The Slaver Wars: Alien Contact

by Raymond L. Weil

  “Impressive,” commented Hedon, gazing at the fighters and bombers. This would give the facility a heavy strike capability. He would hate to be on the receiving end of one of the bombers' attack runs.

  “They will be used to support ground operations if necessary,” explained Taylor, looking over at his brother. “The bombers will be used primarily to take out heavy ground targets or troop concentrations, while the Talons will protect the bombers from any Hocklyn fighters.”

  “How many marines do you have here at the base?” asked Hedon, glancing over at Major Jessup.

  “Only about five hundred at the moment, as well as several thousand construction personnel,” Jessup answered. “We still need about two more weeks to finish up the base. Then the rest of the marines will be brought in. When finished, we will have three thousand marines based here as well as nearly four thousand support personnel.”

  “Why so many?” asked Hedon, looking inquiringly at Major Jessup. “That seems like an awful lot of support personnel.”

  “For a worst case scenario,” Lendle answered, her eyes focusing on Hedon. “If the Hocklyns manage to take over the planet or drop nukes there will be enough personnel in this base to start over as well as to continue the fight. Some of the support personnel will have their families here also.”

  Hedon was quiet for a long moment, thinking about what Lendle had just said. He prayed that the worst case scenario didn’t happen. If it did, then a lot of people would have died.

  “What about your other bases?” asked Hedon, gazing at General Allister. “Are they being set up the same way?”

  “Some of them,” the general responded in a serious voice. “There will be three other bases besides this one that will have extra support personnel, as well as civilian families inside. We are also setting up two facilities in two of the planet’s deeper cave systems, which will house close to twenty-five thousand civilians each. Each facility will have five hundred marines to protect them. The facilities will be completely self-sufficient. If the Hocklyns take the planet, the marines have instructions to blow the entrances and seal themselves in. When the war with the Hocklyns is over, we will dig them back out.”

  Hedon nodded his head in understanding. It was obvious that General Allister was preparing for the worst case scenario. If that happened, then Hedon knew he wouldn’t be around. If the worst case scenario occurred, then that would mean that the fleet had been destroyed.

  “Let’s tour the rest of the base,” suggested Hedon, gesturing toward the door that led deeper into the mountain. “I am curious to see what else you have done as well as your defenses.”

  It took them a few minutes to reach the Command Center of the base. They had to go through several checkpoints and a number of heavily reinforced blast doors. In some ways, it reminded Hedon of the Command Center in the StarStrike, except this one was twice the size and numerous viewscreens covered the walls. The screens had views of the planet as seen from space, as well as important cities and facilities.

  “We can see everything that is going on anywhere on the planet from here,” explained Taylor gesturing toward the screens on the walls. “Everything is real time and is being transmitted on secure channels that the Hocklyns shouldn’t be able to intercept.”

  “What about defenses?” Hedon asked. “What happens if the Hocklyns find the base?”

  Pointing to another screen, an interceptor missile battery could be seen. “We have forty-four heavy interceptor missile batteries surrounding the mountain as well as sixty twin 30 mm defensive railguns. The entire mountain is surrounded with automated heavy weapons emplacements to defend against enemy troops. The majority of the installation is deep enough that not even a nuke will be able to take it out. Of course, our biggest defense will be making sure the Hocklyns never find this base. All the weapons emplacements are camouflaged, and you could walk right past one and not know it’s there. We’re in the middle of the largest wilderness area on the planet.”

  “What type of interceptor missiles are you using?” asked Hedon, looking at the screen with the missile battery on it. The missile looked familiar.

  “Hunters,” Major Jessup replied. “They have been modified to be used from a ground based missile launcher. Each battery has four and they can be targeted individually.”

  “Anything else?” Hedon asked. It looked as if they had thought of nearly everything. “What about a Hocklyn ship in near orbit just pounding the mountain with railgun fire?”

