“For now,” agreed Dax. The Humans had destroyed three Simulin ships for every one they’d lost. “Admiral Jackson is a man of his word. He is protecting Ornellia and allowing us to rebuild our civilization.” By now, the all clear would be sounding in the cities.
“What next?” asked Les.
“We begin ridding the planets of our empire of the Conqueror Drones. With Admiral Jackson’s battlecarriers and what remains of our fleet, we can begin doing so immediately. Councilor Lantoll intends to bring all the survivors here to Ornellia. He’s hoping that will give us a sufficient population base to get our industry running and reestablish our presence in space once more. He’s already making plans to build a new shipyard with the aid of Admiral Jackson’s fleet repair ships. Our new warships will be more modern and much more powerful thanks to the technology Admiral Jackson has indicated they’re willing to share with us.”
Les nodded. “There was a time when I thought there was no hope for our race; now that hope has returned.”
“It’s returned for all of our people,” Dax commented as he watched a flight of Talon fighters streak overhead on one of the viewscreens. The Ornellian people had made some powerful allies. Now it was time to get back once more to the task of rebuilding.
Chapter Fifteen
Fleet Admiral Jeremy Strong was feeling a growing concern over what their long-range scans were showing. Nearly seven hundred Simulin warships were gathered in the Zeta 3A Star System. There were still several Alton battleships on patrol just outside the nebula transmitting the results of their sensor scans to the Avenger.
“So you think this is a trap for the Dominator?” asked Kevin, his brow wrinkled in a deep frown. Kevin was concerned since Katie was on board the ship as well as Kelsey. It seemed wherever the girls went they ended up in danger.
“It has to be,” replied Jeremy, as he studied the latest data. “There’s no other sound reason for them to gather such a large fleet this close to the nebula.”
“Jeremy’s correct,” Ariel said from where she was standing just behind him. “All of my calculations indicate that is the most likely scenario. They’re waiting for the Dominator.”
Kevin shook his head, still in doubt. “After what the Dominator did last time disabling so many of their ships, how can they expect to succeed with a smaller fleet?”
“They were taken by surprise when they encountered the Dominator the first time,” Ariel said, looking over at Kevin. “The Simulins are a very advanced culture and their weapons are on a par with ours. They may have come up with a battle strategy they feel will allow them to overcome the Dominator. They have to know the technology on the Dominator could pose a grave threat to them.”
Jeremy leaned back in his command chair as he reached a decision. “We can’t risk the Simulins damaging the Dominator; there’s no way to know how Kazak would react if that occurred.”
This had been one of Jeremy’s greatest fears. Kazak had been programmed by the Originators, and not even Kurene, ZED, or Mikow had been able to predict how Kazak would react in a battle now that the ship was fully repaired.
ZED moved closer to Jeremy. The AI had been listening with interest to the conversation. “I believe Kazak is overly protective of the Dominator. Any attempt to damage or destroy it could result in an extremely violent reaction from the Originator AI, particularly considering what he might be protecting in that central compartment.”
Kevin looked confused. “Do you have any idea of what might be in that section?” Kevin was wondering if Jeremy and ZED were keeping something back. He knew Jeremy had been strangely quiet since returning from Borton.
“No,” Jeremy replied hastily. “We have some suppositions but nothing concrete. I’m hoping between Kelsey, Katie, Mikow, and Andram we’ll know more when they return.”
It was one of the reasons he had wanted all of them on the ship. Andram, in particular, would notice any strange behavior on Kazak’s part. Mikow and Katie were supposed to be discreetly searching for any information about that compartment. With both of them being computer experts, Jeremy had high hopes they would be able to discover what Kazak was hiding.
Kevin nodded, but he still had the feeling Jeremy wasn’t being totally truthful. However, he wouldn’t question him in the Command Center. He would wait until they were off duty and talk to him privately.
Jeremy turned toward ZED. “If the Dominator did suffer damage, what do you think Kazak would do?”
