Looking across the War Room, Sigeth noticed that several other members of the crew were watching the ship on the screen. Perhaps he should turn the screen off, since it was obviously distracting them from their duties.
“First Leader Heldrum was saying that they have no missiles,” continued Breedon, feeling intensely curious about their master’s ships. “Only energy weapons.”
“I have heard that also,” confirmed Sigeth, his large cold eyes looking back at the screen and the ship of their masters. “Their ships are protected by a powerful energy screen which no weapon can penetrate. Their energy beams can cut through a ship’s shields and its hull with ease. They began our empire and under their direction, we have continued to grow and prosper. They allow us to rule our section of the galaxy and expand our empire with relatively few demands upon us.”
“Raw materials and specific machined parts,” spoke Breedon, turning to face War Leader Sigeth. “A few hundred heavily laden freighters per year are all they ask from the worlds we control. You would think they would want more.”
“Some of the raw materials on those freighters are very hard to come by,” Sigeth informed Breedon with a frown. “Any one of those freighters would make a Hocklyn fabulously rich.”
“I wonder what they are using all those raw materials for?” Breedon asked. “What are they building in the center of our galaxy?”
“No one fully understands what is driving the AIs,” Sigeth replied. “They are a mechanical race, and we have found serving them to be very beneficial. Whatever they are building is of no concern to us. Our duty is to serve the empire.”
“What is the battle plan when we reach the human worlds?” asked Breedon, changing the subject. He knew that Sigeth had gone on board one of the master’s ships. But the War Leader had not mentioned what he was told or what the masters even looked like. Perhaps he would speak of it later.
Sigeth hesitated. He was still haunted by what he had seen on the master’s ship. He had no desire to ever go on board one of those behemoths again. With hidden anger, he knew there would be no glory for any Hocklyn in what was to come. He had been informed by the AIs that the human worlds would not be added to the empire.
“Our masters will jump their ships in close to the human planets and destroy their fleets,” began Sigeth, recalling what he had been told. Their masters were cold, logical, and totally void of emotions. At least that had been the impression he had gotten. “Once that has been accomplished, our fleet will move in on our sublight drives and bombard the planets until nothing is left living. We will then land protectors to ensure there are no survivors.”
“Then it is genocide,” Breeden commented tonelessly.
Hocklyns were not afraid to die in battle. However, in this battle there would be no honor from combat. Only the senseless slaughter of the humans' warriors. Civilians were of no consequence other than to be used as slaves. However, the total annihilation of a race was something that the Hocklyns had very seldom done. In most cases, they had always left survivors to continue the race and serve as slaves in the empire. Only twice before in the Hocklyn’s long history had their masters demanded that a race be annihilated.
“It is genocide,” Sigeth confirmed coldly. He knew that his future in the Hocklyn Hierarchy depended on making sure no humans survived. The masters had made that extremely clear. That was something else the masters demanded of the Hocklyns. Any race that might be a threat to the masters or the Hocklyn Empire was to be annihilated. It was just so seldom they ever encountered such a race.
-
Four hours after the battle was over, the Avenger and Vindication were heading back out of the planet’s gravity well. The assault shuttles had been maneuvered back into the landing bays of the two cruisers. The six scout ships were keeping pace around the cruisers.
Behind them, the blue-white planet was rapidly growing smaller, and the space station was only a bright speck in the reflected light from the system’s sun. The speck suddenly swelled up in a series of fiery explosions as the nuclear destruct devices on the Hocklyn ship were detonated by remote control. Two other larger nuclear devices also detonated inside the space station. In a matter of a few moments, all that remained of the station and ship were a mass of molten metal, debris and expanding gases.
“That takes care of that,” spoke Commander Standel, gazing at one of the viewscreens that had shown the destruction.
“That should confuse the Hocklyns for awhile at least,” commented Major Winfred from his station at the plotting table, knowing that the nuclear detonations would have eliminated any signs of the presence of humans on board the ship and station. “Hopefully we can put some distance between us and this system before the Hocklyns figure out what actually happened here.”
“The alien freighters have still not reacted to our presence,” Ariel reported as she checked the long-range sensors one more time. Her dark eyes narrowed slightly as she concentrated on the data coming in. “I wonder if the freighters are all automated and don’t have biological crews?”
Commander Standel and Major Winfred looked at each other, surprised by Ariel’s comment. They had assumed that the freighters had at least a small crew on them. However, the lack of a crew on those ships might explain the total lack of response to the attack upon the space station. Everyone had been surprised to find only Hocklyns on the space station. When the fighting had finally ended, they had killed two hundred and seventeen of the reptile-like aliens. This was a surprisingly low number considering the size of the station and the support ship. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense.
“Lieutenant Arcles,” spoke Commander Standel glancing over at the young communications officer. “Have you picked up any communications from any of the inbound freighters?”
“No, sir,” replied Teena, shaking her head as she quickly ran through the communication frequencies one more time. “We are picking up com traffic on the planet, but nothing emanating from the freighters.”