  “We have a special surprise for the Hocklyns if that were to happen,” Taylor responded with a wolfish grin. He walked over to a console and talked to the technician who was sitting in front of it. The view on two of the screens changed showing two more weapon systems.

  “We have four heavy laser turrets hidden around the mountain,” Taylor began. “These can hit any target up to three hundred kilometers above us.”

  “Three hundred kilometers!” Hedon spoke his eyes growing wide as he gazed at the large laser turret on the screen. The lasers on the StarStrike could only reach seventy-five kilometers. “How did you get that range?”

  “We pulse them,” Major Jessup replied with a satisfied smile. “The beams only last about five seconds, but they deliver one hell of a punch.”

  Taylor pointed to the other screen, where a large dual railgun turret was visible. “We have eight 60 mm railgun turrets capable of hitting anything within one hundred and twenty-five kilometers. If the Hocklyns discover this base, we can keep them away from it.”

  Hedon nodded his head. Turning he looked at General Allister. “I hope all this isn’t necessary, but it’s good to know that we will be ready.”

  -

  On the StarStrike, Colonel Sheen was going over the current readiness reports. Both of the Monarch cruisers had finished their refits and had joined the fleet. The two cruisers had been deployed with an escort of one light cruiser and two destroyers each. They had been moved out far enough away from New Providence’s gravity well so they could jump instantly to wherever they were needed. Five other light cruisers were currently on patrol in the outer regions of the system paying particular attention to the comet ring. The Hocklyns had used it once to try to sneak a scout in. Amanda was determined to make sure it didn’t happen again.

  “What’s the current status of the Victory?” asked Amanda, looking over at Major Trist who was assisting her with the readiness reports.

  “The Victory reports that her air arm is at one hundred percent, and they are running battle drills daily,” responded Major Trist, looking at a report. “They have been practicing using their fighters to cover their Anlon bombers on attack runs.”

  “Those bombers will take heavy casualties if they go up against a Hocklyn ship with its heavy defenses,” Amanda commented with a frown. She didn’t like the idea of acceptable losses.

  “We may not have any choice,” replied Major Trist, cocking his eyebrow and looking across the desk at Colonel Sheen. “With the bombers stationed on the Victory and the new wings they are putting on the shipyard, they could pose a major problem for the Hocklyns if they do attack.”

  Amanda leaned back and briefly closed her eyes. For the time being, both the StarStrike and the Victory were staying close to the shipyard. It was hoped that the sheer size of the shipyard and other nearby ships would help to mask the presence of the two large warships. It had been over four months since their return from Stalor Four, and so far, there had been no sign of the Hocklyns other than the one scout they had destroyed in the comet ring.

  Amanda looked down at her watch, noticing it was nearly time for her to take a shuttle over to the shipyard. She was going to take a tour of the station with Richard. They were going to look over the station’s defenses and see if they could come up with anything else to help defend the station and the planet. Once the tour was complete, they were to report to Admiral Streth and Admiral Flaxen on any suggestions for improvements.

  “How much longer do you think we have before the
Hocklyns show up?” Trist asked with a worried look in his eyes. “It’s been four months; you would think we would have heard something from them by now.”

  Amanda nodded slowly. “I think our time is getting very short. It all depends on how far the Hocklyn’s fleet bases are from the Federation. For all we know, a fleet could be on its way right now.”

  -

  Hocklyn Fleet Commodore Anglert looked out the thick windows of his office at the bustling spaceport below him. His office was in a high tower, which gave him an unobstructed view of the spaceport and the surrounding area. A light snow was falling, and the ground was blanketed with it. Anglert knew that beneath the snow was a thick layer of ice from the storm the previous day.

  “Two more dreadnaughts have arrived in orbit,” his adjutant reported. “That makes four in orbit now, as well as twelve war cruisers and twenty escort cruisers.”

  “Excellent,” Anglert replied in his rasping voice. “The final escorts should be arriving in two more days and then we can begin our conquest of these humans.”

  “Four more worlds to serve the empire,” his adjutant spoke. “Our masters will be very pleased.”

