscillating colors.”
Race nodded. There was so much about hyperspace they didn’t understand. “Thank you for inviting me to the Control Center to see this. I had forgotten how your people love these massive viewscreens.”
The Alton captain nodded, pleased with Race’s words. “It makes exploration so much more interesting,” he said. “I’ve gone on a few exploration cruises and I can sit for hours just looking at the viewscreen when we’re exploring a new system or nebula.”
“I’ll be going to my quarters now,” Race said. “I would like to return to the Control Center when we reach Albania if I may. I haven’t been there for several years.”
“I’ll send someone for you before we drop out of hyperspace,” the captain promised.
As Race left the Control Center, he wondered just what he would find at Albania. Fleet Admiral Nagumo had mentioned the Altons had designed new ships for this mission. It would be interesting to see what they had come up with.
-
A few days later, Race was in the main passenger lounge of the LeLath watching with interest as the large passenger liner made its approach to Albania. A few hours earlier he had been in the Control Center when the vessel dropped out of hyperspace, and it still amazed him at all the icons that had showed up on the ship’s sensors. The system was a beehive of activity.
“Have you been to Albania before?” asked another human, who was standing next to him, gazing out the massive viewport, which took up nearly the entire wall of the lounge.
Race turned toward the man and nodded his head. “A few times,” he answered. “You’ll find most Altons very friendly and polite.”
“I’m here on business,” snorted the man. “I’m not that sure about the Altons being all that friendly. They’re stingy enough with their technology. It seems as if it takes an act of God to get them to share any of it.”
“Some of their technology would be very dangerous in the wrong hands,” commented Race, looking back out the viewport. A large space station was coming into view. It was massive and dwarfed anything in human space except the asteroid fortresses at New Tellus.
“That’s up for debate,” the man said. “What are you here for?”
“Just visiting,” Race answered not wanting to be drawn into further conversation. It was evident the man had very little knowledge of how the Altons did things. More than likely, he would leave the system highly aggravated at failing with his business deal.
“Admiral Tolsen,” a female voice spoke from behind them.
Turning, Race saw the same young woman who had shown him around when he first came on board. “We will be docking soon, and Ambassador Tureen is waiting for you on the station. The captain also wishes to express his pleasure at being able to speak with you on this cruise. If you wish, we will be docked to the station for several days if you would like to continue to use the suite of rooms you’ve been assigned.”
Race noticed the stunned expression on the businessman’s face at hearing Race’s name and who he was going to meet. “Tell the captain thank you and I enjoyed the cruise. I don’t believe I’ve ever experienced a better job of entering hyperspace. I may indeed be interested in using my quarters for another day or two.”
“I’ll make sure he knows,” the young woman replied with a smile.
“Admiral Tolsen,” the businessman managed to utter.
“Yes,” Race replied. “It’s been good speaking with you.” With that, Race walked off so he could return to his quarters and prepare to meet the Alton ambassador.
-
Stepping on board the space station, Race wasn’t surprised to see how clean and immaculate it was. He was immediately greeted by two Altons who he’d never met before.
“I’m Kelnor Mard,” the tall male Alton said and then he gestured to the female Alton next to him. “This is Reesa Jast. We will be acting as your science advisors on your mission.”
“Pleased to meet you,” replied Race, bowing slightly and then shaking the hands of the two Altons. “Can you tell me anything about this mission?”
Kelnor smiled and shook his head. “We’ll leave that to Ambassador Tureen and his guest.”
“His guest?” asked Race, feeling confused.
“Yes,” Reesa responded. “If you will follow us we’ll take you to the conference room where the meeting will be held. I believe suitable refreshments and food will be available.”
“Let’s go,” Race replied. He knew he wouldn’t get any more out of these two Altons until the meeting.
As they walked through the massive space station, Race couldn’t help but notice the number of new alien races that were present. The Altons were now the teachers for many of the races that had been enslaved by the Hocklyns. While there were numerous Alton ships out helping uplift many of these worlds, a number of them sent their best scholars and scientists to the Alton worlds for further instruction. The Alt
ons had sixteen large colonies in addition to their heavily populated home system. There were research installations and mining operations in at least fifty other star systems.
“Much has changed since the war with the Hocklyns and the AIs ended,” commented Reesa, noticing Race studying the different races. “There are currently forty-two different alien species on the station.”