“What do we know of the weapons that ship possesses?” The energy ball above ZED’s cube seemed to brighten and even grow slightly larger. “Kazak has revealed a few of them to us, but what if those are not the ship’s primary weapons but only its secondary weapon systems?”
Jeremy’s eyes widened at that thought. He had never questioned Kazak when the Originator AI mentioned the gravitonic cannons and the antimatter beams. He had assumed what Kazak was showing him were the ship’s main weapon systems. They had been impressive and far in advance of anything the Federation or the Altons could build. Now that he thought about it, Kazak had never said they were the ship’s primary weapons.
“Kurene?” asked Jeremy, looking over at the Alton AI specialist.
Kurene looked thoughtful and then slowly nodded. “It’s possible. We have no idea how Kazak was originally programmed. We also have no clue as to how being in semi-stasis for several million years may have affected him.”
“Are you saying Kazak could be unstable?” Jeremy wished Kurene had mentioned this earlier. He felt his heart flutter at the thought of everyone who might be in danger on that ship if Kazak was to lose control.
Kurene hesitated and then answered. “It’s possible; we have no baseline to measure how such a stasis would affect an AI.”
“ZED?”
The AI looked at Jeremy and then replied. “Unknown. How such a long period of inactivity would affect an AI’s mind is not calculable. We do know the Originators built things to last. The Dyson Sphere and the Dominator are examples of their superior technology.”
“I was alone on the Avenger for over one hundred years when it crashed on Earth’s moon,” commented Ariel with a haunted look in her eyes. “It was a difficult experience and one I would not want to go through ever again. I can’t imagine what one of several million years would be like. He has never mentioned it in any of the conversations I have had with him or when he was speaking to Clarissa.”
“I would recommend we continue to observe him,” suggested Kurene. “When I return to Borton, I will search the AI master Codex and see if there is any information there that might be useful.”
Jeremy nodded. “We need to do everything discreetly.”
“Do we attack the Simulins?” asked Commander Malen from her command console. “The fleet is ready if you give the word.”
Jeremy gazed for several long moments at the updated tactical display. The red threat icons were grouped close together at the Zeta 3A Star System. It would be relatively simple to take the fleet outside the nebula and jump directly into combat range. It would take less than thirty minutes of flight time in hyperspace to reach the enemy. However, Jeremy strongly suspected his fleet would be detected before they could arrive and engage the Simulins. He was also heavily outnumbered, and he needed some type of tactical advantage if he wanted to win this battle. He knew there was only one real choice open to him.
“No, we’ll wait until we detect the Dominator returning. As soon as that happens, we’ll broadcast a message warning them of a potential trap and then jump to their location and take up a defensive formation around the Originator ship.”
“Why wait?” asked Kevin. “Maybe by attacking we could force the Simulins to withdraw. If they’re waiting for the Dominator they may not want to fight a major engagement.”
Jeremy looked around at those who were listening. “I don’t believe the Simulins would withdraw. To destroy that fleet and hold our own casualties to a minimum we need the Dominator’s weapons. Besides, in a major bat
tle perhaps we can learn if the ship has other weapons systems besides those Kazak has revealed to us.”
“I agree,” ZED said. “If Kazak feels his vessel is threatened, he will use every weapon at his disposal to protect it.”
“Then we wait,” said Commander Malen, crossing her arms over her chest. “We have no idea how soon the Dominator and Admiral Sithe will be returning.”
Jeremy knew Commander Malen was right. “I believe that’s our best option. Inform the rest of the fleet we’ll be staying at this location in the corridor until we detect the Dominator.”
-
Kelsey was in the mess hall eating with Mikow, Andram, and Katie. The four had made it a habit to do this regularly so they could discuss what was occurring on the ship. Kelsey also knew that, in all likelihood, Kazak was listening to every word they said. At least on the Avenger, they could ask Ariel for privacy and she would comply. Kelsey wasn’t sure Kazak would.
“The technology on this vessel is truly amazing,” Andram said as he looked at the vegetable dish in front of him. Andram disdained eating meat as it required helpless animals being slain. Many Altons were vegetarians.