She paused, and her face suddenly became covered with a confused look. “Commander, we are receiving a tight beam message from the planet. I can’t understand what they’re saying, but the message is quite long.”
“Make sure you’re recording it,” ordered Standel, striding over to the communications console and looking over Teena’s shoulder.
Her screen showed all sorts of information coming in. What the hell was going on? Why would the inhabitants of the planet be sending them a message? If they were going to initiate contact with the Avenger or Vindication, why hadn’t they attempted to do so earlier?
“Can you tell what it is?” he asked, not understanding what he was seeing.
“The first part seems to be a language primer,” Teena said, cautiously peering intently at the data flowing across one of her screens. “There is no way to tell for sure until we run it through the computers.”
“It is a language primer!” Ariel broke in excitedly, confirming Teena’s guess. She had already run the first part of the message through some language decryption programs. “They are thanking us for destroying the space station and the Hocklyn ship. The message contains a short history of their world, a description of the coming of the Hocklyns, and everything they thought might be useful to us. They also say they will not tell the Hocklyns what happened here when they arrive.”
“Interesting people,” spoke Commander Standel, looking up at a viewscreen, which showed the dwindling planet as they continued to accelerate away from it.
He wished they had the time to make contact. These people sounded as if they would make good allies. Allies they might desperately need someday against the Hocklyns. They might also have a lot to teach the Federation.
“I hope the Hocklyns don’t take the destruction of their station and ship out on that planet,” Major Winfred said, showing worry in his eyes recalling what the Hocklyns had done to Aldon. “They didn’t do anything.”
“No, they didn’t,” Standel agreed with a slight nod and arching his
eyebrows. “But they obviously have no love for the Hocklyns. Not with the information they’re sending us. Perhaps they’re hoping that sometime in the future we will return and free their world.”
“They’re taking a big risk if the Hocklyns ever discover what they’re doing,” Winfred added with growing respect for the blue-skinned people on the planet. “We may be the first space going race that has appeared in their system other than the Hocklyns.”
“This information will be extremely useful,” Ariel broke in as she continued to analyze what they were receiving. “They have included some technical information as well as additional knowledge about the Hocklyns. These people are definitely not friendly toward the Hocklyns.”
For nearly twenty minutes, the information continued to come in. It finally stopped, and Lieutenant Arcles looked up at Commander Standel. “That was a lot of information, sir. I recorded all of it, and Ariel has a backup file.”
“Contact,” Lieutenant Barnes sang out suddenly as a red warning icon appeared on his sensors. He checked the data intently with concern in his eyes before continuing. “I have a Hocklyn ship that has jumped into the system and is inbound. It will be within combat range in thirty-eight minutes.”
“Right before we clear the planet’s gravity well,” spoke Major Winfred gazing intently at the threatening red icon on the sensor screen above the plotting table. “They timed that pretty well. They must have been watching us on their sensors.”
He quickly punched some numbers on a computer console and then watched the plotting table as it showed when and where the Hocklyn ship would come within combat range of the Avenger and the Vindication.
“Second contact!” Lieutenant Barnes reported, his eyes growing wide. “It’s the StarStrike!”
“They’re going to take out that ship,” Winfred said, glancing at Commander Standel.
“That was the plan if we met resistance,” commented Standel, looking at the sensor screen. Only the StarStrike had jumped in. He wondered what the Hocklyns were thinking. They had jumped in expecting to find two light cruisers, not the massive battle cruiser they were now facing.
“I’m detecting jamming from the StarStrike,” Barnes added as he watched the data coming in from his sensors and scanners. “They’re moving in to engage the Hocklyn ship.”
-
On board the StarStrike, Admiral Streth watched tensely as the flagship maneuvered rapidly to come within effective striking range of the Hocklyn ship. The long-range sensors on the StarStrike had detected the enemy ship as it jumped into the system. This was an eventuality they had been watching for and were ready to take quick action when it did occur. Hedon had immediately ordered his ship to attack. He dared not allow anything to happen to the Vindication or Avenger considering the valuable information both were carrying. They had all the hard drives from the Hocklyn ship and space station on board, as well as the few star charts they had found.
“The Hocklyn ship is turning to engage us,” Colonel Sheen spoke, her eyes growing wide with surprise. She would have thought they would have continued toward the Vindication and the Avenger in order to prevent them from escaping with any valuable information. Their other option would have been to turn around, jump out, and then summon more ships. They had to know they had no chance against the heavily armed StarStrike.
“They don’t know what’s happened here,” Hedon commented in sudden understanding as he watched the approaching Hocklyn warship. “Lieutenant Jacobs, I want all batteries ready to fire. I want to hit them with our lasers first followed by a full barrage of armor piercing rounds from our railguns. I want those shields knocked down and that ship destroyed!”
“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Jacobs responded from Tactical.
“Lieutenant Trask, are we jamming their communication frequencies?”
“Yes, sir,” Trask replied. She had started transmitting jamming signals as soon as they had jumped into the system.
“Helm, I want our bow facing the Hocklyn ship until the lasers fire. Once the lasers have fired, I want a hard turn to starboard to bring our port railgun batteries in line. I want every gun firing!”