“I’m just pleased that your people have agreed to help with these worlds,” Race responded. He knew there were thousands of former Hocklyn slave planets that needed to be dealt with, and it was straining the resources of the Federation and its allies to keep track of them all.
“It’s our responsibility as the eldest race,” Kelnor answered gravely.
-
A few minutes later, they reached a large ornate wooden door. For some reason Race didn’t find it out of place on the station. Opening the door, Kelnor indicated for Race to enter.
Stepping inside, Race came to a sudden halt and instantly saluted. He had not been expecting to see the man sitting at the long conference table with Ambassador Tureen and a dozen others.
“As you were, Admiral,” former Fleet Admiral Hedon Streth said, returning Race’s salute. “If you will have a seat we’ll get this meeting started.”
-
Four hours later, Race was in an Alton shuttle in the company of Fleet Admiral Streth and the two Alton scientists. He’d found out Kelnor and Reesa were both experts in the field of research dealing with the Originators. Much of the meeting had dealt with what they believed the Originators had been doing in the Milky Way Galaxy and where they had gone. They were both convinced that if there was indeed a Dyson Sphere in the galaxy, the Originators might very well be living inside of it, which would explain why all of their worlds had been abandoned.
“Where are Janice and your daughter?”
“They’re staying with Amanda and Richard,” Hedon replied. “I thought it was important that I be here for the start of this mission.”
“So, what’s so special about these new ships the Altons have built?”
“Look,” said Hedon, pointing out the cockpit window and toward a shipyard they were rapidly approaching.
In orbit around the shipyard were twenty massive vessels. Each was easily two-thousand-meters in length and four-hundred-meters in diameter. They were in the shape of a cylinder with a six-hundred-meter globe at the front and a five-hundred-meter flared stern. The ships were obviously of Alton design.
“Wow!” uttered Race, seeing the huge ships. He turned toward Hedon. “I assume they’re armed?”
“Yes, heavily,” he responded. “But you haven’t seen your flagship yet.”
“My flagship?”
Hedon nodded and pointed once more. From behind the station, a monster of a ship began to appear. “The Altons have named her the WarHawk, after your former flagship. She’s three-thousand-meters in length and the most powerful ship in the known galaxy. If you run across any Simulins in your search that ship will make them wish they’d stayed home and never come here.”
Race, for the first time in a long while, was speechless. He couldn’t believe after being confined to commanding a shipyard for two years he now was being offered a ship of this magnitude. “I don’t know what to say,” he uttered in a stunned voice. He wished his sister, Massie, could see his new command.
“Just find the Dyson Sphere,” answered Hedon. “Our very survival may well depend on it.”
Race was silent. It was just dawning on him how important this mission was going to be.
“One more thing,” Hedon said with a mysterious smile. “It seems your entire former command crew of your old Third Fleet flagship resigned in mass recently. You will find them on board your new command.”
Race didn’t know how to respond. To build these ships in secret and shift the thousands of personnel around who were necessary to operate them had to have been a massive and very expensive operation.
“Thank you, Admiral,” Race said sincerely. He knew that with his old command crew he just might stand a chance of pulling this mission off. Of course, the only thing standing in his way were the Simulins, who were searching for the Dyson Sphere along with the entire Shari Empire.
Chapter Five
Jeremy was in the Command Center of the Avenger anxiously watching the Distant Horizon and her fleet on the main viewscreens. In just a few short moments, the exploration dreadnought and her twenty-five powerful escorts would be departing the Gaia System.
“I can’t believe they’re leaving,” muttered Kelvin, who was standing next to Jeremy watching the viewscreen with a disgruntled look on his face.
“Kelsey and Katie wouldn’t have it any other way,” replied Jeremy, with a sigh. Both women had demanded to be part of this mission as they had helped to design the Distant Horizon and were part of her crew. “Even Rear Admiral Barnes tried to talk them out of it, but in the end there was no way we could legitimately tell them no.”
Kevin grimaced. “I know, Katie and I had several arguments over her going on this mission. I finally realized that if I stopped her, she would make my married life quite miserable.”
“They’ll be gone four to six months,” Jeremy said. “I think we can survive until they return.”
