Olympus (Rise of the Empire Book 1)

by Ivan Kal

  Bethany and Adrian were speechless; they couldn’t have known how their scores measured up to others who weren’t at the Academy.

  “As for your assignment. Both of you are going to be posted on the same ship, at least for a little while. The ship’s name is Athena. Most of the ship’s crew is currently on leave and has transported out to Mars. The ship is going through upgrades, and there isn’t much to do. So, Adrian, you will assume the position as the acting Ship Master, and Bethany as the acting High Prime. When the Athena’s Ship Master and High Prime return, Adrian, you will assume the position of Low Prime, while you, Bethany, will transfer to Neith, which should be arriving at the same time for its scheduled upgrades. Its crew, like that of Athena, will be going on leave, and you will assume the position as Ship Master. This is so that you may gain some experience commanding a real ship, though there won’t be much to do.” Laura grinned when she was finished.

  Stunned once more, the only thing Bethany and Adrian could do was to stare at Laura. A moment later, the name of the ship they were posted on clicked with something Adrian had learned years ago.

  “Athena?” Adrian asked. “Isn’t that…?”

  “Yes,” Laura responded. “We have high hopes for the two of you. And now I believe it is time you go and report to your new posts.”

  With one last smile, she sent them off. After they left her office, Bethany turned to Adrian.

  “You know the Fleets Master?” she asked in a whisper.

  “Yes,” Adrian said.

  “Care to elaborate?” Bethany asked.

  “It’s complicated,” Adrian said. Bethany just kept looking at him until he relented. “She kind of adopted me,” he said finally.

  “Adopted you.” Bethany looked at him strangely, and then a look passed over her face that Adrian knew very well.

  “No! She never favored me! I didn’t even know her before I was invited to join the Academy,” Adrian said quickly.

  Bethany looked shamefaced. “Sorry,” she said.

  “It’s okay.”

  “What was it that she said to you at the end, something about the ship? Do you know it?” she asked.

  “I know of it,” Adrian said.

  Again she looked at him funny. “You seem to know an awful lot,” she said. But this time it was in a playful tone.

  “Yeah,” Adrian said, a little embarrassed. “Athena and Neith are warships.”

  It took Adrian a few steps to realize that Bethany wasn’t walking with him. He turned and saw her staring at him incredulously. “Warships!” she yelled.

  Adrian shushed her and walked back to her.

  “Warships?” she asked in a whisper.

  “Yes, they were built a few years ago, so that we might have something to protect ourselves with. Just in case.”

  Bethany’s incredulous expression soon turned to excitement.

  “We are going to serve on a warship,” she said, smiling brightly.

  “Yes,” Adrian said. He turned and led the way to where the ship was docked, Bethany following excitedly.

  Chapter Nineteen

  March 2103

  “Are you sure this will work?” President Lucas Von Holt of Concordis asked Admiral Jan Weiss. They were in Berlin, inside his office. The rest of the room was filled with the other leaders of Concordis. The representatives of the Council of Three—Maria Hughes, Emerson Tully, and Yuri Petrov—the Minister of the Economy, Amelia Turner, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Boris Vitkovic and the Minister of Defense, Victor Ross.

  “Our plan is solid,” Admiral Weiss said.

  President Von Holt sighed. “Are we absolutely sure that there is no other alternative?” he asked the room.

  “We have tried everything in our power, but the bastard won’t budge,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Vitkovic said tiredly.

  “He is right, Mr. President. Tomas Klein won’t change his mind; he will never sell us his technology. And we can’t keep going like this. He keeps us under his control. We are too dependent on them, and we can’t afford to stop doing business with Olympus,” Minister of the Economy Turner said.

  “Could we find another solution? Sometime in the future? Olympus has always dealt fairly with us. None of you showed me any proof that they plan on changing that,” President Von Holt said.

  “It doesn’t matter. They are dealing fairly with us, yes, but they keep all the power. Each year, they are gaining more and more of a technological edge on us. If they shared their technology, we could bring an end to most of our problems—overpopulation, hunger, disease,” Minister of Defense Ross insister.

  “Tomas Klein offered to use their technology for us,” the president said.

  “Yes, but with Olympus in charge. They want to keep all the control; we wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near their technology. And in the end, they would be seen as the saviors by the people,” Minister of Economy Turner said.

  “Mr. President, it is our belief that he wants to control the entire world. Every move he has made since even before Olympus was created suggests that as his final goal,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Vitkovic said.

  “Well, if that is the case, why are we not under Olympus rule?” the president asked.

  “We don’t know, sir. But the truth is that we are even now in his power, and we can’t afford not to act. If we are to regain our self-sufficiency, we must do this now,” Admiral Weiss said.

  “Are you one hundred percent sure that your plan will work as you presented?” the president asked.

  “Yes, sir. Olympus has no assets to prevent it, and if everything goes according to plan, we will come out as heroes. Even if they suspect something, they won’t be able to act; public opinion will be on our side. We have news stories ready to go live,” Admiral Weiss said confidently.