The tension in the Command Center was noticeably rising as the crew prepared for battle. On the main viewscreen, the wedge shaped Hocklyn escort ship was clearly displayed. This ship was the same size and general design as the one the StarStrike had destroyed in the Stalor System. Everyone knew what had happened to the Vindication and the Avenger. This ship was prepared and would be no pushover.
“Lasers firing,” Lieutenant Jacobs reported as he gave the orders to fire.
From the StarStrike, two lance-like beams of orange-red energy leaped across space to strike the bow of the approaching Hocklyn ship. The Hocklyn’s energy screen glowed brightly for a brief instant, seemed to flicker, and then the screen collapsed, allowing the powerful lasers to impact the hull. A few seconds later, the Hocklyn ship exploded as its power plant was hit and its stored up energy was released.
“What the hell!” exclaimed Colonel Sheen, looking at the screen in stunned surprise. “What happened?”
“The Hocklyn ship is down,” Lieutenant Stalls confirmed as the red icon on his screen faded away.
On the viewscreen, all that was left of the enemy ship was a slowly expanding ball of glowing debris, which was rapidly fading. The laser strike had destroyed the Hocklyn vessel.
“Did you record everything?” demanded Hedon, looking across his command console to where Lieutenant Stalls was sitting at his sensor and scanner console. They shouldn’t have been able to defeat that Hocklyn ship so easily. Something here wasn’t right.
“Yes, sir,” Lieutenant Stalls answered as he studied the data on one of his screens. He read over the data quickly and then noticed a possible explanation. “The Hocklyn’s energy screen wasn’t as powerful as those that were protecting the ships that attacked the Federation.”
“It seems as if we have a mystery here,” commented Hedon, gazing thoughtfully at the viewscreen, which now showed nothing but empty space. Why was this ship so much weaker than those that had attacked the Federation?
-
The StarStrike rendezvoused with the Avenger and the Vindication, and then all three jumped out of the system to where the rest of the fleet was waiting. All the information the Avenger and Vindication had recovered was transferred to the StarStrike, as well as the Hocklyn computer hard drives. It was going to take a lot of hard work and ingenuity to get anything off of those drives. The Hocklyn’s computers hadn’t resembled any of the ones on board Federation ships.
Admiral Streth ordered the fleet to stay in the current star system until the FTL cores cooled down sufficiently to allow for a safe jump. Even while they were waiting, experts that had been added to the crew of the StarStrike before they left Tellus began pouring over the information, star charts, and hard drives that had been brought on board.
Hedon was sure they had the information they were sent out to gather. Now he just needed to get it back home. That might be the harder task. There was no doubt in his mind that the Hocklyns would eventually figure out what had happened in that system. Hedon just hoped his fleet could get a good head start before the Hocklyns came hunting.
-
Colonel Sheen watched a timer on the plotting table. It was counting down the time until the FTL core was cool enough to safely perform a jump. She knew they could jump now if they had to. They could probably make three or four emergency jumps before causing irreversible damage to the core. She was glad they were finally returning home. This had been a long mission and Amanda knew the journey home might now be the most dangerous part of it. If the Hocklyns were to discover what had happened back at the space station, they would fill the void between the StarStrike and New Providence with ships seeking to stop them from making it back home. She trusted Admiral Streth to get them back safely.
Thinking about New Providence made Amanda wish she could see Richard if only for a few moments. It had been much harder bein
g apart all these weeks than she had imagined it would be. Her dedication to her job and her daily routine had helped to keep her busy and her mind off the amount of time that was passing. Just thinking about Richard made her heart beat more rapidly. What’s happening to me, she wondered? Is this what love is about? Her eyes wandered back up to the viewscreens, which were covered with cold unblinking stars. Many of those were probably controlled by the Hocklyns. She wished the timer would move faster.
-
The timer finally ran down, and the fleet jumped. Hedon felt relief that they were finally on their way back to Federation space. He had decided to do four jumps per day in order to get back to New Providence as quickly as possible. He had a worrisome feeling that he was needed at home. It was a feeling he hadn’t been able to shake now for several days. It was a constant nagging in the back of his mind. In the past, he had come to trust these sudden feelings of intuition. He had ordered Navigation to work out a series of jumps for a dogleg course back toward home. It would take a few extra jumps this way, but it would make it more difficult for the Hocklyns to find them.
-
For two full weeks, the StarStrike’s fleet had been making four jumps per day as they worked on their dogleg course back to the safety of Federation space. They were careful to jump into systems of stars that were not suitable for habitable planets. When necessary they had sent the stealth scouts ahead to scan the systems before the fleet jumped blindly into them. The fleet was currently on the outskirts of a binary system, of which both stars were much larger than any suns in Federation space.
Admiral Streth was in his quarters talking to Colonel Sheen. Major Trist was in the Command Center waiting to implement the next jump as soon as all the fleet ships reported their drive cores were cooled down sufficiently. The tension in the fleet had been slowly building as the crews wondered when the Hocklyns would catch up to them.
The Slaver Wars: Alien Contact Page 23