“Clarissa will keep them safe,” Ariel said confidently. The dark haired AI was standing just behind the two. “Those ships are the most powerful we have and if they run across any Simulins, they should be able to handle them.”
“Five minutes until they enter hyperspace,” reported Commander Malen from her command console.
Jeremy looked around the Command Center. It was fully staffed as everyone wanted to watch the departure of the Distant Horizon and her fleet. Their mission was very simple, find out how far the Simulins had extended their influence across this galaxy and seek out potential allies if any could be found.
“I wonder what they’ll find?” said Kevin. It was going to be hard being separated from Katie for such a long time.
“The last time they went off on their own they found the Dyson Sphere,” Ariel reminded them.
Jeremy shifted his attention over to Ariel. She was always there when he needed her. He had long since quit thinking of her as an AI but as a close and dear friend instead. “We don’t know what may be out there; that’s one of the reasons for this mission.”
He had spoken to Kelsey for quite some time about what he was hoping to accomplish by sending the Distant Horizon out exploring. His wife had been very excited about actually using the exploration dreadnought for one of the two things it had been designed for.
“One minute until hyperspace insertion,” Commander Malen informed them.
“Clarissa just sent a message,” reported Ariel, turning toward Jeremy and Kevin. “She promises to return everyone safely and to stay away from any Simulins.”
Jeremy nodded. That was easy to say, but it might not be quite that simple to stay away from the Simulins. That was one reason he was sending such a powerful fleet.
“Hyperspace activation,” reported Commander Malen.
On the large viewscreens on the front wall of the Command Center, swirling blue-white and white vortexes began forming in front of the ships of the expedition fleet. Moments later they began to vanish as the ships made their jumps into hyperspace.
“They’re gone,” Kevin said with a deep sigh. “What do we do now?”
Jeremy turned to Kevin and spoke. “We have a Dyson Sphere that needs to be destroyed. Somehow we need to find a way to do that if we want to keep our home galaxy safe and limit the amount of reinforcements the Simulins may be able to summon from other galaxies they control.” He had spoken to Andram about destroying the rest of the energy collection stations, and the Alton had suggested that Jeremy hold off on that idea until the Distant Horizon returned.
Kevin remained silent. Destroying the Dyson Sphere seemed like an impossible mission. They had no weapon currently at their disposal that could even put a dent in the massi
ve hull of the sphere.
Jeremy observed Kevin’s continued silence. He knew what his friend was thinking. The Dyson Sphere was going to be a hard nut to crack. Looking back at the now empty viewscreens Jeremy couldn’t help but wonder what was ahead of them. He greatly feared it was only a matter of time before the Simulins figured out how to penetrate Gaia’s protective nebula even with the hyperspace interference. Fleet Admiral Streth had placed his confidence in Jeremy being able to carry out this mission. Jeremy was determined that he wouldn’t fail.
-
Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes gazed reflectively at the swirling colors of deep purple that abounded on the massive viewscreen. It was almost hypnotic watching the colors and the complicated dance they were performing.
“All ships have made the successful transition into hyperspace,” Clarissa reported. The beautiful AI was standing just behind and to the left of Kathryn.
Glancing over at one of the two holographic tactical displays, she could see the friendly green icons that represented her new command. Twenty-five vessels plus the Distant Horizon made up the fleet. There were twenty of the new AI warspheres, two Alton battleships with Admiral Bachal, two Federation battleships, and one Federation battlecarrier. All had been heavily modified and were ready to take on the Simulins in battle if it came down to it. For the mission, Admiral Bachal would serve as the fleet’s second in command.
“We’re on course and in the center of tunnel Delta,” reported Commander Anne Grissim, who was watching the fleet’s progress on a computer screen on her command console.
They would have to drop out of hyperspace three times to negotiate sharp turns in the tunnel. The turns were in place to ensure the Simulins didn’t accidently find one of the four tunnels that were free of the hyperspace interference. “First drop out in twenty-six minutes.” The Distant Horizon and the modified ships in her fleet had the newer hyperspace drives and were capable of traveling a light-year every two minutes. They could stay in hyperspace for two hundred and forty minutes before it became necessary to drop out and allow the drives to cool back down and recharge.
The Lost Fleet: Oblivion's Light: A Slaver Wars Novel Page 6