  “Are they ever pleased?” commented Anglert turning to gaze icily at the other Hocklyn. “We do what we must to grow the empire. We bring glory and wealth to our home worlds by ruling all the other races in the galaxy. We do all of this in the name of our masters.”

  “It is our destiny,” replied his adjutant evenly. “Our masters made it that way, and our race has grown to be one of the most powerful races in the galaxy. No one can stand before our fleets. Every week the slave races send hundreds of ships loaded with freight to our worlds and our masters.”

  “It is as it should be,” agreed Anglert, knowing the awesome power of their master’s ships. “The slave races serve us, and we in turn serve our masters. Very seldom do we see one of their ships in our territory.”

  “War leader Sigeth should be here tomorrow with the support fleet and the protector army,” his adjutant added. “Very soon you can leave for the human worlds and bring more glory to the Hocklyn race.”

  “That is good,” spoke Anglert, turning to gaze back out the window. The snow was starting to fall heavier. “Our scouts still have not found the human home world. One of the scouts has failed to return and is assumed to have been destroyed. If that is so, then the humans may suspect we’re coming. These humans may yet prove to be a race worthy of battle.”

  “Perhaps,” his adjutant replied. “But their ships will be swept aside as all the ships of the other inferior races in the galaxy have been. They may fight, but in the end they will die.”

  “That is how it has been for thousands of years,” Anglert answered, still looking out the window. “It is how it shall always be.”

  It was cold outside. The report Anglert had read that morning indicated that over one hundred slaves had died from exposure in the past week. He had already requisitioned more from several nearby slave worlds. The slaves were numerous and easy to replace; a few deaths were of no major concern.

  -

  Colonel Sheen and Major Andrews were just finishing their inspection tour of the shipyard. The changes in the last few months were impressive.

  “All the new weapon systems are operational,” Richard commented as they made their way toward one of the conference rooms where the admirals were waiting.

  “The shipyard has more firepower than a battle cruiser now,” Amanda replied with a nod. Over the past few months, her relationship with Richard had grown until it was almost ready to go to the next level. They had both been hesitant to go any further as they didn’t know what the future might hold. “The station’s orbital defenses are in place, and now we are concentrating on the defensive systems around New Providence itself.”

  “We’re putting new defensive platforms into orbit every day,” Richard responded. He stopped and looked at Amanda. “Have you heard from your parents recently?”

  “Yes, my father sent me a message yesterday,” she replied. Amanda knew that it might be quite some time before she would get to see her parents again. The few messages that she received from home were treasured. “The basement’s done, and Dad says that things are starting to return to normal. He says reports on the vid channels indicate that the shipyard above Aquaria has been putting a very strong defensive grid in place around the planet.”

  “That’s happening nearly everywhere,” commented Richard gazing at Amanda and recalling the information in the reports he had read.

  He didn’t think he would ever tire of looking into her deep blue eyes. Amanda had a smile that turned her face into something radiant and very alluring. He wondered if she knew just how beautiful she was. If it wasn’t for this impending conflict with the Hocklyns, she was just the type of woman he had always dreamed of finding.

  “Our encounter with the Hocklyns has caused so many changes in the Federation,” Amanda commented with a heavy sigh. “Every system is preparing for a possible attack.”

  “It may not come to a war,” Richard reminded her. “Don’t forget that Senator Glason hasn’t completely given up on peace yet. He still plans on trying to negotiate with the Hocklyns.”

  “I’m afraid the senator will die in that effort,” replied Amanda, shaking her head sadly. “He is a good man, and I would hate to see him throw his life away in such a futile gesture. The Hocklyns are coming to conquer our planets for their empire and only our fleet can stop that from occurring. They’re not going to listen to politicians.”

  “I’m afraid you’re right,” Richard agreed with a distant look on his face. “I just wish things were different.”

  “So do I,” Amanda replied.