  “It’s the ‘if everything goes according to plan’ part that has me worried,” the president said. He looked across the room at the Council representatives. “Are you all in agreement? Are we going through with this?” he asked.

  The three looked at each other and then each said a clear, “Yes.”

  President Lucas Von Holt took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

  “Very well, then.” He opened his eyes and looked at the people around him. “Put your plan into action. And hope to God that it works, because if you fail, that will be the end of Concordis.”

  ***

  Seven days later

  Captain Reginald Smith sat in the command chair aboard the bridge of the Concordis military vessel Bismarck. The bridge was almost an exact copy of a navy carrier bridge, with a few stations removed and a few added. A bit larger, perhaps, and of course without any windows; there was a big screen mounted in the front wall that could show the images from the outside of the ship. The ship had some of the most advanced optical cameras and telescopes created. The Bismarck was the first of her kind, a herald of a new age, the age of space flight. Captain Smith had served on or commanded naval vessels for the most of his life, and when plans for the Bismarck came, he was on the very short list of its potential captains. She and her two sister ships were ugly ships by any criteria, but they didn’t need to be pretty. They were there to protect Concordis interests in space.

  The weaponry of the ship was crude by some standards, and yet in a way sophisticated. There were many ideas about weapons in space, but with no experience, they had decided on more proven concepts. Rocket-propelled missiles where a simple solution. They were guided, and each had 50 kilotons of explosives as its payload. They weren’t the biggest they could make, but the brass had decided that it was enough. Their range was just around 150,000 km at their max effective range. Those who served aboard them had taken to calling the ship a missile boat, which they were, in a way. They handled like pigs, and looked like uneven gray boxes. There were many antennae on the hull—sensors, communication relays, and such, though those were concentrated on the bottom of the ship towards the end. And their drives were an improvement on those that were used al
most a century ago to get man to the Moon.

  Captain Smith looked around the bridge. He was familiar with many of the crew, and was quickly becoming acquainted with the rest. They were all good men and women, loyal to their country, which was the reason why they’d received this assignment.

  The Bismarck’s mission was complicated, and also top secret. They were to dock with the Olympus Cloud station. Then two squads of marines, dressed in such a way as to not appear to be from Concordis, would board the station. Captain Smith didn’t know their part of the mission, but he had been assured that there would be no casualties. The Cloud station only had a handful of security officers—there had never been any need for more—and he had been told that they would surrender rather than risk injury to the civilian population of the station. The Bismarck was to play the part of a vessel hijacked by a dissident group. After docking, they would transmit demands to Olympus, and stall until the marines finished their mission.

  The Bismarck’s two sister ships were even now following behind them, on orders to keep their distance. When Bismarck docked with the station, the Dauntless and the Viking would come into range and offer their help to Olympus. The Bismarck, after the marines accomplished their mission, would surrender into Concordis custody, the threat of two Concordis ships apparently changing their mind. It was devised in such a way to fool the public eye, and they already had the dissidents that they planned to frame in custody. Truthfully, Captain Smith wasn’t 100% comfortable with the mission. But he was a soldier, and he followed orders. He knew that their mission objective was something important to the survival of Concordis.

  Lieutenant Kraus turned in his seat at the communications station towards the captain, who watched a display in front of his chair. The display showed the Bismarck’s current course, speed, and a number of other important stats.

  “We are being contacted by the station, Captain,” Lt. Kraus said.

  “Follow the plan, ignore them,” Captain said.

  The captain then turned back to his display, trying to imagine what was going through the minds of those on the station. His first officer, Commander Olga Pavlov, interrupted him by leaning over from her chair beside him.

  “Are we sure that they have no defensive capabilities?” she whispered, so as to not be heard by the rest of the bridge. Captain Smith scowled at her for such blatant distrust of their superiors, but managed to subdue the impulse to scold her in the presence of those serving under them. This was their first real mission in space, and he understood that she, like probably everyone on board, was a bit afraid.

  “The intel is solid, Commander. Our ambassadors to Olympus have been living on the station for years, and they didn’t notice anything that looked like a weapon system. Nor did our spies find anything that suggests that they have defensive capabilities,” Captain Smith said in a whisper.

  Commander Pavlov nodded her head and leaned back in her chair, looking at the displays in front of her chair.

  “Contacts from Viking and Dauntless,” Lt. Kraus said.

  “Ignore them, just as planned,” Captain said.

  It was a delicate dance that they were playing; their ship had to appear as if it was taken over, with the two other ships in pursuit. They were a long way behind them. Bismarck had been given two hours before the other ships were sent in pursuit. And in a few minutes, Bismarck would dock with the station and proceed with their mission. Captain Smith had no doubt that Olympus had contacted the Concordis government demanding an explanation, and hopefully they were already told that the ship was hijacked and that it would be best for them to abide by our demands until the two other Concordis ships could arrive.