Kelsey took her fork, cut a plump strawberry in two, and then dipped it in a bowl of whipped cream. Taking a bite, she smiled at the tart and sweet taste. Even after all this time, she still loved eating the bright red berries.
Katie shook her head. Angela had told Katie how Kelsey used to eat strawberries every chance she could back at the Fleet Academy on the Moon so many years ago. Kelsey was originally from Ceres where the opportunity to eat strawberries imported from Earth was very rare. At the time Kelsey was enrolled at the Fleet Academy, Earth didn’t even know about the people living inside the asteroid. That didn’t come out until years later during the revelation of their existence.
“Kazak has allowed me access to even more files,” Katie said as she took a bite of the Swiss Steak she was eating. It was nice to be able to sit down at a table and not have hamburgers present. However, just to have Kevin around, she would gladly watch him eat his favorite food.
Mikow nodded. “Yes, he’s given me access to even more in depth crew files. The Originators on this ship were some of the most esteemed scientists from all of the Originator Dyson Spheres. They had been gathered and sent out in the hope they could find a cure for the life prolongation pathogen before it became too late. The disease was already killing hundreds of millions daily, and there was a growing belief none would be spared.”
Andram nodded. “Yes, they spent years doing research. In the end they all succumbed to the disease, leaving Kazak alone on the Dominator.”
“From what I understand, Kazak wandered about the galaxy for centuries trying to complete the research on his own,” Katie said. “When he finally realized he couldn’t do it, he returned to the Dyson Sphere only to find that all the Originators had died. He did find some files in the main core computer, which seemed to indicate the remaining survivors had fled at the very end for some distant destination in the Triangulum Galaxy. Kazak searched for them for years, before he finally gave up and parked the ship in the asteroid field where the Ornellians eventually found it.”
Kelsey shuddered. Just thinking about spending so much time on the Dominator with no one to talk to was mind-boggling. It almost made her feel sorry for Kazak.
“How big was the original crew of the Dominator?” she asked. The Dominator was much larger than any known Federation or Alton ship, even larger than the Distant Horizon had been.
Mikow looked over at Kelsey and answered. “A little over six thousand. However, from what I understand many of those were family units. A head researcher and his or her family.”
“I wish they would have succeeded,” Andram said with sadness in his eyes. “They could have taught us so much.”
-
Kazak had been listening. There was nowhere on the Dominator any of the crew could go that he couldn’t listen to their conversations. He was still evaluating the Humans and the Altons. He was beginning to realize in many ways they were similar to the race that had built and programmed him, particularly the Altons. The Humans were still a young race and prone to irrational behavior at times. He was also aware the Originators had been much the same in the early stages of their civilization. It would be necessary to continue to monitor the crew to decide if they could be useful to his future plans. If not, they could be very easily eliminated.
-
Four more days passed and Kevin was in Jeremy’s quarters along with Ariel. The three had been discussing the Dominator and what they would need to do once the ship returned. Kevin was anxious for Katie to return home as he disliked being apart from her for such a long period of time.
“Once we’ve driven the Simulins away, then we need to send out some of the Alton science ships under escort to find the dark matter Kazak will need for the missiles he’s constructing,” Jeremy said as he took a sip of tea.
“Dark matter,” muttered Kevin, shaking his head. “What if we make things worse than they already are? We have plenty of time to evacuate Gaia if we need to. We could go to a place outside the galaxy like the Ornellians are doing.”
“No,” Jeremy responded with a haunted look in his eyes. “We caused this problem in the blue-giant nebula, and it’s up to us to fix it if we can.”
“Kazak’s plan should work,” Ariel said as she watched her two friends.
She wished she could be in two places at once figuratively. It made her feel uneasy knowing both Kelsey and Katie were on board the Dominator and out of her zone of protection. In the past, between her and Clarissa, the Special Five had always been watched over. However, even Angela was away. Of course that wasn’t too big of a concern considering the last member of the Special Five was pregnant and her husband, Brace, was a major in the Marines and well capable of keeping her safe.