  “What really worries me is that some of the civilians are starting to get complacent. It’s been over four months since you returned from Stalor Four. The only contact we have had with the Hocklyns was the scout ship we destroyed out in the comet ring. Some of the civilians are starting to believe than the Hocklyns have decided to leave us alone.”

  “What do you believe?” Amanda asked, her face turning to gaze at Richard. “Do you still think they’re coming?”

  “Yes, yes I do,” replied Richard, letting out a long breath of resignation. “I think they’re coming and coming soon.”

  The two stood quietly in the corridor for several moments and then turning started walking toward the conference room. They both were in deep thought wondering what the future might hold.

  -

  It was three weeks later and Admiral Streth was on the StarStrike in the Command Center. They had just run a full dress battle drill and Colonel Sheen was reporting on the results.

  “Seven minutes for all stations to report combat ready,” she reported as she read the reports on a computer screen. “Talon fighters were launched and in defensive positions in eight minutes. Marines were deployed to all essential areas in twelve minutes.”

  “Not bad,” Admiral Streth commented, pleased with the results.

  “Sir, I have a priority message coming in from Fleet Command on Tellus,” Lieutenant Angela Trask reported over the admiral’s mini-com. “One of the destroyers on surveillance outside of Federation space has reported spotting a large Hocklyn fleet. They just jumped back into communication range a few hours ago.”

  Colonel Sheen looked over at Admiral Streth, her face turning pale. She could feel her heart starting to beat faster in her chest. “They’re coming.”

  “Place the fleet at Condition Three, and notify the shipyard,” ordered Hedon, drawing a sharp breath. He just hoped everything was ready. “Pull the light cruisers back into our preplanned fleet dispositions.” Then, looking over at Lieutenant Trask, he asked a simple question. “Did the destroyer give the makeup of the Hocklyn fleet? How many capital units and how many escorts?”

  “No, sir,” Lieutenant Trask reported. “That information may be coming later.”

  “I wish we knew that information now,” spoke Amanda frowning. “It wo
uld give us a better idea on how to position our fleet units.”

  “Sir, I am getting an incoming message from Senator Glason,” Lieutenant Trask spoke again. “He is asking if you have time to speak with him.”

  “Put him on,” Hedon ordered. “He needs to know what’s going on, even though I suspect he received the same message we did since he is on the Federation Council.”

  A few moments later, Senator Glason’s calm voice came over Admiral Streth’s mini-com. “I have been informed of the Hocklyn fleet the destroyer Ardell discovered. What are your current plans for the defense of this system? Are we ready?”

  “I am pulling all of our ships inside New Providence’s gravity well except for several destroyers, which will be kept on picket duty on the edge of the system,” Hedon replied. This was the plan that Colonel Sheen and he had devised several weeks back. “The fleet will be forming into its separate task groups, and then we will have to wait for the Hocklyns to appear. It could be today or still several weeks. We don’t know how fast they’re moving or where they will attack first.”

  “I will need an escort to rendezvous with the Hocklyn fleet to attempt to open up negotiations,” Senator Glason spoke in a determined voice.

  Hedon was silent for a moment. Senator Glason was one of the few Federation senators he actually liked. “I will have two light cruisers ready to escort you to the Hocklyn fleet once it appears in the system.”

  “No, Admiral, you may need your heavier ships. I will go out in the passenger liner New Atlas when the Hocklyns arrive. It’s a small cruise ship and has been modified for my use. I will only need a single destroyer to escort us. I will not risk any heavily armed ships that we might need if the Hocklyns refuse to talk.”

  “Senator, if the Hocklyns fire on the New Atlas it has no armor or shields. It will be destroyed instantly.”

  “I am aware of that Admiral,” Senator Glason replied calmly. “But if they fire upon an unarmed ship seeking negotiations, then we will know that they want war and only war.”

  “There’s nothing I can say to change your mind?” Hedon asked. His respect for the senator had just gone up markedly. The man definitely was not a coward. “The cruisers might give you more of a chance at opening negotiations.”