  A moment later, Captain saw the ships that were either docked or in the vicinity getting away from the station. They learned that this is a rebel vessel now and are removing their ships from their path. Good, Captain Smith thought. With no other ships in the vicinity, there would be almost no chance for someone to try and be a hero. Though in truth, there wasn’t much they could do; their ships were not warships.

  Captain instructed his first officer to turn on the front screen to the view outside. He watched as his ship approached the docking point of the station, his fingernails biting into the chair’s armrest.

  ***

  Major Denis Taylor did not look forward to his mission, but he was a soldier and he followed orders, just like his team. They were currently sitting inside the Bismarck’s cargo bay and were waiting for the go signal to enter the station and begin their mission. The mission was highly classified. They were here for the data that was stored on one of the servers on the station. Taylor didn’t know what the data was, nor did he care. He was here to do a job; he didn’t need to know everything. His squad mate opened a comms channel and informed him that the captain had relayed their demands and instructions to the people on the station. Hopefully the security wouldn’t try to play soldiers and get themselves killed. Major looked up as he got the go-ahead from the ship’s communication officer.

  The go-ahead also meant that their communications countermeasures had been deployed. Concordis might not have been on the same level technologically as Olympus, but they still had some tricks up their sleeves. The plan was to deploy a comm-dampening device built into the ship as soon as they docked. It had only a short range, but that was enough to cut off the station from the other Olympus facilities. It only stopped radio waves. But seeing as the Earth was in the way of the other Olympus stations, they wouldn’t be able to establish contact with laser comms. He got to his feet and took the team through the corridor and into the station. His team was split into two squads, each with a different goal.

  The team that Major Taylor led was to secure and access the server, while the other one had a delivery to engineering. He did not like that part of the mission, but he understood the necessity for it. The team split immediately after entering the station; they already knew the layout. Taylor’s team managed to run through two decks without encountering anyone. Taylor thought that meant the Olympus personnel had listened to the captain’s demands. But as they got to the deck containing the servers, they encountered resistance.

  One of his team went down, struck by a bullet in the chest. Another marine grabbed him as he fell and dragged him back behind the wall. As Taylor crouched down, he noticed that his man was still alive and that there was no blood on him. He looked closely and noticed the impression the bullet had made as it struck him, but that it didn’t penetrate the armor.

  “Looks like the rumors are true, they got some kind of stun ammo. Don’t let them hit you. Morris, throw a few gas bombs in there,” Taylor said.

  Morris moved into position and threw two canisters of sleep gas. Their armor had air breathers installed, while the security personnel had only light armor. Immediately after, they started hearing coughing. The intel said that there were only six security officers on board. There had been more in the early days of the station, but as there had proven to be no need for them, the number had been reduced to a handful. So there couldn’t be more than six of them inside. And probably fewer if they split so that they could try and stop both teams. The Cloud station’s population was also reduced from what it was before. As Olympus had transferred its interests to the Moon, people had moved from the station. There was supposed to be barely three hundred people on it now. The security personnel of Olympus were good, he would give them that, but they were not prepared for this kind of assault.

  A few moments later, the coughing stopped and Taylor moved his team inside. They found three security officers on the ground. The gas was not lethal, but they would awake with a killer headache. They won’t be waking up at all, Taylor corrected himself, thinking of the other squad’s objective. He moved deeper inside the room where the Olympus servers were located. He motioned for Hughes, their computer expert, to get on with the job of disconnecting the server core.

  “Taylor to Novak, report,” Taylor called to the other team leader.

  “Light resis
tance, package in place,” Novak responded.

  “Good, secure the perimeter and meet us at the ship in an hour,” Taylor said.

  Hughes kept working on isolating the server and separating it. Olympus software was high grade, and as such they didn’t have the time to try and crack it. So they would be bringing the core with them. Taylor told his team to secure the area and informed the captain that everything was going according to plan.

  Chapter Twenty

  Tomas looked up from his desk as Laura barged in his office on the Moon station.

  “There is a Concordis warship heading straight for Cloud station,” Laura said.

  “What?” Tomas asked. “Could it be heading somewhere else?”

  “No, it’s going straight for Cloud. It’s not responding to any of our attempts at communication.”

  “Did you contact Concordis?”

  “Yes, they are blocking me,” she said angrily.

  Tomas sent the request for Elias, Seo-yun, and Nadia over his implant to come to the office immediately. They all had offices here at the Moon base, and were currently here discussing their planned expansions. He told Laura that the others were on their way, and she sat down on one of the couches in the office. He got on the comms with the Concordis ambassador immediately after sending the request. A minute later, the others arrived while Tomas was speaking with the Concordis ambassador.

  “What do you mean hijacked?!” Tomas yelled at the image suspended in the air above his desk.

  “The dissidents had resources, and we suspect that it was an inside job. We have already sent our other ships in pursuit. If you could inform your people on the station to go with the dissidents’ demands, and buy us time for our other ships to arrive’ we can resolve the situation,” the ambassador said, in a manner that telegraphed to Tomas that it was rehearsed. Tomas didn’t bother to answer him and just closed the connection.