“I wish they would get back soon,” Kevin said, leaning back on the sofa and taking a sip of the soft drink in his hand. “What if they run into some Simulin warships at the nebula?”
“I wouldn’t worry,” Ariel said. “Between the Dominator and Admiral Sithe, they should be able to handle anything they come across.”
She was keeping track of the latest reports from the two Alton battleships outside the nebula that were constantly monitoring the waiting Simulin fleet. She was also tapped into their sensor systems so anything they detected would become immediately apparent. Even as she prepared to speak, she noticed a faint disturbance at the far edge of the Alton battleship StarNet’s long-range sensors. Her eyes widened as the vague contact solidified into a group of twenty-two green icons. It was the Dominator and Admiral Sithe returning!
“Contacts,” Ariel blurted out excitedly. “Range is 9.2 light years and closing fast. Estimated arrival at twenty-nine minutes.”
“Is it the Dominator?” asked Kevin, his eyes lighting up.
“Yes,” Ariel answered. “Detecting twenty-two inbound contacts.”
Jeremy breathed out a long sigh of relief. “That’s all of them. Have the Simulins picked them up yet?”
Ariel was silent for a few moments as she checked the long-range sensors, which were focused on the Simulin fleet. “I believe so. They seem to be forming up into an attack formation and several ships have already entered hyperspace!”
“Damn!” Jeremy said as he set his tea glass down and stood up. “Ariel, take all ships to Condition One. Prepare the fleet to jump immediately outside the nebula. Let me know as soon as you’ve calculated the Dominators most likely dropout point.”
“Working on it,” Ariel said as she sent messages to all the ships in the fleet ordering them to go to Condition One.
She was also busily calculating the most likely coordinates for the arrival of the Dominator and Admiral Sithe’s fleet. At the same time, red lights began flashing and klaxons started sounding, announcing the setting of Condition One throughout the ship.
“Let’s get to the Command Center,” Jeremy said as he made
for the hatch followed closely by Kevin.
Behind him, Ariel vanished as she shifted from Jeremy’s quarters to her customary spot behind his command chair. Sometimes Jeremy wished he could move about the ship as easily and quickly as Ariel did.
-
Commander Malen jumped slightly as Ariel suddenly appeared behind the command chair. She had been expecting it, but somehow Ariel’s sudden appearances still startled her from time to time. Ariel acted so Human most of the time it was difficult to remember she was an AI and her figure was a hologram.
“Status!”
“We’ve detected the Dominator,” Ariel answered. “It appears all of the ships that left on the mission are still intact. Fleet Admiral Strong has ordered all ships to go to Condition One and prepare for an immediate jump to outside the nebula. I’ve already calculated the exit coordinates and have distributed them to all the ships in the fleet.”
“The Command AI is requesting permission to jump,” reported Lieutenant Shayla Lantz from Communications.
“How close is the Dominator?”
“Eight light years and closing fast,” Ariel answered. “The Simulins are in the process of jumping as well. “They will arrive six minutes after the Dominator does.”
Commander Malen frowned. While the Dominator could enter hyperspace immediately, the rest of the ships would need at least a minimum of ten minutes for their drive cores to cool down. The time would be necessary if they’d been doing consecutive jumps with normal breaks in between for cooling and checking of the hyperdrives.
“Command AI has permission to jump,” Commander Malen said after a moment. “Their main priority is protecting the Dominator from sustaining any damage.”
“Grayseth is requesting to jump as well.”
“No,” Malen said, shaking her head. “Inform Grayseth his fleet will jump along with the Avenger and the rest of our ships.”
“Messages sent,” Lieutenant Lantz confirmed after a few moments.
On the viewscreens white spatial vortexes began forming in front of the AI ships. Both the regular fifteen-hundred-meter spheres and the one-thousand-meter warspheres began vanishing as they entered the swirling vortexes and disappeared into hyperspace.
The Lost Fleet: Genesis: A Slaver Wars Novel Page 23
